This is a rough approximation of the miles we traveled during training:
Accra to Kukurantumi, to homestays (PC bus)- 100 km, 3 hours
Anyinasin to Kumasi, to Counterpart Workshop (PC bus)- 150 km, 4 hours
Kumasi to Bolga, to site visit (Metro Mass)- 560 km, 9 hours (+ several hours waiting time)
Bolga to Tamale, to PEPFAR activities (Metro Mass)- 160 km, 3 hours (+ several hours waiting time)
Tamale to Techiman, to off-site technical training (tro)- 260 km, 4 hours
Techiman to Tumu, to shea IST (PC bus)- 450 km, 10 hours
Tumu to Bolga, to off-site tech training (PC bus)- 150 km, 3 hours
Bolga to Kumasi, to KSO (PC bus)- 560 km, 10 hours
Kumasi to Anyinasin, return to homestay (PC bus)- 150 km, 3 hours
Anyinasin to Bolga, arrive at site for good (Metro Mass, tros)- 710 km, a couple of days
Totals: 3250 km, countless hours...
This does not include other miscellaneous, day-to-day travel between training sites and sleeping locations:
Day travel around Accra; field trip to Boti Falls; back and forth between Kuku, Anyinasin, Masse and New Tafo and training locations in the area; Bolga to Kongo several times at site visit and off-site training; Tamale to Gushie (PEPFAR site); travel around Techiman; Tumu to shea IST site.
Its exhausting just thinking back on it all.
Friday, January 27, 2012
Saturday, January 21, 2012
The very last three weeks of pre-service training, ever
When we arrived back to homestay, after a month of traveling, it was back to language sessions and lots of debriefing and a couple of exams. Our big LPI (Language Proficiency Interview) was in the last week of training, so we all scrambled to get our language up to par.
We had a cooking practical on Saturday morning. My language group decided to cook banku with groundnut soup, kontomire stew with yam, and salad. The day before we all went to the market in New Tafo to get all of the necessary ingedients with our language instructor, Ida. It was the obroni parade through the market; Ida even admitted she accepted a higher price for the yams that what she would have paid alone, since she was surrounded by six white people. We bought kontomire (a leafy green), fresh tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, onions, groundnut paste, chicken, charcoal, yams, corn and cassava doughs (for the banku), cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cucumber and salad cream. I bought tin tomato and tin mackerel from my homestay mom's store to contribute.
Our group cooked with the Twi language group in the gassy area next to Caitlin's mom's spot. We had two charcoal pots which we lit fires in, so it was kind of like a barbeque! (Beer included.) With the help of Ida, everyone got to practice crushing peppers, garlic and tomatoes with a mortar and pestle, stirring the banku with a big wooden stick and chopping and washing ingredients for the salad and stews. Our food turned out wonderfully! Even the Ghanaians enjoyed what we prepared.
The next day Mike, Chase and I decided to go learn how palm wine and apateshie are made, so we walked to a palm tree plantation in the bush in Anyinasin, not far from our homestays. The owners were very nice and helpful- the showed us their operation and shared palm wine and apateshie with us. Basic process: fall the palm trees, collect palm wine straight from tree trunks, collect palm wine into big barrels, distill wine to make apateshie (a very hard liquor, not unlike rubbing alcohol). I sipped palm wine from a calabash as we walked through the plantation and were shown this process, step by step. Mike and I originally decided to do our PPP (Personal Project Presentation) on music in Ghana, but once we got to see this, we quickly decided to do our presentation on palm wine/apateshie.
At one point, the man who showed us around gave us a small hot pepper to eat with the palm wine- the intense burning makes you drink the palm wine REAL fast. (This same man spoke much better English than the owners of the farm, which is why he took us through, but in the process, he got very drunk. Then things definitely got weird. Later we found out he wasn't even connected to the operation, he just saw white people and took advantage.) We bought some palm wine and apateshie to take to our presentation the following day to share with everyone. Palm wine ferments VERY fast though, so we had to be careful about securing the lid to the palm wine container. You could not go more than a few minutes without the lid exploding off.
Monday we had our PPPs- we learned about FGM (female genital mutilation), a former Ghanaian president, the significance of colors and designs on fabric, music (mostly hi-life and hip-life), funerals, storytelling, tribal facial markings, conflict resolution in communities, among many other interesting topics.
In addition to our language classes, in the afternoons we had drumming and dancing practice for our swearing-in ceremony. We had to learn two African dances for the event. Junior and senior high students came to help teach us the dances, and drum for us. At first I was very hesitant, but it actually was a lot of fun! I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Yes, we made total fools of ourselves, day after day during rehersal, but it was fun. There was no way we would ever, or will ever, look as good dancing as the Ghanaians.
