The End of Day 6 and Day 7

Yesterday afternoon we headed out to the BBQ and Soccer Match. The 1st thing we had to do was to meet the Chief. This is a normal activity when working in the community. However it is quite unusual and an honor when the Chief addresses a group or person directly. He usually communicates via his Linguist. We took part in the libations ceremony that is performed when welcoming guest. In this ritual the Chief holds a the glass of Snaps in the air to thank God and then pours some on the group for the Ancestors. Once that was done the glass was passed around to us to take a sip. Some faces scrunched up when they sipped it and others smiled. I thought it was good myself! hee hee

After, meeting the Chief the soccer match was on! It was the US against Australia, including artisans on each team. I know you're waiting to see who won but before I tell you that there are a couple of things I need to tell you first! Kristen was all over the field handling the ball like a she played with these guys daily. She got right back up when one of the guys ran right into her and they both landed on the ground. Kymberli and Ken also did their best on the US side. Douglas decided to spend most of his time near the goal just in case the ball came over there and he could kick it in for a point. Or was he just trying not to run all over the place after these guys that were obviously better than all of us. Tana did well on the side hoping and praying that the ball never came near her. The MVP of the Aussie team I would say would be Jordan. Is that because he left with the worst injury. He fell down and scraped his knee. Mitch was all over the field running back and forth after the ball. So that you don't have to wait until I post again, I'll tell you now that the Aussie's won the soccer match. They play the sport all the time, plus they had a guy on their team from the community that plays semi-professionally. Yeah he's the one that made there 2 points. The USA did get 1 point. So it wasn't an astronomical beating.

Please forgive us for not posting more. We are actually back in Accra and weren't able to get any internet access at all during or Rest and Relaxation period at the Coconut Grove Hotel. I'll update you on all the events once I'm back in the states. Can someone figure out how to make a traveling Sattelite dish so we don't have to worry about internet access at these hotels???

We are just resting up a bit after our 3 hour drive back to Accra at the Holiday Inn. I know you're probably thinking...the Holiday Inn???? Well this is no ordinary Holiday Inn. It's quite beautiful. Click on the link to view their website and check it out. I'll write more when I'm back in the states to update you on what we missed posting.

Day 5 and 6

Friday night was our cultural night. We went to the Sunset Hotel, had a great dinner outside and learned about some of the cultural traditions in Ghana. The presenter took us through the pivotal moments in the cycle of life, from birth, puberty, marriage and death. In birth the child does not leave the home for the 1st week and does not have a name. After the first week a female in the family names the child and then the child is taken outside into the light. After we learned of the traditions of puberty and marriage a choral group sang and danced for us. Then they invited us all to dance with them as well.

On Saturday Day 5 we went to the Build site for our last day of building. We were all really tired by this point in our build but everyone was still enthusiastic about getting things completed. As I told you once before we were 1 full day ahead of schedule. The roof frames on the 3rd house are up and roofing has begun. The 1st and 2nd house are nearly completed. The 1st house has now got doors, the 2nd house has been completely rendered/plastered and floors can now be completed. It was a significant symbol having the 1st door attached that we are all very proud of. The completion of any house is putting up the doors and finishing touches to the walls.

We worked a half day today as we had some shopping to do for the orphanage. Because of the conditions of the orphanage we were compelled to do something to help them as much as we could with a limited amount of time and resources that would be impactful in some way. We formed two groups. One group that would head out into the city to purchase cleaning supplies, and get quotes on 100 mattresses.

The other group along with some of the community members, (where we were building) to help clean the living quarters. Nestlé Ghana will also donate some food items. A special thank you to Maria and her excellent bartering skills that got the whole team fans. Regina has already broken hers from vigorously fanning not only herself but Douglas as well on our treasure hunt for cleaning supplies. As many of the places we visit do not have air conditioning. THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU

The pictures to the left are only small indications of what the children's living conditions are like. All of our heads are working overtime trying to figure out what we can do once we get home to help this orphanage. If you have any ideas contact any of the Project Africa Team members that you know or leave a comment on this blog.

Despite the living conditions children are the most resillient beings on this earth as they still find joy in the simplest of things. They were all smiles during both of our visits. Look at the joy in the child's face who received one of the gifts we presented from Jade, (Regina's six year old daughter).

Today is Sunday and some members of the team went to the community's Church. In Ghana Sunday is a rest day and practically everyone attends. It was a methodist service, special guests sitting next to the pastor. There was lots of singing and dancing where the team was asked to join. Jordan was instantly uncomfortable when the church asked the members to dance. The day before there was a little boy at the site who was freightened by Jamie. Jamie is a big guy and some of the children have not seen white folks before and have been known to think of them as Ghosts. Coincidently, this same little boy was at church. Before the end of service the Lord must have told the little boy that Jamie was not really a monster and he danced for Jamie.

