New Places!

I've been here since Monday. 'Here' is about 45mins North of Accra (the capital) in the hills. Its nice and cool. The people Im staying with are a couple who used to live in the UK (and sweden and the US) who came back to live in Ghana. They started off with their kids in a government school, saw how bad it was, and then started homeschooling. A couple of years later they have a school with 60 children from 5-11 in. Its incredible compared to Ghanain school standards - the ethos and atmosphere is like a modern primary school. This is in stark contrast to the Ghanain norm, which is closest to a Victorian school with rows of desks and a cane sitting in the corner. Its a joy to teach in, everything is incredibally smooth compared to the government school I was in.

I've spent this afternoon exploring the local town - Aburi - and the Botanical gardens there. They are lovely...and somewhat unique. On the edge of the center lawn, in amoungst a clump of trees sits a helicopter. One blade is intact; one bends slowly down to the grass, and the other two are broken at the stem. Its rusty, falling apart, and generally dilapidated. The two sections of the nose are held together with wire. The rest of the park matches the feel - nice, pretty, but the wooden benches sag as you sit on them and the flowerbeds are starting to spill over their borders. Aburi iself is nice - a fairly quiet largish town. Most of the facilities are based around one circular road, which can just squeeze two cars past each other. There is a small interent cafe which seems to work and let me listen to BBC world over the net. Im going to run out of tie soon, so Im going to leave. I have a couple of groceries to run; picking up mail from the PO box etc...I'll see a little more of the town, and then catch a tro tro or shared cab back home.

MMM air conditioning

Today the last of the people who arrivd with me left. We're all upset...I think i was affect by the leaving least because Im staying in Ghana - I was the only oe in the taxi not in tears (apart from our lovely pet taxi driver who smiled as usual). We took the STC Bus to Accra and I booked into the Paloma hotel. It has airconditioning and nice beds and a decent shower and tiled floors and etc. My aircon is set so cold I will need the large duvet, which will be amazing - I miss sleeping with at least a sheet. Accra is interesting...it doesn't smell as much as cape coast; i don't think theres so many open sewers where I am. But its still not exactly...clean. The internet cafe Im at now is pretty good though. Its a litle more expensive than in Cape, but its got headphones and stuff...although this keyboard does have a couple of stuck keys.

I haven't got much more to say right now...I might go church tomorrow as well as doing some touristy stuff in Acrra, and buying some cheap paperbacks to read...I got through most of the books that had been left in Brenu. I think this is about it for the moment...See you all later.

New Guys!

The new guys have arrived, and I am preparing to leave. There are 7 new volunteers, but 3 of them are in Beseyase (sp) - another town nearby. We spent Sunday trying to get the house ready for the volunteers. When we arrived none of the floors were down, the walls in all the bedrooms needed some paint, the celling in one room was only half painted and the tiling hadn't been started in the kitchen or bathroom. We were assured that it would all be finished by the time they arrived - in about 5 hours. It didn't seem feasible then...and its still not finished. When it is done it will be a lovely house, but its incredibly annoying that they didn't complete on time, and refused to admit that they wouldn't.

The new guys are really nice. There are 4 Americans here - all around my age which is nice. Three of them knew each other in some way and are all from New Jersey, the fourth is from New Orleans and has a nice accent. They are all fitting in OK and seem to be getting on with the Ghanaian way of things. The volunteers at Beseyasee (I have no idea how to spell it) are really cool. There is a father and daughter team from Yorkshire and an American woman. They have coped with the building works really well, and seem to be taking it all in thier stride. They are gonna have a lot of work ahead of them as the facilities and school just aren't as good as in Brenu. Sabre have only just started working there so its not developed as muhc, and some of the school fell down in the recent storms. Apart from that everything continues retty much as normal. I will be leaving on saturday, and have booked a hotel in Accra for two days to meet the Yeboahs before heading up with them.

Questions + Answers

I've been mailed some questions about daily life, etc etc that people have been asking my parents; Ill try to answer them here.

