Paideia School Newsletter

Edward Chao: Reason's why the dog should not go outside

10th November 2005
Today I caught Eddie playing with our dog, Dunia, outside the compound. They were running around in circles chasing their tails. Eddie’s punishment for letting the dog out of the compound was to write an essay on reasons why the dog should not go outside the compound. He wrote and revised three drafts on his own and then I gave him some of the chocolate Dave brought over on his recent visit. Dunia didn’t get any chocolate.

10th November 2005
Reasons why the dog should not go outside.
Edward Chao
3rd Draft
Naturally all living things need to move about freely with life, but a dog like Dunia as a pet is supposed to monitored and loved. And also, we should keep him from eating contaminated food from outside, which may bring sickness to the dog. Another factor is that drivers are careless of driving because they are drunk whilst driving. In this case, an animal, which is not sensitive like a human being, will be more likely to be knocked down by cars on the road. Another reason is that the dog has been castrated and there is a big wound at the scrotum. Therefore, Dunia needs to be in the compound all day in order not to be disturbed by other rough dogs.

Update for Supporters of the Project

It's been a while since I've updated you all on you on the project. I'm still here in Ghana (!!??) and working with a refugee resettlement NGO. I am not a teacher at the Gina school anymore, but I am still meeting with the students on Friday Afternoons to continue our photography classes. Last week, we had a special visit from Godwin Amazete, a Ghanaian photographer and good friend of mine, who told the class, among other things, that taking photographs was the most important thing in the world. He explained that their job as photographers is to create images, not just to record what is out there, but to invent it. He gave a humorous lecture on the importance of framing. Why is it important to get the whole body in the picture? What happens if u leave out the feet? What information might be missing then?
Well, sir, if the person isn't wearing shoes then he's poor and probably a Rasta, Aishatu answered.

At the end of the class, we took apart our disposable cameras to see how they worked. I told the students to be careful because a certain metal piece near the flash bulb battery carries a strong electrical shock. They then took turns touching it and squealing and trying to get each other to touch it and squeal--until I made up a rule: no taking apart the cameras or u lose them forever. Everyone nodded and said yes sir.

Taking pictures is an act of courage for these kids. Cameras are still foreign objects to many people here and there is a lot of fear surrounding photographs. Taking pictures is usually a very formal event. A family will prepare in advance to have thier photo taken by a professional. Everyone will get dressed up and stand in front of something significant like the family car with these lifeless expressions on their faces. After the camera flashes, everyone smiles and goes back to their daily lives. These students are flipping the script—creating images of the breathing, sweating lives of the people they know. They are out there in the markets,churches, mosques, and schoolyards with their cameras stuffed in the torn seams of their school dresses. They are learning to pick and chose when to bring their "machine" out and when to leave it hidden.

Theophilus had his camera stolen by men on motorbikes who thought it was a cell phone. They snatched it right out of his hand and drove away. I asked him in class if anything else had been taken. He thought about a while
And then said, "Yes sir, fifty thousand cedis," to which the class (almost all girls) erupted in laughter, screaming, "you lie, you don't have fifty thousand cedis!" Theophilus grinned back at the class. He is usually grinning. He likes taking pictures of himself wearing sunglasses and talking on his brother's mobile phone. His best friend is Joe, the only other boy in his class.

A few months ago, a group of my students took their cameras to a wealthy part of Accra called East Legon. Selina explained later to the class that the houses there were so nice, so they had to go and snap them and keep
them forever.

A security guard saw them walking around and accused them of working for armed robbers to scout potential targets. He detained them
and brought them home to their parents. Selina's mother, who happens to be the sister of the proprietress of the Gina School, explained everything to them---how their English teacher was an obruni and had been teaching them to snap pictures in school. The security guard agreed to let them go, on the condition that they take a picture of him in his uniform.


Despite this and other setbacks, photography is something these kids love and honestly I'm not always sure why. I can only tell u why I love what they're doing. The images they create are honest, playful, unprecedented. These kids have their own reasons for taking pictures, tucked away in the seams of their dresses. They love some pictures that I would barely give a second glance. Somewhere along the way I stopped encouraging them to make beautiful art and I'm not sure it mattered either way, because what they wanted from the beginning was to hold the picture in their hands, to have something to give away, something to hide under a mattress. They love passing their pictures around andlaughing at the faces they were making. Their friends in other classes are all jealous. What else is there in the life of a pre-teen?


Most of their early rolls were of the chores they do around the house: cooking for the family, cleaning the compound, carrying, bathing and putting to bed their younger siblings, and finally studying under dim
lights before bed. I sometimes forgot they were eleven and twelve years old.

