End of Term at Kingsby

In terms of yearly structure, the secondary school system in Ghana differs from Canada's.  Instead of having two semesters and a summer break, the schools have three semesters separated by shorter vacations.  This week marked the end of the spring term, so the girls wrote exams and began their month-long break.

Despite exam revision, I was still able to have one final class with each grade that I teach.  Instead of trying to load the girls with new information, I decided to look over everything we had learned, discuss the athletics season that we had, and talk a little bit about their futures.

I was really happy to see that the girls had retained much of our previous lectures.  The questions I asked were enthusiastically answered (perhaps because it was the candy reward, but I like to think they enjoyed the subject matter, too).  But it felt really great to see that the girls had actually learned a thing or two.  It was also nice to talk about the athletics season that they had participated in.  They were really proud of their accomplishments, and excited to continue improving in future years.  Their natural talent was visible throughout the training, but it was really nice to see this talent harnessed, with their skills being refined and developed.  I really hope they all stick with it.  Finally, we discussed their futures. The career goals of my students are really great-many of them wished to be accountants, doctors, nurses, and police women.  I wanted to add that proper health and fitness can make these goals easier to obtain.  By honouring their bodies, they will be more likely to succeed, have greater quality of life, and be able to accomplish more in their futures.

Playing a Game of Umpay with the Girls

On Tuesday, I attended the girls' final assembly.  I could feel my heart begin to pound as I walked toward the hall filled with all the students I have taught over the past four months.  Although I had gotten used to standing in front of groups of 50 or so, it felt a little more intimidating when this number increased to nearly 200.  My throat felt like sandpaper as I tried to swallow and I needed to be mentally reminded to breath. Oh, nerves!

All of my students in one class!

I made a little speech to the students and teachers.  I thanked them for welcoming me so graciously into their school, helping me learn their language, giving me responsibly and respect, and sharing their wonderful selves with me.  I could feel tears threatening to leak out of my eyes as I thought about how these girls have forever changed my life.

Then it was time to say goodbye.  I had not anticipated how difficult actually leaving would be.  Working with the Kingsby girls was more wonderful than any of  my expectations in so many ways.  Even outside of all the teaching and training,  they are really just amazing people that I have been grateful to spend the semester with.  Classes were full of laughs, hugs, and dancing.  Spirits always seemed to be high- even when there were bats flying through class or rainstorms so loud that we couldn't hear anything.

Bernice, the school's start sprinter

Wendy and Joyce- funny funny girls

A few of the form 3s

Linda and Mavis

Joyce

We took lots of pictures and tears were no longer just a threat as I felt the salty drips run down my cheeks. Many of the girls started to cry too, and I had to sit down as the weight of emotions started to push down on my shoulders.  This initiated a pile up- I could only see slivers of light beneath all the arms and legs: almost like some sort of mining accident.  It was a nice send off, though.  I walked home, my heart heavy with happiness, love, and hope.  I was sad to leave Kingsby, but excited to spend a couple more weeks at the orphanage- and starting to look forward to coming back to Canada.

Weekend Travels

The last couple weekends have been really eventful, with travels spanning the entire width of the country.  We started out our trips by heading to Beyin, a small village near the eastern border of Ghana.  Beyin is known for its beautiful beaches and it definitely lived up to the hype, although getting there was a bit more adventure than I had anticipated.

We set off early on Friday, anticipating a 5-6 hour tro ride.  While it is a long time to sit on an uncomfortable tro, the warm, thick air and copious sweating make bathroom breaks unnecessary.  The ride turned out to be almost 9 hours.  I suppose in Ghana, it isn't really about the distance you intend to travel- the time depends on the quality of the roads.

As we got farther East, we were definitely on a less-beaten path.  A couple gasps escaped me as the car navigated around of dirt piles, through deep troughs, and on roads so thin they looked like dangerous walking bridges.  Despite the rough journey, we arrived safely in the small village and set off to find our lodging.

We stayed in an atmospheric little beach resort, close enough to the water to feel the occasional ocean spray. After dinner we went down to check out the sea, and I was really excited to see phosphorescence in the crashing waves.  Excited enough that I ran into the ocean shallows to stir up the water a bit, and got pelted with a huge wave!  The ocean is definitely more temperamental here than at home.  We headed back up to our room and went to bed, salty and happy.

