tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-140082692024-03-14T12:52:59.068+00:00The Jackson JourneyCharlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.comBlogger80125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-6538346563119233712017-03-26T21:05:00.001+00:002017-03-26T21:05:31.133+00:00Ashesi Career Day CS Programming Competition<i>Charlie writes:</i>
Charlie poses with the winners:
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On Wednesday, March 15, 2017, Ashesi University held its annual Career Fair on campus. The CS Department participated by holding a Programming Competition over the spring midterm break. The challenge was to process GPS tracking data collected by Nsoroma on one of the staff busses over a period of a month.
<h2>Computing Challenge Details</h2>
The students were able to choose between <tt>python</tt> and <tt>java</tt> as their language of choice, and asked to attempt three tasks of increasing difficulty:
<ol><li>
What is the location (rounded to two digits), in latitude and longitude, where this vehicle is parked at night?
</li>
<li> What are the number of visits to a set of circular Points of Interest, specified by three numbers, and the average time spent by the vehicle in each of those geofences for each visit?
</li>
<li> Which of the trips is "unusual," where "unusual" is defined as you wish?</li></ol>
<h2>Participation</h2>
The contest attracted more entrants than earlier competitions, and we had 27 total, broken down as follows:
<table>
<tr><td>Language</td><td>BA-'18</td><td>CS-'17</td><td>CS-'18</td><td>CS-'19</td><td>CS-'20</td><td>Engr-'19</td><td>Engr-'20</td><td>MIS-'17</td><td>MIS-'18</td><td>MIS-'19</td></tr>
<tr><td>Java</td><td>1</td><td>3</td><td>6</td><td>3</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>1</td><td>1</td><td>1</td></tr>
<tr><td>Python</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>2</td><td>1</td><td>2</td><td>2</td><td>4</td><td>0</td><td>0</td><td>0</td></tr>
</table>
The contestants' submissions included their software, a readme file with any instructions required to run the code, and a one page summary of their approach, including references to any resources they used to assist them in programming their solutions.
<h2>Evaluation</h2>
<b>Kenneth Mintah</b>, CS Faculty Intern, then ran the submitted code over the supplied data files, and verified that they delivered the expected answer. He also ran the codes over a significantly larger data file that the students had not been exposed to, similar to the way
<a href="http://www.kaggle.com">Kaggle competitions</a> are run. Thus, the ranking of functionality was one point each for the three tasks over each of the two pairs of data files, for a maximum of 6 points.
Below shows the histogram of the points earned by the submissions:
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Some Tracks
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<h2>Winners</h2>
This years winners were:
<dl><dt>1st prize:</dt><dd>Constant Likudie (CS 2018)</dd></dl>
Constant will receive a GenKey paid internship plus monthly guidance by the their technical lead, and a one week visit to their operation in May.
PLUS
Voto Mobile - 1 week management training session
PLUS
United Pensions Trustees - GHS 300 CASH
<dl><dt>2nd prize:</dt><dd>Maxwell Aladago (CS 2018)</dd></dl>
Maxwell will receive an Olam Ghana GHS 1000 paid internship
PLUS
United Pensions Trustees - GHS 200 CASH
<dl><dt>3rd prize:</dt><dd>Stephane Ofosuhene (Engr 2019)</dd></dl>
Software Group 3 month paid internship
PLUS
CS Department award GHS 200 CASH
<dl><dt>4th prize:</dt><dd>Anthony Aboe (CS 2018)</dd></dl>
Department award GHS 200 CASH
<dl><dt>Honorable Mentions:</dt><dd>Wuyeh Jobe (CS 2019)</dd><dd>Oracking Amenreynolds (Engr 2020)</dd></dl>
Departmental award GHS 100 CASH each
<dl><dt>All participants:</dt><dd>
All participants will receive a certificate and be invited to a celebration pizza party organized by the Computer Science department sometime in the next few weeks. Cash prizes will be awarded after the requisitions have been processed by Ashesi's Accounts department.</dd></dl>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-59427604532584028512016-05-24T02:39:00.000+00:002016-05-24T02:39:40.230+00:00#SundayReads 2016-05-23 How College Works<i>Charlie writes:</i>
<p>
Following are my observations after reading the book
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/How-College-Works-Daniel-Chambliss/dp/0674049020/">"How College Works"</a>
by Daniel F. Chambliss and Christopher G. Takacs, 2014,
selected for the Ashesi Faculty/Staff retreat, June, 2016</p>
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<p>Interesting quote: "<i>More like a church or even a family,
a college serves multiple interests which are constantly
shifting.</i>" I had not expected academics to admit of
this reality, but the book exhibits a student-centered
tone throughout.
</p>
<p>
As I read the chapter on entering and making friends,
I considered the FDE class our freshmen experienced
as an academic activity similar to sports or choirs
that demanded lots of time and could have resulted in
close friendships for the members of the class of 2019.
I wonder if other faculty/staff have heard this from
the class.
</p>
<p>
Sociological factors important for making friends:
Physical proximity, Meeting early in college career,
Time together with a large, yet knowable number of
fellow students, Some exclusivity, and Shared interests.
This helps me understand Patrick's emphasis on constructing adequate
on-campus living spaces.
</p>
<p>
Students without friends are more likely to transfer,
drop out, or not be able to study well. Have one
2019 student in mind that I'm concerned about.
</p><p>
Faculty that students choose as mentors have these
characteristics: exciting, skilled and knowledgeable,
accessible (easy to find, available, approachable),
and engaging. Worthwhile objectives, hard to measure.
</p><p>
Vital importance of freshmen instructors: engaging
the students into the academy, legitimating the
disciplines. The first year is a special opportunity.
</p><p>
When professors don't have students in a series of
classes, mentorships don't develop.
</p><p>
<b>Dinner at a professor's home is magical, a talisman.</b>
</p><p>
The authors make an interesting argument on the
"arithmetic of engagement." Given that there are only
a few teachers that regularly engage students, you
really should put as many students in front of those,
rather than concentrate on arranging small class sizes.
</p><p>
Also interesting that quoting class sizes based on
the "class-weighted" average class size results in
a much smaller-sounding typical class size than a
"student-weighted" average class size. This can be
a significant effect when there are many small upper
level classes, which is not so much the case at Ashesi.
</p><p>
"Belonging" as a goal. I would say from what I have seen
that Ashesi students in general seem to form a strong
connection to the mission of the school by the time they
leave. As in other venues, four factors are important:
co-presence (physical interaction), shared focus of
attention, ritualized common activities, exclusivity.
</p><p>
The typical progression of connection begins with a
few close friends from the dorm, then a sport or club,
then a wider institutional set of "weak" linkages
mediated through parties or friends of friends. Would
have to validate that in the Ashesi context through
student interviews, not sure.
</p><p>
Improving the writing skills is dramatic over first two
years, but mostly comes from recognizing you have a
caring audience for your writing. The importance of
a one-on-one conference between a faculty member and
the student is also magical. This brought back memories
of the extravagant efforts Marian Horowitz made while
here, that I still hear students mention.
</p>
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<p>
Improvements in public speaking. I would contend that
Ashesi concentrates a lot of attention on this, and
generates students that compete well on an international
stage.
</p><p>
The science versus humanities divide at Hamilton echoes
comments I hear from Ashesi students at Akorno as they
compare CS and Management tracks. I have to wonder how
the introduction of engineering will impact on this.
</p><p>
Students need to care about relationships, and this is
the strength of peer pressure, "making the grade" or
"joining the group." I also see an increased willingness
to challenge each other's arguments as students spend
time at Ashesi.
</p><p>
Skills, confidence, and relationships are the three most
salient benefits of attending college, according to the
authors of the book. A nice summary of the value of a
liberal arts education:
"<b><i>The greater potential benefits of college may lie not
just in learning discrete skills, but in acquiring the
habits and attitudes that support learning and make it
intrinsically enjoyable.</i></b>"
</p><p>
I was shocked to read authors' contention that "satisfaction"
of alumni is really the "whole point" of the college
experience. I take the "transformation of the continent"
as the crux of the Ashesi vision, although the short
term measureable outcomes that I see Ashesi watching
include the ethical outlook of its graduates, their
employ-ability, and the research output of their faculty.
</p><p>
Curious advice to exec for how to improve alumni
satisfaction: "<b><i>helping the right people find each other
at the right time.</i></b>" As my father-in-law said,
"you could say that is how to run any organization..."
</p><p>
Takeaway advice for me: learn and use your students'
names, a little personal contact goes a long way.
</p><p>
Takeaway advice for my students: spend your time with
good people. You must find a few good friends and a
couple of great teachers. Steps:<br>
1. start meeting people right away.<br>
2. choose teachers over topics.<br>
3. pick your places for maximum interaction.<br>
4. join high-contact activities.<br>
5. keep your options open, socially and academically.<br>
</p><p>
Ashesi could evaluate our success via phone interviews with students
who entered ten years prior. This is a difficult,
but potentially interesting approach.
</p><p>
The authors' closing shots on the relative unimportance
of facilities, as opposed to people, at Socrates Academy
seemed too facile.</p>
<p>
I'm sorry I won't be present for the conversations at the retreat!
</p>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-31410238805475670092016-02-22T16:06:00.000+00:002016-02-22T16:06:20.327+00:00#SundayReads 2016-02-21 Tears and Watchmen#SundayReads 2016-02-21, a day late...
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Two books this week. The first, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00HJEH3ZA/">Tears on the Sand</a>
was a page-turner that kept me up for a night or two.
Dr. Joseph Agris, a cosmetic surgeon from Houston,
narrates an adventure in Pakistan. He had traveled
to Afghanistan and Pakistan multiple times on medical
mission trips, repairing cleft palates and other
facial defects, as well as injuries caused by drone
attacks of the US and the collateral damages of the
war on terror. After thousands of these surgeries all
over the country, he decides he wants to meet with
Osama bin Laden to try to understand what sort of
thoughts and habits motivate that man.
As his bodyguards tell him, he will not find Osama,
but if Osama wants to find him, the meetings will
take place. The "crazy Texan" notices some Pepsi
that he cannot buy, and figures out where Osama is
getting his fix, and shortly after, emmisaries manage
to kidnap him and deliver him to the bin Laden compound
in Abbottabad for a series of conversations. Just
minutes after his last conversation with the leader,
Dr. Agris is able to witness the Navy seal assasination
squad arrival, and then has to beat a speedy exit
from the country.
The doctor's musings about the impact of drones and
the nuclear ambitions of Pakistan makes one pause and
think about how so much money can be spent to so little
improvement of the situation on the ground. He also
highlights how al Qaeda, when cut off by the financial
lock-down by the international banking system, turned
to the refining of grade four heroin as a mechanism to
extract billions of dollars of revenue from enemy
states. And he realized how efficiently al Qaeda was
able to wage war, with an unheard-of kill ratio by
its suicide bombers.
Most upsetting for me to read were claims that Osama
supposedly made to the doctor about suitcase-sized
dirty nuclear bombs that he claimed had already been
smuggled into sleeper cells at dozens of US cities.
If true, this could be the next phase in the global
war on terror. All in all, a disturbing, but reasonably
plausible story.
Also interesting is his report of an ambush on the
road that required him to kill four men in order to
rescue his bodyguards after being thrown from the
vehicle by an improvised explosive device. Not exactly
a typical tourist jaunt!
The second book this week was Harper Lee's second book,
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00T3DNKIE">Go Set a Watchman</a>.
It was kind of spooky that I finished the book the
day before the author died. My host at a missions
conference in Helena, outside Birmingham, AL, had a
copy her aunt had read, and the Accra Book Club had
read it and "To Kill a Mockingbird" for their January
meeting, so it was one that had been on my list. It
was short, and written in a simple style. The story
picks up after the story reported in her first book,
as Scout returns home for a visit after moving to
New York. The theme is coming to grips with a human
father who is not the hero she had portrayed in the
first book, but I found the psychological portrait
very realistic. Books such as these make for great
conversations about race relations in the USA, and
understanding life in Alabama. As a yankee who lived
in Atlanta for a generation, the culture is still
mysterious, and books like these are a good way for
me to try to understand southern culture.
Oh, and the newspapers here reported the author's
original title had been "God sent a Watchman" but in
today's book-publishing environment, such a title
was not perceived as viable, apparently. So they
took off one letter...
Ready anything good lately?Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-7672577054075335942016-02-14T00:48:00.001+00:002016-02-14T00:48:51.703+00:00#SundayReads 14-Feb-2016#SundayReads 14-Feb-2016
<i>Charlie writes:</i>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivAYylqyW0k8qOGyhITJAPAjaQHuplMfxGEDZ4rCE1gp_O-r8qybEs6kiELUsm_zKc5Tnt2ySKdbduvskuCNh4b8erdM0H7YTCG0-RF-E_JbMPL1wr4jXd_DzrAbsUL6elkI88Mw/s1600/lent.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEivAYylqyW0k8qOGyhITJAPAjaQHuplMfxGEDZ4rCE1gp_O-r8qybEs6kiELUsm_zKc5Tnt2ySKdbduvskuCNh4b8erdM0H7YTCG0-RF-E_JbMPL1wr4jXd_DzrAbsUL6elkI88Mw/s200/lent.PNG" /></a><br>
<a href="http://centralumcatl.org/2014/03/senior-pastors-lenten-season-sermon-series-2014/">Image</a> from Central UMC, Atlanta, GA</div>
<p>
As Lent begins, I have resolved to listen to an
audio version of the New Testament, according to
a 40-day plan. There is an on-line audio Bible
site, <a href="http://www.bible.is/">bible.is</a>, and I was able to use the FOSS
audio editor <a href="http://www.audacityteam.org/download/">audacity</a> to paste together the
thirty minutes or so of audio for each day,
deleting the chapter labels. Finally did my
first listen today, so it may be a challenge!
</p><p>
My big read this week was <b>Michael Lewis</b>'s expose
of the Salomon Brothers meltdown in the mid 1980s,
<a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003E20ZRY">Liar's Poker.</a>
I was intrigued after my readings
on risk two weeks ago. Here is an Art History major
who became incredibly sucessful as a bond salesman,
but bailed out before the company imploded. His
depiction of the personalities involved and their
motivations seem as unlikely as the fictional account
by Tom Wolfe, <a href="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B003GYEGNO">Bonfire of the Vanities</a>.
</p><p>
I was intrigued by Lewis's Epilogue:
<blockquote>"When you sit, as I did, at the center of what has been
possibly the most absurd money game ever and benefit
all out of proportion to your value to society..."</blockquote>
introducing his decision to quit that job, freeing
him to write about it. Once again, the theme was the
weirdness that happens when you can't find the person
on the other side of a trade or a market.
</p></p>
I've also been plowing through a MOOC by Scott Page,
of the University of Michigan, on <a href="https://www.coursera.org/learn/model-thinking">coursera</a>, about
Model Thinking. This will be great preparation for my
Data Mining class this fall, although the amount of
stuff he crams into each ten minute clip is truly
exhausting in tempo. An interesting reading that came
out of that one was Dr. Feynman's essay "The Value of
Science" in his book "The Pleasure of Finding Things
Out" which is available <a href="http://www.sitpor.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/Helix-Books-Richard-P.-Feynman-The-Pleasure-of-Finding-Things-Out_-The-Best-Short-Works-of-Richard-Feynman-Perseus-Publishing-Company-1999.pdf">here</a>
on page 141. This famous physics prof from CalTech argues that the skepticism
of the rational scientist is an attitude that was
only affirmed in the relatively recent future, but
represents an attitude that is a pre-requisite to
a functioning democracy. Earlier forms of governance
just don't allow dissent, since those in charge are
certain they know how to run society. He claims that
the skeptical attitude of science is very related to
the development of the "Age of Reason," and he for one
doesn't want to go back:
<blockquote>"Even then it was clear to socially
minded people that the openness of the possibilities was an
opportunity, and that doubt and discussion were essential to
progress into the unknown. If we want to solve a problem
that we have never solved before, we must leave the door to
the unknown ajar."</blockquote>
</p>
<p>
On to Alabama next week, planning to carry a tome called "Tears on the Sand" by a
reconstructive surgeon in Houston who had just visited Osama bin Laden
hours before the US military engineered his assasination.
</p>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-75081783998099013102016-02-08T04:53:00.000+00:002016-02-08T04:53:10.810+00:00#SundayReads 7-Feb-2016<i>Charlie writes:</i>
During this week I only read one book:
<img src="http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51CGvwYmz-L._SX331_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg"></img>
<p>
<b>Old 300: Gone to Texas</b>, by <a href="http://facultyweb.wcjc.edu/pspellman/">Paul N Spellman</a>, 2014, self-published, ISBN: <a href="http://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_noss?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=1497470587">1497470587</a></p>
<p>
My father-in-law took me along to the yearly meeting of the <A href="http://www.sanjacinto-museum.org/">San Jacinto Historical Society</a>, here in Houston, TX.
The author delivered an entertaining talk about his research into the 300 families who were granted properties under the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_F._Austin">Empresario Samuel F. Austin</a> during the years 1822-1826. Dr. Spellman has been teaching Texas history for a generation, to fourth and seventh grade classes, to university students, and most recently at Wharton County Junior College in Richmond, TX, and felt that it was time to document three issues:
</p>
<ul>
<li>
Who were these people?
</li><li>
Why did they come to Texas?
</li><li>
Where did they come from, and how did they get here?
</li></ul>
<p>
Professor Spellman was able to lay hands on the original land records in the Texas Land Office in Austin, and then tracked back through census records to conclude that there was at least one family with a connection to each of the 24 United States at the time, and some from Ireland and Canada. He also discovered that not all the 300 were huge, poor families, although there were many who fit that bill. While Austin tried his best to keep out bandits, and had confronted five escaped convicts, throwing out two, not all the folks were necessarily upstanding characters. There were a handful of women who arrived as widows when husbands died on the perilous journeys to the Brazos and Colorado River basins. It seemed that the land route through Nacogdoches and the "Piney Woods" was easier than the skiff journeys over the sand bars of the Gulf of Mexico from New Orleans.
