PROJECT: From Reading to Writing

The children love to read, we wish we had enough books so everybody could read individually, but as it is about half the class still needs to read in groups of two. Many of the students have already mastered all the simple books that we used at the beginning of the class, so we added some Winnie the Pooh books to the mix, and we will probably add some more. This is good, because the more books we can add the closer we get to being able to give every person one book. However, the children still gravitate towards the books they know, no one picks the harder books of their own free will.

I attempted to add a collection of African short stories, but it proved to be too difficult: any book that doesn't have pictures is not welcomed yet. I read the African Short Stories (ISBN: 978-0-435-90536-1) myself when we first arrived, it is good, and is part of the African writers collection here at the library. I think that the more advanced students could read some of the short stories if they really applied themselves. The children love to read, but some of them get tired after about 30 minutes (which is understandable considering they have been in school all day), but I get the feeling that about a quarter of them would just stay and keep on reading as long as they could.

We teach for two periods, about one and a half hours.

Although it is difficult to say with certainty in the majority of cases, I can see definite signs of progress in a few students. When Ebenezer told me in the beginning that getting the children to read those first ten books would help them alot I was sceptical, but he was right. The fact is that books are sorely lacking in these children's lives. We grew up surrounded by books, from what I have seen people here seem to posses few books (many of the adults also can't read).

It is easier to see improvement in the students who read at a lower level when we came. During each class Sonja and I go around to the various groups or individuals and listen to them read.

Last time in Azani, Sonja and I began doing a drill that goes like this, a group of words is written on the board: (doing, how, you, are) and the students then have to make a question out of the words. They seem to like the drill. They like coming up to the board to write, and it was a good way for Sonja and I to introduce some writing practice into our teaching.

We intend to start individual writing practice next week in Azani in addition to reading.

--Tomaž


 Kot sva pisala že v prejšnjih objavah, vlada mad najinimi učenci velika bralna vnema. Od trenutka, ko deliva prve knjižice pa do izteka bralne ure, v učilnici kar doni od zavzetega, glasnega branja. Ker nama knjig primanjkuje, otroci povečini še vedno berejo po skupinah. Preproste knjižice, ki jih prinašava že vseskozi, večina prebira že brez težav. Zato jim zdaj, kot izziv, ponujava tudi nekoliko zahtevnejše otroške knjige iz zbirke Winnie the Pooh, ki pa jih zaenkrat še niso prepričale - še vedno, namreč, raje posegajo po lažjih, že poznanih knjižicah.

V najino "potujočo knjižnjico" sem želel dodati še zbirko afriških kratkih zgodb. Sam sem jih prebral že v začetku bivanja v Busui (so del tukajšnje knjižnjice). Tudi te so se izkazale za prezahtevne. Zaradi pomanjkanja ilustracij pa tudi manj zanimive.:) Menim sicer, da bi jih nekateri otroci ob dodatnem trudu z lahkoto prebirali. A se po drugi strani zavedam, da je pomanjkanje entuzijazma po dodatnem naporu ob treh popoldne razumljivo! :) 

Čeprav je, v večini primerov, težko ugibati o konkretnem napredku, je pri nekaterih učencih zares viden! Opažava ga  predvsem pri otrocih, ki v začetku še niso bili zelo vešči branja. 
Ko je Ebenezer tako prepričano govoril o tem, kako bo za otroke pomembno že branje teh osnovnih knjižic, sem bil, priznam, skeptičen. A zdaj vidim njegov prav. Medtem ko na zahodu odraščamo obdani z množico knjig, jih v življenjih teh otrok praktično ni. Nasploh je tukaj veliko pomanjkanje knjig, še vedno pa je veliko odraslih tudi nepismenih. 


Ob zadnjem obisku skupine v Azaniju sva začela tudi s pisanjem. Sestavila sva preprosto vajo - na tablo sva napisala skupino besed (npr.: doing, how, you, are), iz nje pa so otroci sestavljali vprašalne stavke in jih zapisovali na tablo. Tako vaja kot samo pisanje na tablo, jim je bilo zelo všeč!
To je bil zgolj uvod v pisanje, v naslednjih tednih imava v načrtu tudi individualne vaje iz pisanja. 