I generally wake up between 5 and 5:30 when the cocks make a serious go of crowing, and the Ghanaians get up. I then go back to sleep for another couple of hours, and actually get up around 7 for breakfast sometime between 7:30 and 8. Breakfast takes quite a while, especially since it is often late arriving. My first lesson is usually at 9:10 or 8:00, depending on the day. School starts for the children at 7:30 with an assembly and 'worship' - they sing religious songs and a couple of children play drums. On Wednesdays they have 2 and a half hours of worship in the timetable, where they all gather in a classroom and do essentially the same thing. The noise is incredible - there are 100or so children singing their lungs out and a bass drum and 4/5 other smaller ones really going for it. The music is amazing - all we can hear in the mornings is the dru patterns, which are incredibly complex, change constantly, and are always syncopated and off beat. The hymns are sung in Fante - the local language - and sound somewhere between traditional African songs, Negro spirituals and old fashioned church hymns. School finishes for us around 1:30 when we have lunch. In the afternoons we go to cape coast, or o touristy things or play with children. Tomorrow there is going to be a large outdoor party for the younger kids after school, which they should love. I expect it will be in my next entry. Tea (or dinner) is normally around 7:30, we then sit and talk for a while and go to bed. The sun sets by 6:30 without fail, and by 7 it is pretty dark. 8:30 feels like 11 o clock does in the UK, but the moon is generally very bright - almost as bright as street lights.

The locals don't stop anything on a Saturday, except for things like school. Most shops and small business run as usual, but everyone concentrates their efforts on the home chores that got missed in the week. We generally get very touristy during the weekend, visit castles, jungle parks, or stay in luxurious hotels elsewhere for a night or two. Everything stops on a Sunday - everyone goes to church, dressed in incredibly good looking Sunday best. Church services aren't that different in structure to in the UK, apart from that the last from 9 to about 1, and you can come and go as you please. The music is an amazing mix of traditional African drumming, old 'western' hymns and even canticles, which often end up merged into a kind of fusion thing. Hymn books aren't common, so the music leader and/or the choir sing the first line of each verse, then the congregation follow, in harmony. Sometimes the call and answer will be for every line, until they know the hymn better.

Getting internet access isn't a problem as long as there is power. I have been going to a place called 'Ocean View' by the Castle, which is OK. The computers are slow, but the internet is very fast if you have a laptop (I don't). I have been able to get my clothes washed - they get very dirty very quickly, especially if you touch the kids. Esther, the lovely teacher who also looks after the volunteers has been doing my washing, and I have been forcing a small fee on her (she would do it for free if we let her). The children wear a uniform of a yellow shirt and brown shorts, apart from the numerous exceptions. The girls either wear a shirt and a dress, or shirt and skirt, or any other combo. Most of it is a bit big, and rather old, or a bit small and rather old - hand me downs and things bought with plenty of growing room. The uniforms get smeared with mud or dust depending on the weather, and if you play with the children - lifting them up, or whatever - then they smear you with muck too. The most popular, in fact only, sport is football. Aubrey (the guy who started Sabre and the volunteering) tried to introduce rugby, but I don't think its taken off. The children are pretty good at football as far as I can tell. We will know more later when we play the teachers (average age: 20) in a 5 a side football tournament.

I've been helping in the JSS with English and reading mainly. We (Eilidh and I) have been taking small groups out of free lessons and doing some intensive reading with them. It seems to be working really well, but Its frustrating how long it has taken to really get going. The children are pretty keen, they enjoy reading and individual attention, so thats definately encouraging. i think we have made an impression, but it will take a continuous stream of volunteers to make a lasting difference.

Getting Better

OK, so last time I wrote I was kinda complaining about a lot of stuff. Its looking better now. We (Sadie and I) had a meeting with Paddy where I brought up a lot of my concerns and then I left and Sadie brought up even more of hers. That was last Thursday, so there hasn't been much time for things to change, but it seems like things will get better. Theres only two weeks left, so I'll just let it ride; its too late to start things at primary really. So the work should continue as planned...
just its been so slow we don't have much time left.

