Week 4

Saturday 3rd February 2007 (Day 22)

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OK - the beginning of my final week.  I can't believe it has gone so fast.

Power cut made the night hellish.  I have never really rated those battery operated, hand-held fans until now.  It was not a great nights sleep, but without one of those to cool me down whenever I woke up I think I would have had about 10 minutes sleep all night.

Today we went to the Domana Rock Shrine, so we got up early (great after a crap nights sleep) and headed out.  The journey there was quite quick until we got to the dirt road - about 15km of awful road.  We left Brenu just after 8am and did not really start walking until 12:00 - what a sensible time of day to go on the longest walk I have done for a couple of years - without hat and sunglasses, which I had left back at the house.

As we started the walk we went through a small grove of Cocoa trees.  The guide picked a ripe fruit (which grow on the trunk and not the branches as I would have expected) and split it open.  Inside was a tall cluster of seeds in a slimy white coating.  He offered us one to try and it was quite sweet and nice.  Matt and I failed to hear him say that we should suck the seed and spit it out so we crunched ours.  I spat the woody crunched seed out and it was bright purple - I don't think they are poisonous, rather a bit woody and not nice compared to the white coating.  Had several more seeds (to suck) as it is a really strange, but nice, flavour.

The walk was incredibly sapping and hot work, I was soaked through to the skin after a couple of kilometers, but did not dare to take off my top because the sun was so fierce.  Eventually we left the main trail to head towards the shrine.  Having walked through forest and along mud tracks I was not prepared for the shrine, which is an amazing stack of rocks, one literally sitting balanced on another 3 - it was stunning and so out of context with the journey.  Apparently the rocks change colour regulalry - this is because of the spirits showing what they can do.  It was possible to climb the rocks using lianas in the most unsafe activity - you would never be allowed to this back home.  It was hard work, in total it is a 3 storey climb, done in 3 stages.  I jumped part of the second stage on the way down and was close(ish) to falling down the first as well (which is about a 15ft drop), but other than that it was OK and fun - a nice sense of achievement.  It a shame the view from the top is not more spectacular - but they have left it completely natural which is not a bad thing.

We carried on walking to the river, which turned out to be too low to make the journey downstream as planned.  I can't believe they did not know this beforehand.  We sat and had luch (about 10 pringles each and a palmfull of peanuts) and then went on the river doing a 10 minute circle (around some beautiful rock formations) before landing back on shore where we started - not sure whether it was worth us each carrying our lifejackets all the way.

Because our plans had been changed for us with us not going down river and also because our driver for the day had not gone and waited in the car park near the shrine but had done the full walk with us (our guide had not been told what we had intended and it proved too difficult to try and explain at the start) we were walking for about twice as long as expected and all our water was running out.  Fortunately we passed through a small basic village on the way back and they had a bar with fizzy drinks (albeit warm) - it was a lifesaver.  I can't believe there is not more development of the tourist aspect of this site.  Had they got a deal for food and drinks to be available mid journey and some tacky tourist stuff at the base (like baseball caps and t-shirts) they would have made a fortune from me alone.

Eventually we got back to base and worked out we had walked 12km's thanks to the changes in plan!

Janice kindly kept me up to date with the rugby scores during the day - nice to see England winning the Calcutta cup comfortably.

On the journey back to Brenu we took a shortcut which was about 30km of dirt road - we got stuck in several puddles and had to get out and push on one occasion (Mat and Osman got attacked by a column of ants) and then we got out at every puddle thereafter - Osmans cab (the one that broke down last time) was doing its best but struggling with the abuse.  Eventually we got home.

One thing that was lovely was that kids everywhere (either as we drove or walked) loved to wave and smile (and shout Obruni).  Whenever we replied they would get so excited and if we used Fante the adults would be so happy - it was really nice.  We also heard some people shout Kwesi Bruni - Esther explained that this was because the first white man was thought to have arrived on a Sunday - and a Sunday born male in Ghana is given the name Kwesi.

I asked Esther about road accidents in Ghana, she estimated that about 25% of drivers are involved in some kind of accident each year, and 20% of those accidents include a fatality (i.e. 5% of all accidents have a fatality).  This is huge, but not a surprise given the state of roads, lack of seat belt use, state of cars, mobile phone use, bad driving etc...  Probably best to find that out at the end of the trip rather than the beginning

Having left Brenu at 8am we eventually got home at 6:30pm - a very long day.

