Does anyone have any information on this school? It has not been reviewed on the main ISR website and I've found no reference to it in the forum.
Also, does anyone have opinions on living and teaching in Ghana. If I get offered and accept the job, I will be traveling with a dog and 2 cats. Will life be decent for them there?
Thank you in advance for any insight you might offer.
Tema International School, Ghana
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Tundra_Creature
- Posts: 17
- Joined: Tue Mar 15, 2011 9:34 am
Re: WHY?
[quote="PsyGuy"]Why would you want to work there? Cant say anything about the school but having been to the region, well you have to be nuts or have images of wildlife safaris in your mind...
Generally a review on ISR is almost always "bad", so no review is about as close to a "good" review as you will get.
I'd be more worried if life would be decent for YOU, you will likely not be able to bring your pets with you, and even if they do, you will almost certainly NOT be able to return with them from Ghana.[/quote]
My mother used to work in Nigeria and spent some time in Ghana back in the day. She fell in love with the country and always wanted to go back for travel. She actually has some friends still working/living there. I've also had a friend do an animation workshop and despite getting sick, had fond memories of the place. It's certainly not not a place for everyone, can be dangerous and lacks certain things but, I wouldn't say a person wanting to move there is 'nuts'. More stable than some of the other African countries. ;)
That being said, I agree with you about the pets. That seems like no easy task, in or out.
Generally a review on ISR is almost always "bad", so no review is about as close to a "good" review as you will get.
I'd be more worried if life would be decent for YOU, you will likely not be able to bring your pets with you, and even if they do, you will almost certainly NOT be able to return with them from Ghana.[/quote]
My mother used to work in Nigeria and spent some time in Ghana back in the day. She fell in love with the country and always wanted to go back for travel. She actually has some friends still working/living there. I've also had a friend do an animation workshop and despite getting sick, had fond memories of the place. It's certainly not not a place for everyone, can be dangerous and lacks certain things but, I wouldn't say a person wanting to move there is 'nuts'. More stable than some of the other African countries. ;)
That being said, I agree with you about the pets. That seems like no easy task, in or out.
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eion_padraig
- Posts: 408
- Joined: Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:18 pm
Why not?
The US college I worked at received a few applications from Ghanian applicants coming from TIS each year. I had a favorable opinion of the quality of education they gave their students. I can't say anything about the quality of the working experience there.
I would put them together with other well-regarded and established schools in the country like SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College, Ghana International School and Lincoln Community School. TIS sends their college counselors to the Overseas Association of College Admission Counselors' conference in North America which is a pretty good sign in my mind.
I don't know much about Tema.
Good luck.
I would put them together with other well-regarded and established schools in the country like SOS Hermann Gmeiner International College, Ghana International School and Lincoln Community School. TIS sends their college counselors to the Overseas Association of College Admission Counselors' conference in North America which is a pretty good sign in my mind.
I don't know much about Tema.
Good luck.
[quote="PsyGuy"]Why would you want to work there? Cant say anything about the school but having been to the region, well you have to be nuts or have images of wildlife safaris in your mind...
Frankly, I find your assessment of life in Africa quite offensive. Having lived in the region for four years, I loved it. I would go back in a heart beat. Accra is certainly one of the easier (easiest?) West African capitals to live in and has a lot of amenities. I visited Ghana on a few occasions and enjoyed my visits.
As regards pets, I don't know what Ghana's importation rules are, but I do know people who brought their pets to other West African countries and left with them as well. It is actually not impossible to take pets back out of West Africa. To go to back to the US, I believe that only documentation of vaccination is required. Going to the EU is more complicated, since a blood test to prove rabies vaccination is required, in addition to a microchip. However, this is by no means impossible and has been done by many ex-pats. How the pets will cope depends on the individual pet. Obviously, the heat can be a problem as can disease, but pets can get sick anywhere. Limiting contact with the local pet population can help a lot in that respect.
