Today
I was thrust into a situation that I was completely and utterly unprepared for.
I was told that I would be going to work at an afterschool program so that I
could start getting some volunteer hours in now since primary school has not
started yet. I had no idea what I was going to be doing, the only thing I knew
was that there would be a woman at the office to take me wherever I was
supposed to be going. I recognized her as the same person that told us about
her basket weaving class that she does with the kids. Her name is Beatrice. I immediately assumed
that I would be doing something of that sort. WRONG!!! We get to her house and she
says, “So what are you going to teach them today?” I was shocked. She told me I
could teach them anything, math, English, etc. About 15 minutes of rummaging
through a small supply of books and struggling to come up with something to
teach, the square yard out front was set up with benches and a board. Out of
nowhere I had around 20 young Ghanaian children all around me! I was super
lost. The children were anywhere from 3 to 14 and some of them did not
understand me very well.
Long
story short, I used some of the older kids to help me with the little ones and
I went through some basic topics like the alphabet, vowels, sounds, and very
simple sentences. Towards the end I read them 3 different stories. Teaching a
large group with everyone at different levels is so tough, especially when I’m
not good at their first language. After 3 hours I was so exhausted. I found out
that Beatrice started the program at her home with the help of another woman
(who is foreign) about 3 years ago. The neighborhood is very poor and none of
the parents can really afford to send their kids to school. So, they started
the program to be bale to give the parents a safe place where their children
could go to learn and play. The bad part is that Beatrice runs this program on
her own with the help her two sons (one of which I know is a senior in high
school) and her sisters because the other woman no longer lives there. I spoke
to her briefly on the phone and she wished me well for the duration of my stay
in Ghana.
I
am stuck in a very hard position because this place is not my permanent
internship location but I really want to help. However, I don’t know if I have
the skills or the creativity to do a good job teaching. I know I have to do
something, whether I try to go once a week or encourage some other students to
go in my place. Beatrice is a strong woman with a good heart…. She just wants
the best for her community. She
told me that she doesn’t really care if I make up games for them to play or
take them to the lot to play soccer. She just wants them to enjoy being there. Even
though the program is needs a lot of help, I see Beatrice as an unsung hero.
Her program has so much potential. Looking at those children today all I kept
thinking about is how much I wanted to help them, yet I felt so helpless. I
will definitely be seeing them again.
Nante Yie (Goodbye!)
Comments? Questions?
Concerns?
(I will be going to
Kumasi this weekend so look out for the post!)
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