Went to bed absolutely shattered.

Sunday 4th February 2007 (Day 23)

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Slept like a log.

Tried to wash my white shirts before breakfast, but gave up and left them to soak.

Went to breakfast and then stayed at the beach almost all day, except for a trip through the village of Brenu Akinim.  I stopped at the house to pick up my camera and Esther appeared with my washing - she had tried to get the shirts clean as well and, having done the best she could, finally gave up - I now have one definitely brown shirt.

Walking through the village was strange as we knew a lot of the children between us and so were able to greet quite a few of the kids, but no adults.  Esther took me to see the village chief.  The chief acts as a leader for the community, acting as a judge settling disputes and setting punishments as well as guiding the community like a councillor, choosing where to direct the funds collected from fines etc.

There is a mix of buildings, some from early European settlers, others traditional clay (some in mid construction).  Some looked in an incredibly bad state of repair and very uncumfortable to live in.  The sea is advancing and there are a number of houses that have been claimed by the sea - this must be an added pressure for some families who are already struggling.  There is also a hut (in the process of being overrun by the sea) which houses the huge bones of a whale that was washed ashore about 5 years ago - this was a major event for the village - even Mancatta (who would have been about 5) was recalling the day.

Between Brenu and the next village there is a massive lagoon - it is quite beautiful, with people fishing in it.  We walked through the next village before returning home.  Esther was explaining how in the past there was a lot of tension between the villages in a dispute over the land near the lagoon and at one point there was a village fight and one man was killed - it seems so unlikely now as everyone we have met in either village has been very welcoming and friendly.

Came home and Johnson was waiting - he said he came round last night at 11pm but no one was up - what did he expect?  Anyway lesson 2 went really well.  He obviously knows his letters and is getting used to blending and is starting to read and write short words with little intervention.  Hopefully I will get some more time with him before I go, as his progress is much more visible than the kids in my class and I feel a little better for it.

Went for dinner and played cards again.  We have been playing a game called 'sh*thead' for a while now.  There is a modicum of skill and a lot of chance, but somehow I have managed to maintain a record of losing half the games we have played, despite having 3, 4 and sometimes even 5 people playing.  It is no longer funny - I can't be that bad at cards.  Can I?

Monday 5th February 2007 (Day 24)

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Just before school this morning there was a boy sobbing in playground holding his arm.  When I looked at it there was a bend - it looked broken to me.  I called over Matt and Mori and then Aggie came over.  As I was explaining she just grabbed his arm and yanked it up as if she thought he was faking it - the poor kid yelped in agony.  I could not believe someone could be so horrible.  He was from Mat's class so Mat took him back to his parents.

In the classroom I asked Aggie how she was and she told me she was OK and that today she was going to the bank and then to Cape Coast to see her child at university.  As the children settled down she said "OK, I am going."  I must have looked a bit shocked as she scowled at me and said "I told you I was going to the bank".  For some reason I had assumed that she meant she would go after school - silly me.  It turns out Maggie was going as well so Mori and I were wholly dependant on the other teachers helping out.  Without help the children are still more or less uncontrollable to teach - so this was looking likely to be another lost school day - the fourth in 4 weeks!

Fortunately Joanne Ocran, who is one of the teachers in the lower nursery classes, came over to help me.  It was amazing.  She actively engaged with the children and kept them quiet and attentive and whilst I did most of the teaching she would step in to help them understand or add to what I had said.  I took the opportunity to give a lesson on blending (something I had been putting off), rather than just the straight letter sounds.  It was great - some of the kids got it really quickly and Joanna was able to quickly understand the method and actively helped teach it.  It was fantastic progress over previous lessons, and the children were the best behaved I have seen them.  Given that I had expected to lose a whole day of lessons this was possibly the best mornings work so far.

Unfortunately for the last perid I was left on my own (both Joanna and Venedatu were busy in the other nursery).  Dorkus made the children sleep and I took the easy way out and left them to it - I did not want to ruin what had been a great morning.

After lunch we went to Cape Coast, taking Esther (who thinks she may have Malaria) and Nathaniel (the boy with broken arm) to hospital.

In Cape Coast I changed the last of my money and chatted with Janice on the internet - it is only a few more days now.

