Ghana Memories

1. The Ghanaian handshake. Snap. Kool krah.

2. Highlife, Hiplife, and Azonto.



3. Almost all business and vehicle names including Christian references. (Our van was named "The Holy Spirit".)

4. The amazing ability of women to carry huge loads on their heads while also carrying babies on their backs.

5. The smooth sound of Ghanaian English. Aaah haa.

6. Ghanaian's enthusiasm for soccer. They are ALWAYS watching international soccer on TV.

7. Lots of bottled water.

8. Banku and fufu.

9. Being called obruni ("white person" or "foreigner"). 

10. Garbage. Unfortunately, it's everywhere.

Goodbye Ghana

We spent our last day, Saturday, in Accra visiting the Centre For National Culture and having a farewell dinner at Tribes Bar and Restaurant on Labadi Beach. We've become a tight group over these past two weeks and everyone was reluctant to say goodbye to each other, to our hosts, and to Ghana.

After returning to Minnesota I'll be adding photos, video, and additional posts. Come back and visit sometime after March 25th for more visuals and details.

Last Day In The Central Region

Friday morning the Cape Coast crew spent our last day in the Central Region. We visited the Elmina Castle, the oldest European building south of the Sahara and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Although originally constructed by the Portuguese to facilitate the trade of goods, it became a major port for the Atlantic Slave Trade, similar to the Cape Coast Castle.

After touring the castle, the museum, the female and male dungeons and the Governor's quarters, we emerged onto the upper level of the castle. The view of the Gulf of Guinea and the town of Elmina was breathtaking - sunshine, crashing waves, colorful fishing boats, a lively fish market, and a boisterous political rally. The New Patriotic Party candidate for the December 2012 Presidential election arrived in a motorcade of large SUVs to deliver a campaign speech. In Ghana, this is no somber affair. In fact, almost nothing is a somber affair! A parade, music, dancing, flags, t-shirts and a party. Emerging from the castle to this view struck me as incredibly ironic. Ghanaians free, independent, preparing for their sixth democratic election.

We're now back in Accra, preparing to check out and spend our last day at the Centre For National Culture and Kwame Nkrumah Mausoleum. We fly out tonight around 9 p.m. It will be a long journey - first to Frankfurt, Germany, then Chicago, and finally back to Minneapolis. Although looking forward to reuniting with our friends and families, I know we are all reluctant to leave behind the spirit of Ghana and our many new Ghanaian friends.

The Haves And The Have Nots

Thursday night we said goodbye to our host teachers at a dinner hosted by the Wesley Girls Headmistress. Ironically, she was not able to attend as she was unexpectedly called to Accra for a meeting at the Ministry of Education, along with other heads of Christian schools. Unlike our system, all secondary schools, including parochial schools, are funded and administrated by the national government and subject to its policies. The issue at hand is that Muslim leaders wish to construct mosques on the grounds of the Christian boarding schools and ensure that Muslim students are able to practice their religion freely and not be compelled to participate in activities such as morning devotions and religion classes. Wesley Girls is a Methodist school and Christian faith and teaching is integrated into all aspects of the girls' education. The leaders of the Christian schools are adamantly opposed to this proposal and do not believe it will be implemented. Ghana's population is estimated to be 70% Christian, 17% Muslim and 9% followers of traditional religions. (Many Ghanaians maintain some elements of their traditional belief system in combination with Christianity or Islam.) Up to this point in its history as an independent state, Ghana has experienced very little interfaith conflict, which is not to say that people do not have their prejudices. The teachers expressed concern about the potential for conflict, based on what they are seeing in neighboring West African countries such as Nigeria.

In Ghana, education is free and compulsory through Junior Secondary School. At the end of Junior Secondary School students take an exam to qualify for Senior Secondary School (Grades 9-12, referred to as Forms 1-4). Approximately 25% of students make the grade, apply to attend, and are placed in a Senior Secondary School, most of which are boarding schools. Senior Secondary School is not free, as fees must be paid for books, supplies, uniforms, room and board, etc. Because our classroom experience here was limited to secondary schools, and schools with IREX alumni teachers, we were interacting with a very small subset of Ghanaian students - the most academically successful, whose families can afford to send them to secondary school. There are many, many children who are not in school and are working to support their families in agricultural fields, villages, towns and cities.

