Friday, May 25, 2012

School

I have spent the last two days working with a 7th & 8th grade teacher named Daniel at a private school. Daniel has been teaching at this school for about 4 yrs with two years at a previous school. He is 28 yrs old and started teaching after finishing hi school. I have sat in and helped in three of his math classes, and two social studies. He is a very good teacher. Students are very well behaved in his class with a lot of participation. He has a jam packed room with near 50 students. I use the word "room" loosely-otherwise open air classrooms. The room has only one concrete wall about waist high and a thatched grass roof. Students sit in small wooden individual desks but these are all crammed in a small space. It is impossible for students to move around or get up unless really necessary.

Daniel rides his bike to school. When he was 9 yrs old, he moved to his Aunt's house so that he could do chores for her, thereby earning enough money to stay in school. His parents lived in another province. When Daniel teaches, he writes everything on the board. Students all copy the information as only a few have books. During the class, Daniel will write problems on the board, ask students for responses, calling on many different students. Students sit for long periods of time without moving. Different special teachers rotate to the students rather than the students moving. I am impressed with how attentive these students are. There is no disruptive behavior. I mean nothing!

I did notice that none of the students were wearing glasses. Daniel told me that the students with poor eyesight sit near the front. I guess most families here can't afford to buy glasses for their children. Many families here are large by American standards. Often, the parents have 7 or 8 children. The students wear uniforms and the tuition is $110 per year. Students often come to school with no breakfast but maybe buy something in the canteen but you should see the canteen. It is very minimal operation. As volunteers, we often walk to school and sometimes walk home. It takes about 30 minutes. We take a well worn path that meanders through the backyards of many different houses. All of these houses are quite basic but they do have electricity. You can see many cooking outside over a wood or charcoal flame. Everything around looks like red clay, no grass or gardens . You also see chickens and goats everywhere. A few sheep. Today, when I was teaching , a chicken flew across the front of me in the room. I have yet to use the lavatory but we were told we could only use it to "pee". Not sure why this was but didn't want to ask. hehe!


Hot here everyday. I have the A/C running all night. During the day, while at school, my shirt is wringing wet. No amount of deodorant does the job sufficiently. But I feel good and the students are great. They all talk softly but speak English, some better than others. I have met with the principal or headmaster who gave me the whole 12 yr history of the school. Senchi Ferry is a small area that doesn't really have any major markets or stores. You have to drive to the neighboring town to get most everything.

Not sure this that interesting to all of you but for me, even though it is a world apart, I am throughly enjoying it.

Sorry, for not having any photos yet. I brought the wrong adaptor for my iPad to download the photos and I have searched everywhere to no avail. I will add photos later when I get home.




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Volunteer teaching

May 23, 2012

I had my best day yet! Started off w/Breakfast which is a little different everyday-French toast today. Pam updated us on the timetable. Then Ann, Emily, and I were off for our daily jaunt with Samuel to the school. Now, we often see some of the same people as we meander through the so called path. Baby dogs and cats, goats always and some of the same people cooking breakfast. Along the way, a young student came up and said "Are you Roger?" . I said "yes," and then he proceed to tell me he meet me Saturday near the main road. I was amazed and didn't tell him I didn't remember, but that I would look for him at school. His name was Emanuel.

At the school, I immediately went to the 7th grade class because I didn't see Mr. Daniel. Some students were carrying chairs to another location. I asked why and they said mit was because they were going to have worship. I then followed them to another room, where both the 7th and the 8th graders were in one room. After a bit, some drums began beating, and students began singing and dancing. Some had such joy on their faces, pure ecstasy. Others danced in a line, their gyrations would put Elvis Presley to shame. Others reaching to the sky with their hands. It was probably similar to a Pentecostal revival service. I was very touched and moved by their total freedom to express themselves. Later they had sermon from one of the teachers at the school. This worship was for the whole school, so 4 other rooms were all doing the same.

Daniel, the teacher, had found me early in the worship, expressing concern for me. He is such a great guy. I feel so lucky to have worked with him. After the service, I sat with him, just talking about school things. Then at 10 AM, we went to math class. On the short walk, he told me I should teach the class. I mildly chastised him for giving me such short notice but I had prepared some material last night just in case. The first problem I gave the class was given a lukewarm response but the second problem was met with much more enthusiasm. By the third problem, they were in full participation mode. These were kind of trick problems, that made them think out side the box. I left them without telling them any answers, telling them they would have to wait for the next day.

The second group, social studies, was covering rights and duties of citizens. Daniel and I co-taught that class. He would write on the board and explain what it meant and I would give some specific examples and ask them questions about the meaning. It worked out great. I noticed that Daniel was moving away from the front of the room while speaking now too, which I think is important. Tomorrow, we may get an opportunity to take the whole class to the Health Clinic for Blood pressure checks.

In the afternoon, all the volunteers went back to the Library for a individual reading sessions with students. I have been helping a 10 year old boy named Fredrick. He is really a good reader and seems very intelligent. Today, he immediately found the book that he was reading the day before and the page. Generally, there are maybe two others that join us.

From the library, we took a van to the Bead Factory. It was about a 30 minute drive and on the way, we went through another town that seem to have a lot of shops. At one point, we turned onto a nondescript road. When we pass the pig sleeping in the road, I knew we were there.