Aside from all that things are good. Eilidh and I went to Cape Coast Castle today, which was a good trip, and then walked from there to the internet cafe (about 2mins walk). We got drenched - we just made it in time for the rain to slacken off. m looking forward to the week - the group will be back together again. Everyone else has gone on little expeditions, leaving Eilidh, Rob and I in Brenu.

Patience and fustrations

Toay I got properly angry for the first time in Ghana. Other people have been dissapointed, and cross for various reasons allready. What got me was seeing ne of the JSS teachers caning children hard enough to make them cry. Thats the system in GHana...but it isn't supposed to happen whilst we are around. Apparently it took a very long time to get that consession. Also the headteacher is the only person who is suposed to use the cane, but he wasn't there today, which is probably whythis hapened quite that badly. Anyway, this was on top of the teachers completely failing to follow the timetable again, meaning that the remeadial lessons we had been intending to do didn't happen. We've been trying to teach a half hour lesson for about a week now, and everytime we turn up the lessons have been moved or changed or cancelled or whatever. its so oiritating and fustrating that its pointless for us to try ad continue. Eilidh and I will be teahcing in the Primary school instead if things don't improve.

Otherwise things are pretty good. Ythere was a huuuge storm yesterday, which cleared the air a little, although its very very hot. O, and my bed fell apart - the screws holding the headboard and legs onto the beams of the bed pulled out and the whole thing collapsed. I slept on the sofa, but I should have a bed tonight...I dont know. The storm closed the school yesterday- it blew the roof of JSS and meant that the KG and nursery children all had to shelter in the 2 best built rooms - about 300 children in two classrooms. So school completely closed, but its up and running today.

OK, enough...Im going to end this now as I have nothing much more to say.

This time I can't even think of what to write

I havne't really got a plan of what Im gonna be saying here...so Im just gonna splurge. Im pretty well settled in now - everything has become a bit of a routine, which is good. Today we wnet to the PTA AGM. It was incredibally boring - we didn't have anything to say and the whole meeting was conducted in Fante (the local language), so none of us understood it. It was uncomfortable and hot, but thats life; we had to be seen to be there, so we were.

We have all been picking up some Fante, some more than others. I can introduce myself, ask how someone is, and just about understand 'ho wold are you' and ' where are you from'. Shane, who is working with the youngest children, and, as a consequnce, the children with the least English has learnt a LOT - he needs it to control the classroom. Its amazing the response even a little bit of Fante gets - especially in large groups, if you can say thankyou or suchlike then they instantly love you.

I've been trying to build some science experements - a water rocket and a submarine. If anyone can thik of things that I could build from plastic bottles, cans, bits of tubing etc then I'd love to hear them!

Thats all for now folks!

Still here...titles are hard!

Today I went to the market looking for bits and pieces for some science demos. I should probably back up a bit now and say why. Thinking about it logically Im gonna have to tell you how Im helping the science teacher...so i may as well go right back and talk about the staff. Im helping at the JSS, mainly reading, but also supporting the maths and science teachers. By far the best teacher is Julius, the science teacher; he also happens to have no teacher training. The cynical part of me thinks that this is what makes him so good - that and his dedication to the kids. He walks to school every day from another town - a nice 25min walk along the beach, but rather hot in the afternoon sun. Since he has no teaching qualifications he gets paid by the charity that support the school as a librarian. This means he is worse paid than the chronically underpaid proper teachers. The other teachers are much of a muchness; the two female teachers spend most of the day sleeping in the staffroom/libary, the deputy head spent most of the first week 'resting his bones' and many of the teachers use the cane although they are not supposed to. Since Julius hasn't had much training he is very reliant on textbooks to help, and many of the demos/experiments/practicals aren't suitable for the equipment he has. So I am making some water bottle rockets and subarines out of pumps, bits of tube etcetc. Its good fun designing it all. Today I bought the bits andpieces on the way to the internet cafe. The market is bustling, full of all sorts of stores. In Ghana the shops often have biblical/christian names; the God is good petrol station. 'Love Jesus' hair salon. There are also some oddballs - 'Mother T's car shop' 'God is my foundation' builders etc. All good fun to look out for whilst on the road.

