Wishing You A Blessed New Year!

I had a great visit in Alberta, and now with my family-in-law in London, Ontario-Canada. The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree is the presence of a happy family, all wrapped up in each other. May peace, happiness and goodwill be with you and your family during the holiday season and throughout the coming New Year! Alice Azumi Iddi-Gubbels

Welcome Home Alice!

Visiting Oklahoma City now through December 15, Alice is available for interviews and speaking events. Contact us at PAMBEghana@gmail.com for more information.

PAMBE Ghana's Global Market

Find the perfect Holiday gift at PAMBE Ghana's Global Market. Open now through Dec. 22, at 6516 N. Olie Ave. Suite B, Oklahoma City. Visit the Global Market page to learn how your purchase helps provide education and support artists.

Bugum Festival

Saturday the 24th day of November 2012 marks the fire (Bugum) festival in the northern regions of Ghana. Last year same day, I posted the history of this Bugum festival on the PAMBE Ghana web and hopes you all had the chance to read it. This year I wish to continue on the significance of this festival to the Traditionalists and the Muslims who happens to be the celebrants of this festival in local communities. To the Traditionalists, this is the period during which some of the Traditionalists make offerings to their ancestors and God, since the festival marks the beginning of a new year. Animals such as chicken, goats, cats and dogs are used in these offerings depend on the ancestral lineage. Some regard this day as the powerful day in which every ancestor is awake and every “juju” ought to be sacrificed to and to seek for protection, health, long life, more wives and children and abundant harvest. On this day, men dress warlike and chants war songs to evoke the spirits of the dead. Besides, the Traditionalist are of the view that, one great king lost his son and when night falls a search party had to light torches (flash lights) in order to search for the prince in the night. Therefore this occasion is remembered annually, thus, the fire festival is held to mark this all important night. The Islamists hold the view that following the great flood during the time of Prophet Noah, the Ark landed in the night on this day and torches were lit to enable Prophet Noah and his people to see whether they were on land. This festival is therefore held to mark this important night when the Ark landed after the great flood. Muslims regards this day of the fire festival (10th day of the Bugum Gori) so much due to a number of landmarks on past Prophets and Messengers of Allah (GOD) that are reported to have fallen on this day. It is believed that: • Allah had chosen Adam (AS) to be the father to human beings on that day. • He saved Prophet Nuh (Noah) with people in his ship (ark) on that day. • He saved Prophet Ibrahim (Abraham) from the blazing furnace on that day. • He forgave Dawud (David) on that day. • He returned Sulayman’s (Solomon) kingdom to him on that day. • He gave relieve, healing and strength to Prophet Ayyub (Job) of his afflictions on that day. • He raised Prophet Issa (Jesus) to the heavens on that day. • And on that day Prophet Mohammad received his first revelation as Allah’s chosen one • Also on that day Allah made Prophet Mohammad to migrate from Mecca to Madina which is known in Islamic history as the Hijra. • It is believed that the creation of the heavens and earth was on that day. And many more.