The sermon was a lesson in how to live your life and lift God up. The team members and HFH received recognition by the pastor. Ken Bentley then thanked the members of the church and community for their graciousness and the wonderful experiences we've had while here. Betty from HFH then translated everything to the church members in the local language Twi.

See all the colorfully dressed church members and the Sunday School kids in session. The experience in Africa has been one that we all will remember for life! Later today we will be on our way to a day with the community. We've arranged for a bar-b-que and soccer match. I have a feeling that the artisans are going to take out their frustration for all the mistakes we made in the building on us during the soccer match! So I'll probably be writing to you later about all the scratches and bruises we acquire after the match! One solice is that our excited captain will be Kristen! So we can blame our loss on her! hahahahahaha.

Day 4

It's day 4!!!! The vibe was lifted today with the arrival of Ken Bentley, Vice President of Community Affairs and Cecilia Dei-Anang from Nestlé Ghana. Ken got the opportunity to meet Comfort one of the homeowners. Her house is almost done! Only the floors are left cemented and then just cleaning up and she and her family will be ready to move in! See the picture to the left of Ken meeting Comfort.

Daniel the foreman for the mason work has nominated Kristen as the number 1 worker for the day. Let's not leave out Jordan who works very hard wherever he is needed. Mitch somehow managed to get dirtier than ever before! The roof has been started on the 2nd house and will be ready for plastering/rendering tomorrow! Jordan found a new way of cutting the roofing iron with a machette and a tree root.

We had a treat today to have the opportunity to purchase handcarved items right at the site. We got a lesson in bargining with the traders. We have nominated Maria the Chief of bartering. She was quoted a price of 15Ghc (that's about $10.00US ) to 5Ghc ($3.00). She was also trying to get a voodoo doll and quoted her $150.00 US, we'll see how that goes. Especially since voodoo is not indicative of Africa. (Try New Orleans and then you'll get a voodoo doll!)

We are on our way to a cultural event tonight at another hotel. I'll tell you about that tomorrow. Internet willing! Hopefully, I'll have some good pictures for you as well.

Sorry we haven't been updating flickr. It's just been too difficult to get many pics saved. Until tomorrow...this is Douglas signing off. Picture me wavying with my right hand. (Just so you know it's an insult to wave with your left hand here in Ghana. The left hand is used to clean oneself...you know what I mean.) See the guy to the left digging a hole for those purposes.

Day 3

Today was day 3 of our build. We all were a little more tired than the 1st day and a little more sore as well. The soreness did nothing to hamper the pride in what we had accomplished in just 3 days. We are actually 1 full day ahead of schedule!! One house is almost done. The roof is up and all that is left to do is to plaster the walls. One room in that house was almost completely done by the time we left. Which means just two rooms left to plaster and then the floors can be poured. This quick plastering of the outside of the structure and inside is due to the hard work of Jordan, Kristen, Regina, Tana, Douglas and Deborah.

Today Deborah and Kristen were tasked with the duty of painting the 2x4's with a tar-like substance. They painted over 100 2x4's.

Mitch is a working machine he has carried more bricks weighing more than 40 pounds each for the past 3 days. What was that that the Nutty Professor's mother said...Oh yeah...Hercules Hercules Hercules. Here he shows the effects of all that hard work.

We shared lunch with the artisans today. It was a lot of fun and we have been learning alot about them and them us. Grrrrrrrr I have a picture of them eating Pixy Sticks for the 1st time. However, the hotel is telling me that the service provider is having problems so the connection is extremely slow. (Haven't you heard that one before. Translation that really means...I haven't a clue what's wrong and I'm not coming over to the computer to figure it out!) Douglas had to show some of them how to eat them. They were trying to suck on the straw. Just like we all probably did when we had our 1st experience with a Pixy Stick.

2 Days later

On Sunday, we had our orientation where the representative from Habitat For Humanity explained to us what we should expect and what would be happening for the next few days at the build site. To prepare us for the build we visited the site. So as the Betty said, (the HFH Rep) to get us mentally prepared for our work the next day.

It was another roller coaster ride up the county side of Kumasi to the Village. As we drove up the winding dirt roads children with bright smiling faces all waved at us frantically.

To the left see a picture of 2 of the houses that have had the most work done for our project. We will be working on 3 houses maybe four depending on how far we get. You may think that the picture is of 1 house but is actually 2. The one in front has the foundation and half of the walls completed. The one in the back that looks the tallest has the walls completed and just needs the roof. The 3rd house only had the foundation completed. We expect to have half of the walls done.

