Our First Fortnight in Ghana

HOLLY:

During the first week of school, most of the children don't come, so although we've been here two weeks, we've actually just finished our first full week of school.

Our first taste of school was an eye-opener. The classrooms are very bare, and the teachers work a lot by rote-learning. The children are always very friendly and eager to talk, but it can be overwhelming when thirty children are waving their books at you shouting 'Madam, finished, mark, mark!' I decided to teach Primary One, and have also volunteered to run the library. Although the first few lessons were a real shock, the teacher I'm working alongside, Madam Paulina, is very friendly and very eager to make an effort and improve her teaching. Her maths lessons are already proficient enough that I've decided to take time out from them. I'm hoping to use this time to do some smaller group teaching with some of the remedial students, so I'm getting very excited about how best to teach the ABCs! We moved the library from Namaskar House to the remedial room at school this week, and I've been decorating it with weekly themes. Next week is the grand opening, with the theme of animals. I've made posters and will make selections of books about animals for students of all the different ages at school.

At the moment, two past volunteers, Noa and Caro (who is the volunteer co-ordinator for the Ejura project) are here reviewing the project and trying to improve the administration and general running of the project. They have decided quite recently to make it clear that volunteers are not teachers, but teaching assistants. We're here to support the Ghanaian teachers to become better teachers, which is far more sustainable and provides continuity for the children. They are also trying to set up a Girls Club at school. Based on another local school's idea, this would be a meeting one day a week for Girls at Namaskar School to support them if they choose to be abstinent to avoid HIV/Aids, or to provide honest information and discussion about sexuality and women's issues. Although the school only caters for primary and junior secondary school, many of the children start late or are held back in classes, so some of the older students are young women and it's a really valuable resource for them.

The storms here are amazing. Often, even on dry evenings, we see flashes of lightening in the sky. The rain usually comes in the early evening, when it's getting dark at about six or seven. They don't often last long, but the downpour of rain quickly floods the village, and when the thunder and lightening are close, they are really close. Sitting out under the shelters to eat our dinner, with the power off and thunder cracking right above our heads usually gets us screaming with fear and laughter in equal measures. We've had a few power cuts. They are usually accompanied by a loss of running water, but it's quite cozy to sit out with the boys and the other volunteers with our candles and chat or play cards. The boys are all pretty much young men, the youngest is ten, the oldest has just turned 22. We've now finally learned all their names! Mahadev, Kwabena, Christian, Akwasi, Kwaku, Kwame and Setornyo, or Seto for short. No wonder it was confusing at first, the boys all have their African names, their Christian names and names given to them by Dada as Ananda Marga names. To add to this confusion, Ghanaians can also be named according to what day of the week they're born (my name is Yaa), and the boys also have some pretty scary gang names too, like CID, Kiss Killer and Sun Face. They love to listen to hip hop and like to act macho, but they are always falling over each other to help out if someone needs something moved or cooked or to offer their seat or the last portion of plantain crisps. We've become quite good friends with them now.

Since we arrived there have been three birthdays; Mahadev turned 22, Noa had her 21st, and Simon the cook turned 23. Whenever there's a party the neighbourhood kids come around to dance into the night, and for Mahadev's birthday, Dada Shivesh made delicious ice cream with coconut, banana and mango in it.

We've done a bit of travelling. Today we are in Nkoranza and have just visited the nearby monkey sanctuary. The tro-tros are getting rustier, fuller, bumpier, and this morning's one didn't seem to have the seats screwed on properly, but the rides are always jolly. This morning during an energetic conversation in Twi, a Ghanaian lady at the front helpfully piped up with 'Everyone! Please speak English!' so that we could join in.

Monday is a holiday, so there will be no school, but market comes to Ghana and I'm excited also to go and pick up my first custom made Ghanaian dress. Hopefully soon we'll be able to get some pictures up.

We're having a lot of fun and we're always busy. Love to everyone at home, miss you, and we'll update next time we reach the internet!

JACK:

Almost two weeks in now, at the time of writing at least. Because the internet is so slow I've decided to type are blogs up in the computer room at the house and then load them up when we get to a internet cafe.

