Education

So far in my blogs I have tried to avoid anything remotely close to an intellectual topic.  However, part of the enjoyment of writing these blogs is that I do not have to see anyone's reaction.  So I am going to climb atop my soapbox for a minute and talk about education here in Ghana, specifically Helekpe.  I should preface my opinions by saying I attended The Park School of Baltimore, few more liberal K-12 schools exist that I know of, followed by Drew University, a liberal arts college.

Education is Ghana, at least the schools in the villages I live in, tends to consist of three steps.  Step one is the teacher telling the students what he or she needs to know.  Generally this is a definition of a word or term.  Step two consists of the student writing that definition down verbatim.  Step three is that student memorizing that definition again verbatim.  The problem I see here should be readily apparent: there is no thinking involved!

I could give you many examples of this but my favorite comes from my good friend Nelson.  Nelson is five years old and a wonderfully cheerful boy.  He runs absolutely everywhere and he absolutely cracks me up.  A few weeks ago Nelson learned to add at school.  If I asked Nelson 3+2 he would count three fingers on one hand, two on the other, look down, then up at me showing me five fingers, and would yell, "Five!"  The system worked great, and despite some struggle he could even do 6+4.  However, if I asked Nelson 4+7 that garnered much more confusion.  As I am sure you know one hand is limited to five fingers.  So Nelson would count out four on one hand, five on the other, and then get confused.  The trusty system he had learned had failed him.

Obviously Nelson is only five so perhaps the struggle to learn addition is an international problem, so let's look at another boy.  Stephen is 15 years old and comes over every night to talk to me and ask me questions.  Stephen dreams of attending senior high in Kpando, a nearby town, that has a very good senior high school.  He works very diligently studying for two hours a day.  He recently got a book that he learned the government often takes questions from for the BEC (the high school entrance exam) from and has been carrying it around religiously.  Last week Stephen brought over his government exams and while flipping through science I noticed he had gotten one wrong.  The question was which planet has the largest orbit.  Stephen had selected Jupiter.  When I asked Stephen why Jupiter he said it was because he knew it was the largest planet.  When I asked him what about the question saying something about orbit he said he had not learned what orbit meant.  I said ok well let's put orbit in context and try and figure out what it means.  As I walked through this with Stephen it was apparent he had absolutely no idea how to use context clues.  This is really the heart of the problem.  If your education relies solely on being told things you better make sure you are told absolutely every single fact that mankind knows because you lack the ability to figure anything out yourself.

I also want to be clear that this problem is not nationwide.  I know this because while working at this local high school I have talked to some of the other teachers.  A lot of the other teachers are doing there national year of service and come from other parts of Ghana.  They share my frustration that the students never ask questions.  That problem stems from the same issue as if you are told everything you need to know there is never a need to ask anything.  You simply write things down and wait to write the next tidbit of information down.

I could extend this blog onto how this dependence on being given things extends to some of the larger problems I see in the village but I wish to climb down from my soapbox for now.  If you made it this far thanks for reading and for those of you who are teachers or interested in education please let me know your thoughts.

A Day in Ghana

I had the pleasure to talk to my family on Thanksgiving and my dad actually gave me a good idea for a blog.  Apparently people want to know what I do on a day to day basis.  I will do my best to give you an idea of what life here is like, but obviously everyday here is different.  That being said let's walk through a given Tuesday...

6:30am:  At this time, or 7:30am, I get three knocks on my door from either Eunice or Mary (my caretakers) telling me that breakfast is ready.  Breakfast is typically an egg sandwich along with hot chocolate.  Eating hot chocolate outside in Ghana can be tough, but it is nice nonetheless.

7:30am:  I have recently started teach English twice a week at the local senior high school and this is when my class starts on Tuesday.  I will do a blog next week on teaching but it is certainly very challenging to teach in a Ghanaian classroom.

9am:  This is typically when I leave school and my day greatly slows down.  I normally stop on my walk home to see the tailors who are working on school uniforms for the orphans.  However, still I am usually home by quarter after nine and then have nothing to do until.

Noon:  Every day at noon Mary or Eunice brings lunch.  My lunches and dinner can vary and the local food is difficult to describe.  Typically though I am praying for red red which is beans and fried plantain soaked in oil.  Every meal I eat alone, but again outside, and at high noon that is again quite a hot part of the deal.

