Christmas in Ghana, or, Red Hot Santa

Our children are off school this week after a week of exams and another week of Christmas partying that included a visit from jolly old...well, "Santa." The momentous event took place last Thursday, when the students gathered outside, underneath a big mango tree in the playground, to await the arrival of Father Christmas. The students were stirred up into a frenzy and belted out a few carols to coax Santa out of his air-conditioned room and into the blazing sun of late morning to distribute their gifts, induce further merriment, and terrify small children. I should know, I was there...in every possible way!

At the first clang of Santa's rather large school bell, and the first glimpse of his disco Santa jumpsuit, chaos reigned and I'm sure at least one of the children present peed their pants (in his defense, Finn still wears a diaper so it was to be expected). Santa then conducted the laughing children in stirring, Boney-M-esque renditions of a few beloved Christmas carols. Then Santa nestled his ample bottom into the Christmas throne and began to dole out the gift-wrapped booty. I hope that you will now spend a good, long while (at least as long as Finn did) looking at the picture of Santa. If you can't shake the feeling that there is something altogether familiar about Santa, you can relate to my children's experience of the day.

Aside from Materia, all of the kids figured it out. We weren't sure about Cuyler, but when he was later asked who gave him his new dinosaurs, he swiftly answered "Da-Da." It was a bit surprising since he spent the better part of his time peering at me from behind mom, and was very reluctant to accept a gift from me. After I gave Cohen his gift, he leaned in and said, "See you later dad." Brontë begged me to admit that it was me, as there was still enough magic in her imagination to leave room for doubt. The kids reported later that their school mates had never had a Santa that was so funny before. Of course I have had prior experience as I played Santa in the school in Black Lake several years ago. Yep, that's me, always the class clown! I suppose there are worse things than being type-cast as Santa!

Generally speaking, Christmas here is much as it is in North America, with a slightly more British-Victorian flavour and considerably less snow! The Accra Mall has a Santa and it is thoroughly decorated, and most families travel for the holidays. Traffic has reached frustrating new levels of thickness and density, but we saw this coming. We bought a small Christmas tree for the house, hung the few decorations we brought and we remembered to bring our stockings (alas, no chimney). We are preparing for our homemade family safari over the break and we should awake on Christmas morning overlooking elephants at the watering hole. Not a bad way to stuff a stocking, I'd say.

From Little Acorns Grow Tall Oaks

I think the above picture serves as a pretty telling topic sentence for this entry. The kids have been enrolled in private school at Tall Oaks International School (Cuyler and Materia are in the primary, called Little Acorns) for a few weeks now and things are going pretty well. One of the other parents called Tall Oaks "Accra's best-kept secret" and based on the relatively low price, the attention to caring, and the extent to which the kids are thriving under the imperial weight of the British curriculum, German classes, Tae Kwon Do and piano, I'd be inclined to agree. Below, is a picture of Brontë getting measured by the uniform seamstress, Paula, in her shop. Cohen's uniforms were sewn by Abu, who also works magic with fabric.

It is a little bit odd that while Ghana was one of the first in Africa to distance itself from British rule, they have wholeheartedly embraced the British curriculum. Like I'm one to talk, here peddling the oh-so-un-colonial Canadian curriculum (Like, okay Mr. Land, tell us again--do you have a queen or don't you?!). But seriously, aside from the culture, religion, government, education, and language, it has pretty much been a clean break and Ghana has never looked back. We try to explain to our children why pounds and pence are the most important currency in the world, and why a student in year two is memorizing dictation passages from the Diary of Samuel Pepys, but I think we are neither compelling, nor convinced ourselves.

Our days begin remarkably early here in Ghana, because (quite logically) days are measured by the sun, which, at this point in relation to the equator, makes for roughly a twelve hour day that begins at 6:00 a.m. and ends at 6:00 p.m. As we leave by 6:30 a.m.--to fight through traffic and get me to work for 7:30 and the kids to school for 7:55--and return before 5:00 p.m., we hardly see night. Perhaps the title for this blog should be "365 Days of Day." Feels taken. Cuyler cries every day when he is dropped off and this is felt to be a backhanded compliment as well as an excruciating moment of parental heartbreak. Today he didn't break down because it was puzzle day--we have mixed emotions, and are still licking our wounds as I type this. He is always happy (though tired) when we pick him up and the nursery school teachers are two of the friendliest women in the world, so it is hard to be worried.

Cohen wants me to say that despite the fact that his class is very small (12 students), it is very loud. Contrary to popular belief, this recommends a school to me, rather than opening a classroom door to utter peace and quiet. A number of things appealed to us (and the kids!) about this school because they teach French, German, World Issues, World Religions (but are not a faith-based school), African Drumming and Dancing, and Music. Extra-curricular clubs include Tae Kwon Do (free!), piano (less than 5 dollars for each half-hour private lesson!), and tie-dye club. Then, on "free love" days we all bring our Volkswagen vans, paint flowers on them, make peace placards for our rallies, and listen to Grateful Dead records (okay, this last bit doesn't happen but it seemed my description was moving in a certain direction). Did I mention the "Fun with Hemp" club?

School supplies are pretty poor and relatively expensive in Ghana, but I think the government has tried to make decent, affordable supplies available as part of its fee-free schools campaign. We brought a few things from home, but would have brought a lot more (to share with some of the rural areas!), had we known. Tall Oaks hosted a Family Fun Day that was a fundraiser for AfriKids and Schools for Life, two non-denominational NGOs dedicated to helping kids in Ghana and elsewhere in Africa. We have not yet seen it first hand, but things are very different in the rural (especially northern) regions of Ghana. Even though school is fee-free for children, many cannot be spared by their families who need them to work, do life-sustaining chores, or look after their siblings. These organizations help these families to become more sustainable so that their children are free to go to school. Important work and we are planning to get more involved as a family and as a school in Ghana. Don't be surprised if this is a theme for our summer of 2009 across-Western-Canada tour.

The highlight of day for Cuyler was the football training clinic (where he stole the ball from), while Brontë and Materia were thrilled to lay their mitts on real Play Doh! The highlight for mom and dad was buying this meticulously handwoven basket that is currently serving quite nicely as the kids' library.

Large streams from little fountains flow

Greater heights from humble beginnings

Tall oaks from little acorns grow

Akwaaba!

Ryan