Pictures

I set this up to share some pictures with my family, figured I'd post it here too:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/65916414@N03/sets/72157627218346309/

First and Last days

My first full day in Africa I went to Saviefe Deme, the village I worked in for the next three weeks. I had only seen Accra in the daylight since I arrived late the day before, so the taxi ride from Ho to Deme was a breathtaking introduction to another side of the country. First, we drove through Ho which had a constant sound and movement to it; music, honking taxis, shops, the market, and people everywhere carrying their goods in huge baskets balanced on their heads. The women had their children tied to their backs with cloth and there were goats and chickens everywhere. Soon, the landscape turned to a beautiful jungle as far as you could see on both sides; there was endless varied vegetation and mountains obscured by screens of fog. Every now and then the jungle was punctuated by an isolated village where people stared from the doorways of their small tin-roofed, concrete homes. We arrived in Saviefe Deme after navigating a weather-beaten dirt road, where we were instantly welcomed by several members of the community. That day I got to help carry dirt in a bucket on my head to fill in the foundation at the dig site for a new school, see a pig farm, play with the school kids on break, hop on a truck to Bogami (the next village), hold a baby, take palm wine, and try grasscutter. It was the first of many incredible days in Deme.

On my last day I found myself in Bogami again, the village I had visited once three weeks ago. A member of the community had died and the village was preparing for the funeral. Three days compose an African funeral; on the first the women prepare the food and the men dig the grave, on the second they have the burial and other services, and I think the third holds a memorial and continued services. It was the first day of this man’s funeral, and Charles left me among the women. They were preparing banku with okra and fish stew for the funeral, so the women were divided up with different tasks of breaking up the dough for kinkey into a finer consistency, scaling fish, frying fish, husking corn leaves, cooking the kinkey, and wraping balls of cooked kinkey in the leaves. They would finish preparing the meal the next morning. I did not know any of the women because it was not my village, but they showed me what to do, talked to me, lent me a cloth to wear, and gave me boiled groundnuts and akpeteshi. The whole time they were singing and dancing and laughing; they wore bright colors (red and black are funeral colors, but I saw this more strictly followed in city funerals) and the mood was one of merry working. It was pretty much the polar opposite of an American funeral in every way.

Saviefe Deme kids

The kids in Deme were by far the best part of my time in Africa. At first, they (understandably) just stared at me from their classrooms. On my third day, there was nothing to do at the work site so I went over to the kindergarten classroom and showed them some classic kids songs/dances we have in America. They absolutely loved everything I showed them and would say “madame” and then gesture to request a certain song or game. They loved the banana song, the hokey pokey, the macarena, London Bridge, and the clap game which was literally just me clapping and them copying me. The teacher would usually show up a little while later in the day and she would have the kids do some of the songs she had taught them. Some were in English and some were in ewe, but they all had hand motions to them and all of them were adorable. Then I got to know the older kids as well, and they showed me clap games, a hopscoth-like game they have, a high jump they set up, their version of duck-duck-goose, and more. I brought a thing of bubbles which they loved (at first they all tried to pop them, then they tried to keep the bubbles intact by blowing them up and away from the walls), and they always loved looking at the photo albums I brought and taking pictures with my camera. I would run and they would chase me, catch me, brush the dirt off my shirt, and bring me into their classroom and have me sit in the teacher chair. They asked me my name and my mother’s name and father’s name, repeating each one in unison as I told them. They liked when I read to them, were fascinated by my nails, and liked stroking my hair. They would come show me their times tables and pictures they drew that they were proud of. I don’t think I had a free hand the last two weeks I was in that village; they are the sweetest most beautiful kids in the world and the thing I miss most about Ghana is playing with and being hugged and led around by them all day.

Longing for Ho

Close to three weeks has passed since I left Ho and arrived in Accra.  Being spolied does not begin to explain my living situation.  My "house" or more accurately resort (placed in Labone where all the big shots live) has glass windows, air conditioning, hot water, a washer and dryer, 24 security, and so on.  I have been eating corn flakes for breakfast with MILK, yes milk.  We have an essentially endless supply of Voltic waters (I drink sache waters occasionally to remain sane). We go out to dinner every night at two different restaurants that make us buffet style meals, always with salad.  We went to Cape Coast/Elmina and stayed at a beach resort.  We did limbo on the beach with a band playing high life music while drinking delicious palm wine.  We went to Kumasi and stayed at a hotel where I would assume government officials would stay.

Through all of this, all I can think about is getting back to Ho to eat some street meat from the Nigerian vendor outside our house.  I want to sit and eat rice outside and have a mid day beer.  I want to sit and talk about life with Mama Susie.  And, as much of a pain in the ass all you volunteers can be, I'll be happy to see you again. 

I am glad that I took this course.  It opened my eyes to the intra-country disparities present in the developing world.  I am sitting here living like a King, while a few blocks away lives extreme poverty.  I learned a great deal about Ghanaian education, always comparing this new knowledge as well as the school visits to what I have seen outside of Accra.  This summer has opened my eyes further, and you have all played a role.

See those of you that have left back in the U.S.

See the rest of you back in Ho.

Running

I have found that one of the best ways to really get to see Ho is to try and go everywhere by foot. Walking has allowed me to place myself within my surroundings. And while walking has allowed me to place myself within the context of Ho, it is running that has allowed me to see how Ho is placed within Ghana.

It's about 230pm on a typical weekday in a bustling city. Ho has almost all the scents and sounds that accompany a small city, except with a Ghanaian flare. From our house I turn left onto the main road that runs  into and out of Ho and I start running straight. I run by businesses and homes at first, but after about 10 minutes, the scene shifts. Open farms and small villages replace crowded roads and fruit stands. As I continue running, the mountains seem more clear and the land more vast than I realized. When you are running you can never catch up to the land, there is always more and it is always greater than you are. In this area beyond the city the traffic is much more sparse, with a single taxi or trotro only every couple minutes and only a few people walking. After about 30 minutes I reach a sign that I think reads "millenium centre" and what looks like a larger village. I turn around just before reaching it. For the next 30 minutes I imagine what is beyond that sign. I can't wait to go running again.

Because I haven't been keeping up with my blogging quota, I'm now 4 weeks into my trip and don't know where to begin! So I'll just give snippets of the most memorable tidbits I've experienced thus far.

Last week, I took the week off from my usual placement at McColin's prep school to go teach in Saviefe Deme. On one of the days, there was no school so our group got to instead trek into the backwoods of Saviefe through the narrow pathways along the kasava, plantain, and cocoa fields. After crossing a stream and walking for a good half hour, we reached our first stop: an akpeteshie distillery. It consisted of a small hut beside two huge barrels of palm wine, which were emptied through a tube into the tank under the hut. Somehow, magically, this palm wine is then distilled into akpeteshie, its more alcoholic cousin. That stuff burns. Anyways, we had some fresh palm wine at this stop. After, we looked inside the two palm wine filled barrels and saw they were coated with a layer of bees that are irresistibly attracted to the sweet wine. I'm glad we drank the wine first and saw where it came from afterwards. Then we were on our way deeper into the backwoods, crossing the stream again at a different place. Eventually we got to the area where the palm trees are actually cut down to make the palm wine. The process of making palm wine involves various sharp tools, fire, what look like wooden reeds, and other things. I still don't know how they do it but essentially the tree is uprooted, laid on its side, and a square is cut into the trunk. A hole is bored through from the bottom of the square through to the bucket underneath for the wine to collect. Then the bundle of reeds is smoked in the fire, and shoved into the square in the tree. Then the wine-makers take hollow reeds and blow into the square, producing more and more smoke. Then they say the magic words and the wine drains out of the tree into the bucket. We were lucky enough to get to try the wine right out of the tree, and boy was it good. Eh vivi, as they'd say here. So. THAT was cool.

A couple weeks ago we went to Wli (pronounced Vlee) and climbed a mountain to the first waterfalls I'd ever seen in real life. Wowzers, who knew they were so amazing. After hiking for an hour and a half, we finally reached the falls. I couldn't believe how windy it was even 200 feet away from the falls. As soon as I could get my backpack off, I was into the pool of water making my way towards the falls. As we got closer to the rocks, I could barely see cause the wind and water was constantly in my eyes. Once we got to the rocks, completely drenched already, it was a challenge to not slip under the weight of the water pelting down on you. But I've never experienced anything even close to the feeling of sitting under a waterfall. The natural power of it is astounding. What a crazy time. Definitely one of the best experiences thus far in Ghana. 

