I am home safe and sound to my comfortable, fortunate life in Canada. I feel wonderful. And simultaneously I feel sad, nostalgic, anxious, amazed.
Reintegrating back into Canadian culture is supposedly one of the hardest parts of this whole crazy experience, and I have learned, above many other lessons, the power of the human spirit to adapt and thrive; given the right attitude.
I remember my first week in Ghana, when I was sick, feverish, and felt lonely. I went into my room and cried. I sat in the bathroom and cried. I knew I had to pull myself together because it is really not "Ghanaian" to go around crying in front of everyone, and I still was not quite close enough to any of the Canadians to confide in them. I felt alone and I felt guilty. Our first few days, I felt like a tourist living a very comfortable existence, and I was uncomfortable with that.
I came to do development work, to get my hands dirty and escape my white privilige (boy was I wrong-I've never felt whiter in my life). I've done the "all-inclusive, isolated week on a resort in a developing country" vacation and wanted something more. I wanted to move past tourism to truly understand and integrate into a culture, and forge genuine relationships with those living in the country, who may never leave that country. I was reflecting on the money that had been spent to send me to Ghana, and my privilege once again smacked me in the face. What else could the $5000 plus that was spent for me- a young, naive, passionate activist- to spend 6 weeks in a country, have been spent on? How much of a lasting, sustainable impact was this small project going to have? How much could my experiences be used to impact change when I returned to Canada? Clearly, I felt confused/sick/upset in more ways than one. But after that, I made a concerted effort to remain POSITIVE and HOPEFUL.
Two of the greatest human mindsets, and two I learned from Ghanaians and Ghana herself.
From that point on I saw the good in everything we were doing, and I rejoiced in the small daily victories; interacting with students, talking about life with taxi drivers, learning the local language, jumping outside my comfort zone, smiling and greeting strangers with genuine love in my heart. After that choice, never ONCE did I feel homesick (no offense, Mom).
As I observed some fellow Canadians become depressed/apathetic/jaded/angry/homesick/resentful, I remembered that day at the beginning of my trip, and I saw how different my experience could have been. That could have been me-or worse.
Instead, I look back and can honestly say that I had the most wonderful time of my life. I've never laughed, cried, learned or smiled more. At the end of almost every day I would complain that my cheeks and jaws hurt; too much talking and laughter and smiles. Which is not to say that I was ambivalent to the pain, poverty, inequality and corruption that existed; I merely chose to look at my 6 short weeks as an investment towards my personal betterment as a human being, a global citizen, an ordinary girl with endless opportunities to make this world a little brighter every day and give what I can. Would it help anyone to spend the 6 weeks miserable and bitter?
I look back now and I wish I could just hop onto a plane right this second. The friendships I developed with fellow Ghanaians will always warm my heart and bring a smile to my face, and sometimes bring tears to my eyes. Because there just wasn't enough time spent with them. For all the times I napped, I wish I spent talking with people. I wish I hugged people every day and that I never stopped thanking people for all they were giving me.
Why am I so fortunate? I am very aware that this is not the case for all who participated in the seminar. Most of the Canadians have said that they probably won't return to Ghana. Yet I know I'm going back. I cannot wait til I can step foot off the plane, hear OBRUNI, see children running in the streets, women selling fruit and icecream off of their heads, women, men and children dancing, singing, crying in church, and to hug my dearest friends who are in still Ghana, living their normal lives, as I write.
When I talk to people about Ghana (which is every day, it's hard NOT to talk about it) people are often shocked by some of the conditions, or say "I could NEVER go to Africa!", or "..And you want to go back there?!?". Sometimes it's hard for me to even remember what I went through, but somehow when I was there I adapted to everything quite smoothly. My first day or two of paranoia of Malaria (wearing long sleeve shirts, pants, socks to bed and loving my mosquito net and bug spray) faded fast and soon I felt like I had lived here my whole life. Part of me feels like I belong in Ghana. I felt at home, identified so much with the way of life and the people. I didn't mind the "not so nice" elements of Ghana; the litter, the huge cochroaches/spiders/ants in your bed/kitchen/backpack/food, the blunt criticism, being called fat or old or being told to go iron your clothes or fix your hair because it doesn't look nice, the 5 am wake up calls from roosters, the sweaty heat and the need for a hankerchief, the need to develop your thigh/bum muscles to squat and pee anywhere, the lack of clean running water and the need to always make sure you'll have enough water to get you through the day, or locals constantly trying to either a) scam you for more money or b) marry you. All of this was just part of the experience I had (surely not all Ghanaians live like this, please don't let me mislead you).
What amazes me most is how, when in Ghana, I could feel "at home" and more than anything else, at peace.
And yet, I am now back in Canada. Typing on a laptop in the comfort of my beautiful house, with internet speed like no other, with a full belly, a closet full of clothes and shoes and accessories, a smoking hot shower and clean running water whenever I want, and the anonymity of being just another white girl again. And I'm at home, at peace.
