We
woke up and began working at our service sites this morning after
breakfast. We are divided into 2
groups, where Ali and Karen are together at one school and Molly, Gray, Sarah,
and Mary are at another. The group
of 4 was introduced to a headmaster who spoke about the importance of the
difference between a leader and a boss, challenging us to lead the children
today, and others into the future.
We next learned how to make “blocks”, Ghanaian version of bricks, made
out of a mixture of sand and cement.
First you measure out 12 bowls full of sand, then mix the cement and
water multiple times. Next you
fill block molds to the brim and hit it over and over to insure there are no
air bubbles, or your brick will fall apart when you try to take it out of the
mold. After finishing an entire
bag of cement, about 20 blocks worth, we began playing with the children who
were on break. Some people in the
groups played catch with some of the boys, we taught them to play “Down by the
banks”, a hand clapping game, and also “Miss Mary Mac”. Next we were thrown into a classroom,
between the ages of 9 and 15 ranging for grades 4 to 6. Each group’s experience in the classromm
was very different, but we enjoyed the politeness and playfulness of the
children. We had trouble crossing
the language barrier, because although most of the children spoke English, it
was hard for them to understand us and vice versa. We had to find creative ways of presenting materials to make
ourselves understood. On the playground,
most of the students spoke Ewe, their native language, and it was at times
uncomfortable when one child would say something, and run away, making all the
other children laugh. After
leaving the schools we made our way back to home base for lunch. After about an hour we left home base and
went to get lessons in Ewe. All
the children from the schools around our language teacher’s house gathered around the
gate to watch us learn. Next we
came home and had a talk on leadership.
There were a lot of interesting scinerios and questions that had to do
with real life situations dealing with leadership and others views. It was very enlightening to hear others
perspectives, not only those with the same learning experiences as us as
Collegiate students. After the
sessions were let out, we had free time, which was spent on the beach playing with
the natives. A soccer game ensued,
the yevus (whiteys) vs. ameyibos (blackeys). Unfortunately we lost, but had a wonderful time chasing
after the energetic young ones as we pulled up our skirts and fell in the sand.
Next we enjoyed fresh coconuts on
the beach, all splitting them and eating them with spoons. Dinner was a surprise to all, with fish
and chips, pineapple, watermelon, and cabbage salad. We all enjoyed our French fries with ketchup just like at
home! After dinner, we had a speaker from the local radio station come to talk
to us about modern Ghana. He was
very interesting, telling us most of the history, and then answering many
questions, but also asking us questions about America and our views of Ghanain. He was interested in our education
system, our voting process, and laws.
We are now playing a version of “Mafia”, or as Sylvia likes to call it “Villagers”…About
to turn in for a good night's sleep in preparation for tomorrows work at our
different schools. Nighty night J
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