Parting Comments

My time in Ghana felt both way longer than it was, but also shorter. After being in Germany a week I'm finally heading home, and though it's only been a few days Ghana seems to have taken place much further in the past. The purpose of this last post is primarily for the benefit of future volunteers.

GADKO School:

My last week at GADKO was encouraging. Even though I felt I needed more time to fully have an effect, I saw improvements in the children, so that was nice. These children are very under stimulated. They have no resources at the school, and it has been my observation that they have no toys or objects at home with which to learn and be creative. Introducing the building blocks and crayons/paper was at first shocking. Not a single one could put the blocks together, and had to be shown that they even could. Over the 3 weeks, we spent a half hour or so (whatever their attention span allowed for) on most days playing with the blocks. Over that time I watched most of them take off with it, creating significantly large structures by themselves. I am an advocate for play like this in young children as it teaches cooperation (learning to share, etc.) as well as creativity which is always a fountain for learning.

With the crayons, most of the time was spent just scribbling, as that's the style of such young people. I was excited to see, however, that with the accompaniment of my work on shapes with them, they became eager to learn and try drawing them.

I made a new syllabus/schedule for them as asked by the headmaster, though we followed it very roughly. Everything depends on their attention span for a certain subject. If you sense they are getting bored or distracted you can always do some movement activities and/or songs and dance, then return to your "lesson plan".

My last day there was very special. The headmaster and proprietor surprised Andrew and I with polo shirts with the school's name etc. on it, then we took a plethora of pictures with the kids, teachers (all 2 of them!), headmaster and proprietor. They have all been very welcoming the whole time.

That being said, I have tips for future goals with this school. It is a private school, meaning the teachers don't have to have any training, education, etc. to apply for the job. They have little to no understanding of child development and perhaps are not as motivated as a traditional career teacher might be in the US. Although I was able to introduce a different teaching style and different activities, I wasn't able to get my teacher engaged. She just watched as I taught, or even was on her phone or napping! I was not as outspoken as I should have been about this, as I was perhaps too focused on teaching the children. But for a contribution that is more sustainable, I urge future volunteers to take more of a backseat. Discuss with the teacher what ideas you have, but let her try them out herself. This is very important.

Misc tips:

1) Pack light. Even in the rainy season it is very warm, and you're inside so much that protection from the rain is not an issue. I could have gotten by with 2-3 capris, 4-5 shirts, sleepwear, and 8-9 days worth of underwear. DO bring swimwear, you will want to get in the water at Wli waterfalls (CCS should be taking you there in an afternoon after placement). DONT bring sunscreen or bug spray. There is soooo much left behind by past volunteers, brand new, there is no need to pack these.

2) If you have any plans of going to Accra, there is a HUGE craft market where you can find really good deals (clothing, jewelry, masks, carvings, etc). I'd bought most of my gifts at the waterfalls where there are also shops, so was out of money by the time I discovered the art market in Accra, but I recommend checking that out (perhaps on your way to or from cape coast if you go there for a weekend).

3) Money: I spent about $350 for 3 weeks. A significant chunk of this was just for cape coast though, so if you dont plan on making that trip, your cost should be a lot less. I do recommend that trip, however. The beach is such a nice change of scenery/atmosphere, and the canopy walk at Kakum was memorable.

4) Grasscutter: I tried grasscutter (a very large rodent) my last week in Hohoe at one of the chop bars. It wasn't good but I recommend the experience anyway. Try grasscutter. It tastes like pork at first, but has an aftertaste of garbage. BUT, the "dining" experience overall was worth it, in my opinion.

Hmm...I can't think of anything else important at the moment, but will be happy to answer any questions!
OH! Pictures! I will be posting some photos once I am back and settled at home.