I can't get enough of the Ghanaian handshake! Besides that is an authentic Ghanaian greeting I saw while on my trip every day, it is just plain fun! You can see a video of the handshake HERE. As I wrote in an earlier blog post, 'Contemplating Culture,' this is one of those customs that I wish we could adopt in the United States. Oh wait! I am! In my classroom!
While on the 11 hour flight from Accra to New York, I thought immensely about what I was going to do in the classroom the first day back. For hours, I drew a total blank. I just had no idea how it was going to be possible to convey to my students all that I learned, experienced, and felt while on the trip, all in one day. I asked myself, "What is the one most important thing I learned on my trip that I could share with my students, and something that might impact them?" I had decided that it was the idea, connection is everything. To understand how that idea impacted my trip so much, please head to my post "Yes, I've been to Ghana." Connection leads to understanding, empathy, acceptance, and peace, all while still allowing an individual to maintain his or her sense of self. Connection breaks down walls, stereotypes, misperceptions, misunderstandings and builds up love. I can't think of a single student (or any person for that matter!) that can't tolerate a little more love and connection in their lives. So, my only solid concrete plan on day one back in the classroom was to teach the Ghanaian handshake, and talk about why it was so important to me. And so I did. The students just love it! Now it is something I start each day with. I greet each student at the door with the Ghanaian handshake, and it has turned into an unavoidable moment of connection between myself and every student I teach every day. It's great! I want to be able to give a personal hello to each student every day. Before I begin class, the students must also handshake-it-up with three to five other students, every single day. We are working hard on being sure to handshake with people other than just friends. It's a fun way to break the ice and connect with others while also building a sense of unity. Although I was only in Ghana for two weeks, I hope to Ghanaian handshake my way through the rest of my teaching career, connecting with each student along the way.
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Based on my traveling experience thus far in life, including to third world and developing countries, I have always seen the ocean or sea as an exotic or luxurious place. I've traveled along, eaten, and slept near the ocean or sea in Chile, Spain, Peru, and Costa Rica. There have always been nice restaurants, hotels and homes lined along the beaches of these countries.
After driving along the coast many times in Ghana, I have an entirely new perspective of the waterfront. It is still exotic and luxurious, but not because of the prices of the homes that line it, but because the water is majestic, beautiful and powerful all by itself. The beauty of the buildings and the property no longer distract me, and instead I am able to see the exotic where it truly is….the water- in all of its wonder, mystery, depth, and power. All of the pictures above are homes and communities directly on the Atlantic ocean all along the coast Cape Coast, Ghana. I can say that since 2001, I've been to Spain, Peru, Chile, Ghana, and others. But what does it really mean to have traveled somewhere? When I go to a new place, I don't want to just take pictures and visit tourist sites. Traveling like that only allows me to understand the sites of a country, and from a perspective of my country of origin. When I travel overseas, I want to really get to know people and understand their lifestyles, their joys, and their struggles. I want to know how they see their own country, culture, and tourist sites. This weekend I participated in a number of tourist activities... parks, canoe trips, a crocodile pond, etc. I could write about them all here and post pictures, and I probably will briefly at some in the future, but I don't think it's the tourist stuff that helps me say, "Yes. I've been to Ghana." Instead, it's the moments of human exchange, like the one above in the picture. And this weekend I had so many of them! Although conversations with kids here often start off with a request for money, whether you give them some or not, they want to talk to you just the same. They want to get to know you, where you come from, what you do, and why you're in Ghana. These kids in the picture were really excited that I was a Spanish teacher, and they wanted me to teach them some Spanish. They are such good students! (Not that I'm surprised after visiting the schools here.) Those moments of human connection that transcend race, country of origin, age, gender, etc., is what I will most treasure about this trip. And so, after a weekend full of visits to parks, new cities, and interesting canoe rides, I choose today to write about this moment, because it is these ones that will leave the biggest impression on my heart, and create meaning for me when I say, "Yes. I've been to Ghana." I have a bit of an embarrassing story to tell, but one that I'm eager to share…even on the Internet. The weebly website is banned in Ghana, so therefore, I had to write this post on blogspot. However, I plan to use weebly as my blog, so I am copying the link here. To read my embarrassing story, please click the link below and it will take you to the original blogspot post. My story! In the afternoon today, we visited with the representatives of Parliament that are on the Education Committee (the committee that makes educational policy), at the Parliament House in Accra. It was very nice to meet with them and discuss the educational systems of Ghana and the United States. I was most surprised to hear that almost every member of that political committee was a former teacher. The weebly website is banned in Ghana. Therefore, I wrote about my Parliament faux pas on blogspot. You can read about our visit by following this link to the original blogspot post. The last few days we've learned a lot about school in Ghana, but I don't want to overwhelm the blog today with absolutely everything I've learned. I do, however, want to share just a few observations and pics upon our visit today to the public junior high school, Abokobi Presbyterian. Because the weebly website is banned in Ghana, I had to post this writing on blogpost. However, weebly is my designated blogsite. Please follow the link below to read my original post about school in Ghana. Click me to read more! It is my favorite part of traveling.... learning the culture, practices, and perspectives of a new country and people. It always fascinates me.... how sometimes certain practices that we have, in the United States, are so strange to others around the globe, and vice-versa. But, traveling always creates a bridge. Through conversation with others, learning about their beliefs and perspectives, we can walk away from each other with an appreciation of the other's practices and perspectives, without losing our own. It's a beautiful party of humanity. Sometimes, I even think...wow! So cool.... I wish we did that.
