Day 14: Not Gaga for Ga

Monday morning and new school time again for Elisabeth and I.  With no need to cross over the road to get our tro we thought today’s journey would be fairly simple following the directions given to us by Simiao. But after two tro’s the walk to find Bortianor was slightly harder than first anticipated; we got lost, ran through long grass and got told off by some locals for not greeting them the proper African (not European) way.  When we finally reached the school we were hot and glistening with sweat, but relieved to have found our way.

Efuia, the school manager of Bortianor was a lovely woman, she allowed us time to relax and catch our breath from the journey, and then proceeded to ask us what we would like to do today. As Elisabeth and I were both keen to interview some students, Efuia simply asked which age group and how many, and then quickly organised a perfect group of kids for us.  From Efuia’s actions, I could tell Bortianor was definitely one of the most organised and efficient of the Omgea chain, probably aided by the fact it is the oldest of the chain, and so has had time to work out some of the kinks.

I observed a Primary 3 maths class that morning with Miss Comfort.  The teaching was consistent with the other lessons I had observed, mainly rote style teaching with minimal teacher pupil interaction. One of the main issues I have found with the teaching in Ghana, which was highlighted by Tooley and Dixon in their research on Ghanaian schools, is to do with the productiveness of the teaching and of the lessons.  From the lessons I have observed the teachers spend a significant amount of time writing things down on the board, either questions or long passages of text.  In the time that they are writing these at least 10 to 15 minutes of the lesson gets filled. During this time the teacher would have their back to the children and would not normally have an exercise prepared to occupy them while they wait, and so it is a wasted 15 minutes of the lesson.  In Britain, due to the technological advancements in the primary school I have been working in, each class has an interactive white board, and each teacher has usually prepared the lesson in advance, having the questions already written up. This time saved allows for a 1 hour lesson to involve a full hour of productive teaching. It may be that the teachers in Ghana do not spend the same amount of time preparing their lessons, or it could be due to the lack of technology, but somewhere along the way time is being lost, and the productivity of the lesson is being diminished by such incipit and repetitive tasks. It is an issue that could be looked into further, and in different situations, as although I feel some of the teaching is not as productive as it could be, the government schools (which I will be visiting later on in the week) may have even less productive to unproductive teaching ratios.

After a delicious and standardly filling lunch of rice and fish, Elisabeth and I decided to join one of the Ghanaian language classes.  In the hope of learning more fantse we sat down ready to learn. Unfortunately the most popular dialect in the Bortianor area, is Ga. Having never been told any Ga, we were soon being taught what an adjective, conjunction, pronoun and adverb was in Ga. As I could barely remember what they meant in English I wasn’t great with them in Ga, and the lesson soon ran away from me.  The second Ghanaian language lesson we went to was with a younger class and therefore made things slightly simpler and more coherent. Learning the days of the week, and the traditional Ghanaian names given to those born on that specific day.

During our Ga lesson we had a welcome interruption from Ken and three Obruni.  Leaving the class Elisabeth and I were introduced to three Americans who were in Ghana for Ken and the Omega institution. They seemed to be interested in having students from their own university be involved in a placement module in Ghana and in the Omega schools, and were enthusiastic about the great opportunity we had been given. I have later found out that these Americans will be involved in providing some funding to the Omega chain, which is much deserved and I suspect has to do with Ken’s friendly, well mannered and cheerful disposition along with the inspirational school chain he has created.  With more funding Ken will be able to open the further 6 schools he has proposed to do before Christmas of this year, and he will be able to generally improve his existing 7 schools.

Day 11, 12 & 13: Living for the Weekend

Friday was the start of the weekend for me this week as with the power out again at Kasoa I was stuck with no work to do on my mini project. Although the power situation had me slightly stressed, not nearly as bad as Sophie’s life crisis.

Sophie: ‘I don’t know who I am anymore.’

Me: ‘What do you mean?’

Sophie: ‘I used to have straight hair and olive skin. Now I have wavy hair and sun burn.’

