Your Shirt in Africa

My biggest news this week is that I’ve started teaching maths again. I’m helping out in the form 2 class so the other teacher can focus on preparing the form 3 students for the upcoming Basic Education Certificate Examination (BECE) in April. The students are pretty behind in both forms so it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed but all I can do is my best. We started a new topic on angles and I tried to make a joke about being careful about spelling the word correctly because if not angels aren’t really math related. A few students chuckled so I guess it was ok but humor doesn't always cross between cultures. At the end of the class on the different types, I had the students stand up and make acute, right, etc angles with their arms. They seemed to have fun with it and hopefully it will help them remember too.

I know I’ve posted about this before but recently I read an article about how donated clothes in America find their way to African markets to be sold (yes for a price). It was written by a journalist who was a Peace Corps Volunteer in Togo and was pretty interesting. It definitely made me think about the shirts I see her in a new light but I still find amusement from all the different shirts I see. For example recently I saw an Atlanta ’96, got really excited and took a photo. When we first arrived in Ghana, a common rookie mistake by me and my fellow trainees was to try to strike up conversation with folks based on the team's hat or shirt they were wearing. We quickly learned that clothes here are worn for more practical purposes and not for frivolity. One of my students came by my house recently for me to look at an old (and I mean old) laptop- it’s a Toshiba T2150CDS and doesn’t have the normal QWERTY keyboard- wearing a shirt that read ‘I’m definitely up to something.’ So I asked her ‘Emelia, what are you up to? Your shirt says you’re up to something?’ She laughed and I explained to her that the expression usually means that you are doing something that is no good. By the way, if anyone has any knowledge about old computers let me know because I am supposed to be the expert here but as once we turned on the laptop the screen was just black and I have no idea what to do!

It’s been quite the football frenzy around town recently. There were matches being played in the field which is just behind my house Sunday and Monday so it gets pretty loud. I watched on Monday night with one of my students. Over the weekend the African Cup of Nations started and last night the Ghana Black Starts played in their first match and gamed (beat) Botswana. I walked over to the other teacher’s quarters to watch the match with a bunch of teachers and enjoyed watching the men passionately discuss football. It seemed the conversation got heated even though everyone was rooting for the same team!

http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif
I had some of my students write things they like and dislike about the our school and I was amazed at how positive the responses were in general. There were a few similar themes in the items they saw needed improvement but overall they are happy with their school and education. It was eye opening for me to read their responses and realize that this school is all they know and this is normal for them. It's hard for me not to dwell on and get frustrated by all the problems I see here, especially with the education system. Later in the week I read this article about child slaves working on cocoa fields in Ivory Coast and how they perceive their lives as normal. It is telling and put Ghana's problems into perspective for me since Ivory Coast is a neighbor.


I’ve been making frequent social calls to a student’s house to check on the construction of a new mud hut in their compound. Joyce’s house is on the way to the dam where I like to walk in the evenings and her father and other family members are always yelling ‘Jam(Come!)” to me. Thankfully she’s usually around and can help translate when her dad inevitably starts telling me something in Buli I don’t understand. I’ve been a few times the past week or so to snap photos of the progress on the house and the last time I went he told me I should come every day. I told him I would try but that sometimes I might not be able to go. Maybe if I do go visit every day the baby won't be so terrified of me...

Where the Smile Lingers

Last week was our in-service training (IST) with our counterparts in Kumasi at the Wadoma Royale Hotel, which turned out to be owned by my headmaster’s relative from Gbedema funny enough. The slogan of the hotel is where the smile lingers. Unfortunately I forgot to take a photo of it but do have other funny English-isms to share. My notebook I was given to take notes in during the training has photos of people playing football (soccer) and some inspirational wordage include ‘If our bodies are not strong, our spirit to do things will certainly be quite dull. And at the same time, we are lack of energy (ies) to study. Diseases will only attack the weak, but not the strong (really?!?).’ Also I did take a photo of a cigarette stand named Corruption which cracks me up and a food stall named STOMACH Has No Holiday (so true!). I want to do a blog post soon on Ghanaian English- I'm coming.

