yay! you all DO read my various thoughts and experiences :)
thanks so much for reading...and now for the comments!
so this last week i attended IST (in-service training) in Kumasi with my counterpart, Ollie. A counterpart is the person whom we, as PCVs, will be working closely with in our respective villages. My CP is amazing, and that's not a biased opinion. We sat through sessions on roles and responsibilities, information about HIV/AIDS, common diseases in tropical weather, grant application information and past stories and projects from other volunteers. In the end, I think we left super motivated and are now ready to get some things rolling in the village!!
We made a 3-month action plan, so I'll let you all in on the plans. After the holidays roll through, we hope to start having community meetings to find groups of people with similar interests to help with any project we want to do. We want to start new groups and utilize the already existing groups (like farmers groups, womens groups). Then our big project we hope to do is a Malaria Campaign before the rainy season arrives. We hope to educate surrounding villages on prevention and treatment of malaria. Malaria is probably the biggest cause of illness in children in my village, so hopefully we can educate people (mostly women) on how to care for their sick children. .... More details to follow when we get things going.
The holidays will be tough, but just know I'm making new friends and people that are like my family here. I'm sad to be away from all of you during these times, but I'm also excited to see the holiday spirit in GHANA! :)
so merry christmas, happy new year, and all that jazz from ghana!!
i love and miss you all.
xoxo
Sunday, December 12, 2010
Wednesday, December 8, 2010
Monday, December 6, 2010
fufu
sorry it's sideways, but it's a video of my home-stay mother and sister in the beginning stage of pounding fufu!
Monday, November 22, 2010
I'm THANKFUL for...
With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I believe this is the appropriate time to blog about being thankful. Six months ago I was not as consciously thankful as I am now. I often overlooked and to an extent took advantage of those closest and most accessible to me. People, items, and luxuries all fall into these categories.
I am thankful for the amazing family and friends I have in my life. Whether you are my oldest friend, my closest relative or newest friend, I truly am thankful for you. Ghana has opened my eyes to the importance of relationships we have and create with each other. So for all of you I have a relationship with, whether it be big or small, thank you!
So those relationships spoken of above are the serious matter to my blogging, but being in a developing country also makes one very thankful for some other luxuries and items. These things are often, and easily, overlooked by those they are commonly available too. (Believe me, six months ago I would not have been thankful for rest stops!)
Rest stops and/or McDonald’s: public restrooms are a great convenience in America. Now I understand and appreciate a Mickey D’s every exit on the highway. After two years without these, I’ll have one heck-of-a digestive and urinary system.
Education: our education is so valuable and until I was placed in a rural village where some children cannot or do not go school, I never actually purposely thought how lucky I am to have had such a great education.
Citronella candles: I seriously, all joking aside, cannot stand bugs. Torches, candles, and oil...whatever chemicals and concoctions make these citronella gadgets I’m all for it.
Trees: For the shade they provide when the sun is beaming and the temperature is in the triple digits.
PAVED ROADS: As I am about to embark on a two-day journey down to Accra, I can only dream to be driving down I-94 again en route to Detroit. Please look at a map of Ghana, notice the distance from Wa to Accra, and figure how that short distance takes 12-15 hours.
Washing machines: These women (and men) are remarkably fast at hand washing clothes. I could potentially be fast, but they would never be clean in any way.
Simplicity: The peace and contentment I have come to experience without the ‘luxuries’ like electricity, personal vehicles, and running water is comforting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no tree hugger now, I love coming into Wa to have any type of chilled drink or taxis for easy accessibility around town, but to know it’s possible to live simple is reassuring.
Currently, I am very thankful for being so blessed to have the opportunity to come to Ghana to help develop this wonderful country. I’ve been at site for three months now, and after In-Service Training in December, I will begin working on and starting projects with my community. I am thankful for Ghana, my community, the people in my community, and of course my dog Ace!
As we all should be, I am thankful for this wonderful life in general. For my health, my family and friends health, and for all of you reading this, for your health too. Remember to give thanks to those who mean the most to you this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
peace.&.love.&.hugs
I am thankful for the amazing family and friends I have in my life. Whether you are my oldest friend, my closest relative or newest friend, I truly am thankful for you. Ghana has opened my eyes to the importance of relationships we have and create with each other. So for all of you I have a relationship with, whether it be big or small, thank you!
So those relationships spoken of above are the serious matter to my blogging, but being in a developing country also makes one very thankful for some other luxuries and items. These things are often, and easily, overlooked by those they are commonly available too. (Believe me, six months ago I would not have been thankful for rest stops!)
Rest stops and/or McDonald’s: public restrooms are a great convenience in America. Now I understand and appreciate a Mickey D’s every exit on the highway. After two years without these, I’ll have one heck-of-a digestive and urinary system.
Education: our education is so valuable and until I was placed in a rural village where some children cannot or do not go school, I never actually purposely thought how lucky I am to have had such a great education.
Citronella candles: I seriously, all joking aside, cannot stand bugs. Torches, candles, and oil...whatever chemicals and concoctions make these citronella gadgets I’m all for it.
Trees: For the shade they provide when the sun is beaming and the temperature is in the triple digits.
PAVED ROADS: As I am about to embark on a two-day journey down to Accra, I can only dream to be driving down I-94 again en route to Detroit. Please look at a map of Ghana, notice the distance from Wa to Accra, and figure how that short distance takes 12-15 hours.
Washing machines: These women (and men) are remarkably fast at hand washing clothes. I could potentially be fast, but they would never be clean in any way.
Simplicity: The peace and contentment I have come to experience without the ‘luxuries’ like electricity, personal vehicles, and running water is comforting. Don’t get me wrong, I’m no tree hugger now, I love coming into Wa to have any type of chilled drink or taxis for easy accessibility around town, but to know it’s possible to live simple is reassuring.
Currently, I am very thankful for being so blessed to have the opportunity to come to Ghana to help develop this wonderful country. I’ve been at site for three months now, and after In-Service Training in December, I will begin working on and starting projects with my community. I am thankful for Ghana, my community, the people in my community, and of course my dog Ace!
As we all should be, I am thankful for this wonderful life in general. For my health, my family and friends health, and for all of you reading this, for your health too. Remember to give thanks to those who mean the most to you this Thanksgiving.
Happy Thanksgiving!
peace.&.love.&.hugs
Sunday, October 31, 2010
Thursday, October 28, 2010
happy birthday DAD!
WOW, TWO DAYS. The greeting ‘two days’ in Ghana goes for any amount of time that has passed since you’ve last seen someone. So I’m saying two days since I’ve posted a new blog.
I realized the other day that the time I’ve spent in Ghana has surpassed any previous duration I have been away from home. During my free time (which somedays is farrr more than others), I calculated the longest time I lived away from home. When I went to Australia I was there from February to June, totaling 136 days. As of today (October 26) I’ve been on my Peace Corps experience for a count of 148 days. It’s hard to get my head around the fact that I’ve been in country for 5 months already. Five months sounds a lot longer than it really is, but there are certainly days I feel like I just arrived and other days I feel like I’ve been away from my family and friends forever. I know that reads confusing, but it’s confusing to me as well. I just wrote an entry in my journal about how much I absolutely love Ghana, especially my village and the people, but I also wish I could see all of you who are reading these blogs! I know that these next two years will fly by though, seeing that 5 months have already past.
So since I last updated, I’m finally settled into my house and I’m no longer needing to go to Wa as much as before. Before I was having to go to buy things for my house, but now I think I have just about everything I need. My house is now a home, and I am settled in. Thus I can spend more time integrating into my community and not having to travel to Wa.