Then, at long last, we made it to the final week of training. Monday we had our LPIs. My test was scheduled for 8:30, but we were delayed for an hour because the tape recorder did not work. (Our language tests recordings are sent to D.C. to be reviewed.) Of course. That is exactly why you always, ALWAYS, bring a book with you anywhere you go. The Anyinasin crew relaxed after all our tests were done, it felt good.
Tuesday we all got up early to go to the bank. It is crucial to get there at least an hour before the bank opens so you can join the already long line. Surprisingly the bank opened right at 8:30. And that's when the madness really started. People rushed to one counter to check their balance, while the rest of the line waited in chairs for the next available teller. (Ghanaians aren't too strict when it comes to lines or queues or any sort of order, especially when it comes to money, transportation, or anything free. You learn very fast to push and fight like hell right back. Every man for himself.) Despite the line, we got through pretty quickly. Then we had final interviews at the hub office for the remainder of the day. We were supposed to have a football match, trainers vs. trainees, but it didn't happen. Never found out why. You can imagine my huge disappointment.
Wednesday was our final swearing-in rehersal, then our last Fireside Chat with CD Mike. Which leads us right into Thursday- swearing-in! The invitations to our homestay parents said that the ceremony began at 9 AM, but this is Ghana, so we knew we would not actually start until 10. The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana came, very cool, and I think the DCE (District Chief Executive) of the area came as well, which brought along some of the local media. A few of us even got interviewed after the ceremony. Swearing-in was held at the Anyinasin Presby Church, the first time having the ceremony here, so the community was very proud. All of our parents came, from both Anyinasin and Masse, two guests allowed per trainee. Our homestay parents were all acknowledged individually, then they enjoyed our language group performances and of course the dancing. Since the church is located next to the school, ALL of the schoolchildren came out of their classrooms to watch us dance, so that added many more people watching us, in addition to the ambassador, DCE, new crews and homestay parents. Somehow I wasn't nervous or embarrassed, I just embraced the situation.
Afterwards, we shared lunch with our guests, then continued the celebration at Caitlin's mom's spot in town. It was a bittersweet last night at homestay- training was over and we were now official volunteers, but it was hard leave Auntie Rose, since I do not know when I will see her again because I live so far away. But we all felt it was time- time to go to site, time to go to our homes, time to start the work.
We had a cooking practical on Saturday morning. My language group decided to cook banku with groundnut soup, kontomire stew with yam, and salad. The day before we all went to the market in New Tafo to get all of the necessary ingedients with our language instructor, Ida. It was the obroni parade through the market; Ida even admitted she accepted a higher price for the yams that what she would have paid alone, since she was surrounded by six white people. We bought kontomire (a leafy green), fresh tomatoes, hot peppers, garlic, onions, groundnut paste, chicken, charcoal, yams, corn and cassava doughs (for the banku), cabbage, lettuce, carrots, cucumber and salad cream. I bought tin tomato and tin mackerel from my homestay mom's store to contribute.
Our group cooked with the Twi language group in the gassy area next to Caitlin's mom's spot. We had two charcoal pots which we lit fires in, so it was kind of like a barbeque! (Beer included.) With the help of Ida, everyone got to practice crushing peppers, garlic and tomatoes with a mortar and pestle, stirring the banku with a big wooden stick and chopping and washing ingredients for the salad and stews. Our food turned out wonderfully! Even the Ghanaians enjoyed what we prepared.
The next day Mike, Chase and I decided to go learn how palm wine and apateshie are made, so we walked to a palm tree plantation in the bush in Anyinasin, not far from our homestays. The owners were very nice and helpful- the showed us their operation and shared palm wine and apateshie with us. Basic process: fall the palm trees, collect palm wine straight from tree trunks, collect palm wine into big barrels, distill wine to make apateshie (a very hard liquor, not unlike rubbing alcohol). I sipped palm wine from a calabash as we walked through the plantation and were shown this process, step by step. Mike and I originally decided to do our PPP (Personal Project Presentation) on music in Ghana, but once we got to see this, we quickly decided to do our presentation on palm wine/apateshie.
At one point, the man who showed us around gave us a small hot pepper to eat with the palm wine- the intense burning makes you drink the palm wine REAL fast. (This same man spoke much better English than the owners of the farm, which is why he took us through, but in the process, he got very drunk. Then things definitely got weird. Later we found out he wasn't even connected to the operation, he just saw white people and took advantage.) We bought some palm wine and apateshie to take to our presentation the following day to share with everyone. Palm wine ferments VERY fast though, so we had to be careful about securing the lid to the palm wine container. You could not go more than a few minutes without the lid exploding off.
Monday we had our PPPs- we learned about FGM (female genital mutilation), a former Ghanaian president, the significance of colors and designs on fabric, music (mostly hi-life and hip-life), funerals, storytelling, tribal facial markings, conflict resolution in communities, among many other interesting topics.
