The Compass of Our Life

SHS Sensitisations

“A person without a goal is like a ship without a rudder” Thomas Carlyle.

We all have a future and a tomorrow to see but sometimes we feel like the future is yet to come, but hey! , the future is actually today, NOW!! . Your future would depend on your daily agenda. If you want to be recognized in society, if you want to leave a hallmark worthy of recognition, then, it’s better to start now. Have a goal and don’t lack a sense of direction.

Pupils at Navrongo Senior High.
Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

If Ghana can attain the sustainable development goals to end poverty, have quality education, then it depends and lies on the shoulders of you and I. And making sure others also see the need as well because development is achieved not single-handedly but collaboratively.

For this reason, the International Citizen Service, Youth in Active Development Team in Navrongo, Upper East Region working in partnership with Youth Alive whose aim is to have a Ghana where every child can live a life of dignity and self-worth organised a talk dubbed “Charting the future, The Future is Now” at Navrongo Senior High School.

Diverse dreams we do have, different aims to achieve but success they say doesn’t come on a silver platter. During the talk, we told them that being in the Senior High School is a stepping stone for

Myself presenting to the SHS class.
Photo credit: Nana Opoku-Ware

greater things ahead and with hard work, time management, having schedule a time table, having an effective revision techniques, knowing your strength and weakness, knowing how you can learn and turning to peers for good assistance, you can reach that height.

Quoting Adams Hoschid “Work is hard , Distractions are plentiful and time is short”, we made them aware that distractions are bound to come our way , eat up the time, but the person who remain focused, straight on what to achieve, stay discipline, not badly influenced, working hard would chart a great future.

We admonished them to identify the different types of learners they might be, either audio, visual, tactile and showing them the pyramid of retention, they should be willing to teach their colleagues as well because according to the National Training Laboratory, teaching others makes you retain 90% of what is taught and possibly using a Mind Map.

Myself presenting to SHS.
Photo credit: Nana Opoku-Ware

Therefore, building yourself up for the future, they need to strive to further their education, learn new skills (communication, computer, networking, social media), volunteer, have internship with organizations, be engaged in extra curricular activity such as joining clubs (writers and debate), attending seminars and talks among others.

We concluded by quoting Anthony Shay “Life is what you make it, so make the best out of it”

Author: Narian Lincoln

Cameron presenting to the SHS Class. Photo credit: Nana Opoku-Ware

Adapting to host homes and a new culture

What is it like living in a host home and immersing yourself in a totally new culture?

Hello my name is Jay and I arrived in Navrongo 9 weeks ago. As its now my 10th week on my volunteer placement I wanted to share some of my experiences from living with a host family and help to give a sense of what to expect from life in a host home for anyone who is thinking about it in the future. 

I think it's important that I clarify at the beginning that life in a host home is a different  and unique experience for every individual. Everything I talk about in my blog is purely my own opinion and experience. 

This is my first ever experience living with a host family so I didn't really know what to expect. In fact there was a part of me that was nervous knowing that I would be living with a family that I had never met as well as having to share a room with my counterpart Ekow who I had only met a few days before. I have never

Ekow & I at a visit to
 Tono Dam. Photo credit:
Cameron Johnson

shared a room with anyone before either. Everything that I was about to go through was brand new to me. 

Our host parents arrived at the police station shortly after we first arrived in the town.   Right from the start they were warm and welcoming towards Ekow and I which put my nerves at ease. After we arrived at the house we were shown to our room where we dumped our suitcases off and then proceeded to the living room. We spent the next hour just chatting to our host parents getting to know each other. They seemed interested about where I was from in the UK and how I was finding Africa thus far. They reassured us that we were just to treat the house like it was our own home. This made me feel very welcome into the family and I knew I was going to enjoy myself in this house. 

My host parents even now are still very caring towards my well being and security. I had to explain to them that I would not be able to take any Pepe or pepper within my meals as I'm not great with spicy food. Even

now they still do not include any of this in my evening meals which I think is really courteous of them. I must say the large portions of meals we are given each night I am also really impressed with.