My community is more welcoming than I could have ever imagined. They are genuinely happy to see me everyday and that makes me feel comfortable and at home. You know they say ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.....so when I’m in Ghana, I’m doing as the Ghanaians do. I try to mimic everything they do, from cooking to cleaning and playing with children to speaking with them. Some things are easier than others, like now they tell me I cut kapala (fufu) correctly with my right hand; however, I struggle greatly carrying water on my head. Just earlier today I pounded kapala with some women and I noticed that I’m improving slowly. It’s not easy to pound yams, but today they almost let me go from start to finish. Speaking of kapala, it’s becoming one of my favorite Ghanaian foods. Kapala served with groundnut soup - mmmm - it is absolutely delicious. And back to the topic of carrying water on my head...wow, it’s NOT easy. I usually fetch my water with my bike, but I want to slowly try to do as all the other women and small children do, so I tried to carry a basin of water on my head. The borehole is probably 200, no more than 300 meters away from my house and by time I got to my house I soaking wet from the water splashing around. The cause was a combination of my incapability to properly carry water on my head and my body physically jolting from laughing so much. It was extremely funny, as everyone I passed yelled “Naama...Naama...” and then they proceeded to laugh and point at me. I’m slowly overcoming the feeling of embarrassment, because everything I do is mostly wrong or looks silly because I’ve never done it before. So I just embrace it all and I laugh it off. =)
ACE update! :) So Ace is growing fast and becoming even cuter everyday. He’s such a smart dog; he knows his name, he can sit and he LOVES to howl. He even recognized people, especially his ‘father’ Tingbani. Tin is one of my best friends in Kulkpong and he watches Ace when I travel. Ace loves him and when he sees him or even hears his voice he starts wagging his tail frantically. I joke with the community and say he’s definitely a Ghanaian because he always greets people (which is something Ghanaians take very seriously and ALWAYS do). My favorite thing he does is talk and howl. If I howl “ooow” he will begin to whine and then he acts like he uses all the energy in his little body to generate the most pitiful but cutest little howl. The village thinks I’m absolutely crazy when I howl, but at the same time they think it’s hilarious. Now some people come to my house and howl at Ace when they see him!
So there is so much happening that I could write, so I’m looking back at my journal entries and I’ll post a few things I write about.
14 September --- Daily I inform Ghanaians of things we do differently and the same in America. They’re very inquisitive, and I love the questions they ask. They’re always asking ‘Do you know this?’ or ‘Do you have this or that in America?’ I’ve been asked everything from pigs to turkeys to razor blades to trees.
Saturday past, market day, Zoe (my closest PCV neighbor) came back from Wa and the rain was coming paaaaa. She’s hanging out at my house when Tahiru comes over in his traditional Muslim dress/gown. She says “Are you wearing a dress?!”. Without any hesitation, he firmly responds “YES!”, like it’s totally normal for him to wear a dress. We never laughed so hard; Na-eem, Tin, Zoe, myself and Tahiru himself couldn’t control our laughter.
Number of times I.....
have driven a car - 0
greeted people I don’t know - immeasurable
eaten cake - 0
drank tequila - zero :(
read a current girl magazine - 3 (the two I brought and the 1 Mom sent me!!)
bought a dog for 5 cedis [$3.70] - one :)
paid around $1.40 for a big serving of rice and chicken - plenty!
rode in a car that I thought would either break down and/or explode - too many
made a small child cry because I’m white - unfortunately, a good number
fell off my bike fetching water - 1, only once though..my first time
watched SportsCenter - ZERO. depressing.
received a phone call from Australia to Africa - 1 (Thanks Jared!!)
bought a nice pair of Silver jeans for 10 GHC ($7.00) - yep, once!
24 September
Today was an eventful day, as I was attending baby weighing and cooking with Tahiru’s wives. I was there from start to finish, as he said. Although nothing could really be said to one another, we managed to have small conversations and I learned a great around - for example, making rice balls in a calabash (a gourd made into a bowl). I watched and helped make my best (favorite) meal - rice balls with groundnut soup! :) Attempting to mash the rice with Ghanaian women watching was a trip - they say they aren’t laughing at you but with you and that’s true! It’s funny and I understand why they’re laughing, I just want to tell them it’s something I’ve never done before. So I’m like a small child trying to do everything, but the sad part is the small kids are even better than me!
Back to baby weighing: Other than loving all the adorable children, it’s neat to see the organization (and lack thereof) come together and flow. The mother arrive in their finest outfits and patiently sit around all morning and into the afternoon once a month. When they first arrive, they weigh the child and the registrar/child welfare book is passed to a person to record every child’s weight into a community log. Simultaneously, the nurses’ are preparing immunizations. They then continue to immunize the child in some type of order I’m yet to figure out. Even though it might look and sound like chaos, it somehow works and the job gets done.
........
It’s the small things like these that continually add up to making Kulkpong/Ghana my new home. I’m finally feeling settled in in my new house, getting a routine (as much as I can in the most unplanned place) down, making friends and familiarizing myself with my new surroundings. It’s really the people I’ve meet that have made the transition particularly easy. Speaking with other PCVs, I’ve heard (and seen) horror stories! I’m fortunate to have it so easy in Kulkpong compared to the others. Before coming to the Peace Corps I might have thought no electricity or running water would be the worst of all living situations, but I’ve come to learn it truly could always be worse.
I’ve already gained an astonishing amount of respect for everything I have and have ever had in America. The convenience of a developed country is often overlooked by the person living there. It’s ‘normal’ to me (well, before it was) to wake up, take a warm shower, open the fridge to eat cold and safe foods and then drive to either work or where ever. Now my ‘normal’ is waking up to the sunrise, warming water if I want a warm bucket bath but I usually just bear the room temperature water for bathing, eating/preparing food with a propane gas stove, sweeping my veranda because the goats’ feces are everywhere and walking or riding my bike where ever I go. The daily activities make it seem like two different worlds, but at the same time things are so similar. People are people -- loving each other, breathing the same air. We all work to survive, just in much different ways.
13 October
Things have been great, better yet fabulous, lately. I’m really enjoying Kulkpong now.
Friday is Global Hand-washing Day. I’m trying to get the JHS students to teach the primary students to wash with soap at the critical times. With this small event, I hope to start a club or group in the JHS so they continue to teach their juniors throughout the school year.
[[Update from the October 13 entry]]
The JHS students really enjoyed my lesson on hand-washing and they seem excited to teach the primary students. They practiced teaching each other and they had a blast! They have so much enthusiasm, I hope this continues and rubs off on their juniors and the community.
On a wonderful note, Tahiru’s girls are my new little helpers. The oldest girl has always liked me, but her younger sister feared me for some time. However, now that her sister comes to my house she started coming with her. Now she’s free with me, always smiling and laughing. Tonight they’re here now and they are dinner with me. The oldest girl told Tin that my soup is better than her mothers! But I’ve eaten her mother’s food and I think it is delicious. It’s a cute things for her to say though!
[[Update]]
The girls are still my best friends :) The younger girl definitely doesn’t fear me anymore, she’s always at my house and yells NAAMA every time she sees me!
------------------
Hopefully those entries have updated you all some on my life in Ghana! As you can read, things are going great and I’m doing fine. For all you worry warts, I’m healthy and I’m not sick. They do have food in Africa and I’m eating plenty. Other than the annoyance of bug bites, I’m a-okay.
It’s late here, almost 10 p.m., which is late for me. I’m off to sleep now....
p.s. I ate a Girl Scout’s Thin Mint cookie....unbelievably delicious. Thanks for the amazing package Mom & Dad :) i love you!
Mnenaa ka te bew. [May God bring us tomorrow]
peace, love & hugs
xoxo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i love you, miss you everyday.
I realized the other day that the time I’ve spent in Ghana has surpassed any previous duration I have been away from home. During my free time (which somedays is farrr more than others), I calculated the longest time I lived away from home. When I went to Australia I was there from February to June, totaling 136 days. As of today (October 26) I’ve been on my Peace Corps experience for a count of 148 days. It’s hard to get my head around the fact that I’ve been in country for 5 months already. Five months sounds a lot longer than it really is, but there are certainly days I feel like I just arrived and other days I feel like I’ve been away from my family and friends forever. I know that reads confusing, but it’s confusing to me as well. I just wrote an entry in my journal about how much I absolutely love Ghana, especially my village and the people, but I also wish I could see all of you who are reading these blogs! I know that these next two years will fly by though, seeing that 5 months have already past.
So since I last updated, I’m finally settled into my house and I’m no longer needing to go to Wa as much as before. Before I was having to go to buy things for my house, but now I think I have just about everything I need. My house is now a home, and I am settled in. Thus I can spend more time integrating into my community and not having to travel to Wa.
