The days tend to all blend and I have a hard time telling a
Monday from a Friday, and a Saturday from a Tuesday… the only day of the week
that I know what day it actually is, is Sunday when my village people dress in
their finest to attend church. But
during these past few months, when all the days seem as one I have been working
hard with my Women’s Group trying to give them ‘life skills’ before I depart
from Ghana.
The pepper (pepe)
farm is up and running with the first harvest just around the corner. From a previous project… building
rabbit cages (so happy to of had that
project be a success!)… we have been able to collect the rabbit poop and
use it as manure around the pepper plants and well as using the weeds as a
carbon layer to add nutrients back into the soil. The hardest part about the pepper farm is convincing the
women that they MUST water, as that was the whole point behind this project
of “dry season farming.” With the extra space that the Women’s
Group was given for farming, we have been planting ginger, the second largest
cash crop in the part of Ghana that I live in. We purchased 15 bowls (not
just a salad bowl size, but rather 10 salad bowls put together) of ginger
and have been planting it during the past few weeks. Ginger takes about 10 months to grow, and I’m sad (but not really that sad) to say that I
won’t be around for the harvest.
Osage Gardens has just ordered their 4th round of
Flour Sac Bags from the Kute-Buem Women’s Group… turning the “Flour Sac
Project” into a huge success to help the women in my Women’s Group generate
money through life skills.
I have been “hanging out” with my “small boy” … as he had
been trying to teach me the local language, and I’ve been trying to introduce
him to American Cuisine. He is now
a major fan of banana bread, and can successfully make it himself in a Dutch
oven. I’ve also had him try, pesto
pasta (unfortunately not from my parents
basil), pizza (made in a Dutch oven),
salad (with a vinaigrette dressing,
rather than just mayonnaise), Asian stir-fry with tofu, as close of Mexican
as I can get in Ghana (homemade
tortillas, guacamole, etc.)
I’m really trying to show him that the world has more than just fufu to
offer.
I played a small part in helping plan the annual All
Volunteer Conference for Peace Corps Ghana Volunteers. Sponsored by the Feed the Future
Initiative, we talked about “Pounding out Hunger” in Ghana through various Food
Security projects. Everything from
making cheese, and jam, to soil conservation, back yard gardening, bee farming,
and solar drying was discussed during the three day conference. It was truly a success as volunteers
went back to site with ideas that play into all the sectors of Peace Corps
Ghana.
It’s hard to believe that my service is almost up, and in 3
to 4 months I’ll be state side enjoying everything that the US has to offer…
excited… VERY!
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