Walking down the busy streets of Ho everyday is something else. Street vendors pass every minute carrying food on their heads, or women along the road invite you to buy mangoes and pineapples. But there's always many unfamiliar foods you come across, and today I seized the opportunity to finally try some of them. There are these little things that look like balls of gingersnap cookie dough, and today I decided to get a couple. I was pleasantly surprised to taste groundnuts (peanuts), ginger, and some other spices. They were interesting and exciting in such a good way. I can't wait to get more adventurous over the next week and a half and try whatever else I dare to. 

Until next time, 

Brittany

My First Blog....

so, this is my first blog, and I've been in Ghana for 2 weeks. oops. that just means I have more to reflect upon. my first day was both exhausting and terrifying, after a much longer tro-tro ride than expected from the airport, and arriving at house full of strangers. but the friendliness of not only the other volunteers but also the  Ghanaians made me feel at home very quickly. i already know that when i leave ghana, one of the things i will miss the most is the constant 'attention' from the ghanaians you pass on the street. even though they are really just acknowledging that i'm white, it is so cute when all the little kids chase you down the street yelling 'yavu, yavu!' (white person !) and everyone else just waves and smiles and asks 'how are you?' they really are friendly people. (maybe just because i'm white, but i'd like to think they are a universally friendly culture).

apparently my first week here was one of the most exciting, according to the other volunteers. within that week, i took 3 outreach trips with the clinic and the med students (here from virginia). 2 of those trips were into villages, and the third was to Accra (the capital city) to observe cataract surgeries ! what an amazing first week. the village trips are amazing to me, because we really get to travel and see different areas of Ghana. and the villages are so much different than Ho, the town we live in. the people in the village seem so grateful that we're there, and in the most simple terms, it really is rewarding to know that you're helping someone who needs it. and by visiting these villages, i'd like to say that my general outlook on life has been changed, or at least influenced. even though i expected it, the poverty is still shocking. even more shocking is how these people have nothing.. some children don't have shoes... and yet they still seem so HAPPY. it makes me wonder why i'm so materialistic, and so often get hung up on the little things in life, when clearly all these village children need are their friends and family.

even though we have so much down time (after dinner the evening is yours), i still look forward to the weekends, where we get to go on excursions. my first weekend was so amazing. we drove into another town and rented mountain bikes, and after a bike/hike we ended up at such a beautiful waterfall ! some people climbed to the top,  but i just sat and watched, in my own little world. it was so peaceful, and i could have sat there for hours just watching the water. sometimes i would forget where i was, and then i would look up and see a jungle of plants and vines, and remember, I'M IN AFRICA. this has already been such an incredible trip, and i'm excited to see what the next 2 weeks hold.

Final Days

Yesterday I went to Deme for the last time with Jon, Andrew, and Nick. All the Deme teachers, who are infamous in our Volunteer house for their laziness and disinterest in actually teaching, seemed to be in a day long "meeting," that involved napping outside, so most of the classrooms were full of teacher-less students. Nick and I were assigned P4 (roughly equivalent to fourth grade).

I haven't done much formal teaching in the past (just a little tutoring), so I was excited to get my feet wet. I quickly learned that it's extremely difficult to teach almost every subject (possibly excluding math), without adequate materials. The small classroom, that held nine students, had three very old chalkboards, a box of chalk that never seemed to make any visible marks on the boards, two posters (one that explained the roles of the Executive, Judicial, and Legislative branches, and one that simply listed skin diseases: leprosy, scabies, fungus, eczema, chicken pox), and a pile of workbooks. A few of the students had pens, and one had a pencil. There was no paper, no crayons, no markers, no reading books.

The kids all wanted to start the day with "Creative Arts," so we all took out the Creative Arts workbooks, and Nick and I started going through them. Crocheting lessons, pottery lessons, crayon resist lessons. Nothing we could do without the materials. Finally Nick ripped out a bunch of pages from his journal, handed out one to each kid, and we all drew our favorite animals, taking turns with the pens. (After I drew an example elephant on the board, everyone just drew elephants). Then we tried to do math. The math workbooks contained such exciting lessons as: "Follow the pattern- 434, 433, 432, 431, ..." and "Count in multiples of ten from 0 to 80." I quickly abandoned the workbooks (for their sake and my own), and tried to teach fractions by drawing banku and mango on the board and "cutting" it into different numbered slices. That got us a little further, but the language barrier definitely created some problems (I'm still not sure they understand that 1/4 is bigger than 1/8, even though 8 is bigger than 4).

We ended the day with reading, which they do out of their science workbooks. The page they were on was titled "skin diseases" (the poster suddenly made sense), and each paragraph was about a different type of skin disease they could get. Everyone took out their books except one boy. I asked him where his was and he said he didn't have it, so I gave him mine to use for the lesson. The rest of the class immediately jumped up in dissent, shouting "No! No! Do not give him book. He can't read!" It's no wonder the poor kid can't read. He's never given a book! Not sure how they ever expected him to learn. Of course I gave him mine anyway and told him just to try following along while the other kids took turns reading about peeling skin infections and boils and fungi (I kid you not, I had to spend five minutes listening to a little ten year old try to sound out "anti-fungal cream." It was simultaneously hilarious and incredibly frustrating. They have absolutely no comprehension of what they're reading). When it got to his turn, I asked the boy if he wanted to give it a try, and he surprised me with an enthusiastic "yes!" It took him ten times longer than the rest of the students (and he only got through the sentences by sounding out the few letters he knew, and his friend whispering the rest of the words to him), but he clearly wanted to know how to read. I'm sad to think about how he will get lost in the system. Students simply repeat grades until they pass out and move on, but each grade teaches essentially the same things, and it's incredibly easy to slip through the cracks and move on before you're ready (the first three questions of the final exam, which we saw one of the teachers preparing, were: "1. Design a bumper sticker that says 'God is great,' "  "2. Which of the following did God create?" and "3. How many times a day do you pray?"  If they've had these exams before, I'm sure they're not exactly motivated to learn about government systems and grammar rules). There also isn't an expectation of success in school, and no motivation to study or do well. Whether the teachers are jaded from years of frustration with the system, or simply don't care much about teaching (it's sort of a status symbol to be a teacher, and the pay is comparatively very good), they are not doing a good job of inspiring their students or setting any example of where a good education can get you. Although that leads to the next question of what CAN a good education really get you here, and is it simply better to live the life of their parents who spend their days on the farms, but (at least from what I've seen in the past month), seem relatively happy (especially compared to the stressed-out, tax-paying, tv-buying American). But that's a conversation for another day.

Ultimately, I was really glad to get a little experience teaching, and despite the many frustrations of the day, really enjoyed working with the kids. With a little patience and creativity, learning can go on anywhere, even a paperless, teacherless classroom.

Today is my last full day here, so I'm spending most of it saying the important goodbyes. I'll really miss everyone I worked with from Bankas' clinic, most noteworthy Livingston, Kindom, Salome, and Innocent. Not to mention our artist friend (Yao), our contact in Deme (Charles), the seamstress next door (Praise), the shop lady down the street who supplied us with endless amounts of bread, coke, and biscuits (Fida), and of course, all the other volunteers at Ghana Act. Thirty days came and went, and somehow in that short time, I discovered and carved out a home here. I will miss it greatly.

Until next time,

Anna

Outdoor Adventures

This past weekend we went to a botanical garden then went mountain biking. We biked for about 4 miles to a waterfall. Since we went to a waterfall last weekend, I was more excited for the mountain biking than the waterfall. To my surprise though, the waterfall ended up being just as awesome as the bike ride. This waterfall was different because it was smaller and we were able to climb it. Once we climbed the slippery/steep waterfall, there was a stream we walked along for a while. It was the most peaceful thing I have ever seen. It looked like it was out of a movie. The stream winded through a bunch of caves and more mini waterfalls and pools. It was so great. I wanted to stay there for the rest of the night.

After a trip to the safari, going through the rain forest, swimming in waterfalls, and hiking mountains here in Ghana, I've realized how much of an outdoorsy person I am. Maybe it's just Ghana but I have been having a blast adventuring through the beautiful sites this country has to offer. I wish I had more time to take more trips!