In addition to our language classes, in the afternoons we had drumming and dancing practice for our swearing-in ceremony. We had to learn two African dances for the event. Junior and senior high students came to help teach us the dances, and drum for us. At first I was very hesitant, but it actually was a lot of fun! I was surprised I enjoyed it as much as I did. Yes, we made total fools of ourselves, day after day during rehersal, but it was fun. There was no way we would ever, or will ever, look as good dancing as the Ghanaians.
Then, at long last, we made it to the final week of training. Monday we had our LPIs. My test was scheduled for 8:30, but we were delayed for an hour because the tape recorder did not work. (Our language tests recordings are sent to D.C. to be reviewed.) Of course. That is exactly why you always, ALWAYS, bring a book with you anywhere you go. The Anyinasin crew relaxed after all our tests were done, it felt good.
Tuesday we all got up early to go to the bank. It is crucial to get there at least an hour before the bank opens so you can join the already long line. Surprisingly the bank opened right at 8:30. And that's when the madness really started. People rushed to one counter to check their balance, while the rest of the line waited in chairs for the next available teller. (Ghanaians aren't too strict when it comes to lines or queues or any sort of order, especially when it comes to money, transportation, or anything free. You learn very fast to push and fight like hell right back. Every man for himself.) Despite the line, we got through pretty quickly. Then we had final interviews at the hub office for the remainder of the day. We were supposed to have a football match, trainers vs. trainees, but it didn't happen. Never found out why. You can imagine my huge disappointment.
Wednesday was our final swearing-in rehersal, then our last Fireside Chat with CD Mike. Which leads us right into Thursday- swearing-in! The invitations to our homestay parents said that the ceremony began at 9 AM, but this is Ghana, so we knew we would not actually start until 10. The U.S. Ambassador to Ghana came, very cool, and I think the DCE (District Chief Executive) of the area came as well, which brought along some of the local media. A few of us even got interviewed after the ceremony. Swearing-in was held at the Anyinasin Presby Church, the first time having the ceremony here, so the community was very proud. All of our parents came, from both Anyinasin and Masse, two guests allowed per trainee. Our homestay parents were all acknowledged individually, then they enjoyed our language group performances and of course the dancing. Since the church is located next to the school, ALL of the schoolchildren came out of their classrooms to watch us dance, so that added many more people watching us, in addition to the ambassador, DCE, new crews and homestay parents. Somehow I wasn't nervous or embarrassed, I just embraced the situation.
Afterwards, we shared lunch with our guests, then continued the celebration at Caitlin's mom's spot in town. It was a bittersweet last night at homestay- training was over and we were now official volunteers, but it was hard leave Auntie Rose, since I do not know when I will see her again because I live so far away. But we all felt it was time- time to go to site, time to go to our homes, time to start the work.
Sunday, January 15, 2012
The end of technical training (Nov. 20- 24)
We were all more than happy to get out of Tumu and head to Bolga to meet up with the cashew group. Although we had to travel on a Sunday, which is normally our free day, luckily the drive was only three hours, so we arrived by lunch. We actually ended up staying in Kongo at the Catholic mission, where I stayed during site visit. I didn't even know we were going to stay at my site until the bus ride there, so it was a pleasant surprise!
I really enjoyed walking around town with everyone and showing them my town and where my house is. Everyone seemed to really like the area, so I hope this means people will come visit me. One day we walked through Kongo market (which happens every three days; it rotates with the Pelungu and Bolga markets), and I was recognized by some of the women, they yelled "Kongbon! Kongbon!" So it was nice to be remembered and I enjoyed greeting everyone and using a little bit of the language. A few of the nights we walked up a nearby hill to star gaze- the night sky is always so clear and vibrant, every star just pops out at you it seems. The sunsets are not so clear right now since it is harmattan (the winds from the Sahara blow the sand and dust down south, so the skies look smoggy), but at night, the sky clears up and it is very beautiful. I will enjoy spending my nights looking at the sky, cooling down after the long, hot days.
Our trainings in and around Kongo: Vetiver grass (at Dennis' site), beekeeping, rabbit hutch/beehive construction and dry season farming (in Tono, about an hour from Kongo).
Come Thursday, we got to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Ghana, at my site! In the morning we went to Paga (very close to the Burkina Faso border, about an hour from Kongo) to see the crocodiles!! We all got to take pictures with one of the older crocodiles- we could hold his tail and lean over his back. At first it was a little nerve-racking, but it was just too cool to pass up! A couple people in the group even bought live chickens to feed to the crocs, to reward them for entertaining us. They were so well trained, almost followed commands like a dog.
After lunch back at the mission, we all got to work preparing and cooking our assigned dishes. Luckily we were able to use the mission's kitchen and the Father's kitchen at his house. I was on sweet potato casserole duty at the Father's house, which is very big and nice. It even has a very green lawn in the front (kind of funny). Terrie, Rob, Chris, Ritchie and I peeled, mashed and mixed the potatoes into shape while listening to Richie's collection of music (which was mostly Britney Spears...I couldn't help but laugh and think that my girlfriend best friend Liz at home would love to hear about this). The day before, Danny slaughtered (more like hacked at) the turkey that Janette and Caitlin bought for 90 cedis (about $60) at Bolga market the day before. The little guy had one last day to roam around the Father's big yard before we needed to use it. I did not partake in the slaughtering, plucking, or gutting, but I still thought it was really cool that our group did all the work for every part of the feast (well, minus actually growing the food).
