Week 25:
Dwabor has a new volunteer this week. Marta has arrived from Ireland and will be teaching in the school for three weeks. The school are very happy to have another volunteer to help!
On site this week things have been moving very quickly and it continues to look different on a daily basis. All the metal sheeting has been laid on the roof and the ground level plans have been laid for the kitchen and toilet.
Work has also begun levelling the ground leading up to the school so that they can begin making the path for the children. The path will be lined with wood which is being delivered next week.
Josh and Andy have been busy finishing the sanding of the concrete whilst getting involved in the coconut shredding although with the new incentive in place they are not needed as much now! It has been decided that the coconut will be place into bags and attached to the roof in order to avoid animals hibernating their so the bags are being made.
Tuesday 17 November 2009
Week 24 - Roofing completed
Week 24:
In order to try and speed up the coconut fibre factory the coconuts have been split into five piles and a competition has been set. A prize will be rewarded to whichever gang finished their pile first! It has certainly given a sense of urgency to the task!
They have been busy on site completing the roof on both KG1 and KG2 and have started work compacting the ground for the kitchen and toilet areas. The site looks completely different now and it is really easy to get a sense now of just how great everything is going to look when it is all finished.
The wood has been removed from all the concrete columns and Andy, Josh and Gordon are busy sanding it down before the bricks are laid.
Away from site lots has been happening at school with the new members of the Parent Teacher Association and Senior Management Committee appointed and the most urgent issues relating to the school discussed as well as the most recent exam results. Dwabor MA performed very well with a 78% pass rate so the community was very pleased.
In order to try and speed up the coconut fibre factory the coconuts have been split into five piles and a competition has been set. A prize will be rewarded to whichever gang finished their pile first! It has certainly given a sense of urgency to the task!
They have been busy on site completing the roof on both KG1 and KG2 and have started work compacting the ground for the kitchen and toilet areas. The site looks completely different now and it is really easy to get a sense now of just how great everything is going to look when it is all finished.
The wood has been removed from all the concrete columns and Andy, Josh and Gordon are busy sanding it down before the bricks are laid.
Away from site lots has been happening at school with the new members of the Parent Teacher Association and Senior Management Committee appointed and the most urgent issues relating to the school discussed as well as the most recent exam results. Dwabor MA performed very well with a 78% pass rate so the community was very pleased.
Week 23 - Patron visits the project
Week 23:
Dwabor had a very important visitor this week in the form of Sabre’s patron and Ghana first Olymipic skier visiting the village to look at the site and meet the people. Kwame was hugely impressed by the project and Dwabor as a whole and is keen to help as much as he can.
Whilst Kwame’s arrival was very important we also had a new volunteer this week, Gordon from Scotland who has immediately been given duties in the CFF!
It is also worth mentioning the work being completed by the Bamboo Training School. They have now made a bed, some lights and numerous pieces are jewellery which is fantastic!
Dwabor had a very important visitor this week in the form of Sabre’s patron and Ghana first Olymipic skier visiting the village to look at the site and meet the people. Kwame was hugely impressed by the project and Dwabor as a whole and is keen to help as much as he can.
Whilst Kwame’s arrival was very important we also had a new volunteer this week, Gordon from Scotland who has immediately been given duties in the CFF!
It is also worth mentioning the work being completed by the Bamboo Training School. They have now made a bed, some lights and numerous pieces are jewellery which is fantastic!
Week 22 - Window painting completed
Week 22:
It has been a busy week in Dwabor with the school going back so there is lots of activity. The children will spend this week cleaning the classrooms and preparing the grounds for lessons to commence next week.
On Monday the new volunteers met with the Elders who are extremely pleased to see new faces out in Dwabor and thanked them for coming. The problem with water collection was also discussed and a solution has now been reached.
On site, the coconut fibre factory (or CFF as the volunteers now like to call it!) is coming along nicely with the gangs, football team and school children helping out on a daily basis.
The painting of the windows in Cape Coast has now finally been completely much to everyone’s delight! They will be brought to site when the walls are completed and cleaned and retouched before they are fixed in place.
The boys have marked up the steel to cut for the termite barrier whilst Emma has been working hard with the Kindergarten children helping them make jewellery out of coloured pasta.
It has been a busy week in Dwabor with the school going back so there is lots of activity. The children will spend this week cleaning the classrooms and preparing the grounds for lessons to commence next week.
On Monday the new volunteers met with the Elders who are extremely pleased to see new faces out in Dwabor and thanked them for coming. The problem with water collection was also discussed and a solution has now been reached.
