Kaitlyn and I arrived back in the village of Asisiriwa, Ghana on Saturday with our liaison, Professor Agyekum. We made our way first to the chief’s house where men had gathered from all over the district to see what tidings we had brought.
Professor Kofi Agyekum (probably the foremost scholar on the Twi language) talking to students and teachers in his home village.
The council meeting opened in a similar fashion as last time. We walked counter-clockwise around the room and shook hands with everyone gathered there, then sat down. They then rose and walked counter-clockwise, each shaking hands with us and saying, “Akwaaba” (“Welcome”). Tradition dictates that the villagers offer travelers water before asking of their mission, so we took a sip of the water bottles they offered us before Prof stood up and gave the “Previously, on White People in Asisiriwa” speech. The council meeting, as always, was entirely in Akan-Twi. He then asked me to stand and give the council an update on our activities since we had seen them last.
I pulled out printed pictures of the literacy center design and passed them around, explaining that the design had been donated by generous architects in America. I also told how we had brought a little over five thousand dollars to start the project. I then sat down and Prof stood up to translate.
One of the first conversations that happened was whether the white people would be staying in the village after Prof went back to Accra. When we said yes, they launched immediately into a long discussion of how best to take care of their oburonis (white people). Some of them voiced concerns over security, since Prof’s house where we were to stay sits about one hundred yards outside of “town”. They decided to let us stay there, but they would post villagers outside at night to act as security guards.
Then there was the issue of food. They asked us if we would like them to cook for us, to which we replied “sometimes” (because as generous as that offer was, we weren’t sure we could eat fufu, plantains, and fish for every single meal).
It was then that we moved on to the building itself. The more intrigued members and construction-oriented members of the council had poured over Dedy Rusli’s detailed plans and various concerns were brought to light. The first thing to come up was that the building was too nice to hide away back on the land they had given us. They wanted to change the site, moving the building closer to the road so that everyone passing through the village could see it.
We were a tad thrown off by this. After all, we had designed this building specifically for the land they had shown us last time. But the village seemed to want it to be less a part of the school and more a part of the community. Who were we to argue? As long as they thought they could build it there, then that seemed like their choice to make. Of course, when we walked to the site, we realized that several nice trees would have to be knocked down, which we environmentally-conscious Americans cringed at. We acquiesced after we were assured that they could replant after the building was finished. We shook hands and immediately, the men began staking out the building. We were ushered to our house to get settled (which is another blog post for another time).
The next day, Mr. Asante—the district assemblyman—drove up to our house and asked us if we would like to go see the site. I was curious why would need to do that when we had just seen the site the day before, but he answered me before I could ask: “They have already started.” What. What, seriously? He drove us down the road to the site and, indeed, all the trees had been chopped down. Not only that, two piles of sand and eighty bags of cement had already been delivered. Apparently, he’s got connections with cement companies and they delivered the product before being paid. The villagers wanted to start on the foundation that week.
Ummmmm what? Everything we had heard about building in Africa, and Ghana specifically, had said that it would take an unthinkably long time to get this done. Mr. Asante explained that the villagers would be working on the building every day, except Sundays. WHAT? We were originally told that we could expect construction to take place one day a week. Six days a week?! Apparently, most of the villagers are cocoa farmers. In the morning, they go to their farms and harvest whatever is ripe, leaving their afternoons free. They are so serious about having this literacy center in their village that they are donating the labor to build it SIX DAYS A WEEK, along with the construction supervisors from the district. My mind was blown. We might actually be done early?
Of course, this blessing comes with an obvious problem. Five thousand US dollars will go far, but it won’t finish the building. These villagers are on track to build faster than we can raise money. The assemblyman is doing a fantastic job of cutting costs wherever he can, but we still need several more thousands of dollars to make it happen. That’s on us and every other American who would love to see these determined villagers get their library and literacy center where their children can become educated enough to have options outside of Asisiriwa. If you feel that pull, if you would like to see your money have such an impact in a very real way, please consider donating today. Your dollars will go immediately to work to change this village’s future.
