Experiences in Ghana

Today, let me share my experiences in Ghana with you!
I went to Ghana from October 31th to November 10th. It was my first time to visit African countries and it became really good experience.
For first 3days, I went to University of Cape Coast with Prof. Yamada and met Dr. Ghartey and the students of the university. It was really good for me to talk to the professors and students in the field of educational development in Ghana.

I moved to Accra on November 3rd and spent the rest of my stay there. Thanks to Prof.Yamada, I met many people from JICA, UNICEF and UNDP who gave me lots of enlightening experiences and advices. Recently, I have been concerned about my future but the stories of their experiences gave me positive views and possible pathways.

For the last 3days, I visited La. St. Paul Anglican Primary School where Isaac-san's ex-students teach. I gained plenty of occasions to talk to cute and friendly children at school. Taking to teachers also gave me lots of thoughts. Classroom observation was really interesting and I really enjoyed it. I have been studying about the language of instruction issues since I entered GSID almost 2 years ago but seeing actual classes gave me much important information. I really learned a lot by visiting this school. However at the same time, this school visit taught me what I am lacking to conduct classroom observation and interviews. I have lots to do! The teachers at school are so kind. They gave me ideas about their schools and the language use in classroom and also helped me in other ways. I went shopping with them after school and some of them even cooked delicious Ghanaian food for me!

Overall, I fell in love with this beautiful country with warm-hearted people, delicious food and hot weather. I am sure that this experience will be one of the best memories of my life and will motivate me for further study. I really thank the people who helped me there and hope to see them again. Finally, I also thoughtfully appreciate Prof. Yamada for giving me this opportunity and Isaac-san for giving information about Ghanaian education and introducing the teacher in Accra.
Thank you all so much!

Ayaka Iwatsuki