New water tank base

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We hear that the concrete structure to support the large water tank has now been completed and the tank will be installed any day now. This will make a big difference in that water supply and storage has always been a major problem.

Agartha, a new carer, a lady with some years appropriate experience, has just started a trial period.

Fortunately in the GlobalGiving Bonus day this week we received a substantial donation which will cover wages for the coming year. At present we are supporting (in a very meagre way) the school head, papa who looks after the children, and two young carers.

Shortly we will embark on helping the construction of a dining hall and kitchen for the centre, and hope to get the foundations dug very shortly. I expect to have some more definite news in this area in the coming weeks.

Thank you for your ongoing support - much appreciated!

Thanks to recent support, we have now been able to send funds to make up several more wooden bunk beds and buy 10 mattresses for the children. We have also started paying wages for 2 ladies who are caring for the children; in addition we are each month supporting papa (who cooks for them all) and the school head teacher. Bedding and furniture is still required!

With Dieudonne Kakpo I travelled to Accra on Tuesday 29^th March leaving Cotonou in Benin at 7.00am from Place de l’Etoile in a mini-bus run by the company Tunde. Apart from the hassle at the borders of Togo and Ghana the journey went smoothly and we were met by Issa, Misthy’s brother. Issa works at the Accra Polytechnic and he had kindly arranged accommodation for us at a nearby Methodist Guest House.

Next day we were accompanied to the bus station and caught a forty-seat air-conditioned coach to Kumasi. The first hour-and-a-half we covered few kilometres on very poor roads and then stopped at a ‘service station’ for a ten-minute break. After this the road was good and we arrived in Kumasi after a seven-hour journey. Misthy met us and we then went on to Akomadan (aka Akumadan) in a taxi.

We were welcomed very enthusiastically at the Centre by Papa and the children. Our rooms were very comfortable with effective mosi-nets. So, ‘African showers’ over and done, we were provided with a meal of rice and a sauce (a bit too spicy for me), but after a day of only a packet of Hobnobs it was well-received.

The children were now watching TV before going off to bed, so we joined them and found a space to sit on the one bench. Later in the week we were pleased to be invited to play cards with the youngsters and the mat was quite adequate!

The resident children, twenty-four during our stay, used three dormitories and the furniture is pretty basic. There were however quite a number of bunk-beds waiting to be assembled and though we offered our hands we were advised that since there were missing parts the job would have to wait for another day. Relief!

During our four-night stay Misthy drove us in his ‘jalopy’ to the village and to a nearby town to an amazing market. He showed us his family home in the village, the base previously used by HATW volunteers. Everywhere, Misthy was warmly greeted by everyone and he responded with his routine greeting, ‘Peace and Love’!

We walked to the school at MC Centre, met the head teacher and other teachers, including a European wife of a local Ghanaian and the children. The school is well-attended and the finances of the Centre benefit from the fees paid by children from the local community. The Centre has a bus for bringing children to school and for taking the older youngsters from the Centre to other schools.

The children were eating on the walk-ways outside their classrooms and so it was obvious that there is the need for a better dining facility. This facility, when finished, will also be made available for the residents at the Centre. Currently cooking and eating is an outdoors event. The Gaz cylinder was empty!

Currently the only toilet and washing facilities available to the residents are outside the main building. The batteries for use with the solar-powered electricity supply (which was working) are placed in the indoor facility.

Misthy was well on the way in his preparations for one of the large front rooms to be completed as an office. He had bought doors and the walls were newly painted. An older pupil, Robert, was using this room which is adjacent to the TV room, as a base for doing his homework and so Misthy agreed that the office might have this dual purpose when there was supervision. There is a need however to furnish the office/study.