I watch them sit around in a circle, laughing and talking, and I think there is something universal about middle school. There are those who are in and those who are out, but everybody is connected to that circle in some way, everyone is linked by their position--the powerful and powerless exist because of each other. What is perhaps different here is that these kids' sense of worth is tied so strongly to their role in their
families. Their mothers and fathers and aunts and uncles rely on them every day to make the family work and they are not left to question if they have something to offer this world. Sometimes I sit with them afte class and find myself wondering if I'm cool enough. After all, what do I know about preparing garden egg stew with boiled yams or the latest track from 2FACE the "Hip-life" singer about this Hausa girl who cooks the best Tuo Zaafi in the neighborhood.

The next step is to have an exhibition of their pictures here in Accra. The students said it is something they want to do, but they are nervous about their families coming to see what they have done. I guess I'm a little nervous too. It's usually a good sign. Next week in class, we will begin to look through negatives and decide which pictures should go in the exhibition. Godwin and other Ghanaian photographers will be key in this process. We're looking for a venue here that will donate the space and maybe some food for an evening. I'll bring the musicians, who would otherwise be sitting in my living room with
Not too much to do. It's not difficult to get these kids to dance.

After formally apologizing to the parents of the kids involved in the security gaurd incident, I asked the class if maybe we should all just take a break from the photo thing. Selina said, "No sir, we just have to
be more careful. We have to be quick."

Self Portraits

Theophilus
Victoria
Nelly
Priscilla
Berlinda
Aishatu
Eddie
Patricia
Bushiratu
Dorcas

Holding the Cane is Enough

I share a desk and a classroom with five other subject teachers in a junior secondary school in Ghana, West Africa. I’ve been encouraged by the head teacher to stay after my class and observe the other J.S.S teachers to learn how teachers teach and children learn here on this continent. My English students, two dozen pre-teens, are quick learners, though often a giant yellow lizard or stray Billy goat will enter my classroom unannounced. It is in these moments, as the illusion of classroom order dissolves into shrieks and laughter, that I realize that to teach is to be exciting, but to teach well requires some discipline, or at least the threat of it.
Last Friday morning after my class ended, my students waited quietly at their desks for their next subject, while I sat at the teachers desk marking their scores for a pop quiz I had given on identifying adverbs and adjectives. My students displayed a firm grasp of the concept that there was a fifty per cent chance they could guess correctly. When Simon, the agricultural science teacher, walked into the classroom, they rose from their desks and said in unison, “You are welcome, sir!”
Simon began his class by returning the recent exams on water purification. He scolded the entire class for their poor performance and then began calling them one by one to the front of the classroom to collect their exams, each marked heavily with red ink. When the students reached the front of the classroom, he instructed each one to bend over and grab the end of the teacher’s desk, where I sat with my own red pen. For each wrong answer he raised a thin flexible cane and whipped the offender on the rear end, the number of swings depending on the number of incorrect answers.
“Good, better, best,” Simon said mechanically as he swung the cane. “I strive to do good and from good I will do better. From better, I will be the best.”
Priscilla Acquah, the smallest girl in the class, got the lowest score of anyone; over half of her questions were incorrect.
“How long must the water boil on the fire?” Simon asked his class and Priscilla bowed her head in shame as the entire class answered in unison.
“Five minutes, sir!”
“Name two water borne diseases,” he said looking at Priscilla. The class answered on her behalf.
“Diarrhea, sir!”
“Guinea worm, sir!”



While Simon did not for a moment seem to enjoy this, he went about the task efficiently. “Drinking dirty water is going to hurt more than this little cane,” he told them. “Do you want to make your children sick when you cook for them?” This question visibly puncture the realities of the thirteen year old girls in the classroom. They answered wide-eyed in unison, “No, sir.”
When it was over, the lesson began. The children dried their tears and got out their workbooks. It was time for agricultural science. Some kids pouted until the stinging subsided and then they were smiling and laughing again. Simon was teaching them about bush fires, which are, I learned, a very bad strategy for hunting bush animals as often they can often lead to destruction of personal property.

“Who can tell me what is the adverb in this sentence?” I asked that following Monday after returning the quizzes. Hands sprouted up before me, waving like reeds. Bushiratu took her best guess and joined her classmates in laughter when she realized it was wrong. When Aishatu got the answer right the class applauded in unison: Clap Clap Clap-Clap-Clap Clap!
My students watch me the way they would a creature from another planet. They don’t yet know what to make of the white hairs on my arms, my red beard, my awful handwriting, and my strange accent. Will I take them all to America if they ace this next quiz? Why do I like peanuts so much? And the biggest question of all: Why did I leave my rich and amazing country to live in Ghana and teach for no money? They fasten themselves to my every word, following each movement I make. Their excitement usually turns to frenzy, low murmurs erupting into laughter, disruptive conversations and, finally, objects being hurled across the room. The cane is always on the teacher’s desk. That Monday I picked it up and held it in my hands as I walked around the classroom.
“Sir, are you going to cane us?” Faridatu asked from the front row.
“I haven’t decided yet,” I said and it was enough.

