Back in the United States

My apologies for the long wait between blog entries. The team is now back in the U.S.A! We were unable blog for the last couple weeks of the trip due to a major internet line being cut outside of Bolga. However I can tell you the project was an overall great success!
Even with the difficulties the team encountered with the absence of John and Aaron we were able to almost complete the entire project. The only part of the clinic we were unable to complete was the solar array. Jessica, who will be staying in Ghana until August for an internship, will over see the final part of this project. It truly was a great success.
After saying goodbye to all our new friends and wishing Jessica good luck we were on our way home. We spent two days before we left the country touring the Cape Coast outside of Accra. The south truly seems like a different country from the north. Where as the north is hot and arid, desert like in the dry season, the south by comparison is rainforest. The sights were amazing! We particularly enjoy the hotel we stayed at called Hans Botel. The "Botel" was built over a lagoon filled with crocodiles and yellow weaver birds. It was fantastic.
Then it was back into Accra, onto a plane, and 36 hours later we arrived in Phoenix. It is overwhelming to be back in the states. Ghana really is a different world. It will always be an amazing memory, and though I can't speak for the rest of the team, I can't wait to go back some day.

June 7th, 2009

I want everyone to know that I have arrived safely back in the US. It has been a difficult couple of weeks. After resting a few days in Bolga, I returned to work again at the Clinic site. Without warning, I suddenly began to feel very ill and had to be rushed back to Bolga.

The doctors informed me that it was again Malaria(+++). The strain I’ve developed is resistant to Quinine, as well as the rest of the drugs they had given me. My last treatment was six shots of Chloroquine in combination with a mega dose of Malarone. When my condition stabilized, I was evacuated to a medical facility in Accra where further tests could be done.

The doctor in Accra determined I was healthy enough to travel back to the States. Dr. Denham and I got on a plane that night and arrived in Phoenix on Saturday. They tell me I should recover completely with a few weeks of rest.

I realize my situation over the past few weeks has left some people a bit shaken. My biggest concern now is the impact this will have at the University. This is not an event that should be buried, nor should it be used to champion some motion to restructure the project. I don’t want to see people acting as though the realization of danger is some great epiphany. I was aware of the risk and was prepared for it. This is not the first time a volunteer has fallen ill on an EWB trip and it won't be the last. Africa is not Disneyland. The danger is real. So long as volunteers are informed of the risk, as adults they should be entitled to it.

I have complete confidence in the four students left in the North. Jessica and Bryce have stepped up to manage the project and clinic construction. No time was lost on account of my illness.

I will continue to help and advise the project from my home in Flagstaff. It was unfortunate that I had to leave on such a poor note. This will not be me last visit to Yua.

-John Yatsko

June 4th to June 7th

The clinic is moving along at an alarming pace. We will be building the roof tomorrow. The village seems committed to seeing it finished by the time we leave!
The day before yesterday Jessica and I took a walk through the village. Because we have arrived at the very beginning of the rainy season everyone is planting their crops. On our walk we ran into a group of five women that we know from working at the clinic. They gave a tutorial on hand planting. Here all of the work is done by hand, there are no tractors to plant the crops. The women take a sort of hoe, made out of a bent piece of wood and hit it into the dirt making the hole. Then, almost faster than you can see, they dump ten seeds from the bowl in their other hand and sweep dirt over the hole. The process is fun to watch because the women are so skilled. Jessica gave it a good try, but was only able to fill a few holes before the women took it back over.
At the clinic we have been adopted by a herd of children that live near by. We played a game of soccer with them. The ball they use is completely flat. When we left the states we brought two soccer balls with us, and will hopefully give one of them to these kids. The other one will go to the local kids soccer team. Their coach has been working with us on the site.
Yesterday there was an annual gathering of the areas Catholic churches in the village where we are staying. We attended the festivities. Though the churches do follow many practices of a traditional catholic church they do so in a very African way. There were drums an dancing, everyone was dressed in their best brightest colors. It was amazing to see! We are all beginning to have food cravings (cheeseburgers, mac and cheese, milkshakes, etc) but are loving the trip!
(Oh and make sure you look at some of the older posts as well, I was finally able to add some pictures to them!)
-Kate Dorrell

May 29th to June 3rd

Though our days are increadibly long here, it feels as though time is flying by. Since the last blog post a lot has happend. Construction on the clinic should be completed by June 9th, leaving only the solar to be completed. Every day the number of workers at the sight increases. Women are constantly bringing water, on their heads of course, to mix concrete. Children help carry blocks. Men are everywhere laying block, mixing concrete, and doing carpentry work. It is chaos.

We have had great expiriences since we have arrived. Jessica and I both have tried our hand at carrying water on our heads. It is much more difficult than it looks. Connor has been touring the town on a moto (motorcycle) with his guide Razaak while they fix broken bore holes. Bryce has been working hard to fill Johns managerial shoes now that John has arrived back to the U.S. It has been a lot of work, but a lot of fun too.
Everything is so different here from anything I have expirienced in the U.S. We were able to enter a family compound the other day and see what it is really like to live in Yua. When I entered the compound I had the sense that I had stepped back in time, like some Anasazi village or something. Everything is made of a sort of mud adobe material. There are traditional rooms such as the womens room lining a large courtyard where I believe the families spend most of their time. We were shown the huge stone table where the women grind their millet into powder. It was truly amazing.
The heat and humidity is effecting the entire team. We are going through a ton of bottled water. Yesterday we were told it was 109 degrees with 80% humidity. Every night we hope it will rain to cool things down a bit. When it does rain the storms are these huge impressive thunderheads that light up the sky with lightning. This truly is the expirience of a lifetime.

-Kate Dorrell

May 27th 2009

We finally made it to the north! This morning we drove twenty minutes from Bolgatanga to our home for the next month in a village called Sirigu. The place is called swopa and it is run by a women’s group from the area. The place is a series of four sleeping huts, a kitchen, a dining hut and a large courtyard with several trees. There is roof access to two of the buildings. All of it is painted in a vivid traditional red black and white tribal paint. It almost looks very Hollywood Africa with its grass roofs and bright colors.
We did not linger long in Swopa, merely claiming our huts and introducing ourselves to the staff, before jumping back into the car and heading to Yua.

For me it was very difficult to tell where Sirigu ended and Yua began. Other than the market places the traditional mud made family compounds seem to be equally spread out between the villages with little delineation between the two. The market areas were made of many buildings sitting much closer together and with a greater mass of people milling about.

We arrived at the clinic expansion worksite to a multitude of men women and children. The elementary school building right next to the clinic was apparently in session when we arrived because as soon as the jeep pulled up children began literally pouring out of the doors and windows. Everyone greeted the team with happy smiling faces and handshakes. We stumbled through the local greetings and managed to take a look at the site.
Though not as far along as he had hoped, John and the village had made a lot of progress on the clinic. There were many workers there and it looked as though the foundation was almost finished.

