By Beth Berman

I am back in Ghana at the Bishop Forson School Complex for my second year in a row. Last year I was focused on the work I had to do and to just getting a lay of the land, so to speak. Little by little over the 10 days in Kpando, I started to get to know some teachers and students to the point where I felt I was developing a relationship with them.

At the end of the trip, I decided to sponsor two children, Kpebu Bright, age 11, and Khaly Richard, age 15. When I said goodbye to them last year, my heart was divided. It was joyous for the time we had spent together but sad for having to take my leave. This past year  I wrote each boy and sent packages to let them know they were in my heart and in my thoughts, even though we were miles and continents apart. I reminded them in my letters that we always were looking at the same sun and the same moon, even though from a different vantage point.But the perspective we shared was a love for each other.

As we drove toward BFSC this year, I could barely contain my excitement over returning and upon seeing Richard and Bright walking toward me across the school field, my heart just burst with glee. After spending the first few days with them at school and working in the classroom, I decided to take them out to lunch in the town, an opportunity they never get.

As I was traveling in the cab with Richard and Bright, I felt a deep sense of contentment spread over me. I was back with my African children, back with their sweet smiles, their gracious ways, and their deep searching eyes and inquisitive minds. Those beautiful eyes reflected back to me my ever present searching for what my purpose on this Earth is. One clear answer is the raising and loving of my three children, Leslie, 24, Ali, 22 and Jeffrey (who came to Ghana with me last year), age 18. Secondly I know the work I do as a psychologist is also my calling. But sitting there with Richard and Bright and soaking in the amazing experiences I had last year and was again having this year, I knew that my third purpose on this Earth was to form a partnership with this community in Kpando, and specifically at BFSC, and particularly with Richard and Bright.

The opportunity to serve through Pagus and to sponsor through Pagus is an honor. I am grateful for this chance and all sponsors must know that these children need you and love you, whether they have met you or not. Your financial support to them provides them a future they might not otherwise have and your letters to them tells them you truly care about them and that they are ever present in your minds and hearts. This means the world to them.

In the restaurant, we played games, ate great food and talked about our families. We discovered what we had in common and were curious about our differences. We watched World Cup repeats and laughed. Anyone in the restaurant would surely have been envious of the special time we were obviously having together and I will surely never forget it.

By Kelsey Wolf

The best part about working with the kids here is making them smile. For the past five weeks I’ve been working with four kids from stage three who were very far behind on reading. We started out with the alphabet. The first two weeks went very slowly and I was easily frustrated. The kids didn’t always listen to me and they never did the little homework that I assigned to them.

With perseverance and some help from the kids everything clicked one day. All four of them did their homework and they were excited to start our session. I was so excited that they were excited they thought I was weird because I couldn’t stop smiling and yelling "good job!" at them.

The best part about working with the kids here is making them smile. For the past five weeks I’ve been working with four kids from stage three who were very far behind on reading. We started out with the alphabet. The first two weeks went very slowly and I was easily frustrated. The kids didn’t always listen to me and they never did the little homework that I assigned to them.

With perseverance and some help from the kids everything clicked one day. All four of them did their homework and they were excited to start our session. I was so excited that they were excited they thought I was weird because I couldn’t stop smiling and yelling "good job!" at them.

They fed off of the positive feedback that I gave them and they started doing even better. Everyday at the end of our session I talk about how they did for the day, what they need to work on, and, my favorite part, that they did well. I go around the table and give all of them a high five then I say "good job guys!" and give them two thumbs up. They think it’s funny that I give them thumbs up so they started doing it too. Whenever I do it they all drop their pencils, put their thumbs up, and smile.

The high fives and thumbs up have moved outside the classroom. Whenever I see the four kids outside they give me a high five and two thumbs way up.

Note: Kelsey is volunteering at the Bishop Forson School for 8 weeks. She is tutoring and conducting a workshop. 

Today we saw first hand the Airfield school.  We rolled to a stop at the side of the road, and peered out the window to see the now empty space beneath the meager thatch and aluminum covered buildings- more like tents to us- that the children were schooled in last year.  last year, we met with the kids and played games, and led them through crafts projects.  It rained heavily that day, as it does all the time in the rainy season, and we were told children don’t come to school when it rains.  We could see why.  You couldn’t take two steps without either losing your shoe in the mud or slipping and falling on your behind.

But today, beyond the buildings the school used to use, there are three gleaming buildings painted in two-tone blue with beautifully made stained wooden shutters.  We could tell just from viewing the outside what a different place this must be to learn in.  And when we thought about building this place start to finish, from mixing the concrete to installing the roofs and painting the surfaces, we were all pretty amazed. 

