Universities

British Canadian International Education is an organization that facilitates recruitment of students for universities. In a conference room at the La Palm Hotel, a dozen UK schools had booths, many with representatives from the schools, though some staffed by BCIE personnel.



Both Abdul and Moses registered and entered. There was initially some confusion about what to do once inside, so I helped them through the first couple of interviews. Abdul focused on engineering, Moses on accounting.


From the BCIE Flyer for Today's College Fair

Abdul left pretty excited. Seems he is well within range of direct admission with a possible scholarship, particularly if he can improve a bit in a couple of areas (advanced maths and biology in particular). Moses was happy to learn that his remarkable score of C in English is the qualification he needs for further studies. He is now looking at a year of foundational studies to explore accounting a bit, but also to keep open other options.

Maya Visits Volta

Maya stopped by. The two of us have another friend in common, Joan from Washington. Joan gave Maya my address, and I was so pleased when Maya showed up at my office.



Of course I invited Maya to go sailing on the Volta River. She seemed quite at home on my Hobie 16, though she'd apparently not sailed before.



We took an extended cruise, first upriver toward Big Ada, around the big island and through several of the smaller waterways among the smaller islands.



We waved to the young boys we discovered casting their nets or diving for oysters.



Often one boy will stay in the boat with a motorized pump, while the other dives with the air hose.



Or maybe they'll have constructed lots of traps from palm, loading them with bits of fish to attract crabs.



They also use nets that are fed overboard, supported by floats, and formed into a big circle.



After a long day on the boat, it was good to relax on a hammock over at Pat's place.

Movie Night

Spouses have a pretty tough time in overseas service. It's rare for both to have good jobs. One usually follows when the other gets a job assignment. Once they arrive, local laws often limit the employability of the "trailing" spouse.



One friend has been trying lots of new ideas. His wife is a professional with a local aid agency. He's a computer guru, and is developing contacts with all the major computer and communications technology companies -- there's currently a boom in such things in Ghana.



He recently brought in some phenomenal video projection technology -- Blue Ray, speakers, the works. Now we have movie night -- a great feature downloaded from Netflix or some other such service, plus short films and commercials, delivered in the comfort of his living room, complete with popcorn and beer. Next week he's combining a wine tasting contest with a viewing of the film "Sideways".

Security

Bright flashes of light and the sound of gunfire roused me around 4am early last weekend. Peeling back a corner of the curtain in my bedroom, I could just make out shadows running past my fence, and could easily hear loud shouts from the front gate. The security lights were out.

Cool, huh?



OK, no real crisis. Somehow the power line from our front electricity pole to the staff quarters managed to short itself out, generating brilliant sparks and loud popping noises. It created a small fire where the wire entered the wall of the building, and so freaked out my staff that they ran out with their hands over their heads to protect themselves from sparks.



A week later -- yes, a full week later -- we managed to get the electricity company out here to cut the juice to the wire, though I think the delay was more due to problems with the landlord than with the company. Meanwhile, we'd established a perimeter around the sparky spot, and staff moved their television to the front veranda so as not to disrupt viewing of the latest from the Championship League.