Kiki Fornito writes...

...about her experience while volunteering in Ghana.

I'm hereeeee. (and safe): 28 May 2008

Akwaaba! (that means welcome...)

I've been hearing that all day today. Eric and Rose drove me and another volunteer to our placements this morning and I spent most of the day meeting teachers and students with the headmaster and my host "ma" Cecilia. Everyone is SO friendly. I finally met my roommate Minna, too. It kinda felt like we knew each other already since we have been talking for so long. Tomorrow I'll shadow the teachers and Friday I'll start teaching english and science to Primary 4, 5, and 6. The students are so eager to learn--not like in the states. They were told to call me Auntie Kiki and once school got out one girl ran up to me, yelling my name and gave me the biggest hug. I couldn't even guess as to what her name was or what grade she was in, but it was a good feeling. A lot of the children said "wooooowwwww" when it was announced that I was from the United States of America.

Anyways, we're going to help prepare dinner with Madame Cecilia. I'll update again soon.

First week is over!: 30 May 2008

I can't believe I've already been here for 4 days. It really has flown by. I was mistaken though. In my last entry I wrote that I would be teaching today, however, I opted to start on Monday instead. I have shadowed just two teachers who are seriously aweeeeesome. Really, they both are great. Each of the classes are just brilliant. And oh my God are they respectful, not like American kids. When I or any other teacher walks into a room they say "good morning/afternoon madame/sir, how are you?" it's insane! but very much appreciated. I don't deserve that lol. I have workbooks for every class one each for 4, 5, 6 science... then separate books for reading comprehension, composition, and grammar for each grade level. it's a lot of material, but I don't think it will be too difficult to teach.

Henry wants to take us to a nearby reggae club tonight, so that should be fun. Tomorrow we will travel somewhere, but we haven't decided where yet. Perhaps Cape Coast? We had hoped to go to Kumasi to watch the Ghanaian team play for a World Cup qualifying match, but we couldn't get tickets. They play again in Accra on the 22nd of June, so we'll keep out fingers crossed.

I'm forming good relationships with a few of the other teachers. I have spent a lot of time speaking with them about anything and everything you can imagine. I have made a point to also play with the kids, which could be bad for me in the classroom, buuuuuut I want to take advantage of the time I have here. Today school ended at 2 and I immediately took off my shoes and started playing football (or "soccer") with the younger boys. They were very much impressed that I knew how to play so well haha. There are a few girls who are just absolutely attached to me at alllllll times. They aren't even in my classes! Anyways, we're going to get back to the house and shower before dinner. Miss everyone dearly!

...: 3 June 2008

Soo this weekend, Henry took us to a really popular beach in Accra. We decided not to bring out swim suits, but I kinda wish I had.. there were a lot of people swimming AND there were white people!! i was very surprised.... the beach was so beautiful, much like any beach in the United States. there are all these people walking around who sell things, anything from jewelry to paintings to food and water. its kinda bizarre, but its normal here. however, since we're white we get a loooooot of attention from the vendors. it got really hard after several hours. they are very insistent with their jobs and i have a hard time being mean. i guess ill learn though.

sunday we went to a catholic church nearby and wow was that an experience. all of the women and young girls are dressed in traditional african dresses. they are so gorgeous! if i was staying longer i would definitely have one made to fit me, but i dont know if i will attend church at all otherwise because we'll be traveling on the weekends. the service was verrrrrry long and the scripture was read in english, twi, and a third local dialect. there was lots of dancing and clapping, but i was expecting that. minna, on the otherhand, has never seen anything like that. at her church they seriously sit and sing hymns, but there is no moving around and loud music. ha, i enjoyed it though.

i also went running yesterday. i was scared of going around by myself, but i have come to learn community 12 in tema is really safe. i only went to places i had been before and stayed relatively close to the school. i kinda just ran back and forth, but it was nice to be moving. i had to stop and talk to some people because i dont want to seem rude. i met this guy named abraham who was on his way to play football with some friends. i told him to come by the house and ask for me the next time he was going to play, so i could come along. haha. he might go running with me as well. i would definitely appreciate a partner.

last night the Ghana Black Stars played Libya in one of many World Cup qualifying matches. the game was really intense. it seemed as if everything in Ghana just stopped completely for this match. Henry is SO into it. Everytime they scored a goal he would run outside with the flag wrapped around him screaming "GOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAALLLLLL"!!!! He's just hilarious. They scored 3-0, so it was definitely a celebratory evening around the house. I've learned many of the players names and numbers so now I have a good conversation starter for anyone i meet or for the children.