My community is more welcoming than I could have ever imagined. They are genuinely happy to see me everyday and that makes me feel comfortable and at home. You know they say ‘When in Rome, do as the Romans do’.....so when I’m in Ghana, I’m doing as the Ghanaians do. I try to mimic everything they do, from cooking to cleaning and playing with children to speaking with them. Some things are easier than others, like now they tell me I cut kapala (fufu) correctly with my right hand; however, I struggle greatly carrying water on my head. Just earlier today I pounded kapala with some women and I noticed that I’m improving slowly. It’s not easy to pound yams, but today they almost let me go from start to finish. Speaking of kapala, it’s becoming one of my favorite Ghanaian foods. Kapala served with groundnut soup - mmmm - it is absolutely delicious. And back to the topic of carrying water on my head...wow, it’s NOT easy. I usually fetch my water with my bike, but I want to slowly try to do as all the other women and small children do, so I tried to carry a basin of water on my head. The borehole is probably 200, no more than 300 meters away from my house and by time I got to my house I soaking wet from the water splashing around. The cause was a combination of my incapability to properly carry water on my head and my body physically jolting from laughing so much. It was extremely funny, as everyone I passed yelled “Naama...Naama...” and then they proceeded to laugh and point at me. I’m slowly overcoming the feeling of embarrassment, because everything I do is mostly wrong or looks silly because I’ve never done it before. So I just embrace it all and I laugh it off. =)
ACE update! :) So Ace is growing fast and becoming even cuter everyday. He’s such a smart dog; he knows his name, he can sit and he LOVES to howl. He even recognized people, especially his ‘father’ Tingbani. Tin is one of my best friends in Kulkpong and he watches Ace when I travel. Ace loves him and when he sees him or even hears his voice he starts wagging his tail frantically. I joke with the community and say he’s definitely a Ghanaian because he always greets people (which is something Ghanaians take very seriously and ALWAYS do). My favorite thing he does is talk and howl. If I howl “ooow” he will begin to whine and then he acts like he uses all the energy in his little body to generate the most pitiful but cutest little howl. The village thinks I’m absolutely crazy when I howl, but at the same time they think it’s hilarious. Now some people come to my house and howl at Ace when they see him!
So there is so much happening that I could write, so I’m looking back at my journal entries and I’ll post a few things I write about.
14 September --- Daily I inform Ghanaians of things we do differently and the same in America. They’re very inquisitive, and I love the questions they ask. They’re always asking ‘Do you know this?’ or ‘Do you have this or that in America?’ I’ve been asked everything from pigs to turkeys to razor blades to trees.
Saturday past, market day, Zoe (my closest PCV neighbor) came back from Wa and the rain was coming paaaaa. She’s hanging out at my house when Tahiru comes over in his traditional Muslim dress/gown. She says “Are you wearing a dress?!”. Without any hesitation, he firmly responds “YES!”, like it’s totally normal for him to wear a dress. We never laughed so hard; Na-eem, Tin, Zoe, myself and Tahiru himself couldn’t control our laughter.
Number of times I.....
have driven a car - 0
greeted people I don’t know - immeasurable
eaten cake - 0
drank tequila - zero :(
read a current girl magazine - 3 (the two I brought and the 1 Mom sent me!!)
bought a dog for 5 cedis [$3.70] - one :)
paid around $1.40 for a big serving of rice and chicken - plenty!
rode in a car that I thought would either break down and/or explode - too many
made a small child cry because I’m white - unfortunately, a good number
fell off my bike fetching water - 1, only once though..my first time
watched SportsCenter - ZERO. depressing.
received a phone call from Australia to Africa - 1 (Thanks Jared!!)
bought a nice pair of Silver jeans for 10 GHC ($7.00) - yep, once!
24 September
Today was an eventful day, as I was attending baby weighing and cooking with Tahiru’s wives. I was there from start to finish, as he said. Although nothing could really be said to one another, we managed to have small conversations and I learned a great around - for example, making rice balls in a calabash (a gourd made into a bowl). I watched and helped make my best (favorite) meal - rice balls with groundnut soup! :) Attempting to mash the rice with Ghanaian women watching was a trip - they say they aren’t laughing at you but with you and that’s true! It’s funny and I understand why they’re laughing, I just want to tell them it’s something I’ve never done before. So I’m like a small child trying to do everything, but the sad part is the small kids are even better than me!
Back to baby weighing: Other than loving all the adorable children, it’s neat to see the organization (and lack thereof) come together and flow. The mother arrive in their finest outfits and patiently sit around all morning and into the afternoon once a month. When they first arrive, they weigh the child and the registrar/child welfare book is passed to a person to record every child’s weight into a community log. Simultaneously, the nurses’ are preparing immunizations. They then continue to immunize the child in some type of order I’m yet to figure out. Even though it might look and sound like chaos, it somehow works and the job gets done.
........
It’s the small things like these that continually add up to making Kulkpong/Ghana my new home. I’m finally feeling settled in in my new house, getting a routine (as much as I can in the most unplanned place) down, making friends and familiarizing myself with my new surroundings. It’s really the people I’ve meet that have made the transition particularly easy. Speaking with other PCVs, I’ve heard (and seen) horror stories! I’m fortunate to have it so easy in Kulkpong compared to the others. Before coming to the Peace Corps I might have thought no electricity or running water would be the worst of all living situations, but I’ve come to learn it truly could always be worse.
I’ve already gained an astonishing amount of respect for everything I have and have ever had in America. The convenience of a developed country is often overlooked by the person living there. It’s ‘normal’ to me (well, before it was) to wake up, take a warm shower, open the fridge to eat cold and safe foods and then drive to either work or where ever. Now my ‘normal’ is waking up to the sunrise, warming water if I want a warm bucket bath but I usually just bear the room temperature water for bathing, eating/preparing food with a propane gas stove, sweeping my veranda because the goats’ feces are everywhere and walking or riding my bike where ever I go. The daily activities make it seem like two different worlds, but at the same time things are so similar. People are people -- loving each other, breathing the same air. We all work to survive, just in much different ways.
13 October
Things have been great, better yet fabulous, lately. I’m really enjoying Kulkpong now.
Friday is Global Hand-washing Day. I’m trying to get the JHS students to teach the primary students to wash with soap at the critical times. With this small event, I hope to start a club or group in the JHS so they continue to teach their juniors throughout the school year.
[[Update from the October 13 entry]]
The JHS students really enjoyed my lesson on hand-washing and they seem excited to teach the primary students. They practiced teaching each other and they had a blast! They have so much enthusiasm, I hope this continues and rubs off on their juniors and the community.
On a wonderful note, Tahiru’s girls are my new little helpers. The oldest girl has always liked me, but her younger sister feared me for some time. However, now that her sister comes to my house she started coming with her. Now she’s free with me, always smiling and laughing. Tonight they’re here now and they are dinner with me. The oldest girl told Tin that my soup is better than her mothers! But I’ve eaten her mother’s food and I think it is delicious. It’s a cute things for her to say though!
[[Update]]
The girls are still my best friends :) The younger girl definitely doesn’t fear me anymore, she’s always at my house and yells NAAMA every time she sees me!
------------------
Hopefully those entries have updated you all some on my life in Ghana! As you can read, things are going great and I’m doing fine. For all you worry warts, I’m healthy and I’m not sick. They do have food in Africa and I’m eating plenty. Other than the annoyance of bug bites, I’m a-okay.
It’s late here, almost 10 p.m., which is late for me. I’m off to sleep now....
p.s. I ate a Girl Scout’s Thin Mint cookie....unbelievably delicious. Thanks for the amazing package Mom & Dad :) i love you!
Mnenaa ka te bew. [May God bring us tomorrow]
peace, love & hugs
xoxo
HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD! i love you, miss you everyday.
Friday, September 17, 2010
GO BLUE!!
so for the first time in my life i'm away from college football, and it's sad. ahha.
i miss watching games every saturday with friends and family
and i'm especially missing watching MICHIGAN this year -- as they are off too a muchhh better start!
just a quick update to say GO BLUE!!
i miss you all.
love xxx
i miss watching games every saturday with friends and family
and i'm especially missing watching MICHIGAN this year -- as they are off too a muchhh better start!
just a quick update to say GO BLUE!!
i miss you all.
love xxx
Sunday, August 29, 2010
finally, an update.