Misthy fully shared information in respect of the Centre funding and we discussed the requirements which Social Services might have in respect of accountability. We visited Mary at her children's Centre in Offinso with Misthy and discussed the book-keeping recommendations she had made following her visit to Misthy Cee. Mary also took us around the Centre and then on to her poultry farm. Misthy would wish to establish a similar facility at his Centre and there is certainly real potential for him to do this given the land available. Misthy accepted books for recording the names of the residents and visitors to the Centre and another for noting all financial transactions.

Currently Misthy is seeking to appoint an additional carer, a mother-figure at the Centre is needed!

We enjoyed our visit enormously and were very grateful for the warmth of the hospitality extended.

HATW visitors Geoff B and Dieu Donne K visited Misthy Cee in recent weeks and we await their report. Both work actively with our partner organisation ABOPHA in Benin and this was an opportunity for them to see another partner at work, and meet Mary a local lady who has been helping Misthy to develop the centre.

Sadly, in recent days Angelina, the original motherly children's carer who I first met in 2005, died after a long illness. Her husband 'Papa' continues dedicatedly to look after the children day by day. We send him, and the family which is Misthy Cee, our condolences at this difficult time.

Joanne Y will be going out as a HATW volunteer in the next few weeks. She works normally as a story teller in primary schools in Wales and is looking forward to trying to help the school children in Ghana. This will be an exciting adventure for her!

Various other volunteers are preparing to help out later in the year, both with child care and constructing new and much-needed kitchen and dining facilities for both school and residential unit.

Paul S spent 3 months at Misthy Cee at the end of last year and we will add his report here as soon as it is available. He was mainly helping in the school but also discussed lots of ways to develop the child care.

Thanks to a generous donor we have now been able to start paying two of the staff a small monthly wage (£25 each). Two new carers are starting shortly and we hope to be able to offer some similar support.

Misthy Cee very much needs a dining hall and kitchen for both orphanage and school, and we have just heard of some funds which will be coming our way in 2011 to enable this building to go ahead. This is really good news!

Now we are looking for volunteers to help with the work. If you are interested in short-term volunteering for 3 weeks or more and are in the UK, aged 21 to 75 and in good health, please get in touch now on 01600 740317 or email joanna@hatw.org.uk

We look forward to hearing from you!

Paul S is the latest HATW volunteer to go to Misthy Cee. A young teacher, he is spending three months there (from September to early December) helping in the school. He sounded very happy and positive when he rang us last week although there are many challenges which the project is facing. We will post his report soon after he returns. Looking after 150+ children requires a lot of skill, commitment, and of course funds. Please help us help them if you can! Thank you...

I have just had an enjoyable, challenging and hopefully productive visit to Ghana.

On arrival I was met by Siaka Stevens 'Misthy', the director of MCDC; we then travelled to Kumasi by the most comfortable air-conditioned bus I have ever been on, anywhere - 5 hours worth for £7-50! The traffic was heavy, the road in a mess in places as it is widened and also elevated and made into a dual carriageway at the Accra end. The weather was muggy and fairly hot initially with some rain. Later it became hotter (max about 35 degrees) and drier although very humid.

Reaching Akomadan after 96km in an over-full tro-tro minibus, we had a great welcome and it was lovely to see them all. There is a new name board up at the gate, I was impressed with how clean and tidy the place appeared, and how well they seemed to be coping on a shoe-string (albeit with candles instead of lanterns or electricity, and water in cans and barrels), both at the 'orphanage' centre and at the school.

Just after dark the children were all bundled haphazardly into a very ramshackle people carrier, we bought a crate of 'sodas' and were driven a mile or so to a house in town with electricity to watch the vital Ecuador match. Everyone (the boys at least!) was excited, but very calm and philosophical when Ghana lost, even though they felt a refereeing decision denied them victory. It was good to see the kids happy to share their drinks without squabbling.

