Once again, I have been very bad about keeping up with this blog. I apologize, I know some people back home are very interested in what I've been up to over here. I really appreciate all the support though, so thanks!
Well it's been over a month since my last post. I have still been teaching art here at the International Community School in Kumasi. But, I also started helping out the kindergarten teachers in the morning, when we don't art classes. That has been a lot of fun, even though some of those kids are quite wild. But I have been kept very busy lately, but it has been fun and it really isn't too much work or anything. In the middle of February, I was able to travel to the Village of Hope and I spent a little over a week there. We had a 2 day midterm break here at our school, but I was able to miss that whole week. While at Village of Hope, I was helping out a girl who's volunteering there, teaching... art! It was actually a lot of fun, I got to see the differences in the way the kids behave, and me and the girl were able to exchange ideas for art projects. When I wasn't helping with the art classes, I was playing football(soccer) with the P.E. classes. It was awesome to have a week off from school here, and I had a great time at the Village of Hope.
Now, I have have also really been enjoying myself here in Kumasi, especially this term. I am in charge of a sports club this term, so every wednesday I go and play either football of basketball with a bunch of the kids here. That is always a ton of fun, and I now look forward to this club time every week. The kids all embarrass me when we play football, and even basketball. Some of the kids are really good, and I am not very good at either sport at all! But I still have been having a blast playing with these kids every week. We've also started taking the kids swimming at a nearby hotel on Saturday mornings. I only made it to that once, but that was a lot of fun as well. Teaching has been going well, and I am still enjoying teaching art very much.
I am actually now in my last week here at ICS. It has come so quickly and now I can't believe I will be leaving this school and Kumasi at the end of this week. I will be heading to the Village of Hope to spend a month or so there. But I am really going to miss the kids here. All the kids I have gotten to know and been teaching are all really nice kids, and it has been such a blessing getting to know them all. I have also made a few very good friends who stay in the boarding house here. It will be very sad to leave all of the friends I have made here. I am sure, if I make it back to Ghana in the future, I will have to come visit the school here. It has been a great experience teaching here and I have really learned a lot. I have been blessed in so many ways being here, and I have grown a lot since being here as well. I am sad about leaving the people here, but it will be a lot of fun to spend my last weeks in Ghana at the Village of Hope. I think I will be ready to head home in Mid-April when I am planning on leaving. I will definitely miss everyone here, but I have also been missing my family and friends back home, so it will be great to get back and see everyone.
I am really not in a blog-writing mood at this particular moment in time, so I have to end it here. Sorry if it's too short for your liking, or not interesting enough, but hey, I'm trying. But probably not hard enough... But it's ok, I'll get around to posting another blog in the next week! Possibly....
Much Love.
Monday, March 7, 2011
Thursday, January 27, 2011
Hello, friends and family. My apologies to those of you who have been following this blog. It has been nearly 2 months since my last post, and I am sorry for slacking.. A lot has happened in these past two months, and I probably can't fit it all into one post. But I will try to at least give you readers an idea of what's been going on.
Last school term ended on December 17th. Jennifer and I left the next day, Saturday to head to the Village of Hope, where a graduation program was being held to honor the kids who were raised there and have now graduated from university. It was really cool to see these 10 kids being honored, and as always, it was fun to spend time at the Village. We stayed there until Tuesday, and then we went to Accra to visit friends for a few days. I stayed in Accra until Thursday morning and then headed back to Village of Hope to spend my Christmas there with the kids. It was a lot of fun being there because they had some activities planned because of the kids' break from school. I got there Thursday, just before noon, and then we all got to go to the beach to hang out and swim for a few hours. It was a blast getting to be at the beach with all of the kids from the orphanage and we all had an awesome time playing around in the water. Saturday, Chirstmas day, felt nothing like Christmas. A lot of you Coloradans have told me it didn't feel like Christmas there either, however, I'm sure the Christmas music on the radio, the decorations in stores, and the big tree with presents in your living room might have had some Christmas feel to it.. But waking up Christmas morning here in Ghana was just like waking up on any other day, and it was actually kind of nice to have a break from the traditional celebration of Christmas. To celebrate, the Village of Hope was having a sports day, and later in the evening, an ice cream party! The kids were all so happy and excited to have all these special events and it was so awesome to be a part of it all.
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Fufu is a thick paste usually made by boiling kasava and plantain in water and pounding with a mortar and pestle until the desired consistency is reached. |
The Monday following Christmas was also a great day because...... My Ma got to come visit!!!! Jennifer had stayed in Accra to spend more time with friends, so we went to the airport Monday afternoon where we picked up my mother, Jennifa, and the good ol Mr. and Mrs. Gary Johnson. It was really cool to introduce my mom to all the kids I have come to be so close with at the Village of Hope. Tuesday through Friday was spent hanging out with the kids all day. Tuesday one of the houseparents invited me and my mom to try fufu there! First day in, Ma got to try some of Ghana's finest food! After this fine dining experience, we had a crazy dance party in that house, the Prestoncrest girl's House. The rest of the day was spent going around to the different houses, introducing my mom to all the kids and houseparents. The days at Village of Hope were spent playing with the kids and just talking and hanging out. At night, we had time to hang out in the room and catch up on what's been going on, in Ghana and in Colorado. Thursday, we woke up at 5 am and walked down to the beach, about 25 minutes away to watch the sunrise. It was a little cloudy, but it was still very beautiful, and after it warmed up a bit, we went swimming in the ocean. Now I say swimming, but we mostly went out into the water to get thrown around and beaten by some pretty big waves! On New Years Eve, all the kids went to bed around 7 so that they could sleep before waking up for the dropping of the- I mean, the bonfire... So at 11 pm we went out for a nice worship service, and then we got to see some fireworks and a pretty big bonfire. It was a really great way to spend NYE and our last night at the Village. Saturday morning we left early to go to Accra to the very crowded bus station where we waited for over 2 hours to get a bus to Kumasi!
