Sixth Day Friday March 21

This is our day to see our host school, St. Francis.  It starts with a short walking tour and introductions to faculty including the headmistress Mrs. Elizabeth Sasu.  Then we are escorted to an assembly that we discover has been planned in our honor.  I had no idea that we would be presented with such an elaborate and sensational welcome.  Most of the entire student body is present, all 1300 of them!  Wow!  1300 students.  We are seated in front at a table and the ceremony begins.  We are welcomed with speeches.  Bands.  A chorus.  And incredible dancing.  We are even invited to dance with them.  Of course we don't know how to do African dances so the students get a real kick out of this.  We are terrible but they love it. These kids are soooooo talented.  They are not just performing.  They are performing magnificently.  I am so impressed.  And the school spirit is astounding.  I have never seen anything even close at my school in Indiana.  The students go crazy cheering for each other.  Every school announcement or student performance is met with cheers, clapping, high-fives, jumping, dancing, etc.  I am literally in awe.  I wish we had  this kind of pride, comradery, and school spirit at BHS.

 The most surprising thing is the two rounds of applause I received when being introduced.  When they announced I had been teaching for thirteen years there was a gasp around the assembly and then clapping.  Apparently it is unusual to teach that long, or a woman to teach that long?  Not sure and it was never fully explained.  Then when they announced I was the mother of four sons, loud applause and cheering erupted through the assembly.  I was confused so I asked the gentlemen next to me what had happened.  He said in Ghana they love children and they are impressed with me for having four sons.  Hmmmmm.  First time I have ever been cheered for having kids.  But I went with it.  I stood up and took a bow which brought on more applause.  I felt like a celebrity.  Ha!

The rest of the day is spent meeting people and touring the facility, and learning the school routine, rules, policy, procedure etc.  Then we head off for an early evening at the hotel because tomorrow we are headed out very early for a two day trek across Ghana to visit some important cultural sites.

Some interesting things I learned today about St. Francis and Ghana schools in general:
*Ghanaian secondary schools are 3 year schools.  Nearly all, if not all, are boarding schools which also accept day students.  Most student are boarders.
*Students are extremely well behaved.  You do not see or hear any signs of disrespect or lack of cooperation.  They are all (yes, all) polite, helpful, and cooperative.  The teachers tell us that they do have discipline issues form time to time but in the week we observed the schools I saw no signs of it.  Another thing I wish I could import to the US.  What is their secret?  More on that later.
*The students seem very responsible and mature.  They are all dressed in clean, pressed uniforms.  The campus is neat and tidy.  The students are responsible for hand washing their own clothes and also keeping the campus clean, including landscaping and yard work in addition to their studies.
*While the students are all present and accounted for in their classes, the teachers are not.  Apparently teachers may choose to not attend class and we are told it happens quite often.  It is one of the major problems in their education system, teacher absenteeism.  So we have reverse problems.  In the US student discipline is a major roadblock to learning.  In Ghana we found all of the students in their cramped, crowded, desks in the sweltering hot classrooms dutifully reviewing and studying.........with no teacher present in the room.  Yes, that is right.  The students are expected (and they do it, I saw it multiple times) to be in the classroom even if the teacher is not.
*Most classed are very large, 50-70 kids, so the teaching/learning method is lecture.  There is very little problem solving or hands on learning in the core subjects of math, science, English, and social studies.
*Students choose an academic path much as we do in the US.  They also have core subjects and elective courses almost identical to our own.  They seem to be learning basically the same curriculum.
The Ghanaian education system is run by the Ghana government.  Local school districts do not have a choice in most matters including what teachers work for them or what students attend.  Teachers are assigned or posted to a school by the national government and the school must take the teacher regardless of need, personality, or teaching area.  Likewise, teachers and students are expected to go to whatever school the government assigns them.  For many this means moving to a completely different area of Ghana far away from their hometowns.

Fifth Day Thursday March 20

We left today to head to Akim Oda where my partner (Bonnie Ellis) and I will be stationed for the next week.  Our contact school is St. Francis Senior High Technical School.  Lots of interesting things to see along the way.  Upon our arrival we met our host for the week, Victor Tsegah.  We dropped our belongings off at our new home, the Ages Abba Hotel and were immediately whisked away to a retirement party for the outgoing Municipal Director of Education.  This is where I first start to get an inkling of what will quickly become my most favorite part of Ghana.  In this part of Ghana, and maybe all over Ghana, the people are very quick to hug and embrace, even strangers.  They are warm, welcoming, gracious, and full of enthusiasm.  They will also break out into song, dance, or prayer at a moments notice.  I LOVE the hugging and dancing.  Absolutely my favorite part of Ghana is the warm, friendly, hugging, dancing people.  So we watch the dancing, get hugged a lot, meet new friends, and taste more of the local cuisine.
After adjournment of the party we take off to visit the Largest Tree In Africa, the Baobab tree.  Their defining characteristic: their swollen trunks are actually water storage - the baobab tree can store as much as 31,700 gallon (120,000 l) of water to endure harsh drought conditions. There is one particular baobab tree in Akim Oda that has been designated the "largest" in Africa based on volume.  It has become a popular tourist attraction.  So we had to visit it.
Next we visited a school that is run by our host Victor.  It turns out that Victor is actually a very important man in his district.  He was recently promoted from math teacher at St. Francis to a district position, Director of Professional Development.  In addition, he runs a school that was established by his father.  It is a primary through secondary school.  The schools here make little to no profit, so running a school is basically a charitable act and contribution.  It takes a great deal of time and dedication.  Victor is a very busy guy!  Two key things I learned at the school.  First, bed nets and computers are both needed and used in Ghana, so any charitable group wanting to help could address either issue.  However, bed nets are more commonly given than computers and are only a temporary solution to the problem of malaria.  Computers provide education to improve sanitation, living conditions, etc, which lasts a lifetime and will better serve the citizens of Ghana over the long term.  Visors answer is that both are needed, but computers would be his first pick. Secondly, I learned that "chop" means to "eat" in Twi (the local language).  There is a room called the "chop box room" where the middle school students keep their boxes of snacks that they bring from home.  It is locked up to keep the students from eating it all at once.  Secondary students keep their chop box in their dorm room.
Then Victor takes us to visit his lovely wife Florence and their adorable little boy.  He is a sweetheart!

Note:  After arriving in Akim Oda, we find out that there will not be any Internet access available.  This is bad because we will not be able to spend time uploading pictures, writing blogs, and keeping everyone updated on our every move throughout the week.  But it is also really good because now we can actually fully enjoy our experience WITHOUT having to upload pictures, write blogs, and reveal every move we make.  Nice!  So the next week of posts are actually all being posted retroactively on the same day, Thursday March 27th from Cape Coast.