Sunday, March 25

Now that I've been home for several days, it's time for reflection and thought about how to move forward and incorporate my Ghana experience into my teaching and my life.  I spent a good part of yesterday uploading all of my pictures and reading all of my emails from when I was gone.  I was very disappointed that my students here at South were extremely immature and ran my substitute teacher off within 5 days.  I  planned so carefully for the absence and am frustrated that at their age, they can't engage a bit more in their own learning.   I look at these girls in Ghana who literally spend 9-10 hours a day in their classroom (3-4 of those without adult supervision) and they don't destroy their materials or mutilate the furniture or abuse each other.  They simply work together to be as successful as they can possibly be. While I was gone from South High, my own students pulled the safety shower twice, dismantled at least 4 lab drawer locks, did their best to kill the fish, and filled every sink with trash....and all while adults were present.  What does this say about the future leaders of our country?  What does this say about the way we're raising our children?  What does this say about our expectations for young people?  Right now I'm feeling very hopeless and pessimistic.  I just have to keep telling myself that, unlike Ghana, in America we have the goal of educating EVERY child, not just a chosen few.  But in the back of my mind, I wonder if seeing education as an obligation rather than a privilege isn't killing our kids' futures....?  It's certainly putting a damper on my own motivation to teach.....and innovate.  The more innovative I become, the more  disruptive the students.  If I lead the class like a concentration camp, the students really work hard.  But I don't want to teach to a bunch of automatons.  How do I do the exciting strategies that get kids to think critically and interact positively without always having 3 or 4 who are destroying something?

There are 4 days remaining in the quarter.  By Thursday, I'm halfway through teaching physics for the first time.  I'm learning so much from teaching a new course and expanding my horizons.  The labs are so nice because there's very little material preparation, unlike biology.  I still think it's a crazy idea to do that half year of biology and half year of physics.  It'll all come out in the wash in two years when we'll have to re-teach it all to the juniors who are actually ready to learn.

Thursday, March 15

Today was our last official day at Accra Girls Secondary School.  First thing in the morning the headmistress assembled all of the girls in the courtyard for a presentation to us.  They thanked us for coming and honored us with some beautiful gifts.  They gave us each a cloth, designed by the visual arts students, that has Accra Girls School on it.  I wrapped it around me like a skirt and the girls cheered.  We each had the opportunity to say a little something to the girls and they were very enthusiastic and warm.

Later in the afternoon we worked with Jonathan and Osman in order to facilitate our ongoing communication between ACSS and our students.  Pete, from Wisconsin, gave Jonathan his Bloggie to use to tape his girls and send videos to us.  In the afternoon we had the opportunity to visit some more classrooms.  I attended a Foods class that was discussing the nutritional properties of various forms of flour: wheat, corn, cassava, potato, millet, etc.  It was fascinating!

Inside a girls dormitory at Accra Girls Secondary School

Student laundry drying

Dormitory at Accra Girls Secondary School

Afterward, since I'd received so many questions concerning the dormitory situation, the head housemistress generously hosted a tour of the dormitories for us.  She took us to one of the 3 large dormitories and showed us several of the girls rooms.  The girls sleep in triple-stacked bunk beds.  There were about 5 beds along each side of the room, totally sleeping arrangements for about 25-30 girls.  Each girl had 3 school dress uniforms and 3 afternoon uniforms.  The afternoon uniforms look like plaid pajamas.    The girls wash their own clothes twice a week.

After our tour, our hosts Jonathan and Osman, wanted to host us for lunch since this would be our last day together.  They generously took us to a wonderful authentic meal at a nearby restaurant.  I had red red (beans) and plantain.  Yum!

Plantain, red red and chicken

AFter a long lunch where we all shared our life stories, we made it back to the school, said our goodbyes and Isaac, the school driver took us back to the hotel.

Saying goodbye to Headmistress Veronica

Wednesday, March 14

I've just gotten out of a long, cold shower after an extremely hot, dusty, exhausting, absolutely thrilling day!  It felt so incredible to get all of that filth and sweat off my skin.

