We are here! We finally made it after a flight cancellation and then a delay. It was a long few days of traveling but we finally arrived in Accra, Ghana yesterday morning around 9:00. Auntie Agnes was at the airport to pick us up and we made the 20 minute trip from the airport to their home in the community of Abogba, Accra. They have a large home that is surrounded by a brick wall. I believe there are four other families that live in the home as well. They each have their own section of the home. Rachel and I share our own bedroom with our own bathroom. We are able to lock our door as well. Auntie Agnes has made wonderful meals for us. She made rice and stew yesterday, eggs, onions and tomatoes this morning, and fish, fries, kiliwillie (?), and boiled cabbage tonight. Everything has tasted great!
Yesterday we slept, a lot, which made sleeping last night difficult. The bed is really comfy though. It's a foam type mattress. It's nice having our own bathroom. Yesterday the water would run sometimes and not other times but they did something so that it works all the time now.
Nerves have definitely been a constant lately. I keep thinking how I have never met my teacher, I have never learned in a classroom in Ghana and now I am going to be teaching in one? When I met with my teacher from Aldo, I was thinking of lessons that I could teach and I felt comfortable doing so. Right now, I know everything will be fine but I was so nervous about it, I couldn't sleep and now have a cold. Hopefully that will go away soon. Rachel and I expressed our nervousness to Auntie Agnes and she was great. She really calmed us down. I am definitely excited to be here. I came for the challenge, not knowing what to expect. Not having the same accessibility to resources. Our home does not have wireless but we were able to find the internet cafe. It's 1 cedi per hour which is about...I'm not sure but it's 1.6 cedi per dollar. It's only about a 5 minute walk from where we are staying. We also walked to the school today. That is not far either so that's nice. We went to the store today for food and at first we were going to walk, but then a Taxi drove by and we took that. It would have been a hike! Maybe about a 5 minute drive but in the heat, it would have felt much longer.
Until next time...
Saturday, January 14, 2012
Wednesday, January 11, 2012
Caught up in DC
Sherton Hotel, Reston, VA.
So we got into DC at 4:00pm and our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 10:48pm. So, long time to wait. but I started clearing out my inbox AND started my resume. It's kind of a boring task. So we boarded at 10:05, we were waiting and waiting. 10:48 came and went. An hour and a half, two hours later we were told that there was a mechanical problem with the plane and we would all have to get off and take the flight at 5:00 tomorrow evening arriving at 8:00am Friday Ghana time. We were put up in the Sherton for the night. lol What are you going to do.
So we got into DC at 4:00pm and our flight wasn't supposed to leave until 10:48pm. So, long time to wait. but I started clearing out my inbox AND started my resume. It's kind of a boring task. So we boarded at 10:05, we were waiting and waiting. 10:48 came and went. An hour and a half, two hours later we were told that there was a mechanical problem with the plane and we would all have to get off and take the flight at 5:00 tomorrow evening arriving at 8:00am Friday Ghana time. We were put up in the Sherton for the night. lol What are you going to do.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
Education System in Ghana
The official language is English so yes, my students and teachers will be speaking English.
Ghana operates on a 6-3-4-4 System:
Primary School -- 6 years
Junior High School -- 3 years
Senior High School -- 4 years
University Bachelor's Degree -- 4 years
Primary School -- 6 years
Junior High School -- 3 years
Senior High School -- 4 years
University Bachelor's Degree -- 4 years
Ghana has:
- 12,130 primary schools
- 5,450 junior secondary schools
- 503 senior secondary schools
- 21 training colleges
- 18 technical institutions
- two diploma-awarding institutions
- 5 universities serving a population of 17 million
This means that most Ghanians have easy access to good education.
Basic education
Primary- and middle-school education is tuition-free and will be mandatory when enough teachers and facilities are available to accommodate all the students. Students begin their 6-year primary education at age six. Under educational reforms implemented in 1987, they pass into a new junior secondary school system for 3 years of academic training combined with technical and vocational training.
Here is a website to look at for Acts in Ghana to help improve the education system.
Preprimary Education: Historically, formal education at the preschool level was not common on the Gold Coast. The inclusion of kindergarten facilities at the Prince of Wales School (Achimota) in the late 1920s as part of the formal education system was therefore innovative. While educators see advantages in kindergarten education for children, there is no formal mandate for the provision of preschool prior to beginning the first grade of primary education. However, some public facilities are available, as well as private nurseries and day care centers, but they have not spread to the rural communities, where close to 70 percent of the nation's population resides. According to The Education for All Year: 2000 Assessment for UNESCO, there was a rapid increase in establishing Early Childhood Education establishments in the form of nursery schools and day care centers since 1993. In 1996, there were 5,441 public kindergartens and 3,742 registered private preschool establishments. In 1997, more than 427,000 preschool children were enrolled in public kindergartens, while about 156,000 pupils attended the private preschools. It is important to note that since kindergarten and day care attendance has not been absorbed into the basic education system, it is therefore neither free nor compulsory.
Africa's Future, Africa's Challenge
Monday, September 26, 2011
Ghana Facts
Pictures used from: https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html
Capital: Accra
Population: ~25 million people
0-14 years: 36.5%
15-64 years: 60%
65 years and over: 3.6%
Median Age: 21.4
Currency: Cedis (GHC)
The current exchange rate is 1.57.
They use coins in denominations of 50, 100, 200, and 500
and banknotes in denominations of 1000, 2000, 5000, 10,000, and 20,000.