On Saturday, we started our day early and headed to Nzulezo- a small village of population 600 close to Beyin.  Nzulezo is unique because it is built entirely on stilts, in the midst of Lake Amansuri.  We started walking towards the lake,  and were instructed to board a tiny canoe.  The boat barely cleared the water's surface, which added to the fun of the trip.  We were given a sawed-off water bottle to help bail, and we glided through the shallow black waters.  The ride lasted almost an hour, and took us through thick jungle and clumps of raffia palms, before ending up at the base of the stilt village.

Because I was expecting a small, tranquil structure, I was surprised to find a bustling village.  There was music blaring, kids running around, and many people going about their daily duties.  We walked down the main "street" and saw a glimpse of what life is like on stilts.  The power for the village is supplied by car batteries, which are transported to and from bigger towns for charging.  It seemed like a pretty long way to lug a car battery- but the people did not seem to mind, as they used them liberally enough to have loud music  playing throughout the day.

The houses are built on a network of raffia trunks, which need to be changed every year to avoid rotting.  The walls and floors were built from rows of tightly bound raffia stalks.  It seemed like a pretty incredible lifestyle.  Being built more than 500 years ago, it is a mystery why the people of Nzulezo chose to settle on the water.  However, the village is still thriving and the people are happy.  It was a really cool place to visit.

After we canoed back to Beyin, we spent the rest of the afternoon lounging on the beach. When we awoke on Sunday, we walked into town to begin the trip back to Kof.  It was difficult to speak because English levels were low, and Twi is not spoken in the Western Region.  We were guided on to a car going west, and found an English speaker who informed us that we had to travel the opposite direction before we could head back East.  unfortunately, this added on a couple hours. We ended up back at home after nearly 11 hours.  It was a long trip, but worth it.

After travelling to Beyin, I was eager to head somewhere that required a little less time on the road.  We decided to head to the Volta region, which lies on the eastern border of the country.  It is said that less than 10 percent of travellers in Ghana visit this region, so we were eager to check out what it had to offer.

The 4 hour ride felt like a dream after our previous weekend, and we ended up starting our weekend at Tafi Atome, a community situated within a Mona monkey sanctuary.  To reach Tafi, we were told to hop on the back of a couple motor bikes.  Rather tentatively, we did just that and were on our way to see the sanctuary.  I felt a little nervous barreling down a dirt road on a bike with no safety precautions, but the driver went pretty slow.  Once we reached the guest house, he told us that there are sometimes monkeys living in the trees right behind the visitors centre.

As soon as we got to the back of the building, we were greeted with the sight of monkeys everywhere! They were leaping amongst the trees, wrestling with each other, and napping on low-lying branches.  Such an amazing sight.  After spending a couple minutes ogling the beautiful creatures, the guide informed us that they love to eat bananas.

This hint was enough motivation for us to walk into the village and pick up some fruit!  As we walked back to our room with the bananas, we quickly found out just how much the monkeys enjoy them.

It was almost as if they had a banana-finding sixth sense.  Before we even reached the trees, the biggest of the group ran towards me with impressive speed, jumping up on his hind legs.  With his eyes never straying from my bag of bananas, he chased me around, causing my heart to beat out of my chest.  The guide came over to help, informing me that the proper protocol was to give the biggest monkey (also called the commander) a full banana.  When the commander is happy, the little ones are also allowed to eat.  Given directions to hold the fruit firmly, I shakily offered it out to the smaller Monas.  To my surprise, they leaped onto my arms and back and snacked away happily.

the commander after bananas

It was such an amazing experience.  After our first batch was finished, we bought some more and continued to play with the monkeys for the rest of the day.  We met another group of volunteers staying at the sanctuary, and were excited to find out that they had the same weekend plans as us.

In the morning, we had a short tour through the jungle, and then joined up with the other volunteers to carry on to Wli.  Wli is home to the highest waterfalls in Western Africa, and we were excited to see them.

