Fourth day Wedensady March 19

My first time being sick while traveling.  Only comfort is that I was not the only one.  A day best forgotten.  Tomorrow we head out of Accra to our host schools.

Third Day Tuesday March 18

Ghanaian Schools
Today we learned about the education system in Ghana.  Some interesting things I learned are:
* In Ghana, public schools are the best schools and private tend to be the worst, the opposite of US schools
*School is compulsory and free and starts at age 4
*Children attend local schools until they reach secondary school but then they are assigned to a secondary school that may be far from their home.  So far that they cannot live with their family and commute.  They either live in a boarding facility at the school or in some type of private accommodations.
*They are assigned to the secondary school by a computerized lottery system.
The benefits of being assigned away from their home is that the students become exposed to other languages and cultures in their country.  The hope is that citizens will become more familiar with each other and start to identify themselves as Ghanaians rather than simply citizens of their own region.  It helps to promote national pride and identity.
*While it may seem strange to us in the US to send children away to school while very young teenagers, for this society it is a normal and accepted practice. It is similar to students in the US going to college far away, it is just that in Ghana they start at an earlier age.  It is seen as a way to foster independence and responsibility. 
*There are some problems with the system however.  One problem is that at the secondary schools there is a high rate of students, in particular female students, being preyed upon and taken advantage of by their teachers or local men. Drop out rates and teen pregnancy is very high at some schools.  The situation is better if it is a boarding school where the students after school activities can be supervised.  In areas where there is no boarding school and students live in apartments the problem is worse.
*Another problem that occurs is a language disconnect.  A student might be assigned to a region that speaks a different local dialect than their own.  This means the student must learn a second language to understand the lessons at their assigned school.  This would be similar to a student in our area being assigned to a school in southern Texas where everyone speaks Spanish.  The student would have to learn Spanish since all lessons would be taught in Spanish, not English.
*Some parents do not see the value of their children attending school, especially girls, and keep their children at home to do house chores, farm work, etc.  Some NGO's partly address this problem by bribing the parents with food.  The food is provided to the families if they will keep their children in school.
*Students must pass an exam to go on to a university.  Must achieve a C or higher to advance. 
*Student performance is monitored periodically with testing, as it is in the US, but often students are being taught in a local dialect and tested in English.
*There are no dual credit, AP, or IB programs offered in Ghana but students are able to choose electives at the secondary school level to prepare them for a trade.
*In Ghana, students do not switch rooms for different classes.  The teachers actually go from room to room when classes change during the day.
*Books and technology are missing or in short supply in many Ghanaian schools.  Books are often shared by students at a rate typically of 1-3.  Since books are hard to come by, the teachers want to protect them and will often not allow students to  take the books home to study.
If no computers are available, the students will practice keyboarding on a labeled piece of cardboard.
*Textbooks are locally written and produced and examples in the book reflect the culture and environment of Ghana.
*Schools love to get donations of books and teaching materials to supplement their classrooms.

Art Center
In the afternoon we attended a local art center.  This name does not accurately describe the facility as we think of it in the US.  It is basically an open air market where local people sell crafts and artwork.  Anyone who has traveled abroad will understand the setting.  There are hundreds of booths set up within a small area and under some type of roof.  This creates long dark alleys..  Each booth contains one or two people who are intent upon convincing you to buy their merchandise.  As you walk by they will shout at you, question you, pull on you, step in front of you, etc.  They will do anything they can to get you to enter their little stall where they will very aggressively try to convince you that their items are unique, the best price, and that you desperately need several of them.  The trick is to try and find authentic, locally made crafts (not junk from China) and then haggle with them to get the best price possible.  Sometimes the best thing to do is just walk away from them and then they will drop their price.  However, some will chase you down and even out of the market if they think you were toying with them.  It is great.  These markets are one of my favorite places to visit when traveling.
After this, it is time for a break at the seashore.

Pictures from the Day

I never get tired of watching the Ghanaians carry huge loads on their heads.  They can walk really fast and the load doesn't even wobble.  That is real talent.

Alley ways of the art center.

One of hundreds of stalls.  Bought bracelets here.

 

We watched these guys turn big chunks of wood into beautiful statues and bowls.  These wood crafters use local wood for their items. 

 

Endless dark alleys.

 

The people taking care of us. (l-r) guide Akem, driver Chris, and hostess Ophelia.

 

Ophelia is gorgeous everyday and a very independent and accomplished Ghanaian woman.  I am having a dress made exactly like the one she is wearing in this picture.  It is a traditional African style dress.

 

I bought a bracelet from this man.  The inscription on it is an African symbol that means hope. He makes the bracelets out of the same metal as Ghanaian coins. 

 

 

The sign says keep the beach clean.  Clearly no one takes the sign seriously.

Second Day Monday March 17

DAY 2
Today started with a presentation over the history and culture of Ghana.  Some interesting things that I learned are that:
*The left hand is considered dirty or improper by Ghanaians.  You should always shake hands, give someone something, point, eat, etc. with your right hand or you will offend someone.
*Ghanaians in general love George W. Bush.  They admire his "cowboy" attitude.  They like forceful leaders and people who go for what they want.
*Funerals are a bigger event than weddings.  Your body may lie in the morgue for 6-9 months while they save and prepare for your funeral.  The funeral is a huge party that lasts for days.
*Ghanaians eat with their hands, "it tastes better that way"
*It is considered extremely rude to say no when someone offers you water, so rude and offensive that they may be mad at you for days.  However you can say no to anything else and it is ok.
*A Ghanaian may politely tell you that you should have some of their food or drink, but they don't really mean it, so you should say thank you......but don't really take any.

