New Subteams

For the 2009-2010 school year, the Ghana School Library Initiative will have six autonomous subteams. Each subteam is responsible for a distinct component of our overall projects.

1) Engineering Subteam: Finalize library design and logistics for construction. This includes all necessary drawings of the roof, walls, and interior furniture. All drawings must be submitted to EWB-USA for approval by the first week in February.
2) Education Subteam: Finalize library programming. This includes games and activities that teachers from various grades can do with the students. Final product will be a compendium of games and activities.
3) Computer Subteam: Design the computer network from the ground up. One network component, the eGranary Digital Library, has already been purchased. All other hardware must be selected and purchased. Software must be selected. Instructions for setting up network must be written. The computer subteam will also be responsible for designing a new computer curriculum to address the poor government-produced curriculum currently in place.
4) Books Subteam: We need to collect another 1000-1500 books, mostly in English but including a few in French. This entails working with the Princeton University Libraries and Princeton Public Libraries, organizing community book drives, and reaching out to local community groups. At the end of the semester or school year, these books will be shipped to Ghana.
5) Library Management Subteam: Finalize library management techniques. How will the books be catalogued? How will the books be rented out? What structure should be in place for ID cards, fines, etc.?
6) Fundraising Subteam: Identify sources of funding from on- and off-campus sources. Prepare grant applications.

Summer Trip Report: In-Depth

Click here to download and read our in-depth summer trip report.

Summer Trip Overview

The last shovel has been put down, the last nail pounded, and now that Phase I of GSLI’s project has come to a close, we would like to present an overview of what we accomplished. We’ll provide links to pictures and a more in-depth report soon.

The goal for the 2009 summer trip was to construct the reinforced concrete frame of the library structure over a five-week period in August and September. During the first week of August, the library site was surveyed and markers were set around the site to indicate wall and column positions. Excavation, though it started behind schedule, was able to make up the lost time and was completed in three days rather than the five budgeted. As construction continued, other tasks—from pouring the mat to setting the columns—took far less time than anticipated, ultimately allowing the EWB–PU team to finish construction two days ahead of schedule.

EWB–PU faced no shortage of challenges while onsite. Material acquisition undoubtedly presented the greatest difficulties. While rebar was available locally, the project required large amounts of cement and pozzolana ash, and these materials had to be purchased directly from the manufacturers. Whilst these arrangements were made, the team made progress on bending rebar and constructing wooden framework for the concrete. Once all materials were in place, concrete work commenced.

The first step was to erect the footings and piers, the supporting portions of the columns that lie below-grade. However, despite the information given in a geotechnical report commissioned by EP Basic, the piers could not be made as deep as originally planned due to a high water table. Fortunately, because hard, load-bearing clay was uncovered, the original design could be supported with modified, shallower piers.

Getting out of the ground proved to be full of trials for the EWB–PU team. At first, due to mistakes made by the contractor, the footings and piers were placed incorrectly. By working late into the night, however, EWB–PU was able to remove the hardening concrete, reposition the pier rebar, and repour the concrete. Further challenges were encountered with the steelbenders: the pier rebars were bent to incorrect sizes and quantities, requiring that new rebar be ordered and bent. After addressing these issues, both the piers and the gutter were then poured. The next step was to fill sand in the foundation up to the height of the slab—this was done by hand, and everyone from to community members to EP students to the EWB–PU team helped out.

At the midpoint of the construction phase, the EWB–PU professional mentors swapped. Two days later, the sub-ground slab terrain was layered with aggregate and a waterproofing membrane. The entire 8” slab and surrounding apron was poured in two days. With the structure finally out of the ground, the columns were erected and the ring beam poured in a speedy four days. Due to close supervision by EWB–PU, further mistakes and delays were largely minimized. In the end, construction was roughly $3300 over budget, largely because we needed more quantities of materials than originally estimated.

Temporary Library

EWB–PU shipped roughly 1000 books from Princeton to Ghana. The books had been collected throughout the spring semester in conjunction with the Princeton Public Library. While the ship was docked in port, EP Basic hired a local carpenter to make shelves for a temporary library. These shelves will later be moved to the library structure once construction is complete. Following the unloading of the books, the books were sorted by reading level into seven groupings: Early Readers, Lower Primary, Upper Primary, Young Adult, Adult, Non-Fiction, and Reference.

The temporary library will be run by the school. While no one will be able to check out library resources, students, teachers, and community members are all welcome to come and use the books in the school compound. In the coming phase of the project, more community members, students, and parents will be registered in the library patron database to facilitate the check-out of library books, games, etc.

