Ghana is Grrrreat

Hi Everyone!

The Internet I've found in Ghana is either not working or slower than slow, but I still wanted to let you know what I've been doing.

I LOVE it here, and everything is going perfectly. It's almost hard to know where to start. Perhaps breaking it down bit by bit is the easiest way.

Hohoe

The town I'm volunteering in is amazing. The people here are the friendliest people I have ever met, and I would feel completely safe walking around anywhere alone, morning, day or night. I've been learning the native language a bit, and the townspeople love to hear when you attempt to speak it. Usually they laugh at us in a playful way, as they love to tease juevos (white people). :)

Volunteering

I'm teaching at a public school that's in walking distance from my home base. Usually I leave in the morning and am greeted by five to ten students who want to walk me to school. I'm working with another woman who's a third grade teacher in San Diego (Anne). Initially we both were supposed to choose one of the class levels and work with the classroom teacher to assist in teaching the class. On our first day the first grade teacher approached us with the curriculum and expressed frustration about not being able to teach the standards on information, communication, and technology. She stressed that none of the teachers at the school were able to teach it.

Anne and I decided to tackle the class and are now teaching it to every level in the school as well as the teachers. We've worked to create unit plans for the different grades so that the teachers hopefully will be able to teach it in the future. The school was so excited that they set up our own classrooms, and it's been wonderful to work with students from ages six to sixteen.

Events

Along with teaching, I've kept busy over the past week through a number of fun events. Some include going to the market, eating home cooked meals at students' houses with their families, hiking a canopy walk at Kakum National Park (I know Kaeser has been there), and hiking to a breathtaking waterfall and swimming underneath it. (Don't worry...the water wasn't stagnant).

All in all my stay has been perfect. I love the people I'm volunteering with, the work I'm doing, and the people of Ghana (though I do miss being at home with my husband and cats terribly). Thank you so much for all your support leading up to my trip!

I would love to hear from you, but I might not be able to log in again for a week, so I'll get back to you when I can.

I hope you all are doing great, and I've been thinking about you!

xo,

Emily