Since I last wrote we've settled in to the Ghanaian lifestyle a lot more. I can now navigate the key routes in Ejura and know a few key phrases in Twi; stuff like “how are you?” and “where are you going?” and the appropriate responses. We've also started school which has given much more direction to our days.

Just before we arrived at the house it had been fitted out with a computer room and 18 computers, donated by a previous volunteer. This means the school will be able to run IT classes, the only school in the region to do this. All of which is great for the kids, most of whom haven't used a computer before, but less great for me as somehow I've been put in charge of the room and will be teaching each year group IT for the term. I'm not sure quite how this happened as typing this blog is about as computer literate as I get – I must have showed a bit to much interest early on. Still as long as I stay one step ahead of the kids I should be fine.

So far I've been going round all the classes giving theory lessons and its gone very well, surprisingly the children listen to me and seem to be picking it up quickly. I think it makes a nice change from their normal lessons so they are keen and attentive on the whole.

Away from the school I've been enjoying wandering round the town and the surrounding farm land. The other morning we got up at five to go for a walk, in the cool, to a plot of land the school owns. It was great. Everything is so green now the rainy season's started, and there are so many crops growing all round the town; cassava, yam, beans, maize, pineapple and best of all mango. I've eaten so many mangoes since we've been here. Its the month when they all become rips so whenever you walk under the huge shade giving trees you hear them fall to the ground all around you. There are lots of different types, but I prefer the small green ones as you can peel the skin away easily and they are as soft as ripe plums.

Well, enough talk about mangoes, I better go to my room and eat one instead. Hope everyone is well at home.

Love Jack

We're Here!

HOLLY:

So, after a long, hot journey, we're finally here!

We arrived in Accra slightly late, after our plane was delayed for an hour. Sitting on the plane, we looked at the in-flight map and realised we were flying over the Sahara Desert. Looking down, the clouds had cleared, so we could see all the dunes like tiny ripples in the sand. To see it in real life after having always read about it in books and seen it in pictures was a strange experience.

When we landed in Accra we could feel the thick humidity of the air in our mouths when we breathed. I was nervous about getting my visa checked, and it finally hit home that we were here, and would be for the next 5 months.

Shriidar met us outside the airport. Shriidar is an older gentleman who lives a little way outside Accra. He led us to his son's taxi. In the taxi rank, the first thing I noticed was the smell of petrol. Most people in Ghana drive battered old cars that are a good few years old, and the difference in the smell of emissions is quite surprising on the roads. Lots of the taxis have cracks or chips in their windscreens, and are quite bumped and bruised. Riding around in Ghana is a scary experience. In these old, battered cars the drivers go at top speed along bumpy roads without streetlights, road markings or signs. Swinging through junctions, no-one gives right of way but instead just beep as they cut each other up, make left turns without looking or overtake slower vehicles. Ghanaian businesses are often religiously named, so it's quite apt that these rickety vehicles often have painted slogans on the back of 'With Jesus' help' and 'By the grace of God'! The sight of overturned vehicles by the side of the road is not uncommon, and with no pavements, pedestrians are quite happy to walk on the side of the road, moving only when beeped at, or weaving in between slow moving vehicles trying to sell mangoes, water or crisps to the passengers inside.

Safely at Shriidar's house, shaken, but not overturned, we sat on the cool porch outside his house and there we met Danielle. Danielle is a Canadian volunteer, who is on her gap year from school. She's very friendly, and very positive, which I think will be useful when we get into the thick of teaching and the problems we might face.

Shriidar follows Ananda Marga, which is what Dada Shivesh, the project manager practices. This seems based on similar principles to Hinduism or Hare Krishna, they eat a vegetarian diet, with no eggs, onion or garlic. Shriidar told us that on Saturday night, there was to be a party celebrating his guru's birthday that would start at midnight and end at six the next morning, with celebrators taking it in turns to dance continuously from midnight to six. However, Shriidar couldn't attend that. He told us that he would be up at four in the morning to meditate for two hours. However, Shriidar was exaggerating a little when he said that. In reality, Shriidar got up at THREE o clock, to get washed and ready for meditation at four!