</p><p>
The book also used the word "filibuster" in a sense I had never encountered, meaning "a person engaging in unauthorized warfare against a foreign country." There had been some earlier attempts by citizens of the USA to invade Mexico and settle the northern portions, but Moses Austin had proposed to settle Anglo farmers who were willing to live under the Mexican catholic administration on tax-free plots to encourage the development of the area. Of course, this settlement approach ended up not lasting very long. In fact, the original grant was made by a government which was overthrown before he could mobilize his settlers, and his son Steven had to travel to Mexico City to renew the deal with the new administration, taking him nearly a year (during which he learned Spanish!).
</p><p>
You will find some of these 300 names, like Fulshear, Dickinson, Austin, Bastrop, Kerrville and Stafford across Texas today. The Texas Rangers date from these early years, and the importation of slaves also dates from this time.
</p><p>
The book was a long read, but carefully drawn. His original draft had been nearly 600 pages, so the 400+ represented quite an abbreviation.
Dr. Spellman also quotes a few pages from other histories to give a taste for the challenges experienced by various families. I was particularly interested in his quotes from various, conflicting accounts of the first deaths recorded amongst these 300 families in attacks by the local Native Americans (p 194-196). This explains why history can be somewhat difficult to pin down.
</p>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-89365254446384583312016-01-31T20:59:00.001+00:002016-01-31T20:59:25.120+00:00#SundayReads 31-Jan-2016<i>Charlie Writes:</i>
<br>
<p>
During our sabbatical time, reading has become a
priority. Noticing Kajsa Hallberg-Adu's weekly
<a href="http://kajsaha.com/2016/01/sundayreads-24-jan-2016/">reading list</a> inspired me to report in on mine as well.
Not sure I'll be able to keep up the tempo, but it
will keep me accountable....
</p><p>
<i>
Readings this week:</i></p>
<p><b>Children of the Earth: My Memories of EARTH University's
History</b>, Jose A. Zaglul, EARTH University, 2010. 221 pages.</p>
<p>
This paperback, available in English translation as
well as the original Spanish version, is sold at the
Gift Shop on the EARTH University Campus in Guacimo,
Costa Rica.
Dr. Zaglul is the founding president of EARTH University,
another institution benefitting from the Master Card
Foundation scholarships program. Mary Kay and I had
visited their Guacimo campus in Costa Rica for two
days last week, and were eager to read the founder's
take on the challenges of creating a university on
a former banana and livestock plantation in the humid
tropics of Limon province. The campus has about the same
land area as Stanford University and teaches tropical
agriculture.
</p><p>
I was very interested to read
about the origins of their yearly international festival,
organized by the students themselves, which has as one
object the funding of travel for family members of
graduates who would not be able to attend commencement
otherwise. Also fascinating was the similarity of
emphasis on entrepreneurship and ethics, with the
additional "justice" component in their educational
model. I think there should be ongoing collaboration
between the schools, and hope that I can contribute
to making that happen. While there, we had dinner with
five students from Ghana, who explained how they had
endured a "crash" course in Spanish while living with
local farming families for the trimester before starting
classes. We were humbled to even imagine attempting
college in a foreign language, but they seemed to be
thriving.
</p>
<p>
<a href="https://www.ted.com/talks/liz_coleman_s_call_to_reinvent_liberal_arts_education/transcript?language=en">Liz Coleman speaks on Liberal Arts Education</a>
</p><p>
<i>
The problem is there is no such thing as a viable
democracy made up of experts, zealots, politicians
and spectators.
</i></p>
<p><a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aagfTHnI_3A">Vulnerability in Teaching</a></p>
<p>
Vulnerability as a teaching strategy. Some motivation
for me to share my struggles in CS111 this past term
on <a href="http://www.jacksons-in-ghana.blogspot.com/">our blog</a>.</p>
<p><b>Against The Gods: The Remarkable Story of Risk</b>,
Peter L. Bernstein, John Wiley & Sons, 1996.
0-741-12104-5</p>
<p>
A romp through the history of probability and statistics,
concentrating the later chapters on the famous
economists and behavioral scientists who presaged
Freakonomics. The final few chapters' discussed
the "porfolio insurance" meltdown of the 1990s
and what it implied about the hubris of quants.
These guys developed illiquid derivatives that proported
to re-allocate risk, making the market safer. At the time,
the author seemed convinced that the regulation of
this activity was un-necessary, as the big banks just
were <i>too big to fail</i>. Written a dozen years before
the sub-prime mortgage collapse, it was odd to contrast
with the events recorded in the book and movie
<b>The Big Short</b>.</p>
Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-38732346544533664882016-01-29T19:29:00.000+00:002016-01-29T19:29:17.844+00:00<i>Charlie writes:</i><br>
<b>Practical Ethics at Ashesi University:
Discipline inspired by faith</b>
<br>
<p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://questgarden.com/118/17/4/110606113809/images/plaigarism-clip-art.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://questgarden.com/118/17/4/110606113809/images/plaigarism-clip-art.jpg" /></a></div>
</p><p>
<i>Clipart from Troy State University's website: <a href="http://questgarden.com/118/17/4/110606113809/process.htm">"Plagiarism: It's Not a Laughing Mattter"</a></i>
</p><p>
Teaching at <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/">Ashesi University College</a> is an honor, but
the ethical component of the work became
more intense this last term.
</p><p>
I was teaching Ashesi first-year students
studying business administration or management
information systems an <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/academics/four-year-curriculum">introduction to computing and
programming</a> course.
That course's broad syllabus includes topics like
how to generate a strong password, what is the internet,
scientific prefixes used in computing, building and
using basic databases, navigating email and the
<a href="http://sis.ashesi.edu.gh/courseware/cms2_9/enrol/index.php?id=279">moodle-based software</a> used for classes at Ashesi,
and constructing a personal <a href="http:/www.linkedin.com">Linked-In</a> page.
We also introduced computer programming, using javascript, the "language of the web."
</p><p>
After designing an interactive web page with javascript,
we went on to develop an electronic "battleship" game.
In class, we showed how a series of buttons on the page
could be linked to functions to play this game. The
second programming assignment had the students generalize the
individual button functions into a single handler with
a parameter in order to make the code easier to read
or extend. We also wanted the students to realize that
editing existing code is often part of programming work.
</p><p>
The students pushed back that they were having problems
with this assignment, so we presented other examples
of functions with arguments and extended the deadline.
</p><p>
While grading the submissions
we realized that many of them were either identical
or very similar to others.
On my invitation, Ashesi's Dean of Students presented
the school's position about copying work on individual
assignments the following week. I set about warning the
15 students who had submitted solutions identical to
one or two others.
</p><p>
Ashesi uses an "Informal Resolution" process, where
instructors can administer various sanctions in cases
where a student has not kept with the standards we
expect. The instructor can select from a range of
sanctions less severe than failing the class, and the
student my accept that sanction or appeal to the Ashesi
Judicial Council (AJC) if they feel unfairly punished.
The lecturer must report the evidence and the sanction
to the Dean of Students, to prevent any student from
avoiding AJC after multiple "Informal Resolutions" in
different classes.
</p><p>
I initially proposed a sanction of a zero on the
assignment plus a warning, but after having administered
this to the 15 students, our Dean felt the school's
administration wouldn't find that sanction rigorous enough.
</p><p>
My missionary colleague spent some time the next week
coaching me through what message I needed to send,
and what sanctions I felt sent that message. I ended up
with a two-tier scheme. After further examination,
I found there were 20 additional students who had
submitted nearly identical solutions, changed just
enough to avoid detection by submitting identical files.
These seemed a more serious issue, deserving of a more
severe sanction.
</p><p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmseawGCl5g_5pvCtvzlsk3pGqeXvw7XEqYTT-sTkx1VSQ4MbAWiQ_YhUeOYkL95crHbE8h5EqHmUxzMthpLXSz1RHN82PzwZ_5j7Ck2Gl53U6NTf9h-F-RDh6NU1MltHNahHHA/s1600/blogpost2.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFmseawGCl5g_5pvCtvzlsk3pGqeXvw7XEqYTT-sTkx1VSQ4MbAWiQ_YhUeOYkL95crHbE8h5EqHmUxzMthpLXSz1RHN82PzwZ_5j7Ck2Gl53U6NTf9h-F-RDh6NU1MltHNahHHA/s400/blogpost2.png" /></a></div>
<i>Side-by-Side comparison of two submissions, red text identical, green text changed slightly to hide the plagiarism.</i>
</p><p>
I constructed a somewhat more complicated game as a
makeup assignment, which we expected each of the 35
students to complete without copying each other's
work. This makeup was worth no points, but was required
in order to pass the course. Both groups were given a
zero on the original assignment. The group with similar
submissions were also docked a half grade on their
final course grade.
</p><p>
The logistics of meeting with the original fifteen
students a second time, the 20 new students, executing
the agreements, presenting evidence in one case of a
student who had a prior "Informal" and whose case was
promoted to the AJC directly, and the emotions raised
over the whole scandal were probably the most difficult
few weeks I have experienced here at Ashesi. Yet, after
a few weeks of time away and reflection over how I
enforced expectations, I feel the effort was
consistent with Ashesi's <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/about/ashesi-at-a-glance/mission-history.html#Mission">mission to train
a new generation of ethical entrepreneurs who will
transform Africa</a>.Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-3571474073911962302014-01-27T21:27:00.000+00:002014-01-27T21:27:10.449+00:00My New Friend, Abel<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>Mary Kay writes:<o:p></o:p></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><br /></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqQT4cp8vN74u4mYIpQ5625R88xvxE1_gkYZQ0ZWaP2XgUlss4Q30yq-a-vaWAyRfaCJ4NxGoL-ak1SaH_uGUEbMDYq67LwYr19FKSn4GaRUXuPlpML5llLPWjXYe_bHphzEd5Q/s1600/abel2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhiqQT4cp8vN74u4mYIpQ5625R88xvxE1_gkYZQ0ZWaP2XgUlss4Q30yq-a-vaWAyRfaCJ4NxGoL-ak1SaH_uGUEbMDYq67LwYr19FKSn4GaRUXuPlpML5llLPWjXYe_bHphzEd5Q/s1600/abel2.JPG" height="320" width="306" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">I want to introduce you to a young man that I have just
met. His name is Sampana Abel, and he
lives in Bolgatanga. He completed Junior
High School in June, and took his Basic School Certificate Examinations at that
time. These examinations are the
culmination of primary and junior high school in Ghana, and your score on the
BSCE determines whether you will go to high school or not. Abel scored well enough in his exams to move
on and received notification that he had a place at Bawku Technical High
School. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But Abel has had a difficult childhood. His childhood home in the village was
destroyed in a storm. Six of his siblings have died at very young ages, leaving him with only a brother and a sister surviving. His parents have suffered from poverty and illness and were homeless for some time. Abel had nowhere to stay until a local woman
took him in, in exchange for him working on her farm and around her house; the
work was hard, and life was not easy. Often
Abel couldn’t go to school because he had to work. Lately, though not an orphan, he has been
living in an orphanage run by a friend of mine, Mama Laadi, outside of
Bolgatanga.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">In Ghana, secondary education is not free. Most high schools are boarding schools, so in
addition to tuition costs, money was needed for room and board. By the time Abel was able to pull together
enough money for his school fees at the end of October, school had already
started. When Abel showed up, the
Headmaster told him that the class was full and there was no room for him.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Abel tried to get into other schools in the area, but they
were all full. A couple of schools would
have been willing to take him into the freshman class, if Abel were willing to
pay a bribe to make it worth the school administrator’s effort. Of course, Abel barely had the money for
school fees, so he couldn’t afford to pay any bribes on top of that.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">While watching television one night, Abel and Mama Laadi saw a program sponsored by the Methodist Church
Ghana. During the program, the show
advertised the Methodist Education Unit and provided a phone number to call for
more information about attending a Methodist School. Abel called and asked about schools in the
Upper East Region and the potential for assistance to impoverished students
. He was referred to his local Methodist
minister, Very Rev. Samuel K. Bessa-Simons.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Very Rev. Bessa-Simons met with Mama Laadi and Abel and told
him about the new Methodist Senior Technical School that will open in January
in Sakote. While the Sakote school does
not have boarding facilities, it turns out that Sakote is Abel’s home
village. His parents are back living in
Sakote, so he will have a place to live and go to school. In fact, one of my photographs of women at
the new boreholes in Sakote included Abel’s mother in it!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Abel wants to thank Living Word UMC and the friends he has
never even met for providing such a great facility for his village. He is excited about the opportunity to get an
education and promises to work hard.
When I asked him what he wanted to be now that he will get an education,
he didn’t know how to answer. He said,
“I never thought I would have the opportunity to get an education, so I never
thought about what I could be.” After
some contemplation, though, he said he would like to become either a pastor or
a teacher.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We may never know the number of lives we touch or the impact
we have on others, but every once in a while, God gives us a glimpse of the
difference we can make in one young man’s life!
