My Green Book Story by Linda Smittle, a Peace Corps Volunteer

Sitting on a small stone in my front yard, I look up at the expectant faces of eight cherubs ready to listen to a book. I point to the words on the cover and read them in carefully articulated English: “My Green Book by Kathy Knowles.” The children examine the bright eyes and smiling face of the nine-year-old Ghanaian girl on the cover. Her green dress and the green wall behind her confirm the focus for the book.

A tiny cat looks up from his green bowl on the inside title page. The children are delighted; they point to Sanja who is watching us from my courtyard gate. “Cat,” I say, pointing to the photo of the cat and then to Sanja.

“Cat!” they echo back.

My Green Book is from a series of “color” books created for the Osu Children’s Library Fund, an organization that promotes the joy of reading for all in Africa. Kathy Knowles created the Fund and comes to Africa twice a year to promote literacy and libraries.

Each page includes a vividly detailed photograph of everyday items (e.g., a ball, a bucket, a pair of shorts) –usually with Ghanaian children holding or modeling the item. Simple text below each photo teaches or reinforces the English vocabulary. A child’s face in profile with a green bandana wrapped around her hair declares, “The scarf is green.” The photograph on “The leaves are green.” page shows a close-up of a goat munching on tree leaves.

The final pages for each color book are the same: a “Bye-bye” page with three children wearing the given color walking away from the camera followed by an acknowledgment page.

After the children mimic my “Bye-bye green” with a polite wave, we turn to the acknowledgment page.

A small boy in the learning circle points to the picture of the author / photographer, and then points to me. He thinks Kathy Knowles, the smiling face with the camera, is me. The other children nod in agreement.

“My sister,” I say. Using the Ghanaian English term for an individual who is close to you, not necessarily a relative.

They again nod. More vigorously. They understand. Perhaps I have taught the children the concept of “green” or the English word for “coconut.”

And the Ghanaians have expanded my concept of “family.”

We are all related.

I say “bye-bye” to my children.

Like most Peace Corps volunteers, I am learning more than I am teaching.