PROJECT: Greetings from Azani :)

Ne verjemite njim, ki vam pravijo: Ta svet je grozen, grob, grd. Ni res. Res je, da je lahko še hujši. Toda za vas je to vaš edini svet, edini, ki v njem živite, da se v njem udomite in ga v dobrem naravnate po svoji podobi.

Ne verjemite tudi njim, ki vam pravijo: Življenje je trdo, trpko in težko. Ni res. Res je, da je lahko še hujše. Toda za vas je to življenje edino, enkratno in neponovljivo. Vaše je, da iz njega naredite vse, kar je v dobrem mogoče.

Ne verjemite komurkoli in karkoli. Verjemite pa, če morete, moji zgodbi:

Nekoč, pred leti, ko me je kot strela z jasnega zadelo hudo, mi je star mož, živi modrec, dejal: 

'In nikar se odslej ne boj življenja!'

Tako zdaj jaz govorim po njem podobne besede za vas: "Ne bojte se življenja! Naj pljuska v vas z vso silo in v vse žile, naj vas nese ali zanese, le ne pustite, da vas spodnese. In imejte ga radi, da bo tudi ono, življenje, imelo rado vas!"

(Tone Pavček)

PROJECT: "Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes", Second Part

The worlds most famous volunteer--Santa Claus--would probably agree that the road leading from a good idea to its realization is a long one :). It takes many tiny steps: planning, hours of "googling", sending mails, writing letters of intent, going to meetings etc, etc.

For the first few months our idea was still hatching and we talked about it only as hypothetical, as we looked over the internet sites of various non-profit organizations that were involved in international projects. After we saw all of the good opportunities in Africa we decided to go there. After we had narrowed our search to Africa we needed to find a good organization to go with, which wasn't as easy as it would seem.

We wanted to go for 2-6 months, in the beginning of 2013. This made things a little bit more difficult: most of the shorter projects ran through the summer, while most of the bigger organizations (who also cover all the expenses for their volunteers) had projects lasting a year or two. This is especially true of the United Nations which, in addition, is also looking for volunteers to work in war and post-war areas, and volunteers with backgrounds in medicine.

Another organization which is just getting off the ground and wasn't offering many options at the time we wanted to go was the European Volunteer Service (EVS). This organization will probably be a major player in volunteerism similar to AmeriCore; the first group of Slovenian EVS volunteers will arrive in Busua shortly before we depart. They will also be teaching within the same project as Tomaz and I but at different schools.

The third foreign organization which caught our attention was Austrian Project-E (Ethiopia-Education-English), which opened a school in Adis Abebi in 2009 geared toward the education of orphaned girls. But despite a program that was professional looking and apparently quite successful we had trouble getting an answer from them, one arrived after months [and at that point we already had other plans]. We found a pronounced tendency among the various European-level volunteer organizations which we contacted to favor people of their own European nationalities.

So, we decided to search on our own territory - Slovenia. We quickly found Humanitas. Humanitas is a humanitarian organization which works with disadvantaged groups around the world and also in Slovenia, and it immediately seemed like a good fit for us. We had a meeting, and immediately felt that this was what we had been looking for, from here on things went more smoothly. Barbara from Humanitas got us in touch with Ebeneezer, and you guys know the rest of the story :)

Slovenians are very active in international volunteer work, which is also evident in the data on the portal Globalno Prostovoljstvo (http://www.globalno-prostovoljstvo.info), where it says that 100 to 130 Slovenian volunteers per year participate in programs in the "global south".

The portal also contains good advice for the would-be volunteer preparing to join a project:

- Think about the big picture and about how the context of the situation in the country you will work in will shape your experience.

-Be realistic about how much you can achieve.

- Talk to veteran volunteers before you go and to other volunteers while you are there. Their experiences and advice can help you.

- Learn the local language, even if just to learn a few basic phrases, it can really help.

- Take some time to explore your host country and to get to know its culture and history.

- Try to refrain from judging foreign cultural practices. Be prepared to accept different ways of working, and prepare for your cultural prejudices to be challenged.

- Ask questions! Start before you go.

- You may not receive a warm welcome from everyone you meet, be prepared.

- Be careful how you behave, you never know how the local community will interpret your actions.

- If at all possible stay open to new ideas and interests.

- Learn from others and let them help you.

