A Little Help Here, Please?

"I wish i could solve this myself, but it is beyond my capability"

The above quote is from an email I received today. And I'd really like to reply with some gung ho cheerleader speech about how gosh darn it, we are all capable of everything if we just put our minds to it.

Sadly, I knew the deep truth behind the words, and it caused me great upset.

The words came from a very decent young man I met in Ghana. His name is Toufic, and I count him among my friends. He lives in Larabanga, a small village that I visited in Northern Ghana. I have lent some small support to building a school there, and Toufic spent the summer in his village, working as a volunteer teaching english to the children of his community. He is beyond his years, the kind of person for whom "giving back " is instinctive.

His father has passed, so his uncle has become his patriarchal figure. Remarkably, Toufic was among the first of his people to have attended high school, (he walked 8km each way every day, I know this cos I drove the road) chased by elephants and harassed by baboons. Even more astounding, he managed to pass the very stringent Ghana University Entrance Exams, so that he could study in Tamale, some six hours west of his village. Seriously, these exams are very difficult, especially given the varying quality of high school education.

He completed his first year of post secondary education, thanks to support from his uncle. Tragically, his uncles farm was struck by catastrophic floods which means that there is no crop and therefore no money to pay for Toufic to go to school. More information is available here and here.

So this is my appeal to you. We need to raise $750 cdn so that Toufic can attend school for this semester. He is currently in attendance, but he will get kicked out if he doesen't pony up, so there is some urgency here. This money includes textbooks, classes and living quarters.

While I am championing microprojects, I also want to champion the idea of microgiving.

The maximum donation that will be accepted is $5 US. Any donations in excess of this amount will be returned. Exceptions will be made when one donation is made on behalf of multiple givers.

Where I really need help to make this happen is for you to tap into your networks to help spread the word. I simply do not have enough people on my network to make this work. It is beyond my capability. A repost with a recommendation is more important than a donation at this point.

Rest assured that every dollar raised will go directly to Toufic and I will pay the first 20% plus money transfer costs, so we really only need to cough up $600 cdn. 120 times five dollars.

Toufic has worked very hard to create opportunity for himself, and while this situation may be beyond his capability, it is most certainly not beyond ours.

You can microgive with the security of PayPal at http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Obama at Cape Coast

I don't care what The Associated press says, this video is from Cape Coast, Ghana, not Accra, Ghana.

Also, I found it very surreal to see Obama walking the same sacred ground that so moved me only a few weeks ago. You can see my video of the castle below.

http://goyestoeverything.com

Omenako Update

Image via Wikipedia

The follwing is reprinted from Elena's blog. Very impressive Elena, thanks!

On Wednesday, July 1, 2009, Omenako School teachers, local officials, community leaders and several members of the Ghana Forum Foundation met to discuss the school’s long range plans.

The District Director of Education promised to notify the Director of Basic Education in Accra about the Omenako School project and lobby for support. All this effort should translate into improved educational performance (teaching and learning) by the school. Consequently, the school will be used as a model and will be called upon to represent the area in any educational competition.

A connection with Forest Hill High School of Jackson, Mississippi USA, has been established through the Sister School program developed by Opportunity Education. A pen pal program will be started so that the students of Omenako and Forest Hill can learn about each other. The coordinator of the Forest Hill sister school program has also suggested that a book drive may be undertaken to send books to the Omenako library. The District Director was touched by the fact that people of all walks of life with no direct connection to Omenako or the school could go this distance to help the school.

The Queenmother of Omenako made the following points: When the headmistress started the effort of putting up the school building, the people were skeptical. But with the diligence and accountability she has shown so far, she has won the trust and confidence of the people. She made a personal appeal to the District Director of Education not to transfer her. She has become an asset to the community.

The PTA chairman pledged the full support of the parents, and will continue to mobilize the people for any help they can give.

It was noted that the school office and store are completed. Any books can be stored there and be checked in and out by the students until the library is ready.

It was found desirable to invest in one computer and a printer at the school. This will entail signing up with one of the wireless internet providers in Ghana. This will facilitate the exchange of information with the sister school. This will serve as a pilot and will prepare the groundwork for a future internet cafe/computer lab at the school.

There is interest in undertaking a rain harvesting program in the future. The harvesting of rain will serve as an effective teaching and training tool for the students, demonstrating how to maximize the use of natural resources. This will facilitate the set up of a plumbing system.