A ride from Deme

Yesterday, after a week of frustratingly long days at the clinic, a bunch of us took the day off to visit Saviefe Deme, where a few other volunteers are teaching and building a school. There was no building that day due to a lack of materials, and also no teaching because class was cancelled so the kids could help their parents on the farms, so needless to say we didn't have much to do. We ended up walking around the village, visiting the different schools where we worked, running into friends along the way. Saviefe Deme is everyone's favorite place to visit because the people are so friendly and hospitable. Sammy, a 60 something year old who loves to guide us around town and always seems a little drunk on akpeteshi, feeds us coconuts cut straight from the tree and bananas by the bundle. George, another neighborhood face, took us on a long walk that ended in an antelope and palm wine tasting. They show us how coal is made, introduce us to their pigs, and always make sure we're well fed (and the akpeteshi is always flowing. Anytime you're brought into someone's home, it's customary for the host to "wash the feet," of the guest, which translates into opening up their liquor cabinets and playing bartender). In the late afternoon we decided to head back, but calling for a cab would have meant waiting a good 40 or 50 minutes because Deme is a tiny village off the beaten path, and taxis don't generally drive down the winding dirt road unless they're called for. Instead, villagers get to the main road (about a ten minute drive) by paying 1 cedi to ride the back of a motorcycle. Which is what we did. Helmets were not provided, the speedometer was broken (so I had no idea how fast we were going), and the road was so holey that the only way we could maintain a smooth path was by swerving back and forth between the pot holes. I was gripping my drivers shirt so hard my hands were sweating (especially when he took out his cell and started making phone calls while steering one handed), but when in Ghana, do as the Ghanaians do. I was uncertain I would even make the ride until I saw an old woman straddling the back of a motorcycle in her traditional long skirt. If she could do it, so could I. And once I got past the fear of falling to my rocky death, it was actually quite enjoyable. The scenery here can't be beat.

Today started sadly, as Julie, Jess, and Rosie all left for home. They will be sorely missed here, but we already have a Bickford's date set for when I get back to the states. And today was one of the first days that I really enjoyed working at the clinic with the med students. I started off at bp, which now also involved taking people's temperature via the armpit. The babies really hated it, and would cry and wriggle everytime you came at them with the thermometer. One baby was so horrified he was screaming his head off and struggling out of his mother's arms. But she settled it quickly. She simply reached into her shirt, took out one of her breasts, and popped it into his mouth. That shut him up. I also had to try taking the temperature of a 90 year old woman who couldn't remember to keep her arm tight against her body, so the thermometer kept dropping into her shirt, getting lost in folds of wrinkled skin and cloth. I switched to research for the second half of the day, and after observing a few by a med student, ended up conducting survey interviews by myself (with the help of a translator) to randomly selected villagers in order to find out about their knowledge and awareness of malaria, how to prevent and treat it, and what they think should be done to combat it. That was really fun. The younger generation tended to be more well informed, and much more willing to go to a hospital if they got sick. But most people seemed to understand that it was spread by mosquitoes, and that the best preventative measure is bed nets, which we were also giving out at the clinic.

Finally, tomorrow the clinic volunteers are going on a one night trip to Accra with the med students to observe cataract surgery! More on that later. I'm very excited, although not for the three hour drive (my ipod seems to be broken, and I'm running out of books. But maybe I'll catch up on sleep...) Can't believe I'm starting my last week tomorrow!

Anna

Reclaiming The Morning

A Ghana favorite for me is the morning time. Kids skip to school in pairs, adults sweep and wash, the sun hasn't heated the earth. The morning here is not merely a time to rush through before the day ''officially begins;'' in Ghana, the day ''officially begins'' when I lift my head from the pillow. The difference in pace of life here allows one to savor more morning things: I leisurely sip hot tea on the porch and alternate between chatting with the other volunteers and observing the morning life in Ghana. Sometimes I write in my journal my goals for my day or I may take time to cook a proper breakfast of a fried egg with avocado and sweet bread. Maybe this is something I can keep up when I'm back in the states, but somehow I doubt it.

Last Week Here!

Time seems to go by slowly here but at the same time I cannot believe my trip is almost over, looking back it seems to have gone by too fast. This weekend our trip to the waterfalls proved to be the perfect last excursion. We were actually provided with a nice bus that had air conditioning and a TV (even though the air conditioning did not work and the TV was only on for a two minute period of overwhelming Ghanaian screams)! Today was my second to last day at Mcolins, and I know that tommorrow is going to be an emotional day. I've made such a connection with Linda and Blessing, I almost feel like I am abandoning them by going back to Massachusetts! But, I do have some good news. Today I talked to Mama Susie about one of my students in the nursery, Princess. Princess has down syndrome and is, by age, supposed to be in first grade, but she remains in the nursery class. Mcolins is one of the most developed schools in this area, but is still no where near suitable enough to tend to Princess' special needs. I asked Mama Susie if there is any programs and/or schooling systems in Accra that tended to special needs students and she knew of a place. I proceeded to ask about Princess' parents and their financial ability to send her to Accra, and she informed me that Princess would have already been there if her parents had the money to send her. Luckily, the high school I went to has a great program for the mentally disabled and I will be able to raise lots of money as soon as I get home! Mama Susie said she would see to it personally that Princess gets to Accra when I get her the money. I am so happy! I can't believe I'm going home this soon. I've met the best group of people (both the volunteers and Ghanaian's) here and leaving will be very bittersweet.

Some Good Hiking

This weekend we hiked up a mountain in Wle (sp?), which is about two hours away from Ho. It took us about 3 hours to hike all the way up the mountain to the upper waterfall. It was so darn beautiful, both the waterfall and the excursion to the waterfall. I had never hiked like that before but I absolutely loved it. I was sweating like a fiend because of the humidity but I was addicted to the view that only got more breathtaking as we trekked up the mountain. I will most definitely upload pictures of the view from the mountain. It overlooked a couple villages in Ghana with a bunch of neighboring mountains. The waterfall was equally as wonderful. It was so peaceful. I had so much fun chilling under the waterfall on some rocks. It was a really great. Once we were done taking pictures at the falls and cooling off from the tough hike, we climbed back down to go the lower waterfall. It was a really great trip and I hope to hike a lot more when I go home.

A lot of people left today, which was sad. Fortunately, we also have had a few newcomers come to the house. I leave Ghana in about a week and half! Ah, so soon!

Week One

So I have been in Ghana for a week and I have begun to appreciate the pace of life here. It is slower. At home I am constantly orientating myself by the time of the day it is; here I hardly ever know what time is. I don't wear a watch, rarely go on the computer, don't carry a phone, and there are no clocks anywhere. The only way for me to find out the time is to ask. But I have found that I hardly ever really care about the time of day. In Ho it isn't about getting where I need to be at a certain time, wondering how long I will be there for, wondering the exact time of dinner, or meeting up with someone at an exact time. The days  here are more fluid than that, time goes by as smoothly as our thoughts that decide what we want to do with that time. It's kinda wonderful.

Market Day

Today was market day, a magical day in which people gather in the center of Ho selling and bargaining food, clothes, furniture, jewelery, etc. Today was my second excursion to market day. Both times were equally as chaotic and overwhelming. There are so so many places to shop at and so many interesting items to possibly perchase. My goal for today was to make a dent my long list of presents to bring home for my friends and family but I unfortunately was not as successful as I hoped. I just couldn't decide what exactly I wanted to get or which prices I should settle with.

Outside of market day, Ho is filled with a lot of great places that sell great souviners. Before market day, some of the volunteers and I stopped at a clothing/wooden carvings shop. We found some awesome bags, shirts, skirts, and carvings. We also stopped at two artist stores. One sold paintings and the other sold drums and jewelry. The paintings were all hand made and uniquely made. They are all really colorful and are of an assortment of African motifs. The other artist made some unbelievable drums. Some of the other volunteers have befriended him and have even got him to costumize their own drum for them. I don't know how to play the drums but it really makes me want to learn how to with the idea of having my own costumized Ghanaian drum. Maybe I will?

