My book: 30 Steps to Homeschooling Successfully in Africa

30 Steps to Homeschooling Successfully in Africa

State of the Nation 2014

I’ve been silent. I know. I was getting my health back in check as I came down with another bout of Typhoid. This time it was from cauliflower…that I cooked myself. Cauliflower has to be cooked for more than 5 minutes and that heat resistant bacteria lives within the cresses. Needless to say, I won’t be touching cauliflower for a very long time. I also had anemia which was making me very tired and drowsy. And thanks to the wonderful support of herbalist Dr. Asare of PAMA health, yours truly is back better than before. I say better than before because being sick makes you more compassionate. At least, I became more compassionate during that period. I realized that I had to look at the world and individuals through a compassionate lens and not be as critical at people’s mediocre attempts.

My compassion leads me to the topic of today’s blog. I watched the State of the Nation address by President John Mahama on Tuesday, February 25, 2014. I watched it alone; not with hubby, the diehard patriot, but by myself. And I saw Mahama in a new light. Not that new; I always liked him. He laughs like my father. I like his father vibe..but I digress.

Mahama started the address with a bang…deciding to focus not on what Ghana has but who Ghanaians are as a people. I thought that was a great way to go. Ghana’s wealth is its human resource and if threatened, Ghana has nothing left. I like that. The speech was thorough, touching base on all aspects of Ghanaian society that needed a touch up, but Mahama failed to mention the FAMILY. The building block of all societies and the foundation for all countries. How could he fail to analyze and shine light on what has been happening to the state of family in Ghana? That parents are too busy to parent. That children do not see their parents until the weekends. That the cases of child molestation is on the rise? That the everyone is amazed at what children “pick up” from school because parents are not doing their jobs? That most parents do not know if their children ate or passed a bowel movement the entire week? That nannies, house boys/girls and drivers have been given the job as guardian while parents work. How is that not an important aspect of what is wrong in Ghana? How can children learn entrepreneurial skills if they spent their days watching television with nanny dearest? Who is there to guide their passions? Not the schools, as he mentioned, we need more qualified parents, passionate about their jobs and willing to show up for their children as often as they show up for work.  Honestly, I feel we need to stop blaming teachers for the state of our children. When did blaming others for not doing your job become acceptable? Parents and teachers are in a partnership. Teachers can only teach children who have received the foundation of love and support for the teacher to build upon. They cannot manage children who are acting out for the sole attention of mommy and daddy; no amount of money can solve that problem.

I felt Mahama confused physical buildings as schools. President Mahama stated the solution to rectifying the education problem was to build more schools. Seriously? There are no teachers! Does it matter if they are under a tree or in a building if no one is there to teach? Is a school in a building more worthy without a teacher than one under a tree with a teacher? Again, the priorities are lopsided.

The same goes for his presentation on hospitals. Buildings do not make hospitals. Trained health care professionals outfitted with equipment to save lives does. And right now, Ghana is lacking both.

I felt the conclusion of the speech “made mention” of me in a way. He stated that Ghana belongs to the many men and women who wake up every day to make sure their children get quality education and put food on the table. The men and women who are making this country go around; not by sitting back and complaining, but by being part of the solution. How did he know? Good news does fly. I felt he acknowledged all home scholers in that line.

Apart from the discrepancies mentioned, I loved the speech. I’m not saying he said anything new. He acknowledged the depreciating GHC; so did we. He “mentioned” everything we expected of him. I like that he mentioned ordinary citizens doing their part for the nation. He was jovial throughout, making jokes and cracking up everyone who understood him. Even with jeers and boos, he maintained a good disposition and demeanor. Go Ghana! Go GHC!

From Chiemeka to Grandma

She died on my birthday
I have a great song to say
You were older than 60 when I turned 8
I will say that was great
Spirits don't die
They just fly in the sky
Looking at you behave
They look everyday
My mom really misses her
She died on December 1st
When she held me she gave me smile
And when I see that, I smile
She loved me
I loved her
We were sometimes together
She loved my father
She loved my mother

How Maroons must have felt

My aunt passed away on Dec. 1. I did not sleep a wink that night. Although I did not know it, my spirit was restless. That's how connected we were. She was the greatest aunt in the entire world. There's a saying that as adults, we won't remember what was said to us as children but we will remember how particular adults made us feel. I remember how my aunt made me feel. She made me feel great; like I was a superstar. She loved me and I knew it. She loved all of us. She was just that kind of spirit. I take solace in the fact that she died on my son's birthday and will become his guardian angel.

