Wednesday 11 May 2011

Bibbity-Bibbity-BOP!

Aloha homies!

It took me about 30 seconds after I pressed "Publish" on my first post to realize I didn't talk about my placement at all. So negative one points for me there. I am a part of the Ministry of Food and Agriculture Team with Engineers Without Borders. My placement is in Kwadaso, in the Ashanti region of Ghana (google that stuff ;) ), and I will be working with professors and students at Kwadaso Agricultural College. I'm super stoked because one of my focuses is working with profs to move from rote education (textbook readings and memorization) to participatory education. This is huge, especially since there are parallels here in Canada. Education has been static for so many years, but the world and therefore environment in which we learn is dynamic. The world is so different from the time when education meant reading, memorizing and writing tests, and that was enough. With so much access to information, and a world that has adjusted so, how can education and the way we learn be the same and be expected to have the same effect? Anyways, along with participatory teaching, another goal is to to promote entrepreneurship among youth. Even after graduation, many students find themselves unemployed, and by finding out what is going on in the field, it may be possible to gather some ideas to combat this trend.

So that's the taste of my placement you get for now, because we'll talk more about strategy when I'm in business in Ghana. How about my pre-departure (pre-dep) learning? So before jumping on the plane, 25 JFs (Junior Fellows) are packed in a house in downtown Toronto, with a lesser number of beds, to have an intensive week to prepare us one step more for the next 4 months. We have talked about everything from health and safety, to in-country contribution when we return. The days have been long, but I have learned so much over the past 3 days! The learning curve is super steep up in here.

Can I just say how awesome all my fellow JFs are! I am in awe of their knowledge and passion. They bring so much insight and critical thinking to every session, and it's legit. I can't wait to see what awesome impact they have! Plus, I seem to always be laughing! I hope we share some good times on the ground in Ghana too and our relationships continue to blossom.

NEW FAVE GAME: Bibbity-bibbity-BOP! Everybody gets in a circle and there's someone in the middle. They make eye contact with someone in the circle and say "Bibbity-bibbity-bop!" and the person they're looking at has to say "BOP!" before they finish. This is, however, only one weapon. The person in the middle can also just say "BOP!" and if the person they are looking at says anything, they are in the middle. There is also the airplane, viking, and elephant weapon. But I'm going to leave those up for your imagination. ;)

Alrighty, tomorrow is a new day and I have a session I have to mission to at 8 in the morning, plus I have to take a morning shower along with like 6 other people soooo I think it's time to pack it in.

If I didn't make anything clear in this post (or any to follow) feel free to leave a comment and I'll get back to you. Or if you have any questions, about anything at all, just holla.

Later days,
Daniela

1 comment:

  1. I just played bibitty bibitty bop, and its amazingly fun. Viking is definitely the best weapon, and really fun too.

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