The New Adventure Begins

Wednesday, December 30th.

I originally applied for a teacher exchange in December of 2015. It was something I had been interested in for a number of years but was waiting for the right time. After a couple of false starts I was finally notified that I had a match while I was in Ghana in July. Since then it has been four months of endless applications and paperwork, arranging the visa, getting police checks, making the travel arrangements, cleaning and organizing my house after hosting 139 international students, and taking care of the endless details that I had never thought of, the day has finally arrived. Maurene Bodie from Melbourne, Australia and I are participating in an international teacher exchange. I picked her up at the airport on Monday evening in the middle of our first snowstorm. She will live in my house and teach my assignment at school and I will live in her house and teach her assignment. I spent Tuesday with her introducing her to the area, my family and neighbours, the grocery store and my school where she will work. It is all very exciting and I'm glad that the adventure is about to begin.

I am flying today to Auckland, New Zealand via Vancouver. I will arrive in New Zealand on January 1, 2016 and will begin a GAdventure tour for 15 days starting on the 4th. I can't wait to see the country and get to de-stress and relax. I will fly to Melbourne on January 20 and start work there the next week after attending an orientation day and doing some planning with my new colleagues.
So, please come along for the ride, I will be posting activities and things of significance on a regular basis. Please feel free to communicate with me through the comment box at the bottom of every post or by contacting me at    joejarrett@rogers.com

Thanks, I hope to hear from all my family and friends so that I can stay in touch throughout the year.

Thanks to:

 Thanks to the GNAT Course Directors, Ernest Assamoa, Thomas Baafi, and Thomas Musah...

and to all the GNAT drivers: Francis, Felix, Eric and Daniel...

and to Eric, our incredible driver and chauffeur....

our CTF Ghana teams, Vanda, Brenda, Pascale, Bonnie, me, Diane, Marie and Obed...

and to Diane, my co-captain on this month long project, we made a great team...

and Gifty and all the other children of Ghana, who after all are what this whole project is about.

That's All Folks

Tuesday, August 4th.

Today was waiting day. Obed woke me up at 7:00. Spent a bit of lazy time with e-mails. Tried to back up Diane's photos onto her stick but had a problem with it. After breakfast Diane and I sat by the bar and worked on our books. We all hung around with each other. After lunch Diane, Vanda, Marie, Brenda and I went with Eric who dropped us off on Oxford Street while he took Obed to the airport. He was the first to leave. Vanda bought some gold charms, Brenda a few souvenirs and then we all went to a grocery store to pick up honey and a few other things before Eric picked us up and took us back to the hotel. We invited him to have dinner with us and we hung around the bar and pool until then. The weather was cloudy and cool today and none of us went in the pool. Ernest came to say goodbye and joined us for dinner. He said Baafi was going to join us but he never did. After dinner Francis came for our luggage and Eric drove us all to the airport where we said our final sad goodbyes to him. The airport was easy and we had a two hour wait before boarding and off we went. Diane, Bonnie and I are off to Toronto, Pascale to Ottawa, Brenda to Montreal and Marie and Vanda are staying in Germany.

Kakum and Elmina Revisited

Monday, August 3rd.

We were up and off by six. Eric drove us out of Accra towards Kakum National Park. En route we picked up Fredrick, Thomas Baafi's son. The drive was long and bumpy as usual. We stopped at Anomabo Beach Resort for breakfast. Really nice place on the rough, misty coast. We ordered and then enjoyed the sound of the waves, the smell of the surf and the misty vistas. Food was good too. Then we continued on to Kakum. There was a misty rain when we arrived. After snooping in the shops we all, except Vanda, headed up to the canopy walk. It was great, not crowded and not rushed. Obed and Marie were nervous but we all got through it. Then we headed on to The Crocodile Hansen Botel for lunch. We ordered and then walked around taking photos of crocs and the weaver birds. Lunch took forever for everyone to get served. From there we headed to the Elmina Slave Castle and took a tour. The weather was still cloudy so the pictures are not as good as last year. On the way home I asked Eric to stop at Cape Coast Castle to show the group the view of the fishing village, but you have to be up on the wall of the castle for the view, so we headed home. It was a long drive back and when we got to Accra it was dark and there was lots of traffic. We finally arrived at 8:30, a fourteen hour day, but everyone was very happy with all the sights. We had a quick dinner. I had ground nut soup with chicken. Diane and I stayed up and had a beer and talked about our projects. Then she went off to bed and I sat by the pool typing and finishing my beer.

Tourist Market and Coordinator Dinner

Sunday, August 2nd.

