click click click click

Above is a Ghanaian way of saying I understand... One click = yes, two clicks = no, multiple clicks and a shake of the head = I don't understand etc. These are some of the things you pick up in a short few weeks teaching classes packed full of African teenagers !

Yesterday we left Kongo/Logre, where we have been based for the past three weeks teaching in the school. Finally decided that I should probably post something on this, after writing half a post a few weeks ago but running out of time in the oh-so-slow internet cafes. We were both very disappointed not to have had more time in the school, and I definitely thought that three weeks just wasn't enough, although even in such a small amount of time you can see the difference that your presence makes to the students.

Their daily routine is something you only learn through spending time with them, and it makes you appreciate the struggles they face on an everyday basis. The typical student will wake up at 5 a.m. to collect water from the nearest borehole for drinking/washing. They might leave home at about 6a.m. to walk an hour or so to school (many walk a lot longer) to begin school at 7. Classes supposedly begin at 7.50, after the students have had assembly and cleaning of the school in the morning. In reality only some of the teachers show up for their classes, and punctuality certainly isn't a priority. Classes continue until 2.40 p.m. in the afternoon, with a break at 12 for luch which is provided through donations from Ireland so that the students can get a proper meal during the day. The menu usually varies between rice and beans, beans and rice, or rice and beans. After assembly in the afternoon the students walk home again at 3 and as soon as they arrive home they reverse their roles. The girls might need to collect more water or begin cooking for younger children in the family, while the boys help with the farming. They have about two hours at home before it gets dark at 6, and since there is no electricity in the vast majority of the homes (which are made of mud/sand) there is no question of homework or study. Some students who are forunate enough to live within a half an hour walk of the school come to the school for evening study if their family is supportive of it, and dozens of them sleep in the school on the wooden benches or desks becuase they have no other chance to get any work done.

The students themselves understand the importance of their education, and they know that if they don't progress to senior secondary school they will spend the rest of their lives in the vicious cycle of poverty which most people in Northern Ghana are trapped in. Gruelling farming is the only livelihood for those without an education, and the students are desperate to avoid this fate. This doesn't mean that their parents are of the same opinion unfortunately, so when teachers don't show up for classes in school, you quickly realise that many students literally have no other opportunity to learn anything that day... or the next day...

Am just after realising that my time is almost up on the internet so will have to cut this short. The students were a joy to teach, they have so much energy and enthusiasm in spite of their hardship and are as likely to break into song in the middle of a class as they are to start whacking each other across the face for getting a question wrong...!! There's a lot to say, but time is actually up, I'll try to post something else next time!

Mistah Peeetah and Madam Alishhh

Yesterday was our last day teaching in Presentation Junior High School. The school had an assembly for us and we were presented with traditional clothes and the students sang for us. It was a really memorable day! We had a meeting with the staff afterwards where we shared some of our observations about the school and teaching methods. We tried to encourage the teachers and empathise with them about the difficulties and challenges teaching classes of 60 students presents. We also tried to convey the importance of being approachable and encouraging students to ask questions. Corporal punishment is very much part of education in almost all schools in Northern Ghana, but Brother Ben the principal has banned this at Pres. However, old habits die hard so many students probably still experience this method of discipline on occasion. In other schools, caning is sadly part and parcel of education. "Spare the cane, spoil the child" would be the attitude of many parents and teachers. In fact, I think it would the attitude of the vast majority here.

The students are beginning their end of term exams. We were shocked last week when we were come back home late, about 10pm, to see the classrooms full of students. Most do not have electricity so they walk (sometimes for miles) just to use the light in the school to do their homework and study. Observing things like this has taught us about how many challenges these students face in their education and what a struggle it is for many of them. I have found that the girls in particular here are very much 2nd class citizens. They are mostly shy and timid, and lack any self-confidence. I would have loved more time to do some after-school activities with them, maybe drama or public-speaking, to give their self esteem a little boost. Most of their parents will not invest money in educating them beyond the age of 15 or 16, as they will probably marry soon after this.