Sunday morning we went to church at Bomso Church of Christ, where so many of our good friends here go. It was cool to have our parents meet our friends we first met in 09. Monday, Jen took my mom and her parents to the palace museum here in Kumasi, while I went to the market to buy a drum :) Then we went to a small market where we got some souvenir stuff. It was cool to show my mom around the city where I have been living these past few months, and I think she really enjoyed seeing what it is like over here. It is very different from the Village of Hope, so it was great that she got to see both places. Tuesday we left for Accra, because our parents flight was leaving Wednesday evening. We got to spend Wednesday going around to some shops and places in Accra and it was a lot of fun hanging out there as well. Well Wednesday night came too fast, and it was very sad to say goodbye to my motha. But I am very grateful that she got to come and we had an awesome time while she was here.
Thursday, Jennifer and I got ride back to Kumasi with a family of missionaries from Cote d'Ivoire, which was nice because it saved us 15 dollars and the chaos of the bus station. Friday, it was straight back to school, but I was actually very excited to be back and see all the kids again. These first few weeks back have been very enjoyable, and I have really been enjoying teaching these kids and hanging out with them. The Christmas break was very very nice and it was much needed, but now I am refreshed and ready to teach for a few more months. I will go into more detail on what's gone on the past few weeks since school started, but that will have to wait for the next post. An art class is actually coming pretty soon, so I don't have time to go on. But check back very soon, I will post again in the next couple days, and I will try my hardest to post more often!
Right now, I am thinking I will head back to the states sometime in April, but I still don't have a date set. I hope everything is going well for all of you back home. I really appreciate the support and prayers, and I miss you all very much!
May the Love of God be revealed to you daily!
Sincerely,
Jordan
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
Thanksgiving!!!
This Thanksgiving I have so much to be thankful for. Being in Ghana for the past 3 and a half months has been great. It has been quite interesting and a very good learning experience. I have had to adjust to life here, and I have had to learn to be more patient, thanks to the obnoxious, relentless children I get to deal with everyday. But the kids I get to teach everyday are all awesome kids, and I love all of them. God has blessed me with the opportunity to learn so much while teaching incredible kids and I am so grateful for this. This past Thursday, I took a break from my incessant, useless thoughts to really think about the friends and family I have back home. I am so blessed to have so many people in my life who really care about me, and when I got to thinking about it, I mean really thinking, I couldn't even wrap my head around just how richly God has blessed my life with people who care for me. If you are reading this, I thank you for caring and thinking of me, even as I am thousands of miles away. I pray that everyone has had a great Thanksgiving. God has given me so much to be thankful for and I am really working on trying to feel grateful everyday. It is so easy to forget how much we have to be thankful. When we look around at others, we can easily see that some are "better off" than ourselves, and if we are not careful, we will become filled with delusion, thinking our lives aren't good at all, and we have nothing to be grateful for. But this is a very dangerous thing to believe, because denying God the thanks He is due is ignorance on our part. Meister Eckhart once said, "If the only prayer you ever say in your entire life is thank you, it will be enough." So give thanks, and be joyful because of what the LORD has done!
Here in Ghana, Thanksgiving is not a holiday so I was forced to go to school last Thursday! What an outrage! But I somehow survived, and made it through the week to Saturday. Jennifa and I were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with a missionary family from the U.S. I wasn't sure what to expect as far as food, but I wasn't hopeful enough to expect all the traditional dishes served on Thanksgiving. However, after being here for 8 years, the Nichols(the family who invited us over) really have mastered the celebration of holidays, and for our Thanksgiving lunch we had all the food one would normally eat! It was unbelievable. They had mashed patatoes, ham, turkey, sweet patato pie, casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce. I was blown away by the selection of food and I was even more blown away by how amazing it all tasted! I did not expect this at all. It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy a full Thanksgiving meal and spending time with this family was a ton of fun. I think we got to eat some of the best food I've had since being here. And although we didn't know the Nichols well at all, they we so friendly to us and treated us like we were their best friends. Saturday was a great day to relax and recharge. We ate around 1 and just hung out the whole afternoon, talking with the Nichols and some other friends they had invited over. For desert we had the choice of pumpkin pie, cherry cheesecake, and butterscotch pie! I chose all three. The Nichols have an 11 year old son who they adopted here in Ghana. I was the closest one to his age, so I joined him in some seriouswii fun video games. We were hanging out there all afternoon and into the evening, and it finally got so late that the Nichols insisted we stay the night. So we ended up sleeping there, and I got to watch a movie, for the first time in quite awhile! And we ended up getting lucky, because the Nichols weren't serial killers and we weren't murdered in our sleep. But we got even more lucky when we got ham, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast!!! And then leftovers for lunch!
To top the already great weekend off, we had a circus here at our school on Sunday evening. Now I say circus, but as to not give the wrong idea I will clarify. It was just one guy(French) who did different acrobatic feats and other circus-like displays of talent. He had a whole act to go along with the show, pretending that there were supposed to be other performers who didn't show up so he had to fill in for them. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English so someone had to translate, but I was still very entertained by the show. In fact, I was even part of the show!! At one point in the show, the guy said he usually has a piano player, but the man wasn't there so he asked the audience if anyone knew how to play the piano. Well no one was volunteering(and I wasn't about to volunteer, mind you) but then out of the uneasy stillness, I hear Jennifa yell my name. Sitting nearby was the director of the school, who caught my eye and signaled for me to go up there. I was trying to tell him I can't really play and the circus guy saw and he too signaled for me to come up and play. So I was forced, more or less, to go up on stage and play piano(video coming to facebook soon!). I wasn't really excited or upset about having to go play, but it ended up being kinda fun. I threwdown a little Fur Elis, followed by some 5 for Fighting, and then went into a little bit of jamming. I played for 5 to 10 minutes, without any practice or preparation, and I'm not trying to brag, but I was pretty dang amazing. But the show went on another 30 minutes, with some impressive juggling, and hanging from ropes and tightrope walking. In my opinion, it was a very entertaining show and I really enjoyed it. This was a great end to an awesome weekend.
