Ghana Update Week 13: Adding to the noise

Last week and this were a little crazy. One of the Primary 2 teachers, Mr. Otoo, had to travel to take exams so Nathanael and I spent quite a bit of time covering his class of 40. It was exam week for us as well so we didn't really have any lesson plans. Instead we played games, made cards, read and discussed several books, etc. All in all it was very successful but very exhausting! Thursday was the final day of the term but no one sat exams. The first and last days of the term are never spent in class, they are spent cleaning. The school is full of activity and noise and chaos. Well, it's chaos to me. There must be a system of sorts or nothing would actually get clean.

Some of the children missed their exams because they were sick – with chicken pox! The poor things... Ester used medicine all over her face and head. She just looked miserable I couldn’t bring myself to take a picture. Thankfully the JSS3 student who got chicken pox recovered by the end of the week so he is not going to miss the BECE.

Before leaving for the States, I promised the second grade class that I would bring new school bags they could earn by reciting all the books of the Bible. Some of the students worked really hard to earn their bag. I introduced the "competition" and the next day Mariama came to class ready to perform. She had studied all evening so she could earn that bag! I ended up letting all the lower grades earn bags and not just the second graders since very few of them accepted the challenge. Some of the older children want an opportunity to earn bags, but I think reciting the books of the Bible is a little too easy for them. When I suggested that they recite an entire book, a small one like Jude or 3 John, Juliet looked at me like I was a horrible human being for even considering such a task. I have to wait until I can purchase more school bags anyway so I have some time to brainstorm ideas. If anyone has any suggestions, let me know.

It has been an interesting critter week. On Wednesday the kids were very distracted in the campus center and kept looking at the ceiling. There are always lizards in the ceiling so when I saw a tail, I wasn't really alarmed. The tail was accompanied by feet so I knew that it wasn't a snake, so I wasn't really worried about it at all. But the children were obviously scared to sit underneath the rafter where this mysterious creature was beginning to crawl into the ceiling fan. Finally one of the older boys came and used to two sticks to trap the lizard, squish it to death, and toss him outside. I got a pretty good look at it was he was carrying it outside: sharp teeth, clawed feet, and a split tongue... definitely not a lizard. But it isn't an alligator like the children keep calling it so I really not sure what it is... All I know is that between this mystery creature and the scorpions that everyone keeps finding, I don't intend to go without a flashlight or close-toed shoes.

The reading program is going well. Two of my students have just really caught on to reading in the last couple months. It has been awesome to see the light bulb turn on and their confidence shoot through the roof. In case I haven’t explained about the reading program yet, let me give you some background. Students read ten books to earn a golden ticket which they can then redeem for a free book. Sara has gotten two golden tickets in the last two months – which is HUGE for her. And Hagar is growing in leaps and bounds when it comes to sounding out words. What amazes me even more is that these children have only been speaking English for little about 18 months. They were both rescued from the slave trade in November/December 2006 and are now in second grade. Isn’t language learning amazing? Just how quickly the brain can pick up something so complex? But here I go on tangent...

I think that about covers it for now. Next week is the BECE exam for our JSS 3 students (ninth graders) so I am sure it will be a busy, prayer-filled week. Hope you are all well!