last night we got to experience the rainy season like we hadn't before. it downpoured. i can't describe how heavy the rainfall was. think hurricane. conveniently during the middle of the downpour, we had to go to dinner, which is about 20 feet from the lobby in an open bar area. there is a roof over where we eat, but only two walls, with the other two open to the parking lot and pool. we ate while watching umbrellas go flying, trees almost getting blown over and rain pelting everything. it also thundered and lightening for the first time here, and that was amazing to watch. there was lightening ever 2 seconds.
i forgot to mention how nice our hotel is. it is easily the nicest we've stayed at in ghana, but its also one of the nicest i've stayed in ever. the bed is SO comfortable. i'm sad we're leaving to go to cape coast today, i sleep so well here.
two nights ago, i met up with father anthony after dinner. he introduced me to the owner of the hotel, who is his uncle. we sat and talked for a while, and watched the spain vs paraguay game. it was really nice to finally meet him and i'm trying to plan another trip to kumasi after my internship (because we get 4 free days), depending on what my friends want to do. some also expressed interest in travelling to togo.
yesterday was a long day. we were on the bus by nine and travelled to the only military museum in ghana. i'm so mad at myself because i left my camera at the hotel and couldn't take any pictures. the museum was an old fort of the british, but before that it was built by an asantehene to recreate the cape coast castle. we toured rooms of artillery, which included the maxim gun, machine guns, etc. all from british, germans and italians during the first and second world wars, as well as items from wars within africa. the scariest weapons i saw were from rwanda, when ghanaian troops were deployed by the UN. i think brian would've liked to see this place, it would be like jumping into call of duty.
we also got to go inside the dungeons were the condemned prisoners were kept, and the ones where military men accused of petty crimes were held. the condemned prisoners cells were scary. the guide packed us in one just the way we would've been if we were prisoners. i don't know if i have ever been to a place like that before, where so many people had died. it might have been my imagination, but i swear i could feel their presence. the prisoners were put into the tiny, lightless cells and left to die. they were giving no food, no water and nothing to go to the bathroom. they lived their final days in their own filth with the noise of the british army eating dinner over their heads. the mess hall was directly above these cells.
after the museum, we went to 3 different villages: one where they weave kente cloth, one where they create adinkra designs and one where they make wood carvings. i'll have to write about those later, because i need to get breakfast before we leave for cape coast.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Saturday, July 3, 2010
kumasi
the trip to kumasi was beautiful. we passed through a lot of interesting towns. we didn't get to go to the butterfly sanctuary, unfortunately, because it was raining a lot and the road to the sanctuary is poor and our bus would've gotten stuck.
kumasi is very different than accra. first of all, it has about half the people, 500,000 to accra's million. the infrastructure in kumasi is much much better than accra. allll the roads are paved, the buildings are bigger, there are less shanti-like structures. i think the reasons for this are that kumasi has historically always been a very busy place, so the infrastructure is more developed. they also have less people to accomodate for. there are more people in muslim garb as well, which is because of kumasi's more northern location. we're staying at a reallyyy nice hotel called the Miklin.
last night we had dinner at the hotel and watching the VERY disappointing ghana vs. uruguay game. (i can't even comment on it i'm so mad still. i hate uruguay, cheating scum). today we went on a tour of kumasi. we visited the palace museum, we didn't get to visit the actual palace where the Asantehene (asante king) lives. the museum was cool; it was where the first few asantehene's lived and they preserved it the way the lived in it, with added artifacts and life-sized replicas of the past kings and queen mothers. by the way, the queen mother of asante isn't the king's wife. she is the one who decides the king, because the asante are a matrilineal society (where all power passes down from the mother's lineage). then we drove to a site where a sword was stuck into the ground and no one has been able to remove it. even muhammed ali tried and couldn't. next we went to a cultural center, or a small market, and shopped for 45 minutes. i bought 3 carvings, 3 bracelets, a key chain and a painting for 50 cedi! ghana is great.
i have to go to dinner now and i'm supposed to meet up with father anthony later tonight. hopefully i'll be able to post again soon.