My bedroom. Photo credit: Jay Seymour

When it comes to facilities, I have been really lucky. We have a really good shower that is actually quite powerful. Of course I wasn't expecting any hot water to come pouring out but you eventually get used to having the cold showers. 

Whilst being here in Navrongo I have had to adapt to some culture differences. I think the main difference between here and back in the UK is how many more people are religious in Ghana and they take their religion very seriously. As much as I respect this, it can be quite overwhelming at times when trying to justify your reasons for not following a religion yourself. 

Anther adaption that we have to make in this the new environment is the local foods and drink. For me personally I knew this wasn't going to be a massive issue as I am able to enjoy most foods from around the world. I have come to love some of the dishes that my host family have served up for me. TZ  with goat and Fried Yam with soup are my two favourite and I always look forward to the evenings where we have these two meals. Spice has always been a problem with me growing up. This set me back a bit with some of the

Our team visit to Church.
Photo credit: Katey Forster

food as it is traditional for the meals to be filled with Pepe. However my host family have been very considerate of this issue and stopped putting spice in my evening meals. I have discovered a love for the local hot chocolate that I consume day and night during meals and before I go to bed. It is much more delicious than the hot chocolate I would have back home. 

The people of Navrongo are incredibly friendly people to be around. Wherever I go I will get a 'Hello' and a 'good morning' every single day. Children are always fascinated to see us UK volunteers when we walk or cycle through town.mi assume that a lot of them are quite new to seeing a white person. We are often referred to as 'fella fella' by the locals which means white man. It make me feel like a celebrity. You also realise instantly what a minority you are. It's amazing that being a white person you are now the odd one in the town which is a feeling I have never experienced. 

Last but not least I think the weather has been the biggest challenge of living in Ghana. Most days temperatures can hit up to 38-40 degrees which is really hard to bear on a daily basis. Fortunately this problem isn't too bad when we are working inside the office as we have fans. Days where we head into the communities become more difficult and we have to drink a lot of water consistently to cool ourselves down. 

I am now looking forward to spending my last week in Navrongo. I can already tell that saying goodbye to my amazing host family will be heartbreaking but I will be coming back for a visit in the near future. Living in a host home has been such a great experience and I would love to do it again some day.

Author: Jay Seymour

Giving the Navrongo Youth a Voice

Radio Coaching with JHS Students

International service in Ghana partnering with Youth Alive to fight against teenage pregnancy and school drop-out in the Northern part of Ghana.

Our first week in Navrongo, we had a meeting with peer-educators from the various schools which is Vunania, Biu, Gaani and Tampola.

Vunania was the first school to take part in the radio programme "Children's perspectives" and Gaani for the second. Three pupils were selected to take part from each school and the topic that they chose was teenage pregnancy by students of Vunania and school drop-out by the students of Gaani.

The first coaching was done by Jay and Rahama on the topic teenage pregnancy. This coaching was done to prepare the pupil to be able to be confident on the radio show.

In our first meeting with the pupil, we asked them why the topic teenage pregnancy and they said, it was an alarming issue in their community and the district as well, which need to be solve because their friend and sisters are dropping out of school as a result of teenage pregnancy. During the coaching, we also asked them what they think that was the causes of   teenage pregnancy, and some causes that they mention were, irresponsible parental care and control, lack of education, peer pressure and so on.

After which we discuss about the effects of teenage pregnancy, at this point, the pupils sound so affected seeing their colleagues being stigmatised, dying through illegal abortion, dropping out of school and they conclude on this by saying that this problem the youth, need to carry it on their shoulders, and cry to people far and near to support in the matter, however they do thank I C S and Youth   Alive intervention in the three Northern Regions who have come to help tackle these issues, and they do believe that within some few years, with community understanding and commitment this problem  will be the story of the past.

We went on to discuss the roles both the pupil and parents should play to end teenage pregnancy in the district. Some of the roles that were mention by the children are:

• 1.      Parents should educate their children on their sexual health.
• 2.      Parents should also provide their children with their basic needs.
• 3.      Teenage girls should stick to religious laws like Islam and Christianity, which protest against child marriage or having sex outside marriage.