Thank you, Living Word, for your love for Ghana and for making education
available for young men and women like Abel.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; text-align: justify;"><span class="text Prov-10-13" id="en-NIV-16670" style="position: relative;">"Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, </span></i><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Prov-10-13" style="position: relative;">but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool </span></span></i><i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><span class="indent-1"><span class="text Prov-10-14" style="position: relative;"> of a fool invites ruin." Proverbs 10:13-14 (NIV)</span></span></i></div>
Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-10273363543215489222013-12-08T09:18:00.000+00:002013-12-08T09:18:04.728+00:00Mary Kay's Aggie Award<div class="tr_bq">
<i><span style="color: blue;">Charlie writes:</span></i></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<i><span style="color: blue;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzl7fWoPfWPY1uDCHDC30uZHC16t1K1V7M-vxX8C6vveqNNskS7FkwNqaY0o5Tf3HqlTXN6EUUpSUJ89TKqsiUwZW9_UetveUkBX9nt42FNj8TqdC8vZdg7GWNx_p9ib2oQv6R7w/s1600/Closeup-of-Trophy.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzl7fWoPfWPY1uDCHDC30uZHC16t1K1V7M-vxX8C6vveqNNskS7FkwNqaY0o5Tf3HqlTXN6EUUpSUJ89TKqsiUwZW9_UetveUkBX9nt42FNj8TqdC8vZdg7GWNx_p9ib2oQv6R7w/s320/Closeup-of-Trophy.jpg" width="146" /></a></span></i></div>
<br />
Last month, Mary Kay was named a <b>Distinguished Graduate of the Zachary Department </b><b>of Civil Engineering</b> at her <i>alma mater</i>, <a href="http://www.tamu.edu/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Texas A&M University</a>.<br />
<br />
Her citation read:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Mary Kay says her civil engineering father, Daniel D. Clinton, Jr. P.E. '52 inspired her to become a civil engineer when he guided her through a 6th grade report on using math in civil engineering. Numerous trips to Aggie football games -- and the family picnics with Tinsley's fried chicken -- sparked her love of A&M traditions and pageantry. When her father said she could go wherever she wanted for college but he only would pay for A&M, she didn't want to call his bluff.<br /> Mary Kay's days at A&M were filled with activities ranging from President of Chi Epsilon, Dean's Student Advisory Council, ASCE, Concrete Canoe Team, to founding member fo the MSC Legislative Forum Group. Her fondest memory is the "Camraderie" of classmates during late night study sessions, slaving in the basement computer lab trying to get a program to run, and building the "Rock" and "Rock-elle" concrete canoes. She says nothing could top "the days when the CEs would take over and open and close the Dixie Chicken and have our big domino tournament. That was what really defined us as CE majors!" She credits Dr. Gene Marquis as a great advisor, friend and mentor. He required hard work and had high expectations "but was always willing to take time to explain a difficult concept to us -- as many times as it took for us to get it."<br /> When she was 35 years old, Mary Kay was named the Design Manager for the F. Wayne Hill Water Reclamation Facility in Atlanta, the first (1997) wastewater treatment plant designed to meet drinking water standards. The facility discharges to the lake that supplies water to much of metropolitan Atlanta. After overcoming many hurdles, the award-winning $200 million project was completed on time and on budget.<br /> As stated in Mary Kay's nomination, "she is doing something that most of us have never done ... using her civil engineering skills to provide people in poverty with safe drinking water and improved living conditions." Mary Kay's biggest career step was leaving the corporate world to use her civil engineering skills in Ghana, West Africa to establish the Methodist Development and Relief Services' water program that has supplied clean, abundant water for rural families. Also under her leadership, a new Pure Home Water charitable organization fabrication facility has been constructed to distribute appropriate technology water filters throughout Ghana.<br /> The Clintons are an Aggie family. Her grandfater helped establish the Texas Agricultural Extension Service. Her father, uncle, sister, brother and now her nephew all wear maroon. Her husband, Dr. Charles W. Jackson, IV, P.E. BSME/MIT, MS, PhD ME/Stanford University is a math professor at Ashesi University in Ghana. Son Chip Jackson is a PhD Aerospace Engineering student at Virginia Tech, and son Ken Jackson has completed his freshman year in Computer Science at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology.</blockquote>
<br />
We were thrilled that Mary Kay's parents, uncle Kenneth and sister Laura, as well as our son Ken, were able to join with us in the celebration.<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVXJ4TYixh7ploWRhEooN7HMzqN9LSG9IF9V9H3v1fWCZPoO_CAkPqcT-5HCotiWBbTeasv7XoMhUjzoVIGXuESha2wjFWdTrWhtEvD3PcudvrB8f-ipEOqwRl5HLPIAThEr6eQ/s1600/Line+Two+093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHVXJ4TYixh7ploWRhEooN7HMzqN9LSG9IF9V9H3v1fWCZPoO_CAkPqcT-5HCotiWBbTeasv7XoMhUjzoVIGXuESha2wjFWdTrWhtEvD3PcudvrB8f-ipEOqwRl5HLPIAThEr6eQ/s320/Line+Two+093.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
Following is her acceptance speech:<br />
<br />
<blockquote>
Dr Autenrieth, Faculty Members, Students and fellow Aggie CE graduates and supporters, it is a great honor and privilege to be recognized this evening as a Distinguished Graduate of the Zachry Department of Civil Engineering. It is hard to believe that thirty-four years ago, I sat in the atrium of Zachry with several thousand other fish engineers as the Dean of Engineering told us to look at those seated on either side of us -- only one of the three of us would graduate in engineering. It was hard work, with lots of late nights studying, waiting for printouts to see if our computer programs ran, and of course, the nights at the Chicken playing dominoes. But for those of us who graduated four (or five or six) years later, the hard work was worth it. Our time at A&M -- both academic and extracurricular -- shaped who we are today.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
I have always wanted to be a civil engineer. My twenty-three year career as a municipal consultant was fulfilling -- all I ever dreamed. I had the opportunity to work with great clients to help solve the challenges posed by the rapid growth in the southeast US in the 80s and 90s. I managed the design of wastewater facilities ranging from 1 MGD to over 200 MGD, and worked on leading edge projects incorporating the use of ozone and membranes into wastewater treatment -- now common practice, but innovative at the time. I loved my work.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
But all of this was just the prologue.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
According to the WHO/UNICEF Joint Monitoring Report for 2013, about 768 million people, a little over 10% of the world's population, does not have access to adequate supplies of safe drinking water. We have made great strides -- in 2006, there were 1.1 billion people without access to safe water. But there is still a long way to go. And we are not talking about access to 80 gallons per person per day -- the amount we use on average here in the USA. We are talking about the basic human right to a mere 5 gallons per day -- within a 30-minute walk of your home.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
At the same time, 2.5 billion people, over one-third of the world's population, do not have the dignity of access to an improved sanitation facility. And over 1 billion of these people practice open defecation - going out into the forest or behind bushes to do their business. All of this results in death, disease and a reduced standard of living for everyone, not just the poorest of the poor. In 2009, the WHO reported that water related disease was the leading cause of death in the world, killing 3.4 million people every year. In Ghana alone, 30,000 children die of preventable diarrheal disease each year. The vast majority of these deaths are children under 5 -- the future of the world.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In 2002, I had the privilege of visiting Ghana for the first time. While our family was there for two weeks on a short mission trip, we fell in love with her tropical climate, warm and friendly people, and rich cultural heritage. But at the same time, we saw villages without water and children drinking from rivers or ponds. At that time, my two boys started asking why children had to live that way and whether or not I could do something about it.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
At the same time, I clearly felt the call of God on my life -- to love the least in this world as He loves them. God clearly showed me that while no one is dying of waterborne disease in the US, His children around the world ARE dying. God had given me the talents and A&M had given me the education to be able to make a difference, so what would I do to meet that challenge?</blockquote>
<blockquote>
In 2006, I quit my consulting job with Metcalf and Eddy to pursue a new dream. Our family moved to Ghana, where I work with the Methodist Church of Ghana to bring water and sanitation to remote rural villages.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
The most fulfilling part of my career is now. It is not the most technologically advanced work - pit latrines and clay or stone pot filters have been in use for thousands of years. But it is the most significant work I will ever do. Whenever I go to a village and distribute ceramic pot filters, or drill a borehole, all the small children gather around. I love to spend time interacting with them -- teaching them a song or just chasing them around the village. But the best part is knowing that these children will now have a much greater chance of growing up to live full and productive lives, all because I have given them a cup of water in Jesus' name.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Living as a missionary in Africa is not everyone's calling. Certainly, if you had told me at graduation that thirty years later I would be telling you these stories, I would have thought you had rocks in your head. But we are all called to care, and we are all called to make a difference in this world. I challenge each of you to find something you are passionate about that makes the world a better place. Dream big -- change the world. You may not be able to change everything, but you will make a difference. And life is much better when you are living your dream and are passionate about what you are doing.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
And to God by the glory for all the things I have been able to accomplish.</blockquote>
<blockquote>
Thank you.</blockquote>
I'm proud of you, Mary Kay!Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-8578032317459901212013-11-24T05:14:00.001+00:002013-11-24T05:14:18.133+00:00A Big Day in Buiyilli<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i>Mary Kay writes:</i></span><br />
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Last week, my friend Reed Hoppe wrote a great article about me for <a href="http://www.themissionsociety.org/" target="_blank">The Mission Society's </a>news feed. I hope you read it through my Facebook or Twitter feeds. If not, you can read it <a href="http://www.themissionsociety.org/learn/about/news/gonews/ghanaian-village-gets-clean-water-for-the-first-time-in-history" target="_blank">here</a>. I thought you would like to see the next installment of the story.</span><br />
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /></span>
<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Today was the big day in Buiyilli. </span><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The activity started early at the </span><a href="http://www.purehomewater.org/" style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;" target="_blank">Pure Home Water</a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"> office, as our staff assembled and prepared to take 58 filters to the village of Buiyilli in the Tolon District of Northern Ghana. We picked up Jason Von Behren, the American missionary who had identified the need for clean water in Buiyilli and raised the funds for the filters, and set off to the village. Over an hour later, driving down a VERY dusty and bumpy dirt road, we arrived in Buiyilli.</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VTz0WLHsypepQvp4YTtvNnEb8MouMQi3kgIu3ZFHXu9uWRZd9p53VwuxwQ0bHGZfz7U-1-Qx3DZPu0ohkbvksCKkLW_H7K3-_puFUrBHu9PMhLf-Qs7auLtPmLdzVwQCIF0-vw/s1600/IMG-20131123-00482.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2VTz0WLHsypepQvp4YTtvNnEb8MouMQi3kgIu3ZFHXu9uWRZd9p53VwuxwQ0bHGZfz7U-1-Qx3DZPu0ohkbvksCKkLW_H7K3-_puFUrBHu9PMhLf-Qs7auLtPmLdzVwQCIF0-vw/s320/IMG-20131123-00482.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Upon arriving, the PHW staff set things up. This is what 58 filters look like all lined up:</span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzHckRBrtn7KL5heK4klIziEW0MsiijVAq04FPW5RjLcMuShrmivnLMxwmOTzxihw6oIpda5_OJ0gGAImWeVmx_kjPvgzEB1XTDKAAGgAwl_Q2hOntunEEizpVvO1qa2Ra-Pc0w/s1600/IMG-20131123-00486.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlzHckRBrtn7KL5heK4klIziEW0MsiijVAq04FPW5RjLcMuShrmivnLMxwmOTzxihw6oIpda5_OJ0gGAImWeVmx_kjPvgzEB1XTDKAAGgAwl_Q2hOntunEEizpVvO1qa2Ra-Pc0w/s320/IMG-20131123-00486.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The women started gathering as well. We had asked them to bring soap and basins of water for washing the buckets. We were expecting about 50 women, but had many more than that gather. You can see how poor the water quality in Buiyilli is - and I saw many women and children drink this water during the course of the day. When you are thirsty, sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFXhez0WuMz_M_onC8zzFtXMjZXtoG45eeUoPnfo1bC-r5CHiVWtCyKPoeiP73YTmgrwShSbq4W6WNtJ3KI6z7Mkz3U3sl1QLTVed4JD0b0XpH06GA2YJcYSs08oZagJWkMJtaw/s1600/IMG-20131123-00481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhQFXhez0WuMz_M_onC8zzFtXMjZXtoG45eeUoPnfo1bC-r5CHiVWtCyKPoeiP73YTmgrwShSbq4W6WNtJ3KI6z7Mkz3U3sl1QLTVed4JD0b0XpH06GA2YJcYSs08oZagJWkMJtaw/s320/IMG-20131123-00481.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Peter (in the blue shirt) and Abraham (with the microphone) did a great job of demonstrating how to clean and put the filter together and how to take care of it properly. The village children were restless, of course, but the women listened attentively.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbkVtoRZn4TaSvWHsf5X4L8wVtDJMslilHkw1FV4T45h6100JlGZovXT3111NwGdFEspmHxevJhBnfiGpB4O8OJn-zxt50YBmXVnU0zcofwixGrcNO7IorsbWVAZsYea2GeI1tA/s1600/IMG-20131123-00501.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="236" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjTbkVtoRZn4TaSvWHsf5X4L8wVtDJMslilHkw1FV4T45h6100JlGZovXT3111NwGdFEspmHxevJhBnfiGpB4O8OJn-zxt50YBmXVnU0zcofwixGrcNO7IorsbWVAZsYea2GeI1tA/s320/IMG-20131123-00501.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">After the demonstration, I gave a small message on Psalm 115 and God's love for the village and Jesus the Living Water. I stressed to the villagers that it was not me or Jason that brought the filters to the village, but God who had heard their pleas for safe water to drink. I also told them that just as they will be proud to share the water from these filters with their visitors as a gesture of hospitality, so too they should share the Living Water of Jesus with their friends and visitors. Everyone that drinks the water should know that it comes from a God who loves the people of Buiyilli and give thanks to Him!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Afterward the women collected their filters, cleaned them and got them ready for use.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSTVhFU08paeSPNFt6luI_XBVaBDluw_GSPnHHmOPj-Iyky26x4NJi_X9wcqCWLy9xojtKjN2THlGd6bMXZWdPSmZ64eQWzDRjDsLP_YtuJ68cXi_Dc7bozfbjvaI6xfdFu7YDw/s1600/IMG-20131123-00518.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgHSTVhFU08paeSPNFt6luI_XBVaBDluw_GSPnHHmOPj-Iyky26x4NJi_X9wcqCWLy9xojtKjN2THlGd6bMXZWdPSmZ64eQWzDRjDsLP_YtuJ68cXi_Dc7bozfbjvaI6xfdFu7YDw/s320/IMG-20131123-00518.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">The women of Buiyilli wanted to say a big THANK YOU to the donors in Atlanta, Jason, Pure Home Water, and most of all to Jesus for the gift of safe water for themselves and their children!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10SjgutGLm27Nl7exH5b1JqrbD5hZpkS4OMs9mEJ2OQ-neXV9rT1vae-SO7osgjdl5v77Nmdnmoi_An524WcQJ_TntEgITv2io0Dk18dhIWhe_U5u6B_ul8y2yQrhzyn7rDii7A/s1600/IMG-20131123-00526.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="238" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10SjgutGLm27Nl7exH5b1JqrbD5hZpkS4OMs9mEJ2OQ-neXV9rT1vae-SO7osgjdl5v77Nmdnmoi_An524WcQJ_TntEgITv2io0Dk18dhIWhe_U5u6B_ul8y2yQrhzyn7rDii7A/s320/IMG-20131123-00526.jpg" width="320" /></a></span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">It was a long, hot day, but finally we had all the filters cleaned and ready to be used. The villagers started heading for their homes, the women carefully carrying their new filters on their heads. And we climbed back in the trucks and started the long, dusty trip back to town.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">But I intentionally didn't say I would tell you "the rest of the story" in the first paragraph. I don't know the plans God has for Buiyilli, but I do know that amazing things are happening here, as God brings His Light to a formerly dark corner of the planet. I am grateful that I got to be a little part of Buiyilli's story today.</span><br />
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Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-31194612379684444092013-09-29T09:14:00.000+00:002013-09-29T09:16:37.696+00:00Having the name "Charles" in Ghana<span style="color: blue;"><i>Charlie writes:</i></span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXsPJIRVhNaJpBmzo51uEAQ6b1MGLV0TJplLKrHDnazGt7KPLanxrduceFz9WAxKXGdx34RatVHjyQhzkHQ2Dlm5Zvevxt4pcvrzZN5T817eBSg3JFv2zx6zb0251nhKgqn1L6A/s1600/2013-09-06-Charlie-means-Friend.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="88" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgUXsPJIRVhNaJpBmzo51uEAQ6b1MGLV0TJplLKrHDnazGt7KPLanxrduceFz9WAxKXGdx34RatVHjyQhzkHQ2Dlm5Zvevxt4pcvrzZN5T817eBSg3JFv2zx6zb0251nhKgqn1L6A/s320/2013-09-06-Charlie-means-Friend.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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On one of my treks about the Accra environs a few weeks ago, I came across a bar west of Korle Bu Hospital whose outer walls had been re-painted courtesy of the Club brewery. Since it was in my favorite color, green, and had my name on it, I just had to stop and take a photo!<br />
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Having the name "Charles" in Ghana means that you will use that form, rather than "Charlie," since the name "Charlie" (pronounced, and sometimes even spelled "Chale") would be used in the sense of "friend" as painted here. In fact, the "flip-flops" that most people here wear are called "Chale Wotes." Accra even has a street art festival called that, see photo below, their <a href="https://www.facebook.com/events/234765063208319/" target="_blank">facebook page</a> and their Twitter hashtag #chalewote.<br />
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When I first arrived, I would hear students at MUCG conversing, and my name would be popping up WAY too often. Now, I have to listen carefully, when people are using "Charlie" to refer to me by name, they generally will pronounce the 'r' in it a bit more.<br />
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<i>A good name is to be chosen rather than great riches, and favor is better than silver or gold. </i><br />
<i>Proverbs 22:1 ESV</i>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0Mamprobi, Accra, Ghana5.5337698751557056 -0.237675905227661135.5335228751557057 -0.23799090522766114 5.5340168751557055 -0.23736090522766112tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-36126615914251341562013-06-17T19:42:00.000+00:002013-06-17T19:42:54.741+00:00Your True Love Has Produced Real Testimonies<div class="MsoNormal">
<i>written by Mary Kay and Pastor Peter Awane</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">We don't always get to see the words of Scripture come to life, but in the past month, I have seen the message of 2 Corinthians 9 play out in a very real and amazing way.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH_FGDYMgQrYo9ElKJRavXBypg5gphjpoDxDbtWL84MS-gvgab26fGgyc7mreT8dzcs41eOeyw3l-s9CZIOBfwyA_Ml7TLSOweTRLZWmv_A7Ax_weBNtmgrodwb0QDS3_4nBpww/s1600/peter+and+family.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="213" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlH_FGDYMgQrYo9ElKJRavXBypg5gphjpoDxDbtWL84MS-gvgab26fGgyc7mreT8dzcs41eOeyw3l-s9CZIOBfwyA_Ml7TLSOweTRLZWmv_A7Ax_weBNtmgrodwb0QDS3_4nBpww/s320/peter+and+family.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Pastor Peter Awane and his family</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Friends of mine have been helping a local pastor, Peter
Awane, in Zuarungu, near Bolgatanga. Peter has been a believer for more than 25
years. He spent 18 years translating the Old Testament into his native FraFra
language, and in 2008 the first copies of the FraFra Old Testament were placed in
the hands of the people. Pastor Peter has a </span><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">great vision for
transforming his community through the power of the Holy Spirit. Peter has a 5-acre plot of land in
Zuarungu where he is centering his ministries, which include a Christian radio
station, a church and school for children of prostitutes and HIV/AIDS patients. He has plans to build a middle school and
high school, including dormitories and a skills training center for students
and women in the community.</span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluR55gsrZ5cZPN32E80KufkdhZJ6vs6IWWR7R9_UZT9zlvkcoYApFCZwvOi26VyJitUdvmQh82z4X2KIoMyfCtGKxoWXHHkB-Z3mU-lmX_0DApIE-3PblOe9wD0YzsHpJa_XPQA/s1600/IMG-20130401-00285.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhluR55gsrZ5cZPN32E80KufkdhZJ6vs6IWWR7R9_UZT9zlvkcoYApFCZwvOi26VyJitUdvmQh82z4X2KIoMyfCtGKxoWXHHkB-Z3mU-lmX_0DApIE-3PblOe9wD0YzsHpJa_XPQA/s320/IMG-20130401-00285.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The Primary School at Peter's ministry complex</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">My friends are helping to raise funds for the construction
of Peter’s school buildings. They knew
he needed water but weren’t sure what to do about it. But one remembered that I did water projects
and pulled me in to help. I agreed to
see what I could do, and finally met with Peter over Easter weekend to see his
ministry and assess the need. Through the
generosity of <a href="http://www.livingwordumc.org/" target="_blank">Living Word UMC</a>, a church in St. Louis committed to providing
water in communities in the Upper East through <a href="http://helpghananow.com/" target="_blank">The Ghana Project</a>, I committed to provide the borehole,
electric pump, tanks and piping that are needed for a ministry complex of the
size Peter dreams of. In mid-May, the
borehole was drilled, but much to our disappointment, while we hit water, there
was only a flow of about 10 liters per minute – enough for a handpump, but not enough
for the mechanized system that is really needed. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">After receiving an impassioned email from Pastor Peter and a
distressed call from my assistant, I spoke with the driller. He thought there was another location, near a
traditional well, that he could drill and hit lots of water. I gave the go ahead for a second attempt,
hoping that this would not harm the flow into the traditional well. </span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I want to share with you the email I received from Pastor
Peter recently.
(edited for clarity)</span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></i>
<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">YOUR TRUE LOVE HAS PRODUCED REAL TESTIMONIES.</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Your Obedience to God’s call, zeal for the Great Commission
and faithfulness in going the extra mile especially with the poor and needy
like my community has yielded very positive remarkable testimonies within
Church and community. It has strengthened our faith and trust in Christ
Jesus. Our four years’ prayer for water for our school, ministry and
community was finally answered in a miraculous way.</i></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">The first drilling did not provide our expected
mechanized pump which the LORD promised us. And though there was jubilations
for the hand pump we could not erase the memory of the promise of God neither
could we stop the voice telling us that the promise will happen and the time is
NOW!! It was very difficult to believe this voice and the promise which was
confirmed in our prayer after the first drilling.</i></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LJDpHUkaoVUCLjWVjNPSPX5OlD6ARnX1L4e71kLoVR55EZ_TqKFRGfFgGyKg77Qk9dCYGvo_EtEjqKf8-3DbAY0dhGHJhlPl-QlSYQo1Rnx7pyKVZ_lvJF8ffwhS4HKheOUlvA/s1600/IMG-20130401-00292.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj0LJDpHUkaoVUCLjWVjNPSPX5OlD6ARnX1L4e71kLoVR55EZ_TqKFRGfFgGyKg77Qk9dCYGvo_EtEjqKf8-3DbAY0dhGHJhlPl-QlSYQo1Rnx7pyKVZ_lvJF8ffwhS4HKheOUlvA/s320/IMG-20130401-00292.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>The ancestral well near Peter's property</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i>Two alternate locations were identified by the
driller after the first drilling did not give us our needed mechanized pump. We
were so joyful when we were told the next day that Mary Kay had approved a
second drilling, but at a specific place not under our control. We were faced
with so many questions like how much will we pay for that land, how could we get
the people to pay light bills since they were fetching the water free of
charge, the increased length of pipe needed and the different fields
these pipes will pass through. The second location identified by the driller was
on family land, a little closer to the school and church but almost in the same
location where the first drilling failed. Now if we attempted and failed again,
what would we tell Mary Kay who told us to drill closer to the ancestral well? </i>(Note
from Mary Kay: I was never told about
two possible locations, just the location near the ancestral well.)</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i>Ben the driller who is a native saw and knew the
complications involved. He met us and we
all agreed to go to prayer and ask God’s direction. The next day Ben called me
and asked my opinion and l said our hearts are set on my family land and he
also confirmed the same. Shortly l saw the guys who were coming to drill and
they asked me to show them the locations. I showed them the one on the family
land first because it was closer and asked that we go to the next location.
