Mawuli Memorial SOS School

I have thoroughly enjoyed working on the project although it was only a short time. I would have liked to have been there during school term time as there were only about ten orphans. However, David (Headmaster) set me a challenging task of tutoring a young man of 21 years in English. He has damage to his brain and so finds learning in class almost impossible - leading him to become very subdued. My assignment for the short time I was there was to begin the process of building up self-esteem and setting the basic foundations of learning English. He was a very willing student and his eagerness to achieve his goal of being able to attend senior high school resulted in four 30 minute lessons one on one (writing skills, language skills, mathematical skills and creative arts). I created short lesson plans and made detailed notes on the students progress. I have left these, along with a summary, for another volunteer or Ghanian teacher to continue the tutoring (if possible). I have offered David my services via email with advice and sending materials across. I will keep in contact with the School to check on progress and continue to donate money and/or materials when I can to the project. The flights went smoothly to Ghana and I was collected at the airport by one of David's sons. My orientation was very informative and I was given the necessary information about the work I would be doing. The other volunteers were very friendly as was the Ghanian community - very welcoming. Ghana is a lovely country and a very safe place to explore on your own. Both weekends I managed to travel around the Volta region (with the other volunteers) which was a nice opportunity to see different landscapes the Volta region has to offer (mountains, sea, farmland). As it was the school holidays I experienced a day working on the farm (which David keeps and his plan is for that to generate the income for the school) harvesting maize (corn) and beans. It was tiring work but fully enjoyed seeing how it is collected and just how hard-working the children and farmers are (from 7am until 6pm sometimes even earlier!). I was also enable to help David's wife - Victoria (cook) dry out the maize and prepare it for cooking or selling. To experience this unique culture was absolutely fantastic and I feel very privileged. It has also given me an understanding of how the Ghanian society works and how they would like to progress their education system further. I thoroughly enjoyed my time and would love to go back to the school/orphanage during term time so that I can see the school system in action and offer my professional services to more children, as a qualified English speaking teacher.

Posted by Katherine Oct. 1 2009