In the morning I taught the level 6 class about the birth of Mohammed (I myself learned a lot).
After I finished my lesson and while Caroline was teaching the students about Ghana and it's neighbors, Mike (a Peace Corps volunteer who has been in Ghana for 2 years) and I built Tippy Taps with the help of one of the teachers from the school and a student named Komala. A Tippy Tap is a foot or pedal operated hand washing device built using rope, an empty oil bucket, soap and nails. We first poked a hole through the middle of the bucket's cap. Then, we fed rope through the hole and tied a knot on the inside of the cap. We poked a hole into the bucket on the side opposite the handle, in the middle. We then cut down 4 small "Y" shaped trees. We placed 2 trees a few feet apart. We then hung the bucket by it's handle on a wooden branch and placed the branch on top of the two "Y" trees. We tied a stick/pedal onto the other end of the rope that was knotted into the cap of the bucket; this way, when someone steps down on the pedal, it pulls the bucket's top side down and allows water to stream out of the hole in the middle of the bucket. Then, we fed rope through a large chunk of "Key Soap" (very popular soap in Ghana that comes in long bars and has key shapes imprinted onto it) and hung it next to the water bucket. We built a Tappy Tap next to the privy that students use and another in front of one of the primary school classrooms. The one next to the privy will be ideal because now the kids will have a place to wash their hands after they use the bathroom. The Tap in front of the primary school classroom will be used to wash hands before kids eat their lunch. The design of these washing stations allows students to easily refill the water buckets in the morning. [In the mornings, someone always goes to fetch water from a nearby well for the school. They do not have running water at the school].
Our plan is to have one student from every classroom to act as a "Sanitation Leader" who will make sure every kid in his/her classroom washes their hands; this will not only promote cleanliness but also leadership and responsibility among students (there will be a rotation for this duty so every student gets a chance).
Our plan is to have one student from every classroom to act as a "Sanitation Leader" who will make sure every kid in his/her classroom washes their hands; this will not only promote cleanliness but also leadership and responsibility among students (there will be a rotation for this duty so every student gets a chance).
We used the Tippy Taps for the first time before lunch. We had all the students gather around and we demonstrated how to use one. Then, they all lined up and washed their hands.
After the Tippy Taps, Mike, Caroline and I had lunch at Charles' home. We had a dish that was made from beans and gari. Gari is made from cassava. It was very filling.
After resting for a little bit, we all walked about 20 minutes to Saviefe-Gbogame (where Mike lives and teaches math). Caroline helped me teach about germs and sanitation practices to Mike's star students; they were all from the junior high school. These students will teach the primary school children from that school tomorrow about what we taught them.
After a long day, Caroline and I rode on the back of a motto while eating juicy mangos (very messy but delicious!) to Dzolokpuita where we caught a taxi back HOme*.
* (the town where we live is called Ho)
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