Monday -

We got to the build site at 7am. We were split into 3 groups. Each group to work on a different house. 1 group's primary responsiblity was to help with the getting the beams ready for the roofing. The 2nd and 3rd groups who worked to builid up the walls. The activities included moving heavy bricks, carrying mortar, and placing mortar between the bricks to construct the walls.

The Habitat workers got a good kick out of watching us work. We found much effort in all the tasks that they do with out whincing. It was already hot at 7am and getting hotter. The HFH carpenters and masons had no issues and kept working continuously. They climbed better, hammered faster, threw mortar cleaner and all with very minimal sweat. We on the other hand were drenched and filthy from hammering crooked, throwing more mortar on the floor and ourselves than the walls. Oh yeah and Douglas was up on top of the roof and because he was not as skilled as the construction workers at balancing on thin boards and hammering. Sat on the edge of the wall...and oops a brick fell from the wall. That was the end of his roofing responsiblitites.

I think Deborah and Renee had a competition to see who could carry the most bricks. I really can't say which one of them did because they both really really did carry a lot of them. Deborah claimed she was was promoted by the Daniel the Mason to boss. Hahahahaha he went a long with it and kept checking the precision of the working being done.

We met one of the families that will be living in the home that is having the roof attched. So they will be moving in very soon. The wife (Comfort Tetteh) worked with us today and will again be with us tomorrow. After the build we took a ride to where Comfort and her family currently are living. They live with approximately 20 families in one building. You can imagine the lack of privacy that they have. The bathroom that all in the area of the home is approximately 4 blocks away and is a public bathroom the everyone uses. There is no bathroom in the home. The Tetteh family is very grateful for the work we are doing to help them realize the dream of home ownership. Below is a picture of Comfort and 3 of her sons. The other children were away and the father was at work.

Before I have any internet issues I'm going to end this post now. I might just be pushing it to the limit. Just wanted to let everyone know that we are all doing fine even though a little tired on the 1st day. 6 more days of work to go!

We made it to Kumasi, Ghana

Arrived at Kumasi at 2pm Saturday 14th after a 6hr bus ride through some of the most difficult roads we have ever encountered. I am sure there were cars down the bottom of some of those potholes. Having real difficulties getting decent internet access which will substantially limit our abilities to communicate and show you pictures.



We are persistent though! So we created a Flickr account and will load photos there when we can. So far we've been able to get 7 uploaded. That took over an hour to do!! The Flickr account can now be accessed. Also find this link on the right hand column under Flickr Photos.

We're Here!!!

It's Friday, and we are almost all here. We are jet lagged and waiting for 4 more members to arrive. Remember there is a very big time difference here in Africa. However, that did not stop our Deborah (Den Mother) from waking everyone up at 6am. I think this is something that she got innately from being born in Alabama!!! Grrrrrrrrrrrrr

The buffet breakfast consisted of chicken sausages, waffles, fried bananas, beans, egg omelette's, fruit salad, fried tomatoes, hash. Regina's calculation of the Pina Colada was a little off to say the least. She thought it was $2.00 US when it turned out to be $24.00 US!!!!! Ouch! Regina was never good at math...Oh my she's controlling the BUDGET!!!

Kymberli and Tana arrived this morning from New York. Unfortunately, they couldn't find Betty from Habitat but somehow they made it to the hotel safely with all their luggage and a little worn out.

On Thursday evening Renee, Regina and Julia met with Cecilia from Nestlé Ghana who is a lovely person. They shared life stories over icy cold beverages. I wonder who paid for that bill??? I hope not Regina!

Deborah learned how to use her cell phone in another country! Yeah she can be in touch now!

Let's talk about the temperature. Can you say HOT!!! At 10pm it was 30 degrees Celsius 84 degrees Fahrenheit. The humdity is probably 200%!!!! Auuuugh. Now you see why we didn't complain about the cost of the cold beverages!

Here's a couple of pics of some of us lounging at the bar. (from left to right: Kristen and Douglas from USA, Julia, Renee and Regina from Australia)

That's if for now we leave tomorow at 6am. Look for the next update after our Orphanage visit on Sunday!

We are going to Ghana!

As the slogan goes Real People Real Possibilities. 2 Teams of Nestle Associates were formed, one in Australia and another in the U.S. to put those words into action. We're expanding the nest and will meet in Ghana, Africa to participate in the building of 3 homes with Habitat for Humanity's Global Village.

Below find a general view of what we'll be doing while in Ghana.

