TIA- we have arrived!

 

Day 1

The journey to Ghana was long and not entirely enjoyable, starting at a freezing 4am in Newcastle and ending at a boiling 11pm in Kasoa, Ghana.  The rustic trotro ride to the hotel, lack of electricity and aircon, and lack of a shower/flushing toilet left me very much focussing on one of my favourite phrases- TIA (this is Africa).  Tutu began the "continuous and competitive eating" apparently attached to Ghanaian customs before she even knew about it, and carried it on throughout the day!! Overall though the journey was a smooth one, and the stop-off in Liberia was incredibly interesting and my first experience of linking things learned on the masters course to reality! Around the airport there were tents for aid from UNHCR and the World Food Programme, although there was little activity around them, and a lack of people living in the area to warrant them anyways- although I should not criticise without knowing too much about why they were there, or what they were doing!! There were also a large number of UN helicopters and a UN plane at the airport- aid money wasted or misused? It certainly got me thinking about the troubles of aid that we hve discussed and highlighted the potential reality of the situation.

Day 2

On the morning of our first official day in Ghana we were collected by Ken (the owner of the Omega schools chain that we are linked to) and taken to three of his schools.  The first, in Oblogo was a fairly small school but appeared to be incredibly well organised, and the students all seemed to be working hard.  The second in Bortianor was the first school that Ken had opened, and the third, 94 was in a slum in Kasoa, and was very new.  The children pay only 1 cedi (45p) per day to attend an Omega school, and it seems incredible what they get for their money, considering they get a hot meal and their education, among other things.  However one major reflection was that the expansion of the chain had been so rapid- the first school has only been open around 18months and there are already 7, with 4 more planned to open in September.  The business is clearly working well.  Another factor that I picked up on was that the biggest of the three schools that we visited today, was the one in the slum- where you might expect to find less children able to pay for their education.

As we travelled around the schools there were signs of development and of the things that we have been learning about everywhere, for example a sign suggesting that "You should register your property" - very DeSoto-esque, and signs advertising savings accounts, microfinance, and many many private schools.  There are certainly many more private schools here that I have ever seen in the UK, and it is impressive that so many people must have caught on to this incredible entrepreneurial opportunity but that the market is clearly still not satisfied.

Day 3
By the third day I had  completely acclimatised to Ghana, and I have actually surpassed my expectations in how quickly I have slipped back into the African lifestyle that I have grown to love so much on previous trips.  Today I was observing the KG1 class in 94 school, so children aged around 4 and 5.  Much as I appreciate that the lessons are a far improvement on the government schools that, on passing, always appear to have children running wild and never appear to be doing anything educational, I still feel that the schools could potentially do much more than they do currently.  Based on my observations today, much time is wasted, as children are completing one very small activity on the board and then the teacher is copying it into each individual exercise book and getting them to fill in the answers (in the UK I suppose children this young would have workbooks, making this unnecessary)- so the first few are finished well before some students have even go their books.  I am definately interested to see whether this is isolated to the early years, or whether it extends to older classes. 

All in all it has been an enlightening first few days, and I hope to expand my ideas and find out more over the coming month.