Airports: Accra, Kumasi, Navrongo, Wa, Sekondi-Takoradi, Sunyani, Tamale, Yendi
One source said there were 11 airports with only 7 paved runways, 1 for customs.
People and Culture:
- Always greet people first when you enter a room.
- Always greet people right to left, even if you enter the room on the left.
- Four types of music: Contemporary, Traditional, Gospel and Imported
- Use your right hand when eating or giving people something.
- Ghana is a tolerant Nation so never make derogatory remarks about other religions, politics, etc.
- Be respectful of elders
- Always share
- Do not be wasteful. It's ok to offer something you might have extra of to someone else
- Direct conversation is considered rude.
- Starting times are not always accurate
- Keep dress proper
Weather: Humid along the coast (which Accra is)
During the months of December through February there is the Harmattan that sweeps through
Ghana. This is a dry, dusty, Sahara wind. It is stronger in the northern part of Ghana.
Language: Other, which includes English is the official language (36.1%)
Asante (14.8%)
Ewe (12.7%)
Fante (9.9%)
Boron (4.6%)
Dagomba (4.3%)
Dangme (4.3%)
Dagarte (3.7%)
Akyem (3.4%)
Ga (3.4%)
Akuapem (2.9%)
Diversity of Country: Nationality: Ghanian
Akan 45.3%
Mole-Dagbon 15.2%
Ewe 11.7%
Ga-Dangme 7.3%
Guan 4%
Gurma 3.6%
Grusi 2.6%
Mande-Busanga 1%
other tribes 1.4%
Other 7.8%
Political Conditions: Constitutional Democracy President Professor John Evans Atta Mills
3 Branches of Government: Executive, Legislative, Judicial
Universal Suffrage: 18
Formerly known as the Gold Coast
Independence from UK on March 6th 1957
National Anthem: God Bless Our Homeland Ghana
Religion: Christian 68.8% (Pentecostal/Charismatic 24.1%, Protestand 18.6%, Catholic 15.1%, other 11%)
Muslim 15.9%
Traditional 8.5%
Other 0.7%
None 6.1%
Differences in Terminology:
| Thank you | Me da se |
|---|---|
| Please | Me pow chow |
| Excuse me | Me pow chow |
| White person | Obruni |
|---|---|
| Black person | Obibini |
| How are you? | E te sen? |
|---|---|
| I am fine | Me ho ye |
| How are you? | Wo ho te sen? |
| I am fine | Me ho ye |
| Goodbye | Bye bye |
More words and videos of the Twi (Ch-ee) Language: http://www.easytrackghana.com/cultural_overview_ghana/language-videos-ghana.html
Communication Styles:
Handshake: Shake hands and then snap middle finger against other person's hand.
Information used from https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/gh.html and http://www.easytrackghana.com/
Monday, September 19, 2011
Why Ghana?
Many people who don't know me well have asked me why I chose to go abroad for one of my student teaching placements and why Ghana of all places. Most of the people that ask me this question are students who want to stay in the Green Bay area after graduation so they see the importance in making connections in this area. I do not plan on staying here after graduation. I don't need to make those same connections.
I wanted to study abroad while in college but because of all of my education classes I needed, it made it difficult to study abroad. When I found out I could student teach abroad, I knew I wanted to go. I also wanted to go somewhere where most students don't go. This eliminated New Zealand and the UK. I know there are positive reasons why preservice teachers go there but I wanted to do something different. I also knew that I want to teach in a low income area in the United States. I wanted a school with as minimal resources as possible to prepare myself for the worst. Then, after visiting Zambia a year ago, I fell in love with Africa and my decision to go to Ghana made perfect sense.
I hope to gain much experience with little resources. I want to learn how to be creative outside of using oodles and oodles of materials. I am curious to learn what my teaching style will be like and how it will differ when I get back to the United States. I am interested in learning how the schools in Ghana deal with classroom management. I feel comfortable in my classroom management skills in Green Bay but I am looking forward to my Ancillary School Classroom Management skills. I hope to have a pen pal relationship with any of the teachers I have worked with in Green Bay. I think that would be an interesting way to connect my students in Ghana to the United States and students in Green Bay, Wisconsin to students in a country outside of the U.S. I want to experience many Ghanian cultural activities and traditions. I am looking forward to the Ghanian Independence Day. I am interested to learn how they study this holiday and how it is similar or differs from the United States Independence Day.
I wanted to study abroad while in college but because of all of my education classes I needed, it made it difficult to study abroad. When I found out I could student teach abroad, I knew I wanted to go. I also wanted to go somewhere where most students don't go. This eliminated New Zealand and the UK. I know there are positive reasons why preservice teachers go there but I wanted to do something different. I also knew that I want to teach in a low income area in the United States. I wanted a school with as minimal resources as possible to prepare myself for the worst. Then, after visiting Zambia a year ago, I fell in love with Africa and my decision to go to Ghana made perfect sense.
I hope to gain much experience with little resources. I want to learn how to be creative outside of using oodles and oodles of materials. I am curious to learn what my teaching style will be like and how it will differ when I get back to the United States. I am interested in learning how the schools in Ghana deal with classroom management. I feel comfortable in my classroom management skills in Green Bay but I am looking forward to my Ancillary School Classroom Management skills. I hope to have a pen pal relationship with any of the teachers I have worked with in Green Bay. I think that would be an interesting way to connect my students in Ghana to the United States and students in Green Bay, Wisconsin to students in a country outside of the U.S. I want to experience many Ghanian cultural activities and traditions. I am looking forward to the Ghanian Independence Day. I am interested to learn how they study this holiday and how it is similar or differs from the United States Independence Day.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)