In Pictures

After breakfast on Friday, we took a bus to Tema Station, where we made our way through systematized chaos to find the trotro to Ho. We traded 7 Cedis for a ticket and waited in line to take our seats in the bus. The row of vans in the background of this picture are the buses -they usually seat 11 to 16 people. 

If you get lucky, the trotros fill up quickly and you don´t spend a lot of time waiting - the bus only leaves when all the seats are filled. While you´re waiting, people walk by the bus offering to sell bread or fried things (everything here is fried), cell phone credit or watches, snail shish kabobs, clothes hangers or hard-boiled eggs and remote controls. After a while, our bus filled up and honked its way through the crowds out on the street. In case of an emergency, our driver - Baby Boy - wrote his number by the front of the trotro. 

My favorite spot in the trotro is any seat by the window because the breeze substitutes absent air-conditioning. You also get a nice view:

Ho is the capital of the Volta Region, so called because of the Volta Lake which passes through it and flows all the way down to the Ocean. It´s a lot greener than Accra, and driving through you can see hills and a sprawling countryside. Sometimes you can also see second-hand trucks with your last name on it:

The drive to Ho takes takes about 3.5-5 hours depending on the traffic. About 1.5 hours outside of Ho you pass a bridge over the Volta Lake: 

Which is huge.

Things started looking familiar, and I anticipated the Ho trotro station from a couple miles away. We actually didn´t pull into the station because Baby Boy tried to cut off some taxis and got reprimanded by a local police officer guiding traffic, but we were let off on a nearby street and started making our way to Victoria´s house from there. Because she was out, we decided to drop our things and get some fresh fruit juice. I was ecstatic to find that my favourite place was still there, and for 1 Cedi we each bought Mango-Pineapple juice pressed right in front of our eyes.  

After the juicing, we walked to the market. Of course we  had to get some FanIce for the way. FanIce is soft serve ice cream, and comes in chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry. Vanilla is hands-down the best.

We entered through a narrow path and snaked our way along the small shops and stands. We were on the hunt for some Ghanaian fabric. 

After an innocent turn away from the dried fish section of the market, we reached some fabric stands. After gawking at the colors and patters, we all bought some, and happily headed back to Victoria´s house.

Victoria welcomed us with open arms when we came back. It was as if nothing had changed, and being in the house made me feel like I was one of her daughters coming home after a long trip. As always, several smiling faces were sprawled out in her in her living room, and the ones I did not recognize introduced themselves as friends and relatives of Victoria. We were happy to relax after a long day. That night, she cooked us Jollof Rice and told us stories about the Vision School and children. She showed us a video her nephew Frankie had made of a school fest that had taken place earlier in the year. I couldn´t believe the changes to the school building, and how many children were running around and dancing in the video. I had never seen it so alive. We arranged to visit the school the next day, and I went to bed not wanting to close my eyes in fear of losing a single moment of my time spent with her. 

The next morning we went to the Vision School.

A narrow path leads to the entrance of the school. I took these pictures when we were leaving because I was too excited to stop and take them when we first walked up to the entrance. From the distance, you see the new pink color of the building

I don´t have the photos of how it looked before, but there are some here if you want a comparison. I had seen it the video the night before, but seeing the school in person was different and better. Walking through the courtyard, we met some of the staff who live close by, and we could tell that the school was in loving hands. We were introduced to Victoria´s mother, who sat under a tree and did laundry in a big metal tub. Two giggling children were sitting at a small wooden table eating bananas. It was quiet without the other students, but their presence left traces in the classrooms. Victoria gave us the tour

There are around 260 children at the Vision School, and the number is rising every term. The number of teachers has also doubled to 12 from 6 when I was there in 2010. The school houses kids from the Nursery level to Grade 2, but plans are in place to introduce Grade 3 in September to accommodate the oldest students who will complete Grade 2 in July. 

The picture below is of The Victoria Project addition - built by very many incredible people whose names should be on there more than mine. 

I don´t think I´ve ever seen a more beautiful building.  

The addition is split to house two grades

The school now also has electricity in every room. 

There´s also a computer in the office

The Kindergarten-2 class makes up about 110 children of the total student body. Because the other classrooms cannot accommodate all of the kids, another structure was erected to avoid overcrowding.  

The building has no electricity or windows, but is more than a temporary structure. Victoria explained that if new buildings can be added to the school grounds, this building may serve further as a classroom if the student population requires, or as a lunch or assembly hall. 

Victoria also told me that she had looked into building a 2-story building next to the structure - each story three classrooms, one of which could be made into a library. Later in the day, she showed me the estimates of what it would take to erect the structure, and I think it´s possible.

We strolled back through the courtyard, and looking at the school again after hearing Victoria speak about all the changes it had experienced made it more wonderful yet.

Saving the best for last: a new swing set in Ghana colors!

Just waiting to be swung on

We headed back to Victoria´s house after, and I spent the day in Ho with her while the other three went to see the Wli Waterfalls about four hours outside of Ho. 

We spent some time looking at old pictures. Despite its questionable quality, this picture of a picture shows the Vision School in the very beginning. That´s the entire class and the entire staff. Victoria (who is the one sitting on the chair on the right) explained that the leader of her church had made the patio-like structure available to them. And then it grew 

This pictures was taken earlier this year:

We left for Accra the next day to get back before dark. We told her we´d be back.

Dieses Wochenende waren wir in Ho um Victoria zu besuchen und die Vision School zu besichtigen. Wir sind am Freitag losgefahren, und am späten Nachmittag dort angekommen. Nach einer kurzen Stadtbesichtigung und einem Ausflug zu dem Markt - wo wir bunte Stoffe gekauft haben - sind wir zu Victoria´s Haus zurückgehert, und haben mit ihr Abendbrot gegessen. Sie hat uns viel erzählt, und uns auch ein Video von dem Schulfest gezeigt. Auf dem Video konnte man schon die Verwandlung des Gebäudes sehen, aber als wir am nächsten Tag früh dort hingingen war es doch als ob ich es zum ersten Mal sah seit ich vor zwei Jahren dort war. 

Die Schule ist ein wundervolles Rosa angemalt, und mit dem Anbau gibt es jetzt auch mehr Kinder und Lehrer die die Klassenzimmer füllen. 260 Kinder und 12 Lehrer gibt es jetzt, und Victoria erzählte dass die Schule jedes Jahr wächst. Es war unglaublich durch die Schule zu laufen und alles zu sehen. Es gibt Schaukeln und eine Rutsche, Elektrizität, und sogar einen Computer. Victoria hat von Plänen gesprochen ein neues zweistöckiges Gebäude zu errichten, und nach weiterer Besprechung bei ihr zu Hause glaube ich dass es klappen könnte wenn es in Stufen gebaut wird. 

Wir haben vor noch Mal nach Ho zu fahren, und einen noch farblosen Teil des Gebäudes anzumalen. Ich habe auch mit Victoria gesprochen dass wir vielleict ein Abschlussfest für die Schulkinder am Ende ihres Schuljahres im Juli planen können, und Ich freue mich jetzt schon die Kinder dann zu sehen wenn es klappt. Eine von Victoria´s Tochtern wohnt auch in Accra - und sogar ganz in der Nähe von mir - und ich habe auch vor mich mir ihr zu treffen, und dann vielleicht auch mit ihr nach Ho zu gehen. Mein Wochenende dort war unglaublich, und ich denke mein Aufenthalt in Ghana hat danach eine andere Bedeutung angenommen. 

Noch ein Spezialbild für meine lieben Eltern: 

(Ich hätte ihn für dich mitgenommen, aber leider war er etwas zu schwer)