Building a Community Center in Ghana

With the roof in place and the screeding nearly completed we are realizing all the little things that need to be finished before the goodbye ceremony tomorrow.

There are still a couple of window frames that need to be planed (no sander or saw here, only a plane or a carpenters’ tool that acts like a razor on the wood, taking off thin slices of wood shavings until it get to the right size/smoothness).

We are yet to put the door in place!

The columns need painted.

We are going to be planting some trees to help create some natural shade and hopefully prevent erosion.

The site is littered with nails, pieces of block and wood shavings, which will need to be cleaned up.

And of course as always, there is dirt that needs to be moved. Even on our last day we will be shoveling dirt to build up the base of the buildings. What a nice circle. From first to last, always moving the African soil.

While this doesn’t seem like a huge amount of work for 20 people, we need to get it all done by about lunch tomorrow.

What is interesting is that we have spent all this time building a massive structure and now everyone is stressed about these little details. Maybe it’s that we just want to leave the perfect building or make it look really good for the ceremony. More than likely however it is we are all just a little stressed about leaving.

We spend all our time talking about what we miss from home and what are the first things we are going to do, but deep down we are really going to miss this place. This has been more than just a vacation or summer class. We have become part of this community and we recognize that, realistically speaking, we will never see this building again in person. We will never make the walk from the guesthouse after eating one of Josephine’s meals. We won’t see the kids that have surrounded us for weeks grow up.

As much as we are ready to go home, I don’t think any of us are ready for the approaching separation: separation from Abrafo, the lifestyle of building each day, and even the separation of our fellow travelers. We will go from spending every waking moment together to home where no one can really relate to what we have gone through.

It is going to be really hard and we just haven’t admitted it to ourselves yet.