I am peeved at myself for not being there while she was alive. We moved to Ghana in 2005 and since then, we've only visited family once. Not that we didn't want to, but the opportunities don't always present themselves. I'm also disappointed that I did not have the financial freedom to permit me travel as many times as needed to keep that bond alive. Or the financial freedom to be of assistance to her while alive. I would have wanted to provide her a private nurse and have my children at her feet. I couldn't do that. I should have done that. I would have loved to do that.

Here lays the conundrum of being a returnee or living so far away from family members that you love. While others will take our move to Ghana as heroic and groundbreaking, it comes with its baggages, such as not being with family that you love when you want and when they need you.

I'm thinking of the average Maroon, making that decision to leave her evil conditions for something better, but that something better cannot be that great without her family members. We imagine the Maroons communities as revolutionary and inspiring but we don't remember the average Maroon and what that decision mean psychologically and socially. It's not a simple live free or live as slave? For many it was live without the one I love is not living at all. It meant leaving the little family bonds that they had. They had to hear news of loved ones through the grapevine. They couldn't as easily see the ones left behind, even for a short time. That break in the community, albeit imaginary, is the essence of humanity. And why family is so important to Africans, despite what the Maafa intended.

As Returnees, we will have to deal with such heartbreak. While the move in itself is what our ancestors wanted, we will create a break with some of the most wonderful family members we ever had. It takes courage to make such a move knowing this sad fact. Maybe the Africans who did not run away to join the Maroons had similar paradoxes. It's not easy being away from those we love, even if the conditions are horrific and evil. I swore that I wouldn't raise my children in the US, but I would now if I could have my aunt back. I would want them to feel how she made me feel on a daily basis. I would want them to hear her voice and always remember her with happiness and joy. I would want them to taste her cooking and hear her call their names.

How many more family members will I deprive them of knowing? How many more will become ancestors before they had a chance to physically bond and feel that same deep love that I feel for my aunt? Is returning to the Motherland or moving away from the pariah worth it if some of the greats are left behind?

From Mulattoes to Materials

In honor of Maurice Sixto, whose social comedic analysis and skits have taught me to pay attention to how the world unfolds.
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I people watch. I observe, analyze, critique and survey who does what, why, when and where. I notice how age, gender, geographical location and the notion of class influence how we do things. Dialogue and discourse was encouraged in Haiti, more so than other countries.
In Haiti, I observed how parents of Mulattoes (children of mixed race), construct and redefine how they raise their children. I noticed this group was distinct in its attempts to be perceived different and socially mobile and better-off. Their children were afforded the best that the society provided; and society applauded their attempts. But not all Mulattoes were/are equal. Respect is given to those perceived as descent and respectful. Children of an old white man and a young girl who used to be his maid are not given the same privilege of respect as those of children whose parents were social equals. So the effort Mulattoes put on providing top education for their children was in attempt to gain social respect and acceptance.

And while there was an emphasis on providing children quality education or the best that money can buy, I am surprised to find something else amongst mulattoes in Ghana. Instead of an emphasis on education, abstract knowledge, philosophy and art, I find emphasis on gathering and securing material things. I name this group in Ghana, Materials.

From Mulattoes in Haiti to Materials in Ghana, the big difference rests on respect and decency. Many of the Materials are children to parents who are gravely social unequals. The fathers tend to be much older, more educated and with the financial backing to permit him attract a much younger, less educated and unemployed girl. In fact, many of the men suffer from some form of psychological problems as they are in need of showcasing their lost of power (youth, status, white wife) over some of Ghana's most under privileged population.

Because the Material mom is often less educated than the new social circle her relationship with the old man has briskly provided her, she is often found shadowing a white woman and her children. From house help to madam, she is the new friend to the white women, whom she would have most likely be working for if it were not for this brief fling with the white man. So what she feeds her children; the Material mom follows. Their extra curricular activities become the Material moms' only because the term was unknown to them until quite recently. As the partly social misfit, they follow while trying not to be noticed as peculiar and disturbing.