Due to the sheer ridiculousness of her statement I did not even humour her with a reply (I think Miss Sofia must have tried the tap water that day!)

As it was a Friday night, Sophie, Elisabeth and I decided to try somewhere new for dinner. The New Timers Hotel was graced with our presence that night, yet once again we were greeted with hostility and rudeness.  In our few weeks in Ghana we have all agreed how welcoming and friendly the Ghanaians have been, except in the service industry. It makes no sense, but we have received sour faced, huffy and just plain rude staff at our hotel and from almost every waitress we have come across. The service industry in Britain takes pride on being almost overly friendly and welcoming, yet here in Ghana where the people in the streets would go out of their way to help you, the ones that actually get paid to help you couldn’t care less. A completely bizarre situation, but not something we can really change.

Saturday morning, and regardless of Pauls lateness we managed to make it to Accra in good time and meet up with David. Our first stop was the museum, which involved highlights of playing on the african style xylophone and seeing a mini version of Elmina castle, and almost exact model we felt having visited the castle only last weekend.

I also enjoyed checking out how the Ghanaian money had changed over time, but found it ridiculous that you could buy and old one cedi note in the gift shop for 40 cedis now. From the museum we went on to the Centre for Culture Market and finally got to do some shopping and more importantly bartering/haggling. I greatly enjoy a good haggle, and having to get my brother a present (as usual) I felt this would be the perfect opportunity. However, I almost fainted when the seller started at 45 cedi, I laughed and nearly walked away there and then. His 45 cedis was the same as me starting with ‘I give you 5 pesewa.’ Clearly the seller did not realise I was an experienced Obruni and was not willing to pay extortionate amounts that some tourists may settle at. After going up and down on both sides, we settled on a fair price of 12 cedis (a long way from the 45 cedi start thankfully!)

Our trip back to the hotel was named to be ‘the best tro ride ever!’ A huge claim, but it was an epic journey. Buying plantain chips from a street seller, the breezy back seat, with the doors slightly ajar (whether broken on accidentally left like that, who knows?) The business class style tro seats, a fan choco and a bumpy shortcut meant we were home in no time.  What more could you want?

Sundays adventures included just Sophie, Elisabeth and I, on a mission to get an African tan. Thanks to Marc Beas suggestion we ended up at Bojo Beach for the day; an idyllic paradise island. Although our Shoprite picnic was not allowed, the canoe boat out to the actual beach had all three of us grinning from ear to ear. The beach was perfect, not too busy, golden sands, warm sea breeze and friendly staff.  After a solid hour tanning session, Sophie and I found ourselves attempting to swim in the sea, but the waves were scarily strong, and even at knee level it was hard to walk against the current, let alone swim (we also drifted into the red flagged area, and were quickly whistled over by the lifeguard/security guard.) Bojo also had it’s own beach volleyball court set out, and once a game got started I obviously couldn’t resist joining in, and so I spent the rest of my afternoon digging, spiking and diving across the sand. A thoroughly enjoyable day, finished off with our picnic at the hotel. Another weekend gone, but Bojo Beach we will return!

Day 10: The tales of Sunday

One of my favourite things about 94 has to be Sunday the tuck shop lady. She is constantly friendly and has ample time to tell Sophie, Elisabeth and I stories about Ghana and its colourful history. She has helped us with learning twi and fanste, given us all Ghanaian names (depending on which day we were born) except me, as she has taken to calling me Oye. Due to mine and Elisabeth’s progressive tans and ability to demonstrate how to play ampe, Sunday no longer calls us Obruni and is quite happy to allow us (me especially) to be full Africans. Today Sunday’s brother was also working, and we found out that he was what I believed to be a living example of the film ‘Goal.’ He had recently been scouted playing football in a simple field in Ghana but some Italian man, who filmed their game, returned to Italy, and now he has been offered a place in an Italian club. An actual fairy tale…it also shows how greatly sport can influence peoples lives!

