In the weeks leading up to this trip, my mind was filled with many varying feelings; excitement, anticipation, but also nervousness. Overall, I was very much looking forward to the trip, re-connecting with many of the people I had formed relationships and friendships with on my past two visits and particularly the work I would be carrying out at the two schools (Karbo Primary and Junior High).
Arrival breakfast with the team
Upon our arrival to Lawra last Sunday, following over 24 hours of travel, we were greeted by Habib and Hassan (and many other smiling waving people) in the usual friendly manner. It was GREAT to be back! After a quick breakfast and wander around Lawra, which included bumping into a few of the small businesses ATE has supported, the bike ride back to the house consisted of many ‘welcome’s and people excited to see us back and working in the town. This really does sum up my overall experience of Ghana – one of very friendly and very hospitable people. The rest of Sunday and then Monday was spent relaxing, unpacking, and playing volleyball (very badly) with a group of guys that have formed a local team, many who have worked as ATE consultants in the past.
Our first few days in Lawra were due to be slightly less strenuous than the ones to follow. Our first day of working in Lawra was Tuesday. We all visited both of the schools to check on how the feeding program was going, to arrange a meeting with each head mistress, and to talk through our schedules for the two weeks. On Thursday I was due to be starting to collect data to analyse the success of the feeding program in both schools – the main reason for my trip.
We set off to collect data from Karbo Primary School after a quick team meeting, and necessary picture!
Thursday arrived, and I was very excited to start my work collecting the data from Karbo Primary School with a team of volunteers and consultants. We had a huge task, having to weigh and measure the whole school (over 450 children) in one day to make sure we had enough time to achieve all the other jobs on the schedule for the rest of our trip. The team assembled at the Karbo Primary School early in the morning, eager to get started. Following a brief action plan, group discussion and photo, we started measuring in class 1 and worked hard, managing to collect data from 6 classes before lunch! Throughout the rest of the day and onto Friday, we completed collecting the required data from both Karbo Primary School, and Karbo Junior High School.
At first glance, the data looks encouraging, with significant increases in both height and weight of the children a common factor. I plan to publish a report announcing our findings as soon as I have analysed the data appropriately.
I have also been tasked with giving Kanyiri some brief computer lessons ready for him to start secondary school in September. Kanyiri has close links to ATE, as he is the son of one of the beneficiaries of our BizATE program; therefore he has seen the good work that we do at first hand. He joined us as part of the team that took part in the weighing and measuring of the Primary School children on Thursday and Friday, and found his first experience of working with ATE ‘very interesting and enjoyable’. It has been a privilege getting to know, coach and work closely with Kanyiri so far, and I am really excited to continue to help him develop his understanding of our work, as well as his use of a computer.
During the rest of my time in Ghana, I will be continuing to work with Kanyiri, using his new found expertise of excel to help collect data from both schools surrounding the issue of school attendance. The data I recorded from the two schools on our last trip in January, showed an average attendance rate of 92.04% and I am hopeful that the introduction of the feeding program at Karbo JHS will have helped to encourage more students to attend school more regularly.
So far, I have not spent much time working with Sarah, Habib or Leela, however I regularly see them zooming about the town visiting many of our small businesses, discussing plans for the ‘evaluating success’ conference and preparing content for our SNAP meeting in Jirapa next Saturday. They have particularly been busy deciding which applicants to select as new businesses to benefit from the BizATE program.
I have once again thoroughly enjoyed my time in Ghana, and am looking forward to the rest of my stay.
I love visiting the schools, and seeing the impact that the work I do has on these wonderful children.