04/06/2023 Trip report 13, last day Ghana trip

After we had loaded up the car with donations for the school, Ernestina said goodbye to us. She pointed out to us that we would have to expect a lot of traffic today and should therefore leave as early as possible. Since she provided us with the school's driver for the return trip, she insisted that he pick us up as early as 11:00 p.m.. We knew that would be tight, so we hurried with breakfast. The last time for now we enjoyed the fresh pineapple and grilled plantains. We already reported yesterday about the work of the colleagues of our partner organization here in Ho in the Volta Region, the "Grow Your Dream Foundation"(Coop GYDF | HITA e.V. (hita-ev.org) and " Community engagement on gender equality | HITA e.V. (hita-ev.org). Today we wanted to sign a contract with them for the implementation of a pilot project. For this purpose we from HITA prepared a contract yesterday evening and this morning, the colleagues from our partner organization worked out a proposal which summarized our mutual goals on 8 pages. The pilot project is intended to verify a jointly discussed approach. If our assumptions are confirmed, we want to set up a longer-term project together. Of the estimated GHS 7,500.00, the GYDF will provide the majority. HITA e.V. participates with GHS 2.400,00, which Daniel had to get quickly at a bank. Thanks to the printer we brought with us, we were able to incorporate the last-minute changes that had become necessary as a result of the discussions with our colleagues. We really enjoyed the discussions the last two days with Jacob Sedemor and Linus Gaba. Clearly, we have similar assessments of the problems here in Ghana. Together we developed so many project ideas in the last hours that it will take a very long time to implement all of them somehow. The highlight of today was the actual signing of the contract with the two representatives of the GYD Foundation. Shortly before 11:00 am, our driver from Mawuko School, Moses, arrived at the hotel. We still had to pack, check out and organize the last donations for Springs Elementary School and pack them ready to hand over. We were not sure whether we would still find the people in charge there.

Presentation of our Mawuko shirts by the school director Ernestina Peniana

After a short drive, we arrived at the Springs School. We have been supporting this school for years with various fundraising activities Springs - HITA | HITA e.V. (hita-ev.org). As suspected, the school was indeed already almost deserted because of Easter. Fortunately, we met employees of the school kitchen, who were preparing a well-known dish "Jollofreis". They were very happy to see us and referred to a teacher who was supervising a class who were still at the school in some sort of vacation program. We met teacher Foster Amesianya there, who also happens to be in charge of ICT at the school. Unfortunately, we had far too little time to discuss his or her particular needs regarding the school's information technologies. However, he was very happy to have met us and certainly even more happy about the donations he had brought with him, which - as he assured - would be treated with great care at the school. You can already currently find a short video of the actual presentation of the gifts in our YouTube video channel at (11) 04/06/2023 Springs Elementary School - YouTube. In the meantime it was already 12:45 p.m. - much too late, actually, because we wanted to meet Robert Kaba already at 4:00 p.m. in Accra, to discuss some open points and the further cooperation with UHAS. It quickly became clear that we would not be able to make this deadline with the high volume of Easter traffic. While we were in the car preparing the appointment on the laptop computer, we tried desperately to reach Robert to arrange a meeting place that would be equally convenient for both parties. This would have been important because the Easter traffic made it almost impossible to get through the city. Unfortunately, we arrived quite late in Accra and therefore decided to go directly to the airport to meet Robert there if necessary. Unfortunately, he had to cancel the appointment in the end due to Easter traffic. We will make up for this virtually as soon as possible.

Picture School Kitchen at Springs School

We spend the last hours in Ghana writing goodbye emails, WhatsApp messages and phone calls. Before we get on the plane to Brussels, we will send this report to Germany so that it can go online before Easter.

Working on the road in Ghana

On behalf of HITA e.V. we would like to thank not only the team in the background, but also all readers who have followed this journey and thus the activities of HITA in such large numbers. Thank you very much for the nice feedback! Agbe. Finally, we wish you all a Happy Easter. Stay with us and continue to follow our many activities. If you want to support us after all the exciting reports from the trip and all the problems with missing beds in hospitals and many more, then give away a bed sponsorship 1Bed4all (II) Donation | HITA e.V. (hita-ev.org) for Easter. Any other kind of donation, also in the form of electronic devices, such as smartphones, computers, laptops, printers, etc., is of course also very welcome. To do so, please contact info@hita-ev.org. Only through your donations is it possible to continue to actively help existing projects in Ghana, such as 1Bed4All(II) 1Bed4All (II) | HITA e.V. (hita-ev.org) finalize, but also to implement all the newly generated projects that we have initiated from HITA on the trip or have already signed contracts on site. A very special thank you at this point to all those who have already supported us in the past or currently inspired by the daily reports of the Ghana trip with donations of money or goods.