For additional inspiration take a look at this animated film, which won an Oscar in the year 1987: The Man Who Planed Trees. This story is about how one dedicated individual can, over the course of a lifetime, make an impact by staying quietly, humbly dedicated to a purpose bigger then himself. The act of planting a tree is used as a metaphor for every quiet work--secretly great--that requires care, patience, perseverance, faith, a sense of the eternal, and, ultimately, life in the deepest sense. It encourages us to do what we can, right where we are, within the limits of who we are, with what is given to us in the present moment; to build something new and important for others. I hope you have a chance to watch it.

Najslavnejši prostovoljec - Božiček, bi se verjetno strinjal, da je od plemenite ideje do njene realizacije dolga pot :).  Pelje preko številnih drobnih korakov načrtovanja, prenekaterih ur »googlanja«, pošiljanja mailov, pisanja motivacijskih pisem, sestankov itd itd.

Prvih nekaj mesecev je bila najina ideja še v ovojih, o njej sva se pogovarjala zgolj hipotetično, ter informativno pregledovala internetne strani nevladnih organizacij, ki se ukvarjajo z mednarodnimi prostovoljskimi projekti. Ko sva prebirala vse te zanimive možnosti prostovoljstva v Afriki, je padla dokočna odločitev. Zdaj je bilo potrebno najti  "le še"pravo organizacijo in program, kar pa se ni izkazalo za tako enostavno stvar, kot se zdi na prvi pogled.

Glede dolžine odprave sva se že ves čas nagibala k srednjeročnemu prostovoljstvu (kar pomeni dolžino od 2-6 mesecev), časovno pa sva se orientirala v začetek leta 2013. Oboje nama ni ravno olajšalo iskanja primerne možnosti - večina projektov se namreč izvaja poleti, vse večje organizacije ( ki ponavadi tudi pokrijejo stroške), pa večinoma pokrivajo daljše projekte; recimo enoletne, celo dvoletne. To drži predvsem za ZN, kjer sva hitro ugotovila, da iščejo predvsem prostovoljce za daljšo dobo, ki bi delovali večinoma na vojnih (oz povojnih) območjih, preferirajo pa medicinsko osebje.  

Druga organizacija, ki je sicer še v zaletu, in ki v času najinega iskanja še ni ponujala veliko možnosti (za tiste ki so bile, pa sva bila prepozna), je European Voluntary Service (EVS). Ta organizacija je z vsakim mesecem bolj v zagonu, nedvomno bo prihodnjim prostovoljskim navdušencem ponujala veliko priložnosti!

Tretja tuja organizacija, ki naju je pritegnila je bila avstrijska oranizacija Project-E ( Ethiopia-Education-English oz. Etiopija-izobrazba-angleščina), ki je leta 2009 v Adis Abebi ustanovila šolo in zagnala izobraževalni program za deklice iz sirotišnice. A zgleda da ne delujejo ravno ažurno - odgovora namreč kar ni in ni bilo :) Pomembno je poudariti, da se pri različnih evropskih mednarodnih projektih še vedno čuti močan lokalizem. Kar nekajkrat sva zasledila, da so organizacije preferirale lokalne prostovoljce.

Tudi iz tega razloga sva raziskovanje usmerila na "najino" območje - Slovenijo. Kaj hitro nama je padel v oči Humanitas. Društvo za človekove pravice in človeku prijazne dejavnosti, ki se zavzema za manj priviligirane skupine prebivalstva tako v Sloveniji kot po svetu, se nama je hitro zdelo prava rešitev! Zgodilo se je prvo srečanje, začutila sva da je to to, od tu naprej pa so stvari potekale bolj tekoče. "Humanitasovka" Barbara naju je povezala z Ebenezerjem, nadaljevanje zgodbe pa že poznate :)

Slovenci smo zelo dejavni na področju mednarodnega prostovljstva, na kar kažejo tudi podatki portala Globalno prostovoljstvo (http://www.globalno-prostovoljstvo.info), ki pravijo, da se letno preko različnih organizacij kar med 100 in 130 prostovoljcev vključi v programe na t.i. "globalnem jugu".

Na omenjenem portalu so objavili tudi zelo koristne praktične nasvete za pripravo na tako izkušnjo:

- Razmisli o širši sliki, o dilemah, ki ti bodo približale kontekst države, v kateri boš opravljal delo.

- Bodi realističen glede tega, kar lahko dosežeš.

