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Wednesday August 1, 2018
We are enjoying our 1st day together as one big Krobo family! Weather is great and spirits are high!
We are looking forward to visiting local market today, so we can get fabric for our new Ghanian wardrobe!
-William Korte, International Director
Thursday August 2, 2018
Quote of the day: “Everyday may not be a good day but there is good in everyday”- Helen Keller
On August 2, 2018, we started off at 7:30 am with optional yoga on the roof. After yoga was finished, everyone was then up and ready for breakfast at 8 am. Breakfast, as usual is always as yummy as ever. The food that we had for that morning consisted of toast, mango, and sausage with veggies. Once everyone finished eating, we got ready to go for our orientation and leadership activities. During this, we went over rules and expectations for the program and played a game called, Mafia, led by the leaders of the day. When the game was finished, we took a walk to the nursery, where kids from 5 months to 5 years old are learning. We got to hear about how they discipline children in Ghana and how the school system here works. We were there for a good hour, and once we said our goodbyes for the day, we walked back to home base for lunch. We ate rice mixed with beans and spaghetti.
However, this spaghetti isn’t what one may expect; this delicious spaghetti has a Ghanaian twist, made up of different spices flavoring thin noodles.After lunch, during the hottest part of the day, we have a bit of free time. Most of us take naps, some of us hangout, and others journal. Today was also our first day to visit our host families! This is an opportunity for us to break into small groups and go with one of the selected local host family members to their house to learn about their language and culture.
We learned to speak some Krobo, we asked questions about their lives, and we met the other family members. On the way back, we played at the park with the local kids, who are very energetic and full of love. We were down at the park for 2 hours and then had to return at 6pm for dinner. They served us chicken and sweet potato fries, followed by vanilla and chocolate pancakes for dessert. Later that night, we danced to Ghanaian music by the bonfire and had a carefree dance off, not caring how crazy we looked. We then had the opportunity to buy some sweets and soda that are made in Ghana.
The chocolates here are so delicious that you want more every time! The soda that they had was good as well. Thursday, August 2, 2018 was a very impactful day and we are sure the next few days will be as well, but this special day was when we truly got into learning about the culture of Ghana and the Krobo people. We can’t wait for what is to come!
-by Makenna Blackman and Cara Dunleavy
Friday August 3, 2018
Day four was full of adventure! We had the honor of meeting Cedi, the founder of
Cedi Beads. He taught us how to create our own beads from glass that is heated
in clay molds. After everyone made a total of six beads, we all participated in
team-building activities. As our beads were fired in the kilim (“Mou lata” in Krobo)
coated clay molds that were placed in the clay kiln, we met with our mentor
groups and discussed our goals for our time in Ghana. Hours after polishing our
beads, we went home for lunch. After lunch, we went to the park and played
soccer, tag, and ninja with the children of Krobo. In the evening, Nanama and
Jennifer came into our rooms, and using our sheets they made dresses for our
dipo talk. They covered our faces and bodies with clay, a custom they have for the
dipo ceremony. Henry presented a slideshow about the dipo tradition – a right of
passage for Krobo girls as they grow into women and prepare for marriage. After
some dancing and singing, we received our Krobo names. Each name has a
significant meaning according to the order in which you’re born in your family.
The night ended in well-earned exhaustion, cold bucket showers, and laughter
enjoyed with the kitchen staff.
We’re excited for our next day in Ghana!
– Tiffany Ahianor & Michelle Edid
Monday August 6, 2018
Day 6 started with donuts and coffee in our Sunday best. After a brief meeting with our mentor groups, we walked a quick 10 minutes to the church where we were warmly welcomed in by the church-goers. We were quickly immersed in the lively singing, dancing and preaching of the people around us (one church-goer was so taken by the message, that she fainted back onto us as the holy ghost passed through her!). There were two preachers; one preaching in English and one translating to Krobo, both conveying the relationship between loving and fearing God. After an eye-opening service, we walked back for a lunch of rice, fried plantains, tomato sauce, mangos and Red Red (a stew of beans that was enjoyed by all).
We started the afternoon with a brick making demonstration by Sammy, a local brick maker. The brick making process begins with a large pile of dirt being mixed with cement and water. This process takes quite some time, but we ended up all producing at least one brick. At the same time as the brick making fiesta, we were getting lessons in the art of Batik. Batik is a method of fabric dying and designing that begins with the dipping stamps into melted wax that are then pressed onto a piece of fabric to make designs. After this process was complete, we sent the fabrics off to be dyed.
