Football (no not American Football, but soccer)… the game of choice for the kids, adults, and obronies (us white folk)… is being played at any given time. Us obronies join in at any possible moment showing off our pathetic football skills, knowing that the kids are taking it easy when we play with… saying that the goals they score on us don’t count, giving us a goal kick when they ‘fouled’ and passing the ball over just to give us a moment of glory in game… basically Americans need to work on their football game.
So having Ghana in the world cup is rather an exciting topic right now. And the fact that Ghana beat the US… well lets just say that Ghana is super pumped. Walking around town now the Ghanaians are proud to point out that the score was 2 to 1 Ghana… (not that I didn’t already know that)
Almost every car that I’ve seen driving around has a Ghana flag attached to it, proudly supporting their country. People in Addonkwanta have been carrying around a portable radio just to catch the games and/or huddling around the one public TV to watch... (yes one public TV)
Walking through my village listening to the people watch the games is almost just as good as watching any of the football games on TV. Throughout the town you can hear as Ghana takes over the ball, when they score, when the other team takes the ball, and if they score, if a ref made a bad call, when someone got hurt and so on. The moans, booing cheering, clapping, hooting and hollering… well it’s all pretty comical.
Ghana is the third African team to get this far in the World Cup, giving Ghana a good name and making this country super proud. If they win the next game against Uruguay then they will be the first African team to have made it that far! Go Black Stars!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Right now two hours of the day are spent on Agro-Forestry and Alternative Livelihood Facilitating training. (Such a large title, when none of us going into this had any idea what it truly meant.) In Ghana soil erosion, and depleted nutrient content of the soil are two huge factors effecting the Environment here. Ghanaians are also cutting down precious trees to replace them with crops or burn for fuel. So in part, all the Peace Corps Environment Volunteers were brought in to help educate the Ghanaians on how to rebuild their soil, stop soil erosion, plant crops that can grow in the forests, education of trees that have nutritional leaves to give more nutrients to the nutritiously deprived children, possibly educated Ghanaians on more efficient ways to grow their own crops, help build more fuel efficient stoves that use less wood, and come up with any other project that is considered ‘Alternative Livelihood’ … such as food storage and latrine composting.
Training started off with planting our own tree nursery, putting in a garden, and building a fuel-efficient stove. At our ‘nursery’ (I use the word ‘nursery’ lightly, because there are no greenhouses and no irrigation, rather some bags filled with soil, a seed placed somewhere in there, put in a line and then watered… hummmm, but no worries we were told that this is how all trees in Ghana are started…) we have three different kinds of trees growing (I do hope that they actually grow). Our group of 15 divided and conquered as some rebuilt the fence around the ‘nursery,’ some filled the bags with soil and others planted the seeds.
Word spread throughout the village like wildfire that all the ‘obronis’ were hard at work. The crowds started gathering around making us feel like we were the newest exhibit at the Addonkwanta Zoo, pointing and laughing as we tried using a machete… (I guess we were a sight to see). The little kids were trying to show us the right way to dig a hole, weed, and prep the soil all with using a machete… (pretty sweet)
Us environment kids (the other sectors in PC are already calling us dirty hippies) started our garden next… turning the soil, building three raised beds and then planting the seeds. We planted tomatoes, peppers, and okra. In Ghana there is a fear of animals coming in and eating the seeds as well as the soil drying out… so we covered our beds with palm tree branches, gave them a good drink and now we are letting nature do its part… we’ll see what happens.
Training started off with planting our own tree nursery, putting in a garden, and building a fuel-efficient stove. At our ‘nursery’ (I use the word ‘nursery’ lightly, because there are no greenhouses and no irrigation, rather some bags filled with soil, a seed placed somewhere in there, put in a line and then watered… hummmm, but no worries we were told that this is how all trees in Ghana are started…) we have three different kinds of trees growing (I do hope that they actually grow). Our group of 15 divided and conquered as some rebuilt the fence around the ‘nursery,’ some filled the bags with soil and others planted the seeds.