I can see why there is lots of action in the morning – by the evening, the air is so hot it's difficult to do much more than sit and drink water, but the mornings are considerably nicer. At half eight we took a taxi to the STC bus station, to make our way to Kumasi. The journey was estimated to take about six hours, so I was dreading it, but in fact, cars and buses, with their windows down, or their air conditioning on are about the coolest places you can find in Ghana! The bus was quite smelly of petrol and metal, but when we stopped off at services halfway and got our first taste of the afternoon sun, we realised how lucky we were to have air conditioning.

On the second half of the bus ride the TVs were flipped down and we were treated to a Nigerian film. The trailers were for 'Lagos Boys' and 'Lagos Boys 2', comedies about young boys drinking beer, kissing women and jumping on beds, and for various action movies about two men fighting over one woman. 'Rejected Son' was the movie we watched. Helen's boyfriend of seven years Syl, refused to marry Helen. Scandalously, just as he was refusing, Syl's mysterious fiance arrived, to the sound of stabbing synthesisers, and Helen ran away crying. Helen's friend rightly advised Helen to forget all about the treacherous Syl – but what would happen when both Helen and Syl's new fiance discovered they were expecting Syl's child?! I'm afraid, to find out, you'll have to buy 'Rejected Son' and the second part 'Rejected Son 2'.

We were supposed to travel to the STC station in Kumasi, to meet with some volunteers, but unfortunately, just outside Kumasi, the bus broke down, and we were all told to take our bags off and wait for a replacement. When the replacement didn't seem to be coming, we took a taxi to a tro tro station in Kumasi. The tro tros are minibuses that line up in the market. The tro tro driver is heading in one direction, and anyone who wants to go in that direction pays for a seat on his bus. Once the bus is full, it heads to its destination. Luckily, our tro tro was quite small and filled quite quickly, so we were soon off towards Ejura.

Halfway to Ejura, which was 2 hours from Kumasi, we saw our first downpour. We had to wind up the windows, and so in the steamy vehicle, with a sheet of rain over the windscreen, the driver drove, still at top speed, with one hand on the wheel and one wiping the windows, in the dark, beeping frantically at oncomers to avoid collison. Needless to say, when we arrived, we were quite relieved.

At Ejura, everyone knows Namaskar House, so someone quickly led us to Mahadev, who lives at the house. Mahadev and his friend helped us home and after eating some delicious food, we only had energy to shower and go to bed, finally in our room, which will be home now for three months.

JACK:

Hello to everyone,

Holly and I have arrived at the school in Ejura. There was a hectic few days of travel, but we've made it now.

Namaskar House where we're staying is lovely, its deep in the village off the main road so we're still getting to grips with the routes. Apart from four main roads Ejura is navigated by hundreds of paths, tracks and alleys, so every time we've been to the centre and the school we've gone a different way. Still getting lost isn't a problem, as the only "obrunis" (white/foreign people) in town the kids soon point us in the right direction. The standard call from all children is "hello obruni, how are you" to which we reply "I am fine, how are you". It seems this is the key phrase they all learn in school. They also tend to ask our names, so I'm now hearing a lot of "Jack" calls barked at me – my name is nice and easy to remember and shout.

There are seven boys staying in Namaskar house most of them go to the school, the oldest Mahadev goes to a senior school else where is Ejura, and they all seem to work around the house as well. I've remembered most of their names but after only a day its difficult to keep track of everyone. I've been playing table tennis quite a bit with the boys but they are all very good so I've only won one game, still with a bit more practice I should be able to compete a bit more. So far I haven't seen much football being played, but I've been assured its quite common at the school.

The assistant head teacher, Richard, has told me that they show most of the Premier League games in a bar here – so next weekend I'll definitely be heading there. He also mentioned going to a Ghanaian league game in Kumasi at some point, apparently his team is playing there in a month. All things to be looked forward to!

The other volunteers are all very friendly, and both Holly and I are having a great time so far. As expected the internet is very slow here but we'll hopefully make time for more blogging soon.