The bead factory was like an oasis in the desert. Very calm and serene, an orchard of mango and date palm trees, grass in front of the very nice abodes. Mark spent lots of time with us, explaining all the details of making different beads. It was very informative. Later, we all went to the store to buy some jewelry. Some took longer than others deciding what to get while I waited outside talking to Mark and Samuel again. Nicholas drove us back to the guesthouse.

Dinner again at 7 pm. Now we found out no school on Friday, but I think we have adjusted to the place and flexibility is our inbred in our nature. After dinner, I went to my room, quite tired yet it was only 8 pm. Good night.


Thought for the Day : There but for the grace of God go I..
When it is time to leave this place, this job, this world, you make sure you have worked hard to make sure it mattered that you were ever here.



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Saturday, May 19, 2012

Accra, Ghana , Just Arrived

I left Portland Thursday afternoon with Delta Airlines, flying to Amsterdam, then on to Accra. My flight in Portland boarded early and it looked like we would get to Amsterdam an hour early, as the pilot announced that the prevailing winds would shorten our flying time by about an hour, so instead of 10 hours, it would be nine. That good news would be short lived, for just as we were to taxi to the runway, another announcement about a minor repair in one of the lavatories. The repair soon turned into a big deal. More and more repair guys keep coming but no one seemed to be able to fix the problem. Finally, after about an hour, they announced that the lavatory would be closed for the flight. Now, finally, after just sitting for an hour on the tarmac, we were off.

Most of the passengers on this flight were older adults flying to Europe to enjoy tours, cruises or just travel. Several around me were going on a bike tour, others wine tours in Italy, and some river cruises in Germany. Very few young people on board. Don't know if this is normal or not. The plane was an Airbus, which I thought was very noisy and the seat configuration was different. But the flight was smooth and we arrived in Amsterdam about 9:30 am.

I never had been to Amsterdam before, so I was eager to see the airport. I didn't sleep on the flight so I had reserved a room in the airport hotel. I decided I needed to first the hotel and sleep some. The Yotel(the name of hotel) was on the second level but clearly marked. I was shown my room and given an alarm clock so use for wakeup which was nice. The room was a small space but comfortable and quiet. I could sleep, watch tv, or shower. Couldn't ask for much more. The design reminded me of Ikea- simple but very functional.

My last flight was a little over 6 hours, arriving in Accra about 8 pm. On my flight, I sat next to a woman from Liberia who lives in Minneapolis, MN. She was very tired too. KLM airlines was nice and I think it was the first time I had used this airlines. Towards the end of the flight, the airline people start to pass out the Immigration and Custom forms. The Liberian woman didn't understand so I ended up filling out her form too. Some of the information I didn't know either but I gave my best guess. haha!

The Accra airport is quite antiquated. First you deplane using these portable steps that are not for the handicap. Then you walk into the main building. There is a very nice mural on the wall that added some culture to the building. Inside, the lines for Immigration were quite chaotic. I picked a line but true to form, it ended up to be a bad line. The immigration officer seem to be taking an intolerably long time with each passenger, so I spent about 40 minutes in this line before getting to the front. Then I noticed that I had mistakenly left the blue form in the plane. so I asked the line monitor if he could get me another blue form. He said to me " Are you carrying more than $10,000 USD? " I said "No". "Well, then you don't need the blue form". I didn't think he would be correct as the KLM people said we had to fill out both forms. But then the line monitor told me to go into the "diplomat" line. haha! So I did. That immigration officer was so nice. They finger print all your fingers and thumbs.And take a photo of course. First for that for me. Felt a little like a mug shot. haha! I found out too, that I didn't need the blue form and that they paid very little attention to anything you wrote on the white form.

Outside the airport, I looked for the hotel driver who was to pick me up. There must have been about 100 people holding up name signs, so I had to proceed slowly, scanning each sign. I never did see my name but I spotted the name of a fellow volunteer so I knew that this had to be my driver too. After verifying that he was really the right person and not a fake, he took me to the van. Along the way, he two other young local Ghanians accompanied us. They began talking to me in a heavy accent and talking very fast. I was understanding only about 10 % but I didn't ask for clarification because I knew they wanted something or selling something. At the van, they tried to tell me I should tip them for their expert advice. I didnt think they did anything, but they guy keep telling me how intelligent and strong I was. haha! I had read about all kinds of scams that can occur in Ghana, so I thought this must be like that. Finally, I decided I would give him $1 USD, because I thought maybe he would go away. When I pulled out my money, he saw that I had a 5 and 20 too, so he immediately told me that I should give him the 5 as they don't use $1 in Ghana. That is when I told me 'bye" and ended up giving him nothing.

I knew Roberta from Pittsburg was arriving 20 minutes later then me so I had planned to wait for her at the airport, then we could both go to the hotel together. The airport driver went back to find her. A little later he came out and told me that he would take me to the hotel and then come back for her. I told him "no" and that we would continue to wait. He goes back to look for her and then later returns without her. Now, he tells me , she didn't come. I didn't think that was true, so I took the sign with her name and went back myself to look for her. Finally, she came. I knew it would take her a long time to go through security. We rode back to the hotel together.

Don't know if I will get another time to post an entry while in Ghana or not because I am going to a more rural area. Also, I realize now I brought the wrong attachment to download my photos to my iPad. Darn!


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