I have found love in Africa, and I proclaim it proudly. 35 children who call me Madam have won my heart. Everytime they see me approaching the school, they race towards me and attack me with one massive group hug. (I invite you to make an image of this in your head: tall obruni in the middle of this circle of 4-10 year old Ghanaian children haha). When I enter the class, ie. walk into the courtyard of the housing compound, I am greeted formally with, "Good morning Madam Annabelle. You are welcome Madam."
And I reply, "Good Morning. How are you this morning?"
"I am fine. Thank you Madam. How are you?"
"I am also fine. Thank you." And class begins.
I have 9 students between the ages of 5-8. With a school of only 4 classes, and childen ranging from 4-14 years, each class has children of all levels of understanding. This makes teaching difficult. Some kids can answer the math set all correct in under 5 mins, whereas other children in the same class take 10 mins to just copy the problems. I taught for 4 weeks, and it was only until the third week that I started understanding what each kid needed and I figured out how to be a somewhat effective teacher with the time and resources that I had. It is unfortunate that only a week after I had figured all this out, it was time for me to leave!
I definitely saw improvement and learning in the time that I was there, but I also hit a couple frustrating dead-ends. Maybe the students felt more comfortable asking questions because I wouldn't lash them (although after being in the village over a month, I can sort of understand the lashing, although I'm no advocate of the practice). I wanted them to learn and not memorize their maths and English. They memorize their multiplication tables and they memorize 3 letter words for example. But if you ask them something outside of their memorized curriculum, they are just baffled. They know their multiples of 2, but when I ask, "If 2x6 is 12, what is 6x2?" They look at me utterly perplexed and say, "Madam, that number is too big! We don't know the multiples of 6 yet!" And I say, "It is the same as 2x6! You are not thinking!" (Yes, I am surprisingly stern with these children). And we go over it on the board and they pretend to understand, because the next day they definitely don't remember the lesson from before. Frustrating I tell you!
Other days there are breakthroughs. One of my students after 3 weeks of doing addition problems, FINALLY realized that any number plus 0 equals the same number-- 7+0= 7, 3+0= 3, etc. What a happy day for me (and him of course)! Or when one of my students was able to draw out 3x3 all on his own to get the answer 9. The question is now, will they remember this for next semester? I cannot be sure.
My class proved very challenging because I was attempting to teach them basic maths and basic English; however, English is not their first language, adding another obstacle to teaching. The older classes are easier to teach because they already understand the basics. Their new knowledge builds on this understanding that they acquired earlier. I'm teaching my kids what addition is, what subtraction is, what English is-- the letters, the sounds, essentially phonics. I am far from complaining. In fact, I'm bragging. I love these kids and although they frustrated the hell out of me sometimes (most times? lol), at the end of each day they got something out of coming to school as did I. The hope is that they learn something everyday, although I cannot promise that happens with each day. It is important each day that we have offered these kids an alternative to their daily lives. These kids would not be going to school if Kwame (pronounced Kwah-may) had not started this NGO. These kids would be begging in the streets, selling goods in the marketplace, or selling water atop their heads on the road. In fact, some children still go to work in the market after school. The families don't have money to send their children to school, so they put them to work at a young age. Or maybe if they are too young to work, the mother can go to the market while the 4 year old babysits the 1 year old.
These kids have responsibilities beyond their years. Not only do they take it and accept it, they manage it. It's no big deal to them. It's just the way things are. This school is an attempt to break the cycle of this village-- Women having too many children, men leaving them, and women raising their children ready to work towards the family income. Without education, these children are raised with no higher expectation than to work in the markets, or sell food on the street, which is what their mothers do. One mother sells hot corn on the side of the road. 25 cents a cob. She has 6 children and no husband. How does she feed them? These are the types of families that we are bringing education to. We hope to give these children options when they are older. They do not need to be condemned because they do not have the money for education.
The school is expanding. Right now they are building a school outside of the village so the students can have their own campus. Ultimately, the plan is to have 12 classrooms, and to make it a boarding school. Quite honestly, I think they will have a better time boarding than at home. I've visited the students in their homes and there is very little joy. The kids who are the first to hug me in the morning, treat me like a stranger in their home. They don't speak and they don't even smile. It breaks my heart.