Next the whole team stopped by last years project, the water plaza. Unfortunately two of the three water spigot had been broken. We were told that they were broke by fighting women and therefore we will be having a meeting with village members in the near future to explain that this is unacceptable and they will need to make and pay for the repairs although we will help them do that.
The rest of the day was spent greeting various contacts around the village, such as the Afrikids representatives as well as resting after out long journey. Tomorrow the work begins.

-Kate Dorrell

May 26th 2009

Bryce and I woke up at 5:50 am, and were at the truck by six. Kate and Jessica joined us shortly after, then we piled into the back with our bags and rushed off into the morning traffic of Accra.

Accra is overwhelming; sight, smell, and sound, all in a wave, too much to really process. The roads are clogged with people on foot, bicycle, and motorbikes, along with cars, busses, and trucks, all surrounded by hawkers and beggars. Not to mention chickens, goats, stray dogs, cows, and the like. The way to announce your presence to others on the road is to honk repeatedly until everyone knows exactly where you are.

There is no such thing as an individual sound in Accra; just one congealed mass of noise. In any instant you will hear cars honking-motorcycles roaring-engines sputtering-women singing-babies screaming-children laughing-hawkers shouting-goats baaing-sheep bleating-chickens clucking-dogs barking-radios playing-all rolled into one furious transcendent roar. It’s more awe-inspiring than anything.

The smell is another story: mildew, smog, dust, feces, urine, burning garbage, too many people, dirty water, sewage. It smells so bad, it tastes sour. It was not too bad at the hotel, with the sea breeze coming in off the Atlantic, but a block away in the back of the truck, it hit me like a wall.

We pulled into the bus station early, and grabbed egg sandwiches at the bus depot which were pretty good. There were some adorable little kittens in the diner, eating the roaches off the walls. When we got back and climbed aboard the bus we were pleasantly surprised by the general good shape of the thing, and the blessed presence of air conditioning throughout. I was sad to leave Accra so soon, but excited to finally see the North.

At eight we rolled out of the depot and through Accra. It took us about an hour to get out of the city, in a cloud of dust. I still have no idea how big Accra is, because it just sort of peters out, after wrapping around hills and through the Southern jungles. The trees there are towering things, with smooth grey trunks up seventy-five or one hundred feet before spreading into a wide green canopy. The bigger one sheltered entire shanty-towns in their broad shade.

The architecture was fascinating, mostly due to an apparent lack of any guiding principles. Block, mud, brick, mud brick, concrete, metal, glass, wood, bamboo, and millet stalks all seemed equally acceptable and used. Usually, one material dominated, but sometimes there were combinations, but not always. Expansions were often in the process of being built of completely different material from the others. For example, a bamboo second story on a cinder block first, or, just as ok by local convention, a cinderblock second story on to of a bamboo first. It’s all good in Ghana.

The advertisements along the road were works of art. Billboards are amateur hour here. If you want to sell your product, you paint your logo several times on every standing structure visible from the street for a city block or two.

The bus ride itself was an adventure where we slept when we could, and the bus stopped every three hours or so for food, water, and a break. Not to mention some totally sketchy food. The bathrooms were spotlessly clean, fancy, and pay-to-pee.

I could write a book describing the bus trip, and all the things we saw, but suffice to say it would be pointless, because some experiences are empty when put into words.

I will say a word about Ghanaian travel movies, though! Oh, wow! The stories are basically soap opera-ish, with terrible sound editing. It will drop down to near silence, too quiet to make out the dialogue, then, you will jerked from sleep by a blood curdling scream as the heroine is stuck by a car and paralyzed—don’t worry though, she’ll be struck by lightning and healed in time to tell the girl who’s stealing her husband.

“She will rot in Hell.”
“Yes, she will rot in Hell.”

All the vendors work out these metal crates, sort of half shipping containers, labeled Zain. No idea what Zain is. I’ve got to wrap this up. We’re all having an amazing time so far. I’ll leave you with my top ten best Ghanaian store names for the trip:

10. Except God General Store
9. In Him is Life Electronics
8. Good Husband
7. It’s Just a Day
6. Roll Model
5. Still Flamingo
4. Commercial Company
3. Best Coca Cola
2. Club de Texas
1. Stupid. Stop Urinate Here.

-Connor Rickett

May 25th 2009

Today Connor, Bryce, and I arrived in Accra, the capital, at 9:00 a.m. Over the previous 48 hours we calculated that each of us had accumulated about 6 hours of sleep in the last 48. Needless to say we were exhausted and thrown into a culture completely different from our own.
Leaving the airport in Accra was chaos. There were three of us, carrying a ridiculous amount of camera equipment, three fifty pound oversized boxes of solar panels, and all of our personal items. In front of the airport people wait to help carry your bags for a small fee, this means there are about twenty people surrounding you vying for your attention while you try to shoo them away and keep a hand on your stuff. However, we made it out of the airport just fine and into the back of our driver’s truck. I, the only female in the group at the time, sat up with the driver while the boys piled into the open back of the truck with the luggage and our driver’s kids.
The drive to our hotel was an excellent way to see the city. As I’m assuming it is in all developing world cities, it was easy to see the poverty on the streets, malnourished children, beggars, a canal so dirty you could smell it about a mile before we drove by it. However, we were also greeted with smiles and waves. Maybe I’m completely wrong in this opinion, but the people don’t seem unhappy for the most part. In fact I was overcome with a sense of vitality.
The people are extremely active. Women carry amazing loads of goods on their heads while they walk down the streets chatting with others and selling their items. Children rove the streets in packs, playing soccer and rough housing. The men laugh and talk while they work. Everyone in the city seems to be busy.
Our hotel, Affia Beach, is owned by an Australian woman. It is a very nice place to be even by American hotel standards. After our first quick tour of the hotel we went back into the city to gather supplies for the next days bus ride. We purchased cell phones, a few other basics and Bus tickets. This took us nearly four hours. When you buy things in Accra you must go to all of the different booths along the street to find all the components you need as well as the best deal. We would go to one booth to get the phone (a used Nokia brick that says, “God is my shepherd” every time it is turned on), then on to another booth for the charger, then on to the booth of the charger guys brother to get minutes and the card that makes the phone work. It is a very long process.
After finally purchasing our bus tickets for the next morning we went to get some much needed sleep in the hotel. The air conditioning worked, a wonderful thing in a city that averages 100 degrees, with 80% humidity. Aaron and Jessica arrived in Accra safely around eleven at night, tired but otherwise doing well. The day was extremely successful and tomorrow our adventures really begin as we head to the north of the country.

-Kate Dorrell

Day 17 (May 27)

My apologies for the lagging blog posts. There is no internet in Sirigu or the surrounding villages, and circumstances over the past week have prevented me from accessing the internet café in Bolga.