This morning Jonathan met us at the hotel to take us to Aburi Botanic Gardens.  We began by catching a "trotro" on a street nearby.  A trotro is a small van that seats 16-18 people VERY snugly.  They are Accra's version of mass transit.....except there's no systematic way to know where any particular trotro is going or what it will cost.  Jonathan somehow knew which one to catch.  The trotro then took us to a central station where there were hundreds of trotros parked in a gigantic lot, alongside a huge market.  We then bought tickets ( 4 tix cost 8 cedis - equivalent of about $5) to go to Aburi, which is about a 90 minute ride.  Once the van was filled, we took off.  I was seated next to a very nice man named Moses and we chatted along the way.  He bought some plantain chips and shared them with me.  When we got to Aburi, we walked the path through the village to the botanical gardens.  This is one of Jonathan's favorite places, so he wanted to share it with us.

Aburi Gardens was established by the British in the mid-1800s on a piece of land set aside by the missionaries for a sanitorium.  We had a very nice guide who showed us trees of various spices like cinnamon, bay leaf, and allspice. Part of the garden sits on a piece of an old cocoa plantation.  Situated right in the middle of the garden is a dilapidated helicopter that was used by the first republic leader, Kwame Nkumrah.  It looked like a major safety hazard to me, but that didn't stop Randy and me from climbing in for a photo opportunity!

After our tour and a bit of walking around, we headed back to the village of Aburi and caught the trotro back to Accra - a very hot, dusty ride.  We had to stop in Madina, which is on the outskirts of Accra to change trotros at the "station" - which is really just a big dirt lot filled with hundreds of vans.  After catching another trotro, we went to Jonathan's favorite lunch spot for a "bite" to eat, which ended up being a gigantic plate full of wonderful Ghanaian food.  I had jollof rice with goat meat.

We then took a taxi to Accra GSS because a US military band was scheduled to be playing there.  Huh? Anyhow, we got to the school and hundreds of girls were surrounding the events hall at the school, peering in the windows.  We were then introduced to the band, but I was taken aback as I assumed a military band meant a marching band with drums and horns and flutes. No, this was the Air Force ROCK band!  We were put in the seats of honor in the front row and treated to an hour of ear-splitting rock and roll and girls screaming and dancing.  It was one of the most surreal experiences of my life:  I'm dirty and sweaty and tired sitting in a gigantic room filled with screaming, uniformed Ghanaian girls listening to a US military rock band.  Of course I got into the mood and waved my arms along with the rest and danced with the girls.  

After recovering from the excitement of the event, Jonathan hailed us another trotro and took us to his neighborhood, Osu, because I needed to change some money.  Then we hailed a cab and came back to the hotel.  In total, we rode 6 trotros and 2 taxis today.  We were travelling Ghanaian-style!  

I immediately peeled off all clothing and took a long, cold shower.  It may have taken several minutes for the water to run clear because of all the dirt running off.  I know folks: TMI - but that's me :-)

Add caption

It was a wonderful day. But I'm sure to sleep well tonight.  

Tuesday, March 13

Today at Accra Girls Secondary School we three US teachers spent the morning connecting a computer to a projector and figuring out how to make a room dark enough to present some PowerPoints that we (and one of my students) had prepared.  After quite a bit of troubleshooting, we proceeded to present 3 or 4 times to large groups of girls.  We told them about what life is like in our schools, what our students are like and how it is to live in our areas. I had the opportunity to share Anna's Powerpoint and the girls were really interested in her life.  Several had questions for Anna.  One, in particular, was inquiring about her relationship with her father.  The Ghanaian girls tell me that oftentimes their relationship with their father is one of power struggle and conflict.  I want to write more about today's lesson, but must meet host teacher Jonathan.  He is hosting us for dinner at his home tonight.  I will post more later....and some pictures from today

Pics from March 13

Sunday, March 11

After the grueling bus ride, heat and activity yesterday it was heavenly to get to sleep in a bit this morning and relax.  I had a nice, leisurely breakfast with colleagues and got caught up on emails, uploading pictures and working on class assignments for this program.  At noon a group of us went to the market at Osa to do a bit of souvenir shopping and a light lunch.  It was another hot, humid day so I sweated through my clothing in about 10 minutes.  I would hope that if I lived here for a time, my body would get used to this heat and I wouldn't sweat so profusely.  The Ghanaians certainly appear cool and dry most of the time -while I look (and feel) like a wet washrag!

