The first three months at site we are told to… “sit tight, get to know your community (or communities rather), start getting a better grasp for the language, assess your main project and see how you can truly help, get to know what the people in your community want from you and how you can help them prosper, etc…”

So the three months have started… yup… so daily I’ve been reading (probably more than I’ve read in the past two years), I’ve been watching TV (again probably more that I’ve watched in the past two years as well, and by TV I mean movies and TV shows on my external hard drive), I’ve been taking daily walks through my town trying to remember people I met from the day before (failing miserably), seeing where different bush paths take me (Togo border), hanging out with my land lady (who can’t stop laughing at me, guess the way I attempt to do anything is hysterical), and sleeping (again probably more than I ever have slept in the past two years). I never before have found it so hard to fill 10 – 12 hours in a day (rather back in the states I don’t feel that there is enough time in the day.)

I’m the first volunteer to serve in Kute… meaning NO ONE knows what to think of me. Yes they have seen white people before (many different NGO’s are making their way in and out of small rural communities), but my supervisor who has brought me to Kute isn’t from Kute and they don’t know who he is… (so I’m again not sure how I landed in this town)…

Being the first volunteer has its ups… yes the plus side of things is that I get to set the standard for the Peace Corps Volunteers to come, I get to figure things out, make all the impressions (hopefully good) and get the ball rolling for this town. The down side of things being… no one knows what to think of me, and knows what the Peace Corps is about. The expect me to hand them money –

Side note…

I was walking through town and I came across some ladies getting their hair done (common thing for the ladies to do). One lady greeted me, and then went back to speaking Ewe with the other ladies, and in my small understanding of the language I could grasp that they were talking about me (not really surprised as I feel like I’m the talk of the town – look at the Yevo, watch the Yevo, see where the Yevo is going, and what the Yevo is doing, etc.) but I looked at the lady and asked what they were saying about me, and she responds that they finally understand why I’m here… to bring them money, and they wanted to know when I would be handing out their share? - I didn’t bring money, but that doesn’t mean that I’m not here to help the towns economy in a small way – for starters I’ve been having furniture made (as there was nothing in my room) I’ve been buying food, water, traveling. I’m sure that my small contribution of money is in some way helping the economy of Kute. In time I’m sure I’ll be hitting the hair dresses (yes I fully intend to get my hair braided in corn rows) as well as the seamstress getting more dresses and skirts made. Not to mention that I’m hoping friends and family (hint hint) will be coming to visit adding in more of an economic bust to the town. It always makes me wonder that in Peace Corps was to withdraw from Ghana for instance, that would mean taking out 150ish volunteers, cutting out about 25 that are staffed full time in Ghana (Americans and Ghanaians) and meaning that friends and family from the states won’t be coming to visit… Peace Corps is in some ways helping economies in developing countries by just placing its volunteers.

Between good and bad, this is an exciting adventure… As it has been said to me “we may have sacrificed two years but we will not suffer in these two years.”

Environment Peace Corps Volunteers 2010-2012

Sister Abena, Gifty, Molly, Auntie Faustina, and Deborah (the family's small girl)

Site… it’s here… the two years has started. All the new PCV’s said the good byes, wished everyone luck, and partnered up with others that are in the same area (aka our new best friends) to make the long and exhausting trip to our sites.

It was another days of traveling for 14 hours in buses, tros and taxis to get to site. Hauling way too heavy of bags, and sitting crammed into spots that I don’t wish upon anyone… ever! (unless you of course come to visit me in Ghana)

My last tro ride was pretty uneventful until we passed the last big town and hit the final stretch to Kute, and the questions started rolling…

“Yevu (white person in Ewe) where you go?”

“Brother I’m going to Kute”

“Why you go to Kute?”

“I’m a Peace Corps Volunteer (first proud moment that I can call me self a volunteer), I have come to work on the Environment (so they say).

“Achhhhhh, why?” (very typical response to anything)

“Why not…?”