Today was a day to relax and re-energize. We hung around the pool and swam for a bit in the morning. Then we took two cabs to the Arts Market and Culture Centre. This is a big tourist market where the hawkers are on you trying every trick to get you to come to their shop and buy something. I had bought a lot last year and decided to buy nothing. I walked about with Brenda and Diane and we went all the way through to the village out back and to the beach. Then we went back in and they shopped for some things while I walked about. One guy wanted me to give him some time, I told him I didn't have a minute, and the guy in the next shop said 'give me a second'. Back to the hotel by cab again and Pascale and I hung out in the water talking. Late in the afternoon I went back to my room to organize for tonight's party with the exec from GNAT. Thomas Musah showed up first with his wife and two children. A little later Eric showed up, followed by Thomas Baafi and his wife and their driver and finally Ernest. We had a very pleasant evening talking and everyone seemed really relaxed, happy and friendly. I had good open talks with Baafi and Ernest. I made a little speech about being the only Ghanadian at the beginning of July, but now there are eight of us. I told them how much we had enjoyed our stay, their hospitality and working with all the teachers. I also thanked them for their support and work in getting us to the three remote schools so that we could deliver our supplies. I presented them all with a gift bag full of Toronto t-shirts, Nunavat hats and other bits and pieces. Then Baafi spoke. He thanked us for our time and commitment and complimented us on our effort. I had asked him if GNAT was happy with the workshops we provided and he said that the participants were happy, the resource people were happy and so were they. After they left and everyone went to bed I hung out for a bit on the lounger and typed and soaked up the evening atmosphere. When I got back to the room I talked Obed into coming with us tomorrow to Elmina Castle (he claimed to be out of money), after all it is not only a huge part of Ghana's history but also his. Then sleep.

Back to Accra

Saturday, August 1st.

Eric and Felix showed up at 7:30 with the van and pickup and packed up all of our luggage. Then we drove to the hotel where the other resource people were staying and we waited for a half hour while they packed up all their gear. They had also bought a lot of food stuffs to take back to their families, as apparently it is cheaper to buy here. We got under way with our five vehicle convoy by 9:30 and drove all day. We stopped for lunch at the same place that we stopped at on the way to Tamale. All the drivers complained it was too expensive and went across the street to a small local restaurant. We stopped at couple of places for washroom breaks but most of the day was spent in the van. I listened to my iPod most of the day. The traffic was terrible from Kumasi down and we didn't arrive in Accra until 8:30. Long, long, drive. We met up for a quick dinner before everyone headed off to bed by 10. I am sitting by the pool on the lounger typing. Off to bed by 11.

Last Ceremonies and Ghana Night

Friday, July 31st.

Woke up early 5:30 with some machine noise outside. Not sure what it was but probably something to do with the construction. We went to the college by 10:30 and waited while everyone had snack. Then I MC'd the gender equity sketches. There were seven this time and they were pretty good and within the time limit. Right after that Diane and I got Eric to drive us into town to exchange some money. Brenda, Marie and Obed came with us. Eric couldn't find a ForEx so we tried three banks but none of them would do the exchange. The last one gave us a heads up for a ForEx. We drove there, met a young man on the corner and asked the rate. He told us 3.6 which is better than we have gotten before. So he lead Eric and I down a couple of narrow streets to a little shop that had a nice concrete and tile base, as opposed to the dirt ones in the shops around it. Inside was a bigger, older man. He confirmed the rate and said he would give us a receipt. So we went back to get the others and we all went there dressed in our lime green GNAT outfits. We didn't stand out too much! We exchanged our money for the rate he said but he wouldn't give us a receipt. I figured so what? We have the money at a great rate and we could all sign a receipt from our book. Obviously we had stumbled upon a black market outlet. We got back to the college in time for lunch. After that we sat through another long three hour closing ceremony. At the end of it we were all presented with little gifts of thanks. At the end GNAT invited all of the resource people to a room for a drink and a kebab. I got Ernest and the two Thomas to pose with Diane and me and then got the memory card from Ernest from his camera so I could get the photos from the closing ceremonies and the school visit from Wednesday. I asked Eric to round up the other three drivers, Francis, Felix and Daniel so that I could present them all with an ETFO t-shirt that says I AM THE FACE OF MY UNION. I told them that they truly are that and how much we appreciated all of their hard work. They packed up our luggage and hauled it around to all the sites we went to. This includes all of our workshop material as well. On a personal level I thanked them too because they had also carried all of the boxes of school supplies that I had purchased in Accra. And Felix had found my lost Canadian quarter pendant. They were very pleased to be thanked and appreciated. Then we went back to the hotel for dinner and to get ready for our last Ghana night. We arrived at 8:00 and they were already dancing. They had a small drum group and two young women who danced. The older of the two brought some guys up to dance and tried to get me but I ran away from her. There was no way I was going to be centred out dancing. So she asked me why I didn't like dancing and we got to talking. Turns out she is 17 and her sister is 10 and all the women on stage who were sitting and singing were her mother, her sisters and friends and the drummers were males in the family. She introduced me to them and they let me take some good photos. I went outside to cool off for a bit and ran into five participants from our class. One asked me if people in Canada were as religious as people in Ghana. I told him that there were lots of religious people in Canada who celebrate a number of different religions but that I was definitely not one of them. They were surprised and asked me why. I told them that I didn't believe in god because if there was a god who loved us he would not allow children to die of cancer, or people of AIDS and ebola. And I said if we didn't believe and he really loved us why would he send us to hell? It was a long conversation but that was the jist of it. Then I said I didn't understand why the people of Ghana after being subjected to the slave trade by the Europeans, would adopt the European Christian faith. A couple of them looked at me a bit shocked but the one guy said that apparently their own original religion gave out more severe punishment for noncompliance than going to Hell. They killed or maimed people. I found that to be an interesting reason. Then I went back in and hung around with our group a bit before we left at ten to go back to sleep before tomorrow's return trip.