This evening Jonathan met us at the hotel to take us to Osman's home for dinner.  Osman's wife, Amina, had prepared a traditional Northern Ghana meal for us.  Osman proudly introduced us to his extended family, most of whom live in the same "compound" in the Muslim area of Accra.  The compound was down a little side street.  To get to his home we went down a small alleyway into a courtyard strung with colorful rows of drying laundry.  Several children were playing happily and looked up curiously as the 3 Obroni (white people) entered.  Osman then introduced us to his wife and toured us around a small part of the neighborhood including the communal bathhouse.  We then returned to Osman's house (which consists of 2 small rooms) to eat the meal prepared by Amina.  Dinner consisted of a large helping of cassava (sort of like a doughy mashed potato), soup, fish, and chicken - all eaten with our hands.  We ate it all by dim flashlight since the electricity in the municipal region was not working.  Honestly, I have never felt so honored and welcomed into a community in my life.  These people live so very simply, but they're so happy!  Osman was clearly so proud of his home and family and situation and wanted to share it all with us.   I continue to be amazed and delighted by the generosity and humanity of these beautiful people.  We have so much to learn from them and with them

Saturday, March 10

Our day started early with a bus load of girls from Accra Girls School picking us up for a drive to Kukum National Park - about 50 km away, west along the coast.  Although it was a short distance, the drive took about 4 hours due to traffic and other various snafus.  I guess that's pretty typical, according to our hosts.  Along the way we passed through a variety of towns and villages. In this country there's never a lack of refreshments as at every stop sign of traffic snarl there are a gathering of vendors with  all sorts of wares on their head eager to see you a taste. At our disposal we could choose from treated water sealed in a plastic bag, fried plantain, tiger nuts, kenke, fresh bananas or pineapple and a wide variety of baked goods. We arrived at Kukum, checked in and climbed the hill/mountain with hundreds of other schoolchildren, all dressed neatly in their uniforms.  By the time we reached the top, I was completely wet with perspiration, but these students were all dry and good-natured. They're all so incredibly mannerly and kind.  I had some great conversations with students from other schools about their perceptions of American kids and life in Ghana.  From what I've observed, the students are very eager to learn and grow and better themselves.  They just devour new experiences and ideas.

Kukum basically consists of a series of canopy walks suspended about 100 feet above the forest.  It was invigorating to walk along the trail, but many students were quite intimidated.  One young man, Prince, was absolutely quaking in his shoes at one of the checkpoints. I promised to help him across and we got there with much prompting and looking UP and discussing biological concepts (anything to get his mind off looking down).   He was very sweet and gave me his address so I can send him a note.  He wanted to buy me a coconut as refreshment at the end of the trek, but we were short on time.

After Kukum, we headed back toward Cape Coast.  The Cape Coast Castle was built by the Portuguese and was maintained as a major trade center for the Atlantic slave trade  from about 1600-1807.  What an amazing, moving experience!  We walked down into the holding cells where thousands of Africans were held for sale and transport to various ports throughout the world.  To touch those walls and walk on those stones was mind-blowing......I don't have words to describe it.  I hope I'm able to attach some photos so that you can possibly feel their impact.

After setting off from Cape Coast we were hoping to make it back to Accra in 2 hours time.  We soon came to realize that 4 hours would be an optimistic goal due to traffic.  It was very hot and humid and our bus was full of tired, hot students.  I didn't hear a single complaint or whine - except from myself and my colleagues.  In fact when the heat and diesel smell and humidity got the worst the girls started singing songs.  One of my favorites was about being a "beautiful African woman."  It was one of those moments I will treasure in my memory for the rest of my life.  These young women are truly beautiful, inside and out.  They are learning and growing and empowered.  What is frustrating is that they have so few opportunities in this country to use those attributes due to the economy.

We made it back to our hotel around 9 pm.  Each of us made a beeline for a cool shower and quick bite at the hotel.  Then we all went back to our rooms to do our homework: write a blog, Skype with family, catch up on email, plan for next week, etc.  I'm really looking forward to next week.  We'll be in classrooms each day.  On Sunday our small group of 3 has been invited to have dinner with Osman (one of our host teachers) and his family.  He has a small apartment near the school.  Then on Tuesday we're having dinner with Jonathan's family in Osu.  On Wednesday, Jonathan (our other host teacher) is planning to take us to Aburi Gardens - in the "mountains" just outside Accra.  It sounds like they have a very busy week planned for us, so I'd better rest up on Sunday!  I hope you're enjoying the blog.  Please write and give me feedback- either here or at Melinda.Bennett@mpls.k12.mn.us.  I've posted LOTS of pictures on my facebook page that anyone should be able to access.  I'd love to hear from you