In the fourth weekend which was Saturday, the pupils were taken to Nabina radio to present the issues being discussed on teenage pregnancy.

Students on the radio at Nabina Station.
Photo credit: Chloe Ellis

The pupil did very well speaking on radio for their first time; they were confident and were able to express themselves. They did so by splitting the work among themselves and this made a successful presentation.

After the presentation by the pupil, there was a time that allowed listeners to call to contribute to what the pupil presented. Some of  those who called were able to speak English and some speak the local language[Kasen] which was not well understood but some of the contribution they made was based on the causes and the effect these have on both the individual[victims] and the society at large.

By activating the phone line we ended up engaging our audience in the conversation. Apart from what the pupil mention in their presentation, our audience also looked at it in their own point of view and also came out with their opinions as to what causes this issues and how to prevent them or decline the rate.

It was refreshing to see the conversation provoked by the children among those that called in. The children also received great praise from some, who admired their confidence to approach such a stigmatised topic among the youth. We were also very proud of the children, as their coaches and look forward to more thought provoking discussions with more students over the next few weeks.

Blog Author: Tahidu Rahama 

Rahama and Jay coaching at Vunania JHS.
Photo credit: Katey Forster

Youth Confidence Sensitisation

                     

In our third week on placement we had our first sensitisation to host within the local Navrongo communities. The topic we all decided to talk about was Youth Confidence. We visited four JHS’s (Junior High School) with our groups that we had been split into. There were two groups of four with both groups containing two UK volunteers and two Ghanaian volunteers.

We started our preparations with group discussions and reading through old reports from previous volunteers. We talked about all the positives that we could take inspirations from as well as looking out for things that maybe lacked; furthermore what we could incorporate into our future sensitisation's. We then discussed ideas we should present to the students. We needed to educate them

 on the basic fundamentals of what is meant by Youth Confidence and encouraging them to share their opinions on issues that affected their lives right now. Our presentation took inspiration from the works from those of the past as well as incorporating our own ideas and activities.

While the rest of us worked on other tasks, Cameron created a well-structured script that was easy to follow and had everything that we wanted to deliver to our audience. We didn’t want it to be a sensitisation where we were just flooding the kids with information. We wanted a fun but constructive interactive session where the children could be physically involved themselves. Our activities would help to develop skills such as communication, self confidence and team building.

The Sensitisation:

We set off as a whole group for the sensitisations. Both teams were dropped off at their first schools for the first sensitisation.  I think our immediate reaction when we got to the school was the shock of how many students we would be presenting to. I had estimated in my head that we would be talking to about 25-30 students so to see about 50-60 students staring at us as we entered in was a bit of a surprise.

Narian and I would present to the first group of children. The sensitisation began with Nana introducing us volunteers and introducing the organisation that we represented. I knew instantly that

the language barrier might be a bit of a setback for me, so I had a quick check with the students that they could understand my accent clearly. I noticed that these children didn’t interact much in the classroom or with their classmates too often as many were shy and afraid to speak out. Luckily then, our activities were very appropriate for getting the children to be more open and bold in themselves. As each activity progressed, the children were coming out of their shells more and more which was a terrific feeling inside and a joy to watch. It was incredible that within the space of an hour we had children who would not say boo to a goose were now standing up in front of their classmates, sharing their ideas and opinions about how they can be more open with their parents and teachers with issues that are affecting them. This was proving that active learning is effective and comes back with positive results.

There were many positives that we took away from the first sensitisations. The content was excellent in the fact that the children were shocked with the facts and statistics that were presented before them. I think for a lot of them it was a proper wakeup call and made them realised that these issues are happening and it does affect them. It seems to me the knowledge was there in their minds but its more about the encouragement and guidance that can help them share their opinions rather than keeping them to themselves.

The second school that we visited was a much bigger shock as we were faced with delivering our sensitisation to over 200 students. Next time we have learnt that we need more communication with the schools to find out the exact number of our audience so we can plan our activities so that it fits that number more effectively.