Word spread throughout the village like wildfire that all the ‘obronis’ were hard at work. The crowds started gathering around making us feel like we were the newest exhibit at the Addonkwanta Zoo, pointing and laughing as we tried using a machete… (I guess we were a sight to see). The little kids were trying to show us the right way to dig a hole, weed, and prep the soil all with using a machete… (pretty sweet)
Us environment kids (the other sectors in PC are already calling us dirty hippies) started our garden next… turning the soil, building three raised beds and then planting the seeds. We planted tomatoes, peppers, and okra. In Ghana there is a fear of animals coming in and eating the seeds as well as the soil drying out… so we covered our beds with palm tree branches, gave them a good drink and now we are letting nature do its part… we’ll see what happens.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Intensive language has begun, as we are forced to sit for 6 to 7 hours a day learning the local language of where will be placed. The heat isn’t at all forgiving, as our bodies become glued to the more than uncomfortable plastic chairs that we have. The vocabulary and grammar have taken over our brains as we endure the intensive language training that Peace Corps offers. With any hope we will be able to say the basic greetings when we move to site… (Well that’s what I’m hoping for.)
Eve (pronounced Evwe) is the lucky language that I get to learn. More than challenging, as every word has multiple meaning, every letter has a high, medium, and low way of pronouncing it and there is no true way to decipher between the different tenses (or at least not from what I can understand). Luckily there are only 4 of us in our language groups, to make the learning more efficient and effective (we’ll see).
Challenging aspect that I’m facing though, is that m family in Addonkwanta speaks a different language and as soon as I get out of class they try to teach me Twi… I’m not sure they fully understand that in class all day I’m learning Eve, only to confuse me more when Twi is thrown at me… its just a small word scramble in my brain… no big deal.
Eve (pronounced Evwe) is the lucky language that I get to learn. More than challenging, as every word has multiple meaning, every letter has a high, medium, and low way of pronouncing it and there is no true way to decipher between the different tenses (or at least not from what I can understand). Luckily there are only 4 of us in our language groups, to make the learning more efficient and effective (we’ll see).
Challenging aspect that I’m facing though, is that m family in Addonkwanta speaks a different language and as soon as I get out of class they try to teach me Twi… I’m not sure they fully understand that in class all day I’m learning Eve, only to confuse me more when Twi is thrown at me… its just a small word scramble in my brain… no big deal.
Family dynamics are still a topic of confusion. I’m not truly sure how it works, but everyone is everyone’s husband, wife, brother, sister, child, etc. So when asking my new ‘Auntie’ how many kids she has I never get the same answer… So I tried asking her how many came from her stomach, and she said six, but all the kids here were her kids… but none of her ‘kids’ live in Addonkwanta any more… Our conversation went around and around like this for some time.
All I know is that there is ‘Auntie’ who is basically my new mom. Making sure I have enough food (I think there is a competition going on in town with who can fatten up their American… meaning that they are being better taking care of) that I’m taking my medicine (my anti malarial pills), and asking me on a daily basis how my stomach is doing and if I have diarrhea yet? (Exciting topic that I hope I never have to discuss with her) There is Papa, who I’m guessing is Auntie’s husband, but really no idea. Then there is my ‘sister’ (I still don’t know her name) who cooks all my food… (making me feel super guilty because she is pregnant and slaving away over me… but every time I try to help they tell me I’m doing it wrong…) My ‘sister’ has a two year old daughter, Gifty, who I have just fallen in love with. (Every time I come ‘home’, Gifty comes running, laughing and grabs my leg to give me a hug… so precious!) Deborah is the 15 year old who lives in our compound and helps out, but I have no idea where she came from, whose daughter, sister, mother, friend she really is. Last are two random guys that just hang out and sleep out on the cement in out compound… Pretty random. But this isn’t to include the 30 million random children that are always hanging around the complex... coming and going, eating and sleeping, hanging and playing, and calling me by name (and I can’t remember any of their names… )
All I know is that there is ‘Auntie’ who is basically my new mom. Making sure I have enough food (I think there is a competition going on in town with who can fatten up their American… meaning that they are being better taking care of) that I’m taking my medicine (my anti malarial pills), and asking me on a daily basis how my stomach is doing and if I have diarrhea yet? (Exciting topic that I hope I never have to discuss with her) There is Papa, who I’m guessing is Auntie’s husband, but really no idea. Then there is my ‘sister’ (I still don’t know her name) who cooks all my food… (making me feel super guilty because she is pregnant and slaving away over me… but every time I try to help they tell me I’m doing it wrong…) My ‘sister’ has a two year old daughter, Gifty, who I have just fallen in love with. (Every time I come ‘home’, Gifty comes running, laughing and grabs my leg to give me a hug… so precious!) Deborah is the 15 year old who lives in our compound and helps out, but I have no idea where she came from, whose daughter, sister, mother, friend she really is. Last are two random guys that just hang out and sleep out on the cement in out compound… Pretty random. But this isn’t to include the 30 million random children that are always hanging around the complex... coming and going, eating and sleeping, hanging and playing, and calling me by name (and I can’t remember any of their names… )
Last night as I was lying in bed, I realized that it was the first time since arriving in Ghana I wasn’t putting in my head phones to go to sleep. I was listening to the sounds of nature sing their nighttime lullaby to rock me to sleep. This could be in part that the 3-day funeral celebration was over in my town, meaning that the whole town could sleep, and in turn I could sleep. Or it could be that there was no music blaring, or that my host papa finally turned off the radio from all the World Cup Futball Games that are taking place in South Africa. Whatever it was, it was peaceful to hear the crickets’ chirp, the frogs’ kroke, and the trees rustle in the wind.