Friday, March 9

(Please pardon the format.  My computer was acting quirky and I'm not in the mood to rewrite the entire text.  So pkeas

I spent the morning with a group of form 1  (freshman) biology students.  For the first hour they were taking a test on cells and osmosis.  In addition the test included protists such as paramecium and amoebae.  Jonathan, my host teacher, handed out the tests and the students got started right away.  Then he left me to proctor the test.   AT FIRST IT APPEARED THAT THEY WERE ALL WRITING WRITING WRITING DILIGENTLY AND KNEW THE MATERIAL FULLY.  tHEN AS i WALKED AROUND THE ROOM I REALIZED THAT THEY WERE WRITING THE QUESTIONS IN THEIR TEST BOOKLETS.  eVERY SINGLE STUDENT’S HANDWRITING WAS PERFECT AND PRINTED, B UT ONCE THEY WROTE THE QUESTIONS THERE WERE QUITE A FEW BLANK FACES AND EMPTY TEST BOOKLETS.  nEARLY EVERY STUDENT HAD AN IDENTICAL DEFINITON OF “eNDOCYTOSIS”, so they had clearly memorized the definition.  As the test time wore on more and more girls began to chatter among themselves.  When the time was up I announced that they had 5 more minutes and the room nearly erupted with surprise at my leniency.  Why not give them a few more minutes – especially since I didn’t have any clearcut instructions?  Eventually jonathan came back into the room and collected the test booklets.  Then we combined with another class and took the students to the biology lab to look at some slides of amoeba, paramecium, volvox and spirogyra.  The school has 3 light microscopes and some old reflective scopes from the 1960s.  They have one small box of prepared slides.  When I think of the resources  I have at my disposal  (although i complain about the lack of supplies at times) and the way my students mistreat those resources, it just makes me ill.  my students pour materials into the sinks and leave it on the floor and break things constantly.  these students have 10 prepared slides and 3 light microscopes for 1500 students to share every year. 

In the lab I had the opportunity to talk with some of the girls informally.  When i told them i had a son and daughter near their age, their interest level perked up noticeably. they were particularly interested in hearing about my 16-year-old son.  I found some pictures on my camera and soon i had the entire class of 60 students clustered around my tiny camera screen!  i think an all-girls school makes these young women insane for boys……a dangerous situation if you ask me.  however, they’re all lovely and well-mannered and seem to be very motivated to learn.

posted on the classroom board this morning was this saying that I really appreciate:

“if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”

 I like it – especially in a girls school.  these girls seem very capable and empowered and confident.  I would be proud to have my daughter attend school here or my son date one of these girls – which i think would be a distinct possibility if he set foot on these grounds…..

(I apologize for the formatting issues, but I'm not in the mood to retype this whole thing.  Please bear with me)

I spent the morning with a group of form 1  (freshman) biology students.  For the first hour they were taking a test on cells and osmosis.  In addition the test included protists such as paramecium and amoebae.  Jonathan, my host teacher, handed out the tests and the students got started right away.  Then he left me to proctor the test.   AT FIRST IT APPEARED THAT THEY WERE ALL WRITING WRITING WRITING DILIGENTLY AND KNEW THE MATERIAL FULLY.  tHEN AS i WALKED AROUND THE ROOM I REALIZED THAT THEY WERE WRITING THE QUESTIONS IN THEIR TEST BOOKLETS.  eVERY SINGLE STUDENT’S HANDWRITING WAS PERFECT AND PRINTED, B UT ONCE THEY WROTE THE QUESTIONS THERE WERE QUITE A FEW BLANK FACES AND EMPTY TEST BOOKLETS.  nEARLY EVERY STUDENT HAD AN IDENTICAL DEFINITON OF “eNDOCYTOSIS”, so they had clearly memorized the definition.  As the test time wore on more and more girls began to chatter among themselves.  When the time was up I announced that they had 5 more minutes and the room nearly erupted with surprise at my leniency.  Why not give them a few more minutes – especially since I didn’t have any clearcut instructions?  Eventually jonathan came back into the room and collected the test booklets.  Then we combined with another class and took the students to the biology lab to look at some slides of amoeba, paramecium, volvox and spirogyra.  The school has 3 light microscopes and some old reflective scopes from the 1960s.  They have one small box of prepared slides.  When I think of the resources  I have at my disposal  (although i complain about the lack of supplies at times) and the way my students mistreat those resources, it just makes me ill.  my students pour materials into the sinks and leave it on the floor and break things constantly.  these students have 10 prepared slides and 3 light microscopes for 1500 students to share every year. 

