UK teachers visit schools in Ghana

During May, teachers from 4 schools in East Anglia embarked on the trip of a lifetime to visit children and teachers in their remote partner schools in northern Ghana. The UK teachers have spent the last 2 years bringing the spirit of Africa to their classrooms with pupils in the UK and Ghana exchanging letters, drawings and poems as part of Camfed’s Schools Partnership Project. Camfed’s partners, Harambee and RAINS, work together to encourage greater understanding between children in the UK and Ghana.

While in they were in Ghana, the UK teachers immersed themselves in Ghanaian school and social life. They were welcomed into the homes of fellow teachers and friends in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region. Not a moment was wasted as each teacher was determined to take in as many of the sights of Northern Ghana as they could. Highlights included: being introduced to local chiefs, buying fabric and crafts in the busy local markets, tasting wonderful Ghanaian foods, bathing using a bucket when the storms of the rainy season cut off electricity and water, and getting up close and personal with a herd of elephants at Mole National Park.

The UK teachers were struck by both the enthusiasm of the teachers and the students in their partner schools and by the lack of resources with which their peers in Ghana teach. They commented on their return on how passionate their Ghanaian colleagues are about teaching, since they see everyday how education can change the lives of even the poorest children.

Jo Proctor, from Morley Memorial Primary School in Cambridge, was so inspired by her trip to Ghana that she is now organising an African-themed summer fete on Saturday July 2nd to share her experiences with her pupils, parents and the local community.

If you know a school in East Anglia that would like to know more about this project, please email info@camfed.org or call Camfed on 01223 362648.