In America a lot of fuss is made about backpacks. Are they too heavy or awkward for our kids? Will they cause back problems later? Are children carrying too many books to and from school?
In Ghana nobody asks those questions. Instead, each morning every student in Marfokrom's primary school carries a stool on their head to and from school. Stacked on the stool, they often carry bread, drinking water, breakfast, or whatever else may be of use to the teacher or class. After waking up, they make a few trips to and from the well (80 lb. water jugs are also carried on their noggins), help mom with whatever else is needed, bathe quickly, throw on their blue school uniforms, and finally mount their stools to head off to school.
On this day they were reintroduced to their new 1st grade teacher, Kwabena. I had been out of commission since last Friday because of illnesses among my 'brothers and sisters' (six of our team members got grossly sick Sunday night, one with malaria, others with suspected food poisoning) and yesterday's Republic Day celebrations, Ghana's Independence Day. But today I returned to action, teaching and playing from 8am - 1pm.
Teaching is hard work. Maybe the understatement of the century. After 3o minutes of teaching English words (cow, cup, spoon, goat, etc.) to the kids from a book provided by World Vision, I looked at my watch and thought the day should have been over. But we were just getting started. We worked on English words, spelling, sounds, the alphabet, and ended with a review game before our 45 minute recess of soccer and 'waakye' (beans and rice).
Next was math, where we worked on basic subtraction until Kwabena lost complete control of the room. In a very poorly thought out attempt to restore attention, control, and order to the chaos, I took a bottle of bubbles out of my pocket. I regained the attention of the children, only to watch control and order dive completely off the deep end. The real teacher returned and laughed at the sight of 30+ schoolchildren crowded around the 'obruni' (white man) who wielded bubbles in his left hand and chalk in his right. Using his whip, the teacher reinstated order to the room through intimidation pretty quickly, and hijacked the remaining 30 minutes from my control.
Lots more to discuss about the school, but the pictures speak volumes about the learning conditions. Pens, pencils, paper, and chalk are all in short supply. The children are eager to learn, but lack access to resources that will enhance the quality of their education.
The lesson here is simple: instead of complaining about whether the Jansport or Nike book-bag supports the back best, we should first remember to be grateful that we are to be able to have books to fill a bag with at all. And when you get a minute, try balancing a stool on your head, too. It's harder than it looks!
This last picture was taken by one of the eight year old students, Adjowah. Few things are better than making a child smile. And between bubbles and a digital camera, this is not a difficult task.
