While the electricity lasts...

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Well let me give a quick update from the last few weeks. The entries from here on out may be a little sparse due to the fact that in the new town where I am staying, the electricity is usually out from around 6 am to 8 pm. Not too convenient.
I will start with last weekend. This past weekend I went back into Accra to visit my friends there, to go to a Projects Abroad event at an orphanage, and to see the Independence day festivities. It was nice to see all the volunteers from back in Accra as it's abit quieter and more mellow with just 6 volunteers, and possibly the only 6 obrunis in the whole town. On Sunday for Independence day we got up quite early thinking that it would be very crowded. We managed to get seats in the shade and waited for the event. In typical Ghanaian fashion the event started 45 minutes late and consisted of a lot of school children marching around the square. There were several presentations by the schools, but they were a bit to far away to see. The president then gave a speech which was hard to understand due to the faulty amplification system, but it was something along the lines of "Ghana is a great and free place. We are so free and these children are free and will help Ghana be even freer." Or at least that's what I got from it.
Ok on to my new house and placement. I am staying in Kasoa, a town about an hour outside of the central part of Accra. In fact though, because Accra is such a sprawling city, it is hard to tell where the city ends and all the towns such as Kasoa just merge together in one massive mush of people and buildings. Like the rest of Ghana Kasoa is very contradictory. The house where I stay is very nice; we are served dinner in a fancy dining room through a window in the wall, yet there is no running water and rarely electricity. Everyday I take a tro or taxi about 15 minutes to the Royal Seed Orphanage and school where I work. I had heard before starting to be prepared to see physical punishment often. If you, like I did, are picturing well disciplined children cowering in fear of the cane, then you are completely incorrect. To describe the Royal Seed in a word: a mess. A complete and utter disastrous, chaotic mess. It is made up of about 4 buildings around a dirt yard. On one side is the school, a long low building divided into about 10 classrooms with half walls. The classes are tiny and usually have about 40 to 50 students in them. They are all crammed into tiny wooden desks or most of the time just running wild all over the class. Walk outside the school and you see kids toddling around, babies lying in the yard crying, older children cooking on open fires...
My duty is "creative arts" teacher, which is teaching crafts. The kids are great, but the place is a mess.

Well my internet time is running out. More soon!

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