Our Very First Yo Ghana! Conference!

The day before the conference was busy and intense as attendees started arriving in mid-afternoon, with our friends from Dambai.  The action really picked up late at night, and shortly before midnight there were twenty students from three schools packed into a van, traveling from the round-about where the transit bus had dropped them off to the university dorms.  In Ghana, you find a way!  The last group arrived around 1:00 a.m.  Many traveled more than twelve hours in cramped conditions.

But everyone was up early the next morning.  We had eighty-nine staff and students attending. 
Madam Patricia Ananga emceed, Professor Jophus Anamuah-Mensah, for whom the grand conference center is names, welcomed us, and we were soon into our various sessions.

Students learned about how to do math in every-day life, how to write poetry, and exchanged ideas with each other on what they learned from the Yo Ghana! letter writing.  Students from Don Bosco Basic School presented their fine independent research project on a day in the life of a Winneba fisherman.

The teachers and administrators from the sixteen schools spent much of their time listening to presentations from each other and discussing issues ranging from how to discipline without caning to how to improve the educational possibilities for girls whose families require them to work late into the evening to whether or not the national examinations are a worthwhile measure of educational achievement.

Everyone toured the Kantanka Factory, enjoyed dancing and drama from the University of Education Winneba Arts Department, and shared their dreams for their schools and how Yo Ghana! might fit into them.  There were also brief speeches from board members Dr. Eric Ananga—who conceived of and pulled the whole conference together, a massive undertaking--and Dr. David del Mar on Yo Ghana!  Board member Elizabeth Fosler-Jones ironed out a million details, and board member Dr. Eric Donkoh, in Ghana for two months, spent all day Saturday meeting people.

Among the many people who made the event happen, we must mention a few.

Madam Berthy, in the photo to the right, on the left, was the master of many details. Madam Lucy, a recent Winneba graduate, did the very big job of running the dormitories.  Madams Wendy and Lucy of Yo Ghana! worked very hard pulling things together.

Dr. Ananga envisioned this conference as a bench mark in Ghana education, as it is time for teachers and administrators in outstanding schools to be heard on how to improve Ghanaian education.  For me, this amounted to seeing amazing people I had met in isolated schools over many years coming together to educate and inspire each other.

As Dr. Ananga told our teachers and students when we closed: “You are Yo Ghana!”

June 30

Thursday between preparing for the arrivals of our conference attendees Wendy and I visited our two Winneba schools, Don Bosco and St. Paul’s.  The students at both had graduated, so they came in on their vacations and waited several hours for us.  This sort of dedication and patience never ceases to amaze and impress me.

 

We were particularly eager to thank the Don Bosco students for their initiative in undertaking independent-research projects.  It is our hope that more schools will do this sort of work, and the students and their teacher, Madam Cynthia, worked very hard on the projects.

At St. Paul’s we met with Mr. Mills and the students who would be attending the conference, and talked with the students of their plans for senior secondary schooling.  Most students in Ghana live away from home for their three years of senior high school (equivalent to grades 10-12 in the U.S.), so this is a very big step.  Roughly half of Ghana students are able to attend high school, so it is a very exciting time, preparing for this big stage of life and career.

June 28/29

Tuesday afternoon after the drive from Sampa we had the pleasure of again visiting Wings for Life. 

This remarkable institution, led by the Ampofo family, has innovative and student-centered after-school programs. Ghana schools tend to emphasize memorization, and it was delightful to meet and talk with WFL’s students, to witness first hand their curiosity and initiative.  WFL also offers education for special-needs children.  Mrs. Mercy Ampofo and her son, Rudolph, are among the leaders in Ghana in these fields, and their excitement for education in general and child-centered education in particular is inspiring.

Next morning we had the pleasure of visiting a school recommended a few months ago to us by WFL: Mt. Olivet School.  Mt. Olivet was celebrating its twentieth anniversary.  It began as a nursery program, and its founder, Madam Regina, kept expanding in response to parent requests.  Now it serves over 500 students. The students were performing dances, the garden had lovely fragrances, and the staff and students were excited about their work—and to be part of Yo Ghana!

Mt. Olivet joined us a few months ago when one of our Ghana schools dropped out in the middle of the year, and their students did a wonderful job. We are thrilled that they are part of the Yo Ghana! family.

June 27

Monday was a very full day, as we visited five (yes, five!) schools in and around Sampa.

Mr. Brew and his crew put on an extravagant program at Nipaba Brew School.  The staff and students (more than 500) were outfitted in Yo Ghana! school shirts and gathered for a program that featured a sound system and microphone and then a wonderful performance from the school’s dance team.  We could also see the school’s program of expansion, with a second Junior High School building nearing completion, as the school will be offering a full JHS program by September 2017.  If you are ever in Sampa, you absolutely must visit this school, and the hospitality of Mr. and Mrs. Brew is unmatched.  They always take such good care of us.

We then had the pleasure of speaking to and meeting with St. Ann’s Senior High School’s students.  This is a very new all-girls’ high school that expects a total of about eighty students in the fall.  Mother Mary, a nun from India, is the headmistress of the school, and despite limited resources the students are very keen and the staff very dedicated.  We met with this school last September, and we are delighted that they are now part of the Yo Ghana! team and will be writing letters to their friends at St. Mary’s High School in Portland, also an all-girls Catholic school.

Then Mr. Albert and the rest of the staff at Morle Junior High School hosted us.  Mr. Essan Weah, who has visited many Oregon schools for Yo Ghana!, was some years ago the headmaster of this school, and its students write excellent and vivid letters.  Though their numbers are small, they are sending four students to the Winneba Conference.

