Last week I found out I was to attend a
meeting for health teachers in the district capital Thursday. I knew
the time and place so showed up a little late since I knew on Ghana
time I'd still be early. But I didn't really know what to expect for
the meeting. I was pleasantly surprised to find out it a workshop
about students with special needs being put on by an NGO called CBR.
A couple of weeks earlier I'd met two of their Canadian summer
interns who also were at the workshop so it was nice to be
reacquainted with them. Sandema is currently a hotbed for felisa
(white people)- there are probably over 20 foreigners (many of whom
are students) working there this summer.
To start with one of the Canadians gave
a short talk on how to best help students with intellectual
disabilities. CBR also works in villages in the area to sensitize
people to use the term intellectual disability rather than mental
retardation. His points were very good and there's definitely a need
to discuss how these students should be identified and treated since
special education doesn't really exist (outside of schools for the
deaf and blind) and therefore all students are integrated into one
class. I could tell he hadn't been in Ghana very long because his
Canadian accent was still going strong and his vocabulary was rather
difficult. But overall I think the teachers 'got' him pretty well.
Then two Ghanaians led sessions on how to identify and help students
with vision impairment. After I answered a question about how to
notice students in the class having eye problems, the Canadian who'd
just presented complimented me on my Ghanaian English. He was really
impressed with my cadence especially. It was really funny to me
because now it's so automatic I don't even notice I'm using it and
can easily turn it on and off depending on who I'm talking to. I
told him I've been in Ghana a long time now and have had a ton of
practice in the classroom so it just takes time to learn. I guess I
can write 'fluent in Ghanaian English' on my resume now....
After our lunch in the afternoon, we
had a practical session on how to conduct vision screenings using the
charts. Once we'd learned about how to do the screening, we had a
chance to practice ourselves using each other. Next month I'm
planning to borrow the charts from the special needs coordinator at
the district education office and organize vision screenings for my
students. I'm pretty sure some of them are having problems but
haven't told anyone or done anything about it. I'm hoping that
during the long school vacation students who are referred to the eye
clinic will find time to go there. I think their visit to the clinic
at the hospital is covered by insurance but I've heard that if they
need spectacles it is not. I need to get my facts straight so I can
know how best to help them.
My food adventure this week was making
what I call a somehow burrito. I used corn flour to make the
tortilla then using taco seasoning with rice and beans. Then I added
fresh chopped tomatoes and onions. The only thing missing was the
avocado (or pear as it's called here) which is difficult to find in
the Upper East but abundant in the southern part of Ghana.
It's been hotter here recently than I'd
like because the rain isn't coming like it should be. The last time
we had a real rain was 2-3 weeks ago so everyone is starting to
become concerned because of farming. The sky continues to look
threatening almost on a daily basis but then nothing happens. At
church we've been praying for rain as I'm sure most people are. The
farmers (pretty much everyone here) are being delayed in the sowing
of their seeds but at some point they have to go ahead even if the
rain doesn't come. Last year it was the same story when I came to
the Upper East for the first time in July they were also experiencing
a small drought. Hopefully it doesn't repeat itself this year.
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