On the way back we picked up the invalids - Esther was limping from her injection for Malaria and Nathaniel had not had an x-ray as they closed the department at 2pm and so he will have to go again tomorrow.  I wish he had gone first thing, but at least he is going now - had we not been involved his parents would have relied on traditional herbal remedies because they cannot afford hospital fees - I have no qualms stumping up the £3 or so it will cost to get him x-rayed and a cast put on, rather than him potentially ending up with a lame arm for the rest of his life.

Tuesday 6th February 2007 (Day 25)

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Esther took Nathaniel back to hospital this morning.  He had an x-ray showing a fracture/break of his wrist.  Unfortunately, due to the long queues, he did not get it set as the casts team went home at 2, even though there were people waiting with broken bones.

This morning for breakfast we all tried Banku with fish (head) sauce and ochra soup.  One of the girls in the compound we are staying in has a stall serving this every morning so we have eventually got around to trying it.  Fortunately we shared one portion rather than get one each.  It was OK (ish), but not easy to eat (especially the dollop of Ochra soup in the stew).  We ate most of it before it got the better of us.

I had brought a tube of colourful girls hair ties with me to Ghana (not for me you understand) and today I decided to give them out.  Mori had suggested the boys and girls would wear them on their wrists rather than in their shaved hair.  I started giving them out to people who got questions right on the board, but then had to keep a list so that I did not double up.  One boy (John - who got about 3 questions wrong) was desparately upset.  I carried on after break, making the questions easier and easier for the children until only one was left.  I gave up and asked John to write the number 1 for him to get a hair tie (he got it on the second attempt).  I could not believe how quick it was before the first ones were lost, stolen or broken - trying to give out gifts to all the children (and expecting gratitude) is a lesson you only need to learn once.  The worst part of the whole process was the teachers, who demanded ones for themselves - Aggie even suggesting I give them all to her.  I gave her a thin one (the tube started with thin and then half way down there were thick ones).  When I got to giving out the thick ones she said "Give me one of them".  Then she said she did not have the one I gave her earlier - I pointed out it was in her hair.  I think she was really upset that I gave things out to the kids.

Throughout the day Aggie kept falling asleep about 15 minutes from the end of each lesson.  This made teaching them really hard - what a difference from yesterday.

I looked in on the lower nursery class today - they look far more advanced with Venadatu and Joanna in charge - if it were my school I would be inclined to try either one of them teaching my class - they have more drive, comprehension and seemingly more skill with children.

After the second break we played the running in a circle game.  One boy just turned around and had a wee - right where people were going to be running.  Aggie was not in the least bit bothered and gave me a derisory glance as I tried to tell him off.

After running around for 2 minutes Aggie complained of the heat - I told that if I was not hot then it could not be that hot.   I eventually relented and took the children in and took an idea from Morri - drawing around the outline of a couple of children on the blackboard and then getting the rest of class fill in the features.  They really enjoyed it.

Lunch was Yams and fish stew.  Again this was quite hard work.  If this is what a typical food day would have been like on a less well catered project it would have been a long 4 weeks (and I would have lost about 4 stone).

Spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach.  There were lots of huge waves - in the end I gave up with the boogie board as it was getting dangerous.  Just jumping in, over and through the waves was really exciting.  Yarmouth will never feel the same again.

Esther bought our tickets for the journey to Accra - we are leaving at 11am on Friday.

I spoke to Janice who was recovering after having a nice dinner party and a late night.  The guests suggested they would club together to send me to Ghana again so that Janice could have another one.  I'm up for that.

Created some CD's for Isaac to go into the MP3 CD player - I think he wanted a quiet chat earlier about buying it off me so I ran off and will give it to him tonight.  Mentioned what I was doing to Esther and she wants a CD player from me as well...

The lights started playing up - turns out we are on half current.  The fans work so that is not a problem - I would rather 3 nights of half current with a fan and no lights than 1 night of nothing.

Went to dinner and played 'Sh*thead' again (still running at 50% loss).  Kwesi was lamenting the fact that Emma was not there - so he did some Madam Amma impressions to keep us company - sound file is available here (this probably only means something to Emma).

Gave Isaac the CD player - he looked a bit lost for words and a bit choked.  I made him promise to share it with other people we know (Esther and Kwesi for example).

