Well I have now been away from home for 3 weeks. It feels like it has been a lot longer then that！It is almost as though I have not been in Canada forever, I feel as though I am forgetting what it is like at times. I forget what it is to smell the spring buds on the trees. I forget what the cold spring mornings feel like… in fact I just forget what it feels like to be cold! It is so ridiculously hot here! I actually cannot believe how people can survive in this heat! Especially those who are pregnant! I have a new admiration for pregnant ladies!
I was finally beginning to get settled into a routine and a rhythm in Accra. I had formed a mini family unit with the other volunteers I was living with, and I was finally beginning to feel comfortable in the city. I was getting the hang of the tro tro’s, I knew where the best places to get different things were. It was finally beginning to feel like home. However just as I left my friends and family in Canada to come to Ghana I then had to leave my new found friends and mini family unit to move to my new home in the little village of Obodan. I know I had told everyone I was living in Fotobi, and I really thought I was. Imagine my surprise when I get told that I am actually living in an even smaller village next door to Fotobi. I have to say it is probably the smallest village I have ever seen before. But it does make Fotobi seem like a booming metropolis =) And Fotobi is only a 15 minute walk down the road, so it is not to far to find some more people.
My first impressions of Obodan – The scenery is absolutely breath taking! There are huge hills/mountains covered in all different kinds of trees and plant life. It is green pretty much everywhere you look! Contrasted to the breathtaking scenery is the desperate poverty of the houses in the village. Mud walls and sheds made of branches. There are a few roads like the roads we have at home (well dirt country roads at home), but between houses and when you go up different lanes you can no longer really call them roads, they are more like treacherous lanes. If you are not careful you can easily twist an ankle in a pothole. I am scared to see the state of these lanes when the rainy season truly gets under way! Despite the poverty that seems especially intense in Fotobi and Obodan the people are some of the happiest and most welcoming people I have ever seen before in my life! It makes me wonder why we cannot be so happy and welcoming in Canada when we have been blessed with such abundance. Why are we so hesitant to share with those around us and help others in need when we have more then we need. People here will do whatever they can to welcome others, and help those around them, even when it means giving away their portion of food for the day. How did we loose this in Canada? It is truly disgraceful that we are so self centered and hoard so much when there are so many around us in need. And I am not just talking about those in other countries who are in need. Those in Canada, people in our own backyard so to speak, are living in poverty and going hungry. Over 15,000 Canadian families occasionally have nothing to eat. We should take a lesson from the Ghanaians who have so little financially, yet are abundant in community spirit.
Some other things that I have noticed in my first week of living in Obodan… Animals are everywhere! Honestly, I am not exaggerating when I say they wander freely wherever they want to go. Chickens, dogs, packs of goats and even sometimes cows just wandering throughout the town. It will be strange to go back home to Canada and not hear animals all the time, or to be able to cross the road without having to wait for the goats to cross first =) The stars here are also incredibly stunning! There are basically no street lights for miles around which makes it an ideal place to star gaze! Unfortunately I cannot see the big dipper, but it is really nice to know that the moon I see at night is the same moon that everyone back at home will be seeing later that evening. It is refreshing to remember that when feeling a little home sick far away from home. It is nice to have something that connects you back to those you love at home. If it were not for the mosquitoes I would be out every night stargazing!
While on the topic of mosquitoes, my friend Nick who is living in Fotobi (only a 20 minute walk from my place to his) managed to get malaria before being here for a full 2 weeks! Thursday I got a text message saying he has malaria. Thank you very much Nick, you know the way to worry me and get me stressed out! Thankfully he lives in the same house as a girl names Isabella who took very good care of him! She was the one who insisted he go to the clinic. Thank goodness she did because by the time he made it to the clinic he felt as though he had been hit by a bus! I am also very thankful that the health care system at the clinic was much faster the then one we have in Canada! Within 15 minutes of arriving a Doctor had Nick in a room hooked up to IV to re-hydrate him and was sticking him with all these needles. It was very epic! Nick said it was like watching ER except he was the patient. The doctor was shouting to nurses to bring IV’s stat and ordering others around to get vaccinations ready… it sounded very intense! After becoming a pin cushion for all the different needles and after laying there for a few hours trying to become re-hydrated Nick was sent back home to Fotobi. I walked down to see him after school on Thursday and could not believe how weak he looked! I had seen him the night before and he looked fine, infact he looked better then fine. Within less then 24 hours Malaria had wiped him of his strength. He could not even put his own shoes on when he was leaving the hospital. So I am now even more aware of the mosquitoes and a little nervous about them! I am very relieved that I have a bug net to sleep under! Hopefully that will help keep them at bay!
I was supposed to be living with a host family in Fotobi/Obodan, however it turns out that I am living at the school. They have a dorm area for girls who are boarding students, and they also have another area for three female teachers to live. So I have my own room and am only about a 1 minute walk to work. It can be really nice at times, but also a little trying sometimes because you never really get a change of scenery. There is a indoor bathroom which is very nice, though it is a little different from the ones at home. You have to go next door to the shower room to fill up a bucket of water to poor into the toilet afterwards because it doesn’t flush. It makes something that is so simple at home take so much longer and seem like so much more of an ordeal! There are also no lights in the washroom or the shower room, which makes going to the bathroom at night very exciting! It gets dark here about 6:20 or so… you can imagine the rest.