Another highlight at 94 is Miss Sofia’s phonics classes with KG2a and Miss Rebecca. The different attitudes towards the kids and teaching place Miss Sofia at one end of the spectrum and Miss Rebecca far away at the other end. Miss Sofia’s positive encouraging style of teaching has been unheard of in this KG2 class before. Miss Rebecca is not your usual warm and fuzzy kindergarten teacher; she is stern, strict and slightly terrifying (I would not want to be one of the class when getting told off!) I do not know whether Miss Rebecca’s approach is due to the large class sizes, the distraction of hearing other classes around the school, or perhaps now the kids only respond once they have been severely disciplined. But having observed Miss Sofia’s lesson, the children have responded well to being congratulated for the good work they have done, and are generally very well behaved following the tactical approach Miss Sofia has taken to keep their attention on her. Whether Miss Rebecca may learn a few new ways to keep control of the class which does not involve shouting ‘What is wrong with you,’ we will have to wait and see.


In the afternoon at 94 I managed to complete some of my teacher questionnaires, with the results showing a slightly bias and loyal stand to the Omega institution, but an overall very honest and competent set of results. Sadly the power at Kasoa school was not on (I presumed after the storm, but have now learned that Thursday is ‘light’s off’ day) so I could not continue my mini project that evening.

Day 9: Sister Ghost

Back to what I feel as home at 94 school, where we are always met by a friendly greeting from Lisa or Belinda collecting the precious 1 cedi entrance fee and ‘Sunday’ the tuck shop lady, who is by far becoming my favourite person in Ghana.

Having completed the research I needed to do at 94, I ventured into the calamity of the nursery classes. Being there for a head count, 69 children had been registered and shuffled into the first nursery class, to which not all had chairs and there was only one table for work to be done at.

Luckily for the kids that they spend most of their day singing. The early years rote style learning involves nursery rhymes being chanted again again until each child knows every last word within the rhyme.  Having been through a few Ghanaian rhymes including and interesting and somewhat inappropriate one about shooting birds, some familiar British ones were chanted out to me. The kids and the teacher were now pushing for me to incorporate a new song into their repitoire and the only thing that came to mind was the ‘hokey cokey.’  With all 69 kids standing and the teacher waiting in anticipation to see how I would handle instructing the army of tiny noise makers, I began. ‘You put your left leg in’ a few shuffled forward, perhaps I wasn’t quite loud enough. ‘YOU PUT YOUR LEFT LEG IN’ more began to shuffle towards me. It was unclear whether they just wanted to see an obruni dance or whether they didn’t quite understand the song, but I had to go through it alone 3 times before even the teacher began to catch on. Once the teacher had mastered the movements we were in full flow, and after a few alterations to the lines (you put your right arm up and down, rather than in and out, to avoid a full on brawl) the majority of the children were happily dancing along chanting out the words up, down, in and out when they felt appropriate. After a full session of the ‘hokey cokey’ the kids were happy, the teacher asked for a copy of the song and I was pleased I could contribute something to the class.

Leaving nursery I had planned to find Miss Sofia and Miss Elisabeth, but instead stumbled upon a Primary 6 Fantse class. Jumping at the opportunity to learn some of the native language, I parked myself at the front of the class, notepad and pen at the ready for any core lines I could take down for future uses. The P6’s were slightly more advanced than I, and as the teacher saw my confusion, he kindly began a refresher course including all the essentials; how are you? What is your name? My name is… I am going… and so on. After chanting away with the class I felt confident in a few phrases and so accepted the challenge of being quizzed by the students in what I had just learnt.  I cautiously answered ‘Oye’ (I’m fine) when asked How are you in fantse, and also managed to tell them my name was Tutu without uttering a word of English. With some key phrases learnt, perhaps rote can help in the beginning stages of learning.

As Ken had popped in for the afternoon I spent a bit of time enquiring about the age of each of the schools, and considering 94 had only opened in January I was amazed by how full the school was, having both A and B classes for each primary year. The chain of Omega schools had been expanding rapidly since it’s first school Bortianor opened a mere 18 months ago. The Omega chain must be held as a seriously reputable establishment to take in as many as 700 children in only 3 months.  With Ken proposing another 4 schools in the next 6 months, the Omega train is going at full speed ahead, I can only say I hope that the quality stays consistent and that the schools are only opened when fully stocked with the sufficient resources, equipment and teachers.

