Cleaning the library


Exams ended this week and school will end in a couple of weeks. Exams had to end early because our graduation, set by the government, is Tuesday.

Last Wednesday was the first day without exams and some of the students decided it would be good to clean the library. I was not supposed to see the work in progress, but when they saw the camera – they relented and let me in.

Mopping the floor - wow!

Sorting books - some in the trash and some back on the shelves


Playing to working ?

Taking a break

I’m happy they worked so hard on the library. I’m still working with the students as I can so it’s nice they take pride in the area.

However, because of rules about termites we will not be able to bring our books to the new school next year. I think the plan is to have a book sale.

Books on the island are expensive. The school has already talked with Hands Across the Sea. The organization helps with books for libraries. It seems very well organized and works with the island a lot. The government should also help. Still, I expect the new library to be sparse when school starts.

There was no school on Friday for a teacher’s sports day. I had a Peace Corps meeting on Saturday so my “sport” was doing laundry and my weekly shopping.

Projector

The school has some money from a grant and is looking to get a projector. The old one has a faulty temperature sensor or something. Buying things on the island is expensive. Shipping directly to the island is very expensive, so most people ship to a friend or family member in the states and then ship privately.

We don’t have enough money to get a new projector and so I suggested a refurbished LED model. However, another problem is that some websites, such as NewEgg, don’t take international credit cards. If I use my credit card I’m not sure how I would get the money back to my U.S. account to pay the bill. I minor problem, but the principal doesn’t want to put me out.

Another option would be to try to fix the old one – which would certainly be helpful from the whole electronic waste perspective. However, I've been told that local electronics repair is not great and also expensive. Let’s just presume most anything that needs to be shipped in or is specialized on the island is expensive.

With 30 years experience I’m really more a software guy but for some reason I volunteered to look at the hardware problem. I hope YouTube has some videos on the subject. More importantly I hope the principal is not really counting on me to be able to fix it. Ha!

OK, let's see about getting this apart

Removing the lamp is easy, where in the heck is the temperature?


In Ghana the electronics repairs were pretty good – they repaired my fan (one with a plastic case on a stand that we would just throw away in the States) which required rewiring the motor and fixing the switch after it shorted out. 

 I've read a little about electronic repair cafes.  I think it would be a good idea for the islands. Something else to think about.

Love always,
John

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