After I finish up lunch I have no obligations until my committee meeting at 4pm.  Typically I spend my time reading or typing up documents for the committee.  Often Dela will come back on a break from school and we can chat a little then.

4pm:  On Tuesdays and Friday AYEC meets at four to discuss updates on existing projects and what types of other projects will would like to work on.  Meetings can last anywhere from 5 minutes (typically when we are just waiting for something to be done there is nothing to talk about) to half an hour, and normally last about twenty minutes.  Dela and I then walk home together and kick around some other ideas with just one another.  I also use this time to figure out exactly what happened in the meeting since most of the time discussions are in Ewe (the local language.) 

When I return home I am typical swarmed by the local kids and they stay until...

6pm:  Once again it is delivery time from either Mary or Eunice.  Like I said I eat all my meals alone and if any kids even approaches my Mary or Eunice yells at them from across the small yard that separates us.  Again I typically eat in around twenty minutes and then the kids come back.

I stay outside playing with the kids until whenever I want to take my bucket shower and then call it a night.

I do not want to give any false impressions about my days here in Ghana.  I along with the other volunteers are all working on a lot of projects but with that being said there is still a lot of down time.  I think it is the natural result of not having a job while most people in the community are busy during the days.  I still feel I am being productive and doing a lot, but I do wish there was a little less down time. That being said I definitely feel as though I have adjusted since I have already been here two and a half months!

Don't think I can escape this blog with saying a quick giving of thanks. I am incredibly thankful for all my friends and family who have been supportive of me while I am here.  It makes my day to get emails from back home.  I am also thankful for those who have contributed to AYEC's projects.  If you haven't that is obviously fine too but please, please, please consider making a donation.  Again I love getting emails so feel free to send me one at brad.mendelson@gmail.com

Travel

So I really have no idea what things people want to hear about from Ghana, so feel free to comment on this blog and let me know.  That being said one of the most common questions I get is if I am traveling a lot while I am here.  The answer is both yes and no.  I am traveling but trying to space out my travels so that I do not spend too much time away from Helekpe.  I am really trying to get used to living in the village and traveling every weekend would obviously take away from that.  Some of the times I have really been able to discover the most about the village have been on the weekends.

That being said I have traveled for two long weekends (Thursday to Monday) with the other volunteers that I am working with.  The first time a group of seven of us traveled to a remote resort called Meet Me There.  It was an absolutely beautiful resort right on the water.  It is so remote that in fact we were the only guests staying there.  It was a great trip and offered the first real opportunity to get know each other outside of simply spending two days a week together in the office.  Meet Me There was mostly just a relaxing weekend and I do not think we left the resort the whole weekend we were there.

The second long weekend we traveled was to Cape Coast which is may be the most popular tourist town in Ghana.  Cape Coast is, as the name would suggest, right on the coast as well.  It is also a significant city in Ghanaian history as it was were the slave trade here used to be based.  The castle which housed both British royalty and Ghanaian slaves is still open today for tours and was by far one of the most chilling things I have ever been to.  You can literally walk through the dungeons which housed hundreds of slaves for months at a time and almost imagine the horror they must have seen.  Aside from the castle the weekend have also a good time.  It was a bigger group this time with nine of us going, but still just as much fun.

As I said earlier I have traveled both time with the other volunteers that I am working with.  Perhaps one of my next blogs will be on them but I will say that I have really enjoyed my time with all of them so far.  They are from all over the world and offer different perspectives.  Considering they are the only people I can really have an easy conversation with it is great that I get along so well with them.  Furthermore, it is also great to be able to bounce different ideas off of them and learn from their ideas.  It is also makes the travels fun!  I will be traveling more soon so I will keep you posted.

Finally Taking Donations!

For the last two months I have been working with a community based organization in Helekpe, Ghana called Adaklu Youth Education Committee (AYEC.)  When I arrived I learned that AYEC's two goals were to provide orphans with school uniforms and give scholarships to kids so that they can attend high school, which is not public in Ghana.  For the school uniform project the group has been working with seven local elementary schools and five local middle schools.  It should be noted that school uniforms are mandatory in all schools in Ghana.  In addition to these goals I have also decided that if we can obtain the funding we should work to improve one of the local middle schools which is in dire need of repair.  Finally, AYEC itself wants to become sustainable and not rely solely on volunteers efforts to provide funding..  To that end we are aiming to start a five acre plantain and pepper farm.  Those two crops have been carefully selected because they are very profitable, potentially making up to $15,000 a year, and can grow well on the land we can purchase.

