IMAGINATION IS THE KEY
‘Imagination is the key’ is the motto of Uniqueen Academy, located North
of the Capital, Accra, in a large town called Dome - where I chose to
volunteer for two months in October and November 2009. As far as I am
aware, all schools in Ghana have a motto. Among others were ‘Kingdom
Occupiers‘ and ‘Success is key’. Call me biased but my favourite has to
be Uniqueen‘s ‘Imagination is key’. One does not have to be successful
in life to bring happiness and rewards, but a little imagination can be
potentially valuable, certainly more exciting without putting a price on
it. I practiced a little imagination, which in turn led to taking
initiative and it has been very rewarding.
I am delighted to say that ‘Auntie Eunice’ (founder and head teacher of
Uniqueen Academy, formerly known as Uniqueen Kindergarten), gave me the
inspiration to want to make a difference to this school. With the
encouragement from the other teachers and her family, and the financial
support from Travellers Worldwide / British Gap Foundation and the
generous contribution from my own dear friends, we managed to give the
Academy a full cosmetic face lift for want of a better description
amongst other benefits to the children and the development of the
primary school. (Specifics of improvements indicated further down).
It was instant friendship with Auntie Eunice and the other teachers - my
first full day at the school as an assistant was Tuesday October 6th.
Two days later after having spent time in the classroom with these
gorgeous children, I was in Accra, at the main central market buying
essential reading books amongst other materials after I had expressed
that I wanted to contribute a small way with my own funds. Before I knew
it, 8 weeks later, I was saying goodbye on Thursday, November 26th
flying home. Just where did the time go?
Why is Uniqueen so special?
I have asked myself over and over again. I don’t know if I know the
answer frankly. Perhaps it is because people like Auntie Eunice have
such a big heart, they love to share, lead a lifestyle much less
complicated than our own in a developed world. Few complaints if any at
all and only ever obliging. I admire people like Auntie Eunice. Her
average work day is 12 hours; sweeping the outside dusty ground before
receiving the first handful of youngsters at 06.30am. (School starts
officially at 07.30am but some parents will drop there children off
extra early if they are working in the city). Not only is she the head
teacher, but she cooks the school lunches, washes the 40 dirty dishes
and entertains the little ones after school too (and that is just her
main responsibilities as well as finding time to food shop and take care
of her own family). The school officially finishes at 14.00 but the
parents come to collect their children anytime between 15.30 and 18.30.
I think that is a pretty remarkable character to admire! And she still
blesses us everyday with her warmth, boundless energy and laughter! I
feel privileged to have met such a person. I have travelled in other
parts of Africa, the world in fact but only on excursions, never as a
volunteer. I came away with a new perspective on life. I was raised
without taking anything for granted but even so, I now appreciate the
western lifestyle much more than I ever did before. Having electricity
constantly is a good example! (Even when I worked in the middle of the
Sinai desert for 4 years, we did not always have electricity nor water
but that inhospitable environment was actually easier to live in than
Ghana sometimes). In my last week, when all we set out to achieve was
complete, Auntie Eunice called me Angel Becca. Irrespective of whether
you are religious or not, that is quite a touching compliment no? I
certainly took it that way. We laughed and argued over who was the
bigger of the Angels. I told her she won hands down after all she has
achieved having built her own ’Academy’ from scratch!
I was stuck when Auntie Eunice asked me to teach the children a nursery
rhyme as they were actually teaching me them. I had forgotten most of
the songs. I decided to write my own Uniqueen Academy Jingle instead which
Auntie Eunice adored and had all the children singing! I can hear the
children now bless them.
“Oh Uniqueen, Uniqueen, Uniqueen,
We simply are the best.
The children are like toffee,
Dear Lord, we have been blessed.”
Now children, do remember, your ‘pleases’ and ‘thank you’s’
Love your parents, and your teachers,
And the Lord will love you too……Amen!
God Bless you Auntie Eunice and Uniqueen Academy!
The Host Family
I was blessed yet again when I met my host family. Sister Lizzie as I
called her and her 5 children were all so obliging and lovely. My
goodness, as soon as I arrived two of the boys were carrying my 30 kilo
suitcase between them and showing me to my room! I could not have asked
for a better service at a smart hotel! Lizzie was very sweet and only
ever aimed to make me happy! One of the reasons I chose to live with a
host family as opposed to a hostel with other volunteers was so that I
could quickly learn and understand the Ghanaian lifestyle. This I
accomplished after my first week there. The fact that I did not come
across any volunteers did not worry me at all as I was so well looked
after by Lizzie and so busy with my projects at Uniqueen. I could not
have been happier! I was blessed to be given the opportunity to
accompany Lizzie to her church on two occasions. Definitely an eye
opener for me as it was for the locals who saw me wear a traditional
African dress bought by Auntie Eunice in appreciation for achieving what
we did. Alleluia!
