Day 12
We woke in the early hour. Pumped for some project work. We ate breakfast and headed off to work. Sally, Hannah and Anisha were on the murals. Making a creative treat upon the walls of the primary classroom. Jess was also painting in the library – making a lovely logo design of our school crest together with Ankwanda’s to symbolise the partnership.
Jacob and Will were helping in the library – making a list of all the books, which we have bought. The library is looking very impressive now and is all finished.
Oli and Ben were painting in the main classrooms finishing off any last bits. Chris was also showing off his artistic flare with lots of detailed paintings on the murals.
Once we had finished for the day, we headed to the beach for the afternoon with our buddies. We were transported there by monster truck which was a majestic sight to say the least! To our amazement, the truck contained a sound system, controlled by our professional DJ Chris. From henceforth, the bus would be known as the party bus. Luke’s shocking suggestions of ‘tunes’ sent the bus into a harmony of sighs.
We arrived at Brenu beach in high spirits and immediately sprinted into the bright blue sea before being sent backwards by the power of the waves. Many were in hysterics following Ben’s total wipe-out which sent him face-first into the sand.
Our buddies enjoyed the ‘friendly’ football match on the beach, showing off their skills and easily beating the duo of Will and Oli. The afternoon was made with Fanta, Coke and chips on the beach and a whole group music session where the buddies played drums and sang, which the UK contribution was clapping and the occasional embarrassing dance.
Dinner was an old favourite – spaghetti bolognaise, which we lapped up greedily. Everyone was exhausted by the long day so we left for an early night.
Day 14
Today was the day of sports day. We awoke early to catch the worm. We headed down the field and began setting up. Led by the sports day team of Ben, Oli and Luke, we set up chairs, canopies and marked a running track.
Soon the children arrived in their hundreds. We sorted them into teams, yellow, blue, green and red.
We kicked off the day with the 30m sprint – which was won by the yellow team. They were all Forrest-Gump-a-likes. We then moved onto the sack races. Ben gave a lovely demonstration and Hannah managed to fall over more than should have been possible. The blue team bagged the title.
We then began with the lime and spoon race – as eggs are too expensive! Let’s just say everyone put in a subLIME performance. The ‘fill the bottle’ race and the ‘tug of peace’ was kicked off by the Blue Coat Team beating their Ghanaian buddies convincingly. Overall it was a great day with the yellow team taking the title Each participant received a football shirt and biscuits for their efforts.
After the excitement of Sports Day, we began some project work. Jess and Chris continued work in the library – designing the logos. Sally, Will and Jacob were all helping with murals in the primary school classrooms along with team leader Ben and camp manager Oli, along with the rest of the team. James and James were soon banned from painting – instead they taught some Ghanaian students how to play cricket and tennis. By the end of the day, all projects were complete. We decided to sleep under the stars tonight – let’s hope it doesn’t rain!
Day 15
Today we made a visit to Cape Coast after a lovely lie-in (except for the muppets who decided to sleep outside, only to be awoken by a downpour at 2am!). After a lovely breakfast of French toast and banana, we headed off. We had a quick look around the market, whilst Anisha, Will and Jacob went food shopping for Sunday’s ‘buddy buffet’. After a quick browse, we headed to a restaurant for lunch.
We then headed off shopping again. Oli purchased a colourful pair of shorts which he managed to rip in under 30 seconds of putting them on. After heading back to camp, we tucked into a very Ghanaian meal of rice with peas and beans. Tasty stuff!
After a game of bulldog with our buddies, we headed off to bed, ready for our leaving ceremony tomorrow. With six days left, spirits are high. Sadly Mr Mitchell’s jokes have hit an all-time low and are beginning to make us physically ill.
Day 16
We awoke to our final day in Ankwanda, the day of the leaving ceremony and buffet. Will gave a lovely speech thanking the buddies and teachers and the community. There was a cultural display which James, James and Hannah all helped to perform by drumming and dancing. After some gift exchanges, we finished by giving the community a tour of our projects, showing them what we have achieved
That evening we were treated to a Ghanaian feast! After tasting a wide range of food, we all took part in some dancing around the fire. After dinner, James and James went down with Samson to give our final radio broadcast. After thanking everyone who helped us and adding a pinch of humour, we ended the broadcast and headed off to bed.
We awoke the next day to the sound of crashing pans – as team leader Sally tried to wake us up. We scrabbled around packing up our stuff and got ready to leave. We said goodbye to our buddies and after many tears, got on the bus. We headed over to Stumble Inn – where we are staying currently. We are looking forward to these last few days before heading home.