Next Mr Forson took us down the street to meet the actual students who reside in the community.  We met parents and students, and were introduced by Mr Forson.  We said a few words about how happy we were to hear that the school is making a positive impact on the community, and then heard from a few of the students.  Mr Forson translated for us. The students thanked us, said they were happy to have a school like that to go to, and explained that that now they go to school when it rains.  Given how often it has downpoured since we have been here, I’m thinking those rainy days could have wiped out a good portion of the school year.

Note: Jule Boyer is facilitating a group eight volunteers on a three week trip to Ghana to conduct workshops at the Bishop Forson School Complex. On Saturday they took a trip to see the Airfield School near Ho.

When left for Ghana in early March I knew my main objective was to learn more about the children of the Bishop Forson School and their lives, as well as to try and help those struggling in Math and Reading. This would be my third trip to the school, but my first time working independent of a group program.

I planned to start by observing classes and then I would figure out where I could help. But, as many discover, nothing goes as planned when you are in Ghana.

On my first day at school I was led in to the library, handed a textbook, and told to teach the lesson on food groups to a small group of first-graders who arrived less than five minutes later. It did not go well; the Ghanaian food system is completely different from the American one. I quickly learned from this experience that if I wanted to make a meaningful contribution, I needed to take charge of the assignments I took on. I also learned that I needed to speak very slowly and clearly and say things as simply as possible. The children were so fascinated by the color of my skin and by my hair, and that alone distracted them from what I was saying.

On my second day at school I started to make good use of the materials other volunteers and I had brought from the US. I had a large group of fourth-grade boys for English and since I still had not been able to observe any classes, I grabbed an exercise sheet and two Dr. Seuss books. To start the lesson I handed them each a worksheet and we did it together. We breezed through the first side on words with the letter ‘e’; leg, bed, etc. The second side was on rhyming. Dr. Seuss provided the opportunity to explore rhyming words as the students fought over whose turn it was to read. Both books were exactly at their reading level; they were challenged with certain words but still able to read the stories. Once they relaxed and were feeling comfortable, they wanted to talk and ask me questions. We were learning from each other, and I think that was the most valuable part of our time together. By the end of this lesson my confidence had grown: I found I had successfully put a lesson together, the boys understood the material, and we all had a lot of fun. It was great to see how eager they were to learn and how much they loved reading.

After school the child I sponsor, Kelvin, asked if I would help him with math. We worked with flashcards and activity books which he loved, so we spent a lot of time with those. By dinnertime he was going through the flashcards without stopping. While we were working, a few other students who live on-campus came in and wanted to participate. They do not usually have access to learning games, tools like flash cards and activity books, and they were easily excited by the colorful pictures. They are also not used to having someone there to give them attention and help, since classes are often large and staffing is limited to one teacher per grade.

Looking back on what I learned is overwhelming. I discovered so many things about the children’s lives that I hadn’t been able to see on my previous visits. There was one boy who was late for school often and, after careful questioning we found out it was because he had to walk to the next town to fetch water because in that town the water was free. There was another boy with a hole right through his jaw. Before we learned about the problem and started taking him to the doctor, it became infected and still his face was completely swollen. Everyday when I would see him at school he would greet me with a huge smile. Some days he would come shyly into the library to be with me and read a book. I was struck by his positive energy and his sweetness despite everything he was going through.
One day I had to discipline a little boy for stealing. I started by trying to help him understand why it was wrong and I suspected that his reason for stealing had more to do with a need for attention then for the object itself. After some time I asked him for a hug so he would understand that even though I was disappointed in him, I still cared about him. He was completely confused about why I would hug him and not hit him! I was so struck by this, because growing up one thing I never had to question was that I was loved and that I was safe from harm. More than anything else I might give, I wished I could give him that.

The longer I was at the school, the more I saw how many children who were there could not read or do simple math. After three weeks I felt as if I hadn’t made a dent. But then I considered each of the children individually that I worked with, and I knew that I had reached some of them and hoped my being there had made some kind of impact on them, as it had on me. It is almost impossible to quantify these things.

Narrowing my goals really helped. I know that making a difference in even the life of ONE child is a big deal, and that knowledge guided me through this trip.

The ribbon was cut, the dignitaries delivered long speeches, mango and orange trees were planted in the school grounds, gifts were exchanged. We received endless compliments from everyone. We were told that “it is the most beautiful school in the area”. A contractor who is building a school in Ho, asked for copies of the plans, he would like to propose a similar design on his next school project.

