Heading home soon!

This is most likely my last update on the blog as I leave Ghana next Wednesday, April 18. I will arrive home on Thursday evening. My traveling last week was nice though I would have loved to of seen even more of Ghana. I traveled along the coastal area only, but I did tour the old slave fort in Cape Coast. I have a few pictures below. The main thing I took away from this tour was the drastic contrast between the horror of the dark, cramped slave dungeons below ground and the beautiful white washed wall-fort above ground and glistening ocean surrounding it. The dungeons are everything you would imagine, but the stories that go along with them are the hardest part. There is a pic below that says ‘Door of No Return,’ this is the last door the slaves went through before boarding the ships that took them across the Atlantic and this is the area they usually last saw family members. A few years back, in a symbolic gesture the remains of two Africans that were taken as slaves to America were brought back to the fort and taken back through the door. So now on the other side of the door (the ocean side) there is the sign ‘Door of Return.’ This is a good place to mention that most Ghanaians are very proud of their heritage and are able to trace their ancestors back for many, many generations. Ghana also still has a tribal system, so Ghanaians relate to their tribe and their native language is from their tribe or their region. So this all makes keeping track of your family lineage easier. But sadly, the descendants of Ghanaians captured as slaves are often unable to even track their ancestors back to Ghana, let alone their tribe. The Cape Coast Fort which was controlled by several different European countries through the years also traded sugar, gold, and cocoa. The related trade stories obviously aren’t has horrible as the slave trading, but nevertheless, lets just say that Ghanaians (okay, Africans) have a long history of outsiders coming in a screwing them over!

I also traveled on to a beautiful eco-lodge that my two British, past volunteer friends are managing. It was a crazy, fun, and relaxing time. Also, I am finally getting somewhat comfortable with tro tros. I missed my town and region while gone. Outside of the Volta Region, Ghanaians speak a different native language. Instead of Ewe, they speak Twi. So as a white person, I was no longer Yavu, but Obruni. I found that I actually missed my Ewe people…..at least when they yell out at me on the street, I know what they are saying!

Nothing too exciting for Easter, they mainly only have church on Sunday and then Monday is also a holiday and they have picnics at all the various churches.




Cape coast Castle/fort







The entrance of the tunnel leading to the slave dungeon.






One of the six dungeons. That one window served as their only light.










This is the view from the fort.

An African party and no power

Indi (Good Morning- well at least it is morning while I’m writing)!

Auntie turned 54 last Sunday and it was probably one of the best social events I’ve experienced since I’ve arrived! Auntie and her twin sister, from Accra, hosted an incredible party. They both actually worked really hard all day on their own birthday, but it was a blast and I finally got a chance to help in the kitchen and bond with auntie. From early morning until party time (5pm) they were in the kitchen cooking and preparing, because trying to cook for 30 plus people with only two gas stove burners is difficult. But auntie, her sister, our neighbor-Sister Nancy, and I cranked up some Ghanaian and gospel music, danced, sang and drank beer (that helped) all day while preparing. Auntie finally agreed to let me help with the cooking (I’ve been offering since I arrived-though I’ve been scared she would take me up on it). So I got to join them, sitting on these little stools (no backs and smaller than the chairs in a kindergarten classroom) and was in charge of chopping up vegetables. We (okay, they) made fried rice, salad, fried chicken, kabobs, banku, roasted fish, and of course hot pepper/tomato/onion sauce. The party itself was also a great time (though the preparing was really the best part), about 30 adults and tons of kids attended. We ate and then turned up the music again and had a real, African dance party. Luckily I have a little hint of my mom’s dancing skills, so they were rather impressed that a yavu could actually hold her own on the dance floor with them. The kids loved it, so I had a whole group of small children as my dance partners the whole night! Auntie knows how to throw a party; I was definitely hurting the next morning getting to the 6am bus for school (hangovers in Africa are about five times as bad as home due to the heat and lack of toilets =))!

School officially ended Friday! I was really excited at first, but then got sad this week. I’ve gotten to know some of my students well and really like them. I’m sad to say goodbye to them, but not to the part where I have to try to keep control of a 40-student classroom that is able to speak a language I don’t understand usually! The whole school had finals this week and the teachers were all assigned to monitor certain exams to prevent cheating. In the three exams I monitored, I caught four students with cheat sheets (I’m sure there were more and there was definitely some talking going on)!!! Cheating is bad enough, but when they aren’t even smart enough cheaters to successfully hide a cheat sheet, I have no sympathy! During one of the exams we had a large rain storm with heavy winds (heavy enough that I thought I was back in the tornado-plagued Midwest). I felt so bad for the kids because the classrooms are fully exposed to the outside, they don’t really have walls or windows and just a tin roof. Rain was blowing in from the sides, the roof started leaking in a few spots, and then the one light they have went out due to a power outage. So they were getting wet and as the dark clouds rolled in, the room became almost pitch black for about ten minutes and they couldn’t see their papers, but they were told to keep working! Oh, only in Africa! =)

Speaking of power outages, the rainy season is late in Ghana. That means Lake Volta water levels keep getting lower and that is how the area gets power. So this past week, the government announced and began more frequent light outs (power outages). Instead of the usual every five days having no electricity from 6pm to 6am, it has now changed to every three days (really every 2 ½), and it changes back and forth from being out at night between 6pm to 6am and being out during the day from 6am to 6pm! It is bad! We had our first light out during the day this week. I’m not sure which is worse, day or night light out. At night, it is completely dark except for a few lanterns and difficult to sleep due to the heat. But during the days, some businesses can’t operate, the temperature is really, really hot in the afternoons and there are no fans to provide the small amount of relief they usually offer. Does the human body really adapt to this type of prolonged heat throughout a lifetime? I just wonder how elderly Ghanaians are able to handle the extreme heat with no escape! Maybe this is part of the reason Ghanaian’s lifespan is only 57 years (ours is 77 and the only reason I know this is because I just taught it in class), well it is probably the heat combined with malaria, AIDS, and poor hygiene!

