When I was in a teacher's class several weeks ago and the students were studying malaria, she made an interesting side comment. She said, "Wouldn't it be nice if the students could talk to someone who had had malaria to find out more about it ?"
Because I have been to West Africa three times and have a number of real African contacts there (I say "real" because I don't want the reader to think that these are with French or British expats), I had a good reply. I have been tutoring a few African students in math and English via Skype, I said, and I could arrange this.
I have a friend who runs an internet cafe in Tema, a small city right outside and abutting Accra, the Ghanaian capital. When I discussed this prospect with him, he suggested that I talk with one of his friends, a teacher at a nearby private school. He put us together on Skype and we had some great conversations. Yes, the teacher said, they would be very interested in having some of his students talk with some from our school. We fixed on a time and date, and actually made it happen.
Typically, our students asked questions like the following: How do you know when you are coming down with malaria ? How often have you had malaria ? What do you feel like when you are going through a malaria attack ? Do people die of malaria ? How long does a malaria attack last ? What can you do or not do when you have malaria ? How do you catch malaria ?
Eventually the discussion moved on to other things rather than science. Since Ghana is a great football (rugby) power in Africa, and since almost all Ghanaian students play it, they naturally asked if our students play it ( they do). What kinds of teams do we play against ? What is our school like ? What do students do in the course of an average day ? What do we study ? How long is our school day ? What is our life like ? Would we like to visit Ghana ?
The question I found most interesting and that requires a lot of deep thought was one a young man asked: "What does it feel like to be an American ?" Readers, have you ever thought about that one ? I hadn't, no more than I had ever thought about how I feel being white in American society, and what a privileged position this is.
The idea came up that it would be great to have one of our students go there to their school for a while and them send one of their kids to our school, too. And as I think about this possibility, I know that it could happen, assuming the school district sees it as beneficial to the students.
Our students and the students in Ghana have certain things in common, the most important being that most of them in Ghana and in our city are from very poor families. But our idea of poverty would probably be relatively comfortable for the Ghanaian students. Many of them have only one meal a day, sometimes two. During school days, our students get free breakfast, free lunch, and even a free meal after school if they want these. In Ghana, there are no free schools. The kids in our contact school have to buy meals or do without.
The kids in our school come from a very poor section of town. It is a dangerous area, and kids are advised to walk home in twos or three if they aren't picked up by friends or parents. More than half the students in one class I was in the other day, when asked if they knew someone who had been shot in the streets, raised their hand. I don't think life in Ghana is anything like that.
But isn't it an interesting concept -- bringing students from different countries together via Skype ? If you want to know more, get in touch with me. And in the meantime, let's all think: What really does it feel like to be an American ?
Because I have been to West Africa three times and have a number of real African contacts there (I say "real" because I don't want the reader to think that these are with French or British expats), I had a good reply. I have been tutoring a few African students in math and English via Skype, I said, and I could arrange this.
I have a friend who runs an internet cafe in Tema, a small city right outside and abutting Accra, the Ghanaian capital. When I discussed this prospect with him, he suggested that I talk with one of his friends, a teacher at a nearby private school. He put us together on Skype and we had some great conversations. Yes, the teacher said, they would be very interested in having some of his students talk with some from our school. We fixed on a time and date, and actually made it happen.
Typically, our students asked questions like the following: How do you know when you are coming down with malaria ? How often have you had malaria ? What do you feel like when you are going through a malaria attack ? Do people die of malaria ? How long does a malaria attack last ? What can you do or not do when you have malaria ? How do you catch malaria ?
Eventually the discussion moved on to other things rather than science. Since Ghana is a great football (rugby) power in Africa, and since almost all Ghanaian students play it, they naturally asked if our students play it ( they do). What kinds of teams do we play against ? What is our school like ? What do students do in the course of an average day ? What do we study ? How long is our school day ? What is our life like ? Would we like to visit Ghana ?
The question I found most interesting and that requires a lot of deep thought was one a young man asked: "What does it feel like to be an American ?" Readers, have you ever thought about that one ? I hadn't, no more than I had ever thought about how I feel being white in American society, and what a privileged position this is.
The idea came up that it would be great to have one of our students go there to their school for a while and them send one of their kids to our school, too. And as I think about this possibility, I know that it could happen, assuming the school district sees it as beneficial to the students.
Our students and the students in Ghana have certain things in common, the most important being that most of them in Ghana and in our city are from very poor families. But our idea of poverty would probably be relatively comfortable for the Ghanaian students. Many of them have only one meal a day, sometimes two. During school days, our students get free breakfast, free lunch, and even a free meal after school if they want these. In Ghana, there are no free schools. The kids in our contact school have to buy meals or do without.
The kids in our school come from a very poor section of town. It is a dangerous area, and kids are advised to walk home in twos or three if they aren't picked up by friends or parents. More than half the students in one class I was in the other day, when asked if they knew someone who had been shot in the streets, raised their hand. I don't think life in Ghana is anything like that.
But isn't it an interesting concept -- bringing students from different countries together via Skype ? If you want to know more, get in touch with me. And in the meantime, let's all think: What really does it feel like to be an American ?
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