What is also important about them coming to school, is that they get attention. They get love and people care about them outside of their families. Like all families, some are more proactive than others in their childrens lives. I feel most of the parents work so hard to get the little money they earn that they do not have the time or energy to engage their children other than feed them. So when the kids come to school, people listen, people care, and they have fun with the other children. This school attempts to change the lives of children in the village, but they expand with hopes of reaching children outside their village as well. I'm so privileged to be a part of it!
Ghana. It's one big dance. I came here thinking I already knew the choreography, the rhythm, and the beat, but I proved too confident. When I left Ghana last year, I knew all the moves-- walk the walk and talk the talk. When I returned, I realized I had lost my "rhythm" and would have to gain it back. I was a dancer who had taken a year off and was now returning. I KNEW all the moves, but it would take some time to FEEL the music and move naturally once again. When everyone else is dancing around you, you must re-learn quickly or else you are a hindrance to the other dancers.
It took me 4 weeks to get back into the "swing" of Ghana. Like I said, I needed to re-feel the rhythm. I thought I knew how to avoid getting sick (hand sanitizer in my purse!), knew how to avoid getting robbed (zip your bag, keep it close), and knew how to survive Ghana (keep a kerchief as a sweat rag, bring toilet paper everywhere, always carry cash, pleasantries will get you far, etc.) but even this time round, I had lessons to learn. I needed to get sick, and get over it. Needed to get scammed, then get over it. I came knowing the culture, but now I leave understanding the culture.
I feel that now that I am once again fully comfortable and confident, people on the street don't harass me as much. Maybe I'm imagining it, but the people who sell on the street want to target new obrunis who they can rip off because they don't know any better. Vendors barely even approach me anymore and maybe that's because I have this aura about me that suggests, "I know what's up. I live here. Don't even try to mess with me." Hahah I don't know, but maybe.
So it takes 4 weeks to get resettled. And I leave week 5. Time is too short! Well I guess I should mention here that I missed my flight on Monday, and gained another week. Totally NOT my intention! And actually completely screwed up the rest of my summer plans. I finally was mentally prepared to leave, but now I have another week! Blessing or curse? What to do, what to do!
So next time I return I'll be really REALLY ready for Ghana! I got this! Haha
See you back in the States,
Annabelle
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Oh, the Good Times!
Since I last wrote, I've managed to accomplish the two things that I was avoiding most in Ghana-- a visit to the hospital and being robbed. Both occurances happened last time, under different circumstances, and obviously I did not return to the States disillusioned. I returned to Ghana wiser than before definitely, but apparently not wise enough! (Maybe by NEXT time I'll have learned all my lessons haha).
So we'll start with the hospital experience because that happened 2 weeks ago. On Sunday July 10, I woke with my stomach hurting and I couldn't eat. I felt if I eat I would throw up, so I decided to let the pain go away and eat later. Fortunately, Saturday night I slept at my (American) friend Therese's place. She is staying with her boyfriend's sister, Jade, and the sister is a nurse. So finally late Sunday, Jade forced me to take food because I hadn't eaten that day. I was hesitant at first, but it's hard to decline a Ghanaian's offer to feed you. That's just rude! So yes I ate some stew, and yes, 5 minutes later you found my face in the toilet. That lasted a while until Jade said she was taking me to her hospital. I was very weak. I could barely walk from the car to the door.
The way that Ghanaian hospitals work will forever baffle me. I had to bring my own sheets for the bed. I had to bring my own soap for the bathroom. My own towel. I even brought my own toilet paper, but it turns out that's the ONE thing they provide beside the medicine! haha So I get hooked up to the IV, get a couple shots, one in the butt. You know the drill. It was very reminiscent of last year, except this was better-- they found the right vein for the IV on the first try, versus the 4 times it took last year. So it was a great improvement!
I was in hospital for 24 hours. So compared to the 3 days I spent last year, this was much better. I was diagnosed with Gastritus. They believe the school lunches might have basically poisoned me over time. Or maybe it was the street food I've been eating since I arrived? Honestly, it could be any number of causes, but they are sure it was not food poisoning from ONE dish, but developed over a week or so. Well that's reassuring! But not really...
