Teshie School Project – Volunteer Diary - Day 8

A report by ESB & ESBI Volunteers on-site this week at the Ghana School Project

Team Health Tip Top
Today was a very good day for the volunteers. Health issues all solved and everyone in great form with the site buzzing. Thanks to Mick O’Connor who has solved the lunch problem and sourced the new supplies and the Asst. Minister for Health, Dr. Gladys Ashitey, who visited the site late last week and prescribed some antibiotics for the group.

Visit to Convent & Team Finds New Mission
Following the visit to the convent on Sunday and the meeting with the two Cork nuns organised by Dunmanway colleague, Séamus O Ceallacháin, the group have decided that on their return they will raise funds to send a container to the convent containing books, office equipment and disused computers. When visiting the nuns they discovered that the books in the library were from the 60s and 70s. In fact one publication was about a planned dam on the Volta lake which was due to be built down the line. The dam was actually completed 10 years ago. Copies of The Messenger from the 70s and 80s were also visible. The Irish team now hope to buy new books and ship them out with the equipment which they hope to gather. The price of shipping is in the order of €3,200 and they hope to raise extra funds to kit out the computer room and library. We may be advising you of more about this at a future date in EM.

Electrical Progress
An issue that emerged last Friday evening was the question of fitting fans in the library. These were in fact fitted today and this required additional wiring in the Resource Centre. The electricians, under Gerard McCarthy, decided to change the outlay in the IT Centre so that additional computers further on down the line could be added without extra wiring having to be carried out. All TV pipes have been sorted and completed. The Rebel Team from Cork remained on this evening to complete some wiring on work, which had commenced today and therefore see it through leaving a clear start for tomorrow. 2 clusters of 4 rooms now have the wiring completed and instructions have issued to have ceiling panelling completed by the contractor in the morning to allow fittings to be put up. The Squirrel Team from Dublin have finished another cluster of 4 and looped back to initial cluster 6 to insert light fittings, fans and air conditioning. This had been awaiting completion of panelling by contractor. Air conditioning wiring has been completed and Category 6 work commenced to allow for future development. Cabling has taken place to allow for floor and tiles to be fitted before the group leaves at end of this week. Both teams will have finished another cluster of 6 by Wednesday evening.

Painting Progress
Cluster 7 has now all preparatory work complete: initial coats of paint are applied and walls are now ready for a final coat. External walls have commenced painting. Pillars on Cluster 6 are now being filled and finishing work commenced. This is a slow process with numerous pillars around the building. A block of 4 and a block of 6 are completed in entirety. Another block of 4 has had walls scraped down and sealed with first coats applied. External walls are ready for sealing. A further block of 6 has been cleaned down and are ready for sealing. The teams plan to work right through to 6.00pm on Saturday next and will finish just in time to return to their hotel, shower and head for the airport.

by Bernie Healy - Editor EM