First Term School Break

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Today is the end of the first week of the school term break and New Year's eve. I have used most of this week to work on some projects in the house where I live. We Americans just seem to have this urge to improve things or at least make more convenient or comfortable. For me that has meant getting my kitchen up off the floor and fully functioning. That project was put on hold while I concentrated on the challenges of the school term, academic and administrative.

The house owners brother who lives in the village has given me permission to use a third room in the house as a storage and work room. As you see in the picture, I am repairing an interior door that appeared to have the lock set force ably yanked out and that part of the door broken. I have installed a new lock set on the exterior door and replaced the torn mosquito screens and once the interior door is rehung, the room will be a more secure place to store things, including my hand tools.

The pieces of furniture are from the school. On the first day of school, I discovered that the students must provide their own desk and chair. One of the expectations for classroom conduct that I shared that first day was, "Do not leave any of your things in the classroom at the end of the day" by which I meant no trash/notebooks/other personal items. At the end of the school day I noticed students carrying out desks and chairs and asked one of the teachers what was going on. Of course the answer was, "You told them not to leave their stuff!" Once I got that misunderstanding corrected, I found there were abandoned pieces of furniture in much disrepair left in the classrooms, some used by prior students unable to afford their own. When I suggested repair to the Headmaster, like a good leader he said, "fine you are welcome to give it a try." When he asked if I knew what I was doing, I could only reply "Well I don't think I can make them any worse." So, this will be my project in the new year. I hope to find a student that may like to learn furniture repair, but I'll try that after I learn. If you know of a book on Furniture Repair 101, let me know. Repaired furniture will be used by students without the finances to buy their own.

Best I could tell from my village and the much larger market city close by, the Christmas season in Ghana is not close to what we hear, see, and experience in America. No lights, Christmas trees, wreathes, decorations, music, and all the commercial part of the celebration. Their celebration was on Boxing Day, I believe originating in Britain and celebrated the day after Christmas day. Lots of food and all the young children dressed in their finest to pay a visit to the Village Chief and receive some gifts from him. There was a noticeable decline in the population of free range goats and chickens in the village. That evening everyone dressed up and strolled through the village, visiting and talking to each other. That included the only white person in the village. I was invited to the local "Jam", but I believe wisely declined.

Term break continues for another week. I look forward to another challenging term with great anticipation and with renewed care in how I give instructions to my students.

All the best to you and your families in 2012.

End of Junior High School Term 1

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

This week will be the completion of the 15 weeks of the first term at the Junior High School where I teach. Because the classrooms are crowded, the students gather under the large mango tree in front of the school for their end of term exams. The Form 1 class (7th grade) finished the term with 69 students and the Form 2 (8th grade) with 51 students. Fortunately the tree is large enough so everyone can be in the shade and the dry season has arrived, so little chance of rain. This weekend I will be grading, calculating and posting grades for maths and computer tech. I am as anxious as the students to see the outcome as it will give me a chance to measure my teaching success and see if I should make adjustments as Term 2 begins the second week in January. I am pleased that I am doing just what I volunteered to do and enjoying the daily challenge of working to inspire my students to get an education. They are still at the beginning of that process and my classroom includes the full range of student interests, from the "not interested" to the "Mr Ernest, help me with this problem." Most have more obstacles to overcome than I can imagine; no electricity in the home, no books, parents that need them to help with the farming or in the home, few role models to encourage getting an education, lack of opportunity in the workplace, and others.

I do not plan much travel for the holiday season as I still have a number of things to complete at my living area that have been put on hold during classes. I will get my kitchen up off the floor by completing the building of counters and setting up the place to cook. I will also start trying to rebuild some of the broken down furniture from the school. Students must provide their own desk and chair and over time a substantial number of unusable pieces have collected at the school. If I can repair, students with financial need can use them. Never done anything like that, but I have enjoyed working with my hands so looking forward to that opportunity.

I continue to be healthy although level of activity, exercise, temperature and diet have caused some weight lose. Thank you for your continued interest in my new job.

Farmers Day in Ghana

The contents of this website are mine personally and do not reflect any position of the U.S. government or the Peace Corps.

Tomorrow, December 2, is a national holiday in Ghana, Farmers Day. The country honors its citizens who produce the food and honors one as the Farmer of the Year. I am told the presentation is on national television and the winner is recognized with a commendation from the Government and many gifts.

I live in a village made up almost entirely of farming families in one of the most productive farming region in Ghana. Farming is not heavily mechanized, but made up of many small farms tended with care, mostly by hand. A wide variety of crops are raised just in my area; cassavas, corn, plantains, cashews, mangoes, pineapples, yams, beans, okra, oranges, peanuts, tomatoes, green and red hot peppers, cocoa, carrots, and more. Many of the children in my classes, if not in school are helping their parents on the farm. Like most farmers I have met, they are industrious, hard working, and are grateful for the crops they tend. This is the end of a shorter, second growing season, as the rains have recently stopped and we are entering the dry season that I am told lasts until March. It has turned hot during the middle of the day and the wind from the northeast, called the Hamattan, bringing dust from the Sahara has begun.
A fifteen minute car ride from the village where I live is the largest outdoor food market in all of Ghana. Thursday is the main market day and it is filled with vendors of all types of foods, cloth, clothing, hardware, household items, and almost any item you can imagine. If you like to browse and bargain, this is the place for you. It can be hot and dusty, with no AC, wide aisles to push a cart, or check out stations. It is all I imagined of an African market.
The picture above is the beginning of my garden. Not in the running for the Farmer of the Year this year. The dead leaves you see, tucked into a large plastic bag full of dirt is Vetiver Grass. This grass has been used extensively in certain parts of the world to slow down soil erosion and the Peace Corps supplied me with the grass. The school where I teach has already experienced some damage to the foundation due to erosion and the Headmaster has allowed me to plant a test patch on my back porch to decide if he will approve some planting at the beginning of the rainy season, March. My crop is on the porch to hopefully keep the free range goats and sheep from eating it. I have to remember to water during the dry season, but I am told the grass is very hardy, will grow in almost any soil, and can withstand a dry season. My neighbors think I am a "crazy man" growing some thing you cannot eat. However, the caretaker of the house is interested in joining with me to grow some tomatoes, peppers, and pineapples in this manner. Farmer of the Year??