The Sound of Music

Nov. 18, 2010 Thursday (I week since my arrival- feels like a month, it’s been so full)

It has been days since I wrote last; I can’t believe it. I have been so busy with Fei keeping me, as always involved, having more and more visitors (especially children, and my new penpal Abigail), starting to teach and plan lessons (Grades 7-9 French began this week for which I have to start from scratch in prepping; grades 5-6 part-time science next week which will be way easier to plan), getting my cell phone (the first one died that I got last week) and internet sorted out (thank you little modem doomahikee), downloading, (then uploading) my pictures and setting up my blog, and touching base with home enabled by skype (cutting out frequently however) and cell phone rates as low as 14 cents/minute. 

So, where to begin… how about a chronological blow-by-blow? Monday- showed up for the start of the school day at 8am, to get a feel for how the schools are run (the nursery and kindergartens, primary, junior and senior function independently, (with their own schedules and not much staff interaction between) except for all school events held once a term, from what I understand. As I walked by the “kitchen” (a covered extension of the Emmanuel Hall, with a small fire going in the middle of a packed dirt floor, a large firewood pile to the side, and 3 staff sitting on stools peeling yams into a large metal bowl on the ground) and said “Ma cho” to the staff there, who were friendly but a little wary, and introducing myself. It turns out I was mispronouncing “good morning” (maybe why they seemed a little wary?), it is more like “Ma chew” (Twi is a subtle language that takes a tongue-palate flexibility than an adult Anglophone has developed; thank goodness for a background in French and Italian). I stood by the back of the kitchen and had a great view of each of the schools assembling outside their buildings (students in single file; teachers with switches in hand. I videotaped the scene as best I could from there so as to not distract any of the students (they see camera, especially the little ones, and go berserk).  I was blown away by what I saw. Each school has its own song the kids sing, as they briskly march in line by their class groups into their classrooms, singing at the top of their voices the whole way. The primary school has the aid of a jembay drum which sounded awesome while the nursery and kindergarten’s wiggling, twisting and jumping (action songs of course) was awfully cute.

I had the pleasure of sitting in on and helping out with some pre-school and kindergarten classes; that was a riot. The kids are SO KEEN, even in nursery school, wanting so much to learn, entirely focused on working hard, yet with a sense of joy and bubbling humour always just under the surface. I looked across the schoolyard today and saw a group of young primary and kindergarten kids boogying (really getting down) to their own singing, doing their own thing while on recess. The kindergarten (KG 1, that is) teacher is INCREDIBLE with the kids. The teachers are gruffer with the kids here, which took getting used to, but it seems to keep things under control, even 25 Mexican-jumping-bean kindergarteners, eager to run up to the board to write a letter of the alphabet. Vicky is gruff but loves the kids and is so dynamic, having them engaged all the time, flipping from one teaching method to the next with ease (pretty old school, but seemingly effective, especially with large class sizes), throwing in a quick (fabulously energetic and goofy) song or two to get their wiggles out and the back it again, even keeping them engaged, throwing out questions and leading a song as she is filling in her teacher lesson book (don’t get me started on those- they are detailed and required of teachers to fill in each day to be looked over by the headmaster/mistress each Friday; talk about accountability; I was hoping to buy one I liked it so much, thinking this would work so very well at home, knowing that most schools don’t have this sort of teacher accountability/ teaching content and quality feedback loop). I told her (although I don’t think she understood me) that we should be sending Canadian primary school teachers to her for teacher training. The link to class and assembly videos is: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/SchoolAssemblyAndClassVideos?feat=directlink

 I taught my first French lesson that day and had an absolute blast! The kids were, again, keen, eager to learn, to participate, to help take my books (I’ll even be walking across the schoolyard and students will come running up, asking if they can help carry something), wipe the chalkboard etc..(there is a far greater responsibility on the hierarchy here with teachers to students and students are expected to run errands and do class tasks (no grumbling, simply a “yes sir” or “yes maam”, even when their teachers order them minus any niceties, not like we’re used to, with a request with a “please” and “thank you”). I was leaving the class (of about 70 students I think), I said “bonjour les amis” and they, all on their own, broke into song “Bonjour les amis”, at the top of their lungs. I was floating out of there! 