Pictures of the Day

The shower in my room.  No hot or even warm water.  Every shower is ice cold. But that is ok because it is very warm and balmy here.  No snow.  No ice.  Just heat and sunshine.  I love it!

These are my maids Lydia and Felicia.  While cleaning my room this morning they found the computers and gift bags for the school.  They are so excited that we have donated gifts for schools in Ghana.

 

So now we are headed for lunch and to see the US embassy.  There are lots of interesting things to see along the way.

 

 

Men and women both are seen everywhere carrying large items on their head.  I love the clothes here.  They are so bright and colorful.

 

 

Most Ghanaians seem to love heaving their picture made. 

 

No explanation needed here.

 

Lots of people also lying and sitting around taking naps (including several guards who were supposed to be working!)  I think it is a way to beat the heat.

 

Lunch was at a very nice restaurant, lots of atmosphere, jungle theme, menu was bound in leather. I decided to have soup.  I thought the Goat Meat Pepper Soup sounded really good.  I have never had goat and I love spicy food.

I wasn't prepared for this.  There were no vegetables.  Just meat and broth.  The broth seemed to be straight pepper and salt, a whole box of each.  Very spicy hot but no real flavor except pepper.  So I dipped the spoon in to get some meat.

 

This was hard to look at.  It seemed to be various body parts and nothing I could readily identify.  Upon eating it (yes, I ate it) it tasted a little like squirrel and had a rubbery texture.  Couldn't really chew it, just had to swallow it whole.

 

On closer inspection, we identified what we think was the hide of the goat.........

 

and the intestines.....maybe.  A real food adventure, glad I tried it but.......that was enough.  I was full.

 

Now we were off to the embassy, but I cannot show you pictures of that.  It is not allowed.  If you take pictures, they confiscate your camera and interrogate you or something.  But we met our host teachers and took a tour of the embassy. Then on to more exciting events.

 

We attended a performance of the Saakumu Dance Troupe.  Their energy level is incredible and their dance moves are amazing.   P90X or Insanity don't even come close to being this good of a work-out!

 

First Day Sunday March 16

They love Coca Cola in Ghana.

Many vendors selling items along the streets.  These are plantains.  Our guide has warned us to not eat anything from street vendors because even the dust in Ghana can make you sick, like with Typhus.  Students, what are plantains?

This (above) is a presidential palace.

Finally at our hotel after ride from the airport. Meetings start tomorrow.

Success!!!!!!

 BHS has some hard working students.  I gave them the challenge of raising money for computers, assembling care packages, and collecting/recycling usable electronics.  They did all of that and more!  They came up with ideas I had never thought of and far exceeded my expectations on the fundraising.  Sometimes my students may think I expect too much of them, but they never cease to impress me.  We have exceptional young people at our school.  I am very proud of them and I hope they are proud of themselves as well.

It starts with student donations.

Creating and donating their own care packages.

Raising funds to buy computers for Ghanain pen pals.

They raised over $700!!!!

We were able to buy two computer bundles!

Final job was assembling gift bags for the kids.

Preparations & Service Learning: Computers

During our correspondence with Ghana, we have learned that classroom computers and projectors are greatly needed.  Since I would now be traveling to Ghana, I decided that taking some equipment to donate to the school would be a great service learning project for my classes.  I initiated a computer drive called Computers for Ghana.  We began collecting donations, selling items, and conducting other activities to solicit money and technology donations.

So..........we have two weeks to go…………..what’s happening?  Donations are rolling in and students are asking for used computers and planning fundraising activities.

Our student “media guru” Jesse Stanley, has been running ads on the school announcements to promote our project.  He has found an NGO that started a Ghana computer drive long before us, Entire Village Computers Organization.  This organization repairs computers and donates them to classrooms in Ghana.  This adds to the resources for our service learning project with Ghana.  We will research and consider the organization as a beneficiary for the used computers we collect in our recycling program.  Information on the organization can be found at http://evcoafrica.org/welcome/.

How It All Began

Five years ago I undertook my first Global Education projects utilizing the educational website ePals.  My partners were in China and Ghana.  One of the teachers I met was Samuel Agyapong (pictured above) in Ghana, Africa.  Sam and I corresponded and taught each other about our separate cultures, education systems, and environmental issues.  This year our students are corresponding as pen pals (Ghana Pen Pals below) while learning about environmental and related cultural issues.

In 2013 I learned that I had been accepted into Teachers for Global Classrooms(TGC), a program of the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the U.S. State Department implemented by IREX.  I also learned that I would be assigned to Ghana for the overseas portion of the program.  This has given me the opportunity to meet  Mr. Agyapong and our pen pal students in person.  This international field experience will take place the last two weeks of March 2014 and will be the subject of this blog, Ghana Adventure.
Anyone interested in the TGC program may find information at the following link: http://www.irex.org/project/teachers-global-classrooms-program-tgc