Feature Stories

Anastasi

Selina

Ezra

Gloria

Eric

We're the Same, Just Different

A Muslim in Ghana

Ghana Ambassador Club Makes the Grade

Mapping the World

Making Connections

Primary Schools in the Ashanti Region of Ghana

National Gardening Association's reporter in Ghana, Payson Bullard, is now in Ejisu, AshantiBin, the south central region of Ghana. Take out your maps and travel along with Payson as he visits different schools and meets the students in L/A "Primary School" Class 1 and Fumesua Anglican "Primary School."

Anastasi Asamoah has 56 students in her sixth grade class at L/A "Primary" school. The school is about a mile away from Anastasi's house. She and her brother walk to and from school every day. Anastasi is eleven years old. Her favorite subject is environmental science. She is also very interested in math and English. When she grows up, Anastasi wants to be a doctor--like her sister who is studying medicine in Toase.

She also likes gym class because the girls play a game called "AMPE" which is a combination of hopscotch, jump rope, and tag.

School begins at 7:30 a.m. with a school-wide assembly. After assembly the students walk to their classrooms singing songs. The songs are in "Twi" (the native language of the Ashanti region) and are spiritual marching songs with phrases like "we are moving forward to attain a goal." For more on Ghana languages, visit the Communicating with Ghanaians Web site.

School is over at 2 p.m. After school, Anastasi goes home to help with the household chores. One of her jobs is to go to the "bore hole" (the local well) to fill buckets with water for use at home. She also helps in the family's garden. The family rents a field to grow cassava (the roots may be used to make tapioca pudding), plantain (small bananas), maize (corn), and yams (sweet potatoes). Some of the food grown is sold for extra income, but most is eaten by Anastasi's family.