Prince has an office at the school so we were able to leave right after my French class and we headed into downtown Kumasi to sort out my connection-to-the outside-world-technology issues. My cell phone had completely stopped working the day before so I had it replaced, although receipts are not given from those roadside tables (with the official red vodaphone umbrella). The service was a little less than helpful (you know me, I went with a list of questions from having played with it over the weekend) so never did sort out why I can’t text internationally or why the camera pictures can’t be emailed (although they fervently told me I can- “no problem”- while showing me something totally unrelated on the phone, exasperated when I continued to harp on a question), but, honestly,  by that time, and the heat, I was wanting to conserve energy and my remaining sanity.

The internet café (no coffee, but where, apparently, you can also get a quick pedicure) is a cool place. It looks like a run-down 70s office, but the staff know their stuff and are helpful, in a quirky, distanced computer nerd (quickly becoming the new cool) sort of way. I had my little modem key installed and working and was on my way. I printed a picture I had taken of the kindergarten class I had promised to give to Vicky the next day.

It turns out that the next day was a holiday- end of Ramadan- seeing as Muslims make up 35% of the population, this holiday is nationwide. It turned out that what was planned for me (to go the Asante museum- the local tribes people are Asante), with the outgoing president of the Rotary here, was not possible, and, quite frankly, I was glad. I needed a day to sleep in, cut and eat fresh fruit from the market, do my wash (all hand washed here), and then, was planning to get my blog going and to get online etc.,  but was visited by a family of children (led by the older sister, Abigail, 11years old). I gave then water (they have to pay for it from the school well outside of school hours), some Halloween candy I brought with me (under the condition that they give me the garbage and NOT throw it on the ground as is the custom), fruit and then taught them how to play hacky sac (I brought a few Canadian Flag hacky sacs for gifts). They loved it. They were wondering what else I had brought, but I had to tell them that I had brought school items not toys or sports’ equipment; they were so wanting a soccer ball. I was basically letting them hang out and goof around on the front lawn when a group of teen girls turned into the driveway. They came to get the guava from the tree (not quite ripe). I approached them, introducing myself and asking their names. It turns out they are grade 9 students at the school and had asked to have a classroom opened for them to do some extra studying! I was enthralled. Are these kids for real?! I commended them on being Ghanaians future women leaders (60% of girls drop out by grade 6). They then asked if they could be penpals with kids from my home. I was all for this of course and took their pictures to go with their names and addresses in my notebook.  

After this Julianna came by with a Ghanaian delicacy- Foo Foo! It is kind of like Italian gnocchis, except instead of a bunch of small potato based nuggets in tomato sauce, this is one cassava-based blob in a spicey tomato and chicken “soup”, you eat with your hands. I liked it but was not crazy about it, (unlike the fried yams and red pepper salsa –yum- or the “red red” I’ve had since -plantain, again, fried, with a spicy warm chunky dip/salsa), especially the chicken which I find hard to stomach, and the kind of goopiness of the fou fou, but the sauce/soup was good. Julianna continues to spoil me and refuses to hear anything about my cooking for myself (I don’t think she believes I am capable, and, I know, she finds me rather entertaining).

Wednesday…..hmmm.. let me think. OH YES! I was whisked away by Fei to attend the opening ceremony for the St.Michael’s Hospital new eye clinic (with a full surgical unit, so can attend to the serious issue in Ghana of blindness related to untreated glaucoma and cataracts). The clinic was built with the help of many donors (I saw at least 5 more white people there among them- wow), one major one being the Kumasi East Rotary Club (of which Fei/Prince is the president and who facilitated my coming here) but really started  by CANSEE, a Cornwall-based NGO , about which I know very little. The woman, Linda, who started it lived in Kumasi for 5 years with her husband who was teaching at the University. She is a nurse and ended up, years later, becoming involved with eye surgeries at the St. Michael’s hospital. It was a long, yet wonderfully organized ceremony which reflected on the terrible situation in developing countries of eye care and it not being a priority, resulting in, if Ghanaian stats are similar, 75% of blindness cases being preventable, and what the societal, and economic impacts are of a person going blind in countries where poverty is rampant and welfare is nonexistent. I have to say I was most profoundly affected after the ceremony by the meeting of Sister Rose (a Canadian nun and doctor, I assume, who has been here for 15 years), at the building just beside the new clinic: the HIV/AIDS treatment clinic and where infants of HIV/Aids victims are housed.  The clinic is run largely on private donations if you can believe that. I can’t even begin to imagine what she experiences in a day and the sadness in that building, having to deal daily, head-on, with the repercussions of this devastating illness.  I thought of the Women’s Kilimanjaro fundrasining climb (now lated for June 2011) being organized in Tremblant to raise funds for just this sort of treatment program and institution. 

