Day 1
Yesterday we drove from the hotel in Accra, to Ankaful – the journey was around 3 and a half hours. On the way we drove through the city – seeing people selling things to cars, walking around bare footed and carrying things on their head, it was very chaotic and many of us were very surprised by what we were seeing.
First we arrived at the partner Ghana head office we were introduced to our cook and there we met Tom again. We gave in our valuables for them to be kept in a safe. We then had lunch of sandwiches with tomato and onion in.
With Isaac (our Partner Ghana guide) we drove to where we are now staying. We then dumped our bags and headed to the school. When we arrived all the kindergarten children ran up to us, held our hands and waved. We were introduced to Paula (who has been to Bennett before). We then got a brief tour around the school. One kindergarten child came up to Zoe Saunderson and held her hand. Others found Emily Swaffers’ tragus piercing very amusing. And lots of them, when told Ellie’s name ran behind her chanting it.
After we got back some local children came to the hostel and were very interested with us, we got out games and bubbles and played with them, we were all amazed by how much English they knew. Afterwards we had a briefing meeting about the basic rules. We were also given a rotor with jobs such as, cooking, cleaning up and writing the blog.
We then went to bed early at around 8 o’clock, and the rooms were; Zoe Saunderson, Chloe Cole, Emily Swaffer; Ellie Wood, Emily Costello, Emilia Peters and Elspeth Wall; Zoey Constanti, Hannah Crawley and Chloe Baily; Leah Bonello, Clara Berkley and Alice Wass.
Day 2
Today we walked to the school, which took around 20 minutes. When we arrived we were greeted by an amazing ceremony. This included singing and dancing, which bright outfits. Some of us were encouraged to join in the dancing; these people were Leah, Chloe C, Elspeth, Zoe S, Emilia and Alice. We were then introduced to our buddies. Ellie Woods buddy was called Angela aged 13 and she introduced her three sisters and brother to Ellie. Zoey Constanti’s buddy was named Esther aged 15 and she showed Zoe around her school. Emily Swaffers buddy was called Priscilla, aged 14, but she likes to be called Priky.
Atter walking home we relaxed and played cards. We then had a meeting at 3:30 about out plans for tomorrow.
As we are writing now the same children have come back and are playing again outside, singing songs such as ‘if you happy and you know it’.
Written by Ellie Wood, Zoey Constanti and Emily Swaffer
Day 3
On Friday we experienced some Ghanaian lessons with our buddies. Emily C, Clara, Leah, Zoe S and Hannah sat in a maths lesson. Turns out they are all learning A-level methods despite the fact they are younger. Ellie, both Chloes, Emily S, Elspeth, Alice, Zoe C and Emilia went to an ICT lesson where they spent the whole time learning how to open a web browser. After two more lessons and lunch, we had a culture swap where we learnt how to do a Ghanaian dance that everyone will be sure to show you when they get home. All of the Ghanaians watched and laughed at us as we ‘tried’ to dance, they found it very amusing. To return the favour we decided to teach them the dance for the Macarena and 5678. With Leah leading the group, we managed to teach them London’s Burning in a round. It was extremely hot, way too hot to dance, but it only seemed to affect us. My buddy told me to watch Emilia, Zoe S and Leah because they seemed to have picked up the dance pretty quickly.
In the evening, what we called ‘the bat incident’ occurred…some of us were in the middle of an intense game of Irish snap. (Ellie was losing..as usual). Alice and Clara went to brush their teeth as we finished off the game. A few moments later we heard a high pitched screaming coming from the corridor. We all looked at each other very confused. Then SUDDENLY, Clara burst in, she was in a clear state of panic with tears in her eyes. Turns out a bat had chased her down the corridor. Miss Williams said the bat was flying above her head while she ran. She found it hilarious and in her words she wasn’t running away, she was running with the bat!
Day 4
On Saturday, we all went to visit Elmina Castle (slave fort). It was very interesting to find out about the history of the Ghanaian people. Our buddies were very keen to explain everything to us. It was the first chance for any of us to try haggling. We weren’t very successful! In the evening, we organized a surprise birthday party for Zoe S. We hid in the dark, with party poppers at the ready and gave her a real fright. We drank hot chocolate and played articulate and animal kingdom. Emily S and Chloe C organized everyone to sign a birthday card for her.
Day 5
Finally today, we all woke up a bit tired after a power cut and the lack of a fan all night meaning our rooms were boiling. We made our way to church in our Sunday best. It was inspiring to see first-hand how seriously they take their faith. The songs were familiar but sung in a gospel style, we received a special welcome as it was our first visit. In the afternoon we went for a walk with our buddies through the local villages. It was very different. Goats, sheep and chickens wander freely on the roads and coconut trees and banana trees grow on the side of the road. The local kids get so excited when they see us. They wave and shout and follow our party down the road, all smiling.
Written by Emily and Clara
Day 6
Today we started the project work. This consisted of clearing out the staffroom and sanding down walls and tables. The sun wasn’t out but it was very muggy and hot so work was slow. Working in the staffroom was: Zoey c, Emily S, Zoe S, Hannah and both Chloe’s. They managed to clear out the room, get rid of the tiles and paint a first coat on the walls. The second group was: Ellie, Emily C, Leah, Alice, Clara, Emilia, and Elspeth. They sanded down the tables and walls and did a first oat on the walls with some help from the students.
This took us a majority of the day. A design team was picked later on to help design the mural wall. This was: Emily C, Emilia and Ellie
Written by Emily S, Zoey C and Ellie