Hello world! I send my greetings from Ghana =)
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a new blog, so I’ve decided to pre-write the blog and post it when I get the chance. So here goes, I’ve been compiling a small list of things I’ve been up to and random facts about Ghanaian culture. I hope it’s as interesting to read as it is to experience first hand!
So since you’ve last read I have been sworn-in as an official PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER! :) Swearing-in was August 12th, at a very nice senior secondary school (high school) in Kukurantumi, near the training hub site. It was raining all morning and it stopped during the ceremony, and then rained again afterwards. Like I wrote before when I first entered the country, being greeted by the rain is a blessing from the Gods. For that reason our 2010 training group has had many blessings since our arrival in Ghana, which is truly a blessing in itself. As a result of swearing-in, there are now 72 new PCVs in Ghana, scattered throughout the country. We are approaching the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps existing, and as some of you may know, Ghana was the first country volunteers were sent to so this coming year will be filled with exciting events to celebrate! We are hoping, along with every Ghanaian, that President Obama will return to Ghana to make an appearance and celebrate the partnership the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana has created, developed, and continues to forge.
Swearing-in marks the end of the ten-week pre-service training, and on to 2 years at site as PVCs. It also means leaving home-stay and living alone in your community. My home-stay family was great, my mother is an amazing, hard-working woman and her children are extremely intelligent and fortunately education is important to them. I know that anytime I make it to the south I will stop in Anyinasin to visit my family! So after being together with 71 other trainees for 10-weeks it has definitely been a new experience in Ghana being alone at site. Generally positive aspects, but sometimes it’s hard being alone after being engrossed with new friends and colleagues for over two months.
Since I’ve been to site now for a couple weeks, I think the best word to describe it is overwhelming. I was just talking to a fellow volunteer on the phone tonight, and we were having this same conversation about site, and how I think that the word overwhelming typically has a positive vibe, but there are obviously parts that can be stressful. The transition from PST to site is definitely a huge one. The evening I arrived at site I was greeted by a towns-person that took me to greet the chief. It’s custom to take a stranger to the chief upon their arrival to let him know that a stranger is in his village. It was nice to see the village and greet some people, but after days of traveling to the north I was tired and just wanted to relax. The following days I was greeted by people and out greeting people, trying to take in the language little by little. I’m adjusting to the daily routine in my village, which consists of a lot of greeting and down time. With there being no electricity, I go to sleep a couple hours after the sun sets and wake up shortly after it rises or before it somedays. Consequently, the days are very long. I wake up at 6 or so, and by noon I’ve already greeted people and one day I had already went to farm and returned. Ergo NAPS and lots of resting midday. It makes sense though, with the heat and it being unbearable to be in the sun during peak hours. (And to think, this is the rainy, coolest season!!)
So these first three months at site are to be used to become integrated into Kulkpong and do (small small) evaluations and gather observations about the community. I’ll be spending my days greeting people, learning the local language, performing daily tasks (i.e. going to farm, selling things at market, cooking with women, fetching water, attempting to play football [soccer for you, America], etc.), and TRAINING MY DOG. Yep, you read correctly -- I got a puppy :) He is just a local dog, and I paid 5 cedis for him (which is about $3.50). He is very small, so he’s drinking cow milk (which luckily I can get easily because the Fulani people, aka cow herding tribe, live near my village) and hopefully he’ll grow fine. I just got him today, and he’s currently sleeping on my lap. I’m still thinking of a name, and I think I’ll give him a Ghanaian name and an American name. The village is calling him my baby, and as a joke, I’m saying I have seven days to name him; after the seventh day when a human baby is born, they have a naming ceremony and it’s a big event where people bring money to the father and the baby gets its head shaved and depending on the sex she gets her ears pierced or he is circumcised. So when people ask me his name, I tell them next Friday I will have a ceremony at the Chief’s palace =)
The following are some things I’ve picked up about Ghanaian culture that I thought you all might be interested in learning :)
GREETINGS:
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening -- these phrases are said until the cows come home, but never overused. Greeting is a sign of respect toward others and is priority in Ghana. In the local language, ansoma, antre, and anola are the respective greetings. A passing person should greet someone that is seated, and when both parties are passing, the younger of the two should greet their elder. Greeting is so important here that if you do not greet someone that you are passing they will yell out to you to greet them; then you are to turn around and explain to them why you didn’t greet them. Also, if you begin speaking to someone without greeting them first, you will sometimes continue your conversation and then greet them after the conversation. It happened just yesterday to my friend Tinbani and I when we went to collect my puppy. We began talking to the woman about where the owner of the mother dog was and then we were leaving to go find him at farm, and she told us we didn’t greet her then Tin proceeded to greet her, to say good morning and ask her how her work is going and how her house is.
FOOD/SHOPPING:
It’s no trip to Harding’s or drive to Meijer to buy supplies and food in Ghana. Most things can be acquired at market. Markets range from very small, lemonade stand type to huge, Sam’s Club style. In Kulkpong, there is a small, daily market with tomatoes, onions, peppers, shea butter, and the occassional koko (porridge made from millet served with ginger and sugar) or mui (rice). Then every sixth day is Kulkpong Market. It is the largest market in the district (Wa East) and there are plenty of products for sale. Everything from vegetables to medications to pito tents to clothes in piles like garage sales. There is also prepared foods, like kapala and soup. However, nothing has a price tag. The prices are negotiable and bargaining is a great skill to have in Ghana. Markets are in villages and cities, but in cities there are also stores. Some stores, which PCVs like to call obrini or princess stores, have set prices and more westernized foods (like pasta, tuna, catsup, soy sauce, powdered milk, jelly, corn flakes, coffee). However, compared to the markets, these obroni stores are expensive in comparison to the market. For example, at market you can buy 4-6 medium sized oranges for 50 peswas, which is around .35 cents. A bag of local rice, which consists of maybe 2 or 2 1/2 cups also costs 50 peswas. A small tin of tomato paste will run around 30-40 peswas. However, you get to the stores in Wa or the city, and a box of corn flakes costs 4.5 cedis (remember, 1 cedi is .70 cents); a quart sized jar of Quaker Oats costs 3.5 cedis; a bottle of no brand catsup may be 2 cedis. There’s just a small look into the shopping extravaganza in Ghana.
GENDER ROLES:
The roles of men and women and children in Ghana is very distinguishable. Simply put, men take care of things outside of the house, and women care for the house and children. So a typical family, say in my village, is a man with one or more wives, depending if he is Muslim or not, and the children. The man is most likely a farmer, and the woman will help with farm and maybe do some small trading (or selling at market). The boy children go to farm with their father, and the girl children stay in the house all day and help their mother. I don’t mean this in any feminist way, but women definitely work their butts off, from before sunrise to after sunset daily. They must cook, clean, take care of the children, fetch water. Fetching water alone can take a few hours of her day, depending where she lives or how easily accessible a borehole or water source is. Fortunately in my village, there are plenty of boreholes, with rather easy access from all parts of town, but some women and girl children will walk miles each way to fetch just one pail. Also, young boys are allowed to fetch water. Men rarely cook or clean inside the house, however they will take care of the outside of the house. In my opinion, both men and women work extremely hard performing daily activities; men perform an extreme amount of physical labor at farm and women are constantly working throughout the day. A man will go to farm in the morning, and return in the afternoon and he will sit under a shade tree or with other men just chatting while women are continuing to work in the house, caring for the children, cooking dinner and fetching water. However, children are given a great amount of responsibility at a very young age. Once a child is no longer breast-feeding, he or she will commonly roam freely in the community with their siblings or other small children. Children that may be only 3 years old are sent to market to collect tomatoes. It blows my mind every time I see children just running around together all day, but then I remember there is such a great sense of community here and although the child has only one biological mother and father, everyone’s children are each others. Also, elder siblings keep a good eye on their younger siblings. It’s not uncommon to see a six-year-old girl carrying around her two-year-old brother on her back, just roaming the village, playing with other children. (Remember, these are roles in a typical, traditional household and in no way is the previous statement meant to say those things are either right or wrong in regards to their culture.)
