"Take Me Away"

Today, we took a field trip to the Anani Memorial International School in the Nima Slum community. Walking through the community was such an experience. It’s so poor, and the sewage system/ draining system runs right through it and it smelled awful. There was little space for any home and the houses were, well I’m not sure if you can even call those houses. They were more like shacks and it was just so sad to see people having to live in these living conditions and such cramped quarters. When we got to the school, it was tucked far back into the homes and there was a small courtyard, definitely not big enough for a baseball game or an intense round of kickball, but they made do with it. For the main classroom, it was located in this large room not even big enough for a normal classroom, and the kids were piled in rows sitting and waiting for their guests/ audience to arrive. They were so well behaved it was amazing and so adorable. The school takes kids starting from age 2 to junior high school; they welcomed us in about two or three different languages, and we sat down and watched them put on a show. There was singing, and dancing, African dance, which was very well performed, there was a skit and then some of the kids introduced themselves in English and in French, which is pretty impressive seeing as though the children ranged from age 3 to 13. ☺

If I learned French at the age of 3 I’d be a very lucky girl. I see such a bright future for these kids but in the absence of decent funding and lack of financial support, I’m saddened to say I don’t think a lot of them will get the education that they deserve when they get older. Being in Ghana and being around these children makes me appreciate my education and the fact that I have available funding on hand to support my college career. The Singing was such a beautiful thing to listen to, I could feel the joy and happiness coming from their voices, I knew that in my heart they were happy to see us visiting. We donated our school supplies to them and they thanked us so much. We danced with them a little, we had to show off our moves, which was nerve racking because they did so well and we needed to compete with elementary schoolers. Hhaha. After, we went into the courtyard and we played with the kids. “Madame, please…Take me” translates into, ma’am will you please pick me up? Thanks! How could we resist any of the little faces? I had such a blast playing with them and getting to know them! They were so little and cute, it’s something about African, Ghanaian kids that put a smile on my face ☺ The kids were trying to get in every picture, trying to every picture, and just trying to be in the arms of one of us. I almost wanted to cry because I wanted to take them home with me and just love them and provide for them. Look at me, I can barely provide for myself, but I see why people adopt. I see why people donate and I understand why we need to be thankful for the things we have. It’s so EASY not to notice the small stuff, but those are the things we need to be paying attention to the most; it can be taken from us in an instant. One kid was trying to get my number, another kid just thought I was so old, like any minute I would keel over and die from old age, and another one just loved that my arms were wrapped around his small little body. ‘I took him’. I’m pondering this whole field trip and I’m so thankful for this experience, as much as it took for me to get here, I’d do it all over again. Just as we are brightening up some of those kids days, and there lives possibly, they definitely have changed mine in the utmost positive way.