Wednesday, July 17, 2013

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!

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