“Yevu what is your name?”

“My name is Molly.”

“Mawlie… ahhh you are Gods gift to us” (if only that were the case, rather my name is pronounced the same way that “Gods Gift” in Ewe is pronounced.)

“Sister you will be my friend”

“Yes brother we can be friends.” (and that’s how its done)

I was greeted by my counter part, supervisor and landlady and all the small boys (I do believe that they are older than me though) that live around my apartment. It was once again raining (I keep telling myself that rain is a blessing in Ghana upon arrival) as I walked ‘home.’

The status has changed… I’m no longer a PCT (Peace Corps Trainee) but rather a PCV (Peace Corps Volunteer). I have the official volunteer status. Woot Woot!

About a week ago my Auntie came into my room with a bundle of blue fabric… shiny blue fabric… with spider web designs and gold star things all over it… She told me that this is the material I would be wearing to my swearing in ceremony, and that I at once must go to the tailor to get fitted for a dress… yes ma’am.

Fast forward to August 12, 2010

I got up to start getting ready for the big day… the day were we all become official volunteers, where we move from our home stay families home to our new homes… I put the well made dress on that my family had custom made for me, only to walk out my front door to see my aunt wearing a dress made of the same material as me, as well as my sister and her little 2 year old girl… Amazing… matching family moment (I felt like I was in a Lends End Catalog).

We are the 49^th group to be sworn into Ghana to serve as volunteers. With Ghana being the first country that Peace Corps ever set out to serve, we are all ‘ready’ (I say that with some apprehension) to tackle our main projects and continue to make Ghana better for its people and the world.

The “Swearing in Ceremony” was almost comical. Done in true Ghanaian style, with starting an hour late, name introductions (almost annoying), formal greetings, and random interruptions along the way (like when the US Ambassador drove up about an hour late, they drove her through the middle of the ceremony and then had to stop the speech that was being given to introduce her to the audience… weird). Almost every family gave their host child an outfit to wear to the ceremony, and it was as if there was some sort of competition going on of who could look the ‘best’ (and by best I mean the most ridiculous).

The ceremony was filled with speeches, certificates, drumming and African Dancing. It was filled with many congratulations, as well as many sad good byes (we may all be in Ghana but can’t hang out on a regular basis anymore). It was to honor the people who helped take care of us for the first 10 weeks (I can’t believe that it’s already been 10 weeks… 2 years to go) and to recognize all the hard work that the people of Peace Corps Ghana did to ‘prepare’ us for the next two years.

Training is almost like being back in school… no wait I take that back… training is being back in school. 6 hours a day of language and 2 hours of Ghanaian environment… grueling. There are papers to complete, projects that are due and having to be presented, tests are being given, and we are being graded on every aspect of our days… did we participate enough, comprehend enough, complete our assignments, and pass the exams?

PPP – Personal Presentation Project – we were given a month to prepare, but adapting to the Ghanaian culture (moving super slow), and in part that none of us really wanted to be back in school, we are cramming to finish for the final presentation. As it turns out PC also upped the due date (is that even allowed?) So in final preparation, my group consisting of Jon (from Colorado) and Dylan (from Utah) all gathered as we will all be in the Volta, to give a presentation about Palm Wine.

Palm Wine, is more common, and also considered the best in the Volta Region (woot woot Volta), due to its distilling process, was our topic of choice. Being made from the sap in palm nut trees it is only good with in the first few days of making. It really cannot be bottled and kept for further use and if its not consumed then palm wine is distilled further to make apitsi… the moonshine of Ghana.

Having the vaguest idea about the who’s, what’s, where’s, when’s, why’s, and how’s about Palm Wine we set off into the bush to see if we could find someone making it…

Ok so brief history… or what we could gather… the sap from palm nut trees was discovered when elephants would eat the branches and a sap would then seep out from the trees. This has been going on as long as anyone can remember. In Ghana, the tree must be killed to extract the sap, where as in Nigeria they have mastered the way of extracting the sap without killing the palm nut tree… don’t understand that one.

