June 22

At Kpandai we were pleased to meet again with Father Mawusi, who has been a personal inspiration
to me since Brando and I met him two years ago.  St. Kizito School is the most isolated one we work with, and most of the students come from families who struggle to make a living.  But with Father Mawusi’s leadership it regularly attains the top marks in its district and among the top marks in the entire Northern Region, despite crowded classrooms and a lack of computers.  And he is involved in much other work in the community and the surrounding area, as well.  We will miss seeing him in Kpandai but were delighted to meet Father Alfonso and to know that Mr. Francis will continue his fine work as Head Teacher.  Father Mawusi will be transferred to New York for several years, so we hope to see him in Portland and that he can speak at one of our gatherings there.

We enjoyed meeting the students of St. Kizito very much, and they immediately demonstrated their high level of discipline and dedication.  Given how difficult it is to get letters in and out of Kpandai, we brought the letters from their partner school, St. Andrews, at the end of the school day, and asked that they bring their answers the next morning so that we could take the letters with us.  The next morning each and every letter had been answered, some at great length.  Mr. Francis took us on a tour of Kpandai in the late afternoon, where we met several students at work in shops helping their parents—and studying while they went about their work.  We got to relax a bit at a local canteen where we enjoyed corn on the cob that Mr. Francis had purchased on the way and pito, a popular drink brewed on the spot that we all found highly distinctive.

Then it was off to Tamale, where thanks to Mr. Kwame’s driving skills and Elizabeth’s map skills, we 

arrived at in time to meet with the students of ECG School before they had to go home for the day.  One of the students had written a particularly eloquent homage to Brando Akoto last last year, so it was a pleasure to thank him for that and to tell him how much it meant to Brando’s family and friends back in the U.S.  We also got to meet and greet the several students at the school that Yo Ghana! helps to support through providing part of their fees.  The school chooses excellent students from families that have experienced misfortune.

As always, we were highly impressed by the curiosity of the students and the dedication of the staff.  Mr. Joseph showed us to the fine accommodations he had made for us, and then joined us for dinner, along with the Hurinas, missionaries from Hong Kong who have played a crucial role in building the school up for many years.  ECG is one of those schools that makes you want to do and give more, as it is full of people who do just that.