The other four students arrived late last night by the STC bus from Accra. Kate, our designated documentarian, will hopefully do a better job of keeping up with the blog. She’ll take it from here. For now, I’ll relax in my hotel room and catch up on some Steinbeck. Thank you for reading.

-John Yatsko

Day 16 (May 26)

Dr. Denham, our chapter advisor, visited me this morning at my bedside. He flew from Accra to the north on the 6am flight. I was in good care before he arrived, but it’s still reassuring to have a friend nearby.

I can now join him in the “Triple Plus Club”. He knows what I’m going through because he also had Malaria(+++ ) during an EWB trip. Most cases of malaria are categorized as (+), which is the lowest concentration in the blood. (++) is severe. (+++) means you need to get to a hospital quickly.

Malaria does not cause excruciating pain as some might think. It’s more of a sustained discomfort, an inescapable agony. I was fortunate to receive medical attention as quickly as I did. Once they take the fever down, the condition becomes much more tolerable.

I already feel much better than I did yesterday (I should. My blood is half Quinine). I was released this evening and moved across the street to the Sand Garden Hotel. I will stay for at least two nights before I go north again. They gave me another set of medications and a checkup date next week.

It is difficult to imagine what someone from Yua would have done in a similar situation. Most people have no access to phones or vehicles, much less the money to pay for treatment. Even the ones who could make it to the clinic in Yua would not receive adequate medical treatment. They don’t even have a ward to admit sick patients. The extra room freed up by the nurses quarters will help, but it’s clear that further work is required to meet the need of the 4000 people in and around Yua.

-John Yatsko

Day 15 (May 25)

I woke up this morning feeling good as new. I took my usual breakfast and headed to the site with Francis. When we arrived, I began to feel a bit queasy. I figured it was probably just the malaria medication getting to me. I put down some bottled water and started measuring rebar for the column bases.

The queasy sensation quickly worsened until I had to dash for the nearest tree. I thought it might have been spoiled eggs for breakfast. So I drank some more water and went back to my work. After the second time, I decided I needed to go back to Bolga. I tried to quickly mark out the measurements on the rebar before I left, but Pok snatched it from my hands and said “John, you have to go to hospital.”

I hit a big wall after that. I was perspiring heavily, blown both ways. I had to stop the Safari Wagon at least five times on the way to Bolga. My breakfast was gone, and then some.

The doctor did a quick blood test and hooked me up to an IV. It was a relapse of the malaria. I will stay the night in the hospital this time.

-John Yatsko

Day 14 (May 24)

The malaria feels much better today. With no work scheduled on Sundays, I can take the day to gather my thoughts and strength for the next week of work.

-John Yatsko

Day 13 (May 23)

We began laying bricks for the foundation sub-structure this morning. It’s important to have a few coursed of block below the foundation slab to support the weight of the building walls. It also raises the floor high enough to prevent flood damage.

Three masons from Yua turned out to lead the process, including Stephen, head of the “Yua Operations and Maintenance Team”. Steven apologized for not being present yesterday. He went on to explain that his younger brother had been hit and killed by a car the previous morning. The vehicle struck the boy from behind as he was walking to school. I offered my condolences to Steven as I would to a friend in the States, and asked if he needed to be home with his family. He saw no reason for doing so. In fact, he was eerily unaffected by the loss. He explained “We must take it light. It’s by nature, so what can we do?”

This Vulcan-like pragmatism seems counterintuitive for such a socially oriented group of people. I suppose it’s necessary when you live in a region where one in five children don’t reach the age of five. People must grow a thick skin.

This mindset could also stem from the widespread belief in predestination. Everyone here is highly spiritual, whether it be Christianity, Islam, or traditional beliefs. Many people will shrug off a tragedy as “God’s will”.

Whatever the reason, Steven did not seem phased. He was definitely still in a better mood than I was, laughing several times during our conversation.

-John Yatsko

Day 12 (May 22)

We laid the concrete footing today, narrowly finishing the work before dark. I was afraid we would not complete the day’s tasks and be set back a day. Laying concrete is grueling work, particularly in the summer sun. It was getting late and the men were clearly exhausted. Most were resting idly on bricks and sand piles. It took all my will power not to pick up a headpan and help them along. I knew we had to complete the footing by sundown. Yet, I hesitated to confront the men leaning on shovels. It seemed wrong to order tired men to work as I sat in the shade. Much of what I know of leadership comes from my years as a cross country captain. I could never tell a teammate to finish a workout unless I was leading it.

Fortunately, my shallow encouragement was not necessary. The people’s will to see development proved motivation enough. They realized the problem and put in one last good push.

Pok called in today informing me that he would not make it out to the site. He has also been taken ill with malaria.

-John Yatsko

Day 11 (May 21)

It was another hard night at SWOPA. The locals call the condition a “running stomach”. You get the idea.

I was greeted this morning by Francis, informing me that we had a flat tire. After taking care of that, we picked up breakfast for the workers and headed to the site. I informed the workers that I was going to the clinic in Bolga and left Pok in charge.

I was happy to hear that my stomach wasn’t too soft for the water. Apparently a running stomach can be a symptom of malaria as well.

The doctor in Bolga prescribed me some drugs and told me to get some rest. When you have malaria, all you want to do is get out of the heat and sleep. I remember our chapter mentor, Dale Grey, would sometimes take a few team members back to an air conditioned hotel in Bolga to give them a break from “the line”. Right then, that sounded like just the ticket.

The first six hotels we tried were full, but the seventh had a nice air conditioned room where I could rest the day. I sent Francis back to Yua with fuel for the tractor and passed out.

Later on, Pok came by to check on my condition. He forced me to eat some rice balls he had prepared from home. It was the first time I had eaten in over a day. I thanked him and asked about the day’s progress.

The crew has finished the trenches and is now ready to lay the concrete footing in the morning. The work requires precise measurements and can’t be undone. I’m not comfortable delegating the supervision of this to anyone else. I can watch from the shade if I have to, but I need to get back to the line.

-John Yatsko

Day 10 (May 20)

Things went much more smoothly on the construction site this time. I picked up a drum of porridge for the crew’s breakfast, which a woman in the market prepared for us. The workers still complained the porridge was too light and wouldn’t give them enough strength to work. It needed to be accompanied by bread or cakes. That one I couldn’t have seen coming. I’ll buy bread with it tomorrow.


The men continued to dig the trenches, form the blocks, and cut the sand. I stopped by the Sirigu market on one of my cement runs to pick up a bag of rice for lunch. The women prepared it for the workers by mid day. The meal was satisfactory, but I think we can still do better by buying bulk ingredients from Bolga.

The work is co-managed by Pok. He is much more knowledgeable about construction than I am, but seems to avoid calculation whenever possible. Between the two of us, we handle the site pretty effectively. One unexpected help came in the form of a young man by the name of Edward. Edward has emerged as a leader among the workers. He keeps the men on task and takes careful record of everyone in attendance. I left Pok and Edward in charge this afternoon while I made the trip to Bolga for supplies.

