Tired, slightly smelly, but nonetheless inspired by what we have seen and accomplished - all 16 of us made it home today. It has been an incredible journey with a wonderful group of Jackson Hole students. We've already received messages from our friends at the "Yard" wishing us safe travels and demanding prompt returns to the place that has such a special place in our hearts.
Thank you to every one who has helped make this experience possible for our students. We look forward to sharing our experience with the public in the coming weeks. We'll keep you posted as to a specific date and time. As for now, time for a nap and nostalgic dreams of fried plantains and the sounds of the ocean breaking on the shore.
Humbly,
Yara, Mark, & Evan
Saturday, April 7, 2012
Thursday, April 5, 2012
Wow! Almost Home
It's amazing that our last day is essentially here. First of all, we apologize that we have not been able to post more often, but it has been a very busy push to complete our projects, enjoy our last moments, and sadly say our goodbyes.
Before we catch you up on our latest happenings, we would like to extend an enormous thank you to Rory Jackson, the founder of the Trinity Yard School, for opening up his doors to us and allowing for this opportunity to be possible. If you have not yet been to the Trinity Yard School's website, please follow the link posted on our blog's link section to familiarize yourself with the amazing efforts he has accomplished to support the children of Cape Three Points and surrounding communities. It has been an honor and a privilege to be at "the Yard" and we cannot thank him enough for the opportunity.
As for our work...we are excited to say that our efforts at the library drew to an exciting close this week. It is amazing to see a room full of boxes turn into a fully functioning center for learning. As one of our participants, Dusty Perrin, noted in his entry into our group journal, "If you believe in the saying that 'knowledge is power' than we have created the most powerful building for hundreds and hundreds of miles." We couldn't say it better ourselves. Two years ago we had an opportunity to lead a group of Jackson Hole students to Ghana to build the foundation of the library - it has been phenomenal to see the beautiful building that was built on top of that foundation, and even more exciting to have the opportunity to return with a new group of Jackson students and together sculpt that room full of boxes upon boxes of donated books into a systematized and sustaining center of "knowledge" and "power." Once we return, we will post before and after shots of our work. We are deeply proud of the consolidated efforts of our Jackson Hole students and of the end product we created in the library.
Today we switched gears, leaving Trinity Yard to travel to Cape Coast where we toured one of the largest slave castles in Africa. For the students, this day presented a wide spectrum of emotional challenges, from saying goodbye to new found friends to standing in dungeons where countless men, women and children lived and died. We were very impressed by the maturity and flexibility of all the students. The day ended with a group dinner at the Oasis restaurant followed by a dance party in the main square of Cape Coast where hundreds of Ghanaians surrounded us to join in the collective celebration for the Easter holiday.
It has been a truly amazing trip and these posts only begin to skim the surface. We look forward to returning to the states (thought they has been talk of skipping our flight and heading for the Togo border) where you will surely be accosted by stories of a memorable service trip.
Thanks to each of you for making this opportunity possible for the students and for putting your trust in us as leaders.
See you on the other side,
Mark, Yara, and Evan
Before we catch you up on our latest happenings, we would like to extend an enormous thank you to Rory Jackson, the founder of the Trinity Yard School, for opening up his doors to us and allowing for this opportunity to be possible. If you have not yet been to the Trinity Yard School's website, please follow the link posted on our blog's link section to familiarize yourself with the amazing efforts he has accomplished to support the children of Cape Three Points and surrounding communities. It has been an honor and a privilege to be at "the Yard" and we cannot thank him enough for the opportunity.
As for our work...we are excited to say that our efforts at the library drew to an exciting close this week. It is amazing to see a room full of boxes turn into a fully functioning center for learning. As one of our participants, Dusty Perrin, noted in his entry into our group journal, "If you believe in the saying that 'knowledge is power' than we have created the most powerful building for hundreds and hundreds of miles." We couldn't say it better ourselves. Two years ago we had an opportunity to lead a group of Jackson Hole students to Ghana to build the foundation of the library - it has been phenomenal to see the beautiful building that was built on top of that foundation, and even more exciting to have the opportunity to return with a new group of Jackson students and together sculpt that room full of boxes upon boxes of donated books into a systematized and sustaining center of "knowledge" and "power." Once we return, we will post before and after shots of our work. We are deeply proud of the consolidated efforts of our Jackson Hole students and of the end product we created in the library.
Today we switched gears, leaving Trinity Yard to travel to Cape Coast where we toured one of the largest slave castles in Africa. For the students, this day presented a wide spectrum of emotional challenges, from saying goodbye to new found friends to standing in dungeons where countless men, women and children lived and died. We were very impressed by the maturity and flexibility of all the students. The day ended with a group dinner at the Oasis restaurant followed by a dance party in the main square of Cape Coast where hundreds of Ghanaians surrounded us to join in the collective celebration for the Easter holiday.
It has been a truly amazing trip and these posts only begin to skim the surface. We look forward to returning to the states (thought they has been talk of skipping our flight and heading for the Togo border) where you will surely be accosted by stories of a memorable service trip.
Thanks to each of you for making this opportunity possible for the students and for putting your trust in us as leaders.
