Nottingham Emmanuel – project work complete

Day 9: Tuesday 12th July 2016
Today we set out to finish the projects, the beginning of the end! Firstly, we all worked to finish painting the shutters, which meant bringing out the green oil paint which we have all grown to love due to its staining qualities. We all took up our brushes and worked for the most of the morning painting with our buddies as the finished project began to take shape. After lunch we began to work on our original projects. For the staffroom this meant painting them yellow, quite a difficult task because of the heat but we got this done. In the Kindergarten classrooms, we started to paint murals on the walls; numbers, letters, various fruits and veg. Our Partner Ghana link worker Isee used his artistic abilities to draw the outlines of many of them and a few of us patiently sat and filled them in. We finished these by the end of the day and began to see how they brightened the walls of the Kindergarten. The playground team started painting the platforms that had been built by the local carpenter, a way in which we have established links with the community. The bright paint really made the wood look good and it fit in well with the murals. Oran and Naomi also dug holes for the tires to fit into, and the children began to show their excitement by trying some of the equipment out before it was ready! Overall it was a very productive day and we all agreed during our daily ‘family time’ that we were proud of what we had achieved.

Day 10: Wednesday 13th July 2016
The final day of projects had arrived! We got an early start and started painting the playground again. We continued working until we couldn’t work anymore and you will have to wait until we return to hear how the projects ended! In the afternoon we joined in with the school’s sports day. To begin with we took on the school’s volleyball team and after 3 games, team Emmanuel were one nil up. Following a much needed water break, football was up next. We virtually all took part in order to cover as much of the sandy pitch as possible in the mid afternoon heat. Olivia and Oran put some great attacking play together and Reuben kept us a clean sheet in goal, resulting in a thrilling 0-0 draw at full time, so penalties it was! This nail biting climax saw Emmanuel win 3-1 and take a two nil lead of the activities so far. Next up, the sack race. Five of us stepped up, however the Ghanaians had clearly been practicing, but on the last leg Reuben pulled it back for us to make a draw!! The final relay race was the classic ‘lime and spoon’, but we sadly could not maintain our winning streak and team Ghana took the final win of the day. Although it was a hot, physically demanding experience we all loved every minute.