Oh my goodness. Where to start … I went with my mom, Pam, and my little brother, Ben. We were placed in Atorkor which is in the Southern Volta Region. We were a 10 minute walk from the beach which was an amazing plus. The village was a fishing village, a lot of the families rely on fish for an income but recently they have not been catching much and it’s becoming a big problem.
I was a teacher in the primary 5 class which is about equivalent to a 5th grade class in the USA. The age range of my class was 10-18 because classes there are based on a final exam at the end of the school year and you only advance to the next class if you pass. Children also enter school at all different ages which make the age gap so big. I taught math, science, and some English. The language barrier was definitely present but with the help of the head teacher they understood what I was teaching just fine.
I had the most amazing time with Atorkor Primary 5. A piece of my heart will always be with them. They were the most joyous, loving, welcoming, and fun group of kids. I couldn’t have asked for any better place to spend a month in Ghana. In the village if you are eager to learn they are more than happy to teach you and include you in their lives. I also played a lot of “football” and cards, any time you take initiative to start some game the kids are more than happy to join in. They love spending time with you even if that means just holding your hand and waking you to where ever you’re going, I don’t know if I ever went anywhere with an empty hand on either side. The accommodations were more than acceptable. The food was marginal.
I went on the cape coast excursion. It was a lot of fun. The rain forest tour was incredible. I’m kind of a nature girl so I loved the rope walk. The history tour of the slave castles was overwhelming. It was a lot to take in but I’m really happy I had the experience. We finished the tour off swimming and lying out on the beach which was really nice.
I also went on the Volta Region tour. It was a lot of our-door stuff which I like. We started out by going to a monkey sanctuary. Then we went to the Wli waterfalls. It was a beautiful walk up to them and even better when you got there. The next day we went for a really nice hike. It was hard and I don’t suggest it if you don’t want to take on a challenge but I really enjoyed it. The view was really nice.
I personally loved being in the village and developing relationships with people. I liked getting away for the weekend but I would not recommend going on a tour every weekend. Some down time in the village to really get to know people over the weekend while they were out of school was really nice.
Lily Ashley Clay
Eugene, Oregon – USA
June –July 2008