In the News!

July 6, 2015

Lots of visits with the administrators of the university.  The ceremony is important and I found it quite nice to be acknowledged.  Here's a piece reporting my meeting with the Pro Vice Chancellor.

July 7, 2015

Yesterday, I was notified that I would be making the opening remarks at the College of Distance Education Convocation!  My background in public speaking, and study of instructional communication stood me in good stead.  I kept it short, simple and focused on their interestes.  The feedback of the audience at the moment was attentive; the principles seemed quite happy afterward.

I am mentioned in this news article, although the abstract of my remarks is quite wrong! I guess someone wasn't listening carefully!

Getting control (a bit)

It has been nearly a week since I last posted--not a good practice for keeping up readership--but has happened.  I'll catch us up with a series of shorter posts and some pictures.

July 4 (Saturday).  I spent the morning working on material for my workshops (if you want to see what I've done, click here.).  In the early afternoon,  I received a surprise visit from my friend William Nketsia whom you met in the first posting.He was passing through Cape Coast and stopped to say hello and introduce his brother.

Later, Mr. Biney and Mr. Prah took me to the Cape Coast Castle for a tour.  The tour was a moving experience. The Castle was the departure point for slaves making the "middle passage" to new world. The conditions and treatment of the slave was so inhumane as to be barely comprehensible.  This Castle possessed the "Door of No Return." I won't forget the experience.

The Castle at Cape Coast

Escape would have been difficult and if one did, where would one go?

This cell was used to execute slaves who misbehaved by suffocation! I was inside for about three mnutes
and felt I would suffocate within about 15 minutes--it was truly awful.

The irony of having this experience on the day we celebrate independence and freedom in the US; it is particularly rich given the backdrop of racism as it continues in the US.

On a brighter note, here two of my colleagues and friends:

This Mr. Prah, CTS Administrator

This is Mr. Biney, Librarian (Online Resources)

Feeling human again

 July 3. Feeling almost human again.  I left Sacramento at 8 AM on June 30 for the three hour drive to the city; waited three hours to board sat for 10 hours to Amsterdam; six hour layover there, then six and half more to Accra; two hours through immigration, finding my guide and getting to bed.  So, just about 30 hours in transit!

In Accra, we disembarked via stairs, so  after 30 hou rs inside vehicles or buildings, the effect of the weather and smells was powerful. The humidity was about 90 %; the smell I recognized from 50 years ago when all the houses in mgy neighborhood were heated by coal.  Here, coal is used widely for cooking fires.  The effect of the smell was disorienting (that and sleep deprivation!)

Thursday, up at 6 AM to leave at 7 AM for a two and a half hour van ride to Cape Coast. The rest is mostly a fog; slept off and on for the rest of the day.

The world looks quite different here:

Hands-free carrying technique.

Restaurant (and Chelsea FC supporter! Look closely at the taxi.)

And art is valued in spite of other needs.

Nearly ready to go

June 27, 2015--two days to go before leaving.  I am both excited and anxious about leaving.  The pieces seem to have all come together in time for the trip.  Since this is a Fulbright Specialist trip, the agenda is primarily work.  You see what I have prepared so far, by clicking here. My job will be providing training to the staff of the Centre for Teaching Support at the University of Cape Coast.  A second thread will be developing training materials in collaboration with the staff.

I look forward to reconnecting with my good friend William Nketsia whom I met while I was a visiting research scholar the the University of Jyvaskyla in Finland, of all places!  I credit William with making this project happen since it was his efforts in making me known to institutions in Ghana.

William at work at University of Jyvaskyla