After a successful school day, we were greeted by the locals as usual, although Miss Sofia received a new and I feel completely justified nickname of ‘Sister Ghost’ clearly Obruni just wasn’t quite cutting it anymore. Needless to say, Sister Ghost was not happy by the comment and has now incorporated a one hour tanning session into her daily routine to try and rectify her ghostly complexion.

Our after school trip to Shoprite provided me with one simple equation,

Shoprite = Obruni central!

Clearly us foreign folk need our tesco metros, big asda, or morrisons, where the prices are set and clearly identified, as we cannot quite handle the market madness.

The evening brought even more excitement, as we could see lightening thrashing through the clouds in the distance while we tucked into our jollof. But it wasn’t until we headed up to bed that the real storm began, with loud bursts of thunder and for the first time since we’d been in Ghana…rain. In a ridiculous state of excitement I ran to the window to witness this almost epic event in my eyes. After I’d stared outside and fully appreciated the rain I returned to bed, and slept well in the knowledge that it can rain in Ghana just like it does at home.

Day 8: The joys of fresh air

Back at Kasoa school today and this time I spent the day questioning students on their thoughts on Physical Education and Sport as part of my dissertation research.  In general the findings showed that Omega schools only offer football to the children on a Friday afternoon. And although following their World Cup success football is very popular, many children felt their school should have more choices, including; basketball, netball, volleyball and athletics.

The children also all agree that sport is important in life, mainly because it is good for your health.  Considering Britains high child obesity rates, I wonder if asked the same question kids in Britain would rate sport as highly in life? The majority of children interviewed also played sport outside of school at the local park/field, again mainly football, but it was great to see so many of them spending their free time outside exercising rather than inside watching tv and/or playing the latest playstation, xbox or computer game. Having less technology clearly allows children in Ghana to enjoy the weather and the fresh air, keeps them healthy and keeps them happy (perhaps technology should be limited in Britain to try and get the ‘playstation generation’ outside!)

Day 7: A new week…a new school

A new week meant a new school for Elisabeth and I.  Kasoa school had an equal number of children as 94, but the school was significantly smaller, making classrooms much more cramped and closer together and noise levels much more disrupting. If I was a teacher I do not know how I would be able to deal with the constant echoing chants coming from the lower primary classes. I have begun to wonder how beneficial rote style learning can actually be.  The children can memorize things well, but it is unclear whether they actually understand what they are repeating and chanting. From helping Sophie last week with her reading tests it was clear that although the children would chant the words in the test daily, they could not recognise them when written down.  Of course it is easy to criticise the education system in Ghana, compared to Britain with our almost endless resources. But I believe with the right instruction and teaching, the teachers in Ghana could learn new teaching techniques, which steer away from rote style learning and focus more on the childrens actual understanding.

Watching the local news on TV that evening I noticed one of the main headlines concerning government teachers striking. The strikes had been going on for a week, as the teachers demanded an increase in salary and a decrease in class size. The Omega schools are private and so if teachers do not come to school they will not get paid. The government teachers already get paid much more than those in the low-cost private schools due to the fact government teachers have actual teaching degrees yet they seem to produce the same results (although I am yet to see a government class first hand), but from the children who have recently come from government schools to an Omega school do not seem more advanced, merely at the same level as all the other children. So the teachers in Omega do exactly the same work for a lot less pay, and from a mere 2 weeks teacher training. It does not seem to add up?

One of the good things about Kasoa school was their computer room containing 12 computers in clusters of 4, all with internet access. So, I managed to begin my mini research project, as students stayed after school to set up yahoo accounts and send emails to Benton Park Primary school in Newcastle (a school where I had previously been helping out at ever week as part of a career development module).  The idea of having a pen friend in England seemed to excite the children, and although the internet was terribly slow and constantly crashing, the children waited patiently and we managed to send 5 emails to the Newcastle school.

