It was hot the day we arrived in Adaklu Helekpe, a small town in the Volta Region abutting Adaklu Mountain, said to be the tallest free-standing mountain in Ghana. We came first by tro-tro to Ho, then took a shared taxi the rest of the way to Helekpe, after being informed that the town we originally intended to visit had no guesthouses. We were sweaty and hungry, and feeling ready to tackle the mission we had set for ourselves: climb Adaklu Mountain.
After dropping our bags in a nondescript room in an unnamed guesthouse run by a man named Dela, whom we met at the roadside and who arranged our guide for the hike, we stuffed ourselves with rice and stew and set off. I’ll spare you the details of the hike, because as it turns out, that ended up being only a side story to the real purpose of the trip.
(As it happens, or has been happening, we are often unaware of the real reason we go to a place until we actually get there, talk with the locals about what we’re doing in Ghana, and listen to their stories. We try our best to stay open to the things we hear and look for opportunities where we can help the communities that open their doors and historical/geographical landmarks to us.)
As we talked with Dela after our climb on the bench that was slightly more comfortable than our room (exposure to open air is a wonderful thing in Ghana), he told us about the local senior high school that was well-staffed, well- programmed, but severely under-funded and under-resourced. He told us of a generous American woman who had several years ago donated around 500 books to the school to start a library. While he expressed gratitude for the gesture, he also lamented that many of the reference books were outdated and generally in poor condition. He also stated astutely that 500 books is hardly enough for a senior high school, and asked us for our help. He offered to show us the school, the library, and introduce us to the headmaster the next morning at 7am.
After a hot, still, restless night, we prepared to meet the headmaster of Adaklu Senior Technical High School, Dogbey Justice, a man serving his community while simultaneously pursuing a master’s degree in industrial mathematics, and passionate enough about the possibility of bettering the school under his care that he was willing to cancel a meeting in Ho and instead make the 30-minute drive to Adaklu to meet us. He immediately struck us as focused and dedicated, though still a young man, and with a firm belief in the power of self-help and hard work. Well-spoken and organized, he listened carefully to our vision for his school.
The school itself was beautiful, incorporating well-designed courtyards to help keep classrooms cool, and including an additional building in the process of being finished. It also boasted spectacular views of the daunting Adaklu Mountain a mere 500 meters or so away. We visited the school library, which was housed in what seemed to be a storeroom, and filled with books that libraries and individual people had long ago rejected. We visited the teacher’s lounge/common area, where lesson planning and discussion likely took place (both teachers and students were absent, as our visit occurred on a Saturday).
It was then that Dela and Dogbey Justice informed us of the plight of Adaklu Senior Technical High School: the programs and teachers for both English literature and Ewe (the local language) exist, but both classes must be conducted with only one copy of each text. The teachers of both English literature and Ewe read the texts themselves, analyze it, and create notes for the students, which they then copy during class. At no point in either of these largely literature-based courses does any student even touch a book.
After reeling from the initial shock, our reaction was simple: How would it change the program if every student had a book of his/her own? Dogbey Justice agreed that even one copy per student would dramatically change the quality of the classes and allow for deeper exploration of these important pieces of Ewe heritage and tradition. The collections of poetry (Ewe poetry has long been hailed as some of the best in West Africa) would be able to be studied in depth by contemporary youth, creating the potential for further creation.
We came away from the meeting both reinvigorated and slightly aghast. One book per class? Consider any class you’ve ever taken (assuming you come from a Western nation) and imagine the consequences of taking everything your teacher or professor said at face value because you had no text or familiarity with the text to discuss, refute, or even disagree. Consider what generations of education like this does to a story—a decades-long game of ‘telephone’ played with some of the most important works of your heritage. And through it all, generations of young Ghanaians learning that what is most important is not critical or creative thinking, but learning by rote memorization and copying. What is important is not a relationship or exploration of these classic texts, but rather the sterile dissemination of information.
How can innovation happen when the innovators lack the basic ability to think critically and creatively?
So we left Adaklu, Dogbey Justice, and Dela, clutching in our palms a new list of books to acquire, and holding in our hearts a newly kindled fire. Adaklu is not the place for the literacy center; they have already established their programs and curricula, and have willing and able teachers. However, Adaklu still needs our help in a clear way.
And so, once again, we are reaching out for help. We are attempting to get in contact with the (largely defunct) Bureau of Ghana Languages, which publishes the texts necessary for all classes in the local languages in communities all over the country, but in the meantime we have a plea. That plea is simply this: help us get these books for this one school in a tiny town in the Volta Region of Ghana. Let me break down the math: 40 copies (one per student) each of 4 different texts means we need to acquire 160 books just for this one program (Ewe). At a mix of prices (GHC 8 – GHC 10; roughly US $3 per book), we estimate the total cost to be around US $450.
And we are asking for help.
If you can, please donate money to our GoFundMe campaign, or via PayPal. If you have access to Ewe literature (literature published in Ewe), we are looking for these titles:
- Henɔwo Ƒe Gbe (GHC 10)
- Torgbui Kpeglo II (GHC 8)
- Ku Le Xɔme (GHC 10)
- Amedzro III (GHC 8)
If you have access to the following books, please consider donating them. These books are for the English literature program, and we are looking for all titles in English:
- In the Chest of a Woman by Efo Kɔdjo Mawugbe
- Grief Child by Lawrence Darmani
- Ancestral Sacrifice by Kaakyire Akosomo Nyantakyi
- Hamlet by William Shakespeare
- The Gods Are Not to Blame by Ola Rotimi
- Arms and the Man by George Bernard Shaw
- A Woman in Her Prime by Asare Konadu
- Woman of Owu by Femi Osofisan
- The Old Man and the Sea by Ernest Hemingway
- Mastering English Literature, 3rd Edited by Richard Gill
Ghana is not helpless, nor is it lacking in solid programs and capable teachers. But Adaklu Senior High Technical School (and many schools like it throughout Ghana) needs our help to give students the resources they desperately need and deserve.
Help us help them.
