A busy week

This week has been very hectic, so not had much time for a blog update. The breast cancer awareness activities are in full swing and we’re still running sessions in the schools as well.

Monday we went to the village of Oshieye, which is about 15 minutes walk from base in the other direction from Kokrobite, to give out leaflets and talk to people about attending the free screening at Oshieye clinic on Tuesday. I don’t have any photos of the village because it would have been considered the height of bad manners to be photographing people at their homes and going about their business. Manners are very important here, and rightly so. I say “at” their homes because there are no doors in these villages, life is lived on the outside and homes are small buildings mainly used for sleeping and shelter when it rains.

Tuesday was clinic day, and it was a huge success. Over 170 women, and a few men, came for free screening. We were based at the clinic all day and gave presentations to groups of about 10-15 people at a time while they were waiting to be screened, travelling to our schools in between for the work there. Very tiring, but if it saves one life then it’s worthwhile.

Although English is the official language in Ghana, and is the language used in schools, older people in the villages have limited English and speak the local languages which are either Ga or Twi. So GVI staff from the local area acted as interpreters while we gave our presentations in English. This worked really well and gave the villagers confidence to ask questions, which many of them did.

There’s always a song

One of the schools we work with runs a Girl Guide programme, but trust me, it’s not Girl Guides as we know it! It’s incorporated into the curriculum and gives the girls an opportunity to explore themes around self-image and self-esteem. On Wednesday some of us gave breast cancer awareness talks to groups of girl guides. They don’t all wear uniforms, it’s not compulsory and I think it’s just a case of who can afford them, so some are just in school uniform. The Girl Guide sessions always start with chanting and singing. Technically we’re not supposed to take photos that show the children’s faces in the schools, but I managed to take a sneaky video while we were waiting to start our presentations – and there are hardly any faces visible!

A First Time for Everything

Wednesday was one of the volunteer’s 19th birthday (making me feel extremely old!) so we went out in the evening to celebrate. First stop was go-karting. I thought I might just spectate, but in keeping with the “Before it’s too late…” theme of this blog I thought “f… It” and I’m proud to say that at the tender age of 70 I have now driven a go-kart for the first time in my life! After that we went out for a meal and I had locally caught barracuda, which I’ve never eaten before, cooked on charcoal, with Jollof rice. And very tasty it was too!

A day of presentations

Thursday has been extremely busy with two breast cancer awareness presentations in schools, one ‘book club’ session and then I did some teacher training about SEN at the end of the day. There’s been a lot of to-ing and fro-ing between schools and base and I’ve managed to rack up over 20,000 steps!

I had been advised that knowledge of SEN is very limited, but I was taken aback by just how limited. Out of a group of about 10 teachers who came to the training, only one had any concept that some children might have learning difficulties and need to learn in different ways. Common myths here are that children who are struggling are lazy, worthless and not capable of learning, so they just get left behind. I imagine the situation is different in schools in bigger cities such as Accra, but here in the villages this is the norm. The national curriculum here states that all schools should have at least two people who are trained to be able to screen for things like dyslexia, but the schools are so under-resourced they’re just not able to implement this. Photos from these last couple of days activities to follow next week, I know some were taken but haven’t had them yet!

It was one of the Ghanaian intern’s last day today, a lovely young man called Kingsley. He’s going back to his university next week to resume his studies in Marine Biology, so we went out for drinks this evening to say goodbye to him.

The Weekend Ahead

This weekend there’s a group trip to Cape Coast and Kakum National park. We’ll be staying at a beach resort for 2 nights and exploring the area, including a visit to Cape Coast castle, which is linked to the slave trade. Kakum National Park has canopy walkways through the rainforests, and there should hopefully be some wildlife around, including elephants, leopards and monkeys. Leaving at 9.00am Friday morning, which probably means not before10.00 in Ghana time! So I’m off to pack my bag and collapse into bed as I get ready for the final weekend of my African adventure.

Kaaha nɔ ni onyɛɛɛ ofee lɛ gbala bo kɛjɛ nɔ ni obaanyɛ ofee lɛ he (Let not what you cannot do tear you from what you can do) – Local proverb