Apparently Ghanaians think that when they are listening to music or giving a church sermon the whole world wants to be able to hear it (so they amp it up). So they amp it up, blaring it across the town so everyone can take part in what they are listening to or what they have to say. On Sunday mornings it’s almost as if the 10 churches in my small village of aprox. 500 are having a competition of who can be the loudest with what they are preaching about on that given day.
Apparently Ghanaians think that when they are listening to music or giving a church sermon the whole world wants to be able to hear it (so they amp it up). So they amp it up, blaring it across the town so everyone can take part in what they are listening to or what they have to say. On Sunday mornings it’s almost as if the 10 churches in my small village of aprox. 500 are having a competition of who can be the loudest with what they are preaching about on that given day.
Saturday, June 19, 2010
I don’t feel that there is any way to describe Ghana, its people, the language, the food, the culture and every experience that I’m experiencing. Each day is drastically different from the one before and I’m sure that no two experiences will be alike.
9 plus the driver were crammed into a little station wagon, aka the taxi, as we made our way from our new home in Adoonkuanta to the Peace Corps Office. The station wagon was I’m guessing from the early 80’s (older that me at least). The interior was completely ripped out exposing all the old, rusted metal… tetanus just waiting to happen. There was a 3rd row of sits built in the back of the car for ‘maximum people over loading’ allowing us to hit the number 9 on the scale of 1 to full. A few of us were hanging out the windows trying to avoid all passing shrubs that hugged the red road to town, as in hope of catching any amount of air.
Every car in Ghana must be like a cat… with 9 lives. It seems that when it’s truly thought to be broken, someone will get it going. Regardless if everyone has to get out and give the good ol’ vehicle a push start, or if the shocks need to be tied back together with just a piece of rope. Ghanaians will make that car run… no matter what.
Every vehicle I’ve been in since arriving in Ghana reminds me of a cartoon… one with an old beater for a car. And when driving down the road all 4 wheels pop off rolling in separate directions. The seats crash to the ground causing the doors to fall next. Last were left with the passengers just sitting there with the driver is still trying to go somewhere… anywhere. Peace Corps told us to not ride in cars that we think are unfit to ride in… I would say every vehicle in Ghana then.
With the 9 PCV’s in one taxi and 9 more in another taxi we arrived in style at the Peace Corps hub in Kukurantumi to find out our site placement… the big determining fact of where life will be taking us for the next two year. It was the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the question that I’ve been getting asked for the past 2 months… “Molly where in Ghana will you be” … “who knows, who knows”
Peace Corps drew out a big map of all the regions in Ghana… a few current volunteers stepped onto the map to show where they were living. Our Peace Corps Trainees stepped on the map to show us where they were from. Lake Volta (the largest man made lake in the entire world) was clearly mapped out in the Volta Region, and all the large cities were marked. The names were called from our different sectors. Math went first, calling out their city/town/village’s name and what region it was located in.
Everyone had been placing bets on where they were going… “I know PC will put me by the water,” “Everyone from health and water sanitation will be in the Northern Region,” “I heard that no one will be in the Western Region” were some of the rumors and bets that were going around. All I was hoping for was that I was to be near someone… someone that I liked...? The drum roll stated as the site assignments began.
Kute-buem, Ghana located in the Volta Region will be my new home as of August 12th, 2010. My job title in my village is “Cooperative Food Farming and Marketing Society” – only time will tell what that truly means. I do know that maize and ginger are major crops in the area… two things I know absolutely nothing about.