Although I left the hospital Monday evening, I was not able to be a full functioning person until the next Sunday. So 7 days I was bedridden. Compared to the 2 weeks last year spent recovering, 6 days is great! But I don't have that time to spare! Being here only 5 weeks, that cuts a whole week out of my trip! Since then I've been teaching at the school and eating lots of food. I wasn't able to hold food down until Thursday. So I'm trying to make up for it.
Now for my pickpocket story-- On my way to school on Wednesday, I was waiting at the tro tro stop. It was 9am and a shared taxi pulled up and asked where I was going. (Shared taxis in Ghana are very common. It's an alternative form of transportation to tro tros. It's just a little more money because they are faster and take fewer people). So I said my stop and they told me to get in. The car had two passengers-- a woman in the back seat with me and a man in the passenger seat. So we're driving and the driver asks again where I'm going. I repeat my destination, and he says "Oh sorry, we are not going there. I misheard you. I will drop you at this tro tro stop." He pulled over at the stop and I'm pissed cuz he wasted my time. I pull out my wallet to give him a quarter, but the passengers said in Twi something like "You're not taking her to her stop, she shouldn't pay." So after they grumbled that, the driver said quickly, "Oh, no no. You do not need to pay. My mistake." I'm surprised at this because usually taxi drivers will take any money you are willing to offer. But I accepted this, and put my wallet back in my bag. At this point the tro tros are honking at the taxi to get out of their way. So he moves forward a few hundred yards. I try to open the door but it is stuck. The driver is leaning over to "help" me open the door. He's giving me directions like "pull from the outside, push here, no not there" etc. My purse is in my lap, unzipped. I should have taken this stuck door as a RED FLAG, but I didn't. I was just pissed at their incompetence. So finally the man in the passenger seat gets out to open my door and it opens. I get out and as the car drives off, I hear giggling from the car. "Hmm, that's strange" I think to myself. First thing I do is check for my wallet. It is gone. A slur of curse words go through my head. I check again. Yep, they took my wallet. I was SO played!
It was all a setup. The driver, passenger, and woman in the backseat, they were all in on it together. As the driver "helped" me with the door, the woman leaned over to take my wallet. I was so preoccupied with trying to open the door I failed to notice. And the driver, once the woman had taken my wallet, finally asks the "passenger" to get out and open the door from the outside. All a scam. I see all the signs clearly now. But now I know, and I have learned. It was a lessen that cost $30, but it could have been more. A lot more. And for this, I am lucky.
Lucky for the scammers, I brought extra money this day because I knew I was going to be paying my dress maker later. Win for them. But I also had my camera in my bag, and thankfully they did not take that. I think I would have noticed the loss in weight in my purse if they did! Inconveniently my ID and ATM cards were in there as well, but that is all.
The ultimate relief is that yesterday I took out $275 from the ATM as part of a donation to the school that I am teaching. I had the money in my wallet this morning, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable transporting it to school. So I took it out and left it in my room. THANK GOD! The students would have been left without the funds that could go SUCH a long way for them!
I left the taxi feeling so PLAYED. I was a little shaken up to say the least. I called Therese on the verge of tears just because I couldn't believe what had happened, how played I was, and ultimately naive! I was left with no money to get home, let alone to the school, so I walked home about 30 minutes. I didn't want to trust anyone, talk to anyone, nothing. I just wanted to blow off some steam by walking home. I was SO played! I kept on going over it in my head. Yes, there were warning signs. Yes I thought some things were odd, but I assumed the driver's stupidity, rather than my own naivete! Ah! So the joke is on me.
Oh well. The recurring motto from all this is you live and you learn. Last year when I got my wallet stolen, I had about $50 and all my cards in it, ID, everything. But this time round I only had my ID and ATM. And even these, I just put back in my wallet after I left the hospital. (I wasn't carrying my ID or ATM when I went to the hospital which was an issue, so I decided to put them back). I learned from my last experience, and I will learn from this experience. When a door is stuck in the taxi, this will be an immediate warning sign. You live and you learn.
On another note. I love the school and the children that I work with each day. I will update you all with my daily routine once I get over the shock of being robbed. So you'll be hearing from me within a week, which is when I return!
Talk to you soon!
