Teaching math in Ghana

June 19^th, 2013 9:45am (delayed posting due to lack of internet again)

As work here has been going pretty slow, I've started teaching math and conversational English at a small school here in Accra every Tuesday and Thursday to keep myself busy.  I am teaching at the Ossu children’s library (http://www.osuchildrenslibraryfund.ca/), it was created by a Canadian lady named Kathy Knowles.  It was the first library she started in Ghana and she has gone on to build many more.  She is coming to visit Ghana soon and the children who hang out at the library are preparing a song and dance show for her to welcome her back to Ghana. 

The Ossu children's library

It is a lot of fun and the kids in my math class are very enthusiastic. The math students are around 16-17 years old and are trying to get ready for their big end of term exam.  I think their schooling is a very structured environment, as they stand up every time they speak and loudly shout out answers as a group when I ask a question.  The book they use for math is pretty poor, it has the theory and many examples, but if you don’t understand it has little in the way of explanation to help you out.  That has been the hardest part about teaching math is trying to explain something that I have just done so many times that I no longer think about it.  

The mosque bring constructed next to the school, where my Turkish student works and lives.

Soccer kids

My math class

The English class is for adults who want to work on their ability to speak English.  I have been surprised by the quality of their reading and writing, but their speaking lags way behind.  There are adult students from Turkey, Somalia, Ivory Coast and northern Ghana in my class.  We just sit around and talk about what they are up to and try and role play some everyday situations like going to the store to buy bread.

The entrance to the library, I believe the brick shapes are supposed to be Ghana on the left and a very poor version of Canada on the right

Work is continuing slowly on the sewage plant drainage system, we continue to run into ground water, which at this point we cannot do anything about.  There is a plan in place to pump the water out but so far we are having issues finding a suitable pump.  We also spend a day trying to buy a cement mixer, which was an adventure.  The contractor, Dieu, and I spent the day driving around looking for a cement mixer to buy, with no luck.  At the end of the day when we had given up, the surveyor, George, said he knew a guy who could get one and would even deliver it a rarity in Ghana. 

Dr. Yanful also invited us to hear him speak on the topic of Acid mine drainage.  It was a very interesting presentation, on a very interesting subject.  He talked about how you can seal in the mine waste with layers of clay and sand, which should hopefully keep it out of the environment.

Johnny