Next week we are having final exams, so there is a lot of grades to be entered on the computer which will make this a busy week. We have some other projects we gotta finish up as well. But after exams next week, we have one more week and then we have a 2 and a half week break! So that is what's been going on over here. Pretty exciting stuff eh? I hope everyone reading this is doing well and I appreciate your love and care.
Much Love and Blessings to all!
Peace(is where it's at)
Jordan/Kwaku
Here in Ghana, Thanksgiving is not a holiday so I was forced to go to school last Thursday! What an outrage! But I somehow survived, and made it through the week to Saturday. Jennifa and I were invited to celebrate Thanksgiving with a missionary family from the U.S. I wasn't sure what to expect as far as food, but I wasn't hopeful enough to expect all the traditional dishes served on Thanksgiving. However, after being here for 8 years, the Nichols(the family who invited us over) really have mastered the celebration of holidays, and for our Thanksgiving lunch we had all the food one would normally eat! It was unbelievable. They had mashed patatoes, ham, turkey, sweet patato pie, casserole, rolls, cranberry sauce. I was blown away by the selection of food and I was even more blown away by how amazing it all tasted! I did not expect this at all. It was such a blessing to be able to enjoy a full Thanksgiving meal and spending time with this family was a ton of fun. I think we got to eat some of the best food I've had since being here. And although we didn't know the Nichols well at all, they we so friendly to us and treated us like we were their best friends. Saturday was a great day to relax and recharge. We ate around 1 and just hung out the whole afternoon, talking with the Nichols and some other friends they had invited over. For desert we had the choice of pumpkin pie, cherry cheesecake, and butterscotch pie! I chose all three. The Nichols have an 11 year old son who they adopted here in Ghana. I was the closest one to his age, so I joined him in some seriouswii fun video games. We were hanging out there all afternoon and into the evening, and it finally got so late that the Nichols insisted we stay the night. So we ended up sleeping there, and I got to watch a movie, for the first time in quite awhile! And we ended up getting lucky, because the Nichols weren't serial killers and we weren't murdered in our sleep. But we got even more lucky when we got ham, eggs, and pancakes for breakfast!!! And then leftovers for lunch!
To top the already great weekend off, we had a circus here at our school on Sunday evening. Now I say circus, but as to not give the wrong idea I will clarify. It was just one guy(French) who did different acrobatic feats and other circus-like displays of talent. He had a whole act to go along with the show, pretending that there were supposed to be other performers who didn't show up so he had to fill in for them. Unfortunately, he didn't speak English so someone had to translate, but I was still very entertained by the show. In fact, I was even part of the show!! At one point in the show, the guy said he usually has a piano player, but the man wasn't there so he asked the audience if anyone knew how to play the piano. Well no one was volunteering(and I wasn't about to volunteer, mind you) but then out of the uneasy stillness, I hear Jennifa yell my name. Sitting nearby was the director of the school, who caught my eye and signaled for me to go up there. I was trying to tell him I can't really play and the circus guy saw and he too signaled for me to come up and play. So I was forced, more or less, to go up on stage and play piano(video coming to facebook soon!). I wasn't really excited or upset about having to go play, but it ended up being kinda fun. I threwdown a little Fur Elis, followed by some 5 for Fighting, and then went into a little bit of jamming. I played for 5 to 10 minutes, without any practice or preparation, and I'm not trying to brag, but I was pretty dang amazing. But the show went on another 30 minutes, with some impressive juggling, and hanging from ropes and tightrope walking. In my opinion, it was a very entertaining show and I really enjoyed it. This was a great end to an awesome weekend.
Next week we are having final exams, so there is a lot of grades to be entered on the computer which will make this a busy week. We have some other projects we gotta finish up as well. But after exams next week, we have one more week and then we have a 2 and a half week break! So that is what's been going on over here. Pretty exciting stuff eh? I hope everyone reading this is doing well and I appreciate your love and care.
Much Love and Blessings to all!
Peace(is where it's at)
Jordan/Kwaku
Sunday, November 28, 2010
Adventures in Accra...
A long, long time ago, in a city far, far away, I went on a pretty cool adventure and then got really lazy and took over a month to write about this adventure... But at long last, I am coming to tell the story of my adventures in the land of Accra!
Accra is the capital of Ghana, located about 150 miles, and 5 to 6+ hours, from where I reside in Kumasi. Kumasi is a very large city and it is fairly developed as well. However, compared to Accra, Kumasi is a small village, years behind in its development. Before my weekend trip to Accra, I had only passed through briefly and I never really got to see much of the city. This trip was very interesting and it was a lot of fun. We traveled down to Accra to hang out with some friends we had made while at the Village of Hope(a bunch of goofy college kids). On Friday we got to Accra in the early evening and met up with our friend Enoch. He took us to their school where we met up with our other friends, Phillip, Ato, Derrick, Joshua, and Caleb, and we got a tour of the school, even meeting the president. It was a cool school, very small but a nice campus. After touring the school, we headed to a very large, very nice hotel where there was a very big High Life concert going on. High Life is a genre of music originating here in Ghana, that is kind of like pop, with hints of jazz, raggae, hip hop and other genres. I guess it was a very famous Ghanaian musician playing at the hotel, although I have never heard of him, and don't even remember the name... But anyways, the music was pretty good, although it wasn't my favorite, and it wasn't entirely captivating. After awhile, me and a few other of our friends went inside the hotel to the "Jazz Bar". This place was soo nice, I couldn't believe I was still in Ghana. It was such an awesome atmosphere and the room was dimly lit with a very small stage up front. It was quite an intimate venue for a concert, and the vibe of the place was very much Jazz Bar-like. After a few minutes, a keyboarder and a drummer went up to the front(about 10 feet in front of the red leather couches we occupied) and started playing some really funky tunes. They just went on jamming for about 20 minutes or more, and I was blown away by the talent of the keyboarder. The drummer was great as well, but the guy rippin up the organ was just melting my brain with his very jazzy and funky keyboard playin. Then the bassist joined and very shortly after a horn player joined the gang. The next 2 hours were incredible, and I could not believe the talent of these jazz musicians. They were playing just straight jazz, and the style of their music was so complex and intriguing. The horn player switched between tenor alto and soprano sax. It was a ton of fun, and it was much needed because I was really having withdraws from the lack of live music. After staying at this place till about 11 30 we headed to the beach and ended up hanging out there until about 3 AM! It was a very fun night, and the time we got to spend with our friends was a great blessing.
