Taekwondo at the British Council

While the title speaks for itself on most levels, it does not convey the surreal nature of witnessing such a spectacle, particularly when it involves one's very own children. As part of the Cambridge Examinations exhibition, Tall Oaks was invited to stage a couple of demonstrations. As Taekwondo was selected and Brontë and Cohen are members of the class, they became a part of the show at the British Council. We headed out on a recent Saturday morning to infiltrate one of Britain's inner sanctums here in Ghana and we were not disappointed. There were a number of British-affiliated schools represented at the event and overall it went very well. It was especially nice to see how excited Materia and Finn were to get to see their teachers on a Saturday! What is it that happens to the young mind that shifts their perspective from "teacher as rock star" to "teacher as plague"? These are the questions recurring for a high school principal...

The Council (as I understand it) is the public arm of the British Embassy here in Ghana and they describe their mission as building "engagement and trust for the UK" which is a rather interesting and telling pursuit in a post-colonial nation. I shouldn't poke any fun as I think the work they do in Ghana and other countries is valuable, and I think Ghana has--at least to a great extent and quite generously--forgiven past invaders for many of their historical transgressions. From what I could see, the Council serves as a resource, education and development centre in Accra, and I think they have an office in Kumasi as well.

I am honestly amazed at what Cohen and Bronte (both yellow belts now) have learned after a year and I hope they want to continue in our next community, assuming it's available. The level of focus and discipline they showed was commendable and Cohen even got to break a board for the audience, so he was especially pleased. Sorry, but the pictures I took of the board-breaking were mostly of other people's heads (the pictures, not the breaking!) so I couldn't use them here--you'll just have to visualize! The demo was so well received that they were called upon to do an encore in the back garden so that the Council representatives could also witness it. Alas, all the boards had already been broken, so the climax lost a bit of its punch (pun intended!), but that didn't stop the kids (and their parents) from looking pretty darn proud. This was another one of those "things I never thought I'd be seeing or doing in Ghana" kind of experiences, that I'm glad we all had.