The orphanage is run day-to-day by 'Papa' who cooks for the resident children (twice daily) and looks after them. Misthy also stays at the orphanage normally – although most of his family are now living in Kumasi to help make ends meet. Papa lives on site but his wife (who has been with Misthy Cee since the beginning and acted as the main carer) has been unwell for the last 6 months and lives at the family home; she thinks she is now improving (the diagnosis is unclear). I hope she will be able to return to work. Currently a number of the children go after school to visit her at home as they are missing her. The other carer retired at the end of last year, and although the whole place was quite reasonably clean and tidy when I arrived, it is noticeable that it is very sparsely furnished and a woman's homely touch about the place is missing...

It is obvious that to employ good, enthusiastic, trained carers is the top priority. Fortunately a recent donor has given HATW funds to employ two carers for a year, and I met Yvonne, a prospective 'matron', during my visit, who has agreed to a trial period (initially on £35 per month with free accommodation, and meals with the children provided). We visited an inspirational lady called 'Aunty Mary' who is a trained social worker who has for 14 years been running a children's home at Offinso near Kumasi (about 2 hours away). She was able give useful advice on employing suitable carers, and offer some encouragement and training; she also talked enthusiastically and knowledgeably about how she has made her centre viable and self-sustaining through poultry-keeping.

Visiting the adjacent school for the first time since its completion, I noted that the 9 classrooms were looking clean and cared-for, most had desks in and writing on the blackboard. 15-18 double desks can be fitted into one room, and currently they have 90 desks and need another 90. The school is now complete except for a coat of paint, and some furniture. The toilet blocks will be finished soon. Six classrooms were in use that day, most children were in kindergarten 1 and 2, the smallest class of older children had just 12 pupils. The head teacher was teaching KG2 – he is the only trained member of staff, others are young school leavers. We are keen to send some HATW volunteer teachers to help as soon as possible. Please ask around your friends!

Only half the children were in uniform (blue check dresses for girls, blue check shirt and navy shorts for boys) – cast offs would be very welcome.

At the moment one classroom is being used as a dining room when it is raining, but it is really much too small. The verandah is also used, but quickly becomes dirty with food waste. Children from Akomadan pay 20p per day for lunch, others from further afield pay 25p which includes transport in the school bus. A much larger dining room is needed, to service both school and centre, with an indoor / covered cooking area. We have been shown a plan for this – it is very important for the future development of MCDC. Maybe we can help with this building next year?

At present there are no school fees at the MCDC school; they are due to be started in September with the new academic year, but only for those who can afford them.

There is no regular income for school staff wages, general running costs, incidentals like vehicle maintenance and repair, repairing the generator. In addition, some of the original bunk beds were made with inferior wood which is starting to crack and crumble, and they will need replacement very soon.

I took large numbers of pictures of the children for the sponsorship programme and sought to match them up with names and DOB. Sounds simple but isn't e.g. 2 sets of twins have the same name, spelling is very variable, few children know their DOB, and siblings often have very different names!

Funds sent from sponsors make a huge difference, and this regular income is much appreciated. However, a few of the 50 children are not yet sponsored and, of course, inflation constantly erodes the value of funds received. Fees charged for those children attending one of the local secondary schools are high and hence these children particularly are in need of more support.

Funds from MCDC UK have also been used to purchase a huge (10,000 litres = 2200 gallon) plastic above-ground water storage tank which has now been delivered and will be installed shortly. This will make a big difference to a very erratic water supply – mains water often disappears for days at a time, and when the barrels are empty the children carry jerry-cans from a suspect spring about 30 minutes walk away (as you can imagine, this is quite unacceptable). Funds from supporters have also just provided some solar panels to provide light in the evenings, as there is no immediate prospect of mains electricity and the generator is currently in a workshop for repair. Hopefully this too will make a big difference to the quality of the children's lives.

Whilst all the materials for bunks have been bought, some have not been assembled due to the carpenter's stopping work. We are looking for a replacement. Beds in use mostly have mattresses but none have sheets or pillows. Most of the children are said to bed-wet, and mattresses have a very limited life expectancy.

The centre needs painting and some running repairs, another good job for HATW volunteers sometime maybe?