The market reminds me a lot of trips I used to take with my Mom to the market in Boston. We would wake up early on saturdays and buy big loads of fresh fruits and vegitables. With all these trips to the market makes me want to start doing that again with my Mom! Maybe I will? Maybe I will bring my drum?

McColins Fieldtrip

I usually work at the Achievers School at the edge of Ho, but today I went on a field trip with the McColins group. It all started when the bus full of about 80 kids came rolling into our front yard two hours late. They were all singing at the top of their lungs before the five of us who were going on this fieldtrip to the dam had even stepped on the bus. What I enjoyed most about this fieldtrip was how completely opposite it was from a fieldtrip from my childhood. Instead of being told to sit down and stay relatively quiet the entire bus ride, teachers were instead telling kids to stand up, be loud, and sing. Instead of the teachers just sitting at the front of the bus worrying about making sure all the kids stay safe during the fieldtrip, the teachers were in the middle of the bus, in the aisles singing louder and having more fun than all the kids on the bus. Michael was the teacher who was leading most of the songs and I have literally never seen a grown up enjoy themselves that much singing childrens songs with 80 kids. You could just tell that he absolutely loved what he did, and his enthusiasm was infectious.

When we got to the dam all the kids filed off (no head counts were done, I suppose the teachers just trusted all the kids to not get lost and to get back on the bus at the end of the day). We were lead around the dam by a tour guide and all the kids listened attentively and took notes as she spewed out facts. I was so impressed how they went from complete hysteria and craziness on the bus to composing themselves and focusing only five minutes later. The dam was beautiful and so relaxing. But still my favorite part was being with the kids and teachers and seeing how none of them were stressed about losing kids or making sure everyone was behaving themselves. It was like their was an unspoken trust between the teachers and the students that kept this chaos organized. The kids were just so happy and grateful to get this experience and they made sure they took advantage of it, I think that's why the teachers didn't have to worry about how they were behaving. I never thought I would go on another field trip after high school, especially not in Ghana. But I have to say, today I learned more than I ever thought I could on a field trip.

In Your Own Words

One of my favorite things about Ghana Act is chatting with our chef extradonnaire Linda. Linda not only cooks our daily dinner, but she also makes us groundnut paste (peanut butter) and other treats like sliced fresh fruit. I call her "Linda The Business Woman" because she is putting herself through preventative medicine nursing school with her skills in the kitchen, both with Ghana Act and by selling breakfast porridge on campus to pay for her transportation fees to and from school everyday. Needless to say, she works very hard and commands my respect as a person. But beyond that, she is one of the few Ghanians, especially women, who is my age and who I come into meaningful contact with on a daily basis. Most of the people I've met through Ghana Act projects are kids, parents, or male, so Linda is special to me. During your time in Ghana, try to find the Lindas, the people you relate to in the real relationship way -- find them and talk with every day that you can. If it weren't for Linda I'm not sure that I would leave this summer experience having a decent true understanding of a woman's life in Ghana, most particularly one who is balancing tradition with her own mental modernity. From an intellectual standpoint, it makes me extremely appreciative of the women's lib movement back home, but from a human standpoint I am finding the motivation to pursue graduate studies in public health -- the type where not only health but also human flourishing are crucial, and where human rights and capabilities guide our actions. Linda has become a friend, a teacher, and a motivation. When you are here, you must find your motivation.

Last Week

I cant believe it is already my last couple days here, while the days seem so long, time went by too quickly! This past weekend we did the most unbelievable thing possible, went to see elephants. If you know me at all, you know my irrational love for elephants, the first day i arrived here, I showed my elephant tattoo to John and asked him, will we see elephants, and thankfully we did!! The trip up to the elephant home was quite the journey, one day it was 7 hours to Kumasi, a large city, that was tiring but promised many treats, such as nutella tasting chocolate and twix (my first twix ever!). The second day held for us 14 hours of travelling, all of which I did not have a single drop of water for fear of needing to pee the whole ride. Going up north was interesting though, the environment changes completely, while down here there are mostly houses, up there it is mostly huts, and there is surprisingly more cheese (something that is not ever seen in Ho). When we got to the Hotel it was late already so all we did was eat some dinner and most of the people went to sleep. Me and a couple of other kids sat down with some irish girls that were teaching here for the past 5 months, after that we jumped in the pool for a bit and got kicked out of the pool

Peace Corps and Medical School

So I'm not going to talk about the trip we went on this weekend because other volunteers seemed to have covered it nicely. Instead, I will talk about my wonderful day at the eye clinic yesterday and today at Saviefe Deme, a small town/village 25 minutes outside of Ho.

This past week the clinic changed it's agenda in welcoming medical students from Virginia. They came to join the eye clinic with a general medical clinic to diagnose common diseases dealt with by Ghanaians. One major issue that they are dealing with is Malaria, for the obvious reasons. Yesterday was our first day with the med students and began a bit chaotic getting ourselves adjusted. The med students have chosen five villages to visit with the clinic, targeting specific health issues with certain areas. As untrained volunteers, we couldn't get into the hardcore medical stuff but we were able to observe on the outside, working with medication and the eye exams. It was really interesting to see what they have prepared and how they have been interacting with the Ghanaians. They spend two days at each village, one day educating the village on the health issues/how to keep themselves safe and another day doing the actual clinic by treating the Ghanaians for their respective ailments. It was pretty complicated. It was great seeing so many people getting treated.

When we were done with the day we had a meeting with the elders of the village we were at. It was really awesome to see the village leaders and hear them talk about their gratitude for our work. I felt very satisfied with the work we did that day.

Then today I went to the town Saviefe Deme, where Ghana ACT both teaches and does community building. After transporting bricks to the building site for a long time with a large group of the community, we were out of work because our supplies for the next step weren't coming till the next week. While waiting for the volunteers who were teaching to finish, some of the school and town employees gave us a tour of the cocoa trees and some of the town. The cocoa trees were located in a beautiful little street and there were hundreds of the trees. The cocoa beans come in pods and you can suck on the seeds to taste the fruit on the outside. It's really sweet (tastes nothing like chocolate) and is delicious. After that we met up with a Peace Corps volunteer from the next town over named Mike. I hadn't met him before so I was able to get to hear his experience in Ghana as a part of the Peace Corps. It was really nice to see how successful he has been in his year here. It motivated me to possibly apply for the Peace Corps in the future!

The past two days have gotten me really thinking about what to do with my future, learning from the medical students and Peace Corps workers. It's really overwhelming yet exciting. I definitely will use my experiences here to help me with those big decisions in the future.

The Achievers School

So Rose and I have been working at a school on the outside of Ho called The Achievers School. Working there has been quite the experience from the start. The very first day Rose and I were thrown into a room by ourselves to teach seven kids something of our choosing. If I have learned anything from teaching here in Ghana it's that these kids learn through singing! They love to sing, all the time. We have made up so many songs about letter sounds and words and they'll get up and sing them all. It is so cute to see their faces when we tell them all to stand up because they all know what is coming next, a song and dance. Our biggest ordeal in the class is finding them all pencils and paper to work with everyday. Also, their pencils seem to break every other second so they will have to go sharpen them with those plastic little sharpeners. Despite the interruptions our classes do seem to be effective. What makes it all worth it is seeing the little improvements that are made day by day. Like Nice learning to write her "Ts" correctly, or Forgive paying attention and doing her work, or Anita finally making her "a's" look like "a's" instead of 9's.
The first couple days, what was really fun was teaching the kids songs from our childhood. On the first day we taught them so many games from our pre-school days. A crowd favorite was definitely ring-around-the-rosie. The next day I even saw three little four year olds trying to play it by themselves. They didn't really know the song yet so they would just walk in a circle holding hands and every once in a while fall down. They also love head shoulders knees and toes. They start to sing it almost every break time. It has also been fun learning the songs that they sing. One of my favorite's is one where the teach will yell something out and then they'll yell something back at her enthusiastically, then they'll all jump around and bump butts together. They go crazy for that song.
I am really excited to continue working at The Achievers School. I am also excited to continue to help them when I get back home. Even on the first day I began thinking about how I really want to look into getting them some good books that help with learning penmanship. These kids inspire me in how they come to this little two room school everyday to learn with the biggest smiles on their faces.