Because I could not use my weebly blog in Ghana as it was banned there, I had to write the post on blogspot, but this is my permanent blog. Please follow the link below to read my post about some very unique Ghanaian cultural customs, and see pics! Click on me to go to post! As is standard when first arriving in a country you haven't visited before, there were lots of mishaps and mistakes I made. Because the weebly website isn't useable in Ghana, I had to write this post originally on blogspot. Please follow the link below to read about all of my first day mistakes :) Go to the blogspot post I remember the first time I got on a plane to spend eight weeks in Spain on a study abroad program. I was 19, traveling alone, and had never navigated an airport by myself before, let alone an international airport in another country. I was so afraid, but under that fear was this wonderful level of excitement..... one that seemed to be whispering to me that I was going to have not just an amazing summer, but a life-changing one. And it was. Since 2001, I have completed two additional study abroad programs in Spain, another in Chile, and have spent a portion of a few summers in Peru and Costa Rica. What I experienced on that very first study abroad trip turned me into a global citizen. I saw that there was not just one way of living, one way of learning, one way of growing up, one way of dying. It made me hungry to know more of the world.... more of its perspectives, people, history and places. Here I am again, about to embark on a new travel experience to a place, a continent I've really never been before. In just a handful of days I'm off to Ghana. It is a culture I know almost nothing about, a language that I will understand but probably have some difficulties with due to variations in English, and a people that of course look very different from me! In the two weeks I'll be in Ghana, I will be spending almost a week in Sunyani, at the Notre Dame Secondary School for girls. A Catholic boarding high school, I will surely feel somewhat out of place as a white American in a building of over 500 African girls. While I most certainly have felt like an "outsider" before in various situations in my life, I think this will be a different kind of feeling. That being said, based on the fact that their school motto is "We Are One," just maybe I will feel right at home. After all, we ARE one.... one human family. One of my favorite phrases is the African phrase "Ubuntu"-- I am because we are. I think these next two weeks will change me once again. This kind of fear isn't so much the "I fear for my safety fear." It's the fear of the unknown. The fear of something you can't quite name, but in the gut, you know is a good thing. That's what I've learned about fear. It's not always something to be so afraid of :) Africa... I'm ready! Since 2001, I've done a lot of traveling. I've spent substantial time in Spain over the course of many summers, short vacations in Italy and Paris, two months in Chile, various weeks in Peru between 2006 and 2012, and most recently, I spent three weeks in Costa Rica. I've done so much traveling to Spanish speaking countries in order to enhance my language skills and always have new cultural experiences to bring to my students. This will be my first time in Africa. I couldn't be more excited. I am traveling as a part of the Teachers for Global Classrooms Fellowship with the US Department of State. I will be in Ghana for two weeks. The first few days will be spent in the capital, Accra, and a week will be spent in Sunyani, working with and teaching at Notre Dame Secondary Schools for Girls. From gathering information via the internet, I've learned that Notre Dame Secondary School is one of the best schools in the country, but the area historically had one of the lowest education rates for girls in all of Ghana. The motto of the school is "We Are One." It is also a boarding school, so there are girls that come from villages throughout Ghana. Classes are conducted in English, however, many languages are represented in the school. I love this motto. It made me think about my own high school. At my high school, over half the population constitutes of minorities (I think I need to make a blog post about why I hate that word), mostly being Hispanic. There are over 20 languages spoken by students within the district. The history of our town in rooted in Dutch colonization, and sometimes it seems to me that the city is still trying to figure out its identity, often going back and forth between its traditional history and current multicultural status. I have been asked to develop an essential question while I'm in Ghana; one that I can take perspectives of and apply locally. Using the theme "We are One" and what I've learned about the school, my question is "How does a diverse school create a shared identity while still honoring individual traditions and beliefs?" I'm excited to see how their "we are one" motto plays out in the school's daily and yearly activities, as well as its programs. I wonder if it's what kids rally around. I'm curious if it empowers all in their learning and growth. I simply can't wait for this experience! So much to learn, so much to see, so much to gain! "I can see myself in all things and all people around me." ~Sanskrit phrase |
AuthorI am a teacher, traveler, and life-long learner. I connect students and teachers to globally -focused learning. I believe students crave to understand and interact with the world. I have a Michigan home, and a global heart. Archives
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