Ghana Team Journal


Bryan's Story

Tuesday, July 7, 2009



Mr. Ankamah is a seasoned educator with 35 years of experience teaching in Ghana. He grew up in the region east of Lake Volta, near the border with Togo, but had been teaching in Senchi Ferry for years. Actually, our local group leader, Benjamin, was in Mr. Ankamah's class back in the 6th grade!


I was welcomed into his classroom, and taught all subjects to his sixth graders for three weeks. Mr. Ankamah was present most of the time in the classroom, but on occasion left to attend to other business. My situation was common, in that I was not filling a void in the school's teaching needs, but rather invited in to assist regular teachers already in place. The Global Volunteers model is based firmly on the concept that volunteers work with local partners and participate in a cultural exchange. Thus, none of us was supposed to be working alone. That said, some of our teachers were present less than others.


After the kids got used to me, and I them, I did my best to teach Math, English Grammar, Science, PE, and yes, Ghanaian Citizenship. Each class had a very detailed syllabus, so after studying this and available text-books, I was good to go!

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