I’ve been feeling a bit off for most of the day. I wasn’t able to take dinner this evening. I suspect it may be the result of the borehole water I’ve been drinking. The Ghanaians say the white men’s stomachs are too weak for their food and drink. I was hoping I’d be over that by now. Maybe I can sleep it off.

-John Yatsko

Day 9 (May 19)

Today I showcased how little I know about construction management. The requested twenty-five men and women showed up for work this morning. Though I had arranged for a woman to cook breakfast for them, it had not occurred to me that I would still have to provide the food for the women to cook. It was too late by then. We had to get started.

One group of men rode with the tractor to fetch sand from the river bed. The rest stayed at the clinic with me. We began by measuring the precise locations of the corners of the building, being very diligent to insure that the corners were perfectly square. This task is important, but can only be performed by two people at one time. So, fifteen men sat in the shade for the first hour while Pok and I placed stakes on the corners of all the rooms.

There was plenty of work to go around once the crew began digging the foundation trenches. The ground under each wall must be excavated before we can begin work on the foundation.

At lunch time, having prepared no meal as promised, I simply handed out one cedi to each worker who had contributed. They were happy to receive it (most people eat for less than one cedi per day), but this is a costly way to go and I know most of them won’t actually use it for lunch during the break. In effect, this is just giving them a pitiful wage without making them any stronger for the work. We still made it clear that the money was meant to cover the cost of a meal.

When the tractor returned, the molders were able to begin making blocks for the foundation. Blocks in this area are notorious for their poor quality. Any block that contains cement is considered usable in a region where mud buildings are the norm. To cut costs, builders will water down their mixture with sand so much that the blocks barely hold together. Some of them don’t.

Pok insisted that blocks built to government standard, that’s thirty to a bag of cement, need ten days to cure. I instructed the molders to make our blocks at twenty to a bag (a richer mix). This should give the building more strength and allow us to build on them after four days.

Part of the reason I arrived early was to ensure the quality of the materials going into the building. One of the suggestions of the group was to have the blocks ready for us when we arrived on site. However, my fear on that was that the cement may be watered down to save materials and the structure would not be as sound as our team planned. The only way I can insure the price and quality of the materials is to do as much as I can myself.

-John Yatsko


A typical Ghanaian block next to ours

Day 8 (May 18)

I rode with Pok to the district capital of Navrongo this morning to meet with the District Chief Executive (DCE). Just like informing the chiefs in Yua of our work in their village, it’s customary to let the ranking politician know what we’re doing in his district. He happily approved our project and our request for the use of tools and a tractor. We picked up the tools from a local store room. The tractor will meet us at the site in the morning, when work will commence.

We stopped briefly at the Clinic on the way back to prepare for tomorrow. The nurse looked over the plans and picked out a spot for the building. We placed four blocks on the approximate corners and called it a day.

-John Yatsko

Day 7 (May 17)

Sundays here are traditionally days of rest. For now I don’t mind taking them. I know there will be plenty of work from here out.

-John Yatsko

Day 6 (May 16)

There’s not much that can be done now without tools or sand at the site. I know it’s going to be a struggle to get this building completed in five weeks. But for now, all I can do is wait.

I passed by a soccer match on my way home from lunch. It was the finals of a boys’ 15-and-under tournament which began three days ago. Ten teams from all over the Eastern Corridor had participated. Despite being the only team that wasn’t wearing jerseys, the boys from Yua made it all the way to the final round. I noticed they were also considerably smaller than their competitors. Yua put up a good fight, but Sirigu came out ahead for the win.

All of the women at SWOPA go home at dark. So in the evenings the only other person around is Simon, the security guard. I went out to talk to him for a while after dinner.

Simon has six children, five of whom are currently in school (the sixth is two). He explained that his oldest daughter has just graduated from secondary school and has been accepted into nursing college. Unfortunately, he can’t afford to pay her school fees. So she won’t go. He also has a son who alternates years going to school and working in the South to pay his school fees. Simon wishes he could come up with the money for them, but work is scarce in the North. There is no government assistance and no credit here in Ghana. Without an education you have two options: you can be a farmer, or you can be a security guard. Neither can pay for nursing college.

I’ve noticed at least 10 junior high schools in the area. I’m sure there’s more. There’s definitely only one high school though. That’s one six-classroom school for all seven villages, a population of at least 20,000. Granted some students can afford to go to boarding school in Bolga or Navrongo, but the numbers still aren’t good. Regardless of how brilliant or motivated a child is, he/she will never have a chance at an education if the family can’t afford it. We’ll discuss this issue in more depth when the rest of the team arrives.

-John Yatsko

Day 5 (May 15)

The Safari Wagon ran out of gas on the way to Bolga this morning. Though Pok did leave a container of gasoline for the car, he didn’t realize that the Wagon takes diesel. My driver, Francis, had to flag a ride back to Sirigu, barrow Pok’s truck, and come pick me up on the road side. He dropped me at the internet café and went back to sort out the car issue.

Later in the morning, I rode with Pok up to the chief’s palace to request permission to begin work in Yua. The compound is not really a “palace”, nor does it actually house a “chief”. In fact, the village of Yua has not had a chief in at least 20 years. When the last chief died, it was the responsibility of his house to organize the ceremony to appoint the new chief. Now, whether they couldn’t afford to perform the ceremony or they didn’t want the chieftaincy to leave the house, I cannot say for certain. We only know that the ceremony was never performed. Every time we came they would tell us the chief was ill, or that he was in the South. It was not until our third visit that we actually discovered he doesn’t exist. The people had been holding fast to the tradition of not mentioning to outsiders of the absence of a chief. Historically, if a village was known to be without a chief, then a rival tribe might move in to seize control over it.

It’s still a sign of respect to ask permission from the elders of the chief’s palace before entering the village. In the past, we have presented them with gifts from the local market such as gin and kola nuts. This time though, I felt it would be more appropriate to present them with some traditional American luxuries instead. I presented them with a box of homemade brownies, a pack of cigars, and one bottle of fine Tennessee Whiskey.

Next, we met with the construction team that will work with us on the clinic site. More than thirty people have volunteered to help with the building. We won’t pay them directly for their help; their labor is their contribution to the project. We will only pay for their meals during working hours to keep them strong. The people will begin gathering rocks for the concrete and piling them at the site.

We then made our way down to the neighboring village of Kindiga, where a large funeral ceremony was taking place. It just happens that the funeral was being held for the father-in-law of the DCE (District Chief Executive). After proper introductions, we spoke to him about acquiring tools and a tractor for the construction site. We’ll receive an answer when we meet with him in Navrongo on Monday.

