Grant Dobbe

I would like to begin this email with a prepared statement:

Dear sweet mother of everything holy and awesome, I have the *worst* craving for pancakes and (due to a lack of baking powder) no way to rectify it. I hope you all appreciate your proximity to places that serve breakfast 24 hours a day.

I taught my first lesson last Monday to a class of very eager, very intimidated form 2 students. It went well, but I caught myself rushing a few times and noticed that I get pedantic when I’m nervous. My second lesson on Wednesday was much better, and by Thursday afternoon, I felt like I was beginning to accomplish something.

We’ve begun with a basic overview of how human beings communicate using technology, which covers things like broadcast media, print media, and computers. This week, I’m going to start introducing computers, specifically the stuff they need to know in order to practice mouse usage and typing. My main goal right now is to get the students to a point where they can actually use a computer without too much
handholding, so that I can feel confident in moving on to to more complex material next term.

My average class size is about 90 students. Right now, I’m teaching remedial ICT to forms 2 and 3, which gives me about 180 students. When the form 1 students arrive, I’ll have 300 students in total for this term, which ends on 19 December. Next term, ICT will be an elective course for forms 2 and 3, which will result in fewer students for me to
worry about.

Thursday afternoon and almost all of Friday was spent with the headmaster, traveling around to different government offices and talking to various people in an effort to find out why the construction of our computer lab was being held up. We think we figured it out; it has to do with the construction funding. A few in-person conversations, a few well-placed phone calls, and now we’re supposed to be expecting a contractor sometime this week or next week. Just goes to show that it’s not what you know; it’s who you know.

Alright, that’s enough out of me. Enjoy your week, everyone.

I would like to begin this email with a prepared statement:

Dear sweet mother of everything holy and awesome, I have the *worst* craving for pancakes and (due to a lack of baking powder) no way to rectify it. I hope you all appreciate your proximity to places that serve breakfast 24 hours a day.

I taught my first lesson last Monday to a class of very eager, very
intimidated form 2 students. It went well, but I caught myself rushing a
few times and noticed that I get pedantic when I’m nervous. My second
lesson on Wednesday was much better, and by Thursday afternoon, I felt
like I was beginning to accomplish something.

We’ve begun with a basic overview of how human beings communicate using
technology, which covers things like broadcast media, print media, and
computers. This week, I’m going to start introducing computers,
specifically the stuff they need to know in order to practice mouse
usage and typing. My main goal right now is to get the students to a
point where they can actually use a computer without too much
handholding, so that I can feel confident in moving on to to more
complex material next term.

My average class size is about 90 students. Right now, I’m teaching
remedial ICT to forms 2 and 3, which gives me about 180 students. When
the form 1 students arrive, I’ll have 300 students in total for this
term, which ends on 19 December. Next term, ICT will be an elective
course for forms 2 and 3, which will result in fewer students for me to
worry about.

Thursday afternoon and almost all of Friday was spent with the
headmaster, traveling around to different government offices and
talking to various people in an effort to find out why the construction
of our computer lab was being held up. We think we figured it out; it has to do with the construction funding. A few in-person conversations, a few well-placed phone calls, and now we’re supposed to be expecting a contractor sometime this week or next week. Just goes to show that it’s not what you know; it’s who you know.

Alright, that’s enough out of me. Enjoy your week everyone.

There is absolutely nothing like bathing in the remnants of a tropical storm. Especially after coming home from a nice, hard, invigorating bike ride. I sit here writing this email fresh from a shower in the rain, which I almost screwed up — if I had waited a few minutes longer, I would have had to find a bucket of water to rinse off.

Tonight is the first time it’s really rained in about two weeks. We’re approaching the end of the rainy season, and right now we’re getting whatever rain is left from the Atlantic storm season. Seikwa is pretty far inland, but one of the odd things about Ghanaian weather is that we actually get more rain here than they do in Accra. Personally, I don’t mind it; the more it rains, the less water I have to haul.

This week has been interesting and boring at the same time. School is in
session, but classes really haven’t started yet. The first week in
Ghanaian senior high schools is dedicated to putting the school grounds
in order, so the students spend the day “weeding” (cutting the grass by
hand with a machete), sweeping out the classrooms, hauling water to the
student residences that don’t have running water.