We then watched a quite surreal football match (once the guys managed to get the generator working).  We were sitting on the beach under a thatch roof, watching a TV running from a generator in a near blackout, watching Ghana play Nigeria at Brentford in London and Ghana beating Nigeria for the first time in 15 years (at 4-1 it was a clear margin).  It was really nice and as we walked back to the village after the match you could hear lots of merriment all around.  It was a massive result for Ghana - likened to when England beat Germany 5-1.

I have been quite good and not complained all holiday but I must say that toilet roll without perforations is starting to really annoy me.  Gripe over.

Only 2 days of teaching to go.

Wednesday 7th February 2007 (Day 26)

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I saw Isaac this morning.  He was talking softly and was hard to understand but he appeared to clumsily ask for sposorship for his tertiary education (university).  I was a little affronted after I had just given him a gift.  Fortunately, when I mentioned it to Morri she cleared it up as he had asked her to help him as well - but through the Sabre Trust who are aware of Isaacs plight.  I will have a chat with Aubrey.

This morning Aggie once again said "I have brought my daughters number - you will let me use your phone."  I explained I had no credits and then she was quiet.  I would not mind so much if it was not said as an order.

Mat and I returned home briefly during break (we were looking for some sacks for a sack race) - Johnson was waiting outside for lesson, I had to send him away - he has no concept of time.

It turns out the power problems last night were due to a local transformer issue rather than a national plan - shame.

Second lesson I left it to Aggie who just made them sleep then panicked beacuse she and Maggie had lost their lesson plans (the ones she told me last week that she did not have to do for nursery).  Paddy lied to Morri saying they had been checked and returned.  After finding them unmarked she kept confronting him until he admitted he had not been totaly honest with her.  Morri looked at the plans for my class and said that they, like Maggies notes, look like they are just there for show.

After second break we sent the children home (as agreed with Paddy) and we gave some phonics training to the teachers using notes that Morri had written.  I fear for my class with Aggie being in charge - she just sat there with a sour face not paying attention.  Fortunately Mat and Morri had been able to get Henri, a student teacher who has studied Phonics, to come along and assist and also translate.  The teachers all said that just in English was fine, but responded much better when Henri decided to ignore them and repeated in Fante.  All in all the training went well.  Hopefully Mat and Morri will be able to spend some time doing some more "teaching the teachers", or Sabre Trust can look to do this using professional teachers on the program (although, as Mat pointed out, it is going to be hard getting experienced teachers to volunteer).

This is a nice place to put a story from Morri and the way Maggie teaches her class.  One day recently Maggie decided to teach the children sonething.  First she taught them that "this boy is long, this one is short", apart from the obvious lack of sensible English she managed to choose 2 boys of the same height to demonstrate it.  Then she told them "identify in red the greater set and in blue the smaller set" - but without explaining the meanings of the words greater and smaller and what she meant by sets.  She looked self satisfied that the children were stumped.  After break she then set them a maths question - which is greater, 4 or 6.  Morri took great delight in telling us that the answer from the children was "Red".  Aparently Maggie has been teaching for over 20 years, not sure how long Aggie has been teaching.  Neither of them have had any formal training in teaching and it will need some careful effort to transfer some useful skills to them and to get them to use those skills.

Nathaniel has finally had his arm put in plaster - Esther ended up crying in frustration before anyone did anything as the hospital was on the verge of not doing it again today.

Went to Cape Coast - probably for the last time.  On the way Osman was telling us about a young man who he had taken to the hospital this morning as he had taken an overdose.  Aparently he had borrowed a lot of money from the bank and could not find a way to pay it back.  It was quite hard to understand him, but I think he said that the man had left the dregs of the herbal overdose he had taken in a tea cup and his young son had unwittingly drunk some.  They both died.  Quite a sobering story.

Another power cut (full one this time).  It was 5 days since the last one - bugger, we had hoped the 10 day schedule would become the norm.

Had a nice night playing cards with Mat, Morri, Isaac and Kwesi.

Stars looked beautiful and even managed to see a shooting star - cool.  We went to Kwesi's place (to help him see his way with our torches).  He is living in a single room with just a bed.  My room here has more furniture than his.  It is scary how little people have, and Kwesi is probably better off than quite a few people in the village.

Thursday 8th February 2007 (Day 27)

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I will not miss the power cuts when I leave.

