Day Two: Wednesday, July 8

Alicia here. I am a Structural Engineer here from Brooklyn, NY to assist the centre in modifying their existing desks to match the functions of EOTO- the teaching platform designed by Jennifer Iino and the Global Autism Project to support the teaching of children with autism. We have brougt the original prototype all the way from NYC and I am excited to see how I can use it to inform the design of the modifications here.

After much suspense and anticipation, we were finally able to pickup Lori at the airport in Accra. Kofi, our driver was even excited to see Lori, as he greeted her with a big hug! We all piled into his tiny taxi cab, and noticed that although the car was on, there was no key in the ignition. It turns out that keys are not a necessity for starting most cars here, with hot wiring the preferred way to go.

After picking up Lori and getting all settled in, we made it to the Centre for a late morning start. Lori and Brad observed the children while Molly and I headed out to the local hardware store. We were fortunate to find a few hardware stores along a stretch of New Town Road where we purchased assorted hardware for the desks (nails, screws, hinges, etc.).

After asking around, we were able to track down a local wood store. Molly put her bargaining skills to work and we purchased 1x1 and 1x3 timber from Mohammed for 6 Cedis (about $4.00). He then took us to the nearby woodshop, where they planed and cut down the wood into smaller pieces. The shop was pretty impressive to say the least, complete with industrial sized band saws, table saws, planes, etc. Luckily one of the staff members at the Centre offered to lend us their tools, so we can actually begin construction tomorrow.

After leaving the Centre we all piled into a Tro-Tro headed to the Circle where we then played a game of frogger trying to cross the road in between tro-tro’s. We all made it safely across with the exception of Lori, who was lightly hit by one backing up. Into the massive puddle she went! Dinner was spent at Frankie’s, with plenty of hummus and baba ghanouche to go around. For dessert we headed to the new gelato place in Osu.

Stay Classy!
Alicia