We visited a primary school in Logre last week also. This was a stark reminder of how much Northern Ghana is neglected by the government. Most classes had over 100 students. There were 14 teachers in total, for almost 1,000 children. There were not enough classrooms for all of them so we saw blackboards outside hung on trees with stones and benches scattered around...they were literally being taught under a tree. The classrooms themselves were depressing, to tell the truth. They were gloomy, dull with holes in the roof, dirt on the floor and the atmosphere was pretty miserable. The children were so excited to see us and they were literally falling over one another to try and shake hands with the 'solomia' or white person!! A very bizarre and memorable experience!

So we are heading off to Mole National Park next week. We would have both loved more time teaching. It has been incredibly rewarding, eye-opening and I have learned so much about the education system, the children and the difficulties they face. We spoke to them yesterday about how they think we can help them and have drawn together some ideas which may make their lives a little easier, such as providing a few bicycles for those students who walk very far. But more of that when we return! If nothing else, I have learned how much I still do not know and how much I have yet to learn. The students dedication and struggle to educate themselves is really so admirable.

P.S. Peter has saved a draft but needs a bit more time to finish so hopefully he will write something soon. Also have taken loads of photos but uploading them takes forever, but I'll keep trying!

Goat kidneys and crocodiles

What do goats, dogs and bats have in common? All Ghanaian specialities!! Have only braved the former so far...

I only have a few minutes to write and Peter will hopefully post a little about our experience in the school so far shortly. We've had a busy week as we began teaching in a local school in Kongo, outside Bolgatanga, run by the Presentation Brothers. It's a very different to a school in Ireland needless to say!

We're teaching the equivalent of 1st and 2nd years, but the age ranges from 12 to over 20, as so many students begin school at a much later stage. The students are extremely eager to learn for the most part, so even though some classes have more than 60 students, the majority of them listen to you and want to learn as much as they can. We have both found that the teaching methods that are used here have reinforced certain bad habits such as taking down lots of notes but failing to understand or learn any of them. For instance, I asked the students if they had covered anything about the heart or blood, to which they said yes, but when I asked a few simple questions it soon became clear that they had very very little understanding of the basic concepts.

Peter has had similar, if even more pronounced, experiences. He began some Geography and intended to cover some countries in Europe and a little about each. However, most students didn't know the capital of Ghana, or couldn't even pick out Ghana on a map of the world. They didn't know what a continent was, what a desert was, or an ocean. The world they live in is extremely confined and their homes and local market is all they really know. We're trying to give them a sense of their place in the world, what's outside it and the possibilities education holds for each of them.

Teaching the computers is really enjoyable because it's obviously a huge novelty for them. It's been great to see how pleased with themselves they are when they learned to type a few letters and use Microsoft Word. It's also really rewarding to see how far they come so quickly. I've been amazed by the ability of some students. A few are clearly so intelligent and it would almost break your heart seeing how hindered they are by the education system in Ghana! I think Peter has a more difficult time trying to teach them some French, because the standard of teaching in this subject to date has been pretty abysmal. I'll leave him fill you in on this himself!

Driving around Kongo, where we are staying, we also get a sense of how difficult the lives of some of the students we teach can be. We see them walking home from school, which may take much more than an hour. I have seen some of the girls carrying water or food home to their families, so they must immediately help with the housework and farm when they return home from school. Their dedication to getting an education is admirable. To get an education, they get up extremely early, walk a great distance in the sweltering heat as well as having to work hard with the land at home. Everybody here farms the land to eat and make a living.

We've also managed to do a few trips to a few places around Kongo. We visited the 'Tongo Hills' and climbed a few of the rock formations here. We met the local chief who, incidentally, has 17 wives! The chief set-up is a common and bizarre one here in Ghana, and presumably a lot of Africa. The chief is in charge of the community and for the most part seems to live a pretty lazy and sedentary lifestyle sitting in the shade, with many locals or one of his many wives (!), tending to his needs. We walked around the villiage, which is a series of mud huts and the people here really do live an extremely primative life.