After two months of being here I can personally attest to what a difference these projects, if successfully carried out, would make.  While the projects may be noble they are certainly not free.  In the last two months I have been carefully working alongside the committee to gather estimates for the different projects.  Having done the research I have decided to set a goal of raising $25,000.  This is certainly a lofty goal, but one I believe is achievable.  The goal is even more attainable because of the fact that I have already received a generous donation to match any dollar given within the first $10,000 I can obtain.  This means that if you can give as little $10 that donation will be matched making it worth $20, or in practical terms, more than enough to provide a new school uniform to an orphan.

I am therefore asking for you to help me in this project.  If you can, please make a donation to AYEC.  Donations should be made payable to Cynthia Mendelson with a note on the memo lined that says, "Donation to AYEC."  Please mail checks to:

Danny Mendelson
Wise Metals
857 Elkridge Landing Road, Suite 600
Linthicum, MD 21090

I realize that charitable donations are not made out to individuals.  However, because AYEC is only a small group in Ghana there is no other way to get money here efficiently or without losing significant value from the contribution.  Therefore, my mom and dad will gather the all of the checks and then wire them to AYEC's bank account here.  Since this is not how donations are normally made I will be logging every donation and will be happy to tell you exactly where your donation actually goes.  I will also provide receipts wherever possible.  If you have questions please feel free to write me an email at brad.mendelson@gmail.com.

I realize that not all people are in a position where they can give money.  Anything you can do to help would be greatly appreciated.  Support can range from spreading the word about the project, to holding a fundraiser, or even simply learning more about the project.  To that end I would be happy to talk to anyone with any questions.  Again feel free to write me an email.  Thanks so much for your support!

A Good Day

I suppose a little background is in order.  I am working with an organization called the Adaklu Youth Education Committee (AYEC.)  Those of you keeping score at home will realize Adaklu is not the name of the village I am living in. You would be correct; Adaklu is a larger area encompassing 54 different villages.  AYEC specifically works in nine of these villages.  The goals of AYEC are to provide four scholarships a year for qualified students to go to high school (which is not free here) and also to provide school uniforms, which are mandatory, to orphans in the nine different villages.  I know I have promised to give information on how to give but that will have to wait a little while some logistics are sorted out, but I promise that information will be coming!

On Tuesday Dela and I traveled to Adadome Senior Secondary School where three of the scholarship winners will be enrolling for this school year.  Adadome was about a forty minute ride from Helekpe but definitely worth the trip.  When we arrived we went to see the headmaster who is from the village next to Helekpe.  He told us that he was very pleased with the scholarship program and would personally meet with the three girls to make sure that they worked hard in school.  From there we went to the bank to actually pay the school fees of one of the girls.  That process was quite long but eventually we made it back to Adadome and were able to look around the school grounds.  I cannot tell you how taken aback by the school I was.  It was by far the best school that I have seen in Ghana.  The grounds included a science center with full labs, a girls and boys dormitory, houses for teachers and the headmaster (provided by the PTA), and a large cafeteria where boarders will eat.  The campus was really beautiful and on our tour we learned that Adadome has 53 full time teachers.  Most schools around the mountain have about four full time teachers and a few more that occasionally drop in.  To have 53 full time teachers sold me that this school can really make a difference in our scholarship winners lives.

To date we have two students enrolled out of five.  This year there are five students because one was awarded a scholarship two years ago but the committee ran out of funding..  In the next week we should get the remaining three students enrolled so that they can be in school when classes for first year students start.  I must say there can be a lot of frustration in getting things done here, but when you give the chance for a gifted student to go to school, well, that is truly a good day!

P.S.  The beard is six weeks strong!

My Friend Dela

In my last blog I mentioned that my counterpart is named Dela and was probably deserving of a blog in his own right.  Well not to keep all my readers in suspense I figured I would deliver on that promise in my very next blog.  I did not intend to write this blog until much later in my stay but I think Dela's story is rather indicative of some of the problems I am attempting to tackle here in Ghana.

