Life at Accra's girl school is busy.  There always seems to be quite a bit of movement.  What amazes me so much about the school and the staff is how much they can accomplish with so little.  The other day I had the chance to ask the girls some questions.  They were hoping some students could respond with short videos of their own.

Saturday I spent the day on a field trip with about 50 of the girls.  We traveled about 120 km to the Central region of Ghana where there is a Kakum National Park.  Given traffic and the poor roads, this trip actually took about 4 hours each way.  This is a huge tourist attraction but you really can't compare it to national parks in the US since the infrastructure is not too large.  I assumed we would be doing more hiking but instead the whole attraction is a 1/4 mile suspension bridge.  Pretty fun as you can see below:

After a trip to the National Park, we stopped on Cape  Coast Ghana.  This is an important city in Ghana in that there is a prestigious university here.  As well, there is a UNICEF historical Cite called Cape Coast Castle.  Here are the girls wishing Oconomowoc a warm welcome.

The significance of Cape Coast Castle is that it used to be a slave trading post.  The Fanti (a tribal group in Ghana) were in constant battle with the Ashanti.  Essentially the Ashanti were enslaved and then brokered by the Fanti to different groups looking for slaves.  It is depressing to me to think that one group of human actually owned another group as property.  Below is a video of the former slave dungeons.  This small area is where up to 100 slaves were kept for "storage" until they were sold and sent throughout the world (North America).  The video can't in capture the oppressive heat and smells the slave must have had to endure.  It was like being in a sauna with a wall as a bathroom.  This tour was one of the more human moments of my life.  The racism that is embedded in the structural fabric of our own society is rooted here.

This trip was an important one for the girls.  Although it took about 4.5 hours to return in very hot and humid conditions (no AC on the bus), there was not a single complaint to be heard.  I have to be honest in saying that even my best students would have been struggling with the travel conditions. 

Over the next week I am asking that any Oconomowoc student who can to produce a short video discussing their future hopes and dreams.  I will be videoing answers from the girls here and posting them on the blog.  They want to hear what USA students have.  As well, please feel free to post questions about life in Ghana and we will do our best to answer them.  The first group of students who do so will get a Ghanaian surprise when I return.  Either copy the youtube URL into the comment section or login to the following Youtube page and upload the video:

YouTube name:  OconomowocHighSchoolScience
Password:  ohsscience1112

My day at Accra Girls School started with me filling in for an English teacher.  Within about 2 minutes the lesson on "The Tempest" soon became centered on the students asking me questions about what life is like for American teenagers.  The girls were especially interested in learning more about the Free Masons (which I found quite odd).  It appears that many are under the belief that the Masons worship the devil.

Today was my first opportunity to attend my host school in Ghana.  For the next week I will be spending time in the classrooms of The Accra Girl's Secondary School.  It is a school of about 1800 students in grades 9-12.  Over half of the students actually board at the school which is very common in Ghana.  Next year will actually be the last year that the school will hold seniors because the state is transitioning to a 3 year secondary school model in the near future.  Below you will see me being introduced to the student body as the presented me with a ceremonial welcome garment.  Later tonight I will present my own garments (Packers hats) to my host teachers.

The school day always starts with an assembly.  An interesting difference is that there is no real separation between church and state so the school day starts with a prayer and the singing of the school song (yes this is a public school).

Welcome to morning assembly.

Here is a video of a typical physics class at the school.  Notice that there are easily more than 50 students in the class.

I had a chance to talk with the school lunch ladies today.  The food is definitely fresh and local but I think they might be pretty jealous of Chef Brian.

Here is the school media center.  It is pretty clear that all of the books have been donated either from the US or the UK.  They had more books in the back but no room to put anything and no real organization system.  A cool project might be to help them organize this part of their school as they need some help.

Another full day in Accra.  Today consisted primarily meeting with a regional director for a collaboration of schools as well as meeting with directors of various education programs across the country.  It has been interesting to compare the differences between the teachers' views of the great challenges that public education in Ghana faces as compared to what the more bureaucratic side of things is.  From my discussions today it seemed that the biggest challenges were as follows:

• Most teachers make about 400 Cedi a month here (less than $300) and are assigned a school to teach at.  This means that many have to teach in places hours from their homes.  Often times bare accommodations are provided for these teachers making many unwilling to stay.  Although there are many teachers in the US who see their profession as a calling, being a public school teacher here would be one of the hardest jobs I could imagine.

• Many of the more innovative educational things in this country are supported by NGO work from other countries (especially the US).  Although this is important to build diplomacy, it seems to me that this is really an unsustainable model for educational systems.