Following the Monday afternoon teacher’s meeting, Simon and the Grade 4 English teacher, Godson, invited me to eat Banku with Okra soup. We sat around one bowl and, after washing our hands, we started to eat. Simon and Godson ate quickly and efficiently using only their right hands, spilling nothing on the table. When they finished, they washed up and began their daily tirade of questions about the U.S.A. while I dripped and dribbled where I sat.
“Is it true that in your country people have so much money that they purchase containers of food for their dogs costing over one hundred dollars?” Simon asked.
“Well, not exactly. And not everyone does that, “I said.
“How much is that in Ghana?” Godson asked looking amused.
“About nine hundred thousand cedis,” Simon answered. It occurred to me, not for the first time, that a hundred dollars was more than Simon and Godson were making in a month teaching at the Gina School. Our daily lunch conversations danced not so subtly around this point.
“You know, in the U.S., teachers do not cane their students,” I told them.
They stared at me for a while in silence.
“Then how do you threaten the children into learning?” Simon finally asked, when it was clear I wasn’t making a joke.
“Well,” I paused. “It’s different. At our best, we don’t have to threaten them. We might punish them by taking away their privileges. For example, if they don’t finish their work, they can’t go play on the monkey bars.”
“What kind of privileges?” Simon asked.
“So, there are monkeys in the U.S.? I heard there were none,” Godson said.
“No, no, okay bad example. The playground is what I mean.” I looked out over the brown dirt schoolyard scattered with trash where the children were kicking a wad of tape through two sneakers and struggled with how to begin describingthe playgrounds of my youth. “Okay, forget the monkey bars. Sometimes we call their parents if they’ve been acting bad in school.”
“So, their parents are allowed to cane them, but school teachers are not?”
“No, their parents aren’t supposed to cane them either.”
“The children are more respectful in America,” Simon said matter-of-factly to Godson.
“No, actually it’s the opposite,” I said. I tried to imagine one time in my life when I had said the words, “yes sir,” in unison with twenty other people.
“I don’t understand,” Godson said, again looking amused.
There was a long silence. I looked down at my bowl of soup, the glassy eyes of a tilapia stared back up at me.
“Things are just differet,” I said, wondering for a moment if they would ever be the same.


Ampe (Popular Children's Game in Ghana)

Eddie on set at ASA student Film Shoot

I took Eddie along to a student film shoot conducted by a few Ghanaian friends of mine at the Academy of Screen Arts in East Legon, Accra. The film was directed by Danny Abotei and Collins Amlalo, whom I met in summer 2004 when they were assigned to do a documentary film about the student group I brought over from the States with the Experiment in International Living.
I gave Eddie my digital camera to document the film shoot. Danny and Collins talked to Eddie about their passion for film-- especially documentaries--and the importance of Africans documenting their own culture. I'm glad he got to see how a movie is made but I'm more pleased that he got to see that the things you see on T.V. and movies aren't neccesarily REAL. This is something kids here especially need to find out for themselves. The plot of the movie is basically that I am a detective who kills another man's wife and then frames him for the act. Of course, the wronged man comes back and beats me to a senseless pulp in the dirt. The wrronged man by the way is Ghanaian soap star. He drove us home later in his Mercedes Benz. The narative timeline is reversed so we see me getting beat up before we find out why. I got Eddie home a little later than I had promised Ma Elizabeth, but she told me the next morning that Eddie stayed up half the night telling stories about the actors and the cameras and fight scene and the make-up and the....

The Proverb Assignment

I'm trying to introduce this idea of "Creative writing" in my classroom. I want these kids to think of themselves as having a particular story to that no one else could tell but them. This sort of goes against what these kids have learned so far, which is that they should be good children, obedient, speak when spoken to, walk the line. A lot of composition writing here is literally copying stories or compositions word for word from other sources. If I ask one student to read his or her essay out loud, then the next week I get 16 carbon copies of that exact essay. They do this because they think its what I want from them. They write about chastity and Jesus because these are the "right answers."I decided to dive into the morality stuff because, well, there's no stopping it. So, this week's assignment was to find out a proverb from someone older than you and to explain exactly what you think it means. We then went back and took pictures based on the proverbs...
I liked hearing them talk about the rules they live by. I know these kids in class and I know they're not always well-behaved. But one thing is for sure, they know the rules and they know when they are breaking them. I loved this assignment because they say exactly what they believe and its not always the intended message behind the proverb. The moral nature of the exercise allowed them creative freedom in coming up with the words to express themselves.

