If You Build It, They Will Come

(Photos: T-Poly classroom, entering T-Poly, the DREP Sign, my office, the HND Block where my office is located, the crafts and diploma side of the campus, one of the smaller classrooms, the T-Poly radio station, my project coordinator Razak, the toilet I reallyhate)

After some delay, things at Tamale Polytechnic have swung into full gear. Students have returned to register for classes and lectures are set to begin next week. The increased traffic around campus has been really motivating and already there are 40 students signed up for the Entrepreneurship Club. We are anticipating a group of approx. 60! I have really enjoyed meeting all of the students who have come by to register; their enthusiasm to get involved is very inspiring. I’m hoping to get the E-Club involved in implementing some of the public awareness campaign as well so we will be very busy planning events, visiting the secondary schools, and spreading the spirit of entrepreneurship.

Hopefully the pictures I’ve posted can help you visualize the T-Poly campus. T-Poly is located on Education Ridge, a large area near the stadium where a number of training colleges and post secondary schools are located. The school offers tertiary (marketing, accounting, general management etc.) and non-tertiary courses (welding, fashion design, carpentry, etc.). As you enter the campus, on the right side of the road, is the HND (Higher National Diploma) Block where the tertiary courses are delivered. My office is located on the second floor of the block. The other side of the road features all of the craft and diploma (non-tertiary) buildings, the digital tech centre, the library, the central administration block, and all of the outdoor b-ball and v-ball courts.

An interesting thing that evolved from the advertisements for the E-Club has been a number of members of the community, particularly past T-Poly students, who have expressed interest in becoming involved. I had a hairdresser from the market near T-Poly come visit me on behalf of the micro-enterprise owners in the market to find out if they could join the club. I also had a local teacher from a nearby village come to me to see if I had some resources to share with him for the entrepreneurship training he conducts in his village. I am excited to see that there is a general interest within the community to learn more about entrepreneurship.

In one week the Canadian High Commissioner is due to visit Tamale and he will be dropping by T-Poly to see the school and learn more about the DRE Project. The timing is perfect because one of the PMT members from the Nova Scotia Agricultural College, Mike Wyse, will also be here for the visit. Mike and I will then be travelling north to visit Bolgatanga Polytechnic and begin some promotional work there.