It is getting dry – harmattan time


I keep track of the daily morning temperature and relative humidity when I'm at my place. Between June 7th and Nov 3rd the relative humidity was at least 60% everyday. However, I never saw it at or above 80% during this time so I can't really complain about the humidity.


Since Nov 4th the relative humidity has never reached 60% and yesterday it was at 36%. The morning temperatures have also decreased slightly from recently between 80 and 83 (Oct 3rd – Nov 3rd ) to getting down to 76 in the past couple of days in the morning. One can feel the few degrees difference in the morning. I'm adding some hot water to my morning bucket bath.  The daily high temperature is still close to 90 I think (although I don't track). One can begin to see winter coats on the local motorcycle drivers during the day.


I can expect the humidity to go down to the 30% range in December and down to the mid-20%'s in February before moving back to the 60% range in May. The cool morning weather, morning temperatures in the mid to low 60's can be expected in January, but the days can still get to 90.


I am also noticing a fine dust settling on everything. One can notice a slight haze in the sky blocking some of the sun. Fun time for my sinuses.



Rabbits



I'm able to get spent bean vines from the school farm behind my house. The goats have eaten most of the leaves, but the rabbits are satisfied with the vines. I think the bean vines should last for the rest of the month. Then I will need to switch to grasses and other things that will mostly be dried out.


I hope to get some corn this week to use as a feed supplement. I will be pounding the corn to break up most (hopefully all) of the kernels before feeding them to the rabbits. I will be supplementing the feed for the two does to hopefully bring them into heat soon.



Dry season garden and watering


The dry season garden is now fully planted and requires at least 4 buckets of water a day. Carrying the water is definitely a factor in my shoulder pain so I'm asked for and received help from the students during the week to carry water. Three girls are bringing water during the week. That is is big help. I'm going to try to keep up with the water during the weekend.


I'm hoping the work will be worth it. I have beans, orka, and kudzu in the garden. I'm raising the beans just for their leaves. The kudzu will likely not grow enough to harvest – I'm just trying to keep them alive so they will be established for the rainy season.


I've even got a watermelon vine left over from the rainy season that is still alive. I don't know if it will bear fruit with watering. I have one fruit set and growing, but only time will tell. I did not get any watermelons from the garden over the rainy season. At least I will have a few green leaves to feed to rabbits if the fruit fails.



Repair of form three blackboard


We completed the repair of the blackboard and I'm happy with the results. It is much easier to write notes on the board for the form 3 students.

Board before the repairs
Same section of the board after repairs.  My handwriting has not improved



Computer room and library


I need to figure out how to arrange the extension cords and computers so they all have power. I think we will need 11 extension cords – each one costing about 28 cedis or about $7. I'll let the headmaster negotiate a final price and buy them. We might be ready to use the computers this week.  The last major purchase will be one or two computers with the left over funds.  I was able to repair five of the computers to get 20 of the 23 working.  We will take the other three to the local school district to have their technician try to repair. 


We will need to bring in the local officials to show off the computer room. We will be the first junior high school in the region to have a projector to teach classes. I've been told to expect the officials to take credit for the project, so local officials are about the same here and back in the states and I presume around the world.


I will need to provide an in-service training for the teachers to use the projector. My hope is that we will be able to use the room for classes other than just Information Communication Technology (ICT [computers]).


Next term I'm also hoping to figure out a way to use the library so students can help others improve English- one on one tutoring in reading. Maybe after tutoring or being tutored for 3 hours the students can see a movie after school using the projector.


We have ordered 9 more benches and three book cases for the library. These should arrive this week and we can then officially open the library. So, I've been busy.



Health



My shoulder is feeling a little better with the students bring water on Thursday and Friday. I hope I continue to see improvement over the next couple of weeks. I will be going for a food security meeting in early December and will see the doctor then. I'll talk about my shoulder and get refills on my medications.


My sinuses are about the same – annoying, but not overly congested. I continue to be basically fine, not great but a long way from truly suffering.


Mentally, I think I'm holding up well with about 275 days left in service. I have enough to keep me busy and remain hopefully that my actions and service are helping improve the lives of the students and villagers in my area. If I did not maintain this hope I don't see a reason for staying.



Love always,

John

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