On the way out we observed a group of men carrying around a large ornamental stone. I asked one of the men at the ceremony what it was for. He explained that a man in the community is entitled to his own grave if he has reached a “ripe” age at the time of his death. Once the new grave is dug, a stone will be placed on top to mark its location. The man’s family will then be buried with him under the same stone as they too pass on. This man has earned his own stone.

-John Yatsko

Day 4 (May 14)

I arrived at SWOPA (Sirigu Women’s Organization of Pottery and Art) in the early hours this morning. Pok, our main in-country contact, arranged for my transportation from Bolgatanga. I’ve never seen anything like the vehicle he dug up for us. It has no US equivalent. The best way I can describe it is a safari wagon. It cost 22 cedis to take the bus 18 hours from Accra to Bolga, and then 60 to hire a driver for the 40 minute drive from Bolga to Sirigu. I was too tired at the time to care.


I slept late into the morning until it got too hot to stay inside. SWOPA is the best accommodation around, but there is still no air conditioning in the huts. I remember it being a lot harder to sleep the first time I was here. I can’t say you ever get used to 105 and humid. I notice the Ghanaians still sweat a great deal. More so you just get used to being hot and wet all of the time. I definitely spent the better part of an hour today sitting in front of a fan.

I met with Pok for dinner this evening to discuss our plans for the clinic construction. Pok is a prominent contractor in the area. He has built dozens of structures similar to the one we have planned in Yua. Pok has agreed to serve as general contractor for this project

We looked over the plans and decided to scrap the inner hall and replace it with an outside veranda. This is a design that is much more characteristic of the area. He also suggested a completely different style of foundation than the one we designed. I agreed to the change for the sake of having the building “built Ghanaian”. Pok insisted that he has used the same foundation in his buildings for decades and never experienced problems.

-John Yatsko

Day 3 (May 13)

At last the notorious eighteen-hour bus ride on the STC. Akunz dropped me at the bus depot early this morning. As a seasoned Greyhound patron, I was prepared for the worst. The leg room could have been better, but otherwise it wasn’t too bad. The route to the North covers a lot of good country.

Around hour fourteen, I was flipping through my design plans without any real purpose. They caught the eye of the young woman sitting next to me. Her name was Ida. I had spoken to her intermittently throughout the trip. Ida was a professional photographer out of Tamale. She had traveled to Accra to visit her three-year-old son who lives with his grandmother.

She asked to see my plans for the Nurse’s Quarters at the Clinic. I handed them over and explained them as I would to anyone lacking in a technical background. She flipped back and forth through the pages with a bewildered look on her face. I figured I must have done a poor job of explaining the drawings. Before I could start again, she looks up and says “No. This is no good.” She then explains that the back door of the building should be in the kitchen instead of the bathroom. The women will need to throw the dirty water out of the kitchen when they are finished cooking. An extra door in the kitchen would also provide better ventilation for clearing smoke.

Apparently Ida had taken several computer aided drafting classes during her time in secondary school. I’m really not sure why I even thought to include a backdoor in the building at all, much less one in the bathroom. With no flammable materials in or anywhere near the building, the idea of it just seems silly to me now.

I doubt she was even listening to my initial explanation. She appeared confused because the front and side profile views of the building were out of order and didn’t match what should appear on the floor plan.

-John Yatsko

Day 2 (May 12)

One thing that will help the financial situation is the favorable exchange rate from Dollars to Cedis. Last year, the exchange rate was 1 to 1. This morning I bought cedis at 1 to 1.43. To my surprise, prices don’t seem to have inflated at all. Everything is the same, if not cheaper, than it was a year ago. It’s nice to catch a break for a change.

After exchanging currency, Akunz took me around Accra to look for some of the materials that will be difficult to find in the north. It's obvious where the US has left its mark on Ghanaian culture. This is a billboard along a major street in the city. Thanks America.

We stopped briefly at a warehouse selling drip irrigation supplies. They offer a half acre system out-of-the-box for about 600 cedis. While this is what we need, I’m hesitant to simply buy a “project” from a private vendor and then turn it over to the farmers in Yua. Serving as humanitarian delivery boys does no exactly meet the rigorous engineering challenges characteristic of this organization.

Our next stop was the Solar Light Company. They have a website advertising a household solar system for 2500 cedis. That’s less than our current solar budget, so I thought I’d at least give it a look. As it turns out, the system they refer to on the website includes just two 100 watt panels. Even if you could buy all the components of the system for 2500 cedis, which you can’t, a 200 watt array is not half of what’s necessary to power any reasonably sized home.

There were, however, some components they offered for an affordable rate. The charge controller, batteries, and lights were all comparable to what we’d pay in the US. Panels here go for around 9 cedis per watt. That would be about 9000 cedis for the size array that is actually needed for the system I have in mind. We’ll be much better off shipping our own panels over for around $1500.

I took* dinner this evening with Akunz and his family. Dr. Akunzule is a veterinary doctor, born in Yua, and educated at Cornell University in the US. He is a well respected elder in both his home village and in Accra, where he currently resides. Akunz’s claim to fame is that he was the first man in Ghana to perform surgery on a lion.

His daughter prepared a traditional meal of riceballs and groundnut soup. The soup contained bits of what appeared to be snake. I thought it might be rude to ask. Honestly though I didn’t want to know.

*Local idiom. You “take” meals rather than “have” them.

-John Yatsko

Day 1 (May 11)

I was met at the airport in Accra this evening by our good friend Dr. Akunzule. I suppose he’s just my good friend now. Of the 8 NAU volunteers who embarked on the last implementation, I am the sole returner. The rest have graduated or moved on. It won’t be a problem for me so much as for the new volunteers. They have big shoes to fill.

The new team will break up into four groups to tackle the various tasks we have planned. Bryce Gillies will lead the Drip Irrigation team, Conner Ricket the Borehole Repair, Jessica Lum the Assessment, and I the Clinic. Kate Dorrel will serve as Documentarian and Dr. Aaron Denham our cultural advisor.

The construction at the clinic will occupy most of my time for the coming weeks. Considering the scope of the task at hand, I’ve chosen to stay in country for a full six weeks, two weeks longer than the rest of the team. So, this time I travel alone.

It’s a familiar scene at the airport. The flight was late and so was the baggage. I’ve learned by now to pack as though I’ll never see my luggage again; so I was prepared for it. In three years, our bags have never made it to Accra on the same day that we did. Today, however, both of them made it safely to the conveyer belt at Kotoka International…even if they were two hours late. I take it as a good omen.

For those unfamiliar with the project, our chapter of EWB has worked in the remote village of Yua, Ghana for the past three years. The community has no electricity, plumbing, sanitation, adequate medical care, and very limited access to clean water. On the previous implementation trip, the team constructed a mechanized solar well at the Yua market, a solar lighting system at the junior high school, and sponsored the drilling of an additional borehole at the clinic.

This year we have a larger project, 3 fewer volunteers, and half the budget. We’ll have to run things a bit differently on this one.