Come 7 PM, we sat down to our candlelit dinner! (The power went out, but the candles really set the mood nicely, much better than lights.) We invited five people from Oregon that were staying at the mission, and our trainers, Richard and Niko, and driver, Ernest. We even had a theme for dinner- pilgrims and indians. For the little prep time we had, some people brought together really cute outfits. For those less creative types, like me, we just grabbed some of the turkey feathers and stuck them in our clothes or hair. Once we were all seated, Janette said a prayer and then we went around the table and all said what we were thankful for- we unanimously decided we were thankful for our families- both the ones at home and the new one we have in Ghana, and we were all also thankful for the experiences we have had and will have in here. I was reminded of the Thanksgiving dinner I had in Monteverde, Costa Rica, two years ago; this also made me thankful that I have been able to share this day of thanks with so many amazing people that I am very happy to know and count as very close friends and family.
Then finally, time to eat! Veggie stew, carrot and cabbage salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, biscuits, sauteed turkey (didn't have much, but it was DELISH), and apple pie with FanIce (super sweet vanilla ice cream in a plastic bag) that Ran bought for us all. We sure had big, delicious feast that we all thoroughly enjoyed for many reasons: we were reminded of home and our families, we were thankful to have been able to make this dinner, and we were very happy to NOT be eating Ghanaian food. We even had some box wine to add to sip on, courtesy of the winos in our group. It was my first sip of wine since back in Philadelphia; I knew I would miss wine a whole heck of a lot! It was a great Thanksgiving we will always remember.
The next day we traveled from Bolga to KSO, which took all day- left Bolga about 9 AM, got to KSO about 8:30 PM. I got stuck in a jump seat for the whole ride, so it was a very long, uncomfortable day. But, once we got to KSO, we were happy to see our PCVL, Mikey, and he treated us to barbequed hamburgers with tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, REAL cheese and french fries. We each also had a mineral (Coke, Sprite, Fanta) and a FanIce. I never drink soda at home, or eat really sugary things, but here I have gotten used to drinking Coke, made with real sugar. On these hot days, it can be so refreshing.
After dinner we sat around a bonfire (yes its really hot, but having a bonfire is just cool) in the KSO's very nice yard. It was good to catch up with Mikey and prepare ourselves for the last three weeks of training. We were all ready to be at site.
Saturday we returned to our homestays in Anyinasin and Masse. It was nice to be back in a familiar place, with a familiar bed, familiar faces, familiar "OBRONI!!" chants, familiar routine.
I really enjoyed walking around town with everyone and showing them my town and where my house is. Everyone seemed to really like the area, so I hope this means people will come visit me. One day we walked through Kongo market (which happens every three days; it rotates with the Pelungu and Bolga markets), and I was recognized by some of the women, they yelled "Kongbon! Kongbon!" So it was nice to be remembered and I enjoyed greeting everyone and using a little bit of the language. A few of the nights we walked up a nearby hill to star gaze- the night sky is always so clear and vibrant, every star just pops out at you it seems. The sunsets are not so clear right now since it is harmattan (the winds from the Sahara blow the sand and dust down south, so the skies look smoggy), but at night, the sky clears up and it is very beautiful. I will enjoy spending my nights looking at the sky, cooling down after the long, hot days.
Our trainings in and around Kongo: Vetiver grass (at Dennis' site), beekeeping, rabbit hutch/beehive construction and dry season farming (in Tono, about an hour from Kongo).
Come Thursday, we got to celebrate our first Thanksgiving in Ghana, at my site! In the morning we went to Paga (very close to the Burkina Faso border, about an hour from Kongo) to see the crocodiles!! We all got to take pictures with one of the older crocodiles- we could hold his tail and lean over his back. At first it was a little nerve-racking, but it was just too cool to pass up! A couple people in the group even bought live chickens to feed to the crocs, to reward them for entertaining us. They were so well trained, almost followed commands like a dog.
After lunch back at the mission, we all got to work preparing and cooking our assigned dishes. Luckily we were able to use the mission's kitchen and the Father's kitchen at his house. I was on sweet potato casserole duty at the Father's house, which is very big and nice. It even has a very green lawn in the front (kind of funny). Terrie, Rob, Chris, Ritchie and I peeled, mashed and mixed the potatoes into shape while listening to Richie's collection of music (which was mostly Britney Spears...I couldn't help but laugh and think that my girlfriend best friend Liz at home would love to hear about this). The day before, Danny slaughtered (more like hacked at) the turkey that Janette and Caitlin bought for 90 cedis (about $60) at Bolga market the day before. The little guy had one last day to roam around the Father's big yard before we needed to use it. I did not partake in the slaughtering, plucking, or gutting, but I still thought it was really cool that our group did all the work for every part of the feast (well, minus actually growing the food).