So there's a small update on my life in Ghana :)
I hope you have enjoyed reading!
Peace, love, and hugs =)
It’s been awhile since I’ve posted a new blog, so I’ve decided to pre-write the blog and post it when I get the chance. So here goes, I’ve been compiling a small list of things I’ve been up to and random facts about Ghanaian culture. I hope it’s as interesting to read as it is to experience first hand!
So since you’ve last read I have been sworn-in as an official PEACE CORPS VOLUNTEER! :) Swearing-in was August 12th, at a very nice senior secondary school (high school) in Kukurantumi, near the training hub site. It was raining all morning and it stopped during the ceremony, and then rained again afterwards. Like I wrote before when I first entered the country, being greeted by the rain is a blessing from the Gods. For that reason our 2010 training group has had many blessings since our arrival in Ghana, which is truly a blessing in itself. As a result of swearing-in, there are now 72 new PCVs in Ghana, scattered throughout the country. We are approaching the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps existing, and as some of you may know, Ghana was the first country volunteers were sent to so this coming year will be filled with exciting events to celebrate! We are hoping, along with every Ghanaian, that President Obama will return to Ghana to make an appearance and celebrate the partnership the United States of America and the Republic of Ghana has created, developed, and continues to forge.
Swearing-in marks the end of the ten-week pre-service training, and on to 2 years at site as PVCs. It also means leaving home-stay and living alone in your community. My home-stay family was great, my mother is an amazing, hard-working woman and her children are extremely intelligent and fortunately education is important to them. I know that anytime I make it to the south I will stop in Anyinasin to visit my family! So after being together with 71 other trainees for 10-weeks it has definitely been a new experience in Ghana being alone at site. Generally positive aspects, but sometimes it’s hard being alone after being engrossed with new friends and colleagues for over two months.
Since I’ve been to site now for a couple weeks, I think the best word to describe it is overwhelming. I was just talking to a fellow volunteer on the phone tonight, and we were having this same conversation about site, and how I think that the word overwhelming typically has a positive vibe, but there are obviously parts that can be stressful. The transition from PST to site is definitely a huge one. The evening I arrived at site I was greeted by a towns-person that took me to greet the chief. It’s custom to take a stranger to the chief upon their arrival to let him know that a stranger is in his village. It was nice to see the village and greet some people, but after days of traveling to the north I was tired and just wanted to relax. The following days I was greeted by people and out greeting people, trying to take in the language little by little. I’m adjusting to the daily routine in my village, which consists of a lot of greeting and down time. With there being no electricity, I go to sleep a couple hours after the sun sets and wake up shortly after it rises or before it somedays. Consequently, the days are very long. I wake up at 6 or so, and by noon I’ve already greeted people and one day I had already went to farm and returned. Ergo NAPS and lots of resting midday. It makes sense though, with the heat and it being unbearable to be in the sun during peak hours. (And to think, this is the rainy, coolest season!!)
So these first three months at site are to be used to become integrated into Kulkpong and do (small small) evaluations and gather observations about the community. I’ll be spending my days greeting people, learning the local language, performing daily tasks (i.e. going to farm, selling things at market, cooking with women, fetching water, attempting to play football [soccer for you, America], etc.), and TRAINING MY DOG. Yep, you read correctly -- I got a puppy :) He is just a local dog, and I paid 5 cedis for him (which is about $3.50). He is very small, so he’s drinking cow milk (which luckily I can get easily because the Fulani people, aka cow herding tribe, live near my village) and hopefully he’ll grow fine. I just got him today, and he’s currently sleeping on my lap. I’m still thinking of a name, and I think I’ll give him a Ghanaian name and an American name. The village is calling him my baby, and as a joke, I’m saying I have seven days to name him; after the seventh day when a human baby is born, they have a naming ceremony and it’s a big event where people bring money to the father and the baby gets its head shaved and depending on the sex she gets her ears pierced or he is circumcised. So when people ask me his name, I tell them next Friday I will have a ceremony at the Chief’s palace =)
The following are some things I’ve picked up about Ghanaian culture that I thought you all might be interested in learning :)
GREETINGS:
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening -- these phrases are said until the cows come home, but never overused. Greeting is a sign of respect toward others and is priority in Ghana. In the local language, ansoma, antre, and anola are the respective greetings. A passing person should greet someone that is seated, and when both parties are passing, the younger of the two should greet their elder. Greeting is so important here that if you do not greet someone that you are passing they will yell out to you to greet them; then you are to turn around and explain to them why you didn’t greet them. Also, if you begin speaking to someone without greeting them first, you will sometimes continue your conversation and then greet them after the conversation. It happened just yesterday to my friend Tinbani and I when we went to collect my puppy. We began talking to the woman about where the owner of the mother dog was and then we were leaving to go find him at farm, and she told us we didn’t greet her then Tin proceeded to greet her, to say good morning and ask her how her work is going and how her house is.
FOOD/SHOPPING:
It’s no trip to Harding’s or drive to Meijer to buy supplies and food in Ghana. Most things can be acquired at market. Markets range from very small, lemonade stand type to huge, Sam’s Club style. In Kulkpong, there is a small, daily market with tomatoes, onions, peppers, shea butter, and the occassional koko (porridge made from millet served with ginger and sugar) or mui (rice). Then every sixth day is Kulkpong Market. It is the largest market in the district (Wa East) and there are plenty of products for sale. Everything from vegetables to medications to pito tents to clothes in piles like garage sales. There is also prepared foods, like kapala and soup. However, nothing has a price tag. The prices are negotiable and bargaining is a great skill to have in Ghana. Markets are in villages and cities, but in cities there are also stores. Some stores, which PCVs like to call obrini or princess stores, have set prices and more westernized foods (like pasta, tuna, catsup, soy sauce, powdered milk, jelly, corn flakes, coffee). However, compared to the markets, these obroni stores are expensive in comparison to the market. For example, at market you can buy 4-6 medium sized oranges for 50 peswas, which is around .35 cents. A bag of local rice, which consists of maybe 2 or 2 1/2 cups also costs 50 peswas. A small tin of tomato paste will run around 30-40 peswas. However, you get to the stores in Wa or the city, and a box of corn flakes costs 4.5 cedis (remember, 1 cedi is .70 cents); a quart sized jar of Quaker Oats costs 3.5 cedis; a bottle of no brand catsup may be 2 cedis. There’s just a small look into the shopping extravaganza in Ghana.
GENDER ROLES:
The roles of men and women and children in Ghana is very distinguishable. Simply put, men take care of things outside of the house, and women care for the house and children. So a typical family, say in my village, is a man with one or more wives, depending if he is Muslim or not, and the children. The man is most likely a farmer, and the woman will help with farm and maybe do some small trading (or selling at market). The boy children go to farm with their father, and the girl children stay in the house all day and help their mother. I don’t mean this in any feminist way, but women definitely work their butts off, from before sunrise to after sunset daily. They must cook, clean, take care of the children, fetch water. Fetching water alone can take a few hours of her day, depending where she lives or how easily accessible a borehole or water source is. Fortunately in my village, there are plenty of boreholes, with rather easy access from all parts of town, but some women and girl children will walk miles each way to fetch just one pail. Also, young boys are allowed to fetch water. Men rarely cook or clean inside the house, however they will take care of the outside of the house. In my opinion, both men and women work extremely hard performing daily activities; men perform an extreme amount of physical labor at farm and women are constantly working throughout the day. A man will go to farm in the morning, and return in the afternoon and he will sit under a shade tree or with other men just chatting while women are continuing to work in the house, caring for the children, cooking dinner and fetching water. However, children are given a great amount of responsibility at a very young age. Once a child is no longer breast-feeding, he or she will commonly roam freely in the community with their siblings or other small children. Children that may be only 3 years old are sent to market to collect tomatoes. It blows my mind every time I see children just running around together all day, but then I remember there is such a great sense of community here and although the child has only one biological mother and father, everyone’s children are each others. Also, elder siblings keep a good eye on their younger siblings. It’s not uncommon to see a six-year-old girl carrying around her two-year-old brother on her back, just roaming the village, playing with other children. (Remember, these are roles in a typical, traditional household and in no way is the previous statement meant to say those things are either right or wrong in regards to their culture.)