In the morning Mancata and Kwofie came around before school.  Manacata was pointing at my mosquito net and telling Kwofie how he had one as well.  He sounded really chuffed/proud.  I am not sure if Esther has told him it came from me.

Isaac cam round this morning and presented me with a gift - a traditional Ghanaian shirt.  I decided to wear it all day and was really pleased I did as many people commented and appreciated the fact that I had worn it.  Poor Isaac looked a little bit embarassed that I had decided to wear it, but it was really nice of him.

Yet another kid at school started bleeding - there have been lots of cuts and grazes this week.  The children in general have a multitude of scars, scabs, weeping sores and fresh wounds, but apart from maybe crying with the initial shock they are incredibly strong and just get on with it.  We don't have much in the way of medicine here (someone has lost the key to the medicine box), so we currently rely on footballs "magic sponge" effect of cold water.  I have to admit I am really squeemish and so far I have had to clean up someones knee, where all the skin had been removed when the toilet door broke and scraped up it, a girl with a cut lip (she had fallen backwards into my elbow and then jerked forward and smacked her mouth on the wall - I felt awful) and a boy whose toe looked to be falling off.  This last one was the worst as I had been acting at sobbing with a group of children (they can be real drama queens and I was showing them I was onto them, they found it really funny) - one boy did a really good impression of a sob until I realised his foot was in a pool of blood.  I have no idea what happened and when I cleaned it up I could not actually see what was bleeding, although his toes had loads of scabs on them - maybe one had been scuffed off.

In the second period I offered Aggie my phone, she did not have the number with her today so she just got up and left to go home and fetch it - she was away for about 40 minutes, but her sister had locked the door.  I can't believe the way teachers can just leave lessons.

After that I took photos of the children (OK I realise I wasted a lesson by doing this) and Aggie made me take photos of her nieces (one I don't know, the other keeps telling everyone I have beaten her up when I take her back to her nursery class).  She then told me to send her a print of the photos.  She even got her sister to come over and interupt the lesson to look at the photo.  Absolutely no sense of what is right for a class in school.  Kids leave other classes mid-lesson to come and interupt our lessons so they can buy a bag of seeds off her.  Why can't she wait until break time?

The kids were lovely.  I took lots of photos - they adore being photographed and then looking at themselves on the view screen. When I told them today was my last day Cecilia nearly broke my heart by telling the teacher in Fante that she wanted me to stay on the beach and not go home and Samuel grabbed hold of me and would not let go - I was teetering on blubbing.

So, given it was my last day of teaching, what have we achieved so far?

Handwashing - Emmas song was still triggering children to wash their (very grubby) hands.

They are writing letters much better.

My class are just about able to start to blend letters, Mat and Morri are getting on really well with their classes.

Aggie has been given guidance on how to carry on after I leave.

Hopefully the childrens pronunciation has improved slightly also.  They have learned to recite English songs/poems/prayers but without knowing the words, so they do their best to make it sound right - but it never does.  My favourite is during the lords prayer (which is almost unintelligeable) - I swear the children say "Deliver us to evil" - just about sums it up really :-)

Spent the afternoon in the house pottering, sorting out a CD for Kwesi and sorting out photos from Mat and Morri.  The house was filled with kids.  I offered Robert my trainers - they are too small for me really and have been hurting my feet, so I am unlikely to wear them again.  Robert then asked (almost seriously) if I was leaving my laptop and if so who would get it.  Morri was saying how this is probably a bit cultural and Mat had been asked to check over a piece of work that was being set in JSS to write 2 letters, one to their mum abroad asking for money and another begging letter for something else.

Went for dinner and had a final evening of 'Sh*thead'.  I managed to avoid losing for 6 games and then lost the very last game of my stay.

Came home and am now looking at a pile of packing while I procrastinate - maybe I will have to start early.  I also need to read about 90 pages of my book so I can pack it in the suitcase and keep a new one for the journey home - so it looks like a late night as well.

Friday 9th February 2007 (Day 28)

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Time to leave Brenu.

Said a final goodbye to the class and teachers on the way back from breakfast, and also to Isaac (who looked really sad).

