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.