After Batik, we went to the park to play with all the kids. Per usual, the kids were energetic, loud and full of joy as we played with them until dinner. After dinner, we gathered for a mock class given by our very own, Nana Ama. After “class” was dismissed, we started to plan our first lesson in preparation for our first day of school tomorrow.
Your Leaders of the Day,
Addy and Emma
Tuesday August 7, 2018
Today was our first day teaching at the schools! Five of us taught at the nursery and the other twelve students taught at the elementary school. Emma and Cara were teaching Nursery 2, Coleman taught Kindergarten 1, and Elizabeth and Gracie taught Kindergarten 2. The nursery kids were very energetic! Meanwhile at the elementary school, Addie, Marissa, and Tiffany taught 1st, 2nd, and 3rd grade; Nephtali, Jori, and Bridget taught 4th grade; Kate, Andrea, and Makenna taught 5th; Ashley, Michelle, and Willa taught 6th. The elementary school GLA students also made bricks that will be used to help build the school’s unfinished library. Although it might have been a rough start because we did not know their levels, we all could see that the elementary kids were eager and excited to learn what we were teaching. We were all amazed by all the talented kids and how much they already knew! In the afternoon, went to visit our host families for the second time and finished the day with our daily trip to the park, which was tons of fun (as always).
-Elizabeth and Ashley
Wednesday August 8, 2018
Michelle and Willa get exited about
making bricks in the morning before
school starts.
Marisa, Addie, and Tiffany teach their
first, second, and third graders about
verbs and pictures.
Coleman and Bridget try to juggle all
the kids at the park.
Your leaders of the day have fun
playing with Deborah, Selena and
Ophelia at the park.
After dinner, Jori plays for William’s
team (the winning team) in a game of
charades.
Thursday August 9, 2018
Today was our second to last day of teaching and brick-making. In the afternoon, a man named Rasheed
set up his craft fair at the home base in Krobo. There were so many things to see there. He brought
wooden figurines, bowls, paintings and artwork, wallets, bracelets, bangles, necklaces, waist beads,
pants, dresses, shorts, games, handbags, and backpacks. In the evening, we started planning our “fun
day”, a day where all the local kids come to the GLA home base for games, music, and fun.
Today we set up an end-of-summer event at home base for the kids that come to the park; we called it, “Fun Day.” The kids started to show up around 9am, although we weren’t ready until 10am. They all watched with amazement in their eyes as we set up. We had 10 stations. Station 1 was face painting and station 2 was the Cha-Cha slide dance. Station 3 was a game called, “Chicken Grab,” where they had to run to the center and grab as much stuff as possible. Just past the mango tree from that, we had Red Rover set up for station 4. Winding around the bend, we had a game at station 5, where limes are tossed down a field using towels. Station 6 was a relay race, while station 7 was a lime and spoon race, and 8 was a, “fill the big bucket with water” race. Station 9 was my station. We had the kids make their own masks out of paper. The final station was another game, where two teams had to carry a ball from a bucket on one side of the driveway to a bucket on the other side, using two sticks instead of arms and hands.
The children’s ages ranged from 1 to 18. Some would carry their younger siblings with them on their backs while they joined in on the activities. About 140 kids showed up and participated. Most of the kids were able to do most of the activities, and if they didn’t understand something, we had older kids there to assist us.
All in all, the kids had a blast! We concluded our rotations with a big group dance of the Cha-Cha slide. Afterwards, we served them a nutritious lunch and handed out hibiscus ice cream as we said our goodbyes.
After eating lunch, we went inside to rest for a bit before heading to the park from 4-6pm. In the evening, we had a song competition and talent show. For the song competition, we were spilt into 4 groups in which we created “remakes” to popular songs, describing our experiences during this trip. Group two won first place with their remake of SIMPLE, by Florida Georgia Line. After the impressive talent show, we all showed off our cool new Ghanaian clothes in a fashion show, each strutting our stuff while dancing to Madonna’s, “Vogue.” Everyone laughed when William and Colman presented their matching shirts and danced around. The night ended with laughter and memories that none of us will forget.
-Nephtali
