The 50-Computer Terminology

 Thanks to a student, my struggle on discipline wasn’t in vain and my will on discipline has been inherited to students in the school. And the will of Samuel Smiles, “Self-Help”, is also inherited to students in a deaf school in Ghana in the form of Self-Discipline 154 years later via my will. Even if you don’t perceive it, our lives are all connected horizontally and vertically. Here, “horizontal” means “space” and “vertical” does “time”. We can’t escape from the link of “weareallconnected,”.

 Well there is another reason for some students to avoid, dislike and disobey Daigo. As the title says, I’ve worked on the 50-Computer Terminology since last year. This is a test given at the beginning of terms to check spelling of words from previous lessons. I give students a set of computer terminologies as homework before vacations and students take the test, and also use it in review lessons. Memorizing words is the base of any studies for anyone; if you don’t know words, you can’t learn anything at all anyway. And in ICT study there are so many difficult things for students to understand their abstract concepts such as software, network, program, so I want them to know at least words when I teach them. And then as I mentioned before their English level is quite low so they should increase vocabularies to learn ICT. The deaf encounter so many obstacles in life. 

 However spelling is a big obstacle for the deaf because of the lack of help of sound. When you spell some words, for example “information”, don’t you rely on the sound of it? Although I know that memorizing words without sound is extremely difficult for us, all human beings, they can’t excuse themselves in society like “Sorry, I’m deaf, so I make mistakes on spelling.” Thus I force them to work on it. And if students don’t pass this test, they can’t use computers and must continue it until they pass it. This is the rule that I set up for my subject; students should learn to obey rules even if they don’t like it. For this is a part of education at schools to learn the way to live in society. 

 The thing is, I set up the passing mark at the quite high point: 45 out of 50 (90%), so that is why some students refuse it; if the goal is too far away, people don’t start walking for it. In case a student gets 44, I make him/her repeat the test again; there is no mercy at all but the strict Daigo there. It is a quite tiring job for students, but I know students are all capable enough to pass it as long as they study; it’s not a matter of ability but of devotion. If students devote themselves to the task, everyone can pass it, except some students with mental retardation. In short the result is honest and merely shows their laziness, which is the worst enemy to develop country. And in fact academic records of those who don’t pass show their low performance in any other subjects. No pain, no gain.

 It is true that this is big obstacle, burden, or yoke for some students, but there’re some good effects on them. They struggle, struggle and struggle then pass it, and after that, they have the experience, “I can do it.” I don’t like students saying, “I can’t!” before trying, how would you know you can’t unless you try? If you stop trying, there is no future; I teach “Try & Continue”, if you try and continue, you will make it! But they must learn “struggle before success” first. Although I’m very strict, as long as students show me their devotion, I assist them in the test by giving hints, because the experience “success after struggle” is more important than ethics here. This is my way. And if students get “Perfect (50/50)”, I give them a bottle of juice as a prize, more precisely “they get” the prize. I don’t give anything without reason, but if they get it, no problem! And perfectionism is an important value for any industries, so if they’re always seek for Perfect, they can survive in society.

 

About Discipline

 

Basically I don’t like discipline, but I don’t like disorder more than discipline. As I explained, Ghana is a completely different world and people are still breathing in the forest of fairy tale in terms of value of time, which is a paradise for me. I hold the ultimate philosophical argument if Development of Country is good or bad; suppose that we seek for well-developed country in future. But if I imagine Ghana 100 years later, I vaguely see people still playing with fairies, because development doesn’t happen automatically but it is something that you build up with proper spirits, values and virtues of people. So we have to start now to construct the better Ghana 100 years later.

When I started working at the school, I was really surprised by the fact of “laziness”. Many students didn’t really care about being late; some students didn’t bring pen and notebook; and some were not in the classroom during class time, going to eat, loaming around somewhere in the campus, and sleeping in dormitories even if there was housemothers there etc. And students were not aware of time at all, so it was like a chaos to me. But this situation was not lazy but normal in Ghana, oops at least in my school. Therefore I thought that my first job was to give them discipline in my class.

At the beginning of my class I take attendance to count the number of late, which Ghanaian teachers don’t do. I have to teach students punctuality. And when students come to the computer lab, they’re subjected to the dress code: if students come with sandals, I don’t allow them to enter and force them to change them; if they don’t wear school uniform properly, they can’t enter my class; and if they repeat bad behaviors, like cheating, stealing, absence without permission etc., and never show me their will to change, I sometimes kick them out from my class during the rest of the term. I don’t like scolding as such, but without discipline there is no difference between people and animals. How could animals build the better Ghana in future? And students are supposed to clean the lab but if they don’t do it they can use computers. They should learn rules to survive in society. Anyway as a result of this, naturally some students disobeyed me, disliked me and started avoiding me and my class. While no other Ghanaian teacher gives them discipline at all, Daigo always screams and shouts on discipline, but I believe that this is my contribution to Ghana. I’ve shown the right way to behave as a social person to my students since I came here and now the situation has changed.  

