I have been inspired to write a new post about what has been happening as of late. So here it is...
On my ride up to the STARS Conference I received a phone call from the grants coordinator for Peace Corps Ghana. He informed me that the funds needed to fill one of my projects had finally arrived and the project was now fully funded. It was wonderful news. I wrote a grant proposal to build a new JHS building next to the current JHS. There is a severe problem of overcrowding and poor educational facilities available to the students and teachers. As a result, the students are not performing well and the teachers are finding it difficult to conduct lessons. I wrote the grant proposal in the fall of 2012 and for a few months nothing seemed to be happening with the grant. The funds did not appear to be coming, at least not as fast as we would have liked. Because of this I had already begun working on a budget amendment to use the funds we had already acquired to construct white boards in the already existing JHS. This way the school would at least see some small improvements and we would be able to put the donated funds to good use. However, just as we were about to begin the white board project, Peace Corps called me to tell me that I had received all of the necessary funds for the classroom addition. Thank you to all of you who helped donate to make this project successful!
I am not waiting for the fund transfer to be completed and then I will be able to collect them at a local bank. My community has already held several community meetings to discuss the construction of the school. They have even formed an executive committee that will be in charge of mobilizing the community, especially the youth, to help with community labor and construction. The PTA has met to discuss how they will contribute the project, as well as the Chief and his elders. I am very proud of my community for taking the initiative and mobilizing themselves - none of this was done at my request; in fact, I wasn't even aware any of this was going on! They have taken charge and shown that they are dedicated to seeing this project through to the end and I couldn't be happier. On Thursday I am supposed to meet with the local artisans to discuss their project timeline and the materials they will be needing first. I am hoping that by next week we will be able to begin the initial steps of construction. When this project is completed it will be one of the most amazing parts of my Peace Corps career. I never thought I would actually be able to help build a school in a rural African village. My Peace Corps dreams are coming true!
In regards to other projects, several other female PCVs and myself will be hosting and facilitating a GLOW (Girls Leading Our World) Camp this coming August. The camp is girls leadership and empowerment camp. We will all select about three form 2 going on form 3 girls from our local JHSs and bring them to the camp. They will learn about leadership skills, women's empowerment, higher education, health issues, goal setting, and much more. We want to bring them out of their community and allow them to meet other girls from neighboring towns and let them step out of their comfort zone for a week. I will be calling on my female STARS student to help with the camp. She will act a peer educator and role model for the younger girls. All day today I have been working on different lesson plans for the camp. Each PCV is going to be responsible for a different topic, but we will all help each other, this is just for planning's sake. I am working on nutrition lessons, so today I wrote a lesson plan about the essential vitamins and minerals for women and the basics of nutrition. I am also working on other potential session ideas, just not as in depth as the nutrition lessons.
Rainy season is finally back and I am ecstatic. I love the rain, contrary to what many of you may think. This rain is quite different than Eugene rain, so maybe I should clarify and say that I love "tropical" rain. The trees are becoming greener and everything is starting to thicken. The dirt in the air is not as intense as it used to be and I don't constantly feel the need to take a wet wipe to my face to remove my "au natural" face makeup. The forest looks absolutely stunning...especially early in the morning when the sun is rising. I love waking up and seeing the mist on the trees in the distance. This is truly a beautiful place to live and I am grateful for that. We all complain and talk about the negative things that happen to us here in Ghana and in Peace Corps, but when I take a moment to look around me and see the natural beauty and the generosity of the people I am living with, I forget about what is worrying me and think about how amazing this experience has been and will continue to be. I say it all the time, but I have met the most amazing people here in Ghana...both Ghanaian and American. It is hard to articulate without sounding too emotional and sappy. Unfortunately some of my best friends will be leaving Ghana in the next few weeks, as their service is finally coming to a close. It will be hard to see them leave, but I am sure I will see some of them in the future. It will be weird to continue my service without them, but luckily new volunteers are always coming and I know I will meet more amazing people soon.
That's all I have for now. Take care.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
Tuesday, June 4, 2013
STARS Youth Leadership Conference
Last week was the annual STARS Youth Leadership Conference
(Students Taking Action Reaching for Success). I have mentioned this conference
before, and for good reason – it was/is an amazing time. I had been hearing
about STARS since my arrival in Ghana last year, and the time finally came to
participate. It is held every May in Kumasi (at least to my knowledge) at Kwame
Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST).
STARS is a five day conference that focuses on youth
leadership, empowerment, and capacity building in regards to issues faced by
youths in Ghana. Each day is
organized into a basic theme: youth leadership, health and HIV/AIDS, goal
setting and tertiary education, individual interests, and community service.
