In stitches

Well this week I feel like the hospital has become my second home. Monday I decided to visit the hospital as I’ve had an unhappy tummy for a few weeks and the antibiotics I had last month don’t seem to have cleared it up. I got to the hospital for 9am, being a Monday it was extremely busy, standing room only. After joining the huge queue to get my blood pressure and temperature taken, I sat reading my kindle for 2 hours. I eventually got to see a Dr and attempted to explain my symptoms, he didn’t understand when I said that I thought the bug was still in my system from the last time. So I tried to be more technical and say that the bacteria were still there ?

 I was then sent to the lab to have some blood taken and give a sample for analysis. Usual story, struggled to find a vein. Tried my left arm, then my right and eventually my right wrist where they managed a measly 2ml, enough to rule out Malaria. The other sample was more difficult as when you got to go, you got to go, but at that precise moment I didn’t need to go. Long story short, the toilet (yes they have got ONE at the hospital after all) was very clean and sample was given for analysis. Another 2 ½ hour wait and the results concluded that I have parasites in my tummy. Another hour wait to give the Dr the results and then on to dispensary, where they guy thought I was crazy as I’d clocked that I had been prescribed 4 lots of meds and he had only given me 3, after a long battle in broken English he found the 4th packet which turned out to be the most important of the lot !!

Tuesday saw my second and unfortunately third visit to the hospital this week. I offered to help out my fellow volunteer to run an ICT course in Jirapa for some teachers to learn the basics. After the course I was leaving the District office when my moto slipped on the sand and my left elbow helped me stop. Fortunately there were a few officers there to ‘clean me up’. This in itself was quite an ordeal, first was the gentle cleaning with the Kleenex and water then came a marvellous idea from another officer of pouring ‘spirit’ on the wound, I nearly shot through the roof and had to kerb any obscene language at this point. I got back on my moto and rode back to Nadowli where my housemate continued to help clean me up. It was then that I was able to look in the mirror to see for myself what damage I had done, I realised that the hole in my elbow was actually more than the graze I had first imagined. We decided a trip to the hospital to see if they actually do stitches was in order. Very kindly the Director sent her driver to pick us up.

On arriving at the hospital at about 4.30pm there was another long wait as there were no Drs or Nurses around. An assistant assured me she had asked for a Dr after I showed her my arm. Eventually two very nice ladies appeared and said that it needed sutures. Being the wuss that I am I had to ask if they would use local anaesthetic, seeing my face obviously a picture, the assistant replied we don’t use any. I was pleased to find out that they do use anaesthetic, so after the local had taken effect and she had SCRUBBED out the wound, the stitching began. Only the thread kept snapping, lots of attempts and copious amounts of their laughter later, I eventually had two stitches in place and the most useless dressing known to man. Come back in two days to have the dressing changed.  By the time I returned home the dressing had come off, so a few strips of micropore and Bob’s your uncle as they say. No, it came off again an hour later and to my horror one of the stitches had also come undone.

So another phone call to the Director, as it was now too dark to walk, the very kind driver arrived to take me back to the hospital at 8.30pm. This time I took the sterile kit I brought with me from England that has a suture needle and silk in. When we arrived the waiting room was empty and there was no-one around so we sat and waited. Eventually a guy came through a door my face lit up only to be told that the blood transfusion had finished, obviously I looked like a Dr with my huge bandage wrapped around my arm. After about ½ hour a young girl appeared to go and find my records, while she was gone I discovered they were still on the table where the Nurses had left them earlier in the evening, without any mention of my earlier visit recorded. Finally a guy appeared in blue scrubs and came and looked at my arm. It needed to be stitched again. He called for a nurse and I gave them my kit, they proceeded to stitch me up with their kit and again the thread broke so to my kit where he managed a stitch and then dropped the needle on the floor. Another stitch was needed, so back to their thread. I just hope it stays together this time. We’ll see when I go to get the dressing changed, I daren’t peel it off in case !!

What a week . . . . .

Over the last week I have had the opportunity to ‘visit’ a few schools and have a few observations to share.

Last Friday I was invited to ride out with another volunteer from a neighbouring district to some of the KG’s in her circuits. We were out to monitor how many children were in each class, how many teachers, what resources are available for them to use etc. We pulled up at the first school and there were no teachers to be seen, just lots of children milling around, playing ‘playground games’, kicking around a make-shift football made of old socks and empty water sachets. When we asked the children where their teachers were they had gone to the bank to collect their salary ! !