Golden Jubilee Eye Center

The ribbon's cut

HIV/Aids Treatment Centre

Fei made a side-excursion for me afterward. We drove to Bosomtwe Lake just up the road (created by an ancient meteorite impact  crater; the only natural lake in Ghana). It was so wonderful to be out of the cluttered chaos of roadside markets and red dirt and to be driving through a rolling vista of green…the road rises up, and above the lake, allowing for a spectacular view, before it descends to the village below at its shore.

Today I taught basically all morning although I thought I was only slated to teach three 35 minute classes (they are very short in the junior school; the primary classes are 1 hour; go figure). The reason I ended up teaching all morning is 1)the first period was actually a double but I didn’t realize; 2) the teacher did not show up to relieve me for the third class (I had fond memories of Sedbergh today…and I thought we were lax on organization). I went to see Julianna but she didn’t seem at all concerned.  So, I stayed on, the grade 7 (JS 1 as they are known here) class has done very little in French and know nothing basically of the language, so I easily used the time, Besides, it allowed me the thrill of leading my own enthusiastically committed choir (a repeat performance from my first, grade 9 class) in Frere Jacques. On the third go through, the windows were overflowing with primary school students leaning in singing along. It was my own “Sound of Music”; it may not have been in the flower-studded meadows of the Alps overlooking Salzburg, but it just as well could have been for the pleasure it gave me. 

I have slowly been giving out the school supplies that I bought to donate to the school. They are being very well received. The educational posters (30 or so) that I bought at Scholastics are a hit considering their classroom walls are bare and visual aids are nonexistent. Vicky’s kindergarten class now has a poster of the alphabet and how to write the letters. Edmund, the primary science teachers, has a slew of science posters and even one for the unit he begins tomorrow. Ben, the senior science and PE teacher was so please by the anatomy and physiology posters which, I have to agree, are pretty incredible. I also had a range (from grades 3-8) of English and Math workbooks from teacher’s college that are so well developed, I couldn’t resist bringing them to give to teachers who don’t have access to online resources or libraries of books to search through for lesson plan or worksheet ideas. The highlighters, regular and coloured pencils, crayons, pens (I need more, I only came with one small pack, following the misinformation of a well intentioned advice provider) and other assorted goodies (Canadian buttons, hacky sacks, animal-shaped bracelets, funky erasers etc..) Julianna has taken to distribute to teachers and to use as reward prizes for academic effort and so on.  I am pleased with the preparations I made to donate, although not much, with a meager budget, but I have realized that when you are working with a situation of bare-essentials, any little extra can make a significant difference.  An example of this is my being able to give a colourful pencil, and help, to a kindergarten boy, who obviously struggles with life and academics daily. He seemed to have problems with writing and number skills, with nonsensical scribbles on is page, his pencil would not sharpen, the lead kept falling out and the rest of the class was finished and waiting on him, while the teacher, impatient, basically told me not to bother with him as he doesn’t understand anything).

OK. I told myself I would go to bed earlier tonight and I have failed at this goal. It is almost midnight and my night guard (really, he is the school custodian, but sleeps just outside my front door), Ben, I am sure, is bothered by the bright ceiling light shining down on him from the entrance room/living room where I sit.

Another exciting day tomorrow awaits. As each day passes I feel more at ease with the people and their language, less estranged and self conscious of my lack of colour, and more comfortable with, even playfully enjoying, the flocking and fawning of children when I walk through the school yard.  I did have students hanging around the house today, just after I had come out of the shower, ending up at my bedroom window, calling for me, to ask if they could write me. It was the first time when I’ve had to be stern and yet it felt important to address boundaries and privacy; it’s not easy being the shiny new toy in town!

Vocabulary (most phonetic)

You’ve done well: wayε  adeε (written in Twi) or good: MO!

Until tomorrow (if God blesses): Wa y jineh

Leave and go: (needed to shoo away primary students from gawking from the classroom door at the abruni teaching the juniors) Free ha ko

Hello: Ma akye (pronounced ma y che); to which you answer: Ya i ja

Goodnight: die y eh

Please: me pow oo cho

Yes: ane

No: debi

You’re welcome (In response to thank you, different from welcoming someone- Akwaaba): I nyebe

The link to the pictures of the past few days are:

http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/StMichaelSEyeClinicOpeningAndBosomtweLake?feat=directlink