So Happy to be back in Ghana

By Bruce Neumann

After a four-year absence, I had the opportunity to lead art in Ghana one again. This year we did art projects from previous years and two new projects. Because of Monday’s schedule and an early arrival we had extra time. To fill that time I taught them the song “The Moose The Moose.” I think by next year most of the school will know it because there were so many non-campers hanging in the windows.

Monday’s art was slap bracelets and self-portraits used to make an “OUR CLASS” collage. The slap bracelets were blank canvasses for the children to draw upon. Many of the children have had no exposure to art. They did intricate drawings on them; some simply colored them solid. When finished they were to keep one and give one to a friend. Many children came back the next day wearing one they did not color as they were given it by a friend.

On Tuesday the children painted bears with water-colors. I remembered that in past years, due to a lack of art experience, the children drew small pictures on a blank piece of paper. We reminded the children to make their drawing BIG, so it filled most of the paper. I drew a bear on 24×36 paper for the children to copy; most of them drew it big and asked me if it was okay, which It was. They needed instruction on how to use the paint sets. I demonstrated how to dip the brush in the water and then and apply the paint to the paper, which they were very excited to see. A few of the children drew the bear better than I did! One child painted his bear white and told me it was a polar bear and it lived in the Arctic! After the bear paintings were complete, I handed out more paper so they could draw anything they wanted to and paint it as they wished. Some even had time to make a third one. One girl did a really nice bear and a very realistic flower.

Wednesday the topic was elephants. We made elephant heads with paper and straws with extending trunks. I think this was their favorite project, because when finished they blew through the straw and the elephant’s trunk extended! During closing several boys were jumping around waving their elephant trunks at others in line.

Thursday was Owl Day. This is my favorite project: making owls out of toilet paper tubes. In Ghana owls have a bad rap as being evil; they are equated witches. The American teachers told them about the beneficial traits of our owls. Once the owls were feathered, they put googly eyes on them. This delighted the children since the eyes moved. The children used these like puppets.

We closed out the week with the theme of crabs. There was a crabby poem, and I helped the children make a seaside scene with crabs. Red cupcake wrappers became crabs. Once again, googly eyes made their appearance which delighted them. 

Overall the week all went well, with the children enjoying the art projects and being able to have the freedom to express themselves.