Teaching at the Achiever's School

My name is Rosie Hale. I came to Ghana about two weeks ago and this is my first blog. So far my experiences in Ghana have been absolutely incredible. I have been here for two of the weekend excursions which allowed me to see both the north and south parts of Ghana. I am involved in the education part of the program.

During the week I work at the Achiever's School located in Ho with Julie Favorito (another volunteer). The first day I went to the school it was a bit shocking. I had seen two other schools in Ghana before coming to to the Achiever's school and this school was far different from any school I had ever seen before. It is located in the front yard of someone's house. It is two tiny little rooms with a white board in each room, about 6 tables, some chairs, and a few books on one of the tables. There are holes in the walls that chickens come in through during class and when the kids want to go to the bathroom they walk right out the door and go. The schools has about 20 students.

On our first day the head teacher, Gloria, put us right to work. The first classroom has children ages 2-4 in it. The second classroom has children ranging from 4-7 years old. The second teacher, Precious, comes in late so Gloria left us with the older kids for the first 1.5 hours and told us to teach whatever we wanted. At the time we had no idea of their capabilities or how the classroom was run but we did our best. There were a bunch of words written on the white board so we went through the words and practiced pronunciation and spelling. The kids were very timid on the first day and barely spoke in class. However, once it got to break time they would not stop touching us. We went outside to play with them but we found that they did not even really want to play with us all they wanted to do was touch us. About ten children circled around both Julie and I fighting over who got to old our hands. The ones that weren't able to hold our hands held onto our legs or arms. In order to get some air and avoid any injuries Julie and I sang every song we could think of for them. We did dances for them and found that they really enjoyed sitting in a circle and practicing making different animal noises. Because of our skin color, we were so new to them. They were so intrigued by us that at any moment I could catch three students just staring at me.

Today was the fourth time at the school for me. Things have definitely changed as they have gotten to know me and Julie. They are no longer shy and quiet in the classroom. Their regular teachers hit them or at least threaten to hurt them if they act out of line. They have quickly learned that we will not lay a hand on them no matter how much they act up. Because of this they have become a lot harder to control in the classroom when one of the teachers is not around. We have come up with some useful tactics but it is still one of the most difficult parts of teaching them. On a positive note, we have definitely began to understand each of the students capabilities and we are able to create lessons that will be helpful to both the four year old in the classroom as well as the 7 year old. We have been focusing a lot on the sounds of the letters in the alphabet. They can recite the alphabet perfectly, however, we have found that they do not understand what the letters mean and the sounds that they make. We are trying to teach them the sounds of the letters and build up to reading simple words once they understand the sounds. It feels good because I think they are all starting to understand it!

24 Hour Drive

We started the weekend early this week by waking up at 3am on Friday to start our 10 hour drive to Kumasi, which is the west trek of our journey to Mole National Park. We spent one night in Kumasi, and it was very interesting to compare with Ho (we all agreed Ho is the best place to live). When we went for a run we were gawked at, hooted at, grabbed, and stared at (this happens sometimes in Ho, but it's usually followed by laughter at seeing Yevus and their silly exercises). To be fair, we committed a series of social faux pas, including running through a funeral procession in the streets, and the boys running shirtless (they were yelled at by a guard and told they wouldn't be allowed to pass through shirtless again). When we ran past a soccer game at a nearby university, we tried to sit in the bleachers and join the fun, but we were turned away by someone in authority (we don't know if it was because we were white, or many of us were girls, or the boys were shirtless, but it was definitely a new kind of experience. Not fun but a good one to have). Despite these initial setbacks, Kumasi was pleasant enough, especially because the nearby market carried mars bars and twix. I also am proud to say I slept in a room in which we found two cockroaches, one dead and one very much alive (though I should say for posterity's sake it took a little bit of wine to prepare myself).

Day two was the northern drive, a 12 hour metro ride that ended in Mole National Park. This ride was particularly noteworthy at the end, when our tin can of a bus jostled over the dirt roads. The noise was deafening, and it was so bumpy that one of the windows fell out of its ribbing (luckily Rosie had some quick reflexes and caught it before it fell on her head), and the floor cracked. But since we arrived late at night, all we could look at was the sky. Despite what I know is scientifically true, the sky here is not the same as at home. I've heard before that there are more stars than grains of sand on the earth, and I never would have believed it until now. 

Sunday morning (happy belated father's day btw!) we woke up early to start our safari, and we didn't have to go far to see some amazing wildlife. The monkeys were chilling outside our door, and the wild boars were hanging out about 20 feet away. When we walked into the savannah we saw baboons squatting with their babies, lots of different versions of antelope, and the cherry on top- the elephants. We followed their massive footprints (and even more massive piles of poop) until we got to a waterhole where six elephants were standing in the water. They then put on quite a show for us when they tramped out of the water and started spraying themselves with mud. Lots of pictures and videos to share. We spent the rest of the day hanging out at the resort at the park, which luckily had a pool, shower, and french fries. Ingredients for a perfect day.

That night we braved the ominous clouds and took a nighttime hike to a massive treehouse (just a large roofless platform in a tree), dinner balanced on our heads, and spent the night in the forest. The clouds parted, a starry sky blanketed us for the night, and describing the following six hours would be too difficult and would sound too cliche, so I won't try. But it was awesome. 

Early Monday morning and Tuesday we undid our first two days of travel, and we finally arrived back home (it's weird that Ho is now "home") around noon today. We had a few hours to re-energize, then we redeemed ourselves from our miserable soccer game by playing a bunch of Ghanians at volleyball and actually winning. Then we tried to teach them frisbee, but most of us got distracted with handstands and cartwheels and spinning little kids in the air. So now I'm extremely dirty and the water has turned off for the night there's no shower in sight. But it was worth it.

Also noteworthy is that a bunch of us made guacamole tonight. It took about 20 avocados, 4 onions, 4 limes, and lots of garlic, but we devoured it all with some fried yams. Delicious.

So tired and dirty and such. 

Anna

Linda!

You may not know this, but as part of the scholastic culture of Ghana, children are "caned" in order to discipline. To any average American, this sounds like and appears to be a form of abuse, as I myself initially could not bring myself to look when it was occurring. As I am slowly emerging myself into this culture that varies from the American culture in every way possible, I am beginning to realize that tradition is tradition, culture is culture, and it would be offensive for a tiny spec of a human being like me, in retrospect, to try to change their ways. As I am writing this, I realize that I am portraying the Ghanaian in a negative light, but the teacher I work with specifically, Linda, is the nicest most jubilant woman I have ever met. She's always smiling and the moment she walks into the classroom she is trying to lift the children's spirits in song and dance. And she never gets tired! It's amazing. I find myself having to sit down a lot, but that's beside the point. Often the children have a difficult time listening to me when I am trying to stop a conflict because I am not an authority figure to them because I do not cane. One day Linda put the stick in my hand and put her hand over it and tried to teach me how to cane the young children and I ran away laughing because I could not do it. She was laughing at me, but it was a laugh of confusion as much as it was a joke of my inability. I explained to her that caning was illegal in the United States and that people could go to jail for doing it. She was in shock. She had absolutely no idea. She furthermore kept asking questions as to how we discipline kids, how we get them to listen if we don't hit the. And how can anyone blame her? All she's ever known is caning. She was caned, her mother was caned, her mother's mother was caned and then-some; inside and outside the classroom. This conversation was very light, as she stood their in awe of what seemed like the strictest country in the world to her. This isn't a case of ignorance or arrogance...this is a complete lack of education. She know's nothing outside of the Ghanaian culture, outside of the African world, and it's not her fault. Linda asked me one day "What is the United States like compared to Ghana?" And though I answered happily, I was saddened that she hadn't a clue what life was like outside her own. Even though I don't travel often I have an idea of  what other cultures are like. She has no way of knowing. I tried my best to explain but overall I gave a materialistic picture; we have malls instead of markets, all concrete roads instead of dirt, movie theaters everywhere. I want Linda to be able to come to the U.S, not only for her herself to be exposed to another world, but to pass on what she has seen to the students she works with. Of course, traveling is too expensive of a cost for her to handle, but I want to try to make it happen. She is a wonderful person! On a lighter note, the excursion this weekend was amazing (minus the traveling)! I cant believe I was 50 yards away from an elephant and monkeys were hanging by the pool with us as if it was not a big deal!

