ASAP

2008-09-05T13:45:00.000-07:00

Hey all,
I'm Sarah. I have access to the ASAP blog now. Ryan sent some pictures of his trip and here they are for you to view.
Later days-

November in Oxford

2007-11-05T17:00:00.000-08:00

Although it feels as if we are moving along slowly, it is already November, and the semester is growing short. For the last few weeks, several ASAP members have worked hard to recruit a new group of students to travel to Tanzania. The EDL course that we organized last year is also in the works of being revived. This week we have interviews, and all participants will know before thanksgiving break whether or not they will have the opportunity to travel to our school in Tanzania. We had so many applications, I was blown away. Sometimes I have to kick myself, and realize how far this organization has come. In terms of who to pick, these decisions are extremely hard for the interviewers to make.

On one hand, we want strong and experienced leaders like the ones in the past who are able to carry on the difficult mission we face. On the other hand, we want young energy and new ideas. Who on earth will be willing to dedicate as much time and passion into this? Frankly, I wish I knew the answer to that. Leadership is something that I have come to treasure. I regret that I will leave this close knit group I rely on at Miami, but I do have unrelenting faith in the next generation of ASAP volunteers. I wish I could stay....

By the way, here are some pictures of Richard Allen Academy where we are conducting a 4-week after school program to send letters to Ngyeku Primary School in Tanzania.

It has proved to be a great way to engage volunteers in meaningful and semi-local work.
It is also a new way to benefit our school in Tanzania as well.
Thank you to everyone who has been so supportive of our work!

ASAP Love,

Meredith

Semester Update

2007-09-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

Tuesday of this week we will have elections for the new Executive Board.
The nominations are as follows:
President - Alyssa Gordos, Kelissa Hieber
Vice President - Tim Wietlispach, Alyssa Gordos
Treasurer - Katie Kraska, Laura Vrana
Secretary - Rachel Napoli

We are working with Ambassadors for Children to host the event:
"Speaking of Africa..." September 26 1-5 pm Shriver Multipurpose Rooms (B and C)
We will have 2 speakers, and then both organizations will have a powerpoint presentation about our trips to Tanzania and Malawi. We are happy to be working with AFC to showcase the wonderful work that has been done this past year.

Our committees so far this semester include:

Media and Documentation - contact Laura Vrana vranala@muohio.edu
Fundraising - contact Rachel Napoli Napolirl@muohio.edu
Donor Letter Writing - contact Courtney Tucker Tuckerc2@muohio.edu

These next few things are all just ideas at this point, but they are well on their way to being planned for this semester and next.
1) Invisible Children - speakers and documentary
2) Charity Dinner with a speaker from Sudan
3) Silent Auction
4) A.S.A.P. - the movie ;)

We hope to see even more new members come to our meetings this semester, thank you for your time and help!

Meredith Poff
Outgoing A.S.A.P. President

A New Year

2007-08-04T21:08:00.000-07:00

ASAP's meetings will be Tuesdays from 530-615 pm in 18 Laws Hall

Goals for 2007-2008 School Year

1) Build a base of students who are committed to shaping a better program with a greater interdisciplinary focus on improving education in sub-Saharan Africa
2) Raise support within the Miami and Oxford community
- pen pal system with school from oxford(Bogan Elementary, in the works) and a school from Tanzania
- raffle with prizes from around town
- coalition of organizations willing to participate in our next trip
3) Enjoy what we do as people hoping to enhance cross-cultural awareness on campus

These goals are not simple, but they are not unattainable either, especially goal #3.

If you have any questions or goals to add, email me at poffme@muohio.edu

2007-08-04T20:54:00.001-07:00

2007-07-02T18:23:00.001-07:00

Places and Faces of Tanzania

2007-06-18T13:57:00.001-07:00

Wildebeast

Twigga

East African Rift Valley

Sweet Safari Cars and Rugged Paths

Elephant in the Ngorongoro Crater

Lake Manyara

Tanzania 2007

2007-06-18T12:26:00.001-07:00

"Everything you never knew that you always wanted..."