Frankly, I find your assessment of life in Africa quite offensive. Having lived in the region for four years, I loved it. I would go back in a heart beat. Accra is certainly one of the easier (easiest?) West African capitals to live in and has a lot of amenities. I visited Ghana on a few occasions and enjoyed my visits.
As regards pets, I don't know what Ghana's importation rules are, but I do know people who brought their pets to other West African countries and left with them as well. It is actually not impossible to take pets back out of West Africa. To go to back to the US, I believe that only documentation of vaccination is required. Going to the EU is more complicated, since a blood test to prove rabies vaccination is required, in addition to a microchip. However, this is by no means impossible and has been done by many ex-pats. How the pets will cope depends on the individual pet. Obviously, the heat can be a problem as can disease, but pets can get sick anywhere. Limiting contact with the local pet population can help a lot in that respect.
reply to Tema school
hi there
go to http://www.pettravel.com/passportnew.cfm all the information for travel to every country for pets is there. I travelled with my dog to Ghana and then left - returned to the USA and then took her to another 2 countries and it was very easy. I don't know where you are coming from so I cant tell you exactly how to do it, but Ghana is one of the easier countries. You simply have to do the paperwork. In terms of disease, you have to protect your animals against ticks with both tick collars ( the very strong ones made in France I think) as well as the flea / tick drops every month (frontline). My dog did get tickbite fever but i was not carefull i went walking in the bush and only did frontline and did not check her for ticks. The vets however saved her. The sicknesses that are prevalent such as malaria and tickbite fever - are very well treated in Ghana. They are also easy to prevent by doing the right thing. I taught and lived in Ghana for 3 years and they were fantastic. The banks work well. The people are friendly and want to help you in every possible way. Taxis will let you carry your animals in them. You will build lifelong relationships with the Ghanaian people and have a great african experience. As with every country there are frustrations ... that will just happen. Do you not have any in your own country?? But if you were to ask me which country to recommend in Africa I would say GHANA or South Africa.
Go for it.....
go to http://www.pettravel.com/passportnew.cfm all the information for travel to every country for pets is there. I travelled with my dog to Ghana and then left - returned to the USA and then took her to another 2 countries and it was very easy. I don't know where you are coming from so I cant tell you exactly how to do it, but Ghana is one of the easier countries. You simply have to do the paperwork. In terms of disease, you have to protect your animals against ticks with both tick collars ( the very strong ones made in France I think) as well as the flea / tick drops every month (frontline). My dog did get tickbite fever but i was not carefull i went walking in the bush and only did frontline and did not check her for ticks. The vets however saved her. The sicknesses that are prevalent such as malaria and tickbite fever - are very well treated in Ghana. They are also easy to prevent by doing the right thing. I taught and lived in Ghana for 3 years and they were fantastic. The banks work well. The people are friendly and want to help you in every possible way. Taxis will let you carry your animals in them. You will build lifelong relationships with the Ghanaian people and have a great african experience. As with every country there are frustrations ... that will just happen. Do you not have any in your own country?? But if you were to ask me which country to recommend in Africa I would say GHANA or South Africa.
Go for it.....
I appreciate all the feedback. I was not at all worried about getting the pets in and out of the country. I already looked that up. I do that before interviews because any place requiring quarantine is off limits in my mind. I have a dog and cat that have lived in 5 different countries, 3 developing countries and 2 developed countries. My dog has already had tick fever and gets recurrences every year or every few months in which case he gets treated with a course of antibiotics. I was just wondering how the Ghanians felt about 'pets'. When I interviewed with the school and I brought up the pet issue, they said they would take very good care of my pets. I too taught a student from Ghana and she was one of my most motivated students.
I've personally lived in 4 different developing countries and I know that each has their frustrations. Guess what, I get frustrated in the U.S. and Europe too. That's just life sometimes. I really wanted to know about the compassion and acceptance of the people. I get the sense that TIS is made up of a predominantly African staff and as a single, white woman, I just wanted to know that I would be accepted.