Finally, one of my random Ghanaian comments: the country and especially the Volta Region is predominately Christian and demonstrate this is some overt manners. For instance, the majority of store names have some type of Christian references, for example God’s Glory Fast Food or Jesus Saloon. Some of them are really funny, like the Fear the Lord Electrical Shop (if you saw the electrical supplies they sold you would be in fear). There is also a funny food stand called Clean Hands fast food (uh, thanks for clarifying). Besides stores, the taxis and tro-tros also have large stickers with Christian sayings across the back window, some examples: Love they neighbor, O’ Father, Amen, God’s Will, etc.

I’m traveling to the coast next week for a few days to visit an old slave fort and then some friends, so I should have something interesting to write soon and some more pics. A few of my latest pictures are below. Happy Easter if I don’t get to post before then!

Here is Auntie and her twin sister cooking for their big birthday party.

Here are the little fishies roasting! Besides the two stove burners, this miniature grill is often used to prepare meat.

This is one the views from the shortcut I take each
day from Auntie’s to town.

And this is the little bridge that crosses the stream along the way.

This is one of the roadside food stands, run by Rose who makes fabulous red red.

More pictures

Here is an example of one of the food stand/shacks that I described in the last post. This one is smaller than most, since it isn’t even a room.

This is one of the normal size fast food places…By His Grace

Becky Bruno just sent a fun package with coloring books, crayons, some toys and glitter for the kids at the orphanage. Here they are with one of their glitter creations and glitter all over them! Sometimes it is more fun to put it on yourself, than on paper!

Here is one of the ladies selling produce at the market

Street food and stuff

One of the many great things about Ghana is all the fun food available along the streets. At least every 100 feet there is a vendor selling something to eat and other random items. The most common food items available along the street are bananas, oranges (they squeeze and drink the juice straight from the orange versus peeling and eating-less messy and very refreshing), roasted plantains and yams, mangos, pineapples, nuts, fresh baked bread, and yummy round pieces of fried dough. Then there are also these random little stands that offer meals, such as my favorite fried plantains and beans (called red-red), fried yams and fish, rice and salad, or the more traditional fufu and banku dishes (these mash potatoes-looking, doughy substances that you scoop up stew or sauce with and eat with your fingers-definitely not my favorite). The places that sell meals range from a few sit down restaurants with servers and menus to very small shed-like structures that serve as the kitchen and then you either take your food with you or there is usually a bench outside where you can sit and eat. This is Ghana’s version of fast food. And even more common are the women with just tables set up that serve the food they make in big pots and bring to the roadside to sell. The prices range also with meals at a sit-down restaurant costing around $3 to the fast food that depending on what you get costs less than a dollar usually, and then the ladies along the roadside are the cheapest with meals that cost maybe 50 cents.

My doctor did advise against eating food from the street, but this really is one of the best parts. So far, knock on wood, I haven’t been too sick here (I’m sure I’m jinxing myself right now). I’m really good about avoiding the water and I’m picky about what I do eat from the street (no mystery meat on a stick for me, thank you). But there is a serious lack of refrigeration, so I think it is amazing that I’ve done so well so far! Mayonnaise is supposed to be refrigerated after opening, right?

Also, men (yes, it is always men) ride around on bikes selling ‘ice cream,’ which is really frozen chocolate milk or strawberry yogurt and popsicles. It is like the ice cream truck, but with bicycle horns instead of the catchy music and no chocolate dipped cones. =(

Ghanaian currency is cedis (pronounced seedys); they are paper bills and coins and one US dollar equals 9,000 cedis. The smallest paper bill is 1,000 cedis….so 11 or 12 cents and the largest paper bill that I have seen at least is 20,000 cedis ($2.20).

Hey, does anyone have an inside contact with Dick’s or Johnny Mac’s Sporting Goods? I just emailed them proposals asking for donated recreational equipment (like soccer balls, basketballs, and dart boards, etc) for a HIV/AIDS clinic and recreational support center that we’re trying to establish in town. Thought is was worth a shot to ask.

I’m getting a little better at the local language (it is about time, it has been 2 months), though I’m still fairly bad at it. But I’ve made friends with a few of the women street vendors that I pass daily and they are helping me learn some new words.

I’ve received some really nice emails from people lately! Thank you for thinking about me and checking out the blog to see what is happening in this part of Ghana! In Ewe, Acbecacacaca (Thank you so much)!

TV!!!!!

I traveled this weekend to a town called Kpando, about an hour from mine, to visit some of the other volunteers. Ghana is really a beautiful country! The ride there was a little scary but incredibly scenic. It was scary due to my increasing claustrophobia while riding in the tro-tro’s here or in the back end of covered pick up trucks. Either way, the maximum of people are squeezed in and my morbid thoughts turn to where in the hell are the emergency exits if needed (mostly there is one way in and out). In addition the drivers here are insane! But luckily, the scenery was so beautiful I was distracted from my fear of death (maybe I being a little overdramatic), as the tro-tro climbed up one of the mountain and the whole valley below and Lake Volta were visible.

While in Kpando I visited this great place where pottery is made and sold by local women. They had a huge storeroom full of beautiful pieces that were really inexpensive compared to pottery back home. For example a large serving bowl with cool African etchings for less than $5! Unfortunately (actually fortunately) I couldn’t really buy anything for fear it would all break on the way home.