Last Day Of Workshops

Thursday, July 30th.

Last day of classes. We arrived at the college by 8:30 and while Pascale, Vanda and Obed went to the class to finish their workshops, I went to the resource centre to sign certificates for all the participants. Thomas Musah showed up in the classroom and told the team that he had to change things around as Jacob Andersen did not get to do his workshop yesterday as he was ill. So Obed and Pascale rushed to finish their stuff. Then they raffled off the last of our supplies and a few personal items. I gave them the erasers that Sonya had provided and the two GNAT books Abu and Musa. I sat with Thomas and worked some more on the team report for his section. Then he wanted it on his computer, so I gave him his section and he said he would get it to me later. I asked about the potential of running another HIV night to clarify the misconceptions of the other guy, he said he would ask Baafi. It was the last day of school for the students at the school on campus today. After lunch Diane and I went to the hotel to get our financial stuff and then returned and worked on that. It took a while to figure out but it looks like she is not missing money and I'm not as up as I thought I was. It is a pain to keep track of. Vanda did her two hour workshop on mentoring with John's headmaster class. That went really well and the participants seemed very interested. Back to the hotel with the co-tutors and Eric for dinner. After that Diane and I paid our hotel bills. It was only 8pm and too early for bed so Diane asked if I wanted to sit outside and have a beer. So we sat by the outside bar and talked about the project, the teams, travel and Australia. Off to bed by ten. We have been very lucky here, the temperature is much more moderate, high 20's and very comfortable.

Koduakrom Primary, Our Third and Final Remote School

Wednesday, July 29th. (continued)

Then it was time for our last visit to a remote school. We drove about a half hour down a dirt road to Koduakrom Primary School in the Brong Afho Region. The community is a rural farming one that grows cassava, mangoes, maize and cocoa. The whole community was there to meet us as were the students who had been sent home on holiday a week early because their teachers and headmaster were at our workshops. The school had a very different feel. We could see immediately that they had a new structure built in a u- shape with a concrete centre courtyard. The windows were boarded up, but that was because it was closed for the summer. The children and parents all carried chairs to the courtyard to set up an area for a meeting. I went into the new school and discovered that although the building was new the furniture was old and basic and there were no resources anywhere to be seen. Looking out the back window I could see the remains of the old school, just mud walls and a sheet metal roof, where the headmaster, Francis, had apparently been bitten by a cobra a couple of years ago. He survived but it drew attention to the needs of the school and the community and GNAT in partnership with CTF and the Nkabom program helped get them a new school. This story made me feel better about the whole providing supplies to needy schools. I think and hope that our efforts will draw attention to the needs of the schools we visited since the media and elected officials were invited by GNAT to all our presentations. We listened to a number of speeches again and presented our supplies to GNAT, the headmaster and the parent council. As always the community was very appreciative and we had a good visit interacting with them.

Exploring the Market

Wednesday, July 29th.

Back to the college by 8:30. This morning Obed started followed by Pascale. I went for a walk to visit the local primary and junior high school that is attached to this college. I meet a number of the students and talked to some of the teachers before Musah called me. I went back to our class to meet him and we talked about what to do about the mentoring workshop and the gender issues skits. The mentoring will happen Thursday instead of today. Then we went around and told the classes about the gender issue skits. Then it was time for our last visit to a remote school (see next page). When we got back we had lunch and then our group had the afternoon off. We had Eric drive us back to the market area to buy some fruit. We wandered around for a couple of hour looking and buying a few things and interacting with the people. Having Eric with us is a bonus as he is able to tell them who we are and we can take some photos. I met a woman who was cooking kenti and she told me about it and posed for some photos so I bought two of them and gave them to Eric. Two other women called 'obroni come here'. They wanted to pose with me too. We had a bit of spare time back at the hotel before dinner. Then we headed back to the college for our last Canada Night. We presented our slides and performed the chicken dance and then we danced with the locals and posed for endless photos. Back by 10:30 and off to bed.