Week 2 - The Challenges of a Daycare

View at Oasis!

I can’t believe I only have 2 weeks left in Ghana (Okay, maybe a week and a half now because my internet connection is horrible and never posted this).  But time has flown by and I know it will only continue to fly by.

This past week has been a crazy week. Sunday we had our first free day here. I spent it going into town with friends to shop and then met up with everyone at Oasis for lunch and to lie out on the beach. Oasis is known as the “white person” place. It’s where all foreigners go to eat and hang out. It’s right in town and is a beautiful view of the ocean, castle, and town.

I continued working at Futures Academy Complex in the daycare center. The week was a challenge to say the least. The attendants left me alone many times with the children as they went to shop in the market. It baffles me here that they can leave young children alone for so long, but I have begun to accept it. Its just part of the culture here and I’m trying to teach myself that. But let me just say, I have fallen in love with these children! They are absolutely adorable! Their smiles and laughs are contagious and could light up a room! I've shared some pictures of them!

There is one child in particular, little Elijah. He is 2 years old. He is in a few of these pictures. I could tell on Wednesday that he was not himself so I asked the attendant what was wrong with him and she informed me his father had just passed away. It absolutely broke my heart. The attendants did nothing to try and console him or get him to stop crying. So I picked him up and just held him the entire day because I didn't know what else I could do except let this little boy feel loved by someone. He's too little to know what was going on and where his dad went, all he knows is that his dad is gone. The rest of the week, he was the one who ran up to me each morning with the biggest smile on his face and gave me the biggest hugs that I will never forget. Elijah definitely touched my heart and I'm hoping I was able to touch his.

Little Elijah and I at break time 

Unfortunately we had to tell our faculty leaders about the attendants leaving us alone with the children, because it is a HUGE liability for the university and ourselves. Reasons why it’s a liability: 1) 2 American girls responsible for 120 children ranging in age from 1-4. 2) The children don’t speak English yet, and we don’t speak Fante (the main language here). 3) The children don’t listen to us because they can’t understand us. 4) If something happens to a child, technically we are responsible.

So as you can see, this was causing a MAJOR problem and honestly I was coming home exhausted from work everyday. I was expected to have a full curriculum planned for these children when there is not a lot a 1 year old will learn from someone who doesn’t speak their language. But hey, I tried and I got those kids to learn the numbers 1-5.  I’m pretty proud of myself because I am not an education major so me coming up with lessons is a challenge…But I struggled because as you can maybe tell, I fell in love with these kids and absolutely adore them! I don't want to leave them!

Two of my favorite boys at Futures: Francis & Elijah

Because of all the issues, we had to have a meeting with the Social Welfare Department Director and our advisors to figure out a solution because they want us to have a fun time in Ghana, not a stressful one. And ultimately it was decided that the third week would still be spent at Futures Academy but the attendants would be talked to and if they left us alone one more time, we would have to leave. I am hoping for the best! I’ll let you know next week how it goes…

Besides work, the week was spent hanging out with everyone at the house and going out to explore more parts of the city! We found a cute new restaurant that is owned by a German lady so it has DELICIOUS food. It’s my new favorite! We also spend lots of nights just playing games, watching movies, and just hanging out at the ProWorld house.

I am SO excited for this weekend because we are doing our first impact project to go into the village and help build a clinic and then going to Biriwa Beach Resort to have lunch and go to the ocean!

I hope you are all doing well back in the States! Can’t wait to see you all soon

Here's a video that can cheer up your week! The Class 4 boys singing Head, Shoulders, Knees, & Toes after I taught them!

Touring the Cape Coast Castle

I have been waiting to write this blog post because I was not sure how to write it or what to write about and honestly was so speechless about the entire experience I did not know how to recount it. This post does not do justice to anything I experienced, but I know some of you keep asking how the castle tour went, so here it is...