So not to get into politics here and not to make anyone mad, but wow a lot of people have some bad impressions of our country do to our current international affairs (though there are many that think positively about the US). Everyone has been really nice to me personally, but I have had to get into some debates about the US much more than I’d like with people from all over.

Another thing has happened here this week. Previously a typical evening in the house in which I live would consist of most of us hanging out on the front porch: auntie preparing things to sell; the kids playing, cleaning, or doing homework; me reading or hanging out; and some of the neighbors hanging out chatting. It is quite nice. But now over the past week, this has all sadly changed! Now everyone (except me) sits inside in the previously unused living room, not talking or interacting, just starting like zombies. Have you guessed the culprit? A television!!!! AHHH! Auntie got a television in the house (I told you, it is like the Ritz) and now it dominates most things (plus they turn the volume up as loud as my Grandma J’s TV)! Oh it is so sad, but how interesting for me to watch the effects of TV and see this drastic transition! I can’t blame them, because that is exactly what I would be doing at home too! But, I refuse to watch it here though, I can’t I’m Africa, it is just too weird! Plus, I’ve really enjoyed getting into the habit of reading and hanging outside with friends in the evenings. I have seen some glimpses of their shows though and the acting reminds me of that daytime soap opera, Passions…..but even worse! I have actually watched the West African Idol show just because it is so crazy that American Idol has expanded this far. Some of the people on the show are really talented, but there is an African version of Ryan Seacrest and all the judges replicate ours.

I have only four weeks left until I return home. Sad and excited all at the same time. I have a lot of work that I want to complete here in the next month with the HIV project. The school session is over for the most part next week, so I will have some more time during the week to spend with the HIV NGO and of course with my kids at the orphanage!

The celebration and more random things

First off, today is my brother’s birthday (so wish him a happy birthday if you haven’t already)! Happy Birthday Jeff!

The 50 year celebration was interesting. The big celebrations were in the capitol but in Ho they had some activities at a park/stadium area. The day’s events…marching! It was a competition between the schools in the area to see who had the best marching skills, and then there was also some marching by some police and army officials. Tons of people turned out to watch. Uh, the only I can say is I like fireworks better!

Things are becoming so normal and everyday to me now that I am forgetting the things that seemed so strange and different when I first arrived, but I’m going to try. So here are some more random things about Ghana!

Trash: I don’t think I put this info on here yet. There is no real trash system in place, everyone just throws there trash on the street or into the open sewers that line the roads. They have ‘street cleaners’ (people) who come around and clean up the main streets every once in a while. So surprisingly the streets really don’t get that gross. The trash that is actually collected in some bin or in a waste pile by a stream is burned! Gross, the smell of burning trash is something I won’t miss! I have gotten around the ‘littering’ dilemma by carrying all my trash in my bag and bringing it home at night. The trash collected at our house is taken to one of the few town dumpsters I’ve seen.

Drinking water: I only tried drinking the water here once (a weird, didn't want to offend the village chief scenario) and didn’t have any major problems, but I’m not chancing it. So I drink ‘pure water,' water that has been filtered and treated. They have bottled water, but the water used the most often (because it is the most common to find and really cheap) is in a bag! It is a little plastic bag that holds 500mL (see the pic below), I’ve heard these are common in Mexico too. It helps cut down on the volume of litter, but the empty bags are everywhere! One pure water costs pennies.

African clothes: Many people (especially women) still wear clothes made with the traditional African cloth and style. The women’s clothes are quite beautiful, I’ll have to get more pictures of these types of outfits. The men wear anything usually but some wear shirts made from the cloth and occasionally I’ll see a man (usually older) with just the cloth wrapped around him…kind of like a toga. Even if women don’t wear the traditional clothes they usually wear skirts or dresses, though I have seen a number of pants. Every once in a while I’ll see a group of young girls that dress very western, but to the extreme, like they’ve seen one too many Jay Z videos! They really stand out here among all the other women.

White people image: So this is the part I really dislike, many of the people I have encountered assume all white people are rich! Relatively speaking, anyone from a developed country is rich compared to a number of people here, but not to the level they are assuming. It is like all white people are Bill Gates or own five cars. I feel the impression intensifies when I tell people where I’m from…which honestly I only do if asked. As a volunteer this really bothers me because no one really gets the fact that I have no income, just expenses for three months and that maybe I really don’t have a lot of money. I feel guilty not being able to give people money when they ask.

USA: I’m sure many people have an opinion or an idea of the US. Here, it is usually that it is a paradise country where all your dreams come true. I guess this has been a thought that has been true throughout recent history and I’m sure that is what my own ancestors thought……aaaahhh, the American Dream. We have a great country, with amazing opportunities for everyone, don’t get me wrong but the hard work and struggles that take place to achieve those dreams don’t seem as obvious to folks here. For example, people seem shocked to hear that the US has poor people or even worse homeless people! I don’t really see any homeless people in Ho; everyone just kind of helps each other even though no one really has a lot of anything.

Also I’ve never traveled abroad so this experience, interacting with Ghanaians and the other volunteers from Europe mainly, is really teaching me about the US. I had no idea how closely other countries follow our politics, watch our movies, or listen to our music….it is really weird!

Oh yeah, the other thing they have: West African Idol! Okay, globalization has gone too far!

Pure water.

This is just one of the businesses run by carrying it on your head. This lady walks around town offering convenient pedicures and manicures wherever, whenever!

And of course, I couldn't get through a post, without a wonderful picture of the beautiful kids at the orphanage. They just got done having a little party for the 50 year celebration. The other yevu in the pic is Emily, one of the Danish volunteers with my group. She came by to hang out with the kids while she was in town.

50 years of independence......