On site, the coconut fibre factory (or CFF as the volunteers now like to call it!) is coming along nicely with the gangs, football team and school children helping out on a daily basis.
The painting of the windows in Cape Coast has now finally been completely much to everyone’s delight! They will be brought to site when the walls are completed and cleaned and retouched before they are fixed in place.
The boys have marked up the steel to cut for the termite barrier whilst Emma has been working hard with the Kindergarten children helping them make jewellery out of coloured pasta.
Week 21 - Steve and Emma's trip
After a very last minute decision to volunteer in Dwabor and lots of fundraising myself and my partner, Steve, finally arrived in Ghana. We arrived in Accra on Friday evening and stayed in a hostel near to the airport. Accra was so busy, there were people everywhere and every time the car stopped they would come to the windows trying to sell you things, mainly food and water but also batteries, TV aerials, tea towels, some really obscure things but that is how they make a living. At first was really intimidating but as soon as you say No they walk away and go on to the next car!
Saturday we began the drive down to Elmina, it was about 250km away so a long drive in the heat, albeit very muggy. We visited Elmina Castle on the way which was the castle where the Whites sold Africans as Slaves, was a really interesting Castle and a good insight in to the Slave Trade, although the guide was very much against the Brits (because of the history) however there were some fabricated stories and missing links through the tour and the real history of the castle was not as grim as they portrayed.
We carried on the drive down to Elmina and took in all the sights. Every main junction to the coast and inland there was a village, houses made from clay clocks and bamboo huts and people everywhere. The closer we got to our village I became more and more nervous, I have never travelled, always been on holiday so was very apprehensive and had no idea what to expect. The further away from the cities we got the greener the surroundings, less pollution, less people and less mess! The villages turned from selling all the junk to selling fresh fruit, bananas, coconuts, green oranges, watermelon and so much more.
The smaller villages we passed kept shouting "Bruni", meaning white person, all they wanted to do is wave and as soon as you waved back they were so excited, the smiles on their faces were great!
We eventually arrived in Dwabor, our village for the next 11 days and met Sarah and Michael, a Ghanaian couple who would cook for us and help us with any problems through our stay. They had a 2 year old son called Noble who was adorable, within 5 minutes he was all over us and talking to us in Fante (local language) and English, he was extremely clever. We also met Aunty, she was Sarah's grandmother and owned the rooms we were staying in, she did not speak any English and was very traditional….sitting around with no top on, but you begin to get used to it!!!
We settled in and then the fun began! We met all of the children related to Aunty, they were all so friendly and very excited to meet us, we played all afternoon and walked round the village familiarising ourselves with the community, all you could hear was "Bruni, how are you?". We also went up and saw their current Kindergarten school, basically a piece of concrete floor and a tin roof, it was very overwhelming and upsetting to see how little they had.
Sunday was a chilled day getting to know the children and spending some time with another volunteer, Andy, who had been there for 4 months. All the villagers were at worship so it gave us an opportunity to let everything sink in and get advice from Andy on their culture and what we should/shouldn’t do!
Monday morning was an early start, a bell is rang at 4am to tell the villagers worship starts in half an hour, we were staying opposite a church so heard everything, they are all very vocal so we didn’t sleep through any of it! One thing that’s interesting is that there are 6 churches in the village including a Mosque, so many religions and everyone gets on so well, respecting each other’s beliefs. At 7am we were required to meet the Elders of the village and introduce ourselves in Fante, we were so nervous. They were all very welcoming and were grateful to have us in their village.
The original plan was for me to work on site, primarily shredding 6000 coconuts, the fibre would then be used as sound insulation so if it rains, the classes can still hear the teacher. However Jenny, the volunteer co-ordinator was working in School for the week and asked if I wanted to join her. This is something that I have always wanted to do so I jumped at the chance! We were asked by Head teacher Michael to teach the Kindergarten children, approximately 80 children between 2 or us. As the classes are based on ability the classes have a variety of ages ranging from 4 through to 10. Also many younger children come along to the classes with their older brothers and sisters.
No resources were available for us so we really had to use our imagination. My week consisted of teaching the alphabet and days of the week, trying to teach how letters are used to spell words, numbers, colouring, singing and making pasta shell bracelets. We tried incorporating the counting with games outside to keep the children interested. It was extremely hard work and there were times when you had no control over them. However the majority of my time was really positive and was such a great feeling seeing the smiles on the children's faces when they understood something.
The times I wasn't teaching was spent on site helping Steve and the other volunteers, Steve really enjoyed the manual labour however more time out there would have enabled us to do more work and help to complete the project. A positive outcome of the school build so far is the bamboo school. The locals now sell bamboo cups and jewellery made out of the bamboo from their local bamboo forest which is now a great way of making a living for them.