Faridatu
"As a man lives, so shall he die."
I entered my father’s room and asked him to tell me one proverb. He told me, “as a man lives, so shall he die.” The meaning is a man will surely die whether he likes it or not.

"Wash your dirty linen at home"
This means don’t show the bad side of yourself in public. You must keep all your bad deeds in the house before going out so that you will not disgrace yourself or your family members.

Aishatu

"Do not count you eggs before they are hatched."
Someone is packing money for to buy something. The person has got the money and is now going to buy it, not knowing the car the person boarded, there was a pickpocket near where she was sitting. She placed the money on her knee and was asleep. She woke up without the money and the man has alighted without her knowledge. So, she has counted her eggs before they are hatched. Now, how will she buy a thing?

"Had I known is always at last."
This means do not do something before regret. A boy who would be writing his B.E.C.E examination was to learn very hard. He kept on playing around and he wasn’t ready to learn. One day, before the examination he took his book to learn, but he didn’t even take it seriously. The day of the examination came. The boy failed.

Berlinda

As you lay your bed, so shall you lie on it.
I asked my mother to tell me any proverbs and the meanings. She said, as you lay your bed, so shall you lie on it. I think it means one is responsible for the results of his own actions. I told her if you lay the bed, you shall sleep on it yourself.

Never cross the bridge until you have come to it.
It means wait for the right time to do a thing. I first thought if somebody wants to cross a bridge and the person has not reached, that person should not cross, otherwise he/she might fall.

Bushiratu

"Lost time is never found."
Don’t waste time. Maybe you have something to do. You will think there is more time. But before you realize it is time for school. For example, your teacher gave you homework. Instead of doing or solving the homework your teacher gave you, you will rather be roaming about. By the time you come home, maybe you won’t get time to do your homework. So, you can even forget and go and sleep.

Dorcas

"A begger has no choice."
A poor girl was sent by her aunty to collect some shoes. When she went, the shoes were many and she chose the beautiful one and her aunty told her that a begger has no choice. What has been given to her, she should handle it.

"Eat to live but don’t live to eat."
He went to his grandmother’s place. His grandmother prepared a very delicious meal which they all enjoyed. He said he still wanted more and his grandmother said he should eat to live, but don’t live to eat. He shouldn’t eat too much. He should just eat a little so that he can live.


Memuratu

"Love me, love my dog."
If you love someone and the person does a mistake you must not sack or tell the person you don’t love him/her again. If the person is having something and you love the person, you must love the person’s thing. If you love someone, you must love his/her mistakes. If you love someone and you don’t love the mistakes, then you don’t love the person.

"If you dig a hole, your love on will fall in it."
I went to my mother to tell me a proverb in our language. She said that if you plan a bad thing for your enemy, it will affect your love one. Like, if you dig a hole so that your enemy will fall inside, your love one will rather fall inside. But if you plan a good thing for your enemy, God will bless you and bless your love ones and even your enemy.

Patricia
"Charity begins at home."
Our obligations is first to our families before others. If you are respectful in your own house, you will be respectful in another person’s house.

"A beggar can never be bankrupt."
A beggar always has money. I chose to say this because the beggar always begs for money from people. When someone does not give him/her the money, another person will give. Anytime you see a beggar, you will not see any money in the bowl, but there is money in the bag. This proverb was said by my grandmother when I was young.

Theophilus
"Don’t climb a tree in a hurry."
My mother said it means don’t rush in life. When one rushes in life, he or she cannot get what he or she wants. To my own understanding, when you climb a tree in a hurry, you can fall off and hurt yourself.

Victoria
"Lazy people take the most pains."
When a hardworking person always works hard and one day makes a mistake, he might be forgiven. But when a lazy person makes a mistake, he will always be punished.

Letter to Supporters of the project

March, 2005
Dear supporters,

I just wanted to give all of you a quick update on the children's photo project here in ghana, which all of you are helping to support. Like a lot of things here, it has taken a long time to really set this project up, for the community within the school to know who i am to trust me with doing something that is not just uncommon, but kind of strange too. But now it really feels like we are hitting a stride.

