Teshie School Project – Volunteer Diary - Day 12

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

Ahead of Schedule
Well it's Friday, Day 12 and by 4.00pm local time in Accra the high targets set will have been reached and ahead of schedule. All the tasks in hand will be completed. The weary volunteers had expected that it would be tomorrow evening before all was finished but they have in fact been able to pull out all the stops and are now ready to depart site satisfied that all is well.

Tree Planting Ceremony
To mark such a special event a tree planting ceremony has taken place this afternoon - another bright idea from our Telecoms colleague Dave Walshe (newly christened Davy Welch - long story don't ask)! Davy (also a Director on the Board of St. Patrick's Credit Union) took the opportunity while in Teshie to visit the local Credit Union where he met the manager who is very keen to come on board with the CU visiting the school once per month. Discussing this with one of the teachers, Davy found out that the children should be able to save one Cede per month (approx $1). To attend the school a family has to find 100 cedes per child per annum. There are 3000 children in Teshie (they operate on a shift system to cater for these numbers) and 140 teachers, though not all full time.

Tasty Tasting Tayto!
The arrival yesterday on site of a consignment of Tayto Crisps, thanks to the ingenuity of Dave Carey from Cork, led to excitement of gigantic proportions.

Culinary Delights
BLT sandwiches have now been renamed officially to MLT (Mick O'Connor/Liam Tobin) and consist of bread, butter and cheese - ham if you're lucky. Forget the lettuce however and definitely no mayo!

Whistle while you work
As well as coming up with the tremendous idea of sourcing the material for the IT Room, Daragh Mulligan has kept us all entertained with his CDs for the duration. Daragh, who raised a huge amount in sponsorship - €8k - donated all of this to the Teshie fund. Not withstanding that, he brought a ghetto blaster and a large amount of CDs and has presented it to the school. Good on you Daragh, you kept us all working to the Wolfe Tones!

Today saw a wet and gray day - welcome really after the intense heat.

Highlights
There have been many highlights over the fortnight - the most moving obviously being the Open Day and the reaction of pupils and teachers to the developments so far.

Final Thoughts
However, the volunteers leave - sadly it has to be said - with many wonderful memories and lasting friendships. Dublin people have learned to love Cork people and vice versa, we have seen poverty at a horrific level matched only by the amazing hope and positive outlook of the children. We have seen and felt sights and smells that one would never experience as a tourist -- you would have to work here to share those moments. We have seen a glimpse of the horror of slavery and the beauty that is Ghana with its wonderful friendly people and its amazing colour. But what we have all come away with is the privilege of being part of the greatest bunch of colleagues ever. A group that have made us all proud of our company and our country. A special thanks to our 'team leaders', Gerard McCarthy, Martin O'Brien and Mick O'Connor.

Electrical Progress: The powering up of 5 blocks, including all lighting tested, had taken place by this afternoon. The Ghana Electricity Company was completing the wiring and our teams were assisting them in putting up meter boards with the remaining time available.

Painting Progress: The preparation and painting of 5 blocks has been completed, internally and externally.

The stretched targets set by Gerard McCarthy and Martin O'Brien have all been reached. By 4.00pm local time all works will have been completed by the 24 volunteers on site.