Ghana Slide Show

Tomorrow morning I'm heading over to Poudre High School to give a presentation on Ghana.  I put together this slide show for the students, and I thought you all would enjoy seeing it as well.  Some of it may not make as much sense without my comments but I think you will like it nonetheless.  I apologize in advance if it takes a long time to load up the slide show, be patient and it will come up eventually.  I'm bringing props as well to the school but they're not in the slide show, obviously.  Perhaps I'll post my props in my next blog post.

I used to have this slide show presented as a google docs slide show, but it took a really long time to load, so I changed the post to simply display the slides from the show.

I tried to make the presentation interactive so we learned a few Twi  language phrases throughout.

Not surprisingly, no one in the class knew where Ghana was!

Since Ghana and Colorado are similar in size, this made for a handy comparison.

I mentioned that the Christians and Muslims seem to get along fairly well in Ghana.

A couple of people knew the day of the week they were born, but not many, so this bit was of limited value I think.

I did mention that there are issues with mining and timber production, but didn't get into things too deeply.

This was worth about one dollar when I was there, apparently it's worth about ten cents now, and Ghana is going to have a "new Cidi" soon.

We talked about the colonial history of Ghana and the slave trade.

And the struggle for independence and the reason they are called the "Black Star of Africa"

The first president of Ghana.

The head of the United Nations

A star soccer player with Chelsea.  One of the kids knew he played for Chelsea, well done there.

Ghanaian by birth, now a US citizen, Freddy was a big deal a few years ago.

I like this slide, the kids liked it too.

Time for another phrase:

This got a laugh.

Talked about how awesome kente is ;-)

And the many adrinka symbols of course.

Asked how many kids played an instrument, and how many were drummers before going into this.

Explained how they used talking drums to communicate between villages.  before cell phones, of course.

Leading into some slides of my village:

The view from my school

Oh yes, the word you'll hear most often!

A good launching point for the ant story.

And my only picture of Mr. Africa, my right-hand man.

A good shot to illustrate how run-down everything is.

talked a bit about corporal punishment here, you know, public canings for misdeeds perpetrated by the students.

Wanted to make sure they could see that the kids were pretty much just regular kids.

And a shot illustrating how simple the furnishings were.

The primary school furnishings were really simple!

School lunch cafeteria

Of course a good discussion on fufu, and getting used to eating fufu.

And a story about the first time I bought a plantain and thought it was a great big banana.

And last but not least a grisly description of kenke, and how I eventually learned to love it.

Illustrating the importance of eating with one's right hand.  My napkin is permanently in my left hand to prevent any social faux pas.

Fried yams and pepper sauce.  How I miss it.

The unique Ghanaian way of eating oranges.  Slice the top off and squeeze.

You know you're in the big city when you see fan ice.  So good.

My favorite egg sandwich stand.  The man was a genius.

Ladies looking good and probably on their way to a funeral, judging by the clothes.  Funerals are a big deal in Ghana.

Everything is named.  This bus or tro-tro is named "Ringo!"  Love it.

A stack of reed mattresses from Tim's site.

Random Accra street scene.  I'm clearly playing in traffic here, not too smart.

I bought some batik fabric from this lady in Accra.

Wish me luck!  If they're anything like the students I had to teach in Ghana, I'm doomed.  Just kidding, I'm sure it will be fine.  I just hope I'm not too boring.  Oh yes I will pull out the ant story, no question ;-)