Kwesi and Esther both needed to go to Cape Coast so they joined us.  This was my last trip with Osman and his cab finally gave up the ghost just as we entered Cape Coast.  No one has any idea what is wrong, it is misfiring, backfiring and losing power again - we stopped at one garage who told him the car was fine - about 200 yards before we had to swap cars.  The only reason we got as far as we did was because Osman kept sucking petrol through and then spitting mouthfuls into the open carburetta.

Once we swapped cabs we rushed into town to pick up Mat and Morri's passports as they had got their visas extended and we left Kwesi in town - I'm going to miss him.  Esther wanted to accompany us to the bus station - maybe to make sure I left :-)  I am going to miss Esther - she is a really nice person and just right for looking after visitors as she is always keen to ensure we are not ripped off, that we know how to get somewhere etc...  I just wish she would stop rushing around so much.  Even though she has Malaria she has been getting up before 5am to sweep and clean and she is on the go until after 10pm usually.

The bus to Accra was nearly an hour late and we had to downgrade from one with aircon - fortunately the trip was not too bad (apart from the bad roads and scary driving/overtaking).  A lot of the tro-tro's in Ghana have a religous motto on their back windscreen - but on the way to Accra I noticed shops with religous names as well - my favourite was "Jesus is Great Fast Food" - I hope there is a hyphen missing.

We got to the Byblos hotel in good time - although for a while I had a whole row of cabbies stumped as to where it was - fortunately Mat knew where to go.

A room with hot and cold running water and air conditioning - bliss.  Opened my suitcase - yuck, I think my washing has gone critical.  I can't wait to get home and put it in the machine.

We popped to the hotel bar (the Venus cocktail bar) for some lunch.  It was really nice and the staff were really friendly, and I enjoyed my chicken and chip/hash brown pitta (can't remember the name of the dish).

We walked to the Koala supermarket and got stopped lots by street vendors - they can be quite a pain, but usually they take "no" to mean "no".  The supermarket was designed for "Obrunis", with so many western products.  My favourite was Heinz tinned Spotted Dick (about the closest flavour match as I have managed to get to the spotted dick my Nan used to make) - they stopped selling that in Sainsburys in Norwich, but I know I can go to Accra to get some if I am desparate.

Walking back we passed 2 Policemen on a motorbike - I am not sure what concerned me most, the fact that neither had a helmet on, or the fact that both had machines guns resting on their shoulders - no risk there if there was an accident.

Popped down to the Venus bar before going for dinner at Monsoon.  It is amazing what people bring around to sell on the streets.  I wonder how many people sit at a bar at 7pm on a Friday night, having a quick beer before going out thinking "Damn, I could really use a calculator" - if this is you then the Venus bar in Accra is the place to go - a guy came past with about 20 for sale.

Monsoon.  Wow.  We decided to splash out quite a bit so we had Gin and Tonic as an aperatif, then a Sushi starter (the tuna was amazing).  I then had Ribs - delicious, followed by Chocolate Brownie and a Drambuie.  It was a really nice meal.  However, it was not cheap and makes you realise once again just how vast the gulf is between our disposable income and that of the villagers in Brenu.  It is probable that our meal for 3 came to the same as a months wages for a teacher in Ghana! (about £50).  I am not ashamed of spending the money - you cannot beat yourself up over the differences in money - but it is a truly terrifying gulf and you can see why people can be quite direct in asking for money/gifts from westerners.

Came home and went to bed, although I was confused by the padded toilet seat for a while - who decided they were a good idea?  Its a really strange sensation.

Saturday 10th February 2007 (Day 29)

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This really is the beginning of the end.

We started the day with a traditional Ghanaian breakfast of Donuts and orange juice.

Went to the market - it is a great experience, just the hustle and bustle, the assortment of goods available, amazing colours, it is just a shame that the stall owners are all fed up with tourists and don't want you taking photos of their wares.

We then went to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park - there is a stunning monument/mausoleum there (he was the first president of Ghana), unfortunately the park was closed and photos are prohibited - apparently this is quite common.  I knew about their aversion to photographing anything military but this takes it to another level.

Continued on to the National Cultural Centre - basically a group of tourist shops.  We were shown around the yard where they make all of the drums, masks, paintings etc... I bought a drum (sorry Janice, Spider, Marmite and neighbours).

