Progress...

There was a bittersweet ending to our science fair project. After taking data and writing a wonderful lab report for a week, we had one day left to make a poster for the science fair. Over the course of our last afternoon, the kids trickled away from the project until there was only one left. He was so upset everyone had abandoned him that he also decided to leave as well. Lessons in perseverance are tough to take for most learners. The next morning I woke up sick and in my absence the other science teacher stepped up. She gathered all the kids and forced them to finish the poster. They arrived at the science fair a bit late, but were able to present their project. The judges thought very highly of it, however our project came too late to register. In the end, it's comforting to know that next year there's a teacher willing to help these kids out.

A few learners from the science sleepover, they also participated in the science fair.

The world cup came and passed for the most part uneventfully in the village. The vast majority of villagers do not have electricity at home, so TVs are in short supply. One bar has a TV where people would gather to watch games. My family is fortunate enough to own a TV, so I watched most games from the luxury of my homestead. During the month of May, volunteers decided to gather at each others' homesteads to enjoy games on the weekends. We gathered at my homestead for the disappointing US vs. Ghana game. Everyone in my host family was cheering for Ghana. It was a bit awkward to be guests in someone else's home and to be cheering for the opposite team as them. Honestly, as the tournament went on I gradually lost interest and watched fewer and fewer games. I guess my Americanism shines through in due course.

The other PCVs got to meet my terrific trio though.

Last December I graciously received a large book donation that another volunteer had accrued. She unfortunately didn't have enough time during her service to start a new library and gratefully donated all the books to my school's library. One difficulty many PCVs face with libraries is a cultural challenge, many cultures don't read for enjoyment, thus making libraries unsustainable. I attended a daylong library workshop this past term with the English teacher. It was unbelievably boring for me on the whole. However, the more I thought about it, the more content I became. Most schools view a library as just a room full of books. Many times the room also doubles (or triples) as an office for the secretary or principal, sometimes it's also a store room. The whole point of the workshop was to show how the library should be the center of every school. One speaker pointed out that the top two performing schools in the region utilize their libraries across the curriculum. I became very hopeful about the work I've put into the library will be sustained after I leave by the English teacher.

Back in April, my school received a grant through the Peace Corps partnership program. The main aim of the grant was to rebuild the floor of our resource room. Some of the grant money went to purchasing paints for a mural and I asked learners to submit their ideas for it. Unfortunately, the designs I received were either so poorly drawn (is that a dog or a car?) or egotistical (no, we can not just write your nickname on the wall). I dictatorially chose to make a world map. Peace Corps has a wonderful manual online to walk anyone through how to make one of these beasts. We used the grid method to draw the map in pencil first, then painted in all the beautiful countries. It's been a lot of work, but we're finally nearing completion.