Market Day

Another typical day at the clinic. Got to work the eye test station today, and Innocent proved to be another excellent conversationalist. He talked me through everything we were doing, and let me examine the patients with him when he found something noteworthy like cataracts or glaucoma. During down time, I learned that he is a music teacher, a pastor, and an optometrist (right now he's donating his time to the clinic, what he calls "saving souls," an alternative form of preaching in his mind, a way to spread the word of god outside of the church), and he also went to school for geology, and he started making glasses when he was 12, and he's married and owns a drug store. And he's thirty.

After telling me all about his faith, his work at his church, how his father was a Presbyterian pastor, etc, he asked what fellowship or church I belonged to. Actually, I said, I'm Jewish. That sparked a new conversation where we discusses how Christianity, Judaism, and Islam are all very similar (camp if finally payed off). I would really like to attend a church service, especially a "crusade," which, as he described it, is an outdoor church service, and from what I heard can get very rowdy, even violent with the mass mentality that goes on as the preacher shouts to his public. I think they're a weekly thing so hopefully I'll get to witness that. (Oh, and apparently Livingston runs an a cappella group at his church, so of course I have to see that).

The highlight of the day was that it was market day. Basically thousands of people set up there stalls in a maze like area of land that starts on the main street and winds up at a tro tro station. A pack of us went to check it out, and luckily ran into a few McCollin teachers while we were there, so they guided us along and made sure we weren't lost in the heaps of tomatoes and piles of fish and stacks of fabric and endless rows of necklaces and spices and bread. Everyone wanted the yevu at their stalls, so we moved slowly, but we found lots of trinkets and made some friends along the way. Can't wait to go back next week.

Our weekend excursion for this week is starting early (4am tomorrow morning), and we won't be back until Tuesday, so I'll be incommunicado until then (mom).  It involves about 24 hours of driving both ways, but we end up in Mole National Park, where we'll (hopefully) see some wild elephants and sleep in a tree house and do some hiking. Sneakers  and bug spray are a must!


-Anna

You Kids Make Me Feel So Young

The clinic that we work with travels to different villages to perform eye care on local Ghanaians. Usually we station in local churches, which are often located to a primary school. Because of this there are always kids who are around the clinic. Today, when the school near our station had a break they played right outside the church so I decided to go out and see them during our break. They were so energetic and fascinated by everything I said to them. At first I would just shout out "hey" and they would respond with a wave of screams/laughter. It turned into a game where I shout something and they shout the same thing back...they were absolutely loving it. They especially liked when we chanted "OBAMA!" Since it was so darn cute, I decided to take out my camera and take some pictures. They went even more wild with the camera. When they saw their faces on that camera they went craaaazzy. It happened when I went to the schools too. They just can't get enough of the camera!

Anyway, it was a really nice addition to the clinic. It reminded me how much I love working with kids here and how I can't wait to go visit the primary schools we work with again. We play soccer with the kids at one of the schools sometimes, which is super fun. Soccer (or football) is the game above all games here. Playing USA vs. Ghana games is always a thrill for them, especially since they always destroy us, no matter how old they are. I'm having such a blast with the Ghanaian kids and Ghanaian's in general. I can't wait to get closer with the community because they're great :)

Analog Blog

As many of you are probably aware, very few people in Ghana are familiar with hockey, let alone even know what it is. Given that the Bruins are in their first Stanley Cup since the first Bush was in office this presents a considerable problem for a Bay Stater. With the Bruins down 3-2 in the series going into game 6 on Monday night it was imperative for my buddy, Liam, and I to watch the game. Our first thought was to go to the Vodafone internet cafe and attempt to stream the game; however, because of the four hour time difference from MA to Ghana the puck wouldn't drop here until after midnight when the Cafe is closed. We do have a 3G connection so we scoured Google (searched "watch Stanley Cup in Ghana" and scanned the first two pages of results) but to no avail. Liam posted a question on Yahoo Answers asking if anyone knew how to watch the Stanley Cup in Ghana but those fascists at Yahoo promptly took it down without explanation. At this point we were lost, frustrated, and filled with unadulterated rage. We resigned ourselves to streaming the radio and painting mental pictures of the game.

12:15: The Puck Drops.

We listen to the first few minutes of the game when I Was suddenly struck by the most fantastic realization since Newton's lame-ass apple. Big Daddy Straus has Slingbox. So I called his ass in the States and told him to hook a sucka up with some Bruins. Big Daddy Straus obliged. We had to say our location was Spain because Slingbox, those profit-driven Capitalist thugs, decided it would be more cost effective to not cover any of the African continent. Through this means, though, we were able to watch he Bruins on a comically small and terribly pixelated screen for nearly three hours. It was great.

Game 7 in four hours.

Six Days = Forever

Just to introduce myself to the Ghana ACT blog: My name is Nick. I live in Needham Massachusetts. I am going into my sophomore year at UMass Amherst as a Dance and Biology double major. I am a part of the healthcare program with Ghana ACT this summer. I've been here since June 8th and will be staying till July 7th :)

So far I have been absolutely loving it here. Things are very different here than in the U.S. but in all the best ways. Everyone, the volunteers and Ghanaians, is so nice and friendly. When I first arrived at the house I was greeted by all the volunteers and a whole bunch of Ghanaian kids who live in our neighborhood. At the time of my arrival I was pretty flustered with the overwhelming amount of Ghana I was getting but as soon as one of the kids grabbed my hand and asked for my name, I knew this was going to be a good month. So far my prediction will come true, I have been having so much fun!

I have been blogging on a separate personal blog due to technical difficulties since I've been here so I decided to just post my last post about what I have been this weekend to Monday:

I tried to upload a bunch of pics but I'm having troubles at the internet cafe. I will make sure to figure it out the next time I blog!

This is what has happened since I last Blogged:

Saturday - We took a 7 hour tro tro ride to the Cape Coast. We took one tro tro to Accra, the capital of Ghana, then waited for the next tro tro (for 2 hours) to take us to the Cape Coast. In total, a brutal 7 hour trip. Once we arrived at the Cape Coast, though, we dropped our things at the guest house (which had running water past 7 pm! and a real bed!) and went to the slave castle. It was really interesting and extremely depressing but it started to rain in the middle of the tour. After the tour, we shopped for a bit and as we decided to head home, the rain turned into a downpour. We decided to hide under a hut outside of the shops to wait out the rain. THEN a bunch of the Ghanaian workers gathered to play the drums. It was so magical. Then I decided to go dance in the rain. Once a few other volunteers joined me, everyone joined and it became a huge dance drum jam party!! It was the best thing... EVER. We then walked home in the rain because we were soked from dancing and stopped at this bar called the Peace Ghetto. We were all in such a good mood and the people at the Peace Ghetto were so nice. It was the perfect ending to the most magical night :)

Sunday - We woke up made early to go the rain forest and take a canopy walk. It was incredible how high up we were. I have a butt load of pictures that I will upload to show you all. it was very fun. Then we took another 7 hour tro tro trip back home. It was brutal yet again. But we had a really nice meal under the stars when we returned to Ho :)

Monday (Today) - We didn't have the eye clinic today so we went to an elementary school and helped build a building. We carried mud bricks on our heads! Like the people that sell stuff on the streets! I felt like a Ghanaian. Then we hung out with the kids and they gave us a beautiful dance/drum show. They were so talented and energetic. I loved it, it was yet again very magical. My teacher from school, Billbob Brown, and fellow dance majors would have been so proud :) I will upload photos from that too!

I will definitely upload the photos I have from this past weekend. We saw some pretty incredible things that I know everyone will enjoy :)

Today (Tuesday) I went to the eye care clinic for the first time! All of the volunteers had separate jobs: Nicole and Sae were taking the blood pressure and registration of the patients, Anna and Deanna were giving out the medication, and I was thrilled to assist Innocence, the optometrist who performs the eye tests on the Ghanaians. He was very patient with me as I was getting the hang of the form each patient fills out and the basic eye test. Once I was familiar with the test and the form, he showed me what the different types of eye diseases looked like (like cataracts and glaucoma). Hopefully with more days at the clinic I will be able to unofficially diagnose the eye diseases we are working with!

Hopefully this weekend we will be seeing ELEPHANTS! It may take 23 hours on tro tros, the most uncomfortable beat up vans ever created, to get there but I know it will be soooooo worth it :)

Alright, I will post more soon cuz I have crazy adventures all the time here. Cheers.