Well, it has been a strange week full of lots of emotions and ups and downs. There has been an overwhelming amount of sadness and death this past week, but then happiness too. Last week I went to the hospital with the HIV project to see one of the little girls I’m responsible for visiting. She was there for about one week due to some nasty sores that developed in her mouth and prevented her from eating. She is only five and it was hard to watch her in pain while they forced her to eat. Another little girl with AIDS that I visited my first week here died two weeks ago (I think I mentioned that already, she was ten and it was a huge shock). Well, her grandmother, who had been caring for her, came in to the HIV office this past Friday while I was the only one there at the time. So I talked with her and just let her cry; it was horribly sad and yes of course I cried! She had been buying the normal anti-retroviral medicine plus an expensive herbal medicine for the girl and really thought that this would be the cure. That visit really hit me hard, then on top of that, one of the little boys that lives at my house just lost his mother. She had breast cancer and that is why he has been staying with us, he was just told last night. People here don’t always show sad emotions as quickly as I’m use to and little boys are especially expected just to be tough, so it was heart breaking to see him cry and just look so vulnerable. The lady was a good friend of aunties as well, so it was a sad day around here.

The HIV project has been hard, for the above examples, but also because there is a serious lack of funding for the group and yet so many things they need. They only have 2 staff members and I think neither of them really get paid very often or much at all. They have over 60 clients in the area (people with HIV/AIDS) that they visit and try to support . The majority of these people don’t have enough money to buy the treatment drugs, proper nutritious food, and see the doctor when necessary. I think I mentioned the family that has three HIV positive members, they have to pick one to focus all the resources on and the other two go without medical attention and treatment. There also is a lot of educational and awareness work to be done due to unsafe practices and a great amount of HIV-related stigma that causes suffering for people living with AIDS. Besides trying to help identify some potential funding agencies and writing some proposals, I have also just started looking into starting a project with the group to create a sustainable source of money. Many of the group’s clients have great craft skills, making clothes, jewelry and kente cloth (the traditional African cloth), so we are looking into setting up a website to sell these items and trying to link up with some of the fair trade organizations (like Plowsharing in St. Louis) that sell these types of items from developing countries around the world. Who knows if this will work out, but it is worth a shot, any amount of money coming to these people can help.

I took my third group of kids from the orphanage out this Saturday. I discovered they have a fairly decent library near the orphanage, so I got a membership and took the kids there to check out a book for the week. I was surprised by how much they liked it; we actually sat there for nearly an hour while they read books and then found one to take. There is a picture below of the group I took out with me. The little one is Elolo, the boy I mentioned before who is four but looks maybe two from severe undernourishment in the past. For part of our walk I carried him like a real African woman….on my back secured by a piece of cloth wrapped around us. I’ll have to get a picture of that sometime. We got lots of looks; the locals really got a kick out of it….a yevu carrying a baby on her back! I get the same looks when they see me doing my wash, well looks and offers to help because I apparently still don’t do it right (washing by hand is challenging)!

Again, March 6 is Ghana’s independence day….50 years of freedom! Some of my students asked this week about the ‘age’ of the US and thought it was so cool that the US gained their independence from Britain too, just like Ghana did 50 years ago. I only teach Monday this week and then have the rest off for the holiday!!! On Tuesday I am taking some of the kids to the celebration festival in town. I don’t think there will be any fireworks here, but lots of marching and hopefully some fun music!

Here are some random pics!

I eat a lot of tomato based stews and sauces, this is how they make them. Smashing the tomatoes with a stone!

Here's a close-up shot!

This is an area by my house, it is along a short cut path I take into town. Kind of looks like paradise, huh? Too bad I had to cut out the large heap of trash in the lower left hand corner!!!!!!

The kids I took into town this past Saturday! We're at a place near the market enjoying some drinks. Their bottles say Guinness, but don't worry, it is a non-alcoholic malt energy drink that people here love!

This is one of the girls doing her wash (aka laundry), most people stand like this and bend over to do it! Yikes! I always find a seat somewhere, but still I don't look this graceful when doing mine!

The mountain hike

I survived the mountain hike (in case you were worried)! Here are some pictures from the trip. The whole trip took over four hours! I wasn't able to get to the town as early as I hoped, so it was very hot and I saw no monkeys...sad. But it was amazing regardless. I went with a guide and he was hard to keep up with given he does this hike on a daily basis. There were about five areas where ropes were needed in order to climb up the steep rocks (see the pic below). It was one of the most physically challenging things I have done in a long time and halfway up I thought I wouldn't make it to the top. But I kept going and it was beautiful and a cool experience!





This is the view from town
(this is when I began to think I was crazy)!










View from the start of the trail. We went to
the very top peak.









This is one of the rope climbing areas,
this was about 2 1/2 hours into the trip and
I was at the bottom questioning my ability to
make it up this one, but I did!










Here I am at the top, very tired
and sweaty! The village below
is from where I took the first pic.










The trail on the way up was filled with lots of banana trees!

More church, my offenses, and Angelina Jolie (ha, no I didn't see her)

I've added some more pictures below this post to convey what Ghana looks like, more of the kids, and some showing what the schools look like! Tomorrow, I am taking my first official sightseeing trip! It is just to a place less than ½ an hour from my home, but it is one of the mountains in Volta Region (these are really just large, large hills) where there is guided hiking to the top of the mountain and the possibility of seeing some monkeys in the forest! Wish me luck, the hike ranges between 2-4 hours roundtrip and I am going to try to get there early in the morning so I don’t pass out from heat exhaustion!!! =)

