Ghana is still a vibrant, lively and warm place for me to hibernate over these 6 months. I am loving life and glad to be here. Despite not having a vehicle to drive, I'm okay. I have hosted Alahyo Young, here in Ghana and collaborated with Samuel Bentum, we spread the wings of A Matter of Xpression (AMX) since the last time I wrote. AMX is the business I created back in the 90's, only having to do business with individuals when the need came to view. Now, AMX is alive and jumping. All those books my friends, colleagues, choir mates, family donated was over the top. Donations couldn't sustain the shipping costs, therefore making my business the avenue to make the venture a reality for schools here in Ghana. Ironically, APGSS couldn't house anymore books!! So, we took our show on the road to Eastern Region, Ghana in Koforidua.
We landed at Koforidua Secondary Technical Senior High School, and were greeted by the newly installed Headmaster Samuel Foli, who graciously accepted our donations of three barrels of books and sporting equipment for the 2500 student population of that group there are only approximately 167 girls from the local community attending the historically male school. Yes, Koforidua SecTech, as students and alumni fondly call the school, is a boarding school that will celebrate its 50th anniversary in 2017.
We were so pleased to tell four of those girls how much we look forward to supporting them as they matriculate in a mostly boys school. The smiles, the smiles on their faces were priceless. Even Headmaster's smile was beaming with pride that folks from America were thinking about them. He is a graduate of the school and formerly served the school as Chemistry teacher and Science Dept. Chair. Big things are happening at SecTech!
We were given a tour and lunch guided by the most gracious Asst. Headmaster Amoasi. He is a force for the children at the school, and in the community. When he walks the campus -- students scatter or stand tall in his presence. We will return to the lovely campus and buildings of Koforidua. We are considering doing a fundraising drive for the pressing hall - it's where students do all of their ironing. The wall has crumbled, but students continue to use it to full capacity
Koforidua Secondary High School - Eastern Region, Ghana
Also, we did not forget about our relationship to Archbishop Porter Girls' SHS, the new Headmistress Mary Armah-Brako and one Assist. Headmistress Aidoo greeted Alahyo and I with open arms and warm hearts to give me a certificate of appreciation for the books that were sent prior to my return to the school and Ghana. The new Headmistress is making moves to reconstruct the library to house all the titles we sent them. Their cup runneth over, but that is okay. The girls were telling me about different books they read and couldn't wait for them all to hit their library's shelves. I'll get more details from them in the coming months. My visits to the school have been short and quick, so many other things to do when you live here and take a full-time class load.
Archbishop Porter Girls' Secondary High School
However, the new Headmistress was installed on the same Sunday as was SecTech's new Headmaster. We couldn't attend either program, but we were there in spirit. We were travelling the countryside with Alahyo on her whirlwind 10-day visit.
More tomorrow!
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