Kibi (Week Two)

 Our second week was spent at the Kibi Presbyterian College of Education in Kibi--pronounced chibi, and sometimes spelled Kyebi.

It was a gorgeous campus in a valley, surrounded by mountains. There was a garden, used by students, and many fruit trees (mango, papaya, banana, coconut), available to students to help themselves to! We had cocoyam for our supper one night. The leaves grow plentifully and Ghanaiansr refer to it as "spinach."

cocoyam leaves growing all over the campus

The campus had lush plant life, especially hibiscus--they also serve hibiscus drinks which are delicious. Did you know that Ghana (at least in the south of the country where we were) has red soil just like PEI? The pictures of red soil that I took don't look quite red. In real life the soil is a much brighter red.

The second week was a replica of the first. Two cohorts from the Volta and Eastern regions. Opening ceremonies, 2 days of 4, 2 hour classes, a closing ceremony and Canada/Ghana night. For the celebration we had a slide show, sang songs and Canadian Trivia. Ghanaian teachers don't seem to know that we share only one border with another country. They seem to think that we border three countries! Good thing they know now!

The last night (Canada/Ghana night) we had a special treat where the students at the college "Cultural Group" performed a number of dances with singing and drumming. It was awesome. It was worth the trip to Ghana! The girls had painted legs and shoulders and the boys had paint on their faces. 

I got to try the drums when Octavia asked on my behalf. Gorgeous sound.

The next day we headed back to Accra and got a flat tire! It was in a parking lot and our hero Henry changed the tire without allowing any of us to help. For two weeks we sang songs to Henry (Henry, Henry is our hero and he gets us where we need to go! and "A Hole in my Bucket" etc) We all loved him.

I was very proud to be an honorary member of GNAT and I'm very proud of our GNAT members standing with them in solidarity.

Here is Lord with "Doc" (on the left) who is the head researcher of the new GNAT institute. He wrote a book outlining the last 60 years of the relationship between CTF/FCE* and GNAT. He is humble and very, very smart--an inspiration in each "debrief" and when addressing members in the opening ceremonies. I hope that Lord gets to work with him at some point research-wise. (Doc's name is Linus)

This time in Ghana was well spent. We worked hard and I came away feeling very grateful to the Canadian teachers before me who made our working conditions, our compensation and our safety good in Ontario and in Canada. I have learned that, not only are children the same everywhere but so are teachers! Working with Ghanaian teachers was a pleasure in "talking shop" and I have encouraged all those who passed through our class to stick to GNAT and better their conditions for the teachers that will follow. I feel inspired to work with my own kindergarteners, remembering what I have learned about inclusivity in Ghana. The education was not one-sided. 

Solidarity forever.

*Canadian Teacher's Federation/Federation Canadian de Enseignant et Enseignantes