Farewell Dinner & Malaria

It was our last night in Cape Coast, and the headmistress (principal) invited us over to her house for dinner (keep in mind teachers at Wesley Girls School live on campus). One thing that is hard for Americans to understand is what is known as "African Time." For example, our dinner was at 6:00PM, but we didn't arrive until 6:45, and we were considered to be "early." The power was out, which is something that happens frequently in Ghana. In order to preserve power, they shut off certain sections of town for undefined amounts of time. During our 2 hour visit and dinner, we ate by candle lite as the power never came back on. During this time, all of the students were studying by flashlight in their rooms- WOW! As you can tell from my blog posts, students here in Ghana (and families too!) truly value education!!!

I felt awful at the dinner because the headmistress had malaria! If I were her, I would have canceled the dinner and stayed in bed....but not her! This is something that is very common in Ghana, and all over Africa for that matter. Malaria is the #1 killer in all of Africa, and is spread through mosquitos. All of the girls at school are required to sleep in mosquito nets so they can prevent bites during the night. Malaria is not contagious as it is only spread via mosquitos. In order to prevent getting malaria, I had to take a pill once a week, but some people are on a different type in which you take daily. Once I am home, I have to continue to take my malaria medication for a month after my return. Even with taking the medicines, it still does not ensure me that I will completely stay away from malaria, it just reduces my chances of contracting it. Last year at Wesley Girls School, students stopped sleeping in their mosquito nets because it was too hot (no breeze). Over 200 girls at one time had malaria, and it affected their studies. It is now required to sleep in a mosquito net. I did not sleep in a net this time in Ghana, but when I lived there years ago I did. Malaria is very common, and some people get it multiple times a year. It involves a high fever as well as other signs similar to the flu. I hope I never get malaria!!! As a Michigander, I am so blessed to not have to worry about such things. I don't have to take medicine every week for any kind of bug bite nor do I have to worry about malaria- we are lucky!!!

At the dinner, we enjoyed conversations with the headmistress and staff to conclude our time at Wesley Girls School. Overall, the strike really had a direct impact on my experience since we didn't get much time in the classroom. Meredith and I made the best of our experience with our host teacher Ralph leading us around the cultural sites to fill the time. Ralph and his family presented us with gifts and so did the headmistress. I was overwhelmed :) My time in Ghana was awesome, and I am so thankful for the opportunity to return after having student taught there 9 years ago.