Ghana has one of the highest GDPs per capita in Africa ($2931) and a healthy GDP growth rate (14% in 2011). Valuable resources include gold, timber, cocoa, diamonds, manganese and bauxite. (Almost all coffee and cocoa is for export. Coffee served in restaurants is instant Nescafe and processed chocolate is virtually impossible to find.) Oil was discovered in the Western Region in 2007 and there is much hope that this resource will be successfully exploited to support sustained economic growth. Despite valuable export resources, Ghana continues to be reliant on significant foreign economic and technical assistance and remittances from the Ghanaian diaspora. The highest proportion of GDP (35%) is derived from the agricultural sector and unemployment, particularly among youth, is very high. 28% of the population is estimated to be living below the poverty level.

The gap between the haves and the have nots is in front of your eyes everywhere you go. Informal economic activity dominates, and everywhere, EVERYWHERE, people are trying to eke out a meager existence by selling whatever they can sell. Huge disparities in housing quality are obvious. Clean, safe drinking water is not a given and lack of sanitation is a serious problem. Official statistics indicate that 75% of the population has access to an improved water supply and 18% have access to adequate sanitation. Based on what I have seen in my two weeks here, those estimates are on the high side. The infrastructure simply does not exist to provide clean, safe, reliable water and sanitation to urban and rural dwellers. My Essential Question (a required component of our TGC Capstone Project) revolves around water security. Read my summary HERE.

One of my TGC Ghana group members, Karen, discovered this video that does a great job of representing life for the "Have Nots" in Accra.


Under the Mango Tree from Steven Bartus on Vimeo.

Live Pure, Speak True, Right Wrong and Follow the King

The past three days have been filled to the brim with school, school-related activities, and socializing. We've been observing classes, doing a little teaching, lunching and dinnering with administrators and teachers, and have been thoroughly entertained by student cultural presentations (music, dancing, and drama) at both Wesley Girls and Mfantsipim.

Wesley Girls is considered the most prestigious and high-performing girls high school in Ghana. It is a boarding school, attracting girls from all over the country to receive a holistic education. The focus is not only on excellent academics, but on learning to become a well-rounded, self-sufficient, moral leader. Girls are given a high level of responsibility to maintain their dormitories, classrooms, and grounds. They do their own laundry and dishes (by hand) and assume a wide variety of student leadership positions. Almost all continue on to post-secondary education, either at Ghana's well-respected universities or abroad.

Teachers move from room to room, rather than students moving. Females around the age of your mother are referred to as "Auntie", so when I enter a classroom I now know the girls will stand and politely say "Good morning, Auntie Sara". (This level of informality was used only because I was a visitor. A regular teacher would always be referred to by their surname.)

Our host teachers have continually emphasized to us that they use primarily the lecture method due to the fact that they have very large class sizes and very few teaching materials. I actually would not categorize what I have seen so far as lecture. I would describe it as teacher-led, interactive discussion. Students have typically completed an assigned textbook reading prior to class. Teachers have a prepared list of key points that they use as a reference, and students are expected to record those key points in their notebooks. As there are few photocopies or handouts, their notebooks become a critical study tool. Each classroom has desks, chairs, chalkboard, and chalk, but not much more.

There is a high level of student participation. When students respond, they are expected to stand, rephrase the question or prompt, and answer in the form of a complete thought using standard English. The level of academic rigor and evidence of critical thinking exhibited through oral classroom activities far exceeds that which I have experienced in U.S. high schools.

The Wesley Girls alumni organization ("Old Girls") recently purchased laptop computers for the teaching staff. The only use of technology for instruction that I have noted was in the case of one teacher who had his lecture notes on his laptop rather than in a thick notebook. Wesley does have a Computer Lab with Internet access. Girls are learning basic keyboarding and Internet search skills as well as introductory Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint. Both Raphael and Michael have indicated that they would very much like to have projectors for their classrooms.