Over all we have had a very successful sensitisation with lots of positives to take away with us. It has helped us build confidence for our future sessions.

Fight for Youth Confidence!

 

International Service and Youth Alive’s Fight for Youth Confidence

International Service is a UK based charity that train young adults between the ages of 18-25 and sends them to deprived communities for self-development and to support marginalised communities. As part of International Service in Ghana they work with Youth Alive.

Now what are the objectives of International Service and Youth Alive’s partnership?

1.       Eradication of poverty

2.       Discouraging child marriage

3.       Helping the youth in decision making

4.       Helping the youth to acquire skills

5.       Helping to protect and defend the rights of the youth

6.       Women Empowerment

This blog is focussing on Youth Confidence, an objective that the team are currently working on.

Youth Confidence

What is youth confidence?

Youth confidence is the trust that the youth have in themselves. The youth are the future leaders of every country; therefore, they need maximum attention from our society. They have the potential to contribute towards development, but their voices are not heard in Ghana.

So what are the main causes of lack of confidence in the youth?

1.       Religious laws – traditionally the youth and children are not allowed to take part in decision making, with the perception that they are ‘to be seen, but not heard’.

2.       Lack of knowledge about their rights

3.       Fear of punishment for speaking out from the elders.

4.       They are judged by their young age and not their knowledge.

5.       Cultural customs believe the youth have a lack of a voice

6.       The way they are brought up in their families or society

7.       Divided Youth Society. Together we stand, divided we fall.         

The International Service and Youth Alive partnership are working towards building the confidence of the youth. The channels which the youth can be empowered to make their voice heard are:

1.    Education

2.    Moral training

3.    Community involvement [clean up exercise or communal labour].

4.    Taking part in decision making

5.    Taking leadership roles

6.    Forming youth clubs

The team are advocating these channels through school sensitisations and radio shows.

I believe, if the above causes are well understood by the youth of our generation and the channels are acted upon, their voice will be heard as never before.  Thank You.

Blog Author: Asupah Raphael 

Youth Alive Workshops

                         

Youth Alive Educational Workshops for Professionals and Students in Navrongo.

Currently, Youth Alive is conducting a three month project funded by the UK International Children’s Trust to focus on building Youth Confidence and improving the educational experience and support within the Navrongo communities. As part of these objectives a three day training programme had been organised for teachers and peer educators to attend relating to Active Learning, Finance and a Peer Educator workshop. As a newly qualified primary school teacher I was intrigued to participate in the workshops to develop my own knowledge and to learn more about the education system in a developing country.

The Workshops

Day 1 – Active Learning:

The conference aimed to highlight the importance of Active Learning to the teachers of Junior and Senior High Schools in Navrongo, Northern Ghana. The concept of Active Learning seems to be relatively new in Ghana, and the session was able to educate those involved on the benefits children can have from taking a more responsible role in their own learning, moving educators away from traditional teaching styles. 

Photo Credit: Katey Forster

The session was engaging and fun as it incorporated Active Learning, with teachers participating in group discussions and activities that would encourage them to think beyond what they had been directly told by the speaker. I found this a very powerful method to use as the teachers will then be able to appreciate the importance of Active Learning for themselves.

Similar to the UK, the teachers were challenged to think outside the box for creative ways children could be more involved in their learning. The ideas that were presented by the teachers include:

• ·         Group Discussions
• ·         Class Games (an example was played during the session with some of the teachers)
• ·         Learning by teaching
• ·         Whole Class discussion
• ·         Think, Pair, Share
• ·         Student Debates
• ·         Video/Input Response (questions/feedback)

Photo Credit: Katey Forster

It was really engaging as a spectator to see how the teachers were responding to the information given regarding Active Learning. It can be challenging as a teacher to be told that what you are currently doing in your own classroom may not be the best approach to use, but the teachers all took on board the new learning method.

The feedback that the teachers were able to give towards the end of the session was fitting to the content. They were confident to ask questions to their colleagues, encouraged each other to expand on ideas respectfully and overall seemed to have a really enjoyable time.