They said no and explained that they see that place to be a problem area and so
l should have confidence in God and let them drill on my family land. This was
a confirmation of our prayer. So they started and in the fifth rod, a
fountain!!!! a fountain!!! It continued and even more stronger up to the tenth
rod!!! What a Mighty God we serve. The testimony is everywhere about how we
prayed and how God worked.</i></span></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1OhUhEb2xhUtYksPT1MuPVh18SZ_-DnO1xs_i1VYwamM5HFHJGZFeNgA3QLs85ewAVzhOTWBM7Jx9Ba4hDFFyU387DMRZOaU9-UMqly6_RAG5x5rl_TY71VToc9M6MKkm-g16A/s1600/zuarungu+drinker.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjE1OhUhEb2xhUtYksPT1MuPVh18SZ_-DnO1xs_i1VYwamM5HFHJGZFeNgA3QLs85ewAVzhOTWBM7Jx9Ba4hDFFyU387DMRZOaU9-UMqly6_RAG5x5rl_TY71VToc9M6MKkm-g16A/s320/zuarungu+drinker.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i>Kids from Peter's school enjoy the safe water<br />from their new borehole.</i></td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold;"><i>We are now hearing that part of the members of the
land on which the ancestral well is, said they were ready to oppose the
drilling if we had attempted. Thanks to God who knows how to keep His children
away from troubles. Now the Church is strong and has discovered that they
can pray for and against anything and it would happen!!! Our faith, trust and
courage in the LORD is strengthened by your LOVE ACTIONS. GOD richly Bless you
as we look forward to rejoicing together in the dedication DAY!!!!</i><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<i style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">(email from Peter Awane)</i></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">This area of Zuarungu now has a community borehole
and will no longer have to use the ancestral well, which is susceptible to
contamination. Pastor Peter has plenty
of water for his school and ministry complex.
But most importantly, God is being glorified. In Paul’s words...</span></div>
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<b style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><i><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-bidi-font-weight: bold; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;">“</span></i><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">This service
that you perform is not only supplying the needs</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">of the Lord’s people but is also overflowing in many
expressions of thanks to God.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Because of the service</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">by which you have proved yourselves, others will praise God</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">for the obedience that accompanies your confession</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">of the gospel of Christ,</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">and for your generosity</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">in sharing with them and with everyone else.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">And in their prayers for you their hearts will go out to you,
because of the surpassing grace God has given you.</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Thanks be to God</span></i></span><span class="apple-converted-space"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"> </span></i></span><span class="text"><i><span style="background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">for his indescribable gift! – 2 Cor. 9:12-15</span></i></span></b></div>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcyWZOjzB1F-6l3gCCiCdWJBhD-bn36JYBPsnOO7jcr1JV5aqQLcTzO2MvLf8XJ_R2-2_suNKXWrIXkG7f3-xEX0_jFAVf50jJozajj1Fxq4CNmpXilsUZThg41OOxlPegYoA6g/s1600/013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEizcyWZOjzB1F-6l3gCCiCdWJBhD-bn36JYBPsnOO7jcr1JV5aqQLcTzO2MvLf8XJ_R2-2_suNKXWrIXkG7f3-xEX0_jFAVf50jJozajj1Fxq4CNmpXilsUZThg41OOxlPegYoA6g/s320/013.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><i><span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;">Kids from Peter's school say "Thank you and thanks be to God!"</span></i></td></tr>
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</span></i></span><i style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span style="mso-ascii-font-family: Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family: Helvetica; mso-hansi-font-family: Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> <o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
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Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-7154073249603049502013-04-03T21:14:00.000+00:002013-04-03T21:14:06.844+00:00<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72AaSQRWY5TwzEK4qNzcRBuRDLQNRs_e1-VWmDUca1FyacQws9fdrJx578Mb_kOaNaIii-g9g3RpDFyiT0ECjm2tq6yhJXMXh4eN59y23dfHZ5wBfDE5SOhgfo_1Wk0Zc71FDUw/s1600/DSC03103.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh72AaSQRWY5TwzEK4qNzcRBuRDLQNRs_e1-VWmDUca1FyacQws9fdrJx578Mb_kOaNaIii-g9g3RpDFyiT0ECjm2tq6yhJXMXh4eN59y23dfHZ5wBfDE5SOhgfo_1Wk0Zc71FDUw/s320/DSC03103.JPG" width="240" /></a></div>
<i>We have a guest blogger today - our younger son, Ken. Following is a descriptive essay he wrote for his Freshman English class at <a href="http://www.rose-hulman.edu/" target="_blank">Rose-Hulman</a>. We are pleased to report that he received a grade of "96" on the essay. Keep up the good work, Ken!</i><br />
<i><br /></i>
<i>Meanwhile, I was a guest blogger on the Shine Girls (we're shining for Jesus) blog by Jillian Hill last week. You can read <a href="http://www.shinegirlsshine.com/2013/03/saturday-shine_30.html" target="_blank">here</a> about how the Shine Girls celebrated World Water Day, without even knowing it!</i><br />
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<span style="font-family: Trebuchet MS, sans-serif;"><br /><br /><div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Waking Light </b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<br /></div>
I wake up with the sun reaching across my face. My room is on the western side of the house, but the warm, golden light floods through the hallway that makes up most of the building. For a moment I just lie there, taking in this new day. The bakery next-door that had been so noisy the previous night is now almost silent. The smell of freshly baked bread wafts in, politely pleading for me to eat it. I lie still a little longer. <br /><br /> Somewhere I hear birds chirping, a sweet song for only my ears. I lie, listening, when a rustle of palm trees joins in. With the rhythm of the wind accompanying the birds, our secret band is almost complete. Ah, there it is – the cock-a-doodle-doo of one of the many neighborhood roosters. The group quietly demands an audience – I couldn’t leave now! I lie still a little longer. <br /><br /> I realize that the sun no longer covers my face. That warm feeling only lasts for 15 minutes, due to the sun’s angle and the closeness of Ghana to the equator. Now my ceiling fan, currently set to five – or ‘hurricane mode’ – sends a cool tingling sensation through my body. The fan creates a trance-like state, blocking all outside noise with its ample whooshing. I stare at the rapidly spinning blades, hypnotizing myself into a place where time ceases to exist. I focus entirely on the fan, reinvigorated by the energetic cyclone it creates. I really should get up. I lie still a little longer. <br /><br /> I must have nodded off; the sun no longer reaches my curtains. I am aroused by music coming from my iPod – my mother’s small playlist of ‘Hip music’ is set to wake me. It is fast-paced music, with strong rhythms and catchy melodies. My body demands action at this point; I can no longer lie still. I get out of bed and put on the first clothes I find, a plain t-shirt and some mesh shorts. I exit my room and walk down the hall to the kitchen, where my mother hugs me and offers me some French toast. This is an interesting variety, made from bread with sugar initially cooked into it. The soft, moist sweetness is quickly shoveled into my mouth – covered, of course, with a large dose of maple syrup. I down it all with a glass bottle of Coke. Ah, that’s satisfying. With that, I can take on any kind of day! </span>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-78733067168456790032013-03-16T14:55:00.000+00:002013-03-16T14:55:42.818+00:00Walking the dog at ACP Estates<i><span style="color: blue;">Charlie writes:</span></i><br />
When Mary Kay and I returned from a birthday getaway to the beach at Anomabo, just outside Cape Coast, I was able to return to my usual walking routine with Ziker, our beloved African-American dog. [We say this because while in the States, he seemed somewhat unusual (just a yellow dog from the pound), when we arrived in Ghana, it seemed every third dog roaming the streets was his brother!]<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7d8DQqCb81SggcRjfB0mg34TIyqptlmcXD9qU6a0lRN40TawvCkClmXeBvhouz0WlDbbVD1UWoHL0YmjoXvCiKTsKhF9pFHwmMcZqmN-iVxifOkCwQrPEoERvU0hkMvhsCi28w/s1600/Photo0491.jpg" imageanchor="1"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhC7d8DQqCb81SggcRjfB0mg34TIyqptlmcXD9qU6a0lRN40TawvCkClmXeBvhouz0WlDbbVD1UWoHL0YmjoXvCiKTsKhF9pFHwmMcZqmN-iVxifOkCwQrPEoERvU0hkMvhsCi28w/s200/Photo0491.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc35R25f-mBnJOHCQIsC7AK8KzyMm-cX9NIvAQ22iQ8LZ5WCwJNehixsB86q5RKlyXfUmnCwbgo7Mz79oy1Jwj5wZacgQ2dcIuP0XyQ4N83IkYLqnSkWlmZrPk9V-InDny39IqPQ/s1600/Photo0492.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgc35R25f-mBnJOHCQIsC7AK8KzyMm-cX9NIvAQ22iQ8LZ5WCwJNehixsB86q5RKlyXfUmnCwbgo7Mz79oy1Jwj5wZacgQ2dcIuP0XyQ4N83IkYLqnSkWlmZrPk9V-InDny39IqPQ/s200/Photo0492.jpg" width="150" /></a> As is usual when I take these walks around our new neighborhood outside Pokuase, there are new plants to see. This time, the new ones were smallish trees that were bearing large numbers of yellow, cherry-sized fruit, that were covering a bright red seed.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDE0aBf4nteSOOeS9Vf0bSXKYjNGATWNfIxy-qGeVcMaeGTkt3AD3ucMS-Q08qj6-lObw8cKxb4lKYUV-e4_9cnxbQSCCeyfrTUbuIrWBBfUzqtXRXt18A0we0TaHZCOrVxxo8g/s1600/Photo0493.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdDE0aBf4nteSOOeS9Vf0bSXKYjNGATWNfIxy-qGeVcMaeGTkt3AD3ucMS-Q08qj6-lObw8cKxb4lKYUV-e4_9cnxbQSCCeyfrTUbuIrWBBfUzqtXRXt18A0we0TaHZCOrVxxo8g/s200/Photo0493.jpg" width="150" /></a>
The weight of the fruit was so much that the trees were really sagging:<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GnQDdKekeqo6PZWHLRTQQCccwYOIg4jDnxXL-F9oGgHdFawmmhGrpujBzSe9DAcA_Br2HeGqxglq_SclPZdVcap20Vk9vfiA64aLg1VgpxZFalg6rMEGRNffXxt56rHRvFPdRw/s1600/Photo0495.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9GnQDdKekeqo6PZWHLRTQQCccwYOIg4jDnxXL-F9oGgHdFawmmhGrpujBzSe9DAcA_Br2HeGqxglq_SclPZdVcap20Vk9vfiA64aLg1VgpxZFalg6rMEGRNffXxt56rHRvFPdRw/s200/Photo0495.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laden branches</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2jLRLzpaXrIKxQnd2Qg33FkWKDQuyr-AZcGwKcIWpntS57Da_v8UBiq47Oy-v3LwfNLwvXcAop1ynyB2xAqbr2fvMaqwFyH_CbT0j405dymNiPXxTzxAIS2gyNUoBBJF_iGTaQ/s1600/Photo0499.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZ2jLRLzpaXrIKxQnd2Qg33FkWKDQuyr-AZcGwKcIWpntS57Da_v8UBiq47Oy-v3LwfNLwvXcAop1ynyB2xAqbr2fvMaqwFyH_CbT0j405dymNiPXxTzxAIS2gyNUoBBJF_iGTaQ/s1600/Photo0499.jpg" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A row of such trees, 3-4 meters high.</td></tr>
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The landscape architect at the ACP Estates had planted the streets with a great variety of species, and they seem to bloom throughout the year. Below is a closeup of the pale blue flowers on the same trees that were bearing the yellow fruit. I was a bit surprised to see flowers and fruit on the same tree at the same time...<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFIPTd1CEHCorg2JkeYFRBQvN-PelATgf4cjVZmQujHMCfz0f9kmK9z8C6KaXZ2492jqgPFBMxC0RQx3F-VSkAtDE_uMeAM6zn2lPZ1NMj3V6dMk6ydp4vYnBDuoPONGSnW3Qaw/s1600/Photo0496.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlFIPTd1CEHCorg2JkeYFRBQvN-PelATgf4cjVZmQujHMCfz0f9kmK9z8C6KaXZ2492jqgPFBMxC0RQx3F-VSkAtDE_uMeAM6zn2lPZ1NMj3V6dMk6ydp4vYnBDuoPONGSnW3Qaw/s1600/Photo0496.jpg" /></a></div>
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We also passed some Bougainvillea thorn bushes, which have the craziest colors:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZV-FQeBLGK1yGPA5kvOUrd4RwWL_3nEpKecSVrQR8uGU1t33Z8Hn-RxVrPDpvq-PtCnq0s_RtSB_BcjPwfL91Z0-pL8e4id2zzxbEaAMtMXzAwS4c_u7gLu3B_rcUNM0eqPGp-w/s1600/Photo0503.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZV-FQeBLGK1yGPA5kvOUrd4RwWL_3nEpKecSVrQR8uGU1t33Z8Hn-RxVrPDpvq-PtCnq0s_RtSB_BcjPwfL91Z0-pL8e4id2zzxbEaAMtMXzAwS4c_u7gLu3B_rcUNM0eqPGp-w/s200/Photo0503.jpg" width="200" /></a></div>
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as well as some ripe palm oil nuggets and a bright red hibiscus flower:<br />
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
Matthew 6:25-33 (ESV)"Therefore I tell you, do not be anxious about your life, what you will eat or what you will drink, nor about your body, what you will put on. Is not life more than food, and the body more than clothing? Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they? And which of you by being anxious can add a single hour to his span of life? And why are you anxious about clothing? Consider the lilies of the field, how they grow: they neither toil nor spin, yet I tell you, even Solomon in all his glory was not arrayed like one of these. But if God so clothes the grass of the field, which today is alive and tomorrow is thrown into the oven, will he not much more clothe you, O you of little faith? Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we drink?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you." </blockquote>
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Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-72718598566236365952013-03-08T10:46:00.000+00:002013-03-08T10:46:11.040+00:00<br />
<br />
<br />
Late Luggage, Ghana style...<br />
<br />
<span style="color: blue;"><i>Charlie writes: </i></span><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqURYmAEXNeXqbDLNE8wZoRDQuULdjQLAdPexKB6SyGk8ZPYNU3zwnWsIDQptlXIl4YtyOsr-CCr9A2rzzS-fZKdOdlk1jW4HzKkYHfkuY4_lmcwEy5_vid-MV7iGUYN71cPFVg/s1600/Photo0467.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img alt="Rolling along the highway with our five bags" border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjGqURYmAEXNeXqbDLNE8wZoRDQuULdjQLAdPexKB6SyGk8ZPYNU3zwnWsIDQptlXIl4YtyOsr-CCr9A2rzzS-fZKdOdlk1jW4HzKkYHfkuY4_lmcwEy5_vid-MV7iGUYN71cPFVg/s1600/Photo0467.jpg" title="Rolling along the highway with our five bags" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Rolling along the main highway with our five bags</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw7Q_kgUaDs_-8jbSS_mVFWrzynM7MzIBjxhYWO1Jzb24femh_hmEG3COmXWdzSwD24sfe0fSevbfGDpKU4TRKTj4RTe_bODOH3fo5L6SnyQfDJmprxtzNgZ9z7MyNjdr-QGPOw/s1600/Photo0469.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiaw7Q_kgUaDs_-8jbSS_mVFWrzynM7MzIBjxhYWO1Jzb24femh_hmEG3COmXWdzSwD24sfe0fSevbfGDpKU4TRKTj4RTe_bODOH3fo5L6SnyQfDJmprxtzNgZ9z7MyNjdr-QGPOw/s1600/Photo0469.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the Domestic Terminal</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMV72VnSFbBURfAFjGJSyE44qqQQg5DR8cc4ubRjzRc5ZmTweoNoWwhpykct1ticatiVoywqts_v2rMPMDQxBMtQ421WCYx10j6Su9QcDrUaf2BeyMpgNA80S7RF3L0UYCnvb0w/s1600/Photo0470.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbMV72VnSFbBURfAFjGJSyE44qqQQg5DR8cc4ubRjzRc5ZmTweoNoWwhpykct1ticatiVoywqts_v2rMPMDQxBMtQ421WCYx10j6Su9QcDrUaf2BeyMpgNA80S7RF3L0UYCnvb0w/s1600/Photo0470.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back to the truck, off to lunch...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdKQLmK4rWHNkfth2lICzM-Od-6c00vHksDIYAHOEa6PN5lXiY2Za_8jCa5FBCdZddZopgZl0kql2XWy-gdpbeis9tLOX1C2vNlhJS2JYgycGh1Ly06FRUKQcQCqzIh5havCp0Q/s1600/Photo0472.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdKQLmK4rWHNkfth2lICzM-Od-6c00vHksDIYAHOEa6PN5lXiY2Za_8jCa5FBCdZddZopgZl0kql2XWy-gdpbeis9tLOX1C2vNlhJS2JYgycGh1Ly06FRUKQcQCqzIh5havCp0Q/s1600/Photo0472.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The second porter on that leg...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUHzDMjBKzMsKM6ZBvrM2ddZ5z93Yp1duKTuU3kkzvwMSco_SiqCmINDM_bHljTyqUAzfNygNoSSCEUOlpp1qcG1oO1jHxfU1FQI2CFlaAK62hB_wI1ctzEN7Ifi4y6mloQEm5w/s1600/Photo0477.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgDUHzDMjBKzMsKM6ZBvrM2ddZ5z93Yp1duKTuU3kkzvwMSco_SiqCmINDM_bHljTyqUAzfNygNoSSCEUOlpp1qcG1oO1jHxfU1FQI2CFlaAK62hB_wI1ctzEN7Ifi4y6mloQEm5w/s1600/Photo0477.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Back the last time...</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
This past weekend, a 13-member team from the Living Word<br />
Church in Wildwood, outside St. Louis, Missouri, returned<br />
for another visit to their friends in northern Ghana. <br />
Mary Kay is escorting them this week, along with Nana,<br />
the driver from the Methodist Church of Ghana. You can<br />
read more about their trip at their <a href="http://www.livingwordumc.org/ministries/the-ghana-project/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Ghana Project</a> website.<br />
<br />
Unfortunately, there were five pieces of luggage that did not<br />
make the short transfer interval at London's Heathrow Airport.<br />
