Days 9-10

On Tuesday morning we left the warm hospitality of Sampa and Mr. Brew and his staff.  They not only fed us, they also put our logo on the side of their exemplary school!

Not far out of town is Morle Junior High School, where we had the pleasure of meeting with Mr. Albert, our tireless liaison at the school, and the rest of the staff as well as very enthusiastic students.  Then it was a very long drive to Kumasi.

Wednesday morning dawned bright and early, and Mr. ["what a road!"] Anthony, our driver and now friend, got us to Awisa Presbyterian Junior High School about two minutes early, more than three hours later.  There Dr. Eric Ananga from the University of Education, Winneba, joined us for a rousing session with the entire student body, which packed itself into one classroom.  We also had a strong meeting with the staff.  This village school has been one of our strongest members for some time and, under the guidance of Mr. Moses, did an exemplary job on their grant application and report last academic year.  And they do a great job educating students from modest backgrounds.

On the way back to Accra we stopped off for an emotional meeting with the leadership of Purity Preparatory School, one of the first schools we began working with.  Proprietress Madam Constance and Headmistress Madam Stella, who volunteers her time, keep the school thriving against great odds

Thursday I rejoined our Accra taxi driver, Mr. Frank, who somehow manages to stay serene and generous no matter how bad the traffic gets, and we visited four schools before a last dinner with Dr. Williams, Yo Ghana! board member and self-appointed head of security and public relations at Chez Afrique, his wife's wonderful restaurant in East Legon.  Then Friday we were off to Mr. Brando's home village, Akalove.  More on that later--we are laying over in London after a very hectic Friday night at the Accra Airport, so we are a more than a little dazed and confused after trying to do far too much in four weeks, operating regularly on a couple of hours of sleep a night, surviving Northern Ghana's roads and Accra's traffic, all punctuated regularly by meetings with inspirational educators whose challenges make you want to weep and whose dedication can't help but make you have hope for Ghana education in particular and humanity in general.  Thank you.

Day 8

We had a busy day today. 

First was Nipaba Brew School, where students like the one pictured here surrendered a good part of their holiday to listen to us talk about Yo Ghana!  The school is particularly innovative in helping children to read at a very young age.

Then it was off to Nafana Presbyterian Senior High School, where a roomful of another group of students willing to come in on their day off awaited us.  Enthusiasm was high among staff and students at this school, too.

Then we wrapped up the day meeting the Chief and Elders of Morle, a village outside Sampa and the home of Morle Junior High School.  Some mentioned that they had not seen a white man up close before, but I think I did a good job of demonstrating that white men are nothing special.

Day 7: Linear Man Meets Ghana

As my students can attest to, I pride myself on being organized.  So throughout this trip I've been trying to lay out every day's schedule well ahead of time, and my good brother Brando has done his best to accommodate the plan.  But the days have seldom gone as expected.

Take yesterday, for example.  The original plan was to meet with the leaders of the three schools in the area that we work with on Saturday night or some time on Sunday, then visit the schools on Monday and Tuesday morning.  But Monday is a holiday (though it is not listed as such on any of the lists of holidays I had consulted before planning the trip), and two of the people I had hoped to speak to before Monday were  not available, and so forth.  So when Sunday dawned, our dance card was looking pretty sparse.  After three weeks of trying to fit too much into too little we had time on our hands--which, given our general state of exhaustion, was perhaps not a bad thing.  Resting is seldom part of my plan.

Anyway, part of the dynamic here is that Ghanaians have been promised so many things by visitors from the West--and so many problems can come up to interrupt a trip--that they don't take our stated plans very seriously.  Until, that is, one actually shows up.  So Sunday was punctuated by a series of visits from friends of friends, meals that we had neither asked for nor expected, and offers of help.

The one big event of the day--which I had not anticipated when planning the trip--was a visit with the Chief, but that kept getting moved back 15, 30, 60, 90 minutes as everyone assembled to greet us.  The meeting itself was conducted in Twi, so most all of it went over my head, but there was no mistaking the fact that the Chief and Elders were delighted by our visit and stated purpose, which Brando confirmed, and by the time the meeting was over doors that had before been slightly ajar were now opening quickly and Monday was going to be a full day, indeed. 

