My placement starts with a month of in-country training in Ghana's capital city Accra After that I will travel 15 hours to Nalerigu in the Northern Region (somewhat of a misnomer since it is south of the Upper West and East provinces).

Nalerigu lies on a 1000 ft. plateau of the Gambaga escarpment with high cliffs to the north and gentle slopes down to the planes to the south. The average daily high in the dry season (November to April) is 38 C. and in the rainy season 300 mm/hr rainfall has been recorded.

Ghanaians are well known for their hospitality and liveliness. In my region you will probably be offered "pito" the local brew and "fufu". Fufu is made from pounded casava plant (yummers!) - actually I have heard rave reviews from some travellers.

Nalerigu Senior Secondary serves as the science resource center for the region and has 800 to 900 students, 2/3 of whom are borders. Nalerigu itself is only 3,000 people large and is not yet connected to the national energy grid or telephone service.

There is a shortage of science teachers in Ghana, especially in the three northern provinces where educational institutions have a hard time recruiting and keeping qualified teachers. Science graduates in particular are often drawn to more urban-based industries. The GES (Ghana Education Service) and the VSO (Voluntary Services Overseas) have identified the underprivileged schools in the north as a top priority. The GES aims to achieve an adequate supply of textbooks, teachers and lab equipment and to have 50% female enrollment by the year 2,000.



My address in Nalerigu:

Kesten Broughton
Nalerigu Senior Secondary
P.O. Box 20
Gambaga, Northern Region
Ghana, West Africa