There are two ways of getting around in Ghana - taxi or tro tro. Taxis are pretty expensive for one, but OK if theres 4. A tro-tro is a minibus with benches and seats in - run by a driver and his mate. It takes about 18 or so, more if people are prepared to squash up, and the driver is confident he won't have to go past the police roadblocks. If the tro tro has one person extra then the mate will jump out, run past the roadblock and get in the other side. If you are overloaded the police take a bribe (the size depends on how overloaded). Often they will just make trouble and the driver has to bribe them anyway. The poolice are armed, which is a little intimadating, but they are more cautious since an incident a couple of months ago. A policeman stopped and 'fined' a senior army officer. So as soon as he got to the base he sent back some truckloads of soldiers and large brawl ensued. So now the roadblocks don't happena t certain times.

I think that is all for now. Im running out of stuff to say for now - Ill try and say hello to everyone later. But one last little thing:
I have been working with eilidh to get a list of people who need remidial reading classes. We are thinking of putting on a short play with them, to encourage them, as well as normal reading. But for now we have some more people to assess. So far I have checked our lists against the class register for one class...and we have two extra people, with some more who aren't on either list. Its gonna be hard to get round everyone, especially given that we can't take them out of all lessons. And that no one seems to have a list of who is actually in the classes. But I did spend some time reading with someone who is definately on the list. He must be around 15/16 and we were reading wind in the willows rewritten for preschoolers. He really enjoyed it, and it was great to see that. I hope I can help him at the very least.

Callum

Still too hot

Yesterday night it rained. I slept through it, but the ground was wetin the morning and the humidity and pressure that had been building has been dissipated. Yesterday was the brightest and hottest its been since we arrived. It seems like we havke been here for a long time now, even though it has only been a week that flashed by at the time. The last volunteer arrived yesterday. I geuss I ought to tell you about the other people wo are here wth me. There are six of us; no seven now. There are 5 Brits, and two Americans. I met Cerian and Alex(andra) on the plane on the way here – Cerian is a nurse from Bristol and Alex was working in the marketing section of Sony-BMG until she took voluntary redundancy. Robert came on a different flight on the same day as us; he is the same age as me, and taking a gap year before going to do Economics at uni. Eidligh (sp probably wrong) arrived yesterday - shes a student studying french and film studiers. For part of a years experience she taught English in France for a term, making her the only one with any experience. Shane and Kate came totgetehr on the same flight as me, but we didn’t find them. Shane is a graphic designer and bran organization person – he sorts out the entire image of a company from the ground up, and Kate is a ‘childrens product developer’ (ie toymaker) from California. We are all getting on fine, we managed to share a bar bill without any arguments (for a week between 6 it came to 20 pounds each). We have had some differences on politics, but nothing that we can’t agree to disagree.

Im going to be teaching in Junior Secondary - which is the equivalent of the fisrt two years of Senior school in the UK or Junior High in the states. I going to be teahing maths science and doing one on one reading classes. I know some of the children allready - in particluar a teenager called Robert - hes 14/15/16, no one know exactly what. He spends a lot of time with the volunteers when they are there, and his spoken english is excelent as a result. He and a coupel of his friends help us at every opertunity, which can be a bit embarassing - you feel that you are taking advantage. there have been a couple of things with money where we have had to tread a bit of a knife edge as far as offending people goes. The hardest was trying to get Ester - the Ghanain who is looking after us - to even allow us to pay her for doing some washing. She would only take about a thrid of the fair money for it - i gave her a good amount and she stuffed most of it in my hand an hurried off before I could respond. Its lovely, but we all feel guilty because she works so hard and is also a volunteer.