So there's a small update on my life in Ghana :)
I hope you have enjoyed reading!
Peace, love, and hugs =)
Monday, August 23, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
cereal would be nice.
antre! (or good afternoon)
just finished up site visit and then an intense 2 week technical training in the Northern Region, and now we are back down in the Eastern Region at our homestays to finish out the last couple weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST). the tech training was great, we learned a lot and fortunately had the chance to do many practical applications; we taught some lessons in primary schools, helped construct/watched a latrine and soak-away pit get dug and built, held an HIV/AIDS meeting with mango farmers, visited clinics and hospitals, assisted in a baby-weighing day....
we stayed in a house without electricity (getting me ready for the next 2 years!), but fortunately it had running water and a cold shower. our WATSAN (health/water and sanitation sector) definitely grew a lot closer due to such close living quarters :) but it was great, our group is amazing and i learned so many interesting facts about each one of them!
one of the interesting days during the technical training was the baby-weighing day in Dipale. so many babies in such a small community, but they were all adorable and most didn't cry when they saw our white skin. it's still hard to get used to them crying when they see us because of our skin, but most of them warm up to us, eventually. =) the pictures on facebook show they come and hang them from a scale (literally) and then mark their progress in a book. there are lines which indicate healthy/underweight/severely underweight. they would get weighed and then go on to get immunizations from the nurse (which are provided by the government of Ghana) and she educated the mothers on malaria and diarrhea.
so everything on my side of the world is great, so i'd love to hear stories from home guys! maybe about all the milk/dairy products you are consuming while i'm consuming almost zero! because this country doesn't do milk or cheese apparently...or maybe about the mornings you wake up and turn on SportsCenter, something i could really go for right about now. also, all you southwest michiganders, i know the Van Buren Youth Fair just happened, so tell me how it was :) or how about all the days you have the option to go to the beach if it's 100 degrees out while i just sit there and sweat like a pig. i'm not complaining because this experience is amazing and i'm so grateful, but i wish pools/lakes were more readily available! so please have a bowl of cereal, drink a cold beer while swimming at the beach, and eat some pizza and burgers for me =)
i continuously miss you all, and a special shoutout to JACKIE and JOSH for bringing baby Brayden into this world :) he's a wonderful addition to a beautiful little family! i can't wait to hear all about him, and see more pictures!
peace, love, and hugs
xoxo
just finished up site visit and then an intense 2 week technical training in the Northern Region, and now we are back down in the Eastern Region at our homestays to finish out the last couple weeks of Pre-Service Training (PST). the tech training was great, we learned a lot and fortunately had the chance to do many practical applications; we taught some lessons in primary schools, helped construct/watched a latrine and soak-away pit get dug and built, held an HIV/AIDS meeting with mango farmers, visited clinics and hospitals, assisted in a baby-weighing day....
we stayed in a house without electricity (getting me ready for the next 2 years!), but fortunately it had running water and a cold shower. our WATSAN (health/water and sanitation sector) definitely grew a lot closer due to such close living quarters :) but it was great, our group is amazing and i learned so many interesting facts about each one of them!
one of the interesting days during the technical training was the baby-weighing day in Dipale. so many babies in such a small community, but they were all adorable and most didn't cry when they saw our white skin. it's still hard to get used to them crying when they see us because of our skin, but most of them warm up to us, eventually. =) the pictures on facebook show they come and hang them from a scale (literally) and then mark their progress in a book. there are lines which indicate healthy/underweight/severely underweight. they would get weighed and then go on to get immunizations from the nurse (which are provided by the government of Ghana) and she educated the mothers on malaria and diarrhea.
so everything on my side of the world is great, so i'd love to hear stories from home guys! maybe about all the milk/dairy products you are consuming while i'm consuming almost zero! because this country doesn't do milk or cheese apparently...or maybe about the mornings you wake up and turn on SportsCenter, something i could really go for right about now. also, all you southwest michiganders, i know the Van Buren Youth Fair just happened, so tell me how it was :) or how about all the days you have the option to go to the beach if it's 100 degrees out while i just sit there and sweat like a pig. i'm not complaining because this experience is amazing and i'm so grateful, but i wish pools/lakes were more readily available! so please have a bowl of cereal, drink a cold beer while swimming at the beach, and eat some pizza and burgers for me =)
i continuously miss you all, and a special shoutout to JACKIE and JOSH for bringing baby Brayden into this world :) he's a wonderful addition to a beautiful little family! i can't wait to hear all about him, and see more pictures!
peace, love, and hugs
xoxo
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Naama
Another update from the UPPER WEST region of Ghana...in it's regional capital of Wa. It's currently raining big time here, so Zoe (the closest volunteer to my new community) and I are sitting in an internet cafe waiting for the rain to pass.
I met my counterpartner, named Alhassan ("Ollie"), who is a community health volunteer in Kulkpong (pronounced Kul-e-pong) earlier this week at counterpart workshop. He's super awesome and seems very involved in the community. We then travelled the country, some 14+ hours....leaving at 4:30 am Ghanaian time, which really resulted in 6:30 am we pulled out of the college....then finally arrived to my community when it was just getting dark. It was nice to go, but it wasn't until morning I really saw the community; due to the lack of electricity! it's awesome though, living without lights or running water. bucket baths are now a breeze, and waking up with the sun and going to bed when the sun sets are now normal.
Ollie showed me around Kulkpong the next morning, then we got on a lovely trotro to head back to Wa. It's about 41 kilometers (28 miles for you Westerners =]) but it can take anywhere between 1-2 hours or more...depending on the driver, passengers, number of stops, etc. Trotros run when they are full here, so it's not like they have scheduled times to leave -- they just go when they are full and that's that. To outsiders it seems like complete chaos, but it's orderly and somehow seems right and works. Now these tros (or lorrys, they have lots of names) are in terrible condition...but they have to be. The road I travel to my village is not tarred (or DIRT as we call them back home) and it has pot holes and divets everywhere...so basically a pretty smoooooth ride ;)
So I met the sub-chief and some elders...the assemblyman...basically important people in the community and then Zoe came to town. We took a walk around to just chat and stuff. We walked through the market area (which comes every 6 days and it's the largest market in my district, Wa East...which is like a county in the US), to see the boreholes (where you get water), to the dam, past the new police station (which has no staff members yet), and around to visit people she knows in the community.
Today I got my traditional Ghanaian name. The process of naming a new baby (or stranger, which is me) is called outdooring. It's usually done 7 days after a baby is born...in which he/she is introduced to the community and given a name. Well, since I'm a stranger to my new community, they are grateful enough to give me a name and have a small ceremony. The chief and elders met and decided on my name and told me that when I return in August (after training and swearing-in) there will be a more traditional outdooring ceremony where everyone in the community will attend and I will greet them. I am the first woman volunteer (i'm the 3rd Peace Corps Volunteer in Kulkpong) so they think it's important for many women to attend my ceremony. However, today only men were at the small gathering. But my name is "Naama" -- which is two words combined..'naa' means chief and 'ma' means mother...so therefore, I am considered the Mother of the Chiefs. This is a BIG name, so I'm thankful they gave me such a respectible name. I'm excited to finish training and start my new life in Kulkpong.
I met my counterpartner, named Alhassan ("Ollie"), who is a community health volunteer in Kulkpong (pronounced Kul-e-pong) earlier this week at counterpart workshop. He's super awesome and seems very involved in the community. We then travelled the country, some 14+ hours....leaving at 4:30 am Ghanaian time, which really resulted in 6:30 am we pulled out of the college....then finally arrived to my community when it was just getting dark. It was nice to go, but it wasn't until morning I really saw the community; due to the lack of electricity! it's awesome though, living without lights or running water. bucket baths are now a breeze, and waking up with the sun and going to bed when the sun sets are now normal.