In the lab I had the opportunity to talk with some of the girls informally.  When i told them i had a son and daughter near their age, their interest level perked up noticeably. they were particularly interested in hearing about my 16-year-old son.  I found some pictures on my camera and soon i had the entire class of 60 students clustered around my tiny camera screen!  i think an all-girls school makes these young women insane for boys……a dangerous situation if you ask me.  however, they’re all lovely and well-mannered and seem to be very motivated to learn.

posted on the classroom board this morning was this saying that I really appreciate

“if you educate a man, you educate an individual, but if you educate a woman, you educate a nation.”

 I like it – especially in a girls school.  these girls seem very capable and empowered and confident.  I would be proud to have my daughter attend school here or my son date one of these girls – which i think would be a distinct possibility if he set foot on these grounds…..

Thursday, March 8

We spent the entire day at Accra Girls Secondary School just a few miles from our hotel.  It's a public high school with roughly 1500 students enrolled.  The day starts at 7 am with a convocation including a rousing speech on ethics, morals and behavior by a chosen teacher.  We three teachers (Pete, Randy and I) were warmly welcomed by the entire faculty and presented with banners embroidered with "Akwaaba" (welcome). The girls stood in rows and giggled and smiled at us.  The seemed truly pleased we were visiting.  I'm anxious to talk to them and get to know them.  The facility is quite large and includes several classroom buildings and 3 dormitories along wtih numerous bungalows for teachers and staff.  Osman, our teacher/host toured us around the entire facility.  Most fascinating was the kitchen area that looked very similar to how I imagine a farm kitchen might have appeared 100 years ago.  They had large open kettles of boiling water.  The cooks, who were very friendly and wanted to show us everything, were sitting on stools outside skillfully gutting fish for dinner.  They showed us how they prepare rice and fish and wanted their pictures taken.  They must prepare 3 meals each day for over 1000 students. We had a sample at lunch and, honestly, it was the best meal I've had in Ghana so far!

AFter our tour of the grounds and facilities, we returned to the headmistress' office to meet the administrators, consisting of the headmistress herself, 2 assistant administrators and the head house mother (in charge of the dorms, meals, etc for boarders).  We had quite an extensive discussion of the structure and expectations of education in our respective countries.  In Ghana, education is a completely federally governed entity.  The Ministry of Education determines policies that are carried out by the Ghana Education Service (GES) - both are bureaucratic/political entities. The GES determines, writes and amends the national curriculum as it sees fit.   The GES hires district supervisors who in turn manage the districts within the country made up of circuits.  Teachers come out of college and are employed by the GES and are placed in schools according to need.  Teachers are all paid on the same scale and have no say in where they're placed or what responsibilities they'll have. We met with all of the department heads and they generously gave of their time and reflections on teaching.  I can honestly say that I'd be proud to teach alongside any of them.  They clearly enjoy the students and enjoy teaching and take pride in the work they do.

Today we had the opportunity to observe a chemistry lab.  Students were testing different foods for pH levels using indicators.  We observed a physics lecture on forces and friction.  The class easily had 60 students who were all busily taking notes and following the instruction closely - even in the oppressive heat.  My body is just not accustomed to this heat.  I think I sweated more today than all of last summer in Minnesota.  Of course, when we got back to the hotel I was looking forward to my nice cool room, but the air conditioner wasn't working.......thankfully my friendly hotel maintenance man got it going and now I'm cooling off.  I'd better sign off now before I lose Internet service.  I'll write more later

Wednesday, March 7

This morning half of us headed to Pokuase Schoools to meet with teachers and the other half (including me) headed to Akropong to meet with administrators.  We drove about an hour and half through Accra and outlying areas to a rode up the mountain, through several villages to reach Akropong.  Akropong is a district that includes 9 circuits of schools.  Each circuit includes roughly 15 schools including several secondary schools. 

We got the district office a bit early and caught the officers a little off-guard.  They seemed unclear of our mission and, in fact, somehow thought we were British and had arrived there several days earlier.  We were welcomed and very formally issued into the district supervisors office, a green and gold brocade draperied room.  There was a bit of uncomfortable handshaking and questioning before we made it clear that we were not there to assess their programs, only to inquire about their system  and to learn. 