But the process is a rather fast fermentation process… Depending on the season and how intense the heat is palm wine can be extracted 7 to 14 days after cutting down the palm tree. And for up to 40 days after the first extraction, wine can still be extracted. We were told that the alcohol content is 25% - that’s a load of bull – maybe 2.5%. Palm wine is this sweet, milky color water, and after a few days of sitting it gains this sweet and sour taste.

We did the 40-minute walk to Masse, where the SED (Small Enterprise Development) people have been placed during training, knowing of a spot there where a few palm trees were lying on the ground. And as luck would have it we found the guys extracting some palm wine. They looked at us ‘obronies’ and with delight, (like we bring good luck with the extraction of Palm Wine?? Or it just looks cool to have some white people hanging around??) offered us some freshly extracted palm wine… simply delicious as it was still warm from the fire pulling the sap from the tree and sterilizing it as is ran into a gas canister (now that’s sterile…right?).

They looked at us, and then motioned for us to follow… we walked for about 20 minutes into the bush where they had about 4 more trees on their side. We watched as a little boy (they are called small boys here) poked a burning stick into a cut box at the top part of the tree, and as another small boy pumped air onto the fire to start the extraction of the wine.

Product sampling was had, project was completed, and presentation was given… A+

The KSO, home away from home, from our home home… if that makes ANY sense…?

Lets see… the KSO (Kumasi Sub Office) is like one big frat house… bunk beds, huge kitchen, with an oven and a refrigerator, dining room, large lawn outside, WiFi, big sun porch, bathroom with showers… real showers, and real toilets… ones that flush… a library, space to move around, space to just hang out… an amazing American sanctuary.

The KSO was put in place because Ghana Peace Corps Volunteers aren’t allowed to travel during the night… although most busses leave at some ungodly hour in the morning (2:43am)… it was also set up for PCV’s to have a place to escape to when we need to get away, talk to someone in American English (yes we are picking up the Ghanaian English accent, accenting our syllables in different parts of the words, and saying things like ‘I’m coming’ when in reality you are trying to say that you are going…but Ghanaian English is for another blog posting… sorry for getting ahead of myself), if we are having the urge to bake/cook, and take a real shower (minus the hot water) and for that matter use a REAL toilet… one that flushes. It is a place to clear our minds, recharge our bodies, feel safe in our surroundings and really take advantage of the internet… wireless internet… that we don’t have to pay for…

Taking a few days to get back to Addonkwanta, the Enviro Group stopped in Kumasi to finish up our technical training and relax/recoup at the KSO. Capitalizing on the fact that we were in a large city we hit the Pizza Joint (well probably the best pizza place that Ghana will have to offer considering that baked items and dairy are hard to come by) and found ice cream for the first time since arriving in Ghana… this made our week.

Technical training was great… motivating to get out and try some of the projects that we learned. In a way to say thanks to all our Ghanaian and American trainers we pooled our money, went shopping at the ‘obroni store’ (import goods store) to have a cook out. Yes that’s right a cook out, BBQ, potluck… and it was amazing!! Grilled Veggie… (yes actual veggies), some sort of grilled meat (not a meat eater here, but was told it was by far some of the best meat consumed since arriving in Ghana), Mac n’ Cheese, garlic bread, and wait for it… carrot cake (well it was out of a box), but yes carrot cake with cheese frosting… (I said cheese frosting… as in Laughing Cow cheese frosting… but all in all is was shockingly good.)

Can’t really tell if the Ghanaian trainers actually enjoyed the ‘Obronie’ food… their facial reactions were rather funny as we gave them guacamole (no chips… substituted with plantain chips… interesting) and as they ate a slice of carrot cake, but the 15 trainees and the two American trainers sure every ounce of food… there were no left overs.