It's March!

Hello Everyone,

Let's see...there is much to tell. I am in the middle of my second week here in Ghana although the school week ended today. Tomorrow is the Ghanaian Independence Day and (from what I hear) most of the city will be watching hundreds of schools march in a parade and then we go to the stadium as a school for a big ceremony. You will just have to wait for the next blog to know how that goes. Then friday is also a national holiday (because the children will be too tired from marching to go to school...this is what the teachers tell me, haha). Some volunteers are venturing off again to see other parts of Ghana but I will stick close to "home." Catherine is leaving this friday and I will be quite sad to see her go. I know I just met her a little over a week ago but we have been sharing a room, stories and struggles since then. I hope to visit her in England sometime soon. Isabella is also leaving but not until Monday. She and I are planning on spending more time in the cultural centre and there is also a swimming pool located at a hotel in Kumasi that you can pay to swim in if you are not a guest, so that sounds like a good possibility.
I hope I am sounding more upbeat...from what I have heard I sound timid and somewhat negative. This is not at all how I want my experience here to be perceived although I will be honest...I am just not feeling more at ease. Everything has always been fine but I came to the conclusion that I was so ready to just get out of the states, I just assumed that there was nothing that would get in my way once I arrived and that I could take on any obstacle without much effort. Basically I was overly optimistic. Then I became too pessimistic (something I rarely am) but now I think I have really found my balance.
Last weekend Isabella, Catherine and I made our way to Lake Bswanthi. The total journey took about three hours I think. We took too tro-tros (the mini buses that cost .25 pesewas -Ghanaian coins), the second taking almost an hour, hoping aboard a shared taxi and then walking 2 kilometers (I hate that the US is the only country that does not use the metric system) in 100 % humidity! I do feel as though I am sweating off pounds here, and that I am getting exercise. We arrived at the Lake Point guesthouse and were so happy to be there. This is a beautiful guesthouse run by a Ghanaian and Austrian couple and the menu looked delicious! We settled into the dorm (we were the only ones however, in a dorm with 6 bunk beds) and headed to the lake. This is the largest artificial lake in Ghana and I believe is over 30 kilometers around (and it felt wonderful!). I put on SPF 50 and laid out to attempt to turn my white skin a less white shade but couldn't lay out for very long before being drenched in sweat again! Later that night we settle into the main bar/kitchen/lounge area (all outdoors) and had chicken and rice stew with beer (and later, wine). What a beautiful way to spend my first weekend. Although the next day I did wake up sick-I had felt it coming on for a while though-and I assume anyone who had traveled knows the kind of sick I am referring to. Oh well. I stayed away from the lake and under a fan with constant water and coke near me and a book or two. Still...I was quite relaxed. I was able to go swimming the next day to cool off before our journey home. There were quite a few other travelers using this facility too (you can rent cabins for much more than it costs to rent the dorm) from Germany and Hungry and Sweden. I love how I will be learning about numerous cultures while I am here in Ghana (including many European cultures).
Starting on Monday, Martina and Klara (Switzerland and Denmark) moved into Columbus (the prep school/orphanage I am working in), but into their own room, and we began to discuss exactly what we want to accomplish while we are here at the school. They decided that they want to stick to working with the younger children in grades 1 and 2 in addition to the two kindergarten classes (KG1 and KG 2). Normally I would love to work with the little ones but I think I could be of more use in the upper classes, class 3, 4 and 5. It is easiest to explain the classes as basic 3rd grade, 4th grade and 5th grade but it is much more complicated that that. Technically, most of the grades are being taught similar topics to my 3rd, 4th and 5th grade years but the levels of the children range drastically. There are many students that are in the upper classes due to their age but should actually be in class 1 or 2 based on their ability. Both Monday, Tuesday and today I worked mostly with class 4 since Catherine and Isabella have been working with the other two classes. On Monday I took 5 students out of class 4 and worked on Math with them. They were working on division problems. After quickly reminding myself how to do this correctly (it is a shame how dependent I am on my calculator), I work out problems with the students. Maybe 3 of them know how to answer the questions correctly but they are using their times table charts and do not know how to just try to count in their heads. Other other two simply copied and tried to look like they knew what they were doing. I made them stop and I wrote out a problem on a piece of paper that they could all see then made them work through the problem with me. Overall they do get it but struggled when I wouldn't let them look at their charts. I then tried to teach them the 9 times table "cheat rule" that all American students know (using all ten fingers). Basically I am trying to figure out where each student lies in math (and then English) levels. Then I plan to take the students that need the most help out of class often to help them catch up. There is one boy who can hardly write and another girl (age 10 I think) who can hardly read at all. Isabella and Catherin are going to write down names of kids they know that need extra help too. In addition to my tutor program I still plan to conduct some art projects (to give each classroom more color) and help stimulate their minds.
Lastly, in April or May I plan to take all the girls out of class 5 and the 6 girls in the vocational school to an isolated classroom for the period after lunch to discuss sexual health and puberty. I think this is very important, especially because women still have little power here and they need to be able to take control of situations they are bound to encounter in the upcoming years. I am very excited about this. Overall I had not wanted to teach but I am glad to be in the situation. The class 4 teacher and I have become close and he tells me that once the other girls leave I will find my calling and will be able to see that I am making a difference.
To finish...I am feeling just about all better (physically) and am discovering new foods to eat. I put some pictures up in my room and attempted to make it a bit more homey. There have been many thunder/lighting storms at night (some are quite scary) but I am told they get worse towards the middle of the rainy season (starting later this month) so I must get used to them. Tonight a few of us girls and one or two of our coordinators are going into town for dinner and then to try out a bar that plays music. This is Catherine's last night since she leaves so early on Friday. We are planning to actually put on some make up! haha. This weekend I am also going to get an address and also postcards and stamps. Hopefully I can send some mail soon (I am curious how long it takes to get to the US). As always I hope this finds each and every one of you well. Keep sending comments, emails and US updates (I have no idea if Clinton or Obama is winning) and I will write more soon.
Sending virtual hugs,
Erin

p.s. I am working on getting some pictures up soon!