Ghana was one of the top places where slaves were captured, sold, and sent off by the Europeans. The two largest castles that held them were Elmina Castle and Cape Coast Castle located 30 minutes away from each other. Last weekend we had the chance to learn more about the slavery process in Ghana. We went to tour the Cape Coast Castle and the Central Region Slave Market. It was the most intense experience I have ever had in my life. I was expecting it to be sad and hard to get through, but never imagined feeling so much guilt being an American.

We started the morning by driving an hour and a half to the Central Region Slave Market. There we could see the artworks painted outside the gate showing the process of slavery from being captured, to being sold, to going on a ship and sent off. We were the only ones inside getting a tour, which was actually nice. We did not have any distractions. The tour guide showed us the graves of two people who were slaves and killed, one in Jamaica and the other in the US. Their bodies were brought back to Ghana through the Door of Return, which it’s called now, and buried in honor. After that the tour guide made us remove our shoes to walk along the path to the Last Bath. 

We were able to experience exactly what the slaves experienced since nothing has been changed or altered. We dealt with rocks cutting our feet and stepping on fire ants. The fact that our group could barely walk this 10-minute path without something happening to us made me realize how much these people went through. They would walk for four months from the northern region to a slave market and then another three weeks after their last bath to Cape Coast Castle all while wearing shackles around their necks, wrists, and feet, with chains and balls hanging in between them. We actually were able to hold real chains and balls and they were so heavy! I could not believe it!

The path the slaves had to walk down

Once we reached the Last Bath area, I was overcome with emotions. It is an area where two rivers come together. One is known as the dirty river, the other the clean river. In the dirty river was where they forced the slaves to get clean and they shaved them trying to make them look younger before they were sold. They showed us where and how they would hang them to the tree to dry in the African sun. It was all so real that it made everything so intense.

After the Last Bath, we drove back to Cape Coast to the castle. I have never heard the group of 20 of us be so silent before.

We started off with going through a museum of the history of slavery, how the Ghanaians overcame it and how they are doing today. After we were led on an hour and a half tour throughout the castle. During the tour we were shown the male and female dungeons where they would be held for 3 months with little food and water in the complete darkness. The smells were still so strong inside the dungeons, and it was so dark that it made it seem so real. We also were able to see the canons, George McLean’s office and bedroom, the school, the condemn cellar, and the room that placed females if they did not let them be raped by the soldiers. We also saw the church in the castle. What I think I found most interesting about the castle is that the Europeans built 5 male dungeons that each could hold 200-300 men. On top of these dungeons was their church where they would worship to God every day. They called it heaven above and hell below. The castle was led by several different groups of people (English and Spaniards) while it was operating, but each had the same idea of the church above and dungeons below.

The last thing they showed us on the tour was the tunnel system and the Door of No Return. The Europeans closed off the tunnel with brick when slavery ended. The brick is now covered with a white cloth and different things in memory of those who were at the castle and passed through the tunnel, which leads to the Door of No Return. The Door is the last thing the slaves would pass through before getting on the ships. They had us walk through the Door to try and feel the emotions they must have went through.

The interesting thing is when I walked through the Door of No Return, I saw the entire fishing community. There were hundreds of people right outside that door that were fishing and happily singing and dancing. I was shocked because these people who had horrendous things happen to their ancestors right inside that door could be so happy and close to the castle. But from what I’m told, many of the Ghanaians accept that it was part of their history and pray that nothing happens like this ever again. (The interesting thing I learned is that chiefs of villages in Ghana actually helped in the slave process. They helped the Europeans capture their people and got money because of it.) Once through the Door of No Return, we were led back through the door except this time the outside said Door of Return to show people that they are welcome back in Ghana. That was the most amazing part of the day, walking through the Door of Return knowing that many slaves had walked through this door returning to their home country.

As intense and saddening as this experience was, I am so happy I had the opportunity to tour these places. You can only learn so much in a history book. I could actually see where history took place and try to imagine what it must have been like. Both the market and castle have not been altered. The castle is over 400 years old and if anyone was to try and alter it or knock down a wall, it may collapse. Knowing it has not been changed in anyway since the Europeans handed it over to the Ghanaians, just made everything much more real and hit that much closer to the heart.