We then reassembled in a meeting room and spent most of the remainder of our time there with Larry, the public relations officer and several other administrators.  I was quite impressed the that the officer in charge of math and science was a woman.  She proudly told us about the female student from the district who had recently won the national science award for achievement. 

Tuesday, March 6-Independence Day

Today dawned hot and hazy as Ghana's 55th anniversary of independence from Great Britain.  We had a quick breakfast and headed downtown to Independence Square to witness the festivities.  The president's car drove right next to us as we approached the square.  The square was filled with troops of colorful military and civil servants dressed in their uniforms.  They consisted from mounted cavalry to army to navy to immigration officers to girl scouts to honored school students.  AFter several songs and ceremonial parading, each group marched before the president for review.  The pageantry and formality was impressive!

Almost as impressive was just watching the happenings in the stands around where we were stationed.  An amazing array of food was being hawked by (mostly) women who carried all of their wares on their head.  It's impressive to watch a woman perfectly balance a tray of 100 or so stacked, salted hard-boiled eggs on her head.  A large group of neatly dressed schoolchildren sat on the stairs near us and gave us a taste of their daily lives.  Without a teacher in sight, the older children kept the younger ones quiet and sitting.  If anyone got a bit "out of hand" s/he was quickly dealt with by an older classmate.  The schoolchildren came equipped with pocket change to buy a variety of treats from the vendors.  A favorite seemed to be some sort of sausage on a stick that was dipped in some red spice. 

After the Independence Day event concluded, we went to a shopping area just to wander around.  Eric, Barb and I exchanged some money and got a smoothie to cool down. 

The afternoon was spent at the hotel learning about the foundations of the Ghanaian education system.  It's a national system, governed and funded by the national government.  All students are provided free, compulsory education from kindergarten through 8th grade.  Then they take an exam to be placed in high school.  At that point, they must apply to get into a high school and must pay fees to attend.  These are still public schools, but it's not free or compulsory.  There doesn't seem to be any special education programming, but some special schools exist for students with physical challenges such as blindness and deafness.

It was a very busy day and by 10 pm I'm ready to hit the bed.  Tomorrow  morning we're visiting with administrators in a village in the "mountains".

Monday, March 5

Our day started with a wonderful breakfast at the hotel.  Not nearly enough coffee for our American taste, but we managed.....We had a marvelous history and culture presentation by our Ghanaian host, Akem Lartson.  He did an exellent job explaining 8 geographic regions of Ghana and their particular specialties, interests and history.  To sum up, the Ashanti are the oldest, proudest group of people in Ghana.  They still maintain a kingdom and throne, although they fall under the republic of Ghana and its elected president.  The entire country is roughly 19 million people whose official language is english, but they speak myriad tribal languages.  Nearly everyone identifies as Ghanaian and also the member of a regional tribe.  Nearly everyone (68% )are christian,15% are muslim and 8.5% practice traditional religion.  It seems that the christian missionaries and Peace Corps have had a very large influence on the culture of Ghana since the turn of the 20th century.  So much more to say, but it's getting late.

After lunch, we loaded a very hot, humid van and headed to the US Embassy.  That's a pretty impressive place!   We met several diplomatic types and had a great discussion with some of our host teachers from here in Ghana.  I met both of my hosts, Osman who teaches social studies and Jonathan who teachers biology.  They both teach at a girls' schooll nearby.  We'll be in the school starting on Friday.  We had lots of discussion of the differences between Ghanaian school and American.  American classroom are much more colorful and have dramaticallly smaller class sizes, but we also educate EVERY child, including those with special needs and disabilities.   In the Ghanaian system, students don't question authority figures such as parents or teachers so having 45-60 students in a class is very different than in the US.  It will be interesting to observe. 

After our embassy visit, we quickly got ready for dinner and ate.  Then were entertained b y the Saakumu Dance Troupe from northern Ghana.   What a treat!  We clapped and laughed and danced for several hours.  I felt totally liberated.  If I weren't so awfully caucasian, I think I could easily be Ghanaian!  What a warm, welcoming, wonderful people!

Tomorrow is the 55th anniversary of Ghana's independence.  We're headed downtown at 8 am for the parade and festivities, so I suppose I should sign off and get some sleep.  I'm going to try to upload some photos from today, so wish me luck! 

