Week Two (at the GNAT Institute)

It's tricky to find new things to write about since this trip to Ghana is almost the same as last July! I feel both savvy on Ghanaian culture (esp. in Education) and so I'm good to go! But I also feel like staying for a long time, continuing to help Ghanaian partners succeed in improving the conditions of their teachers and especially wanted to help improve the quality education for all Ghanaian children. Simple things mean so much. Oh my, what I take for granted in Ontario......

I worked with my dear friend Lord again this year for the first week. This week I am working with Justice who is also very lovely, with a humourous style that puts the participants at ease. I have noticed this year, when the participants have come from the four northern regions of Ghana, that they are hungry for the offered professional development. They are engaged and enthusiastic--which of course is contagious! I look forward to each class, digging in to talk shop with other teachers.

Our "Inclusivity in Education" crew

Our hosts from GNAT have taken us touring to three museums which have been excellent. On the first weekend we went to the National Museum of Ghana, where we had an excellent guide that gave us the history of Ghana from a variety of viewpoints like societal structure, clothing, food practices, warrior history. We then went to the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park (KNMP) and Mausoleum and were in the care of another excellent guide. I couldn[t help but feel a little national pride. This weekend we went to the Kente Museum where we learned the history of kente fabric.

The most popular story about the origin of Kente cloth involves

The story goes......two farmers, Kurugu and Ameyaw, who were hunting in the forest and were inspired by a spider weaving its web. They meticulously studied the spider's intricate weaving and returned home to experiment with their own weaving techniques, eventually creating Kente cloth. This story, while widely shared, is a simplified version of a richer history rooted in the Ewe people's weaving traditions, which predate the Asante adoption of Kente.

My teammate, Laun, gave the loom a try--authentic looms and weavers are working at the Museum, allowing us to see the craft in its traditional form.

One new thing I can share is that Laura (my roomate while here in Kumasi area) and I have a pet lizard we named "Pinkie" living in our room. Neither of us mind him living with us, so we don't really know where he is right now. I wonder if I'll arrive in Waterloo with a pinkish lizard in my suitcase!

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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...

Back to Ghana!

I'm so lucky! I get to go back! Project Overseas is now called "Teaching Together," which a nice way to move away from a "project" as if the Canadians are "serving" rather than collaborating with other countries' federations! It was going to be called International Collaboration for Education (which is a title I loved because of the word 'collaboration') but if you think of the acronym (ICE), it's an ugly acronym in the rhymes-with-dump era in the United States. So I like our new name. It works en francais aussi--"Ensignants Ensemble." I look forward to meeting old friends from last year. I am the team leader for three wonderful teachers and I look forward to working with them: Laura, Laun and Kevin. Thanks for coming along again with me!

Ghana

Next stop in the adventuresoflynne is Ghana! I am on"Project Overseas," an initiative of the Canadian Teacher's Federation. I applied to ETFO (Elementary Teachers Federation of Ontario) who interviewed me and selected some of us to participate this year. Project Overseas sends Canadian Teachers from across the provinces and territories to 15 countries (in 2024). There were 5 Carribean countries that were on hold, waiting to see if the program would continue after Hurricane Beryl. In the end three of the five went. There are a number of teachers in African countries. https://www.ctf-fce.ca/what-we-do/international-development-cooperation/project-overseas/ We arrived in Ghana, a bit weary and excited. This shows all 8 of us--Ghana Team 1 and Ghana Team 2. Team 1: Gwenan from Yellowknife, Clarerose from Ontario and our leader Lana from PEI. Team 2 has Rachel from Manitoba (leader), Octavia from Nunavut, Meagan from Ontario and Tara from Alberta. We were welcomed by ...

The Adventures of Lynne

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