I have a neighbour who lives across the hall from me. Her name is Anita and she is by far the biggest sweetheart! She has really taken me under her wing and done everything in her power to make me feel as at home as possible. She is doing her year of national service (in Ghana after you graduate University you have to do a mandatory year of national service – you get sent somewhere in the country and given a job for the year and are provided with small living allowances). She teaches life skills at the school and has been acting as the dorm Matron. She is in her early twenties and we have become good friends already. She also introduced me to all of the other teachers at the school. And by all of the teachers I mean the ones who teach full time. There are a bunch of teachers who only come in when their subject is being taught so it is easy to miss them if you teach at the same time or you are off doing something else. There is a large population of young teachers at the school though. There are 3 young guy teachers who live about a 5 minute walk from the school who Anita is very good friends with and they are starting to become very good friends of mine as well. I am beginning to form yet another little mini sub family. And thankfully this one I will not have to be torn apart from until I leave! I do not think I could go through being torn away another time! This first week in Obodan has been a week of hard adjustment, lack of sleep (it has been WAY to hot at night and I have no fan in my room!) and homesickness. However it is getting better as time goes on, and before I know it Obodan will feel like home.
Things in Ghana are very different from things in Canada. I am beginning to feel almost as if I went to another world instead of just around it. Not only are daily activities different, but also a lot of attitudes towards different things. The whole attitude that women cannot do anything for themselves is really starting to drive me crazy! This weekend we came back to Accra to visit with Amelie and to get Nick a place with AC for the weekend so he could just relax and recuperate from his bout of Malaria (I have decided that he is now Mosquito Man or Malaria Man). Friday night I went to meet Amelie so we could go and see a possible new place for her to live and then I could bring her back to the hotel (there is no way she would find it on her own). When I met up with her she was also with her friend Stephane (he also goes to University of Ottawa and is here volunteering for the summer) and his friend Eco who lives just down the road from his host family. Everything was fine until we were walking down the road to go to see Stephane’s house. Eco then decided I could not carry my own bag and that it is a mans duty to not only carry the bags but also to walk on the outside of the road in order to protect the woman. I am a very independent person, and I do not mind when guys help me to carry things, but I do mind when they do it because it is ‘a mans duty’ or ‘women cannot do it for themselves’. This is just one example of this attitude, but I have run into it many other times, and each time it gets harder to deal with.
Another attitude towards women that I am having an extremely hard time dealing with is that when women are raped it is their fault. No blame is given to the men here, it must have somehow been the woman’s fault. “It is because she wore that mini skirt” “It is her fault because she went to his house” “It is her fault she was out walking at night”. No matter what the situation is the women get blamed for it! Even when girls get raped in school by male teachers the girls often get expelled (if they become pregnant) and the teachers simply stay where they are or sometimes are suspended for a month and then transferred to another school. This is absolutely ridiculous! How does anyone expect anything to change if the women are going to always be blamed for everything? It is not the women’s fault that the men cannot control their sexual urges or their lust for power and control! I heard a very disturbing stat the other day – 50% of women’s first sexual experiences in Ghana are forced upon them. It is absolutely dumbfounding! Amelie is working at with Ghana’s National Education Campaign and told me about one meeting she attended when they were discussing a case of one girl who was raped by a teacher at her school, impregnated and then kicked out of school because she was pregnant. The teacher was no punished at all. The case itself infuriated me, but what made it even worse was the response of one of the men who works with the National Education Campaign. He went on and on and on about how it was clearly the girls fault and she deserved to be expelled because it was her fault she was raped in the first place. These attitudes towards women are extremely frustrating and will definitely be struggle for me this summer!
Another thing I am going to struggle with this summer is the different attitudes towards teaching and punishments in the schools. The education system in Ghana is a huge issue. On paper it may seem as though the system is doing well. On paper there is one teacher for every 35 students, but in reality there is often one teacher for every 100-200 students. On any given day 20% of teachers just do not show up to school to teach. Schools cannot work this way and students definitely struggle to get what they need to succeed in this broken system. There are also very few if any school inspections and when there are inspectors around they do not have a list of what they should be looking for. Many teachers here have also not been paid in over a year, and as a result they not only have to teach, but they have to do something else to gain income to feed themselves and their families. Punishments within the school are something that I have already started to struggle with. On Friday I was in the teacher’s room at the school working on a class plan when one of the students came in to hand an assignment to the other English teacher. I did not follow the conversation that followed because it was in Twi, however I knew that for some reason Giftie (the other teacher) was not happy. She then sent the student out to kneel on the ground (which was concrete). I had no idea what was going on, and did not know how to ask. Eventually I got up to courage and in the most respectful way I could I asked why the girl was kneeling on the ground outside. I was told she had brought her assignment late and this was her punishment. Giftie then asked “what else could I do, she has to be punished somehow.” I probably looked absolutely dumbfounded (because I was!) One of the other teachers asked me what punishments we have in Canada. The only things I could think of were losing marks if you hand in an assignment late, or getting detention if you misbehave, or if it is really bad you would have been sent to the principles office. But there was never a physical punishment! I know that I will not be able to physically punish students, and I am really going to have a hard time seeing other teachers do it.