 The chiefs in the area mounted this plaque right at the exit and I think it is truly powerful. They realized they played a role in slavery and want to try to stop anything like this from happening again.

Exploring the Rainforest!

I have been so unbelievable busy and exhausted that I was never able to load anything about our first full weekend in Cape Coast!

So last week, on Friday we went to Kakum National Park! It was about an hour tro tro ride away from our home. I unfortunately had my first experience being sick here that entire morning so that hour long tro tro ride was not so fun...But once we got to Kakum it was amazing! We went on a guided tour through the rainforest and hiked 250 feet up to the beginning of the canopy walk. 

Once we reached the canopy walk I was amazed! I could see for miles because we were over the tree-line. The canopy walk consisted of 7 suspended bridges we had to walk on with a little platform to rest on in between. At the highest point, we would be a little over 300 feet above the ground. 

Let me just say, a canopy walk in Africa is NOTHING like anything in the US. There were no safety harnesses to have us attached to in case something broke. The bridge looked like it was built 50 years ago and never maintained, yet they still let people walk on it. As you can see in the picture, the rope is attached above and on the bottom there is a net with metal pipes laying along the bottom with a wood platform above it to make it easier to walk. The reason I know it is not maintained is because many of the wood boards were loose or missing. I'm not afraid of heights, but the mix of being sick and realizing that I am walking on a bridge that probably isn't safe in the middle of the rainforest in Africa made me start to freak out a little. 

The last thing that made the bridge unsafe was that the ropes attached to the top did not stop it from swaying. It swayed back and forth so much! People started running along it to get done faster and the brave tried jumping on it, but were yelled at because it might break. Let's just say I won't go back to do it again.

Even though I was terrified of the bridge breaking, I could not get over the view. My friends and I stopped several times along the way just to admire the views and look below. We all knew that we would probably never have this type of opportunity again, so we wanted to take it all in.

After Kakum, we went to lunch at Hans Cottage and was able to touch and sit on an alligator. I was freaking out just a tad bit because there was no workers near us in case the alligators tried attacking us. So we just hoped for the best, and luckily no one was injured.

My Workplace

I finally was placed somewhere to work that I absolutely love!

As I mentioned in my last post, I was unable to work at the orphanage anymore due to internal problems there. Because of this I got placed at the Department of Social Welfare. When I first heard that I was a little confused because I know absolutely NOTHING about social work. The department has three areas: disability services, daycare systems, and child care. I along with one other girl from Mizzou were assigned to the daycare systems. We were told we would tour 3 daycares this past week and decide on the two we would work at during our time here.

So on our first day of work we had orientation and was able to assist the director on an inspection of a daycare. I realized as we were walking to the daycare that I had no clue what to expect from it. I did not know if it would be similar to the ones back in the US, how many kids would be there, the ages, and other things. But when I first walked up to the daycare I was very overwhelmed. The first thing I saw was a young girl about 3 years old just wandering out the front door to go to the bathroom in the street. (Side note: Defecation is a major problem in Ghana. They have open sewer systems unlike the US so you can see everything and that is where most people will go to the bathroom. This is the cause for many diseases and deaths of people here.) Once we walked in I saw three small classrooms, each with around 40 students in it and only one attendant in each room. There was no ventilation system so it was unbearably hot in there, only 8 cribs for 40 babies which had black garbage bags on them to prevent from accidents but only created a large problem for suffocation. The other two classrooms with older students were very dirty and chaotic.