The form one students (think high school freshmen) aren’t in school yet,
either. They wait to see their BECE scores before they report to senior
high school, but because there is no such thing as a postal address
here, and most people don’t have post office boxes, they have to go to
their old junior high schools to find out whether they are permitted to
advance to senior high school.

Thus, I have no students. At least not the form ones.

As a result, I have been spending the majority of my time working on the
school computers, riding my bike in the countryside, going for long
walks, running, or working in my house. Today’s bike ride was especially beautiful; I need to remember to take my camera on these rides. Like I’ve said before, words can’t do justice to the things I see out in the bush.

Well, that’s about all I’ve got. Take care, stay classy, and don’t forget to write.

Greetings, everyone. Long title means lots of stuff to talk about. Go
get your coffee now.

Let’s start with my trip to Kumasi. I went to Kumasi last week
Wednesday to pick up my medication, buy  some computer parts for my
school, set up my internet service, and spend some time with the
friendly folks at the Kumasi Sub-Office (that’s KSO for those of you
playing the Peace Corps Acronym game at home). I spent Wednesday
travelling, and got into Kejetia late on Wednesday afternoon.

Kejetia is technically part of Kumasi, due to the fact that it’s
pretty much right smack-dab in the middle of Kumasi proper. However,
it’s pretty much its own thing, and as such deserves its own
paragraph. Kejetia is the largest transport station in Ghana. It’s
literally the size of a football stadium, and there are private taxis
and trotros leaving for all parts of Ghana and surrounding countries
at all times of the day. If you go about a block to the east, you can
find the larger MMT buses that travel to the larger cities in Ghana.
If you step about a meter outside Kejetia, you’re part of a giant
market that surrounds the station and stops for nothing. There are no
fewer than 100,000 in and around it at any given time. In the middle
of the day, I would be willing to say there are a quarter million
people in the vicinity of Kejetia. The place is so big, it has its own
post office and police station.

So, when I say I got into Kejetia, you can interpret it as “I pulled
into Times Square on New Year’s Eve, just as it happened to be joining
the Pacific Coast Highway and the Tri-State Tollway for lunch at the
Super Bowl”.

Anyway, I got into Kejetia, found the car that would be able to drop
me by the KSO, and signed in. I spent the evening getting food,
enjoying a beer with one of my colleagues, and staying up waaaay past
my bedtime because the internet came by to visit and just wouldn’t
leave me alone.

The next morning, I got up, showered (Yep. KSO has a shower. And the
water pressure is like bathing with a firehose. It’s awesome.), and
went back into Kumasi with Mike, our PCVL. Mike is the guy who runs
the KSO — all around awesome guy who is always willing to help us out
however he can. He also knows Kumasi like he’s lived there his entire
life. He showed me around, pointed out some of the key stores, helped
me find the computer parts I was looking for, and then sent me along
on my very merry way.

About 30 seconds after parting company with Mike, I promptly got lost.
As my father and his Norwegian partner-in-crime are fond of saying “We
may not know where you are, but you won’t either!” I spent the rest of
the afternoon wandering around, which gave me a much-improved idea of
where things are in Kumasi. Computer parts in hand, I headed for
Kejetia and went back to the KSO.

That night, while sharing a feast of home-made tomato soup and grilled
cheese sandwiches, I expressed my interest in finding a bicycle. Mike,
who just so happens to be an expert in all things bicycle, tells me
that he has a nice GT mountain bike that he would be willing to sell
me. Thus, I took ownership of a bike, which is pretty much the only
thing I can drive for the next two years. It’s sitting behind me right
now, patiently waiting for me to get a repair kit and spare tube
before I take it any farther than the school.

On Friday, I packed up my bag, bid everyone farewell, and headed back
to site. On the way, I stopped in Sunyani to set up monthly billing
for my internet service. Somewhere between Kumasi and Berekum, I
managed to pick up a fun case of strep throat. Thus, for the last four
days, I have been pretty much spending most of my time in bed,
watching episodes of House, Heroes, and Firefly on my laptop.
Yesterday, after playing phone tag with the Peace Corps Medical
Office, I managed to get a prescription for some amoxicillin. I now
feel right as rain.

Well, that brings us to the end of our wonderful weekly report.