kumasi is very different than accra. first of all, it has about half the people, 500,000 to accra's million. the infrastructure in kumasi is much much better than accra. allll the roads are paved, the buildings are bigger, there are less shanti-like structures. i think the reasons for this are that kumasi has historically always been a very busy place, so the infrastructure is more developed. they also have less people to accomodate for. there are more people in muslim garb as well, which is because of kumasi's more northern location. we're staying at a reallyyy nice hotel called the Miklin.
last night we had dinner at the hotel and watching the VERY disappointing ghana vs. uruguay game. (i can't even comment on it i'm so mad still. i hate uruguay, cheating scum). today we went on a tour of kumasi. we visited the palace museum, we didn't get to visit the actual palace where the Asantehene (asante king) lives. the museum was cool; it was where the first few asantehene's lived and they preserved it the way the lived in it, with added artifacts and life-sized replicas of the past kings and queen mothers. by the way, the queen mother of asante isn't the king's wife. she is the one who decides the king, because the asante are a matrilineal society (where all power passes down from the mother's lineage). then we drove to a site where a sword was stuck into the ground and no one has been able to remove it. even muhammed ali tried and couldn't. next we went to a cultural center, or a small market, and shopped for 45 minutes. i bought 3 carvings, 3 bracelets, a key chain and a painting for 50 cedi! ghana is great.
i have to go to dinner now and i'm supposed to meet up with father anthony later tonight. hopefully i'll be able to post again soon.
Friday, July 2, 2010
tenative plan for the next week
today, friday july 2nd:
leave for 5 hour drive to kumasi. visit bobiri butterfly sanctuary. continue to kumasi. dinner at Miklin hotel.
saturday, july 3rd:
visit manhyia palace, okomfo anokye sword site and prempeh II museum. (by the way, the ky in twi is pronounched ch). dinner at Miklin hotel.
sunday, july 4th:
visit bonwire-kente weaving town. see ntonsu-adinkra print cloth and ahyiaa wood carvings. visit military museum. dinner at Miklin.
monday, july 5th:
leave for 4 hour drive to elmina. visit elmina and cape coast castle.
tuesday, july 6th:
we join the cheifs and people of elmina to celebrate the bakatue festival. (i'm really excited for this after seeing how greatly celebrate a holiday was).
wednesday, july 7th:
visit kakum national park for the tree top canopy walk. lunch at rainforest hotel.
thursday, july 8th:
return to accra.
so maybe, but not likely, everything will go according to plan and hopefully i'll have access to a computer so i can update.
leave for 5 hour drive to kumasi. visit bobiri butterfly sanctuary. continue to kumasi. dinner at Miklin hotel.
saturday, july 3rd:
visit manhyia palace, okomfo anokye sword site and prempeh II museum. (by the way, the ky in twi is pronounched ch). dinner at Miklin hotel.
sunday, july 4th:
visit bonwire-kente weaving town. see ntonsu-adinkra print cloth and ahyiaa wood carvings. visit military museum. dinner at Miklin.
monday, july 5th:
leave for 4 hour drive to elmina. visit elmina and cape coast castle.
tuesday, july 6th:
we join the cheifs and people of elmina to celebrate the bakatue festival. (i'm really excited for this after seeing how greatly celebrate a holiday was).
wednesday, july 7th:
visit kakum national park for the tree top canopy walk. lunch at rainforest hotel.
thursday, july 8th:
return to accra.
so maybe, but not likely, everything will go according to plan and hopefully i'll have access to a computer so i can update.
okay, the actual comments on glona
first of all i'm sorry for not posting in a while, i've been really busy for the past few days and nothing really new has gone on. i'll try to be better, but i'm going to kumasi for 4 days then cape coast for 3 starting tomorrow, so i'm not sure what my access to a computer will be. so, as i've said before, violence is generally accepted as a form of settling disputes between youths and as a form of disciplining children. the ghanaian adults are incredibly peaceful people, so clearly they loose this tendancy to hit somewhere in their teens. i've seen some really heated arguments but never once seen anyone come close to throwing a punch. the adults (not all, but i think most) feel that if they turned out alright after been punished in this way, than their children will turn out fine too.