Wow, so now that you know everything I am having a hard time with, I will share more about what I do at the school. I am teaching English which I think I am really going to enjoy doing. I taught my first class this past week (I was not supposed to teach the class but the other English teacher did not show up so it fell to me to teach). It went well and I had a lot of fun with the girls. I think they were a little taken aback at first because I was a lot more laid back then the other English teacher usually is. I tried to make class fun and always smiled and tried to get them to laugh. By the end of class there were only 3 or 4 students who were not smiling and laughing with me. I was also very upfront about the fact that they will probably have a hard time understanding me at times, and I will probably also have a hard time understanding them. So we will all have to be patient with each other and probably repeat things a lot of the time. I taught them about past tense and future time, and then gave them an assignment. All in all it went well and most of them seemed to understand everything. Those who did not do so well on the assignment were probably the ones who did not take notes when I told them to write certain things down… I guess something’s do not change even when you go to the other side of the world.
I am also the new secretary at the school and do a bunch of computer and administration work for them. It is not to exciting, but is needs to be done. However I do think that the headmaster thinks I have more computer skills then I really do because he asked me the other day to design a crazy schedule on the computer and I have no idea how to go about it! We will see how that goes next week.
I am also the new librarian. Ok, so one day I will be the librarian, I first have to build them a library. Currently they have a very small space that is just crammed full with books with no particular rhyme or reason to how it is done. They refer to it as a reading room and they want me to take it and transform it into a library with organized sections and a whole catalogue of what books they have. It is a huge project and I know it will keep me very busy for most of the summer. I am going to another senior secondary school that is more established sometime this week in order to see their library and the system they use to organize it. I am hoping that will give me some ideas, because I am feeling a little out of my league at the moment.
A funny story from Obodan; I was in the library on Friday trying to organize some of the books into subject sections. I looked up, and much to my surprise I saw a chicken! A chicken had wandered into my library. I was unsure what to do so I decided to leave it alone (as I said before chickens kind of just run wild around here). Next thing I knew the silly chicken started to try to peck at the walls of the library! (the walls are made of metal). The poor chicken was so stunned he started to stumble backwards; his whole body was probably vibrating. And then… the stupid chicken pooped on the floor of my library! It is absolutely hilarious to think back on, but I was so stunned at the time I did not know what to do with myself! I shooed it out of the library, but still could not believe that he had pooped on the floor! I knew at that moment that I was a long way of home!
It is very funny to go walking down the road in the village. All of the kids get so excited to see me. I thought that I was called Obruni a lot on Accra, but I think the kids of Obodan are giving the people of Accra a run for their money! I cannot walk down the road without being followed by kids who all want to touch my skin. I do not think Ｉhave ever felt so popular before in my whole life =)
I also find it very funny that Anita has a TV in her room at the school and sometimes when we are hanging out at night she will turn it on and shows like Friends and the Cosby Show. It is funny to be so far away from home in a little village in Africa and be able to watch Friends (granted it is a very fuzzy version, but it is still Friends). It is also very funny to be listening to the radio hearing some sweet African music and then to hear songs from back home. You cannot get away from North American culture even when you move to a village of 200 in Africa.
I am still getting settled into life in Obodan, but before I know it I am sure it will feel like home!
Monday, May 25, 2009
Thursday, May 7, 2009
Akwaaba!
Akwaaba is by far the phrase I have heard the most while being here in Ghana! It means welcome, and I have never felt more welcomed by a groups of people/country before! From the moment I stepped off the plane I was greeted with a sea of smile. This will forever be the lasting first impression I have of Ghana. I was met at the airport by a man named Fred who then took me on a crazy adventure to get to the guest house where I am living until the 18th. It was a very interesting introduction to the country. The driving here is absolutely crazy! I do not know if people actually realize that there are two sides of the road one for each direction for traffic! People drive where ever they want to and often just barely miss having huge collisions. Some roads are in fairly good conditions, however overall most of the roads are in a state of disrepair and more often then not you feel as though you are off roding. There are also people everywhere you look! always people hanging out by the sides of the road and when you are driving there are constantly people coming up to your window trying to sell you something. I am constantly blown away by the fact that the women here can carry anything and everything on their heads, and most of them do it while also balancing a baby on their back! I am in awe of the balance!
I was the first of the WUSC volunteers to arrive in Ghana so I was alone that night at the guest house. It was a very overwhelming feeling of loneliness that I was not expecting! I do not know why I had not prepared myself for i, I usually adjust very quickly to new situations and just figured I would be so busy that I would not really have time to over think things. This however was not the case. I was dropped off at the guest house at 7 and then left alone there. This gave me way to much time to think! I also was unsure about the proper etiquette of staying in a guest house. Was i supposed to just stay in my room? Should I wander outside and talk to people? I stayed in my room for a while, but eventually was so stir crazy for someone to talk to I went on an adventure to explore the compound. I ran into Ben the man who owns the guest house and ended up chatting to him for the longest time. He is the nicest man and the best comparrison I have for you to give you an idea of what he looks like and how he acts is Bill Cosby from the Cosby show. He is the nicest man! He gave me a Ghanaian name. I am now Akua Katie (because I was born on a Wednesday). He told me a lot about Ghana and made me feel very at home.