Computer Infrastructure

The EP Basic School has a computer lab, funded through donations from the PTA. However, out of roughly 20 computers, only six are working properly. The school is not yet connected to the Internet, through DSL connectivity is available through a local telephone operator. However, while common computer hardware problems can be repaired locally, software problems—especially viruses—can be debilitating. Computers, both at EP Basic and in Internet cafes across Ghana, are choking on viruses. Moreover, viruses are spread through ubiquitous USB flash drives, so even computers that are not online become infected. The EWB–PU team took three HP Mini netbooks with them to Ghana to pilot an eGranary Digital Library resource and assess the feasibility of a larger 50-netbook network. Though these three machines were equipped with Princeton-approved McAfee’s anti-virus software, the netbooks nevertheless became hopelessly infested with viruses. The difficulties presented by this virus situation means that Linux distributions may be better suited for our needs than Windows.

After resolving the computer software problem, EWB–PU plans to address the disastrous government-produced computer curriculum currently in practice at EP Basic. Deployment of a computer lab in the library will be supplemented with a new curriculum, developed in partnership with the local Johnson Park Elementary staff.

Literacy Programming

Over the course of the 2008-2009 academic year, EWB–PU team members worked to create a set of activities and lesson plans to be implemented in the library. In order to pilot these resources, the EP Basic administration selected fifteen students from grades three through six to work with the EWB–PU team members. A summer workshop was held with these students for three hours a day over four weeks. Throughout the process, each student was taken aside to individually be assessed on reading fluency and comprehension. The EWB–PU team used Reading A-Z leveled books for the assessment. While reading levels varied (from levels I through P) and were generally below grade level, all of the students were eager to read. Lastly, each class of students worked together to write their own script for a five-minute skit. The students learned how to do character sketches, describe settings, and format scripts. They found props, added a song and a dance, and on the day after construction ended, performed for an audience of over 40 parents, teachers, and friends.

Community Building

This summer’s implementation trip marked the first time an entire team of EWB–PU members came to the Ashaiman community. Accordingly, EWB–PU team members made it a point to take the time to network with important individuals in the Ashaiman and EP communities, in order to ensure the success of the library project. Through the church, EWB–PU came to gain the support of the Member of Parliament for Ashaiman and the Ghana Education Service Director for Tema. The EWB–PU team also met with the leader of one of Ashaiman’s major mosques, so as to connect with the area’s large Muslim community.

Lessons Learned

The implementation trip was a learning experience for all team members.
1.On the construction site, have a single person in control. All team members should communicate with this single person, and only this person—not other team members—should give orders to workers;
2.Budget should anticipate a 25% excess in materials from calculated amounts;
3.Business cards and phone numbers shouldn’t be handed out too freely;
4.Bring gifts in excess because there will always be someone that you forgot;
5. Set up meetings early, because things will take longer to get done than anticipated;
6. Bring and use a receipt book. Make sure to have carbon paper;
7. Get a head start on the final accounting by using the official spreadsheet and categorizing expenses against the appropriate person’s cash advance or reimbursement;
8. Keep blogs up-to-date, and post lots of pictures;
9. Meet with workers before construction to go over safety and logistical procedures;
10. Supervise skilled workers carefully, because mistakes cost time and money.

Construction Update

After a week of construction, the library is well underway. The entire foundation was excavated in three days. Following (hand) excavation, a slew of rebar benders, carpenters, and other laborers were brought to site. By now, the fourteen footings and piers have been positioned and by tomorrow, all of them will have been poured. We expect that by Monday, columns will be poured and the culvert surrounding the foundation will be graded to allow for appropriate drainage of the site. Though things in Ghana follow “Africa time,” we are optimistic in that we will finish the substructure by September 4, 2009.

Excavation

Excavation of the building site is now underway and we aim to finish by Tuesday 8/11 evening. Because the site is rather small, we are hand-excavating the area. For more details, please see Jane’s blog at http://livesofashaiman.wordpress.com.

Team members have also begun teaching a focus group of students after school to pilot the various educational materials that will be put in place in the library. On the first day, the students made name cards and then wrote a letter to themselves about where they would like to be in thirty years. We are holding onto these letters and will return them to the students in a year, when the GSLI team returns to finish the library. We have also completed a story sequencing exercise, where the students took pieces of a story and put them in order based on what logically follows in a beginning-middle-end format.

TAC

On Friday, July 31, 2009, the GSLI received final TAC approval for the implementation of the EP Basic library construction, phase one. With approval in place, we are moving full speed ahead. Kwesi, Nizette, and Jennifer will be arriving on Wednesday, Thursday, and Sunday, respectively. Afrisand and EWB-Ghana have been notified and we expect to finish surveying the building site on Monday to allow for excavation from Tuesday through Friday. Beginning next week, then, we will begin pouring the concrete substructure, beginning with the foundation and working our way up the columns and finally the ring beam. We expect that by the first week of September, all of the phase one construction will be complete.

