All good things

All good things come to an end.

After over five years of service our tower came down today. The wood had become in need of major replacement and cost of repair was prohibitive, so demolition was necessary.

We look forward to one day in the future when we will replace the tower with a better, stronger and longer term construction.

For now we return to a radio service only at the airfield.

Quitely moving forward

Since we suspended our full time girls operations at AvTech, we have been busy working towards the

new Learning and Discovery Centre (planned to open in 2015). We don't get much time to blog, and are busy working to provide specific solutions to specific needs. As a part of our new strategy, we are working hand in hand with schools who believe in inspiration - and that the purpose of education is a step towards employment.

Last week we spoke at a local school where Patricia shared her story - and for some of the girls it was the first time they had seen or touched an electric drill!

As part of this speaking programme, Patricia delivers a modified version of the fun and interactive Stephen Taberner song (with his kind permission) re-titled 'Don't stand between a girl and her tools', accompanied by the Spanner and Screwdriver symbol with a 'female sign' embedded to the screwdriver (see back of Patricia's shirt). 

The words to the song are fun, and it is all about 'not allowing anything to stand in your way - because you never know when you might need it' - in other words -'decide what you want and go for it'. One thing is certain, and that is if anybody gets between Patricia and her tool set - they will wish they hadn't! Her passion and inspiration resulted in lots of questions and lots of inspiration.

We hope to soon have a YouTube video of the song to make you smile, and we hope to inspire you all!

CONTACT!!!! Vroom Vroommmmm

After nearly a year we are finally completing the play plane at Kpong Airfield.   Our heart felt thanks go to those who have supported this development.

So many young people here do not even begin to understand aircraft and the principles of flight.   For many of them access to the air side would be unnecessarily dangerous.   Hence the play plane.   It is a near 1:1 scale replica of a Zenith Ch801 but adapted to playing and learning within the scope of available materials.

Next up will be to find some creative artists to add the educational paint scheme!

Education and health are key focus points of all that we do here.   We use aviation and engineering as conduits and catalysts in that outreach.

A shining star

Mavis is enjoying some time in the workshops now that we have less kitchen work at this time of
year.

She is really enjoying the pace and challenges of working with steel.

Here she is removing dross from parts for a Christmas star.

Update

Lydia update: Lydia wounds continue to require a great deal of care. It will take many months to clear it all up, alongside physio and occupational therapy. Currently she is practically kept in air-con as many hours per day as we can, to keep humidity low and sweat down. She can't leave the site for risk of infection. We have found that even a few hours out in the heat with her dressing and brace on is enough to create a whole new bag of worms to deal with. We have modified her brace heavily, but it is still not enough for the conditions we face. We have found a combination that appears to be working (in conjunction with Medical professionals in Germany with extensive African experience). She does not always understand her challenges. Together we are working to resolve issues caused by ignorance and poor historical treatment. Sadly, there are still many who do not understand the care that is needed - some give well meaning but destructive advice. Ignorance (whether locally or internationally) is damaging so many young people in West Africa - our role is to protect and promote - but it is not always easy. Patricia Mawuli and I wish we could inoculate against ignorance.

Sowing seeds

Patricia and the girls are starting a small garden for local vegetables.

Food and nutrition are little understood topics. Just talking about it is not enough. Learning by doing is the key to all that we do at Kpong Airfield.

Women of worth..... role models

Last night Patricia spoke at the Ashesi university campus as part of the Wolfpack Women of Worth campaign.

Ama K. Abebrese and Agnes Ntow of TV fame, Women of Worth from the Media, were also speaking.

Patricia took three of her girls from the Avtech Academy along with her two new special tools. The Attitude Adjuster hammer and her Hard Work and Determination spanner. Patricia spoke from her heart and shared on a very personal level the challenges of 'making it' in engineering and aviation in Ghana. Similar stories came from Ama K and Agnes in relation to their career sectors.

All of them spoke out against the use of sex as a control tool used in schools, universities and the workplace. These successful young women made it clear that standing up for your self and working forward with your passion is the only route to success. They all shared their frustrations, and then smiled at their achievements.

Patricia was the only candidate who had gone through her journey completely in Ghana, with Ama K having lived in the UK and Agnes in the USA prior to returning to their homeland. It was clear that Ghana is not an easy place for women to succeed, unless they hold their heads high and refuse the status quo, holding to their principles and not being swayed by 'negative influences' in their lives.

Well done Women of Worth - be those role models that will enable others to stand above the rest.

The First 100

The first batch of 100 drops using the new poster set was collated and bagged today. Lydia is on light

duties and was there to ensure all packs were set ready for deployment.

If we only affected change in 5 people in each drop village we would be changing 5000 lives this year. We believe that the impact is far greater.

One thing is certain. .. and that is the changes in the lives of those who make up the packs from the Avtech Academy programme.

First pin on the map from Ghana

Lydia was able to put a pin in Ghana on the hospital map.