Annabelle
So we'll start with the hospital experience because that happened 2 weeks ago. On Sunday July 10, I woke with my stomach hurting and I couldn't eat. I felt if I eat I would throw up, so I decided to let the pain go away and eat later. Fortunately, Saturday night I slept at my (American) friend Therese's place. She is staying with her boyfriend's sister, Jade, and the sister is a nurse. So finally late Sunday, Jade forced me to take food because I hadn't eaten that day. I was hesitant at first, but it's hard to decline a Ghanaian's offer to feed you. That's just rude! So yes I ate some stew, and yes, 5 minutes later you found my face in the toilet. That lasted a while until Jade said she was taking me to her hospital. I was very weak. I could barely walk from the car to the door.
The way that Ghanaian hospitals work will forever baffle me. I had to bring my own sheets for the bed. I had to bring my own soap for the bathroom. My own towel. I even brought my own toilet paper, but it turns out that's the ONE thing they provide beside the medicine! haha So I get hooked up to the IV, get a couple shots, one in the butt. You know the drill. It was very reminiscent of last year, except this was better-- they found the right vein for the IV on the first try, versus the 4 times it took last year. So it was a great improvement!
I was in hospital for 24 hours. So compared to the 3 days I spent last year, this was much better. I was diagnosed with Gastritus. They believe the school lunches might have basically poisoned me over time. Or maybe it was the street food I've been eating since I arrived? Honestly, it could be any number of causes, but they are sure it was not food poisoning from ONE dish, but developed over a week or so. Well that's reassuring! But not really...
Although I left the hospital Monday evening, I was not able to be a full functioning person until the next Sunday. So 7 days I was bedridden. Compared to the 2 weeks last year spent recovering, 6 days is great! But I don't have that time to spare! Being here only 5 weeks, that cuts a whole week out of my trip! Since then I've been teaching at the school and eating lots of food. I wasn't able to hold food down until Thursday. So I'm trying to make up for it.
Now for my pickpocket story-- On my way to school on Wednesday, I was waiting at the tro tro stop. It was 9am and a shared taxi pulled up and asked where I was going. (Shared taxis in Ghana are very common. It's an alternative form of transportation to tro tros. It's just a little more money because they are faster and take fewer people). So I said my stop and they told me to get in. The car had two passengers-- a woman in the back seat with me and a man in the passenger seat. So we're driving and the driver asks again where I'm going. I repeat my destination, and he says "Oh sorry, we are not going there. I misheard you. I will drop you at this tro tro stop." He pulled over at the stop and I'm pissed cuz he wasted my time. I pull out my wallet to give him a quarter, but the passengers said in Twi something like "You're not taking her to her stop, she shouldn't pay." So after they grumbled that, the driver said quickly, "Oh, no no. You do not need to pay. My mistake." I'm surprised at this because usually taxi drivers will take any money you are willing to offer. But I accepted this, and put my wallet back in my bag. At this point the tro tros are honking at the taxi to get out of their way. So he moves forward a few hundred yards. I try to open the door but it is stuck. The driver is leaning over to "help" me open the door. He's giving me directions like "pull from the outside, push here, no not there" etc. My purse is in my lap, unzipped. I should have taken this stuck door as a RED FLAG, but I didn't. I was just pissed at their incompetence. So finally the man in the passenger seat gets out to open my door and it opens. I get out and as the car drives off, I hear giggling from the car. "Hmm, that's strange" I think to myself. First thing I do is check for my wallet. It is gone. A slur of curse words go through my head. I check again. Yep, they took my wallet. I was SO played!
It was all a setup. The driver, passenger, and woman in the backseat, they were all in on it together. As the driver "helped" me with the door, the woman leaned over to take my wallet. I was so preoccupied with trying to open the door I failed to notice. And the driver, once the woman had taken my wallet, finally asks the "passenger" to get out and open the door from the outside. All a scam. I see all the signs clearly now. But now I know, and I have learned. It was a lessen that cost $30, but it could have been more. A lot more. And for this, I am lucky.
Lucky for the scammers, I brought extra money this day because I knew I was going to be paying my dress maker later. Win for them. But I also had my camera in my bag, and thankfully they did not take that. I think I would have noticed the loss in weight in my purse if they did! Inconveniently my ID and ATM cards were in there as well, but that is all.
