Ghana Update Week 12: This is Your Life

I answered a lot of the same questions during my visit so I thought I would do a little FAQ session:

Q: Are you in a city or a rural area?

A: We are in a rural area but it is not technically a village. This is a picture Nathanael took from a nearby hill that captures the entire campus. The three story building to your far right is Hope Christian Academy. A little to the left of the school is the medical clinic. Behind the clinic are the seven homes. And behind these homes are the staff/guest quarters. As you can see we are not in a large city, but we are also not completely secluded since there are about 200 people living here.

Q: What language do the people speak?

A: Several. The shcool children from the surrounding villages speak Fante but the VoH children are not local so most of them speak Twi and some speak Ga. Becase of the different languages, instruction at HCA is in English. I have been told that people speaking Twi and Fante can hold a very basic conversation and communicate fairly well -- kind of like a French guy and an Italian lady having a conversation in which everyone is speaking his own language.

Q: How old are the children?

The youngest children are in the nursery school so they are about 3 or 4. And my guess is that the oldest is about 20. HCA only goes through JSS 3 (ninth grade) and high school here is boarding, so the high schoolers come home during holidays, but this is still home for them so they should be considered. Many of the children were out of school for several years so just stating (or knowing) grade levels isnt' always helpful (or acquirate) so I can only guess.

Q: What is a normal day for you?

There is not such thing. You are guaranteed a busy day full of all sorts of situations to keep you very much on your feet. But Monday was such a perfect example that I thought I would share it with you:

6:20 -- Wake up
6:30 -- Meet for prayer and de/brief time
7:00 -- Shower, etc.
7:50 -- Head to Mr Bouli's office to discuss the graduation programs
8:00 -- Realize that Primary level 2 did not have an instructor and I did not have any lesson plans
10:00 -- Give kids a break an hour after normal because I was waiting for the usual bell to ring. Silly me, there's an exam week schedule... I just don't have it...
12:00 -- Break for lunch -- thankful for making it this far without a plan
12:30 -- Start up class again
3:15 -- End of school (after 7 hours of rolling with the punches)
3:30 -- Started the Reading Program
4:45 -- End of Reading Program
5:30 -- Dinner
6:30 -- "Free time" with kids (helped study for exams, read a book with Sarah)
8:30 -- Read a bit before hitting the sack and starting all over tomorrow....