My reintegration has been smooth, and yet chaotic, extreme, emotional, beautiful.
I will continue to reflect back on this experience for the forseeable future (probably my whole life), and still have much to write and share.
I regret that many stories will now be told in hindsight, from Canada, but internet in Ghana was slow, to say the least, and there were seemingly much more important things to do at the time.
I'm sure that even 1 month from now I will have much deeper insights into what I actually did, what I learned, and how I have changed. In reading one of posts I wrote before I left, where I talked about knowing that this would change my life, yet not knowing just how or what that would look like, I realize how true that was then, and still is today.
Ask anyone who's seen me since I came back and they will tell you that I have been very changed by this experience. I am a different person with a different vision and outlook.
I could write for days but I'll close here by saying just how grateful I am for my time in Ghana, and to all of you who have supported me on this rollercoaster ride that brought me across the world and back again, in one safe, healthy, happy piece.
I feel whole, and yet I have an insatiable need to quench my thirst to undertake more development work in Ghana, something much longer, more sustainable, and more challenging.
Until then I will continue to send loving thoughts to Ghana, share my experiences with anyone willing to listen, and find outlets for my passion and joy to translate to positive social action in Canada.
"The content of your character is your choice. Day by day, what you do is who you become. Your integrity is your destiny- it is the light that guides your way"- Heraclitus
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Friday, July 25, 2008
Field research in rural schools
Schools in Ghana are very different from schools in Canada; quite obviously. We spent the past 2 weeks working in rural schools in the Gomoa West District, the first week my group of 5 spent in one school and the second week groups swapped and we researched in the second school. It became quite clear that the first school was the “high performing” school and the second school was the “low performing”. At the second school, teachers sat outside of classrooms not teaching, came late, left school early, and for three days there was a workshop where the majority of teachers had to attend, and there is no concept of “substitute teachers” in Ghana, so students simply came to class and sat unattended, or other students taught classes for one another. It is difficult not to impose my biases and perceptions of acceptable classroom practices when describing the schools. Watching students being “caned”, smacked, or “shamed” by the entire class when they participate with the wrong answer was at times difficult to observe. But there were many beautiful elements as well. When a student would make a valuable contribution, the teacher would say “clap for him” and they would all clap in patterned unison, and some teachers created their own teaching and learning materials if nothing was provided by the school.
That Ghanaian culture is much more physical and collectivist than Canadian culture is quite evident in schooling. On Wednesday worship, students all sing, clap, dance, pray aloud, drum, jump together; immensely powerful (look forward to my posting a video on facebook). Every morning starts with Assembly (led by students, as teachers are not yet at school) where students line up, walk together (picture an army march), sing the National anthem, pray aloud in unison, play drums. Yet, even though discipline is physical, and encouragement is physical, and worship is physical, the teaching pedagogy itself is very one-sided as teachers read from a book, write on the board, drill questions or lecture while students remain seated for the entire duration, unless of course they answer a question which requires them to stand. Further, when anyone enters the room, all students stand and greet the person in unison; another physical, communal practice.
Beyond these observations, we conducted interviews with 6 pupils (2 high performing, 2 average, and 2 low performing) from each of the classes 4-8, provided Headmasters and teachers with questionnaires, and interviewed community members, elders, and Queen Mothers. English proficiency was always quite clear immediately- many children could not understand my English so I was forced to take notes as my partner Gladys spoke with the children in Twi and translated for me. One boy was 18 years old, still in school, but due to Wholesale Promotion (where every child must pass on to the next grade regardless of their performance) he was unable to speak English.
Yet once again, there were beautiful moments and children with brilliant minds who understood every word I said and contributed valuable insight into the challenges of their schools and the importance of education. I would be lying if I didn’t share that my heart broke many times while working in these schools, where “sanitation” and the only “bathroom” available was to pee outside in an enclosed block on cement, or that there was no running water, many students without pens or pencils, most children had not eaten before school, children who wanted to speak and learn English but were afraid because they were mocked and tormented by fellow students, students attending school barefoot because if they wear “slippers” (flip flops) they are caned or sent home, children in dirty, torn, outdated uniforms, students leaving class to buy food and run errands for teachers. There were also interesting community beliefs that hinder the achievement of quality education; some believed that the reason the students were not performing was due to witches in the community, and that there were barrels at the threshold of every classroom so that as every student leaves class all the knowledge they learned is sucked out of their minds and sealed into the barrels. How do you convince community members to invest in schools, to encourage students to attend and learn when they feel academic performance is the result of witches?
