Average

Today was again spent at 94- my regular start to the day is to watch Sophie teaching phonics- the kids are getting quite good at the sounds now, and are even managing some words! Then I did some more interviews at break time, another 10, meaning I have plenty from 94 now, and will try to get some from another school next week.  Both today and yesterday I have found myself surrounded by students whilst I am interviewing, all keen to answer my questions.  I am not sure how many of them have been specifically selected by Berlinda and Lisa, but anyone I talk to seems to sell after school, so I am thinking that the phenomenon is fairly widespread!

After this I gave out the teacher questionnaires that I had printed for my mini-project in the teachers lounge (a.k.a. the future ICT lab) and got a couple back on the spot.  Therefore my mini-project data collection is pretty much finished, and I can focus solely on my dissertation data and painting next week.  The general plan is to try to visit two Omega schools- Oblogo and Bortianor, and two government schools- one in Oblogo, and one near 94- time permitting of course.  The time is going by so much faster than expected, and we have arrived at another weekend.  We are planning some sight-seeing in Accra tomorrow, and to meet up with David, another student off the course who is staying there.

On the way back from school we took a stroll through the market- which mainly consists of kiosks and general stalls set up on the side of the street.  This shows the lack of security that many of these sellers have, as they do not have any rights to their plot on which they may sell every single day, and they could easily be moved on at any time- not that this seems to happen!  Sophie also pointed out, as we walked through the market on the way to school one day, that there are plans to build a bus station- what will happen to the stalls if this goes ahead is another matter.  The plans for this are in the main market area, in which many many people set up shop everyday, selling everything from clothes to jewelery, cosmetics to fruit!

On returning to the hotel this afternoon, the electricity was once again off, but luckily a generator is powering the computers, meaning that I can get some essential work out of the way.  The lack of air-con when I get back upstairs will be the ultimate disappointment however!

This evening we decided to trial a different restaurant, at the New Timers hotel in Kasoa- the service was however low, even by Ghanaian standards, and the choice of chicken and fish with rice was nothing special! Then on returning to the hotel they were just about to lock the gates- a curfew that we were not aware of!