Pencils of Promise Service Visit

     On my third day in Ghana, I signed up for a service visit through Pencils of Promise. This NGO, Non-Governmental Organization, helps build schools and donate scholarships for students in different countries around the world. It was started by a Semester at Sea student a few years ago!

     We left Accra and traveled to the education department of the South Tongo District. There are 216 school districts on Ghana. Here, we learned all about their education systems. Some schools do not have classrooms, so the students will sit under trees to learn. There are even some classrooms without teachers (which was the case to the second school we visited). This forces classes to be joined together. Although some classrooms lack teacher, more teachers are being trained, and will soon completed their educations so that they can go to work. There are more teachers each year. Ghana is in great need of kindergarten schools. Ghana is trying to build kindergartens next to the primary schools, but this is a challenge. All students walk to school, but kindergarten students (age 4-6) are too young to walk to town to go to school. Therefore, some towns are starting to build kindergartens separate from primary schools so that the children do not need to walk as far. In kindergarten, the students learn how to write, basic numbers, and the alphabet.

     After we left the office, we drove to our first school. This school was in the process of being built. It was amazing to see the old school that was there, compared to what was being constructed, The old school had a dirt floor, holes in the walls, and no roof. It was very dangerous for the children. Thanks to Pencils of Promise, they will have a new school there within a few months. We got a tour of the area, and handed out pencils and tooth brushes to all of the classes. These things may seem very trivial to you, but they meant the world to the students. It is very difficult for them to buy these items because they cannot afford it; it made their day!

     I had the children on the ship write letters to students in Ghana, and delivered them to a “class six” classroom. Children in this class ranged from the age of 10 to 17. The students were very excited to receive letters. They wrote letters and drew in return. Their teacher, Reverend Peter Senafia gave me his contact information so that his class and the children on the ship could remain in contact.


      After we left this school, we went to another school. This school just opened last week, on October 9, 2013. This school was also built by Pencils of Promise. The school had three different classrooms, an office, and a storage room. It was such a beautiful school for the children, and they really enjoyed it! We gave the classes tooth brushes, pencils, and bracelets. They really liked the silly bandz! Just like at the other school, they were thankful for our gifts.

                                   

     After we helped out in the classrooms and distributed everything, we were given coconut to drink. It was very interesting to drink from a freshly cut coconut. After this, it started to pout, so we waited out underneath the mango tree. Once the rain cleared up, we played soccer with the students using a coconut. Then we taught them all different kinds of songs and dances, such as the Macarena and the hokey pokey. They students really enjoyed out visit!