Teshie School Project – Volunteer Diary - Day 8

Day 8 - Tuesday 18 Aug. 2009
A flurry of activity on the site this morning as we prepared for the Grand Opening today. Miracles were performed as final touches got underway when the volunteers reached the site.

Electrical Progress:
The Kindergarten is now fully complete while electrical work continued in the Technical School to ensure schedule is met. This part of the project should be completed by Thursday evening. Electricians will finalise Canteen and toilet blocks in Technical School before departure on Friday evening.

Note and error in Monday's report: Pressures of life as a travelling journalist meant a small error on above report. We should have explained that power was disconnected in Kindergarten for 3 hours and NOT in hospital as stated.

IT Progress:
Teachers attending the web course in the Resource Centre were busy organising the excited pupils for the official opening so the IT training team multi-tasked yet again and switched their keyboards to paint brushes and rollers to give the IT room a quick coat of paint to freshen it up for the event.

Painting Progress:

Final touches were applied to woodwork, internal and external walls to ensure that the Kindergarten was in top condition for the visiting guests. Painting also continued in the Canteen area on the site today with the three buildings now ready for their final coat. Work also commenced painting the toilet blocks for the Technical School.

General:
After a quick change and wipe down the ESB volunteers gathered outside the Kindergarten at 2pm for the 'Grand Opening', proudly sporting ElectricAid t-shirts. We were greeted by a huge number of pupils from the school smartly dressed in their school uniforms along with their parents, teachers and a number of dignitaries. It was overwhelming and very emotional for us all as the children reacted with amazement to see their photos on our digital camera. They queued up hoping to receive a gift of possibly a football, jersey or some sweets or other little token which a number of ESB staff had provided.

MC for the event was Mr. Adjei Nmai.. As this is harvest time for corn, there is a tradition that noise is not made for 6 weeks to allow crops to grow. Loud noise such as drums, music and clapping is not permitted. In the tradition of the country we showed our appreciation by 'shining' which involves rubbing the palms of the hands together as a silent clap. It took a bit of time to get used to but we quickly fell into local ways of life.

The ceremony was attended by a number of local village chiefs and respected elders. The opening prayer was given by Mr. Seth Neequaye followed by a welcome statement by Project Coordinator, Chris Adom. A game of musical chairs by a few selected school pupils provided great entertainment. A short address was made by Mr. Bannerman Mensah (Dir Gen GES) followed by an address by our Chief Executive, Padraig McManus. A musical interlude and poetry recital by school pupils then took place, preceded by an address by Hon Nii Nortey Dua (MP/Dep Minister of Youth and Sports). Presentation of Certificates by Hon. Amartey Mensah (MCE), Niall Roche and Allison Morris (ICT) were then made to a number of teachers and pupils who had completed IT courses.

The ESB volunteers where called upon to sing for the group. A rendition of "You are my Sunshine", expertly practiced was led by Brian Cronly followed by "The Fields of Athenry" led by Bernardine Moloney! A number of short speeches by one of the pupils, a teacher and PTA Member from the school and a vote of thanks from Mrs. Justine Apawu (CS) followed.

The closing prayer of the ceremony was made by Mr. Festus Konadu and finally a tour of the school was led by Brian Cronly (Project Manager) and Yooku Sampson (Project Architect). Before leaving the site in the early evening we all took the opportunity to chat, play and take photos with the beautiful young pupils of the school. It was an amazing day and made all our hard work out here so worthwhile.

A report by Sharyn McMenamin (ICT Group) and Michael O'Connor (ESBI).