In fact, the team almost got cut in half when the pastor was<br />
pulled aside for a thorough examination. The team members <br />
were used to this happening, and were prepared to file <br />
the appropriate papers at the late/lost luggage counter<br />
downstairs at the Accra airport.<br />
<br />
I should have checked the next evening to find all the bags,<br />
but instead, Mary Kay had to remind me that the team was<br />
looking forward to distributing some things from those very<br />
bags to the place they were visiting on Tuesday, so I had better<br />
go down and deal with it on Monday. The luggage handlers had<br />
called her to confirm that all the bags had arrived on the<br />
Sunday evening flight, so they just needed to be picked up.<br />
<br />
Having had experience with this on a prior trip, I made<br />
sure that I had xerox copies of the photo and visa pages<br />
of the relevant passports. When I arrived, they were expecting<br />
me. We were able to find the five bags based on the descriptions<br />
on the forms and confirmed via the tags. I signed the register,<br />
then opened each bag for the Customs officer on duty.<br />
<br />
Next, I rounded up a cart, and loaded the bags up for the<br />
walk to the local flights terminal. One of the porters<br />
saw me struggling, so came along and relieved me of the<br />
pushing - rolling the cart right along the main road<br />
through the airport with honking taxis upset at him.<br />
Arriving near the terminal, my pushers got nervous and<br />
asked for pay before they would be seen by the police<br />
or the other porters. So that meant another porter being<br />
retained for the last bit.<br />
<br />
Inside the terminal, I was directed to ask at the ticketing<br />
counters for arrangement of transport for the bags up to<br />
the Tamale airport. They directed me to the check-in stands,<br />
and when I got to the front of the line, they directed me<br />
to another, and that fellow called someone, returning with<br />
the message "we don't take unaccompanied luggage!" I begged<br />
him to check the other carriers, and the fellow at Starbow<br />
was willing to accept the packages. He explained that they<br />
would be carried for a fee of three ghana cedi per kilogram,<br />
so he recommended I weigh them first so I would know the<br />
charges. Since they were 70 kg, I would be owing GHS 210.<br />
However, the space in the terminal was so limited that he<br />
would not accept them until an hour or so before scheduled<br />
departure. Thus, I rolled them all back to the Hilux and went<br />
to lunch. Then I bought some neon green paper and scissors<br />
and cello tape, preparing labels for the bags to make them<br />
easy for Mary Kay to identify at the Tamale airport.<br />
<br />
The drop-off went smoothly, and they issued me the required<br />
claim tags. When I asked how Mary Kay would get the bags since<br />
I obviously was not going to be able to get the tags to her,<br />
I was told that if she knew the numbers, and showed ID, they<br />
would let her take the bags. So, I called her with the numbers.<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hsFYihoyKq_m17T7xUHz_HJwQ4feaSyZtNFjKnPFbtgd1C3ZdP2SX16ka6JABrPsy4HpDCPs-bQoxibfDSlH70yTVo18zSTCGetWG3EXzb5cFd5IkGSfMr5wZFZXxT6ewT2MHw/s1600/Photo0480.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi0hsFYihoyKq_m17T7xUHz_HJwQ4feaSyZtNFjKnPFbtgd1C3ZdP2SX16ka6JABrPsy4HpDCPs-bQoxibfDSlH70yTVo18zSTCGetWG3EXzb5cFd5IkGSfMr5wZFZXxT6ewT2MHw/s1600/Photo0480.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The stack of luggage claim tags</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xmN6NqM-35OiOcLrhwQefLXaUJfPYISB41ZZrCv1HcZeyPoQpEAs_19OOWtw4OVmxvSCroCH8DRwHjkcbpQRV4OTUwgWZYScV0_hbEFwYaNadWXy3vQGm6IQx3PVe_CKTWn7DA/s1600/Photo0481.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8xmN6NqM-35OiOcLrhwQefLXaUJfPYISB41ZZrCv1HcZeyPoQpEAs_19OOWtw4OVmxvSCroCH8DRwHjkcbpQRV4OTUwgWZYScV0_hbEFwYaNadWXy3vQGm6IQx3PVe_CKTWn7DA/s1600/Photo0481.jpg" width="150" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All five bags made it!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZsPiE0_jeFi1u2dB2aZIw2S8k8E1qrBgk9o4N0HOKR2cO4Jn0yfnebsoTfAiYXuhxfo2V2pFvnTuOcCyWZa6hIrGmSVhNMbPt0vZ4xocOFCDN-H-6w3wXobhQjVDpIFqLqeLRg/s1600/Photo0479.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSZsPiE0_jeFi1u2dB2aZIw2S8k8E1qrBgk9o4N0HOKR2cO4Jn0yfnebsoTfAiYXuhxfo2V2pFvnTuOcCyWZa6hIrGmSVhNMbPt0vZ4xocOFCDN-H-6w3wXobhQjVDpIFqLqeLRg/s1600/Photo0479.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The original receipt had been for GHS 410, so I requested another!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Meanwhile, up in Tamale, Mary Kay was trying to figure out<br />
how to get to the baggage area, since that airport only<br />
has an exit from that area, so that only passengers can enter.<br />
The flight was delayed half an hour, but eventually it arrived<br />
and the team was able to make their way to Navrongo, arriving<br />
at 8:30 p.m. Mary Kay passed the phone around <br />
the Coaster bus, and I was gratified by the expressions <br />
of thanks from all those involved.<br />
<br />
Later that evening, I was back at the airport (on my third<br />
visit to the parking area, the ticket-taker took pity on me<br />
and let me come in without paying) and visited the BA ticket<br />
office to see about getting reimbursed for the extra transport.<br />
"Go to our offices over domestic terminal for that, sir,"<br />
was my advice. There, I was attended to by a friendly rep<br />
who informed me that such refunds were not allowed by airline<br />
rules in West Africa. [This is just one of many examples of<br />
the special treatment offered citizens of countries with <br />
reputations for scams and lies.] She assured me that if<br />
proper documentation were presented in either the UK<br />
or the USA, the airline would make good on the extra<br />
expenses caused by the late arrival of bags.<br />
That meant I had to make another trip down to the<br />
lost luggage counter, and after diving into a cardboard<br />
box under the desk, we were able to recover the original<br />
forms. The agent went with me to the internet cafe<br />
in arrivals area of the airport to make copies.<br />
Now I have to remember to make scans and deliver<br />
to the team so they can follow up once they are<br />
back in the US.<br />
<br />
So, a transaction that would be handled over the phone and<br />
result in the personal delivery of late bags to the hotel<br />
ended up taking the better part of a day. As Chip would say,<br />
"T.I.G." (This Is Ghana).<br />
<span style="color: purple;"><i><br /></i></span>
<span style="color: purple;"><i>Genesis 32:13-21 (Jacob and his luggages)</i></span><br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
So he stayed there that night, and from what he had with him he took a present for his brother Esau, two hundred female goats and twenty male goats, two hundred ewes and twenty rams, thirty milking camels and their calves, forty cows and ten bulls, twenty female donkeys and ten male donkeys. <br />
These he handed over to his servants, every drove by itself, and said to his servants, "Pass on ahead of me and put a space between drove and drove." <br />
He instructed the first, "When Esau my brother meets you and asks you, 'To whom do you belong? Where are you going? And whose are these ahead of you?' then you shall say, 'They belong to your servant Jacob. They are a present sent to my lord Esau. And moreover, he is behind us.'" <br />
He likewise instructed the second and the third and all who followed the droves, "You shall say the same thing to Esau when you find him, and you shall say, 'Moreover, your servant Jacob is behind us.'" For he thought, "I may appease him with the present that goes ahead of me, and afterward I shall see his face. Perhaps he will accept me." <br />
So the present passed on ahead of him, and he himself stayed that night in the camp.</blockquote>
Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-22342017013120357712013-02-28T09:06:00.000+00:002013-02-28T09:06:42.243+00:00For want of $400...<span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>Charlie writes:</i></span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://cofa-foundation.org/uploads/images/1297321870158_ORIGINAL.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="137" src="http://cofa-foundation.org/uploads/images/1297321870158_ORIGINAL.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Emirita Professor Nana Araba Apt</td>
</tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRA9p62WklHT2WifXqWP5dM0bsATvJ1lM90F6xLMYvSTSQr1b_d" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="http://t0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcRA9p62WklHT2WifXqWP5dM0bsATvJ1lM90F6xLMYvSTSQr1b_d" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matthew Christopher Taggart</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/1731669561/ATL_compressed.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="162" src="https://twimg0-a.akamaihd.net/profile_images/1731669561/ATL_compressed.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Prof. Astrid Tweneboah Larssen</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Yesterday evening, the <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/" target="_blank">Ashesi</a> community said farewell to three<br />
long-term staffers, Emerita Professor Nana Araba Apt, Matthew Christopher Taggart, and his wife, Professor Astrid Tweneboah Larssen. As part of the celebrations, Ashesi's founder, Patrick Awuah revealed the truth about early days.<br />
<br />
Actually, Matt was Patrick and Nina's first employee before<br />
the college opened its doors. Over the intervening twelve<br />
years, Matt has spearheaded Ashesi's fundraising efforts, helping to raise over $20 million in funds for construction of the campus and funds for scholarships. Patrick remarked that his arrival prompted a move from an office over the <a href="http://vp.cdn.cityvoterinc.com/GetImage.ashx?img=00/00/00/96/12/72/961272-477136.jpg&ar=maintain" target="_blank">Red Door Tavern</a> to another, about the size of Ashesi's current reception lobby, on the fourth floor of a Seattle movie theatre.<br />
<br />
Patrick's emotions caught up with him as he recalled times he had cowered under his desk in that office, his legs pressed against the desktop from below, shaking with fear. He also recalled Matt fussing at him from under a table for standing by the window of that office looking at construction cranes swaying during a magnitude 7 earthquake! He also shared a story that inspired the title of this post. As he considered what event was the seed for Ashesi, he realized he needed to tell the story of his admission to <a href="http://www.swarthmore.edu/" target="_blank">Swarthmore College</a> outside Philadelphia.<br />
<br />
I had heard that Patrick, having graduated from the Achimota School, had been encouraged to apply to Swarthmore by the US Embassy college office which was in the building now occupied by the Barclay's bank adjacent AU Circle in Accra. Yesterday, we heard "the rest of the story."<br />
<br />
Patrick told how he had received an offer of admission from Swarthmore, which at the time cost about $15,000 a year. The offer was accompanied by a scholarship covering all but $100 of those expenses. He excitedly prepared paperwork for a visa to travel to the USA, only to be rejected. When he asked why the application had been refused, he was told of the policy that students requesting permission to attend college in the USA were expected to document bank assets covering the family's total financial obligations for the student's four years expenses in advance.<br />
<br />
Patrick explained that his parents had only enough in the bank to cover one year. He elaborated for his audience's consideration that in those days, Ghanaians were in economic distress. Finding money to buy food for the week was a challenge, never mind the astronomical sum of $400 for college tuition.<br />
<br />
He argued, "if you let me go to the USA, I will be able to find some way to make the other $300." Still no dice, no exceptions would be made.<br />
<br />
Crestfallen, Patrick had to write Swarthmore, appealing to them to reduce his family's contribution to his fees by a factor of four so he could get a visa. After an anxious wait, his family received another offer letter from the college, with a scholarship covering <i>all</i> of Patrick's expenses. As Patrick remarked, "we could handle four times zero, even if we couldn't cover four times $100." So he was able to re-apply to the visa section, got his visa, and began his college career that fall.<br />
<br />
Patrick ruminated that an "invisible hand" had reached across the ocean and pulled him though a life-changing experience. A person or people unknown to him had donated money to the college. The college had awarded that money to his family without the donors knowing them, either. What a concept! He noted that recent alumni newsletters reported <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2013-02-24/news/37258985_1_million-gift-financial-aid-international-students" target="_blank">twenty million</a> and <a href="http://articles.philly.com/2012-12-09/news/35690888_1_liberal-arts-arts-center-college-education" target="_blank">fifty million</a> dollar gifts being made for these "invisible hands" from Swarthmore in recent times.<br />
<br />
He challenged the hundreds of students in the Cornfield Courtyard gathered to hear his address with the vision that some of them, come 20 or 30 years, would remember their Ashesi experiences, and provide the funds for a similar "invisible hand" for an unknown student to attend their alma mater.<br />
<br />
Patrick noted that Matt had decided a few years into the project that Ashesi could not afford to pay him a salary that would support him in Seattle, and offered to relocate to Ghana to save the college precious funds. He recalled going back to Seattle, packing up their office, donating furniture to charities and closing up their office over the theatre.<br />
<br />
Then, as we had heard before, came the December when the executive team had to postpone their paychecks. Yet, Patrick said the idea of stopping financial aid was never seriously considered, recalling the importance that "invisible hand" had meant to him and his family. A school dedicated to the vision of raising a new generation of ethical, entrepreneurial leaders for the transformation of a continent <i>had</i> to make provision for those unable to afford the cost to be extended that opportunity.<br />
<br />
While Patrick admitted that he hadn't had to ride horseback, hat in hand, as had <a href="http://http//www.swarthmore.edu/news/time/" target="_blank">Edward Parrish</a> the first president of Swarthmore College nearly 150 years ago, he already had international bookings in the first ten months of 2013, and November was filling in. He vowed to keep December free for his family here in Ghana, but understood the vital need to keep raising the capital funds to cover the construction of the planned engineering expansion.<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<i><b>"We claim a higher mission for Swarthmore College than that of fitting men and women for business. It should fit them for life, with all its possibilities.</b></i>" <b>-</b> <i>Edward Parrish</i></blockquote>
<br />
Later in the evening, Matt delivered a heart-felt impromptu message, admitting that the twelve years at Ashesi had made him the man he is today. He met his wife, had two children, and was able to invest his work in an idea that he was passionate about. He encouraged all hearers that he wished for them the joy of finding passion in their work, and pledged to continue to support Ashesi in the future.
<br />
<br />
Patrick surprised Nana Apt by unveiling a plaque naming the lecture hall 218, the one near the canteen, in her honor. In her address, Nana was clearly touched, saying "usually, you don't live to see this sort of honor!"<br />
<br />
Mary Kay has been reading a book called <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Idea-Factory-American-Innovation/dp/1594203288" target="_blank"><u>The Idea Factory: Bell Labs and the Great Age of American Innovation</u></a> by Jon Gertner. She and I spent the evening talking of the "lore" of places like Bell Labs and MIT, and we realized that these stories are a huge part of the legacy founders make to those places. I certainly will not soon forget the image of the $400 that seemed to be the insurmountable barrier to Patrick's dreams. <br />
<br />
Thank you Nana, Matt and Astrid for your parts in the Ashesi story! You will always be a part of our legend.<br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Only take care, and keep your soul diligently,lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen,<br />and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children's children. </i><span style="color: #3d85c6;"><i>Deuteronomy 4:9 (ESV)</i></span>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-62101413371288664182012-11-09T12:00:00.003+00:002012-11-09T12:00:53.278+00:00<i>Mary Kay writes...</i><br />
<br />
Wow - it has been a long time since we have posted anything. I have to say that I have been traveling virtually non-stop since the last post, and Charlie has been trying hard to keep his head above water, between his teaching and trying to keep up with all the essential tasks I kept assigning him from abroad.
