No Rain Needed in Ghana

No rain is needed in Ghana today. Our tears have washed across the land. The day started around 4 am. Nana walked the 20 minutes to catch a taxi which took her to a tro tro stop and then there was the 3 hour ride in a popcorn popper. Powerful and I stayed behind to do other work. Around 9 Nana sent me a text saying how terrible things were and it was very clear to us the amount of suffering the children had endured. I have some questions I can’t answer – why does a 4 year old have to endure a hydrocele that gets into his intestines?  Why does a parent have to feel there is no medical solution for their child who is suffering so it just goes on and on and is let go? Powerful says I have more questions than there are answers so we have to move onward. When I got that text it broke my heart in half. Nana was heart broken in Asamankese. She went into the theatre (operating room) with the boys and it was rough. Hours later there was another text…surgery is finished and the boys are ok – all of them and grand daddy too. The surgery was successful!  The next half hour or so was spent with big big tears of joy. Now on  to recovery for families who have never experienced medical care, much less surgery and have no concept of “recovery”. We have to be a close resource for them. True helping can be so hard and requires the strength of diamonds but it is the greatest thing in the world to see a life changed and know you had even a small hand in it. Today is a holiday in Ghana – it is a holiday for farmers – when farmers win awards for good work. Ghanaians celebrate everything to the max and there is so much celebration. If I close my eyes I can imagine that the celebration all over Ghana is for our boys ages 4, 7, 7 and 11 and of course grandaddy who has been impacted for many many years by this giagantic hydrocele. Way to go boys! Thanks for trusting us dear families. WE MUST GET OUR MEDICAL CENTRE BUILT. THERE ARE NO BOTOX INJECTIONS NEEDED, NO FACE LIFTS, NO WELLNESS CHECK UPS… THERE ARE LIVES THAT NEED TO BE SAVED AND CHILDREN THAT NEED THEIR SUFFERING TO END. TOGETHER WE CAN MAKE IT HAPPEN.

The surgery saga continues

I am doubly sure that I will never complain about health care in America again.  Our boys and grandfather spent the night in hospital and the parents missed a day of farming today which can be devastating. The surgery was supposed to start at 7am. The doctor called after 8:30 to say sorry but I’m not doing it today. I will do it tomorrow. I am concerned as tomorrow is a holiday.  This is the second day that surgery was rescheduled. Let’s put all our energy toward Asamankese and hope that it happens tomorrow. The 2-3 hour trip back and forth from Accra to Asamankese is so hard on Nana. She does it with great heart, great spirit and a sense of joy. She is a role model for me.

The next step toward surgery

The journey of today was a journey of 1000 miles. It took the better part  of a day to gather the boys and their caregivers to make the tro tro ride to Asamankese to the hospital to check in. Found out that a grandfather in the village has a hydrocele that extends from his abdomen to his knees. I can’t imagine how his life has been negatively impacted by this. He agreed (after much coaxing from Nana) to have the surgery. So our group of 4 boys grew to 5 boys with one being the grand daddy. We finally make it to Asmanakese and went to the market as the boys had to have underwear and clean clothes. We next went to hospital, waited forever, and checked in. We moved from the theatre (what surgical is called) waiting area and to the ward. We waited a while and were finally told that the surgery had been rescheduled for Thursday but the boys and parents could stay til then. I could  just picture 4 boys  with nothing to do in a  hospital ward hearing  other kids cry and beginning to build anxiety. The caregivers decided to as they say in Ghana.. “go and come”. So we gave them money for a tro tro so that Nana and I could meet with the Municipal Chief Executive at his home. When we finished we caught a taxi to return to Okurase and found out the families were standing on the side of the road unable to get a tro tro. The only option was to load 10 people into a small cab and make the 30 minute journey back. It was quite interesting and a bonding experience. We decided we needed to just sing. So we sang a few songs and it was enjoyed by all. We got back in the darkness of night with a sense of …. oh my God… we have to do this over again on Wednesday.