Ollie showed me around Kulkpong the next morning, then we got on a lovely trotro to head back to Wa. It's about 41 kilometers (28 miles for you Westerners =]) but it can take anywhere between 1-2 hours or more...depending on the driver, passengers, number of stops, etc. Trotros run when they are full here, so it's not like they have scheduled times to leave -- they just go when they are full and that's that. To outsiders it seems like complete chaos, but it's orderly and somehow seems right and works. Now these tros (or lorrys, they have lots of names) are in terrible condition...but they have to be. The road I travel to my village is not tarred (or DIRT as we call them back home) and it has pot holes and divets everywhere...so basically a pretty smoooooth ride ;)
So I met the sub-chief and some elders...the assemblyman...basically important people in the community and then Zoe came to town. We took a walk around to just chat and stuff. We walked through the market area (which comes every 6 days and it's the largest market in my district, Wa East...which is like a county in the US), to see the boreholes (where you get water), to the dam, past the new police station (which has no staff members yet), and around to visit people she knows in the community.
Today I got my traditional Ghanaian name. The process of naming a new baby (or stranger, which is me) is called outdooring. It's usually done 7 days after a baby is born...in which he/she is introduced to the community and given a name. Well, since I'm a stranger to my new community, they are grateful enough to give me a name and have a small ceremony. The chief and elders met and decided on my name and told me that when I return in August (after training and swearing-in) there will be a more traditional outdooring ceremony where everyone in the community will attend and I will greet them. I am the first woman volunteer (i'm the 3rd Peace Corps Volunteer in Kulkpong) so they think it's important for many women to attend my ceremony. However, today only men were at the small gathering. But my name is "Naama" -- which is two words combined..'naa' means chief and 'ma' means mother...so therefore, I am considered the Mother of the Chiefs. This is a BIG name, so I'm thankful they gave me such a respectible name. I'm excited to finish training and start my new life in Kulkpong.
Saturday, July 3, 2010
new number! and call me for FREE from skype!
my new phone number is:
011233543915808
:) use it. i've heard that through the end of the world cup you can go to skype and call any african country of your choice for FREE for 60 minutes! so if so, choose ghana and call me :)
you can call through your cell phone...just go to footballpromo.skype.com then select GHANA and go from there.
i also posted pictures on facebook!
so everyone that has my facebook (family, aka aunt val and lindsay) please show my mom, dad, grandma, aunt beth...everyone else ya know.
011233543915808
:) use it. i've heard that through the end of the world cup you can go to skype and call any african country of your choice for FREE for 60 minutes! so if so, choose ghana and call me :)
you can call through your cell phone...just go to footballpromo.skype.com then select GHANA and go from there.
i also posted pictures on facebook!
so everyone that has my facebook (family, aka aunt val and lindsay) please show my mom, dad, grandma, aunt beth...everyone else ya know.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
ghana versus USA
today Ghana plays the United States in football (or soccer to you Americans ;) )....everyone all day has been asking me who i am going to cheer for! it's crazy that i'm from America and the country i'll be spending the next 2 years in is playing my homeland tonight! i always want the US to do well, but Ghana is the last African country left in the World Cup. So either way, it's a win-win for me :)
so i've been updating here and there --- so i'll talk more about the people, culture and food. oh, and transportation. how could i forget.
like i've said before, the people are extremely nice and welcoming. my homestay family is awesome, and they always treat me well. people are always trying to teach me Twi (the language down here where i am now) but i'm trying to learn Dagaree at the same time. it's so fun though, to see how excited they get when i can greet them "maache" in the morning and respond!
the culture is completely different than home. people are so hard working here and never stop working....when do they sleep! i get up when the sun rises (yes, like 5 am) and go to sleep a couple hours after it gets dark (around 8/8:30 pm). the kids work more than any children i've even seen before. kids take care of their siblings when they are only 9 years old sometimes....the fathers go to farm, the mothers cook and clean all day, and if the kids go to school they go then come home and help around the house. it's fine though, everyone is happy and always smiling.
the food is basically ALL starch. lots of fufu (which i don't really care for), banku, riceballs (best things ever!) and pasta. carbs, carbs, carbs. but the spices are great and my mother and sisters are great cooks and make great soups. groundnut (which is peanut) soup and palm nut soups are great...and i'm getting used to eating with my RIGHT hand.
transportation, i could write a whole blog about that itself. the roads aren't the best, and taxis and trotros (big vans) come and go when they are full. there aren't set times for them to go...it's just when they are full, you go. or you wait. sometimes for hours at a time! i'll definitely be tested on my patience while i'm in Ghana for these 2+ years. it's good though, people just go with the flow and get where they need to be sooner or later.
so just another short update -- we're going to some waterfalls tomorrow as a PCT group -- then another week of training/language.....then off to counterpart workshop and then up to the north (to Upper West) to see my site in KULKPONG! :)
GO USA!
and blackstars ;)
i miss you all. call/text me sometime people! :)
peace, love and hugs.
so i've been updating here and there --- so i'll talk more about the people, culture and food. oh, and transportation. how could i forget.
like i've said before, the people are extremely nice and welcoming. my homestay family is awesome, and they always treat me well. people are always trying to teach me Twi (the language down here where i am now) but i'm trying to learn Dagaree at the same time. it's so fun though, to see how excited they get when i can greet them "maache" in the morning and respond!
the culture is completely different than home. people are so hard working here and never stop working....when do they sleep! i get up when the sun rises (yes, like 5 am) and go to sleep a couple hours after it gets dark (around 8/8:30 pm). the kids work more than any children i've even seen before. kids take care of their siblings when they are only 9 years old sometimes....the fathers go to farm, the mothers cook and clean all day, and if the kids go to school they go then come home and help around the house. it's fine though, everyone is happy and always smiling.
the food is basically ALL starch. lots of fufu (which i don't really care for), banku, riceballs (best things ever!) and pasta. carbs, carbs, carbs. but the spices are great and my mother and sisters are great cooks and make great soups. groundnut (which is peanut) soup and palm nut soups are great...and i'm getting used to eating with my RIGHT hand.
transportation, i could write a whole blog about that itself. the roads aren't the best, and taxis and trotros (big vans) come and go when they are full. there aren't set times for them to go...it's just when they are full, you go. or you wait. sometimes for hours at a time! i'll definitely be tested on my patience while i'm in Ghana for these 2+ years. it's good though, people just go with the flow and get where they need to be sooner or later.
so just another short update -- we're going to some waterfalls tomorrow as a PCT group -- then another week of training/language.....then off to counterpart workshop and then up to the north (to Upper West) to see my site in KULKPONG! :)
GO USA!
and blackstars ;)
i miss you all. call/text me sometime people! :)
peace, love and hugs.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
ghana.
hi everyone. i've been in ghana for a little over two weeks now, and it's still going great. i have been pretty healthy -- with the occasional headache and fever...but otherwise i'm adjusting well.
we have started PST (pre-service training) and we found out our permanent sites this past thursday. i'm in the upper west region, in a village called Kulkpong. the language is dagaree, so i've just started learning that today. it's intense, but i'm really excited. i'm the only person learning this language (in my training class) so it's all one-on-one with my instructor so that will be nice. but it also means i'm going up there and i'll be pretty isolated! (i know you're nervous aunt beth, but it's okay...there are other current volunteers up there!)
other than that, the world cup is awesome. ghana is so into this...and they played my other favorite Australia today -- but came up with a draw so it's perfect for all :)
i will admit i miss waking up to sportscenter every day!
oh....and speaking of tv and electricity, i will not have electricity for TWO years!!!
i also have a cell phone (ghana is becoming quite developed)
so call me
just dial
011233277597484
(011 is to dial international, 233 is ghana's country code i believe, and the rest is my number)
that's my number for now -- but i might switch providers once i go up north -- so i'll update if that happens.
alsoooo
send me mail and letters :)
Kimberly Smith, PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 5796
Accra North
Ghana
we have started PST (pre-service training) and we found out our permanent sites this past thursday. i'm in the upper west region, in a village called Kulkpong. the language is dagaree, so i've just started learning that today. it's intense, but i'm really excited. i'm the only person learning this language (in my training class) so it's all one-on-one with my instructor so that will be nice. but it also means i'm going up there and i'll be pretty isolated! (i know you're nervous aunt beth, but it's okay...there are other current volunteers up there!)
other than that, the world cup is awesome. ghana is so into this...and they played my other favorite Australia today -- but came up with a draw so it's perfect for all :)
i will admit i miss waking up to sportscenter every day!
oh....and speaking of tv and electricity, i will not have electricity for TWO years!!!
i also have a cell phone (ghana is becoming quite developed)
so call me
just dial
011233277597484
(011 is to dial international, 233 is ghana's country code i believe, and the rest is my number)
that's my number for now -- but i might switch providers once i go up north -- so i'll update if that happens.
alsoooo
send me mail and letters :)
Kimberly Smith, PCT
Peace Corps
P.O. Box 5796
Accra North
Ghana
Tuesday, June 8, 2010
AKWAABA!!