But there was more to Sunday.  The day ended with an extremely emotional and inspiring meeting with a man who has devoted his life to redeeming the pains of his own childhood.  I had no idea of and no plan for that.

Day 6

Today was a long drive from Tamale to Sampa, on the border of the Ivory Coast.  Soon after arriving we had the pleasure of meeting Mr. Gilbert Brew, Headmaster of a remarkable school, Nipaba Brew Primary, that we'll be visiting on Monday, and his hospitality was outstanding.

Passing by dozens and dozens of schools as we have driven across much of Ghana has prompted Brando and I to think and talk a lot about what sort of Ghana schools Yo Ghana! gets involved with.  Here's a list:

1) A liaison or intermediary.  All of the schools we work with have at least one person who is comfortable in both the western and African worlds.  Mr. Dominic Fordwour, for example, was taught at one of Ghana's teaching colleges, was a head teacher at several schools and a supervisor of an educational district before moving to Oregon, and he has a very detailed knowledge of many Ghanaian schools.

2) Serve many children from (economically) poor families.  There is a very close relationship between income and educational access in Ghana as elsewhere, so we love working with schools that are trying to do something about that, even when it hurts their bottom line.

3) The schools are not waiting for someone like us to come along and solve their problems.  They are doing a lot with a little, so that Yo Ghana! can become a sort of junior partner in their efforts.
St. Kizito Basic School in Kpandai, shown above, hits all three points hard.  Dominic referred us to the school as one with outstanding leadership.  Shown above are the kindergarten buildings which house over 300 students.  Classroom size approaches 100, and some of the teachers are volunteers.  Yet the people who oversee the school  are relentless problem solvers, even knowing that the problems are most likely going to outnumber the solutions by a healthy margin.  A cynic would look at the situation and turn away.  A romantic would try to solve everything at once and soon burn out, or perhaps focus on one narrow problem among many.  The compassionate realists who are so common in Ghanaian schools do what they can on multiple and shifting fronts, an approach that takes a special sort of courage, and we are more than pleased to do our small part in encouraging and supplementing their efforts while offering them the opportunity to teach and learn from their counterparts in the U.S. through letter writing.

Day 5: Brando Magic

One of the best parts of this trip has been watching my friend, Mr. Brando Akoto, in action.  Brando is one of the kindest and most generous and perceptive persons I have ever met, and one of the most passionate, too.  He managed to make a living as a merchant in West Africa, an occupation that requires a great deal of mental dexterity, and then he worked for many years doing grass-roots development in Ghana before moving to the U.S.  The first time we met, we sat and talked for a couple of hours about education and development, and I immediately knew that he would be perfect on Yo Ghana's board.

When speaking with students, Brando shows them affection while commanding their attention and demanding their best.  He challenges them to work hard and dream big, laughs with them, inspires them, tells them that their schools and their communities are strong places, that the quality of their lives is measured not by their material possessions but by their character and their determination.  He insists that they respect themselves and carry themselves with dignity

even as they care for others.

The above photograph is from the Evangelical Church of Ghana school in Tamale, a place where very focused learning takes place, an institution with high standards and low tuition rates.  Then, in the afternoon, we travelled north of town to Savelugu Senior High School, where we also found an outstanding staff--and an audience of several hundred attentive students.  There is in these meetings a tone of formality and earnestness that is most refreshing after so many years of being immersed in the world-weary and ironic ethos of American culture.  These students and the adults who lead them are truly, as they like to say in Ghana, "serious."  And so is our friend Brando--though he has a very ready laugh.

Day 4--Don't Show My Wife this Photo

This morning Brando and I toured St. Kizimo Basic School in Bandai.  It's quite a remarkable school, as it is woefully under-supported but has an excellent reputation and is turning away students at the beginning of every school year.  For example, there are three teachers for about 350 kindergarten students who are in four classes.  But the schools is the top district performer in its exams, and students walk up to ten miles a day, passing many other schools, to attend it. To the right is Brando Akoto inspiring the Form 3 students.
Then it  was off to Tamale, which turned out to be a harrowing four-hour ride, with plenty of mi

niature lakes to negotiate (see below), along with the potholes.