Here is a little story I want to share with you

On August 22, the day before we started the seminar, we all (with Franklin and Victoria the Babysitter) went to visit the GMI training center and meet the trainers. After a short conversation and a tour around, Kamila called me aside and told me that there was no place in the center to accommodate Baby Franklin and his sitter in their premises. She had not realised there would be a baby and a young girl with us. They are doing construction work around here. And, in any case, it would be against the law to keep baby and sitter alone, all by themselves, without adult supervision. She explained and apologising profusely, she left. I told the group when we walked out and there was silence. But after a few minutes, ideas started flowing. Maybe, in the morning we could find a food vender close by who would agree to let Victoria and Franklin stay with her while Mary attended classes. Check out homes with small children (drying nappies, etc around), and find out if any of them would agree to take in the Baby and Sitter. David Awala suggested just knocking at the first house, entering and exposing our problem; if no solution, move to the next. That is exactly what happened the next morning. We arrived around 7:30 a.m. at GMI center. David asked that he and I go to the house, just opposite and try our Luck. Two young people were sweeping in front of the gate, and after greeting them, David asked if we could see the Landlady or Landlord of the house. It was a Landlady they confirmed, and one of them called her as we followed to the courtyard. Wow! A large, beautiful, well manicured garden greeted us. Mrs Salormey came out of the room, and invited us to the veranda. She greeted us most warmly and waited patiently to hear our mission. David explained our predicament and we wondered if she could help. We were so taken by surprise, when with no hesitation at all she said, “Of course!” She showed us the summer hut (gazebo) in the garden and said it was all ours. The whole group could come and relax there until it was time to go for our lessons. The rest came in and we all sat around reflecting on what had just happened. Mrs Solormey came to the gazebo, offered us tea and told us to feel at home. She is a member of the Knights and Ladies of Marshall, of the Roman Catholic, an order known of charitable spirit. We could not have asked for more for little Franklin and Victoria! Franklin cried so much that first day that Victoria also began to cry. Mrs. Solormey took the baby and comforted them both. She advised Mary to come out every 30 minutes to check on Franklin. Yes, “and the angel appeared, out of nowhere, and spread her wings over us!”

Update on GMI training

On Monday, August 20, we all converged in Walewale, and began a 13 hour bus ride to Accra together, arriving the following morning. David helped arrange accommodation at the GNAT (Ghana National Association of Teachers) hostel where professional teachers pay Ghc8.00/person and double the amount for the rest of us. It is quite comfortable; 2 people /per room with common toilets and showers on each floor. We had a day and a half to scout out the route to the centre, food venders in the area and transport to the center every morning. All worked well except the food matter. We even got a beautiful home for Mary’s baby and babysitter to be while she is in class. That was a miracle I'd like to share with you later. The first day of training was focused on the key elements of a Montessori classroom, i.e. the prepared environment, including the teacher! The next day was devoted to the teacher, positive discipline and the activities of daily living (practical life), in the context of educating the whole child. The third day was a lesson presentation, and extra time for everyone to practice with sensorial materials. Kamila Kirpilani and Karine McVeigh seem to have a lot of experience in a 3-6 classroom and are able to provide concrete examples to illustrate the principles behind the Montessori approach. Kamila co-founded a Montessori education initiative in a rural area in India, and has lived and worked in Ghana for the past 18 years. Karine has lived in Tamale before, and is familiar with Northern Ghana. First impressions from team members at the end of the 2nd day:

I am happy because I have learned new and better ways of presenting lessons.
I learned that concentration is the key to learning, and I should not interrupt or make the child lose it.
It is lovely because the facilitation is clear and understandable.
I am happy because it will change my own character. It is like she (the trainer) is speaking to me directly.
It is a transforming period for me. For example, how to handle distractive behaviour in my class, and increasing child concentration.
Beginning to understand the full meaning of the Montessori philosophy and approach.
It will change my life drastically, e.g. I will not shut a child down in the house or in the classroom.

Let’s be sure we back up all our files regularly

I think even people who are not Christian can appreciate this humour. I did and hope you do too. Jesus and Satan were having an on-going argument about who was better on the computer. They had been going at it for days, and frankly, God was tired of hearing all the bickering. Finally fed up, God said, 'THAT'S IT! I have had enough. I am going to set up a test that will run for two hours, and from the results, I will judge who does the better job.' So Satan and Jesus sat down at the keyboards and typed away. They moused. They faxed. They e-mailed. They e-mailed with attachments. They downloaded. They did spreadsheets! They wrote reports. They created labels and cards. They created charts and graphs. They did some genealogy reports. They did every job known to man. Jesus worked with heavenly efficiency and Satan was faster than hell. Then, ten minutes before their time was up, lightning suddenly flashed across the sky, thunder rolled, rain poured and, of course, the power went off... Satan stared at his blank screen and screamed every curse word known in the underworld. Jesus just sighed.... Finally, the electricity came back on, and each of them restarted their computers. Satan started searching frantically, screaming: 'It's gone! It's all GONE! 'I lost everything when the power went out!' Meanwhile, Jesus quietly started printing out all of his files from the past two hours of work. Satan observed this and became very angry. 'Wait!' he screamed. That's not fair! He cheated! How come he has all his work and I don't have any?' God just shrugged his shoulders and said, JESUS SAVES ... (Author unknown) Speaking of power outages, those of us who have electricity all the time are very fortunate. Many in Northern Ghana do not. The complications of day to day life in this part of the world can make educating our youth more challenging, yet also give those of us with a mission to educate greater resolve each day to devote ourselves to the task. Perhaps the self-confidence and creative problem solving skills we strive to provide our young students at La’anguum Learning Center will allow one of them to someday, help make electricity available to everybody, and power cuts a thing of the past!!