We really had such an amazing time in Dwabor and only wish we had more time to help with the build and get to know the locals. They are all so friendly and happy and have so much knowledge and wisdom to offer. Still...there is always next year!!!
Week 20 - oh Coconuts!
Week 20:
This week has been extremely busy, with Ben leaving Dwabor and five new volunteers arriving in Besease to begin work at the school and with Sampson’s after school reading group. Ben said a sad farewell to Dwabor although did have quite an eventful leaving do with Andy and Michael catching a whole chicken and eating it!
We have been busy painting the new sign board for Dwabor this week which involved lots of mess but it was highly entertaining. The pictures were chosen as they all have members of the community in them so that people can see what progress has been made and what part they have played in it. Whilst on the theme of painting the windows are nearly finished and looking good!
On site this week the roof shoes have been secured in place and the roof trusses prepared. The community labourers have spent some time this week building scaffolding so that the trusses can go up safely.
There has also been a huge delivery of coconuts for the roof insulation so the community labourers will be bashing each coconut to create enough insulation for both roofs!
The Bamboo training school designed a new treatment table for the bamboo so this has been sent to Elmina to be made which will allow the school to treat more bamboo at one time which will be very useful on site!
There have been two festivals this week, the boat festival in Cape Coast and the yam festival in Abayee which were fantastic! As you can see from the picture below the costumes were extremely extravagant.
This week has been extremely busy, with Ben leaving Dwabor and five new volunteers arriving in Besease to begin work at the school and with Sampson’s after school reading group. Ben said a sad farewell to Dwabor although did have quite an eventful leaving do with Andy and Michael catching a whole chicken and eating it!
We have been busy painting the new sign board for Dwabor this week which involved lots of mess but it was highly entertaining. The pictures were chosen as they all have members of the community in them so that people can see what progress has been made and what part they have played in it. Whilst on the theme of painting the windows are nearly finished and looking good!
On site this week the roof shoes have been secured in place and the roof trusses prepared. The community labourers have spent some time this week building scaffolding so that the trusses can go up safely.
There has also been a huge delivery of coconuts for the roof insulation so the community labourers will be bashing each coconut to create enough insulation for both roofs!
The Bamboo training school designed a new treatment table for the bamboo so this has been sent to Elmina to be made which will allow the school to treat more bamboo at one time which will be very useful on site!
There have been two festivals this week, the boat festival in Cape Coast and the yam festival in Abayee which were fantastic! As you can see from the picture below the costumes were extremely extravagant.
Week 19 - Roofing has started!
Week 19:
It has been yet another very busy on site this week but there has also been lots going on in the village and the surrounding communities Sabre has been working with. Firstly, the playground which was donated to Sabre has now been completed in Besease which to everyone’s delight so well done to all those involved. As you can see from the photo below it has already provided much enjoyment!!
In Dwabor the children have been busy playing and getting ready for their return to school in a couple of weeks. They are eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Kindergarten although it may be a couple of weeks away yet. The pits caused during the rainy season have now all been filled thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and community labour.
The windows are now nearly all finished and looking very good. However the most exciting thing to happen this week on site was the beginning of the roof building which shows just how far the project has come over the recent weeks. The trusses are coming along and the columns poured and there is a real sense of anticipation for the final product on site!
The football tournament began this week which was highly amusing. Gang’s 3 and 4 played on Friday which saw a victory for Gang 3 whilst Sunday saw a great victory for Gang 2! Next week is the eagerly anticipated match between the Community and Sabre which should be interesting!!
It has been yet another very busy on site this week but there has also been lots going on in the village and the surrounding communities Sabre has been working with. Firstly, the playground which was donated to Sabre has now been completed in Besease which to everyone’s delight so well done to all those involved. As you can see from the photo below it has already provided much enjoyment!!
In Dwabor the children have been busy playing and getting ready for their return to school in a couple of weeks. They are eagerly awaiting the opening of the new Kindergarten although it may be a couple of weeks away yet. The pits caused during the rainy season have now all been filled thanks to the hard work of the volunteers and community labour.
The windows are now nearly all finished and looking very good. However the most exciting thing to happen this week on site was the beginning of the roof building which shows just how far the project has come over the recent weeks. The trusses are coming along and the columns poured and there is a real sense of anticipation for the final product on site!
The football tournament began this week which was highly amusing. Gang’s 3 and 4 played on Friday which saw a victory for Gang 3 whilst Sunday saw a great victory for Gang 2! Next week is the eagerly anticipated match between the Community and Sabre which should be interesting!!
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