This week
started a bit rough for me. It was probably because of the malaria pills, but I
not too positive. Those pills make me feel disgusting, but I must take them if
I want to continue living right? Yes, no doubt! Anyways, I did not know how
Ashaiman High School students were going to be. Obedient? Respectful? Quiet?
They were ALL that and more.
There were
19 peer counselors, also known as students, and most of them were girls but I
made sure I reached out to the young men in the room as well. They were very
timid and pretty much agreed with everything we had to say. It bothered my
classmates and I at first, however, we begin to deal with the fact that it was
a cultural difference. One that was meant to be authoritative, so the elderly,
adults, or teachers were considered right even though the students may disagree
or have a different opinion about something. It was definitely shocking, but
understanding. We continued the next two days presenting workshops on the
Importance of Education, Goal Setting, the African Diaspora, Money Management,
Global Learning, and Mental Health. These two days felt emotionally draining.
We heard some of the students’ stories and they begin to ask questions. For
instance, there were three young men at my table who expressed their dream
jobs. One wanted to be a reporter, another wanted to be an investigative
journalist, and the third explained he would love to write plays similar to the
famous William Shakespeare. This was the good part. Just to know they had
dreams and aspirations. Yet, the bad came when they expressed that some of
their parents or family members did not support their educational careers.
There were even a couple of them who had to take a year off of school just to
pay for this school year’s fees which was paid out of their own pocket. They
spent a whole year working and losing knowledge just to help and support the family.
This was no longer a trip for me any more…it was reality. You see… the reality
is that the children of Africa want an education, a chance to see the world, a
way to give back to their country, the reality to dream and believe that their
dreams will come true and their goals complete. I ask myself can I assist and
guide them to making their dreams and goals become true at least while here.
Yes I can! So, after hearing their dream jobs and stories I tried making their
goals and dream a reality. I took my camera and filmed them making a report
about why are students were late to class. This is normal even in the United
States. We joined the video clips together to create a student report. This was
a start, right? I thought so, but I waited and edited the report before they
could look at the “live” report in class.
It was incredible to see how iMovie worked as well. And to know that I
always had access to this software I never used, but it now could help bring
their dreams to a reality. It felt good, but not good enough. I wondered how
would they get access to this report after I leave. Email? The Internet is not
dependable. Flask drive? No computer and if they did they did not have access
to it anytime of the day. Once again a reality check.
Moving forward,
the next day we worked with the students on developing their own workshops to
present to the 1800 students at Ashaiman High School. We worked tirelessly with
the students and voted on topics to present. My workshop on global learning was
chosen among the six we presented. Yay global learning! It was exciting to be
working with my classmate Erica and a group of students who felt it was
essential to globalize their learning and go beyond their borders to educate
themselves about the world. They created their own way to present their
workshop with our assistance and Erica and I felt like proud parents to these
children on their presentation day. However, the next day was not a TGIF (thank
god its Friday) day. This was the last day to be in the same classroom with
these incredible peer counselors. We rehearsed and they performed and did
excellent. They became vocal and proud to be in the position they were in and I
could see the faces of the other hundreds of students who wished they had that
opportunity. The bad strikes again. Yet, it the day ended in excitement and
joy. We gave them the toiletries we brought from the United States they were so
appreciative. The next order of business was the scholarships. My classmates
and I raised enough money to give seven full scholarships and twelve half
scholarships towards the students school and PTA fees. The thankful spirit these
students had after the announcement took ALL of the emotions out of me. Most of
the students jumped and yelled with excitement. It was the best feeling of the
evening. It was too much of a reality for me to know that these students were
even paying for their education. They cared so much about pursuing life outside
of their circumstances and educating themselves. It took so much for me to not
cry in front of all the students as if they were family and all I wanted to do
is make sure they succeeded in whatever they dreamt of in the future. This was
a wake up call for me to take my education and spread it and let others know
the endless boundaries and opportunities I have been given to further my
education. Ghana has brought this reality to my attention and I am so grateful
for the experience. And I will always remember that education and knowledge is
REAL power, so I must pursue it at all times.
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