My dates are out of whack a bit because i am still getting used to this blogging business!! I am actually writing this on Saturday after a 'settling in' day...
But back to Friday...
Christianne drove us in to the Office. A bike is being fixed for me and will be ready on Monday... this will make me much more autonomous... But i was glad to go with Christianne today as Ho is still a bewildering maze of streets seeming to go every which way!!
The Office is right in the middle of all the hubbub. A really nice building with two floors.
In front is a small cafe and store front where they sell the necklaces and batikking made by the Volta Ladies..
And what a beautiful and talented group they are!! I met the Bead Ladies who do beautiful necklaces and earrings with whom I hope to bead with.
The Batik Ladies were hard at work making this beautiful fabric... i even got to stamp the wax on a piece of fabric!! i want to do a photo essay on the whole batiking process so just hold that little mystery in your thoughts for a while and i will show you what this means hopefully early next week!!
The Seamstresses magically sew all this beautiful fabric into wonderful pants, purses, wallets and various other things with these ancient but beautiful manual Singer sewing machines!! Well... there is one electric sewing machine!
The ladies are all lovely young women who are very enthusiastic about their work. Shoko, a young designer from Japan has been volunteering for over a year. She will be there for 2 years in all. She is very much an integrated part of this dynamism!
The atmosphere is enlivened by the presence of lots of babies!! The mothers can bring in their babies and breast feed them during the day. One of the Ladies looks after the babies while they work but if a baby gets very fussy mom can go and visit him or her!!!
This is just the production side of VEG. There is a whole other part doing all the administration and office work where my fellow volunteer, Cathy, who is an accountant, is working. I have asked her to fill me in on that side of the Project as she gets into it. Cathy is here for 3 months so she should really get a lot done!!
And in front Bernice, a delightful young lady, runs the shop and the cafe.
My first impression of VEG is one of awe and amazement. This is a very viable and productive Project.... one which i will be so proud to be a small part of.
Friday afternoon, Bernice showed me and Cathy around Ho. She showed us where the tro tro station, and the market are... She pointed out all the various banks. She brought me to a pharmacy where i tried to buy the one thing you can't seem to buy in Ghana and the one thing i forgot to bring - sunscreen lotion!!!! (Don't worry, Christianne said she could lend me some! She is amazing!) And lastly Bernice brought me to all the cell phone oultlets looking for someone who knew how to put a data plan in the iPad!!!
This is new in Canada ... here it is cutting edge! But we found a young man, Emmanuel, who with his colleagues, managed to finally work it out after much trial and error. I was touched by their perseverance and Bernice's patience waiting for me!!!
It is thanks to them i can work on this blog!!
Tip: Bring your passport when you go to buy a chip for your phone or ipad!!
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