The next school we went to was very welcoming, a small KG with one teacher and one classroom for 168 children. We arrived to a welcoming committee of children that I’m sure have never seen a white person before, let alone two in one go. We were greeted by a male teacher who was wearing a very interesting flowery, chiffon blouse which would have obviously been worn by an older lady in the UK. Clothes here do tend to have a unisex theme about them, it is common to see boys in pink Barbie t-shirts or with a pink ‘Dora’ backpack. Most of the clothes sold on the markets here are what we would put in our doorstep collections bags back home and because of the lack of access to the media and I guess ‘western norms’, clothes are just clothes and don’t have a gender stereotype attached.

We then moved onto some more schools and I finally got to see some schools where the KG classroom is actually children sat under the tree. When we arrived we were shown to where the KG children were working. The KG1 children were working with the teacher is a small hut about 3m x 2m, 106 children, no lights, no resources, just the sandy floor as their work surface. The KG2 class were sat under a tree, 4 to a desk made for 2, a piece of chalk each and were using the surface of the desk to practice writing their numbers and letters. No paper, workbooks or slates to write on and easily wiped clean at the end of the session. The teacher has no access to a blackboard so demonstrates skills by drawing in the sand for the children to practice. Schools are given 4.50 cedi’s (£1.80)  per child, per year to buy resources and maintain the school building, so it is understandable why schools are so under resourced. When I think of the resources a Nursery or Reception classroom has at their disposal and the books we throw away it seems criminal to see these children having to accept what they have.

As we went around we were asking the teachers what they felt that they needed help with, we were thinking along the lines of making TLM’s (phonics card’s, number card’s, word card’s, posters etc), writing lesson notes, behaviour management etc. Most of the teachers were concerned about whether the children had uniform. Priorities here are very different to what we would prioritise at home. I’m sure that children are able to learn just as well without uniform ! !

On Monday this week I went to watch the England v France game at a spot in Jirapa. Two white women watching the football with a few beers caused quite a stir. We sat watching the game, being constantly interrupted by passersby wanting to know which team we were supporting and what was the score. After a disappointing result, we asked if we could pay for our drinks, only to be told that our drinks had already been paid for, a few guys at the next table had taken pity on us or actually fancied their chances ! ! On the way out one guy was shouting ‘Nansapor, Nansapor’(white woman) so Ellie turned round and said “Which one ? Me or Her ?” He wanted my attention and continued to tell me that He loved me more than a harmattan pawpaw, which I can only presume is a compliment. He asked if I was married, to which I always reply that I am. (Easier than having to give out your number and stops the 3am phone calls ! !) He turned his attention to Ellie and proceeded to tell her that he loved her more than a harmattan pawpaw.

Yesterday I was working my usual Thursday morning in the local KG here in the village. As I may have mentioned in a previous blog, most school children carry a razor blade with them in school. I hadn’t realised that this also happened in KG’s. The children were given a written task to perform, so out came the books and pencils, some get out the sharpener to sharpen their pencils and some get out the razor blade, my heart sank, seeing a 3/4yr old using a razor blade had me on pins, we wouldn’t let a child of that age near a razor let alone let them use it to sharpen a pencil. The lesson continued and blades were put away, until I realised that two children were sat huddled together, so I went over to see what they were doing and found one of them cutting the other child’s fingernails with said blade. Horrified is not the word to describe my thoughts, but this apparently is the norm and the way all Ghanaians cut their nails.

Today can actually be described as ‘normal’. I’ve been into a school to teach P5 how to use a computer. Most have never touched a computer before and this was very evident by how stiff their fingers were. Children struggle to bend their fingers, I had them practicing doing a spider up and down each other’s backs. (Crazy white woman is at it again) We were only learning the home row keys and most struggled to put a finger on each key, the more we tried the stiffer their fingers became. I now realise why we harp on so much about fine and gross motor skills so much in schools at home. Dexterity is just not something you meet in schools here. So more spiders next week ! !

I'm here to HELP ! !

