Money, money, money

Had a not so good day today. While we managed to settle many things concerning the opening ceremony of the ASK project, the main issue of funding is still in the air. Went to the goldmine today to talk to the general manager in charge of community development and was told he had gone to Accra and there's no one else for us to talk to. So there goes about our last hope for sponsorship. Not sure what else can be done. Will go back again on Friday when he's back and hopefully he will make a decision in our favour then and soon. That's about the best we can hope for at this moment in time. Money is a major issue for NGOs and projects like these especially so when many companies are affected by this financial crisis. Had a chat with Phillip yesterday and he was talking about the difficulty he had in securing funding for the various programs that he does in the community. He often had to write to overseas organisation for funding as local organisations do not yet have the civic consciousness to support such programs. It's a pity really as I think local donations is better for a NGO to sustain its operations. It doesn't have to be a lot of money. A small sum from everyone will add up to a lot of money. These money are going back to the community, not like it would be benefiting someone else. So the real beneficiaries will be the community at large. Anyway all we can do now is to try and negotiate down the prices of everything we will need for the opening ceremony, from the food to venue cost. On a lighter note, the intern from Japan is finally here. His name is Tomoki. So far found him to be a rather nice guy. He has been to India before so he's not too shocked by the environment here in Ghana. And he's rather independent too. He arrived in Kumasi while we were at a conference in Takarodi and so he was on his own for a few days. Heard briefly from him that he simply went around on his own for those few days! Anyway will try my best to put up the pictures that I've taken so far. By the internet is really slow here and so its difficult to upload photos. Last but not least, those who wants a postcard from Ghana, do email me your address @ oahiew_il@yahoo.com.sg. Do try and consolidate the addresses so that my mailbox wouldn't be flooded! It will take me a long time to individually open each email. Will try to meet every request but no promises as it actually quite expensive to send a postcard from here.