The next day I came to WUSC offices and met everyone who works there. Then Fred and I went out to go change some of my money and to buy me some food. It feels so strange to be the only white person anywhere here. Some of the little children who have never seen a white person before do not know if they should run away or towards me haha. Cries of 'Obruni' seem to follow wherever I go. It means white person. I have also learned how to say No, it is Dabbi. There are a few more phrases but I do not know how to spell them and do not want to butcher the Twi language so I will fill you in when I get the spellings for them.
After going out with Fred for the day I went back to the guest house and yet again had way to much time to simply sit and think. I ended up working myself up to the point where I felt sick and ended up curling up on my giant bed (honestly I have never seen a bigger bed in my whole life) and falling asleep. I think my body was just overtired and a little messed up from the long plane rides and time changes. I felt a little better when I woke up, however still felt lonely, anxious and as if I wanted to catch the next plane home. However after sitting down for a moment and weighing my options to either let my loneliness get me down or to buck up, put a smile on my face and put myself out there until I began to feel more at home. I chose the later option and am so grateful I did. Not long after this another girl arrived from Ottawa. Her name is Amelie and we immediately became friends! It is so nice to have someone who is going through the same adjustment period, and understands what you are feeling! We stayed up talking most of the night and both went to bed glad to know there was someone else in the same boat.
Yesterday we took an excursion out to see the village I will be living and working in. I met the director of FAWE and she was so kind and welcoming that I know I will be well cared for this summer. The journey out to Fotobi took about an hour from Accra, and at time the roads were so bad I felt as if the car was going to break =S There is a larger city/town close to my village (7 km) away I think. It is called Naswam and it is where I will be going to get any supplies I need while I am in Fotobi. When we were driving out there were to many animals walking down the sides of the road - goats, cows (which are mush different from the cows at home), chickens and so much more! We began to drive by a lot of shack like structures, houses made from scrap metal or tree branches, some that only had three walls instead of four. I was beginning to get a little worried about the living conditions that I would find myself in for the summer. I can rough it with the best of them, but I was not sure how it would work with a family and me in an area as big as half of my room at school and only three walls. However I kept reminding myself that it is all part of the adventure and if I did find myself in that situation I could make it work, and in Hindsight it is really only 3 and a half months of my life right? Just another adventure, just another part of the journey. As we got into Fotobi we stopped at the FAWE offices. I was able to meet a lot of the people who work there and get a feeling for what it is they do. I found out more about how the organization first began and how it has been transformed over the years in Ghana. It used to be located in the capital city (ACCRA) but was moved out to the country because they wanted to start a radio station and could only get a license if they moved the operation out into the country. The radio station is to promote education of girls, and the men who were doing the shows when I was there were extremely funny. I look forward to working with them and maybe even learning more about how a radio station works! In Ghana it is law that if you have an FM radio station you also have a security guard on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is due to the fact that if there were to ever be a political coup they do not want them to be able to capture a radio station as a means of communicating with others involved or as a way of gaining more support. I would have never thought about that, but it makes so much sense! At the offices they also have a huge library of resources pertaining to women and HIV/AIDS. Apparently many people in University who study these topics travel here to do their research. Julianna the director said that I would be welcome to use the resources anytime I would like, so I may be able to do some really interesting school work while here.
After we saw the FAWE offices we drove down the road for a while (maybe 5 minutes) to get to the school I am gong to be working at. It is an all girls Senior high school so most of the girls are anywhere from 13 - 17. There are 104 students enrolled right now. Right now the students are in the middle of their exams so they are just studying around the school. I met the headmaster and he gave me a tour around the school building. There are 4 classrooms and a room that they are turning into a library. I found out that on top of teaching English (which I may be doing by myself now...eeek!) I will also be organizing the library and creating a cataloguing system, etc. This will be very exciting since I have never before in my life taught English or organized a library. I have no idea what I am getting myself into, but I am sure it will all work out in the end. =) I met some of the senior girls who were studying in one of the classrooms. Here whenever a teacher or someone who is an elder or in a position of authority walks into the classroom they all stand up. They also have developed the skill of speaking in unison and it really threw me off at first. I was told later that they always do this and that it is a sign of respect. We have definitely lost a lot of the acts of showing respect in Canada (Western culture in general). When I was being introduced to the class they were told that I was from Canada and had just finished my second year of University. I was then asked how old I was - I was dreading this question! When they found out I was only 19 there was a lot of talking all at once. I think that some of the girls are probably 18 if not 19 themselves even though the majority are only 17. Still that is only two years younger then me and I can see why they would be a little shocked that I was so young. I wonder how they will react to me being a teacher? I really hope that I am working with a teacher who is already there and not having to come up with my own lesson plans! What do you teach in high school English? I do not know what to do with them! But, I will figure it out when I need to... I am sure it will all work out! =)
After seeing the school building itself I got to go and see the dormitories where the some of the girls live. There are also three rooms just for the teachers of the school. I found out that I am able to stay at the school. So no host family for me, however I am very excited for the chance to live with the girls! It will almost be like I am at camp again! I really hope that I am able to become friends with them and they do not see me as just being a teacher. But I will cross that bridge when it comes! I was also able to meet two ladies who cook for the school and was told that they would be able to help me get everything I need to cook this summer, or they would be able to make food for me. It is a huge relief to know that there are people around who will be able to help and give me some advice! Also the main cook has the cutest girl! I am very excited to get to know her this summer!
