Ghana trip October, 2009

Since photo albums are a thing of the past and many of you have asked to see something of my latest trip to Ghana I have set up this blog site (which is no mean feat for this non-techi) to give you an idea of what is was like. 

The whole purpose of my trip was to give three one-week workshops to Junior Secondary School science teachers on the topics of Physics and Earth Science. While giving these workshops I would be staying at the Western Heritage Home (WHH), an orphanage built and supported by my sponsoring  group, Ghana Together.  These pictures will be selected first to illustrate the workshops and then to illustrate WHH and the general atmosphere of living in Axim, Ghana.

There was a welcoming banner in central Axim

The contact for me with the East Axim Education District was Mr. Sarfo Hayford.  He did a terrific job and did everything in his power to make the program a success. I really appreciate all he did.

 

 

The workshops were scheduled to take place at Nseim Senior Secondary School. We set up in a biology lab and welcomed the first participants.                                                                                                               

The overhead fan in the picture didn't work but my son Paul, who accompanied me on this trip, gave up h is floor fan from his room and made life possible this sweating senior.                                                             

My voice was not used to doing four lectures per day and I started losing my voice at the end of the first week. We decided to change the venue from the large laboratory to a smaller classroom at WHH.        

Here the overhead fans worked fine and atmosphere was much more pleasant and it was in the same building in which I was residing.  There was also a small room adjacent to it in which I could keep all my equipment    and prepare classes.                                                                                                                                    

   

In addition to the small things above, I also used  a tripod made of local materials, a large inflatable globe with a jury-rigged support, and my trusty overhead projector.                                                                               

 

 

The lesson on waves, sound and music was fun to do.

The closing ceremonies at the end of the three weeks was a big affair.  There were representatives from the educational district and  the municipality.  Nana Kaku Buluu gave inspirational words to the 31 teachers       getting awards for completing the course and children from WHH did some traditional dances to make it a   very festive occasion.                                                                                                                                

 

 

 

This has been a bit of an overview of the professional part of my Axim experience.  I'll post this part before I goof something up and lose it all.  To Come: living at WHH and other fun stuff.