Let me never ever utter a word of complaint again about the American health care system.  This trip so reminded me of trips we made with Djole kids and their families to get passports at the post office on Saturdays prior to going to Ghana. We all have our challenges. When we build our medical centre, the challenges will be less, still present but less.

Thanks for listening.
Cindy

Long awaited day for 4 young boys

Tomorrow is a very important and long awaited day for 4 young boys. They make their first journey to a hospital, check in and go through a surgical procedure  to correct hydrocele. This was supposed to be expedited and happen months ago. Just as we enrolled the children on the insurance scheme the surgeon was transferred. We had to wait for a new surgeon to come to the hospital and the children  had to endure discomfort and teasing by peers. Now we move forward. Nana and I will stay with them at the hospital. I had a think about what my mom used to do when I was sick that was helpful. My head went straight to coloring books and chocolate. So, Power and I hit the Accra market and found coloring books, crayons and wonderful Ghanaian chocolate bars for the boys. After the surgery our job at Project OKURASE will be make sure they get daily food and the care of their incisions for the next month. It will be a task but Nana knows exactly what to do. We are honored to facilitate this medical care.  So much care is needed in the village. nana has taken donations for the children and stretched them to get 100 orphans and vulnerable children (OVC) on national insurance. That is half the battle and the next is getting a physician to provide care for what is needed, transport the kids to the clinic or hospital, help the families or whoever is representing the child to understand what is happening given that healthcare is not a usual thing, then helping facilitate recover. I cannot wait until we have our medical centre going. What a huge difference this will be.

Everyone please keep our 4 boys in your thoughts and prayers. This is a big step for them.  Will keep you posted on progress.

Project OKURASE Meets Solar Sisters at Barefoot College in Tilonia, India

On October 19th Scott Henggeler and I set out for Delhi, India to work on a potential MST (Multisystemic Therapy) project with substance misusing street children. We met up with Mike Sweat and conducted an intensive week of meetings and information gathering, meeting great great NGO’s doing wonderful work in India. The primary NGO we will be working with is called SHARAN. Hats off to Luke, Shalini and others who are working day in and out with people who are experiencing some of life’s most difficult problems – injecting drug use plus homelessness plus unemployment plus family disconnect plus HIV and many health problems. It can be a bit overwhelming to think about how to rebuild a life that is burdened with all these issues. SHARAN is tackling it and quite well.

We also ran across an NGO doing very comprehensive work with street children and it is called Butterflies. It was so great to meet Rita and Gerry and we look forward to seeing how we will partner with them. Keep up the good work Butterflies!

One of Project OKURASE’s architecture students had told me about the Barefoot College in Tilonia, India. When I knew Scott, Mike and I would make the trip, it seemed sensible to go and visit Barefoot. In the 80’s Bunker Roy started Barefoot and it has evolved to be a great training site for people who have not had educational opportunities. At present women from round the world that are illiterate are coming to Barefoot for 6 months of training and they are going away as solar engineers. I emailed Bunker Roy, who was totally accessible and welcoming. We continued emailing for some months until we had the trip organized and this is how it went:

Powerful came to India to make this trip to Barefoot with me and we took a very long bus ride (about 6 hours) from Delhi to Jaipur. It occurred to me on the way that it was wonderful to be seated near the back of the bus so that I could not realize all that was happening on the road when the driver was slamming on brakes and swerving. There was so much to see out the windows. The most striking thing was all the camels everywhere we looked. The other striking thing was the color in the clothing of people everywhere. We could be in what seemed to be the most remote place and women were dressed in the most fantastic colors. We arrived at Jaipur and met up with Ram Nivas who was to drive us to Tilonia. He didn’t really speak English but tried so hard to communicate. It was fun to watch him and Powerful start to use sign language. Thanks to our friend Basant in Delhi for linking us up with Ram Nivas.

We arrived in Tilonia in the early evening and had dinner with people living at the college. No shoes are allowed in any buildings and everyone sits on the floor for meals, meetings, discussions, etc. The no shoes practice keeps the rooms clean and we felt we should carry this practice to the Nkabom Centre. Everyone was so warm and welcoming to us.

