Advertisement
The right wing...
This is the right wing of the school which is still being developed at the moment. When I came, there were hardly any walls so they have done well in the 3 weeks I have been here.So, we all know that I have my own problems even speaking English but now I have been lumped into some of the older classes (between 10-14 years old) to teach correct pronunciation and reading. I'm Australian. We speak Australian slang! So I find myself accentuating the BE in because instead of 'coz'! But the kids are at least listening to me, the white lady (yo-vu).
Today I gave them a test on the passage that we read yesterday and about half the class got between 0-4 out of 10 and the rest were about 5-8 out of 10. It wasn't a hard test but a lot of the kids don't actually have the text book. In the class of 24, 4 of them have the text book so they have to memorise it in the 5 times that I read it. They also get confused with: Where, When, Why, Who, Why and How - So that will be the next part that we concentrate on I think. But it's a little more fun teaching them rather than looking after the nursery where the kids drive you mad!
I also sat in with one of the older classes on
Christ is King
This is Christ the King, so a very simple school and this is what I mean by A LOT of sand. This is like the backyard of the compound which Mr and Mrs Hulede (retired teachers) turned into a school. There are 6 classrooms and these two get boiling hot! their HIV awareness class which is classified as environmental studies, more like health studies where you learn about boy bits and girl bits. But here, they learn about sex really young due to the nature of the community, children getting married at 15 or 16 and so on. More will be written on the class as we go, but a fair bit is a little misinformed. I will be giving the kids a test on it aswell in the next week.
So... what has happened since the last post.... Weeehheeelll, here I was begging for rain, then 5 mins after I left the net cafe last week, it pouuured down with rain and all the taxi's were full because it was market day in Aflao, so everyone was on their way home. I walked down the street to find cover in soaking wet clothes which ended up being see through and luckily a shopkeeper called out to the yo-vu and she helped me get a taxi when the rain was over. But here, they hiss and wave at the drivers to pull over. It's like snake ladies down the street with the hissing. And i'm not sure if I
Kindy
This is the Kindergarten, as you can see, not so great when it rains. Pretty much the tree is the only cover. There is a structure under the tree, but not very stable. There are also 2 kids to each desk/chair. mentioned this, but you share the taxi, you don't have your own unless you specify it and pay extra. It only cost 30 peswas which is a bit less than 30 Australian cents so it's super super cheap. The only bad part is that you pretty much risk your life each time you get in. They try to avoid pot holes so they end up playing chicken with big trucks who are also trying to avoid pot holes. I have probably made a mess in my pants at least 6 times from these kinds of incidents!
On Friday, Lucy and Anna arrived in town which was fantastic. Anna had a little bit of a traumatic experience getting here but she is fine now. Lucy is from England and Anna is from Estonia but was adopted by an American family so I think she is used to moving around. But it's us three terrors that will be travelling around together so it will be more exciting now.
On Saturday, Promise and Bless took Lucy and I down the beach which is absolutely beautiful. Like a mix between Rye back beach water and a Perth beach sand with the drop
Kindy Blackboard
The kindergarten again, so as you can see, not really in a good state. Still waiting for the right wing to be finished being built before they can have a proper classroom. down the sand to the water. There are heaps of fishermen there with all their kids playing on the beach and the wives sitting under the coconut trees. The people are very simple and don't own to much as they don't get much money out of the fishing. But what they do is from the boat, they swim to shore with a lidded bucket of fish and then sell it to whoever is on shore, then they swim back and it's pretty turbulent seas, but then again, it was a day after the storm. Nonetheless, it's a tough task for them to do that all day. So then in the afternoon when the day is over, they leave the boat out and anchor it, then swim back to shore. Some will bring the boat back to shore and unload at the end of the day, but that's if you have a good boat. I went to take some photos of the beach but then got harrassed by a one toothed fisherman. Kind of creeped me out when he said he wanted to take me home! Luckily, Promise was with us so he shot a bit of an evil look at
Nursery
This is the nursery classroom where I spend the most time. Thatched roof means lots of rain comes through. him to stay away. I'm getting used to Promise being so protective, but he has good intentions. Apparently, I have to give him my third born or alternatively, I don't leave and stay in Ghana for good! I don't think that will be happening though!
Umm, so the beach was beautiful and we ended up in Denu (walked from Viepe) and had a drink and the local bar. It was super chilled out and nice to talk about life. On the walk back, I saw my first white person. It was a man who I think I have seen in a taxi before but I'm not sure. But he looked just as happy to see us as we were to see him! He was a bit older, about 60 but he gave us an enthusiastic wave.
On Monday, we walked to the JSS (which they say GSS) which is like the middle school. There are only about 40 students there, so very small. But, today the teachers got the sack. All 5 of them wanted a raise, which Mr and Mrs Hulede just couldn't afford, so they sacked them all. It's ok though because there are so many
Nursery life
This is the blackboard in the class. As you can see, the classroom floor is sand. So during nap time, the children either sleep with their heads and hands on their table or we get mats out and some sleep on the mats. teachers here. But at my school, they only pay the teachers like $30 a month but at other schools it's about $50 a month. So today, half the junior school teachers had to go over to the JSS to teach, hence me being more on my own today, without Promise to guide me.
So, there you go, not a huge amount this week to report on, no huge orifice dramas, just fun times with Lucy. We are going to Ho this weekend to visit some waterfalls and the monkey sanctuary so I will have heaps to write then!!
Till next time, be safe and smile.
xo
Advertisement
Tot: 0.123s; Tpl: 0.012s; cc: 8; qc: 64; dbt: 0.0958s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
sarath
non-member comment
Great reading experience
Hi itcha........ Iam sarath.Its really cool reading your blog.I was actually searching for some informations about ghana as a tourist destination.I ended up reading your blog..and I for sure i would wait for more from you......Thankn you for your wonderful effort.