•  Many of the rural schools in Ghana do not have electricity or running water.  As well, some of the students have to walk great distances even to get to school.  This prevents many students from attending regularly.

Below is a short video where I pose a question regarding the traditional red soil you will find in Sub-Saharan Africa.  Given the hot and humid conditions, my classes should determine why the soil is this color.  Watch the video for a clearer description of this.

As in my last post, I am still seeking US students who will create a short video to explain what a typical life for high school student is in your town.  Tomorrow and all of the next week I will be sharing these with Ghanaian high school students.  The first 3 who submit are eligible for a prize....

Happy Independence Day!!!  At least in Ghana.    On March 6th 1957 Ghana declared independence from British rule. Today I spent the morning watching the official parade and festivities since it is a national holiday and students did not have school.  I can't say there were a lot of fireworks but it is clear that Ghanians are very patriotic.  It makes me realize how much I often take for granted living in the US which has been under democratic rule for such a long period.  Many people in the world don't have this freedom.

In the afternoon, I attended a lecture of the history of the Ghanaian Educational System.  Although school through 9th grade is free and compulsory, attending secondary school in this country is not free.  It costs anywhere from $500 to $1000 US dollars of tuition a year.  This doesn't include the fact that many students actually have to travel away from home to attend secondary schools and have to pay boarding fees.  Given that Ghana is one of the most progressive and safe countries in sub-Saharan Africa, it is amazing to think how many students simply don't have the opportunity to attend secondary school at all.

Ending the day, I had my first taste  of Ghanian Blackberries.  See the video below for more details of this tasty new treat.

Hello everyone,

     Day 2 in Ghana has been a full one.  It started off with a 2 hour lecture on the history of Ghana.  Not that one can actually talk about the history of any country in such a short period of time, but given the fact that most schools teacher very little about African history in high school, it was fascinating!!!  After this I actually got a chance to visit the US Embassy here were we were led in a panel discussion about differences between Ghana's education system and our own.  This panel was fun because my 2 host teachers were both leading the discussion, both having spent some time on exchange programs in the US.  I will be  visiting the school for the first time on Wednesday. 

   From what I can tell the average class size is about 50 students.  Rather than the students moving, the students in the high school actually stay in the classroom and the teachers move between classes.  My assumption is that it would be pretty difficult to do any substantial lab work in science classes.  This is something I will learn more about later this week when I am actually in the school.  Tomorrow and Wed. are both holiday here (Ghanian Independence Day).  I should have some good footage of the Independence parade for tomorrow.

    My evening tonight was spent learning about some of the traditional African dances that at one time were practiced by the tribes in this country.  Below is a video clip that I shows a little of the energy found in such dancing.  They did convince me to do some dancing as well which I will try to post tomorrow (it is on another person's camera).  I am not sure how well the video upload will work given the relatively slow internet but we will give it a try.

      So here is a little incentive for my students or any Oconomowoc students who may be following.  When I go to the school, the students want to know what life is like for the average American high school student.  The first 3 students to post short video clips on youtube discussing their life at OHS are eligible for a gift I will bring back from Ghana.  Please just post them on youtube and then in the comment box of the blog just comment with the link.  If you can post your own questions, I will have some of the Ghanian students respond back with video as well.

Akwaaba!!!!   I just learned today means "welcome" in the Akan language.  This language is native to Ghana and is spoken by about 1/2 of the population.  One of the most surreal things for me so far though is that almost everyone here speaks fluent English with a British accent.  This make sense since the country was at one point a British colony.  I have been many places but few so foreign in which English is the primary spoken language. 

The group (10 teachers and myself from all over the country) arrived today at about 2 pm Ghana time.  It is pretty hot and humid (32 deg C which is about 90 deg F).  We are 6 hours ahead of central standard time which means I have basically been up for 36 hours since I slept little on the 9 hour plane ride.  Below is a picture of my first meal.  Sorry of the low quality picture.  The meal was referred to as red-red.  It can best be described as a fish that has been cooked in a slightly spicy tomato sauce and served with fried plantains (basically across between a potato and a banana but not sweet).

To my students I am posing the following factor label problem.  Mr. Holzmiller, I would appreciate if you could see they tackle this one.

The currency in Ghana is the Cedi (see picture below).

So 1 US dollar = 1.67 Cedi.  If the cost of gasoline here is 1.71 Cedi per liter, and there are 3.78 L in 1 gallon, figure out how much money it would cost to fill up a 10.0 gallon tank of a Hyndai which tends to be a popular car model here.  Please respond as a class with the correct answer to this.

Tomorrow I will try to give a video blog update.  I am pretty jet lagged today