- Govori z bivšimi prostovoljci pred odhodom na prostovoljno delo in z ostalimi prostovoljci med opravljanjem dela. Njihove izkušnje ti lahko zelo pomagajo.

- Uči se lokalnega jezika, saj ti poznavanje vsaj osnovnih fraz, lahko bistveno pomaga.

- Posveti nekaj svojega časa raziskovanju svoje gostujoče države in spoznaj kolikor je mogoče njeno kulturo in zgodovino.

- Poskušaj se zadržati obsojanja različnih kulturnih praks. Bodi pripravljen sprejeti različne načine dela in se prepusti izzivanju svojih kulturnih predpostavk.

- Sprašuj! Začni že preden greš!

- Bodi pripravljen, da mogoče ne boš dobil tople dobrodošlice od vsakogar, ki ga srečaš.

- Bodi previden s svojim vedenjem, saj ne veš, kako bo tvoja dejanja razumela lokalna skupnost.

- Če je le mogoče, ostani odprt za drugačne ideje in interese.

- Uči se in pusti drugim, da ti pomagajo.

Sama bi - za dodaten navdih - med predloge dodala le še ogled animiranega filma, dobitnika oskarja leta 1987:  Mož, ki je sadil drevesa (The Man Who Planted Trees). Ta navdihujoča, srčna zgodba, poraja vprašanje kako veliki (oz majhni) smo sami in kaj lahko s tem zgledom počnemo v življenju. Posaditi drevo je zgovorna metafora, ki ponazarja skrbnost, potrpljenje, vztrajnost, vero, veličastnost, večnost, življenje. Vzpodbuja nas, da tudi sami tam kjer smo, v okviru svojih zmožnost, s tistim kar imamo (kot je ob neki priložnosti dejal Theodore Roosvelt), ustvarimo kaj novega in pomembnega za druge.

Sonja

GHANA: Independence Day with Avocado Crepes

On the 6th of March, Ghanians everywhere celebrated independence day. In 1957 Dr. Kwame Nkrumah became the first prime minister of Ghana, the parliament was sworn in and the Prime Minister of Britain, Ghana's erstwhile colonial ruler, was on hand to welcome Ghana to the family of nations.

Ghanaians celebrated independence day with fireworks, marching, and street parties. Our students marched down the streets of Dixicove with their schoolmates and their peers from other schools, the next day they were off. Of course, Sonja and I also had two extra days to ourselves, we used the time to visit Aunt Elizabeth.

Aunt Elizabeth served us avocado filled crepes with a side of bananas and told us stories from the early days of the project, when Ebeneezer first came to Busua, and how he built the library. The avocado was the perfect creamy texture, the cross-cut banana pieces were sweet and firm. She shared his good fortune when he hired Emmanuel to take care of the library. The challenges facing Ebeneezer were many in those early days, and many remain even as the first of the students he supported successfully complete college. We leafed through a guest-book and album that she presented us with. I only looked at the first two pages of names. Ebeneezer's volunteers stayed at her guest house before he built out the library complex. The first sepia pictures were of her as a young women, the last of her ordination as a Charismatic Pastor (she presides over a branch Church in Agone). Sonja and I hope to be able to dedicate a future post to this remarkable women and her story: her time as a nurse, to her return to Busua to care of the family after her mother's death, to her ordination.  Out of respect (and because of an unpleasant  and unrelated prior experience at the market in Takoradi) we were too bashful to bring a camera the first time we went to meet her. But she asked us where it was herself.

--Tomaž




Šestega marca Ganci obeležujejo dan neodvisnosti. Tega dne, leta 1957, je namreč, na čelu s prvim predsednikom vlade, dr. Kwamejem Nkrumahom, zaprisegla prva ganska parlamentarna garnitura. Novo državo je v družino narodov, simbolno  pozdravil tudi predstavnik bivših kolonialistov,britanski predsednik vlade, Herold Macmillan.

Tudi letos so Ganci praznovali slovesno: z ognjemeti, povorkami in uličnimi zabavami. Najini učenci so se s sošolci ter vrstniki z ostalih bližnjih šol, udeležili povorke v Dixicovu. 
Dela prost dan smo imeli tudi naslednji dan, 7. marca. Tako sva imela te dni kar male počitnice, ki sva jih med drugim  izkoristila tudi za obisk "Aunt Elizabeth".

