Enhancement of Asikuma government-run school

One of our goals before the trip was to raise $12,000 to continue on enhancing the Asikuma Presbyterian Primary School (the government run school) with the main goal being to install electricity in the classrooms. We also had high hopes to integrate a computer center into the library that we had constructed on our previous trips. I had written more details about the enhancement here. Well, by now you won’t be surprised at me telling you that God provided! We received a TON of donations from the families in Jake’s Kingdom Hoops program for this one, as well as some key larger donations from family members, and a steady stream of donations from people who caught word of our efforts through our friends and past tripsters. We actually raised $12,500 and were able to begin getting the labor hired out and started on this trip! Before I show you the interior pictures, here’s a mental reminder of the outside –

Basically there are 3 long separate buildings of back to back classrooms that are part of the school. We have started upgrading one of the long buildings:

Just for you to compare, here’s a look at one of the other buildings that hasn’t been touched yet:

As part of the building upgrade, last August we began constructing on an additional classroom and library to the end of the school building (construction posts can be found here and here). You can see the addition in this picture there at the end of the building on the left:

Now, onto the progress from this most recent trip. Over the week we were in Ghana the electricity started getting wired (we hired local labor to complete this). Here’s an interior picture of the additional classroom we had constructed next to the library. You can see the white electrical outlets running down the walls ….

This red and black wiring hanging from the unfinished ceiling is where the fans will go….

And here is a look at the inside of the library with the wiring started as well. Since we are now able to also incorporate the computer center, we are waiting until after the electricity hook up and ceiling completion to build the shelves and bring in the books. This picture also shows the new desk chairs that were built….

Lighting on exterior of building – a lightbulb will go in that white holder:

Here’s a look at the new window coverings that had started going up on the classrooms. Each of the windows will have this wire mesh installed on the outside to keep bugs out (hard to see in the picture but it actually has smaller mesh within the squares), as well as the shutters that open and close.

All the classrooms in the entire building will be wired with the electricity, have the window coverings, and will also be getting new doors. The guy making us the doors has his shop right along the street in Asikuma. It’s pretty easy to check in on him! :) He had just started working on the door frames when we stopped by on this particular day.

By the last day of our trip the first load of materials to begin finishing off the ceilings had arrived!

Then yesterday we received one of our regular updates from Ken, one of our in-country employees, and got the following pictures of the completed ceilings that were finished after we left! Yay!

Ceiling and fan in library:

And ceiling in additional classroom – the fans are supposed to be installed in the classroom this week:

Whooo hoooo! Lookin' good!

This week Jake also held an informational meeting with the 17 Drake students (education majors) that are coming on our January 2013 trip. They actually had over 55 students sign up for the trip but because of logistics we can only take smaller teams. Jake was PUMPED UP as he told me all the educational tools the Drake students will be incorporating when they teach in the school and assist the teachers in enhancing their curriculum. The Drake students will be focusing on literacy and reading comprehension during their time teaching at the school.

It's so exciting to continue to see the results of our labor on the school, and yet we know that the most exciting part of bringing in the books, computers, and Drake team is yet to come! When we set out to start helping this school, these are the types of resources that the teachers had humbly asked us for - it is so fun to watch this all fall into place one piece at a time!