The students are excited about the photography classes. They are shy when talking about their work, but they love seeing each other's pictures. Right now there are three classes of about six students each that meet once a week. it's been interesting to see how these photos come out. This is not a culture that is used to photography and a common photo is that fozen dear in the headlights portrait. But the kids are quick leanrers and we practice things like where to keep the camera so it can easily be used and hidden again before anyone notices. They are given loose assignments to photograph things they see in their lives: their family, their friends, games they play, chores around the house, functions like funerals and weddings.


I say "loose" assignemnts because what I want most is for them to take pictures of what excites them, although at one point i had to put restrictions on photographing the television screen during their favorite telenovela, "Juana La Virgn." (Juana was impregnated while on a routine visit to the doctor, a freak accident...Mauricio is the father. He's married to Carlota who goes nuts when mauricio leaves her for Juana...eventually mauricio has to fake his own death, etc.)
"Juana La Virgin" Sumaiya Hakibu



Nowadays, Eddie will knock on my door early in the morning and remind me to give him his weekly writing assignment if I forget. He's been getting more and more fearless when it comes to walking into the middle of the action and snapping what he sees and he's taken some beautiful portratis of his grandmother outside of their house. As I've mentjoned before, my long term goal is to create some kind of a book comprised of the children's photos and writing, which would sell to raise money to further their education in various forms. I still have to think long and hard about how that is going to work in any kind of sustainable way. Thank you so much to all of you who have helped to make this happen for the kids and for me and you'll hear from me again soon.

Patricia Asantewah Writing

Patricia Asantewah is one of my smartest and hardworking students. She's been taking a lot of great portraits of her younger sister, an ever-willing subject. I assigned Patricia to write a character sketch about her sister and to describe something that her sister always says or does.
Here's one of the portraits too.

Write Like a Reporter for the Graphic

We read the Junior Graphic in class, the kids version of Ghana's Daily Graphic. The Junior Graphic comes out only on Wednesdays. Georgina Dorkuvie, the Proprietress of the school, goes to Zongo Junction and buys copies for the kids. A lot of the essays the kids write are very moral-based, to the point where they sound almost like narratives accompanying an after school special. Since we're working in English composition class on quotations, this week's assignment is to write about Ghana as if you were a reporter for the Daily Graphic, using at least one quote from an outside source.
This is Bushira's essay about HIV in Ghana.

Bushiratu Abubakar
"Sickness" 04JAN05

HIV is a sickness that is all over the world. Even when you are in your houses you can see someone who is having that sickness. I think we have to do something to kill that sickness. We have to kill that sickness by not going out in the night and we should listen to our parents’ advice. Last night I was in the room watching the television and there was a girl who didn’t listen to he parents’ advice. She followed her friends and she got that sickness.
Some hospitals too are not great at all. So, I think the government must do something to fix that. My father said, “the sickness in Ghana are more dangerous because Ghana has no money. Because the Europeans came to take our gold, so our country is now a HIPC* country.”
A lot of ladies in Ghana practice prostitution because Ghana has no money. Because of that some people even die because they don’t have money. And there is too much traffic in Ghana. The government must do something about that too.

*Highly Indebted Poor Country


"My Father Reading the Graphic"

Introducing Edward Chao

Eddie is an eleven year old kid that lives in my neighborhood in Madina, Accra. His father and sister both died when Eddie was really young and he now lives with his grandmother in a one-room wooden shack on Estates Road. I presented the camera to Eddie's grandmother and she agreed to let him take pictures and tutor him, if I would also advise to him to come home on time from school and be obedient in her household by doing his chores. She says she really likes photographs and we spent an afternoon looking through baby pictures of Eddie from the mid nineties and Eddie's grandmother in the seventies. When we found this one of Eddie's father, Eddie said he wanted to hold it while I took his picture.


"Edward Holding His Father’s Picture"
This one is me, Edward Chao, the writer of this book holding the one who gave birth to me. That’s my father, the man who never lost his plans. His name is Vadis Chao. He was a hard worker. He did Tie and Die. And Edward the handsome boy with handsome hair.





My Grandmother Preparing Yakayaka, Edward Chao 1/22/05
My grandmother and I came to live at this place called Social Welfare. At first, she was selling pepper, tomatoes, and onion and fried fish. She carried it and went around selling them up. She stopped selling those things and started to sell salt and people liked buying the salt. But a man was saying people will never buy the salt again and my grandmother became worried and stopped selling the salt. She started to sell only Yakayaka and fried fish. Now, when she is coming to cook, I fetch the water and light the fire.

Highlights from the Students' First Rolls

Stella Apeke

Edward Chao

Memunatu Jemada

Nelly Sevor

Patricia Asantewaa

Victoria Adisenu

Berlinda Owosu

Joseph Teye

Theophilus Ansah

Selina Apeke

Sumaiya Hakibu