in my classroom at glona there are two teachers: a german Jenni, and a ghanaian Rose. The german volunteers and the ghanaians have been fighting for some time over this issue of "beating" the children. Rose utlizes fear to discipline the children. every afternoon she begins the class by asking where her cane is (a switch from a tree). i've seen her slap arms and twist ears. her favorite form of punishment is to cover the children's head and faces with chalk dust and call them bonde (bond-eh, which means smelly thing in Ga). or she makes the children do them to each other so that she can say, i wasn't the one who did it. the only reason i've seen her do these things is because Jenni has been sick for the past few days. she wouldn't do this in front of Jenni because Jenni wouldn't allow her too. both Rose and Jenni are intimidating women.
i didn't know any of the background on this issue until jenni came and talked to me. i was so happy that she did because i'd been uncomfortable with her form of punishments and unsure of what to do. i'm new to the program and don't know what is accepted and what is not. plus i'm a little scared of Rose. now, after speaking with jenni, i know that i need to say something to rose to let her know that i'm not okay with her treating the chilren like that. i've seen first hand how much more comfortable they are with learning with jenni than rose. they try harder and are more willing to make mistakes.
how can they learn at school when they are in fear of beating? they all come from homes where they probably face this form of punishment all the time, as i've seen from speaking with one of hannah's aunties. or when they've spent all day working hard for their families? it is a difficult thing, teaching these children. i have many critiques of the program but obviously, because of my newness, not many solutions. i'm interested to see how the internship portion will turn out.
in my classroom at glona there are two teachers: a german Jenni, and a ghanaian Rose. The german volunteers and the ghanaians have been fighting for some time over this issue of "beating" the children. Rose utlizes fear to discipline the children. every afternoon she begins the class by asking where her cane is (a switch from a tree). i've seen her slap arms and twist ears. her favorite form of punishment is to cover the children's head and faces with chalk dust and call them bonde (bond-eh, which means smelly thing in Ga). or she makes the children do them to each other so that she can say, i wasn't the one who did it. the only reason i've seen her do these things is because Jenni has been sick for the past few days. she wouldn't do this in front of Jenni because Jenni wouldn't allow her too. both Rose and Jenni are intimidating women.
i didn't know any of the background on this issue until jenni came and talked to me. i was so happy that she did because i'd been uncomfortable with her form of punishments and unsure of what to do. i'm new to the program and don't know what is accepted and what is not. plus i'm a little scared of Rose. now, after speaking with jenni, i know that i need to say something to rose to let her know that i'm not okay with her treating the chilren like that. i've seen first hand how much more comfortable they are with learning with jenni than rose. they try harder and are more willing to make mistakes.
how can they learn at school when they are in fear of beating? they all come from homes where they probably face this form of punishment all the time, as i've seen from speaking with one of hannah's aunties. or when they've spent all day working hard for their families? it is a difficult thing, teaching these children. i have many critiques of the program but obviously, because of my newness, not many solutions. i'm interested to see how the internship portion will turn out.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
quick background on the kids at glona
estha: she wakes up at four am every morning to sell things on her head in the streets by five am. she does this everyday until she comes to glona at 4 pm. she must work for 11 hours, standing up, carrying items, dodging cars before she comes to learn. how she could concentrate after a day like that is beyond me.
most of the children come from homes that are incredibly poor or broken. they see glona as a sanctuary and we try hard to keep it that way. they have a tough time focusing because of issues going on at home. their parents most likely discipline them with violence (estha had a new gash on her neck in class the other day but she wouldn't tell us what it was from). its really important to me to make them excited to learn as well as explain to them the importance of learning to them.
i met hannah's "auntie" yesterday before school. she told me that hannah was a stupid girl because she didn't know any english. she asked me to beat her good so that she would learn. i informed her that hannah was very intelligent, knew a lot of english and i would never hit her. the woman just laughed at me and went back to her cooking. this is an example of how ghanaian parents try to inspire their children to learn. they are big fans of negative persuasion. i was really shocked, and kind of offended, that the woman could say those things about hannah, in front of her. i made sure hannah knew after that i think she's very smart. i hope that not all of the parents have the same approach.
