Welcome to my web page. I hope that you all have the opportunity to learn about the experiences that we Peace Corp Volunteers (PCVs) encounter during our two years of service. Our group of 25 education volunteers will be serving 2005-2007 in Ghana West Africa.
This page is still under construction. I anticipate making updates approximately once per month, so please check back.
A final note... Please be patient with my web page implementation. I have very little time to get this posted right now. Thanks, check back in a couple of weeks for updates.
Update 01-April-2006
Hello All. Hope things are going well back in the States. Everything is going good here in Ghana.
Here are a couple of nice pics I took at the beach in Takoradi. The one on the left is the ocean. The middle picture is the beach and the last is my fellow PCV's playing football.
There was a full solar eclipse here in Ghana on 29-Mar. The government of Ghana informed people that they would go blind if they looked at the eclipse. Most people in my village are illiterate and were scared so they stayed inside and covered the windows. I rode my bike through the town and there were almost no people out. The eclipse was actually a partial solar eclipse in my village. So it didn't get that dark. I showed some of the people in the village how to make a very simple pinhole projector with two pieces of paper. I made a more elaborate pinhole projector for my students to safely view the eclipse.
The second term started about the same as the first term. So school was slow to start. The Seniors are preparing to take their WASSCE exams which are similar to the ACT/SAT in the US. The last couple of weeks we administered mock examinations to the students to help them prepare. The actual exams take place over the next couple of months (03-April to 07-June).
Things at site are gradually improving, but not before getting worse. Starting in the first week of January the power company was putting off the electricity for half the day either during the day or night (there was no logic to it as far as I can tell). Then on the 27th it was supposed to go back to normal service. Well instead it is even worse than before. First the power was off for five days straight, then, for two weeks the power was only on for about 48 hours total. Then the electricity was on but the current is so low that you couldn't run anything (even the lights were useless, my candles came in handy). Well finally after about two months it returned to normal service. The electricity here still goes off quite a bit (whenever it rains), I guess because either there's not a national electric code or it cannot enforce properly. At any rate it has been working pretty good over the last month.
The bat situation (had bats in the ceiling) has improved as well. After having the carpenter put screening up all around the outside of the bungalow and administering bat poison (Aluminum phosphide which reacts with moisture in the air to produce phosphine gas) twice the bats finally seem to be gone. The bats are so tiny (about the size of a mouse) and they can get through very small cracks and crevices, so I won't be surprised if they return.
As far as housing goes, my major concern at this point is the leaks in the roof. The rainy season is coming and the roof needs to be repaired, soon.
I have started a small garden that includes tomatoes, potatoes, peanuts, beans, and some onions. Expanding my garden soon, for the start of the rainy season in April, is one of my tear-term objectives. Planting some green and hot peppers, some more beans and carrots would be nice. I have learned that the plants that we grow in the states don't necessarily do well here in the tropics. The days are short and the sun is very intense so, it seems as if, the plants tend to go to seed before they grow very tall. They have local varieties that are adapted to the tropics but they are expensive.
A plot of land has been allocated for each of the clubs in the school. The plots will be used to grow crops to raise money for the clubs. The plan is to have the students put in some time planting and working the plots and then when we harvest they will benefit by having money for trips, T-shirts, etc. Fund raising within the schools is a major enterprise among development workers here in Ghana. This is because there is often not enough money to run the schools or do any type of extra curricular activities. It also keeps with the very robust development principle of "capacity building," that is teaching the local community members to help themselves.
The HIV/AIDS, GYD, and science/math clubs are still a work in progress. For the GYD club I have outlined some activities for the students to participate in which will help raise their level of self-awareness and self-esteem. Many of the students are interested in the HIV/AIDS club; I have plenty of material for spreading the word to help stop the spread and minimize the impact of HIV here in Ghana. For the science and math club I had planned on helping the students build an electric bell but they don't seem that interested anymore. The school newspaper is coming along as well. I have about five article submissions as well as some news items in the school that we will report on.
I had the Science lab floor repaired and plan on building some proper shelves for the glassware and lab equipment that they do have. I also want to produce some laboratory experiments that the students can do at the school that will help them to learn the basics.
As for as secondary projects are concerned, we received more information during our in service training. The Peace Corps Personal Project (PCPP) program involves writing a proposal for a funded project in which the school/community brings at least twenty-five percent of the money. The remaining money comes form Americans willing to give. The money goes through the Peace Corps and is tax deductible. I will be working more on what I can best do to help the school here. Also there may be projects that I could help with within the community. The previous volunteers (1 Peace Corps, 2 VSO) established a library, built a soccer field, and bought the school a nice sound system (amp/speakers/etc). I think it would be nice to build upon what the previous volunteers have done.
As you can see I have been keeping busy for the last couple of months. I keep working hard to try and make things better for the people here but it's not easy; the conditions are rough and I have been sick more often than back home. Trudging through a quagmire, that's what it sometimes seems like, but my spirits are high and I have established a specific set of goals, and objective for achieving them.
Until next time, bye bye ohhhh!!!
Ivan Greene 01-April-2006