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 =)