(NMR = Not Metal Related... UInless you count the grinders and presses as
machinery that is...)

Someone asked me in a private note what we did as far as the educational
piece in Ghana... Here is a semi-detailed write-up for all to see.

***

· Every student in K, Elementary (1-6th grade) and Middle (7, 8, 9th) were
catalogued (name, age, school level) picture taken and interests noted. This
will help us have a running number for supplies/curriculum purchase as well
as for shoes, clothing, etc. We are working on a photo book that will
include the photos and this information for fundraising purposes.



· Every elementary student had their reading level individually evaluated by
a reading specialist and suggestions of grouping was made to teachers. This
will help us to prepare phonics materials, teacher materials and classroom
sets of books that we will bring in July.



· In addition to teaching classes for the better part of a week, we met with
every teacher in primary and middle to list what their needs are in terms of
training and materials.



· We were able to procure the current Math, Science and English books for
each class from 1st grade to 9th grade for the education team to analyze and
determine either better materials or supplementary materials to bring in
July.



· Each student who is eligible for placements tests for Secondary School was
individually counseled as to what their grades are now and what areas they
need to focus on to pass the testing in April.



· We procured samples of the testing for admission into Secondary School and
now will work on study guides for the students to use to aid in their
passing the entranced exams in April of each year.



· We were able to set up a relationship with the administration of APSEC a
secondary boarding school in a larger neighboring town. We have promised to
do some teacher training and improve their library in July and they have
promised to aid in the acceptance and registration of all of the eligible
students we send them.



· As of today, we have 3 students attending classes that prior to our trip
had no way of attending:

o Issak has been accepted to Abtech in and the fees were transferred this
week. He will start as a boarding student today or tomorrow.

o Abraham has been accepted to St. Dominic and the fees were transferred
this week. He will start as a boarding student today or tomorrow.

o Alex (one of our guides) has been accepted to a remedial program in the
capital city of Accra to prepare him for University. His fees has been
transferred and he will begin tomorrow.

· By next week, the following students will be funded:

o David, has been teaching in the school at the village with no pay for a
year as he has not had the funds to complete his teacher training. By the
middle of next week, the money will be transferred and he will start his
teaching training in September.

o Seth is a 23 year old man who went back to Middle School at age 21 to sit
for the exams so he could get a secondary education. He has been working his
way through school but needs help with tuition to complete. By next week, he
will be funded to become a boarder have tuition to complete secondary
school.

o Anime, Agyei and Samuel from the village will have their fees paid to
continue at Avotrain, a technical training school in the larger outskirt
town.



· Lastly, we distributed a packet of paper, crayons, pencils and other
supplies to every student in K, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6th grade. For the students
in K this is the only supplies they have ever received. Also, we left a
large bag of supplies and funds to purchase paper with the Elementary school
teachers.



· FYI, a list of some of the classes taught by our team -

o Photosynthesis

o Poetry - use of onomatopoeia, repetition, alliteration and rhyme

o Vocabulary lessons on their literature reading

o Addition and subtraction of fractions

o The life-cycle of a mosquito

o Government - law in Ghana

o The human reproductive system

o Erosion

o The structure and uses of the internet (with the use of a mobile phone as
we did not have computers)

o Advances in farming and communication technology

o Use of Adverbs

o Present Progressive verb tense

o Plural Nouns

o Characteristics of Polygons

o Structure of a flower


***

All of this is a fulfillment of the dreams we had last January when four of
us went there for the first time to visit the village. My goal was to have
others catch the vision we brought back and it looks as if that is happening
on a grand scale.

Our most productive work was done regarding the educational process.

The construction side of things was second in line as far as how productive
we were. While finding something as simple as a nail in the area takes half
a day, we were able to have custom made security devices made for the
windows in the medical center we rebuilt in May of 2010 (custom welded
steel), install them, and then work on storm shutters. For the shutters, we
had to find raw materials (boards and fasteners as well as tools) and build
them from scratch. We were able to put up the shutters on our last day
there. One additional step that was taken was that we pre-ordered custom
doors for the medical center. They were delivered to someone who will hold
them for us on Monday or Tuesday from what I understand. Our next trip there
can include the installation of these wide, custom wood doors. The cost in
the USA for these doors would be more than $500 each whereas on site, we
were able to get them for around $55 each. We re-evaluated the roof of the
structure and found that although the trip in May focused on putting a new
roof on, the structure had taken quite a bit of damage recently. We believe
a total tear-off and rebuild of the roof is necessary for the medical center
to reach it's next level and become useful to the village. This can be done
by our team or it can be done by local craftsmen if we can raise the funds.
Most of us believe that the majority of the work there (construction) would
be better accomplished if we paid local craftsmen to do it and simply
provided the means and oversight. What takes 10 minutes to acquire here in
the USA can sometimes take days in the village. Luckily, our construction
guys were also assisting with the teaching and other projects. The kids in
the village had never seen a band aid before our arrival last year... Now
we hope to have a functioning medical center in the heart of the village
within the next year or so staffed by the trained and yet-to-be trained
teachers from the school.

The third area where we made progress is water... Both drinking and
re-routing of erosion-causing rain. We evaluated the stream most of the
village uses and found it unfit and unsafe for drinking or cooking
(sewage!). We evaluated Well #2 at the far end of the village and found it
to be excellent but at two miles from the center of the village, distant.
We finally located a third well that had been abandoned and was
non-functional because the villagers said the water "turns red" when pumped
out. It is too far from the village to be useful for drinking water, but is
in the perfect location for an irrigation project. This third well may be
put back into use in the future as we also located an abandoned "factory"
used to make meal out of the local farm crops. My goal is to get the
grinders and presses up and running on or before my next trip to the
village. We also came up with a plan to build trenches around the main
schoolhouse to divert water from the foundation as there is some very
serious erosion going on at the site. We mapped out the trenches, staked
the ground and left the job to those in the village to start while we are
back in the US. We will re-evaluate the effectiveness of the trenches after
the rainy season. The foundation of the school is as much as four feet above
the current ground level in some places.

Probably the most important thing that took place during the entire trip was
relationship building. Our team grew together and we made some very
important contacts in the village and surrounding areas to help future
teams. These contacts range from transportation specialists to hotel
managers to people who can oversee construction to people who can hold
materials for us while we are planning away here in the USA.

A small side note is that three of us took a trip to the orphanage that our
host from last year introduced us to. We took significant video footage and
walked the property. We have determined that an entire trip(s) could be
accomplished on their site should we choose to do so.

The truth is that the small village we are working with is hopefully going
to be self-sufficient in the next few years. While we will continue working
with them, we would love to spread the assistance out to other needy areas
soon.

Please share upwards and outwards with those who would like to know. As you
can imagine, the more support we receive, the more we can give.

Anyone interested in learning more about this effort can either contact me
directly or can visit www.AOVGlobal.org, www.LifeForGhana.com or the church
that I am working all of this through, www.TLCC.org.

Regards,
Joe Agro, Jr.
(800) 871-5022
01.908.542.0244
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