You can tell a Ghanaian woman raising a Material child by how much emphasis she puts on money. She drops numbers as efficiently as a 4 year old. Twenty thousand hundred for this, five hundred billion trillion for that. And where are these fake monies allocated? To shoes, pizza, Ipads and toys. Any books? Not if you don't want to be perceived as poor. Women raising Materials do not buy books. They buy things that people can easily agree are expensive.

And education? They believe the child's skin color will open doors. The same way the old white men's skin color worked for him.

Are all Materials children of mixed race? No. Materials are a culture that others can buy into, just like being western. If the emphasis is providing your children parties that cost more than salaries that Members of Parliament filter out of the economy, and you live to brag about it, then you are raising a Material. If your child has an Ipad but is below reading level, or you don't know which reading level s/he should be on, then be proud to classify yourself as part of this group. I say group because they are not really a class, since their economic standing is inconsistent and not dependent on real money but the idea of money in relation to what they envisioned, (not too long ago), that $100 could solve all their problems.

Because the Materials mom is often less educated than the new social circle her relationship with the old man has briskly provided her, she is often found shadowing a white woman and her children. From house help to madam, she is the new friend to the woman, who she would have most likely be working for if it were not for this brief fling with the white man. So what she feeds her children; the Material mom follows. Their extra curricular activities become the Material mom's only because the term was unknown to them until quite recently. As the partly social misfit, they follow while trying not to be noticed as peculiar and disturbing.

Why do the Material moms, yes, only moms because the fathers are really not in the picture, stress getting things and buying more things for their children? Because as new salaries (not money really), they only know what they can get with money. What they can, not what can be learned or gained from money. They, like many of us, are trying to provide for their children what they were denied as children. And most of these women remember not getting beautiful dresses, nice shoes, coca cola and other foods that the real elite shun.

 And what about the men?They don't tend to have relationships with their children, which many did not want to have in the first place. They realized their age and having younger children further emphasized their mortality. Many will not live to see their children, whom they did not want in the first place, graduate from junior high school. One woman in such a situation confided that the man did not want children, because his grandchildren are older than the child would be. It was only after she swore that he would have no further obligation to the child that he stopped demanding an abort or an end to the relationship. These men know how indispensable such women/older girls are. Other women confided that having children raised their social status in the eyes of the community. Not having children would meant they not worthy of respect and engaged in indecent behavior with the old white men.

What about white women married to African men? They are a different story. They are trying to raise a difference race; but not African/Black. They epitomize how racism works; silent, blatantly unnoticed, and schematic. How can you tell the two groups apart? Materials are raising children they wish you would accept as white. Their names tend to be, "Harry, Victoria, Elizabeth," echoing a time when the British had an Empire and people cared about your relationship within it. White women married to African men are raising children they wish you would accept as white Africans. They choose the local names for that specific reason...to be asked over and over again where that name came from and how the child relates to that culture.

What do the Material moms gain from such relationships? Only what their bags can carry. Stay tuned for more.

Dirty Hands

I've been silent. Why? My son fell terribly ill due to dirty hands. At our last visit to Ghana's premier laboratory, with state of the art technology, there was no water for hand washing. As the children walked around picking up bird feathers and padding the animals, they had their snacks accompanied by the various bacteria which made their way onto their fingers. I need not cry any more on my frustrations over lack of water and toilet facilities in Ghana. I now walk around with extra water for hand washing, because sanitizers are not as efficient as we would like to believe.

Apart from that, I've been reading...on the subject of the various dirty habits that keep our communities from developing. One such community is the African American one in the US. In Sheik Charles Brown-El's Accept your Own and Be Free from Mental Slavery, he analyzes some of those problems in detail. In similar fashion to the early Garvey writing years, Brown-El lays out some key habits that plague African American society (argument could be made for a global trend), in an easy to read-reach-the-masses fashion. The book is not bogged down in discursive distractions nor in linguistic battles. It is clear, concise and relevant.
This book reminds me of Garvey's writings because of its emphasis on community. Brown-El 's book is general analysis of Black community. His analysis is asking for a new community; one that is healthy, conscious and purposeful.
Remember the feeling of being connected to a wider community that Garvey's books would inspire? Brown-El's book does the same. By bringing us back to the basics of family, community and nation; the feeling of connectedness is the first real triumph of this book.