Located between the breathtaking views of Mount Meru and Mount Kilimanjaro.

Among the rural communities of Ngyeku and Sakila

A.S.A.P. discovered its new home in Tanzania this summer

For one month, we lived at Holy Mountain Lodge, so named after the small mountain that the locals hike up regularly to camp and pray.

Six or seven of the volunteers hiked up Holy Mountain, and one stayed overnight. It is a steep climb, and there isn't a whole lot to see, but we considered it a victory to get to the top nonetheless. It requires endurance and arm strength to launch yourself up this big hill using roots and weeds so you don't slide back down. If you stay overnight, you will hear many locals coming to pray out loud and theres potential for loud drumming as well. Don't plan to get much sleep, because there are an abundance of noises and small critters to keep you company.

Sakila Secondary School, where TJ, Alyssa, Charlotte, Jessie, and Chris taught - is located at the foot of Holy Mountain. It has approximately 300 students.

Maggie, Kelsey, Meredith, Lynn, and Hilary all taught at Ngyeku Primary School. It has 13 classrooms, and 1000 students from grades 1-7.

It was at Ngeyku that we taught valuable lessons such as "How to Limbo"...and English Instructional classes as well ;)

The staff and all of the locals added a very positive element to our trip, as they were more than willing to take us on walks, show us how to make food and wash clothes, braid hair, carve and collect food from the surrounding areas. They truly won our hearts and we will never forget the energy that they put forth every day to make our experience memorable.

2007-04-19T17:12:00.000-07:00

web.mac.com/zeekcw

just a few more weeks to go!!!!!

We will be bringing over $2600 with us this year...more fundraising totals to come.

Dinomite Kidfest 2007

2007-04-01T09:20:00.000-07:00

Mud Hut...

You rock my world, Lora.

We asked them to draw pictures of their homes, and showed them where Tanzania is on the globe.

Pretty good architects, Id say.

February Chill

2007-02-21T08:34:00.000-08:00

I sort of wanted to do an update on the Tanzania class. There are ten students now involved, plane tickets bought and everything!
Hilary O'Sullivan
Maggie Spring
Chris Zeek
TJ Bittel
Alyssa Gordos
Lynn Bahret
Meredith Poff
Jessie Lane
Kelsey Laitinen
Charlotte Sherman
Together, we have been taking a one hour credit class on teaching in Tanzania. We have learned everything from the history of colonization in Africa, to key Swahili phrases, to how to teach pronunciation to ESL students. This week, we watched a movie that is called "Tusamehe", which documents the life of an African couple who comes to to U.S. only to discover that they both have contracted AIDS from the husbands former american girlfriend. It is partially done in Swahili, and I think it brings up some important issues for our trip. We also talked alot about culture shock, and Chris presented 3 articles he found that described his past experiences well.
Right now I am pleased to be working on a business plan to make ASAP more of a business in the sense that we can sustain our organization with cashflow. We hope to work with the office of entrepreneurship to accomplish this goal. We have compiled a list of supplies needed for this summer. For more information on what we need for our school, Maji Ya Chai, please send an email to POFFME@muohio.edu.

"Dude, you've got alot of stuff going on right now" - TJ

2007-01-15T15:25:00.000-08:00

Last semester we switched things up a bit with fundraising and planning.
Overall, we had a small number of dedicated individuals who took smaller projects under their wing. Our 3 main fundraisers were:

1. Sponsor a Book - which began early in 2006 as we prepared for our trip to Ghana. We revised the project for our Tanzania trip. It ended up that we set up tables in Shriver and collected donations in increments of $2, the approximate cost of one primary school textbook in Africa. In addition we collected email addresses of our donors so that they will be kept up to date about ASAP's accomplishments.

