Yesterday, I spent a lot of time with the girls exploring the campus and we made the walk to the primary and secondary school. The secondary school campus seemed a bit bare with just classrooms and a rundown teacher’s lounge. When we made our way to the primary school, the feeling was a bit different. You enter onto a huge cement area with trees and green grass around. There were murals on the walls of various scenes and sequences. It seemed more like a place children would play. Looking into the classrooms, there isn’t much. There were about 30-40 desks (oh boy!), teacher’s desk, and a whiteboard (I was surprised it wasn’t a black board). That was it- no cabinet for textbooks, no posters aligning the walls, no classroom library for the children to chose from. There is definitely not a lot to work with!
Seeing the thirty or forty desks made all of us really nervous. Typical American schools cap classrooms between twenty five and thirty. We have never worked with such a high number of students. Also, we have no clue what their curriculum is like. Not only am I unsure of the range of information I know, I have no clue what the students would even need to know. After speaking with the head of the school, the students have a lot of schooling and tests to pass. I hope that I can help and not hinder their successes.
To help prepare for tomorrow, the ten of us went off campus to Wesley Teacher’s College in Kumasi. We explored the administration building, spoke with the principal, visited a class and learned some Twi by a professor. The school was built in 1922 but originated in another part of Ghana. It was moved to Kumasi since it is a central part of Ghana and there was more room for expansion. At first, the Teacher’s College was only open to men. In 1930, the first batch of women arrived. Now, the Ghana government has a quota the school must follow- 200 men and 100 women. About 1,200 students apply each year, making this a very selective school. When talking with the fellow student teachers we learned that the students do not pay tuition to attend but get an allowance each month from the government. They were also interested in the differences we saw in Ghana and America. I hope we can return to discuss the comparison. The school seemed strict- if you talked out of turn during class, did not do your chores, or were late to the morning meeting you would get punished. Punishment ranged from extra chores to suspension. Definitely more supervision at this college compared the Geneseo!
Later in the afternoon, in the hot living room of a professor’s home, we learned some key phrases in Twi in hopes to use them tomorrow. We learned phrases like how are you (wo hotesse), where are you from (wo firi he), what is your name (ye frewose), where are you staying (wo te he), good morning (manche), good afternoon (maaha) and words such as no (dabbi), go (ko), come (brah), sit (tenessi), stand (sori) and welcome (acuaba). (I still don't know how to spell any of those words) I think the children will be impressed..well at least I hope! We practiced speaking with the taxi driver and a few locals while driving but we seemed to just get many laughs!
I learned so much today and still cannot believe I am in Africa. About every hour I learn some so new and so interesting and it has only been five days. Still fifty days to go and I am excited as I could ever be for this experience. After a nice swim and some pizza (cheap and good!), I packed my bag and picked my outfit for tomorrow- let’s hope it goes well!
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