VSO Volunteer Spotlight: Elizabeth Speelman

Elizabeth Speelman is a VSO volunteer on a two-year placement (summer 1999-2001) teaching Math and Science at Lassia Tuolo Senior Secondary School in Ghana.  Lassia Tuolo is a small rural community in Ghana's Upper West Region.  The school requested Elizabeth's placement because there is a shortage of trained Math and Science teachers at the secondary level, particularly in Ghana's rural areas. Elizabeth, 25, is from Etobicoke, Ontario.  She has a B.Sc. in Environmental Science from the University of Guelph. 

 

Greetings from Ghana! I'm teaching Physics and Math at Lassia Tuolu Senior Secondary School--the third best school in the region.  It is a standard joke that the reason students do so well is because there isn't much else to do here. Instead of hanging out at the mall, or playing games on a computer, my students spend most of their free time studying.  Presently, the academic year is being changed from a January-December year to a September-August one.  The students lose a whole term with no slack in the syllabus they must know for their final exams.  It's not an easy system but we'll see it through.

Although I give most of my time and efforts to the school, the most important part, to me, is the children.  I'm not only talking about the students; I'm also talking about the small children in the village.  Because Lassia Tuolo is a boarding school, all the teachers and their families live on campus.  The size of the village and the remoteness don't allow for any teacher to think of living elsewhere.

The VSO volunteer before me had received a few children's books and had set up a micro-mini children's library; about 10 books.  This was how I introduced myself to the children.  Slowly, as they borrowed and returned the books and I recorded their names, I got  to know them.  The brave ones came first, the timid ones followed.  Their level of English varies, but we manage to communicate.  The ones whose English is best sometimes translate or teach me the Dagaare that the smallest children use. I may not be able to have an intelligible conversation with an adult, but I know that "N buoro drawing" means I want to draw!

As they got braver, the children asked if they could sing and dance for me . I've spent numerous days just watching while two small boys use my buckets to drum, and the others sing and dance in local style. It truly is amazing.

Another great thing about these kids is their imagination and creativity.  Any scrap of paper, cardboard, plastic, metal--basically any dry material, they take off my hands.  I have set a box in the corner of my courtyard where I put all the things and it's the first place they go when they enter my house.  The best part is that when they make things, they always bring them back to show me.  Often, they even make a duplicate for me.  From kites with beautifully crimped tails, to metal cars complete with hand brake and clutch (no detail is too small), to "video machines".

The "video machine" really impressed me.  An old box (from a parcel from mom and dad!) has most of one side cut away and replaced with clear plastic.  A slit is cut in the back of the box to allow a cardboard puppet on a stick inside.  A small bulb attached to a wire enters a small hole in the top.  The wire is split and connects to two ends of a metal container (made from an old powdered milk tin).  This container can contain three batteries in a series.  The ends of the wire that connect to the batteries is surrounded by foam from old flip-flop sandals to avoid touching bare wires.  When the light is turned on, it illuminates the cardboard puppet, which can be moved around to create a show.  

All of this from an 8-year-old!  Some days I can't teach the principles of physics to my secondary students without becoming frustrated and here this kid has worked it out himself.    I've learned so much from the children.  In a village where sources of entertainment are few, I've found the best one of all.

Liz Speelman
Lassia Tuolu
Ghana
January 19, 2001

 

 

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