Finally Back In Ghana – revisiting my home in Kasoa

During my first week back in Ghana I had the chance to catch up with all of my Ghanaian friends and family that I had missed so much since January 2012 – at last we were reunited again! And how nice it was! I hopped on a tro-tro (the local mini buses that can take you virtually anywhere in the country) to Kasoa, which had become my home from November 2011-Januray 2012. I was surprised by how much of the route between Accra and Kasoa I still remembered! The main difference was that they had FINALLY finished the building of the overhead on this road, which meant that it actually took the 1 hour that everyone said it would take even back in 2011/12 when one was lucky if it took 2 hours!

Some of my students from 2011

The school, Maranatha prep-school, at which I used to teach, has not changed much in appearance, but I found the students much more disciplined and less excited by “obroni” (white person) arriving – perhaps due to the fact that the teachers seemed stricter and as they must now be used to so many obroni volunteers coming to visit the school. However, I was so extremely happy when my students from last time still remembered me; shouting: “Madame Helen is back!”. One even still remembered my full name and we spend our time remembering all the shared memories from my last visit. What made me sad, however, was to find out that my students still did not have a new Maths teacher – I was teaching them Maths during my stay…

Maranatha prep-school in 2013

Many of the teachers at Maranatha prep-school had become my friends during the three months that I had worked there and I was so happy to see many of them again. However, many had left the school to teach elsewhere or to further their education, so there were many new teachers who had only just left Senior High School and many of who were younger than me! Whilst I spoke to many of them it became clear that they did not intend on staying at Maranatha prep-school for long, but were rather just waiting for their exam results before furthering their education or taking on a different job. It seemed like this was their kind of “summer job” and as many did not aspire to become teachers, this was reflected in their attitude towards teaching the students at this school...

Remembering my time in 2011

Education is often stated as the key to development and providing children with a brighter future. However, I believe that only good quality education can do this with teachers that are motivated and inspire. Sadly, I was unsure if this was the case here! A main problem in Ghana seems to be that many people become teachers not because that is what they want to become, but because these are the jobs available and many schools are in desperate need for just about anyone who can teach the children. In addition, young teachers that have just left Senior High School also receive a lower salary, so they are often chosen above the better qualified and experienced individuals. This was clearly also the case at my old school here in Ghana. Teachers normally only stay for short periods of time at each school and I am sure that this too effects students achievements and learning.

Back to the positive info :) The best part of the day was probably to see my host dad again and my host brother! My host dad, Rev. John is also the director of the school, so I spend much time also talking to him and catching up about everything that had happened in my absence. He has now started his own charity called JAWU Hope Foundation. So do take a look at his website http://www.jhopefoundation.com/ and why not like their facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/JawuHopeFoundation/info? Their mission is to provide assistance to the less privileged children in their community through education. Most of the volunteers will be placed at Maranatha prep-school and of course, I am a great fan of this school and believe it is in desperate need of some inspirational and motivated teachers to make learning more fun! To contact the foundation e-mail info@jhopefoundation.com or contact me! At the moment, the lease of the land the school is built on will expire in 2014, so they have already purchased a new plot of land and are starting the building process for the new school. I really do hope that it will be done on time for the students of this school to continue their education. If you would like to help with this building project you can always contact me and I can put you in contact with the director, Rev. John.

I can’t wait to report on all of the adventures ahead and all of the experiences I will gain during this second trip to Ghana :) Keep your eyes open for even more updates :) 

And why not follow me on twitter for many more and frequent exciting tweets on what is happening on the ground here in Ghana! https://twitter.com/HelenDenyer