Behind the school there is the most breathtaking view! there are huge hills almost like mountains covered in beautiful trees and other crazy vegetation. I think there may also be a small community on the mountain, I think I saw some fields/gardens half way up the side. Who knows, I will figure out more when I move there. =)
I was also told that there is a local King/chief who lives close by who I will be taken to see when I move out to the village. How crazy is that? I am going to go meet a king!! There are also some of the worlds best botanical gardens not to far from where I will be, so I am sure at least one trip will be taken there!
After visiting the school we needed to head back into Accra, however instead of having a driver we decided to use the transit system. We caught a taxi from the offices into Naswam. Although I do not think it was really a taxi, more like a bus car type thing... part way to the village a random man hopped into the back seat next to me. It really took me aback! I was not expecting it at all! it was very funny! He kept trying to guess what my Ghanaian name would be and was convinced I would have been born on a Sunday or Monday. Both Kereen (a woman who works for WUSC in Ghana) and this man were shocked when I said "No, my name is Akua Katie". They were so excited that I knew what my Ghanaian name was! After that the man became fascinated with my white skin and he kept rubbing my arm and then rubbing his as if comparing our skin. Then he kept rubbing my arm... I think he was trying to see if the white would rub off. It was very funny! He was so amazed I wonder if I was one of the first white people he has ever seen...
One thing that I did notice as we were driving back to Naswam was the drastic poverty that exists. We drove by a garbage dump at the side of the rode and there were people there searching through it for whatever they could salvage. It almost broke my heart. Fred told me later that Ghana is a very peaceful country, the only problem with it is the extreme poverty. I am not sure why there is such abject poverty, but I am determined to come to understand the situation more fully while I am living amongst it this summer! It is hard to see such poverty and neglect in a world that has so much! There are such imbalances and I do not know how we have become so self centered in the world that we either do not see the suffering around us or we choose to ignore it. I am not trying to claim that I have the answers to 'fix' the world, but I do know that we cannot continue to go on living as we are, simply focusing on ourselves and turning a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow human beings. They have a proverb in Ghana - "every human life is worth more then gold" We have moved to far away from this way of life. We need to remember that at the centre of everyone we are human. Despite all of our physical or ideological differences we are all human and as such we are more precious then gold. When we learn to treat everyone as if they are more important then gold the world will be a much happier, equal and peaceful place!
When we arrived in Naswam we hopped into a trotro (van like buses that do not have scheduled stops, people jump in and out as they want to and just hand there money to someone near the front of the vehicle. The one we took back to Accra city centre had 21 people in it at one point. These vans were not made for 21 people! I have never been so packed into a vehicle before! Especially not on such a hot day!! After we made it to the city centre we hopped onto another tro tro to take us to the Haatso pare of town where the WUSC offices and our guest house are located. I am having a very hard time trying to understand the tro tro system, though I know I have to learn it so I can get back to the city for some weekends! I am hoping that Nick is good with directions though so that there will be two of us figuring it out together!
Once we made it back to Haatso Amelie, Fred and myself went on another great adventure to the Medina section of the city. Here we bought cell phones and then went wandering into the market. This market takes the prize for being the largest market I have ever seen in my whole life! It was so full of the most random and interesting things! I am pretty sure that you could get anything you could ever need at this market! Fred took us to meet his Aunt who sells Cassava in the market. It was very nice to meet more of his family and explore more of what the city is truly like. If Fred had not been there with us I do not think we would have been able to find our way out! There are so many back alleyways and twists and turns! It is truly a remarkable place, and as always everyone was very welcoming. Ghana is by far the most hospitable place I have ever been to! After Amelie saw the food in the market - a lot of sea food and meat just sitting out in the sun she has decided to become a vegetarian for the summer. However we quickly realized that vegetarianism is unheard of in Ghana and most people think you are very strange if you do not eat meat. Meat is usually involved in every meal in some way or another. Good luck with that this summer Amelie!
Last night Amelie and I were finally able to sleep through the night! Every night that I have been here so far there has been a stupid rooster who is determined to wake me up at least every 30 minutes! I thought it was kind of funny the first night, but after that I was not amused. I was sleep deprived and it was making it hard to be upbeat and happy when placed into new situations that pushed me in certain ways. Thankfully last night the rooster did not make an appearance and then only thing that woke me up was my alarm this morning.
I have moved rooms to share one with Amelie because Nick is coming tonight and needs a room. Today we have discovered that we also have a third roommate - a little lizard that we have decided to name Kwakum (because we found him on Wednesday night and in Ghana if you are a male and born on a Wednesday you are called Kwakum). He is very cute... and we hope he has a large appetite for bugs! Another thing that I have noticed about Ghana is that they are a very religious culture. Everywhere you look there are verses from the bible or some other religious expression or reminder. Amelie and I are also rooming with Jesus. Across from the bed on the wall above the bathroom door is a large picture of Jesus. So I actually have 3 roommates now - Amelie, Kwakum and Jesus. I hope we do not gain any more roommates otherwise we will not fit into the room!