The next day, Saturday, we went exploring the town a bit. After breakfast, we went to a couple souvenir/gift shops that had a ton of cool stuff, drums and paintings etc. We also went to a gelatto shop that was very similar to a coldstone in the US, except that the Italian ice cream blew coldstone away! We also got to go to a fast food restaurant that was 3 stories tall!! And full of people too! That evening, we met up with our friends Paul and Earnest, who were raised at Village of Hope, and we went to the mall to look around there. The mall in Accra is very nice; however, everything there is ridiculously expensive and you can really only shop there if you got some big money. But it was cool to walk around there, and check out the 2 grocery stores inside it. We ended up getting some pizza at one of the restaurants in the mall. After this we went back home and got to sleep at a much more reasonable hour that night. We went to church the next morning with Paul and Earnest. It was a church of Christ, located at the University of Ghana, which has a HUGE campus. The church service was really fun and it was a very upbeat worship service. After this we ate some lunch quick and then went to the bus station, where we waited about 2 hours for a bus! There was a big football match in Kumasi that day, so any bus that came filled up right away, and there were very few buses that came. We finally got a bus and got back to Kumasi safely.
So this is how my exploration of Accra went, and I really hope to spend some time there again. It was a ton of fun and it was cool to see how different it is from Kumasi. Some parts of Accra could really pass as a town in the US! I didn't get many pictures of the city, unfortunately, but if when I visit there again, I will be sure to take a lot of photos.
I hope everyone has had a great thanksgiving. I actually got to celebrate a real thanksgiving with all the traditional food! But that will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day, because it is getting late and I'm getting sleepy!!!
I miss you all! even if I don't know you. And I appreciate the support and prayers you are all saying for me! God bless you all!
Much Love
Jordan
Accra is the capital of Ghana, located about 150 miles, and 5 to 6+ hours, from where I reside in Kumasi. Kumasi is a very large city and it is fairly developed as well. However, compared to Accra, Kumasi is a small village, years behind in its development. Before my weekend trip to Accra, I had only passed through briefly and I never really got to see much of the city. This trip was very interesting and it was a lot of fun. We traveled down to Accra to hang out with some friends we had made while at the Village of Hope(a bunch of goofy college kids). On Friday we got to Accra in the early evening and met up with our friend Enoch. He took us to their school where we met up with our other friends, Phillip, Ato, Derrick, Joshua, and Caleb, and we got a tour of the school, even meeting the president. It was a cool school, very small but a nice campus. After touring the school, we headed to a very large, very nice hotel where there was a very big High Life concert going on. High Life is a genre of music originating here in Ghana, that is kind of like pop, with hints of jazz, raggae, hip hop and other genres. I guess it was a very famous Ghanaian musician playing at the hotel, although I have never heard of him, and don't even remember the name... But anyways, the music was pretty good, although it wasn't my favorite, and it wasn't entirely captivating. After awhile, me and a few other of our friends went inside the hotel to the "Jazz Bar". This place was soo nice, I couldn't believe I was still in Ghana. It was such an awesome atmosphere and the room was dimly lit with a very small stage up front. It was quite an intimate venue for a concert, and the vibe of the place was very much Jazz Bar-like. After a few minutes, a keyboarder and a drummer went up to the front(about 10 feet in front of the red leather couches we occupied) and started playing some really funky tunes. They just went on jamming for about 20 minutes or more, and I was blown away by the talent of the keyboarder. The drummer was great as well, but the guy rippin up the organ was just melting my brain with his very jazzy and funky keyboard playin. Then the bassist joined and very shortly after a horn player joined the gang. The next 2 hours were incredible, and I could not believe the talent of these jazz musicians. They were playing just straight jazz, and the style of their music was so complex and intriguing. The horn player switched between tenor alto and soprano sax. It was a ton of fun, and it was much needed because I was really having withdraws from the lack of live music. After staying at this place till about 11 30 we headed to the beach and ended up hanging out there until about 3 AM! It was a very fun night, and the time we got to spend with our friends was a great blessing.
The next day, Saturday, we went exploring the town a bit. After breakfast, we went to a couple souvenir/gift shops that had a ton of cool stuff, drums and paintings etc. We also went to a gelatto shop that was very similar to a coldstone in the US, except that the Italian ice cream blew coldstone away! We also got to go to a fast food restaurant that was 3 stories tall!! And full of people too! That evening, we met up with our friends Paul and Earnest, who were raised at Village of Hope, and we went to the mall to look around there. The mall in Accra is very nice; however, everything there is ridiculously expensive and you can really only shop there if you got some big money. But it was cool to walk around there, and check out the 2 grocery stores inside it. We ended up getting some pizza at one of the restaurants in the mall. After this we went back home and got to sleep at a much more reasonable hour that night. We went to church the next morning with Paul and Earnest. It was a church of Christ, located at the University of Ghana, which has a HUGE campus. The church service was really fun and it was a very upbeat worship service. After this we ate some lunch quick and then went to the bus station, where we waited about 2 hours for a bus! There was a big football match in Kumasi that day, so any bus that came filled up right away, and there were very few buses that came. We finally got a bus and got back to Kumasi safely.