My housing situation makes me laugh… as quoted from all the information I was given… “You will have your own private rooms. Your source of water will be from a borehole. Your furniture includes a writing chair and a table.” – hummmmmmm… no idea about a bed, cooking facilities, bathroom facilities. I’m guessing that I won’t have any electricity. I’m glad to hear that I’ll have a ‘writing chair’ and I think I need to build some ‘carrying water on my head’ skills. (yes everyone carries everything on their heads – from water to wood, luggage to fruit).
From the beginning I was saying that I want to live in the bush, rough it for my two years of service. Have a latrine, and build some muscles for squatting. Get the bucket bath down… and learn to cook over an open fire. Here is my opportunity. Ready, set, go!
9 plus the driver were crammed into a little station wagon, aka the taxi, as we made our way from our new home in Adoonkuanta to the Peace Corps Office. The station wagon was I’m guessing from the early 80’s (older that me at least). The interior was completely ripped out exposing all the old, rusted metal… tetanus just waiting to happen. There was a 3rd row of sits built in the back of the car for ‘maximum people over loading’ allowing us to hit the number 9 on the scale of 1 to full. A few of us were hanging out the windows trying to avoid all passing shrubs that hugged the red road to town, as in hope of catching any amount of air.
Every car in Ghana must be like a cat… with 9 lives. It seems that when it’s truly thought to be broken, someone will get it going. Regardless if everyone has to get out and give the good ol’ vehicle a push start, or if the shocks need to be tied back together with just a piece of rope. Ghanaians will make that car run… no matter what.
Every vehicle I’ve been in since arriving in Ghana reminds me of a cartoon… one with an old beater for a car. And when driving down the road all 4 wheels pop off rolling in separate directions. The seats crash to the ground causing the doors to fall next. Last were left with the passengers just sitting there with the driver is still trying to go somewhere… anywhere. Peace Corps told us to not ride in cars that we think are unfit to ride in… I would say every vehicle in Ghana then.
With the 9 PCV’s in one taxi and 9 more in another taxi we arrived in style at the Peace Corps hub in Kukurantumi to find out our site placement… the big determining fact of where life will be taking us for the next two year. It was the moment we’ve all been waiting for, the question that I’ve been getting asked for the past 2 months… “Molly where in Ghana will you be” … “who knows, who knows”
Peace Corps drew out a big map of all the regions in Ghana… a few current volunteers stepped onto the map to show where they were living. Our Peace Corps Trainees stepped on the map to show us where they were from. Lake Volta (the largest man made lake in the entire world) was clearly mapped out in the Volta Region, and all the large cities were marked. The names were called from our different sectors. Math went first, calling out their city/town/village’s name and what region it was located in.
Everyone had been placing bets on where they were going… “I know PC will put me by the water,” “Everyone from health and water sanitation will be in the Northern Region,” “I heard that no one will be in the Western Region” were some of the rumors and bets that were going around. All I was hoping for was that I was to be near someone… someone that I liked...? The drum roll stated as the site assignments began.
Kute-buem, Ghana located in the Volta Region will be my new home as of August 12th, 2010. My job title in my village is “Cooperative Food Farming and Marketing Society” – only time will tell what that truly means. I do know that maize and ginger are major crops in the area… two things I know absolutely nothing about.
My housing situation makes me laugh… as quoted from all the information I was given… “You will have your own private rooms. Your source of water will be from a borehole. Your furniture includes a writing chair and a table.” – hummmmmmm… no idea about a bed, cooking facilities, bathroom facilities. I’m guessing that I won’t have any electricity. I’m glad to hear that I’ll have a ‘writing chair’ and I think I need to build some ‘carrying water on my head’ skills. (yes everyone carries everything on their heads – from water to wood, luggage to fruit).
From the beginning I was saying that I want to live in the bush, rough it for my two years of service. Have a latrine, and build some muscles for squatting. Get the bucket bath down… and learn to cook over an open fire. Here is my opportunity. Ready, set, go!
Thursday, June 17, 2010
At last it has been determined... I will be spending the next two years in the Volta Region of Ghana in a small village of about 500 people called Kute-buem. 10 miles down the road is Jasikan where another PCV will be as well as a few other PCV's who are in about a 20 miles radius of me. So pumped!! Togo is right next door, and I'm hoping that I can just pop on over when necessary.
Training has begun, home stays have started, and I'm in a constant state of looking like I just went swimming. Yup Yup.
Training has begun, home stays have started, and I'm in a constant state of looking like I just went swimming. Yup Yup.