The school is maintained by not only school staff but students; there are several prefects to control over the school and dormitory life. At the beginning of the 3^rd term, the students’ administration changed from JHS-3 to JHS-2, and surprisingly enough the new school leader, Aknosi Kwabena, has started discipline with the hands of JHS-2. I’ve been repeatedly talking about the importance of discipline to colleagues and headmistresses but while they say that it is necessary and we should do it, nothing has happened from teachers’ side and they accuse students without giving discipline, rather they always show them bad examples of behavior. I’ve understood that adults are hopeless. However it occurred from students, I am very happy with it. My struggle with students in the last 1 year and half has got the return in the form of “self-discipline” unexpectedly. That’s a small step for the school, but it would be a giant leap for the Ghana 100 years later. 100 years ago in Japan, after the Meiji Restoration, the Japanese government sent a lot of students to Europe in order to acquire the essence of modernization. And the statement of a student is recorded: “If I rest one day, Japan delays one day”. This is the spirit of Japan. Future is built up by small acts of people living today.

Self-Help

My duty as a volunteer is to bring the wind of modernization to people and help and assist them to develop the country, Ghana. So what’s necessary for us to develop countries? If you just give “completed things” to developing countries (except infrastructure), it doesn’t help development of the country, or rather it could destroy the future of that country. The key word is “the development of people”. First of all you must show the way to go then lead them to the right direction, and lastly you need to bring up people as citizens who have the sense of modernized country. If people are lazy, they can’t develop country; if people are industrious, they can develop country. There is no trick, there is no magic, and there is no shortcut. Development of country is done by people of country.

Here, I would like to introduce you to the book called “SELF-HELP – with illustrations of CHARACTER AND CONDUCT” by Samuel Smiles. This book was translated into Japanese in 1871 as “西国立志編 (Saigoku Rishihen)” by Masanao Nakamura and sold more than 1 million copies by the end of the century. A lot of Japanese at the dawn of new era were so inspired by the words in the book and brought up their spirits and qualities necessary for modernization. So what is necessary? The author Smiles suggested 6 factors as human qualities in the extract below:

Attention, application, accuracy, method, punctuality, and dispatch, are the principal qualities required for the efficient conduct of business of any sort. These, at first sight, may appear to be small matters; and yet they are of essential importance to human happiness, well-being, and usefulness. They are little things, it is true; but human life is made up of comparative trifles. It is the repetition of little acts which constitute not only the sum of human character, but which determine the character of nations. And where men or nations have broken down, it will almost invariably be found that neglect of little things was the rock on which they split. (VIII.12)

(Underlined by D@IGO D@IGO)

I would add, “responsibility, devotion, sincerity, honesty, fairness, and carefulness” to his idea. In fact, they are the words that I always teach my students in my class and the values for Japanese people in life. No wonder that Japan could make modernization on its own in the last 100 years.

Let me introduce a story. The founder of TOYOTA was successful in cotton spinning industry, and when he imagined the future of Japan, he advised his son to challenge the new business to produce cars and gave him the money that he made from the patent of spinning machine ($10,000 at the time, now $100 millions value). It is said that people were opposed to the business that even big companies like Mitsubishi and Mitsui gave up, saying “It’s money down the drain.” The son bought a new car from America and dismantled it and assembled it again, again and again day by day to learn how to make a car. There was no textbook, no help, and no money left for the development of the car, the company had already invested more than 5 times of the first capital. Finally in 1939 September, they made the first domestic car of Japan, and the son, Kiichiro Toyoda, instructed sales people to tell the truth of the car like the following: “Our car is the worst jalopy (bad car) in the world, but this is all domestic, we need to bring up the car industry in Japan. If any inconvenience occurs, we will sincerely repair it immediately, so please give it a try.” As expected, there were so many cases of trouble reported but they devoted themselves to repairs and improvements of the car.

There is no trick, no magic and no shortcut to develop your country, but devotion, sincerity, honesty, fairness, and responsibility to your country by all members of country. The choice is yours.

 

“It’s a Paradise!”