I haven’t been back to the kids' church, but I do keep getting invited to attend church with other people. One man that I always seem to run into on the street has been trying to get me to attend the Church of Latter Day Saints (the Mormon church) and I keep putting him off. But finally last week, I felt bad turning down his offer because he was very helpful in getting me a ride to a nearby town when I was completely confused at the tro tro (bus) station. So I agreed to meet him at his church last Sunday. One problem though, I thought I knew where the church was, I didn’t. I asked three people on the street for directions and they all pointed to the same church. So I entered this one church thinking I would see my friend and a bunch of the white Mormon missionaries that I always see around town, but no, it wasn’t the right church, it was a Catholic church. Of course, I didn’t realize this until after I entered the church and then felt bad getting up to leave, so I stayed. Plus I’m use to a Catholic service….uh, normally, this one was entirely in Ewe and probably about halfway through when I entered the church. I was expecting some kneeling, standing, sitting, etc but for the two hours I sat there I heard what I think was a sermon and then an hour of a song lesson (after an hour, I still couldn’t sing the song)! I eventually couldn’t handle it anymore and just got up and left and of course, everyone stared! One cool thing, all the women wore these beautiful white veils over there hair during the mass…kind of like nuns, but with such gorgeous material, it made me want to have one too! I don’t know if it was offensive that I wasn’t wearing one, but that couldn’t have been any more offensive than the fact that I didn’t realize I was suppose to remove my shoes at the door or that I sat on what I think was the side of church for boys only! Oops!

I started taking my orphan friends out on the weekends. It is hard at the orphanage during the week to give all of them the individual attention that they are craving since there are so many of them. So, I take three of them at a time on Saturdays and walk into town, look around at the market, and buy them each an ice cream and soda. You would think I was buying them something amazing, they love it. But of course, choosing which three get to go each week causes a little chaos, but I try to be random and make them pick numbers and assure them that everyone will get to go eventually. The vendors at the market get a kick out of seeing a yevu with so many little Ghanaian children and like to ask me if they’re mine. Maybe they think I am Angelina Jolie…you know without the tall, supermodel looks and a hot male companion, named Brad!

I also have made friends with a fun young British couple from London who also volunteer with DiVOG; they have been here 5 months. They live in a village in the Volta region working on building an IT center. They are married, quit their jobs, sold most of their things (I believe) to come to Ghana and volunteer, travel, and maybe go on to South America, which of course I think is very inspiring and is very adventurous to do especially as a couple! They are going to be ending their volunteer time in the next month or so and then heading to Ghana’s coast to manage an eco-lodge (that has sea turtles!) for several months. So, they have invited me to come down and visit the place; I am very excited to see the lodge and beach! I think all the volunteers get fun, random questions about our homes from the Ghanaians, but Maria and David asked me their own fun questions about my living in the US, such as, do I know any famous people and how many have I’ve seen? Yep, we have tons of them in the Midwest, don’t we? (Sorry David and Maria if you are reading this, it was just too cute not to share!).

Ghana will be celebrating 50 years of independence on March 6, so hopefully I be able to share some of their celebrations with you soon!

I have had a few people ask about things that they could send to be helpful, honestly, the kids at the orphanage need a lot. Storybooks for ages maybe 12 and below would be great, and workbooks to help them with all forms of math and practicing writing their English (their spelling is really bad) are also needed. I have an address directly to the orphanage and some shipping info that I will post next time if anyone is interested. Thank you to everyone that already donated stuff before I left; the kids have been devouring the coloring books (thank you Kathy!), crayons, and pencils. I bought some kids books from Goodwill before I left, but they really do need more.

Hope everyone is doing well! Miss you!

Pics of Ho

Here are few pics around town. So last Sunday, the street by my house was really quiet and not a lot of people were around, so I got these first two shots of what the stores and really what the town itself looks like. These little shacks line the street with people selling things, the only difference is there are usually lots of people...the shops are closed since it was a Sunday.

More pics of the kids

Here are some more pictures of the kids at my orphanage...they all like to to group in together for these pics!

Pictures of the school

Here are some pics of one of the elementary schools in a nearby village called Kpedze (pronounced Pedjay...you know just how it looks). This is not the school I teach in, but it is very similar, all the buildings are open to let air blow in, we have no electricity, old/crappy desks like these that some kids share (two or three to a desk), and the good ol' black board and chalk!

Pics from the orphanage

Here are a few pics from the orphanage. The first is the whole group of kids with Sister Bernice, her sister, and mom who run the home. Then we have Elolo, Noble, and Matilda. I'm not sure about their poses???? I have more to share later.

Teaching, church, and color

I am in the full swing of teaching as part of my volunteer work. Again, I am teaching biology to high school level students. I have five classes throughout Monday through Thursday. So, wow, teaching really is hard! I give all my teacher friends that much more credit. Teaching in this setting is really hard as well for many reasons. One the kids are caned and are now used to being caned. The teachers have actually stated numerous times to me that the kids can’t learn if they are not caned, because they are not disciplined enough to want to learn. Many of the teachers are fairly intense with this discipline. They will cane students for very minor things in my opinion, for example, it is common to cane students for not being able to answer a question in class or for performing poorly on an assignment (talk about pressure)! You all know me well, so I have no problem speaking my mind on this issue to the other teachers, but after so many conversations, it's just exhausting. Many of the teachers actually agree caning isn’t the best approach (oh, did I mention it is illegal in the country) and know the psychological research on the issue, but they feel they have no other way to control the students (though some have stopped). Unfortunately, the kids don’t have many incentives to do well other than not being caned. The grades kids earn in class on homework, quizzes, and test only represent 30% of their grades and the other 70% comes from one test at the end of the semester. Additionally, if they fail a class most will never have to repeat the course before going on to the next level. Because, most times the school won’t even try to hold them back if they have passed other classes and their parents have to sign a form agreeing their child should repeat the class, which means they have to pay more money, so they don't sign it. Overall these kids don’t have to try hard during the school year, they can just hang out and keep moving through the system until they are done. Now most of us were probably motivated to do well in school to be able to get into college, in Ghana grades in high school are a very minor component of what universities look at for acceptance, mostly acceptance is based on a national exam taken at the end of high school.