While Accept your Own is free from discursive jargon, Brown-El does drop one major one on us without further analysis or explanation. The historians amongst us know that the power of labeling and naming has been, for the most part, relegated to the victors. In this case, Europeans have had the power to name and label what most of us take for granted. The Continent that we call home was named Africa by the Greeks; not the people who populated that Continent. So "Africans" are a people, continent and idea constructed by Europeans. Brown-El, justifiably, rejects that label and prefers to refer to "our" people as Asiatics. The discourse on labeling and naming is very important, particularly in our situation, that I believed it deserved to be analyzed further. Where did that term come from? Who labeled it? How do we fit in within that puzzle?
Is Africa a term rejected because of its association to slavery and abuse? Europeans have had a much longer relationship with Africa, predating slavery, with "Africans" on top.

Brown-El also focuses on building the Asiatic nation within the US. His vision is not global or Continental. As a visionary of his people, Brown-El could be focusing on the group that he knows best. The group that he can easily help rebuild and develop. But our problems are so much bigger than the US geographic space. It's a global issue. What those in the US experience is an indicator of something greater taking place on a global level. We are all managed and victimized by the same media.

The most important part of this blue print is its emphasis on the family. The collapse of our families cannot be glossed over any further. Although Accept your Own and Be Free from Mental Slavery is specific to our people in the US shores, families are also breaking down on the Continent. There are more divorces and more children growing up not knowing their extended families or speaking their languages. Fathers are not as relevant as they used to be. They are not as active in the lives of their children or working towards maintaining the parental relationship. King Ayisoba's "I want to see you my father" is the antithesis of Tupac's "Dear Mother." Tupac's mother, and most of our mothers, are what King Ayisoba's father, and most of our fathers aren't. They are not supportive. They are not present. And the children are taking notice. More Ghanaian fathers in their old age, will go uncared for by the same children they ignored growing up. Our elderly are not being taken cared of. There are fewer people home to take care of them and because there is less obligation. The societal implications for this cannot be discussed in this blog.

Accept your Own and Be Free from Mental Slavery opens up a much needed discussion on the state of our families, communities and nations. To further ignore this debate spells doom for our people on a global level. Read your copy to find out what you can do to stop it.

Visiting Public and Private Spaces in Ghana

Our homeschool group was fortunate to visit the “laboratory” of Ghana’s premier engineer, scientist and inventor in the Central Region. Asafo Kwadwo Safo is famous for his ingenious creations. Suffice it to say that it was one of the greatest places to visit in Ghana. The children had a chance to witness excellence at work and personified. They found minds at work on different ways to make our world safer and better. It was one great example of how passion meets science meets creativity.

This laboratory was 125 acres. It included an animal and plant research center and a slew of different animals on the compound. The children saw zebras, ostriches, camels, porcupines, huge pigeons, horses, geese, ducks, lambs, tortoises and so much more. They had greater variety in their collection than Accra Zoo.

And while the place gets visitors on a regular basis, no provision was made for a clean and comfortable toilet. We had to squat inside a wooden fixture. No water. No toilet paper, just a tiled floor used for urination only. Why is that?

It is because not much attention is paid to the customer in Ghana. This notion that customers don’t matter is a national problem. It affects the way information is presented and liaisons are formed between the communities and the private space. The theme that “they will come if they need to” dominate the mindset, from business class to entrepreneurs. No one seems to break free of this hold.

Asafo Safo’s laboratory is not alone. The day after, we attended the Cocoa Festival. This was held at the State House in Osu, where Parliament meets. And yet, we couldn’t find a toilet to save my potty trainer from wetting herself. We finally had to squat, near a 4x4 in the parking lot. We were finally told where to find a toilet, too bad it was too far away for any toddler to actually make it without soiling him/herself.

It’s not a surprise that few people attend such festivals or visit private/public spaces in Ghana. Toilet is always a problem. Ghana Education’s latest research states that girls’ absenteeism highest because of lack of toilets, especially during times of menstruation. Children have to use the bush and girls stand being raped while doing so. To top this all off, there are no hand washing facilities to promote good self care. Most houses in Accra, built in the 1980s, do not have toilets. Tenants have to create “buckets” which are taken out at night by latrine carriers.

I wish those in the media would discuss such matters. Not sure what drives this media…oh yes, I know. Do you?