We are now currently in Cape Coast, coding and analyzing all of our qualitative and quantitative data, trying to make sense of it all before the report is due on Tuesday. As of now I cannot share our findings or recommendations, but I can say that the problems are very complex and intertwined and to merely attribute performance to a lack of trained teachers, textbooks or school supplies would be short sighted and naïve. Clearly, there are many community and cultural perceptions that effect pupil perceptions of education, and the lack of role models in these rural communities results in all students wanting to be “tro tro drivers” when they grow up because that is all they see, what their siblings do, one of the few things you can do without secondary school education. Situational factors, such as a select few members of the community who obtained wealth/success without attending school, or members who learned better English working in the market than their siblings attending schools, lead people to believe that school is not needed to succeed or to learn English, so why bother? Why continue? Why study? Why attend school? And when the pressures of living in poverty, in large families requires all children to fetch water day and night, wash dishes, cook, clean and some even have to go and work on Market days or work on the farm, it becomes unimportant/impossible to attend school regularly, or learn at home or at school.
And yet, as always, there are always gems. One student I interviewed, Emmanuel, stole my heart. He was brilliant, a high performing student who knew the answer to every question and was always smiling. He spoke fluently in English, and asked for my address in Canada so he could come visit me one day. He told me he wanted to be a journalist and I told him he could be. He told me that it’s hard at home because there is not enough food, his parents work in another village so he is being cared for by his older sister, and he often goes to school without eating, and without money/food to eat during the day. I asked him if he liked living here, and his face sank and he said “no, it’s very hard”. I wanted to hug him, buy him food, give him money, but what kind of researcher is that? The day we were leaving I called him over and gave him a pack of my cookies and he said thank you and left, and I later saw him walking around sharing the cookies with other children; such a beautiful child.
Another day, when teachers were at the workshop or sitting outside chatting, I realized that a class had been unattended for the entire day, so I went to see what they were doing, and I observed that a child was teaching the same lesson they had been taught the day before about 6 English Keywords (porch, barking and family are all I remember right now). After realizing that every child could say the words and had been going over the same story over and over, I decided to write a story about myself on the chalkboard with the keywords in it, had them read it, and then proceeded to talk to the children about Canada, and asked them what subject they were supposed to be learning. One boy was much tinier than the rest, and when I asked how old the students were, they all said 12 or 13 but he said he was 10. I discovered that he was in the class because he was “smart” and “could read”. He could understand all that I said and would translate for the rest of the class. He told me they were to be learning math, so he got me the textbook and told me where the teacher left off, so I put some problems on the board for them. It is very hard to fathom that teachers would attend school and just sit outside and talk the entire day while students sit in the classrooms. It is amazing that the children still come to school, and surprising that they are not doing worse than they are.
I don’t mean to be pessimistic or paint a dark picture of a beautiful world, because at the end of each day I was always overwhelmed with love for these children, seeing them smiling and laughing, hearing their voices singing, and yelling “mami obruni” will always warm my heart. My intention is to share what I have been doing and what I have observed, and understandably what often stands out to a foreigner is what is upsetting/depressing/surprising. Once again I want to clarify that all of my observations are very subjective, biased and based on a miniscule sample size of 2 schools, so by no means do my opinions reflect all of the education system in Ghana, because Ghana is actually known for their education system throughout Africa.
Look forward to more about my research and about some of the challenges of working in an intercultural context with Ghanaian and Canadian University students.
I cannot believe I have only 2 short weeks left in this beautiful country, with these incredible people, and so I cannot become nostalgic/emotional, but I promise to enjoy every moment I have left, and to write much more in the next while; internet access permitting ;)
With lots and lots and lots of love,
Robin
That Ghanaian culture is much more physical and collectivist than Canadian culture is quite evident in schooling. On Wednesday worship, students all sing, clap, dance, pray aloud, drum, jump together; immensely powerful (look forward to my posting a video on facebook). Every morning starts with Assembly (led by students, as teachers are not yet at school) where students line up, walk together (picture an army march), sing the National anthem, pray aloud in unison, play drums. Yet, even though discipline is physical, and encouragement is physical, and worship is physical, the teaching pedagogy itself is very one-sided as teachers read from a book, write on the board, drill questions or lecture while students remain seated for the entire duration, unless of course they answer a question which requires them to stand. Further, when anyone enters the room, all students stand and greet the person in unison; another physical, communal practice.
Beyond these observations, we conducted interviews with 6 pupils (2 high performing, 2 average, and 2 low performing) from each of the classes 4-8, provided Headmasters and teachers with questionnaires, and interviewed community members, elders, and Queen Mothers. English proficiency was always quite clear immediately- many children could not understand my English so I was forced to take notes as my partner Gladys spoke with the children in Twi and translated for me. One boy was 18 years old, still in school, but due to Wholesale Promotion (where every child must pass on to the next grade regardless of their performance) he was unable to speak English.
