Day 6 - Fun Friday with a little space to breathe
Fun Friday, finding our place & a little space to breathe.
Day Six, wow nearly a week down already and somehow the end of our first full week of teaching.
Today has felt both slow-paced and incredibly fast at the same time. I’m not quite sure how that works, but I think Ghana is teaching me that days don’t necessarily need to be packed full to feel full.
We got up this morning and headed down to the school for our final teaching day of the week. Fridays here are Fun Fridays, which basically means slightly less structure and considerably more chaos!
We started by recapping the times tables we’ve been working on this week and introduced the children to their 7 times table. One of the other volunteers took over the ball game we introduced yesterday because it had worked so well. The children stand in a circle, you throw the ball to someone and give them a multiplication question to answer before they throw it back.
They absolutely love it.
It’s such a simple activity, but it keeps them moving, gives the younger children an opportunity to join in and somehow makes times tables feel less like times tables and more like fun.
Afterwards, we headed outside for games and played several rounds of Duck, Duck, Goose, and a few staff got the parachute out which was as chaotic as you’d probably imagine with a group of very excited children!
I then found a quieter spot outside the classroom and sat reading with some of the children.
This is quickly becoming one of my favourite things to do with them.
They absolutely love storybooks. The minute you pull one out, children seem to appear from everywhere until suddenly you have a little crowd gathered around you. They listen so intently and try to repeat the words after you as you read.
There’s something incredibly sweet about watching how excited they are by something as simple as sharing a story together.
Later, some of the children headed back into the classroom for a psychology lesson. As there was more volunteers on site today I decided it was the perfect time to attempt some sort of workout.
There are definitely no gyms around here like we’re used to back home, so improvisation was required. I found what I think was once some sort of park climbing frame and decided that would do for pull-ups. Naturally, it didn’t take long before a few of the children appeared wanting to join in.
And they completely put me to shame.
These kids are SO strong. 
They were pulling themselves up like it was absolutely nothing while I was considerably less graceful beside them. What started as me trying to squeeze in a workout basically turned into an impromptu outdoor PE lesson.
.
And actually, it was really lovely.
After school, we headed back for some food before me and Anna took a walk up through the village.
One of the nicest things about reaching the end of this first week is how different that walk feels now compared with when we first arrived.
People know us.
The locals working in the little shops shout our names as we walk past, wave to us and call us over to come and see them. What started as walking through somewhere completely unfamiliar is slowly turning into walking past familiar faces, asking about their day and their children and giving hugs goodbye!
Today I went to visit a local Ghanaian man called Joseph, who has the most amazing collection of traditional fabrics. You choose your fabric, he measures you there and then, and he handmakes your clothes for you.
I may have got slightly carried away.
I’ve ordered the most gorgeous pair of dungarees, which I’m picking up on Monday, as well as a skirt and top set made from two different traditional fabrics.
I genuinely cannot wait to see them finished and will show you all in Mondays blog.
Obviously, another trip for beads was also necessary apparently I’m incapable of walking past them now, along with the most amazing homemade chocolate brownie.
Then it was time to pack our bags because this weekend we’re heading away on a trip to visit the stilt village.
We arrived this evening and had dinner on the beach while watching the sun go down.
And it was beautiful.
After a week filled with children, teaching, noise, laughter, new experiences and constantly having people around us, suddenly everything felt incredibly still.
I think I needed that more today than I realised.
It’s actually been quite a difficult day for me personally. I had some news from back home that hit me harder than I expected, and I think when you combine that with everything I’ve seen, felt and processed during our first week here, there was a lot going on in my head.
Sitting on the beach tonight, watching the sunset, there was finally nowhere I needed to be and nobody needing anything from me.
Just space.
Space to think.
Space to process.
Space to emotionally decompress.
And sometimes I think that’s exactly what you need.
This week has been incredible, but it has also been a lot. The children give you so much joy and energy, but being here also makes you think about things differently what matters, what we take for granted, the lives we go back to and the things we carry around with us.
Tonight, everything just felt a little quieter.
Tomorrow we have a full day exploring. We’re heading to the stilt village, meeting local people in another community and visiting the castle before finishing the day with a barbecue and campfire on the beach.
I can’t wait to see it all and obviously take far too many pictures to share.
But tonight, I think I’m just going to enjoy the quiet.
One full week almost done. 
A weekend to explore, breathe and reset.
Then we go again next week. 
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