Today was also my first day of teaching!!! It was really just fantastic. The kids are wonderful and they are so eager to learn. I had a great experience. P5 is my favorite, but I can't tell them that. I've already picked my best student. I play football with him a lot and I've decided that by the time I leave I want to buy him a really soccer ball to play with. His is too small and has holes in it, so he definitely deserved a new one. I hope tomorrow goes just as well as today. I think the kids know I won't cane them, but they still seem to respect me, so I pray that doesn't change overtime. Miss everyone! Hope things are good back home :)

been a while!: 20 June 2008

honestly, nothing really interesting has happened this week. Classes have been great. My students are just wonderful! I'm going to miss them more than anything I think.. The headmaster informed me and Minna today that there will be new volunteers coming in at the start of the next term. I know we shouldn't be offended, but it makes us less special! haha. I guess we'll always be the first ones... still.. I don't want any of them to forget us. I've gotten really close with some of the kids, particularly in Class 6. I talk to them like a friend more than a teacher. It actually makes it really easy to teach them. The curriculum is quite different from things we would see at home. I guess they have to make it relevant to their lives. We did an entire unit on 'healthy living' and we talked about lots of things that I never would've learned about at home. It's crazy. Thankfully, they're all very curious and ask all sorts of questions. It really had been a pleasure to teach them.

Ha, I gave P5 some colouring books to share... that may have been a mistake. They aren't too great at sharing sometimes. Mostly between the boys and girls. There are only 10 in the class, so I thought maybe 3 books would be enough to pass around. I wish I had more money. I would buy every single one of my students a colouring book. It's just not realistic though.

I'm always happy when Friday comes around. Not that I don't enjoy teaching, but I reallllly look forward to the weekends. Tonight we're going clubbin with Henry, Ebo, and another of his friends. I'm sure we'll have a blast! Tomorrow we're actually staying around Tema. I think we gotta wash clothes, prepare for school Monday, mark some tests, go buy groceries in community one, AND make potato salad. Potato salad is Minna's favourite dish from Denmark, so she got the recipe from her mom and we're going to ATTEMPT to make it tomorrow for dinner. We'll see how it goes. I'm most excited about Sunday though. We're going to see the Black Stars play Gabon! It should be a verrrry good game.

KUMASI!: 17 July 2008

My mom has been asking me to finish writing for so long, but things have been hectic since I got home. Guess I should write about all my last adventures in Ghana before I write about my feelings upon arriving back in the states... Okay. This is gonna be a lot, so I'm sorry? I hope some people are actually still reading this and I'm not totally wasting my time by writing... haha.

Okay, on June 25th our headmaster (Mr. Odofu) planned a whole special day for me because it was getting close to my departure from the school. We originally were going to have a celebration on the 27th because it was a Friday, buuuuut Cecilia, Minna, and I were going to travel to Kumasi. Anyhow, after lunch break we had a big soccer match and it was rather intense. Our final JSS versus Primary game and we were losing 1-0 at halftime. It was basically a game to determine which school was the best and it definitely would determine who had bragging rights for the rest of the term. After halftime... we came back! Wilberforce scored. I scored. JSS scored again... then a 3rd grader scored for us!!! We won 3-2. The kids were just going insane. I gave Ebenezer SUUUUCH a hard time afterwards. I couldn't let him get away without being mean back. He deserved it!!

Right after the game, I took a 'trucker bath' and ran over to the room where the teachers have their "offices". (It's really just a classroom that they don't use and their 'desks' are student's desks...)Everyone was waiting on Minna and I to get there, but once we arrived I was shocked. It was SOOO nice! They had prepared yams and soup and vegetables for us. AND had given both of us fantas. ALL of our favorite things. Several teachers made speeches as well as Minna and Cecilia. It was all amazing. and so sweet. I was on the verge of tears several times, especially once I had to say a few words. I stayed after talking with a few of the teachers. I just couldn't bare to leave.. Everything had become so real and I finally realized how soon I was leaving.

The rest of the day was kinda rushed.. Internet cafe and a trip to the ATM to withdraw some money for the long weekend.