PCVs submit an application to two bring students, a boy and a girl, from their
local senior high school, and the conference ends up hosting about 60 SHS
students from all over Ghana. To qualify the students must be in Form 2, which
is equivalent to sophomore year, and demonstrate an eagerness to improve and
strengthen their academic and personal skill sets. One of the many goals of the
conference is to help shape these students into peer educators and role models
for their respective schools. They are the future leaders of Ghana and STARS
aims to help them on their way.
Once at the conference, the students are split into six
groups of about ten students. Students from the same school are not in the same
group, which allows the students to meet students from different areas of Ghana
and step out of their comfort zone. For each group of students, there are two
group leaders, a Junior Group Leader, and a Mentor. PCVs are Group Leaders and
are chosen through an application process. I was lucky enough to be one! More
on that subject soon. Junior Group Leaders are students who have previously
attended the conference and can act as a role model and a liason for Group
Leaders. Mentors are students attending KNUST and represent different
educational departments.
Like I said, I was a Group Leader, and I thoroughly enjoyed
myself. I was partnered with another PCV from my training group, and many other
leaders were actually part of my training group. So in addition to fulfilling
our duties as Group Leaders it was nice to see some friends and colleagues I
have not seen in a while. Group Leaders are responsible for the students in
their respective groups to make sure sessions run smoothly and there is no
confusion about anything. It is like what I imagine a camp counselor would be.
When sessions broke out into smaller groups, we stayed with our group and
helped facilitate. It was a very rewarding experience. I really got to know my
students and had a wonderful time with them. We ate all our meals together and
they even helped to improve my Azonto skills during free time (Azonto is a new
hip dance sweeping the nation…youtube it. Each team has a team name and our students
chose “LOT: Leaders of Tomorrow.”
The first day was arrival, getting to know our groups, and
dinner, followed by a welcome ceremony and cultural dance from the PCVs. We
showed the students how to dance the Macarena and it proved to be quite a
success. Lots of cheering and clapping, so I guess we did a good job.
The second day we got down to business. The theme of the day
was “Learning to be a Leader.” We focused on team building exercises, filled
out a personal contract and created a set of rules, discussed different African
leaders, leadership and life skills, habits of effective leaders, study skills,
and peer pressure. It was a very busy day to say the least. Before sessions
ended we played a Jeopardy style quiz game, which turned out to be a lot of
fun. I even found some of the questions difficult to answer, but I suppose if I
was in school still learning about those subjects I might know the answer. The
students really enjoyed themselves though, and that’s what counts. After dinner
we showed them an episode of Planet Earth, however I think the PCVs enjoyed it
more than the students did. Some of the were passed out on tables, so I guess
they were exhausted!
Day three focused on health issues such as HIV/AIDS and
malaria. A lady who is HIV positive came to speak to the students about her
experience living with HIV, as well as the stigma involved. It was a very
powerful session, and I learned a lot from listening to her. She was so strong
and positive, which is not always the case here in Ghana for someone living
with HIV/AIDS. The students asked her a lot of questions and I think the
session was a success and I hope it happens next year. Some PCVs not
participating in the conference came to talk about malaria in the afternoon.
This is always a good idea because malaria is so prevalent in Ghana that people
need to learn about it so they can learn how to better protect themselves and
their family.
The fourth day was more interactive. Students branched into
different groups and went on tours of the different academic departments at
KNUST. They could choose between Math, Engineering, Art, Medical, Agriculture,
and I don’t remember the last few. After lunch they worked on more goal
setting.
Day five started off with some basic CPR demonstration and
was followed by hodge-podge learning. For this session the students broke into
small groups and were able to learn a new skill presented by the PCVS. They
could choose from things like self-defense, juggling, paper airplane making,
drama club, and computer lab skills. In the evening we had the talent show,
which is always a fun event. We had some rappers, singers, dancers, joke
telling, and much more.
The last day was community service day. Students broke into
three groups depending on what community service activity they would be doing.
They could choose from Green Up Ghana, peer education, or a living billboard.
The first choice dealt with trash pickup and recycling around KNUST campus. The
peer education group went to a neighboring PCVs site to teach about HIV/AIDs to
some of the JHS students. The living billboard was what is sounds like. Each
student had a poster that on one side was part of a long group message, and the
other side was a personal note. When the students all stood together their
signs spelled out “We are the Future, We are Ghana.” On the back students were
supposed to write something personal about themselves or about Ghana or
anything, so when they flipped the signs passers by could read different
messages from students. For example, some said, “together we build Ghana,” “I
will change for the better,” “I like running,” and “Learning well to become a
pharmacist.” It was a great event. I was part of the living billboard group so
that’s why I have more to say. Regardless though, all three activities were
great choices.
That brought the conference to an end and the next day
everyone traveled home. It was truly an amazing and rewarding experience. I am
so glad that I participated in it and my students seemed to really enjoy
themselves. I am excited to meet with my SHS students who attended so that we
can plan out sessions and activities for our local SHS.
That’s all for now folks!
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