10th day of construction: excavation of the foundation in the hard clay soil was completed, marking the outlines of the two long classroom buildings connected by the administration building. Steel pillars (all handmade by the steel bender) were cemented into the ground, supported by the poles that the children cut and carried to school. The women were pouring mixture of stones, sand and cement into the ditches from head pans and wheelbarrows. More trucks unloading sand and stones and cement bags.
Gary, 50, from London, is traveling Ghana on his bike. A challenge with all the pot holes on the roads. He came to Ho for one day, and decided to stay for a week and help build the Airfield School. He was digging alongside the community, his white skin shining among the dark bodies and clay. Back in the hotel, sore body, he collapsed on the coach. On Friday he declared, "I am done with physical labor, I am too old for that." We miss "yavu" company. It was nice to have him around for a week. He wrote me a sweet card for my birthday.
On Monday, Benard, the contractor, informed Benny that the community decided to split into two groups and work on alternative days. That would cut the work force in half. That was not the original plan.
Benny called a meeting and tried another approach with the community. Benard will post daily manpower requirement, transferring the responsibility to complete the school on time to the community. John, the hotel owner, was our translator. The community was very supportive of Benny and promised to keep up with the schedule as planned so that we could leave by the end of March and join our family for Passover. We took the opportunity to talk to the parents about education, sending their kids to school, sewing school bags, clean clothes, bathing, ring-worms and caning.
At the pharmacy, we bought ointment for ringworms and treated five children. We also bought capsules for one girl who had a boil. The mothers took the medication and were very appreciative.
The shelves at the pharmacy are loaded with various Malaria tablets. Malaria is regarded as a common flu and medication is inexpensive. In-spite of it, many children die from malaria in Africa, especially in the villages. Most school textbooks include stories about kids who were sick with malaria. Sounds so simple: boy was hot and tired, mother took him to the hospital, the doctor sent them to the laboratory for a blood test, boy had malaria, the doctor prescribed medication, the boy took the medication. End of story.
In the market we bought yellow and green thread and will ask the mothers’s help in mending the children clothes. I heard a child screaming the other day. Benny was racing from the construction site to stop a young male teacher who was forcefully caning a three years old boy. "What are you doing?" Benny yelled. "I am caning him" he replied grinning, "this is Ghana, this is not America." "If I see you caning another child, I will cane you", Benny told him. I hope he got the message this time. We sat with all the teachers. God fearing people. Trying to speak their language. "Jesus treated people with love, not canes" So we got a Bible lesson "Jesus was whipping people who were cheating in the market" And what was that to the three year old did? He was crying for no reason.
Two girls from my early bird group wrote me nice letters. One of them asked me to buy her ‘school bag’. It is painful to see 12-14 years old kids who cannot read. How do you train or influence teachers to be dedicated and care? We will try to meet someone at the board of education very soon.
We did not expect this trip to be problem-free. We anticipated that there would be set-backs and disappointments. However, when one of us is down, the other lifts him/her up. We are a good team.
On Friday we celebrated my 63rd birthday. We went out for a nice dinner at the Kekeli Hotel, where I ordered a dish of Red-Red, fried fish and fried plantain in spicy bean stew. Benny bought me a sewing machine and I will try to fulfil another ambition, sewing my own clothes. On this Thanksgiving, so much to be thankful for: our loving family, friends, country, health, our education and the opportunities that were available to us. ***Thanks to Karen’s friends for their generous donations
Shalom Shifra,
I am writing to you from Jerusalem… kol hakavod on your work. As a tourguide and mother let me just say that it is not written that Jesus beat anyone; it says that he overturned the money changers tables at the Temple. I’m not a Christian but I lecture on Christianity and Jesus certainly expressed a lot of love for the innocence of children. Good for you and Benny for stopping the beating of a toddler.
My son was in Uganda for three months volunteering in an orphanage and got them involved in building another building. It was very empowering to the teen orphans.
Kol Tuv,
Laura