Yet once again, there were beautiful moments and children with brilliant minds who understood every word I said and contributed valuable insight into the challenges of their schools and the importance of education. I would be lying if I didn’t share that my heart broke many times while working in these schools, where “sanitation” and the only “bathroom” available was to pee outside in an enclosed block on cement, or that there was no running water, many students without pens or pencils, most children had not eaten before school, children who wanted to speak and learn English but were afraid because they were mocked and tormented by fellow students, students attending school barefoot because if they wear “slippers” (flip flops) they are caned or sent home, children in dirty, torn, outdated uniforms, students leaving class to buy food and run errands for teachers. There were also interesting community beliefs that hinder the achievement of quality education; some believed that the reason the students were not performing was due to witches in the community, and that there were barrels at the threshold of every classroom so that as every student leaves class all the knowledge they learned is sucked out of their minds and sealed into the barrels. How do you convince community members to invest in schools, to encourage students to attend and learn when they feel academic performance is the result of witches?
We are now currently in Cape Coast, coding and analyzing all of our qualitative and quantitative data, trying to make sense of it all before the report is due on Tuesday. As of now I cannot share our findings or recommendations, but I can say that the problems are very complex and intertwined and to merely attribute performance to a lack of trained teachers, textbooks or school supplies would be short sighted and naïve. Clearly, there are many community and cultural perceptions that effect pupil perceptions of education, and the lack of role models in these rural communities results in all students wanting to be “tro tro drivers” when they grow up because that is all they see, what their siblings do, one of the few things you can do without secondary school education. Situational factors, such as a select few members of the community who obtained wealth/success without attending school, or members who learned better English working in the market than their siblings attending schools, lead people to believe that school is not needed to succeed or to learn English, so why bother? Why continue? Why study? Why attend school? And when the pressures of living in poverty, in large families requires all children to fetch water day and night, wash dishes, cook, clean and some even have to go and work on Market days or work on the farm, it becomes unimportant/impossible to attend school regularly, or learn at home or at school.
And yet, as always, there are always gems. One student I interviewed, Emmanuel, stole my heart. He was brilliant, a high performing student who knew the answer to every question and was always smiling. He spoke fluently in English, and asked for my address in Canada so he could come visit me one day. He told me he wanted to be a journalist and I told him he could be. He told me that it’s hard at home because there is not enough food, his parents work in another village so he is being cared for by his older sister, and he often goes to school without eating, and without money/food to eat during the day. I asked him if he liked living here, and his face sank and he said “no, it’s very hard”. I wanted to hug him, buy him food, give him money, but what kind of researcher is that? The day we were leaving I called him over and gave him a pack of my cookies and he said thank you and left, and I later saw him walking around sharing the cookies with other children; such a beautiful child.
Another day, when teachers were at the workshop or sitting outside chatting, I realized that a class had been unattended for the entire day, so I went to see what they were doing, and I observed that a child was teaching the same lesson they had been taught the day before about 6 English Keywords (porch, barking and family are all I remember right now). After realizing that every child could say the words and had been going over the same story over and over, I decided to write a story about myself on the chalkboard with the keywords in it, had them read it, and then proceeded to talk to the children about Canada, and asked them what subject they were supposed to be learning. One boy was much tinier than the rest, and when I asked how old the students were, they all said 12 or 13 but he said he was 10. I discovered that he was in the class because he was “smart” and “could read”. He could understand all that I said and would translate for the rest of the class. He told me they were to be learning math, so he got me the textbook and told me where the teacher left off, so I put some problems on the board for them. It is very hard to fathom that teachers would attend school and just sit outside and talk the entire day while students sit in the classrooms. It is amazing that the children still come to school, and surprising that they are not doing worse than they are.
I don’t mean to be pessimistic or paint a dark picture of a beautiful world, because at the end of each day I was always overwhelmed with love for these children, seeing them smiling and laughing, hearing their voices singing, and yelling “mami obruni” will always warm my heart. My intention is to share what I have been doing and what I have observed, and understandably what often stands out to a foreigner is what is upsetting/depressing/surprising. Once again I want to clarify that all of my observations are very subjective, biased and based on a miniscule sample size of 2 schools, so by no means do my opinions reflect all of the education system in Ghana, because Ghana is actually known for their education system throughout Africa.
Look forward to more about my research and about some of the challenges of working in an intercultural context with Ghanaian and Canadian University students.
I cannot believe I have only 2 short weeks left in this beautiful country, with these incredible people, and so I cannot become nostalgic/emotional, but I promise to enjoy every moment I have left, and to write much more in the next while; internet access permitting ;)
With lots and lots and lots of love,
Robin
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Saturday, July 5, 2008
Contemplations on the Cultural Contradictions
Wu hu te se! (how are you)! I am alive and well in Ghana, but with no internet access around it has been difficult to communicate back to Canada, so I apologize.
So far, in the past week, I have already learned so much and it is very hard to be concise or clear about what I have observed because often times I have been surprised by things I didn't expect or didn't fit in with the culture.
