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About Emmanuel International School...For Volunteers General Questions 1. How did you hear about the GWF Volunteer Program? Emmanuel was the host school for one of GWF's Directors upon their first visit to Ghana. 2. Why do you want to participate in the GWF Volunteer Program? Volunteers bring new ideas and ask many questions. This allows me to learn a lot and to gather information so that Emmanuel can improve. 3. How many volunteers can you host at one time? Four 4. Have you hosted volunteers in the past? If so, how many? Can GWF contact them? Yes, 25 plus. 5. How will you be able to transport volunteers to and from the airport? Private vehicle Housing and Living 6. Will you be able to provide/obtain housing for volunteers? Yes 7. Please give a brief description of the volunteer housing. Four volunteer rooms are available within the proprietor's private compound, directly across from the proprietor's own house. 8. What kind of community will the volunteers live in? (i.e. rural, suburb, small/large town, city, etc.) Somonya is a large town, estimated population, 8,000. 9. Volunteer housing must have a fan, bed, pillow and sheets, and mosquito netted windows, and a flushable toilet (running water is not necessary). Besides these amenities what else can you offer? Writing table, chair, and water container in the rooms. 10. Will the volunteers have their own room? Are there options for volunteers to share a room? Volunteers can choose to have their own room or share a room with a friend. 11. Do you have running water at your volunteer housing? If not, what is the main water source? Running water is not a regular occurrence, but does happen. Water is pipe born. 12. What type of setting is your volunteer housing located in? Please give a brief description of your town/village and the surrounding areas. The volunteer housing is a short walk from the town center; however it is separate from the normal communal style of living, practiced by most people in the area. Some might say it is the outskirts of Somonya. 13. Volunteers must be provided three meals a day. How will you do this? Where will they take their meals? Most breakfasts and dinners will be cooked by the family and served at an outside table. Most lunches will be served at the school. 14. Will laundry be done for volunteers? If so, by whom? Cost? Volunteers must do their own laundry by hand. 15. How far away is the closest internet café? Five kilometers – walking distance. About the School 16. Please provide all contact information for your school including location. P. O. Box DD 145 Dodowa Greater Accra, Ghana Tel: 233-(0)244-565670 Email: emainterschool@yahoo.com 17. Is your school public or private? Private 18. Is your school and volunteer housing located in the same area? No If not:
The school is 22km from the house.
A school bus is available to take volunteers to school in the morning and in the afternoon when school closes. If volunteers wish to leave school early, they must provide there own transportation as of now. Volunteers should talk to Mr. Otu (the proprietor) about arranging inexpensive transportation or shared transportation.
About two dollars each way. 19. What type of setting is your school located in? Please give a brief description of your town/village and the surrounding areas. (If housing and school are located in the same area, you may omit this question.) The school is located on the outskirts of Dodowa, a large town on a main road. The school is about 1.5km from that main road. 20. How many students does your school have? 120 21. Which levels does your school contain? How many students are in each class? Kindergarten to JSS 3 (9 th grade) 22. Do the students pay tuition to attend school? If so, how much? Yes. Tuitions range from aprox. 30USD to 75USD plus other fees. 23. Is your school registered within the school district? Yes 24. Does your school receive money/materials from government assistance or from any other organizations or institutions? The school receives textbooks from the government, but no teaching materials. The school is currently seeking outside funding from organizations. 25. What subjects are taught at your school? Core curriculum, as stated from the Ghana Education Service. 26. Does your school use a curriculum? Yes 27. Do you offer any extra-curricular clubs/activities? If so, what? Please give a brief description of each club or activity. There are four clubs/activities that participate every Friday afternoon, during school hours, for an hour and a half. Teachers run these clubs/activities and volunteers are free to help or join in. They are:
28. When are your school's breaks? School breaks coincide with the public school's breaks. Generally speaking, they are Dec.-Jan., April – May, and the month of August. 29. What are school hours? 8:00 – 3:00; for most of the school year JSS students go until 4:00. 30. How many teachers do you have? Are they all trained teachers? On average, twelve teachers. Today, none of them are trained. 31. Does your school practice caning? Yes, caning is a school policy. 32. What are the areas that your school is looking to improve upon? The main area of concern for Emmanuel at this time is securing extra funding for the many construction projects going on at the school. Currently, the school is only about one fifth of the way toward achieving its ultimate goal of becoming a prestigious boarding school in Ghana. Many things need to be built before then. Volunteer Duties and Other Activities 33. What levels and subjects will be taught by volunteers? Volunteers will teach the Primary levels (grades 1-6) a combination of English, Math, and/or Science. 34. Besides teaching, what responsibilities and duties will be expected of a volunteer (i.e. running of extra-curricular activities, tutoring, etc.)? Volunteers are expected to participate in general supervision when they are in the school. 35. In what other ways can volunteers help at the school besides teaching? (i.e. school beautification, field trips, construction improvements, fundraising, administration work, etc.) The more ideas you can give us, the better. Volunteers are encouraged to get involved with the environmental issues facing the school. These include school beautification, keeping the school compound neat, and teaching students the benefits of a clean environment. Other than this, volunteers are encouraged to come with their own ideas on how to improve the school and to work with the proprietor to implement those ideas. 36. How many hours each day will volunteers be teaching or in the school? How many days a week? Volunteers are expected to teach five days a week, from morning until noon. Afternoons can be set aside for relaxation, pursuing other interests, or helping the school with administrative duties. 37. Will volunteers be permitted/encouraged to travel? Can they miss school days? If so, when must they tell about their travel plans (i.e. Before arriving, one week in advance)? Volunteers are encouraged to travel when at Emmanuel. All volunteers will meet with Mr. Otu before they begin teaching to set up a schedule that suits the volunteer's teaching and traveling interests. School Comments: Mr. Otu would like to encourage all volunteers to make themselves at home when in the school. He strives to give them the freedom to involve themselves in the school's operations as much or as little as they so choose. He also encourages volunteers to ask many questions. It will help them get to understand Ghana and the school better and it will help him reflect upon his own school. GWF Comments: Emmanuel International School has quickly established itself as one of the best choices in the Greater Accra Region, posting top scores in their standardized tests. The school is led by a proprietor with big ideas for the school and a plan to achieve his many goals. About Somonya: Somonya is about an hour and a half to two hours from Accra , the capital of Ghana. It is also worth noting that Somonya lies within the bead making center of Ghana. There are nearby health facilities and several nearby tourist attractions. *Last updated: August 2007 For further questions and inquiries regarding our volunteer schools, please contact info@ghanawisdom.org |