Ob okusnih palačinkah, polnjenih z avokadom in rezinami banan, nama je Aunt Elizabeth pripovedovala o začetkih projekta, ko je Ebeneezer začel z gradnjo knjižnjičnega kompleksa v Busui. Avokado je bil ravno prav kremast, bananine rezine pa sladke in čvrste. Ebeneezer se je, po njenih besedah, srečeval s številnimi izzivi in težavami; še tudi po tem, ko je nekaj njegovih učencev uspešno zaključilo fakulteto. Imel pa je veliko srečo s knjžničarjem Emanuelom, je dodala. Izvedela sva, da so prostovoljci, preden je bil kompleks zgrajen, bivali pri domačinih, tudi pri njej. K mizi je prinesla album in knjigo gostov. Zdelo se je, kot da sva preko fotografij preletela njeno pisano zgodbo - začel se je s porumenelimi fotografijami iz njene maladosti, zaključil pa s slovesnostjo posvetitve v pastorko (v Agoni namreč opravlja tudi poslanstvo karizmatične pastorke). Tej izjemni ženski, ki je sprva delovala kot medicinska sestra, se nato po materini smrti vrnila v Busuo, kjer se je posvetila skrbi za družino in odprla lekarno, bova posvetila eno od naslednjih objav. Iz spoštovanja (ter, sicer nepovezanih, a slabih izkušenj s tržnice v Takradiju) na prvo srečanje nisva vzela fotoaparata. Paradoksalno - Aunt Elizabeth očitno ne bi motil, saj naju je sama vprašala zakaj ga nisva prinesla:)!

PROJECT: "Nothing Changes if Nothing Changes", First Part

Do you remember the film Pay It Forward? A little boy reminded us of one of the central messages of Christianity -- give unto others, give without thinking of or expecting return. He wanted to change the world without undertaking a big project. With a wave of good works. But as Gandhi warned we shouldn't imagine some special or spectacular achievement, or that our actions would have big, direct results. However, this doesn't lessen the importance of our actions, or the need for them.  First we start with ourselves, then within our neighborhood...then maybe with a volunteer organization :) 

Although it may sometimes seem like we--the idealists who give our time for free--are a dying breed the facts testify otherwise: we are a family 140-million strong, who represent 16% of the world's population! Taken together, there are as many volunteers in the world as there are in the 10th largest country.

Four years have passed since I first excitedly walked to the headquarters of Hospice, which had organized an informative meeting for (potential) future volunteers. Today, as a veteran volunteer :), I can honestly say, that freely given time precipitates a personal awakening. It awakens the Person within (with an emphasis on the capital P!). The person who empathizes. Again and again it reminds us that we are given to each other, are responsible for one another, and that we don't have the right to live in ivory towers burdened only with concern for ourselves. 

Manca Košir, one of my co-volunteers at Hospice, would say that freely given time is a shortcut on the path to yourself and others. Given all these high sentiments, I always try to remember the aforementioned warning: it is not good to imagine that something special or dramatic will result from your work. The typical volunteer's day is nothing special. There isn't much drama. There aren't many "large projects". Sometimes it seems like you didn't do anything especially beneficial. But the time counts, the sacrifice counts. 

Humility is also an important part of volunteer work (humility in the best sense of the word) - being ready to clean the steps at Hospice for example. Because the project didn't have steady finances and the organization couldn't afford enough employees the volunteers were not only companions to the dying, but also cleaners, cooks, nurse's assistants, handymen....:).

As a young, curious idealist hungry for life, the time came when I wanted to go further. Africa! International volunteer work!  Pedro Opeka!  Wow! With a group of 11 volunteers we gave ourselves over to a many faceted experience, which in turn awoke so many things in us!  We achieved a new level of awareness of basic needs (which are met in our society as a matter of course): the need for food, for water, for warm clothing, for a roof over our heads. Even though we were dirty (sometimes we didn't shower for up to a week), sometimes hungry, we were simply happy and not at all bitter. We deepened our social awareness and our awareness of the social injustices which are happening in the non-privileged parts of the world. 

I knew it wouldn't be the last time, as I left the red African earth and looked took a last look at those "Pure" people (in Madagascar, for the first time, I deeply understood what Tomo Križnar meant with the title of his book about the Sudanese tribe the Nube: "Nube-The Pure People"). Now, after a year and a half, I'm here again.  In "Africa for Beginners", as they like to call Ghana. 