Come 7 PM, we sat down to our candlelit dinner! (The power went out, but the candles really set the mood nicely, much better than lights.) We invited five people from Oregon that were staying at the mission, and our trainers, Richard and Niko, and driver, Ernest. We even had a theme for dinner- pilgrims and indians. For the little prep time we had, some people brought together really cute outfits. For those less creative types, like me, we just grabbed some of the turkey feathers and stuck them in our clothes or hair. Once we were all seated, Janette said a prayer and then we went around the table and all said what we were thankful for- we unanimously decided we were thankful for our families- both the ones at home and the new one we have in Ghana, and we were all also thankful for the experiences we have had and will have in here. I was reminded of the Thanksgiving dinner I had in Monteverde, Costa Rica, two years ago; this also made me thankful that I have been able to share this day of thanks with so many amazing people that I am very happy to know and count as very close friends and family.
Then finally, time to eat! Veggie stew, carrot and cabbage salad, mashed potatoes, sweet potato casserole, biscuits, sauteed turkey (didn't have much, but it was DELISH), and apple pie with FanIce (super sweet vanilla ice cream in a plastic bag) that Ran bought for us all. We sure had big, delicious feast that we all thoroughly enjoyed for many reasons: we were reminded of home and our families, we were thankful to have been able to make this dinner, and we were very happy to NOT be eating Ghanaian food. We even had some box wine to add to sip on, courtesy of the winos in our group. It was my first sip of wine since back in Philadelphia; I knew I would miss wine a whole heck of a lot! It was a great Thanksgiving we will always remember.
The next day we traveled from Bolga to KSO, which took all day- left Bolga about 9 AM, got to KSO about 8:30 PM. I got stuck in a jump seat for the whole ride, so it was a very long, uncomfortable day. But, once we got to KSO, we were happy to see our PCVL, Mikey, and he treated us to barbequed hamburgers with tomatoes, lettuce, ketchup, mayo, REAL cheese and french fries. We each also had a mineral (Coke, Sprite, Fanta) and a FanIce. I never drink soda at home, or eat really sugary things, but here I have gotten used to drinking Coke, made with real sugar. On these hot days, it can be so refreshing.
After dinner we sat around a bonfire (yes its really hot, but having a bonfire is just cool) in the KSO's very nice yard. It was good to catch up with Mikey and prepare ourselves for the last three weeks of training. We were all ready to be at site.
Saturday we returned to our homestays in Anyinasin and Masse. It was nice to be back in a familiar place, with a familiar bed, familiar faces, familiar "OBRONI!!" chants, familiar routine.
Friday, January 6, 2012
Techiman to Tumu (A day from hell)
After training in Techiman, our group split into two: shea and cashew. In the northern regions of Ghana, shea is a very common tree, while in the south, cashew is very common. So we split into north and south, shea and cashew, good and evil (just kidding). I was in the shea group, along with everyone else in the Northern, Upper West and Upper East regions. We headed up to Tumu, in the Upper West, for our shea IST (in-service training), while the cashew group stayed in Techiman for their IST. That should have been the first sign.
It took two hours just to leave Techiman; why, I don't really know, you never really know. At about noon e had a snack of bowl fruit and an apple that we got in Wenchi, another big-ish city just north of Techiman. While we waited for Mike and Molly (the PCVs helping out with our training group) to get our snack, we were entertained for a few minutes by a man dancing in a tight black outfit and a thin, red thong- interesting. I guess he was selling medicine or something; a huge crowd gathered around him, enthralled by whatever he was saying.
We stopped at about 2 PM for lunch in a village on the way. Fried chicken and rice. We didn't get our food until about 3, so we ate back on the bus. Right away I didn't feel great, along with severla others...and it would get worse. At 5:15 we stopped in Wa, the capital of the Upper West region, to get gas and use the urinals. As we were getting back on the bus, Dawn and Linda were talking about beekeeping, and Dawn started to show us this beekeeping dance...it was really entertaining, but what made it even better was that she was dancing right in front of the bus door, which was wide open, so she was wiggling her booty out the door for a bunch of Ghanaian men sitting at the gas station. We all laughed really hard, and Dawn stayed bright red and mortified for a while.
So Wa to Tumu was 3 1/2 hours of hell. The roads are terrible in Upper West, especially in this area- not paved, potholes everywhere. We had a very good driver, but no matter how good of a driver you are, that doesn't make a terrible road and better. For 3 1/2 hours we were jolted about the bus, you pretty much couldn't even sleep because ever 10 seconds you'd be catapulted forward (normally its really easy to sleep during tro rides, even if it is a little bumpy). The sun sets at 6:30, so it was dark for most of this part of the trip, minus the many bush fires. You couldn't even enjoy the sunset since there was so much smoke pollution from the bush fires (it is really common for Ghanaians to burn the dry grasses).