The next day we met with Bhagwat Nandan, who is responsible for setting up solar energy for Barefoot. He was so inspiring! We toured a bit around Barefoot and then went to the older campus where the solar sisters from Africa were at work. When we walked up, they spotted Powerful and went crazy. They of course did not know him but realized right away he was African. There were 21 women from 6 African countries – Ghana, Mauritania, Kenya, Niger, Cameroon, and Guinea Bissau. On this day the women were making solar lighting for the home. It was astonishing to watch. I took lots of photos and with great astonishment watched Powerful slip into 3 or 4 different languages with the different groups. The women are a long way from home in a different land with different food and a different culture and I believe the visit was very uplifting for them – like a letter from home. We later learned from Bunker that the day before the women had gone to church and prayed for someone to come with whom they could speak their language. The next day Powerful appeared. Needless to say the women will be going to church every week to see what further things happen from prayer.

We left the African solar sisters and returned to the newer Barefoot campus and met up with Bunker Roy. I found this great great man who has sparked world changes to be humble, warm, welcoming, funny. We talked about ways we could partner and then Bunker suggested we stay on that night and visit the night schools and tour more in-depth. We thought that was a good idea so we followed it. The next phase of the Barefoot tour took us more in-depth into the solar functions. In addition, we got a chance to see the programs they have there. The most fun was the puppet program. The director of this program did a little demonstration and then Powerful and 3 musicians drummed for a while. It was wonderful! Next Ram Nivas took us to a nearby village to buy fruits for the Solar Sisters. It was hilarious– as we went from cart to cart negotiating fruit prices we developed this huge following of people just watching us. We both looked like we were from a different planet and people enjoyed watching our actions, hearing our voices, looking at our clothes and hair and trying to interact. It was amazing. So, you can picture this huge crowd moving from cart to cart, crossing the street, walking around. I just wish I knew what they were saying and what they were experiencing. We returned to bring the Solar Sisters fruits and they were so grateful and would have had us stay for days. We left a bit of our hearts with them and knew that we will see them again.

When we returned to Barefoot new campus, the director of Education was there waiting to take us to see a night school. Barefoot operates 150 night schools for children. The children in the villages are participating with their families by day to herd the goats and buffalo and keep their lives going. At night they go to school by solar lamps. We drove out to a village and about 25 children were starting school. We sat in on a math lesson being taught by a man from the village who was just “giving back”. Then we had a discussion with the children. They each introduced themselves. The Director of Ed was very helpful with translating for us. Then the children wanted to ask us questions such as what animals we have in our countries, do we have children and family. Then the children wanted us to sing a song. Powerful sang “Djole” to them in Twi. Then the children sang and danced for us. It was a wonderful time that I will always remember. I wondered how it was for children who had never met anyone from America or Africa to have this experience in the night in a remote village, by solar light. I could have stayed all evening with the children but it was time to let them get on with their lessons.

After our night school experience, we returned to have more discussions with Bunker. The Ghana Solar Sisters will come to OKURASE in July to solar power our job training building! Bunker will visit us in Okurase in December or January to see our site and the village. We are so happy to be developing this partnership that will change and save lives!

The next morning, Bunker Roy, the man who is sweeping the world with change arose before 6:30 to see us off. We left with a feeling of family with the people at Barefoot College. Project OKURASE has now met Barefoot College. Project OKURASE has now met the Solar Sisters of Africa. Akwaaba to our hearts Bunker Roy. Akwaaba to our hearts Barefoot family. Akwaaba to our hearts Solar Sisters.

Cindy

Clothing Designer Launches Kids Line for Project OKURASE

A recent article, published on mydailyfind.com, highlights the work of Jodi Lee Middleton and her ‘Sandbox Rebel‘ children’s clothign line. Jodi has agreed to partner with Project OKURASE in the fight against HIV/AIDS in Ghana and is doing amazing things to support the women and children in the village of Okurase.

Jodi is designing a line of clothing made completely from native materials of Ghana, including recycled rice and flour sacks. Proceeds from the line, which is set to launch in Los Angeles in November, will go towards creating jobs in the Nkabom Centre of Okurase.

