Teshie-Nungua and Hohoe

Hello there everyone!

I am sorry I haven’t been updating as much but life here is a little less interesting than being on the road all the time. I am still in Teshie-Nungua, still teaching at Vivibon School and finally feeling settled in and grounded here in Ghana.

I would like to take a moment to talk about my teaching experience thus far and show y’all some pictures of my school!

So, Vivibon School starts all the way down at the age they call “crèche” which is like kids age 1-4. Then they have several nursery classes, which is like kindergarten and then grades 1-6 for primary school and junior high grades 7-9 (which they call form 1, form 2, and form 3). I teach French to all three junior high school classes and English to kids from grades 1 to 8. There is only one class in each grade with 15-20 students in each class so it’s not too big. I have also started hanging out in the crèche and just chilling with the really little kids when I have a break from teaching.

School here sure is different. I teach at a private school so everyone has to wear uniforms. They ring a bell to signal the end of a class but it’s done by hand and so it’s an actual bell! The students at every level have to learn English, math, science, Ga (local language), French, computer, religious/moral education, home economics, PE, creative arts, citizenship and social studies. They stand and greet me when I walk into the room; they also stand to answer a question. Many teachers use a cane as discipline which I am personally against. Each grade has class officers and prefects as well as someone assigned to hand out notebooks, clean the board, fetch me chalk, etc.

The infrastructure is different, too. There are very few decorations on the walls and no glass in the windows. It is basically a big concrete structure with openings in the walls for windows. We use a blackboard and chalk has sure been an adjustment for me. Things are structured differently in terms of notes, too. They have a notebook for homework, a different one for class-work and a different one for class notes. Handwriting and neat headings are very important. Often times teachers will dictate notes or write them on the board. Repetition and recitation are common teaching methods.

It is a lot to adjust to but I am learning. I make my expectations clear to my students and we get along just fine. Mostly I just teach whatever subject they’ve been working on, create homework for them and grade it. As long as I’m given a textbook or some idea of their current topic of study, I can make it up as I go along. As for my junior high students, I need to prepare lesson plans ahead of time. It’s a little harder to wing it with teenagers.

I am pretty comfortable here in Teshie-Nungua. I am close enough to Accra and I know the public transport system well enough to get around. Nevertheless, I still love to travel so I got out of the city this weekend and headed up north. I went to the Volta region in eastern Ghana, right on the border with Togo. Lake Volta is the largest man-made lake in the world and it is gorgeous. The whole area is lush and green and humid. I went to a town called Hohoe (ho-ho-ay) this weekend to visit what is supposedly the highest waterfall in Western Africa.

The Wli Waterfall is in the Agumasta Nature Sanctuary. It was an easy, 30 minute hike to the pool at the base of the lower falls. The whole area is very pretty, dense forest with lots of birds, butterflies and rivers. My guide pointed out papaya trees, orange trees, pineapple plants and cocoa trees. At the waterfall, I was brave enough to wade into the pool and walk all the way up to the falls. The water coming down about 150 feet was pretty intense and felt a little like a sandblaster at times, but it was worth it to stand in the waterfall. There were tons of bats chilling on the cliffs and the cool dip felt very nice.

I am back in Accra now, still teaching. I am starting to enjoy it although the kids can be quite the challenge sometimes. I will try to put up some pictures of my school so you can get a visual to go with my description.



Here you'll find:

The "teacher's lounge."

First graders, ground floor (remember there is no glass in the windows).

8th graders on the third floor.


The beautiful Wli Waterfall.

Photos VI

Hey everybody! I had a great week at school and things are really starting to come together now. I am putting together a schedule that allows me to work with all grades from 1-9 at least once a week. I will be teaching English for the most part but I also want to help out with the junior high school French classes (to keep my language skills sharp.) I really enjoy working with different age groups and I am looking forward to teaching more classes in the future. I have been doing a lot of observing to learn about the teaching style here but I have also already taught a few classes on my own. School is a constant challenge and it keeps me busy.

Here is the last installment of pictures, for now.

The huge mosque in Touba, Senegal. This is the quite possibly the holiest city in Senegal

Me inside the mosque

Me and the famous mud mosque in Djenne, Mali

Our bus to Ghana, complete with goats in one of the storage holds beneath the bus.

Photos V

Here's me on the roof of our hostel for the night. We slept on the roof because it was cooler. Behind me are the famous mud huts in the cliffs of the Dogon Plateau, Mali.

Climbing up toward the huts.














A shot down the valley amidst the old huts.















The Dogon people now live in huts on the valley floor.












A few days later we climbed all the way up to the top of the Plateau. Here's the view from the top.

Photos IV

This is the canopy walk in Kakum National Park (outside Cape Coast, Ghana). It is strung between the treetops, 100 feet above the forest floor. I am standing with our nature guide.

















Here I am at the top of one of the forts in Cape Coast, Ghana












Me in the stadium in Port Elizabeth for the Uruguay vs. South Korea game



Cape Town from the top of Table Mountain

This is Cape Agulhas, the southernmost point of Africa. You can see it is called the point where the Indian and the Atlantic meet.

This is me and the Wall of Names at the Memorial Monument in Pretoria, South Africa. Behind me are names of people who died for the independence of their country from apartheid all the way back to colonial times.

Photos III

Me and the sand dunes at Sossusvlei, Namibia









Sandboarding outside Swakopmund, Namibia




Salt Works in Walvis Bay, Namibia









Michael and I in a makoro. Okavango Delta, Botswana

The boardwalk in Maputo, Mozambique

Me in the Old Fort, Maputo, Mozambique

A very stuffed "chapa", local transport taking us south along Mozambique's coast to Ponto D'Ouro and then back into South Africa. You can see my backpack barely tied on near the back.

Photos II

Taking the jump off the bridge between Zambia and Zimbabwe at Victoria Falls

The view from the back of the Tazara Train

I got soaked at Victoria Falls

Here is the mighty Smoke that Thunders.

An elephant Skull in Victoria Falls National Park, Zimbabwe

Photos

I made it to Accra and I am getting settled in at the HWI volunteer house in Teshie-Nungua (about 40 minutes east of Accra). I have had a very relaxing few days getting comfortable here and exploring the area.

I spent today at the school, talked to the headmaster, met some teachers and sat through a 3 1/2 hour staff meeting. Today is all the administrative stuff and classes start tomorrow. I hope to be teaching English and then also helping out with French instruction. I should have my schedule this week.

At long last I have my netbook back so I can upload some pictures from my epic trip this summer. I am going to start with Tanzania and work my way back.

Here is Coco Beach just north of Dar es Salaam

Me on a dhow in Zanzibar

Uhuru Peak at sunrise

Me and Mount Kibo

Me standing up out the top of our safari vehicle. Herd of water buffalo in the background.