November 17, 2008 at 5:09 pm · Filed under Stuff
As I said in one of my last entries, I actually had a really terrific weekend. Most of the photos I’ve just uploaded I’m in the process of uploading were from that Saturday (8/11/08). It’s a convoluted tale, but the short(ish) version is that due to a miscommunication, a bus left the school Saturday morning with 51 students on board, headed for a student “Rally” a few hours away… without any teaching staff. Meanwhile, I was on a second bus full of teaching staff, bound for a funeral a few hours away as well. A lot of confusion ensued, but the main idea is that I “heroically” volunteered to chaperone the student trip, and so got off the Funeral Bus in Cape Coast and joined the Rally Bus instead. The students were relieved (their plans weren’t changed!), the faculty were relieved (their plans weren’t changed!), I was relieved (my plans were changed!).
It was awesome.
The “rally” turned out to be a semi-annual (?) conference of the National Union of Presbyterian Students in Ghana (NUPS-G), which was held at a meeting hall somewhere on Sekondi University campus. It was an interesting experience, but a lot of fun too. There was music, dancing, “drama teams”, and preaching (it felt very familiar in a lot of ways!), followed by a 2-hour “prayer/healing” session(less familiar, but still interesting - let’s just say I didn’t have a translator, but neither did anyone else in the room). The campus was gorgeous, and the weather was nice, so I went for a walk towards the end of that final session. My parents have been asking for pictures of me for weeks now, so I took a few shamelessly goofy photos. Blame them, not me!
After the afternoon of “Rally”/church, we had a few hours to kill before the bus returned to take us home. A handful of students passed a hat among themselves, and convinced a security guard at the (walking-distance-away) massively beautiful Sekondi Sports Stadium to give us a private tour. That was also awesome: apparently this is one of the stadiums the Black Stars play at regularly. In any case, it was way nicer than the last stadium I’ve poked around in. On the way back from the tour, we passed a pond that had become the local swimming hole: I’ll warn you that there’s no such thing as “swimming suits” for most kids around here, but I tried to only upload the more “discreet” photos. It’s too bad, because some of the ones that didn’t make the cut are absolutely hilarious. The swimmers were having a great time showing off their diving skills for the group of students and the Obruni with a camera.
We got back to school at 9pm, tired but happy. It was a good day.
The next day I went to the beach for my birthday, but that’s another story.
November 1, 2008 at 3:55 pm · Filed under Stuff
A few weeks ago I gave an essay assignment to all 4 of my ICT classes (which means I graded upwards of 180 essays; should have been over 200 but many students didn’t turn it in). The question was simple: “How do you imagine technology will affect your culture in the next 5, 10, and 20 years?”
My goal wasn’t to get anything from class regurgitated, but rather to see if they could apply what we’d discussed this term in a somewhat creative and self-aware manner. Reading all the responses gave me a whole new perspective on how the material I’m teaching will always be received in a fundamentally different manner from that which I originally imagine it is, due to our respective cultural filters. I ended up writing down quotes from nearly every paper I received; here are my favourites:
Doomsday and Roses:
- “Technology will destroy the world.”
- “Technology will make the world a peaceful and beautiful place.”
- “Technology will not allow us to live in peace in this world.”
- “The future will be very enjoyable due to technology.”
- “People use technology to tell lies, because of this in 5 years we will suffer a lot in the nation.”
- “Corruption and robbery all will end and it will be peaceful in the world.”
“…And get off my lawn too!”
- “In the olden days, you wouldn’t see West African young ladies wearing all this short dressing that we are experiencing nowadays. I suppose that it is the modern experiences that is affecting us all. In 10 years coming we will see that our young sisters will wear an underwear only and say that it is the modern thing.”
- “In the future man will leave the planet and build a mansion and stay there through technology, which is very greedy because God created men in His image and has given them the place to live and worship Him and you don’t want to establish yourself on another place which is very very bad.”
Reminders that I’m not in Kansas any more:
- In the next 20 years there will be a computer/laptop in everyone’s house. (similar statement was made in multiple essays)
- “Technology will help us to get off the planet and this universe in the nearest future. It will even help us get to the sky to see how the moon, the sun, and the stars look like from the sky.”
- “In 10 years communication will be easier and faster because at that time when you get your mobile it can call a person in America or any place you like.”
- “In the next five years cell phones will have special receivers which will pick calls and answer them in the owner’s own voice.”
- “In the future digital cameras will take pictures and print them at the same time.”
- “In the next 10 years I expect technology to be improved to produce automatic tanker systems which will provide every home with water.”
- “There will be robots and machines which will collect litters from the streets to improve upon sanitation and stop diseases.”
- “In the next 10 years mobiles will be cheap for even adolescents to buy their own.”
- “In 10 years the prices will be very cheap so that every individual can afford to get at least one computer in his or her life.”
- “In the future they will be sending text messages even if the person is just near you.”
- “There will someday be a new technique of teaching in the classroom by the aid of internet. Through the use of internet students will not find it difficult in learning and writing their notes, because theories and notes will be internetted directly into their various computers.”
- “In 20 years all feeder roads will be tiled.” (or “all minor roads will be surfaced”)
- “In 10 years time they will not use chalk to write on chalk boards because there will be a flat screen for teachers to use with the computer instead.”
- “Students will not go and sit in class to learn but rather use the internet from home.”
- “In 10 years time people will no longer need cash but can simply use an E-Zwitch card whenever they make a purchase.” (E-Zwitch is an independent debit card provider emerging in West Africa)
