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 Name: David Howells Age: 67 Occupation: Volunteer teacher and tribal chief... Hi David! Or should we say Chief Nii Kwa Botswe the First...? Tell us how you got involved with teaching in Ghana... Hello gapyear.com! Well, since retiring I have spent time volunteering in schools in Swansea, helping children with their reading. When my wife died, I took up travel as my main hobby. One day I hit upon the idea of combining the two interests. I got in touch with i-to-i, who run teaching projects in over 30 countries. I’d already been to most of these countries, but I hadn’t been to West Africa. This was how I ended up teaching in Ghana. It was a fortuitous choice - as I got to know the country, I felt like I’d discovered treasure! Tell us about the experience of teaching in Ghana...  I taught in an area of the capital, Accra, called Larterbiokorshie. The homes there are wooden shacks, the roads dusty or muddy tracks lined with open sewers. The people have nothing, and yet they are so happy. The facilities in the school were poor. The roofs were made of corrugated tin, and when it rained, it was so deafening that the children were sent home! But every day I arrived into a classroom filled with joyful children, eager to learn.Everyone in Ghana speaks English, along with at least one of the country’s 78 other languages. There is one tribe which speaks three different local languages - one in the morning, one in the afternoon and one in the evening! So these are intelligent kids. Because I was teaching quite high-level English, my evenings were spent reading up on grammar and pronunciation. The kids progressed in leaps and bounds, though it amuses me that there is an area of Accra where the children run around speaking English with a strong Welsh accent! How did the Ghanaian culture differ from that back home? It is a very welcoming culture - everywhere you go you are greeted with the word 'Akwaaba', meaning 'you are welcome'. If anyone in a village is in need of food, their neighbours happily share what they have. I found it very hard to explain to my pupils how the UK is different. They just couldn’t comprehend the fact that you might sit next to a stranger on a bus in London and not have a chat. You got very involved in fundraising for the school - tell us more about that... The headmaster of the school said to me, 'I have a dream that one day the school will have a library'. This got me thinking. When I got home, I decided to raise funds for the school. I started giving talks - to church groups, community groups, old people’s homes, women’s institutes and schools. When they heard about the school’s plight, people were generous. Schools donated books for the library; other groups and individuals donated money. All-in-all so far I have raised £6,000. I went back to the village for the opening of the new library. As I approached the school, alongside the wooden shacks I saw a plastered breeze-block building... The new library had been named after me and my late wife, which was a surprise and very moving. The opening ceremony was a grand event. The library was decorated with coloured paper, ribbons and balloons. I had brought the balloons from the UK - hopefully no-one got close enough to notice that they all bore the message ‘Happy Birthday’! When the time came to cut the ribbon, a girl in traditional costume presented me with a plate bearing a pair of scissors, decorated with ribbon. I am now raising money for a water supply and toilets for the school. And how did you come to be enstooled as a tribal chief? I made friends with a man who worked in the guesthouse where I stayed. Initially he was shocked that a white man would talk to him or shake him by the hand - in Ghana there is still a lot of segregation of the races. But in time we became very close. He said he wanted me to become chief of the nearby Ga village where he was born. The village was just 15 miles outside Accra, but many people there had never seen a white person.  I was made chief of educational and social improvement in the village: Chief Nii Kwa Botswe the First. What did the ceremony involve? It was quite an experience. A sheep was sacrificed and its blood put on my feet. Four burly men carried me to the palace and ceremonially robed me in beautiful, vibrant African cloth. I also received a crown, a wooden staff (collapsible - fortunately - so I was able to take it home on the plane!), a wooden sword, ceremonial bracelets, anklets and necklaces. The most important tool of the trade is my heavy, wooden stool, which serves a similar ceremonial purpose to a royal throne. Becoming a chief is called ‘being enstooled’. I have this with me back home in the UK, and must keep it with me all my life. When I leave my house I must lay the stool on its side. Then if anyone comes in while I’m out (likely in Ghana, less so in Swansea) they will know I am out. When I die my stool must be returned to Ghana where it will be kept along with all the other stools of past chiefs of the village. As I was going through customs leaving Ghana, the customs official spotted my chief’s bracelet. Incredulous, he asked, 'Are you really a chief?' When I told him my chief’s name, he said with awe, 'Ah, you are Ga'. He fell on his knees before me, before getting me through customs in record time! Once on the plane, the air hostess asked the same question. When I assured her it was true, she upgraded me to first class! Now, I didn’t become a chief for the special privileges, but when offered, it would have been rude to say no! Finally, do you have any advice for other older people who want to volunteer overseas? I feel very strongly that older people should consider volunteering in the developing world. Us oldies can make a real difference if we put our minds to it!   Name: i-to-iAddress: Woodside House, 261 Low Lane, Horsforth, LS18 5NY Click here >> for teaching projects and other placements with i-to-i Click here >> to email i-to-i Tel: 0845 344 7592 Click here >> to email David if you would like him to talk at your school, community group or other organisation. |
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