The Wa Model Primary School

Today's visit began with my official visit to the regional political minister, Mr. Ishmael Obduwe. In Ghana, it is customary for visitors to check in with the regional ministers as a courtesy.  Mr. Obduwe happens to be a coin collector, and I had read in a guide that he enjoys getting foreign coins of any kind.  So I came prepared with a spread of a penny, nickel, dime and quarter.  By the time I left, we were on a first-name basis. He said "Call me Ishmael!"  Really. He did.  And I don't think it's because of Moby Dick, either.

From the administrative offices we visited our first local school, the Wa Model Primary School.  Unfortunately, George had not known that this afternoon was a national holiday - the kids ended school at Noon for their native dance competitions.  Not every child participates and apparently not every child is interested in watching, because we found a few in their classroom just waiting for an Obruni with a camera to come along.

The kids enjoyed tell us their names, what grade they were in and what their favorite subjects were. And, boys being boys, two of them got into a fight over who was going to talk to the Obruni first.

There are 13 laptops for the entire school - which is about 600 pupils.  Each class has 50-60 pupils.

This is the school's computer center:

After this visit we went home for a lunch of chili and plantains, then headed to the USF office in "downtown" Wa. That will be another post, but what a group of impressive and dedicated people!

Tomorrow, we're off to the hippo sanctuary in Weinchau.