Teacher's summer school to be spent in Ghana

By Brown Carpenter

Correspondent

Kempsville

Teacher Zach Neumann has a job for the summer. His plan, however, doesn't involve working at a resort or tutoring.

The Larkspur Middle School French instructor will spend almost six weeks in the West African nation of Ghana, where he will teach English.

His task abroad is affiliated with the organization Ghanaian Mothers' Hope.

Before he embarks on July 2, Neumann, 27, hopes to collect children's books to donate to Ghanaian schools. The stories should be in English and geared to children ages 4 to 8.

I'll be teaching in Accra, the capital, for a week and a half," he said. "Then I'll go into rural villages to observe classes where English is taught."

Neumann, a native of Hagerstown, Md., is completing his fifth year as a teacher and his third in Virginia Beach. He lives at the Oceanfront.

"I moved to Virginia Beach for a better job," he said, "and because it's a beach."

This trip is not Neumann's first adventure in Africa. At 18, he spent time in Kenya, on the continent's east coast, where he taught the Bible to mission children.

"It was beautiful," he said. "The people are warm and friendly."

Last year, his parents went to Ghana. His mother taught kindergarten and his father demonstrated construction techniques.

As for books, Neumann says he will take all that are donated to him. "What I can't take with me, I'll give to the Ghanaian mothers group," he said.

If you have books you would like to contribute to Zach Neumann, e-mail him at congodreamer@aol.com. Contributions are tax deductible.

Brown Carpenter, lbcarpent@verizon.net