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!