Ghana's horrible road system is a major drag on its economy and life  Goods in isolated regions (where the standard of living is relatively low) routinely cost twice as much as they do in Accra, as the great majority of goods have to be hauled across roads like this one.   Getting to school or work is often time consuming.  NGOs commonly flock to the Accra Area  because travel in the North is so difficult.  A massive loss of time is inflicted  by the inefficient road system.

Anyway, we arrived safe and sound in Tamale, where we'll meet with Mr. Chris and his fine staff, who head up the Evangelical Church of Ghana School there.


                                                        

This morning we had the pleasure of meeting the students and teachers at John Doswijck, including the letter writers who are paired with St. Andrew Nativity School in NE Portland.  Madame Caroline is the teacher who works with them.  The students were very, very attentive and respectful, and I complimented them highly on the quality of their letters.  Meanwhile Brando was working with Mr. Daniel, the new ICT (technology) teacher to ensure that the letters could flow smoothly.

Then our driver, Mr. Tony, negotiated a very challenging road to Kpandai, where we have been hosted by Fathers Mawusi and Baafi, who have treated us very well, indeed.  Tomorrow we will visit the Junior Secondary School that the Parish helps to run. Father Mawusi also oversees the other schools in the district and spoke movingly of classrooms with nearly 100 students and pupils sitting and taking notes on the floor.  It's both very hard and very inspiring to hear these things. 

Ghana Road Trip Days 1-2

Mr. Tony, our very capable driver, has been negotiating some very muddy and potholed roads with great skill and care.  The first day we left Accra for Dambai, where a friend (Mr. Issahaku) of a friend (Dominic) is the Principal of the Training School.  We had very good meetings with him, his staff and the town's Chief, as well as the leading teachers of their Demonstration School.  Dambai College of Education is devoted to preparing young women and men to teach in Ghana's basic-school system (up to grade 9).  Yo Ghana! is linking them to two classes of students in PSU's Graduate School of Education, so we hope that this partnership multiplies into many more, as the teachers go out into their schools with first-hand experience of the transformative exchanges that we facilitate.  Mr. Issahaku's hospitality was matchless, so we left town fat and well rested.  The Demonstration School is also very impressive in its own right, has any more students applying that it can handle, and will also be partnering with a school in the U.S.

Then it was a short ferry ride across part of Lake Volta and on to Kete-Krachi, located on a scenic spot overlooking Lake Volta, and John Doeswijck Junior High School, which our own Dr. Kofi Agorsah (Yo Ghana's Vice President) attended some years ago.  Mr. Martin, who has spent many, many hours facilitating this exchange, greeted us warmly and took us to see Headmaster John and other school leaders as well as a few students, then led us to a filling dinner of banku with goat soup.  Tomorrow morning we will visit with the staff and students some more.  Here is Brando at the end of the day at our technology center at the very nice guest house that the school has provided us with.

Angels Academy

This past week fellow Yo Ghana! board member Mr. Brando Akoto and I had the pleasure of visiting several Ghanaian schools within a three-hour drive of Accra.  One of the high points was certainly Angels Academy.  The school came highly recommended by Susan Addy, who had lived across from the school with her husband, the legendary musician Obo Addy.  Yo Ghana! is always looking for schools that: have outstanding leadership; have done a lot with a little, serve many children from low-income homes.  Angels Academy fits right in.

We had the great honor of meeting Mr. Ernest Opoku-Ansah, who founded the school more than two decades ago when he decided to start educating five local children for free.  He only started charging tuition once he retired, and under the leadership of his very capable daughter, Madam Regina Opoku-Ansah, a large percentage of children attend on scholarship.  We enjoyed listening to and talking with this remarkable pair, as well as the school's fine teachers, and we look forward to many more visits to and thousands of letters from this very special place.

Helping Liberians

A few days ago I asked Kpetermeni Siakor, a computer scientist from Liberia, how Americans who wanted to help stop the spread of Ebola could best help.  True to form, he told me that he'd research it and get back to me.

