When we arrived we were greeted in front of the old building by the full 140 children of the kindergarten and another 100 children of varying ages! They had prepared songs, dances and skits for us to thank us for helping them build the school. It was sooo endearing. We then inspected the work done on the building and were whisked away to have an audience with the awaiting elders of the 4 different clans of Agbenoxoe. Whilst we were the ones being honored, it really was OUR honor to be privy to such an amazing array of cultural traditions; with the elders dressed up in their different cloths; the okyeame (linguist, spokesperson of the chief) addressing us with staff in hand; the ceremonial pouring of palm wine on the ground before drinking a full calabash of it in turns... quite the experience. And we have it all immortalized in photos and video. So take a look at the video over here to the right - Agbenoxoe Kindergarten: The Beginning.
And so, since visiting the village, we have given them a further 1900 cedis to finish buying all the roofing sheets and cement required. They have erected the roof and are now proceeding with the screeding and plastering. It's getting there! We are still receiving boxes with school materials, clothes, etc., so thank you very much to all who sent them. And, remember: it's NOT TOO LATE TO DONATE! Just send us an email if you are interested. Ideally we can raise another $1000 to at least put shutters and doors. Another $500 would go towards painting the structure. Click on the chart to the left for more details on the plan and milestones (they are ahead of schedule by the way!)