By Betsy Finklea
Joan Hayes Rocha spoke about her experiences teaching in Africa at the Latta United Methodist Church worship service on Sunday.
Rocha said about five years ago she came to the point where she could take an early retirement. She wanted to continue to be a teacher, but she wanted a different experience. She found her way to Ghana where she taught at a school for girls, St. Francis of Assisi High School. Rocha returned to Dillon and then went back to a boys school, the Xavier Boys School.
Rocha spoke about her life in Ghana. She lives in one room with a concrete floor, a bed with a polyfoam mattress, and her own chamber pot. The others staying at her location are four men, who are pastors. There is no television, no washing machine and dryer, etc. From the airport, it is about an 11 hour ride on a bus, with one rest stop, to her location. She has a small cell phone that she uses to communicate with the outside world. She eats what everybody else eats, and water is a precious resource. Meals are cooked in pots on open fires and often do not include meat because it is expensive. A bicycle is usually her transportation. She said she has never been afraid, and she has never been hurt.
A typical village house is a mud house with a thatch roof. The roads are dusty. Donkeys and chickens roam freely. The country has the third largest gold reserve in the world and a large reserve of oil. Girls are treated as secondary citizens. She said the country is peaceful, and the people love America. She said that most disputes are about land ownership. Rocha said we all have our talents. She said prayer is welcomed. Rocha is the daughter of the late Mary Francis and J. Trus Hayes, Jr. of Dillon.