Yesterday afternoon there were no classes held at school, which isn’t completely uncommon, but this time it was for a different reason. The school director has decided to have dorm inspections for the kids once a month. I was put on the committee of teachers judging the dorms as the secretary and was not super excited about it, but I actually enjoyed it.
The kids had spent the past couple afternoons after siesta getting their dorms cleaned inside and outside. It was something that all the kids had worked really hard on together. Some days the kids struggle to do anything together, like playing games or sitting in class so it was exciting to see them work hard together. They got “dressed up” and both the boys dorm and girls dorm had students to greet us, the girls even sprinkled glitter over the path we walked on up to the dorm and had a flower bouquet for us. All of the kids stood by their beds and you could tell they took pride in the work they had done and I think these inspections which are a new thing will really help them step up and take ownership for things around the compound.
I went into it thinking it was a silly thing and a waste of class time, but I realized that this discipline is a part of their culture and it also gives the kids a chance to demonstrate some true Ghanaian hospitality.
This is Ebenezer Aseidu the boy who greeted us at the dorm. He is generally pretty quiet, but almost always looking for a hug, happy and able to bring a smile to my face quicker than almost anyone.