So this is how my exploration of Accra went, and I really hope to spend some time there again. It was a ton of fun and it was cool to see how different it is from Kumasi. Some parts of Accra could really pass as a town in the US! I didn't get many pictures of the city, unfortunately, but if when I visit there again, I will be sure to take a lot of photos.
I hope everyone has had a great thanksgiving. I actually got to celebrate a real thanksgiving with all the traditional food! But that will have to wait until tomorrow or the next day, because it is getting late and I'm getting sleepy!!!
I miss you all! even if I don't know you. And I appreciate the support and prayers you are all saying for me! God bless you all!
Much Love
Jordan
Monday, November 15, 2010
Another Adventure in Ghana...
Greetings to everyone! I hope all is well in the United States. Life has been going well over here. Last week was a busy week for the elementary school art department. We have a few projects we are doing with some of the kids, so it has kept me very busy. With the 2nd grade kids, we did a "bead workshop" where they all got to make bracelets out of some beads from here in Ghana. That was a ton of fun and all the kids really loved doing that. But when your dealing with second grade kids, making bracelets can be extremely complicated and time consuming. Not to mention, someone would send a whole handful of beads scattering across the floor, about every 4 minutes. The cleanup process after the bead workshop was a little tedious and annoying, but doing something different with the kids was a lot of fun and the thoroughly enjoyed it, as did I. With the 5th grade kids, we just started painting a mural in the dining hall. We have been working on "People in Action" with the 5th graders and we recently introduced them to Keith Haring and his style of artwork. Because the 5th graders aren't all superb artists, we decided to paint the mural in the style of Keith Haring because his style is fairly easy for these kids to draw. If your not familiar with Keith Haring, his work is somewhat cartoon-like, very colorful and mostly just outlines of people. So we have been painting this mural in the dining hall with the 3 5th grade classes, and this project has also been a lot of fun. Before this, the dining hall was very boring and plain looking. It's really cool to see how much funner and nicer it looks, and the kids get to know that it looks nice because of them. This project involves some time and effort as well, but it has been a blast.
This past Friday, we (Mrs. Nnurom[the art teacher I work with] and myself) took the 3rd grade students on a field trip to the palace museum here in Kumasi. This was a very interesting experience, but it was a lot of fun. The kids are a little crazy and even with us telling them to keep quiet every 3 and a half minutes, they were talking throughout the whole tour. I don't know what it is, but these kids love talking and they very rarely listen to any teachers when told to be quiet. I guess maybe they're just kids... But it can still be a bit frustrating at times. But even with the talking and misbehaving, the field trip was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. We are now getting close to the week of final exams, so we have a lot of grading assignments to do in the next couple of weeks. It's crazy to me that we are only a few weeks away from the end of this term.. The time has really flown by.
This past weekend, Jennifa and I were invited to Mrs. Nnurom's friend's house. Her friend, Carmen, has a bunch of Ex-Pats(Ex-Patriots, the term given to any foreigners, which I just learned this weekend) come over with their kids to do an art club. I didn't get too involved in the art, I guess it was just a little too much art for me. But it was fun to hang out at Carmen's house. She lives in the nicest part of Kumasi and the house she and her family live in is incredibly nice. We walked in and I really didn't feel like I was in Africa. The house was decorated very nicely on the inside, and we go out back to a patio area where they have a large yard with.... a swimming pool! So my Saturday morning was spent hangin out on Carmen's back porch, feeling like I was in Florida or some other nice vacationing spot, due to the palm trees around the yard. It was nice to go relax and hang out over there, and I even met another American, a lady from Maryland. After this we went shopping a bit in town and then headed back to school. Yesterday was very relaxing, I got to sleep in some, went to church here at the school and then took a nap yesterday afternoon.
I got to get back to work, preparing for the week and whatnot so this will be all for now. I will be posting again in a day or two so be sure to stop by again soon!
I sincerely hope life is going good for everyone reading this, whether family, friend, or friend of a friend of a family member. Thanks for being interested in what I'm doing here.
Much Love to everyone
Peace
This past Friday, we (Mrs. Nnurom[the art teacher I work with] and myself) took the 3rd grade students on a field trip to the palace museum here in Kumasi. This was a very interesting experience, but it was a lot of fun. The kids are a little crazy and even with us telling them to keep quiet every 3 and a half minutes, they were talking throughout the whole tour. I don't know what it is, but these kids love talking and they very rarely listen to any teachers when told to be quiet. I guess maybe they're just kids... But it can still be a bit frustrating at times. But even with the talking and misbehaving, the field trip was a lot of fun, and the kids really enjoyed it. We are now getting close to the week of final exams, so we have a lot of grading assignments to do in the next couple of weeks. It's crazy to me that we are only a few weeks away from the end of this term.. The time has really flown by.
This past weekend, Jennifa and I were invited to Mrs. Nnurom's friend's house. Her friend, Carmen, has a bunch of Ex-Pats(Ex-Patriots, the term given to any foreigners, which I just learned this weekend) come over with their kids to do an art club. I didn't get too involved in the art, I guess it was just a little too much art for me. But it was fun to hang out at Carmen's house. She lives in the nicest part of Kumasi and the house she and her family live in is incredibly nice. We walked in and I really didn't feel like I was in Africa. The house was decorated very nicely on the inside, and we go out back to a patio area where they have a large yard with.... a swimming pool! So my Saturday morning was spent hangin out on Carmen's back porch, feeling like I was in Florida or some other nice vacationing spot, due to the palm trees around the yard. It was nice to go relax and hang out over there, and I even met another American, a lady from Maryland. After this we went shopping a bit in town and then headed back to school. Yesterday was very relaxing, I got to sleep in some, went to church here at the school and then took a nap yesterday afternoon.
I got to get back to work, preparing for the week and whatnot so this will be all for now. I will be posting again in a day or two so be sure to stop by again soon!
I sincerely hope life is going good for everyone reading this, whether family, friend, or friend of a friend of a family member. Thanks for being interested in what I'm doing here.
Much Love to everyone
Peace
Wednesday, November 3, 2010
It's been awhile, huh?
My apologies, mis amigos y mi familia. I have been slacking on this whole blog thing. You may assume that I have an excuse to not be blogging, that maybe where I'm at in Africa, it is really hard to find any sort of internet access. The truth is, I have the opportunity to use the internet just about every day, so I've really just been quite lazy. So sorry, I'll be adding a few new posts in the next couple a days.
It has been quite some time since my last post, and a lot has gone down over here in Ghana. I think it was 3 weekends ago, my new friend Chris came to visit from the U.S. He is friends with my youth minister Clint and he runs an organization called Mercy Project that is working on economic developing here in Ghana. It was great meeting Chris and hearing about his plans for Mercy Project. But I'm gonna come back to that in more detail at a later date. In the meantime, check out their website, mercyproject.net, Chris has got some great plans to do some really incredible stuff over here.
Anyways, for this post, I'm gonna focus on my trip to the Village of Hope, which took place 2 weeks ago? Yes I believe it was. Man, I really need to blog more often or I'll forget everything before I can write it down! Anyways the school here had a midterm break from October 19th through Sunday the 24th. We had(well, all the other teachers had...) conferences on Monday so we left Tuesday morning. We got into the Village of Hope around 5 or 6 that night, with no idea of just how interesting our entrance into the guest house would be. We walk inside and are welcomed by a tall Ghanaian guy dancing and jumping around in his boxers, while reggae music plays in the background... It was certainly the strangest welcome I have ever received at VOH(which stands for Village of Hope). After being introduced to this guy, and the 9 other Ghanaian guys and gals in the guest house, we found out that it was a group of university students coming to VOH for their midterm break to do community service. From the time we walked in, I was thinking that it was going to be an interesting week...
The kids at VOH didn't have break that week, so I spent my days helping my pal Katie(an American volunteering as a music and dance teacher) teach dance and art classes. This was a ton of fun(although the art wasn't thaaat exciting...). A few of the university students also helped out with the dance classes, so usually one of the guys would teach me a drum beat and we would both drum while the kids learned to dance. This was a blast, and it was really neat to get some drum lessons. So this is how the days were spent, but it was really nice because I didn't have to be to school on time, and I got to sleep in some too.
In the afternoons and evenings, I just hung out with the kids and played some b-ball and guitar and other fun stuff like that. Being there this time, I realized just how many kids are there at VOH. Every day it seemed like I met new kids, sometimes as many as 10 kids I had never met before! Being there during the school day, I got to meet some kids who are just day students, and a bunch of these kids are really cool too. It was great meeting even more kids this time around. And at night time, after the kids had gone to sleep I would go back to the guest house and hang out with the university students there. Hanging out with these guys was always filled with humor, and it was a good time. One guy there was a musician, so we talked about all sorts of stuff. He plays drums and keyboards and is really into jazz, so we had some similar taste and had a lot to talk about. He showed me some videos on his laptop of him and his friend playing and they were all really good, and very inspiring too. All of the 6 guys(Derrick, Caleb, Joshua, Ato, Enoch, and Phillip) love "foolin" or joking around and teasing each other. It was awesome to hang out with these Ghanaian university students because I saw that they were just the same as college students anywhere. One night, Derrick, Caleb, Katie and myself got into a discussion about religion and faith, and we were all able to share our views and opinions. It was cool because we all agreed on so much and Derrick and Caleb had very similar views and beliefs as I do. We all discussed what we believe Christianity should be and it was a really productive and interesting discussion. After this we just talked about what college was like. It was great talking to them for a couple hours.
As usual, throughout my stay at VOH I was asked about 23 times a day to "do the beat, do the beat!" I don't really mind it at all, but when I'm having a conversation or something, it can be slightly annoying. But it really was bothersome, and it didn't "worry me". Anytime someone or something is annoying or bothering someone here, they say, its worrying them. But the whole week was a blast and it was so good to spend time will all my friends at VOH. Saturday was a work day, so all the kids had to break down dried corn cobs into just the kernels. I joined in the work, and had a pretty good time doing it. It was terribly hard work or anything, so we mostly sat around talking while we worked. It's just a chore for the kids, but I can't imagine my younger sister doing that for 3 hours!
So it's getting late here, so I'll wrap it up. We stayed for church Sunday and left afterwards. It was an awesome week and I had so much fun hanging out with all the kids there. I love being at the Village of Hope, but leaving, I felt a deep peace and joy because I also love the kids at this school here, and working here has been great and a really good experience. I enjoy being here, and enjoy visiting VOH, and all I can say is that I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity to explore a new lifestyle living here in Ghana. Thanks to everyone who has been praying and thinking about me. I miss all of you! And I truly hope life is going well back home.
With Love,
Kwaku
P.S. You may be wondering, "But what about this university kids you met? What ever happened to them, and did you ever see them again?!?" Well, do not fret, but rather stay tuned for the next webisode, "Adventures with Newfound Friends in the Big City!"!!!!
It has been quite some time since my last post, and a lot has gone down over here in Ghana. I think it was 3 weekends ago, my new friend Chris came to visit from the U.S. He is friends with my youth minister Clint and he runs an organization called Mercy Project that is working on economic developing here in Ghana. It was great meeting Chris and hearing about his plans for Mercy Project. But I'm gonna come back to that in more detail at a later date. In the meantime, check out their website, mercyproject.net, Chris has got some great plans to do some really incredible stuff over here.