most of the children come from homes that are incredibly poor or broken. they see glona as a sanctuary and we try hard to keep it that way. they have a tough time focusing because of issues going on at home. their parents most likely discipline them with violence (estha had a new gash on her neck in class the other day but she wouldn't tell us what it was from). its really important to me to make them excited to learn as well as explain to them the importance of learning to them.
i met hannah's "auntie" yesterday before school. she told me that hannah was a stupid girl because she didn't know any english. she asked me to beat her good so that she would learn. i informed her that hannah was very intelligent, knew a lot of english and i would never hit her. the woman just laughed at me and went back to her cooking. this is an example of how ghanaian parents try to inspire their children to learn. they are big fans of negative persuasion. i was really shocked, and kind of offended, that the woman could say those things about hannah, in front of her. i made sure hannah knew after that i think she's very smart. i hope that not all of the parents have the same approach.
last night/today
last night was awesome. we went to a reggae concert on labadi beach. the taxi dropped us off in front of a ticket window where we had to pay 5 cedi to get in. it was set up sort of like a fair, where after you walk in there is a big parking lot and lots of stands. once you pass through onto the beach, the huge stage was to the left, tables and chairs were set up on the sand and there was a restaurant on the right. the ocean was the backdrop. we got there early before the concert started at ten to eat dinner. i thought we were going to stick out, but surprisingly there were as many white people as black (or about). i've never seen so many rasta-men, or such ridiculous ones. it was hilarious. once the music started, everyone was dancing. there was an old old grey-haired-dred-wearing man on stage who just waved the ghanaian flag the entire concert. when we needed a break from the music, we could walk down along the water. it was gorgeous.
today we had a free afternoon since it was a national holiday, republic day or farmer's day, and the children didn't have school. we decided to go back to the beach. for whatever reason, we all thought that the beach would be mostly deserted as it was last night. were we ever wrong. driving in we realized that every person in ghana was going to the beach today. we paid five cedi like we did last night and joined the crowd. i'm not sure i've ever seen so many people in one place before. they were only allowed to swim in a certain area of the beach because of the rip tide and you literally couldn't see the water through all the bodies. this time we were pretty much the only white people on the beach. it was crazy. there was music and dancing and horses to ride on and kids performing. this one family was performing what we were informed was "black magic". their faces were painted and they contortionists. they put on an insane show. i've never seen anyone twist their bodies the way that man and his two boys did. we didn't stay too long because it was overwhelming and we had to get back to the hotel but it was a great experience. ghanaians really know how to celebrate their holidays.
today we had a free afternoon since it was a national holiday, republic day or farmer's day, and the children didn't have school. we decided to go back to the beach. for whatever reason, we all thought that the beach would be mostly deserted as it was last night. were we ever wrong. driving in we realized that every person in ghana was going to the beach today. we paid five cedi like we did last night and joined the crowd. i'm not sure i've ever seen so many people in one place before. they were only allowed to swim in a certain area of the beach because of the rip tide and you literally couldn't see the water through all the bodies. this time we were pretty much the only white people on the beach. it was crazy. there was music and dancing and horses to ride on and kids performing. this one family was performing what we were informed was "black magic". their faces were painted and they contortionists. they put on an insane show. i've never seen anyone twist their bodies the way that man and his two boys did. we didn't stay too long because it was overwhelming and we had to get back to the hotel but it was a great experience. ghanaians really know how to celebrate their holidays.
some comments on glona
uuuughhhhh i just typed for twenty minutes and the computer froze and i lost everything.
first of all i'm sorry for not posting in a while, i've been really busy for the past few days and nothing really new has gone on. i'll try to be better, but i'm going to kumasi for 4 days then cape coast for 3 starting tomorrow, so i'm not sure what my access to a computer will be.
i'm going to have to write my comments on glona later because i have to go to dinner and it took me so long to write everything i wanted to say the first time.
first of all i'm sorry for not posting in a while, i've been really busy for the past few days and nothing really new has gone on. i'll try to be better, but i'm going to kumasi for 4 days then cape coast for 3 starting tomorrow, so i'm not sure what my access to a computer will be.
i'm going to have to write my comments on glona later because i have to go to dinner and it took me so long to write everything i wanted to say the first time.
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