We came off the plane to find our Ghanaian counterparts holding signs with our names on them! The first week was spent in Accra at the University of Ghana residence, with all 40 students. This week included visits to the markets which is are sweltering, crowded, and exciting as you can imagine. Every where you turn people are yelling OBRUNI (white person/foreigner) and mostly it is a positive thing, not anything rude. The children just laugh and smile and wave as they yell Obruni, they are very intrigued by us. Something else I had seen in pictures that is more true than I could have dreamed was the amount of things people carry on their heads. As you drive around in tro tros (little buses) people are constantly trying to sell you things through the window, from fruit, to fish, to kleenex, to plastic bags of water, anything you can imagine. Even those not selling things carry everything on their heads- why use hands anyway. No word of a lie I saw a man walking with a wheel barrow on his head! Amazing.
We had the pleasure of attending a Canada Day celebration with the High Commissioner, and also attended a traditional ritual ceremony with a chief and queen mother and lots of amazing dancing and singing and music. First all the elders danced and we had to memorize their moves, and then it was the obrunis turn, and let me tell you it was the funniest thing you'd ever seen. They could not stop laughing at us and how bad our rhythm is- but they were impressed with my booty-shaking ability and some people here are convinced I'm an African at heart.
It was very interesting to see how traditional and modern elements interact. We are at this very traditional ceremony, and after the Chief sits down on his thrown from his dance, his "soul" (a boy) hands him his cell phone and the chief starts to text message. This is what you see in Ghana that I did not expect. Nearly everyone has cell phones and are on them constantly, and as often as you see someone in traditional clothing you will see someone in "american" clothing, listening to 50 Cent, Akon, Sean Kingston, Shakira, Beyonce.. etc. Here I thought I was being smart to bring really plain, comfortable clothes, no makeup or jewelry, but all the Ghanaians here are so beautifully dressed at all times- all of us Canadians look like slobs. Unfortunately Ghana is more materialistic than I expected and much of what they get from North America does not assist in development, but merely makes them want more. They watch trashy music videos and films and get Jerry Springer and Cheaters on TV and have a very unrealistic perspective of how rich and how sexual our culture really is. I wanted to cry when I went into a mall in Accra. I walked around stunned that this is the kind of development that is taking place in Accra- urbanization, material goods, shopping malls with imported fruits that could be bought down the street from your neighbor, and NIKE with ads and billboards of only white people. Myself and three other obrunis were sitting outside eating crackers (a staple of the ghanaian-canadian-vegetarian diet) and a young boy came up to us with a donation sheet and said he was fund raising for something and wanted us to sponsor him, and right away a mall security guard approached us, apologized, yelled at the boy to leave, wouldn't let him speak.. we sat there stunned.
Our priviledge is evident in all that we do. Even our counterparts want to do everything for us, because of course obrunis don't know how to wash clothes by hand in a bucket. It is hard to be sensitive and accomodating while also asserting the fact that I want to experience, as much as possible, the authentic Ghanaian lifestyle. As much as they are friendly, they are sometimes "pushy" or just will pull us or tell us to do something.
In regards to Ghana in general though, the people are VERY nice and friendly, and are always saying "sorry" even if I trip on my own clumsiness, and they had nothing to do with it. They are a very religious, positive people, and it is never long without seeing a smile or loud laughter or beautiful singing. It is interesting, in learning Twi, one day I asked what do you say if you are not me hu ye (fine). And they just sat there stunned, then said, "you always say you're fine. Even if you're on the way to your mother's funeral, you would tell someone you are fine." Think of how often you hear people in Canada saying "I'm stressed/pissed/tired/mad/sad/upset/sick/bored.. the list could go on for days. This simple element of their culture keeps such a positive feeling in the air and makes interactions always happy.
My heart is so full here and I have never felt so amazing in ways that I unfortunately cannot put into words for you now. I have so much love for the people I've met already and was so sad to see half the group head to the North, as my group headed to Apam (on Thursday). I was crying and you cannot believe how quickly some people can bond and connect across cultures in a matter of days; it is so beautiful.
Food, people always seem to want to know about, so I will say briefly that they eat ENORMOUS portions (and anyone who knows me, know I have won many a pizza eating competitions and can eat a lot "for a girl", but here they always think something is wrong with me). Breakfast is like eating a turkey dinner basically, and the amount of carbs they consume would blow all of your minds- and yet they are all so slim, while we Canadians look so fat. My vegetarianism has been hard, but luckily I have some veg allies so we make sure to eat together, even if every meal ends up being 2 pounds of rice or crackers or a watermelon or a pineapple.
I am very happy in Apam and am thankful that from our guest house we can see the ocean, that there aren't many mosquitoes, that there is a dog around named Lady who loves me as much as I love her, and goats and roosters and chickens and geckos, and children around who always want to play with us or show us how to get to the beach or just laugh at us.