-John Yatsko

EWB-NAU IMPLEMENTATION TRIP, PHASE I

Hello,

Below you will find our blog for the first half of our implementation trip in Ghana. The team is doing great and the project is coming along wonderfully. We promise to get more photos up as soon as we can! Feel free to leave comments!!

-Yua Development Project Implementation Team

Day 27 (June 14, 2008)

Another early start for the ewb crew. We arranged to meet at Kakum for a guided hiking tour of the park at 6:30am, always a challenging task for this crowd. I told the team last night that they would be there at 6:30 because I would use the commute as my long run in the morning and meet them at the park. The run was a thrilling experience to say the least. The Ghanaians are surprisingly supportive of my athletic pursuits. I seem to be universally known as "The Sportsman" in all parts of the country. It caught me a bit off guard to see large machete-wielding men step out of the shadows and suddenly breakout with toothy smiles and shout "Sportsman!" Fourteen miles never felt so short. The team pulled up to the visitor's center just as I arrived at 6:30.

Kakum National Park proudly boasts the only Rain Forest Canopy Walk in Africa. It certainly did not disappoint. Rope bridges span the tops of seven giant trees reaching 150 feet above the forest floor. The hike continued to one of the largest trees in the forest. Danielle, Berai, and Olivia stand at the base of the old giant. And yes, that's the tree behind them.

Later in the day we spontaneously decided to go check out some of the castles down at Cape Coast. It was a scenic drive along the coast highway to some historic castle I had never heard of. The van pulled up at the base of a beautiful white castle overlooking the ocean. We piled out of the van and gleefully walked across the draw bridge. I was the first to spot the chilling inscription on wall beside the main doorway. On it was written
IN EVERLASTING MEMORY
OF THE ANGUISH OF OUR ANCESTORS
MAY THOSE WHO DIED REST IN PEACE
MAY THOSE WHO RETURN FIND THEIR ROOTS
MAY HUMANITY NEVER AGAIN PERPETUATE
SUCH INJUSTICE AGAINST HUMANITY
WE THE LIVING VOW TO UPHOLD THIS
I remember thinking to myself "what is this place?" Elmina Castle was the first, oldest, and largest slave trading post in Africa. It served as a major hub of the Atlantic Slave Trade for almost four hundred years. Men and women were marched in from as far away as Mali to be exported from the castle. We saw the slave dungeon where they were held and the loading room that docked to the transport ships. The door was intensionally narrowed so that captured slaves could not slip through to join their chained family members.

Dinner was quieter than usual tonight. David in particular seemed especially reticent. I think it hit him the hardest.

Day 18 (June 5)

Contributed by: Olivia

We arrived at the site determined to adhere the roofing felt to the panel seams and build the masonry wall for our hose bibbs. Both Johns and James from the Crew adhered the felt while I began supervision of the masonry structure. Matt and Berai walked to the local hand dug wells with their interpreter to test the water quality. Jared and Danielle journeyed via taxi to Bolga to upload the blog at Afrikids and return the oxyacetylene torch. The team was working with much gusto through the morning (assured from the previous day's success of pumping water) before John Campbell checked the CU 200 with the digital multi-meter and found that there was insufficient voltage to operate the pump. There was speculation as to whether a “short” was created when the felt was nailed to the panel and plywood. Work was momentarily halted when the team troubleshooted the problem.
A test panel was punctured with a nail around its perimeter and through its center to compromise its integrity. It was not easily compromised (which was great news) and deduced the problem to a spliced line to the CU 200. The team discussed solutions over lunch at SWOPA. Upon returning to the site, the team isolated an area of the cabana and bypassed the spliced line. Meanwhile, trenches were dug for the 5” x 8” x 16” solid concrete masonry blocks to elevate the polytank. A tic-tac-toe pattern was trenched at Dale's suggestion. Steven from the Crew of 6 assisted with his mason experience.
Danielle and Berai befriended Sherina to assist them on their home visits and women's group meetings. It was with great delight to have the people of Yua visit the work site and greet the team with “Bulika” (Good morning) and “Toma! Toma! Toma! Toma!”

Contributed by: John Yatsko

Disaster!

Perhaps the most difficult part of construction so far was finishing the roofing and waterproofing the solar array. The process consisted of cutting twelve precisely measured strips out of two felt rolls and lacing them carefully around and between the panels. We then nailed all of the strips to the panels and secured them to the edges with industrial adhesive. The sun felt especially intense today and the morning's work carried into the afternoon as we awaited the return of our teammates from Bolga.

At last, we finished the roofing and climbed down for a well deserved drink from the cooler. To our dismay, we were told the water ran out three hours earlier and the van was in Bolga...drat! One brilliant individual suggested we turn on the pump. So we sent John Cambell up the ladder and... nothing. The pump stopped working.

Thoroughly sun baked and demoralized, none of us had the energy to troubleshoot the system before lunch. We sat under the cabana and discussed the possibilities. The worst case scenario was that we completely destroyed our array by hammering nails through all the panels. If that were the case, we would have to scrap the plans for the school and return home with a half completed project. To rule out this possibility, Cambell opened up the tool shed and banged a few nails through an extra panel in an attempt to reproduce the damage on the roof. The panel was unaffected, so we had some peace of mind while we ate our lunch.

We returned to the site and began the investigation. The system registered 25 Volts on the multimeter, where it had read 130 yesterday. 25 seemed a peculiar number since there was no part of the circuit that should read anything close to that. We had no choice but to tear up the roofing and undo all the connections we had assembled yesterday. I almost cried. We diligently redid all the connections and measured the voltage of each of the eight strings of panels individually. All eight registered 130 volts. We put the strings of panels back together and again...25 volts. Cambell and I sat on the roof and stared at each other for a while until I finally realized the problem had to be in the jump wire buried underneath the array. We cut the wire out of the circuit and replaced it with a fresh one. 130 Volts. We must have hit the jump wire with a nail and grounded out the system when we laid down the felt strips.

We heat shank all the connections again (with hot embers from the camp fire of course) and replaced the damaged roofing. Cambell and I called it a day and Olivia's team began work on the masonry structure.

Day 17 (June 4)

Contributed by: Jared

Water!

Today, water flowed by the sun's power and into the mouths and headpans of the Yua people.

Yesterday, we secured an acetylene torch from a local welder. Bartering the man down from $30/hour to $30/day for five days, we were sure the heat-shrink splices would proceed with ease—and they did, for about twenty minutes when the gas in the tanks ran out. (Not that we hadn't asked if the tanks were full; we had been assured that they were.) So, it was a day of heat-shrinking by sticks embered by a small campfire. The pump went down the well, the array upon the cabana, and soon thereafter, water flowed into the open air. Folks dashed seemingly from every point on the horizon, and a crowd was soon assembled for water gathering and even splashing and playing—truly a moment we have all been waiting for.

