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.

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.