In Kate's English class students were recording ideas on large pieces of paper around the classroom, "pairing and sharing", and having a lively discussion about culture, positive and negative elements of Ghanaian culture, and cultural blending.

The heat is definitely an issue in the classroom. Even with open windows and doors and here in Cape Coast, a breeze off the ocean, classrooms can be oppressively hot. The male teachers continually mop themselves with handkerchiefs and the girls fan.

The students that attend Wesley Girls and Mfantsipim are Ghana's "best and brightest". They are intelligent, confident, articulate, and deliberately being groomed to become Ghana's future leaders. Economic development and globalization are bringing increased opportunities to Ghana. It seems likely that they will stay in Ghana, or "go outside", as they call it, for educational opportunities in Europe or the U.S., with the intent of returning to live, work and raise families in Ghana.

We've had many home-cooked lunches and dinners this week (including a very fun evening with host teacher Michael, his wife Golda, and children Theresa, Gilbert, and Connie at their flat) and have now tasted quite a variety of Ghanaian dishes: red-red, plantains, yam (a different variety than we have in the U.S.), cassava, groundnut soup, light soup, jollof rice, beans (black-eyed peas), fufu and banku, to name a few. Fufu is the dish Ghanaians say they miss most when they are outside. It's funny to hear our host teachers talk about the food they tried while in the U.S. "Too many leaves" and "too sweet" are the most common impressions, inevitably offered with a big smile and a hearty laugh.

Canopy Walk

Today we visited Kakum National Park and literally walked across the forest canopy on a series of seven suspension bridges hovering about 100 feet off the ground. We were told that it would be unlikely that we would actually see any of the park's elephants, monkeys, or antelope, as our people noise would scare them deep into the forest. (The park does offer an overnight stay in a treehouse with a guide, during which you take out your flashlights in the dark to view the animals.) The guide informed us that there are only four such canopy walks in the world, with the other three being in China, Malaysia, and Peru.

We do see some interesting wildlife here at our hotel, Hans Cottage Botel. In fact, I've not only seen multiple crocodiles here but even touched one today! (Picked up its tail). There are also lots of lizards around and huge pens of rabbits that are used for ... you guessed it ... rabbit soup!

This afternoon we watched the Cape Coast Dwarfs football (soccer) team play. Talk about passionate fans! Cape Coast lost, and some poor loser fans flooded onto the field and started punching the referees. The police stepped in to protect them (half-heartedly), but it was definitely disconcerting to watch. Our host teacher Raphael was there with us and ushered us out quickly at the end of the game.

I now know from personal experience the meaning of the term "African time". Things happen when they happen, and sometimes that is a bit unpredictable. For example, when you go to a restaurant, it usually takes quite a while for the waiter or waitress to take your order. Then, you wait for your drinks. Then you wait for your food. Then you wait for your bill. Then you wait for your change. The entire process might take an hour and a half, or two. If your ride is supposed to show up at noon, it might be 12:15, or it might be 12:30 or it might be 12:45. But whatever happens, everything will be o.k. It's African time. Our host teachers have told us that one of the things they enjoyed the most about their exchange time in the U.S. was that things happened at their scheduled time. Tomorrow we are scheduled to report to Wesley Girls School at 9 a.m. (or 9:30 or 9:45 ...whenever Justice comes to pick us up and we get there!)

The Door Of No Return

Today we walked through the Door Of No Return at Cape Coast Castle, where West African slaves were shipped to the United States, the Caribbean and South America. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The tour includes a museum, male and female slave dungeons below and the Governor's quarters above. Standing in the dungeons where hundreds of thousands of slaves were held for months, tightly packed, with no light, no care, little food, is a very sobering experience. The Door Of No Return is the term for the former passageway from the castle to the slave ships that were moored in the harbor. President Obama and Michelle Obama placed a plaque at the castle at the time of their visit in 2009.