<br />
<br />
Since Halloween, we and our organizations have been featured in several social media venues. I thought I would share these glimpses into our lives in Africa with you.<br />
<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRtIHJtC-Bmv_knIM8i33MqrLnHwd5sdAP8K0zV7cx2yuf8cNjvU___X7Bzmooa4SK22GqUVOro2_hUG840gILt-zR4ndw71oqUUIHxXAAnSA_5ZUpIPvWB9FVYlrsR04dXZOXQ/s1600/Jen+bracelets.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="132" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiXRtIHJtC-Bmv_knIM8i33MqrLnHwd5sdAP8K0zV7cx2yuf8cNjvU___X7Bzmooa4SK22GqUVOro2_hUG840gILt-zR4ndw71oqUUIHxXAAnSA_5ZUpIPvWB9FVYlrsR04dXZOXQ/s200/Jen+bracelets.JPG" width="200" /></a></div>
The first mention came from a friend of mine, Jen Shank, on her site, <a href="http://swankyshank.blogspot.com/2012_10_01_archive.html">Swanky Shank</a>. Jen is a member of one of our supporting churches, <a href="http://www.livingwordumc.org/">Living Word UMC</a>, and runs an on-line business from her home in the St. Louis area. Jen honored us with her creation of the month, bracelets featuring Ghanaian glass beads and is donating the proceeds from the bracelets to the <a href="http://www.helpghananow.com/">Ghana Project</a>, which funds water projects in northern Ghana. Jen is really creative and has cute stuff, so take a look. I don't benefit from her sales - except the bracelets, which really will benefit the children of northern Ghana, not me.<br />
<br />
Last Friday, I was given the opportunity to guest blog on the <a href="http://http//www.shinegirlsshine.com/2012/11/friday-shine.html">Shine Girls Shine</a> website. Shine Girls Shine is a daily Bible reading and prayer ministry. I follow it to help keep me accountable in my daily devotions. I have gained so much - it is amazing how often the blog posts are right on target with something going on in my life. It was a privilege to share a part of our story of our call to Ghana with the Shine Girls.<br />
<br />
Most of you probably know that one of the hats I wear is as Managing Director of Pure Home Water, a Ghanaian non-profit that manufactures and distributes ceramic pot filters to rural households so that they can have safe water to drink. A very talented friend of ours, Iaona Lupascu, of <a href="http://www.sparkintuit.com/">SparkIntuit</a> created a wonderful 4 minute documentary on Pure Home Water.<br />
<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen" frameborder="0" height="260" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/rSQ36X-LseI" width="400"></iframe></div>
<br />
<br />
Finally, Patrick Awuah, the founder of Ashesi University, where Charlie teaches, is being honored today by the <a href="http://www.haas.berkeley.edu/">Haas School of Business </a>at <a href="http://www.berkeley.edu/index.html">University of California, Berkeley</a> with their prestigious Innovation Award. You can learn more about Ashesi and Patrick's vision to change Ghana one student at a time in this news report.<br />
<br />
<div style="text-align: center;">
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Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-91581537598901770672012-07-31T21:48:00.000+00:002012-07-31T21:48:16.691+00:00Recycling in Accra<font color=blue>Charlie writes:</font>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9xAcAC_IRWZiesxbz_cfnGShIJ1gvOAePwyLC6XawKkHOvCVMFYc0s-nZIAO7m8uIARfdjIdFb15NBoJiQ9B1JRDmO58wSosBnUvCqgVOpHNhzp-PY8OxOJJFcmsI3BJ3X9iOg/s1600/Photo0068.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg-9xAcAC_IRWZiesxbz_cfnGShIJ1gvOAePwyLC6XawKkHOvCVMFYc0s-nZIAO7m8uIARfdjIdFb15NBoJiQ9B1JRDmO58wSosBnUvCqgVOpHNhzp-PY8OxOJJFcmsI3BJ3X9iOg/s200/Photo0068.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
After several months of back and forth with the manufacturer of the Pure Home Water lids stashed on our front porch, Mary Kay finally gave up and authorized me to figure out a way to clear them out. The new clay pot filters from the factory in Tamale are a different size, so the lids we had from before just won't work, and the plastics maker here wasn't willing to take them back, since they really aren't worth much without a matching bottom.
</p>
<p>
I was not looking forward to the exercise, since recycling is not done in the same way here in Accra as it would be in Atlanta. In Atlanta, I knew the various places that glass, metals, or plastics could be taken for recycling, but not here.
</p>
<p>
After a few minutes, though, I remembered that I had seen a man cutting up the yellow jerrycans that hold cooking oil in a lot not too far from our house. He and his assistant seemed to be breaking them down into flat pieces and then lashing them together in piles to be sold to plastics manufacturers across town. I thought I would wander by and ask if they would take this sort of plastic as well.
</p>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxBIagQD2yQvuNu3kv1PFR15gkunuK2QMtHKc7SUjr5yuPr1dU2DDpzHgWzT1mF_k6h_JAMh_-6F2-raVncQrQGbHQrP4aDEq8FT4nRbfLvAa7cVeEMkv-FhyBa3vL7yjnjXGuA/s1600/Photo0066.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiyxBIagQD2yQvuNu3kv1PFR15gkunuK2QMtHKc7SUjr5yuPr1dU2DDpzHgWzT1mF_k6h_JAMh_-6F2-raVncQrQGbHQrP4aDEq8FT4nRbfLvAa7cVeEMkv-FhyBa3vL7yjnjXGuA/s200/Photo0066.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
When I got there, a crew of about six young men were just pulling in with one of those four-wheeled carts that you see all about town, topped by three large white tyvek bags filled with miscellaneous plastics, and a number of "Go Bags" that were stuffed with more plastic. They untied the bags and tossed them on the ground, then used an S-shaped hook to attach the bags one at a time to a spring scale hanging from a crossbar about six feet off the ground. Then the man running the recycling center scribbled his sums in a small pad and paid the head hauler, who then passed some on to all the "boys" who had helped collect and escort the cart. The cart owner then left to gather up more from the neighborhood.
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrfw_Hs5enOkMSxJXTEcXi9SIG8vt4JvIoTWmEXo0xHOIWBmarySMPsLmDcBcAdMPzq3V2L7_bD-KaZ4u4kkq_3F5szyLY3irjqdpo7HvqeQf9odHQocDmXxM8J6Fjk8xM5CXxQ/s1600/Photo0073.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmrfw_Hs5enOkMSxJXTEcXi9SIG8vt4JvIoTWmEXo0xHOIWBmarySMPsLmDcBcAdMPzq3V2L7_bD-KaZ4u4kkq_3F5szyLY3irjqdpo7HvqeQf9odHQocDmXxM8J6Fjk8xM5CXxQ/s200/Photo0073.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
After they had finished, I approached the owner. He looked at the lid, telling me that he would pay fifty pesewas per kilogram for that sort of plastic. I enlisted two of the hangers-on to walk back to our house with two huge tyvek bags. They neatly stuffed all the lids into the bags, but then realized that they wouldn't be able to hoist them on their heads as I think they had anticipated. So I backed the Hilux over and they loaded them in the pickup bed, supervised by Jonas and Jasper. A few minutes later we were back at the lot, and the owner helped wrestle the bags into position for weighing. Mary Kay was pleasantly surprised to receive cash back for what was no longer usable, and I was amused that the scrap vendor paid the 92 ghana cedis with 92 red one cedi notes. That's about the first business I've run into in Ghana that carries exact change!
</p>
<p>
The students from CMU have been running a demonstration plastic bottle recycling program at Ashesi, not sure where the bottles go, but I had read somewhere that an NGO was collecting them to use as floats in creating netted fish hatcheries in Lake Volta, which sounded interesting.
</p>
<p>
Now if we can just figure out what to do with glass and aluminum...
</p>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-15036666315958818772012-07-25T22:05:00.002+00:002012-07-25T22:05:36.388+00:00Seawater Desalination Coming to Teshie<p><font color="blue"><i>Charlie writes:</i></font></p>
A few weeks ago on my usual weekend bicycle ride, I tried to find
the Ramada Inn that is east of Accra on Coco Beach. Was unable to
on bicycle, but later Mary Kay and I drove over, and spent a
holiday afternoon there. But the topic of this post is
the new water project that I discovered. I've not heard anything
of it in the local media.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6K3b1_hAspSFtFHN_RHsGRmdZPoTWJHSmclG3p_wwgdS-L2T6YnXmQIPgs57MP9u1L6_XCyFgSxbqr6DqXuGAk60BPwp7EmFoz51uO4rA3FGpwsg5svQjORnc4z-z-8n9ynuQig/s1600/Photo0058.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="240" width="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg6K3b1_hAspSFtFHN_RHsGRmdZPoTWJHSmclG3p_wwgdS-L2T6YnXmQIPgs57MP9u1L6_XCyFgSxbqr6DqXuGAk60BPwp7EmFoz51uO4rA3FGpwsg5svQjORnc4z-z-8n9ynuQig/s320/Photo0058.jpg" /></a></div>
Today, I bicycled back over, and met with Carlos, one of the engineers
from <a href="http://www.abengoa.es/corp/web/en/negocio/medioambiente/agua/">Abengoa Water</a>, a Spanish firm that is heading up a desalination
project in Teshie, an eastern suburb of Accra, the nation's capital.
Carlos was pacing the property, with a clipboard on which he was
counting the trucks as they went in and out of the compound. As he
explained to me, the site had been used as an unofficial landfill,
so the first step is to build a wall, install concertina wire and
gates, and provide manned security to discourage the addition of
any more trash to the property. They had been given assurances that
the place they were hauling truckloads of black sand in Tema, further
east, had been declared a legitimate landfill, but hadn't seen
official documents of that claim yet.
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyRh2o2mdTjV_GrKlO4OR7lf0l0Cp2mSn4v9IBoJZoUvOPgvpjPHbQ5bji9KDIIv6y4Vl6u1HH_tOUZAYimHZiHUN5R6T04xbM4k83URkFIcMvCIh3jMXjY0CkeIUAtdSyx3Okw/s1600/Photo0059.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjyRh2o2mdTjV_GrKlO4OR7lf0l0Cp2mSn4v9IBoJZoUvOPgvpjPHbQ5bji9KDIIv6y4Vl6u1HH_tOUZAYimHZiHUN5R6T04xbM4k83URkFIcMvCIh3jMXjY0CkeIUAtdSyx3Okw/s200/Photo0059.jpg" /></a></div>
<p>
When I asked how much water this plant was to be providing to this
part of Accra, the answer was "Just read it off the sign, isn't it
out there?" We walked outside the gate and as you can see in the
photo, there was no mention of the size or date. Carlos then admitted
that the plant was designed to produce 60,000 cubic meters of potable
water per day, and that if everything goes well, it should begin
operating in about two years. As a point of comparison, I found a
<a href="http://www.switchtraining.eu/fileadmin/template/projects/switch_training/files/Resources/Adank_2011_Integrated_urban_water_management_in_Greater_Accra.pdf">report</a> suggesting that in 2008, GWCL had contracted for a 20,000 cubic
meters per day plant in Teshie, with a 25-year BOO plan with
Aqualyng Ghana Limited, which I suppose has lapsed. That was
projected to supply enough water for just 4% of metro Accra, which
would be 1 or 2% by 2030. Sounds like this plant is 3 times that.
Abengoa claims to have built plants in Spain, Algeria, India,
and China with a combined capacity of 875,000 cubic meters per day,
so this is a modest sized one.
</p>
<p>
He and I compared traffic stories. Carlos decided to settle in Osu,
where he could get about without needing an auto, and could find
good food and nightlife. His firm supplied him a driver and auto,
and he can make it from home to work in 45-60 minutes. The beach
road widening is nearly finished, just a few hundred yards of road
where the dual-carriage merges onto one side just east of the
Kofi Annan Peacekeeping Training Center. Both our commutes are
reverse the normal direction, although mine is closer to 90 minutes.
</p>
<p>
Apparently the plan is to submerge a large pipe under the beach
there, and withdraw seawater. Then it will be forced through membranes
at high pressures to separate the salt. He didn't say what other
processes would be used, but I would imagine that chlorination
or UV disinfection might be required, since the city of Accra
discharges only partially treated wastewater into the ocean
at a point that Google Earth computes at 17.12 km away.
[Google Earth kml file <a href="https://gec-educators-a-googleproductforums-com.googlegroups.com/attach/5260f3d535296adc/2ec2cfd5-388c-4ffe-8921-8a2031a46536.kmz?part=4">here</a>].
</p>
<p>
The civil work was being done by the same outfit that had constructed
the Ashesi campus in Berekuso, so their foreman recognized my t-shirt.
They are planning to finish securing the perimeter in the next few
weeks.
</p>
<p>
With the unreliability of electricity in the area, I'm not sure
how practical a desal plant will be, but perhaps they will build
a large diesel powerplant to carry them over power cuts. That would
be very expensive, though.
</p>
<p>
Saw the following advert on my way home on a tavern wall.
Ghanaians are often surprised that I would call myself "Charlie"
for this reason, since it is kind of like "Bud" or "Buster"
in the USA.
</p>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53B2EFMVn2CwBhTEjyVRuxAhyphenhyphenPGhq27fuYuptGOnUUREZrAajO_zY-31QA6xHPT1PFZq1xiSbCLZQEvgeFUZfSOfA-l5yzyHOP8IT1HXCpa810H9YW92pAGkOyW18HWPSCosSyA/s1600/Photo0061.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left:1em; margin-right:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh53B2EFMVn2CwBhTEjyVRuxAhyphenhyphenPGhq27fuYuptGOnUUREZrAajO_zY-31QA6xHPT1PFZq1xiSbCLZQEvgeFUZfSOfA-l5yzyHOP8IT1HXCpa810H9YW92pAGkOyW18HWPSCosSyA/s200/Photo0061.jpg" /></a></div>
<p><i><font color="blue">
Exo 15:23-27 GNB</p><p>
Then they came to a place called Marah, but the water there was so bitter that they could not drink it. That is why it was named Marah.
The people complained to Moses and asked, "What are we going to drink?"
Moses prayed earnestly to the LORD, and the LORD showed him a piece of wood <font color="lightblue">[moringa?]</font>, which he threw into the water; and the water became fit to drink. There the LORD gave them laws to live by, and there he also tested them.
He said, "If you will obey me completely by doing what I consider right and by keeping my commands, I will not punish you with any of the diseases that I brought on the Egyptians. I am the LORD, the one who heals you."
Next they came to Elim, where there were twelve springs and seventy palm trees; there they camped by the water.
</font></i></p>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-12425487565389224542012-06-21T23:46:00.000+00:002012-06-21T23:49:20.581+00:00Sεbi - a word missing from English<span style="color: red;"><b><i>Warning: this post contains adult language.</i></b></span>
<p>
<span style="color: blue;"><i>Charlie writes</i></span>:<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGfWqPomiwHMyUgy9PI9l-YxyEUnrkHuQe3SYduv-2ZbKZtpkGTAJFa9udkd2sJKcDwgCx5UKOpSrGSKYxeLKcf06oHYLZp7YcfO7Nnoxgx892sDcBc0sLaoiLZzMzylZNOqZ9w/s1600/Tail_of_the_Blue_Bird.PNG" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="125" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyGfWqPomiwHMyUgy9PI9l-YxyEUnrkHuQe3SYduv-2ZbKZtpkGTAJFa9udkd2sJKcDwgCx5UKOpSrGSKYxeLKcf06oHYLZp7YcfO7Nnoxgx892sDcBc0sLaoiLZzMzylZNOqZ9w/s200/Tail_of_the_Blue_Bird.PNG" /></a>
On Wednesday night, Nii Ayikwei Parkes, author of <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Tail-Blue-Bird-Ayikwei-Parkes/dp/0981858430/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340320140&sr=1-1&keywords=Tail+of+the+Blue+Bird+Parkes">"Tail of the Blue Bird"</a> was in Accra. I joined a number of Ashesi staff and alumni at the <a href="http://gh.wowcity.com/accra/locbus2/5532173542255434361/sytris-bookshop.htm">SyTris bookshop</a>, which is two stories above the PMMC shop opposite Papaye on Oxford Street in Osu. After a late start, Mr. Parkes narrated some of his poems and read selected passages from his book.
<p>
During his free-wheeling commentary after one of the readings, he mentioned that his use of Ghanaian vernacular was a hard sell to the publisher, but that he had eventually convinced them that it added to the authenticity of the tale. He said that Ghanaians had to use some words that just don't exist in English, and his example was the expletive 'sεbi'.
<p>
In the British printing, the editors and author rejected the idea of a Glossary, but Nii found out that to get published in the USA, there would have to be a Glossary in order for the book to sell. This is because, like in <a href="http://www.amazon.com/A-Clockwork-Orange-Anthony-Burgess/dp/B00163XX0O/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1340320417&sr=1-4&keywords=A+clockwork+orange">"A Clockwork Orange</a>," there are a number of words that would not be commonly known to most readers.
<p>
Kajsa Adu remarked that she agreed with the British publisher, thinking that any good literature shouldn't reveal all its secrets on the first reading. She enjoys re-reading books to pick up on words or ideas that she had missed the first time. In that spirit, I'll give you the contexts for this word, missing in English, from the book (page numbers in parentheses):
<p>
<blockquote>
(2) The ancestors say that the truth is short but, sεbi, when the tale is bad, then even the truth stretches like a toad run over by a car on those new roads they are building.
<p>
(7) Then listen Sargie. Sεbi, our village is like a vagina. Those on the inside have no problems with it; those on the outside think it stinks.
<p>
(70) I nodded. (I knew the place. It wasn't far from where my mother, sεbi, had her farm.)
<p>
(96) "I caught the antelope, so I will eat until, sεbi, I go crazy."
<p>
(98-99) That same night, the musician, Tintin, disappeared. Everybody thought, sεbi, he was dead, but I will tell you the truth later.
<p>
(101) It is true that those who knew Ananse understood his sadness. Sεbi, since the time before his penis knew to stand up for the right purpose, he had done everything to get close to his wife. As he matured and learned the ways of the world, he realized, sεbi, since she grew to be one of the most beautiful girls in the sixteen villages under their chief.
<p>
(102) So, sεbi, losing his wife two years after he had married her was not an easy thing for Ananse, but as his mother-in-law, Yaa Somu, said, he had a daughter.
<p>
(106) I am always repeating the elders' adage that even the eagle has not seen everything but, when I went to the place where Tintin had been living, where he had built the adakabεn, sεbi, I almost died.
<p>
(123-124) He had worked non-stop, except for one interruption from the truck driver's daughter, who wasn't so much sick as expecting. He had simply asked her a few questions since he didn't really have any supplies. She readily admitted that she was urinating more frequently than usual, but laughed when Kayo asked her if her breasts were tender.
<br />
"Are you trying to seduce me?" There was a knowing twinkle in her eye.
<br />
Kayo smiled, "No, I'm trying to find out if someone else has recently."
<br />
She cast her eyes to the floor, then raised them slowly. "Why?"
<br />
"Maybe, sεbi, he is the reason you are ill."
<br />
"Oh, really?" Her eyes widened as she realized what Kayo was trying to say, then smiled. "Oh!" She turned and headed for the door, looking back to wave, "I thank you," she giggled. Then she was gone.
<p>
(131) Sometimes we heard him beating her, or shouting at her, telling her that she had killed his wife, she was anyεn like her grandmother, Yaa Somu. There wasn't much we could do. I mean, sεbi, she was his daughter and the ancestors must lead the way, but there were times when we called on them to ask for things we didn't need, just so that he would stop beating her.