Tuesday, June 15, 2010
It’s truly hard to believe that I’m in WEST AFRICA!!
72 other American’s and I joined forced in Philadelphia, PA on June 1st with only one thing in common… Peace Corps Ghana. As the awkward hellos started “Hello, my name is Molly”… (making me feel as if I’m in some sort of AA meeting), “I’m from Colorado” (as if this was a competition for the best state), “and I’m Agro-Forestry and Alternative Livelihood Facilitator” (whatever the hell that means?), friendships emerged as we all got our yellow fever shorts and partook in team building activities.
We were sent off via 3 buses on June 3rd for a quick tour through NYC (us Coloradoans were in awe of Manhattan) and on to JFK.
Sleep deprived we arrived in Accra, Ghana to be welcomed by our trainees and rain. We were told that arriving in Ghana with rain means blessings… (Really hope our 27 months here is blessed). Luggage in tow we took welcoming shorts of Gin (10am I believe it was) as we were sworn into the country.
Medical visits, drinks with the US Ambassador, and hours of card games we all started to feel like one BIG family. The Ghana jokes started as we drank water from a bag… (can’t really drink it from the tap), and discussed “Riding Hot” in Tro Tro’s (an experience that none of us want to have).
4 days after arriving in Ghana, Education vs. Omnibus (AKA everyone else) was divided up. As Education started their training, everyone else set out on a “vision quest.” Questing was done as visions of what our 2 years service might look like as the omnibus crew visited another PCV’s site to get a small taste of Peace Corps Ghana.
I was fortunate enough to quest with another Agro girl to the coast for some quality beach time. 2 tro tro’s (Ghana’s form of public transportation… and I do believe I will discuss tro tro’s in full later) 1 taxi and 10 hours later (I think the total mileage was around 200) we arrived in Princess Town (on the map it says Prince’s Town… someone made a mistake when publishing the name).
Princess Town located right on the Golf of Guinea was filled with fresh fish and a German Castle (making me feel right at home), fu fu and farming (f ufu will again have to be discussed in full later), break ins and sun burns (where we were staying was broken into… no one was hurt but about 150 USD was stolen from my friend).
A few days ago the Omnibus Crew quested to a town called Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region of Ghana, to start our 8 weeks of training!
72 other American’s and I joined forced in Philadelphia, PA on June 1st with only one thing in common… Peace Corps Ghana. As the awkward hellos started “Hello, my name is Molly”… (making me feel as if I’m in some sort of AA meeting), “I’m from Colorado” (as if this was a competition for the best state), “and I’m Agro-Forestry and Alternative Livelihood Facilitator” (whatever the hell that means?), friendships emerged as we all got our yellow fever shorts and partook in team building activities.
We were sent off via 3 buses on June 3rd for a quick tour through NYC (us Coloradoans were in awe of Manhattan) and on to JFK.
Sleep deprived we arrived in Accra, Ghana to be welcomed by our trainees and rain. We were told that arriving in Ghana with rain means blessings… (Really hope our 27 months here is blessed). Luggage in tow we took welcoming shorts of Gin (10am I believe it was) as we were sworn into the country.
Medical visits, drinks with the US Ambassador, and hours of card games we all started to feel like one BIG family. The Ghana jokes started as we drank water from a bag… (can’t really drink it from the tap), and discussed “Riding Hot” in Tro Tro’s (an experience that none of us want to have).
4 days after arriving in Ghana, Education vs. Omnibus (AKA everyone else) was divided up. As Education started their training, everyone else set out on a “vision quest.” Questing was done as visions of what our 2 years service might look like as the omnibus crew visited another PCV’s site to get a small taste of Peace Corps Ghana.
I was fortunate enough to quest with another Agro girl to the coast for some quality beach time. 2 tro tro’s (Ghana’s form of public transportation… and I do believe I will discuss tro tro’s in full later) 1 taxi and 10 hours later (I think the total mileage was around 200) we arrived in Princess Town (on the map it says Prince’s Town… someone made a mistake when publishing the name).
Princess Town located right on the Golf of Guinea was filled with fresh fish and a German Castle (making me feel right at home), fu fu and farming (f ufu will again have to be discussed in full later), break ins and sun burns (where we were staying was broken into… no one was hurt but about 150 USD was stolen from my friend).
A few days ago the Omnibus Crew quested to a town called Kukurantumi in the Eastern Region of Ghana, to start our 8 weeks of training!
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