When presented with the idea of traveling to Africa last summer to offer her skills at a school in Awaso, Ghana, second-grade teacher Noreen Kakalec would be the first to tell you she didn’t immediately rush off to pack her bags.
“I’m not adventurous, I’m not a world traveler!” Noreen exclaimed, her expressive eyes widening at the thought.
But if Noreen wasn’t immediately sold on the idea, her 18-year-old daughter, Natalie, was. A high school senior, Natalie had wished for this trip of a lifetime. She raised money to go and is making the African adventure part of her senior project. And before long, Natalie had her mother on board, too.
Noreen’s road to teaching began in business where she worked long hours and traveled extensively as a customer service manager. A graduate of Santa Clara University with a degree in economics, she oversaw numerous employees in her previous job. But when daughter Natalie was born, Noreen recognized that the demanding lifestyle simply wasn’t for her.
Becoming a stay-at-home mom for five years helped Noreen regroup and find her focus. She began volunteering at the Learning and Loving Center in Morgan Hill, teaching English to women. That’s when the light came on—teaching was her calling. Although she enjoyed teaching adults, she decided her passion was in teaching the children. From there, it was back to school to earn her credential.
Now in her sixth year in the Morgan Hill Unified School District, Noreen feels she has landed in the perfect spot: teaching an energetic class of second graders. Last July, she accompanied Natalie to Africa to give back at an emerging place of learning, a non-denominational school called Awaso Academy International, located in a remote area of Ghana, West Africa.
The trip to Ghana was organized through St. Catherine’s Catholic Church of Morgan Hill. Five years ago, former St. Catherine’s priest, Father Paul Mensah, left the United States and all its comforts to return to his homeland and the village of his birth to bring his people a better life through education. With that vision, Father Paul began his mission of building a new school for the children of Awaso. He now serves as the school’s executive director and oversees the hiring of its teachers—all of whom have college educations.
Through fund-raising efforts, Awaso Academy International now serves preschool through fourth-grade students. Father Paul is guiding the school toward adding more grades, offering the children of his impoverished village the opportunity for a better learning environment.
The climate was hot and humid for the 15-person group that traveled to Ghana—a group that included Father Mark Arnzen, Pastor of St. Catherine’s. During the three weeks they were there, they grew accustomed to new foods and a culture rich in ways much different than our American way of life. Although accommodations included beds and showers and foods prepared in the African way, electricity was a bit unreliable; an outage might occur at any hour and last an indeterminate amount of time.
To further the children’s local food resources, the Americans planted 100 plantain trees with the help of the Awaso people. Something remarkable about the people, Noreen said, is their physical fitness. With a diet consisting of staples grown in the tropics, no processed foods and only an occasional goat or chicken, the people were notably strong. Noreen spoke of one young girl who effortlessly carried a tree on her head on the day of the planting. It is hoped the plantains gained from these newly planted trees will provide the traditional “Red, Red” that the children eat for lunch.
Working alongside African teachers, the Americans used modeling techniques to help teachers find methods for helping their young students learn and to maintain order in the classroom.
Noreen and Natalie came away from their experience with the heart-felt gratitude and appreciation of the African people—not only for the material things they brought, such as supplies and games, but for the time and ideas they came to share.
To learn more about the amazing progress of Awaso Academy International, visit awasohope.com.
