Live Sports Day updates...

A proper British sports day in drizzle!!!

Lime & Spoon race...

The Sack Race...

Musical Statues...

Bean Bag Relay...

Presentation by the Chief of the village and one of the Elders, as every child received a goodie bag and sticker!

The morning session has finished and a mini-showcase will be presented with Irish Dancing, local children dancing, singing, group Macarena dance and then the traditional rendition of Jerusalem!

Mini-Showcase

TBSHS showcasing its talent with a rendition of the National Anthem, Meghann Cook performing some Irish Dancing, Sam Keys singing, local students dancing to 'Blame it on the boogie' choreographed by Sam Keys, then came the Macarena with everyone joining in the dance craze before we all sang Jerusalem...

Looking forward to this afternoons events including the 100m and 200m plus long jump amongst others.

All the competitors lined up in their house teams...

The long jump in a pit that was dug out prior to the competition by the school children..

The boys 100m finalists...

The football match is about to kick-off following the National Anthems. TBSHS are physically bigger than their U15 rivals but if I were a betting man I would be backing the more skilful and fitter Ghanian team! We shall see who wins in 90 minutes time...

First 10 minutes has seen Jekin the busier of the keepers but Dan Mallet had a sight of goal but didn't catch it properly!

A fast and furious pace has been set early, will TBSHS pay the price for this?

Harry Cochrane is having a good game in centre midfield but a rash challenge that was somewhere around head height went unpunished by the ref (A. Osbourne). Jordan has forced a corner and from the resulting corner TBSHS take the lead, a great strike from Jordan Albert!

It's standing room only for this hotly anticipated match, the locals are lining the road watching the game! Jekin is in inspired form but is helpless as a superb volley flies past him from 12 yards out, 1-1...

The Ghanian team love to attack as they commit numbers forward for every attack and it nearly paid off except for a great reaction save by Jekin. It's worth mentioning at this point that Jekin has lost his glasses, I'd love to see how good he is with vision!

Jamie Brewer has led the attack down the right and after beating 3 men laid the ball off to Dan Laycock who sweetly smashed the ball passed the keeper to give TBSHS a 2-1 lead! I may have to eat my hat if the game continues in this vein...

No sooner had a complimented Jekin then the commentators curse strikes as a calamitous piece of goalkeeping sees him turn a cross into his own net under no pressure at all. The teams come into half time evenly matched 2-2...

Manager Barney Thorpe is looking for "much of the same in the 2nd half with greater pressure being applied in midfield to prevent the attacking options".

The 2nd half gets underway and Barney has been ruthless at halftime bringing off McAndrew, White, Barker and Albert as he looks to get the win!

The plan seems to be working for Barney and TBSHS as Jamie Brewer pops up in the box and buries it into the bottom corner! 3-2 to TBSHS...

More changes as Barney looks to consolidate the lead with the introduction of Albert, Dickens and McAndrew!

TBSHS ride their luck as the post is struck and the ball bounces fortuitously into Jekins hands from the rebound! The game has really opened up as McAndrew is unable to get over a free header...

Wow... 4-2!!! Tom Barker beats the left back and fires a dangerous ball across the box which was met by McAndrew who stylishly back heels the ball into the net! Barney Thorpe looks like a managerial genius...

More pressure from TBSHS allows Jordan to attack down the right and then fire the ball across for an easy tap-in for Rob Prior to make the score 5-2! Looks like I will be keeping a low profile tonight after my pre-match predictions... Abbobayor comes on upfront as Barney plays to the crowd bringing on the Mr Abbott for a run out... 

The final whistle blows and TBSHS win their first match 5-2, the locals are as shocked as me! Well done boys...

Day 9 - Thursday

The group split in half as there was the official opening of the ICT suite in Dunkwa and more work on the library to be done in Bronyibima. Both groups set off early with one dressed for official duties and the others for a day on the building site.

At Bronyibima the local community had turned out in force to continue the work from yesterday and the students got stuck in early. The local tradesmen should the students how to build a wall and worked together in partnership in constructing the outer building. Toby, Alex, Dan B and Rosie discovered a real aptitude for laying bricks and were soon a very dab hand at putting the mortar down ready. Alex hit an all-time high of 50% work output in comparison to day 1 which by his own admission was probably only 10%, fingers crossed by the end of the trip he will be somewhere near 100%! However, his 50% really impressed as his handiwork was commended by the locals. Once we got to 4 bricks high at about 11am work ceased for the day as more cement is required which will delivered ready for a 6am start tomorrow prior to sports day! Just like England the weather is looking a little dodgy for sports day as it is currently raining!!!

The official opening of the ICT suite went very well with the local dignitaries very impressed with the work that we had done and by linking the village to the outside world via the Internet. 

Preparations for the sports day are in full swing with a range of traditional races alongside the sack race, lime & spoon race and obstacle course. This will be followed by the hotly anticipated football match against the U15 school team managed by Barney Thorpe as he discusses tactics at his pre-match press conference he announced that in true English fashion we will be playing 4-4-2 in the style of Mike Bassett!