We aimed, at the beginning, to change the learning conditions of over hundred children by providing them shelter from the environment, four classrooms pavilion style. We ended up with an integrated structure, three buildings, eight classrooms, an administrative building that includes a head teacher office, teacher’s common room, Library, storage room and complete toilet system with septic tank (no running water). We also provided an imbedded conduit system in preparation for electricity and water harvesting system since there is no running water available in this area.

It occurred to us that a nice building would not guarantee a good education, so we aimed higher, worked with the authorities, and were able to change the school staff including the head teacher who appeared to be ineffective in educating. We arranged for three NGOs to be involved with the school, sending volunteers to teach and interact with the children as well as sending medical teams to check on the children’s well being. We also were able to get the authorities’ commitment for new furniture, electricity and the school participation in the Government food program. All these should happen this year.

After five months of daily pushing and arguing with the local community to come to work as they repeatedly promised they would, I feel drained. Anyone who read my previous journals knows that. Often I was forced to be the ‘bad guy’ to keep up with schedule, budget and to at least meet the minimum standards of workmanship.

We did our best to provide the children of this deprived community a better chance in life and wish the Airfield community a lot of luck. The future is in their hands. They hold the wheel now and they can steer it any way they would like. They dreamed for this school for a long time and finally it is theirs.

Today, Saturday, while my wife is sewing, I went to the main entertainment in town. No, no funeral, today is market day. I am a regular at the market and they all know me. Not much selection in the market. Prices are very high, much higher than in California, since it is the dry season. I have my regular stops.

I give the “onion lady” one GH Cedis and she fills a bag of onion for me. The peanut butter woman is waiting for me with a large jar. Papaya, avocado, egg-garden (eggplant) and okra. We eat “same same” every night.

I am reading now “Three Cups of Tea” by Greg Mortenson, who built many schools in Pakistan.

As an American, building schools for girls in an Islamic country, Mortenson had his share of problems. However, I wish that my Ewe Community would have some of the Pakistani Villagers enthusiasm to have a school provided for them. Here I am trying every trick in the book to bring the people to work on their own school. The Airfield Community interpret democracy in such a way that every decision has to be discussed by the elders and the chief does not have much power over the people. The bottom line is they will tel you whatever you want hear and do what ever they want to do.

This week like any other week on the site has it ups and downs. The only problem is that we don’t have any more time or money for “downs”.

The carpenters are progressing on the roof and one building is already covered with the aluminum sheets.

My ETC (Estimate To Complete) is growing every day. My roofing carpenter underestimated the amount of wood that he would need, adding $1250 to the cost of the roof. The plastering of the walls takes much too long, adding on labor cost for the masons. Now they are telling me about “screeding”, process of finishing the floor, which require more cement and was not in the original estimate.

The roofer is not on schedule but never the less is asking for more money. A deal is always open ended even if it is in writing and not keeping your word your commitment or your appointment is always OK as long as you have an excuse and it doesn’t make any difference how lame the excuse is. No shame and no apology.

On Tuesday I traveled with the carpenter (a different one) to Hohoe, a town two hours away, to buy wood for the doors and windows. I can save 25% on the wood price since the wood is brought there directly from the “Bush”, no idea if it is legal or not. Since the police has road blocks to check on such harvest, the wood was cut and shaped in Hohoe before shipped to Ho. We bought a partial quantity and will come back for more as soon as it is available.

When work was progressing too slow, I hired laborers for one day and stopped the work on the Toilet/Septic tank project. The community then decided to start to prepare the morning work at the end of the previous day, something that I am asking of them for long time but without avail. Thursday and Friday the work started on time but with slow progress. I asked the community to work on Saturday. They responded by telling me they cannot work Saturday, but will bring the whole community, not by groups, during the week if I hire more masons to finish the plastering. I agreed. I am getting tired.
Only five and half weeks to go and so much to do.

Aku Sika Shop is popular with the foreigners in Ho – missionaries and young volunteers. Our recent acquaintance with ProjectAbroad volunteers did a lot of good this week at Airfield School. They came to teach at the school, brought art supply for art projects. They will now include Airfield School in their program.

On Wednesday, their Outreach Medical Team arrived. One Ghanaian male nurse, four young European helpers. They sat a clinic in one of the "classroom". I was impressed with the amount of medical supply they brought. Looks like a well-funded NGO.

Eric, the nurse used no gloves. He screened all the kids at Airfield School, checking hands, mouth, ears, eyes, head, skin, glens,belly and looking for open wounds. He does not need blood test to identify Malaria. He looked at the eyes, sours around the mouth and high fever. He talked and joked with the kids. Funny young man. Doreen from the Netherlands handing the kids Vitamin C candies, Picaddely cookies and a note with the diagnoses, before they proceed to the "clinic". Robert, Ivor and Phillip from Holland were treating the kids.