<p>
(132) By Onyame's generosity, Yaa Somu's land, where she planted her tomatoes, had not been taken by anyone (I think the chief in his wisdom kept it so), so Mensisi got my sons to help her clear it and she started planting tomatoes. Kwaku Ananse was not happy, but, sεbi, apart from beating her he couldn't do anything to her, and she was no longer afraid of the weight of his arm.
<p>
(145) It is true that we still had crops but our harvest was light, there was not much left over for the farmers and traders to sell. As for Kwaku Ananse, sεbi, his crop was destroyed that year, the cocoa pods that grew looked like a baby's fists, he could not sell them. I told my wife that the ancestors had started.
<p>
(146) Kwaku Ananse had been sick with his coughing again, but Mensisi wasn't able to come and look after him because her husband was hurt. He had been in a bad accident while travelling to Takoradi to work and, sεbi, they had to remove his leg. He was in bed for three moons but still things didn't get better and, with the passing of time, Onyame in his wisdom removed him from his suffering.
<p>
(147) We kept quiet and allowed her to do what she wanted, but we, the men, we watched Kwaku Ananse's home. We were ready, sεbi, to kill him this time, if he started beating her again. We were ready because Kwaku Ananse to us was no longer a man, and sεbi, nobody mourns a tsetse fly when it dies.
<p>
(147-148) You see, they say, sεbi, when something you don't know is approaching it is frightening, but when it gets close it is often a relative.
<p>
(168) Hmm, can you believe that this Mintah, the one who removed the bullets, also took money to his mother for him? That's why the elders say that, sεbi, bad doesn't live alone in a compound; good always lives there too.
<p>
(169) Anyway, I told Kwadwo that this is why you have to look well with people because you never know their story. I mean, they say what happens for a woman to conceive - sεbi, not the lying down, but what happens after - is a mystery to all men. But (this is what I told him), my friend, I tell you, what happens after birth is a bigger mystery.
<p>
(170) It is true that, because this woman with short short skirt and thin legs, sεbi, knew certain people, the police were here with their guns before the three days could come, so it didn't happen exactly as Oduro said.
</blockquote>
Confused? I was also as I read the book, and when the <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh">Ashesi</a> freshmen were reading it this past fall, I asked for a translation. I was told that it introduces a potentially embarrassing or off-color comment. As Nii Parkes put it on Wednesday,
you can just about say anything after sεbi and no one will get upset.
With the political correctness of English nowadays, the concept just doesn't translate!
<p>
<span style="color: red;"><i>Judges 12:4-6</i></span>
<span style="color: blue;">
Then Jephthah brought all the men of Gilead together, fought the men of Ephraim and defeated them. (The Ephraimites had said, "You Gileadites in Ephraim and Manasseh, you are deserters from Ephraim!")
In order to keep the Ephraimites from escaping, the Gileadites captured the places where the Jordan could be crossed. When any Ephraimite who was trying to escape would ask permission to cross, the men of Gilead would ask, "Are you an Ephraimite?" If he said, "No," they would tell him to say "Shibboleth." But he would say "Sibboleth," because he could not pronounce it correctly. Then they would grab him and kill him there at one of the Jordan River crossings. At that time forty-two thousand of the Ephraimites were killed.
</span>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-48434931695288552012012-06-17T17:57:00.000+00:002012-06-17T17:57:43.871+00:00Ashesi's Economics Field Trip to Tema Port<br />
<br />
<br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rhsNT-LxgFhHdZcItdfFSyTJW6QwoSQTSAkwv-ULRovUNkIsBy6eOK0KUEG4Wh7sGXeMZfyNAk0w3ZCilMlL80WX0EWwoif3cy2Ofq7Dx3bTEdAT-DZd-4VWfnzaew8c73ch9A/s1600/Huddle_at_Ashesi.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="150" width="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2rhsNT-LxgFhHdZcItdfFSyTJW6QwoSQTSAkwv-ULRovUNkIsBy6eOK0KUEG4Wh7sGXeMZfyNAk0w3ZCilMlL80WX0EWwoif3cy2Ofq7Dx3bTEdAT-DZd-4VWfnzaew8c73ch9A/s200/Huddle_at_Ashesi.jpg" /></a>
<i><span style="color: blue;">Charlie writes:</span></i><br />
On Friday, June 8, a subset of the Freshmen class at Ashesi University College
toured the Tema port to understand the perceived high cost of imported items
here in Ghana. The students traveled on a large bus, a small bus, and my Hilux,
merging at the port after dealing with breakdowns and a shopping expedition
to the <a href="http://www.accramall.com">Accra Mall</a>.
<p>
Upon reaching the port, the <a href="ghanaports.gov.gh">Ghana Ports and Harbours Authority</a> Public Relations
Officer boarded our lead bus, which meant that the two buses could get waved
through the gate. The first stop was the
<a href="http://business.myjoyonline.com/pages/news/201110/74381.php">Scanners</a>, a pair of open frames
large enough to drive a flatbed loaded with a container through, where the
CEPS officers can visualize the contents of a mixed container that is
suspected of containing contraband. The students asked why not all containers
were scanned, and were told that the capacity of the machines was limited.
Bulk containers that are filled with a single commodity are never scanned.
<p>
Beyond the scanners is the Golden Jubilee facility and the area where
home used vehicles are delivered for sale into Ghana. We returned back
to the main quays (which our guide pronouced KEY), where we learned that
there are 12 berths on two quays, the second being deeper and designed
for modern containerized shipping. We all left the buses and listened
to the PRO and two port authority workers describe the layout of the
wharfs and the general process for scheduling the loading/unloading
operations.<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHo675ryQH5u6MaE-59D4wSKIzt0ymmSgd7x2TaVgkkcpltiWuXpLyVOCJPqE6UJ_FBHwS3wJiQxfTvrzkxgVNanLPA3iLQ9zDRoJHmi1pv09vrCSfInd-UdIAmSL7Qv7JLLUjQ/s1600/Port+PRO+Lecturing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:5em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjpHo675ryQH5u6MaE-59D4wSKIzt0ymmSgd7x2TaVgkkcpltiWuXpLyVOCJPqE6UJ_FBHwS3wJiQxfTvrzkxgVNanLPA3iLQ9zDRoJHmi1pv09vrCSfInd-UdIAmSL7Qv7JLLUjQ/s200/Port+PRO+Lecturing.jpg" /></a>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4TxypV57cNQksLMyWdHIBy9XqaU0JOBcd4bBrEPHJq2uNjnGcBqVp5OgMdL4atVBVYM0vWwzP8J7dWdrXmuIOL4NHJp1PipRYm3tvkaoa5WevIMtRC6qyM_M_qyfRQOvex85Sw/s1600/Port_Hand_and_Breakwater.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:right; float:right; margin-left:5em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgb4TxypV57cNQksLMyWdHIBy9XqaU0JOBcd4bBrEPHJq2uNjnGcBqVp5OgMdL4atVBVYM0vWwzP8J7dWdrXmuIOL4NHJp1PipRYm3tvkaoa5WevIMtRC6qyM_M_qyfRQOvex85Sw/s200/Port_Hand_and_Breakwater.jpg" /></a>
<p>
Dr. Stephen Armah then got word that we could have a tour of the scanners,
but where we returned to that part of the port, it was just after noon, and
we got stuck in a traffic jam.
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcScTzRDVCuBw4HIgPo1-RT8VW_ckOfOePeXSAar1O3nUeUV0Zl6GCENwl7gWuM7pv0az2n2_iqKLIxVME8TA7xLa2Twc1iMjyryUItNcAjkmxTjkIefC-0KjE-m0BshO2t_adQA/s1600/Port_Trafficjam.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear:left; float:left;margin-right:1em; margin-bottom:1em"><img border="0" height="200" width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhcScTzRDVCuBw4HIgPo1-RT8VW_ckOfOePeXSAar1O3nUeUV0Zl6GCENwl7gWuM7pv0az2n2_iqKLIxVME8TA7xLa2Twc1iMjyryUItNcAjkmxTjkIefC-0KjE-m0BshO2t_adQA/s200/Port_Trafficjam.jpg" /></a>
The PRO explained that many of the autos
imported are actually driven straight off the boats as would be the case
for automobile ferries. We saw some cars being driven, some being towed
by others.
<p>
When we realized that we would not be making it back to the scanners
promptly, we backed out and saw the main port offices, the Duty Free
shop (for crew members and Authority workers), and the clinic. We didn't
have time to tour the bunkers for petroleum products, the dry dock, or
the clinker (raw material for cement production) terminals.
<p>
The PRO said that the port was sized to handle a half million containers
per year (the Authority's web site claims to have processed 500,000 TEUs
in 2009, and as much as 750,000 TEUs during 2011). Meanwhile, the nation's
only other deepwater port, Takoradi, claims 55,000 TEUs, but 62% of the
nation's outbound traffic, consisting of manganese, bauxite, cocoa, and
lumber.
<p>
The port has been somewhat <a href="http://www.ft.com/intl/cms/s/0/da427c5a-2040-11e1-9878-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1y4APwp3P">privatized</a> with MPS, the operator, owned 35%
each by Maersk, France's Bollore Group, and 30% by Ghana Ports and Harbours.
This group now runs the two deep wharfs, and apparently has streamlined
operations somewhat. Unlike the ports at Lagos, Nigeria, and Abijan,
Cote d'Ivoire, vessels cannot be assured of "berthing windows" when
a berth would be available for prior reservation at a given time. At
Tema, the vessels must queue out in the ocean, and then wait to be
berthed on a first come, first served basis.
<p>
The transportation of containers in West Africa is quite a bit more
expensive than in developed countries. For instance, the West Africa
Trade Hub found in a <a href="http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/PNADU448.pdf">2010 study funded by USAID</a> that <blockquote>"the cost to deliver
a container from Tema to Ouagadougou is more than seven times the cost
to deliver the same container from Newark to Chicago, a route of roughly
equal distance. This is despite the fact that trucker salaries in the USA
are roughly 25 times higher. And the trip takes as much as four times longer."</blockquote>
<p>
The students were asked to prepare a one page report on why imports
are so expensive for extra credit, I'll ask <a href="http://www.ashesi.edu.gh/academics/departments/business-administration/faculty-and-staff/659-armah-stephen.html">Dr. Armah</a> how they did.
<p>
<i><span style="color: blue;">Then the LORD ordered the fish to spit Jonah up on the beach, and it did. </span><span style="color: red;"><b>Jonah 2:10</b> (Good News Bible)</span></i>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-7605373831215590492012-04-08T19:19:00.000+00:002012-04-08T19:21:27.491+00:00April Fool's!<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><i>Mary Kay writes:</i></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PkLUUm4fe8usL76xYkR35oMIrQgtTuW1ePE_lOXJVaSxxyXkU78izYrF_8yXGmZ0gZPYibah18iqPaaurxq_GlyM0MjcxuVzLTYPccvbyssiRbit_4d4rbutVCu1Qqamv4ZhWg/s1600/palm+sunday1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh8PkLUUm4fe8usL76xYkR35oMIrQgtTuW1ePE_lOXJVaSxxyXkU78izYrF_8yXGmZ0gZPYibah18iqPaaurxq_GlyM0MjcxuVzLTYPccvbyssiRbit_4d4rbutVCu1Qqamv4ZhWg/s320/palm+sunday1.jpg" width="320" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I have been struck this Holy Week with the juxtaposition of
the sacred and the secular calendars. As
you know, Palm Sunday fell on April 1 this year. This has only happened nine times in the last
three centuries. Apparently it happened
in 2007, the only other time in my lifetime as I look back, but I totally
missed it then – probably because we had just moved to Ghana and everything
else about Holy Week and Easter celebrations here was so new to me. Plus, it doesn’t seem like Ghana makes as big
a deal of April Fool’s Day as we used to in the US. The next time it will happen will be in the
year 2091. Since I would be 131 at that
point, I think it is probably safe to say that this is the last time in my life
that I will see Palm Sunday and April Fool’s fall on the same day.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I read a couple of devotions, tweets, and the like this week
that pointed out this juxtaposition. Most
pointed out that the same people who were praising Jesus, shouting “Hosanna”,
which means “save us”, were the ones shouting for his crucifixion by the end of
the week. Some talked about the disciples
“borrowing” a donkey – which the owner must have seen as a prank – though presumably the donkey was returned at the end of the day. </span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">I also looked into the history of April Fool’s Day to see
when the tradition started. The Persians
(and now the Iranians) celebrate a day of pranks on the 13<sup>th</sup> day of
their New Year, which either falls on April 1 or April 2, according to
Wikipedia. The earliest mention of a day of pranks associated specifically with
April 1 was in Chaucer’s <i>The Canterbury
Tales </i>in The Nun’s Priest’s Tale, which is the tale of Chanticleer and the
Fox. Certainly Chanticleer outfoxing the
fox could be considered a good April Fool’s prank! But the Romans celebrated a festival called
Hilaria on the 25<sup>th</sup> of March, which is also thought to be a
precursor to our present day tradition.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Given that Jerusalem was under Roman rule, and that the
Passover (and therefore Easter) changes days as a lunar holiday, it is quite
possible that the original Palm Sunday procession coincided with the Roman Hilaria. This would be even more fitting in my
mind. To see Jesus riding into Jerusalem
on a donkey, with the crowds going wild?
This event is easier to see as a Monty Python-esque satire of the great
Roman military processions than as a real act of worship and praise. Who would cheer for a guy on a donkey, unless
you thought it was all a great farce?
Certainly Jesus did not represent the type of military hero that Israel
would have liked to see come and kick out the Romans – that guy would have
looked more like a combination of Sparticus, Ben Hur and Rambo! Or at least Iron Man, with the disciples cast
as the rest of the Avengers.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJrq-ChbmiVgLYsG4Age4asT5zFdc9c_w7DXhT_8XZbP8HXln7EDDnmyf1lTveUvhOO5FnMHrcqZqVuRcylhEZzSElTb6G4FM9DRVAIVlgxR7EqFwyNGmU-d1vNJxk0BIzTZ5-A/s1600/crucifixion.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjFJrq-ChbmiVgLYsG4Age4asT5zFdc9c_w7DXhT_8XZbP8HXln7EDDnmyf1lTveUvhOO5FnMHrcqZqVuRcylhEZzSElTb6G4FM9DRVAIVlgxR7EqFwyNGmU-d1vNJxk0BIzTZ5-A/s320/crucifixion.jpg" width="213" /></a><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">By Friday, the prank seemed obvious. Jesus, who had triumphally entered Jerusalem the week before was now hanging on a cross, dying. The joke felt like it was on all of us for believing, for hoping. The disciples sure didn’t get
it – they were the ones most discouraged at the death of their leader. They were the ones who thought Palm Sunday
was real, only to have their hopes dashed.
They heard Jesus say, “It is finished,” and thought all was lost. They spent the weekend hiding in terror that
they would be killed next as his associates.
Even Satan thought he had won that day, triumphing over God’s Son at
last.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">On Friday, a thief on a cross and one of the Roman centurions
who helped to crucify Jesus caught a glimpse of the real story, but even they
didn’t get the full picture. But today,
Sunday morning, we can look back and laugh!
We see joke and we get it. We
share in the “Gotcha”. We can run to our
friends shouting the Good News. He is
alive! Jesus conquered the cross and
death. He conquers all the rulers of
this world – whether Romans or Americans or someone else. He conquers all the lesser gods and demons of
the spiritual world – even that most powerful of demons, Satan. On Easter, of all days, we proclaim that all
is right with the world. God’s creation
is restored and God declares, “It is very good!”.</span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSDE0rKq2tvceFd1hurGeB4UgrBomiann94ylWky9nTD28dufX5WqV0iZF0rFYLxDAwuGS8AO7Onx0dQH8PMIBBQ85_zICB0mYyXmB5TXvRG_6o7zCw8qkqHScNHidCaJLpjy8w/s1600/empty+tomb.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVSDE0rKq2tvceFd1hurGeB4UgrBomiann94ylWky9nTD28dufX5WqV0iZF0rFYLxDAwuGS8AO7Onx0dQH8PMIBBQ85_zICB0mYyXmB5TXvRG_6o7zCw8qkqHScNHidCaJLpjy8w/s320/empty+tomb.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">Alleluia! Christ is risen.
He is risen, indeed! Alleluia!</span></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif;">“[Jesus] told them, “This
is what is written: The Christ will
suffer and rise from the dead on the third day, and repentance and forgiveness
will be preched in His Name to all nations, beginning in Jerusalem.” (Luke 24:46-47, NIV)</span><o:p></o:p></i></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: 'Trebuchet MS', sans-serif; font-size: x-small;">The artwork posted today is from <a href="http://www.jesusmafa.com/">www.jesusmafa.com</a>, an organization dedicated to presenting the Gospel in an African context.</span></i></div>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-36853029457651048712012-03-09T14:21:00.000+00:002012-03-09T14:24:40.609+00:00My Take on KONY 2012<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjivAPwJ127zLHfKIY9gifaWrKydHEQdjyQ_tTMIBpEXDFM9f2PiQfdqp3WJjtdivgTztKxxyJsqQKAeogj215XNO15rERwRqL077A1X7lfYl-DykKK5TQvOrt7yAL2pZ8oJxhcQ/s1600/IMG-20120109-00219.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhjivAPwJ127zLHfKIY9gifaWrKydHEQdjyQ_tTMIBpEXDFM9f2PiQfdqp3WJjtdivgTztKxxyJsqQKAeogj215XNO15rERwRqL077A1X7lfYl-DykKK5TQvOrt7yAL2pZ8oJxhcQ/s320/IMG-20120109-00219.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i>Mary Kay writes: </i></span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">It has been fascinating to me to watch KONY 2012 go viral
this week. This is the first time I
personally have seen this phenomenon, partly because I am “a clueless old fogie”
(as my high school senior would put it) and partly because we live in Ghana,
where we are just beginning to explore all the uses of social media. True confession: I only figured out how to participate in Twitter
this week, follow me at @ghanawaterwoman. It has been doubly
interesting as it follows on the heels of and illustrates two books that
Charlie and I have been reading lately about the new world social order – ala
Facebook and Google – <i>What Would Google
Do </i>and <i>Public Parts</i>, both by Jeff
Jarvis (@JeffJarvis and <a href="http://www.buzzmachine.com/">www.buzzmachine.com</a>).
