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.