On Tuesday I had my first meeting with my class, yes I am apparently teaching while I am here, and was telling them a little bit about my past.  At some point I mentioned that I was 22 and that received a huge amount of laughter from the class.  Afterward I asked Dela why there was laughter and he explained that the class had assumed I would be older since I was a university grad.  He told me a lot of the class was older than I was, himself included.

Now I know that Dela is around 38-40 (age appears to be a little bit shaky here) and I also knew that he was attending high school and in fact was in my class.  I also knew this was not Dela's first attempt as high school.  Dela had told me before this rough outline of his life but I thought this would be a good time to fill in the blanks.  It turns out Dela first enrolled in high school in 1988, the year I was born, and he was only 17 or 18 at the time.  At that time high school in Ghana lasted for five years.  Dela was progressing along well and was in his third year in 1991 when his father died.  Dela's father had been a government worker and was paying for Dela's school fees because high school in Ghana is not provided by the government.  Unfortunately Dela was forced to drop out and began supporting himself.  It was at this point Dela told me, "They say in every tragedy there is a blessing."  When I responded that at times it appears hard to find such a silver lining Dela laughed and said, "Yes, but what other choice to we have."

Dela is a farmer, like pretty much everyone in my community, and has been since the death of his father.  In 2000 he worked with a Peace Corp volunteer in order to establish the committee I am working with, Adaklu Youth Education Committee (AYEC.)  I will tell you more about AYEC next week but as the name implies they work to further education on the local villages.  Dela understands the importance of education a lot.  He knows if his father had not died he would probably be working in a city making money.  He knows it so well that now that he is married with three kids he allows them to live in Ho, the nearest city, so that the kids can go to school there because city schools here are much better.  In fact Dela knows the importance of education so much that at age 36 or 37 he re-enrolled in high school.  He will finish up this school year and hopes to rejoin his family in Ho next year and go to university there.  He told me he wants to go to school in Ho not only so he can be with his family but also so that he will be close enough to the Helekpe, our village, that he can continue his work with AYEC. 

I should also mention Dela does far more than simply go to school and farm to support his family.  Almost everyday Dela is asked to help some member of the community.  Some days he helps register kids for school, some days he helps bring goods into Ho to sell them for someone.  When I asked Dela why people always asked him he said, "I must say I am quite popular because people know I am not in it to help myself."

I know this blog has been long, and probably not many people have made it this far, but I just wanted to attempt to capture Dela and give a little insight in to why getting an education here is a necessity, but very difficult.


P.S.  I am sharing the computer with others so I am not proofreading, sorry for typos!

Finally Blogging!

So I finally have a blog up and running.  I will be posting a variety of different things on this site, but I thought for my first blog I would just report on my life here.  First of all let me say that I am settled in and really enjoying things over here!  I must admit in the week before I headed over I started to get nervous, but my nerves settled almost immediately once I arrived.  I am living in a town called Helekpe which is a small rural town and is half an hour outside of Ho, which is a nice city.  I come into Ho twice a week and get to use internet on a real computer.

My living situation is pretty great.  I have my own room which has a fan, which is greatly appreciated, and is really rather comfortable.  There is one room attached to mine and that is where my counterpart, Dela, lives.  Dela probably deserves his own blog at some point, but for now I will just say that he has been a great host and an all around great guy.  Slowly but surely I am getting to know him and his story is pretty interesting.  His family owns the house we live in as well as another room across a small yard from my house.  That room is split into two, half is a kitchen and the other half is a spare bedroom.  In the kitchen my caretaker makes three meals a day for me, let me say that is something that I can certainly get used to!  The food is really good and I am just starting my first forays into traditional Ghanaian food, the jury is still out, but it is definitely cool to try.

Finally let me say the things you hear about the people here are very true.  The first people who will introduce themselves to you are the kids.  They are incredibly friendly and calls of Yavo (white person) seem to follow me wherever I go.  There is no bad associations with the word it is simply just there way of identifying me and I have even come to enjoy the calls.  The adults here are not as immediately friendly but they all tell you how welcome you are in there community and are willing to take if you engage them.  I am doing a good job of that and will happily report back about some people in future blogs.

There is a lot more to come from these blogs as I have a lot of time to think here.  Most importantly I will soon be posting about the project I am working on here, which I am very excited about but have to spend a little more time researching before I figure out exactly what I will be working on.  So for now that is all.  Please shoot me an email and I will happily reply.  Hope all is well wherever you may be!