2. Calendars - With a collection of pictures from Christopher Zeek's 2006 Tanzania trip, we created a calendar and had it printed free of charge in Dayton with ComDoc Corporation. Thanks to Matt, ASAP's former VP, we were able to allow this idea to come to fruition. Calendars sold/are being sold for $10, all proceeds going to ASAP in 2007.

3. Kona Bistro - Our 3 older wiser ASAPers: Lora, TJ, and Matt offered to be guest bartenders during one of Kona's "wednesday philanthropy night" deals. We raised money from the bar and restaurant tips, and were able to generate interest in a completely new way: out in the community at large. I personally think this is a fantastic fundraiser in terms of fun, friends, and informality and ease of completion. In other words, lets do it again!!!

Moving on but not forgetting our projects in Ghana, we have decided to Teach in Tanzania from May 12-June 12, 2007. Twelve Miami students (not all ASAP affiliated) have decided to participate in this summer program, and I could not be more thrilled with the progress we have made. These students are currently enrolled in an EDL course at Miami named "Teaching in Tanzania" in which they each independently learn skills to supplement their ability to teach english in a non-english speaking country such as Tanzania. With the help of professors, students, and graduate students, I have put together 15 sessions to help this independent adventure. For more information about this curriculum or ways to set up such a course, email poffme@muohio.edu or contact the Office of Continuing Education at Miami University via their website http://www.units.muohio.edu/continuingeducation/

With megafair and elections coming up in the next few weeks, I hope to have updates as to who will be ushering in the new wave of ASAP news. Thank you for your interest.

Meredith Poff
ASAP President

Fall Semester

2006-10-09T06:48:00.000-07:00

Welcome to A.S.A.P.'s blog! It is officially fall, and several things have been happening with the Miami Chapter. We have already selected our site for next summer...TANZANIA! In addition, new and old(er) members have come up with many great ideas for fundraising. Our annual dinner and debriefing will be on October 24 at 6:30 pm in the 1809 room. There is a suggested donation of $10 for the dinner, and the proceeds will go to the school in Tanzania.

Already we have gained the support of several departments on campus for the upcoming trip in the form of Independent Study opportunities (for Uni-credit) and donations to defray trip costs. We hope to be able to bring a group for 5-7 students to the Arusha region of Tanzania to teach English for a period of one month. This is a great way to expand ASAP's reach to students and schools abroad.

Hope to see you at a meeting soon!
5:45 18 Laws on Sundays

Check out our trip website!
asap.farmdevil.net
email: poffme@muohio.edu with any questions

2006-07-19T16:08:00.000-07:00

This is Tanesha and I at La Yahoushua School, where ASAP donated many books and supplies. Here we are presenting the books to Theodora, the schoolmistress. She was amazing, even going to the bookstore with us to pick out what she thought would be best.

The children at the school danced for us, and there was much to celebrate!

Here is a classroom at the school...not too shabby!

This student wrote and recited a poem for us called "My Book"

It was very moving and also quite hilarious. We encountered many of these mixed emotions on the trip. Do you laugh? Do you cry? Do you give up? Do you set new goals....(yes!)

This is Tanesha (Miami) and Kenneth (from NYU study abroad) at La Yahoushua having a great time watching the dancing, singing, and poetry.

2006-07-19T15:42:00.000-07:00

Almost the end of the summer! Guess its time to put up some pictures from the trip to Ghana - which was amazing and I only wish everyone could have been there with Tanesha and I.

This picture is from Mole National Park...yes we were THAT close to the elephants.

Our guide had a gun, just in case the elephant charged, and i thought it would look like one of those ads against killing elephants for ivory if the gun was in front. It almost turned out as planned...

Green monkeys, babboons, pumba...all running amok

Chare village

Toys

more elephants!!! just to make things interesting

Gail with someone from Chare.

KIDS!

The head guy at Sunta Nunnta...wearing a smock that is very traditional garb for the North. This was an agricultural commune, which also had a pre-school that I completely fell in love with. It has alot of potential....

Thats all for now, more to come!

