Where have 2 weeks gone?

Hard to believe I’ve been here for 2 weeks already, it’s gone so quickly but somehow feels like I’ve been here for ever! Everybody on base is so friendly, it’s a bit like being part of an extended family. I’m a bit of an enigma in the schools due to my age and the children always ask how old I am. I usually ask them to guess and they generally start at 50, so I suppose I should be flattered! The locals give everybody pet names, and they mostly call me Aunty or Grandma.

There are 4 or 5 children who live on base (and 4 dogs and a cat), it’s a bit of a safe haven for kids who don’t have parents they can live with for one reason or another, or for parents and children who need a safe place to stay. The programme director, who has a permanent home on base, is the legal guardian for 2 of the girls, and a couple of staff who live-in have their own children with them. Currently there are 3 other volunteers apart from me, one from Utah (who leaves this weekend), one from Wyoming and the other from Denmark, and 3 interns, one from Norway and two Ghanaians who are doing intern programmes during a break from their studies. They’re all between 18 and 25, and as lovely as they are I’m really pleased I’ve got my own accommodation to escape to. Four new volunteers are arriving this weekend, some of whom are a bit a older, I believe in their 30s and 40s, so that will make a nice change-they may not be as keen to be catching up on Love island (though I’m not banking on it)!

Learning more about learning

Through my work this week, and through long conversations (everything here takes a long time – ‘Ghana time’ is reflected in every aspect of life, absolutely nothing is hurried), I’ve learned more about the education system. Primary (or basic) education is from age 6-11, then there are 3 years at Junior High School (JHS) for ages 12-15. Primary and JHS are usually in the same schools – these are the schools GVI are working in, so I’ve worked this week with some younger children, but also girls aged 14/15 (more about that later). These are the schools that are either private or government-funded. None of them are free, and bizarrely the private schools, without trained teachers, perform better than the government schools. At the end of Junior High they take a basic education certificate and then do 3 years secondary education either at an academic or technical secondary school. These are free, but they are regional, so unless you live close to one of the regional schools you have to go away from home to study. After that it’s either work or university, which is very expensive.

Turns out that the Justice, Equity, Diversity & Inclusion (JEDI) project that I signed up for is only just getting off the ground, so I’ve spent a lot of time this week on other projects, which has been fine. More recycling, and also working with some of the younger children learning about the dangers of deforestation and the importance of protecting the environment.

One of the teachers I was talking to this week wants to study politics. She started teaching at the school in September, straight out of secondary school, and is working as a teacher to earn enough money to pay for her university course. The Untrained teachers earn 400 Cedis a month, which is equivalent to £20! Poor even by Ghanaian standards. Trained teachers earn around 2000 cedis a month – just under £100. Bearing all that in mind, it will come as no surprise that understanding of SEN is virtually non-existent, particularly in the private schools. There’s no such thing as differentiation, children just work through standardised textbooks from the national curriculum, all at the same stage at the same time. So if you don’t get it, or can’t do it, you just get left behind. The kids are amazing at supporting each other, and ‘covering up’ for their friends who don’t understand to stop them from being told off.

So the upshot of all of this is that next week and the week after I’m running two teacher training workshops. Not sure how much impact 2 one-hour sessions will have, but maybe it will be a starting point.

Home from Home?

October is breast cancer awareness month internationally and GVI are heavily involved in awareness-raising activities in the schools and the local community here. I can’t help thinking that if I’ve set off on my travels to escape from the events of the last 3 years, it could be the irony of all ironies that I’m in Ghana now helping to deliver these workshops, but maybe it was meant to be.

In Ghana, 70% of women diagnosed with breast cancer are already in the advanced stages because both knowledge and access to healthcare are limited. Most people in the villages don’t have medical insurance, and if they do have it it only covers consultations, not the cost of treatment. The focus of the workshops is to educate the older children about self-examination and early detection. These young people are amazing and really receptive. They’re hungry for knowledge and lap up everything that’s offered. No inhibitions and no giggles, they take it all really seriously and are not at all embarrassed about trying out the self-examination techniques. The hope is that they will take the information home to their families and spread the word.

Once a year during October the clinics offer free screening and in this area that’s happening next week, so as well as the workshops, on Monday we’re going out into the villages with leaflets and a lot of pzazz (everything here is done with a lot of pzazz!) to spread the word and encourage as many people as possible to go for screening on Tuesday. On free screening day they will screen anyone of any age, from 14/15 year olds upwards.

….but it’s not all work

Thursday evening we went for a drumming workshop on the beach and then for a drink where we were entertained by fire-eaters and an amazing contortionist who managed to fit himself through a tennis racket (minus the strings)!

Some of the young volunteers have gone into Accra clubbing tonight and returning tomorrow. Unsurprisingly, I decided to give that one a miss! Because it’s a ‘new arrivals’ weekend there isn’t an organised trip, but I’ve booked myself onto a private cultural day tour of Accra tomorrow which I’m looking forward to. Being picked up by a driver at 7am, so heading off to bed now, but posting this while I have internet and power.