Epic Journey Number 2

This morning me and Tutu discovered that getting a tro to 'Weija Junction'- the stop for Oblogo school was no easier than getting to Bortianor, in fact, less tro's seem to go as far as Weija, and after 30 minutes of trying and failing we got into a shared taxi and were on our way.  It turns out that although we thought that Bortianor school was a long way from our hotel, Oblogo is actually even further, and after getting out of the taxi we faced a lengthy walk! Mid-way there was a government school, so we went in, aware that Simiao had done some research there last week, and introduced ourselves, asking if we could return tomorow to do some interviews.  The less than friendly headmistress eventually obliged, but has demanded that we be there by 7.30- no simple task with a journey like that standing in the way!

We finally arrived at Omega Oblogo around 9.15, and the school manager ordered us to rest- we clearly looked exhausted! I went into the form 5 class and observed the end of their Language and Literacy lesson, and then some French, wowing the French teacher by introducing myself in French! Mid-way through the lesson there was outroar among the students who could see two lizards peering over the wall into the room, making me think how students in the UK would react just the same to a bird or wasp intruding on their lesson! The teacher handled it as any would though- taking a stick from the playground and throwing it at the lizards, never mind the children sitting below! The French lesson was somewhat monotenous, involving "chorus reading" or chanting of  a passage to ensure that the students could read it- whether or not they knew what it meant I am not sure! I do however feel that I continually criticse the teaching methods used at Omega, but they are not all bad, I have seen some wonderful lessons, particularly in Kasoa school, and the older years, I think perhaps that newer schools with less experienced teachers just need time and more guidance, and that it must be incredibly difficult to teach large classes of younger children with minimal resources.  The schools are generally well equipped with textbooks, even though these are almost always shared between two or three students, and each student has plenty of exercise books, something which must be hard for the school to achieve when charging such low fees (45p a day).

After break time we arranged to do some interviews in the computer room, the system started slow with a Junior High teacher sending in four students at a time, and having to be prompted to replace them, but perhaps he got bored, as all of a sudden we were surrounded by most of the class, all of whom were keen to answer our questions.  This meant for another successful data collection day, and so on the way back to Kasoa we treated ourselves to a trip to the supermarket- Shoprite.  During our visit however we bumped into some students from Gabon, who wanted their picture taken in the supermarket- random, and then obviously wanted their pictures taken with the friendly Obruni's- celebrity lifestyle much? I bought a french stick and some laughing cow cheese- pretty great lunch/dinner!