Author: Rosie Srao
Placement: 6 months at placement 0124
Period:
May - October 2006
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Rosie Srao is a current volunteer at the school. She arrived on the 12th May 2006 and will be staying for 6 months in Ghana.
Akwaaba!
Greetings from West Africa, my friends! Well, all I can say is Ghana is burnin' proper, although it's the so-called rainy season it's still a soaring 40 degrees C and rising. Boy, there is no escaping the African sun.
The Ghanaian host family is brilliant; they have taken me in as their own and are pretty determined to turn me into a proper African woman! I reckon I could write a recipe book now with all the recipes they've taught me. Ghanaian food is seriously carbohydrate heavy - I tell ya - a few mouthfuls of Banku, Fufu, Kenkey, plantain, Cassava, Yam to name a few leave you crying out for a nap, serious spud eye alert.
Religion plays a very important part in the Ghanaian way of life. Ghanaians are not shy to show their religious belief either, nearly all the shops I have seen have some sort of Godly message; a slogan on a side of a van I saw today stated "God is controlling this Bakery". To be honest, its all a bit too evangelical for me to stomach.
I already feel pretty settled here which is largely due to the Volunteer Coordinator, Gunadiish, who has been pretty amazing at giving me a full orientation around Accra. Having spoken to a few volunteers from other organizations this is considered a rarity. I really couldn't have chosen a better organization.
The school is wonderful, even though we are hugely lacking in books, computers and teaching aids. The teachers and pupils are plentiful in spirit and morale. It is a real child centered school, which is not always common ground in schools over here. I have been told of horror stories of some school administrators selling the donated toys and gifts that volunteers had brought the kids to fund their own needs.
I'm teaching Science and English to classes 3,4 and 5. School starts at 7am and finishes at 3pm when the sun is at its hottest!! The afternoons are mine, so I have done a fair bit of traveling around the city.
Rosie