Recent Happenings

These are just a few more photos to bring you up to date with what I've been doing in Ghana.  I'll see you all in July back in the states!

This is my Ghanaian family, my neighbors, all really wonderful people who I will miss greatly when I leave Ghana. They looked so beautiful dressed for church that I had to take a photo with them. In fact, this is only half of their families; Mary to my right has four children (one missing), and Monica on the far left has five (three missing).  Plus all the other people who live next to me----grand total of about 17 people in one compound. And then there's me, living alone next door in a two bedroom house.  Ah, the perks of being a foreigner.

This is Jessie playing in the clothes washing tub.  She is really shy and gets this pout on her face every time I try to take a photo.

A woman at the market holding up a good find from the clothes pile. I have a great video walking through Savelugu Market, but I'm having a hard time uploading it.  I'll post it on this blog if I'm ever successful.

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The students need to know this for their exams, so I painted it on the wall.

Bash showing off the Ghana flag mango seeds he made.

Yay!  End of term chaos in the art classroom!  When the teachers stop teaching, all the students come to my room, and without a good door it's impossible to keep them out.

So, I started a poultry farm at my school to provide the students with supplemental protein in the form of eggs. There are 500 birds.  They were really cute for the first couple of weeks, and now they are just smelly. 

I know it doesn't look like 500, but we counted every one, and there's actually more than 500.  

This is the exterior of one of the poultry farm buildings.  Not so beautiful, but it gets the job done. When the birds get bigger, they will be moved here.

My end of term review game.

Some recent colorful projects.

Mark made an improvised grill in between two trees and some sticks over several coal pots.  He was very proud of himself.  His assistant is one of his students.

Following the HIV Awareness Week competition, we painted a mural copied from the flag that won first place.

My assistants---they are so skilled I really don't have to do anything any more. I helped them with the layout/spacing because measuring is their weakness.

My mom wanted to know what my 'bathroom' in Ghana looks like.  Here ya go.

Yes, my bathroom is a latrine----with baby goats and sometimes chickens.

Fish kites!

Wax drip----the students loved this project and made a huge mess.

3-d names

Mohammed made himself a watch.

And then he made himself a hat to go with the new pencil case he sewed.  

Akiwele working on her warm and cool colors fan.

Some recent videos

Scavenger Hunt competition

Jump rope fun

This video is from the HIV Facts Competition---it's me asking a question in sign language.

HIV Awareness Competition, Independence Day, Home Visits, etc., etc.

Okay, I'm sorry this post is so long, but there have been a lot of exciting things happening at my school, and I want to share with you as much as I can.

I visited the family of one of my best students, Zenabu.  That's her in the red shirt. I'm hoping she can attend Senior High School next year.  

This is her with her mother and sister.

That is her father on the left side.

The whole family!

A great construction collage made by Dawuda.

making a puppet

puppet making

a weaving around a cup

Rafia's finished cup weaving---she made it in the order of the color wheel.

Mariama working on her cup weaving.

SaveDeaf representing at Independence Day marching festivities.

Some of my girls ready to march.  Why is Independence Day always the hottest day of the year??

Some teachers from my school, watching the marching day activities---Biikook, Rufai, and Fouzia, with Fouzia's son, Rashid, in front.

Me.  This photo was taken by a five-year-old boy.

Teachers trying to keep the KG kids in formation (losing battle).

oop, lost a shoe!

Yay, Savelugu School for the Deaf!

My girls!

Love the uniforms!

My boys!

Kids watching the marching from a tree.

Zoomlion, the national cleaning crew/street sweepers, marched last.

We visited our favorite Savelugu little darling, Theodora.

This guy bought this Shepard Fairey Shirt in Kumasi!

Kwabena working on a very nice construction project.

Hawa and her finished doll.

Amina's finished doll.

The double dutch jump ropes I had sent from the states were a huge hit.

It was a simple project---blowing paint on a piece of paper.  But P5 loved it, and it was a project that I thought even the most disabled students could get involved with and enjoy.  

Mohammed painting me a picture of the marching practice.  

Mohammed's finished painting.  

The following pictures are all from the HIV Awareness Competition that I organized at my school.  It involved 5 different events: Flag Making, Scavenger Hunt, Relay Race, Facts, and Drama.  There were ten teams of JHS students, with each team being let by a teacher and a student-leader.  85 students participated in all.  There were small moments of chaos, but the students had a BLAST, and I am very proud of my work on this event. In fact, I had a hard time finding questions for the Facts Competition that the students didn't know.  They even knew global and Ghanaian AIDS statistics, and how to spell "Immunodeficiency" perfectly.  Wow.   

Team 7 making their flag.

Rafia, a talented Primary student, was brought in to help with the sewing.

Competition Day!!!  Team 1, with their teacher, Alhassan Mohammed.

Me, with my counterpart, Rosarius.

Me, welcoming everyone to the event.

Team 2, led by Sheeda, in the foreground.

Team 6, led by Angelina, on the far left.

Team 7, led by the student, Kwabena, on the far left background, and the teacher, Ben, far right.

Team 1 did an excellent job the whole day, and ended up winning first place.  Their teacher was very supportive, and spent a lot of time teaching them about HIV and planning their drama with them.  This is Team 1 in front of the two judges.

Me, talking to the judges, my own headmistress, and the headmaster from Geogo School for the Deaf in the Upper East region, who was a former teacher at my school.  

Team 1, ready for the Scavenger Hunt (tied together).

Me, explaining the Scavenger Hunt, which still sort of fell to pieces.  But everyone enjoyed it, nonetheless!

A team tied together.

A team putting together their Scavenger Hunt puzzle pieces to make the AIDS red ribbon.

Team 1 won the Scavenger Hunt, even though some teams played incorrectly, causing everyone to try to find who had taken the wrong pieces.  

Finished puzzle.

Team 9, next to their finished puzzle.

Relay Race fun.

Someone should send out a memo---don't ever plan anything using balloons in Ghana.  I had dozens popping on me because of the heat in the days leading up to the event, but it still was fairly successful.  

Inside each balloon was a picture of a Risk activity, such as shaking hands with a person who has HIV.  The teams had to decide if the activity was No Risk, Low Risk, or High Risk of getting HIV.  

Carrying an egg on a spoon, with a balloon between their legs.

Using two cardboard squares to get across the field.

A speaker from the District Assembly.

The Facts competition.  Each team is writing down their answers.

Asking questions during the Facts Competition.

Team 1, writing their answers.

Team 1 is performing their Drama.  This is Foster pretending to be a teacher.  

Another Drama.

One student pretending to be a doctor examining blood for HIV.

Another Drama.

Certificates of Participation

Winning Student-leader, Foster.

Happy boy.