The falls are separated into two water drops, the lower and the upper falls.  We were keen to see the upper and, although warned that the hike was a little steep, set off to see them.  It was definitely a difficult trek, but so amazing!  We finally reached the top and swam under the falls.  The swim was a great reward after a long hike.

bats living in the waterfall caves

We spent the rest of the day wandering around the area, and enjoying the local children singing, drumming and dancing.  On Sunday morning, we teamed up with a couple guys we met in Wli and journeyed to Mt. Afadjato, the highest peak in Ghana.  As we started the nearly-vertical climb, I was surprised to feel the fatigue lingering in my legs from the previous day's hike.  It was definitely exhausting getting to the top, but it felt great to make it.  Our guide, of course, did it in flip flops and barely broke a sweat.  We were definitely proud of ourselves, though.  It was a great end to a great weekend!

Finishing up the Track Season

As training started for the city-wide interschool track meet, I saw my girls really begin to challenge themselves and prepare for the competition.  It was exciting to see their growth, and fun to train as we were using real equipment.  Having a discus and javelin helped boost the girls' excitement and skill.  All-in-all, after the week of training I was really looking forward to watching the Kingsby girls compete against other schools.

The track meet was really fun.  With music playing the entire time and many cheers and chants being recited, the energy levels were high and the competitive spirits were flaring.  I was really proud of my team.  Despite little training time with equipment, they did very well.  The school team improved four spots in the standings from the past year, and two of our girls qualified for the regional meet.  

 I really felt that the meet was a success.  It was amazing to see our 8 weeks of work paying off and I think the girls pleased with their results.  Seeing them try their best, have fun, and reach their goals was all I could have hoped for; as a coach, it was a pretty great feeling!

Soon after the hoopla from the meet started to wear off, Ghanain Independence Day was upon us.  The national holiday is really important here, marking the day that Ghana became the first West-African country the gain independence from Britain.  Christine, Liz, and I set off to watch some local celebrations which included a school march.  

Unfortunately, I stepped off of a curb with a little too much vigor, and ended up rolling over my foot.  As it turns out, I’m really good at spraining ankles.  The day’s fun plans were restructured into an at-home workshop on icing and elevation.

The rest of the week, I was pretty immobile, which was really difficult for me.  My lesson plans and sports training ideas were left untouched, and the hiking plans we had made for the weekend had to be postponed. 

Because I was not quite in the shape to run around coaching, I decided to spend the week volunteering at the Orphanage.  Although being a human climbing gym for bundles of excited kids isn’t exactly restful, I knew that I would be able to play sitting down if necessary.

 

I had so much fun.  The children there are so full of happiness and light.  Even the sweaty tro-tro ride is a positive experience when 10 kids come running out to greet you.   I had a really amazing time playing with the little ones and being there for an extended period of time also gave me the chance to connect with some of the older students living there.   

The stories they have are almost overwhelming, some of them have endured more than I can even imagine.  It definitely makes me feel incredibly lucky to be born in Canada and to have such a close and supportive family.  

Although it was mostly positive, spending more time at the orphanage also came with new challenges.  The practice of caning children is still current in Ghana, and there are beatings nearly every day.  While I am aware that there are huge differences in culture, I will never be okay with kids being hit.  I spoke up to on of the teachers and was able to stop a class from being caned and I hope that more changes will be made in the future.  That said, my time there is always rewarding.  The children are loving and happy; they are an absolute joy to spend time with.

Outside of the orphanage, I have been having a lot of fun just experiencing daily life.  It is funny how in just a few short months: nightly power outages, getting stopped on the street to chat to strangers, pounding fufu, speaking twi, and sweating enough to create a new ocean all seem completely normal to me now. 

Carrying Yao Ghanain Style

Plantain and Casava: Ready to be Pounded into Fufu

Pounding the Fufu

Eating Dinner (Fufu + Soup with our Hands)

Beautiful Beads at the Weekly Market

Despite getting injured, I have really enjoyed the last couple weeks.  It is hard to believe that I am 2/3 through my time here- it runs so fast.  I'll be back coaching at the highschool next week, and I'm looking forward to playing some team sports with the girls :)