When Amelie and I were walking to offices this morning we thought we were going to die of heat! Not only was it super hot it was also super humid! When we checked the temperature it turned out to be 42 degrees with the humidity! How crazy is that?!?! 42 degrees!! We were basically melting! We decided that this was as good of a time as any to go on an excursion by ourselves so that we could feel a little more independent. We walked to the bank, then to the money exchange place. After that we took our lives in our hands running across the road to go to the little stand where Fred had taken me before to get food. The lady recognized me and was very patient with us while we were trying to order. However she did look at Amelie as if she had two heads when she said she did not want any chicken with hers. After getting our food we wandered across the street to buy some credits for our new phones. The men who were helping us at the stand were so kind! They explained everything to us. Phones here are much different from phones at home! But now we have cellphones that have credit and work to call internationally. It is also only 15 cents a minute! crazy! It is so nice to know that home is only a phone call away!
While we were out on our excursion this afternoon the sky began to get extremely dark. Even though ti was only 1 in the afternoon it looked as if it were dusk. On our way home we got stuck in our first Ghana thunderstorm, and to top it off we got lost! So Amelie and I were running around in the torrential down pour trying to find out way home to our guest house. It turns out we had walked to far back down the road and had missed our street completely! Thankfully some very nice Ghanaian men who were carpenters let us take shelter under their shops overhang until the rain slowed down a little. By the time we made it back to the guest house I was sompletelydrenched from head to toe and was covered in red mud fom the roads. However it was an adventure that neither Amelie or I will foget!
Today walking around Amelie and I have both never felt so looked at in our entire lives. Everywhere we went we were followed by cat calls and blatent stares. I am so grateful that Amelie is here with be though so I am not walking alone. I think that eventualy I will be ok walking by myself in the city, but not for a few more days. Though I am starting to pick up some of the local Twi language which does make me feel a little more comfortable.
These past few days have been quiet the adventure! I am excited to see what the future holds and what new adventures tomorrow will bring! I am very quickly falling in love with this new culture I am in the middle of, and have a feeling that despite how hard it is adjusting to this new culture it will be even harder to leave it come August.
Bubye for now! (that is how you say good bye in Ghana!)
Oh, and in the spirit of spring in Canada (the season to begin cutting the grass) be thankful for your lawnmowers! Here they cut grass by hand with machetties!
I was the first of the WUSC volunteers to arrive in Ghana so I was alone that night at the guest house. It was a very overwhelming feeling of loneliness that I was not expecting! I do not know why I had not prepared myself for i, I usually adjust very quickly to new situations and just figured I would be so busy that I would not really have time to over think things. This however was not the case. I was dropped off at the guest house at 7 and then left alone there. This gave me way to much time to think! I also was unsure about the proper etiquette of staying in a guest house. Was i supposed to just stay in my room? Should I wander outside and talk to people? I stayed in my room for a while, but eventually was so stir crazy for someone to talk to I went on an adventure to explore the compound. I ran into Ben the man who owns the guest house and ended up chatting to him for the longest time. He is the nicest man and the best comparrison I have for you to give you an idea of what he looks like and how he acts is Bill Cosby from the Cosby show. He is the nicest man! He gave me a Ghanaian name. I am now Akua Katie (because I was born on a Wednesday). He told me a lot about Ghana and made me feel very at home.
The next day I came to WUSC offices and met everyone who works there. Then Fred and I went out to go change some of my money and to buy me some food. It feels so strange to be the only white person anywhere here. Some of the little children who have never seen a white person before do not know if they should run away or towards me haha. Cries of 'Obruni' seem to follow wherever I go. It means white person. I have also learned how to say No, it is Dabbi. There are a few more phrases but I do not know how to spell them and do not want to butcher the Twi language so I will fill you in when I get the spellings for them.
After going out with Fred for the day I went back to the guest house and yet again had way to much time to simply sit and think. I ended up working myself up to the point where I felt sick and ended up curling up on my giant bed (honestly I have never seen a bigger bed in my whole life) and falling asleep. I think my body was just overtired and a little messed up from the long plane rides and time changes. I felt a little better when I woke up, however still felt lonely, anxious and as if I wanted to catch the next plane home. However after sitting down for a moment and weighing my options to either let my loneliness get me down or to buck up, put a smile on my face and put myself out there until I began to feel more at home. I chose the later option and am so grateful I did. Not long after this another girl arrived from Ottawa. Her name is Amelie and we immediately became friends! It is so nice to have someone who is going through the same adjustment period, and understands what you are feeling! We stayed up talking most of the night and both went to bed glad to know there was someone else in the same boat.
