Day 1 of Service Learning (Monday, June 6)

"Tamale students, in a variety of grades and schools, demonstrates a passion to learn and dedication to improve in their classroom subjects”

Today was our first day immersed in the Tamale classrooms, excluding the men who sweat through the first steps of building an administrative and volunteer office at the Matiti Junior School. The Women of the group provided the students with lessons on reading and English comprehension. The Ghanaian students showed much determination, although some struggled with word pronunciation and understanding general terms that we often take for granted. We found repetition and applying words in a different context as key tools during the lesson. Similar to U.S. Schools that lack in resources, it is very difficult to provide individual attention to students who need aid or to those who are excelling. This is due to the large classroom size. Teachers become overwhelmed with discipline and trying to teach the basics therefore a new model or way to educate needs to be examined in rural Ghana. Programs such as staying after school for extra help do not exist amongst the villages where students also have a full job and a priority for helping their family. With every struggle shown from the students, two times more effort was put into trying to ensure that they understood the materials that we were teaching.

After our volunteer experience in the village, we visited a local small business that made leather products. We learned that production of leather could take more than a week for one finished product that only cost seven American dollars or 10 Cedis. The labor involved with creating leather is a long process. Each step is crucial in order to create the completed product, which can be made into belts, shoes, wallets, etc. This process is an example of the level of effort and work that goes into working in one of the many Ghanaian industries, where caring for your home, farming, selling goods at the market or just simply cooking much time and effort is devoted to that particular service. Hard work has been second nature for many Ghanaians and the beauty of it all is their joy at the end of the day.

Admittedly, this happiness aura in Ghana cannot match those whom indulge in materialistic items. We have surrounded ourselves in this aura to finish our day with our first dance and drum lessons. Although sweat was a prime ingredient during this time, we all enjoyed our beginning steps of knowing the Ghanaian soulful music. Our repetitious steps and drumming brought the children from the streets to our location. Our successful (or not) routine will be presented in front of a village of many on Friday. To sum up the day….. it’s been fantastic!