Construction In Saviefe Deme Well On Its Way

It's been just over a week and a half since construction began in Saviefe Deme, and what used to be a small clearing of land dotted with trees has already been transformed into the first stages of a new school building. I'm amazed at how much can be accomplished by a determined group of people without the use of any modern construction equipment. As one Ghanaian put it "In the US you use machine power to build, here we use man power" Equally as important to the "man power" this farmer spoke of, is grandma power. I find myself in competition with women in their 60's and 70's, trying to match the enormous loads they carry balanced on their heads without the slightest sign of strain or effort. Once during an all too brief moment of satisfaction I thought I had finally out done the old women by carrying a 50kg bag of cement on my head, only to have my pride shattered when a particularly aged woman shuffled by me carrying the same load with an enormous grin on her face. Perhaps a lifetime of eating banku has given her bones of steel, maybe Erickson has concocted a new brand of akpeteshie infused with HGH, or maybe I'm just having a hard time coming face to face with the fact that a woman three times my age could probably bench press me in her sleep. Either way a group of these women would be a force to be reckoned with on any construction site.

The community has divided itself into three groups that sacrifice a day out of their week to provide labor for the work site. Alongside these suspiciously strong grandmas are also younger men and women and a couple of equally determined yevus working side by side to complete the project. The First stage of the project involved clearing the area of land where the school will be built. This involved uprooting trees and clearing brush with only machetes and pack axes. Despite the lack of equipment the arduous job was completed in less then a day.

Next we began digging the foundation. We created a grid of trenches with a depth of 4 feet to ensure the school would have a solid foundation.

After the trenches were completed we began mixing and pouring concrete. While masons mixed together sand, cement, water, and aggregate (provided once again by the relentless squad of grandmas) the rest of us carried large bowls of the concrete to the trenches and began filling in the foundation. The masons directed this task and after a couple of days we were ready to start placing blocks into the foundation and begin forming one of the exterior walls. This is as far along in the construction process as we have come but given the short time we have done it in it is nothing short of a monumental effort only a community as close knit as Saviefe Deme is capable of. The school appears to be forming out of nowhere with the same ferociousness as my awesome farmers tan. Every day I look forward to getting to Saviefe and working with the community that makes the whole task less of a job and more of a celebration. Although the work is hard there seldom is a time when people aren't laughing or acknowledging each others efforts. The older women are the loudest of all and their laughter seems to increase any time one of us volunteers struggles to do something that is second nature to them, or any time Obolo Kodzo is in the area. It is hard not to laugh along with them and they are always the first to offer advice or readjust the pads of cloth we use to cushion our heads from the blocks or bowls we carry on them.

If the school continues at this pace I would be surprised if the whole thing wasn't finished by this summer, but part of me wants to drag out the project out as long as I can just to stay in Saviefe Deme as long as possible.

(KODZO DOING WORK)

Weekend Excursion 6/5 - Tafi, Afadjato, Wli

Last weekend we went on our first excursion. There were ten of us, and our first stop was Tafi, the monkey sanctuary. While the Mona monkeys are still wary they have become accustomed to people, and offering a banana is a sure way to make peace. Our guide, Cherubine, called the monkeys as we walked through the forest and sure enough a good dozen appeared out of the trees. Some were shy, some were bold, but all of them were hungry.

After Tafi we headed to Mt. Afadjato, the tallest mountain in Ghana. While the hike takes only 30 – 45 minutes the constant, severe slope makes it a satisfying summit. Without a single person turning back, this was the largest group of volunteers we have had successfully make it to the top.

After descending we quickly made our way to Wli, home to the largest waterfall in West Africa. It is a stunning site, and a refreshing relief after Mt. Afadjato. The volunteers unanimously agreed this to be their favorite of the three stops and as we left many bought carvings, paintings, and necklaces from the local shops to close out the day.

The First Ten Days

Have been awesome. In a strange way, I feel at home here. Often times we, the whole group or at least a few people, will sit out on the porch either reading or talking, and the time here slows down and the days get longer, and feel hotter, and yet it isnt later or hotter than in the states, and yet, in that humidity, with the conversations floating along, I seem to realize life is happening. I seem to feel the most in the moment I have had in a while, especially coming from hectic new york, where the time speeds up and the air just dirties everything (don't get me wrong, I do also love new york, but nothing beats the peacefulness of life here). But here the world lightens up in a way that is very familiar to me. Moments of magic happen, as cheesy as that sounds, but moments where you dont think about what you are doing, or where you are going or where you just were, moments where you are present completely tend to happen so often here. From spontaneously breaking out into a dance party in the rain to Ghanaian drummers, after the Cape Coast Castle closed, or just finally stumbling to the top of an excruciatingly long climb, or hearing the sound of the most gorgeous waterfall I have ever seen, here moments of greatness occur in a rare frequency. And that is how life should be, and this place reminds me of how life should be, hopefully I can keep that going when I leave here. Surely, you cant spell Home with the Ho.

Day 1!

Ndo! Already I'm sticky, hot, sweaty, and dirty, but having so much fun. We got in pretty late last night (the trotro, which is the bus you take to get places, like a large taxi, took about three hours to get to Ho), met the other volunteers, and had our first very traditional Ghanian meal, bancoo (not sure on the spelling of that), which is a dough that you dip into different stews and eat with your hands (Traditionally, you only use your right hand, your left is used for something else...). I slept a solid 12 hours on my mattress, which is surprisingly comfortable for being on a cement floor (or maybe I was just exhausted...)

This morning the eye clinic didn't meet, so we all went to the McCollin school to meet the kids, got destroyed in a game of soccer against them, and helped build some new goal posts. We also got to play with the babies, who have an infinite amount of energy and will hold your hand anytime they can reach it. They fed us, and one of the directors took us on a tour around the school, so we got to see gorgeous views and walk through corn fields. I still can't believe I forgot my camera.

Bugs haven't been bad yet. It's just the heat. They keep filtered water in these .5 liter plastic bags that you just bite a corner off of and drink to your heart's content. It's a great way to keep hydrated, but since I'm drinking .5 liters everytime I'm thirsty, I have to pee all the time. There's one computer with internet in the house, but it's really slow, so I'm going to try to blog whenever I come to the internet cafe, which isn't far, but it's an excursion (but there's ac here, which is a huge motivation).

This weekend we're going to Cape Coast, so you'll here about that soon. Mia do go!

Anna

First week in Ghana! - Jessica

So far my experience in Ghana has been great. At first it was hard settling in. The hardest part was getting to the bank to get some money out and then buying a phone because you have to take a taxi to get there but once I got that out of the way I felt situated. Once I went to the school I fell in love with the kids. I dont know how I'm ever going to leave them! Their eyes are so huge and precious and they just have so much life and laughter in them. I love when they sing and dance, which is almost always, because they get so happy and even if they dont know the words they dance and dance and dance. Because the school does not have much supplies, I am thinking of sending a care package to them once I get home and collect some donations from my friends and family. I now realize everything I've taken for granted in my life. These children barely have notebooks and back home people buy watches for 50,000 dollars. Its ridiculous to think about. The most absurd part of it all is that everyone in America has so much, as there is so much to offer, and we are often grumpy, arrogant, and ungrateful people. These people have nearly nothing compared to America's standards, and they are the happiest, friendliest people I have met. It just goes to show that material things can only go so far in life. As I teach in the nursery, the only thing they have is little chalkboards for the children to write on and long tables (not desks) and mini plastic chairs. These children need books, writing utensils, a nice chalkbard, and many more supplies. My first week has been a life changing experience, I cant even begin to describe. Though I knew before I left that Africa and America were completley different worlds, it is so much more surreal to actually see it then to imagine it. I'm looking forward to my first weekend excursion!

Prayer

Alexandra Foley

June 8th, 2011

Wednesday at McColin's Preparatory and Orphanage is prayer day. The entire upper level (p1 through p6, ages 6 to 14) gather together to chant and dance. This in and of itself is an incredible experience, but even more moving is the time that I spent with the teachers in their prayer prayer, after the students prayer had ended.