Wednesday 11 March
· 3 members of Aussie Team arrive (Renee, Regina & Jules) in Accra, Ghana
· Accommodation: Golden Tulip Accra.

Thursday 12 March
· 4 members of US Team arrive (Deb, Douglas, Kristen and Maria) in Accra, Ghana

Friday 13 March
· 2 members of US Team arrive (Tana and Kymberli)
· 3 members of Aussie Team arrive (Jamie, Jordan and Mitch)

Saturday 14 March
· Check out of Golden Tulip Accra.
· Breakfast
· Depart hotel drive to Kumasi, Ghana (approx. 5 hours)
· Lunch
· Packing the backpacks for orphanage and school visits.
· Accommodation: Golden Tulip Kumasi City.

Sunday 15 March
· Breakfast
· Directly after breakfast a comprehensive 2 hour HFHG GV orientation for team members.
· Lunch
· Afternoon visit to orphanage (Kumasi Children’s Home)

Monday 16 March
· Breakfast
· Leave hotel 6.30am. Drive to build site (approx. 40 minutes depending on traffic).
· Build - 7:15a.m -10.00.a.m.
· Snack break10.00- 10:30.am.
· Build -10:30.am -12:00
· Lunch 1-2 hrs depending on team
· Finish building 3pm
· Visit Homeowner’s current home– 2/3 homes depending on distance from build site.
· Back to hotel approx. 6pm
· Dinner at hotel

Tuesday 17 March
· Breakfast
· Leave hotel 6.30am. Drive to build site.
· Build - 7:15a.m -10.00.a.m.
· Snack break10.00- 10:30.am.
· Build -10:30.am -12:00
· Lunch 1-2 hrs depending on team
· Finish building to depart for hotel 4pm latest
· Dinner at hotel

Wednesday 18 March
· Breakfast 6am at Hotel
· Leave hotel 6.30am. Drive to build site.
· Build - 7:15a.m -10.00.a.m.
· Snack break10.00- 10:30.am.
· Build -10:30.am -12:00
· Lunch 1-2 hrs depending on team
· Finish building to depart for hotel 4pm latest
· Dinner at hotel
· US Team member Ken Bentley arriving (overnight in Accra, joining teams in Kumasi following day).

Thursday 19 March
· Breakfast
· Leave hotel 6.30am. Drive to build site.
· Build - 7:15a.m -10.00.a.m.
· Snack break10.00- 10:30.am.
· Build -10:30.am -12:00
· Lunch 1-2 hrs depending on team
· Depart work site for Hotel 4pm latest
· Dinner at hotel
· Ghanaian cultural night/open forum after dinner.

Friday 20 March
· Breakfast at Hotel
· 10:30am Visit Ashanti King
· Back to hotel to change.
· To be confirmed - possible build in afternoon/finish packing backpacks.

Saturday 21 March
· Breakfast
· Leave hotel 6.30am. Drive to build site.
· Build - 7:15a.m -10.00.a.m.
· Snack break10.00- 10:30.am.
· Build -10:30.am -12:00
· Lunch 1-2 hrs depending on team
· Depart work site for Hotel 4pm latest

Sunday 22 March
· Rest in the morning
· Church service
· Soccer Match / BBQ with the community.

Monday 23 March
· Breakfast
· Dress business casual or semi formal for the ceremony.
· Drive to build site.
· Building will be finished day before so we will only be decorating the house and tidying surrounding areas ready for the Dedication ceremony.
· House Dedication - 11:00a.m-12:30a.m Ken or Cecilia to speak on behalf of Teams.
· Lunch
· Team song or presentation.
· Media will be present
· Final closing dinner at hotel, with Ghanaian music.

Tuesday 24 March
· Breakfast
· Prepare for School visit (i.e. ensure we have packed 400 backpacks)
· 10.30am - 12:00 Visit School
· Lunch
· Dinner

Wednesday 25 March
· Day 1 of R&R
· Possible visit to Elmina Slave Castle and beach in afternoon

Thursday 26 March
· Day 2 of R&R
· Possible visit to Cape Coast Town and Elmina Town
· 2 members of US Team (Tana and Kymberli) depart for Accra

Friday 27 March
· Day 3 of R&R
· Possible visit to fishing village.
· Lunch at hotel
· Travel back to Accra to catch flights home.
· Australian Team fly back to Sydney.
· 4 members of US Team depart Accra

Build Site:

There will be 3 houses at 3 different stages of construction, each team will do the following:

· Laying bricks, cement mixing, bringing water to site
· Laying bricks, cement mixing, plastering, roof (scaffolding will be provided)
· Final house for dedication: cement mixing, plastering walls inside and out, windows and doors, laying cement floor.