Well I’m sat in the Teacher Resource Centre on another very slow afternoon in Nadowli. (Most of you are probably celebrating the Diamond Jubilee) I have advertised on posters at the GES office and at every workshop or Heads meeting I have attended that I will be in the TRC every afternoon from 2 – 4pm to help make TLM’s (Teaching and Learning Materials), assist with computer skills, introduce teachers to the use of phonics in the classroom and any general help required, until I leave Ghana. In the entire time that I have turned up each day, not one person has been in to visit and ask for any help, ever the optimist; I still turn up each afternoon hoping that one day someone will indeed turn up and ask for my help !! My kindle is proving to be the best present I have ever received to date. I’m managing on average 3 books a fortnight, which for me is unheard of.

Keeping busy is proving difficult as the IDEA of having someone to come into school to help is brilliant, but the REALITY is actually not really welcomed. I think most Head teachers and their staff want you to come in and do things for them but they don’t actually want to take your ideas on board and make any changes as invariably this means extra work for them. They don’t see the big picture for the long term, actually what I suggest will actually in the long run make their teaching easier.

I have been into three schools and assigned a day to each to go in and help them anyway I can. Tuesday in a Primary, Wednesday in a JHS and Thursday in a KG. So far I have done an ICT training for the Primary and sat in on a two hour phonics lesson in the KG and not managed to get my foot in the door at the JHS as there is always an excuse as to way I can’t stay when I arrive. The JHS has been given 24 netbooks, (laptops) which have not been used since they were received nearly five months ago, I was hoping to get into school and get them started with using them. Last week was sports week and a team from each school represented their school in a circuit competition, this meant that not only were the 6 or so in the team out of school but lessons were cancelled for everyone all week.

After chatting to a friend and fellow volunteer in the next district, where staff tend to be more open to support, she has offered for me to join her with some of her work, helping with ICT workshops, visits to schools etc until I finish up my placement when the schools close for summer. Hopefully this will be good experience that I can take with me when I leave Ghana and return home.

PS. If you read my blog can you leave a comment or a ‘Hi’ as blogger is not recording when people visit so it looks like no-one is visiting my blog L

Long Time ! !

Well it has been a very long time since I blogged,(poor internet, power cuts, general lack of patience with the computer) I’m not sure if anyone will remember to log on and read any more blogs but I thought I’d give it a try.

The beginning of March saw the celebration of Independence for Ghana. The lead up to the March 6^th was very busy. All school children - no matter what their age - must learn how to march. This can start as early as 6am with drums banging out the beat for miles around. Marching is taken extremely seriously and children compete to get a place in the Independence Day team. I was asked if I could train a Kindergarten school team in the skill of marching, I nearly fell over and explained that in England we do not teach marching to this degree in schools. On the day itself all the schools turned up to the field with there teams all in brand new uniform, very white socks and SHOES for the occasion, (no flip-flops today ! !) each team then paraded around the arena being graded on a number of different criteria’s. The overall winners were awarded with their prizes at each level, Nadowli town schools taking first prize at KG, primary and JHS ! !

March was also a very busy month of very long and extremely hot days. Having been fairly redundant for the first 6 months in terms of jobs from the office, I was issued with one of the most important, sort after jobs going. The distribution of both exercise books and FREE school uniform to some of the poorest, remotest local communities in Ghana. This job is literally fought for - pushing, shoving and elbowing to get themselves seen - by most people in the office, it’s often the only way to get out of Nadowli for a day. In fact I can see why, it was a very rewarding job.

Giving out the books made me smile on a whole load of levels. First we have to count how many children are actually registered in each class, easy for most teachers you would think, especially when we have to count our children for so many reasons on a daily basis. MOST if not ALL the teachers had to get out the register and start counting. Most classes here have between 60 and 80 plus children in each class. Once this figure was reached WE or should I say ‘I’ had to then multiply this by 4 or sometimes 5 to reach how many books each class was allocated. Easy I hear you say, simple maths, that was the easy part because then you count out the books for each teacher in front of them and they then count them out again to make sure you can count and then the Head does the same, heaven forbid if you didn’t count correctly ! ! Finally the books are given to the children and one by one no matter what age or literate ability, each individual has to sign to say that they have received their books. 80 plus children in each class, 6 classes, you do the maths ! !