A long but rewarding day, and no doubt more hard work tomorrow, as my research begins to take full flow.

Day 5 & 6: Weekend wonders…

Our first weekend in Ghana and so we’ve planned a trip to Cape Coast to get tanning and visit some castles and explore more of Ghana.

After an extremely squished tro ride we arrived at Cape Coast castle with the small issue of finding somewhere to stay for the night.  Luckily after one loop round a few streets we found a small hippy vegetarian café, and as well as a smoothie and a veggie pizza slice we managed to get a room for 5, easy.  With our stuff left in the room, Elisabeth Sophie and I headed for the beach while clothesless Paul and sun fearing Simiao went shopping.  The beach was packed with children playing in the sea, children hawking and strangely for us Obruni (white people). Since entering the coastal town we had seen more Obruni than ever before, clearly Cape Coast was a big tourist attraction.

The beach provided the three of us with a very interesting day. John, a local Ghanaian came and sat with us, talking for hours about anything and everything; the history behind Elmina castle, the economic problems in Ghana, the proper use of aid and the right tro to get to Kakum National Park. John was a knowledgeable man, and for anything he did not know he was happy to listen and learn. I believe John to be a typical Ghanaian; friendly, polite, helpful and just happy to be alive and kicking. 

While John was chatting away I noticed two boys passing a rugby ball on the beach. Being a rugby fan myself I was intrigued by the boys who clearly had been taught how to play. I decided to join them, and after a few good spin passes and drop kicks, I asked them where they went to school.  It was a local government school, which taught rugby as it’s main sport, rather than football like all the other schools I have visited so far. Noting my findings down I felt like the beach had not just been good for getting a tan, but for continuing my dissertation research as well. Success!

We had a jam packed Sunday starting off with a canopy walk in Kakum National Park, which involves walking across 7 thin rickety wooden bridges within the trees in the park. Although the bridges were a bit unsteady, the views were unreal, high in the tree tops you could see for miles.

After the amazing views we headed to the historical Elmina castle. Having a 45 minute guide around the castle we were told the rich history; first established as a trade settlement by the Portugese, bringing guns, gun powder and alcohol to trade for gold and spices.  But later the castle became one of the stops on the route of the Atlantic slave trade. Having studied the slave trade at school, actually seeing the slave holds firsthand was unbelievable, and an experience I think I will remember forever.

After frolicking on Elmina beach, our very own paradise island, we found the bus station and headed back to Kasoa, which has started to feel like home after only a week here! However, at the station we were greeted by locals claiming ‘Cape Coast don’t have tro’s.’ After clearly explaining that we came by tro and that we’d like to return by tro we got no where. We didn’t want some fancy air conditioned mini bus, we wanted a rickety, broken doored, seasoned tro! Oh how we’ve changed! The weekend over and I am already looking forward to the adventures of next weekend.

Small Point: Everywhere we go, any spare land or field has been transformed into a football pitch! With 3 bits of bamboo to create the two sides and cross bar, it is clear in Ghana that football is the most popular sport around. 

Day 4: The Ghanaian Way

Friday fun day! As we were now pro-tro goers as Elisabeth would say, are morning routine went smoothly. As we walked to school I noticed more and more signs for local government and private schools, just as James Tooley (JT) and Pauline Dixon (PDiddy) had mentioned to us in our lectures. It is strange to think of Britain having big signs advertising primary schools, but in Ghana it appears to be the norm.  From the multitude of signs it appears schools are very competitive as there are often many in one small area.

After morning marching and the singing of the school song, I made my way up to the JH2 Class to do some of my student questionnaires. Having Haribo in exchange for answers, the kids seemed happy to participate, and I managed to get around 20 kids worth of data done. While Sophie and Elisabeth had begun testing the KG2B class (the control group.)