Short Ghana Vid from one.org

http://goyestoeverything.com

Omenako Angel!

Another of the fine people at www.ghanacommunity.com has started a blog regarding the Omenako School Project, which you can see here The coolest thing is that she has found a sister school for Omenako, located in Misissippi. Nice work Elena!

The Road Ahead

While I will continue to post here regarding the continuing progression of the Omenako School Project and The Larabanga Project I am trying to put all my story in one place.I would also like to acknowledge the deep debt I have to the people at www.ghanacommunity.com . They have helped me to steer my life in a new direction and for that I will be forever grateful. I have created a website that will centralize my progress in the areas of giving and traveling as well as a blog about my own hometown. If you want to follow me on my next journey please go to www.goyestoeverything.com

The Omenako School Project

All of the Omenako images and videos posted below are courtesy of the good people at www.ghanacommunity.com Thank you! If you want to know more about the Omenako School Project click here Now that the roof is completed the next phase will be plastering and cementing. The total cost of the roof was around $500 U.S. To all who contributed you can see the results of your efforts below. The next phase however will be more costly, probably in the $1500 dollar range. If anyone wishes to contribute using Paypal or a credit card it is easy to do by clicking on this link and clicking the "Donate Link" at the top of the page. This is how I have transferred money to the project and it all works very well. Also any contributions received are acknowledged on the forum. Total disbursements to the project so far from Canada are about $1200 CDN and I believe the worldwide contributions come to about $2500 US, minus the cost of the roof, $500 US. To all who contributed, give yourselves a pat on the back!

Interviews With The Headmistress

Three short interviews with the Headmistress, Ms. Theresa Manso.

#1 Why do we see your pupils carry stones? Here

#2 So what have you been able to do with the stone revenue? Here

#3 How may we best help you? Here

The Headmistress Ms Theresa Manso

Omenako Faculty and Students

Before Pics

Old and New Roof

After Pictures

Omenako School Project

I just wanted to post some amazing news. Phase one of the school project is completed! A proper roof is now in place. The children have taken it upon themselves to jump ahead of us and have begun plastering the walls. The next move will be installing doors and windows, so that the building may have some security.

To be honest, I got very emotional when I saw the pictures of the new roof. I started the idea that led to this and for reasons I cannot fathom a "small army" was created to fight for this idea. Make no mistake, while I may have helped create this army, I do not lead it. All credit must go to others who created the financial infrastructure, and to those who are doing the work within Ghana, and all of the generous donors. I will be posting some pictures from Omenako shortly. For those unfamiliar with the Omenako school project you can read the whole story here

Photo Gallery

All photos are now posted. CLICK HERE

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Video Map

Videos are now uploaded. CLICK HERE.

Crocodile at Hans Botel

Another Crocodile Pic

Seriously, What am I doing in this pen?

Afraid of heights? You should do this!

Me at Hans Botel

Larabanga/Trotting to Tamale

Image via Wikipedia

Back in Accra. I am sitting at Champs sports bar, the most westernised place I have found. Home of the $15 dollar hamburger and soccer on the big screen, it is part of The Paloma Hotel. When I was last here, I berated myself for wasting my time in a place that was little different from home. Now, weary and beaten down from the road, this place is like Mom bringing you chicken soup in bed.

The toll of a lot of traveling finally caught up with me in Tamale. I blame it all on Toufic and his damn hospitality. Toufic is a young guy who came with me to Mole, and given the awfulness of the journey from Tamale to Mole and back, I was thankful for the company. As it happens, he is from Larabanga, a village near Mole national park that I had read about in my research, so I was able to accompany him as he went home for a few hours. Larabanga is a 100% Muslim village and home to the oldest Mosque in West Africa, circa 1421. I was able to meet his friends and members of his family and he took me to the mosque, where custom compelled that I meet the Imam and request permission to go to (not in) the Mosque. The Imam was an elderly man who was laying out in the searing sun, and thankfully permission was granted for me to proceed. As Toufic led me to the mosque we came upon some men coming from the mosque who knew Toufic. A heated argument ensued in the local dialect that somehow related to my presence. I kept my head bowed, while I wondered what the problem was. It seems that Toufic was supposed to register at the office and I was supposed to pay two cedi. He had informed me that I would have to pay and there was some office we needed to go to, but he was now trying to tell the men that we had stopped by the office and no one was there. Having not specifically recalled this on our meanderings through the village, I nodded inconclusively as he tried to enlist my help in the argument. More heated words and finally I coughed up the two bucks, no problem, and at that point the argument ended in robust laughter and smiles. I've noticed many arguments in Ghana end this way.