Rob Alex Ceri and I got out first taste of teaching on friday. We went to observe some lessons and were told that two teachers weren't there, could we take thier classe. Anarchy ensued. Me and Rob ended up with KG1 - 5y/os plus, and Alex and Ceri ended up with the Nursery calss, which was a lot harder. The teacher for the nursersy isn't any good and spends a lot of time sleeping(!) so her class tend to run riot a lot. They had a hard time, but we all gained experience. The best tactic for keeping order is bribery simply because we aren't prepared to go to the same lengthgs as the Ghanains go for punishment. Giving out stickers etc etc as rewards shuts the kids up much quicker than trying to shout them into submison.

Now its time to go. Im just going to add a thankyou for whoever it was that recomended the art of zen and motercycle maintenance to me - its a great read so far. Very interesting, and suprisingly conected to some of the convestation topics that come up over the3 dinner table. I ought also to apologise for the state of my typing - im in a hurry so I don't have time to correct my rushed mistakes.

Im there!

We landed in Accra, Ghana at about 9:30, after several days. The King of the Ashanti (sp) tribe was on the plane, which delayed us arriving at the gate as he got out whilst on the tarmac, and we were delayed leaving Heathrow - problems with baggage + passengers. So far the experience has been very hot, and very hot. The people are sooo welcoming; everyone has smiles and a friendly attitude. There are 6 volunteers here so far - one more will arrive next Saturday. We range from stays of 4-6 weeks, almost all of us are teaching except for one guy who wants to do some building and stuff as well. I don't know where I will be teaching yet but i think I will be assigned to a class not a subject. We have met lots and lots of children all ready - they are very keen to come and talk. Their English is generally very very good. A couple of them have excellent English - one boy called Robert wants to be a doctor and his English is almost perfect. The adults sometimes don't have as much English as their children, which can seem a little odd; but that's why we are here I suppose. Mostly we have talked to the children, and the parents have been busy working.

The accommodation is pretty good. Its a guest house inside a compound that houses a couple of families. There is a fan in each room which makes it just about bearable at night, except when the power is off. The power is on a 24/12hr cycle - for 24hrs its on, then off for 12. Changeover times are 7am and 7pm. Last night the power was off; tomorrow morning the power will be off. The food is excellent. We eat at the beach resort's restaurant which has won awards for its food. The volunteers eat free, but we do have to pay off our bar tab every so often. The local food is very spicy, but quite filling; rice cooked fruit and some kind of meat is typical. To drink its normally either fruit juice or beer. The beer comes in 625ml bottles - at %5 which is a little much, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

Tomorrow will be our first day at school. Tonight we will decide what we will be doing. I'm still not sure what exactly I want to do, but I'm sure Ill find something useful to do. I'm kinda looking forward to teaching now...but kind of nervous at the same time.

Too close?

Im almost gone now. I took my first anti-malarial pill today (doxycycline). The list of side efects is a little scary, but they mostly relate for using it as an antibiotic in stronger doeses than I'm taking. But they include nausea, vomitting, increased sensitivity to light, and some other stuff. I know I should be OK, but its still a little worrying. Really its just another outlet for nerves about going - I should be great when I get there, but Im aprehensive right now. It combines the 'new job,' 'new place,' 'away from home' and 'new people' fears all in one go. Oh, and add in potential health issues as well.


Apart from that Im pretty excited. Once I'm there I'll sure Ill forget all these fears. I have done the last of my shopping...I think...and I cant wait to get on the plane.

Hate driving love getting there

I've just driven back from Lorna's. We went shopping whilst we were there; spent about 30 in Primark and got a number of T-shirts light trousers and stuff. Lorna got me a lovely shirt, which I wasn't sure about at the time...its grown on me since I wore it home - v comfy, as were the trousers. But I still hate driving long distances. My neck and shoulders are now very stiff, and I could do with a massage. And I'm not going to see Lorna until I get back now. That's sad - we've been together a year and a couple of months now, and she's never been more than a phone call away baring a couple of short holidays. I'm not sure how I will cope. I hope I will be too busy to get particularly homesick, and I'll be able to get glimpses of home as I get into Internet cafés.

The preparations continue to go on. Every time something gets sorted something else comes up...but they are getting less and less important, so I don't think anything *essential* will be forgotten. Apart from that...life is good!

