STARS!

This week, Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi hosted over 50 JHS and SHS students from 8 different regions across Ghana. The reason? STARS conference, standing for Students Taking Action Reaching for Success, where students got to participate in workshops on leadership, gender equality, science, entrepreneurship, self-esteem, and computers. They even got to experience yoga for the first time, which all of them enjoyed.

The best part, though? Having 9 smart and sassy students from 4 different schools for the deaf participate! We had sign language classes every morning, which the students helped me teach. In addition, we had a session on deaf misconceptions, where the students talked about their experiences navigating a world biased towards hearing people. In a society that still uses the term "deaf and dumb," we opened a lot of kids' minds to injustices that exist barring equal access to deaf individuals to many of Ghana's institutions. I was so proud of these kiddos, who are whip-smart and soooo funny! I can't wait to see the future of deaf education and rights in Ghana in their hands!


Highlights:
- watching my students' eyes go big when they opened their first email accounts
- taking lots of selfies with students all week
- watching the deaf students act as leaders, teaching sign language to their fellow STARS participants
- introducing American food and Uno to my WaDeaf student Albertina (she liked Caesar salad more than pizza!)
- giving sign names to all of the PCVs at camp
- laughing with the kids as they did yoga for the first time
- hearing all the business plans students had during my "Starting a Business in Ghana" session
- seeing my WaDeaf babies for the first time in over a month
- trying to throw pencils in a watermelon (a game actually played and a big hit)
- successfully throwing a contraption down 9 flights and not having the egg inside break
- Google searching the different schools for the deaf in Ghana and finding out WaDeaf has NO pictures online.... I need to change that.
- watching students dance and sing at our talent show! What a bunch of hams!
- me struggling over basic math in our "Popcorn Business" session (I was an econ major, I swear!)
- watching southern kids try TZ for the first time. A surprising number liked it!
- getting to know all of these amazing kids and interpreters and counterparts from all over Ghana! I can't believe how lucky we were to have so many leaders at the conference this year. What a treat.


Some pictures from the weekend:



Teaching Ghanaian Sign Language to the other campers

Real talk about misconceptions about deafness

Setting up email accounts

STARS Olympics event #1: Whipping rubber bands towards a stack of cans. Lesson learned: never get too close to the action during this game. #Ouch.

Taking LOTS of selfies!

Reunited (with my WaDeaf kiddos) and it feels so good!

Egg drop science experiment competition! Without any guidance, my group dropped it from the roof and it didn't break. We may have budding geniuses on our hands.

Yoga every morning was a big hit.

Learning how to make popcorn
All of the deaf students from STARS 2019. So proud of these kiddos! I miss them already! 

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