Having been at 94 for 3 days, it was clear from Andrew, Ken, Belinda (the school manager) and all the teachers that they are keen to learn and improve so their schools can improve.  The spirit found in the children and the teachers cannot be found amongst British classrooms.  Some teachers being paid less than £30 a month, use the minimal resources they have yet still manage to assist the children’s learning, which is one of the main points of going to school (to learn.)  The children are very different to British children. They are inordinately self-sufficient and respect their elders in a completely different manner to the British.  After watching one small nursery boy face plant the dusty rocky playground floor I thought tears and tantrums were bound to occur, instead I witnessed his friend lift him from the ground and use his own t-shirt to wipe away the dust. This is Africa, and in Africa everyone seems ready to look after each other.  We read about the Ghanaians willingness to help, and so far it has be completely true, Ken and the Omega staff have been wonderfully welcoming and provided us with everything we might need, whether it be simcards, a good hearty lunch time meal or even just the teacher/students time to fill out a questionnaire.  I feel very lucky to be treated so well, and hope that our time spent with Omega schools can be beneficial for them as well as ourselves.

Day 3: Copy and Repeat

A slightly later start to the day, yet this morning I was strangely woken up by the cold.  Clearly the air con was working a little too well!  But, something or someone must have known I was a little chilly as the power cut off, turning the air con off and leaving the room a nice mild temperature.

Across the road of death (literally, poor rabies dog) and on to a tro, we were practically locals.  Into school and Elisabeth, Sophie and I all went to the KG1 class to help Sophie with her Burt Reading pre-tests.  It was surprisingly how little the kids of 6 years old could read, but it gives Sophie a clean slate to try out phonics on the children. As many actually knew their alphabet but could not pronounce the words, phonics will be key to their improvements, and the class chosen for the intervention should count themselves lucky.  Although Omega schools are doing a good job, especially in comparison to the government schools who seem to have children out in the streets more than in the classroom, there are still some vital changes which need to be made. 

Highlights of my day included when testing got a bit tedious and I decided to venture into the playground during the nursery kids play time.  Surrounded by over 60 kids, I began teaching them ‘heads, shoulders, knees and toes…knees and toes.’ 
Now if there is one thing they have mastered from rote style teaching it is how to copy and repeat.  After a few in sync verses of ‘heads…’ I changed it up into a simple copy Miss Tutu as I threw out some jazz hands, hip wiggles and spins.  The excitement was unreal, even the smallest amount of attention had them all smiling.  And when Elisabeth brought out her camera it was total madness.  All clearly aspiring contestants for Ghana’s next top model, it was a fight to the front to make sure you were in the picture.

Before leaving for the day we were given lunch of beans and plantain, to which I once again stayed strong with my personal motto of ‘continuous and competitive eating.’  Ken also stopped in to provide us all with simcards and Omega schools t-shirts (bar Elisabeth…unlucky mate.) From school we got the tro straight to ‘Shoprite’ the local supermarket, as I don’t think we’re quite ready to haggle in the market yet.

Dinner at JD’s café resulted in a distinct lack of food for myself due to some order confusion (note to all waitresses: please write down orders!)  Ah well, at least the card games kept the laughter going.  Back fairly early gave me time to write a new student questionnaire, involving questions about P.E and sport in school and out of school (which seems to be the norm for many.) Unfortunately Sophie had completely taken over the internet café, demanding hundreds of thousands of copies still for her pre-tests. With only 8 questionnaires printed, I would have to work it out tomorrow.

Note to self: always remember to deet, the 5 insect bites on my knee are seriously irritating!

Day 2: Scottish Dream

Morning!  Elisabeth, Sophie and I were up early to be picked up by Ben who was helping us make our way to 94 using local transport.  The tro tro seemed to be the least of our worries and instead, crossing the ridiculously busy road took longer than the actual tro ride to Kasoa. Once off the tro, we took an interestingly long walk through the market and into some of the slum areas of Kasoa to our school. 

Placed in a Junior High 2 class, I was given the oldest kids in the school, ranging from 14 to 17 years old.  First lesson, francais, and I think they got me confused with Miss Sofia, as I was not there to teach.  The French teacher finished with 30 minutes to spare, leaving me to entertain the class…uhoh!