There are many differences between countries and societies because people are different, climate is different, history is different and so on and forth. When you go to a foreign country, you would enjoy differences or be surprised by differences or struggle with differences. I would say that differences are the colors of world; imagine that all society is the same, all people are the same, and the whole world is the same, what color do you see? Well, I don’t say that “monotone” is bad; I like peculiar world in black & white films; I prefer simple combination of colors to showy one of colors. However what are the colors for heaven in your image? Isn’t it colorful? Can you imagine a heaven in black and white? I think differences paint our world and make the world interesting indeed. And also you can say that difference is selection and possibility. Do you want to live in the world without selection of life or possibility for future like slaves? And it does affect human brain in terms of evolution.

However when you are thrown in the midst of different culture for the first time, you would get stunned, puzzled, and confused and some might unconsciously reject or disgust differences of other people. Because we live in our own common sense, norms, or obsession of our own society, so it is very natural that your unconsciousness refuses differences in other culture. Yet you remember, difference is the color of life. It’s better for us to accept the difference and enjoy colors of life. When I was in France, I was really surprised that people work as less as possible and really enjoy their “vacances – vacation”. Vacation for Japanese means “time of rest” while it means time of vacances for French; Japanese live for work whereas French people work for life. There’re differences indeed.

 I always say to my colleague: “Ghana!! It’s a paradise!” We, Japanese, are obsessed by time in our society and sometimes time is more important than life in Japan; if you are not punctual, people see you as lazy. Time is the king of our society. And once you promise, you must keep promise whatever reasons are, otherwise you lose your friends. On the other hand, in Ghana (at leas at my school), time doesn’t exist in our sense, in other words Ghanaians have different sense of time from ours. People have a watch and school has timetable for classes, but nothing happens on time at all. Teachers don’t come to school in time; they don’t start and finish class on time; they have work hour but they go home before the time, and when rain falls they don’t come to school. And promises would be always forgotten in Ghana with the magic words “Oh, I forgot it!” If you excuse yourself like that, people would forgive you in this society. To my eyes, they are pretty lazy but they are normal in this society because everything goes in this manner. It’s a matter of value. They have the different value of time. Although I am used to it little by little, I don’t feel very comfortable with it because I’m obsessed by time. Imagine that you’re in a heaven where time doesn’t exist. Time is one of colors of life while no time is also a different color of life. Which heaven do you prefer to live in?  

By the way what is a “paradise”? According to the “Oxford Advanced Learner’s Dictionary” on my desk, the first definition reads: “A perfect place where people are said to go when they die”. In my understanding paradise and heaven seem the same place. But what does it mean by “perfect”? A perfect place for you and a perfect place for me would be different because we have different cultural backgrounds, namely different values. So is there a paradise for all people? Does a perfect place for all people exist? Maybe, “when we die”, means we can’t enjoy the perfect paradise while we're alive. I’ll enjoy the worldly paradise in Ghana for a while, being lazy without sense of time.

Notice: About Extension

 Hi all,

I let you know that I will extend my stay in Ghana for 3 months, so will continue to work at Savelugu School For The Deaf until the end of December in 2013. I applied for the extension in March and it was approved by the JICA office of Ghana in June. The decision was sent to the headquarter in Tokyo and then went to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Japan. I will go to the Japanese embassy in Accra in order to extend my visa and passport in August. Then the procedure will be completed with the help of JICA staff. I really appreciate it, thank you very much.

I am very happy to stay a little bit longer here in Ghana. I can say that I have fulfilled my duties as a volunteer and achieved to the point as I planed and imagined within the time given. Yet I have some projects ongoing with colleagues and students, so will try to complete “my dreamy job” with my people by the time I leave my adorable Ghana. From now on I will be free from my duty and live in my dream, though needless to say I can’t be free from my obligation as a representative of Japan. This is a Christmas present from Santa Claus for me, so it proves, in me, that if you are a little good boy or girl in life, you will get a gift from Santa Claus:))) Santa Claus does exist!! Ha, ha, ha!!

Automatically this blog will be extended for 3 months, so if you are happy with it, you stick with me; if you are fed up with it, you can leave me. The choice is yours. Thank you very much. As the last note, I thank the God of Ghana for all the phenomena in Ghana. Thank the Almighty.

Coeur,

weareallconnected,

LOVE

D@IGO D@IGO

Imagine - weareallconnected,

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by John Lennon & D@IGO D@IGO (2013)

Imagine there's no Hatred

It's easy if you try

No hypocrisy behind us

Ahead of us only sincerity

Imagine all the people living for truth

Imagine there's no slave

It isn't hard to do

 Nothing to hide or lie for

And discrimination too

Imagine all the people living life in pride

You may say I Have a Dream

But I am not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And the world will be as one

Imagine no superiority

I wonder if you can

No deed for greed or hunger

An integration of man

Imagine all the people connected each other

You may say I am a dreamer

But I am not the only one

I hope someday you'll join us

And weareallconnected,