Day (June 3)

Contributed By: Berai

Today, Dale, Ken, Trotta and I went to another hospital it was better than the others, but still could benefit from the Help of Medical Hands for Healing.
We also traveled to the Sirigu and Yua clinic to deliver supplies that the Medical Hands for Healing crew brought along. Both clinics received the medical supplies joyously and happily as “Santa Ken” handed them out.
On a side note: Olivia and I are roomies in one of the SWOPA guest houses and every night we hear a little creature pitter- pattering all night long—keeping us guessing as to what is lurking above. Keep ya posted if we find out what our little friend is.

Day 15 (June 2)

Contributed by: Jared

The local children holler three words at us: ponga, Yatsko, and Yua!

Ponga means “strength”, a term we've been steadily hollering at one another for a loose translation of “keep it up!”

Yatsko is our beloved John's last name, who perhaps stands out more than others due to his lovely golden locks. And as a chief designer of the cabana structure, his name is regularly called during the work day with enough emphasis, enunciation, and response from Yatsko himself that the children have caught on.

Yua I think is a beautiful exclamation, which began last year when Danielle found herself briefly without words for translation at the Welcome Ceremony. She hollered “Yua!” and the response of “Yua” in unison from the community spurred Danielle to repeat the cry, each time with a spirited response from the group. Now, Danielle is typically greeted with a “Yua!” cheer, serving as her nickname. This has evolved to the point that when our van drives down the Yuan dirt roads, children chase after us yelling “Yua! Yua! Yua!” with enormous smiles on their faces.

The work continued today and we were able to finish sheeting the roof. Tomorrow we hope to get the panels assembled and placed on the roof. A major obstacle has been locating a torch for heat shrinking the gazillions splice fittings we have integrated into the array design. As you might guess, hardware is not as readily accessible in northern Ghana as it is in your typical American town. For instance, this photo [] is of a bolts and nuts shop, aptly name “BOLTS AND NUTS”. Bolts and nuts are all that are available at this shop. Down the road, you might find a wire shop, which carries little but wires. I've spent at least half of a day trying to find pipe wrenches—and although bolts are common enough, I can't for the life of me get across what I mean by the term “wrench” (let alone pipe wrench). Finally, that always observant Matt Moan found a pipe wrench in the dirt outside of a welding shop (another story entirely), and we found ourselves soon equipped with two “all-spinners.”

Anyhoo, back to the torch. In Ghana, a torch is a flashlight—so I find myself describing a hand-held fire device to no avail. We have already sent Trotta to the welding shop where the welders built a simple cone shaped funnel out of sheet metal, which we will hopefully place atop a small propane oven (which is common). The funnel will channel the heat to our heat-shrink splices and we will move forward with the construction of the water plaza.

Day 14 (June 1)

Contributed by: Jared

The work on the “cabana” continues. After last night's late hours, we took it easy in the A.M. and commenced work at a leisurely hour. We met with the Crew—the six folks from the community who have been designated “system chiefs”—and explained the day's intended proceedings: we were to paint all of the wood to protect it from the elements, cut the posts to match the designed angle of the roof, and begin raiser rafters and fascia. We explained the design angle, or the “angle of incidence,” which is the optimal roof/panel pitch for harnessing the sun's energy.

The Crew, many additional members of the Yua community, and EWB worked side-by-side throughout the day, ultimately resulting in: (photo)

The work on the “cabana” continues. After last night's late hours, we took it easy in the A.M. and commenced work at a leisurely hour. We met with the Crew—the six folks from the community who have been designated “system chiefs”—and explained the day's intended proceedings: we were to paint all of the wood to protect it from the elements, cut the posts to match the designed angle of the roof, and begin raiser rafters and fascia. We explained the design angle, or the “angle of incidence,” which is the optimal roof/panel pitch for harnessing the sun's energy.

The Crew, many additional members of the Yua community, and EWB worked side-by-side throughout the day, ultimately resulting in: (photo)

Day 13 (May 31)

Contributed by: Berai

Huge! Unimaginable! Says, David at the completion of the first day of construction on the water plaza design when I asked him what he thinks. It was indeed huge and unimaginable, but it wasn't easy. I myself wasn't involved with the construction of the 30ftx12ftx14ft canopy foundation, but I did witness something incredible.

The beginning of the day started off meeting with the six people chosen to be our core helpers with both the water plaza and solar power for the school along with an entire sleuth of others ready and willing to help us with the task at hand. The dimensions were setup using local wood and string to ensure that as the 14 foot posts were hoisted into the air they would be straight, level, and structurally sound or panga (“strong” in Fra-Fra). After the meeting Jared, Matt, and David headed to Bolgatonga for more supplies and the rest of us stayed behind in Yua helping where needed. The men and Olivia started work on digging the footers while Dani and I went with women to fetch water. Let me tell you, fetching water is not an easy task and requires a lot of strength. Dani and I tried putting the large basins of water on our heads, however, we couldn't keep them on long because they were extremely heavy and could have squished our necks. Dani did carry a smaller of bucket of water on her head for about 1km and she was exhausted by the end. Lesson learned: never underestimate the energy required to fetch water.

As the day progressed the men and Olivia kept working on the water plaza design while waiting for Jared, Matt and David to return with the “goods” from Bolga. Then finally the guys returned from Bolga with the gigantic polytank, 160 cement blocks, and tons o' wood. There was a battery crisis for a moment and if you saw John Campbell's face you may have thought the world was going to end. The crisis ended when the batteries arrived, well it almost ended since the batteries were gone and the “goods” didn't arrive until a couple of hours before sundown,so everyone was nervous that the six 14 foot posts would not be up before daylight was lost. Getting the posts up before the next day was crucial because if not it would set us back a day and we don't want to be behind.

Now, this is where amazing happens. Everyone: EWB, Medical Hands For Healing, and the community of Yua became one unit and worked as fast as possible to get cement ready for mixing, posts in the right position, rebar cages fabricated, and getting the security posts ready in the amount of sunlight left. But naturally, the sun went down and we only had one post hoisted in cement. Instead of stopping we pulled up the two vans and used the headlights. Everyone kept on working at rapid speed to finish (even though as Jared pointed out the sun is down there is no rush anymore), but everyone kept working calling out “mallet”, “nail it in” and John Campbell climbing up on Joseph's (one of the six picked to work with us) shoulders to nail in the security boards I honestly wish that everyone could have been there to see how amazing everyone worked together, it was one of the most incredible things I've seen happen between a group of people. Amazing.

Day 12 (May 30)

Contributed by: John Yatsko

The ceremony was electric. We could hear the drums and chants from a half mile off. We felt like royalty as they escorted us to the front row of chairs under a shade awning. The Yuan people surrounded the entertainment, a thousand deep. Across the wide circle of villagers sat the elders of the community. One by one, they introduced themselves and thanked us personally for our efforts. Most didn't speak English, but the sincerity in their eyes said enough.

