Another Week in Ghana

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Hello Everyone!
I apologize for not posting anything last week. Unfortunately I had o pictures to put up and nothing noteworthy to report. This past week however proved most interesting.
It was the last week of classes and so I spent my time running around making sure I didn't miss anything important regarding my classes and finals, seeing as how oburonis are usually the last to find out that their finals dates and times have been changed. However, in between running around, I received some great news. About two months ago I applied for a grant to a UK based organization to get computers sent to the Today's Choices school so that the girls could learn how to type and use basic computer software programs. I had not heard back from the organization for quite some time and was beginning to think they had ignored my request. However, this week I got an e-mail from them accepting my application and agreeing to send twenty refurbished PCs to the school! You can imagine my excitement after losing my hopes for this opportunity. I sent all the final information about Today's Choices that they required and now all the director of the school has to do is pick up the computers at the shipping yard when they arrive in a few weeks.
I cannot believe that this is actually happening! I didn't think that I, with no prior experience or current resources, could make something like this happen. I am just so overjoyed that the girls at the school will be able to widen their opportunities for employment by gaining basic computer skills. And perhaps an intern next semester can be the one to carry out the task of helping the school assemble the computers and teach basic computer learning skills.
In other volunteering news, I have forgotten to mention in my previous posts the Baw 'leshie school just up our street that my whole house now volunteers at. One of our friends who we met here, who just happens to be a UW-Madison graduate, is working for a micro-financing group that gives small loans to women in the area who want to start their own businesses. After working here for almost a year, he noticed that many of the women's children attend the same school (Baw 'leshie) and became interested in starting an after school program, so that the mothers could have a bit more free time. When he proposed this idea to our house, we were all for it and began preparing lesson plans and coming up with ideas.
For the last month and a half we've been rotating days, sending three people everyday to teach 3rd, 4th, and 5th & 6th grade classes. Some of us teach art, math, English, or just play games like "Simon Says." I myself go every Wednesday and for an hour I teach a small group of 4th graders geography. Courtesy of some parents that have come to visit their kids studying here and brought with them supplies, we now have resources like paper, pencils and maps! I think that knowledge of the world and its contents are very important and so I started out teaching the kids about continents and oceans. Now I have the students busy memorizing countries and what continents they belong to. Their favorite game I play with them is splitting up into two teams, one person from each team goes to the black board, I yell out a country, and the fastest student to write which continent it's on gets the point for their team. Of course the candy I bring for the winning team is quite the incentive.
The school itself is very modest. Because it serves so many students it is a large complex with a dusty soccer field in the middle, however, most of the buildings are just one room where multiple classes are taught at once. We ourselves have to teach 3rd through 6th grade classes all in one room with only rickety partitions separating us. The "black boards" we use are really large pieces of wood that chald actually writes on surprisingly well. The children are all required to wear uniforms and are given one hot meal a day, and I am almost certain that the employed teachers earn next to nothing. But I can see why they would continue teaching there. Even though they have no resources and the school is in terrible condition, the children are such a joy to work with and are so eager to learn. Their inquiries, curiosity, and smiles make it all worth while. One of my housemates came up with the bright idea to have the children write her letters and send them to her in the U.S. (she will pay for their postage of course). That way she can continue to write to them and they can keep in contact with her. I may steal her idea so that I can continue hearing from my 4th graders to see how they grow over the years.
Other than that I spent the rest of the week dealing with touchy African technology while trying to finalize travel plans for next week with my friend and fellow volunteer Jordan (she goes to school in Texas and is possibly the sweetest girl I've ever met!). Everyone else is off at the moment traveling due to the fact that it is now revision week and finals won't start for another week yet. And so I am sitting here alone, waiting for my housemates to get back and entertain me before I jet off on my own adventure this upcoming week.
Wish me a safe travels and I hope all is well with all of you. As always, thanks for reading!!

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