I arrived safely to Accra, Ghana this past Friday morning. The 10 hour plane ride wasn't too bad -- I slept a lot and watched movies! It was raining when we arrived in Ghana and our training staff told us it was a blessing from the Gods to be welcomed with rain =)
There are 72 total trainees in our PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), including myself. We have mostly been together or split up into two groups, one education/teachers and the other, which I'm included in, the omnibus group. There are around 10 health/water-sanitation people...and when we head to training we are all living within the same village so we will be spending lots of QT together! It'll be great though because every person here is amazing and brings something special to our training group!
Today started the 'vision quest', which is a time where we take off from the big group/summer camp setting and head into Africa alone. Well, we originally thought we would be alone, although there is a group of 18 of us. We all went from Accra to Kumasi and then finally (after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop and having to borrow a cell phone to call our PCO) made it to Tamale for the night. We are currently at the Peace Corps Sub-Office and it was very nice. I head out tomorrow morning at 7:50 a.m. (SLEEPING IN! yesss) and meet the current PCV (Volunteer) in town and then I'm going to her site for a couple nights. I'm so excited to finally be out in Ghana, experiencing this amazing culture and meeting the most friendly people I'm ever encountered. For example, today we were on our 6 hour bus ride and this guy behind us offered to walk us 15 minutes to the taxi hub, completely out of his way. It was such a nice gesture and he just did it because he wanted to, not expecting any sort of gratuity.
Randoms I just remembered:
-- it's HOT here. I'm sitting in this computer lab, sweating trying to type this.
-- i just ate goat meat!
-- i took a few bucket baths and washed my clothes in the same bucket!
-- we meet the US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, last night at a cocktail party at the embassy
love you all :) thanks again for all the well wishes! it's going to keep me going when the times get tough!
I'll try to post pictures soon
ma jo. (goodnight, in twi)
There are 72 total trainees in our PCT (Peace Corps Trainee), including myself. We have mostly been together or split up into two groups, one education/teachers and the other, which I'm included in, the omnibus group. There are around 10 health/water-sanitation people...and when we head to training we are all living within the same village so we will be spending lots of QT together! It'll be great though because every person here is amazing and brings something special to our training group!
Today started the 'vision quest', which is a time where we take off from the big group/summer camp setting and head into Africa alone. Well, we originally thought we would be alone, although there is a group of 18 of us. We all went from Accra to Kumasi and then finally (after being dropped off at the wrong bus stop and having to borrow a cell phone to call our PCO) made it to Tamale for the night. We are currently at the Peace Corps Sub-Office and it was very nice. I head out tomorrow morning at 7:50 a.m. (SLEEPING IN! yesss) and meet the current PCV (Volunteer) in town and then I'm going to her site for a couple nights. I'm so excited to finally be out in Ghana, experiencing this amazing culture and meeting the most friendly people I'm ever encountered. For example, today we were on our 6 hour bus ride and this guy behind us offered to walk us 15 minutes to the taxi hub, completely out of his way. It was such a nice gesture and he just did it because he wanted to, not expecting any sort of gratuity.
Randoms I just remembered:
-- it's HOT here. I'm sitting in this computer lab, sweating trying to type this.
-- i just ate goat meat!
-- i took a few bucket baths and washed my clothes in the same bucket!
-- we meet the US Ambassador to Ghana, Donald Teitelbaum, last night at a cocktail party at the embassy
love you all :) thanks again for all the well wishes! it's going to keep me going when the times get tough!
I'll try to post pictures soon
ma jo. (goodnight, in twi)
Monday, May 31, 2010
whoa.
so i just took a long bath (with an endless supply of warm water!) and now i have less than 8 hours until i'll be on the road to the airport. every emotion is running through me, but overall i am generally excited and ready to go. i have my two bags packed and have no idea how it all just runs together.
these last two days have been awesome, filled with love and great memories created with family and friends. i cannot thank everyone enough for coming over, having parties, sending warm wishes and texts....it really makes me feel more prepared to go and excited for this adventure! i'll write more later, but i need to get a good nights sleep in my bed for the last time :-/
these last two days have been awesome, filled with love and great memories created with family and friends. i cannot thank everyone enough for coming over, having parties, sending warm wishes and texts....it really makes me feel more prepared to go and excited for this adventure! i'll write more later, but i need to get a good nights sleep in my bed for the last time :-/
Friday, May 21, 2010
11.
i still cannot fathom the fact that i am leaving in 11 days. i'm having a great time spending time with family and friends, while in the middle of 'attempting' to pack for two years. i read emails and blogs that say ''don't stress about packing''...which is true....but still, how does one even begin to pack clothes, hygiene supplies, books, pans, whatever else i might need in the next two years that won't be easily assessable. for those of you that know me, i rarely stress about anything and i'll probably be packing at the beginning of next week and making finishing touches (i.e. throwing the last minute things like q-tips and taking out that OTHER pair of pants or extra pair of shoes out of my bag) on monday night before i leave tuesday morning. the fact that's holding me together on this whole packing ordeal is that the people in ghana get by with what they have available to them, so if i'm about to be living in their country for the next two years -- i can deal without all the things i am fortunate enough to have here in the states. to me it's part of the whole experience.
so as my days in michigan wind down, i just want to let my wonderful family and all my amazing friends know that i am about to start what i'm can only imagine will be the toughest point of my young life yet. just know that i am honored and so blessed to be given such an incredible opportunity to help people in Ghana and represent this amazing country! although most of you think i am going to 'change the world' and make the lives of those in Ghana better, i am looking forward to what opportunities the people of Ghana are going to offer me as a young woman. i am going to grow, change, mature, be challenged, struggle, and prosper in more ways than i can imagine right now. i hope that all of you continue to follow my blog while i am away, but i also want you to keep me updated on your lives. so follow my blog and leave comments about the stories i share but also leave stories that i will enjoy reading and that i can share with my community in Ghana!
well, just remember that i love you all and although i'm still stateside, i miss you already =)
so as my days in michigan wind down, i just want to let my wonderful family and all my amazing friends know that i am about to start what i'm can only imagine will be the toughest point of my young life yet. just know that i am honored and so blessed to be given such an incredible opportunity to help people in Ghana and represent this amazing country! although most of you think i am going to 'change the world' and make the lives of those in Ghana better, i am looking forward to what opportunities the people of Ghana are going to offer me as a young woman. i am going to grow, change, mature, be challenged, struggle, and prosper in more ways than i can imagine right now. i hope that all of you continue to follow my blog while i am away, but i also want you to keep me updated on your lives. so follow my blog and leave comments about the stories i share but also leave stories that i will enjoy reading and that i can share with my community in Ghana!
well, just remember that i love you all and although i'm still stateside, i miss you already =)
Sunday, May 16, 2010
bittersweet
bittersweet has become the most OVERUSED word in my vocabulary the last few weeks.
i just finished working last night at the perch and had a fantastic time celebrating with my amazing coworkers and friends! (thanks for coming peggy beavers!) but now it's gets real...down to only 15 more days in Michigan and then i'm ghannnn to ghana -- as smash and sara would say :)
so for the next two weeks i'll be packing, finishing up tons of paperwork, and visiting friends and family as much as i possibly can while also taking time to myself to prepare myself for the amazing opportunity i have been blessed with.
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