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st weeiitertftorfrr3iap3 people teacher aids habitat abroad by kate gilderdale correspondent orchard park public school teacher adeline griffin decided to use part of her year away from teaching to enhance her own education at the beginning of january griffin travelled to ghana to work as a volunteer with habi tat for humanity international an ecumenical christian min istry which builds houses for needy people in more than 40 countries around the world using a combination of volun teer labor management exper tise and taxdeductible dona tions of money and materials habitat builds and restores homes and sells them to quali fied families through an inter estfree mortgage which is re paid over a period of between seven and 20 years out of the mouths of babes by joan ransberry photos by steve somerville kids say the darnest things said comedian art lin- kletter and the tribune agrees the tribune dropped into orchard park public school on monday and asked some fiveyear old kindergarten stu dents a few questions here are the questions and the childrens answers question what keeps the sky up there hayley hughes said i dont know for sure i think god does it it wont fall ryne parsons said gravity keeps it up there gravity works all the time if it didnt i would float right out of bed if that happened id be able to jump into the clouds and pretend to be taking a bubble bath question what does your teacher do when she goes home bradley hord said she goes to the store to buy food she only eats oatmeal and turkey question why do you have a belly button linsay sanders said i dont know where it came from but i like mine it cant dance you know its part of the body and it doesnt move around in order to qualify for a house family members are required to invest a- certain number of sweat equity hours in its construction because i was on my year off i was looking for something to do and i had read about habitat in a magazine explained griffin theres a metro ibronto division and i worked for a week with them in september that led her to contact the international arm of the orga nization which runs global vil lage work camps and the one to africa took my fancy so i set the wheels in motion to do that being accepted into the pro gram did not require specific skills she said just a willing ness to do the job on jan 1 she was one of a 13member group which flew to ghana to participate in building homes for habitat a habitat house in ghana costs 700 us and the monthly car rying costs for the owner would be around 7 the money that they pay into the mortgage is put back into a revolving fund which funds other houses the small threeroomed home constructed by the vol unteers had a porch and a sep arate utility building at the rear the latter housed the latrine a cubicle which served as a kitchen and a shower stall which was simply a drain since there is no run ning water or electricity we showered with a buck et griffin explained she and her coworkers slept on two inch foam mattresses laid on a concrete floor we started off in the mornings by getting water which was used for mix ing cement it quickly became clear that transporting water was the womens job she said we car ried it on our heads in buck ets a certain amount of hilar ity ensued as the ghanaian women taught the group how to carry the buckets and the more i laughed the more i- spilled although it was a tough skill to master women and children routinely carried all kinds of objects from water to sewing machines in this manner and they could do it without using their hands one of griffins tasks was to make the mud blocks which were cemented together like bricks to form the walls of the house they were pressed manually out of a machine and left to dry in the sun the work camp was located in the ashanti region 200 miles inland from the coastal adeline griffin left works on a new home in ghana capital of accra there were 25000 people and five cars in the town where we stayed recalled griffin volunteers were transported to their destination by bus a journey which took seven hours it was hot the roads were full of potholes and the driver had his hand on the horn constantly sometimes he drove on the wrong side of the road to avoid the bigger holes the towns they passed appeared to be densely popu lated with inhabitants living very close to the road you would see people along the side of the road with oranges and bread and all sorts of things they were selling if the bus stopped they would come over and try to sell their wares to the passengers wherever the volunteers went they received an enthusi astic reception if you took a camera out they all came and wanted their pictures taken if you were going for a walk the children would come with you at a church service she attend ed everyone was turned out in their sunday best said griffin it lasted for hours and people would come and go all the time we were taken up to the front and introduced to the whole congregation they really tried to make us feel welcome they were also granted an audience- with the chief he lives in the palace but its not exactly palatial said griffin theres a lot of ceremony involved and when you address him you cant look him in the eye you have to look at his lin guist who cant speak eng lish they were given schnapps to drink and were graciously offered the use of the chiefs car which like his palace had seen better days at the end of the work camp we had a house dedication representatives of the various churches and the town were invited and we were presented with sashes woven by the chairman it was an unforgettable expe rience said griffin one she would love to repeat in another area served by habitat and she would recommend it to anyone interested in learning about different cultures for more information on the pro gram call 4162602284 changes help teachers from page 1 been aligning its curriculum including expected outcomes and would be willing to assist the ministry if called upon for input alan dickson principal of stouffville district secondary school believes wst teachers will be relieved to have the responsibility for curriculum taken over by the ministry since it takes so much time to formulate he said with the scope of change suggested by the royal com mission report many have a wait and see attitude towards the reports recommendations until the government decides to take formal action parents will learn of curriculum changes through a parents guide which will be distributed by the ministry through schools in a few weeks the ministry has set up a free phone line for those wanting more information about the coming changes to ontario schools the number is 18005650861 watch for these flyers on saturday february 11 1995 biway stouffville iga ultramart sobeys lenscrafters dominion fortinos a p slctdarm only were first in distribution weve delivered 3095951 flyers doortodoor so far this year if you would like your flyers delivered by the best please call arlene maddock at 6402100 the tribune attention flyer advertisers wt can detver your dyers kn as into as 3 5 cms apiece in uarmum unjonvoc muten stousvito oxbridge oaremort dickson h locus h gonnley goocfcoo vscwia square brougham hegerman comers box grove cedar grow buitonviso sandford leaskdale greenbank udora sunderland zephyr ashburn carringlon and at adjacent rural route areas we can deliver your flyers using the most up to dale market demographics including census trad lifestyles fsa neighbourhoods etc cat us to discuss vourneeds we can defter on the day you want to the area you want any quantity up to 50150 for distribution inquiries call stoufmlls ms 6402100 or fas 008 6408477