One month countdown

I only have a month now until I take the trip back to Ghana. Manchester to Istanbul then to Ghana, that leg of the journey is going to take 27 hours... Then once I arrive in Accra, Ghana. I have to take a 15 hour bus ride up to Tamale and then another 4 hours to Damongo. Finally I will be very close to Larabanga! It's definitely a good job that I enjoy travelling because its going to be one hell of a journey. One I am more than prepared to take to be able to help the community further. They've all taken me on the most precious journey of my life so far, and for that I will be eternally grateful.

The Kickstarter project is still active for another 20 days, this isn't going as well as I hoped but I am not giving up. I am contacting as many people as possible, radio stations, online magazines... the list goes on. I intend to still create a small film of life in Larabanga, even if it doesn't get funded. I believe that to fully appreciate what life is like and to be fully aware of what we aim to achieve you need to have an insight. An insight can be anything of course, from word of mouth or pictures but what does that truly mean to you?

I mean, a video is more, it shows life, the movement and the memories that create happiness. The film is not going to be a "production"- for one that would be completely out of my capacity as I have not done anythng like this before but most importantly, that wouldn't reveal the true nature. I am literally going to speak to members of the community about their life and capture raw, spontaneous moments on camera. The outcome is completely unknown to me, I will film the footage and put it together when I am home. Then it will be ready for the world to see.

Over the past few days I have been figuring out what I have to take to Larabanga and what I still need. The top of my list is First Aid supplies, so from gauzes to sudocream (the master of burns). There was a case whilst I was in Larabanga last time... A woman came to me with her daughter who was no more than 6, she had spilt a boiling pot of water over her back. Her skin was clearly burnt, but I have limited medical experience and knowledge so I was unable to give any help, except I advised her mother to keep her skin covered as of course you can work out that Ghana is a very hot country and heat and burns do not mix very well. If I had access to something like sudocream at that moment, I could have at least saved that childs pain. This is the beautiful little girl, she didn't even have a t-shirt on to cover her back.

When I am in Larabanga, I teach the children that are unable to attend school, mainly the orphaned children that Ibrahim takes care of. Also teach a wider group of children in the evening, this is extremely tricky because of the lack of lighting and space in general. Of course, teaching resources are limited to zero, so I have come up with a few ideas to help me when I go back.

1) White boards, I don't mean huge ones that you see in a classroom in the UK, but smaller ones. This way I can show the children whilst teaching and without having to take lots of paper which is of course heavier too. This will help them to become more involved in their own learning. There is nothing worse than being in a "lecture" type of lesson, especially for the younger students who are always in large groups.
2) I have found some educational English books, for varied ages. The type of books were the learner can write or "fill in" the book. Of course these are great when you are sat at home with one child but that is obviously not practical for my mission. So, I have photocopied several pages that I think are going to be the most useful and laminated them. Using drywipe pens, the children can write on them but then it will come off so another child can also benefit from it. Bringing fun to the lessons too!!

More support!!!

The gym that I go to is helping me to raise funds to take the supplies needed over to Larabanga. The gym is called Ainsdale Health and Fitness. It is terrific to know that local people are willing to help me.

The high school I attended, Meols Cop, Southport are giving me the opportunity to go back and speak to the students in assembly time about the project, my journey and what they can do to help. I hope to also inspire the students to jump at opportunities that are brought to their attention. I wouldn't be writing this blog now if I had organised a place to stay that night in Northern Ghana... I am so glad that I didn't and took a risk!

Now... Ebola.
This is a topic I can't ignore. Telling people that I am going to West Africa, I have had mixed responses, may people telling me I am completely stupid and deluded. My response to them is that they obviously haven't done their research, Ghana has no confirmed cases of Ebola. I'm not stupid, of course I know that I am putting myself at risk if there is to be an outbreak in Ghana but I believe that Ghana are looking on the horrific situations in other West African countries and are learning from their mistakes. Prevention is the best protection, no doubt. I spend time each day searching for news articles about the outbreak, to see if anything has happened in Ghana and up to now, it has been good news. I am hoping more than anything that it stays a safe place for me to travel to. I NEED to see these faces again...