Staying with my girl

Im staying with Lorna (my wonderful and long suffering girlfriend*) for the weekend which is wonderful. I think I have pretty much ordered or bought everything Im gonna need in Ghana; I just ordered the last two books from amazon, and we spent the afternoon shopping for light clothes to take back.

Im afraid I got back from holiday last week, but have been too rushed to post here. Its been a bit hectic getting everything sorted out. I discovered on wednesday that my debit card -my only plastic money - wouldn't work in Ghana because there are no mastercard terminals. It all seems to be coming together now.

OK, I have to go to tescos and buy some more groceries with L, so this is it.


*she says just long term. I pity her for putting up with me.

Holiday!

Im going on holiday tomorrow with my family. We are going to Canaries - starting in Tennerife and sailing a yacht around the islands. We will crew the boat, and we have a captain to show us how to do everything. Im looking forward to it, but need to get myself of to bed; we leave in 7.5 hours.

Nite all!

Cars and preparations

Things are continuing to come together slowly. I had a long day at work today - I arrived at 9:30 for a first aid course, which finished at 1:30 and then worked on the floor until 1o. During the day I sorted out what shifts I would be working in the lead up to the trip. Then the right headlight on my car refused to turn on when dipped. I called the AA, who were excellent - they had someone with me within 20mins who ended up soldering the contacts, which sorted the problem. I got away about 10:30, filled up with petrol and came home, and Im not tired at all. I've just checked my emails, and I had several waiting for me. I had emailed the other volunteers going out at the same time as me asking them whether they wanted to meet at the airport, and a couple of them (there are 5 of us) have replied with some more contact details. The other good message was from Aubrey - the guy who runs the project on the UK side. He was pleased to hear from me, and has got some stuff he would like me to take out if possible. Now I just have to work out how to fit in a half-day trip to his office to pick up the stuff. Also I have an updated vaccine record book, back from the GP's, lots of good wishes from various people, and a stinking cold.

Enough rambling now. I really ought to try getting some sleep for a change.

Oh, and Im going on holiday with my family on friday. The holiday will be lovely, Im sure. But it does put the pressure on a little bit.

Messiah

I've just come back from the rehearsal for a performance of the Messiah. My parents sing in a choir and as a recruitment drive they do an all day bash at something like the Messiah - you just come along to the rehearsal (3hrs starting at 11 and finishing at three, with some breaks). It is amazing fun. I always forget how much i enjoy singing in big choirs like this - with my work its kinda hard. I must make sure to take the opertunity at uni (if I have time!)...but if any of you lot get the chance to sing in a large choir, take it! If they don't audition you, then you should fit in without any problem - just about anyone can sing enough to do that. I promise that 90% of normal people will enjoy it too!

First Post!

Wow! First post - OK...I better explain who I am and why the blog is. Up until now I have never bothered to write a blog - anything I have wanted to write I've written on another website, in very irregularly spaced intervals. The reason I'm starting a blog is that I'm going to teach in Ghana for six weeks, and then stay with a doctor and teacher connected with my Church
in another part of Ghana for two weeks. I leave at the end of April, and come back the end of June. While I'm out there I won't have easy access to the Internet, but I hope to be able to go to an Internet café once a week - so I will hopefully update this blog once a week while I'm there. As for who I am - I'm 18, fresh out of a grammar school in Buckinghamshire, UK. Since September I've been working in a Respite Care home for adults with severe learning disabilities. Its been good, hard, rewarding work, and overall fun, mainly due to the hardworking and welcoming staff there. Next year I'm planning to go to uni in Exeter to study maths and physics for four years. After that I have no plans, apart from that I dont want to go into banking (a popular route for maths/physics grads - it pays well).


To do - I still have quite a bit to do before I leave. The most important must be buying equipment, especially anti-malarials, a backpack, medical kit, water bottle etc etc. So its gonna be a busy few weeks until I leave. Apart from that things are mostly going well. I think Ill manage to get everything done before I leave. Probably. All the important bits, anyway.

OK...That's enough for now. Gnight all!