Teaching in GhanaTeaching in Ghanahis blog details our day-to-day lives, thoughts and ideas, and observations and challenges during our year at the University of Cape Coast in Ghana, West Africa. If you are planning an extended trip, a semester abroad, or are just curious about life Articles
An interesting grading scheme
2007-11-20 16:53:00 I was given a copy of the university grading scheme to help me set my marks for my courses. UCC uses a 4-point scale — 4.0 for an A, 3.5 for a B+, 3.0 for a B, 2.5 for a C+, 2.0 for a C, 1.5 for a D+, and 0 for a D. I ... More About: Interesting , University , Teaching , Author , Stephen
Duct tape still fixes everything
2007-11-20 14:27:00 There might be an ocean between me and home, but some things never change. True to my engineering roots, duct tape is still the answer to everything?even here. We have a screen door to the kitchen that is spring loaded. It snaps shut with ferocity and there is not really enough space ... More About: Travel , Photos , Duct Tape , Author , Terri
De-worming
2007-11-19 15:51:00 Not to gross anybody out, but after Stephen?s bout of worms, I thought I?d share our experience with the critters. I was told shortly after arrival that I should ?de-worm? every 3 months. Ewee? I thought. I couldn?t conceive having worms grow in my guts. We were also warned (multiple times) to cook everything thoroughly ... More About: Travel , Medical , Food , Author , Terri
Walking a mile in their shoes
2007-11-19 12:43:00 I think I understand why washing your feet five times a day is necessary…it’s barely enough! Terri and I wear our sandals almost exclusively since the heat picked up, and we sure get dirty from walking around on the unpaved roads and dirt paths. A quick rinse in the shower will do next to nothing ... More About: Travel , Shoes , Walking , Author , Mile
Darwin at work
2007-11-18 13:01:00 Occasionally I like to entertain myself by reading about the latest Darwin Award recipients, but today I got to see the reduction of the gene pool in action. A light rain sent all the insects looking for cover. Stephen turned on the outside light and all these four winged insects started crowding around ... More About: Travel , Photos , Work , Author
Exams are serious business?
2007-11-17 13:50:00 I walked into my exam room about 15 minutes early, and all the students were already seated in neat rows, ready to go. I’m used to the high-stress environment at York where you have to clear the room of students, clean up all the garbage, line up the chairs, get the exams placed, and then ... More About: Business , University , Teaching , Exams , Author
Questioning Authority
2007-11-16 10:05:00 One thing I like about the math class I teach is that everyday they stand for me when I enter the classroom. I appreciate the show of respect. Everyone will stand and say ?Good afternoon, Madam? (in unison) and then wait patiently until I give them permission to sit down. Finally I ... More About: Teaching , Author , Authority , Questioning , Terri
Respect vs. Reverence
2007-11-16 10:02:00 It is important to respect your elders, but to revere them is another thing altogether. In Ghanaian and Chinese societies, there is much more reverence for elders. As such it is difficult to challenge their ideas, and things change very slowly. In the West (with the US as the leading edge), there ... More About: Ideas , Author , Respect , Stephen
The cashews, The anaphylactic reaction, and The Hospital visit
2007-11-15 16:05:00 Over a week ago, a friend of mine had a fantastic treat for us. Fresh cashews! Yes, the stuff that?s still in the shell and looks nothing like the kidney shaped bundles of goodness that we get in jars. We cracked open the first one and discovered a whole lot of oil in the husk. ... More About: Travel , Medical , Hospital , Author , Visit
Questioning Authority
2007-11-15 10:05:00 One thing I like about the math class I teach is that everyday they stand for me when I enter the classroom. I appreciate the show of respect. Everyone will stand and say ?Good afternoon, Madam? (in unison) and then wait patiently until I give them permission to sit down. Finally I asked them why ... More About: Teaching , Author , Authority , Questioning , Terri
A meal of worms
2007-11-13 15:10:00 A friend likes to say, “I don’t care what you have. The return of your appetite is a good sign.” I used to quip back, “Except maybe worms.” It’s not much of a quip anymore… Late last week, I started having a truly voracious appetite. I just couldn’t eat enough at night. Then, I started feeling ... More About: Travel , Medical , Worms , Author , Stephen
Kwame Nkrumah Lectures, part 2
2007-11-12 15:30:00 It really should be part 3 ? I?m still kicking myself for getting the date wrong for the first talk. This lecture was a lot more complicated than the last one, but I will try to do it justice. Hopefully UCC will publish the full transcripts of all three talks soon and put them on-line ... More About: Ideas , Lectures , Author , Part , Terri
Living with ants
2007-11-12 15:24:00 The little red ants are everywhere. They are on the walls, in the kitchen, on our furniture…everywhere. Even when you put food in containers, it might not be enough. We’ve lost several loaves of bread and packages of cookies to them, and I swear we weren’t being careless. The sugar container became a sugar ant ... More About: Living , Travel , Author , Ants , Stephen
I need a hug
2007-11-11 14:00:00 Every once in a while I get demoralized and I need a hug before I can continue what I’m doing. This is one of those moments. One of my goals before coming here was to learn more about the root causes of poverty in order to effectively join the fight against it. There were heroes ... More About: Ideas , Author , Terri
Bargain for everything
2007-11-11 14:00:00 You have to bargain for everything in Ghana…especially if you’re “white”. ”White” people have a reputation for over-paying, so the locals are happy to over-charge. In general, you should shop around to get a sense of the prices you are being offered, and then offer about half of the lowest price. If you’re hard-nosed like ... More About: Travel , Bargain , Author , Expenses , Stephen