Wednesday and Thursday were spent at two other daycares, Promise Land and Futures Academy. After what I experienced on Tuesday, I was expecting to see the same thing at the other two, but I was pleasantly surprised. Promise Land was apart of a Catholic church was very organized. I spent the morning working in the toddler room that had about 20 kids with 2 attendants plus myself. The children had lots of toys and it was not hot at all inside. Futures Academy I fell in love with right away. I was able to be there and work in the classroom. I was with the 2-4 year olds and we played games, sang songs, and the teacher even let me teach a lesson. She had me help the children learn the numbers 1-10 and teach them how to write them. In case you have never tried, teaching a 2 year old how to write a number doesn't work. So needless to say, I had my hands full. But it was an experience I will always remember. I knew immediately that this was the school I needed to work at, so I will be there the next two weeks to help in the classroom to teach and suggest solutions to problems the school and daycare are facing.

My classroom of the daycare I get to work with!

Futures Academy is in the most amazing community. It is about 30 minute taxi ride from my house in the fishing community of Cape Coast. It is the poorest of the poor in town, but the people have been the most welcoming that I have met yet. The school is situated on top of a giant hill overlooking the ocean, Cape Coast Castle, and the rainforest. It's absolutely breathtaking.

Different Views from the Daycare Center

I am so excited to spend the next two weeks working with the kids and offering my help as they need. You will definitely be hearing lots more about the school as I start there on Monday!

Week One!

Almost a week has passed and I finally have a good enough wifi connection to post at least one blog post. (Warning: This may be long since it's a whole weeks worth of experiences!)

We finally arrived at the ProWorld Bunk House in Cape Coast, Ghana last Saturday around 1 AM (8 pm MN time) after traveling for 37 hours. I can't begin to explain how happy I was to see a bed and shower, even though the shower is nothing like you would expect it to be like. But hey, at least we have a shower!

On Sunday we had orientation and the town tour all day. My first experience in town and dealing with the taxi's was crazy! There are so many roaming pigs and goats! This picture is of one we found on the beach!

I have learned a few things about the taxi's here this week: 1) Taxi drivers do not follow any laws. They pass each other on the wrong side of the road and take sketchy back roads to get you places faster 2) You will always feel like you are going to die while riding in one. 3) They honk for everything; to say hi to each other, to turn, to get Abuni's (white people) attention.

Monday was Republic Day for Ghana so everything was closed. We went to a beach called Anomaba to just relax. We met lots of Ghanian children there who played futbol with us, braided our hair, and taught us songs. They were apart of a traveling band so they also taught us how to play the drums and dance. It was amazing just to see how happy these children are!







The rest of the week I worked at my placement site for the month! As a few of you may know, the day before I left for Ghana I got an email saying I was no longer able to work at the orphanage. My new site is the Department of Social Welfare (DSW) with the government here in Ghana. On Tuesday, we had orientation and were able to go see a daycare inspection and sit in on two family child support court cases. Wednesday and Thursday were spent working at two other daycares because DSW wants us working at the daycares to help improve them. I will go into details about the project site more in a later post once I finally know exactly what I am doing!

(Our view from the DSW office)

Now that I am starting to figure out when wifi usually works, I will post more updates in the next few days about where I'm working and our excursions this weekend! Miss you all!

Here's the plan!

Here is a calendar they gave us of what we will be doing everyday so if I can't post often, you can know what I am up to :)

Am I seriously going to Africa?

WAIT, AM I REALLY GOING TO AFRICA?

I keep repeating that phrase to myself and am silently freaking out inside.

When I first heard about the trip, I knew that this was something I wanted to do. I don't think I quite knew what I was getting myself into though, because as I packed and tried to get myself ready to leave, I did not know what to expect. I still don't know entirely what to expect and I think that is why I am freaking out.

Being warned that you will shower with a bucket, probably lose power, no cell service, barely any internet, and having to do laundry in a bucket outside is not really what an average American would think of as fun. But as I was told all of this, I could not have been more excited. I think that if anyone could see me next week try to get accustomed to these things, they would laugh. I will probably laugh at myself, but that is what will get me through.

I am just looking forward to experiencing something new, meeting tons of new people, and taking every advantage of this once in a lifetime trip I am lucky to take.

I will try and update this as much as possible with the little internet I do have!

See everyone in a month! :)