Concurrent with the construction schedule, GSLI team members will be working on a pilot educational program with a select group of fifteen EP Basic students. The purpose of this focus group is to pilot various educational programs, activities, and resources such that the GSLI will be able to better deploy these in the library next summer. The focus group will not only work with netbooks but also test the Reading A-Z resource purchased by the GSLI. At the end of phase one, GSLI will hold a community banquet, where the students in the focus group will perform a short Reading A-Z skit.

Besides working with this focus group, GSLI members will hold open English Corners daily to allow any community member interested in practicing their English to come and converse with the team members. We will also be surveying community members on local health conditions, as well as parents to determine how to best leverage their support for the library. Finally, the GSLI will be setting up a temporary library in a vacant room in EP Basic such that the children of EP Basic can enjoy borrowing and reading the books shipped from America this summer, prior to the official library opening.

TAC Updates

Yesterday, we submitted an update to the TAC in order to help move along the approval process. We hope to hear positive news within the next two days. We have already received approval to assess for the next phase of the project (the computer network). Thanks so much to Pat and Jennifer for all of their hard work helping us put the drawings together. Also, thanks to Ebenezer and Ing. Kofi from EWB-Ghana for their assistance.

Akwaaba from Ashaiman

Jane arrived in Ghana Sunday 7/19 evening, joining Mohit at the Atsu residence. In the past two days, Mohit and Jane have met with Afrisand and the top three individuals at E.P. Basic, discussing the plan for the next eight weeks. We expect for final drawings to be completed within the next day or two and a site visit made by Afrisand by the end of the weekend. Surveying and excavation begins this weekend as well.

Are things “Ghana” happen?

First off, apologies for the title. We just couldn’t resist the pun.

Second off, apologies for it having been such a long time since our last update. Over the course of the past two months, the GSLI team has been hard at work finishing preparations for this summer while also taking finals and conducting summer research. Here is a thorough update of the latest going-ons!

The TAC and 525 Project Proposal
The latest 525 Project Implementation report was filed and is now uploaded on the “Engineering Design” page. Our Technical Advisory Committee (TAC) presentation was made on Monday, July 7, 2009 and we now have only three last questions to answer before receiving our final decision. Mohit is currently on the ground working on his Martin A. Dale ‘53 Summer Fellow project. Concurrently, he is beginning preparations and relaying information from our contractors and E.P. Basic back to us. We hope to have all of the EWB-USA business taken care of by this Friday, just in time for Jane to leave on Saturday, July 18.

In the TAC and 525, two exciting additions to our documentation include detailed structural drawings (thanks to our mentors, Jennifer Pazdon and Pat Arnett) and electrical system designs. These can be found on the “Engineering Design” page as well.

Pat Arnett
The GSLI would like to welcome Pat Arnett of Robert Silman Associates to the team! Pat is a professionally licensed structural engineer who will be traveling with us this summer. He is a new member of the EWB family. In the past 10 years, Pat has worked on a variety of projects from Caracas Cable Car Stations in Venezuela to Gracie Mansion in New York, NY. Pat has been a wonderful addition to the team, teaching us quite a few things about structural engineering. We certainly wouldn’t be able to carry through this project without him!

Timeline
Our expected construction schedule is as follows:

• Aug 3: stake out building plot, dig foundation
• Aug 10: lay foundation
• Aug 17: lay foundation, begin columns
• Aug 24: finish columns, begin ring beam
• Aug 31: finish ring beam

We will be obtaining our own construction materials but working with respected contractors Afrisand Ghana Limited. With a team of 12 unskilled laborers (EWB-PU members and community members) plus six skilled laborers provided by Afrisand, we expect for our construction schedule to be followed smoothly.

Other Project Objectives
This summer, the GSLI travel team members will also be engaging in work unrelated to the library construction. This includes conducting extensive community health surveys, parent surveys, and assessing the possibility of bringing EdgeXL technology to E.P. Basic. We will also be working to bridge relationships between E.P. Basic and the neighborhoods surrounding it. Finally, we will also be establishing a network of support throughout the Greater Accra area.

Keep up with us!
If you would like to keep up with the GSLI over the course of this summer, make sure to keep visiting this website. Additionally, two team members (Jane Yang and Mohit Agrawal) will be keeping their own blogs detailing their adventures as they work on both the EWB GSLI project and their individual Dale Projects. Click on their names for a link to their blogs! We will also be posting pictures on our ShutterFly website. Finally, you can also keep up with Mohit on Twitter @mohit89. Leave us comments if you’d like and we’ll do our best to get back to you!

Updated Structural Drawings

The EWB GSLI program has been approved and within two weeks, we expect to recieve feedback from EWB-USA on our library design such that by mid-June, we will have all project components finalized and approved. Check out the engineering design page for the latest Google SketchUps!