By 9 PM, we arrived at the guesthouses in Tumu, which were owned by two cute, old Swiss ladies. All of us were in pain, my back was killing me so much it even hurt to lay down. Dawn, Mary and I snagged a room to ourselves, and told everyone to stay away from us; we denied dinner (yup, you guessed it, fried chicken and rice). Just the thought of it made us more sick. We started laughing uncontrollably as soon as we collapsed on our bed...we definitely would have started to cry if we didn't laugh.
The next two days at our IST, things got a little better but not much. The first day, the three of us couldn't go to the sessions, seeing that we could be no more than 10 feet from the bathroom. There was no way I was leaving the room. The sweet Swiss ladies took great care of us though: we got crackers, and brownies (real brownies!), bananas, and tea. The second day, we did make it to Jonathan's village, about 45 minutes away, where we observed how the women traditionally process shea butter- very cool. We also got to participate in the shelling and pounding and grinding of the shea nut. I helped grind the pounded nuts with a stone- it ends up looking like melted chocolate; unfortunately it doesn't taste as good as it looks. Eventually, after you mix the ground shea with your hands, separating the butter and residue, and then boil it, the shea product is ready, white and buttery. In the north, they fry their food in butter, so I am told, but I still have not yet seen it being sold or used.
After processing, we got to go out into the field to see the shea trees. We looked a parasites, pruning techniques, mature vs. young, how to pick a scion to graft. I actually got to do a grafting, which was really interesting, since I have never done it before. For lunch we got a pork hamburger pattie (!!) with rice and stew. We even got dessert- pumpkin pie! It was not very sweet at all, but hey, I can't complain when I eat something that even slightly resembles home. (The food we were served at the guesthouses was very delicious, which is wny I was so bummed I was so sick I couldn't keep any food in my body. Breakfast on the first morning was banana pancakes with guava jam- it took me back to Costa Rica instantly, since my homestay mom there often made me pancakes with guava jam. An amazingly delicious breakfast.) I also had my first experience with tzet here. (Tzet is the popular food eaten in the north, made from millet. In the south, fufu is most common. Banku is common nearly everywhere in Ghana, so I have observed.) Our counterparts attended the workshop, so Chistopher and Cletus eagerly watched me eat the tzet and asked me what I thought. I actually liked it, despite my stomach refusing it, along with everything else I ate. They did say that the tzet in the Upper East is different, so I am interested to taste it at site. Being in the south for most of training, I have come to enjoy fufu and banku, even though at first I strongly disliked banku. It grows on you. Sometimes I am very surprised at the cravings I have for Ghanaian food.
It took two hours just to leave Techiman; why, I don't really know, you never really know. At about noon e had a snack of bowl fruit and an apple that we got in Wenchi, another big-ish city just north of Techiman. While we waited for Mike and Molly (the PCVs helping out with our training group) to get our snack, we were entertained for a few minutes by a man dancing in a tight black outfit and a thin, red thong- interesting. I guess he was selling medicine or something; a huge crowd gathered around him, enthralled by whatever he was saying.
We stopped at about 2 PM for lunch in a village on the way. Fried chicken and rice. We didn't get our food until about 3, so we ate back on the bus. Right away I didn't feel great, along with severla others...and it would get worse. At 5:15 we stopped in Wa, the capital of the Upper West region, to get gas and use the urinals. As we were getting back on the bus, Dawn and Linda were talking about beekeeping, and Dawn started to show us this beekeeping dance...it was really entertaining, but what made it even better was that she was dancing right in front of the bus door, which was wide open, so she was wiggling her booty out the door for a bunch of Ghanaian men sitting at the gas station. We all laughed really hard, and Dawn stayed bright red and mortified for a while.
So Wa to Tumu was 3 1/2 hours of hell. The roads are terrible in Upper West, especially in this area- not paved, potholes everywhere. We had a very good driver, but no matter how good of a driver you are, that doesn't make a terrible road and better. For 3 1/2 hours we were jolted about the bus, you pretty much couldn't even sleep because ever 10 seconds you'd be catapulted forward (normally its really easy to sleep during tro rides, even if it is a little bumpy). The sun sets at 6:30, so it was dark for most of this part of the trip, minus the many bush fires. You couldn't even enjoy the sunset since there was so much smoke pollution from the bush fires (it is really common for Ghanaians to burn the dry grasses).
By 9 PM, we arrived at the guesthouses in Tumu, which were owned by two cute, old Swiss ladies. All of us were in pain, my back was killing me so much it even hurt to lay down. Dawn, Mary and I snagged a room to ourselves, and told everyone to stay away from us; we denied dinner (yup, you guessed it, fried chicken and rice). Just the thought of it made us more sick. We started laughing uncontrollably as soon as we collapsed on our bed...we definitely would have started to cry if we didn't laugh.