Ghana 2006

2006-05-09T16:59:00.000-07:00

In four days, Tanesha White and Meredith Poff (thats me!) will be embarking on a journey around Ghana. We have about $1400 for curriculum based textbooks, and a few hundred pounds of supplies. For the first 2 weeks of the trip, we will travel with Professor Gail Dela Pianna all over the country, and then for about 4 days we will be located in Accra. The school that NYU study abroad in Ghana picked out for ASAP and for their own service project is called La Yahoushua Primary and Secondary school. They have a heavily underfunded Primary school, and about 500 students in total. This school will be the recipient of this year's collection of supplies and books, and during the 2 weeks of travel we will be able to assess the feasibility of doing future projects in other various parts of Ghana. Tanesha and I are thrilled to be representatives for ASAP, the US, and Miami U. - especially because Ghana is such an amazing country to visit.

During the course of the semester, we brought in a speaker (arnold zack), we showed a documentary (the peacekeepers), we secured a scholarship for 2 years, and worked with other various organizations to bring a more culturally diverse and aware atmosphere to Miami's campus (i hope).

As president, my goals for next semester include:

- focusing recruitment on people who have a passion for African affairs
- bringing in 2 Lost Boys of Sudan
- inspiring as many as possible with our trip debriefing and buffet
- contacting another University and perhaps starting an ASAP chapter there (OSU, UC, Dayton???)
- working more closely with the NYU chapter to share ideas and energy
- create a more concrete process of sending students to Africa, and perhaps try a new country if the contacts we have seem safe and reliable
- host a lecture at Hall Auditorium (Dan Mozena)
- smoothly transitioning an effective executive board who is committed and capable of steering the organization towards sustainable growth and keeps the spirit alive

I truly believe that these goals are attainable with the help of all of ASAP's members and supporters. If anyone has any feedback, let me know pleeeaaasseeeeee kthanx

So TJ doesnt forget again...

2006-02-04T12:06:00.000-08:00

Here's us randomly being at the same place at the same time.

Hopefully I'll have many fun pictures from the ASAP meet and greet tonight!!

party hard in 2k5 while it lasts

2005-11-26T22:57:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I should start bringing my camera to more ASAP things, because I feel as if this webpage needs more frequent updates!!! Here are some rather incriminating pictures from TJ's "asap party"

Keep in mind, most of these people aren't actually involved in ASAP( just other friends who showed up), but apparently they do give good massages? Just ask TJ.

This next one should come with a PG rating.

Alyssa and Meredith...I swear she didnt beat me (Meredith) at Fooseball.

Ah, what a good night...those are all of the pictures I have though.

Should we have another party next semester sometime? Maybe ill even open up my house as an option...

Ghana 2005

2005-06-08T13:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to the African School Advancement Program of Miami University Blog!

I am thrilled to bring you the pictures from our first trip to Africa. Created in the Fall of 2004, ASAP has accomplished great things in just two semesters. First I would like to start with some background information on the group.

Our goals include:
1) Advancing Education in sub-saharan Africa
2) Promoting cross-cultural awareness among students on campus

Tj Bittel created the group at Miami after starting it in his high school. He took a trip to senegal with the first supplies he collected, and was eager to begin again in college.

On with the pictures!

Here we (TJ and Meredith) are at Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport, rarin' to go!

After we got there, I wanted a shower...and TJ, as i found out, has a tendency to try and be productive and ends up doing more of this...

The first day, tuesday...or was it monday? I got really confused...anyways, we changed over our dollars to cedi. A ton of Cedi.

With Phil as our trusty guide, we managed to deliver the 5 boxes we brought on the plane to the school via a taxi pretty early in the day. Phil is TJ's friend who studied abroad with the NYU program in Accra. Here is Phil, guiding us on a path to the computers at the NYU classrooms so we could email our parents back home. As you can see, there is a big problem with littering and the water in the stream along the path is heavily polluted. Most of the people drink sachel water, which is sold everywhere along the roads.

