"My colleagues under the tree would like to interact with you."

This is was how our host teacher Alex summoned us over to visit with some of the other SEBESS teachers who wanted to chat with us about the United States.  It struck me as funny and was a great reminder of where I am and what my new normal has become in this last week.  Under the tree is definitely the best place to be here at Sefwi Bekwai Secondary School because it is so hot, and the teacher workroom gets very stuffy since there isn't any air conditioning anywhere in the school.  This is obviously more of a concern to someone like me from Ohio than it is to everyone here.  His colleagues were under the tree because they are on strike and are not in their classrooms for right now.  All teachers in Ghana went on strike about the time we arrived here for our teacher exchange program.  I don't yet know how this has affected other teachers in the program, but for us it hasn't really made this any less of an amazing experience. The only thing we have missed is seeing these teachers in their classrooms and watching them teach, but the strike gave us more time with the students. We went in some classes yesterday and taught them about the United States. I also got to hang out with the girls in their hostel.  His colleagues called us over to talk about the U.S. school system and we had a very good exchange.  The teachers here make about $6,000 dollars per year and they don't think it is enough.  I would have to agree with them based on what I have heard over the past week.  A government employee who works for the Education Ministry makes 5 times their salary.  The strike is coming at a very significant time in the school year because the final year students were supposed to take their exams yesterday and today.  As it turns out, they will not be taking them now because there are no teachers to supervise, so they will take them when they return from their break.  They are going home early so they all began packing and cleaning this morning.

This afternoon we visited a local teacher training college.  We drove about thirty minutes into the mountains, and when we arrived the students at the college were just being released to pick up some laptops that were donated by the Ghanaian government.  They were very excited, but they also took the time to gather around us and listen to us for a few minutes.  We gave a brief impromptu speech about Global Education and explained what it is and how it is implemented in the classroom.  I don't know if they understood every word but they nodded and smiled a lot, so hopefully they did.  It seems our accents make it difficult for the local people to understand us easily.  All graduates of this training school will have a job, unlike in the U.S.  But we think it is because of socialism, or perhaps the low pay also helps.  All teachers in Ghana are paid on the same scale which comes out of the central government's education ministry.  We have spent a lot of time explaining how decentralized the U.S. system is and how teacher pay and conditions vary from place to place.  They are also amazed that all teachers in the U.S. would never be on strike at the same time.

On a different subject, the women here are dressed beautifully all the time.  This is a nation of beautifully-dressed women.  Actually all the people are well-dressed.  They iron their clothes every day and wear such spectacular colors and patterns.  All the dresses that women wear have been custom made for them and they just look stunning.  I admired the beautiful purple color of the dresses the students at the teacher training college were wearing (picture #1 below) and I left there with a bag of the fabric in my hand that they would not let me pay for.  When we got back to Sefwi Bekwai we pulled over to the dress maker's shop and she has promised to have my new dress ready by 8:00 tonight. All this for only $10 (and I think I am paying her a bit more than the going rate, but I am fine with that).

The students at the teacher training college.  They just squeezed in between the park cars to listen to us.

Roadside stand (above) the avocados and the clothing are both stunning.

The girls outside their hostel.  They were getting a treat (a Coke) from the school for serving as ushers at the anniversary on Saturday.  They all want to talk to the "Obronee" or white person -- me!

The ladies who have made my dresses.  Their shop is in town.