We awoke bright and early this morning to our beautiful new digs in Kumasi. After breakfast, we boarded the bus to start our day at Komfo Anoyke hospital. It was a busy morning of introductions, and more assessments similar to those at Korle Bu. We saw kids with hearing loss, cerebral palsy, Waardenburg syndrome, and stuttering. For most of us, it was our first exposure to Waardenburg syndrome, which served as a particularly interesting case to assess and analyze.
Once our work at the hospital was complete, we grabbed a quick lunch to fuel ourselves for more market shopping. In the very back of the market was a painter who had no functional use of his arms and had to use his mouth to paint. He demonstrated his talent to us as we flipped through and purchased his pieces. Needless to say, they were all unbelievably stunning. However, that wasn’t the only craft shop that stood out to most of us. There was a father and son who owned a woodworking shop with gorgeous handcrafted pieces. They even went so far as to carve it in front of you to make sure it’s exactly what you want.
The night ended with a class discussion about the work we are doing and suggestions for next years trips.
Thanks to Jenn Stanis for the post.
Our day started dark and early at around 4am. We headed to the airport at Accra to catch our flight to Tamale. When we arrived we were all pleasantly surprised that we had escaped the humidity that we had been growing accustomed to in Accra. Unlike other regions we have visited on the trip so far, Tamale is more like what we expected Ghana to be like. We saw dry desert lands with scarce vegetation. According to George, it is common to see wild life in this more northern region of Ghana.
As our Professional Development weekend continued, we later presented on various strategies such as how to incorporate the use of a daily schedule and calendar within the morning routine in the classroom. It was awesome to hear how teachers have been using these in their classrooms. Some added physical movements to their “Days of the Week” song and displayed their own hand drawn daily schedules!