iPods and Cell phones but no John Deeres
2007-11-10 14:00:00 Coming here has challenged a lot of my misconceptions of what Africa is. Before coming, I was looking forward to using some of Stephen’s techniques of math teaching on kids who aren’t used to “iPods and cell pones”. Perhaps if I go further into the rural areas I might find that, but I certainly will ... More About: Cell Phones , Phones , Cell , John , Author
Breast feeding
2007-11-10 11:00:00 In Canada, there’s been a trend for women to go back to breastfeeding after many years of using baby formula. For most of my friends withkids, the current school of thought is that breastfeeding is healthier for your baby than formulas. One thing I love about Ghana, is howwomen breastfeed their babies everywhere. At the ... More About: Travel , Breast , Author , Feeding , Terri
Anti-virus software
2007-11-10 10:41:00 I used to run my anti-virus software religiously. Once a week, every week, I would churn my hard drive for half an hour to scan for viruses. In six years, I never found anything. It was a big waste of time, and I wondered why I should put so much wear on my equipment. I ... More About: Software , Anti Virus , Virus , Travel , Anti-Virus
Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Lectures
2007-11-09 12:50:00 I had the pleasure of attending a talk given by His Excellency Emeka Anyaoku as part of a lecture series to honour Ghana?s first president, Kwame Nkrumah. There was much to learn about in terms of African history. His Excellency spoke at length about why the African will was cramped (e.g. colonialism). I think he ... More About: Ideas , Lectures , Author , Memorial , Terri
Student projects
2007-11-09 12:41:00 Yesterday was the last day of the semester for me — project demos. The task was to write a Java program with an interactive graphical component, e.g. a graphical user interface (GUI), but ideally something more interesting like an on-line video game. Like I said about the project proposals, most of the students were way ... More About: Projects , University , Student , Teaching , Author
Eating out
2007-11-08 14:00:00 Even for the locals, it is rather difficult to eat out in Ghana (at least in Cape Coast). Because Ghana has such a strong culture of cooking at home, there are not a lot of options. One needs to be very careful of the hygienic standards of the eating environment as well. ... More About: Travel , Food , Eating Out , Author , Expenses
Handshakes
2007-11-08 13:27:00 Shaking everyone’s hand is an important greeting in Ghana. Further, a “normal” handshake will rarely suffice. The most common “extra”, and the one that I’m finally getting used to, is the “handshake and snap”. After shaking hands, you slide your fingers across each other, pinch at the ends of each others fingers, ... More About: Travel , Author , Stephen
No such thing as unbiased
2007-11-07 14:29:00 For the longest time I used to put British media on a pedestal in terms of biasness. I always thought North American media was too biased (mostly because I live there and can see the contradictions around me), so I read British media as well as the occasional foray into other media translated into ... More About: Ideas , Travel , Author , Thing , Terri
Salt in the diet
2007-11-06 15:29:00 In Canada, almost everything we eat has huge amounts of salt in it. Most packaged foods give you more than you need in a single serving and don’t even mention eating out ? you’d be lucky to have less than a week’s worth of salt in a meal. At first we found the food here ... More About: Travel , Food , Diet , Author , Salt
The problem with bucket showers
2007-11-06 15:28:00 Given the heat and humidity, a cool shower is about the only way to rehumanize yourself. When the water’s running, we probably don’t conserve as much as we could or we should, but the cool water running all over your body is just such an enjoyable treat. In particular, when the water isn’t running, it’s ... More About: Travel , Author , Problem , Stephen , Showers
Eye Exams
2007-11-05 16:29:00 I needed to have my six month post laser eye surgery check up. I was very happy to discover that one of my neighbours is an optometrist here at the university. As soon as we got here I had asked about getting my eyes examined. The examination just took place and I am very pleased ... More About: Travel , Medical , Exams , Author , Terri
Inflation and Consumption
2007-11-05 16:28:00 People don’t save a lot of money around here… In Canada, a good rule of thumb is to have about three month’s living expenses saved up just in case. Most people can handle an unexpected expense of about a month’s salary. It’s just common sense to save for a rainy day. In Ghana, it honestly doesn’t ... More About: Ideas , Travel , Inflation , Author , Expenses
Electricians
2007-11-04 05:35:00 I really cringe when I watch the electricians at work here. Can you use something other than a screwdriver to test for live wires? Would you like me to turn off the switch before you re-wire the fixture? If you’re going to blow the fuse (in a shower of sparks), why not flip the circuit ... More About: Travel , Author , Stephen
Classroom chaos and anarchy
2007-11-03 14:39:00 Timetabling is a skill that doesn?t exist here. I didn?t find out where or when the French classes were until about week 3 into the term. Close to week 6, Stephen still had other lecturers competing for his classroom space. Someone actually tried to kick him out of his lecture hall part way through a ... More About: University , Teaching , Author , Chaos , Anarchy
Ceiling Fans
More articles from this author:2007-11-03 14:33:00 Everywhere you go in Ghana, there are ceiling fans. Some work, some don’t. Some are mounted in rooms so low that you’re afraid to stand upright. Some wobble so much that you fear for life and limb. However, I do love them, and I’m glad that we asked to have one installed in our chalet ... More About: Travel , Fans , Author , Stephen 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 |
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