The days to the end of the school year are creeping closer, while the days until I depart for Ghana seem to be speeding past me in the left lane at an aggressive rate. I started the application process for the Limited Resource Teacher Training, or LRTT Fellowship in December. When I first got a reply to my application asking me to schedule an interview I quickly brushed the possibilities aside. How could I, an incredibly busy teacher, take on the tasks required to travel internationally with a fellowship? How could I manage the cost, the paperwork, and the time? More pressingly, who did I think I was fooling? What did I have to teach other educators? Luckily, I work with some amazing colleagues who reminded me that I have a decade of teaching experience, in a variety of learning styles and experience with innumerable teaching philosophies. I had a lot of conversations with friends and coworkers who fluffed my ego while I continued to deny the reality that I am a professional with experience that is valuable. Self esteem; an uncomfortable but progressive concept that I am working on.
Finally I decided there couldn’t be any harm in at least scheduling the interview. I chose to think about it as little as possible and throw myself into recovering from the holidays and preparing for my class’s upcoming IB planners and math modules. The morning of January 12th, I finally decided I should consider some talking points and questions, and sat down to make my list. A few hours later I found myself locked in an exciting conversation with a teacher from NYC. We laughed, we cried, and by the end of the conversation I was terrified and excited. Luckily I had to wait less than 24 hours to find out that I had been accepted as an LRTT Fellow.
LRTT recruits teachers from around the United States, United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand to present professional development to teachers working with limited resources. I was now faced with the opportunity to not only share my experiences with teachers in Ghana, but also to learn from Ghanian teachers, and teachers from various other global locations. This seemed like such an exciting opportunity to extend my learning, exposure and ability as a teacher that the daunting to-do lists and costs seemed to fade quietly and quickly to the background. In addition this seemed to be an excellent time for this trip. My school, Federal Hill Preparatory School had just become an International Baccalaureate Candidate School. Teaching concepts that lead students to be global citizens and take action had revitalized my teaching energy and made me incredibly excited to create curriculum for my students. This opportunity to travel to Ghana in an educational capacity was to say the least, serendipitous.
Although the excitement and opportunities had sent the to-do list to a more subtly stressful place in my consciousness, it was still there gently knocking and demanding more and more attention. Through LRTT I have 3 team leaders, Monty the teacher I interviewed with, Katie and Keely. These three have made the tasks that needed to be tackled far more manageable. They were all Fellows in the previous year’s cohort, and came with a wealth of knowledge. In the months that followed I applied for and received a Fund for Teachers grant that made my trip achievable. The process of grant writing had always been this terrifying monster that hid in a closet. While I knew there were incredibly useful tools, and maybe even a favorite pair of shoes in that closet, it seemed far too daunting to open it and deal with the monster. After learning of the opportunities presented by LRTT it was time to open the closet, take on the monster and utilize the tools at my disposal. Shockingly, when I opened that closet, the monster wasn’t that big and it wasn’t that scary. There was a lot of writing, and it took hours of contemplation and research. It also took a very patient and loving Aunt Tina, who agreed to be my editor. In the end it all paid off and Fund for Teachers gave me a huge chunk of money to help me get to Ghana.
Even with the incredible help from the grant I had to do some additional fundraising because as I began preparing I realized I had greatly underestimated the expense of this project. The cost of “suggested” shots alone was staggering. I arrived at Passport Health to get whatever shots the CDC recommended with a level of happy naivety that many have at the beginning of new but ill-fated relationships. After reviewing the wonderful benefits of Hepatitis A and B, Typhoid fever, and many other inoculations the lovely woman who I was meeting with informed me those would be $1,200, but that there was one other they strongly recommended. Rabies is a concern I hadn’t yet considered, and that shot alone would cost $1,200. Now, I know I can’t weigh that much more than a Saint Bernard, and I am positive no one has paid $1,200 for their dog’s rabies vaccines! That being said I recognize my medical expertise leaves much to be desired and I will have to defer to the words of the experts that there is a reason I “need” a $1,200 vaccine. While maintaining as much dignity as I could, I explained I would just take the required Yellow Fever shot and Malaria pills, and that I would do some research (*cough* fundraising) to determine which of the other vaccinations I would come back for. So after some research, yes- fundraising through a Go Fund Me page, and rationalization, I go back to Passport Health this week to get Hepatitis A and Meningitis. I figured to avoid the expense of rabies, I just won’t pet too many local dogs (unless they’re a puppy obviously), and if I am attacked by a wild animal I will obviously have health concerns more pressing than rabies. (That would be the rationalization portion, I won’t go into the Hepatitis B rationalization.)
In addition to shots, there have been unforeseen additions to the to-do list such as passport renewals, extra nights in hotels due to timing of fights, visa fees, and the ever growing shopping list in which most things contain DEET as the main ingredient. While travel usually makes me anxious and I don’t enjoy it until I get on the plane. This trip is different. Everyday that gets closer I get more and more excited. I think because relaxation stresses me out, and I love being in a purpose driven environment, I can be excited as I prepare for this trip. We have had webinars in which we discuss cultural sensitivity, developing PD for teachers in another country, what qualifies as quality PD, and so much other foundational information. I have done research and writing in preparation for the webinars that has already added volumes to my professional tool box. I have been able to chat with the other fellows, the team leaders, and now through Fund for Teachers, other grant recipients also traveling to Ghana. I am so incredibly grateful for all of the support I have received. The financial support from Fund for Teachers, from my friends, family and school community has taken the preparation for this adventure from impossible to possible. I cannot express my gratitude enough not only for the financial support, but the words of support, encouragement and shared excitement. They mean the world. I will do my best to document my journey, what I learn and the experience I am so incredibly lucky to take part in. My understanding is the wifi in Tamale is not consistent, but I will update this page as often as I can in the hopes that the community that has supported me so whole heartedly and my students past, present and future can follow and share.
With Love, Ms. O
Adventures of O 