The ultimate relief is that yesterday I took out $275 from the ATM as part of a donation to the school that I am teaching. I had the money in my wallet this morning, but for some reason I felt uncomfortable transporting it to school. So I took it out and left it in my room. THANK GOD! The students would have been left without the funds that could go SUCH a long way for them!
I left the taxi feeling so PLAYED. I was a little shaken up to say the least. I called Therese on the verge of tears just because I couldn't believe what had happened, how played I was, and ultimately naive! I was left with no money to get home, let alone to the school, so I walked home about 30 minutes. I didn't want to trust anyone, talk to anyone, nothing. I just wanted to blow off some steam by walking home. I was SO played! I kept on going over it in my head. Yes, there were warning signs. Yes I thought some things were odd, but I assumed the driver's stupidity, rather than my own naivete! Ah! So the joke is on me.
Oh well. The recurring motto from all this is you live and you learn. Last year when I got my wallet stolen, I had about $50 and all my cards in it, ID, everything. But this time round I only had my ID and ATM. And even these, I just put back in my wallet after I left the hospital. (I wasn't carrying my ID or ATM when I went to the hospital which was an issue, so I decided to put them back). I learned from my last experience, and I will learn from this experience. When a door is stuck in the taxi, this will be an immediate warning sign. You live and you learn.
On another note. I love the school and the children that I work with each day. I will update you all with my daily routine once I get over the shock of being robbed. So you'll be hearing from me within a week, which is when I return!
Talk to you soon!
Annabelle
Sunday, July 3, 2011
Ghana, How I've missed you!
Welcome back to Annabelle's African Adventure, Part II! Please enjoy, and send me comments/
questions. I would love to hear from you!
By Day 1 I already had the most randomly awkward mosquito bites-- 2 on my forehead (the only part of my body exposed while sleeping) and one on my pinkie finger knuckle. Hello Ghana! How I missed you so! I start my days with (unheated) bucket showers and haven't seen the sun in full force since I've been here. It's been overcast an an unusually wet rainy season. By Day 3, I got my hair braided, and no I don't think it makes me more "African," it just makes bucket showers much easier. You have one bucket of water you take with you into the shower. And it is this water only that you will have to wash your whole body and hair. Washing my hair takes about 2/3 of the bucket. It's really just unfortunate when you run out of water and you still have soap on your body/ hair and have to leave the shower room (literally a room with a hole in the corner for drainage) to fill your bucket and return. I lock my bedroom door with a padlock by day, and by night I'm securing a broomstick horizontally across my door, as they did in the Middle Ages. It makes me laugh. I am however a convenient 10 minute walk to the major strip of clubs and bars. So that's really nice.
I've started teaching at this NGO in a village that takes 2 hours to get to by tro tro in traffic, or just 30 when driving directly. The distance is not far, but the traffic makes the journey quite long. This school began in 2009 when a local to Kissemah Village, Kwame Agoe, realized that too many children were living on the streets, or working, and not getting an education. He started rounding up children and asking them to join him on his porch to learn. And they came. After a year, he teamed up with an American studying at the University of Legon, and they started working together to get financing for their school and meet the criteria for NGO. As of now I'd say there is about 30-35 kids at the school, ages 4-14. Classes are held in the courtyard of a housing compound, but they have started building a proper school for the children. Unfortunately, the progress of the new school keeps getting delayed due to lack of finances.
Day 1 at the school and I already see much room for improvement. For the past seven months,
three teachers have been teaching four classes without any help. With me, it will be 4 teachers/ 4 classes, making it easier, but unfortunately it's only temporary. I will be teaching basic maths and English everyday. Class is from 10-3.30 with a 1.5 hour lunch break.
If you remember from my blog last year, I mentioned how the university students are not taught to analyze or comprehend information, so much as memorize what they are told. That was my complaint. Well this process of memorizing starts in primary school and I experienced it within hours of my first day at the outreach program. For example, the children were reciting their multiples of 2- "2x1, 2. 2x2, 4. 2x3, 6," etc. But I do not think the children understand the concept of what multiplying is. They repeat these numbers from memory without actually knowing what they are saying. And this I see as a problem in the education system. Not just at this school, but in public schools in Ghana. Learning in Ghana is based on muscle memory. If you are slow to "learn" then you are lashed accordingly. Obviously in my class, I will not be lashing as a form of punishment for wrong answers. I would rather like to reward those for getting it correct and help those who do not understand. But that's just me. I don't know how much of a difference I can make in the 4 weeks I am teaching, but I will try!
