Oh Kakumdo – how I have grown to love thee. This is the community my organization HEPENS has been to many times to teach the youth there.
Most the kids are middle school and high school age. They are SO great. But it was not the best experience at first…
This was the first outreach I did when I got to Ghana and let’s just say I didn’t really enjoy it. I did not feel very welcome, no one tried to interact with me, they just stared at me when my project partner Nicholas introduced me, and then I sat through our 2 hour session, only understanding the parts that were done in English…which was a decent percentage, but the intermittent Fante made it hard to follow and did not really keep my interest.
I was hopeful that it would get better, but then Nicholas asked me to teach the next time about human rights and health. I did and it was BAD! I talked for awhile and then my project partner talked for an even longer time about anything and everything other than what I had just taught about. I was so discouraged! And still no one was really interacting with me and I was just depressed about it all.
Well now it is the complete opposite! When my fellow volunteer Liz came, things really improved. I think I am a team player kind of person and so having someone else on board was so good for me.
We prepared together and got everything figured out and then we taught together. We were making them laugh and they were understanding what we were saying! They were asking good questions and they were even hanging out with us after and chatting! It was SO fun! And each time after has proven to be better than the one before! The kids actually like us! And they actually want to learn! They keep coming back and we keep teaching!
We have taught about hand washing, food handling, nutrition, alcohol, drugs and drug abuse, living an overall healthy lifestyle, peer pressure, and stress management.
This last time one of the students taught!!! Sylvester did so good! He came prepared and taught us all about reproductive health. I give him major props for taking on an issue that is so sensitive to people. It was quite an amusing ordeal and everyone had a lot of fun with it. Even though everyone was laughing about many of the aspects discussed, they really got into and were asking really good and personal questions.
And that is the other neat thing…we have been able to watch these kids grow together to the point where they are not as shy in front of each other and are more open about the serious health issues they face. They are asking really deep and oftentimes embarrassing questions because they really want to know these things…and I couldn’t be more happy about it!
Unfortunately, many of the kids stay away from home during the school year and are leaving for school this week. I am very sad we won’t be seeing them all again, but I’m thankful for all the great memories of them and with them!
They definitely left a big footprint on my heart J Cheers to the Kakumdo youth.