We got to kinda sleep in on Thursday before leaving for Kumasi. We got to the bus station in Accra literally within minutes of the bus leaving. We were NOT happy. We had to wait TWO hours for the next bus to leave... (At least it wasn't a tro tro.) We ate a restaurant and walked around a shopping center while we waited, but you can only wait so long without getting incredibly bored. This random guy, Stephen, was by far the worst case of someone trying to talk to us obronis. He kept telling me that he has always dreamed of marrying an American woman and that I looked like the woman in his dreams. So ridiculous. Anyway, the bus ride was long.. almost 5 hours. We stopped once for people to get off and grab somethin to eat. Well, actually we stopped another time to allow the passengers to get off the bus and pee on the side of the road... even women. Minna and I stayed seated... haha.

We arrived at Cecilia's cousin's house (also Cecilia) and her housekeeper (Sofia) had prepared our dinner. After eating, we both were exhausted and pretty much went straight to sleep... The house was really really nice. It had real tile floors, not concrete. And the water was running the whole weekend (thank gooooodness!) However, there was not a single sink in the house. I was kinda weirded out by that. I think they wash all the dishes and stuff in wash bins. There's also a wash bin with soap to wash your hands after using the bathroom.. When we brushed our teeth though, we spit in the toilet. haha. Was strange.

Friday we went to Cecilia's daughter, Emma's, graduation ceremony. It was much like any I have been to in the US, except for drums and African men walking down the aisles blowing horns before and after commencement. It was still boring though. We met Emma's roommates and went to lunch with them... where the entire conversation was spoken in Twi. It was really awkward and uncomfortable and by the end of the day really frustrating and rude. Whatever though.

The nextdoor neighbor's grandchildren kept coming over to play. I made the mistake of playing hide-and-go-seek with them, easily making me their BEST FRIEND. All three of the kids were absolutely gorgeous. (I'll have to upload my pictures soon since I have a fast internet connection.) Regardless, I had a looot of fun playing with them on Friday and Saturday. I saw them Sunday briefly too. Minna wasn't quite as playful with them... I think she gets sick of playing sometimes. I'm obsessed with kids though, so I don't have that problem.

Saturday we pretty much toured Kumasi. We went to the military museum.. saw 'the sword' (which has a history similar to that of the sword and the stone).. saw the castle.. walked around Kumasi's marketplace.. and went to the zoo. I really enjoyed everything! Being a tourist isn't so bad sometimes. :] The men in Kumasi were a lot more aggressive than in Accra or Tema though. The number of proposals during the weekend must've been in the 30s... I just learned to ignore them. And say NO. haha.

After church on Sunday, we left for the bust station. We had to go to several different places before we found a bus that was going to Accra.. The first one didn't run on Sunday. The second and third were sold out. Let's just sayyyyy, Minna and I were slightly worried we wouldn't make it home... We did and everything turned out okay. Traveling all day is just exhausting, so after talking to Henry for half an hour we said our goodnights...

Last few days :]: 18-Jul-2008

Monday was my LAST day of teaching!!! Therefore, I didn't teach at all. I spent most of my time just sitting with the kids and talking and talking and talking. I would just let them ask me questions about anything. All I wanted to do was get them to know me better. I couldn't give enough hugs or take enough pictures to satisfy me though. :( I couldn't believe that 5 weeks were over... It was bizarre!

The teachers ordered a second assembly after lunch break, so that they could present me with special gifts. As a present from the whole school, they made matching scarves for both Minna and I. As well as these gorgeous beaded bracelets. Ebenezer and Mr. Odofu both spoke in front of everyone. I followed. I cried. If I hadn't been standing up there holding Minna's hand I wouldn't have been able to speak at all. She helped me get through it though. It was terrible looking down at all the kids faces knowing how soon I would be leaving them.

After assembly, I was completely mobbed. The kids were grabbing me from all angles constantly. I barely could make it to a desk to sit down because I was soo surrounded.. Even then, I had three or four girls playing with my hair while there were a minimum of 10 boys surrounding the desk, practically interrogating me. It was cute though. I didn't mind. :) I gave everyone my phone number and email address and mailing address, with the hope we could actually keep in touch. I've been getting lots and lots of phone calls since i got home too. It's adorable.

I stayed after school talking with a lot of teachers because we had planned on going to the beach the next day on Republic Day. Some of them couldn't afford what we wanted to do and it became a huge dramatic thing. I just wanted to go to the beach!!! haha. We finally got things figured out... So i went to play with Eric and Perry. Love those boys. I miss them so much now.

Tuesday was fun. We ended up going to the beach with Henry, Ebo, Wilberforce, and a lot of their friends.. We had a blast! We were there from like 2 to 9. Hangin out, listening to music, drinking, swimming (kinda)... It was definitely a great last day.