Supported in her geography studies during hospitalisation in Germany by Onni, Lydia was invited to add a navigation string to the hospital map as part of her understanding the continents and adding to the list of countries patients have travelled from to the hospital.

As you can see, Lydia was the first patient from West Africa - and she was an excellent ambassador for the rural people of her part of the world.

Healthcare drops.. now with style...

We have now received the poster packs for the next set of drops. Here is a selection being admired by
Patricia and Lydia as they prepare to return to Ghana after Lydia's surgery.

Massive thanks to Joerg and his team for an excellent production.

We expect to reach over 200 000 people with air drops in 2013.

Thank you all for your amazing support and working with us to change lives sustainably, one flight and one person at a time!

 

The new drop programme contains a special personal message from Patricia printed on the back of the Wolfpack poster. .. it reads. ..

Dear Community Members

My name is Patricia Mawuli, I come from a village just like yours, in the Volta Region. One day, six years ago, I was working collecting firewood when I heard an aeroplane overhead. I traced that aeroplane to a small airfield in the Eastern Region where the people were concerned about health and education. Their team is called Medicine on the Move, and I now lead Ghana's air-drop outreach with them. Today, we are reaching out to your community.

I learned to build aircraft, install aircraft engines and maintain them. I, along with other Ghanaian girls, built the aircraft that dropped this package to your community - and I flew the mission to drop this message to you personally. This very package has been prepared by young women from communities just like yours!

Today, I hope that this message and the accompanying posters will inspire you as a community to do many new things. I hope that you will use these posters in your schools and in your community health education programmes. I have a few things to ask of you all:

1. Please enrol your children when they are young, and keep your children in school, and remember the girl children must go to school too. Our children are the future. Education is important. I know, I have used my education to be able to reach you with this message today.

2. Please make sure that you do not allow people to urinate and defecate in or near water sources. Please use latrines - it really will help to reduce infections and disease. Make sure that latrines do not flood and spread disease.

3. Please do not bathe directly in the lakes and rivers. Try to reduce the risk to you and your family of the diseases spread in the waters around you.

4. Please remember to filter or boil water before you drink it. So many people are getting sick from using  non-safe water.

5. Please keep your communities clean. We see the rubbish around your communities as we fly over. If possible, establish some sort of community waste management. Where possible, and without causing risk of fire to homes or fields, burn your rubbish (borla) on a regular basis. Rubbish around your homes is a health risk - keep your community clean.

6. Please include meat, fresh vegetables and fruit in the diet of your family - it is important for your health.

7. Please reduce the malaria risks to your families by reducing the breeding places and use a mosquito net over your bed to reduce the number of mosquito bites that can spread the disease. If you or your children get malaria please get suitable treatment early - remember malaria kill many people every day.

8. Mothers, please feed your babies with breast milk for at least the first 6 months, and if possible for up to 2 years as a supplement. Your breast milk helps to protect your babies and make them strong.

9. Please take washing of your hands seriously. Wash your hands with soap and clean water after handling money, going to the toilet and before cooking or eating - and before feeding your children. Dirt on your hands can make your babies very sick - even dirt that you cannot see. Please wash your hands well.

We hope that this message will help you to help improve your community, keeping your children strong, healthy and well educated. We send this message of care and encouragement, and hope that you will find a use for the materials we give to you freely. We wish your community health, education and great future. Please take care of each other and your home.

Patricia Mawuli and the young women from Medicine on the Move

Kpong Airfield, Eastern Region, Ghana

An amazing improvement

Lydia is out of hospital. Not only is she out of hospital, she is smiling and looking forward to returning to Ghana to complete her pilots licence and carry out essential health education training to the rural communities.

Lydia's life has changed dramatically over the past three and a half years, and these x-rays showing the change in her hand position, really bring home how much this amazing young woman has gone through.

Our sincere thanks go out to the hospital at Bad Neustadt in Germany and to Professors Lanz and van Shoonhoven for their amazing skill in carrying out this surgery.

The MoM Germany team has led this event, and without them it could not have come together. Their fundraising, logistics and support enabled a smooth facilitation of this event. A large 'Vielen Danke' to our German team and all from around the world who have contributed towards 'Changing Lydia's life'.

Mean while .. back at the field....

Submitted by Marcel Stieber,

Some things really put a big smile on your face, this young boy in one of the rural communities was no exception. At local week-long sports competition between 9 of the local schools in the Afram Plains, this young boy was proudly holding the "1st Aid Box" at the judges booth. It came as a very pleasant surprise that there was both the desire, the knowledge, and some of the materials needed to be prepared at the event with First Aid ready to use.

Woman of Worth Patricia Mawuli

She literally walked out of the bush, from her mud and thatch home, just six years ago, and asked for a job at Kpong Airfield. Starting by clearing trees, digging out roots and stones in order to hand carve runways for the light aircraft at Kpong, she went on to build several aircraft and become the first woman in the world to receive iRMT certification for working on Rotax Aircraft Engines. That is not the only first she has up her overalls sleeve! She was the first woman to be issued the Ghana National Pilots licence and is also the first female flying instructor at Kpong Airfield. She has not only built aircraft - she has also flown one around Ghana!

