Let me tell you about my placement here in general! So I am in a small town called Savelugu in the Northern Region of Ghana. The community is very traditional and about 99% Muslim. They are very religious. All women cover their hair and dress conservatively even though the sun is very hot, and the citizens here pray 5 times a day. The Northern region is also one of the poorest parts of Ghana. The western culture has not really reached this part of the country yet.

I teach in a school called Yoo Roman Catholic Junior High School. There are three forms (grades). They call it Form 1, Form 2 and Form 3, which is similar to grade 7, 8, and 9 in Canada. I am teaching Form 2 and I help them with their English, but I also do some other fun things with them like playing soccer. Many children do not start school at the right age, they delay, so the students are much older than they would be in Canada. For example, I teach Form 2 and my students range in age from 13-18, but Form 2 is like grade 8 in Canada. The schools here do not have structure like the ones in Canada. Many teachers will actually come to school late and sometimes teachers will not show up to school at all. Sometimes the classes have no teachers so the students have nothing to do. They also use wooden canes to lash the students to discipline them. The students here are very stubborn and very difficult to control. Classroom management is the biggest challenge here. The native teachers believe that the only language the students understand is the cane. Many times if you are not holding a cane they will not listen to you. Most of the students lack academically, their misbehaviour being one of the reasons why. They struggle with school subjects and simple things, such as adding and subtracting. Many of them should not be at the level that they are at. The foundation is not strong. The resources are also limited, and in fact we even have resources but they are not being used because theft is a big problem. For example, in our school library, there are many textbooks, but some students came and stole all of the science textbooks there. Due to this, the teachers do not like letting students borrow books.

I feel like I’ve only said the negative things, but I am really enjoying my time here and I thank God for letting me come to this place. My students are lovely, even though sometimes they misbehave and don’t listen to me, I really love them. We always joke around and they feel comfortable around me. I treat many of them like friends.