The Ghanaian government is now promoting a "Door of Return" by offering lifetime visas and relaxed citizenship requirements for descendants of formerly enslaved Africans.

While here in Cape Coast, our host teachers have contracted a car and driver for us to use for transport. As many people do not own personal cars here, using tro tros, taxis and hired drivers is very common. Our driver is named Justice, and not only is he a masterful driver in Ghanaian traffic but he entertains us with knowledgable narration.

Cell phone technology has definitely diffused to Ghana. Like the U.S., people are constantly on their mobile phones. Calling across cell phone networks is very expensive, and there are five dominant networks, so many Ghanaians own multiple cell phones, or have phones with ports for multiple sim cards. Phones will ring and people will pull two or three phones out of their pocket to answer one. Ghanaians, as well as many other Africans, can even bank on their cell phones. For countries with large informal economic sectors such as Ghana, this is a great way to increase connectivity and accessibility!

Tomorrow we will visit Kakum National Park in the morning and attend a Ghanaian soccer match in the afternoon. Cape Coast is playing. Monday it's back to school!

Wesley Girls and Mfantsipim

Internet access is an issue in Cape Coast, so my ability to read e-mail and make entries may be limited. Although the hotel has an "Internet Cafe", it is usually closed and the connection is very slow. I also think pictures will need to come after I return ... I figured out a process but the Internet speed is thus far too prohibitive.

Today we had a great day with our host teachers. Raphael and Kate at Wesley Girls and Michael at Mfantsipim ("brother" school to Wesley Girls) provided us with a tour of both campuses. We met the Headmistress and Headmaster and several teachers and students in leadership positions (called prefects) at each school. Barb and I will be working at Wesley Girls and our U.S. teacher colleagues Aaron and Jenn at Mfantsipim.

Both Wesley Girls and Mfantsipim are Methodist boarding schools founded by missionaries during the colonial era, but under the Ghanaian education system, they are government funded and follow the national syllabus and curriculum. Students become eligible based on their exam scores at the end of Junior Secondary School (equivalent to our Junior High). Former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan is the most famous alumnus of Mfantsipim.

Because today was a day full of introductions, we had a great opportunity to solidify our understanding of Ghanaian greeting customs. First, you are greeted with "Akwaaba" (welcome), shake hands (always with your right hand), then sit down. This is followed by a second round of hand-shaking with guests seated and hosts working their way around the room. Introductions then begin with the person to the right of the host. If possible, the host should be introduced by someone just below him or her in the organizational hierarchy.

Ghanaian naming conventions include the day of the week that a child was born and their birth order. For example, having the name Kwame means you were born on a Saturday, and having the name Kofi means you were born on a Friday. The Mfantsipim Headmaster gave me a homework assignment: find out the day of my birth. I figured out it was a Thursday. Therefore, my Ghanaian name will be Aba. I know he will ask me for the answer the next time he sees me!

Monday through Thursday we will actually be in classrooms with teachers. Each school has also planned special dinners and cultural evenings for us next week. This weekend we will visit two famous sites in the Cape Coast area: the Cape Coast Castle and Kakum National Park.

Journey to Cape Coast

One of our van drivers, Bruce, greeted us this morning by wishing us a happy International Women's Day. The following Gandhi quote is popular here:

"When you educate a man, you educate an individual. When you educate a woman, you educate a nation."

Driving in Ghana is an edge of your seat experience. Today myself, three other teachers and Susanna from IREX journeyed from Accra to Cape Coast by van to spend five days with our partner teachers in Ghanaian schools. A Ghanaian road is filled with transport trucks, tro-tros (vans), taxis, cars (mostly Japanese), motorcycles and the occasional bicycle. Although there are posted speed limits, few drivers respect them, and basically, the largest vehicle dominates. Traffic is extremely congested and this effect is multiplied by many, many people on foot "hawking" (selling) every imaginable thing to passersby. I am amazed by the women with huge, tall loads on their heads and babies on their backs neatly wrapped in kente, batik, or as Ghanaians say, "tie and dye" cloth.

