I haven't really spoken much about the type of work that I have been doing here in Africa. Over the past 2 months Rabina and I have been working in the classrooms at Agogo APTC Practice Primary. We help the teachers by teaching lessons and marking. I have been able to work with both new teachers and student teachers as well by introducing some different teaching methods, classroom management strategies and visuals that can be useful in the classroom. For our child speak pen pal project component we are still waiting for letters to arrive from Canada so that we can respond. We have started our afterschool project which includes building a library and starting a school newspaper. The school has really jumped on board and has cleared out a room for us to use. It ... read more

Unfortunately and luckily, I have now left Accra and am back in Agogo. It is funny how I love to visit the city but always feel a sense of relief when we return to our village. After being in Ghana for seven weeks now, Agogo really feels like home. The village has a certain calmness to it that Accra definitely lacks. The rainforested mountains that encircle our town gives it almost a cozy feel - especially in the early morning mist. While I lack the amenities that are available in Accra such as the internet and supermarkets - I find I don’t really miss them once back in Agogo. Who knows - maybe this girl who was brought up in the city is really a small town girl at heart! On our way back from Accra, ... read more

It has been over a week since we have had internet… In Agogo, we have learned to not really count on being able to access internet more than once a week. Power outages, holidays, Sundays, early closings all contribute to “no internet today”. But once again, I remind myself that this is Africa. If there was no access in this town, I honestly don’t think it would matter to anyone anyway. People are happy without being attached to the technology we are so accustomed to in Canada. Kids actually play outside! (And we see them everywhere!) Most people don’t have technology beyond a cell phone - and are quite content. Some children have gameboys - but they are few and far between. TV watching is for the wealthy or when you go to the local restaurant ... read more

Well, a whole lot has happened since my last post on Sunday - without much access to internet - and it looks like I won't have fast internet access for awhile! Anyway, this past Monday, we started to split off and move to our respective towns where we will be doing our internships. On Monday we drove to Awisa, a small village which is about 3 hours away from Accra and is near the district capital of Akim Oda. This is where we dropped of Shanti where she will be completing her assignment as a ChildSpeak coordinator. On the way back Rev. Wayoe, Rabina, George our driver and I stopped at a small roadside restaurant to eat. We decided to try fou fou for the first time which is a common Ghanaian dish - especially ... read more

Since Rabina, Shanti and I have the weekend off we decided that we would try something new and hit up Osu which is the tourist area of Accra. According to our beloved Bradt guide there is a 6km walk that starts in James town at the lighthouse and ends in the Osu area. Well, things definitely got off to an interesting start. Our taxi broke down before we were able to make it to the lighthouse - but we figured we would just walk the rest of the way. It was definitely an eye opener being in this area of town which was much more residential. As we waded our way through the streets we felt like the pied piper with a bunch of kids following us the entire way yelling "how are you?" to us. ... read more