"Ghana has signed a declaration of UN child rights... Gone are the days when school children are caned for any mistake they make." This was a quote from the headmaster at L/A primary school in Kasapin, Ghana.

For me, the biggest part of the trip was to make the teachers realise caning was wrong, and there are different ways of discipline than to use a cane to cause bodily harm to a child.

When I first arrived in Ghana it was tough, and I could never of imagined myself standing in front of a class and teaching - as I hadn’t been in education for a few years and was abit rusty when it came to certain subjects I resented when going to school in the past. 'It just isn't something I feel comfortable doing’ I kept saying to myself. But at the end of the day, I had to face up to the fact that I had come to Africa to come out of my comfort zone, and experience things I wouldn’t necessary get the chance to do again.

So with the help of the in-country supervisor, I found the inner-strength to come out of that comfort zone and towards the end of the trip, I loved going to school and seeing P3, my class in L/A primary school.
 
I was on a mission to banish the cane, so I arranged a meeting with the headmaster. He seemed to have a lot of passion for the school, and knew caning was wrong. I felt his frustration with the government for sending him uneducated teachers to come and teach at his school, and the lack of resources they get to teach with. I really understood him, and thought he was a fantastic, but unappreciated headmaster.

I then went on to hold a teacher's meeting and asked them all what they thought - most of the teachers were actually oblivious to the fact that it was wrong, never mind the fact it’s illegal. They explained that "it’s alright, it’s not seen as an offence as it’s part of the culture." I explained to them that if the child's parents were level-headed and aware, they could take the teacher in question to court, and they wouldn’t have a leg to stand on as caning is going against their government's laws. I could see I was getting through to most of them, and at the end of the meeting I said, "With L/A being a government school, we want to be the first in the village to get rid of the cain, to be ambassadors of change and let the rest of the schools in the village follow in our steps... So as of Monday I want all the teachers to snap the canes in half and put a ban to that disciplinary procedure."

Being able to overcome my difficulty of coming out of my comfort zone has been a great pleasure, and I give thanks to MyPlatform2 for giving me the opportunity to put my footprints in the sands of Ghana.

Words and photo: Alison Mark. This is a report Alison wrote after visiting Ghana for ten weeks as part of the MyPlatform2 volunteering initiative.