After we arrived at the Elimina Cluster of schools, we talked with Janet Nugor, the proprietress, and set up tables to unload the supplies. She then gave us a list of other items which could be purchased in the market with the donated money that we brought over.

Heading back to Accra, we set up lodging in the Gye Nyame Hotel. The people were very friendly, and we were pleased to feel air conditioning and take showers.

The next day, we went to a bookstore and searched around for the correct textbooks for the school's curriculum.

After we pretty much cleaned that store out of science and math books, we headed to the market to find the remaining Junior Secondary School Science and Math books.

It was here in Makola Market that we got a chance to experience the day to day bartering and had time to converse with many different Ghanaians. One in particular was named Cynthia, and she actually helped me pick out fabric for a dress I had made to fit me all in less than 2 hours!

Here is the food that we had for lunch in a little cafe. It had an amazing view of the market below.

Even though we had spent about 4 hours in the market dealing with all sorts of people and different stores, we came away quite successful.

Here are some of the schools in the immediate area around the school we donated to. TJ and I were pretty down after the "tour" we took, seeing as most of them had less than adequate rooms and books for sure. Then again, it was good motivation!

With the remaining time, TJ and I decided to take a trip out to some more rural parts of Ghana. It was well worth the bumpy trip, and i will never forget the AMAZING beach we ended up at (thanks to Phil's directions and the friendly people in Ghana).

These were taken at the Green Turtle Lodge. It is located to the west of Accra. Along with just relaxing at the beach for a day or so, we stopped at several coastal locations to sightsee and soak in the local flavor.

After our intriguing talks with south africans and miscellaneous europeans at the lodge, we decided it was time to leave. With less than 3 days left, we agreed that there was much more of Ghana to see. The south african gold miner drove us to a nearby town with a catholic church, and i coaxed TJ into attending the service. On the hike up a rather large hill, we encountered some exremely cute kids. I was seriously impressed by how much water these kids could carry on their heads.

Here I am in front of the church....extremely hot and pretty hungry...and not all that aware of the fact that im in for a 3 hour mass. We had to leave early, but I thought it was a pretty cool experience. Yea, about that language barrier stuff.

Our next stop was Cape Coast. We spent a pretty good chunk of time wandering around looking for food and some site seeing spots, and eventually, with the help of a random guy that insisted on walking with us, found the Cape Coast Castle.

The castle had a pretty interesting/sad tour and museum, but at this point I was getting pretty travel weary....heavy bag....ahem.

kind of hard to see, but this is the "Door of No Return". It opens out onto the shore with the fishing boats and many scantily clad people in this day, but back in the slave trading days it was the last thing the people saw before getting onto the boat to leave. The tour guide amusingly stated that we in fact would be allowed to return for the conclusion of the tour. ha ha ha.

After the castle tour, we took a cab to a hotel and ate dinner on a stilt restaurant with some crocs and birds around. There is a nice picture of me after dinner looking extremely pleased at the lack of a locked bathroom, AC, and consistent power. Needless to say I wont scare you all with that one, but the jungle looking picture is from the next morning. On the edge of Kakum National Forest, we did the well known canopy walk. I was hesitant, but very glad that i decided to go.

Since we woke up around 530, I was relieved to be on a rather nice bus back to Accra, and then say bye to Phil as he embarked on his trip to europe.

me...filming stuff

A billboard that says Aids Is Real...right next to one of Kelly Rowland from Destinies Child.

Ok, for some reason I was surprised that the billboards didnt have white people. Seriously, it was one of the first things that I noticed when we got there. I got used to it, but it was one of those reminders that I wasnt "in kansas anymore".

We are very grateful to those who donated time, energy, and money to make our trip amazingly successful AND fun. None of this would have been possible without ASG funding, schools who donated supplies, and many charitable people. We wish you could have been there to see all of the smiling children and teachers, but hope that this website can be a means through which you can know in your heart that you have changed the world.