Friday, August 10, 2012


The bittersweet end…

One of my ‘small boys’ was coloring at my house the other day and he stops for just a second to look at me and asked why I was giving everything away.  I replied with…
“Well Maxwell, my time in Ghana is finished and I’m preparing to go home.”
He responded… “I want to go with you.”
And I’m thinking if I could only take all the children that have made every moment in the village unforgettable I would. 
Maxwell continues to color for another minute or so.  Then he stops, hands me his drawing and asks…
“Sister Abra (my village name) will someone be coming after you”
“I don’t think so, but maybe in a year or two.  And Maxwell if someone does come to replace me, remember to show them all the love and kindness that you showed me, ok?”
Maxwell looked me in the eye and replied, “but Sister Abra they wont be you.”
He was ripping my heart out.

It’s hard to believe that the end is here… two years has gone by, that I am a RPCV (Returned Peace Corps Volunteer). 

There were of course many moments along this journey had me questioning this ‘crazy’ decision… to live in a developing country for two years… to try and help a rural village… to live as a minority in Africa… to live without running water, constant electricity, and a permanent connection to the world.  But this journey had moments that made these two long years soooo worth it… seeing my women’s group earn their first round of money, watching the girls during the Camp GLOW learn that they can achieve what they want, coloring with my children, initiating all the volunteer led trainings and somehow succeeding in Ghana. 

These past two years have been challenging, educational, inspiring, humbling, and at times absolutely incredible.  Ghana has opened my eyes to a whole new world, filled with different languages, customs and culture.  Ghana has shown me different ways of living, helped me to be more accepting and taught me patience.

Ghana, thanks for challenging me, educating me, humbling me, and creating some of the best memories of my life.






Thursday, July 5, 2012

Sunday, July 1, 2012

Year 2… the books I’ve read
* Year 1 book list ended on book 54 read…

55. German Boy – by: Wolfgang W.E. Samuel
56. The Shack – by: William P. Young
57. Oxygen – by: Carol Cassella
58. Post Mortem – by: Patricia Conwell
59. Autobiography of a Yogi – by: Paramahansa Yogananda
60. The Kite Runner – by: Khaled Husseini
61. Angles and Demons – by: Dan Brown
62. Ford Country Stories – by: John Grisham
63. The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake – by: Airnee Bender
64. The Catcher in the Rye – by: JD Salinger
65. The Bourn Identity – by: Robert Judlum
66. The Grapes of Wrath – by: John Steinbeck
67. Smashed – by: Koren Zailckas
68. Memoirs of a Geisha – by:
69. The Samurai’s Garden – by: Gail Tsukiyama
70. The Rape of Nanking – by: Iris Chang
71. The Outside Boy – by: Jeanine Cummins
72. The Legend of Colten H. Bryant – by: Alexandrea Fuller
73. Velva Jean Learns to Drive – by: Jennifer Niven
74. Nineteen Minutes – by: Jodi Picoult
75. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone – by: JK Rowling
76. Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets – by: JK Rowling
77. Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban – by: JK Rowling
78. Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – by: JK Rowling
79. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix – by: JK Rowling
80. Harry Potter and the half Blood Prince – by: JK Rowling
81. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows – by: JK Rowling
82. East of Eden – by: John Steinbeck
83. The Rainmaker – by: John Grisham
84. The Client – by: John Grisham
85. The Firm – by: John Grisham
86. The Hunger Games – by: Suzanne Collins
87. The Hunger Games, Catching Fire – by: Suzanne Collins
88. The Hunger Games, Mocking Jay – by: Suzanne Collins
89. A Thousand Splendid Suns – by: Khaled Hosseini
90. Cold Sassy Tree – by: Olive Anne Burns
91. About a Boy – by:
92. Moloka’I - by: Alam Brennert
93. Hotel on the Corner of Bitter and Sweet – by: Jamie Ford
94. Game of Thrones – by: George RR Martin
95. Tripwire – by: Lee Childs
96. The Shining – by: Stephen King
97. For Time and Eternity – by: Allison Pitman
98. Bridget Jones’ Diary – by: Helen Fielding
99. Winter Garden – by: Kristin Hannah
100. Sweet Ophelia – by: Kenneth Rosenberg

Woot Woot!!! Hit my goal of 100 books read during my two year service!



30 things to do when “light is off”

1. Go hang with my ‘children’
2. Go talk with my ‘family’
3. Read a book
4. Finish the book
5. Start a new book
6. Color with my ‘children’
7. Stare at the wall
8. Fetch some water
9. Eat the food in my fridge
10. Continue to stare at the wall
11. Contemplate life
12. Come up with ten new ideas of what to do when I finish Peace Corps
13. Finish all the food in my fridge
14. Disregard all new ideas of what to do when finished and create 5 more
15. Play suduko
16. Watch a TV show or movie and pray that the light will come back so I can charge my computer
17. Pace my room (two steps and then turn around)
18. Attempt to nap
19. Continue to attempt to nap
20. Walk around my village ‘greeting people’
21. Go back to my favorite thing… staring at the wall
22. Dance like a mad man
23. Stare at the wall some more
24. Bake some peanut butter cookies
25. Play another round of suduko
26. Listen to some music
27. Sit in front of my fan pretending that the light is on and I’m being cooled off
28. Continue to sit in front of my fan
29. Consume every last morsel of food in my fridge (just incase light does not come for a long, long time)
30. Stare at the wall till the light finally comes
• “light” in Ghana means power
• And yes I have done all of these things while waiting sometimes only an hour or up to several weeks for “light” to come again.



Wednesday, May 16, 2012

We are Peace Corps Ghana Environment 2010-2012
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!


Thursday, April 5, 2012

The Kute-Buem Women’s Group has successfully got the “farm” up and running, and so far so good.

With many complications along the way, such as price increase of supplies and dispute over the border of the land that we were given, the Kute-Buem Women’s Group finally has the fence built, the pepe (spicy pepper) planted, and is now working on cultivating the rest of the land around the farm to plant ginger. The 13 women are working well together to make this project a complete success.

Group farm day planting ginger

digging the mounds to plant the ginger in


weeding the 'pepe' farm