Successful Conference!

The conference we hosted last week was totally different from what we had been told, but was great! We had been told it was a board meeting of some different NGOs. But it was a team of top managers from Cadbury\s eastern region, come to Ghana to check out and recommend ways to improve the Adjeikrom Cocoa Tours site. They were a wonderful group, interviewed villagers, the chief, elders, shop owners, the tourist committee, etc. They stayed one night at our guesthouse, and some put up tents in the area around. The one and only night that week that it didn\t rain. Then we all went to Koforidua where they did a presentation of the conclusions they had reached, and broke them out into short term, medium, long term goals, etc. Of course the first thing they think we should work on is electricity to the site, which was great because that\s what I have already been working on.\

The next thing they think we could do is make the visitor center a destination of its own, which we had been working on. I had borrowed lots of crafts, baskets, jewelry, tie-dye, etc, from other PCV sites and made a wonderful display. We have a kente weaver at our site, so they got to see him weave and then buy some of his product. I also sold beer and wine to the team at the end of the day, and they think we could make that a regular thing as well. Stop, use the new flush toilets, have a cold drink, finger the display, and be on your way. But maybe come back next time for the actual tour, which takes you on a trail through the cocoa forest, and shows you every step of the production, from the seed to the final chocolate bar. Anyhow, it was great, and the best part was that everyone from our village who went to the presentation got so jazzed!. They are more invested in the project than before, and I think that will continue. There has been increased activity and interest just since I came, but this whole team made quite a splash! And their report adds weight to our work, and should be helpful when I start working on a grant, or grants, to fund the electricity. I want to do the whole village, and my supervisor is holding out for only the guest house and center, but I will keep fighting for the bigger project. Actually, I think it makes it easier to get funding, since it brings power to more than 40 homes that are without it, but she is going for the quick buck. I get her point, but I\m still working on it. We\ll see.

I don\t remember if I posted earlier about the flush toilets, but that turned into kind of a mixed bag. The minister of tourism has set flush toilets at all visitor centers as a goal for the country, and our NGO sent a contractor to make it happen. The plumbing and porcelain was already installed, but that was all. So they made a septic tank and installed a huge polytank to hold water that uses a gravity flow down to the toilets. I had absolutely nothing to do with it, but the contractor came two weeks after I did so I get all the credit. And I\m happy to get it wherever I can. I have major complaints, but I\m picky. Soon I hope to show you a picture of how the polytank got filled up. A series of women, carrying huge buckets of water on their heads, came up a 15 foot ladder to dump the water into the top of the tank. I know there\s a better way, but I didn\t get to be in charge. And there were two men holding the ladder steady, so it wasn\t all up to the women. And the pump at the nearest bore hole is broken, so they had to carry much further than usual, but...

But it\s still Ghana, and it\s still beautiful, and I don\t itch any more and life is good. See you all next week.