Triumph Care & Development Centre

Introduction

TRIUMPH CARE AND DEVELOPMENT CENTRE is a school and orphange located in the village of Mowire , 18 km out of Kumasi. It is a new village which means that there are not many houses around and no shops.

The school has nursery, kindergarten, primary and Junior Secondary School 1 to 3. There are approximately 380 students. Of the students 39 board or live at the school, of which 12 are orphans. 14 teachers work for the school , there is one French teacher.

Project Manager

The Centre Co-Directors are the married couple Peter Oduro and Gladys Oduro.

The volunteer co-ordinator who will assist you with your booking and help communicate between you and Oduro’s is the volunteer coordinator for Christ Our Hope International School in Kumasi, Mr. Lawson from Ghana. He’ll communicate with you as you book and plan your journey. Lawson lives at the family compound for Christ Our Hope, and is not far away from the project site.

Who do we need?

• Vols can only take over a whole class when they are trained:

• Anyone who is motivated, age doesn’t matter.

• Patient and caring volunteers- both male & female.

• Experience working in early childhood education is desired but not required (if you do not have experience we recommend that you volunteer at or visit a nursery school within your home country before coming to the project).

• Anyone who is broadminded and ready to live in an urban setting, the capital city of a developing country.

• Be prepared to be the only volunteer at the project.

• Both long and short term volunteers are welcomed.

Volunteers are encouraged to start their own initiatives and be involved in sustaining the project once they have finished volunteering. We welcome your participation and ideas!

Environment

The school is about 5 minutes drive from the main road heading to Kumasi. The last tro-tro (public tranport) leaves Kumasi around 8 pm. From the road where the tro-tro drops you off it is safe to walk to the house in the dark.

The school lies on the same compound as the family house of the co-directors. Also the orphans and boarding rooms are on the same ground.

Electricity is available but there is no running water. There is a bore hole close to the house with a pump.

In the house there is a computer but no internet. Electricity goes off every 5 days for 12 hours. Many big flash lights are there to use.

Educational Realities in Ghana

Your first day at the school will open your eyes to the shortfalls of education in post-colonial Ghana. There is little equipment besides desks and chairs. From an early age children are taught to be obedient and never to question people older than them. Teachers tend to use beating as a common method of punishment (despite requests not to) because it was the way they were taught – a sad consequence of colonialism.

Memorizing and repetition are the main teaching methods. Not taught to think for themselves, most students are shy in school because they don’t want to give the wrong answer. Learning is hard work, especially in this environment. Everyone can learn from examples of great classroom management, discipline, and teaching methods.

Accomodation

For the volunteers there are 2 large rooms in the house of Peter and Gladys. One room has a double and a single bed. The other room has one double bed but also enough room for another single bed. There are electric outlets in the room and a wardrobe.

There is one private bathroom for the volunteers which consists of a place to take your bucket shower since there is no running water. Buckets are available and the children carry the water to the house. There is a cleaner in the house who also cleans the volunteers bathroom. There is no toilet in the house but there are 2 toilets 50 meters from the house.

There are also 2 cooks who cook for the family and the volunteers.

There is one kitchen in the house which is very clean and with a lot of modern equipment.

Peter and Gladys have 2 daughter’s ( 12 and 10 ) . Who else lives in the house : another girl ( 11 ), three boys ( 13,11,4), a niece, a cook.

The children tend to eat in a separate room as Peter and Gladys and volunteers can choose to join where they want.

Your Job

The main role of the volunteers will be to teach supplementary lessons for the children at the school and orphanage. The ability to speak English gives children in Ghana a head start in life, especially in rural communities, increasing their chances of continuing education and eventually finding work. Children are taught English at school, but these lessons are of a very poor standard, therefore they need the help of volunteers to extend the children’s English and mathematics skills.

Volunteers are asked to assist with lessons Monday to Friday in the morning and afternoon.

Volunteers can also teach other important skills, such as fine and gross motor skills, sports, computers, music and singing. The children are very eager to learn. Other areas to assist are:

- maths and science

- help in the boarding house

- computer class

- music class : they have two keyboards

- farming and husbandry : the orphans like to do farming in the weekends

- there is one student in a wheelchair who can need extra help

There is a teacher in every class so volunteers don’t have to take over whole classes. However, aword of warning: the school system is absolutely NOTHING like education in most of Western Europe or North America.

You are encouraged to give your input and try (or share) new teaching techniques. The children take some time to get used to each volunteer’s unique style, but the results you will see are wonderful!

You will be in much demand and whatever you put your mind to will be an inspiration for the children.

On Your Own Time
In the evening, children may like to play. If volunteers are interested in sports (especially football/soccer) they can start games near the house at a nearby field. You can help the neighborhood children with their reading and homework, teach them games, dance - whatever!

On weekends and holidays, it is great to travel around. Try visiting other projects nearby. The capital of the Ashanti Region, Kumasi, is just a day trip away. There are many great tourist sites in the region and all of Ghana.

What you can do before you come:

Check out the ideas in the Treasure Hunt and think of as many creative things that you can.

Another possibility that you could try to organise is that of finding a school in your home country to "adopt" an African school such as Ejura and as well as class pen friends and letters being exchanged, they could also fundraise for example for playground equipment in the school, which currently has nothing but an empty dusty playground.

If you don’t have much experience teaching and if you have some free time, it would benefit you to get some experience planning lessons/units, teaching, and working with kids.

Accomodation and Food Costs: