June 29, 2011
A ride from Deme
Reclaiming The Morning
June 27, 2011
Last Week Here!
June 26, 2011
Some Good Hiking
Week One
June 24, 2011
Market Day
McColins Fieldtrip
In Your Own Words
June 23, 2011
Last Week
Peace Corps and Medical School
June 22, 2011
The Achievers School
The first couple days, what was really fun was teaching the kids songs from our childhood. On the first day we taught them so many games from our pre-school days. A crowd favorite was definitely ring-around-the-rosie. The next day I even saw three little four year olds trying to play it by themselves. They didn't really know the song yet so they would just walk in a circle holding hands and every once in a while fall down. They also love head shoulders knees and toes. They start to sing it almost every break time. It has also been fun learning the songs that they sing. One of my favorite's is one where the teach will yell something out and then they'll yell something back at her enthusiastically, then they'll all jump around and bump butts together. They go crazy for that song.
I am really excited to continue working at The Achievers School. I am also excited to continue to help them when I get back home. Even on the first day I began thinking about how I really want to look into getting them some good books that help with learning penmanship. These kids inspire me in how they come to this little two room school everyday to learn with the biggest smiles on their faces.
Teaching at the Achiever's School
During the week I work at the Achiever's School located in Ho with Julie Favorito (another volunteer). The first day I went to the school it was a bit shocking. I had seen two other schools in Ghana before coming to to the Achiever's school and this school was far different from any school I had ever seen before. It is located in the front yard of someone's house. It is two tiny little rooms with a white board in each room, about 6 tables, some chairs, and a few books on one of the tables. There are holes in the walls that chickens come in through during class and when the kids want to go to the bathroom they walk right out the door and go. The schools has about 20 students.
On our first day the head teacher, Gloria, put us right to work. The first classroom has children ages 2-4 in it. The second classroom has children ranging from 4-7 years old. The second teacher, Precious, comes in late so Gloria left us with the older kids for the first 1.5 hours and told us to teach whatever we wanted. At the time we had no idea of their capabilities or how the classroom was run but we did our best. There were a bunch of words written on the white board so we went through the words and practiced pronunciation and spelling. The kids were very timid on the first day and barely spoke in class. However, once it got to break time they would not stop touching us. We went outside to play with them but we found that they did not even really want to play with us all they wanted to do was touch us. About ten children circled around both Julie and I fighting over who got to old our hands. The ones that weren't able to hold our hands held onto our legs or arms. In order to get some air and avoid any injuries Julie and I sang every song we could think of for them. We did dances for them and found that they really enjoyed sitting in a circle and practicing making different animal noises. Because of our skin color, we were so new to them. They were so intrigued by us that at any moment I could catch three students just staring at me.
Today was the fourth time at the school for me. Things have definitely changed as they have gotten to know me and Julie. They are no longer shy and quiet in the classroom. Their regular teachers hit them or at least threaten to hurt them if they act out of line. They have quickly learned that we will not lay a hand on them no matter how much they act up. Because of this they have become a lot harder to control in the classroom when one of the teachers is not around. We have come up with some useful tactics but it is still one of the most difficult parts of teaching them. On a positive note, we have definitely began to understand each of the students capabilities and we are able to create lessons that will be helpful to both the four year old in the classroom as well as the 7 year old. We have been focusing a lot on the sounds of the letters in the alphabet. They can recite the alphabet perfectly, however, we have found that they do not understand what the letters mean and the sounds that they make. We are trying to teach them the sounds of the letters and build up to reading simple words once they understand the sounds. It feels good because I think they are all starting to understand it!
June 21, 2011
24 Hour Drive
Linda!
June 16, 2011
Market Day
After telling me all about his faith, his work at his church, how his father was a Presbyterian pastor, etc, he asked what fellowship or church I belonged to. Actually, I said, I'm Jewish. That sparked a new conversation where we discusses how Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all very similar (camp if finally payed off). I would really like to attend a church service, especially a "crusade," which, as he described it, is an outdoor church service, and from what I heard can get very rowdy, even violent with the mass mentality that goes on as the preacher shouts to his public. I think they're a weekly thing so hopefully I'll get to witness that. (Oh, and apparently Livingston runs an a cappella group at his church, so of course I have to see that).
The highlight of the day was that it was market day. Basically thousands of people set up there stalls in a maze like area of land that starts on the main street and winds up at a tro tro station. A pack of us went to check it out, and luckily ran into a few McCollin teachers while we were there, so they guided us along and made sure we weren't lost in the heaps of tomatoes and piles of fish and stacks of fabric and endless rows of necklaces and spices and bread. Everyone wanted the yevu at their stalls, so we moved slowly, but we found lots of trinkets and made some friends along the way. Can't wait to go back next week.
Our weekend excursion for this week is starting early (4am tomorrow morning), and we won't be back until Tuesday, so I'll be incommunicado until then (mom). It involves about 24 hours of driving both ways, but we end up in Mole National Park, where we'll (hopefully) see some wild elephants and sleep in a tree house and do some hiking. Sneakers and bug spray are a must!
-Anna
You Kids Make Me Feel So Young
Analog Blog
As many of you are probably aware, very few people in Ghana are familiar with hockey, let alone even know what it is. Given that the Bruins are in their first Stanley Cup since the first Bush was in office this presents a considerable problem for a Bay Stater. With the Bruins down 3-2 in the series going into game 6 on Monday night it was imperative for my buddy, Liam, and I to watch the game. Our first thought was to go to the Vodafone internet cafe and attempt to stream the game; however, because of the four hour time difference from MA to Ghana the puck wouldn't drop here until after midnight when the Cafe is closed. We do have a 3G connection so we scoured Google (searched "watch Stanley Cup in Ghana" and scanned the first two pages of results) but to no avail. Liam posted a question on Yahoo Answers asking if anyone knew how to watch the Stanley Cup in Ghana but those fascists at Yahoo promptly took it down without explanation. At this point we were lost, frustrated, and filled with unadulterated rage. We resigned ourselves to streaming the radio and painting mental pictures of the game.
