Half Way

It’s the half-way mark today; we’ve been here for 2 weeks, and 2 weeks from today we’ll be sitting at the Kotaka Airport in Accra waiting to board our plane home. All in all, I am glad I came, but I definitely have mixed feelings about everything that’s happened here. There are some major disappointments, and as much as I want to try, I personally don’t have the capacity or manpower to support successful projects. I would like to hope that the few things we are trying to do here will pay off in some way, but I really have no idea whether it will. I would like to say that every little bit helps, but at the same time I see so much going to waste, and so little effort on the part of the community to fix the problems they so easily complain about. I know it takes more than just a few visits to really make a difference, but I do also feel that some people here are willing to just accept how things are, and continue to complain about money. I really hope the new administration in Ghana will step up to challenge of caring for its rural populations. Many people have said that government policies are implemented only in the urban areas, and never trickle down to reach rural populations.

Samantha and I have a lot to do this week. I have 12 more interviews to complete by Wednesday. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday we have more study sessions with the kids from 4-5pm each day. Monday we will be meeting with the JSS headmaster to discuss the issue of children not comprehending English, and to suggest he collaborates with area JSS heads with better academic records and that he holds his teachers accountable for their work. I hope also to meet again with the chief to see where we stand regarding volunteer chaperones of the library so it can hold evening hours a few days a week. I am also going to talk to the chief about the JSS headmaster and the teachers… we’ll see how that goes… Tuesday we will be going to Ho, and I’m going to try to talk to the manager at the regional Education Office about getting the Circuit Supervisors to thoroughly involve themselves in assessing the schools.

We are planning a trip to Cape Coast, to leave Thursday, and come back on Sunday. The following week will be our last, and we plan to use one day to possibly visit a monkey sanctuary, and also use a couple days to conduct 2 focus groups. I’ll be very surprised if we get more than 2 focus groups done. As of right now, I’m exhausted from doing nothing all day. I think I’ll go to bed early.  It’s 8pm…