Cheshu Primary School, Our First Remote Rural School

Wednesday, July 15th.

What a day! When we got to the polytechnic Obed delivered his class about professional standards. Thomas Musah and I went around to all the classes and invited them to join in the gender equity role play activities and invited them to Canada Night. I told them about the evening and told them they didn't need a visa, which they liked. At 11 o'clock we left in two vans with the GNAT brass and the headmaster and a teacher from one of the schools that were attending our workshops. We were going to present some of our school supplies to their school. It was about a 40 minute drive out of Tamale and was a needy rural school, small classes, cramped conditions and very little in the way of resources. The school was called Cheshe RC Primary School, in the Muslim community of Cheshe. We were allowed to walk around, talk to the children and teachers and take photos. Then we were asked to come to the front of the school where they had set up chairs outside with a head table at the front. Diane and I sat at the head with the GNAT people and the headmaster, the school council head and others. In front of us was people from the community and the children were all around us sitting quietly and watching. There were speeches by GNAT representatives and others and then I was asked to speak and tell them why we were there. What I said had to be translated by the local GNAT rep and then by another guy into the local language, a very interesting experience.  I explained as simply as I could that I had been to Ghana before, seen a need and wanted to help and that my school had raised the money to buy the supplies that we were donating. Ernest had got the press there and they took photos and made notes so hopefully something will show up in the paper. I missed an opportunity to record the headmaster thanking us and a student thanking the Canadians, because I was sitting behind them. However after the presentations I asked if the student could repeat his speech. I had to sweet talk him into it but he did it so that I could record it for the kids at Lescon.

Two really interesting things: I took a photo of a young girl with a chair on her head, and then I noticed other children doing the same thing. When I was at the head table I noticed a group of children walking down the road with their chairs on their heads. A teacher told me they have to bring their own chair to school and that they were taking them back home. And there was a very young boy wearing a grey shirt who was hanging around and Pascale got talking to the headmaster about him and learned that he is an orphan who comes around when he is hungry. The school feeds him but he has no family or support. Apparently there are lots of orphans around Ghana and no social net to take care of them. If the community cannot or will not help him he will be left on his own for a very uncertain future or perhaps no future at all. After the ceremony I talked and shook hands with some of the local people and made a connection with a farmer who was wearing the same bracelet as me!

I had very mixed emotions today. This is what I had worked towards and was happy and emotional about being there. Diane sensed it and sat with me for support (she told me that afterwards), but when looking around and watching and listening, I began to feel that what I had done was merely a fart in a wind storm... there is such need that I couldn't make a dent in it. The teachers were delighted to receive the materials, but during one of the thank you speeches they said what they really need is a new building or at least an extension, as they are bursting at the rafters. Lots to think about.