Celebrating Australia Day in Nandom - didn't know there was one!
It is hard to imagine that in just over 7 weeks we will be concluding our direct involvement with VSO development work in Lawra – 2yrs has really flown by.
We are busily finishing off projects: Jenny, with Ruth (VSO), is completing a phase of ‘Phonics’ training for Primary School Teachers.
I am off to the Rural Bank today to help open the new bank account for the Song Taa, meaning self help, Tuouri Women’s Group (see last blog). They have now formalised their group and will soon begin inviting requests from village women and deliberating how much to loan, to whom, for what, for how long etc, etc.
We feel really pleased at this use of Ruthin Inner Wheel ‘s money, especially as we know that there are two extremely reliable and capable local Ghanaians, Eric and Denisia, who will continue to provide support. We intend to maintain this contact and continue to seek and provide financial support for this type of activity which directly affects the quality of life in villages, without wasting money on excessive salaries and spanking new 4 x 4 pick-up trucks, which seems to be the norm (not VSO) with the typical Aid Agency out here!
We are of course preparing ourselves and our vehicle for our Trans-Africa Safari
We will be accompanied by Berwyn and Julia from Ruthin, travelling through: Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroun, Gabon, Congo – Brazzaville, Democratic Republic of Congo, Angola, Namibia, Botswana, Zambia, Malawi (to visit my brother Martin and his wife Miriam), Mozambique, Tanzania, and ‘possibly finally’ Kenya – to visit our son Michael’s birthplace at O’Loitokitok, on the slopes of Kilimanjaro. We aim to be back in the UK around Sept 1st – but who knows? More later!