Day 8 - Wednesday

Today was very much a continuation of the previous days work as one group lay the concrete for the foundations of the community library and the other group finished off the work at Dunkwa.

The highlight of today was Dan Laycock's 18th birthday for which we put decorations up for breakfast. After the hard days graft the local 'Spot' Bar was booked for his celebrations which included a large cake. The music was pumping and our students were getting dancing lessons from their Ghanian counterparts which made for an excellent night!

We returned from the 'Spot' to have a bonfire before an early night as tomorrow is another full day of building plus the official opening of the ICT suite at Dunkwa!

Day 7 - Tuesday

Today saw the continuation of the wall and playground at the KG and also the improvements to the partner school in Dunkwa which is run by the Chief. The day started early with a hearty breakfast cooked by Anna the headteacher of the KG.

The wall was finally rendered and looks like a thing of beauty to protect the playground from the floods.

The local children are very excited about the opening of the playground which will be ready once the top surface/dressing has gone down to make the landing area softer for young children.

The rest of the group at Bronimbia started to work on the footings for the new community library that we are looking to start. The site was cleared by the local community and we assisted with the digging of the footings and then the unloading of about 2 tonnes of stones to be used for the concrete.

Tomorrow we will be on site at 6.30am to fill the footings with the concrete that we will make in preparation for a 4 brick high wall that we will also construct.

At Dunkwa that has seen the renovation of the Chief's school which has included the mending of school desks, levelling of classroom floors, painting, installation of windows and a complete ICT suite with Internet access. The ICT suite will be opened officially on Thursday with the local minister for education present as this will be the first school in the area with computers and also with Internet access.

The students also created two dormitories on site at the school as they are preparing to offer orphans places to board at the school and be educated.

There has been a fantastic amount of work done which has made good use of all the fundraising that took place before we came out to Ghana. The completed ICT suite cost just £800 which included fans, ceiling, security windows, painting, desks and chairs plus the donated computers from various sources linked to TBSHS!

Day 6 - Monday

Today was the first day of the week of projects across two different sites about an hour apart. At the Bronyibima site we worked on the playground in the Kindergarten which was started before the weekend. The day started at 7am by clearing the site ready for the installation of the recently purchased equipment which includes a swing, slide and see-saw with the deliver of the roundabout expected tomorrow.

The site before we started...

After the 1st day of clear up...

From here things happened very quickly as 12 students went to work with the help of one of the local teachers and some of the local kids.

We mixed our own cement and used locally sourced items such as bricks, sand, cement, trowels, spades, pick-axes etc... This helps to boost the local economy along with the large amount of fizzy drinks that get consumed to keep spirits high throughout the day!

Alex & Jordan mixing cement...

Once the playground equipment had been set in concrete we set about increasing the height of the surrounding wall and dug a trench to divert the rain water. This was a fantastic opportunity for the students to learn some new skills such as brick laying and plastering along with the team work that was required to work in hot temperatures.

The end product looked fantastic with just some painting and finishing touches before the official opening to the school children.

Tomorrow we will render the wall with the roundabout arriving Thursday before we put the finishing touches to it ready for the opening! The children are already very excited about it...

Day 5 - Sunday

Following the evenings entertainment some of the students rose early to join in an impromptu football training session run by one of the local coaches. This was a wonderful setting on the beach and allowed the boys to bond prior to the match on Friday after sports day and work on a plethora of tactics whilst also recruiting some of the local traders to bolster our team!

This is our last day of R&R before the hard slog next week and the students intend to make the most of their surroundings and the swimming pool.

At lunch we ate a buffet of local foods and were joined by the Chief of the village and several of the teachers and their families from the local school. The food was delicious and plenty of it for everyone. Maybe they realised they needed to stock up before another traditional Ghanian meal of 'Eggy Bread' cooked by Mr Abbott this evening!

Restaurant with a view...

Piled high plates...

The staff of TBSHS & the Chief with the local teachers and their family...

After lunch we will be making the journey back to Bronimbiya for an evening in the tents as one big group before being divided down into two groups spilt across different sites as we throw ourselves into the projects with the hope of making a very positive difference to the local communities!

Some of the students have decided that they would like to buy the local school a pet tortoise to save it from being someone's lunch!

The Internet connection may be limited but the blog will be updated as soon as possible!

Day 4 - Saturday

Today is the second day of the R&R which is being spent around the pool and on the beach outside the local hotel. The students thoroughly enjoyed sleeping in a proper bed last night and made the most of the evening singing around a campfire next to the beach.

Later on today the students will be finishing their masks and drums which were started yesterday. Tonight the entertainment will be provided by a group of local performers doing a pleathora of activities including acrobatics, fire eating and traditional dance which should be an exciting evening for all!

The food this evening was excellent as the majority of students opted for Red Red and plantain a traditional local dish. This was followed by the evenings entertainment which was really well received by the students as they got into the spirit of the event learning some of the Ghanian dance moves which I'm sure will appear at a 'mixer' in September!

The photo below shows the traditional dancing.

The fire eater was very exciting and amazed everyone with where he put the fire before extinguishing it in his mouth.

The students finished the evening socialising with some of the other travellers staying at Stumble Inn with us.