Yesterday we took an excursion out to see the village I will be living and working in. I met the director of FAWE and she was so kind and welcoming that I know I will be well cared for this summer. The journey out to Fotobi took about an hour from Accra, and at time the roads were so bad I felt as if the car was going to break =S There is a larger city/town close to my village (7 km) away I think. It is called Naswam and it is where I will be going to get any supplies I need while I am in Fotobi. When we were driving out there were to many animals walking down the sides of the road - goats, cows (which are mush different from the cows at home), chickens and so much more! We began to drive by a lot of shack like structures, houses made from scrap metal or tree branches, some that only had three walls instead of four. I was beginning to get a little worried about the living conditions that I would find myself in for the summer. I can rough it with the best of them, but I was not sure how it would work with a family and me in an area as big as half of my room at school and only three walls. However I kept reminding myself that it is all part of the adventure and if I did find myself in that situation I could make it work, and in Hindsight it is really only 3 and a half months of my life right? Just another adventure, just another part of the journey. As we got into Fotobi we stopped at the FAWE offices. I was able to meet a lot of the people who work there and get a feeling for what it is they do. I found out more about how the organization first began and how it has been transformed over the years in Ghana. It used to be located in the capital city (ACCRA) but was moved out to the country because they wanted to start a radio station and could only get a license if they moved the operation out into the country. The radio station is to promote education of girls, and the men who were doing the shows when I was there were extremely funny. I look forward to working with them and maybe even learning more about how a radio station works! In Ghana it is law that if you have an FM radio station you also have a security guard on duty 24 hours a day 7 days a week. This is due to the fact that if there were to ever be a political coup they do not want them to be able to capture a radio station as a means of communicating with others involved or as a way of gaining more support. I would have never thought about that, but it makes so much sense! At the offices they also have a huge library of resources pertaining to women and HIV/AIDS. Apparently many people in University who study these topics travel here to do their research. Julianna the director said that I would be welcome to use the resources anytime I would like, so I may be able to do some really interesting school work while here.
After we saw the FAWE offices we drove down the road for a while (maybe 5 minutes) to get to the school I am gong to be working at. It is an all girls Senior high school so most of the girls are anywhere from 13 - 17. There are 104 students enrolled right now. Right now the students are in the middle of their exams so they are just studying around the school. I met the headmaster and he gave me a tour around the school building. There are 4 classrooms and a room that they are turning into a library. I found out that on top of teaching English (which I may be doing by myself now...eeek!) I will also be organizing the library and creating a cataloguing system, etc. This will be very exciting since I have never before in my life taught English or organized a library. I have no idea what I am getting myself into, but I am sure it will all work out in the end. =) I met some of the senior girls who were studying in one of the classrooms. Here whenever a teacher or someone who is an elder or in a position of authority walks into the classroom they all stand up. They also have developed the skill of speaking in unison and it really threw me off at first. I was told later that they always do this and that it is a sign of respect. We have definitely lost a lot of the acts of showing respect in Canada (Western culture in general). When I was being introduced to the class they were told that I was from Canada and had just finished my second year of University. I was then asked how old I was - I was dreading this question! When they found out I was only 19 there was a lot of talking all at once. I think that some of the girls are probably 18 if not 19 themselves even though the majority are only 17. Still that is only two years younger then me and I can see why they would be a little shocked that I was so young. I wonder how they will react to me being a teacher? I really hope that I am working with a teacher who is already there and not having to come up with my own lesson plans! What do you teach in high school English? I do not know what to do with them! But, I will figure it out when I need to... I am sure it will all work out! =)
After seeing the school building itself I got to go and see the dormitories where the some of the girls live. There are also three rooms just for the teachers of the school. I found out that I am able to stay at the school. So no host family for me, however I am very excited for the chance to live with the girls! It will almost be like I am at camp again! I really hope that I am able to become friends with them and they do not see me as just being a teacher. But I will cross that bridge when it comes! I was also able to meet two ladies who cook for the school and was told that they would be able to help me get everything I need to cook this summer, or they would be able to make food for me. It is a huge relief to know that there are people around who will be able to help and give me some advice! Also the main cook has the cutest girl! I am very excited to get to know her this summer!
Behind the school there is the most breathtaking view! there are huge hills almost like mountains covered in beautiful trees and other crazy vegetation. I think there may also be a small community on the mountain, I think I saw some fields/gardens half way up the side. Who knows, I will figure out more when I move there. =)
I was also told that there is a local King/chief who lives close by who I will be taken to see when I move out to the village. How crazy is that? I am going to go meet a king!! There are also some of the worlds best botanical gardens not to far from where I will be, so I am sure at least one trip will be taken there!
After visiting the school we needed to head back into Accra, however instead of having a driver we decided to use the transit system. We caught a taxi from the offices into Naswam. Although I do not think it was really a taxi, more like a bus car type thing... part way to the village a random man hopped into the back seat next to me. It really took me aback! I was not expecting it at all! it was very funny! He kept trying to guess what my Ghanaian name would be and was convinced I would have been born on a Sunday or Monday. Both Kereen (a woman who works for WUSC in Ghana) and this man were shocked when I said "No, my name is Akua Katie". They were so excited that I knew what my Ghanaian name was! After that the man became fascinated with my white skin and he kept rubbing my arm and then rubbing his as if comparing our skin. Then he kept rubbing my arm... I think he was trying to see if the white would rub off. It was very funny! He was so amazed I wonder if I was one of the first white people he has ever seen...
One thing that I did notice as we were driving back to Naswam was the drastic poverty that exists. We drove by a garbage dump at the side of the rode and there were people there searching through it for whatever they could salvage. It almost broke my heart. Fred told me later that Ghana is a very peaceful country, the only problem with it is the extreme poverty. I am not sure why there is such abject poverty, but I am determined to come to understand the situation more fully while I am living amongst it this summer! It is hard to see such poverty and neglect in a world that has so much! There are such imbalances and I do not know how we have become so self centered in the world that we either do not see the suffering around us or we choose to ignore it. I am not trying to claim that I have the answers to 'fix' the world, but I do know that we cannot continue to go on living as we are, simply focusing on ourselves and turning a blind eye to the suffering of our fellow human beings. They have a proverb in Ghana - "every human life is worth more then gold" We have moved to far away from this way of life. We need to remember that at the centre of everyone we are human. Despite all of our physical or ideological differences we are all human and as such we are more precious then gold. When we learn to treat everyone as if they are more important then gold the world will be a much happier, equal and peaceful place!