The mission is in some ways even more fun, after all I'm sharing it with Tomaž:)! In our small room we are diligently putting together programs, and thinking about teaching techniques. In the humble classrooms of Ghana we see our young Ghanaian students and their enthusiasm for the small books we bring them. Slowly we are getting to know the Ghanaians, a dignified and proud people. In Europe a somewhat crooked idea of Africa and African life is dominant: the idea that this dark continent cries for salvation from us.  As volunteers we meet with a totally different life. Their simplicity and indescribable joy are like a mirror for a consumer-culture westerner. 

Humanitas, the Slovenian organization which helped place us in Ghana, writes that the world is becoming more and more like a global village, and they add that understanding global challenges and interdependence--and the reaction to these things--is always becoming more and more important for effective volunteer work. They maintain (and I confirm :), that international volunteer work is an important cultural priority and tool for personal and organizational growth, which contributes to the spreading of ideas. Firstly, they write, that global volunteer work has a strong effect on the individual and the society, it encourages trust, solidarity, understanding, and reciprocity between citizens on the global level and is an important tool for the acquiring, understanding, and exchange of experience between people. At the same time it can also materially contribute to mutual development programs undertaken among partner nations which aim at the exchange of knowledge and experience; it can catalyze the changes which lead to more balanced development on a global level. 

We are all citizens of the world. Interdependent and mutually responsible. We can affect the world and the people which surround us in a very simple way: we must know how to be tolerant, how to act with solidarity, how to be patient, how to love, and how to be satisfied. But it is also right for us to show people the value and importance of giving your help freely -- volunteering. There is truth to the idea that when you give, when you share with others, you receive much more then you gave.  

(In the next part I will describe the concrete steps TomaĹľ and I took when we were searching for and preparing for international volunteer work).      

Se še spomnite filma Daj naprej (Pay It Froward)? Mali deček je opomnil na bistveno sporočilo krščanstva – daj (v)naprej, daruj brez misli in pričakovanja na povračilo. Želel je spreminjati svet, brez velikopoteznih projektov. Z valom dobrih dejanj. Skupaj z Gandhijem nas sicer opozarja, da si ob tem ni potrebno nič posebnega domišljati;  naša dejanja ne bodo imela fatalnih neposrednih rezultatov.  Kar pa ne zmanjša njihovega pomena in nujnosti. 

Začnimo najprej pri sebi, potem na svoji ulici, potem... denimo, v kateri od prostovoljskih organizacij :).  Čeprav se včasih zdi, da smo idealisti, ki podarjamo nekaj svojega časa zastonj, vrsta, ki ji grozi izumrtje, dejstva izpričujejo nasprotno: smo kar 140 milijonska družina, ki predstavlja kar 16% svetovnega prebivalstva! Združeni prostovoljci bi tako predstavljali kar 10. najštevilčnejšo državo na svetu! :) 

Štiri leta je od tega, kar sem prvič vznemirjeno korakala proti sedežu društva Hospic, ki je organiziralo informativno srečnje za (potencialne) bodoče prostovoljce. Danes, kot prostovoljska veteranka:), lahko prepričano povem, da je zastonjsko podarjen čas predvsem Dramilo. Prebuja v nas Človeka (poudarek na veliki začetnici!).  Ki so-čuti. Znova in znova nas opozarja, da smo obdani s soljudmi, za katere smo soodgovorni, da nimamo pravice bivati v slonokoščenem stolpu, obremenjeni zgolj sami s sabo. Soprostovoljka Manca Košir, bi dejala, da je ta podarjen čas bližnjica na poti k sebi in drugim.

Ob vsem tem leporečju se pridružujem tudi zgoraj omenjenemu opozorilu, da si ob teh dejanjih ni potrebno kaj posebnega domišljati. Povprečni dan prostovoljca ni nič kaj posebnega. Ni vseprisotne drame. Velikih projektov. Včasih se zdi, da pravzaprav nisi naredil nič kaj pretirano koristnega. A gre za čas, odpoved. Važen del prostovoljstva je tudi ponižnost (v najžlahtnejšem pomenu besede) -  pripravljenost čiščenja stopnic v hiši Hospic, na primer. Ker projekt ni imel zagotovljenega financiranja in si društvo ni moglo privoščiti osebja, smo bili prostovoljci ne samo spremljevalci umirajočih, temveč  tudi čistilci, kuharji, negovalci, hišniki...:). In, joj, kako me je včasih dvourno zavzeto čiščenje "naše srčne hiške" napolnilo! Kako poskočno sem zapuščala sijočo oranžno hiško pod Golovcem! Pravzaprav, če bolje pomislim, je bilo praviloma tako! Cimra je bila vednoznova začudena, ko sem domov prihajala še bolj nasmejana in polna energije.

