New Agbenoxoe Kindergarten Commissioned!

Seven months and seven days ago, on October 16, 2007, we drove into the small town of Agbenoxoe on the shores of Lake Volta. We had come to meet the Kindergarten teacher and a so-called Togbui Brisi VII, sub-chief of the town, and the person who had submitted a proposal to the US Embassy back in 2005 to build a new Kindergarten building. We were both bearers of bad news and good news; the bad news being that the Special Self-Help Program of the Embassy was not able to fund the proposal. However, the good news was we, Jillian and David Bonnardeaux, were going to raise the funds to build the school.

On May 17th, 2008 the community of Agbenoxoe held a traditional 'durbar' to officially commission the Kindergarten. It was a beautiful occasion. From the traditional black and gold kente cloth worn by the chief to the lush green of the surrounding forest-covered hills, and from the various colored school uniforms to the gold-plated staffs held by the Okyeame (spokesperson) of each clan; Ghana's exuberance was laid bare for all to see. There was drumming, dancing, singing, poem recitals, and a good dose of fanfare, as only Ghanaians can do.




We surprised the community with the announcement that we had secured funding from the local mobile company TIGO Ltd. to wire the kindergarten to the electricity grid! AND that the Ambassador had donated 450 large-format books for the school. The community was ecstatic when they heard that the US Ambassador to Ghana was going to come, along with the Deputy Chief of Mission. We were quite surprised too, as their hectic work schedules usually don't allow such personal getaways. About 30 friends and colleagues made the three hour drive from Accra to support us - we were very honored. Not to mention that the District Ghana Education Service Director came and congratulate the community; a District Parliament representative helped to cut the ribbon (yes, they made us cut a ribbon!); we unveiled a plaque that had been doused with holy water by the Very Reverend Fr. Gakpe-Ntsri (!); and one of the Queen Mothers presented us with some his and hers traditional Ghanaian outfits kitted out with beads and Kente strip.



In one word: Unforgettable. Check out the photo slideshow at the top right to truly get a sense of the days events. And all that is left to say is THANK YOU to those that supported us, either monetarily, through donations or morally. Just take a look at the photos to see how appreciative the community was....

Join Us for the Commissioning!

For those of you in the vicinity, you are welcome to join us in commissioning the school in Agbenoxoe on May 17. See flyer. If you aren't yet familiar with all the Volta Region has to offer, this is the perfect opportunity to make your way up there for the weekend!

It takes just under 3 hours to get there (taking into account any traffic out of Accra and off the Tema Roundabout). So it can be done in a day (granted one must leave by 7am...) or you can spend the Friday night on the way up either in the Akosombo area or beyond.

Directions are relatively simple:
- Take the Akosombo road NORTH from the Tema Roundabout
- Go over the bridge at Atimpoku
- After Juapong and just after a police barrier take a LEFT at the sign for Hohoe
- After 30 minutes at Have Etoe take a LEFT at the sign for Kpando
- Follow this road directly through Kpando (about 30 minutes), passed Fesi and onto Agbenoxoe (8 kms north of Kpando).

(Click on map for details of route - after opening, right click and save bitmap onto desktop, and again save as/convert into pdf if you would like to print it in its entirety. CONVERSELY, and easier, ask us and we can send you a copy!)

The $6000 Mark Reached!

We are very excited to say we have reached our first milestone: $6000!! That is enough to finish the school in its entirety as well as have uniforms made for every child in the kindergarten. They have: built the gables, erected the roof, and screeded and plastered inside and out. They are now presently making doors and shutters and once finished with that will build some steps and paint. And presto, new kindergarten school! If we get some more donations trickling in we hope to help them build desks and chairs so that all children can have one each. That's our SECOND MILESTONE. But we can breathe a little easier knowing that the big element is almost done. And again, we have YOU ALL to thank. This has truly been a wonderful experience for us, and we hope we have been able to impart a little of that through the photos and videos. And its not over yet - they will be officially commissioning the school mid-May, and so we will have more to report on then.

Visit to Agbenoxoe in the New Year

Ten days after having received the first monies, we visited Togbui, Rex and the town of Agbenoxoe. To our pleasant surprise, they had not only finished building the gables they had also purchased almost all the materials to complete the roof!

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!)

First Monies Start Flowing to Agbenoxoe

Thanks to the wonderful generosity of our friends and family we have been able to raise over 4000 Ghana cedis (and no, that doesn't equate to 23 US dollars!); in other words about 4200 US dollars!!

Of that we have transferred 2000 Ghana cedis to the Kpando Agbenoxoe Town Development Committee for them to start the construction of the roof. Their appreciation knows no bounds, and we owe it all to you. Thank you.

BUT we are by no means finished! We still have to raise US$2000 more to meet our goal; to fully complete the kindergarten school, including plastering, painting, doors, shutters, and if possible desks and chairs.

We have received numerous boxes with all sorts of school supplies, used clothing, etc. We will be presenting these to the people of Agbenoxoe closer to the end of the project.

Meanwhile, keep the donations coming and click on the video to the right to learn more about the town of Agbenoxoe and where it got its name.

Recent Visit to Agbenoxoe to Set Milestones

Having had a very good first response from friends and family, we decided to go ahead and visit Agbenoxoe to sit down with the sub-chief and others involved to go over the next steps.

We set a realistic timeline and milestones to be met before disbursement of tranches of funding. Progress reports will be sent onwards before these disbursements as well.

One thing which we have done is to share a short video on how Agbenoxoe got its name, and exactly what it means (see to the right). New photos have also been added to the slideshow (bottom right).

We sat with the village elders including the heads of the four clans that make up Agbenoxoe. They gave the formal approval for the project to go ahead and thanked us (well, YOU!) for our support. Libations (i.e. cheap "Bonny" gin) were poured on the floor before being drunk in honor of the future work and collaboration. Very exciting, and more so as David had to drive with two glasses of neat gin in his system...

Why Support a Kindergarten?

We thought it might be useful to explain the fact that a kindergarten in Africa is not an extravagance or a luxury geared towards relieving poor mothers from the chores of raising children. In Ghana (and Africa at large) mothers have to work away from home usually working to put food on the table. In the absence of kindergartens the job of caring for the little ones usually falls on the older daughters who as a result cannot attend proper schooling. Therefore kindergartens in Africa are a fundamental tool to allow the education of young women who ultimately are the true engines of development.

Building a Kindergarten

We'd love your input/suggestions, and hope you might feel inspired to be part of the project, or know someone who would be. For example, do you know of a kindergarten near your own home that might be interested in helping this one in Ghana? Are you part of a sports team or book club that might like to help? But please, feel no pressure to partner on this project. This is for your information, and possibly for you to pass the word on to those who you think can/would like to affect the lives of the children and families of this village. They desperately want to construct the building's roof at a minimum, but we understand it's not all that exciting for you to say you're buying cement... so, perhaps you are interested in providing a monetary donation for construction materials and/or a donation toward school uniforms, e.g., which most families cannot afford (they cost approximately US$5 each). Please contact us with/for more ideas, a little can go a long way. We're happy to collect the donations and put them toward the village's necessity of your choice.

We hope to see at least the roof complete by May 2008 with your help -- just in time for the next rainy season.