A day of goodbyes

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School as usual this morning. I got there and as it was Friday, it was Religious Education. Except they did nothing. Absolutely nothing. From 9am until break at 10am, Lucy just sat there, chatting to other teachers and myself, whilst the students occupied themselves with stickers that somebody had brought in. I got a few photographs and Lucy and I talked about the education system in the UK vs. Ghana. They too, get visits (like we do with Ofsted), theirs being from the Ghana Education Service. But they don't seem to have lesson plans or anything, which is strange.



I left after break, and didn't make a big deal of it being my last day. I'd bought every student in my class a pencil and an eraser, and some pens for Lucy to mark with. She was happy, and told me "God Bless you". When I left, the students did a little chant, something to do with God blessing me, and that I had been welcome. They were so sweet. I will miss them! I found Yaw on the way out, in the playground, eating a yogurt, with it dripped all down his shirt (which is a few sizes too big for him). He gave me one of his killer smiles as I scooped him up for cuddles. Every time I tried to take a photo however, he stopped smiling and just stared at the camera with big eyes! The pictures will not do him justice. I did manage to get a photo of the cheeky little Alfred though, actually laughing, which he does often. But all the photos I have of him up until now, show him looking him so sad, like one of those children on the campaign adverts!He does it on purpose though, and laughs mischievously when the photo has been taken and the camera has been put down.



I was quite disappointed that evil teacher (Marion) didn't come up to me and ask for money and presents, as I had my speech all ready. I would have liked to have got my chance to say it!Just for reference, here is whatI had planned: "No. You are not poor. You have a job you have a phone. You are greedy. And you are rude. I do not like you very much and you are not my friend. You are mean to the children. If I have anything to give,I will give it to people who deserve it. Not to you". I so wish I could have got my chance to say that, I would have then smiled sweetly and walked off. I would have loved to have seen her face.



Steffi, Freya, Claire and I then went to Brigade. I found some Snickers and Bounty bars, which made me happy, and took 100 cedis out of the bank (about £35) so I can treat myself to things until I leave Ghana. I also bought a mango from the fruit stall and asked for "one for tomorrow" so it shall hopefully be nice and ripe then. We got a taxi back for 5 cedis, stopping at the post office on the way for Steffi. The driver wanted 8 cedis but if you say "no" and start to walk off, they negotiate pretty quickly!



It was my final afternoon at the orphanage, so I took my camera once more. There were only a few of the kids there, as some of them were off somewhere else. But "my little lot" were there, with the exception of Nini. I got cuddles from Peter, Destiny and Junior. I took up little packets of biscuits for them all - they love treats. Junior also finished off my juice when I wasn't looking though! Then some of us got up to play football with them. It's funny how how competitive I get with a bunch of kids, some as young as 4 haha. I was on a team with Laura (one of the other volunteers here, from Spain) and Isaiah. Little Junior was on the other team, but his eyesight isn't great, so he kept kicking the ball the wrong way! Also, the twins (Benedict and Benedicta) were playing, so I got to know them a bit better. I thought I might cry when I left, but I managed to hold it together. Benedicta came running up for a hug, and I told her "Be good, work hard at school". Urgh. Saying goodbye so incredibly tough. Peter didn't understand (he's another of the 4 year olds) and kept saying "No. You come again. You come again". Cute.



We usually walk back from the orphanage, but today we'd agreed to go and teach at the fishing village of Teshie. I've mentioned it before, but it's a very impoverished community. The kids want to learn, so they go to school in the day and in the evenings we have started to run extra classes for them. I was slightly hestitant, with them being older and all, but I had the BEST time this evening, more fun than with my little 4-6 year olds in school each day! The group I had tonight were aged 10-13. Such a fun bunch. They laughed so much at everything, smiled constantly and were super keen. I was a little panicked when I got there, as it looked like I was going to have to teach Science, but I convinced the guy running it that I could only really teach English. Thinking on the spot, I decided to do poems with them. They didn't know what rhymes were. So I made up a lot of silly ones, such as "I am driving in my car, looking at a shining star" and underlining all the rhyming words so they could understand. Then I threw out the word "cat" and wrote it on the board. I asked them to find me rhyming words. "Please Madame, MIAOW!" was one answer. Another answer was "dog". *sigh*. I kept on pressing on, though I'm not really sure they got it. I kept putting up new words, thinking it must surely click at some point? But no, it didn't appear to be the case. I guess because African pronunciation is different, some words also sound similar when in fact they really don't rhyme (such as "gun" and "on"). By the end of it, some of them got the task. Though most didn't. But you know what - it doesn't matter. Everyone had so much fun - so much laughter and joy. They were so keen, and kept putting up their hands and saying "Please Madame" and then giving me wrong answers, but with such sincerity. I ran out of ways to politely tell them it was wrong....but I couldn't stop smiling. There was such a buzz, a buzz that I have NEVER experienced in a class in England, even though I have always had lovely students. But these kids are something else. They are thirsty for knowledge. They respect their teachers. They diligently copy from the board, and are just super keen. I love them all. I felt really sad knowing I won't be there on Monday to see how they did on their homework of writing poems. I felt the buzz for teaching, this is what it's all about. Clicking my fingers, stomping round the place as I made up silly rhymes about a cat who had a hat, who was fat, and chased a rat. The students loved the rhythm, and were grinning and laughing and clapping at every rhyme. Even though they were so silly, they just loved the lesson. I can just imagine students back in the UK rolling their eyes and proclaiming "that's so dumb!".



Before I left,I had a few minutes just to talk to the students. They wanted to stroke my white skin. Makes a chance from playing with my Obruni hair, I guess!I told themI liked their skin colour and they were super excited. They asked me "You want to be chocolate?" which made me giggle. WhenI said yes, they just kept telling me thatI should stop wearing sunscreen and then I will turn brown like them. One of them also asked me "Madame, if I go to live in your country, doI go white like you?" which I thought was sweetly naive. Bless them.



I did have a slightly heartbreaking moment earlier on the way to the fishing village. I saw a man, homeless I think, with ragged clothes and a limp, walking up by the sewers, reaching out to cars driving past, hoping for money, food, something. Urgh. I know Ghana isn't as rich as the UK and I know there is poverty. But I don't work in the worst area. Even though my students have nothing by my standards, they at least attend school, and they have food.



Oh - I spoke to Albert earlier - he is the guy who'll be one of the new directors of the charity I work for. He works closely with the schools we are placed in. I told him all about the nasty, greedy teacher I have talked about. He was horrified and kept saying how unprofessional it was. He said she needs taking to task! I hope he makes good on his promise.



Tonight I am going to the bar round the corner for a drink with Steffi, Sammy and maybe Laura. It's Steffi's last night, and I haven't been to the bar yet, so....

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