Anyways, for this post, I'm gonna focus on my trip to the Village of Hope, which took place 2 weeks ago? Yes I believe it was. Man, I really need to blog more often or I'll forget everything before I can write it down! Anyways the school here had a midterm break from October 19th through Sunday the 24th. We had(well, all the other teachers had...) conferences on Monday so we left Tuesday morning. We got into the Village of Hope around 5 or 6 that night, with no idea of just how interesting our entrance into the guest house would be. We walk inside and are welcomed by a tall Ghanaian guy dancing and jumping around in his boxers, while reggae music plays in the background... It was certainly the strangest welcome I have ever received at VOH(which stands for Village of Hope). After being introduced to this guy, and the 9 other Ghanaian guys and gals in the guest house, we found out that it was a group of university students coming to VOH for their midterm break to do community service. From the time we walked in, I was thinking that it was going to be an interesting week...
The kids at VOH didn't have break that week, so I spent my days helping my pal Katie(an American volunteering as a music and dance teacher) teach dance and art classes. This was a ton of fun(although the art wasn't thaaat exciting...). A few of the university students also helped out with the dance classes, so usually one of the guys would teach me a drum beat and we would both drum while the kids learned to dance. This was a blast, and it was really neat to get some drum lessons. So this is how the days were spent, but it was really nice because I didn't have to be to school on time, and I got to sleep in some too.
In the afternoons and evenings, I just hung out with the kids and played some b-ball and guitar and other fun stuff like that. Being there this time, I realized just how many kids are there at VOH. Every day it seemed like I met new kids, sometimes as many as 10 kids I had never met before! Being there during the school day, I got to meet some kids who are just day students, and a bunch of these kids are really cool too. It was great meeting even more kids this time around. And at night time, after the kids had gone to sleep I would go back to the guest house and hang out with the university students there. Hanging out with these guys was always filled with humor, and it was a good time. One guy there was a musician, so we talked about all sorts of stuff. He plays drums and keyboards and is really into jazz, so we had some similar taste and had a lot to talk about. He showed me some videos on his laptop of him and his friend playing and they were all really good, and very inspiring too. All of the 6 guys(Derrick, Caleb, Joshua, Ato, Enoch, and Phillip) love "foolin" or joking around and teasing each other. It was awesome to hang out with these Ghanaian university students because I saw that they were just the same as college students anywhere. One night, Derrick, Caleb, Katie and myself got into a discussion about religion and faith, and we were all able to share our views and opinions. It was cool because we all agreed on so much and Derrick and Caleb had very similar views and beliefs as I do. We all discussed what we believe Christianity should be and it was a really productive and interesting discussion. After this we just talked about what college was like. It was great talking to them for a couple hours.
As usual, throughout my stay at VOH I was asked about 23 times a day to "do the beat, do the beat!" I don't really mind it at all, but when I'm having a conversation or something, it can be slightly annoying. But it really was bothersome, and it didn't "worry me". Anytime someone or something is annoying or bothering someone here, they say, its worrying them. But the whole week was a blast and it was so good to spend time will all my friends at VOH. Saturday was a work day, so all the kids had to break down dried corn cobs into just the kernels. I joined in the work, and had a pretty good time doing it. It was terribly hard work or anything, so we mostly sat around talking while we worked. It's just a chore for the kids, but I can't imagine my younger sister doing that for 3 hours!
So it's getting late here, so I'll wrap it up. We stayed for church Sunday and left afterwards. It was an awesome week and I had so much fun hanging out with all the kids there. I love being at the Village of Hope, but leaving, I felt a deep peace and joy because I also love the kids at this school here, and working here has been great and a really good experience. I enjoy being here, and enjoy visiting VOH, and all I can say is that I am so grateful that I have been given this opportunity to explore a new lifestyle living here in Ghana. Thanks to everyone who has been praying and thinking about me. I miss all of you! And I truly hope life is going well back home.
With Love,
Kwaku
P.S. You may be wondering, "But what about this university kids you met? What ever happened to them, and did you ever see them again?!?" Well, do not fret, but rather stay tuned for the next webisode, "Adventures with Newfound Friends in the Big City!"!!!!
Monday, October 4, 2010
Greetings!!!!
Hello again, friends and family! I hope all is well back in the United States. Life is going great here in Ghana. I am still having an awesome time teaching, and living at the boarding house is getting to be more interesting and fun as I meet more kids here. The past week I've been a few new people who stay at the boarding house and I've become better friends with some of the kids I already knew. There's one girl, Faustina who I have been talking to who is very interesting and fun to talk with. She is a really nice person, but has tons of interesting stories about all the fights she used to get into! It's hilarious to hear her tell these stories because she always cracks up laughing about how she used to fight girls in her school, or beat her older sister. She definitely seems a lot nicer now and she says she hasn't fought anyone in a long time, which is very good, because I really don't care to get beaten up while here. I enjoy talking to Faustina because she is really open and we are always discussing our faith and how we believe we should treat others. It has been great getting to know her.
I have also been getting to know some of the older guys pretty well. A couple weeks ago, we had a holiday on Tuesday, so that Monday night all the kids were allowed to hang out during the time when they normally do their homework. Some kids had heard me beatbox so they asked me to come beatbox in the "chillout circle". I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, so I went to go lay down some fresh beatz and then some kids started rapping over it. It was really cool and a couple of the kids were pretty good and making up rhymes on the spot(also known as freestyling). So this past Saturday night a few guys asked me to beatbox some more, but no one was really stepping up. It was still cool, I just got to talk with the guys for awhile and I talked about where I was from. Some of the guys were still trying to keep the rapping going, but nobody was really doing it, so...
I had to step up to set the pace
There wasn't any competition so I knew I'd win the race.
Opening my mouth, I started spit flame out,
And buy the end I had bought the whole game out.