I have a feeling I'm going to come to love these kids before I leave, making it hard to leave yet again! But I must do what I can while here, and go from there. I brought with me donations from a couple friends which amounted to 3 soccer balls (this brought the most excitement to the school!), $300, and a set of children's books authored by my club soccer coach, Lasan Darboe. The school was pleasantly surprised and the most grateful.
Can I also mention that the students all call me "Madame." SO weird! Not "Miss Annabelle,"
but "Madame!" I'll see if I can get used to that. It's so formal!
Cheers for now,
Annabelle
P.S. Did I mention that I'm loving Ghana all over again?! Because I am. Haha
questions. I would love to hear from you!
By Day 1 I already had the most randomly awkward mosquito bites-- 2 on my forehead (the only part of my body exposed while sleeping) and one on my pinkie finger knuckle. Hello Ghana! How I missed you so! I start my days with (unheated) bucket showers and haven't seen the sun in full force since I've been here. It's been overcast an an unusually wet rainy season. By Day 3, I got my hair braided, and no I don't think it makes me more "African," it just makes bucket showers much easier. You have one bucket of water you take with you into the shower. And it is this water only that you will have to wash your whole body and hair. Washing my hair takes about 2/3 of the bucket. It's really just unfortunate when you run out of water and you still have soap on your body/ hair and have to leave the shower room (literally a room with a hole in the corner for drainage) to fill your bucket and return. I lock my bedroom door with a padlock by day, and by night I'm securing a broomstick horizontally across my door, as they did in the Middle Ages. It makes me laugh. I am however a convenient 10 minute walk to the major strip of clubs and bars. So that's really nice.
I've started teaching at this NGO in a village that takes 2 hours to get to by tro tro in traffic, or just 30 when driving directly. The distance is not far, but the traffic makes the journey quite long. This school began in 2009 when a local to Kissemah Village, Kwame Agoe, realized that too many children were living on the streets, or working, and not getting an education. He started rounding up children and asking them to join him on his porch to learn. And they came. After a year, he teamed up with an American studying at the University of Legon, and they started working together to get financing for their school and meet the criteria for NGO. As of now I'd say there is about 30-35 kids at the school, ages 4-14. Classes are held in the courtyard of a housing compound, but they have started building a proper school for the children. Unfortunately, the progress of the new school keeps getting delayed due to lack of finances.
Day 1 at the school and I already see much room for improvement. For the past seven months,
three teachers have been teaching four classes without any help. With me, it will be 4 teachers/ 4 classes, making it easier, but unfortunately it's only temporary. I will be teaching basic maths and English everyday. Class is from 10-3.30 with a 1.5 hour lunch break.
If you remember from my blog last year, I mentioned how the university students are not taught to analyze or comprehend information, so much as memorize what they are told. That was my complaint. Well this process of memorizing starts in primary school and I experienced it within hours of my first day at the outreach program. For example, the children were reciting their multiples of 2- "2x1, 2. 2x2, 4. 2x3, 6," etc. But I do not think the children understand the concept of what multiplying is. They repeat these numbers from memory without actually knowing what they are saying. And this I see as a problem in the education system. Not just at this school, but in public schools in Ghana. Learning in Ghana is based on muscle memory. If you are slow to "learn" then you are lashed accordingly. Obviously in my class, I will not be lashing as a form of punishment for wrong answers. I would rather like to reward those for getting it correct and help those who do not understand. But that's just me. I don't know how much of a difference I can make in the 4 weeks I am teaching, but I will try!
I have a feeling I'm going to come to love these kids before I leave, making it hard to leave yet again! But I must do what I can while here, and go from there. I brought with me donations from a couple friends which amounted to 3 soccer balls (this brought the most excitement to the school!), $300, and a set of children's books authored by my club soccer coach, Lasan Darboe. The school was pleasantly surprised and the most grateful.
Can I also mention that the students all call me "Madame." SO weird! Not "Miss Annabelle,"
but "Madame!" I'll see if I can get used to that. It's so formal!
Cheers for now,
Annabelle
P.S. Did I mention that I'm loving Ghana all over again?! Because I am. Haha
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