International Service Learning Alliance has officially opened their Ghana Program with Project OKURASE.

Project OKURASE offers several ways to give, including volunteering your time to go to the village of Okurase in Ghana and help in many ways. We are excited to announce that the International Service Learning Alliance (ISLA) is now making this process easier and more efficient. Those interested in doing so can apply with ISLA to volunteer or to complete an internship with Project OKURASE.

As ISLA appropriately notes, “Because our earth is an island that we must learn to live on, in peace. Because together we are stronger and better.”

Project OKURASE to be Featured at Whole Child/Whole Planet Expo

Falling on the 40th anniversary of Earth Day, the Whole Children, Whole Planet Expo will take place on April 24, 2010 at Highland Hall Waldorf School in Northridge, California from 9:30 a.m. – 6:00 p.m. Project OKURASE will be featured as we teach some of the skills we will be teaching in Okurase such as textile design and drumming. We will sell our product at the expo, which generally hosts 3500 people with a celebrity presence. The chair of the advisory board is Ed Begley, Jr. The Expo is run by Kathy Arnos. See what Kathy has to say in her recent blog.

In early 2005, Arnos created and began producing the Whole Children, Whole Planet Expo, a premier natural parenting and family expo that introduces attendees of all ages to the benefits of natural products, organics foods, natural medicine, enrichment learning programs, sustainable living practices and important health and environmental issues. The first WCWP Expo was held at the Los Angeles Convention Center over Earth Day weekend in 2006.

Currently, Arnos also produces and hosts an internet-radio show – Eco Family News on “I Am Healthy Radio” – as she continues to write freelance for several on-line and in-print publications. She also sits on the Advisory Board’s for California Safe Schools, Holistic Pediatric Association, bluedominoes.com, and the San Fernando Valley Green Team. Arnos leads the K-12 Environmental Educational Task Force for the Team, and has been named the Environmental Special Projects Coordinator for Northridge East Neighborhood Council.

Results of Clemson Brick Research Are In

Today was a meeting I never imagined in my life I would have. Denis Brosnan, who is a national expert in brick research with Clemson University met with me and Fred Taylor to give us the results of the research on the compressed earth bricks we are making in Okurase.

From my last trip to Ghana I brought back several bricks and all the materials to make a couple of bricks. Denis and his team conducted research on all materials and completed bricks to help us determine if we are going in the right direction, to understand the strength of the bricks and make recommendations for improvement. He reassured us that we have a fine product in our bricks and that one brick would support 30,000 pounds! WOW!

He gave us suggestions on improving the bricks once we start to take them beyond Okurase. He also gave recommendations for safety as inhaling fine particles of dirt can affect breathing safety.

We are extremely grateful to Denis and his team for helping us to this extent. This research will greatly impact our way forward. It is a fantastic gift to the people of Ghana. Medaase Denis!

Submit your Vote for Solar Sisters!

The Barefoot College in India is one of the 12 finalists for the BBC World Challenge. Bunker Roy, the founder has written to us and asked us to vote for Solar Sisters. We ask that you forward the link on to your friends and family and vote yourself for this amazing project.

The link is
www.theworldchallenge.co.uk/index.php

The Barefoot College in India is teaching women who are illiterate to become solar engineers. They are making solar lanps, solar panels, solar cooking stoves, etc.  They have graciously extended their training to women from Africa. It is truly phenomenal that they can teach women from different cultures who speak different languages by doing non verbal instruction. We have started talking with Bunker Roy, the founder about how Project OKURASE in Ghana can somehow link with the Barefoot College in India as we are headstrong to move solar energy forward in Ghana. Bunker is very approachable. We are making an MST (Multisystemic Therapy)  trip to India later this month and will be meeting up with Bunker and visiting Barefoot College. Who knows where it will go. Please keep us in your thoughts.

We will be starting a fruit drying cooperative of women from Okurase and Tamale (in Northern Ghana) probably in December. It would be great if we could use solar energy in this venture!

-Cindy