Projects

We never know what is going to end up in this album!  There are so many jobs that we accomplish, and every year we just add to the variety!

March - termites and wind destroyed one of our street light poles and the whole thing came crashing down. Thank goodness that Benjamin was in town and could do the repair!  New light installed...pole re-cut and secured.

Upkeep is important.

Conditions in Dekpor are rather brutal for many things...furniture included.

The beautiful manufactured desks that we purchased have melamine table surfaces. Unfortunately, when the moisture gets in, it expands the particles and the swelling ruins the desk.  We are piloting a repair by using real wood.  Due to termites and other lovely hungry critters, there is no choice but to treat the wood with pesticides first.

If there were other types of furniture for us to pilot, goodness knows, we would try.

This is just simply the BEST way to use sheets! Thanks to all the great people who donated!

Problem: Many, many girls were getting infections. Why? The synthetic knickers that can be purchased in Ghana are not conducive to good hygiene practices. Girls need to wear something under their skirts to stop their upper thighs from chafing. 

Brainwave:  boxers for girls! Bigger brainwave: get fabric donated in Aurora and ship it over!

Last May, we received our first donation of kits so we could pilot their use. Since the response was very positive and the local nurses and female school staff are on board with us, we chose to jump right in. (You can check back to the 2022 Project page for more information.)

In December 2022, a Kits4Girls campaign was launched and we are extremely pleased that $4088 was raised!  How is this being used?

We are so lucky that there are many people who like to donate goods for us to ship! 

Yes, it is a lot of work, but goodness, just look in any distribution album to see the happy faces of the recipients!   

Actually, you may notice that some seem rather straight-faced.  Well, that is due to being entirely overwhelmed and also, culturally-speaking, it is considered rude to smile for such a serious event.  It takes some prompting to get most to smile!   

We have quietly been hoping that this day would eventually come!

Alas, the stars (including the sun) aligned and here we are with solar energy at Dekpor Basic School!

We've put in enough panels that every classroom can have an electric light and electrical outlet. Some rooms even have ceiling fans!  Oh, and the pumps to get the water from the reservoirs are hooked up.  Aaaaaannnnd, the school's computer lab also is running on solar now!  

The wall removal was mentioned in a Dekpor Central Shops project page a few months back, but, the improvements were far more extensive as we took a look at the long term goals for this particular shop.

Here is a list of what all took place:

-Created office to keep items secure and separate from the classroom portion

-Painted the interior black and white

-Wired for classroom purposes

-Installed new fans and lights

-Resealed along base of container where rain was leaking

Well, when it rains, it pours. And it gets windy. This basically looks like the Big Bad Wolf huffed and puffed and blew it down!  Yep, the food shelter for the women who sell meals was completely demolished.  As much as they are not DSDO-hires, we know that they provide an important service to several of the students and staff and that it is essential for them to have a proper shelter.

One of our masonry grads, Mawuko, was responsible for this project.  We are so glad that Susan and Tony Anderson covered the costs to rebuild!

Our computer lab at Dekpor Basic School is really exceptional, especially when one considers that the vast majority of schools in Ghana do not have a lab at all.

The school board has rarely ever placed a properly trained ICT teacher at Dekpor Basic. Thank goodness that we have our grads who run the after-school ICT classes!  But, as we all know, computer equipment requires maintenance and repairs...and inevitably replacements are needed, too.

Dekpor Central Shops are always evolving as we work to find the right combination of businesses that can be successful in Dekpor.  As you can imagine, there are many challenges.

The ICT shop has morphed to now being used more as a classroom for our apprentices.  Annnd, we are wanting to try evening classes for interested villagers. More space was needed.

Our seamstress shop is hopping and there are a whole lot of seamstress apprentices...hey, funny enough, we were bursting at the seams!