After arriving in Cape Coast, we checked into our hotel (just outside of Cape Coast) and took a taxi in to Cape Coast to explore. One of our partner teachers, Michael, came to the hotel to welcome us tonight. Sounds like they have a great week planned.

Ghana's President John Atta Mills met with President Obama in Washington, D.C. today.

Centripetal Forces

When we study Political Geography, we discuss the differences between nations, states and nation-states. One of the continuing challenges for the African continent has been the absence of stable nation-states, in part due to the political boundaries established by former European colonial powers at the Conference of Berlin in 1884-1885. Boundaries that were created were mostly geometric and ignored pre-existing cultural boundaries.

So, one question I've been thinking and talking with people about is how has Ghana avoided ethnic conflict? It is estimated that there are more than 100 ethnic groups and 80 languages. The most common answer: Ghana has purposefully and systematically worked to create a national Ghanaian identity. This has been accomplished unintentionally over the years through intermarriage among ethnic groups and intentionally through the public education system and National Service Scheme.

From kindergarten on, Ghanaian children are taught that they are first Ghanaian, and secondly, a member of their ethnic group. Under the current educational reform, in grades kindergarten through two, children are taught 80% of the curriculum in one of the eleven "approved" native languages and 20% in English. Beginning at grade three, this is flipped to 20% in the native language and 80% in English through Junior Secondary School. All Senior Secondary School and post-secondary instruction are in English. English serves as one lingua franca for all ethnic groups.

All university graduates are required to dedicate a year of service to their country - a type of domestic Peace Corps. This posting includes volunteer work in the areas of agriculture, health, education, local government, rural development, or youth. Grads are assigned to a service position that may be located in any of Ghana's ten regions, thereby exposing them to that region's ethnicities, languages, etc., and helping to inculcate a sense of national unity.

This national unity was evident at the March 6th Independence Day celebration and in every conversation we've had with Ghanaians since we've been here.

What's That Floating In Your Soup?

Tuesday night eight of us ventured out on foot for dinner and wound up at a restaurant called Orangery several blocks from our hotel in the Asylum Down area. I think the two young Ghanaian men running the place were happy to see us because we were their only customers the entire evening. We've gotten to the point where we are all somewhat familiar with the basic Ghanaian lunch and dinner foods: many varieties of rice, meat, beans, stews, and side dishes including plantains, yams, and cassava. I ordered the peanut soup, which arrived with something I assumed to be chicken floating in the center. After eating it (delicious, by the way) I figured out it was guinea fowl. Hmmm. At the end of our dinner the Ghanaian Independence Day fireworks began ... we unintentionally had a great view.

Wednesday we split into two groups. Both groups drove about an hour to the outskirts of Accra - one group to speak with regional educational officials and my group to speak with teachers at Pokoasi Junior Secondary School. Pokoasi is a public Junior Secondary School. We had a frank conversation with the teaching staff and the Headmistress. The most common challenges that we share are large class sizes (for them, huge), limited supplies (for them, almost nonexistent), children arriving at school physically and mentally unprepared to learn (hunger, family issues, etc.), and questionable public support for education. Ghanaian schools are funded completely by the national government.

At Pokoasi JSS many young boys quit school to work in the nearby quarry to earn money for their families and is not uncommon for young girls to quit school due to pregnancy. The teachers attributed teenage pregnancy to the idea that when young girls are not able to get the economic and social care that they need from their families, they seek out an older man to provide that care. This may result in pregnancy and an end to the girl's academic life.

Our conversation covered a broad range of topics from educational funding to initial teacher preparation to curricular goals to actual lesson preparation. With U.S. teachers from Minnesota, Arizona, and New York a part of the conversation, it was almost impossible to generalize about American education. Its decentralized nature creates a crazy quilt of teaching and learning conditions that are a challenge to clearly communicate.