After that we went for a traditional Ghanaian lunch of Pizza at Momma Mias (really nice) and then we hunted down Reillys Irish bar to watch England -v- Italy, although I am not sure it was worth it given the performance, even if we did win.  We went back to the hotel and watched a Bugs and Daffy movie to round off my thoroughly Ghanaian last day.  It is amazing and scary how easy it was to fall into "western" mode - I then went on to buy pringles, jelly babies and bourbon biscuits for the journey home.

To be honest after our morning I actually felt I had experienced enough of Accra for this trip - especially with the sapping heat making it hard work.  The city is manic and lots of people take an interest you, but I felt quite safe and liked the market - I just wish I had more confidence to buy and try some of the foods.

Finally it was time to leave for home.  The airport lived up to my expectations of Ghanaian officialdom - queuing up to have your baggage checked before you check in (although they don't look at it or weigh it), then having it weighed as you join the queue to check in, then getting your passport checked (still in the queue to check in), then checking in (and weighing your bags again), then going through passport control where I had to fill out an exit visa (I still don't understand why), then going through security (where they stole 500 cedis - 2p - from me - I didn't argue, it was too pointless), then going to the passport check at the gate, then going to seat check point at the gate, then going into the the gate waiting area, then going to the plane.

The flight was OK, although there were lots of annoyances at the start, like an old man who refused to sit in his designated seat and stopped a woman from sitting by the window as she had booked, and people who found it difficult to read their seat numbers.  I also kept getting knocked and did not sleep.

Sunday 11th February 2007 (Day 30)

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Landed in Amsterdam and after a 3 hour wait boarded for the final journey, which was really smooth and quick.

At long last I am home.  I have thoroughly enjoyed my experience, and am glad I persevered through the second week so that I could enjoy teaching the children.

The people of Ghana are very welcoming and are incredibly happy if you make an effort to learn their handshake greetings and some words/phrases of their language.  They always have a ready smile.  Sometimes they can be over attentive and I found that quite wearing at times.

The roads and cars are an experience - it is almost impossibly to convey the condition of some of the cars driving on the roads - you have to see them for yourselves.  The cars complement the amazing driving skills.

The corruption - especially by police on the roads - is not good for the country, and it helps ignore the state of the cars.  As Mat suggested once, it would be nice if the money collected by the police could be converted into credits for servicing cars or something.  Unfortunately it is hard to see how you can tackle the problem of corruption.

The cities are quite dirty, with open sewers and there is a culture of littering, this can be quite shocking sometimes (and the smell can be off-putting).  It would be interesting to see if, by running an anti-litter campaign and providing more bins, a new workforce/industry could be created.  The potential benefits associated with reducing sickness may well offset the costs involved and it would provide a route to reduce unemployment.

As for volunteers - this was a great experience and I would urge anyone contemplating it to go ahead and get stuck in.  It was not easy but there is a lot of potential to help.  For the Brenu project in particular I would suggest there is a need to concentrate on teaching the teachers and supporting them in their day to day work.  At some point the teachers will have to be able to do the job on their own, they cannot depend on volunteers forever.  Also, providing remedial classes worked really well.  I can look back at my time and say that I have helped children write letters correctly, I have taught them new games to play, new songs to sing and new things they can do to learn in the classroom.  I (along with Mat and Morri) helped save a boy from a potential lifetime of pain.  These are the tangible things.  There may be other effects like parents taking more interest in their children because we have made the effort to help them (based on something Kwesi mentioned - how they really appreciate us coming to the village).  We have helped enforce the end of corporal punishment and hopefully Mat and Morri can continue to help the teachers to understand other ways of keeping discipline.

Going forward I am not sure how this experience will affect me and what I had been expecting from it.  I have gained some level of self belief which had been ebbing away over the last few years.  It gave me chance to think over some of the things that have happened over the last year and hopefully I have managed to settle them in my mind some more.  Hopefully some of what I have learned can be put to good use in the future when we have a family (my kids are going to hate me when I try and teach them to read).

I hope you have enjoyed reading this blog - I am amazed at myself for keeping it going and am really chuffed that I have this record of my time (it would have been so easy to be lazy and to just hope I could remember everything).  I also hope that my negativity in the second week does not put off anyone from considering this kind of volunteer work - as I have really enjoyed the other 3 weeks and just knowing how hard it was to leave school on Thursday tells me how much I had enjoyed the experience.

Take care of yourselves

Steve