Madame Leah and Madame Julie would like to send a sincere thank you to all contributors; students, administrators, and community members of Demarest, NJ and surrounding towns, for your generosity in helping the children of need in Africa. Because of all of our hard work, dedication, and endless effort, we were able to donate approximately $2000.00 to the Naa Kordey Memorial Child Care Facility, where we have been doing volunteer work.
After spending some time at the facility, we purchased materials that we feel will be most beneficial to the education and child care of these wonderful children. For example, a stereo system, CD’s with songs from around the world, and a large supply of batteries was given to the younger children. One thing these children appeared to enjoy greatly was the sound of music and the art of dance. The CD’s we purchased will also assist the children in the pronunciation of English words, which is something they stress greatly at the facility. In addition, we purchased several classroom materials for the students such as pencils, pens, paper, motivational stickers, notebooks, homework books, highlighters, blackboard erasers, sticky pads, plastic containers for storage, story books, educational workbooks, etc. The remainder of the money was given to Raymond Ablorh, the facilities founder and manager, to spend on food and water for the children.

We would like to especially thank the member’s of Demarest Middle School’s Student Council, run by African volunteer Leah Rinaldi and Allison Feifer, for their heartfelt decision in choosing to donate their monies made over the 2008/2009 school year to these children. Because of us all, we have truly made a difference in each and every one of their lives and will continue to after our personal journey comes to an end. We are so lucky to be surrounded by such wonderful colleagues, students, and citizens on a daily basis and look forward to our future with you all. Thank you!

Please visit Mr. Raymond Ablorh's blog for pictures and thank you's from the children at Naa Kordey! http://raymondablorh.blogspot.com/

Obama's Visit

If you have not already heard, Barack Obama was in Accra, Ghana on July 10th and 11th. This is the city in which we are staying, as well as the capital of Ghana. Since our arrival, there has been much chatter about Obama and of his visit. As it is obvious that we are both Americans, most Ghanaians’ first words to us have been, “Obama! We love Obama,” or something similar in nature. The love and support of our American President appears to be the general opinion of all Ghanaians. Therefore, another major difference we are presented with between Ghana and America is the unity and patriotism towards our leader. There does not appear to be a separation in political parties or politicians in general, which is quite refreshing to say the least.

Each day leading to his arrival, we noticed more and more billboards and paraphernalia welcoming our President. We had very mixed feelings on this. Although it is nice to see the efforts put towards a warm welcome and the patriotism of these Africans, it is disappointing to know that the money spent could have been put to much better use to create a better environment with more opportunities for everyone. For example, millions of dollars must have been spent on billboards, American flags with Obama’s picture, tee-shirts, umbrellas, toys, etc. You name it, and they put Obama’s face on it to sell or decorate their city! The money spent to make these products could have been used to educate the children of our future or even to pave a road so transportation can be less of a hassle. This is of course just our opinion based on what we have seen, experienced, and been presented with here in Africa. Anyone have any thoughts on this?

Teaching Experiences

Teaching at Naa Kordey Memorial Child Care Facility has been a very challenging, yet rewarding experience. We have learned that we can benefit these children most, not by teaching them educational concepts, but simply by showing them attention, playing with them, and speaking the English language with them. Teaching these children daily life skills has become more of our focus. We have realized quickly that what these children need most are survival, social, and life skills in order to attempt to live happy and hopefully successful lives. For example, one of the lessons we taught was the importance of following directions. In addition, we have taught them when and how to introduce themselves to a new acquaintance or friend. We will also be focusing on how to write a friendly letter and its purposes in life. This lesson will include learning how to write the appropriate date, address, format, and content itself.

This year in our fifth grade Language Arts class, we taught our Demarest Middle School students how to write a narrative. The students then turned the narratives into story books that included hand drawn illustrations and laminated covers. After spending several days on their books, the majority of the students decided they wanted to donate them to the children in this facility. Today, we presented the children with the books and began by choosing one in particular, Petunia the Pig, to read aloud to the students. Though they did not fully comprehend the story, it was clear by the expressions on their faces that they were completely engulfed in the story and thoroughly enjoyed being read to. We suspect that most of them have never had a story read aloud to them by either a parent or a teacher.

Next, we distributed all of the story books to the children. We then stood by and watched their eyes light up while they flipped through the colorful pages. Although it was difficult for them to read the words of the stories, they were able to point out several objects that were illustrated by our wonderful fifth graders. We plan on reading more stories to them, while also using them as teaching tools. Soon, they will be using what they have learned about writing a friendly letter, to express their thanks to the authors of Demarest.

We also spent some time with the teachers at Naa Kordey after school hours. Here we discussed and explained some general teaching techniques that are necessary so they can better fit the needs of their children. The language barrier made this a difficult task, but with an interpreter and modeling we feel as though they somewhat understood and were grateful for our efforts.

The conditions of the school and lack of materials and staffing make both teaching and child care a challenge. This also being Ghana’s rainy season, creates even more difficulty as Naa Kordey is primarily an outside facility. However, the children benefit by coming to school rather than staying at their village home with uneducated parents and the possibility of no supervision. We hope that in the short amount of time that we are able to work with these children, we have made an impact of each of their lives.

Osu Child Development Center

The last few days, we have been spending some time at the Osu Child Development Center. This is not the orphanage that we had originally planned on volunteering at; however it is where we ended up because we were told things “fell through” at the Teeshie Orphanage. It is the largest center of its type in the area and receives the most funding from donators. It is made up of approximately four or five classrooms, play areas, housing facilities, kitchens, administrator offices, etc., both in and outdoors. There we met two nice American girls from Oklahoma who are in Africa for the same reasons as us. They have been at the center for over three weeks now, and were able to show us around and share their classroom of children with us for a bit of time.

Apparently, our contact should have filled out paperwork and a letter of recommendation for us well before we had arrived, yet somehow did not know this. Things have changed quite a bit since he last worked with this center and did not know the new procedure. This again shows the differences in American and Ghanaian ways of life. We would have been in contact with the center prior to ones visit, known of the new procedures, and have had everything set before arrival. Because he did not, we were told that by the time we were cleared to volunteer, we would be leaving to come home. Fortunately, the two American girls helped us sneak into their classroom to help them for some time. With now four adults caring for over 15 children under the age of three, it is still difficult to share our love and attention with them all, as they all want and seek it so much. Here we basically play with and hold the children, simply to show them attention and love. They are more than appreciative.

A few of the children at this center are picked up by their parents at the day’s end; however the majority of them are orphans. Most of them are very ill, and unable to receive the appropriate medical attention they need. One girl in particular has been sick for over a week and it is questionable as to whether or not she will survive, especially not knowing what it she is ill with specifically. We suspect she has malaria or some sort of disease transmitted through a parasite.

All of the children are not yet potty trained, and unfortunately diapers are not available to them because of funding. Therefore, they relieve themselves as they please and wait for a volunteer or an Auntie (a female Ghanaian worker) to clean them. As you can imagine, this is both disturbing and heartbreaking.

Unfortunately, we are unable to take photographs at this center because they are strictly prohibited; however we snuck one of the sign outdoors (and got yelled at).

Madame Leah

Madame Julie