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.