There are six of us gathered in the 12' by 12' dimly lit room. I try to move my body to match their dance, and tune my voice to match their speech, but my body is awkward. I step and clap, step and clap, trying to clap and step in time to their chants, but my voice falters, unable to synchronize with their song. My rhythm is poor to begin with, and combined with attempting to pronounce the forgien Ewe chants, I loose step. The small room we are standing in is used for the prayer every Wednesday, and it houses echoes of the hopes and dreams of the teachers encased in its rough cement walls. Praying here is not like prayer in the states, where we are stony, silent, and stiff. Here we are vivacious, loud and fluid, and our bodies match the love that we speak out loud into our prayers.

I am not a religious person, and if asked, I would classify myself as an atheist. However, even through my disbelief I can feel the the reverberation of power present in the room, and the belief and community that our chanting creates. We pound our chants into the dirt floor by stamping our feet into the ground, and speak our voices into the low ceiling, opening the dusty roof into a clear sky. We turn that room into a chapel, bringing it to life. While the teachers pray to God, I say my own prayers, prayers to myself and to my own beliefs and integrity. Alex, the leader of the prayer tells us to chant our peaceful hopes for the success of the coming day. While Judith and John, Michael and the other teachers look to the sky to find their saviour there, I look up to stretch my neck and back, my own sort of religious yoga, preparing myself in my own way for the day I will spend teaching.

Maybe its the heat, or because I had only a banana for breakfast, or the cup of coffee I had this morning (the first caffeine that I've had in two weeks), but for whatever the reason, I feel more power in this tiny room then I have ever felt in a church in the U.S. Although I'm not religious, the way that the Ghannain's have accepted me and my beliefs into their daily lives has inspired me. I love this individual yet communal prayer, and I look forward to Wednesdays to come, where I will learn more words in Ewe, and find more prayer within.

Outreach Days with the Eye Clinic

I'm in my second week with the traveling eye clinic, and I'm starting to get the hang of it. The clinic has an outreach van driven by Reverend Bankas that pulls in front of our house around 6:30 am most mornings. That sounds too early in U.S. speak, but over here it feels just right. Sunlight and the bustle of the streets are already streaming through my bedroom window. Along with Reverand Bankas, I currently work with another Ghana ACT volunteer, an optometrist, a Ghanian woman named Salome (who offered to be my "Ghana Mother"), and two twenty-four year olds from Ghana named Livingston and Kingdom. Among us we divide the duties of greeting and registering the patients while taking their blood pressure and pulse. From there we direct them to the optometrist named Innocent who tests their vision and screens for cataracts and glaucoma. Finally, we outfit them for glasses or give them the necessary paperwork authorizing eye surgery in Accra to remove cataracts and help return their complete vision. Traveling with the clinic has provided a unique lens with which to see Ghana; I have seen the inside of a major police training station, of small Muslim communities further off the streets, and of several Christian villages where the people kindly help me improve my Ewe. I can't pretend to understand exactly how the eye clinic works, but I'm enjoying the company of my coworkers and the exposure to the health system in Ghana. I've also gained some insight into how the Ghanian government provides affordable health insurance for all, something the U.S. need take note of. I'll post more here in the coming weeks as my own vision and comprehension of the workings of the eye clinic develop.

Primary Education in Soveife Deme

Saviefe Deme is the name of the village where I volunteer as a teacher. The village is about 25 minutes away by taxi, and the ride there is absolutely gorgeous.  The main road that we take to get there passes through a dozen other small villages so we get to see the lifestyle of the locals everyday.  In the mornings the kids are all walking to school, and everyone else is strolling about, doing their business.  The older men and women are either carrying absurd amounts of weight on their heads, sweeping their compounds, or selling things on the street.  Products for sale include food (both raw and prepared) and phone cards.  As a matter of fact, many villagers set up stands that sell both food and phone cards.  Why phone cards?  Because everyone in Ghana has a cell phone. Don’t ask me why.  

Anyway, at the school I teach a class of 11-14 year-olds.  In rural Ghana they group classes by ability rather than age.  On my first day, I sat-in on an English lesson.  I was surprised at the poor level of English of the students.  Later on, however, I realized that they are actually pretty fluent in English and were just freaked out that there was a yavu (white person) sitting in the class.  Their teacher’s name is Sara.  When I got there, I started wondering why they wanted volunteers for a school that had plenty of teachers.  Then, on the second day, three of the teachers didn’t show up because they had business in Ho.  I began to understand what the deal really is.  The class composure is never the same every day, and the same can be said of the teachers.  If the teacher finishes her thoughts and there is still an hour before lunch, then the kids can expect to have a nice hour to play soccer.  If the teacher doesn’t really understand the material, she won’t teach it.  In fact, the Ghanaian public school curriculum is very intense. The kids were supposed to learn about P-N junctions (physics) this week.  Sara asked me if I could teach it.  “Sure. Do they know what electricity is?”  Of course not.  There isn’t even electricity in the school.

The kids fail the national examinations every year.  They don’t have lab equipment, so there are no labs.  They don’t have much paper, so they don’t learn to write well.  After I finished my lesson on the day that the teacher was gone, they wanted to hear a story.  They handed me a stack of story books suited for 5 year-olds.  English is not there native language, but it’s still a huge shock compared to the U.S.

Next week I will begin teaching regularly.  I wish it were a month ago.  Sara is very sweet, and she tries hard, but she is not suited to teach the curriculum that she is given.  It’s no ones fault.  The curriculum is built to bring the kids up to the level of us First World’ers, which probably works well in the cities.  But in the villages, forget about it.  How can you convince a well-educated teacher to move out to the middle of the jungle and teach 5^th grade?  It’s a little bit sad sometimes, but then I look out the window and see all the kids running around and playing as if they all just won the lottery.  There is no such thing in America, not even close.

-Jon Holt

Ghana ACT 2011

Woezor!

From all of us at Ghana ACT we invite you to keep up to date with all of our projects, programs, and volunteers by following our blog. This blog will be a place for volunteers to post their stories and pictures, detailing their experiences for anyone who is eager to know exactly what Ghana ACT is all about - from the inside. Our volunteers are free to post about any experience, opinion, or idea they have here in Ghana and we will not filter or edit any of these stories in any way, except in the event a volunteer fails to maintain respect and courtesy. Whether it's a story of great success and triumph, or one of an unsatisfactory volunteer experience, you can read them all right here, directly from the source.

Ghana ACT is entering its second year of operation. While last year was very successful with 16 volunteers joining our programs from around the U.S. and Canada, we have reflected, revised, and improved over the year, and we are excited for another summer as we anticipate 30+ volunteers to join us over the coming months. Based on their interests, our volunteers have selected to join one of our three programs: Healthcare, Education, Community Development.

Healthcare: Volunteers will join Benjamin Bankas and the Life for the Living Medical Center's rural outreach team as they travel near and far to provide basic healthcare services to those who need it most.

Education: Volunteers will be assisting teachers and leading classes in English, Math, Science, and Computer Education at the primary or secondary school levels.

Community Development: Volunteers will join the community of Saviefe-Deme in the construction of a nursery school. Saviefe-Deme is a poor, agrarian village about 30 minutes outside Ho. The community identified a nursery school to be their most pressing need; as parents head to their farms, they must either leave their young children behind, unattended, or bring them to the fields. This school will be a place to supervise the young children while laying the foundation for a strong education.

2011 Goal: Our current emphasis and top priority is to complete the construction of the nursery school in Saviefe-Deme.

Want to volunteer?

Visit our website at www.GhanaACT.org and email me at John@GhanaACT.org.

Want to donate?

We appreciate all donations, however large or small to support our projects. Please follow the link below to donate to Ghana ACT through our partner organization, Omprakash. Omprakash "builds partnerships with grassroots health, education, and environmental projects around the world, and connects them with volunteers, donors, and classrooms that can learn from and support their work." They are a non-sectarian database of volunteer opportunities open to people of all ages and nationalities.

DONATE: https://omprakash.org/DonationForm?go=DonationForm&p=79

If you have any questions about Ghana ACT, our volunteer opportunities, how to donate, or would like to get in touch with a volunteer directly, please email me at John@GhanaACT.org.

We hope you enjoy our blog!

Sincerely,

John Barber

Ghana ACT Director / Volunteer Coordinator

John@GhanaACT.org

www.GhanaACT.org