Day 13: Ashaiman Secondary High School, Ashaiman

The long awaited youth empowerment program at Ashaiman Secondary High School officially is up and running and I am happy to report that day 1 was a huge success! We were so warmly received by the school’s administration and are fortunate to have their support 110%. Our day began with a meeting with the Headmaster and Asst. Headmaster to present our proposal for the week. But, first, we needed to print our proposal which proved to be quite a task in and of itself. They have one computer for all of the administration (which the secretary uses) and one small photocopier. I was humbled to see how much trouble it was to make 9 copies of the proposed plan.

We proposed leading workshops in different classrooms each period every day this week. Knowing there are 14 classrooms and 4 of us, we knew it would be a challenge, (especially since some classes have up to 70 students per period) but we were up for the challenge. The topics we proposed leading were: identity exploration, addressing your inner critic, leadership, and goal setting (two-part session). The Administration liked our ideas, but they wanted to be sure we reached ALL students. They proposed we have two daily assemblies with Form 1 (first year) and Form 2 (second year) students (Form 3 students recently completed their studies and are not present during the summer months). For clarification, I asked how many students would be in each assembly – oh, ‘just’ 300 or so. Our program quickly morphed from working with small(-er) groups to leading large scale assemblies. We adapted and made some adjustments to our curriculum for the day (Who am I? Exploring your identity). The Asst. Headmaster, upon the change of plans, quickly moved into action. He informed us they have a PA system they would set up and left the room. At 10:55AM, Form 1 students were rallied, all 300+ of them, in the assembly hall.

When we entered the hall, what was formerly an empty room was now full with 300 desks, a podium, a large moveable chalkboard, a table (with a white table cloth accented by the fake flowers in a vase in the center) and chairs. The PA system was up and running, from the help of a couple students and we were ready to go. It was amazing how quickly it all came together, especially since when we entered in the morning, about 1 ½ hours earlier this was not at all our plan. I cannot believe how well we were received and how quickly the administration adapted and responded for the students. The Asst. Headmaster is adamant that the students’ need this program and he wanted to be sure we reached each and every student. As such, the students will not be in class for two periods (one block) every day this week. This, compared to what I know from working with administration in the US, is crazy – they would not be as happy to give up their students’ classroom time for week-long assemblies on identity and development.

I was pretty nervous to lead the assemblies. I am fairly confident of my abilities in working with adolescents, especially girls, but a mixed gender group of 300 was pretty intimidating. I started out by saying “Maakye” (“Good morning” in Twi) with blank stares which I took as normal for teenagers at 11AM on a June Monday. The Asst. Headmaster apparently did not believe this was appropriate and took the mic from my hands. I was waiting for what he would say when he said “Do you realize she was speaking Twi? She just greeted you.” He handed back the mic and I again said “Maakye” and was greeted with uproarious laughter from all 300 students. I’m guessing my accent was a little off? I tried.

The activity today focused on identities and how people see us. We began with a short sharing of “something you don’t know about me…” Students were prompted to share something we might not know about them by looking at them. Most students shared their future goals or dreams (mainly career-related), such as “I want to be a nurse/football player/doctor.” A couple students shared their favorite colors or where they are from. It was fun to finally interact with the students and learn a bit about them. They are mostly so demure, so shy and quiet – and so respectful. Our next activity was drawing a mountain. From a distance when you look at a mountain you can only see the top part – you cannot see what is at the bottom of the mountain – are there people? A village? Animals? To see what is at the base of the mountain you must move closer. This is the same with people. From the outside we only see the tip of the mountain; we must get closer to people, get to know them better, ask them questions to see what is really underneath. Using this metaphor we drew a mountain and identified things on the top of the mountain for them (body shape/size, hair color, skin color, face) and those underneath (religion, personality). They then drew their own mountains highlighting what aspects of themselves were at the top of the mountain or underneath the horizon. The second activity (which we did not get to with Form 1 groups) was to based on a poem from a curriculum I work with in the States. It is called “Just Because” and is originally written by Esther Kamkar, a woman born in Iran in 1947 who now lives in the US. She often feels that people judge her by what they see on the outside, but do not really know her.

Just because I was born in Iran,
I am not a belly dancer
I am not a fortune teller
I am not a camel rider.
I am a poet.

Just because I am a woman,
I do not like diamonds
I do not love to shop
I do not worship credit cards
I love to play with clay

Just because I am a Jew,
I do not make a fortune
I do not hate Arabs
I do not believe in “an eye for an eye”
I remember and give refuge

Just because I am a mother
I am not regretful
I am not a martyr
I am not a fixer
I am a free spirit.

After sharing this poem with the students, they wrote their own Just Because poems. We had a few students volunteer to share their poems with the group and they were amazing!! One student talked about “Just because I am poor, I am not lazy, I am not unmotivated…I am a village boy” and there was an uproar of support for him. One student shared “Just because I am fat…Doesn’t mean I can’t dance…Doesn’t mean I can’t stand out…Doesn’t mean I can’t be beautiful…Doesn’t mean I can’t be respected. I am fat-tabulous and happy.” There was also great applause and cheering in support of her. I was so personally touched by her poem – because 1. As a fat girl, I can relate so much to her words. 2. I hate when teen girls have to struggle with weight concerns. It’s so stupid and mean. And 3. I hoped there was a part of the world where I could go that was protected from the fat=bad bullshit but from westernization Ghanaian women and girls are now receiving these message as well. It breaks my heart to hear, yet she inspired me so much to remember my own beauty and to be FATTABULOUS. I recorded her reading her poem for future inspiration 

Upon completion of our group assemblies we rushed off to do our individual counseling sessions. Another unforeseen need and addition to our program was the offering of individual counseling for the students. They have one school counselor for all 1000+ students. We created ¼ slip forms to hand out to interested students. They filled out their name, form (grade), program, and issue to be addressed and turned them in to us. We had no idea that over 300 students would turn in forms! After sorting through the Form 1 forms we noticed categories of concerns: financial, academic, future planning/goal setting, medical, and general (social skills, family concerns). For today we addressed the general concerns since they were the least amount. We were given a classroom for the 5 of us to counsel. We arranged the 10 desks into pairs and tried to give as much a space as possible between the paired tables. I learned a lot today about being a resourceful social worker. I saw one student who was concerned about pressure she is getting from her family to work or else she doesn’t know how to pay school fees. She fears she cannot work during the week because she must study many hours. Her mother is telling her she is lazy since she doesn’t want to work. Since I only have one 45 minute session with this student I chose to use an empowerment model and focus on how to provide her with problem solving and decision making skills. Together, we brainstormed a list of possible solutions to her situation and did pros and cons. Once she narrowed down her top choices we discussed possible challenges she may face and ways she may address those challenges. We identified first steps for her to take in moving towards her goal. I hope this was helpful for her. I am not so much a quick fix type person; I would rather get to know the client and develop a relationship with them. In this context, however, I am more solution and empowerment focused. All I can do is my best over this week…

After our long day we did some planning and prep work for the week, ate a quick dinner and I am heading to bed soon. I need a good night’s rest for tomorrow