Questions of my homeland were instantly asked; ‘where are you from?’ ‘What is your name?’ ‘What are your father and mothers name?’ ‘Do you have any brothers or sisters?’ ‘Tell us a story about your homeland’ ‘tell us about your culture.’  The questions just flooded in! After a while I managed to turn the questions over to them and learn some new things myself.  As they informed me dance was a big part of their culture, I requested to see some native dance, and one brave girl was up at the front showing me the local moves.  Little did I know, they would want a ‘native’ dance in return.  Thankfully my Scottish roots have provided me with the distinctive highland dancing, to which I performed at the front of the class to my best ability.  Overjoyed by the strange movements many got up to try and master ‘the fling.’

Music also seemed to be influential to them, as once again a girl joined me at the front of the class to sing some gospel songs from church.  The whole class then sang me the Ghanaian national anthem in Twi as requested by myself. Yet once again I was asked to perform in return, and once again the Scottish in me shone through as I stood hand on heart singing ‘O flower of Scotland.’  Clapped and cheered I felt I had held my own in the classroom, but luckily break time had arrived.

The rest of the day was mainly spent observing the other teachers, although I was lucky enough to have a school lunch which involved rice, beans and a boiled egg.  With school over the walk back to Kasoa seemed more familiar, and we easily made our way into a tro and back to the hotel.  The evening took a similar route, dinner in the restaurant next-door and early to bed.

Small point: A tro – to’s and fro’s from place to place…perhaps where it got it’s name from?

Day 1: TIA

8am alarm…. Good Morning Ghana! Having no idea of when Ken would be picking us up, an early rise was agreed upon. Unfortunately for us Ken had already popped in to tell Paul we could have a lie in, to which the message did not quite reach the rest of us.  As we were already up, dressed, deeted and sun creamed, breakfast was calling.  Venturing downstairs we were met by a perfectly laid outdoor table with egg sandwiches, tea and coffee for all.

Paul called Ken to tell him we were all ready and so once he had arrived we headed to our first Omega school, Oblogo.  Which was in fact the baby of the 7 omega schools, having only opened 6 months ago. Andrew, the head of education and learning took us on a quick tour round Oblogo and explained to us some of the key objectives of the Omega Schools, including the schools motto of ‘every child matters.’ Oblogo had a large playing field right next to it which automatically caught my eye and I was quick to ask about whether it was used for P.E. Andrew informed me that on a Saturday morning the kids would come for Physical education at 7.30am till 9am, but that this was the first Omega school to incorporate P.E due to the lack of facilities and general inconvenience of taking the kids for P.E halfway through the school day, which would inevitably result in a sweaty smelly class full of kids with half a school day to complete. Not a great idea. But for me, panic began to set in as I had the slight issue of having a dissertation based around the physical education curriculum in Ghana and there appeared not to actually be one in the Omega chain.  At least Simiao’s umbrella cheered me up!

After Oblogo (pronounced with a hearty Italian accent) we moved on to another Omega school and then to 94, the school Sophie, Elisabeth and I were going to spend the rest of the week at.  94 is located in a slum area of Kasoa and was a very large school compared to Oblogo. 94 had two classes for each year group starting from nursery to kindergarten to p1 all the way up to p6, with one Junior High 1 class and one Junior High 2 class.  Ken asked Ben to take us around the school while he sorted out some business, and unlike the usual quick tour of the basic lay out, Ben felt a more in depth tour was necessary. We visited every single class and were introduced each time. After about the sixth classroom a small routine set in, ‘Hi, I’m Simiao and I’m Chinese!’ or ‘This is Paul…and he is tall.’  As we finally made it to the last classroom everyone was getting tired from the heat and the apparent necessary need for encouragement of ‘read your books’ and ‘do your assignments’ which also featured in our well oiled routine (the casual joke of ‘eat all your lunch and you can be as tall as Paul didn’t go down too well.)  After sorting out what we wanted to achieve and what Omega schools wanted us to do for them, it was finally lunchtime.  Jd’s café, a fast food restaurant close by, served us all the standard meal of jollof rice and chicken, and once again I followed exactly what Sophie’s Ghana book said…Continuous and Competitive eating.

