April 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Ghana: Photography - Ghana: Personal Web Site: Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language

Peace Corps Online: Directory: Ghana: Peace Corps Ghana : The Peace Corps in Ghana: April 16, 2004: Headlines: COS - Ghana: Photography - Ghana: Personal Web Site: Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language

By Admin1 (admin) (151.196.242.91) on Tuesday, April 20, 2004 - 5:13 pm: Edit Post

Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language

Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language

Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language

Peace Corps Experience
Ghana is located along the southern coast of West Africa. They were the first country to receive independence from their colonial masters, and the single black star on their flag is a proud reminder of this fact.
Map of Ghana

Ghana's Flag
Upon arrival in Ghana, 32 other volunteers and myself set off for an intensive 3 month, 55 hours/week training in teaching methodology, health, cross-cultural training, and language. There are over 60 different spoken languages and dialects in Ghana, but English is the official language. After graduation, we received our assignments and were ceremoniously kicked out of the nest and given a ride to the bus station.
Training Group Photo

Locating My Site

Swearing in Ceremony
I arrived in Bolgatanga at 4:30 in the morning after a 20 hour bus ride (a 500 mile journey... a 25 mile per hour average... and that was the express bus....) From there I took a cab the remaining 80 miles. I arrived in Chiana a few hours later. I knew my village was small, but when the cab driver has to stop 5 times to ask for directions you find out it is small even by local standards.
My House
Chiana Senior Secondary School is a rural day school built in 1990 to provide a secondary school education (equivalent to grades 9-12 in the US) for children in rural areas. Until that time, there were only boarding schools and families from poor rural areas could never afford the cost of sending their children to secondary school. These rural day schools are generally very small. There were approximately 120 students in my school at any given time. The hundreds of new schools put enormous pressures on the resources available to the educational system and the Peace Corps helped fill that need by providing volunteers. You can learn more at Ghana's Ministry of Education website.
Panoramic View of School Grounds

Lizard Helping Me With Lesson Plans
Students at Chiana Senior Secondary School had a choice of two programs, Agriculture and Science. Students take the same core group of classes (English, Math, PE) and then specialize in their elective courses.
Chiana Senior Secondary School

Class Picture

Students Taking Finals
Life in the village was very quiet. Most of the population were subsistence farmers, who sold extra crops at market. The Chiana market took place every Friday and people came from as far as twenty miles to buy sell and trade supplies for the week.
My Main Mode of Transportation

My Secondary (and preferred) Mode of Transportation, The School Driver and His Family

The biggest holiday is the Fao Festival, which takes place every December and is a celebration of warriors who fought the southern Ashanti slave raiders. In attendance is the Chiana Pio (chief), Rowland Adiali Ayagitam II. Mr. Ayagitam was educated in England and was the the Speaker of the Consultative Assembly that drafted the 4th Republican Constitution. I am impressed that such an important man has chosen to remain in his small village.
Wives Encouraging Their Husbands as They Go Into Battle

Local Juju Priest Showing His Power Over A Venomous Snake.

The Honorable Chiana Pio Rowland Adiali Ayagitam II
One of the local tourist attractions is the Paga crocodile ponds. For the price of a mere chicken, you can get up close and personal with a crocodile. One of many legends has it that a Paga chief was saved from Ashanti slave raiders by a crocodile who lived in one of the ponds. He declared the crocodiles sacred, and have since become domesticated.... I hope.




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Story Source: Personal Web Site

This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Ghana; Photography - Ghana

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