We visited Paga crocodile pond yesterday where we got up close and personal with a crocodile! We both held its tail and it was thrown a live fowl which it ate alarmingly quickly...hopefully will get a few pics up soon! Made it across the border to Burkina Faso for a short walk and we're spending the weekend in nearby Navrongo. Back to school in the morning!

Belated first entry

Hello! We've now been in Ghana for two weeks, and this is the first opportunity I've had to post anything.

It's hard to know where to begin!

After arriving in the capital Accra, we travelled up North to 'Tamale'', a small town with a population about the size of Cork. It's literally a different world here in Ghana. We began to get used to women carrying huge buckets and containers on their heads, balancing perfectly, to children screaming excitedly and waving at us (white people are something of a novelty to children!) - they call us 'father' which sounds like FAAAAATHHAAAAAAA because the first white people here were all priests.

The country is extremely poor, albeit one of the most stable and strongest in Africa. We grew accustomed to seeing tiny villages of mud huts (tiny round huts with a straw roof) and to seeing children with massively distended stomachs. In the North of Ghana, the people are much fewer and poorer. It is largely neglected by the Ghanaian Government.

We visited schools, orphanages and clinics in Tamale and I have so much to say about each its hard to know where to start. Children who are motherless or who are abandoned may end up in the orphanages (if they are lucky). When we visited, the children were crying out for attention. There were very few staff relative to the number of babies. Changing, feeding and cleaning them takes up all their time so affection and attention isn't a priority. We visited another orphanage in a very remote area in the Upper East just a few days ago in a town called Sirigu. Here the babies were painfully malnourished and we were shocked to find some were several months old, because they looked so small and frail. We brought along a very modest gift of biscuits and a bag of rice, and the sisters who are in charge were so grateful for this. They are in much need of food, nappies, washing and feeding equipment.

I can't write about all the things we've seen or I would be here all day but to pick another at random - we also visited a Leprosarium. People with leprosy are ostracised by their communities here in Ghana. They are left to fend for themselves and the local people often fear them. They cannot farm the lend owing to their deformities so many were left to scavenge any scraps of food they could find. A nurse working in a local hospital gave up her job to devote her life to helping these people. She sought aid for them and succeeded in beginning a food distribution programe once a month. We drove down in the cars with this food last week. This community is beginning to receive awareness and aid thanks to this lady's efforts.

After a few days in Yendi, close to Tamale, we travelled up further north to the Upper East Region a few days ago. Yendi was not the most successful as myself and Peter had our first taste of traveller's sickness. So we both felt pretty rotten for a few days, but its all part of the experience I suppose! Peter also managed to rip the only pair of shorts he brought to Yendi a few hours before we were supposed to meet the Bishop for dinner. So he squeezed into a pair of mine!! The tummy upset induced weight loss helped!!

We visited Presentation Junior High School on Friday, which is just a few minutes walk from where we are staying. We talked to each of the four classes about Ireland and taught them 3 or 4 words of Irish, which went down a treat. It's amazing how eager they are to learn! A big problem here in Ghana is that the teachers are very poorly paid. As a result of this, the quality of teaching is generally quite poor. It is often that teachers are very late for school, or even absent. It seems that while students are in school from 8 or 9am until 3pm, they may only be taught for a few hours with many free periods. Presentation JHS is one of the best schools in the area and the quality of teching here would be much higher than that seen elsewhere in the country. Even so, there are up to 60 students to one teacher, and these students would also have many free periods during the day. This school has 30 computers, donated by Preslink. Myself and Peter are both going to be involved in some teaching for the next few weeks which we're really looking forward to. I'm going to teach typing and basic computer skills, while Peter is (surprise surprise) going to some french with them. We're also hoping to speak to the students about HIV, Malaria, TB and some other common health problems here.

So we're both settling in nicely up here in Bolgatanga. I think we have both found the experience so far to be harder than anticipated, but I have also learned so much and the two weeks have been such an eye-opener. Hopefully I'll get a chance to update this again with how the teaching is going!