So all this said, I’m trying to find ways to motivate my kids…..ways that don’t involve beating them! So far, I think I’m new and different enough to hold their attention (at least enough to make it through a class period), but I have had a few that are testing me. I just hate having to mean to kids and man, they are little cheats!

Anyways, what I am really enjoying here is the work I do with the orphans. I am including a few pictures of the kids at the orphanage (there are around 16 or so). They are great! I went to church with all of them this past Sunday. My first time to church here in Ghana and I have been wanting to experience it. We went to a Pentecostal church but I think the experience is the same as other denominations here. We got to church at 8:30am and left at 12:30 (and it was still going on, but I think they felt sorry for me, so we got to leave early)! Now, Sister Bernice (the lady that runs the orphanage; she isn’t a nun, that is just how they refer to people often…I’m sister Alicia) told me service normally only last THREE hours and they don’t usually ask for money FIVE times! The majority of the service was basically us being forced (yes, forced) to walk up and give money! But they were fundraising for a special project going on this week, so I think maybe three offerings may be the norm. The music and singing was the best part and completely fit the stereotypical African church setting…we were dancing and clapping for at least an hour, it was wonderful! Then, the other really good part was that during the singing and parts of the service, people would come up to the front and collapse on the floor and usually scream or thrash around. Now, when I first saw this, I thought we needed to call 911 (of course that doesn’t exist here), but then Sister Bernice informed me this was normal. These people are having the Holy Spirit enter their bodies and drive the demons out, so there is much struggle in their bodies as the spirits fight. There were probably about five or so people that had the Holy Spirit take over their bodies…but only during the singing and offering times, never during the sermon…..now I am religious and believe this could happen, but I find the timing and the number of times it occurred interesting and why doesn’t this ever happen in my church? Anyways, there is also a women who the Holy Spirit overtakes and she prophesizes…this I was interested in..but she spoke in Ewe not English. All Sister Bernice translated was that God was mad that they hadn’t been fasting and they were supposed to for five days. [2011 UPDATED NOTE: It is interesting for me to read back over my blog posts several years later. So much has happened in my life and walk with God since the time of this original post. The fact that I even used the word 'religious' in describing myself makes me cringe and is telling of the place I was in when writing this. I'm not going to lie, that church experience is still suspect to me since much of it was very showy, but I also have much more awareness and awe of how the Holy Spirit can manifest.]

The HIV work is also going well, though teaching is taking me away from doing more. I'm trying to help this group raise some money, because they have none coming in and there are many people in the area needing food and meds. Four of the group's patients died this past week so everyone is really down. One of the three little girls I visited the first week also passed away. It was a big surprise to me, she had been attending school everyday. Education on HIV/AIDS occurs, but there still is little behavior and attitude change about transmission.

I know this is getting long, but a lot happens in one week. This should be no big surprise, but this experience has already been such a huge learning opportunity about the color of skin. Now, I have always felt that I am a very open person and would like to think I see people as people, not defined by the color of their skin. But being here, I am truly starting to see people as people. Not that I ever defined someone by their skin, but the visual difference is always there, even though it means nothing. But here, I only see a few white people throughout the week, so mainly everyone I see is black and there aren’t a lot of mirrors or windows around for me to see my own reflection (which is good because I am without a hairdryer and make-up, yikes). So for me, black skin is the norm and I don’t think of people here as black, not white, they are just the people I live with and are my friends. Essentially, I see no difference between everyone here and myself (you know other than they can squat and pee anywhere and don’t mind bucket showers), but when they look at me, they see the difference! This is the part that is the eye opener for me. I see them as the same as me, but they see me as different from them (and it makes me sad). I stand out in the crowd, I don’t look like everyone else, so people often stare at me. I get a lot of attention for being white. This attention can be considered as positive (even if it is being asked for money), random people simply want to talk to me or be able to email me, some of the kids want to touch me, etc. My difference and the fascination I cause is sometimes uncomfortable to me and I often get frustrated because people only see my skin color! Most people don’t want to talk to me because of me, it is often just because I am white. More and more I wish that the Ghanaians wouldn’t see my color when they look at me. So you see, I feel being here has reversed things. Now, I am feeling this way even though the reaction to my skin and difference is positive and friendly, I can’t even imagine what it would be like for this reaction to be opposite, such as it has been with racism in the US. My situation I know can’t even compare to what people with other skin colors have experienced with racism, I’m not trying to compare, I just have gotten this little taste of what it is like to viewed and treated in a certain way based on my skin and it is teaching me a lot about myself.

So these are my thoughts….I am happy I’m here, but miss you all and I miss my cell phone (well, kind of)!!!=)

I hope everyone is well and thanks for checking in on me!

Random info from Ghana!

Life in Ghana is good! I am busy with my many volunteer placements and learning more about my area and the culture. I've seen two funeral processions so far and they are amazing, tons of cars driving very slow like in a parade, honking, and people walk along side of them and then there is usually a truck with the back end full of guys playing trumpets and drums and then they end up partying, singing and dancing all night and some I've go all weekend!!

I know most of you are experiencing snow and I've heard a high in the 20s that seems wonderful! Well, it is hot, hot, hot here! I sweat a lot and it is gross, I take two showers a day but could probably use more! It doesn't seem that the Ghanaians sweat anywhere to the amount I do, which just makes me feel really gross! But I am working on a nice tan!

I have a bunch of random things about Ghana that I want to share to try to describe the region and my time here.