We closed the afternoon by visiting two prospective Yo Ghana! schools, a young Presbyterian primary school and a Catholic junior high school, both public schools.  Like other countries, Ghana is a place of contrasts.  Many of its schools feature ample and modern libraries, computer and scientific laboratories.  Most rural schools feature students crowded into classrooms that are often open to the elements with teachers who rely on the sun for light and principally on chalk for instruction.  What most of these diverse schools have in common are teachers and students who are exceptionally welcoming to strangers dedicated to learning, and our visits to all five schools left us impressed and inspired.

June 23

Today we had the pleasure of visiting Savelegu Senior High School for the third time in less than two years.  The staff and students are unfailingly welcoming and kind to us; this is always one of the high points of our Ghana tours.  Mr. Nantogma introduced us to the school administration and then led a very useful and informative session with the school’s faculty.  We then met with the students who have been exchanging letters and who hope to exchange letters in the future.  These students write some of the most detailed and thoughtful letters in our exchange and always have incisive questions and observations.

Like many schools in the Northern Region, SAVESS is comprised mostly of Muslim students and staff, and Yo Ghana is delighted that letters from such students are providing American students with a much more accurate and flattering impression of Muslims and Africans than Americans are usually exposed to.  As if to underscore this point, a roadside merchant we had purchased some shirts from last year threw in a free shirt for Wendy after I had purchased two from him—even after Lucy had bargained down the price—because “we are friends.”  Northern Ghana is a special place.

June 22

At Kpandai we were pleased to meet again with Father Mawusi, who has been a personal inspiration
to me since Brando and I met him two years ago.  St. Kizito School is the most isolated one we work with, and most of the students come from families who struggle to make a living.  But with Father Mawusi’s leadership it regularly attains the top marks in its district and among the top marks in the entire Northern Region, despite crowded classrooms and a lack of computers.  And he is involved in much other work in the community and the surrounding area, as well.  We will miss seeing him in Kpandai but were delighted to meet Father Alfonso and to know that Mr. Francis will continue his fine work as Head Teacher.  Father Mawusi will be transferred to New York for several years, so we hope to see him in Portland and that he can speak at one of our gatherings there.

We enjoyed meeting the students of St. Kizito very much, and they immediately demonstrated their high level of discipline and dedication.  Given how difficult it is to get letters in and out of Kpandai, we brought the letters from their partner school, St. Andrews, at the end of the school day, and asked that they bring their answers the next morning so that we could take the letters with us.  The next morning each and every letter had been answered, some at great length.  Mr. Francis took us on a tour of Kpandai in the late afternoon, where we met several students at work in shops helping their parents—and studying while they went about their work.  We got to relax a bit at a local canteen where we enjoyed corn on the cob that Mr. Francis had purchased on the way and pito, a popular drink brewed on the spot that we all found highly distinctive.

Then it was off to Tamale, where thanks to Mr. Kwame’s driving skills and Elizabeth’s map skills, we 

arrived at in time to meet with the students of ECG School before they had to go home for the day.  One of the students had written a particularly eloquent homage to Brando Akoto last last year, so it was a pleasure to thank him for that and to tell him how much it meant to Brando’s family and friends back in the U.S.  We also got to meet and greet the several students at the school that Yo Ghana! helps to support through providing part of their fees.  The school chooses excellent students from families that have experienced misfortune.

As always, we were highly impressed by the curiosity of the students and the dedication of the staff.  Mr. Joseph showed us to the fine accommodations he had made for us, and then joined us for dinner, along with the Hurinas, missionaries from Hong Kong who have played a crucial role in building the school up for many years.  ECG is one of those schools that makes you want to do and give more, as it is full of people who do just that.

June 21

Monday around noon we left our friends in Dambai for a ferry crossing.  Another sign that Ghana's infrastructure is improving is that the wait for the ferry was very short and that it departed without waiting hours past the scheduled time.  The roads are also much improved.  This of course makes moving goods easier and the economy stronger.

The improved road brought us soon to Kete-Krachi, where Yo Ghana! board member Dr. Kofi Agorsah attended school for many years a half century ago.  Headmaster Mr. Hastings and Yo Ghana coordinators Mr. Daniel and Mr. Tande and the rest of the staff immediately welcomed us and made us feel at home at a pleasant and quiet guest house and showed us to what became our favorite restaurant in Ghana, a small outdoor canteen just outside the prison grounds with amazing food and a gentle breeze.  We also got a quick tour of the current and future computer laboratory at John Doeswijck Junior High School.  As you can see from the photographs, the current one is so cramped that the computers don't really fit in it,

and when the students are using the space it is very difficult for Headmaster Hastings to get his work done.

Dr. Agorsah had visited the school just a couple of months before and was very impressed that the school has raised so much money toward the new computer laboratory.  This of course is the Yo Ghana! model or practice, that we help schools with projects that they have started.  Mr. Divine of the school's PTA was kind enough to attend our meeting with the school staff Tuesday morning, and we thanked him for the strong work of the PTA in helping the school.  If schools count on outside NGOs for help, they may wait forever, or they may fall apart when the NGO leaves.  But if they start something themselves, they both attract more support from others and ensure that they can continue to be strong when the NGO leaves.

Under the leadership of Mr. Hastings the school is doing very well in its exams, and we were very impressed by the quality of the discussion we had with staff about how to improve the letter-writing program.  This is a very strong school with very engaged teachers. John Doeswijck has not only done an outstanding job of responding to all the letters they have received from the U.S.; they have also helped two other schools that lack a scanner/printer.  Mr. Daniel has invested many hours of his own time in making this possible.  Yo Ghana! relies on teachers who already have too much to do but are willing to do even more so that their students can learn from and teach their friends across the Atlantic.  We enjoyed meeting with the students very much, then headed north toward Kpandai and St. Kizito Basic School.