When Stephen made this decision, it was as a stopgap while waiting for the results of his February exams. Having fallen short of the necessary marks when taking the exam while a Secondary School student, Stephen re-took a few subject exams with the goal of qualifying for either University or technical college.
As it is, Stephen can work as a teacher. With a Secondary School education, he can earn 80 Ghana Cedis per month. Unfortunately, to discourage new employees from quitting a few months into the job, Ghana Education Services do not pay teachers for the first six months. Once the six month trial period is completed, new employees receive six months of salary in one lump sum.
I spoke with Stephen last week and he told me "I got my B's." I'm not sure if he meant that he qualified for University or for Training College. Either way, he can pursue teaching as a career at a higher base salary (200-400 Ghana Cedis per month)depending on the qualification. He and I haven't had a chance to talk about his plans since he received the scores but I'm very proud of him. I don't know if our study sessions helped him reach his goal but either way, he did it.
In other news, Hannah has started her popcorn making endeavor and is doing well. She made small batches on consecutive days and sold out in short order on each occasion. She has given me her earnings so that we can sit down and discuss how much profit she made and how she might be able to do better in the future. The logic behind her work ethic still escapes me but progress is being made.
A huge bush fire cleared all of the brush around my Moringa farm. The leaves on many of the trees were fried but the hours of work it saved made the small loss well worth it. Many of the trees still look like sticks but with the recent increase in rain, I expect a beautiful transformation any day now.
There is more in the works but that can wait.
Love to all,
Ira
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