Anyway, Toufic took me round the mosque, then we walked with his friends to “The Sacred Stone”, a mystical stone intertwined with the Muslim history of Larabanga, then he showed me an awesome project he is involved in with the local school. Only a few years ago most of the people of Larabanga rejected the notion of school and Toufic , now 22, was among the first to attend school from his village, though he had to walk about eight kilometres to Mole to go to school. He told me stories about he and his friends being chased by elephants on their journey to school. He showed me a project he is involved with, in conjuction with an NGO, building schools in Larabanga so kids may receive full schooling without having to leave the village until they seek post secondary education. I was very impressed by Toufic, who is now at college in Tamale.

After we left the school, we went to the soccer field to watch the locals play. It was then that Toufics cellphone rang and my downfall began. It was his sister on the phone, saying that she had prepared some food for us and we should stop by for a bite. I had been so good up to this point, but I knew that this was probably high risk dining for an Obruni. Nonetheless, I rolled the dice and came up snakeyes. The food itself was delicious. Two pots, one consisting of a sort of very glutinous mashed potato made with corn and plantain I think, the other a pot of sauce like a beef gravy with a few chunks of meat. The idea is you grab a handful of the glutinous mash and dip it in the sauce. As I said it was delicious, but its legacy was not. It is not that there was anything wrong with the food, it simply contains microorganisms that I haven't been exposed to. So the Obruni pays, while others enjoy. Throw in a 4:00 am bus departure on a journey of epic awfulness back to Tamale and depleted defenses from so much travel and you have the perfect recipe for a crash. By the time I got to Tamale, I was done. All hopes of getting to Kumasi or Accra were dashed when I saw that the next buses were not leaving for seven and a half hours, I threw in the towel and decided I needed a bed now. I limped back to the very crappy and overpriced Heritage Hotel and spent the better part of the next 27 hours in bed.

http://goyestoeverything.com

Mole National Park

I Guess It Rains Down in Africa

After arriving late to Mole, I check in, crank up the AC and scope the scene. The hotel is in a spectacular location, overlooking the savannah and elephant ponds in the valley below. Very, very beautiful and spectacular. I dine poolside, gazing at the awesome expanse before me. After dinner, I wander over to the staff canteen to find a crowd gathered around a television, watching a soccer game, and I suddenly feel like I am in some FIFA promo about how soccer unites us all as the screen glows in the dwindling twilight of the African outback, while the men argue about the game in a tribal language. As darkness falls a spectacular lightning show rises. Every second or so the distant sky lights up. This goes on for two hours, until finally the deluge arrives. The lightning lights up the valley below me, and a deluge of water pours forth. I sit for another two hours mesmerized and in awe.

Elephants, man.

So today is the big day. Will I see elephants on my safari walk? I wake up at 6:30, thinking I had missed it and cursing myself. I calmed down after being assured that the walk did not begin until 7am. Sigh of relief I arrive at the meeting place to find two very stiff and angry German women complaining because they thought that the tour was to begin at 6:30 am. After some arguing, they did not join the tour because it started late. I could not believe it. People like this will not be very happy in Ghana. Anyway, they missed a great tour, despite the mud from the downpour of the previous night. Elephants, antelope and African boar were present in multitude, and I did say hi for you, Cayelle.

Ketchup? Hmmmm, that does sound good!

So, I'm sitting on the patio/perch overlooking the elephant pond, when a voice behind me yells down to us “hey, guys!” I turn from around and not five feet away a male baboon strolls by and climbs a tree, just to my right. I begin snapping pictures. After a couple of minutes another voice says “turn around”. It is a mother and baby baboon. The mother then moves with baby on back towards the pool area, where a few people were enjoying lunch. Toufic leans into me and says “you watch, the mother is going to take the ketchup, or she is going to try and do something with the food. She will scare them and take something”. He then recounts to me a story of his school days and how a baboon once ripped up his school books. Laughing my head off, I realise this is the African version of “the dog ate my homework”, though it is not so funny when you don't have the money to replace the schoolbooks It took about five minutes, and I actually thought Mom was gone so I went back to snapping Dad sitting in the nearby tree. Suddenly, a great kerfuffle poolside. I looked over to see three young ladies fleeing their lunch and Mom perched on the table with baby on back. She grabs the ketchup and and races into the woods, where she will smash the bottle on a rock and feed herself, baby and I'm sure Dad found his way there, as he disappeared shortly after the ketchup did. They totally played us and it was awesome . “Yeah, they're tricky bastards”, Toufic confided, and I sensed he was still holding a grudge from his long ago destroyed schoolbooks.

