Relaxing with Rastas

A while ago, another volunteer told us about a really nice beach spot near Accra so last Saturday we set out excitedly for Kokrabite. The intention was a chilled weekend and that’s exactly what we got. We stayed at Big Millie’s Backyard hostel situated right on the beach facing the Atlantic Ocean. It was a really nice spot with little stalls selling beach sarongs and souvenirs. Needless to say I bought stuff including a pair of bright pink shorts made from Ghana fabric as an early birthday present to Yonna; he loves them! It seemed that every other European tourist had been told about the spot too as it was pretty busy with English, American and French folk. After the normal long, hot, dusty journey we had arrived in time for lunch- Barracuda goujons with real chips mmm. We spent most of the day on the beach, jumping the big waves. I was hesitant to go in too far as I have heard that the coast of Ghana is notorious for people getting pulled under by the strong currents. As ever, Jonny was right in there! I sloped off to find a quiet spot to finish my book, Shantaram. It’s the biggest book I have ever read and took me about 6 weeks to finish but it was fantastic and is highly recommended. My reading was interrupted by three Russian guys who tried to convince me they were political journalist but looked pretty shifty to me. It could of course have been my over active imagination mixed with reading a book about the mafia that decided they were underworld dons, but I had convinced myself I have a nose for these things by the end of the conversation!

We sat down to a dinner of a seafood platter of lobster, large shrimp, squid and tiny chilli prawns that could blow your head off. It was a good feed though and we met Kevin, a solo traveller from Seattle. As we finished dinner and chatted to our new friend, a reggae band started up in the courtyard. A few beers later, I found myself dancing to authentic Rasta Bob Marley covers, with a Ghanaian man, at the front of the crowd! In the morning I nursed my slight hangover with some beach combing and found some great shells which at some point will, decorate my future bathroom. We set off for Sogakope after lunch and bid Kevin farewell. He was a nice man, a Human Rights lawyer who was spending a month travelling round Ghana, Burkina Faso and Togo.

Upon our return, I was introduced to another Canadian man called Bob. He is good friends with the previous Canadian we met here (confusingly also called Bob) and knew a lot about Jonny and I from his friend. He is in his 70’s and has spent over 40 years as a teacher and headmaster. He has educated classes all around the world, including Inuit children of the Arctic and children in many African nations. He has introduced a new syllabus into Zambia for teaching English which has been so successful the Zambian government have adopted it nationally. He wants to spread his work to Ghana and came to the school attached to the orphanage Jonny and I volunteer at. He gave a week’s worth of teacher training which I was lucky enough to sit in on. It was very inspiring and I’m sure, not an opportunity I would readily get for free in the UK. Bob is a devoted Christian so I could not identify with everything he was saying but still he gave some great tips for educating children, tips I will be using in the near future it seems...

After a frustrating meeting with the charity director last week, which frequently broke into raised voices and he-said, she-said, he has introduced me to the school I will definitely be teaching English at. The school is based 15 minutes from our village and is called Sanity School; I will report soon whether this is an ironic name or not! Jonny and I went to meet the headmaster and agreed that I will teach English to four year groups and Jonny will teach soccer in P.E time. A great result and my frustration has now turned in to total fear about where to start as I stare at four sets of syllabi!

On Thursday, we held a colouring competition for the orphans. We had to set ground rules i.e. one pencil at a time (or they all end up in one kid’s hand) and no eating the pencils (as everything ends up in every kid’s mouth) but they were really well behaved and loved doing their colouring. The next day we gave out prizes for the best pictures. It is great because some of the meeker children and the children that are naughty and always being told off are the ones who concentrate best at colouring. We gave small gifts to the winners, which they were very happy with and sweets to everyone else, which they’re always happy with. The next day was the first friendly match for the football team Jonny coaches. Jonny’s team, Akatsi FC, were playing the local team, Sogakope Berbato (sp?). It didn’t take long to figure out that the referee the other team had supplied, was in fact one of their players, which reflected obviously in his biased decisions. It was a great match with Jonny going mental at the referee from the sidelines and all the local kids mimicking him, which was quiet funny. Despite the referee playing 13 minutes injury time (for no injuries) and the whole affair ending in a fight and pitch invasion, Jonny’s team won 2-1. A just victory and great achievement for Coach Yonna.