Kot mlade, radovedne, življenja željne idealiste, je tudi zame prišel čas, ko sem se zazrla (še) dlje. Najprej s prstom po zemljevidu, potem zares. Afrika!  Mednarodno prostovoljstvo! Pedro Opeka! Noro! S skupino enajsih so-prostovoljcev smo se podali na to mnogobarvno izkušnjo, ki je v nas toliko prebudila! Ozavestili smo osnovne človekove potrebe (za katere je v naši družbi samo po sebi umevno, da so zadovoljene): potreba po hrani, vodi, po toplem oblačilu, strehi nad glavo. Čeprav smo bili umazani (umivali se nismo tudi po en teden), včasih lačni, smo bili preprosto veseli, nezagrenjeni. Poglobili smo socialni čut in čut za krivico, ki se dogaja depriviligiranemu delu sveta. 

Ko sem zapuščala rdeča afriška tla in se še zadnjič ozirala po teh vedrih, "čistih" ljudeh (na Madagaskarju sem prvič najgloblje razumela, kaj je Tomo Križnar mislil z naslovom knjige o sudanskem plemenu Nube, "Nube - čisti ljudje"), sem vedela da ni bilo zadnjič.

Zdaj, po letu in pol, sem ponovno tu. V "Afriki za začetnike", kot se rado opiše Gano. Poslanstvo je tokrat na nek način še bolj žlahtno, saj ga delim s Tomažem:)! V najini majhni sobici vestno sestavljava programe, premlevava tehnike učenja. V skromnih učilnicah ganjena opazujeva male ganske prijatelje, kako se navdušujejo nad knjižicami, ki jih prinašava.  Počasi spoznavava Gance, nadvse dostojanstvene, ponosne ljudi. V Evropi prevladujejo izkrivljene predstave o Afriki in tukajšnjem življenju; namreč prepričanje, da črna celina kriči po potrebi, da jo odrešimo. Kot prostovoljka se tu srečujem s povsem drugačnim življenjem. Njihova preprostost in nepopisna vedrina, sta kot ogledalo potrošniško usmerjenemu zahodnjaku. 

V društvu Humanitas  (organizacija, preko katere sva pristala v Gani:) pišejo, da postaja svet vedno bolj podoben globalni vasi, in dodajajo, da je zato zavedanje globalnih izzivov in soodvisnosti ter še zlasti reakcije na njih v smislu globalnih interesov na področju prostovoljskih prizadevanj na različnih koncih sveta vse bolj pomembno in iskano. Trdijo (in jaz jim pritrjujem:), da je mednarodno prostovoljstvo  pomembna družbena vrednota in orodje za osebnostni in organizacijski razvoj posameznikov in organizacij, ki prispevajo k širjenju idej in pomena globalnega učenja in razvojnega sodelovanja. Naprej pišejo, da ima globalno prostovoljstvo močan vpliv na posameznike in družbe, saj krepi zaupanje, solidarnost, razumevanje in recipročnost med državljani na globalni ravni ter je pomembno orodje za pridobivanje, posredovanje in izmenjavo globalno učnih izkušenj med ljudmi. Hkrati pa lahko bistveno prispeva k programom razvojnega sodelovanja med sodelujočimi državami, na način prenosa znanj, izkušenj ter katalizatorja sprememb, ki vodijo v bolj uravnotežen razvoj na globalni ravni. 

Vsi smo državljani sveta. Soodvisni in soodgovorni. Na svet in ljudi, ki nas obdajajo, lahko vplivamo že na zelo preprost način: tako da znamo biti strpni, solidarni, potrpežljivi, ljubeznivi, pa tudi zadovoljni. Prav pa je, da opozarjamo tudi na vrednost in pomembnost zastonjske pomoči - prostovoljstva. V resnici vedno, ko daruješ, deliš z drugimi, prejemaš mnogo več kot si dal. 