12:15: The Puck Drops.
We listen to the first few minutes of the game when I Was suddenly struck by the most fantastic realization since Newton's lame-ass apple. Big Daddy Straus has Slingbox. So I called his ass in the States and told him to hook a sucka up with some Bruins. Big Daddy Straus obliged. We had to say our location was Spain because Slingbox, those profit-driven Capitalist thugs, decided it would be more cost effective to not cover any of the African continent. Through this means, though, we were able to watch he Bruins on a comically small and terribly pixelated screen for nearly three hours. It was great.
Game 7 in four hours.
June 14, 2011
Six Days = Forever
This is what has happened since I last Blogged:
Saturday - We took a 7 hour tro tro ride to the Cape Coast. We took one tro tro to Accra, the capital of Ghana, then waited for the next tro tro (for 2 hours) to take us to the Cape Coast. In total, a brutal 7 hour trip. Once we arrived at the Cape Coast, though, we dropped our things at the guest house (which had running water past 7 pm! and a real bed!) and went to the slave castle. It was really interesting and extremely depressing but it started to rain in the middle of the tour. After the tour, we shopped for a bit and as we decided to head home, the rain turned into a downpour. We decided to hide under a hut outside of the shops to wait out the rain. THEN a bunch of the Ghanaian workers gathered to play the drums. It was so magical. Then I decided to go dance in the rain. Once a few other volunteers joined me, everyone joined and it became a huge dance drum jam party!! It was the best thing... EVER. We then walked home in the rain because we were soked from dancing and stopped at this bar called the Peace Ghetto. We were all in such a good mood and the people at the Peace Ghetto were so nice. It was the perfect ending to the most magical night :)
Sunday - We woke up made early to go the rain forest and take a canopy walk. It was incredible how high up we were. I have a butt load of pictures that I will upload to show you all. it was very fun. Then we took another 7 hour tro tro trip back home. It was brutal yet again. But we had a really nice meal under the stars when we returned to Ho :)
Monday (Today) - We didn't have the eye clinic today so we went to an elementary school and helped build a building. We carried mud bricks on our heads! Like the people that sell stuff on the streets! I felt like a Ghanaian. Then we hung out with the kids and they gave us a beautiful dance/drum show. They were so talented and energetic. I loved it, it was yet again very magical. My teacher from school, Billbob Brown, and fellow dance majors would have been so proud :) I will upload photos from that too!
Construction In Saviefe Deme Well On Its Way
It's been just over a week and a half since construction began in Saviefe Deme, and what used to be a small clearing of land dotted with trees has already been transformed into the first stages of a new school building. I'm amazed at how much can be accomplished by a determined group of people without the use of any modern construction equipment. As one Ghanaian put it "In the US you use machine power to build, here we use man power" Equally as important to the "man power" this farmer spoke of, is grandma power. I find myself in competition with women in their 60's and 70's, trying to match the enormous loads they carry balanced on their heads without the slightest sign of strain or effort. Once during an all too brief moment of satisfaction I thought I had finally out done the old women by carrying a 50kg bag of cement on my head, only to have my pride shattered when a particularly aged woman shuffled by me carrying the same load with an enormous grin on her face. Perhaps a lifetime of eating banku has given her bones of steel, maybe Erickson has concocted a new brand of akpeteshie infused with HGH, or maybe I'm just having a hard time coming face to face with the fact that a woman three times my age could probably bench press me in her sleep. Either way a group of these women would be a force to be reckoned with on any construction site.
Weekend Excursion 6/5 - Tafi, Afadjato, Wli
Last weekend we went on our first excursion. There were ten of us, and our first stop was Tafi, the monkey sanctuary. While the Mona monkeys are still wary they have become accustomed to people, and offering a banana is a sure way to make peace. Our guide, Cherubine, called the monkeys as we walked through the forest and sure enough a good dozen appeared out of the trees. Some were shy, some were bold, but all of them were hungry.
After Tafi we headed to Mt. Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana. While the hike takes only 30 – 45 minutes the constant, severe slope makes it a satisfying summit. Without a single person turning back, this was the largest group of volunteers we have had successfully make it to the top.
After descending we quickly made our way to Wli, home to the largest waterfall in West Africa. It is a stunning site, and a refreshing relief after Mt. Afadjato. The volunteers unanimously agreed this to be their favorite of the three stops and as we left many bought carvings, paintings, and necklaces from the local shops to close out the day.
June 13, 2011
The First Ten Days
Day 1!
This morning the eye clinic didn't meet, so we all went to the McCollin school to meet the kids, got destroyed in a game of soccer against them, and helped build some new goal posts. We also got to play with the babies, who have an infinite amount of energy and will hold your hand anytime they can reach it. They fed us, and one of the directors took us on a tour around the school, so we got to see gorgeous views and walk through corn fields. I still can't believe I forgot my camera.
Bugs haven't been bad yet. It's just the heat. They keep filtered water in these .5 liter plastic bags that you just bite a corner off of and drink to your heart's content. It's a great way to keep hydrated, but since I'm drinking .5 liters everytime I'm thirsty, I have to pee all the time. There's one computer with internet in the house, but it's really slow, so I'm going to try to blog whenever I come to the internet cafe, which isn't far, but it's an excursion (but there's ac here, which is a huge motivation).
This weekend we're going to Cape Coast, so you'll here about that soon. Mia do go!
Anna