I’m a yavu! So, yavu is the Ewe (the local language of this region) word for white person. I probably hear this word easily 100 times a day. People call it out when I (or other white people) walk down the street. Children do it the most, but sometimes adults are just as bad when trying to get my attention. It is not meant to be disrespectful, it is just the truth, I’m a white person and it does get my attention. The kids will scream it from far distances just to get me to wave to them, some will run up and hug, and oh there are the few that are scared of white people. The adults do it because they usually want me to stop and talk, tell them my name or try to greet me in Ewe, but I’m still really bad with their language and they usually just laugh at me.

My house-so I don’t think I covered a whole lot on this front. I live with one of the volunteer coordinator’s (Richard) aunt, who I creatively call auntie. She is married but her husband lives in some village and only comes to visit every once in a while. I’ve yet to meet him. Auntie has taken in two kids to help raise them, it seems she has done this a lot over the years, she also helped raise Richard. She also has live in house help, which appears common here. The girl is only in high school though and her parents don’t live in the area. I included a picture of the house, like most places here, it is set up as a compound (don’t think Waco), so auntie has the main house with the toilet and shower (and most importantly a great front porch that is the local hang out), and then there are about 10-12 rooms around the house that she rents out. Most of them are literally just single rooms.

The more I hear from other volunteers from this group, the happier I am about my living arrangement. First off, I live in a relatively large town (called Ho) where all the other volunteers live in small, small villages. A few don’t have electricity, and most all of them don’t have running water, which means bathing with a bucket and outdoor toilets. I have running water and an indoor toilet, it is like Africa’s version of the Ritz! Now, you may be thinking oh I should experience the village life, no I am perfectly okay experiencing Ghana in Ho. I travel Monday through Thursday to teach in a small village 30 minutes from Ho with no running water….so I’m experiencing enough. I also will be traveling to a number of other small villages throughout my time here. Plus, even in Ho it is completely clear that I am living in a developing country.

My town- Ho is a busy, busy place, but not anywhere nearly as crazy as the capitol. It is the main business center in the region and they have a huge market day every four days, so people from neighboring small villages travel to town to buy there food and spices, etc. Actually, for some of these people, market day is the only time they can get a taxi or tro tro at a reasonable price or at all. The market sells tons of food, but also a bunch other random things like shoes, cloth, soap, etc. The African cloth here is beautiful and can be bought and taken to a seamstress to have clothes made for a really cheap price, something around $5-9 US dollars (but here paying that much for most things seems like a lot of money). Not many people have their own cars, but I have seen a few and really question what business they’re in, given the lack of money here! Most seem like government officials maybe. So everyone else relies on walking, tro tros (the little bus that has to be a major safety hazard) or taxis. Let me tell you these taxis are crazy (actually all drivers here are maniacs). They are these run down cars from late 80, maybe early 90s and they are everywhere in Ho. I think I came all the way to Africa, just to be hit by a taxi! There aren’t always real sidewalks so people are always walking along the sides of the road and the taxis just speed along honking for pedestrians to get out of the way. They also honk to alert people that they are coming and see if you want a ride. So there is a lot of honking going on constantly. Luckily auntie’s house is located in a less populated side of town and is touched back away from the main roads.

Bathrooms: People have actually emailed asking about this...so here you go! You have to refer to the restroom here as toilet or people just stare. Well, regular restrooms are hard to come by outside of my house. The popular theme here is the ‘ladies urinal.’ Okay, men reading this probably don’t have a clue…but ladies, come on, who thought this concept was a good idea? This may be way too much detail, but these experiences pain me and I have to convey my experience. So sometimes, maybe it is a closed in room with a drain, that is the best, but many times, like at my school, it is a pile of rocks with three walls around it, no door and no toilet paper! Typically in the real ‘toilets’ there is old newspaper or an old book to use. I know I should really embrace this idea more, given it is recycling and conserving, but I’m not quite there yet! But again, all this is much better than the small villages with outdoor toilets and there a number of disgusting stories I've heard about these places!

Food: The food so far is really good. They use lots of spice, but mainly it is just really hot spices. Common breakfast is sweet bread and tea or coffee. Most all other meals are served with some type of meat (chicken, fish, or goat) or with beans and sauce. The fish can either be fresh or dry. I can’t eat the dry fish, though I’m trying to be open to everything, but this I can’t even swallow without gagging. It is extremely fish and I’ve seen the numerous fish vendors in market and walking on the street. They sell the whole fish (including the head--ANGEL, you understand this) and it just sits in the sun and heat for hours. Besides meat, there is always a lot of really starchy, filling things like rice, yams (which I enjoy; taste similar to potatoes), plantains (by far my favorite), then they also have these very traditional fillers: fufu and banku. They take cassava and corn for the second and mashed them, no cooking involved, until it becomes this sticky dough texture. They are used to scoop up food and the sauce and are supposed to be swallowed not chewed. Banku I can handle, but fufu is an acquired taste. The sauces usually have a tomato base.

Hand washing: As I mentioned before, using the left hand for many things like greeting, waving, and eating is a big no-no. Eating all food with your fingers and eating from the same plate/bowl as other is custom here (but they usually give the yavus there own and forks), so they make a big deal about washing your right hand first before dining. But here is the thing, they only take a bowl of water and rinse their hand. I’ve seen people use soap when washing their hands rarely, this includes after someone uses the restroom. It is also disturbing to me because everything is very dirty here due to the dry season and lot of dust blowing in the air. To make matters worse, there is no hot water. There are too many public health issues here to even let my mind give them to much thought. Sorry for any Ghanaian reading this, it is not meant to be offensive, just an observation!