The guest house is quite comfortable, and apart from having baths in a bucket, it is much like staying in a cottage so I cannot say I am living in the most rural conditions but it is still a great learning experience, and an eye opening one for sure, simply in regards to water and how at all times of day you are thinking about water and if you have enough and when to wash clothes and how to bath and how to wash fruit and dishes and hands- water is such a life force that we take for granted in Canada and I hope that is one thing I can bring back with me.
I am sorry this has been a long rant from my mind but this is all that I can do at the present moment. We are heading to Elmina to see some festival where some "beast" is supposed to be killed.. should be very interesting, and then we are heading back to our home sweet home in Apam.
On Friday we visited the schools we will be working in, starting on Tuesday, and that too was immensely powerful and touching. Hundreds of students swarming us jumping, laughing, screaming, yelling obruni, smiling and wanting to see every picture you take of them, and laughing 10 times harder when they see the picture. The schools themselves look as you might expect them to, not like Canadian schools at all. And in skimming through the primary workbooks I was shocked to see that primary students learn about HIV and how it is transmitted and how to protect yourself- I cannot fathom learning this at that age, but this is so relevant to their culture.
I am excited to keep learning more, and to sort out in my mind what this culture actually is, how it differs from what I expected or read, and how traditional and modern elements connect and contradict and how all of this functions to make them the country that they are- very developed in regards to other parts of Africa, but very under developed in comparison to the global north, and furthermore how this functions in regards to my role here as a Canadian. I feel there is little I can achieve in 6 weeks but part of me feels this will not be my last time in the beautiful country that is Ghana.
Please keep in touch and stay positive as I am ,
With love,
Robin
So far, in the past week, I have already learned so much and it is very hard to be concise or clear about what I have observed because often times I have been surprised by things I didn't expect or didn't fit in with the culture.
We came off the plane to find our Ghanaian counterparts holding signs with our names on them! The first week was spent in Accra at the University of Ghana residence, with all 40 students. This week included visits to the markets which is are sweltering, crowded, and exciting as you can imagine. Every where you turn people are yelling OBRUNI (white person/foreigner) and mostly it is a positive thing, not anything rude. The children just laugh and smile and wave as they yell Obruni, they are very intrigued by us. Something else I had seen in pictures that is more true than I could have dreamed was the amount of things people carry on their heads. As you drive around in tro tros (little buses) people are constantly trying to sell you things through the window, from fruit, to fish, to kleenex, to plastic bags of water, anything you can imagine. Even those not selling things carry everything on their heads- why use hands anyway. No word of a lie I saw a man walking with a wheel barrow on his head! Amazing.
We had the pleasure of attending a Canada Day celebration with the High Commissioner, and also attended a traditional ritual ceremony with a chief and queen mother and lots of amazing dancing and singing and music. First all the elders danced and we had to memorize their moves, and then it was the obrunis turn, and let me tell you it was the funniest thing you'd ever seen. They could not stop laughing at us and how bad our rhythm is- but they were impressed with my booty-shaking ability and some people here are convinced I'm an African at heart.
It was very interesting to see how traditional and modern elements interact. We are at this very traditional ceremony, and after the Chief sits down on his thrown from his dance, his "soul" (a boy) hands him his cell phone and the chief starts to text message. This is what you see in Ghana that I did not expect. Nearly everyone has cell phones and are on them constantly, and as often as you see someone in traditional clothing you will see someone in "american" clothing, listening to 50 Cent, Akon, Sean Kingston, Shakira, Beyonce.. etc. Here I thought I was being smart to bring really plain, comfortable clothes, no makeup or jewelry, but all the Ghanaians here are so beautifully dressed at all times- all of us Canadians look like slobs. Unfortunately Ghana is more materialistic than I expected and much of what they get from North America does not assist in development, but merely makes them want more. They watch trashy music videos and films and get Jerry Springer and Cheaters on TV and have a very unrealistic perspective of how rich and how sexual our culture really is. I wanted to cry when I went into a mall in Accra. I walked around stunned that this is the kind of development that is taking place in Accra- urbanization, material goods, shopping malls with imported fruits that could be bought down the street from your neighbor, and NIKE with ads and billboards of only white people. Myself and three other obrunis were sitting outside eating crackers (a staple of the ghanaian-canadian-vegetarian diet) and a young boy came up to us with a donation sheet and said he was fund raising for something and wanted us to sponsor him, and right away a mall security guard approached us, apologized, yelled at the boy to leave, wouldn't let him speak.. we sat there stunned.
Our priviledge is evident in all that we do. Even our counterparts want to do everything for us, because of course obrunis don't know how to wash clothes by hand in a bucket. It is hard to be sensitive and accomodating while also asserting the fact that I want to experience, as much as possible, the authentic Ghanaian lifestyle. As much as they are friendly, they are sometimes "pushy" or just will pull us or tell us to do something.
