Tennis and Such

4:22PM 19 July

I've been playing a good amount of tennis. Our travel assistant, Ebenezer, is a Masters student here at University of Cape Coast (UCC), and he plays. He's quite good. He has an extra racket so Ross, Eben and I have been going down in the afternoon to play. When we go, there are usually kids hanging around the court. Either they have gotten out of school (there are a few near by) or they are waiting for their siblings whom are on the near by football field. Other's are selling snacks such as water, oranges, or corn. The actions of the children are so different then what you would see at home. They will get the ball without being asked to do so, if it goes out of the court. Even if it stays in court but perhaps is on the other side, they will run to get it. If the ball goes out of court and one of the children does not go to retreive it, one of the men or women playing on the court will ask them to do so. They don't begrudge or argue, just go and get the ball.

Today, one of the children, a girl named Mashi was selling water. She was intrigued by me and called for my name when I was sitting on the wall of the court a pretty good distance from her. She is 12 years old and goes to primary school near by. She's in 3rd grade and her favorite subject is reading. She was with a friend whose name is Jane who is 9 years old and is also in 3rd grade. I'm not quite sure how or why they are in the same class. Perhaps Mashi started school late. She said that her sister goes to UCC. Education is very highly regarded here. And we always see school children by the dozens dressed in their school uniforms. We have learned, however, that though primary education is wide spread, secondary schooling is not quite as apparent. We've seen more than many high school aged children in uniform but we have been told that it is more common to see a child who has not attended secondary school at all. Unfortunately, it is usually due to economic restraints; more money is needed for the household so the child must work, or perhaps other children are in school and there isn't enough money for both. Not that the parents need to pay for the children's education, but books, and school supplies are needed. Perspectives seem to be pretty gender neutral. We've seen equal amounts of male as female children in school. However, we were told that it was only a few years ago that on the radio there were jingles that would go, "send your girl child to school, send your girl child to school...".

-- Posted From My iPhone