Arrived in Accra

As I sit here in my hotel room at the Highgate Hotel in Accra it's hard to believe that I left for Ghana nearly 24 hours ago.  When I got to Minneapolis Airport and checked my bag, the computer systems unexpectedly shut down.  The gate agent assured me that my back would make it efficiently to Accra, but he wasn't sure if I'd be able to get on the plane.  Ha!  After much good-natured toe tapping and keyboard slapping, I finally got a boarding pass and headed for security.  Met up with Eric (from Grand Rapids) and Sara (from Stillwater) at gate.  The rest of the trip was thankfully uneventful.  We met the rest of the cohort at Dulles.  Although we just met 2 weeks ago, it was like a class reunion.  I really have so much respect and esteem for this group of colleagues!  I find it so frustrating that teachers and public education in general so often get trashed when we rarely hear about the amazing and impressive people that this profession attracts- What a resourceful, imaginative, inquisitive bunch!

On the long flight overseas I was seated next to the most fascinating Ghanaian man.  I'm embarassed that I never asked his name, so he'll remain incognito for the purposes of this blog.  He grew up in Accra but his parents sent him to boarding school in Cape Coast.  He then went to Sweden to study medicine and he's now a surgeon living in central Michigan with his multinational wife and two small children.  What a life he's led.  We discussed everything from public education to parenting to birth control to Republican presidential nominees to family values.  I finally had to tell him I needed to sleep so that I wouldn't be a zombie today.  I learned more about Ghana from him in 2 hours than from books and web sites over the past 4 months. 

We got to the hotel around 4, checked in, unpacked bags and met up in th lobby to go to (guess where!) the mall..  Ugh!  Can you imagine getting to a new, exciting location and immediately going to the mall?  Well, that's what we did.  We needed to stock up on bottled water and I wanted to get a sim card for my phone so that I could call home without costing me a load.  We accomplished all of that, returned to hotel and had a lovely "welcome" dinner in the hotel restaurant.  Everyone was really exhausted so we all retired to our rooms early, but I'm really keyed up and don't know that I'll be able to sleep any time soon.  Maybe I should pop a couple melatonin and pull out my Nook. 

Leaving for Africa today

Today's the day!  I'm very excited, but also tentative about leaving my family and students for over 2 weeks.  In the past few days I asked my students, fellow teachers and parents to pose questions that they'd like me to investigate while in Ghana.  I didn't get many, but in addition to my own guiding questions concerning diseases, here's what I'll be investigating: What are the funeral rites/ceremonies/traditions that are unique to Ghana?  Do the schools in Ghana have school nurses?  If so, what role do they play in the bigger health care system?  How does the presence of HIV affect the lives of young people in school? How do people access clean, healthy water for consumption?  If clean water is difficult to obtain, are people empowered to make changes?  What resources do teachers have available to deliver classroom instruction?  What role does technology play in classroom instruction?  What seems to be the effect of "western" or "American" culture on the lives of teens in Ghana?  How much value do young people put on education - and how is that reflected in how teens act?  Do students have extracurricular or sports teams?  Does it seem that people in Ghana are proud to be Ghanaian and want to stay and build lives there or does it seem that everyone's trying to move elsewhere for a better/different life?  Does everyone have a television?  What do people do for fun?

I'm not sure how or when I'll get to all of these questions but I promise to keep my eyes and ears open and reflect back on them throughout the next two weeks.  If you have new ideas as the time goes along, please post them here.

March 2 - One day to go before departure

Leaving for Ghana tomorrow - TOMORROW!  I can't believe that the time's actually arrived for the big trip.  This has been a  year coming.  Last March I was writing and submitting my application to IREX.  Then in August I got my acceptance.  In December it was confirmed I was actually going to Ghana.  Then in February I met my cohort and refined the agenda and objectives.

I think I'm fully prepared and ready.  My flight leaves around 2:30 tomorrow.  I fly to Chicago, then on to Dulles where I'll met up with the rest of the cohort teachers.  We all fly together on the red-eye to Accra, arriving around 10 am.  Accra is 6 hours ahead of Minnesota, so the total trip will take about 14 hours from Minneapolis to Ghana.  I guess that's not too bad, considering my last trip home from China was a total of 26....and I didn't get a wink of sleep on that one.  I'm equipped with some sleeping pills for this one, so that I don't repeat that mistake.