In regards to Ghana in general though, the people are VERY nice and friendly, and are always saying "sorry" even if I trip on my own clumsiness, and they had nothing to do with it. They are a very religious, positive people, and it is never long without seeing a smile or loud laughter or beautiful singing. It is interesting, in learning Twi, one day I asked what do you say if you are not me hu ye (fine). And they just sat there stunned, then said, "you always say you're fine. Even if you're on the way to your mother's funeral, you would tell someone you are fine." Think of how often you hear people in Canada saying "I'm stressed/pissed/tired/mad/sad/upset/sick/bored.. the list could go on for days. This simple element of their culture keeps such a positive feeling in the air and makes interactions always happy.
My heart is so full here and I have never felt so amazing in ways that I unfortunately cannot put into words for you now. I have so much love for the people I've met already and was so sad to see half the group head to the North, as my group headed to Apam (on Thursday). I was crying and you cannot believe how quickly some people can bond and connect across cultures in a matter of days; it is so beautiful.
Food, people always seem to want to know about, so I will say briefly that they eat ENORMOUS portions (and anyone who knows me, know I have won many a pizza eating competitions and can eat a lot "for a girl", but here they always think something is wrong with me). Breakfast is like eating a turkey dinner basically, and the amount of carbs they consume would blow all of your minds- and yet they are all so slim, while we Canadians look so fat. My vegetarianism has been hard, but luckily I have some veg allies so we make sure to eat together, even if every meal ends up being 2 pounds of rice or crackers or a watermelon or a pineapple.
I am very happy in Apam and am thankful that from our guest house we can see the ocean, that there aren't many mosquitoes, that there is a dog around named Lady who loves me as much as I love her, and goats and roosters and chickens and geckos, and children around who always want to play with us or show us how to get to the beach or just laugh at us.
The guest house is quite comfortable, and apart from having baths in a bucket, it is much like staying in a cottage so I cannot say I am living in the most rural conditions but it is still a great learning experience, and an eye opening one for sure, simply in regards to water and how at all times of day you are thinking about water and if you have enough and when to wash clothes and how to bath and how to wash fruit and dishes and hands- water is such a life force that we take for granted in Canada and I hope that is one thing I can bring back with me.
I am sorry this has been a long rant from my mind but this is all that I can do at the present moment. We are heading to Elmina to see some festival where some "beast" is supposed to be killed.. should be very interesting, and then we are heading back to our home sweet home in Apam.
On Friday we visited the schools we will be working in, starting on Tuesday, and that too was immensely powerful and touching. Hundreds of students swarming us jumping, laughing, screaming, yelling obruni, smiling and wanting to see every picture you take of them, and laughing 10 times harder when they see the picture. The schools themselves look as you might expect them to, not like Canadian schools at all. And in skimming through the primary workbooks I was shocked to see that primary students learn about HIV and how it is transmitted and how to protect yourself- I cannot fathom learning this at that age, but this is so relevant to their culture.
I am excited to keep learning more, and to sort out in my mind what this culture actually is, how it differs from what I expected or read, and how traditional and modern elements connect and contradict and how all of this functions to make them the country that they are- very developed in regards to other parts of Africa, but very under developed in comparison to the global north, and furthermore how this functions in regards to my role here as a Canadian. I feel there is little I can achieve in 6 weeks but part of me feels this will not be my last time in the beautiful country that is Ghana.
Please keep in touch and stay positive as I am ,
With love,
Robin
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thoughts before I leave our beautiful country
More and more, things are becoming real but I still have not come to terms with the fact that I am actually going to be in Ghana in less than a week, taking Malaria medication every day, purifying my water, applying bug spray excessively and endlessly. It still has not sunk in yet- even though my bags are packed and I head to Ottawa tomorrow for training.
But as I enjoy my last warm showers, clean toilets, fast food and delicious home cooked meals, clean running water whenever I want it, and all the other luxuries I have, I realize just how lucky I am. How lucky that I won the geographic lottery to be born in Canada. How no matter how intelligent, hard working and passionate a girl might be, if I was born in a country like Ghana it is highly unlikely I would be anything like the person I am today. It's highly unlikely that I would even graduate from primary school, let alone be attending University with seemingly endless opportunities. As I soak up the last of our comforts and the familiarities of the life I have always lived in Canada, it is both exciting and frightening to think of how I will adjust to life in Ghana. It will be liberating to live a life so completely different, learn a new culture, language, and way of being that is neither better nor worse than ours but simply different.
I can't wait. . .
But as I enjoy my last warm showers, clean toilets, fast food and delicious home cooked meals, clean running water whenever I want it, and all the other luxuries I have, I realize just how lucky I am. How lucky that I won the geographic lottery to be born in Canada. How no matter how intelligent, hard working and passionate a girl might be, if I was born in a country like Ghana it is highly unlikely I would be anything like the person I am today. It's highly unlikely that I would even graduate from primary school, let alone be attending University with seemingly endless opportunities. As I soak up the last of our comforts and the familiarities of the life I have always lived in Canada, it is both exciting and frightening to think of how I will adjust to life in Ghana. It will be liberating to live a life so completely different, learn a new culture, language, and way of being that is neither better nor worse than ours but simply different.
