Well, we are almost home. After finishing up our final week on the work site, we said our final, sad goodbyes to the Trinity Yard School and boarded our bus to Kakum National Park. We left feeling satisfied with our work, having completed digging the foundation and mixing and laying a concrete foundation from which the building will be erected. We also completed creating two gardens that hopefully provide some food for the Trinity Yard students in a few months. Yara and her crews wrapped up their work at the primary school, having taught at least once at every grade level and leaving a large amount of supplies with the students and teachers to help faciliate improved instruction in the future. Leaving Cape Three Points and the Trinity Yard was not easy, however. The connections we made in just two weeks made our departure sad and tearful for many of the Africans and Americans alike. We really hope that this experience will continue to infiltrate the hearts of our students and that they do not forget what they saw and learned here in Ghana. Additionally, we hope our efforts and friendships will be remembered in Ghana for us to return someday.

After leaving "the yard" we headed to Kakum National Park. Near sunset, we took a private Canopy Tour that took us over 40 meters above the jungle floor. We spent the night camping under mosquito nets in the jungle, listening to the symphony of sounds, and rising early for a nature walk before sunrise. During our walk, we were able to see mona monkeys jumping from tree to tree. We then transition to Cape Coast in the afternoon and had a sobering tour of the slave trading castle. The experience was moving, to say the least. After taking in the sunset at Fort Victoria that overlooked the town of Cape Coast, we settled down for our final night in Ghana and reflected on our day in our journals. Tomorrow we make our way back to Accra and depart in the evening. We look forward to seeing our friends and family, but I think it is safe to say that this place will be sorely missed. Thanks for tracking our journey with us.

The following photos were taken by student participant, Annie Milburn:

Greetings at the end of our first full week in Cape Three Points! Things are rolling along smoothly and quickly, and we are trying to figure out how to slow down time and extend our stay. We've made great progress on our work, having finished digging the foundation to the huge, two story library. Next week we will make concrete and begin to pour the foundation.

The library will serve the entire community of Cape Three Points, the first such effort of its kind and an incredible opportunity for all residents of the area. We've also made headway on our garden project, which is to help build a sustainable food source for the students and also teach them various horticulture techniques. We've paired up with the student of the Trinity Yard to help us on this project. After clearing space and moving compost and soil around, we should be ready to plant the seeds we brought with us by next week.

Finally, Yara continues to take a group of students to the primary school daily to help teach lessons and model new, more engaging teaching methods within the classrooms. This has been a welcome alternative for the young students and much different than the chalk/blackboard and corporal punishment approach they are used to.

We've also mastered some new skills with our drum and dance lessons, batik class, and chip away at our independent projects before the sun sets. Naturally, we fit in a good ocean swim and some fun every day too. The weather has been blazing hot, but a nice jungle rain shower cooled things off last night at dinner time. We look forward to the weekend and some fun activities with the TYS students.

More to come soon. Hope all is well back home. Couldn't help but notice the news so I had to add a final shout out to my alma mater, GO BUTLER!

Best,

Mark, Yara, and John

We arrived safely in Cape Three Points on Thursday afternoon. After dropping our bags we headed down to the local football pitch for some games with our new Ghanaian friends (e.g. sack races, egg/spoon races, and three legged races). On Friday we took time to explore the Trinity Yard School and in the afternoon began work on the construction of a library. The library will serve three communities as well as the students of the Trinity Yard School. Our goal this week will be to finish digging the foundation and then begin laying bricks. In addition, each day in the morning groups of students will be teaching in the local primary school and also working on preparing a community garden. This weekend we did find time to relax too. We have a beach on site so making time for a quick swim or body surfing session is easy! We also visited the Cape Three Points Lighthouse.

Family and friends of students, we will do our best to post additional updates, but please know that our access to e-mail is limited.

All the best from Ghana!

-- Mark, Yara, John, & the Jackson student crew

The group arrived in Accra, Ghana early this morning, safe and with no lost luggage! They are bypassing the hustle/bustle of Accra and headed to the serene Cape Three Points where Trinity Yard School and the villagers anticipate their arrival! The group is reportedly tired from the two days of travel, but everyone is excited to meet their work partners for the next two weeks, begin to learn the local language, and get their hands dirty!

FYI, Ghana is 6 hours ahead of Mountain Time.

Why I Want to Go to Ghana

I asked the students to write the reason why they wanted to go to Ghana and what, specifically, they intended focus on for their cultural studies independent project. Here is one students response:
The word equality is commonly tossed around in our privileged state of existence. It’s an easy thing to discuss when a person is sitting in a warm, comfortable house after a hearty, satisfying meal. “All men are created equal.” People strive to make that statement the truth or pretend like it is, but it is not the reality. In going to a place like Ghana, Africa, I would hope to break down my limits and immerse myself in a place where I see first hand that life isn’t so easy and life isn’t so equal. I mean here I am typing on a computer trying to understand what it would mean to go Ghana and become intertwined within their culture. This trip would be a huge learning experience where I would get to work and study in a hands on situation. Instead of giving the money to an organization where I don’t know exactly how that money is used, I could be able to see the complete extent and affect the money and work has done. How amazing something like that could be. I am very open to being completely out of my element and working with people I know nothing about. I would hope to learn phrases from their language so I could converse and express how excited and happy I am to have an opportunity to be with the people of Ghana. I would be honored to get the chance to make a difference and start the beginnings of giving the youth an equal opportunity to succeed in school and in life. For me, I feel lucky to have the prospect of going to Ghana. And for me I believe that this experience will open my eyes and change my life.
I have a seven-year-old sister who turned my family’s life upside down. My mom will even say, “I thought I had parenting all figured out until this little one came along.” I watched my parents struggle in raising my sister, Estella. Not only did my parents have to give her the tools and supportive hand to learn to walk and talk, they had to prepare her for school and the rest of world. For an independent project, I would like to see how families in Ghana prepare their young to be successful in their lives and teach them how to thrive in such a harsh world. In doing this, I want to compare and contrast the similarities with Ghanaian families and my own. This project would be important to me because I was shown what it is like to bring a life into the world and not only teach them things but learn from them as well. It would be not only interesting, but possibly helpful and telling if I could observe how families in Ghana function and raise their children. Our cultures, I’m sure, are very different, but the affection between family members is universal. It would be exciting to learn and get to see the differences and similarities between families from two very different places. In addition, being able to relate the things I am discovering right to my own home would make my project that more personal and motivating.

New Blog

Welcome to the new blog. We hope to stock this thing full of goodies. As for now, we are almost off. Can't wait!