Beginnings

When I arrived in Gumo in September 2002, the kindergarten of Tamaha, “Hope” in Dagbanli, was only in its earliest stages. It involved converting the Resource center project, which was initiated by one of our sisters. Tamaha has been created with the agreement of the village’s authorities. Since the construction at the beginning of 2001, the buildings were used in the morning to gather the pre-school-age children together and give them the rudiments of English and some basic knowledge in different fields. They formed a single group of around thirty.

In September 2002, they were separated into two groups. A postulant, Vinolia Ayivor, and our gardener, Idrissu, taught them, although they had had no previous training. After spending the first few months learning Dagbanli, I tried to give them some guidance once a week on teaching methods, preparation and class management.

Later on, I spent some time in the classroom with them. It was a completely new project, without precedent, which was a challenge for me. I had trained and worked as a primary school teacher, but felt inadequate at nursery school level. And the education system in Ghana is different from that in my native Brittany! That was where creativity came in, combining all kinds of materials with imagination and requests for ideas and advice in order to “inculturate” at local level the mission entrusted to me. I went to visit several kindergartens and collected their programs, since there was no official one. I made some mistakes and learned from them.

The creation of a project requires the establishment of contacts with the surrounding area, connections with other similar projects and a spirit of initiative and creativity, willingness to adjust constantly, openness to the community, self-confidence, all qualities good to discover and develop! I sometimes felt myself lacking in these abilities, not knowing which way to approach things and lacking in organization… I learned to progress slowly, accepting my limitations, entrusting myself to the Spirit, and finding encouragement in the experience of my older sisters, many of whom had been through the same kind of situation.

Ways of working

Having a “project of our own” is certainly also a financial investment, since the whole material side of it is in the congregation’s hands. But our experience in Gumo is that friends, acquaintances and sometimes even strangers are interested in our project, “the sisters’ project”, and display great generosity in their gifts, both in kind and in money. In 2003, the secondary school pupils organized a collection of materials for the children in Tamaha whom they had come to know through the Internet! I think children are also a group who arouse people’s interest and, through them, we are serving the future of the whole population.

In “our own project”, choices of internal ways of working are open to us, and this allows us to reflect the spirit of our congregation. At Tamaha, in the relationships with the parents and the children, through the spirit of fraternity and forgiveness which we try to develop, it is my faith in the Love of Christ that I want to share, my conviction that everyone is a child of God, with His presence indwelling, full of talents to be developed. In the case of a school, we are free to choose the teachers.
For the time being, our kindergarten is not registered as part of the Public or Catholic Education System. That deprives us of the benefit of some training sessions offered to teachers and some financial donations. But in Ghana, it is only this year - 2005/06 - that two years of nursery school have been integrated into the school curriculum and it is only recently that a syllabus for kindergarten has been published. However it is “recognized” in the District Education Office since April 2006 (number of children, teachers, ages...), it will allow us to benefit from the visits of supervisors. We pay the teachers ourselves from the Apostolic Fund. New laws (2005) make the official registration more complicated; it can only be obtained if the kindergarten is attached to a primary school.

Since we are in charge, it is also easier to organize ourselves and to adapt to other appeals from the mission. Dates of opening and closing can sometimes be brought forward or put back or a teacher replaced by another person, etc. That was the case when some postulants were taking one of the classes. They had several formation sessions during school hours. The same was true for me: we made adjustments when I left for Algeria and also when I was on leave. Certainly, one of the advantages is the fact that this project is a “launching pad” for the younger sisters. It was for me too - and I am still learning a great deal - and for several of the postulants. When aspirants spend a few days with us, the project is also interesting for them in providing a way of living our charism and sharing in it.

In touch with the population

For me, the fact that this is a kindergarten, and right next door to our house, provides a privileged means of being in touch with the population. Through the children, we are in contact with the families. We can transmit knowledge to the pupils, share our own knowledge with them, but also help them to grow in all dimensions of their being, awakening them to the presence of God and teaching them how to live together. For the youngest children, this is their first group experience.
Education is a foundation stone of a person’s life. What they acquire at the earliest age helps to form their social, intellectual and spiritual being. It is also a preventive process. Educated young people escape less easily into destructive temptations to make their living or to give their lives meaning. But three years’ experience has proved to me that the kindergarten must be followed by a solid primary education. The provision is there but it remains fragile. We do not have a good primary school nearby. I notice that the children are regressing in their ability to speak English fluently. All their knowledge should be consolidated in the first years of primary school, which form the foundations of the whole schooling process.

I find lots of joy in this mission; children are eager to learn, to discover their capacities; we are growing through each other, they and I!

Véronique Hégron, Gumo, Ghana