Papa also looks after the garden: growing yams, sweetcorn, chilli peppers, aubergines, tomatoes and a green vegetable unknown to me. Older boys are expected to help in the garden, which they do with glum faces but no voiced dissension. The tight financial situation does not allow employment of gardening help.

Misthy is obviously very well known, much loved and respected in the local community. He behaves tenderly towards the children, but expects and gets helpfulness and good manners in return. He likes the children to take on responsibilities and be conscientious. He strongly dislikes truancy and won't tolerate violence towards children.

I hope you agree this report shows lots of areas of hope and reasons for feeling encouraged, even though there are many challenges for the present and the future. Any offers of help gratefully received!

Child in school uniform

Kindergarten class 2

The school bus

We arrived at the orphanage outside of Akumodon shortly before the end of the Ghana - US World Cup match to find a group of 10 orphans shouting “Misthy, Misthy, Misthy”, which was the director of the orphanage that had come to Kumasi by trotro to pick us up, despite his significant walking impairment due to having polio as a child. Misthy Cee has obviously learned how to overcome his disability, not only to better his own life, but to have such a positive impact on over 40 orphaned children through his project.

Once we were unloaded off the trotro, we headed to the orphanage, where we gathered around a small radio with about 25 children to listen to the remaining match by the3 light of a lantern because their generator was being repaired. Although it was disappointing to hear the US lose the match, the excitement in the children as they danced around after the winning goal and when the time expired and Ghana has synched their victory, made up for it.

There is no electricity at the orphanage because the generator was not working, but not watching the match didn’t seem to matter to the children at all. We learned more about the project from Misthy during the rest of the evening and found out that he has also built and runs a school near the orphanage to ensure the children also had a good education while in his care.

The next morning, we awoke to the sounds of the children playing outside. They certainly rise early and have a lot of energy, even before breakfast. Because Misthy has intermittent water problems, there was currently no running water at the orphanage, so he is working on getting a polytank installed in the orphanage, but fluctuating costs and transportation logistics are delaying the project. So after a bucket shower, we went out to visit with the children, their caretaker “Papa” was cooking a breakfast of banku and pine nut stew for them in very large pots outside, over a fire. Misthy told us that he is working on obtaining funds to build a kitchen and dining hall, because it is not good to have to cook food on an open flame outside and have the children eat outside also. He also expressed the fact that they are only eating 2 meals a day, instead of the normal 3 meals that they should be eating, but with rising food prices, it is all they can afford. However, the children seemed happy to have the meal they were getting without any complaints.

After breakfast, the children played while Misthy told us more about his challenges with funding and how he was so grateful for all of the people that supported his orphanage. He told us that he knew how hard it was to survive with a disadvantage so he wanted to help others that had not just physical disadvantages, but any disadvantage in life. He was definitely assisting the 45 children in his orphanage overcome their disadvantages and live happier and better lives.

Sarah and four other In-the-Field Travelers are currently in Ghana before they are making their way to Mali and Burkina Faso. They'll be visiting more than 30 GlobalGiving projects in the next month. Follow their adventures at http://itfwa.wordpress.com/.

The Misthy Cee school which opened in autumn 2009 now has about 150 students. Some are brought in to school by the minibus supported by recent donations. Many desks and chairs have been bought for the school and the orphans residential unit. Some bunk beds have been made but others are still under construction. There are currently two resident carers and 6 teachers, these all need training and support. A trained carer costs £50 per month and a traioned teacher £100 per month. We hope to encourage some British teachers to volunteer there short-term in the near future, mainly to help with training. I plan to visit in early July and will report then, with photos, on further progress.

Exciting news! The Misthy Cee school is opening today! We hope to have some photos shortly and more details and have a colleague visiting later this month too.

Thank you so much to all of you who donated to our project challenge in April! We have now received the first cheque and funds will shortly be on their way to purchase a variety of items for Misthy Cee. Your support is much appreciated.