A story I shall never forget was when I showed the youngest child a
photo of me shimmering across a rope in an obstacle course I took part
in a couple of years ago. There was only blue sky in the background of
the picture. She, being 6 years of age asked me if I was on my way to
see Jesus? I laughed out loud and smiled at her. (Isn’t innocence
wonderful? You cannot put a price on it!) I grinned and thought to
myself, I sure hope not. I would like to do a little more living down
here first of all please!
Another story which really touched my heart was when I brought back a
pizza with me from the city. It was a ‘buy one get one free’. I did not
think anything of it and just offered it to them and I could not have
predicted the excitement that one ‘plain cheese’ could have brought. The
icing on the cake was when I heard that the older boy of 15; he saved
his piece and took it to school the following day and even the teacher
asked if he could have a bite!!!! Watching them all, it could have been
Christmas day! For those of you that enjoy pizza, remember this story
when you next eat a slice!
I loved the day to day Ghanaian lifestyle - jumping in the tro-tro on my
way to school. Every day brought something new. I experienced both taxi
operating systems; the ‘drop’ that we are familiar with and the ‘share’
taxis. A shared taxi is as you might guess, is like taking a tro-tro
with people you do not know but heading in the same direction. My first
shared taxi was a little different. I had treated myself to a taxi on
one occasion (all of 60p instead of 10p in a tro-tro but still, it was a
treat). Two women got in the taxi just before I was due to get out but
we were held up in a traffic jam. They must have been in their early
20s. They asked me if I was happy and if they wanted to make me happy.
(They must have been in recovery mode from a party I imagine but I did
not smell alcohol on their breath). After I had acknowledged them I kept
a low profile for the remainder of the journey which fortunately was
short! Totally harmless people though. On another occasion, I took a
shared taxi to Accra with two young businessmen. They were polite and
respectful. I did not have any reservations about sharing a taxi with
them. They were most inquisitive about my own background and how
different Europe is from Ghana….
Even though I am always careful of course wherever I travel and to whom
I talk to, I like to make an effort and greet the locals. Some of the
faces that I saw in the mornings on the way to school and afterward work
I would stop and talk to. In some respects, I felt like the local lady
Vicar, waving to someone, or just saying hello even if not stopping to
chat. I did make an effort to speak the local language of twi, but I did
not get further than the ‘greetings’ depending on the time of day and
asking how someone was and ‘thank you’. I liked to make an effort and
was never put off even when they laughed at me, so I just laughed with
them! Nearly every evening, or when it was possible, Auntie Eunice would
accompany me down to Atomic Junction. We would normally wrap up the
day’s events or discuss what the following plans would be. A couple of
times I would greet somebody by their first name. This surprised Auntie
Eunice as much as anyone especially if she did not know them. It was
wonderful!
Shopping Spree for the school
It was an absolute delight to go on a shopping spree with Auntie Eunice!
So much nicer to share the joy of it all especially as she knows what is
necessary for the children and materials to buy at the best price too!
As a volunteer, we are encouraged to buy crayons, pencils etc. For those
that are in a financial position to buy some goods for the school, wait
until you are on location! It is much more fun to go shopping with a
teacher and it is much cheaper too. We can get twice as much with
Ghanaian prices!
A 50 kilo bag of rice I purchased provided the school lunches for a
month, feeding circa 35 mouths, cost approximately £30.00.
My biggest contribution to the actual Academy was building a playpen. It
soon became apparent that we needed to improve the facilities for the
younger ones and ease the pressure on ‘Auntie Tina’, responsible for the
crèche so that she could concentrate on some of the other youngsters
without worrying about the adventurous crawlers amongst the party! The
colourful playpen was quite popular and some of the parents expressed
their admiration. A head teacher from a different school made a special
visit with a carpenter as she wanted one made too. I was not aware of
this at the time but I was delighted to hear it!