The FREE uniform is done on a similar basis, only the uniform only comes in S, M, L and XL. Quite a good set up until you actually get to the school and realise that actually we have a huge amount of size small girls uniform and mainly only size XL boys uniform with a few bags of the others thrown in. Each class lined up in a line of boys and a line of girls, I was grateful for this as unfortunately all children in Ghana have to have their head shaved to within a inch of their scalp so for me it’s quite a challenge to distinguish between them  L This again was an experience as children are not in any way measured to see which size uniform would best suit, they are given a set of uniform – brown shorts and a orange shirt for boys and brown pinafore and orange shirt for girls – if it is too big which invariably for most 4 – 7yr olds it was, tuff you’ll grow into it, that is if you haven’t tripped over it enough times to do yourself a serious injury. A bit of rope will hold your shorts up lad ! ! On the other side of the coin, you get what size we have and if you are a 16 yr old and we have only size M then you have to squeeze into it or do without.

This experience actually made me sit up and take stock of my time in Ghana so far. I really began to realise just what poverty means and how special these children are. Most of these children only have the uniform that they stand up in or some ragged clothes that they have acquired or bought for pennies in the market. (often clothes we have put in doorstep bags back home) The way some of their little faces light up when you take the time to help them put on their new uniform is heart melting and very tear jerking. Thank you is not a word that I hear very often in Ghana but the one of two Thank you’s really were very special.

Something to make you laugh ............ as I said the children were lined up in separate lines depending on their sex, well one little one was in the girls line and I handed her a set of uniform and she took it off me. Then like most of the tiny ones, she waited for me to help her get dressed, I took off her other clothes and started to dress her and she was scowling a little, once dressed I heard an uproar from behind where I was standing only to realise that I had actually dressed a boy in a pinafore a blouse !!! (stupid Nansala) I later was given a pointer, if they have earrings its a girl if not it’s a boy. I didn’t make that mistake again ! !

April was taken up with a trip home to England to see my family and friends. I managed to squeeze in some of my favourite or shall I say foods that I’ve missed since being here in Ghana . A trip to Legoland discovery, day out at the national trust, visit to friends in Doncaster and of course for anyone who knows me well, lots of shopping days in various places. Seeing how my sister’s children have grown while I’ve been away will stay in my memory too.

Since I’ve been back most of May has been taken up with visits to schools, some workshops and time spent on the office catching up on things I’d missed. A dodgy tummy thrown in has also taken up a week or so of my time but I’m glad to say I’m back to my healthy self.

Hope to blog again soon.

Patience

Well I haven’t written for a while. I have been busy getting my new office ready (Teacher Resource Centre) It has now become my job to manage the resource centre, even though we have a Resource Centre Manager. I came down last week and it was obvious that the centre has not been opened up for months if not years. I opened up the doors and I could taste the dust, the books were covered in a mountain of dust and I could write my name on the table. I commissioned a team of cleaners to help me make a start on the cleaning and make the place habitable. It only took us a week, lots of old tatty resources were thrown out and burnt and all the books wiped and filed into subject order. We found a whole Ginn 360 reading scheme (a blast from the past) which is what I learnt to read with at primary school over 25 years ago ! !

I managed to get 3 computers provided by the local councillor to put into the Resource Centre so that we can have classes come in and use them when they have ICT on the timetable. As I have mentioned previously most children have never seen a computer let alone touched one. I had mentioned to the Director that I could also set up some sessions for the office staff to come and learn how to use the computer and begin some basic skills. She was very keen and assured me she would love to come down, I was also hounded by a number of staff to let them know when they could come and start their lessons . . . . . I put up a timetable and made myself available, rearranged school visits and I sat and I sat and I sat, only one member of staff at the office actually came in, used the computer and asked for help. No sign of the Director or any of the officers who had signed up.

This week I have opened up the gates and made a timetable for JHS classes to come down and use the computers during their ICT lessons. The three local JHS schools have all brought students down and taught ICT which is a real breakthrough for Nadowli, seeing the excitement and sense of achievement of each student is amazing. After a few attempts I think we have finally got a timetable sorted and every class has a slot. I’m still in the process of encouraging Primary schools to bring in P6 classes  ! !

 I have continued to work in schools these past few weeks, doing training on phonics and reading strategies, hope to follow up on some lessons in schools over the next few weeks.

Where is your Teacher ?

Another trip to a school today, although as promised it was a much shorter ride, not mentioned was the state of the road we had to go on to get there. Again it was a dirt road but not so uneven this time, until we made a turn off the main road towards the village. We pootled along for a few hundred metres until all of a sudden the road ended and there was a sheer drop of about 20m. I stopped suddenly to decide how I was going to get both myself and my moto across or whether I was going to abandon my journey and retreat home. Due to the fact that we had arranged to meet the Head at the start of school and didn’t have her phone number we decided we should attempt to get across. I worked out the only way across was down the crevice and out the other side. I got to the bottom and realised that it also contained about 1m of thick sand, panic struck and you guessed it I got my moto stuck. Two men on moto’s passed and not an offer of help for the stranded female, male chivalry hey. With a huge amount of revs and adrenaline I powered myself out the other side.