Back to the training…we had four days of sessions on topics including grant writing, secondary projects (especially concerning food security and HIV/AIDS), West African Examination Council (WAEC) exams given at the end of JHS and SHS, and some new Peace Corps initiatives. One of the best parts for me was just to sit down with other JHS to ‘share our experiences.’ It was helpful to realize that many people are facing similar challenges and it was great listening to solutions that worked to overcome these problems and also to brainstorm ideas too. Plus it was fun to see everyone again and be together as our Education training group once again and for the last time really. We’ll see each other in the future but not as a separate group.

School opened (began) last week when we were in training but teaching is slowly beginning this week. So now it’s time to get back in the rhythm of teaching before tackling all the ideas I have for the new year here! At times here redefining success is pretty essential. Like today I held 3 happy, smiling babies and I’d say that’s an accomplishment. First if people are trust you to hold their baby then that’s a good sign and secondly if the baby doesn’t cry from fright then hurrah. I hope everyone’s 2012 is getting off to a great start!

Newsletter Article

I wrote this piece back in November for a community newsletter where one of my aunt's lives so I thought I'd post it here- enjoy!

My quest to serve in Peace Corps started in July 2010. I wanted a career change from working as a supply chain software consultant and had the desire to help people. JFK’s mission to promote world peace and friendship by creating an agency resonated with me. After interviews, medical and legal review, and lots of waiting, I received an invitation to teach mathematics at the junior high school level in Ghana, West Africa for 27 months. After accepting, I embarked on my journey along in a group of 70 idealistic, excited trainees in June. I spent twelve weeks living with a Ghanaian family and being trained on teaching, language, culture, development work, and the education system. At the end of June, I found out I would be living in the rural village Gbedema in the Builsa district of the Upper East region. On August 30, I was sworn in as a Volunteer on the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps Ghana, the first country to receive volunteers.

The first goal of Peace Corps in order to accomplish the mission is helping the people of interested countries in meeting their need for trained men and women. Since there is a shortage of trained teachers, I am the Information and Communications Technology (ICT) teacher at the public school in my village and hope to shape my students into future leaders. I teach in English about computers to three classes ranging from 50 to 80 students in the purely theoretical sense since the school does not currently have a lab. I hope to inspire at least one student to pursue a technology related career in the future. I am also the health madam and run a health club with a fellow teacher. We discuss health current events and topics that affect the students including personal hygiene; diseases such as malaria, TB and meningitis; and STIs including HIV/AIDS. Next month I am planning to incorporate HIV/AIDS education into my ICT lessons for World AIDS Day. In the near future we will be implementing a peer education program. I am enjoying my work here so far but look forward to seeing how my role in the community evolves over time.

Helping promote a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served is the second goal of Peace Corps. Part of this mission is accomplished just by simply being: living with, working alongside, and ‘being free’ with the community members. Speaking the local language goes a long way to integrate into the community so I continue to develop my Buli skills. Of course I am just an individual American representing one facet of America. Although I mostly try to use Ghanaian examples in my classroom, I sometimes give mini-lessons on various aspects of American culture. One of my favorite topics to discuss thus far is holidays. I also share dishes such as vegetable gumbo, alfredo pasta, and pancakes with students and friends to give them a taste of America. Visitors to my house enjoying looking at my photos from home, especially the one I brought from a trip to DC of ‘Obama’s house.’ Recently I showed my older students photos of Atlanta on Wikipedia on my laptop while reinforcing our lessons on the internet. It is funny how often I find it difficult to explain certain elements of my culture. But I guess part of living in a new culture allows you to view your own culture through a different lens.
The third goal of Peace Corps is to promote a better understanding of other peoples (Ghanaians in my case) on the part of Americans. I know I will fulfill this goal more when I return to the States at the end of my two years. Currently I am participating in a letter exchange program with an inner city school in Atlanta. I write them a letter each month explaining various aspects of Ghana, including money, the geography, festivals, and tourist attractions. I also keep a blog where I reflect on each week by writing stories. Also I include pictures, videos, and lots of elements of Ghanaian culture and life such as music & dance, transportation, people, and food.

I have my own personal goals for service as well but I hope staying true to the three goals of Peace Corps in accomplishing the mission will ensure a successful service. As much as I hope to teach and help people I have heard time and time again that most Volunteers learn and receive more than they are able to give. Thus far I am learning about perseverance, balance, thankfulness, boundaries, and living a simple, quiet life. Because of the various challenges I’ve been faced with during my first three months in my community the Peace Corps slogan ‘The toughest job you’ll ever love’ keeps coming to mind. In case you’re wondering, it’s true.