http://goyestoeverything.com

Ride to Mole National Park

Mole National Park

Worst. Busride. Ever. Nonetheless, it was all worth it. Am travelling with Toufic, who is from nearby Larabanga, and thank god, cos there is no way in hell I would have gotten on that bus without him. The adequate state owned transit does not travel here which meant private transit and a visit to the Tamale tro tro station in searing heat that would make lead curdle. Just getting to the bus, yet alone on it was a an epic quest. While waiting ,I was witness to Tro Tro cuisine being prepared in front of me, and I'm pretty sure the health board does not pass by too often. One lady who was making and selling fufu in light soup plunked herself down beside me and graciously offered to share. I respectfully declined. When the bus arrived and we jostled our way over to where it was waiting, I was beginning to feel like I was at a Who concert gone wrong. We had to wait outside the bus to ensure that my luggage was stored. Living in Africa is like always being in a really hot and loud bar. Anyway, we finally board the bus. After sitting and roasting for about 25 minutes the bus finally rolls. About ten feet. People are standing in the aisles, it is not physically possible to put another soul on this bus. It seems a fare dispute has erupted, and we are delayed another twenty minutes while things are sorted. I am really starting to lose it. Crammed in the heat and the noise I seriously consider bailing. Problem is that I could not get out even if I wanted to. Finally the bus moves onto the road. And pulls over. At this point, the only thing for it is to retreat within, take a few deep breaths and and try not to completely flip out. The four hour ride was like bing in a heated cement mixer while someone beats your lower back with a lead pipe. Awful, but totally worth it at the end of the day.

http://www.goyestoeverything.com

Kumasi to Tamale

Image via Wikipedia

Kinda proud of myself today. After a dismal Easter Monday I went to sleep promising myself that I would do four things. Pack, Checkout, Get my bank card back, and get my ass on to the bus to Tamale. Two major fears, which involved trying to find which particular Barclays I was at when the machine ate my bank card. No easy feat in a strange African city. Nonetheless, I accomplished all, and I found myself on a moving bus to Tamale at 10:20 am. The bus departure was a miracle in itself, as it was only 20 minutes late in leaving, which pretty much feels like early at this point.The ride was longer than I expected, and we pulled into Tamale around 4:30 pm. There were a couple of chilling images on the road. The first was a Grelyhound like bus turned over on its side off the road. There had obviously been a very bad accident at some recent point. Another image was a twisted transport truck, laying neither prone nor supine right in the middle of the highway. Our bus meandered over to the shoulder and around the recent relic of some terrible moment. When I saw the truck, I let out an audible “oh”. These are just two of the many twisted wrecks that I have seen littering the roads of Ghana. I let out a second audible “oh” during the bus ride. As I gazed out the window I noticed the twelve billionth young cute lamb along the road. This particular lamb decided to act like a wreckless dog.and run with the bus, and just as we were about to pass it, it disappeared from view under the front of the bus. This is where I gasped, causing my seatmate to turn and look at me like I was crazy, oblivious to my to my private drama. Clearly, I am now in a very different part of Ghana. The journey north has meant the evangelical south yielding to a more Muslim world. The landscape is more brown, though there is still lots of greenery. I am now painfully aware of the ticking clock. I have two things left on my list. I must get to Mole National Park, so as to pass on a hello to the elephants from a friend. Secondly, I must get back to Accra and make arrangements to get to the Omenako Primary School. At this point I am considering flying to Accra because it will take at least 12 gruelling hours to get there from here. The problem is the bank card. Will it work again, or will it be eaten again, causing me to waste more precious time rectifying that problem? If daddy can't get no more love from the ATM the options become more frugal, though not yet dire.So the plan is to go to Mole and Larabanga. Larabanga is home to the oldest mosque in West Africa and also a very amazing place by all accounts. After that a mad dash back to Accra, and a journey to Omenako. Let us pray that the ATM gods will smile upon me one more time.

http://goyestoeverything.com

The Sacred Stone at Larabanga