The End of an Amazing Adventure

I started writing this post about the rest of my final week before I left Ghana, so it might be a bit mixed up with ‘here’ and ‘there’ dotted around as I decide what to keep and what else to add! Yesterday (Friday) afternoon I was strolling through the village, sitting in the sun in a bar by the beach drinking a beer, watching the waves and taking in my last views of the fishing boats. Life was happening all around me, as it does in Kokrobite. The sights, the sounds, endless music and people stopping to say hello. A local man called Joseph, who I was chatting to while I waited for the person I was meeting for lunch, presented me with a packet of local coffee. I hardly knew him, I’d spoken to him once during my 4 weeks here, but once introduced you are never forgotten and the coffee was a gift for me to bring home.

Nothing in Kokrobite is hidden behind closed doors and it somehow feels unreal that I’m now sitting here enclosed in my house, surrounded by concrete walls and outside is……silence. The memory of the fishing boats lining the beach, standing majestically in rows with their vibrant colours and flags, looking almost too flimsy to sustain a village’s food supply from the wild Atlantic ocean, will be a picture I carry in my head for a long time, so it seemed somehow fitting to picture them at the start of this final post.

Thank You, Ghana: When Teaching Becomes a Two-Way Gift

My final day of volunteering here was busy, with sessions in the schools about Global Awareness and with some of the older girls about Gender Equality. As it has been throughout this trip, the students were amazing and so appreciative. They really enjoy the sessions with GVI volunteers and it was difficult to leave with all the endless rounds of goodbyes and thank yous. Despite the frustration of seeing under-resourced schools, under-trained staff and antiquated teaching methods, I have learned so much from my work here, not least of which is how much value these children put on their education and how grateful they are for the opportunity to learn. The girls in the Gender Equality class all had ambitions to be doctors and nurses and chefs and hairdressers – and they ALL believed they could do it.

At the end of the day I did my final teacher training workshop – photographed in action!. The teachers I’ve been training are from one of the closest schools to base called Divine Home Education Centre. The first session was about SEN, and focussed on Dyslexia, which I’ve already reported was a complete revelation to pretty much all of them. This week we talked about how to create an inclusive classroom, to share some ideas about how to make sure ALL their students are learning, and how to differentiate the work so that the slower learners, who are traditionally though of as lazy, don’t get left behind. It was hard to imagine how much impact two one-hour workshops could possibly have, but I was absolutely delighted to find that one of the teachers had researched courses after the first session and was keen to show me what he’d found to ask if I thought it was suitable. Small steps, but maybe, just maybe, the small steps will become larger footprints, given time and resources.

As you’ve probably gathered by now, Ghanaians love a photoshoot! So after the workshop we had to pose for the inevitable photos (and many selfies were taken on their individual phones!). They also love colourful clothes. This is absolutely NOT a tourist thing. In most of the schools teachers wear a ‘uniform’ that associates them with the school they work at, and they are always vibrant and colourful. This is a typical Ghanaian design, known as Kente cloth and it’s an emblem of tradition, craftsmanship, and cultural heritage, woven with intricate patterns and vibrant colours, originally worn by royalty. Kente cloth is handwoven and symbolic, with each design representing a proverb or cultural belief – and I’ve brought some similar material home with me to make a wall hanging!

Thursday ended with a group meal out in the restaurant at ‘Big Milly’s’, one of the bars close to the beach that was often frequented during my stay, and a quiz night (my team won!).

Village Album: Memories of Daily Life

Friday was for packing and getting ready to return home (my flight left at 10.30 Friday night). I just had to take a final walk through the village, and have just included a few photos (I hope I haven’t used any of these in previous posts). You can see the deep gutters that line the sides of the road to collect the rain (along with occasional dead animals), the inevitable chicken (the chickens live freely here amongst the villagers, as do goats, and there are chickens wandering around in most of the schools as well). The barber’s shop in the third picture is one of the few shops I’ve seen that actually has a door, most of them are just open-fronted, but have shutters that come down at night.

Final Goodbyes

GVI have a wall where participants mark their country and add their initials before they leave in a kind of ‘farewell’ ceremony. It certainly creates memories for participants, more-so for the younger cohort, who have embarked on their first travel adventure and will have a long lifetime of memories to look back on and pass on to their children and grandchildren. That’s followed by the inevitable photoshoot and thank yous. Ebenezer, the education programme director, and Belinda, his assistant, make personalised cards for participants. Everything is hand-made, spending much-needed funds on commercially produced cards just isn’t on the agenda here. But I’ve had some lovely messages and much expression of amazement that I undertook this project at such an advanced age!

And so it’s Over

And that’s it. I booked this trip back in March and my four weeks in Ghana have just gone so quickly, it doesn’t seem possible that it’s over. It’s been the most amazing experience and I’m so pleased I had the opportunity to go. It hasn’t always been easy, by the final week I was getting tired more easily, I think all the walking between schools in the heat and on rough terrain at my advanced age was beginning to have an impact, but I did it and I wouldn’t have missed it for the world.

Am I pleased to be home? I’m certainly looking forward to a hot shower and a soak in the bath! You never really feel ‘clean’ there – I don’t mean hygiene-wise, because obviously there are showers, albeit cold or lukewarm, but because everywhere is so dusty and you’re constantly walking on rubble and dust and sand-covered paths and roads (I need new trainers AND sandals!). And yes, there have been times when it’s been easy to think how lucky we are, with our reliable power supply, reliable and cheap internet, accessible health services and well-resourced education.

And we are lucky, I wouldn’t be as stupid as to not value these things, but at what cost? I can honestly put my hand on my heart and say Kokrobite is probably the friendliest place I have ever visited. I have been treated with enormous respect and kindness by everyone, from staff on base and the children in the schools, to complete strangers. I shall miss walking down the street and hearing people calling out “Hey Aunty or Grandma, how are you?” People don’t get stressed or worried about the power outages or the internet failures, because there’s no point. It happens and they just get on with it with a smile and a song and, more often than not, a dance too. Above all else they look out for each other and there’s a lesson to be learned there for sure.

Adesa ji mɔ ni kaneɔ. Mitsɛɔ shika tsuru; ehaaa hetoo. Mitsɛɔ mama; ehaaa hetoo. Adesa ji mɔ ni kaneɔ.