If there are any other opinions or insights, I'd love to hear them.
I've personally lived in 4 different developing countries and I know that each has their frustrations. Guess what, I get frustrated in the U.S. and Europe too. That's just life sometimes. I really wanted to know about the compassion and acceptance of the people. I get the sense that TIS is made up of a predominantly African staff and as a single, white woman, I just wanted to know that I would be accepted.
If there are any other opinions or insights, I'd love to hear them.
Re: Tema International School, Ghana
I am interested to hear about your experience teaching at the school
Re: Tema International School, Ghana
*I know this is an old post but hopefully this post will help someone*
There is no sensitive way to say this but it needs to be said -- in certain parts of West Africa dogs and cats are seen as food and not pets. I am not saying that every Ghanian eats them but it does happen. In one of the countries I lived in near Ghana, a neighbour's friendly roly poly little dog got out of his compound in a gated community and was never seen again. The theory was he since he would walk up to anyone for a little bit of attention or love he was an easy catch.
Generally people in West Africa are terrified of big dogs. They can be excellent security if you have concerns about that sort of thing. People usually treat cats and dogs as animals not pets. We had a housekeeper who was very kind to our cat even though I am sure she thought we babied the cat way too much.
My next question would be have you lived in Africa before? When working in West Africa with local staff the laissez faire attitude of 'it will get done tomorrow (but tomorrow never comes)' can be quite frustrating. The other thing I found difficult was people asking for stuff. Random strangers walking up to you and saying 'Give me money' can get tiring. Sometimes people/colleagues will boldly come out and ask for outrageous requests 'Buy me a laptop' or 'Give me your car' because of the mentality that maybe the 'obroni' might just say yes. I found that this made it difficult to completely trust some local people as it felt that they were only being friendly because of the potential stuff I could give to them. That being said I still have a handful of really close local friends that I am still in touch with to this day who are not looking for handouts and never have.
If you freely admit that you are single local guys hit on you. You may get a couple marriage proposals. Some guys can be a bit creepy about it but if that bugs you just wear a wedding ring and pretend you have a husband.
Overall I would not trade my West African experience for anything. Life is never dull in Africa especially the more involved you are with local culture. If you are looking for an adventure and can laugh when things often don't work the way they should when they should, you will do just fine.
There is no sensitive way to say this but it needs to be said -- in certain parts of West Africa dogs and cats are seen as food and not pets. I am not saying that every Ghanian eats them but it does happen. In one of the countries I lived in near Ghana, a neighbour's friendly roly poly little dog got out of his compound in a gated community and was never seen again. The theory was he since he would walk up to anyone for a little bit of attention or love he was an easy catch.
Generally people in West Africa are terrified of big dogs. They can be excellent security if you have concerns about that sort of thing. People usually treat cats and dogs as animals not pets. We had a housekeeper who was very kind to our cat even though I am sure she thought we babied the cat way too much.
My next question would be have you lived in Africa before? When working in West Africa with local staff the laissez faire attitude of 'it will get done tomorrow (but tomorrow never comes)' can be quite frustrating. The other thing I found difficult was people asking for stuff. Random strangers walking up to you and saying 'Give me money' can get tiring. Sometimes people/colleagues will boldly come out and ask for outrageous requests 'Buy me a laptop' or 'Give me your car' because of the mentality that maybe the 'obroni' might just say yes. I found that this made it difficult to completely trust some local people as it felt that they were only being friendly because of the potential stuff I could give to them. That being said I still have a handful of really close local friends that I am still in touch with to this day who are not looking for handouts and never have.
If you freely admit that you are single local guys hit on you. You may get a couple marriage proposals. Some guys can be a bit creepy about it but if that bugs you just wear a wedding ring and pretend you have a husband.
Overall I would not trade my West African experience for anything. Life is never dull in Africa especially the more involved you are with local culture. If you are looking for an adventure and can laugh when things often don't work the way they should when they should, you will do just fine.