The next two days at our IST, things got a little better but not much. The first day, the three of us couldn't go to the sessions, seeing that we could be no more than 10 feet from the bathroom. There was no way I was leaving the room. The sweet Swiss ladies took great care of us though: we got crackers, and brownies (real brownies!), bananas, and tea. The second day, we did make it to Jonathan's village, about 45 minutes away, where we observed how the women traditionally process shea butter- very cool. We also got to participate in the shelling and pounding and grinding of the shea nut. I helped grind the pounded nuts with a stone- it ends up looking like melted chocolate; unfortunately it doesn't taste as good as it looks. Eventually, after you mix the ground shea with your hands, separating the butter and residue, and then boil it, the shea product is ready, white and buttery. In the north, they fry their food in butter, so I am told, but I still have not yet seen it being sold or used.
After processing, we got to go out into the field to see the shea trees. We looked a parasites, pruning techniques, mature vs. young, how to pick a scion to graft. I actually got to do a grafting, which was really interesting, since I have never done it before. For lunch we got a pork hamburger pattie (!!) with rice and stew. We even got dessert- pumpkin pie! It was not very sweet at all, but hey, I can't complain when I eat something that even slightly resembles home. (The food we were served at the guesthouses was very delicious, which is wny I was so bummed I was so sick I couldn't keep any food in my body. Breakfast on the first morning was banana pancakes with guava jam- it took me back to Costa Rica instantly, since my homestay mom there often made me pancakes with guava jam. An amazingly delicious breakfast.) I also had my first experience with tzet here. (Tzet is the popular food eaten in the north, made from millet. In the south, fufu is most common. Banku is common nearly everywhere in Ghana, so I have observed.) Our counterparts attended the workshop, so Chistopher and Cletus eagerly watched me eat the tzet and asked me what I thought. I actually liked it, despite my stomach refusing it, along with everything else I ate. They did say that the tzet in the Upper East is different, so I am interested to taste it at site. Being in the south for most of training, I have come to enjoy fufu and banku, even though at first I strongly disliked banku. It grows on you. Sometimes I am very surprised at the cravings I have for Ghanaian food.
Off-site technical training in Techiman (Nov. 12-16)
SWOT (Strengths, Weaknesses, Opportunities, Threats) interviews with local businesses in Techiman- I got assigned to go to Hooters, of ALL places for me to go, really? Luckily it wasn't like at home, it was just another bar and nightclub. I guess the owner of the bar lives in the U.S. and he chose this of all places to name his bar. Go figure. It was a useful session though, we learned a lot about how people run their businesses.
GoG (Government of Ghana) meetings in Sunyani- We split into four groups that went to the District Assembly, Ministry of Food and Ag, Forest Services Division and the Business Advisory Center. I was assigned to the District Assembly; depending on the size and development of the town or city, you will be designated as a district, municipality or metropolitan assembly. Sunyani, for example, is a municipality. My site, Kongo, is part of the Nabdam Talensi District Assembly, and my counterpart is the assemblyman for Kongo East in this district. The District Assemblies are important to volunteers because we must go to them to register associations and to discuss/disclose projects so that they will not shut your work down.
Moringa processing- learned how to make moringa soap and butter. We got to take some of the soap, which we all appreciated because it saved us a little money on soap!
A few sessions on food security, microloans, organic agriculture and forest stand inventory.
Rabbit rearing- we went to a small rabbit production area, learned about how to raise them. We were supposed to be shown how to slaughter them, but they did the slaughtering before we got their so that they could feed us rabbit for lunch. Oh well. Everyone made friends with the rabbits, so maybe it was better that we didn't kill one of them. The rabbit tasted alright, but I still prefer chicken.
Trip to the monastery outside of Techiman- we were supposed to stay here, but they didn't have enough room for our whole group. Luckily we still go to visit, even if it was only for an hour. This place has HUGE rock formations that you can hike/climb/scale (the inner Tarzan in all of us came out), and you get to see beautiful views of the area.
The food was really good at the hotel: breakfast was fried eggs, oatmeal, and GOOD bread (I have not had decent bread before or since this hotel); lunch and dinner we had fried chicken and fish, veggies, rice, yams, plantains, cabbage salad. After a while though, we all got tired of the fried chicken. Starting in Techiman, we had fried chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two weeks straight. Ok, well maybe not breakfast, but it sure felt like it.
GoG (Government of Ghana) meetings in Sunyani- We split into four groups that went to the District Assembly, Ministry of Food and Ag, Forest Services Division and the Business Advisory Center. I was assigned to the District Assembly; depending on the size and development of the town or city, you will be designated as a district, municipality or metropolitan assembly. Sunyani, for example, is a municipality. My site, Kongo, is part of the Nabdam Talensi District Assembly, and my counterpart is the assemblyman for Kongo East in this district. The District Assemblies are important to volunteers because we must go to them to register associations and to discuss/disclose projects so that they will not shut your work down.