Patricia is a volunteer pilot with Medicine on the Move, providing health education materials by air to rural communities and the founder and Principal of the AvTech Academy, teaching young women from the rural communities in engineering, aviation, rural airfield management and health matters. Patricia teaches in the workshops as well as in the sky. She is at home with a welding hood on as she is with a headset! in the cockpit.

 Patricia is dedicated to providing opportunities for young rural women who have ability, determination and character, but often lack the resources to step out and step up. Patricia makes it clear that she has had to work hard, very hard, to get to where she is - and she has not stopped - she has plans to fly one of the planes she has built to Germany!

Patricia started with nothing but her own dreams and ambitions. With no money to invest, she invested her hard work, sweat, tears and perseverance That self-investment has paid off. As she says 'I have discovered that the difference between success and failure is hard work and determination' - and she should know - for she has broken the mould and set a trail in the sky for other young women to follow towards their individual successes.

Woman of Worth Ama K Abebrese

The Women of Worth inspirational series from Wolfpack takes on Ama K Abebrese, the award

winning actress, presenter and producer. Although she started in the UK with the BBC, she heard the call of the Motherland, and returned to Ghana in 2009. Her return home is one that inspires in itself, as does her recognition in the 'ETV 100 Most Influential Ghanaian Personalities' in 2011 and 2012!

She has won a host of awards, but the most important to date must be having been chosen as a 'Woman of Worth' to inspire others, along with her message of 'Be a woman of substance, let your inner beauty shine from within. Have a great attitude in all that you do, and be defiant to negativity. Positivity is key in life.'

We all look forward to seeing more of these selected role models actively making a difference in the lives of our young women, and to seeing those that they inspire surpass the role models in the future!

Woman of Worth Aisha Obuobi

This week the Wolfpack Woman of Worth campaign to inspire young women in Ghana and West

Africa focuses on Aisha Obuobi.

Ausha started her dreams from dressing up dolls with shreds of African print she found at her grandmothers workplace, and now she dresses up the likes of Alicia Keys & Michelle Williams on and off the runway with her award winning fashion deisngs under the label of Christie Brown.

Her work has graced catwalks all over the world, with coverage in magazines such as The UK Times, Glamour, Vogue Italia, Forbes Afrique and New African Woman. Her brand (Christie Brown) also has a self titled feature on CNN's Inside Africa.

Aisha's telkls us that her mission is to "give a piece of Africa to the world through her fashion; to build a fashion brand that represents the audacity of Africa, a continent rising, a people with immense zeal, a people with immense passion. "

Inspiration is key in this campaign and we all look forward to the continued spotlighting of the inspirational women that Ghana has grown.

Women of Worth

This week saw the beginning of a new and exciting motivational and inspirational campaign aimed at the young women of Ghana. The dynamic young men behind Wolfpack Entertainment, a relatively young Ghanaian creative company that focus on unearthing and exhibiting talent in the youth, found that young women lacked positive role models, and set about establishing the ‘Women of Worth’ campaign.

The campaign promotes and celebrates 10 young pioneering Ghanaian women for their passionate work, and their contribution towards youth inspiration. The team decided to make creative use of monochrome images on a black background – and it works to provide images that are both striking and engaging.

This week, the Wolfpack Woman of Worth is Christal Beeko previously known as Christal Jeanne), well known for her promotion of Ghanaian entrepreneurship and social outreach through her e-TV show ‘Be Bold’.

The team hopes to work with the women from the Women of Worth series in related outreach programmes, including school speaking events and seminars, reminding us all that Ghanaian girls and women are worth investing in!

Two wings are better than one.... ?

Lydia goes from strength to strength. .. today we kidnapped her from the hospital to the airfield nearby.

Here she takes a closer look at a flamingo replica (an aircraft type from 1925). Lydia talks with passion about using her creative skills in combining aviation and health education in the coming years

Learning radio work

Lydia (yellow shirt) is in charge of teaching radio work to the academy students. Good communication is essential for our outreach. Although English is the official language of Ghana it is rarely the mother tongue in the home.

What better way to encourage improved communication standards than through radio telephony.

Lydia heads for surgery this week and will miss her students as much as they will miss her.

Up and at'm...

Lydia is smiling. Happy with her new hand position. All fingers and thumb are working. Wrist is fused (as is elbow but that is from last surgery). Thank you all for your amazing support and encouragement to help us get this far.

Lydia is bright and playing oware, a traditional African game, as she gets ready to start physical therapy tomorrow.

5 Hours later... it's all looking FANTASTIC so far

Surgery completed. 5 hrs 2 surgeons.

About 30 degree position. She smiles.

UPDATE

Lydia says a big thank you and good night.

All fingers are moving.  Hand is fused at 30 degree from straight.  A very function potential filled position.

Thank you for your kind support and encouragement.