(V nasledji objavi bom bolj natančno spregovorila o tem, kako sva se s Tomažem lotila iskanja primernega mednarodnega prostovoljskega programa, podala pa bom tudi nekaj koristnih praktičnih nasvetov glede priprav na tako izkušnjo. )

Sonja

GHANA: Akan Naming

Kofi Annan was the only Ghanaian leader that we knew by name before we came to Ghana. Much to our surprise the name Kofi seemed to be everywhere. Eventually we found out that in Ghana, and in other African countries, children are named according to the day they were born (Kofi = born on Friday for example). Less frequently they receive surnames based on the order they were born in. In our part of Ghana people also receive what are called Christian names (these names would be thought of by us as "Western Names" or "English Names", as they are not specifically linked to Christianity), like Daniel for example. About half of the students in our class in Azani introduce themselves with their Christian names, and the other half introduce themselves with traditional African names. In our class in Butre (which is smaller) almost all of the children introduce themselves by their Christian names. This only applies to their first names, their last names are African in all cases.


The distribution of English names seems very different compared to the distribution of names in America (at least the distribution in my part of America--the greater Washington-Baltimore area). Three English names that seem to occur much more frequently here in Ghana are Emmanuel, Ebeneezer, and Bertha. The Wikipedia page about Akan naming has more interesting details (the Akan are the historically predominant tribe in Western Ghana).

Tomaž


Edina vidna ganska politična osebnost, ki sva jo, preden sva prišla v to državo poznala, je bil diplomat Kofi Annan. Hitro sva ugotovila, da je ime Kofi eno najbolj pogostih ganskih imen, srečevala sva ga namreč na vsakem koraku. A ščasoma sva spoznala, da Kofi ni zgolj nekakšen ganski Jože! Ganci, kot tudi nekateri drugi afriški narodi, svoje otroke namreč poimenujejo po dnevu rojstva. Če se navežem na omenjeno ime - vsi Kofiji so ugledali luč sveta v petek! :) 
Zanimiv običaj (sicer redkeje v rabi) je tudi glede priimkov, ki jih dobijo glede na to ali so prvorojeni ali drugorojeni itd. 
Poleg "imen tedna" pa dobijo  otroci tudi krščanska imena (oz "zahodna" oz "angleška" imena - zdi se mi namreč da niso neposredno povezana s krščanstvom), kot npr. Danijel, Sara, Frank. 
Zanimivo, približno polovica otrok iz Azanija uporablja tradicionalna afriška imena, medtem ko se v Butre skoraj vsi predstavljajo s krščanskimi imeni. 


Ugotavljam, da so se v Gani prijela druga "angleška" imena kot v Združenih državah (to velja vsaj za širši del območja Washington-Baltimor, kjer sem živel). Izstopajo tri ganska imena, ki so, nasprotno kot v ZDA, v Gani zelo pogosta: Emmanuel, Ebeneezer in Bertha. Več podrobnosti glede ganskih imen, lahko najdete na Wikipediji:) (Akan naming). 

LIVING: Fishing, Bringing in the Catch

Many people in Busua are involved in fishing in one way or another. They fish from boats and also from nets extended from the shore. It can take a long time to gather the nets in at the end of the day, so everybody on the beach pitches in, afterwards they divide the catch of fresh fish. Soon these fish will be cleaned, smoked and on-sale: traveling about town on the heads of the citizenry.

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Veliko prebivalcev Busue se ukvarja z ribolovom. Ribijo na dva načina -  s čolni ter z dolgimi mrežami, ki jih napeljejo v morje vdolž obale. Proti večeru pride "trenutek resnice", ko mreže potegnejo iz vode in preštejejo svoj ulov. A to se ne zgodi mimogrede! To je pravi obred, ko se vključijo vsi prisotni na plaži, ko ni pomembno ali si ribič, niti ali si Ganec. Strumno postavljeni v vrsto prisotni vlečejo vrv, dokler ni mreža v celoti na kopnem. Zatem se zainteresirani (ali zgolj radovedni) postavijo okrog in začne se trgovanje. A to je šele trgovanje "prve stopnje"; hitro se bodo namreč te ribe, očiščene ter prekajene, znašle na glavah busujskih trgovk. 

Sonja