Day 24: Energy Matters

We returned to 94 that day as we anticipated there would be more painting for us to do and once back in the computer room, a second coat seemed inevitable. But before the painting began, team Tutu and Elisabeth were requested as substitute teachers for the absent science teacher. The topic today was energy, a part of science that I actually enjoyed as a child, so with the textbooks to aid us did not seem like too daunting a task. The kids seemed to understand our lesson, although there attempts at group work were feeble, so Elisabeth and I both had to actively go round to each group to spur on some sort of discussion. Clearly they are not very used to discussing things in small groups or being allowed to talk amongst themselves, as rote style teaching does not accommodate such techniques. The lesson was running smoothly until we hit the hurdle of how the children could conserve energy from their daily routines. In the UK such a question would be a lot simpler with the hundreds of cars being driven to school and the amount of wasted electricity in most households. But in a slum area of Ghana, where the children walk to school and only use electricity for essentials like cooking, it was hard to see how the children could realistically reduce their already minute carbon footprint.

We spent the rest of our day painting while Sophie began her post tests on the KG2B class, and with a little help from the older primary class teachers, we completed a second coat. Once finished Sunday immediately raced in to obtain the much sought after paint bucket, intending to use the leftover paint for her own bedroom. Job done and we headed over to Kasoa school, but with the ‘lights off’ (a local term used for no power) we could only take some pictures of the computer club. The pictures identify each child so their pen pal in Newcastle can see exactly what their pal looks like, and I plan to carry out the same process when back in Newcastle, so the children in Ghana can see a picture of their pen pal aswell.

That evening we ventured to the chinese restaurant past the toll booth, as a belated birthday dinner for Sophie. The service still cannot be compared to a British restaurant but the fish I had was a welcome change to the mundane chicken and rice that’s usually on the menu.