Light out: The electricity source of the Volta Region of Ghana (where I live) is Lake Volta and the lake is at low water levels due to less than normal rain last year, so there is concern over having enough water to serve the region’s energy needs. To help conserve, the government has put in place a black out or what they call light out here, every five days from 6pm to 6am the next day, we have no electricity. It is not much fun on these nights though a few places in town have generators. It is dark by 7pm and on these nights I may be in bed by 8pm! Electricity is a really, really nice thing! So is air conditioning……oh how I miss it!

Thanks to everyone for the fun emails and updates! I'm sorry if I haven't been able to respond to you yet, but please know that I love reading them all and I'm very appreciative!

A few pictures from my house, town and the last one is from a nearby village we visited this week

Two weeks in!

I'm finally able to post again! Well, I'm feeling more and more at home here in Ghana. My first week I began work with a non-profit HIV/AIDS group that does care and support activities. They have about 80 families they visit in and around my town, Ho. I went on three trips to visit, all of which involved little children infected with HIV. The hardest part about this is that these people lack the money to buy the drugs to help treat them and the proper food, I feel like I should just open up my purse and dump out everything that is inside. I did already give away some cortisone cream I had for mosquito bites. One of the little girls has some kind of rash on her arms and can't go to school because of it. The mom hasn't been able to buy any cream to treat it. Also, it is amazing and unbelievably frustrating that so many people are very behind in HIV/AIDS education.

I also started this week teaching at a high school in a small village 30 minutes from Ho. I teach 5 classes Mon-Thurs in biology. I didn't really think this would be a great job for me, but the education system here is lacking. Many teachers don't show up for class on a regular basis. When this happens, there is no substitute teacher, the kids just sit there for an hour! So I think I may actually be a fairly good teacher, relatively speaking. The kids are fun so far...though I spent half of each class doing introductions and answering their questions about the US. Being asked my age, if I'm married (or why I'm not married), and if I have kids is getting a little old. The kids in their high school (called senior secondary school) range from 13-over 20 years old. They go for three years and at the end take national exams. Apparently, this school only has a 20% pass rate on the exams....it is a real problem. Also, I've talked a lot about caning this week. Caning....as in hitting kids with a stick. Yep, they do it, though luckily I haven't seen it. I've heard some other volunteers in other schools have started crying when they see it. So the Peace corps girl working at the school (and now me) have been talking about that maybe that isn't the best approach to getting kids to learn. A couple of the teachers have actually stopped doing it!

Then in the evenings I have been spending a couple hours at one of the orphanages. There are about 15 kids ranging in age from 5 to 15. I help them a lot with there homework, have them read to me, and have been making them practice math problems. They eat it up, I always have a hard time leaving at night because there are too many of them to give enough attention. But I love these kids already, so, so cute! My favorite is a little boy named Elolo....pics to come.

I made it, I'm in Ghana!

YAY! I wanted to write much sooner than this, but I have had the hardest time with the internet here, but I think I've figured it out! I've been in Ghana only five days now and don't know what to say! It is wonderful, but a little scary! The flight(s) were fine, but long. I arrived in Ghana's capitol, Accra late Thursday night and was greeted by two of the volunteer coordinators. The airport arrival area is a crazy place! I wasn't sure where I was going at first and panicked for a moment thinking they had forgotten about me! But I found my Disaster Volunteers of Ghana (DiVOG) friends, Richard and Mypa outside waiting along with proabably 100 other people waiting for friends. People were everywhere outside waiting, some brought blankets and food. I guess with customs you never know how long it will take.

Stayed in a hotel that night in Accra. No running water, just a bucket of water for my bath! =) Welcome to Africa! Accra is a very busy place, with lots of people everywhere and people selling things all over the streets and yes, the women here carry everything on their heads! It is absolutely amazing!!! I saw a girl with at least 6 cases of soda on her head! Their strength and efficiency is unbelievable!

Made it to my town, the Ho District, by taking a tro-tro or bus (but is really like a winnebago) stuffed full of people for 2 1/2 hours. At all the villages along the way, women sell bread, water, oranges, all kinds of stuff on the side of the road; the bus just pulls over occasionally for the passengers to hand money out the window.

The country is beautiful! It is the dry season and it is very dry. They have a yearly event, the harmattan, where sand from the Sahara desert blows in a hangs in the air, forming almost a cloud of dust that lessens visibility and isn't fun to breathe, but it is almost over. Unfortunately, that means the sun will be that much more intense and it is getting hotter each day I am here.

While it is very dry and there really isn't any grass, the trees and other vegetation are beautiful! It looks more like a jungle intermixed with some Serengeti-like plains. And my town is surrounded by beautiful hills and trees. The people are wonderful, so friendly and welcoming! They do speak english but speak to each other in their local language, Ewe. They've tried to teach me the common greetings...but so far I haven't picked it up at all. All I know is the word for white person because I hear everywhere I go. They don't mean this is a bad way. The kids call it out when we walk by to get our attention and to wave at them.

I have one other volunteer staying in the same house as me, Katherine, she is part of a Danish group that has been here for almost 3 months. They leave next week though! Katherine has been a blessing. I ask her all kinds of questions and she shares what she has learned. A different group of Danish volunteers are also here and arrived 2 weeks ago but are all in a town an hour from here. I will be on my own soon, but I am staying with the coordinators aunt and the DiVOG office is next door, so I am in good company!

This place is extremely safe...much safer than home! People don't use locks and walking around at dark is no different than day time. Okay, I have much more to share, but this is already too long. I will write more this weekend. I have started my jobs already and that will have to be its own message! A few random things about Ghana, using your left hand to greet or hand someone something is offensive (I'm working really hard on that), many people have cell phones in town, they have absolutely no infrastructure in place for waste disposal, I do have running water in my house (though it is cold showers), they listen to some American music (a little taste of home), and there are goats everywhere!

I miss you all and would love emails to keep me company!
Alicia