I can't wait. . .
Wednesday, May 28, 2008
In a month, I will be in Ghana!!!
I apologize for not writing sooner, but things have been crazy busy and I am mentally all over the place.
I leave in less than a month, and every single weekend I have before I go is packed and busy, camping, retreats, and I'm worried this may not have been the best idea. I really want to see all my friends and family before I leave, but I won't be back in Pickering until a few days before I leave, and not sure what kind of mind space I'll be in.
It is really starting to kick in and the anxiety and nervousness is increasing steadily.
I have found out more about the placement, which is awesome. Our group of 20 has been divided into 4 groups- 2 in the Northern Region, and 2 in the Central Region (where I will be). I will be in Apam and the Gomoa district for the research block of time, and the first and last week we are all together in Accra, the capital city, to get oriented and then to conclude and share our presentations and findings. The research will entail going to 4 different schools, and I believe the focus is on girl education but things are still pretty vague.
I'm feeling so emotional and uncertain and really trying to focus myself and prepare as best I can for this experience, but it's one of this things that people keep telling that I'm going to be so changed, that my life will never be the same, but how do you prepare for that? What will those changes look like? How hard will it be to reintegrate into my life back in Canada?
Lots of questions, but no answers.
I hope this gives you a teeny, tiny window into what I will be doing, how I'm feeling, and I promise to share more information as it comes.
Lots of love
Robin
I leave in less than a month, and every single weekend I have before I go is packed and busy, camping, retreats, and I'm worried this may not have been the best idea. I really want to see all my friends and family before I leave, but I won't be back in Pickering until a few days before I leave, and not sure what kind of mind space I'll be in.
It is really starting to kick in and the anxiety and nervousness is increasing steadily.
I have found out more about the placement, which is awesome. Our group of 20 has been divided into 4 groups- 2 in the Northern Region, and 2 in the Central Region (where I will be). I will be in Apam and the Gomoa district for the research block of time, and the first and last week we are all together in Accra, the capital city, to get oriented and then to conclude and share our presentations and findings. The research will entail going to 4 different schools, and I believe the focus is on girl education but things are still pretty vague.
I'm feeling so emotional and uncertain and really trying to focus myself and prepare as best I can for this experience, but it's one of this things that people keep telling that I'm going to be so changed, that my life will never be the same, but how do you prepare for that? What will those changes look like? How hard will it be to reintegrate into my life back in Canada?
Lots of questions, but no answers.
I hope this gives you a teeny, tiny window into what I will be doing, how I'm feeling, and I promise to share more information as it comes.
Lots of love
Robin
Thursday, February 7, 2008
THANK YOU!
I would like to say a HUGE thank you to everyone who has supported me!! And I am excited to share that I have raised my $3000!!!!!
This could not be possible without the following amazing people/organizations:
- Mom and Dad
- Merv, Carley and Amy Rogers
- Baba and Grandma
- Yiayia
- Aunt Penny and Uncle Nick
- Aunt Mary and Uncle Paul
- Gail Rock
- Donna Longmoore
- Gail Campbell
- Lee Del Zotto
- Paul Keeling
- Jill and Lee Fishleigh
- David Ippolito
- My Lafontaine Parents
- Jen Bottrill
- Kim and Karl Koehn
- The Alumni Association
- University of Windsor Student Alliance
- School of Dramatic Art
- Global Resource Centre
- OPIRG
Now.. what are the Millennium Development Goals, you ask?
While overseas, I will work in collaboration with Ghanaian counterparts within local organizations involved in primary education for all in hopes of achieving Millennium Development Goal #2: Universal Primary Education by 2015. As a student in Drama in Education and Community, I am eager and excited to put my education to use and further explore the complexities of education in a developing nation while staying with a host family to truly experience Ghanaian culture! Living with a family I'm sure will be where most of my learning takes place; observing their family dynamics, their daily routines, food, lifestyle, living conditions, culture! I cannot wait!
In September 2000, 191 nations collaborated, agreeing that there were major international development and human rights problems that could no longer be ignored, and agreed to the United Nations Millennium Declaration, which lead to 8 goals which are to be achieved by 2015 (however, we are not on pace to meet the goals).
The eight goals are as follows:
- Eradicate Extreme Poverty and Hunger
- Achieve Universal Primary Education
- Promote Gender Equality and Empower Women
- Reduce Child Mortality
- Improve Maternal Health
- Combat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, and other Diseases
- Ensure Environmental Sustainability
- Develop a Global Partnership for Development
In my next post I will go in depth on progress towards MDG 2, and discuss Educational Challenges in Ghana specifically!
Thanks so much for reading and thank you to everyone for their kindness and support!
Sincerely and with love,
Robin
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