News Story: A Day In The Life…
Current Volunteers Choe Hood & Ella Fraser share with us a day in the life of a teacher volunteer…
They are currently volunteering in Ghana, and both are living in the Volta region, In a small town called ‘Akatsi’. Chloe is teaching English and Ella is teaching Maths in a basic school. Monday – Friday.
“Our alarms go off at 6am and we often get up and sweep the compound outside the house. Some days are definitely harder to get out of bed than others. It’s tradition that the women especially must do so before anything else. We sweep the sand, to make the compound look clean and tidy. We have a small gas container so often put some water in the pot to heat up so that we can have a tea on our walk to school. We like to walk to school in the morning, as it’s the only time that the heat is bearable to walk in. On our walk, we often pick up a local Ghanaian breakfast, the lady expects us most mornings! Our students line up under the tree for assembly each morning and sing a few songs before starting lessons at 8am. We often finish the songs with a prayer…. Lovely start to the day! Primary school tends to work per level rather than age. You start school, when you can afford to do so however as of 2017 our school changed to a government school, which is one of the very few schools around our town, that is free. We are teaching primary six, age ranged from around 11-17. We have a timetable and teach one lesson a day. However, in-between we often help in other classes. While we aren’t teaching, we plan our lessons, read our books, or write a diary. Break and lunch time is always fun! Although it’s very hot, we often play with the children. We’ve taught them a numerous amount of team games such as, rounders, capture the flag, football, table tennis, skipping etc. When we first came to the school, it had no P.E equipment whatsoever. We have introduced a library lesson to our school. The children are growing and learning more each day. We found that their facts were always pretty good however their creative writing skills were what needing improved. This was purely due to lack of reading, not having the chance to have seen a movie etc. As well as teaching English, during the week we have been asked to do P.S.E and on a Friday we are the dedicated P.E teachers. We often eat the local Ghanaian dishes while at school. When you are eating, it is expected that you “Invite” the other teachers to join. We finish teaching around 2pm. Everyday, we go to a little stall to get a fanIce, which is a lovely ice lolly to cool us down! Depending on the temperature, we then decided if we are walking or taking a transport home. As you walk the streets, everyone will greet you. Everyone you pass, will welcome you. We have never met a friendlier community. Before coming to Ghana, we felt scared of my safety but actually we haven’t once felt unsafe in our community. The locals look out for you, more than we could ever imagine. They all treat us as if we are their own family.
Once we are home, we often cook lunch and sometimes we cook for the children in our community if their parents are not home. Some days, we head out around 4pm with the children in the community and play games with them at the local “Football pitch” – sand pitch. Although, some days we are very tired due to the heat, and we will come home and sleep for a few hours and just rest! Each day tends to be different. We cook around 6pm, as we often try and have an early night before a busy day the next day.”
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