Day 2 – Finance and Accounting:

The aim of this session was to discuss how funds are received and how finance records are kept and monitored in schools. The session was delivered by Mr Alhassan Bibarajie, who began by asking the teachers to group off and make a list of ways the funds are distributed and monitored effectively. He walked around the groups, contributing to their ideas and challenging why they think it may be done this way. The groups mainly focussed on ways that funds are monitored such as: cash analysis books; invoices/receipts; logbooks; inventories; and class attendance records.

Photo Credit: Cameron Johnson

As a NQT in the UK I feel that I am unable to compare the ways in which funds are distributed in

British schools. From what I know, I believe the local councils take into account the location of the school (whether it is in a deprived area or not) and how likely the parents are to contribute financially – this excludes private schools – and distribute funds from their findings.

Before any money is spent, a meeting is set up with parents, staff and members of the community to discuss the needs of the school. It’s reassuring to know that parents and members of the community here in Navrongo, are able to have an input on how the money is spent, meaning that hopefully money is not wasted on items deemed unnecessary.

After the discussion, Mr Alhassan highlighted what you would expect to see in a sample cash book. The remainder of the session was then based around educating the professionals about cash books.

It was refreshing to watch the teachers work on the activities so well – staying focussed on the task at hand. They were eager to learn and expand their knowledge further. Nobody worked negatively and peer educating between the teachers was very inspiring. Even as an outsider, if I wasn’t understanding something they were being told, they were happy to explain it to me – one gentleman took the time to write down information I missed which he gave to me at the end of the session.  Mr Peter informed me that the teachers will be expected to teach their colleagues when they return to their individual schools.

Day 3 – Peer Educators:

This session worked with the Peer Educators of schools in Navrongo. The title of the presentation was “Youth Active workshop for students on how to study and how to use a dictionary.” delivered by Mr Albert Awe Adonnawura.

Photo Credit: Ephraim Ekow Ashun

The content of the session wasn’t exactly what I imagined but mainly focussed on teaching them how to study. I expected that the school children would be informed on the ways in which they could support their peers when it comes to school, whether that be with studying or with issues they may be facing within school, such as attendance/punctuality.

The workshop was very long and didn’t incorporate any active learning for the children, but I was later informed by Mr Peter that the original speaker had cancelled last minute and therefore they had to find a replacement on very short notice. The children were asked questions throughout the workshop to try to involve them but I felt they were too nervous to speak up and ask questions. This could have been because we were sat at the back watching, making them feel a little intimidated.

When asked “What sort of personality do you feel a peer educator needs?” the children were able to list really inspiring qualities such as:

·         Knowledgeable	·         Leading by example
·         Polite to peers	·         Respectful
·         Honest	·         Hardworking
·         Disciplined	·         Obedient to teachers
·         Confident	·         Courageous

Photo Credit: Ephraim Ekow Ashun

For the second half of the workshop, the children focussed on learning how to properly use a dictionary. The expectation is that they will pass on their knowledge to their class mates. Mr Albert explained how to use a dictionary. For example, there is a pronunciation table at the front of the book that the children can refer to which can help them practise their spoken English more.

The children were all given a dictionary each and told to find a particular word. We challenged them further by giving them another word to find. I think the children really enjoyed this part of the workshop as they turned it into a competition among their peers on who could find the word first. There was a lot of conversation generated from this activity, all around the intention of the workshop. The enjoyment and engagement from a simple activity emphasises the benefits Active Learning can have in the classroom.

As a team, we sat down with Mr Peter to feed back our thoughts on how the workshop went and it was concluded that giving the children more opportunities to be actively learning then they may have been more engaged and able to talk more confidently on how to study and how to use a dictionary.

Overall, I really enjoyed learning about the education system in Ghana. I feel there is still quite a way to go in educating teachers and children more appropriately, but it can be argued that in the UK we have still not yet mastered the education system either. There will always be room for improvement and educators will argue that particular methods are more effective than others. However, if Youth Alive can keep empowering the teachers and students in Navrongo to have a passion for education then they will continue to progress.