As we continued along the road towards the school we saw that the children were all outside singing and marching doing their assembly. By the time we had parked our moto’s the assembly had finished and all the children had gone back into class ready for a prompt 8am start. We approached the first classroom and popped our heads around the door to greet the teacher, no teacher present so we moved to the next class, did the same, no teacher, went to the next classroom, no teacher, then to the next and the next and the next, meanwhile all the children were sat silently in their desks, books out, ready to start the day. In P6 we enquired where the staff were, only to find that none had turned up yet, not even the Head. Two P6 girls found us both a chair and we sat and waited a while. I can’t imagine this happening in the UK or what the consequences would be of 6 classrooms without a teacher, I know for certain that the children would not be sat at their desks waiting silently.

After a call to the education office to enquire of what we should do, we saw a lady ride past on a bicycle and disappear around the back of the school. A few minutes later she appeared again in front of the school -with her wig on back to front. I soon realised that this was the Head just arriving at what was now 8.45am, only 45 mins late ! !

After a short chat we arranged that I will go back in two weeks time to do a workshop for her staff on phonics, let’s hope some more staff turn up next time.

The journey back was just as hairy, I later found out that in the wet season the crevice is actually a fast flowing river that is impassable, during the dry season it is a short cut to the local villages.

ICT or PTA ? ? ?

I’ve had a few eye openers this week which have made me reflect on my experiences so far in Ghana.

We were asked if we could visit a primary school in the district to show the P6 children what a computer looks like, how it works and what it can be used for. (Most children in Ghana have never seen a ‘real’ computer, just a chalk drawing on a blackboard or if they are lucky a photo in a text book.) Then the idea was to let the children have a go for themselves. The Deputy Head phoned the night before to check that we were still going and that we should arrive for 9am.

We were up early as it was expected that the school was about a one hour moto ride away. I knew it was quite far and down a dirt road, but I wasn’t prepared for the challenge I faced. Not only was it a dirt road but it was VERY uneven and parts of it resembled a huge sandpit. Me, the moto and sand don’t go together well, I was sliding around everywhere. The track went on for what felt like an eternity, the school was out in the middle of nowhere. (a large whisky at this point would have been welcomed  – and I don’t drink ! !)

When we eventually arrived and had parked our moto’s, there were children’s desks all set up in rows outside, it was obvious that we had arrived to find a PTA meeting was about to start. (not mentioned in the phone call the night before) We headed over to the Head’s office to find he was busy chatting to a parent. We sat on the step outside and waited for him to become free. When he finally appeared he introduced the man covered in thick dust, ripped trousers, no shoes and muddy hands, as the PTA chairman.

 We looked around to see if we could see the Deputy to confirm what we were to talk to the children about. He hadn’t arrived at school yet. By now it was 9.30am and school starts at 8am ! ! We were invited to sit in on the PTA meeting which was all conducted in Dagaare (the local language) The Deputy arrived just in time for the meeting to get started at 10.30am. The parents were split into women on one side and the men on the other. The Head addressed only the men throughout the whole meeting, while the women just sat and listened.

The children busied themselves, playing football, wondering around, sitting listening to the meeting. I sat watching while a child played with a pair of scissors under the tree in the shade. This was big surprise to me as the only pair of scissors I have seen in Ghana are the pair I brought with me from England. Ghanaians tend to use razor blades for similar tasks to where we would use scissors. Then suddenly we heard a smash and a child had dropped a glass bottle which smashed all over the floor, this was quite frightening to see as most children walk around bare foot. Glass bottles and unsupervised scissors are a British teacher’s nightmare ! !

After we had sat for 2 hours, the meeting ended and we were ushered into the P6 classroom, only to find that the whole school had crammed into this one room. Kindergarten right through to P6. (about 200 children) They were all eager to see what a computer looked like and to see what it can do. We showed them all our laptops and what they can be used for, when I turned around to speak to their teacher, he was asleep on the desk . . . . .

I hasten to add we didn’t stay much longer and suggested that next time they invite us, there is no PTA meeting and that the Deputy Head stays awake.