teachers make a little more than $1.50 a day

Nine days of no running water and still counting. The hotel staff told me that it should be fixed by tonight or tomorrow morning, I am not holding my breath.

Today I again spent most of the day in class 4. They were very well behaved today. It was nice to end the week on a good note. The unfortunate event of the day was when I had to use my stick. I gave the class a quiz with more than enough time to finish. I told them that I wanted everyone to finish their work. I told them that for every question that was not completed they would get one slap. I didn’t care if they got the question wrong, as long as they tried, but if they simply didn’t even try they would get punished. This reduced the number of uncompleted quizzes dramatically but there were still some that had left even 7questions empty out of 13. I had one of the students call out their names and how many questions they did not attempt to answer. Then they were to hold out their hands, palms up, and they received their punishments. I really don’t like to use the cane but if I don’t show the children that I am serious they will not have respect for me. I try to use other means of punishment that does not include the cane. I have a rule that after I write out the quiz on the board that every time they get noisy I will add another question. This usually works pretty well.

Every day the school gets new students. Mary Star of the Sea is a private school and has school fees. Not everyone in the community can afford these kind of fees yet our school continues to overflow. The community desperately needs another school. This is why completing the school project is so important. Class 4, numbering 60 was split today into two classes, taking up the second to last open class room. Class 4 B will be my “homeroom” it is up on the second story which I am happy about because on the first floor the wind carries the dust through the class rooms and it sometimes burns my eyes.

Today we ended school a bit early because we had a football match against another area school. We gathered in the middle of the school grounds and then marched to football field (right next to the school project site) as we marched some of the boys plaid the drums. It was a lot of fun. We unfortunately lost the match 1 to 3, but we were playing a really good school so I guess it wasn’t too bad.

Today before dinner, Charles and I went to have an official meeting with the Interim chief. Because the chief has died this man, I think his brother, has taken over the administrative duties until the next chief is selected. The greeting was very formal even though there were roaming chickens milling around and sometimes walking through the meeting. The interim chief explained some of the history of the area and that he is in charge of 47 villages and a total of nearly 50 square miles of land. Charles informed me that this meeting was not the place that I should express my concerns about the school project. He did not tell me this straight out but as he introduced us he hinted at it by saying that we were not here to deliver any bad news or concerns. I was impressed with what the interim chief said. He told me that many people here expect things to be given to them by outsiders. For example some may think that they will not have to do anything for the school project because they think that I must be rich and can simply pay for it to be completed. He said that you can sit around and have things handed to you. Yes they need help but they also need to help themselves. I explained that I am in no way a rich man and that the money that has come so far (totaling $9,000.00) was not my own, while I did make personal donations this money was in the form of donations. He and I are thinking on the same level, I think. He told us that we should find out what it would cost to complete the school and then try to determine how much I think I may be able to raise. After than then the rest of what is left unpaid for he will take personal responsibility for and will organize the community elders to get the building up as soon as possible. I would really like to have the building and fundraising finished before I leave in December. I am not sure exactly how we can get that done but I think that with the compassion of those at home it is possible. I will begin brainstorming immediately.

The school should have been completed months ago. There are two main factors contributing to this unfortunate reality.

1. Unfortunately specific government policies have greatly increased the price of the supplies we need. For example when we started the project a bag of cement cost around ¢35,000 and now it is up to ¢55,000. this is a dramatic change in price and has slowed our progress.
2. Many community members had pledged to help through either monetary or in-kind donations. A good number of the people were politicians and after the last election they were moved out of office and therefore cannot help. Others were business owners like brick factories or roofing companies and they have simply gone out of business because they can no longer afford the increased prices of supplies.

When I returned to my hotel room I discovered that I got a new TV. The replaced the one that I had with another one from a different room. This one is much better at showing a clear picture and I now get 5 channels instead of 3.

Another pleasant surprise was receiving not one call from home but two. The first was Caitlin, then after about a half hour I got a call from my mom and piper. It was really good to talk to them and hear about what was happening back in Oregon. I was begging to feel a bit homesick and these calls were just what I needed.

I have to wake up early tomorrow, around 5:30 because I will be going to a funeral in Cape Coast with Charles and his wife Rebecca.

I forgot to mention this a couple of days ago. I found out that teachers here make less than $50 a month. Moses told me this a few days ago and it had slipped my mind until now. They make just a little more than $1.50 a day. This is simply amazing to me. Amazing in a “how can that be possible” way. But after I let it sink in a bit longer it is less shocking. It seems like the issue of teacher’s pay is a global problem.