First rains of the season

I was told that the rainy season starts in mid to late March though there might be an early rain as early as February. It is now the end of February and we have had three straight days of serious rain!! I absolutely love the rain here. Thunder and lightning with pelting rain for a few hours with sun on either side. With these rains, it means that it's time to clear land for planting. 2 acres of overgrown bush have been designated as the land to be used for the Johnny Moringaseed project. It would take me the rest of my two years stay to clear this land on my own so a bit of the project funding will go to the hard working farmers who take the time to clear two acrews with cutlass in hand.

Some other updates:

The 450+ seeds that I've planted have produced just over 20 strong plants. The Moringa meeting in Accra a few weeks ago involved a presentation for an overpriced hand grinder (350 american dollars plus shipping). This presentation was givben by an American CEO with great intentions but little information on the African market (I think). The goal to directly effect 1.5 million Africans in 18 months is great but maybe a bit lofty. I hope that it works out but I can't see many Ghanaians shelling out a year and a half salary for a hand grinder when they can get a simliar effect with their bare hands. This presentation offered a better networking opportunity than anything. I look forward to contacting representatives from this US company to see if I offer some American views from Ghana. Who knows if they'll want any? I also managed to find a source of more viable Moringa seeds which is very exciting.

My proposal to bring GrassRoot Soccer to Ghana was received with legitimane concerns. I proposed a less expensive version to the other volunteers in the Eastern Region and got a better response. I have re-written the proposal as a pilot program and if funding comes through and the program goes well then GRS might be a more feasible plan for next year.

The first two Environment Club meetings went decently well. My plan was to let the students dictate a lot more than they're allowed to during a normal class. The 50 adolescent students weren't initally very participatory when the random large white man walked in and asked what they wanted to learn. Duh!! I should have expected some lag time. We have now had 2 meetings and have discussed rules, a name and some general subjects for future meetings. I made a presentation on how to go about starting a poultry rearing project and at the end of the meeting I let the club members look through the Newsweeks magazines that I've collected (PC gives all volunteers a subscription). Most students were excited to look at the cars and watches in the advertisements but some read the articles and asked great questions. Our third meeting will be tomorrow.

George W. Bush came to visit Ghana a week ago. 10 PCVs got to meet the president. The 10 volunteers represented 9 of Ghana's 10 regions, 9 states, various ethnic backgrounds and ranged in age from 24 to 50 something. One of my fellow Eastern Region volunteers sat next to Condoleeza Rice at lunch and said that the meeting was surprisingly lax. Ghanaians were understandably skeptical about the visit. Since he has left, 13 million dollars worth of supplies have been donated to help fight malaria, a proposal has been made to re-name a major road in Accra after the president and talks about what to do with the billion barrels of oil off shore have increased (I think that timing is coincidental but who knows?).

I think that is all for now.

Love to all!!

P.S.- Thank you to Will, Karen and Willie for your package!! I have apready taught several kids how to throw the Frisbeen and I look forward to enjoying the food and books!! Also, there is a large Moringa farm in Ft. Myers. Maybe you can check it out.