Watching the video gave me more insight into how the web could be used
to form a critical mass for change – ala Tahrir Square, or Yemen, or Libya, or
I guess even Wall Street (though I still haven’t figured out the whole “occupy”
movement).</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The video does bring attention to one of the major problems in
Africa over the last 50 years– that of child soldiers. But Joseph Kony and the Lord’s Rebellion Army
are hardly the only ones involved in this practice. Child soldiers have been used in Liberia,
Sierra Leone, Sudan and elsewhere, as well.
The movie does bring infamy to Joseph Kony, but since he has been under
indictment by the International Criminal Court since 2005, I would argue that
he already was infamous. In the end, all
KONY 2012 does is vilify Joseph Kony and call for his capture and
prosecution. Easier said than done since
he is hiding out in dense and sparsely populated jungle and could be in one of
three or four different countries in Central Africa, in a geographic area approximately
half the size of the United States. After
all how long did it take the FBI to find Eric Rudolph, the Atlanta Olympics
bomber, when he was hiding out in the mountains of North Carolina? Or for the international community to find Osama
bin Laden, for that matter? And why pick
only on Joseph Kony? Three other leaders
of the LRA are also under indictment for the same crimes against humanity. A two others were indicted in 2005, but have
since died, so the charges against them have been dropped.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">My biggest beef with the movie and the KONY 2012 movement is
that it doesn’t really address the underlying issues in Uganda that led to the
formation of the LRA or provide any solutions.
Let’s say we arrest Kony, try him, execute him. Or that he dies in a gun battle when they try
to arrest him. What happens next? What will keep another from stepping into his
shoes?</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Many of the blogs and news sources I have read on the
internet, from people living and working in Uganda, and more importantly, from
Ugandans themselves, don’t see Kony as their biggest problem anymore. Yes, he is evil, and did atrocious
things. But he is not nearly as active
in that part of Africa as he was 10 or even 5 years ago. His power has diminished greatly. But the conditions that led to his rise to
power are still in Uganda and throughout Africa. Corruption.
Oppressive governments. Grinding
poverty. Malaria and HIV/AIDS. Lack
of access to health care, or potable water, or sanitation, or education. Kony and the LRA may have abducted as many as
70,000 children over the course of his rebellion, and certainly they killed
more than that. But approximately 4,500
children die every day from preventable waterborne diseases, most of them in
Africa. And 1,400 children die every day
in sub-Saharan Africa from malaria. <b><i>EVERY DAY!
</i></b>That would equate to over 50,000,000 children from these two
causes alone, over the 25 years that Kony has terrorized children. And this does not include the children who are
ill but recover.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Of course, there are plenty of organizations that are
mobilizing around the issues of malaria, waterborne disease, education, or
other issues as well. You can google any
of these topics and find heart-breaking videos of the impacts of disease and
poverty on God’s children in Africa (or Asia or the United States for that
matter). I can point you to a lot – and I
can show you my own photographs and videos.
</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">But the myriad issues in Africa, or specifically in Uganda,
have been going on for 25, 50 or even 100 years or more. They are too complex to distill into a video
like KONY 2012. They won’t be solved
overnight, or in 2012, or with the arrest or death of one person. The United
States can’t just “come to the rescue” like some governmental version of
Superman. And these problems certainly
won’t be solved without the input and effort of Ugandans and other Africans. Africans should be engaging in conversations,
whether face-to-face or on Facebook, Twitter and the like, with other Africans about
what they see as their greatest problems, most significant needs and their proposed
solutions. Then we in the west can follow
along, learn, and in turn ask how we can best support and encourage them to
achieve their dreams and meet their own needs.
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">THAT approach, my friends, is <b><i>community </i></b>development. <b><i>That</i></b> is development with
dignity. That moves past colonialism, or
neo-colonialism, or the Western “we’re here to fix you (and remold you into our
image)” mentality. That would recognize and
celebrate the image of our creator God in Africans. And that is what I pray that I am learning to
do, with sensitivity and love.</span></div>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><i><span style="background-color: white;">I have cried until the tears no longer come; </span><span style="background-color: white;">my heart is broken. </span><span style="background-color: white;">My spirit is poured out in agony </span><span style="background-color: white;">as I see the desperate plight of my people. </span><span style="background-color: white;">Little children and tiny babies </span><span style="background-color: white;">are fainting and dying in the streets. (Lamentations 2:11, NLT)</span></i></span></div>
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<i><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Charis SIL', charis, Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;"><br /></span></i></div>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com2Labadi Link, Accra, Ghana5.5759230689017 -0.159387588500976565.5680215689017 -0.16925808850097657 5.5838245689017 -0.14951708850097656tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-63903190826743225062012-03-02T09:18:00.000+00:002012-03-02T22:40:56.604+00:00Water Is Life<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGPZaGMbBV87sEb_3Mpv2wi2FhnLeCsEQaoOU3V07JbckbAbOhJ6zPkTuwWuQa4-m35rxsQrmiUav1guAJcxRhWniQd62q4sH8_bYU2vxbUsH3VIN4JaeRP9PO0VZlU9VbiSaww/s1600/kids+enjoying+water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeGPZaGMbBV87sEb_3Mpv2wi2FhnLeCsEQaoOU3V07JbckbAbOhJ6zPkTuwWuQa4-m35rxsQrmiUav1guAJcxRhWniQd62q4sH8_bYU2vxbUsH3VIN4JaeRP9PO0VZlU9VbiSaww/s320/kids+enjoying+water.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Water is Life. We all have been thirsty, we all understand. Whether in the hot summers of Georgia, the hotter and more humid equatorial tropics of Houston or southern Ghana, or on the even hotter, dusty semi-arid savannahs of northern Ghana, “water is life” is not just a saying – it is reality. </span><span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">Here in Ghana, water is deeply ingrained in the local culture. Any time you visit anyone anywhere - city or village, office or home - Ghanaian culture and hospitality demands that you are offered water to drink. That is always the first order of business – before even introductions or stating your mission. If you are not offered water, by oversight or because you are visiting clueless expats, it would not at all be rude to ask for water. Once you have traveled around Ghana at all, even here in Accra, it is easy to understand why. This is a hot, dusty place, and you get thirsty so quickly. Dehydration easily turns into a headache or worse here. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RDFYi_f3ldgRa1SeZqSjvji0m8QMOEMSHeGE18LTVfi44W07YMggalHxszw8qOkugmEozcq3YfGVcrUh1DRh11lRgEYD1q73KnHLduTk7OxsZWdGbbpPhSrpktNsdzlZqL-lGA/s1600/blessing+the+borehole.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7RDFYi_f3ldgRa1SeZqSjvji0m8QMOEMSHeGE18LTVfi44W07YMggalHxszw8qOkugmEozcq3YfGVcrUh1DRh11lRgEYD1q73KnHLduTk7OxsZWdGbbpPhSrpktNsdzlZqL-lGA/s320/blessing+the+borehole.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">When we dedicated the borehole at Koduakrom last Friday, I had the opportunity to share a few thoughts with the assembled villagers. I reminded them of the role water plays in their culture of hospitality. You could see the heads nod in agreement. Then I told them the story of Jesus meeting the Samaritan woman at the well from John 4. While the Samaritan woman gave Jesus water to drink from the well, He gave her something much more valuable – Living Water! And despite the sin in her life, her religious traditions, her gender and her culture – all barriers that could have blocked her from receiving this gift from Jesus – she accepted it. </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3IM1pfFws_flU1cnxGZ_FpfWW3_OhS9Xb1YPFSkbVnAgX34FfiDu41T200_bAXqHU0I1dIrlWvZfpTI0QkXQbHZMzyFu-0UUwq6J9StFbrGoUltdReTRh0AvFGpg5EpOlgfg9g/s1600/DSC03625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhT3IM1pfFws_flU1cnxGZ_FpfWW3_OhS9Xb1YPFSkbVnAgX34FfiDu41T200_bAXqHU0I1dIrlWvZfpTI0QkXQbHZMzyFu-0UUwq6J9StFbrGoUltdReTRh0AvFGpg5EpOlgfg9g/s320/DSC03625.JPG" width="320" /></a>
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">The people of Koduakrom have been blessed with the gift of safe drinking water. The village will have plenty of potable water throughout the year. Their children will be less likely to get waterborne diseases. They will be able to share this water with visitors and weary travelers who come to their village. All of these are great, life changing benefits to the village. But how much more life changing will it be if they share the Living Water that Jesus offers with each cup of drinking water! </span><br />
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<span style="font-family: Verdana, sans-serif;">In the US, we are blessed with abundant access to safe drinking water. And we are blessed with abundant access to Living Water as well through our churches, media, books, seminars, even the internet. But do we link the two together as Jesus did? Do we introduce Jesus when we offer a glass of water to a visitor who may not know Him? </span><br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGT4kItzmIYZaZidFciXJouEAHxwjifUTY7XpE7r_q5cJ6r9iKe8y79Os_oEn7pAjq0pvG3c57FNR8oZNjv4lELKhciCsEOCUdZ1q2zaAS35cpMZjQLRdGebJNIClY3CNJBWXgYg/s1600/children+celebrate+water.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="300" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiGT4kItzmIYZaZidFciXJouEAHxwjifUTY7XpE7r_q5cJ6r9iKe8y79Os_oEn7pAjq0pvG3c57FNR8oZNjv4lELKhciCsEOCUdZ1q2zaAS35cpMZjQLRdGebJNIClY3CNJBWXgYg/s400/children+celebrate+water.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
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<i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">"Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God and who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked him and he would have given you living water.”
“Sir,” the woman said, “you have nothing to draw with and the well is deep. Where can you get this living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob, who gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did also his sons and his livestock?”
Jesus answered, “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, 14 but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:10-14, NIV)
</span></i>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com0Koduakrom, Brong Ahafo, Ghana7.3354820411800779 -2.47840404510498057.3315450411800782 -2.4833395451049807 7.3394190411800775 -2.4734685451049803tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14008269.post-11257491831116618462012-02-27T23:01:00.007+00:002012-02-27T23:26:28.041+00:00A Day of Celebration in Koduakrom, Ghana<span style="font-style:italic;">Mary Kay writes:</span><br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNJXPrjfhXp-IjDc1ileWLKDWroGfV8yiI1KT6GscYv6D1R6Y3CrcFbcmWe50nZ0_Qvd1mjt2MrcgNekR5Z1wNj30is6TBHGVE9HFGt3VPV1jJlmIK-KW0_kBfjPQbQjFg2f2pg/s1600/SANY0657.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjmNJXPrjfhXp-IjDc1ileWLKDWroGfV8yiI1KT6GscYv6D1R6Y3CrcFbcmWe50nZ0_Qvd1mjt2MrcgNekR5Z1wNj30is6TBHGVE9HFGt3VPV1jJlmIK-KW0_kBfjPQbQjFg2f2pg/s200/SANY0657.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713957592468686674" /></a>I first visited Koduakrom in 2010. This little rural farming village is about 30 minutes outside of Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo Region of Ghana, which is the breadbasket of Ghana. Farmers here grow bananas, plaintain, coco yams, palm nuts (for palm oil) and other staples of the Ghanaian diet. But it was a somewhat depressing little collection of crumbling mud huts with thatched roofs, one borehole that dries up every year during the dry season, and two cement block buildings – churches – on either end of the village. The Methodist chapel was roofed, but not finished – no plaster, windows or doors.<br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFozsk4jxNxYfZAP_-HaAEoUAEnQfNYEq6vnzLTNo1PKDQeGqzh6weIFB48U7NXo62C74EJ055bgqsLu7nO1mJC2l3kCHxyv94z2wnxCQT0YvSLzn7ksHnfYHtpvdmRHN0TGBJQ/s1600/kids+enjoying+water.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSFozsk4jxNxYfZAP_-HaAEoUAEnQfNYEq6vnzLTNo1PKDQeGqzh6weIFB48U7NXo62C74EJ055bgqsLu7nO1mJC2l3kCHxyv94z2wnxCQT0YvSLzn7ksHnfYHtpvdmRHN0TGBJQ/s200/kids+enjoying+water.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713957597248629986" /></a>Back again two years later, my fifth or sixth visit, we celebrated a new day in Koduakrom. The village has a new deeper borehole that will not dry out, thanks to the generosity of my friends at St. John’s UMC in Edwardsville, IL. Everyone in the village is excited about this improvement, especially the children who will not miss school due to waterborne disease as often as in the past.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHYJ9TW4WwiHPALe8JC1XKJpKflDYN69C-rREgMcjvyJqA45X2YpdjeAlWT3NPpcvkIlqbDDn3Ym2DnMaYwqMXY4zY4KmZqDKvOcfYPbe2naBMLnZ79_OhQyO0Ysi3mqlLeGHnw/s1600/chapel+ribbon+cutting.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjyHYJ9TW4WwiHPALe8JC1XKJpKflDYN69C-rREgMcjvyJqA45X2YpdjeAlWT3NPpcvkIlqbDDn3Ym2DnMaYwqMXY4zY4KmZqDKvOcfYPbe2naBMLnZ79_OhQyO0Ysi3mqlLeGHnw/s200/chapel+ribbon+cutting.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713957611528946354" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5uvUJg-bmC-bkk4yX-qgmkBfMT1jvlwVTbniHaz_G8tOIYcoRj-yODjwNi5dU_PCy2F-CYkJMjbsR6h_lbPsYzfiP2BWJ00j-x36cByEh6uTmLVj2-YktPojhLzTkOIwJV-rAg/s1600/chapel+name.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjt5uvUJg-bmC-bkk4yX-qgmkBfMT1jvlwVTbniHaz_G8tOIYcoRj-yODjwNi5dU_PCy2F-CYkJMjbsR6h_lbPsYzfiP2BWJ00j-x36cByEh6uTmLVj2-YktPojhLzTkOIwJV-rAg/s200/chapel+name.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713957606087736690" /></a>The Methodist Chapel has been completed as well, thanks to friends at Asbury UMC in Madison, AL. A team from there came this past November to Koduakrom and participated in a revival in the village. At the same time, they were moved to contribute funds toward the completion of the chapel. My dear friend and colleague, Bishop Kofi Asare-Bediako, also remembered his pledge to build a chapel at Koduakrom from the early 90s, when he was a minister in their circuit. So now they have a beautiful Easter egg colored church to remind them of their new life in Jesus – yellow for the light of Christ in our lives, blue for His living water, pink for joy. Villagers report that the church is growing and has a renewed hope for their future.<br /> <br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDoF6Y8hFJmTnNuf_zH1nvyXLH2Tt0jhBlDlp_np9tZtewnXszvzCT330LW2VFy9ox6A5YL0Txjn5UCPTQV-p_VFyw40gN1MsQDF20AurLSdyBrwpqIFM20pbDdPf2wEjrX5U2Q/s1600/mango+seedlings+from+the+Bishop.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjSDoF6Y8hFJmTnNuf_zH1nvyXLH2Tt0jhBlDlp_np9tZtewnXszvzCT330LW2VFy9ox6A5YL0Txjn5UCPTQV-p_VFyw40gN1MsQDF20AurLSdyBrwpqIFM20pbDdPf2wEjrX5U2Q/s200/mango+seedlings+from+the+Bishop.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713959223606651826" /></a>There is a beautiful grove of mango trees started around the chapel now, too, a gift from the Bishop as well. So in a few years, the church and its members will have the income from the mangoes they grow to augment their coffers – money that will be used to support the widows and orphans of the village.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HxB7FoeQ3f_8dRLHeNoT_OXqiHPUkiyw9SCMu1CqVTWRq8Xq9UXLFMG8N1nWtk1MryhcszQeAhdt8aIb7wite6qaC-WrTW8UV1eiuJPIl1W0jILgT74Wu5ZW-AU6oQxp2W5s9g/s1600/Koduakrom%2527s+new+school.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj6HxB7FoeQ3f_8dRLHeNoT_OXqiHPUkiyw9SCMu1CqVTWRq8Xq9UXLFMG8N1nWtk1MryhcszQeAhdt8aIb7wite6qaC-WrTW8UV1eiuJPIl1W0jILgT74Wu5ZW-AU6oQxp2W5s9g/s200/Koduakrom%2527s+new+school.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713957615348174818" /></a>Lastly, a school is under construction – right across the road from the Methodist Chapel. This is being funded by the local District Assembly, as it should be, but there has never been a school in Koduakrom before now. Schoolchildren have had to walk a couple of kilometers to attend the nearest school in the next village. What a blessing that they will soon be able to attend school in their own village.<br /><br /><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gFV6ZcgdcYtLbm2cN0yYqvp-kDVHq-_U_QkU7hlG0kaMLj5jmDw9tm89YqhaosrRhbZtMwPDQG9FdXCz2Zeaud71nz4oa2LF82jC5ltIcHm7-HDI07AN3Lp3dXKSwk2OBV3Xng/s1600/harvest+thank+you.JPG"><img style="float:left; margin:0 10px 10px 0;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;width: 200px; height: 150px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh3gFV6ZcgdcYtLbm2cN0yYqvp-kDVHq-_U_QkU7hlG0kaMLj5jmDw9tm89YqhaosrRhbZtMwPDQG9FdXCz2Zeaud71nz4oa2LF82jC5ltIcHm7-HDI07AN3Lp3dXKSwk2OBV3Xng/s200/harvest+thank+you.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5713959862844829666" /></a>Things are definitely looking up in Koduakrom. You could see it in the smiles on peoples' faces and the hugs and warm greetings I received when I got out of the car. The people of Koduakrom also gave us a traditional "thanksgiving" gift from their harvest - plaintain, coco yams, a goat (live!), and palm nuts - all the ingredients for fufu and palm nut soup. I can’t wait to come back in two or three more years to see the changes here, all because its citizens now have pride in their community and hope in the future. And I can’t wait to taste one of their delicious mangoes !<br /><br /><span style="font-style:italic;">“You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely your goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life..." (Psalm 23:5-6a, NIV)</span>Charlie and Mary Kayhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06957071077445338699noreply@blogger.com1