And that was the rap I "spit", more or less. The guys were going crazy, thinking it was awesome and really good. After this we got into talking about rap and Hip Hop, and so I got my laptop and showed them some of the Hip Hop I like, which isn't the horrible noise you here on rap radio stations... They thought it was really good music, and I felt good that I had shared some REAL rap with them. It was cool getting to know these few guys better and I'm glad I'm starting to make some friends close to my own age.
Backtrack to Friday. That evening, I went out to Sir Max, a hotel/restaurant owned by Lebanese people. We went out for Ms. Charity Apam's birthday(This is Jennifa's assistant in the classroom). It was Jennifa, Ms. Apam, Mr. Owusu(teaches same grade as Jennifa), Mr. Freeman(another American teacher who has been here in Africa for 3 years), and myself. The hotel was really nice, with a swimming pool, and even hookahs you could rent!(Although we didn't rent one!) Me and Jennifa split a salad and I had some beef shwarma, which was incredible! I was so excited to be eating Mediterranean food in Ghana! It was a great time and the food was very much appreciated. Saturday we just hung out at the school all day, I was quite thankful for the relaxing day. Yesterday we went to church here at the school, with all of the boarding students. The church service was fun and the praise, with drums and keyboard, clapping and dancing, was slightly more lively than the worship at the Church of Christ we've been going to... I really enjoy the worship at the Church of Christ, but this was a nice change from the hymns that we sing most Sundays. The class was also nice, and the lesson was really good! This past weekend was a lot of fun and it was a great weekend, but like all other weekends, it went by too fast! But such is life.
So today it's back to teaching. Thankfully, this week is a very easy week for us because all the art classes are having unit tests. Last week was a pretty good week as well and I taught a few classes throughout the week, all of them going smoothly and without problems. Also, on Thursday I went to the High School music club to try and teach some of the kids guitar. I wasn't sure how this would go, but it went surprisingly well, especially because I had the only tunable guitar with 6 strings. I just went over some of the basics and showed the kids a few chords. The kids were actually catching on to it, and when I passed my guitar around there were a few kids who could really remember a lot of the chords and even were able to transition between chords while playing. I'm excited to continue helping with the music club, and I could see that the kids were all very excited as well. The next club meeting will be this Friday so I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes.
Thanks for following me on my adventures here in Ghana. Also thanks to everyone who is praying for me and thinking about me! I miss you all! And I hope life in the States is going well. I am doing great over here, and I am so grateful for each day I am blessed with.
Much love to everyone!
-Jordan
I have also been getting to know some of the older guys pretty well. A couple weeks ago, we had a holiday on Tuesday, so that Monday night all the kids were allowed to hang out during the time when they normally do their homework. Some kids had heard me beatbox so they asked me to come beatbox in the "chillout circle". I wasn't exactly sure what that meant, so I went to go lay down some fresh beatz and then some kids started rapping over it. It was really cool and a couple of the kids were pretty good and making up rhymes on the spot(also known as freestyling). So this past Saturday night a few guys asked me to beatbox some more, but no one was really stepping up. It was still cool, I just got to talk with the guys for awhile and I talked about where I was from. Some of the guys were still trying to keep the rapping going, but nobody was really doing it, so...
I had to step up to set the pace
There wasn't any competition so I knew I'd win the race.
Opening my mouth, I started spit flame out,
And buy the end I had bought the whole game out.
And that was the rap I "spit", more or less. The guys were going crazy, thinking it was awesome and really good. After this we got into talking about rap and Hip Hop, and so I got my laptop and showed them some of the Hip Hop I like, which isn't the horrible noise you here on rap radio stations... They thought it was really good music, and I felt good that I had shared some REAL rap with them. It was cool getting to know these few guys better and I'm glad I'm starting to make some friends close to my own age.
Backtrack to Friday. That evening, I went out to Sir Max, a hotel/restaurant owned by Lebanese people. We went out for Ms. Charity Apam's birthday(This is Jennifa's assistant in the classroom). It was Jennifa, Ms. Apam, Mr. Owusu(teaches same grade as Jennifa), Mr. Freeman(another American teacher who has been here in Africa for 3 years), and myself. The hotel was really nice, with a swimming pool, and even hookahs you could rent!(Although we didn't rent one!) Me and Jennifa split a salad and I had some beef shwarma, which was incredible! I was so excited to be eating Mediterranean food in Ghana! It was a great time and the food was very much appreciated. Saturday we just hung out at the school all day, I was quite thankful for the relaxing day. Yesterday we went to church here at the school, with all of the boarding students. The church service was fun and the praise, with drums and keyboard, clapping and dancing, was slightly more lively than the worship at the Church of Christ we've been going to... I really enjoy the worship at the Church of Christ, but this was a nice change from the hymns that we sing most Sundays. The class was also nice, and the lesson was really good! This past weekend was a lot of fun and it was a great weekend, but like all other weekends, it went by too fast! But such is life.
So today it's back to teaching. Thankfully, this week is a very easy week for us because all the art classes are having unit tests. Last week was a pretty good week as well and I taught a few classes throughout the week, all of them going smoothly and without problems. Also, on Thursday I went to the High School music club to try and teach some of the kids guitar. I wasn't sure how this would go, but it went surprisingly well, especially because I had the only tunable guitar with 6 strings. I just went over some of the basics and showed the kids a few chords. The kids were actually catching on to it, and when I passed my guitar around there were a few kids who could really remember a lot of the chords and even were able to transition between chords while playing. I'm excited to continue helping with the music club, and I could see that the kids were all very excited as well. The next club meeting will be this Friday so I will be sure to let everyone know how it goes.
Thanks for following me on my adventures here in Ghana. Also thanks to everyone who is praying for me and thinking about me! I miss you all! And I hope life in the States is going well. I am doing great over here, and I am so grateful for each day I am blessed with.
Much love to everyone!
-Jordan
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