First World Problems

A good friend of mine jokes about "First World Problems."  This is when we are complaining about something like the bugginess of an iPhone app or the problem getting a reservation at Cucina Urbana.  Today, my problems are truly First World Problems.  You may have noticed that I have not been posting photos.  To someone for whom photography is a major form of expression, this is almost killing me.  I am promising that I will upload photos soon.  For now, I will have to narrate our experiences, because I am hardly able to access spotty wireless.  While I can access the internet and check email, it is only sometimes supporting Skype and photo uploading.  This would clearly fall into the First World Problem category.  In fact, if I wasn't so worried about communicating with my children, I think I could do okay without the constant connection.  This trip may very well cure me of my Facebook habit.

[Interent back up...so photos to follow!]

On a less light note, today was hard.  There were hopeful moments as well.  We began our day with Ken, the CEO of a series of low-income, low-fee private schools that are currently growing.  Within 11 schools there are approximately 4000 students.  The fee for schooling a child there is approximately $.75 a day.   Ken is passionate and clearly has a vision to bring affordable schooling to Ghana.

Ken, while describing his school system

With Ken and his team, we visited 4 of these schools.  All were in economically depressed areas.  However, the facilities, by Ghanaian school standards, were quite developed.  All of the schools possessed computer labs and had larger and more developed facilities.

Part of our work here is to assist these already functioning schools to become even better at providing high quality education to their students.  We have noticed that a huge challenge is providing the print-rich environment that is so essential to developing literacy.  Often reading materials are posted on the walls and are not placed in the hands of students.

My mind is already spinning about how to access my connections in publishing to gain more resources for these schools.   One obstacle that must be overcome is that books are very precious here....so precious that they are often protected under lock and key.  As a Western educator, this is difficult for me to observe...we are trained to want books in hand.  One of our challenges and goals is to find a way to make print more accessible in a less precious format.

The final school that we visited was the most powerful visit of all.  We were essentially in the most economically depressed area that we have seen.  By the coast, this seemed to be a primarily a fishing village.  I can't put into words what I viewed today.  I am still sobered and quite frankly dumbstruck by the extreme poverty by which this community lived.

It was hopeful to see children in this community in school.  It was clear that this school is determined to provide a leg up to these students, who otherwise have a very bleak future.  I was incredibly struck by the young students that are the same age as my own children, who clearly are suffering from disease and hunger and yet, sit in uniform and work for their teachers.  I hope you will join me in lifting up your thoughts/prayers/good intentions/[insert your belief system] for these people and especially the young people of this community.

If people in Ghana believe that every single day is a gift,  then I hope to use this gift to make meaningful impact in the world around me beginning with these schools.  My own community has great need, but I am struck by the raw human need here in Ghana. Today I saw people who are struggling for survival.  It is hard for me to understand the balance in the world between those that have and those that do not.   I hope all of you "haves" that I know will join me in committing to making the world a better place by making a  meaningful impact.