When left for Ghana in early March I knew my main objective was to learn more about the children of the Bishop Forson School and their lives, as well as to try and help those struggling in Math and Reading. This would be my third trip to the school, but my first time working independent of a group program.
I planned to start by observing classes and then I would figure out where I could help. But, as many discover, nothing goes as planned when you are in Ghana.
On my first day at school I was led in to the library, handed a textbook, and told to teach the lesson on food groups to a small group of first-graders who arrived less than five minutes later. It did not go well; the Ghanaian food system is completely different from the American one. I quickly learned from this experience that if I wanted to make a meaningful contribution, I needed to take charge of the assignments I took on. I also learned that I needed to speak very slowly and clearly and say things as simply as possible. The children were so fascinated by the color of my skin and by my hair, and that alone distracted them from what I was saying.
On my second day at school I started to make good use of the materials other volunteers and I had brought from the US. I had a large group of fourth-grade boys for English and since I still had not been able to observe any classes, I grabbed an exercise sheet and two Dr. Seuss books. To start the lesson I handed them each a worksheet and we did it together. We breezed through the first side on words with the letter ‘e’; leg, bed, etc. The second side was on rhyming. Dr. Seuss provided the opportunity to explore rhyming words as the students fought over whose turn it was to read. Both books were exactly at their reading level; they were challenged with certain words but still able to read the stories. Once they relaxed and were feeling comfortable, they wanted to talk and ask me questions. We were learning from each other, and I think that was the most valuable part of our time together. By the end of this lesson my confidence had grown: I found I had successfully put a lesson together, the boys understood the material, and we all had a lot of fun. It was great to see how eager they were to learn and how much they loved reading.
After school the child I sponsor, Kelvin, asked if I would help him with math. We worked with flashcards and activity books which he loved, so we spent a lot of time with those. By dinnertime he was going through the flashcards without stopping. While we were working, a few other students who live on-campus came in and wanted to participate. They do not usually have access to learning games, tools like flash cards and activity books, and they were easily excited by the colorful pictures. They are also not used to having someone there to give them attention and help, since classes are often large and staffing is limited to one teacher per grade.
Looking back on what I learned is overwhelming. I discovered so many things about the children’s lives that I hadn’t been able to see on my previous visits. There was one boy who was late for school often and, after careful questioning we found out it was because he had to walk to the next town to fetch water because in that town the water was free. There was another boy with a hole right through his jaw. Before we learned about the problem and started taking him to the doctor, it became infected and still his face was completely swollen. Everyday when I would see him at school he would greet me with a huge smile. Some days he would come shyly into the library to be with me and read a book. I was struck by his positive energy and his sweetness despite everything he was going through.
One day I had to discipline a little boy for stealing. I started by trying to help him understand why it was wrong and I suspected that his reason for stealing had more to do with a need for attention then for the object itself. After some time I asked him for a hug so he would understand that even though I was disappointed in him, I still cared about him. He was completely confused about why I would hug him and not hit him! I was so struck by this, because growing up one thing I never had to question was that I was loved and that I was safe from harm. More than anything else I might give, I wished I could give him that.
The longer I was at the school, the more I saw how many children who were there could not read or do simple math. After three weeks I felt as if I hadn’t made a dent. But then I considered each of the children individually that I worked with, and I knew that I had reached some of them and hoped my being there had made some kind of impact on them, as it had on me. It is almost impossible to quantify these things.
Narrowing my goals really helped. I know that making a difference in even the life of ONE child is a big deal, and that knowledge guided me through this trip.
Leah – I really enjoyed reading about your recent experience in Ghana. Your empathy for the children is so wonderful. Thanks for sharing this, it’s a great introduction to the kinds of issues that will come up in the upcoming Painting Possibilities trip.
Sarah