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!