After lunch we returned to the hotel for some relaxation time and of course showers (casually ignoring the lack of bathroom doors.)  The transformation outside from bright boiling sun to a cool evening darkness happens almost instantly in Ghana, and with the darkness tiredness seems to come hand in hand.  Yet instead of bedtime Paul forced an evening stroll upon us to find some football match apparently happening on TV. Sadly for Paul we didn’t quite make it to anywhere showing the game, and so all returned to the restaurant next to the hotel to indulge in some more chicken and rice.  With dinner done and an early start for us all, bedtime was calling.  Today truly helped us understand what ‘This is Africa’ meant.  However, American Pie was on our hotel TV, so it’s not quite as different as I thought.

The day of travels...

With a ridiculously early start to the day, the taxi ride to the airport wasn’t exactly buzzing.  Getting there super early thanks to Elisabeth’s keen and organised nature resulted in a quick seat in starbucks and a casual ferrero rocher courtesy of Simiao. Check in time and Paul arrives in his usual chilled fashion. Through security with only Sophie causing a scene, and the excitement began to set in. Snacks once again provided by Simiao in the form of individually wrapped prunes, to which Elisabeth believed to be too much for one person to eat.

‘It was only one singular prune Elisabeth!’

First plane…extremely small. Fatigue began to set in considering the early morning and lack of sleep from the night before.  Once in Brussels with some time to kill and Sophie on a mission, an easy pizza was the only thing on my mind. Yet at a steep 9 euros, my prune filled stomach would have to wait for the real flight!

Second plane…much bigger than the first. Originally seated in between a family of four with two toddlers I thought I was in for a flight from hell. Instead I was luckily asked to move, and there just so happened to be a free 4 seater row…snooze time, finally.  Woken up by the sweet smell of plane food, I was pleasantly surprised by the greek salad starter and herb crusted fish main I was presented with and so happily wolfed the lot down.  Once fed and watered I ventured up the plane to greet my fellow travellers who weren’t quite so lucky with their seating arrangements as Elisabeth had to endure Sophie’s ‘chat’…all journey.  Another nap, some in flight entertainment featuring Christina Aquilera and Liberia was in sight. Quick stop over in Monrovia and then onto the next leg of the journey.

Liberia to Ghana. Having moved from my 4 seater up to the rest of the group, staying awake seemed inevitable. Thankfully Sophie’s guide book to Ghana provided us with some much needed knowledge on the proper etiquette when out and about in Ghana. Some valuable do’s and don’t’s included; do not sing in the shower, do not whistle at night and do not blow your nose at the dinner table. Along with some inspirational quotes, for example;

‘If you do not help your neighbour count to nine, you will not be able to count to ten’

With the end of the flight in sight, Sophie’s lack of sleep began to set in, yet sadly this was not the end of our travelling day. Off the plane, visa’s checked, money exchanged, bags collected, the 'new castle' students were met by Ken’s brother David(and friends). Even with the Ghana book knowledge, unwanted help resulted in Paul passing out the Cedis to anyone that had even looked at one of our bags, let alone actually carried it.  Once loaded up into the somewhat charming banger of a mini bus or tro tro in Ghana, we began speeding along the main roads, each of us hoping they knew where Marc beas hotel was.

An evening in Ghana presented excellent viewing from the tro. Men, women and children carrying bags of plantain, bagged water, Fan Ice and anything worth selling on their heads filled the streets. Although drivers in Ghana are slightly more ‘horn-happy’ and care-free, we made it to marc beas hotel in one piece.

The hotel was a lot larger than expected, but apparently not large enough to have 3 beds in one room. But with exhaustion setting in, any room with a bed would do. The impromptu power cuts resulted in us venturing back downstairs for our evening meal. A typical Ghanaian jollof rice and chicken fully satisfied my somewhat enormous hunger that had appeared since starting this journey. Food gone, finally bed time (unless you’re Simiao and you’ve forgotten the code to your suitcase). Night(mare)!