Author:
Lara
Placement: 1 month at placement 0120
Period:
June - July 2006
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The school is situated in a small village named Kallabulley (I don't know if I spelled it right, but that's how you say it) next to Kasoa and about 45 minutes away from Accra. About 60 kids, aged 2 to 13, attend the school. The kids are divided into four classes; the nursery class, KG class, first class and third class. The 25 nursery kids are from 2 to 4 years old, the KG kids are 5 to 6 years, the first class kids are about 7 years old and the third class has kids 12 to 13 years old. At the moment the second class is missing because there aren't enough classrooms, but hopefully that will change in the next school year. At the moment the school has two proper classrooms, though four are needed. KG and the first class get taught on the veranda. Building is in progress, but more volunteers' donations will be needed to pay for the roof.
A normal day:
7:00 Kids start to arrive at school
7:00 - 9:00 Playing (the 3rd class has its first lesson at 8 o'clock)
9:00 -10:30 Classes (nursery & KG sing the first half an hour)
10:30 Break
10:45 - 12:00 Classes
2:00 - 12:45 Lunch
12:45 - 2:00 Classes (nursery has naptime)
Teachers change all the time. I arrived on Thursday and the next Monday two new teachers started to teach class 1 and 3. One left after four weeks without saying anything. Another volunteer, Niki, and I overtook the class, which really worked well. We taught them different things like the clock, opposites, and addition. We also drew with them and let them play with Lego and the train set. Playing is a thing they really need apart from getting educated; as they need to learn English and Maths, they need to learn to play. They get totally excited about the Lego and train set. Drawing is another thing that was really hard to do. They are not used to drawing, though they really like it. But because they never draw, they don't know what and how to draw it. It's really hard for them to use their imagination.
The other volunteer and I started to introduce a more regular timetable with shorter lessons (45 minutes) and a break after every lesson because it was difficult for the kids to sit in their classroom for 3 hours straight! The kids really appreciated it, but it was really hard to do cause we had to remind the teachers every time, though we bought a clock for them. I am not sure if it works since we have gone.
Living is really nice. Jayaliila is caring and wonderful. She and her daughter cook the best dishes ever. I wasn't able to stop eating! If you go, ask about peanut cakes! You will never forget those :). For lunch and supper you get rice, and spaghettis with different vegetables. Fruits are for dessert. In the morning there is toast, cheese, oats with milk, and fruits....
There is one room with four beds for volunteers. You share the bathroom with everyone. Bucket baths are great :). I really got used to them and didn't even miss the normal shower.
You have electricity in the evening. That means a generator is turned on, which makes a horrible noise. When you don't need it, tell Jayaliila. She just turns it on because of you. It's really useful to charge batteries for cameras and so on. But I liked it even more with candlelight.
One last sentence about the kids: they are all so adorable. And you will find your favorite kid, who you will really love and miss when you re back home!