David began by introducing each of the ten of us to the crowd. Every introduction was followed by uproarious cheers. Many of the upstanding members of the community commended us for our efforts and urged the people to support our needs for the project. The “Elders” of our group were then presented with custom made scarfs, handwoven by the people of yua. Pictured below is Professor Trotta (Prof Prof) with his sheepish grin. The ceremony was then opened up to all the performing groups that had anxiously awaited our arrival.

One after another, the singing groups danced their way around the circle. One group of girls from the junior high school actually wrote us a song and performed it in front of everyone. At the end of each performance, the singing groups would form a smaller circle in front of us and then throw down in a “dance off.” It was incredible to watch. The groups would begin with a steady clap before breaking it down to a fast paced rhythm that I could reproduce if I tried. People from all around would jump into the circle and begin dancing violently. Everyone did this. Elders would dive in and rival the intensity of the youngsters. A few brave members of our own crew even jumped in and threw down. The crowd exploded.

As a musician myself, I found the drummers particularly impressive. They would put my high school drum line to shame. Their style was so abstract, for the life of me I couldn't figure out how they stayed together. They didn't appear to be counting or following any repetitive pattern. They just felt it. Their was no beginning or end to it; even when they left the circle, we could hear them in the distance. The sound of drums carried through the night air. We could hear them from Sirigu that night as we went to sleep.

Day 11 (May 29)

Contributed by: Berai

Today I went with Dale Gray and Ken Baillie from Medical Hands for Healing and Dr. Trotta to visit the Municipal Health Center in Bolga and Afrikids Medical Clinic. We gained great insight into the true health status of the Upper East region and further established the link between health and engineering.

Our meeting with Dr. Alexis Nang-Beifubah from the Municipal Health Center was honest and alarming, but equally helpful and productive. For more than an hour Alexis painted a picture of the reality of the health in the Upper East through statistics and anecdotes. There are a lot of opportunities for EWB-NAU and Medical Hands for Healing to collaborate health and engineering to improve the quality of life in the Upper East. Alexis responded positively to Dale and Ken with their potential plans to return to the Upper East with a surgical team and supplies to alleviate some of the stress on the doctors in the Upper East. The surgical team would also be able to train and educate local doctors to do procedures with the equipment they bring, so they can provide more services to the citizens of the Upper East. Alexis said it best, “health is not medicine.” This is when engineering and EWB jumps in because health is related to water quality, infrastructure, waste water management of a community----medicine is merely a response. Alexis' point was if engineers can come to the Upper East and improve the aforementioned then his medical staff can have time to focus on patients with other ailments that are not directly related to water or infrastructure because everyone else would have good health, thus improving the overall quality of health in the Upper East.

After meeting with Alexis we drove over to meet with the staff at the Afrikids Medical Clinic. This portion of the morning was heartbreaking. When we entered the clinic there were a good number of people: men, women, and children waiting to be seen by the doctor. Despite the look of being overwhelmed and exhausted, the doctor and nurse expressed their desire to improve their clinic so they can continue to help people. The doctor expressed that he is overwhelmed with cases relating to malaria, and diarrheal diseases that it is difficult for him to help others who may be going into labor or have other illnesses. He also mentioned that his clinic needs more space for beds, but there is a problem of staffing more doctors and nurses as well. Some roofs within the clinic were leaking---a great place to have some engineers or construction management folks come in and do some repairs. The need for additional medical equipment is there as well.

By the end of the morning my heart was saddened by the health conditions of the Upper East, but simultaneously my heart was uplifted because EWB and their partners can bring positive change to many peoples lives.

Day 10 (May 28)

Contributed by: Danielle

Following local protocol, we went to Bolga to meet with the District Chief Executive (DCE) for the Kassana district, Hon. Emmanuel Chegeweh, to inform him about our work in the area. Last time we visited the district he was very supportive of our work and even agreed to help us by providing some tools if needed. Indeed, it went very well, Jared led the meeting and explained the projects we would like to implement in Yua and expressed our excitement for being in the area and working with Yua again. Dale Gray also had the opportunity to talk about his feasibility study with Ken for Medical Hands for Healing. The Hon. DCE was again very supportive of our plans and thanked EWB-NAU and Medical Hands for Healing for our efforts in the area. He also kindly updated us on the events and developments that the district has experienced in the last year. Notable were the floods that occurred last August (only two weeks after the last team had gone home), which he concluded left 50,000 people displaced and destroyed 9,000 homes. Since then, much new construction has taken place, some of it to replace fallen homes and some is the result of development. There have been two new primary schools built in Yua and the important concrete bridge between Yua and Sirigu (which began 6 years ago) will finally be finished after two months time. The DCE also agreed to let us borrow some useful tools we need for the project including wheelbarrows, hammers, pickaxes, and shovels.

We were invited and took lunch by the DCE at his wife's restaurant in Bolga. Afterwards we raced to Yua for an equally important meeting with the Yuan chief and elders. We brought them the traditional gift of Koala nuts, tobacco, and Schnapps and asked for their blessing to do this work in Yua. Embarrassingly, we discovered that one of the Schnapps bottles had been broken after we gave it to the chief, later I joked that it was indeed David who had secretly drank the Schnapps! Despite this the chief and elders gave us their full blessing and thanks.

With the appropriate blessings given, we were anxious to get started. We drove directly to the Yuan market, where the drillers had just begun their work. A group of people were already gathered there and many jubilantly called out “Yua!” to us as we walked closer.

For me, actually seeing the drill rig working there was one of the greatest moments yet. It marked the beginning of what we all have been working towards for months. It gave me a feeling of great accomplishment to make good on a commitment to Yua. As we were all watching some of the elders would come up and shake our hands and some even gave us hugs!

As the sun was setting we got the opportunity to visit Mussa's house, a patchwork of circular homes molded together to form a large and beautiful complex. Before we got the chance to go inside we visited a shallow well nearby. To reach the water in this particular well they had to draw a bucket (another paint thinner can) down about 30 feet. Although, most of the adults know this water is dirty , they continue to use it because the borehole is too far. We all prayed that the borehole would indeed reach the water we had been promised to see!

Day 9 (May 27)

Contributed by: Matt

Today I woke up with the sun, bright and early around 6 am. This was not so much because of the restful day we had had yesterday, but more because I was puking my guts out. Once everyone got up we compared sleeping stories and discovered that both Jared and myself had eaten something bad. Jared seemed to have the worst of it and he got progressively sicker until the afternoon. I was sick all night and morning but mustered the energy to go to Bolga in the afternoon. Because I am in charge of the keeping track of the expenses, I decided that I must go to the bank to see if our project money had transferred to Ghana.

Dani, John Y., and myself met the fellas, fresh from Tamle, at Afrikids headquarters in Bolga. There, we discussed our money transfers with Andy and Nich of Afrikids. Roughly half of the money had already transferred, so we could provide a down payment to the Adongo and buy some more supplies.