Cultural Dance

At Station meeting on Thursday, we met Caroline, a Peace Corps volunteer, stationed in Nalerigu. She works at Nass, a secondary school (high school), that serves the entire Northern Region. She teaches computers. She invited us to come down to the school last night because they were having a cultural dance. Christy and I took her up on her offer, and we are glad we did.

Since everything starts on Ghanian time (late), she had time to show us the campus. The students pay to be there, the yearly fee for room/board and tuition is around $400. It's kind of kind a college campus in the US, but much more basic. The "cafeteria" is basically a field, that the cooks make food over open fires in large cauldrons (in many ways, it looks like something out of Harry Potter with all the cauldrons). The students live in very cramped dorms, they have to go to the well to get water everyday (usually a task delegated to freshman).

Caroline teaches computers as I said. The average class here is 65 students. I believe she has 20 something old old computers. Students sit two to a computer. They only actually get to be in the computer room once a week. She was given a very ambitious curriculum, it's kind of ridiculous. Most of the children have never seen computers before, and now once a week, they share a computer. It's a start, but the curriculum bites off alot more than the children can learn. She intends to make up some cardboard keyboards, so they can practice typing when not in the lab. She spends alot of time trying to fix up these old beasts.

She showed us this room of completely dead computers, that cannot be resurrected. Then she told us they are donating them to the primary schools. Why? Well they primary schools are also required to teach computers, but they don't have any. So these dead computers will be donated so the teachers can at least show students what a computer is supposed to look like as they teach. It's a start. But when you think you have an old useless computer, try teaching computer class without a computer.

Anyways, so we were invited to this cultural dance. Being that students come from all over the Northern Region, several tribes are represented. The tribes were competing doing their traditional tribal dances. Three tribes organized to compete: Manprusi, FraFra, and I forget the last one. The competition was held at the school "auditorium"-a dirt field. Over 1300 students attend school, and since this was a special event, most faculty, support staff, and families of students were present. It was dark, but you'd look out and see people everywhere, including trees just to see.

We, as Obruni (foreigners) and as guests of a teacher, were considered guests of honor. We sat in chairs right behind the judges. They actually got out of sorts, whenever Christy or I stood up to try to get a better view because I guess part of the honor is that we SIT in the provided chair.

The top photo is African's version of the thigh master, they shook their bottoms and got those hip things moving like crazy! The hip things are called cowies. The bottom photo is a male dancer wearing a traditional smock, which is worn by important people (like chiefs).

Christy and I really enjoyed the experience. At the end, in the US you know someone would stand up and say how well everyone did, and that it is so difficult to pick a winner, well that's not how it works in Africa. Instead one of the teachers says they will now tell the performers how they could improve. Each judge proceeded with details how the dancing could have been improved. Elisabeth Faile was picking us up, so we actually never got to hear the winner announced.

Caroline showed us her hut on tour. Actually she has a pretty spacious layout, with three huts and a yard to herself. She made it quite homey. But she also introduced us to some Ghanian candy. Christy and I loved it! In fact, we tried to surprise each other and separately went to the market today to get some for the other. We both found one kind of the candy we tried, and bought each other a bag. Now at home we have two huge bags of candy. Guess we'll have to eat it! :-)