About half the kids needed dewormer (Mebedezo), treat worms in the stomach. Their belly looked like balloon. Other were treated for open wounds, Malaria, eye infection and fungus. The volunteers also cut nails and cleaned ears.

I was so impressed with the young volunteers from the Netherlands. So much love and compassion.

While the treatment was going on, the kids were dancing "Yesh Lanu Tayish", and other Israeli dancing steps that I taught them. Audry was teaching them the "clown" song in French and Krystal and Doreen were teaching a song-dance in Dutch.

Last week, again, I went from hut to hut asking people to come to work. Not much success.

When they don’t have a good answer they say that they are sick, they have a headache.

I was standing in front of a mud house, a half-naked woman was seating at the doorway with two infants, chickens running around, flat look in her eyes, she was probably wandering what did this Yavoo (white person) wants from her life at this early hour of the day.

The work was slow to start on Monday, a lot of wasted time.

We have less than two months and so much to do.

Tuesday morning we had about three people show up by 8:00 AM and by the time the masons started working it was after nine in the morning. In desperation I decided to buy them off and requested the list of all the people that come "continuously" to work. After some hard negotiation and arguments, I received the list. I gave them back the list and told them to advertise among these people that I would pay 5 Cedis per day for anyone that will show up to work before 7:00am.

I also told them that if people would not show up I will hire workers from town to replace them and I will not order the doors and windows.

I made it clear to everyone that we are running out of time and money and this is the school’s money that we are paying. They didn’t like it at all. They refused to be paid for their work and the next morning people showed up starting at 6:30am. Maybe I struck the right nerve. The rest of the week the attendance was reasonably good.

I am continuously amazed by the lack efficiency in their work. They build and break. There is no electricity in Airfield, but I decided to install electrical conduits. We are asking the government to bring electricity to the school, and hope they will. I told my contractor to install the electrical conduits into the pillars, prior to casting it. "no, no, we cannot do it this way,” so now, when the walls are done, an "electrician" is breaking grooves in the walls with a chisel to install the electrical conduits.

I asked them to leave spacers in the septic tanks for the pipes and in the veranda for the poles. "no, no", they have a better way. Of course, after the septic tank is done and the veranda floor was cast, they break the cement to install the pipes and the poles in the cement.

Africa. I try not to judge, but it is difficult.

The roofers, on contract, working seven days a week, are progressing nicely, but they underestimated the material quantity and the cost is piling up. In about a week and a half we will have a roof. Next week we will start the plastering. It is about a three week process.

There was a lot of commotion at Airfield School this week. The head mistress and two teachers got a transfer letter. The Director of Education followed-up on his promise to Benny and new teachers were assigned to the school.

I am going to divide my time between sewing and teaching.

We made a new contact with “Project Abroad” a UK based NGO. They bring young volunteers from Europe to teach, help farming and help at medical facilities. We invited them to visit Airfield School and took them to the “bush”, where we visited some families.

They are going to send volunteers teachers to the AF school and we hope that it will bring new energy to the Airfield School.

George, the adult that Pagus Africa is sponsoring, is doing well at the Technological Institute in Kpando. He proudly told us that his father brought him yams and his mother gave him ten Ghana Cedis ($7). His wife also makes straw fans to fan the fire. She is sending him some so that he could sell it at Kpando market. We saw his wife at the building site, she was selling soup.

On Saturday I accompanied Aku Sika to another shopping trip to Accra. We also visited the Art Center. I think that I got Accra out of my system.

Africa, it is not an easy land. Blessed with natural treasures but too many very poor and clueless people.

There were two trips this week. Very different trips. On Monday we accompanied George to his new venture in Kpando Technical Institute. George is very shy and naive, and he was overwhelmed by the process. We also needed to talk to his family to assure that they will help him with some food etc.

My second trip was a major shopping trip in Accra. I rented a truck in Ho and with our contractor and Prosper we bought all the roofing material, two large poly tanks, toilet, paints and other material at a significant saving.

It was a long and difficult day mainly because Accra is such a congested city. We spent about three hours seating in a very slow traffic.

The work at the site is slow since not enough people from the community come to work and we end up working about six hours a day (paying for eight ).

I exhausted all my energy and I am running on empty.

I don’t know what else to use to motivate people. We are supposed to be finished with the structure by now but we lost another week.

And the saga continues.