Ma Aha!

Yes there are a lot of kids I would like to bring home! The most frustrating thing is seeing the kids that have so much potential and are willing to work so hard but there are a few problems.

First, teachers don't show up to the class they should teach. Second, most don't know the language or aren't skilled enough to explain things the way they should. Third, they don't have many resources or the money for things like hands on projects for the kids or posters. It is so important with deaf children to be able to see what you are trying to explain - it needs to be concrete, not abstract. Fourth, the teachers have the attitude themselves that the students are lazy and don't want to learn. In my opinion they really do want to learn, but how can they with the environment they're in - and at the JHS they are at an age that most don't really care about school! I remember in Jr. High the kids don't act like they care about anything but friends, it is the same here. So it's tough, they really have a lot of potential but they just don't have what they need to really progress.

I am more attached to the Junior High Students because they are the ones I help the most. But I also have a few primary kids that I am really attached to! It's funny how certain kids from the first day just attach to the volunteers and from that day forward stick with you. I'll tell about a few of the kids I'm really close with.

Soloman is in P-3 which is like 3rd or 4th grade. He has the biggest eyes and at the moment a shaved bald head. He is really smart, and taught me how to play this really fun rock game. I snuck gum to him last night and it was hilarious watching him. I told him to hide while I pulled it out so other kids didn't see so he was darting his eyes all around and not looking at me acting like nothing was going on. He put his head down on the table and I slipped the gum into his hand, he popped it in his mouth, and had the biggest grin but wouldn't look at me.

This little girl that is P-0 (kindergarten) always stays close to me. I don't know her name because she doesn't know it fingerspelled yet, but her sign name is a U on her forehead. She loves to carry my bag on her back and hold my hand. I let her follow me into the JSS in the evening and she is really shy with the older students and acts really shy when I look at her. She is adorable. One day I was talking wtih some kids and she sat next to me so I scratched her back a little, then she tried to scratch mine. She doesn't really sign, but can understand a little bit. Most of the young primary kids just gesture for most things.

Fredrick is in P-4, he is SUPER skilled with sign language for being his age. He told me that his dad is rich and so he has an XBOX in his home. His favorite thing is to describe the different games that he has and it is so funny. My favorite is when he does Mario and imitates him jumping up to the blocks with his head, a mushroom coming out, then him growing big. I told him about the Wii and he thought it was cool too. He is my assistant when I give out band-aids because he loves to put the Neosporin on the band-aid.

They have a game here that is similar to Mancala with nuts in little slots that they like to play. They have lost all the nuts though so they use rocks.

The middle school and the Primary school are right next to each other. The girls live just above the JHS and the boys live in a separate building above their little Library and computer room. The high school is a lot further away, but those students live in separate boy and girl dorms that are really close to the other schools. The high school students walk to school everyday - about a 10 or 15 minute walk. They are all on the same schedule for going home. This term ends July 30th and they will all go to their homes until September or October.

I really have no idea what their home life is like. I know some kids that I've talked to say they live with one parent, maybe a sibling, maybe their aunt. They don't like to go home because they have no one to really communicate with there. Signs of Hope started sending volunteers here in both the fall and the summer now so they get volunteers twice a year. But in Mampong they probably won't get volunteers again until next summer, and the group will all go to the other town Kibi. It is about 3 hours north of here.

The weekend of the 4th we are going to travel to Shai Hills where we get to feed some monkeys! I'm excited. Last Friday at the school they had "track meet" for high school students from different schools nearby. They just have this patchy grass field and so they marked lines around it by cutting the grass and used that as the track to run around. I didn't get to watch much because I was helping in the classroom, but it was really interesting to see!

I met quite a few new high school students from the deaf school - I haven't visited their school since the first week we were here. All of the schools want more volunteers to work with them. I can see that it would be frustrating in the high school because they are at a level where they need and desire the individual tutoring.

The area we are in is both beautiful and very dirty. There is so much greenery and we are in a hilly area, but clean is a relative term here in Africa. What we consider clean here would be really dirty at home. Except for laundry...on the day you wash... if an African is helping you. They are good at getting stains out of your clothes by hand washing! Some places like Accra or Kafordua definitely feel much more dirty than Mampong, but I wouldn't call anything clean.

For dinner last night we had true Ghanaian food - it was called Banku. It was this sourdough-like substance (tasted nothing like dough though) that you tear a small piece off and dip it in spicy red sauce. We also had fried fish - a whole fish including the head, eyes, teeth and bones. It is eaten with your hands but only your right hand because your left hand is considered to be super dirty. You don't chew the Banku, just stick it in and swallow it because it's so sticky. I didn't really like it but I ate it all! The fish was really good.

It has been raining for two days now! I played in it with some students yesterday and had so much fun! We are planning a trip to the temple on Saturday and I'm looking forward to it. Erica and I went last year and loved the peacefulness and people we met. Until next week....