I guess I am officially a real teacher?

School has Begun!!!

So I am on my third day of school now and I am sitting in the school office. I taught my first class yesterday. It went well I went over the class rules, had the students make name tags so I can start the learn there names, and went over when homework quizzes and exams they are responsible for. It turns out they pay 40p (approx. 20 cents) for one notebook that they use for ALL of there classes and ALL of there exercises. So imagine NOT having any textbooks… your textbook is the notes you take in your ONE (very flimsy poor quality may I add) Notebook. (some have Obama on them btw J)

So I am having my students turn in their homework for Math every Monday and homework for Science every Wednesday. They will also be taking weekly quizzes to factor into their final grade and help me keep track of which students need extra help and which are ready for more challenges. My first class I had 43 kids! I was told it may get bigger too, probably up to 50 by the time school really gets going. Today I think I am the only teacher who has actually taught a class. The kids have been weeding…cleaning…and sitting in the classroom without a teacher. Only 2 other teachers showed up today.

So I had a few ideas… Would anyone like to sponsor exercise workbooks for my Science and Math form 1 classes? Basically they cannot afford to buy notebooks, they are forced to buy 1 and will not be allowed to come to school/be caned if they do not have it with them in class. I would like to raise money to buy my students a math notebook and a science notebook. That way they can keep math and science separate from English, social studies, religion, ICT, and other classes. I feel that this will help them be able to do their homework… I know for a fact that it will be impossible to take 50 kids only notebook and grade them before they need them for their next class. I really want them to do well and I think having separate notebook would facilitate this. Plus I can’t imagine how they will study for their big exams if everything they have done all year is jumbled into one notebook (that is completely worn and destroyed by the end of the term).

So here is the deal:

Exercise book = 40p x 50 students = 20 Cedi (=10 bucks)

A math and science notebook for each child so I can grade their homework and they can study proper= 40 cedi (20 Bucks)

IF ANYONE is interested in donating 20 bucks I will get the notebooks and get them to my children ASAP! My homework assignments and quizzes are starting next week! (The kids are going to love me haha).

I will send you a nice picture of the kids and their notebooks smiling or something like that! Or a nice handmade thank you letter or something!! Only the first person to contact me will get this once in a lifetime opportunity!

Anyways math and science is important! Last year only 2 students in the school passed exams. I know I may not change that but I want to try by getting these kids excited about math and science and actually understanding it! Not just regurgitating definitions teachers write on the board. None of these Kids can afford to go to highschool but if they do well on exams they can have a chance as a scholarship.

I am also interested in building hand washing stations outside the bathrooms for the kids and teaching them about the importance of hand washing. I have most of the supplies but I will need to buy containers to dispense the water. It is a fun activity and I will teach the kids how to make them and let them help build and set them up. I am going to check prices today but if you are interested in funding  hand washing stations for my JHS let me know. My email is emilyadamsutulsa@gmail.com incase you do not have it.

Otherwise today has been a bittersweet day. I am excited about school but angry about how it is run. One of the teachers said today “if you ask me the meaning of a word again I will Beat you!” not sure exactly in what context but I know for a fact the teachers are not afraid to “beat” here. On my way to school this morning I heard a girl screaming bloody murder and down the road I caught a glimpse of a girl on the ground being beaten my a man with the rest of the family watching…. What the hell can I do? My stomach is still turning, I wish I never saw it. I wanted to scream.

As I continued riding down the road contemplating what I just saw with my Jaw clinched and my muscles tense. A guy greeted me and I almost ran into him with my bike. He started talking to me in Twi and pulled cucumbers out of his bag and asked if I would like some and that he was so happy that I was here to teach. Cucumbers are expensive here and I love cucumbers and this little old man was so sweet…. My feelings are so mixed right now about Ghana. There are so many things that I love and I hate…. Many things I just don’t know how to handle, or how to react. I want to be here, I want to teach, I want to do my research, I want to be a positive impact, and I want to make friends; but, there are some people here, I just…well… hate. I don’t want to have to pretend to like them, or be nice to them… or tolerate their behavior.

So… I guess you could say life is pretty interesting here.

BLOG PART 2- Written a few nights ago:

Hello,

I have been at my site for a few weeks now. Everything is Dandy.

When I first got here I took care of the priorities. These priorities included a spider genocide mission and building a compost bin.  After a few days of heavy cleaning and getting settled I focused on starting my garden.

I won’t bore you with all the many steps I took to chicken-proof and prep my garden and first beds.  After “supervising” the boys who helped me fix my bamboo fence I convinced them to leave the gate and that I could handle it. It seems that the common conception is Obroni’s cannot do many things…like farm, use a cutlass, eat fufu (properly), dance, speak Twi, go to farm, fetch water….the list goes on. So I was excited to prove that I am not useless and that I actually like building things…more than watching small children do labor intensive activities for me. So I used a machete to chop bamboo and build a gate! That actually is hinged….and works… it is chicken-goat-small boy/girl-proof AND I did not chop my arm off, luckily I did not have an audience the whole time so I got to practice a bit to refine my non existent machete skills to get the hang of how to use it before the gathering began.

It starts with the neighbor kids… then the crowd grows. I am not sure where they come from I live at the edge of town and only have a few close neighbors but somehow everyone and there 12 other siblings end up in my garden by the end of the day. Sometimes I enjoy the company, the kids love to dance and they can here my music I play near the window while I am working in my garden. They request to turn it up and play it louder. I don’t have any azzuntu (sorry for the misspelling) so I play the next best thing Calvin Harris! The kids love it when I dance with them plus they have taught me some pretty sweet moves. 6 year old girls can drop it better than me though, even the little bitty midgets who can barely talk know how to have a dance party and shake it.

Who is calling me right now? It is 8:07 pm….way too late to be calling. Sadly It is basically my bed time.

Hello

Yes I am at my house

No I am not in Asamankese

No I will not be in Asamankese tomorrow

Yes I will eat fufu

Yes I am okay to stay alone at my house

I should have made up a husband

Oh, you will come visit? Hmmm… I am still busy moving in

Please don’t

See you tomorrow at school

Yes we will meet at school tomorrow

Yes someday we can eat fufu.

So nice of one of my fellow teachers to check up on me. I have gotten that question by so many men here… are you okay to stay in your home by yourself? Yes I am fine

I will come and visit you at your house. Great I look forward to your super awkward visit.

POSITIVE NOTE: Anyways I love my counterpart and his family, I like my headmaster, and the kids (well most the time… they like to yell at me through the window….at dawn…for no reason…for hours…agh) I love being able to cook for myself, the bike rides, exploring the market, and all the crazy awkward things constantly happening.

Usually in my village I can buy onion, tomato, okra, rotton fish, palm oil, sugar cane, coconuts….. but all of a sudden there are avocados everywhere… AVOCADO SEASON!!

Mango season ended….I was having withdrawals. I was able to find some in Accra (way overpriced because the season was finished) and brought them back to my site. I didn’t want to eat them all at once, but once you start you can’t stop…they are that good. So I cut mine down with papaya and banana (cheaper and less tasty) but it helped make my mango stash last longer.

So avocado season= Guacamole season…. So from what I learned from mango season is to enjoy it while it lasts because pretty soon I’ll be craving an avocado salad and no one in the eastern region will be able to find one for me.