At the end of the meeting, a group of students brought in a bag of fresh coconuts. A few whacks of the machete, and we had a treat of fresh coconut.

Later in the day, we met with Ghana Education Service (GES) officials at the Ghana Ministry of Education. They provided us with additional information about Ghana's education system, including their takes on its strengths and challenges. The Ministry of Education establishes policy, whereas the GES is responsible for practice - teacher posting, syllabus, curriculum, testing, etc. Ghanaian schools receive 4.5 Cedi ($2.81) in per pupil funding per year. Minnesota schools currently receive approximately $5000 per pupil.

The Ghanaian Flag

The Ghanaian flag dominated the festivities at Independence Square in Accra yesterday as we joined throngs of Ghanaians proudly and enthusiastically celebrating 55 years of independence.

Red symbolizes the blood shed by independence fighters
Gold symbolizes Ghana's mineral wealth
Green symbolizes Ghana's agriculture
A black star symbolizes African emancipation

A huge crowd assembled to watch parading contingents of the armed forces, police, national fire service and school children. Ghanaian navy ships were anchored in the harbor as President Atta Mills spoke and local leaders dressed in colorful kente cloth or batik looked on. Everywhere people selling, selling, selling: plastic sachet bags of water, salted hard-boiled eggs, sweets, meats, rice with stew toppings.

Even Google Ghana had a doodle!

Happy Ghanaian Independence Day!

Today Ghana celebrates 55 years of independence from British colonial rule, and we're heading to Independence Square to join in the festivities. Ghana is considered one of Africa's most stable democratic republics.

Monday morning we began our orientation to Ghana with a presentation from our in-country host, Ekem, on Ghana's cultural traditions and history. In the afternoon we traveled across Accra to the U.S. Embassy. We spoke with U.S. State Department employees focused on international education programs and also met for the first time many of the Ghanaian teachers and administrators that we will be paired with. (As I will be based in Cape Coast, I will not meet my teachers until Thursday.) All of the Ghanaian teachers and administrators are alumni of IREX programs, so they have spent either six weeks or a semester in the United States participating in international teacher professional development through a university and working in a cooperating secondary school. Last night we were entertained by an amazing traditional Ghanaian dance troupe, Saakumu. Yes, they got us up on the dance floor!

Arrival in Ghana

We arrived bleary-eyed but safely in Ghana on Sunday, March 4th around 2 p.m. Ghana time (we're on Greenwich Mean Time here - 6 hours ahead of CST). The 10-hour flight from Washington, D.C. (mine via Chicago) was filled mostly with Ghanaians returning to visit family.

Our group consists of 11 U.S. teachers: 4 from New York, 2 from Arizona, 1 from Michigan, 1 from Wisconsin, and 3 of us who teach in Minnesota, along with our leader Susanna from IREX. Among the Minnesotans, Eric teaches Social Studies in Grand Rapids and Melinda teaches Science at Minneapolis South.

We were met at the airport by Ekem, who will be our host here in Ghana, and piled in a hired van to journey to our home base, the Highgate Hotel.

After checking into our rooms, we regrouped and hopped back in the van for a trip to the Accra Mall to change money and buy bottled water. Ironic that our first destination was a mall(!), but according to our hosts, one of the only places to change money on a Sunday, and the banks there offer good exchange rates. The Ghanaian currency is called the Cedi, with the current exchange rate of 1.6 Cedi per dollar. A large bottle of water (1500 ml) cost .85 Cedi.

After returning to the hotel, we had dinner as a large group in the hotel restaurant and discussed our plans for the week. Five will remain in Accra for most of our stay, spending time with teachers in schools here, two will commute daily to work with teachers in nearby Tema and four of us will leave Accra on Thursday to meet up with our host teachers in Cape Coast.

My dinner? Red red with chicken and plantains. "Red red" is a red bean dish. One of my favorite foods on my previous Central American trips was fried plantains, so it's great to have them again!

Some members of the group were so exhausted they had a hard time making it through dinner. After a good night's rest, I'm sure we'll all be at full speed on Monday.