Photo Credit: Ephraim Ekow Ashun

Meet Cohort 3!!

BLOG 1

Last weekend we arrived in Navrongo and settled into our host homes in our pairs. Week 2 has been off to a busy start, preparing for our first sensitisation and radio show next week on Youth Confidence and meeting with Community Development Committees. This week's post will be introducing our fantastic, diverse team before updating you all with of our work over the upcoming weeks.

TEAM LEADERS

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Nana Opoku-Ware

Age: Early 30’s

Where are you from? : Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive? : I’m passionate about youth development and since Youth Alive has its mandate to empower the youth and give them a voice to become active citizens in their communities, I’m excited to work with them.

What’s the most interesting thing about you: I love cooking and I’m passionate about the things I do which drives me to get things done no matter the difficulty.

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Jasmine Eeles

Age: 23

Where are you from?: Bedford, England

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: As a team leader, I am able to watch team members develop and overcome challenges throughout the cohort, so I’m excited about what the upcoming team will achieve individually and as a team. 

Something interesting about yourself?: I enjoy travelling (India, Indonesia, Burma) and I’m a big animal lover!

THE TEAM

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Tahidu Rahama

Age: 20

Where are you from?: Tamale, Northern Region, Ghana

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive? : I’m excited to work with Youth Alive because I want to work to create confidence in the youth to give them a voice.

What’s the most interesting thing about you?: One interesting thing about me is that I like reading a lot and my favourite book is Ananse in the land of the Idiots

Photo credit: Chloe Ellis

Name: Cameron Johnson

Age: 18

Where are you from?: A small county called Clackmannanshire in Scotland

What am I most excited about working with youth Alive?:  I am excited to work with young people and help them to combat the issues facing them growing up in Northern Ghana

Something interesting about youurself?: I CAN DRINK A 500ML SACHET OF WATER IN 5,8 SECONDS

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Raphael Asupah

Age: 21

Where are you from? : Sandema, Upper East Region, Ghana

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive? : I’m excited about Youth Alive’s mission of educating the Youth and discouraging early child marriage which is rampant in the Northern part of Ghana

Something interesting about yourself? I like singing and smiling.

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Katey Forster

Age: 22 but my birthday is on Monday (October 23rd)! Ghanaian birthday!

Where are you from?: Edinburgh, Scotland

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: I’m excited to get stuck in with the work this NGO is doing and get out into the local communities. The first few days of work have got me really excited to start working with the rest of the team and hopefully make a difference here in Navrongo.

Something interesting about yourself?: I love to cook! I also love to take photographs so I am hoping to capture lots of what we are doing here with Youth Alive to show everyone.

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Narian Lincoln

Age: 25

Where are you from?: Kumasi, Ashanti Region, Ghana

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: I’m excited to be a part of Youth Alive because I’m going out to empower and encourage someone to become their better selves.

Something interesting about you? I like swimming but I don’t know how to swim. The UK volunteers are teaching me though.

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Jay Seymour

Age: 21

Where are you from?: Kent, England

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: I think the thing I am looking forward to the most about working with Youth Alive is working with the team that we have. So we have people from different countries, different backgrounds, different societies, and I believe that we have a really strong team. Everyone has great opinions, great ideas and I’m looking forward to using those to help the youth in Ghana.

Something interesting about you? If you tell me your birthday I will remember it forever.

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Ephraim Ekow Eshun

Age: 24

Where are you from? Cape Coast, Central Region, Ghana, 

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: I am excited about working with Youth Alive because I am keen to improve my knowledge on development issues and also impact society in my own small way by empowering the youth and other vulnerable groups.

Something interesting about you?: I love sleeping and video games. 

Photo credit: Cameron Johnson

Name: Chloe Ellis

Age: 21, but my birthday is on the 1^st of November so I’ll be having my birthday in Ghana and I’m really excited about that!

Where are you from?: Manchester, England

What are you most excited about working with Youth Alive?: I’m most excited about developing my own understanding of International Development and working with children and the youth promoting human rights.

Something interesting about you? I'm so small that I can fit into kids clothes.