Teshie School Project – Volunteer Diary - Day 2
A report by ESB & ESBI Volunteers on-site this week at the Ghana School Project
Painting and Electrical Teams Keep the Pressure On
Last night most of us found we could hardly stay awake long enough to eat dinner. It was a very early night for all of us at the end of Day 1. However, this morning we were all ready for an earlier start than yesterday and spirits were high as we boarded the bus for site. On arrival we were greeted by some local Ghanaians raising the Irish Flag. Temperature was so high today that within 10 minutes of our arrival on site our clothes were wet through to our skin. However, we donned our PPE and got going. The volunteers are divided into teams. The four ladies on site (Valerie Little, Tina Pittock, Patricia Carey and Bernie Healy) are the team leaders for the painting teams under painter Martin O'Brien. Sensible idea that, we're keeping the pressure on! The electrical teams were led by Brendan O'Connor singing Amhran na Bhfian down through the site!
Local School Kids Ask About Damian Duff!
During the course of the day we had several visits from small groups of boys and girls – pupils at the school. They are very gentle and approach us to say hello and tell us their names. The boys are soccer fanatics and ask us about Damian Duff. Two of them – Emmanuel and Roland – are Chelsea fans and Brendan O'Connor, ESB Networks, promised them some memorabilia today. Brendan himself is a Man Utd fan so he won't admit to where he got the gear! They came back today with their friends and were charmed with their gifts. During lunch break some of our boys, headed up by Pat Fenlon, had a game of soccer for 15 mins. with them. Needless to say they ran circles around the ESB team in temps. in the high 30's. Our boys played in their safety boots while the local team played barefoot. The game ended when the ball burst!
Contractors Still Use Sand & Open Fires
Update of progress for today: Electrical Work: Cluster 6 – All lights and sockets have been wired including outside lights and spot lights for future development. At the moment the timber slabs will have to be fitted to ceilings in order for us to complete second fixing of light fittings. This has currently commenced. Resource Centre: All sockets have been wired and lighting started. This is one of the largest areas in the project and will take a little longer to complete. Cluster 4 – Pipe work being installed. National contractors still use sand and open fires to bend the plastic piping in which the wires are installed. Liam Doyle has become quite proficient at this technique and received much praise from the Ghanaian electrical engineer.
Cluster 6 Painting: All the outside has been sealed and ready for painting. Second coats are now being applied to rooms. Resources centre: Outside sealed and ready for painting and second coat to commence in the morning on rooms. A lot of preparation was required for the painting to commence due to the fact that it was so long since the school had been painted and the walls were in a pretty bad condition.
Ghanaian Flag & Tricolour Side by Side
People realised today that they had to change down a gear in order to cope with the extreme heat. This didn't hinder progress however, and many worked on for a period after official finishing time to complete works on various areas.
At this stage it's starting to be a harder job to get them to go off site as volunteers are now getting into the swing of the work. Before we departed this evening the Ghanaian flag was raised by the ESB teams next to the Tricolour.
by Bernie Healy - Editor EM
