Where is the time going ?

Wow, the weeks are really flying by, it only feels like a couple of days since our last ‘posting’ …!

So, what’s new ….?

Steve’s update :
I am starting to finding my feet more at ‘Cape Tech’ (Cape Coast Technical Institute) where I have started teaching lessons in ‘Design and Making’ and ‘Bench Fitting’.
This is a bit of a challenge as the school has very few resources and so most of the teaching (even some practical skills) end up being taught as theory on the board rather than practically. Many of the students have only a note book and pen (not even a pencil). This makes drawing diagrams etc in class tricky as two or three students end up taking it in turns to use a pencil.

Cape Tech is like a tertiary college (or what ever they call them now in the UK!). Generally students start between the age of 16-18 and are there for 3-4 years. However, in Ghana if a student fails a school year or can’t afford the tuition fees then they just re-sit the year or wait until they can afford to continue (or sadly drop out). This can mean that there are very mixed ages within classes and some students can appear to be older than their teachers!

Corporal punishment in schools is still very common here even for relatively minor issues such as having dirty finger nails or not knowing answers to teachers (sometimes rather baffling) questions. It felt incredibly uncomfortable seeing this although probably not nearly as much as the students being punished.

During the wet bank holiday Monday (some things never change!) I set up my ‘office’ in ‘Atlantic View’, the gazebo in the grounds of where we are staying. The strip of blue just visible in the photo just beyond the line of palm trees is the Atlantic Ocean.
I have started to get involved in a project for the local Mother’s Union who are planning to build a counselling centre for young mothers. This is one of the projects that Anne (the CMS volunteer that we are living with) has been working on. I have been looking at the costings for the project and trying to help move it forwards. The foundations were poured 8 years ago but there has been little physical progress since. Here in Ghana people don’t tend to build buildings from start to finish in one go, instead they build bit by bit as finances become available, sometimes over long periods of time.

The bank holiday rain was actually rather welcome

(for once!), as we were able to fill up our water containers for washing, which were getting a little low. We are now in the wet season here so we can expect many more tropical showers and storms over the next few months, and can enjoy some cooler days.

Vicky’s update
I am enjoying work at the Christian Eye Centre, especially since I have been involved ‘supervising’ some Optometry students (from the local university) that have started working there during their summer vacation.
Last week a small team of us from the Eye Centre carried out an ‘outreach’ clinic at a local radio station. Basically we took out equipment so we could test the eyes of the staff there. All was going well (despite pretty difficult testing conditions in a pitch black small room full of recording equipment) until, with no notice at all, I was taken off to another room with an Ophthalmic nurse and another member of staff to be interviewed in a radio broadcast !
Thankfully I didn’t say anything too ridiculous, neither did I get so nervous that I couldn’t speak, but afterwards felt that I could have answered the questions so much better than I did. Still, it was certainly an experience !


We have been to services at another two different churches, first the University Inter-denominational Church (at Cape Coast University which is very close to where we live) and last week at the Calvary Charismatic Centre. Both services were very lively with some familiar modern worship songs and worship bands and were attended by lots of students.

Just before we arrived in Cape Coast the guard dog at the house in the grounds of which we are staying, had four puppies. At first it looked like they may not all survive but much to our surprise even the weakest of them is now feeding well and looking much healthier. Unfortunately the mother was not in a good way and has had to be put down by the vet, now that the puppies have been weaned. Animals are not kept as ‘pets’ in quite the same way in Ghana. Man’s best friend is only his best friend whilst keeping a watch for intruders, and chickens and goats are kept purely as ingredients!

We’ve heard that Summer has arrived in the UK ! We trust that the BBQs are all out and that you are all enjoying the sun …..