When we arrived in Naswam we hopped into a trotro (van like buses that do not have scheduled stops, people jump in and out as they want to and just hand there money to someone near the front of the vehicle. The one we took back to Accra city centre had 21 people in it at one point. These vans were not made for 21 people! I have never been so packed into a vehicle before! Especially not on such a hot day!! After we made it to the city centre we hopped onto another tro tro to take us to the Haatso pare of town where the WUSC offices and our guest house are located. I am having a very hard time trying to understand the tro tro system, though I know I have to learn it so I can get back to the city for some weekends! I am hoping that Nick is good with directions though so that there will be two of us figuring it out together!
Once we made it back to Haatso Amelie, Fred and myself went on another great adventure to the Medina section of the city. Here we bought cell phones and then went wandering into the market. This market takes the prize for being the largest market I have ever seen in my whole life! It was so full of the most random and interesting things! I am pretty sure that you could get anything you could ever need at this market! Fred took us to meet his Aunt who sells Cassava in the market. It was very nice to meet more of his family and explore more of what the city is truly like. If Fred had not been there with us I do not think we would have been able to find our way out! There are so many back alleyways and twists and turns! It is truly a remarkable place, and as always everyone was very welcoming. Ghana is by far the most hospitable place I have ever been to! After Amelie saw the food in the market - a lot of sea food and meat just sitting out in the sun she has decided to become a vegetarian for the summer. However we quickly realized that vegetarianism is unheard of in Ghana and most people think you are very strange if you do not eat meat. Meat is usually involved in every meal in some way or another. Good luck with that this summer Amelie!
Last night Amelie and I were finally able to sleep through the night! Every night that I have been here so far there has been a stupid rooster who is determined to wake me up at least every 30 minutes! I thought it was kind of funny the first night, but after that I was not amused. I was sleep deprived and it was making it hard to be upbeat and happy when placed into new situations that pushed me in certain ways. Thankfully last night the rooster did not make an appearance and then only thing that woke me up was my alarm this morning.
I have moved rooms to share one with Amelie because Nick is coming tonight and needs a room. Today we have discovered that we also have a third roommate - a little lizard that we have decided to name Kwakum (because we found him on Wednesday night and in Ghana if you are a male and born on a Wednesday you are called Kwakum). He is very cute... and we hope he has a large appetite for bugs! Another thing that I have noticed about Ghana is that they are a very religious culture. Everywhere you look there are verses from the bible or some other religious expression or reminder. Amelie and I are also rooming with Jesus. Across from the bed on the wall above the bathroom door is a large picture of Jesus. So I actually have 3 roommates now - Amelie, Kwakum and Jesus. I hope we do not gain any more roommates otherwise we will not fit into the room!
When Amelie and I were walking to offices this morning we thought we were going to die of heat! Not only was it super hot it was also super humid! When we checked the temperature it turned out to be 42 degrees with the humidity! How crazy is that?!?! 42 degrees!! We were basically melting! We decided that this was as good of a time as any to go on an excursion by ourselves so that we could feel a little more independent. We walked to the bank, then to the money exchange place. After that we took our lives in our hands running across the road to go to the little stand where Fred had taken me before to get food. The lady recognized me and was very patient with us while we were trying to order. However she did look at Amelie as if she had two heads when she said she did not want any chicken with hers. After getting our food we wandered across the street to buy some credits for our new phones. The men who were helping us at the stand were so kind! They explained everything to us. Phones here are much different from phones at home! But now we have cellphones that have credit and work to call internationally. It is also only 15 cents a minute! crazy! It is so nice to know that home is only a phone call away!
While we were out on our excursion this afternoon the sky began to get extremely dark. Even though ti was only 1 in the afternoon it looked as if it were dusk. On our way home we got stuck in our first Ghana thunderstorm, and to top it off we got lost! So Amelie and I were running around in the torrential down pour trying to find out way home to our guest house. It turns out we had walked to far back down the road and had missed our street completely! Thankfully some very nice Ghanaian men who were carpenters let us take shelter under their shops overhang until the rain slowed down a little. By the time we made it back to the guest house I was sompletelydrenched from head to toe and was covered in red mud fom the roads. However it was an adventure that neither Amelie or I will foget!
Today walking around Amelie and I have both never felt so looked at in our entire lives. Everywhere we went we were followed by cat calls and blatent stares. I am so grateful that Amelie is here with be though so I am not walking alone. I think that eventualy I will be ok walking by myself in the city, but not for a few more days. Though I am starting to pick up some of the local Twi language which does make me feel a little more comfortable.
These past few days have been quiet the adventure! I am excited to see what the future holds and what new adventures tomorrow will bring! I am very quickly falling in love with this new culture I am in the middle of, and have a feeling that despite how hard it is adjusting to this new culture it will be even harder to leave it come August.
Bubye for now! (that is how you say good bye in Ghana!)
Oh, and in the spirit of spring in Canada (the season to begin cutting the grass) be thankful for your lawnmowers! Here they cut grass by hand with machetties!
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