See you on the other side,
Mark, Yara, and Evan
Thursday, March 29, 2012
It is hard to believe that we are essentially half way through our great Ghanian adventure. So much has occured since our last post, that it would be impossible to fully describe it with the necessary amount of detail that it truly deserves. Nonetheless, we'd like to give you a slice of the the great progress and growth that has occured in a short amount of time. We've made amazing headway on our work projects. We've stacked, stamped, sorted, sifted, and shelved literally thousands of books. So many books have been kindly donated that we've gone to the length of partnering with a local carpenter and teams of students have helped him make additional book shelves by hand. It's hard to believe that what started as a room full of boxes of books has begun to turn into a gorgeous and organized center for learning and resource. As we continue to fine tune our work at the library, we are simultaneously hacking away (quite literally) at additional work projects. Yesterday, a hard working team of sun-kissed teenagers started and finished a magnificent set of terraced stairs leading to the library. These stairs will be particullarly helpful during the approaching rainy season, as it turned what would otherwise be a mudslide of a path into a safe and aesthetically appealling set of beautiful stairs leading to the soon-to-be complete library. Additionally, the Jackson students have been pairing with students with the Trinity Yard School and carrying out one-on-one reading sessions to help build literacy and skill in reading. Teams of students have also had the chance to gain the perspective of a teacher, as groups of three or four have helped teach Trinity Yard School classes early in the week and are now concentrating efforts to teach at the local primary school. The help at the primary school is much appreciated, as two of the six classrooms (3rd and 5th grades) at the village primary school do not even have a teacher currently. Our presence provides an incredible amount of instruction that otherwise would simply not be happening without us. Finally, we've begun to concentrate on our bike project. Bikes are the most treasured mode of transportation around here but many have fallen into disrepair due to the caustic sea-breeze and unavoidable ammumulation of dust and mud on the componenets. To address this issue, our group has built a bike workbench and tool cabinet. This will house the many parts and supplies that we have brought with us (many of which were kindly donated byHoff's Bikesmith and The Hub). Later this week, our students will lead a bike maintainance class for the locals during which we will help tune and repair their bikes while simultaneously teaching them how to access the work bench in the future.
All of these projects keep us busy during the day, but we somehow continue to fit in our daily African Drum and Dance class, taught by our fantastic instructors "Mugyoyo" and Mohammed who have the uncanny ability to turn a group of rhythmically challenged Americans into increasingly respectable African dancers and drummers. Finally, we've also had a chance to spend time in the village of Cape Three Points. This experience is best described by our students, but I suspect that even for them it is difficult to accurately describe the true experience of familiarizing ourselves with the life and struggles of our new found friends. The experience puts everything in our lives that has come before it into an entirely new perspective, while at the same time sets the course for everything in our lives that comes afterwards on a new, adjusted trajectory. It is safe to say that what we have seen, heard, smelled, and witnessed inspires our work here and pushes us to use our precious time here to make a difference that will last beyond our physical presence in this very special corner of the world. Maybe that's why a group of students woke up this morning an hour before breakfast to put the proud, finishing touches on the stairs to the library...
Unit Next Time,
Mark, Yara, and Evan
All of these projects keep us busy during the day, but we somehow continue to fit in our daily African Drum and Dance class, taught by our fantastic instructors "Mugyoyo" and Mohammed who have the uncanny ability to turn a group of rhythmically challenged Americans into increasingly respectable African dancers and drummers. Finally, we've also had a chance to spend time in the village of Cape Three Points. This experience is best described by our students, but I suspect that even for them it is difficult to accurately describe the true experience of familiarizing ourselves with the life and struggles of our new found friends. The experience puts everything in our lives that has come before it into an entirely new perspective, while at the same time sets the course for everything in our lives that comes afterwards on a new, adjusted trajectory. It is safe to say that what we have seen, heard, smelled, and witnessed inspires our work here and pushes us to use our precious time here to make a difference that will last beyond our physical presence in this very special corner of the world. Maybe that's why a group of students woke up this morning an hour before breakfast to put the proud, finishing touches on the stairs to the library...
Unit Next Time,
Mark, Yara, and Evan
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Akwaaba!!
Akwaaba (greetings) from Ghana! We are settling into life here at Trinity Yard School and are happy to report that we arrived without incident. The group dynamics are wonderful and students are stepping up to leadership positions. Today we started working on the library projects. Lead by Emily Overton, our leader of the day, the students upacked and sorted huge piles of boxed books. Two boys from the village of Cape Three Points, Bizmark and Benjamin, joined our group for the sorting project. Loco, our faithful guard dog, kept watch. The next step will be to catagorize and color code books so that we can create a sustainable sorting system. Everyone is in good health and the food is spectacular. Each day a student cook crew helps head chef MaaT whip up a delicious assortment of local fruits and vegitables. It is hot, humid, sticky and far far away from Tetonic winter. Keep posted for more updates. -Evan, Yara, and Mark
Thursday, March 22, 2012
Arrival in Ghana!
Evan called about 2 hours ago to report that the group arrived safely in Ghana with all their bags and are on their way to Cape Three Points.
Best to all.
Susie Rauch
Best to all.
Susie Rauch
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