Jess's UCC Updates: Part 1

Jess from Maine USA, volunteered at the UCC for 9 weeks from this June. Jess was a fantastic volunteer, starting out teaching students one-to-one, working especially with two boys who arrived with no knowledge of the alphabet, reading or writing. Then she progressed on to whole class teaching, taking Class 2 lessons on her own at the end of her placement. She also spent time with our Education Coordinator Kirstie learning about our curriculum and how Kirstie worked to take the best from the Ghanaian and English curriculums to create the one we use in our school today. 

Jess was a great volunteer who is missed by all the staff and children at the UCC. She has even offered to represent the UCC in the USA to promote the work of the centre and the volunteer programme which supports it, which is amazing!

Jess wrote weekly updates for her friends and family whilst she was at the centre; I've posted them here for prospective volunteers to get an idea of what the volunteer experience at the UCC is like.


Jess's UCC Updates: Part 1 (30/05/12)

Hey all,

Summer has finally arrived!  I hope all is well wherever you are.  As you know, the summer holds many adventures for me.  I am fortunate to have received the Preston Grant through the Career Planning Center at Bowdoin.   To earn this grant I had to create a plan to serve an "underprivileged community" in any part of the world.  With this vague guideline I did a ton of individual work to create a succinct, doable plan for the summer.  

I connected with an organization in Accra, Ghana called Future Leaders UCC, which serves a poor section of Accra named Teshie.  Because students have to pay for school supplies, uniforms, and transportation to school many students cannot attend.  This school was created because of the large amount of street orphans roaming around in the La region (in the east of Accra).  The school takes in these students and assists them all the way through college.  It is a small organization made up of only 10 staff members, so my help should be very beneficial.  At the moment there is one other volunteer named Hannah and seven more should be arriving throughout the summer.  I'm super pumped to be a part of this small, grass roots organization and get a taste of international education!

I will begin by assisting a teacher in a classroom and slowly transition to running my own classroom in the small 6-room school house.  I will also be working with the educational coordinator to assist with curriculum development and helping out with after school art and soccer activities.

Here's the organization's website if you want to learn more. 

www.ucc-development.co.uk

Love,

Jess