I am Back!

I cannot believe we are at the end of the 2011/2012 school year, and the 4th promotion of students at the La’angum Learning Center (LLC) has just completed! The 3^rd and last term of the academic year ended on July 26, 2012. The 2012/2013 school year will begin on September 4th, with a teachers’ work week from 4– 7. Classes begin on the Sept 11^th. In addition to end-of year and next school year preparations, we have been engaged in a series of annual reviews with close collaborators during the past few weeks. The results of these reviews will feed into PAMBE Ghana strategic planning session during my next visit to Oklahoma City in November. So far, we have organized and held day-workshops with administrative staff (Executive Director and her assistant), the Bumboazio and Bantambari community (i.e. the two villages directly involved in the La’angum Learning Center), and staff of the LLC. We are preparing one for the PAMBE Ghana Advisory Committee. There are so many exciting things happening out here in the field. I am currently in Accra finalizing preparations for a week Montessori training from Aug 23 – 29 for staff and volunteers of the La’angum Learning Center, offered by the Ghana Montessori International training center in Accra. This training could open up opportunities for collaboration in other areas. We shall see! That is all for now. Come back same time next week. I will keep you posted!

Rampant power outages

At 8:15 this morning the lights went off. This has become the norm rather than the exception here. (I am not sure if the rest of the country also suffers such regular, unannounced power outages). Just as the power outage comes unannounced and unexpected, we are in the dark as to when the power will come back on. It could be back on and off several times during the day, come back in an hour and stay on for the rest of the day or be out all day. Oh, power is back. Hooray!! 3:30 pm. It has been off for the 4^th time today. Hope it comes back soon. Otherwise we have to get out to the veranda and succumb to the numerous greetings and goings on of passersby. It is very hot and humid in our windowless office. But life goes on. Hooray! It is back again! Will send this right away.

It’is a Boy!

It is a Boy!

Mary delivered a bouncy baby boy

This day, March 31, 2012 @ 01:00

Mother and baby are in good health.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

Mary and her husband made a deal, which started with a bet. Mary said it was going to be a boy; her husband thought otherwise. [No facility or interest here to know the sex of the baby beforehand]. The one who won chooses a name for the baby. Thus, Mary has won the honor to choose the name for their baby. I will keep you posted. For now, we shall call him Sandow, which literally means ‘male visitor’ (Saampo’a , female visitor, if it is a girl). Traditionally, a baby is named several days later, not right after birth. Thus, until the naming, the baby is often called by these generic names.

We are Expecting a PAMBE Ghana Baby Soon!

I ended the April 2011 field update by congratulating “the newest grand mamas and the newest couple in town!” I have the greatest pleasure to congratulate Mary Azure (Mrs Aduko) and her husband again, almost a year later. Mary and Pastor Aduku are expecting a baby next month, around April 22^nd! Mary is in top shape and worked diligently until week last Friday. She is now on maternity leave from March 19 until June 17. She will resume on June 18, 2012. In Mary’s absence, I will work with Mr Ibrahim Shani and Mr Wuni Mahami (new Teacher Assistant) with the children in Mary’s class. It would be an on-the-job training opportunity for Shani, the newly recruited TA and a volunteer from the community. Much more to share later. Come back soon.