Generous contributions from well-wishers
Within my 3rd week there and falling more in love with Uniqueen Academy
than I thought possible so early on, I decided to approach Travellers
Worldwide, asking for financial support. I practised the principle “If
you don’t ask, you don’t get”. Well, we got and we got again! Auntie
Eunice and I prioritised what Uniqueen needed most and a list was sent.
Within less than 24 hours I was able to share the wonderful news that
Travellers would contribute the sum of £400.00 to the specific items
that we had requested. My contact at the UK office, Katie, emailed me
and followed it up with a welcoming phone call! This makes such a big
difference - especially as a failure of electricity supply does not
allow us internet access! An additional £800.00 from a small party of
good friends was also sent. On reflection, one of the reasons why I
think there was such a terrific response within a 3 day turn-around
between asking for donations and receiving them, is that as I was
physically there to oversee the projects and monitor the roll-out.
Perhaps that is why I received such a magnificent response… I gave
myself a deadline of 7-10 working days for the respective projects to be
completed before my set departure date from Ghana. I had several
meetings with Aloysius (Travellers’ rep) and we had his full support all
the way! We accomplished the following; Two Uniqueen advertisement /
direction boards - professionally designed and erected; one at the main
junction and the other closer to the school, additional reading books
were bought that were essential, paint for the exterior walls to make it
more attractive, colourful artwork with a wooden sign reading “Welcome
to Uniqueen Academy” was mounted by the principal gate, at least a 6
month supply of blackboard chalk, another 50 kilo sack of rice,
additional smaller food and cooking items including charcoal, cleaning
materials, repairs to Auntie Eunice’s freezer (when preparing meals in
advance for the children), bags of cement, a full truck of sand, another
truck delivering stone, iron rods (the latter three for the ongoing
development of the primary school), overall workmanship and an official
school mobile. It might not seem a tremendous amount but when the budget
is tight and one is spending a lot of one’s own money and trying to
accomplish a lot in a short time frame, the challenge really is on!
Thank you again on behalf of Auntie Eunice as well as myself for your
contributions! It really has made a significant difference.
The Birth of Uniqueen Academy
In addition to the supplies purchased, Uniqueen did not have a specific
mission or value(s) of its own.
Auntie Eunice needed some material as she wanted to put an advertisement
in her local church program when there was a special inauguration during
my stay there. We laid down clear objectives and goals for the ad. A
letter was also sent out to all the respective parents informing them of
the new ‘Uniqueen Academy’ replacing ’Uniqueen Kindergarten’ so that
they too can consider sending their child onto the school as some of the
children move up into their next academic year into it. This is a
welcome to many of the parents as some of them had expressed to Auntie
Eunice that they wanted their child to continue his / her education at
Uniqueen!
This was really the stepping stone of building up the school and putting
ourselves a step further up the ladder to compete against other schools
especially as our goal is to have the primary school ready for the
curriculum year September 2010. (This was further complimented by the ad
/ direction signs planted firmly in the ground to promote the Academy
and give it more recognition - thanks to Travellers as already
mentioned). It is ambitious but we hope and pray that we can achieve
this with more support from anyone who would like to make a difference!
I am already saving my pennies to go back out there for part two!!!
Lessons Learned
When you get a quote for a job to be done, multiply it by two at least.
To be even safer, multiply it by 3. I learnt the hard way but the
results were appreciated by everyone so I don’t begrudge it but I am
still the wiser. It was also my choice to travel less and put my money
towards the Academy. If I had to do it all again, would I change
anything? No, not a single thing.
‘Ghana’ time - I am laughing but I don’t know if I could ever really get
used to this. We are warned about the ‘tro-tro’ (public transport) that
might arrive in the next hour or next week or alternatively, if you set
a meeting for 09.00am, expect them an hour later and you will not be
disappointed. Also, set deadlines three days earlier than what you need
so that you have a safety net to play with and constantly constantly,
put pressure (in the nicest and diplomatic of ways) to those that are
working for you.
I set myself my own challenges and loved every minute. I was as much out
of the classroom chasing people who were involved in our projects as I
was in the classroom, either changing nappies, dressing them, tying
shoelaces, singing a nursery rhyme, laughing and cuddling the children,
wiping the chalk from their faces, helping them write the alphabet or
their numbers. The biggest challenge was on my last day though, having
to say ‘goodbye’, or rather ‘see you soon’. I thought I was prepared for
it but I was a long way off! I don’t think one can ever be prepared for
that. I’m playing the glad game though, I’ll be back at Uniqueen
Academy!
“Angel Becca”