After speaking to his many friends in Liberia Kpetermeni concluded that Doctor's Without Borders is the best place to send your money right now, as they are turning people away from their containment centers due to a lack of resources.  Here is a link to their website: http://www.doctorswithoutborders.org/our-work/medical-issues/ebola .  The donate button is easy to find, and please consider a contribution.

Thank you,

David

Meeting Our School Prefect

Today Brando (Akoto, Board Member and Friend Extraordinaire) and I had the pleasure of meeting Miss Jasmine, the student at Accra Girls Senior Secondary School that Yo Ghana has had the honor of assisting with her education.

It was a treat to sit down and spend some time with such a mature and focused young woman and to hear of her plans for college and beyond.  Not to give anything away, but Miss Jasmine aspires to join a very elite group of medical professional in Ghana--and the rest of the world.

Miss Jasmine is part of a growing and powerful group of gifted and determined young Ghanaians who refuse to be deterred by any barriers and who are already thinking of how to give back to their nation and the world.

Meet Some (Incredibly Inspiring) Ashesi Students

Part of what I'm up to in Ghana is spending a week working on a book chapter that entails interviewing Ashesi University students.  My piece is on how the remarkable little university reflects African as well as Western motifs, and one of those motifs is a passion to care for others.

Kpetermeni Siakor--pictured here in a photo taken yesterday -has worked for and is now a board member for ilabLiberia, an organization working to speed communication regarding disasters, such as the ebola crisis in Liberia.  He's also set up a platform for enabling students with little access to books to connect with the best educational sites on the internet.  And more stuff I don't have room to cover.

Sam Norman Sali and Charles W. Jackson are Dalai Lama Fellows who head up Sesa Mu, an organization devoted to helping local pineapple growers figure out how to make a sustainable living.  They hope to play a role in Ghana some day being able to feed itself rather than importing so much food, a fact that drives much of the poverty that affects rural Ghana.

Benedicta Amo Bempah founded the AmoBempah Initiative last summer after taking a bus to Tamale to find out for herself what conditions were like in the North and finding a village that seemed to need some help.  They started with a literacy program and have plans for improving people's access to health, drinking water, and improved education, as well.

Chris Haruna co-founded Upper Progress to help schools in Ghana's remote Upper Eastern Region, a place where educational resources are particularly scarce.  For three years he has has persuaded a dozen or more Ashesi students to spent sixteen hours (one way) on a crowded bus and a week volunteering.

What these brief descriptions can't capture is the great joy all of these people express in having the opportunity to serve, to make the world better through working with and for others.

2.5 Days in Ghana

Well, the first thing I learned on our trip is that my good friend, Brando,  has a lot of friends in Portland and Ghana!  The photo to the right is from the Portland Airport.  Upon landing in Accra late Sunday, we were met by three friends of friends before we even got through customs (one soldier and two airport employees), then another six or so in the lobby.  And Brando had arranged for me to have a modem, phone, and several shirts, plus a drink, ready to go.  Ghanaians inside and outside of Ghana are incredibly hospitable.

The hospitality has continued at Ashesi University, where I am working in an office about three times the size of the one I have at Portland State.  I've talked with a lot of inspirational people and sat in on several classes.  President Patrick Awuah spoke Monday, the first day of school, about the Ebola outbreak, a talk that sort of encapsulated how Ashesi approaches the world, as he kept coming back to the themes of knowledge and leadership, that the disease's spread had been due largely to failures in those areas.

I'll introduce you soon to an inspiring Ashesi student from Liberia who is on the front line of containing Ebola in Liberia.

The challenges that the students and staff face at Ashesi are daunting, though, and frequent reference is made to "the road" (the photo to the left shows a portion of it, taken from my hotel room) which most staff and faculty traverse daily to get to the university, a commute that consumed well over 2 hours a day for most, largely because the road is unpaved and badly rutted much of the way.
 Our personal introduction to Ghana's infrastructure came right after our plane landed, when it took 2.5 hours to unload the baggage.  I suspect that these hardships are part of what prompt Ghanaians to rely on each other so much.  But I also suspect that Ashesi graduates and others are solving these problems while remaining, as President Awuah would emphasize, their traditional emphasis on community and hospitality.