Moringa processing- learned how to make moringa soap and butter. We got to take some of the soap, which we all appreciated because it saved us a little money on soap!
A few sessions on food security, microloans, organic agriculture and forest stand inventory.
Rabbit rearing- we went to a small rabbit production area, learned about how to raise them. We were supposed to be shown how to slaughter them, but they did the slaughtering before we got their so that they could feed us rabbit for lunch. Oh well. Everyone made friends with the rabbits, so maybe it was better that we didn't kill one of them. The rabbit tasted alright, but I still prefer chicken.
Trip to the monastery outside of Techiman- we were supposed to stay here, but they didn't have enough room for our whole group. Luckily we still go to visit, even if it was only for an hour. This place has HUGE rock formations that you can hike/climb/scale (the inner Tarzan in all of us came out), and you get to see beautiful views of the area.
The food was really good at the hotel: breakfast was fried eggs, oatmeal, and GOOD bread (I have not had decent bread before or since this hotel); lunch and dinner we had fried chicken and fish, veggies, rice, yams, plantains, cabbage salad. After a while though, we all got tired of the fried chicken. Starting in Techiman, we had fried chicken for breakfast, lunch and dinner for two weeks straight. Ok, well maybe not breakfast, but it sure felt like it.
PEPFAR Field Activities (Nov. 8-11)
President's Emergency Plan For AIDS Response.
All 25 of us NRM trainees were split in to about seven groups, based on site location, for PEPFAR activities. My group was made up of all o us in the Upper East Region, and part of the Northern Region group. This ended up being the biggest group, comprised of Ran, Rob, Dawn, Barbara, Dennis, Megan, Linda, Diana and me. So Tuesday morning we all left our sites and started our journey to Gushie, a town about 45 minutes north of Tamale, where Katie would be hosting us for these HIV/AIDS activities. All of us Upper Easters met in Bolgatanga to catch a Metro Mass bus to Tamale. We met at the bus station at 8:30 AM, left at 10:30, and arrived in Tamale at about 2 PM. Once in Tamale, we navigated ourselves to some taxis to get to the TSO (Tamale Sub Office), where we would meet up with Katie. Rob painstakingly negotiated fares with two cab drivers for about 10 minutes. I will keep it PG and leave out the profanity, but we do still have a good laugh when I remind him of the funny things he said when he was quite peeved. (Dan told Rob that the fare between the taxi station and the TSO should be 50 pesewa/person, plus a little extra for our luggage, which would have means it should have been about 3 cedis total per car. Well both drivers wanted 5 or 6 cedis...yea, that did not fly with us.)
At the TSO we got a few minutes to unwind, and talk to some of the other PEPFAR groups that were meeting their respective PCVs at the TSO also. And, thankfully, those who HAD to get to a computer were able to get on to the internets. Once we met Katie, we went over the game plan: go into Tamale to buy food for breakfast and luncd (dinners were already planned for), and then catch a tro to Gushie. So we stocked up on oats, oranges, Milo and anything else we wanted. Katie warned us that Gushie didn't have much food to buy. (Normally villages have a few chop bars, or at least vendors that sell food, but Katie was right, there really was nothing at all to buy at her site.) I treated myself to a FanIce (really sweet vanilla ice cream in a plastic bag) and a chocolate milk (which wasn't a great idea since I haven't had much dairy since getting to Ghana..)
Amazingly, we all caught one tro tro to Gushie, and Katie negotiated a very good price for us, despite all of our luggage and pots and pans and food we had to carry with us. We all stuffed ourselves in the tro, I got the very back right coner, next to an open window. The breeze felt very nice as I watched the sunset out of the back window.
Katie's site was right on the highway that runs between Tamale and Bolga. The guesthouse we stayed in was a few hundred feet off the road and Katie's house, which right on the road. The rest of the community was on the other side of the highway. Crossing busy, busy highways and roads is now a normal occurrence; at first it was a bit scary to cross the roads as cars flew past. Luckily Gushie has speed bumps, so it was not quite as bad to cross the road as in some towns. Katie's little living area was very nice- there was a room outside, screened off, that we cooked in, a small living room where we ate, and her bedroom. The latrine was inside the compound, which required you to walk around the building to get to. Most of the time we just urinated in the bush right outside here door. We were promptly greeted my Katie's three small kittens- so cute! Dawn and I went into cat-mode (i.e. baby voices, lots of lovin', etc...) much to the surprise of our fellow trainees.
The guesthouse was very big, even walled off with a security guard. It was all set up to have electricity and running water...buuut neither worked, for reasons I don't quite know. We were supposed to get running water while we were there, but it never did come. So we walked around at night with our headlamps, and flushed the toilet with a bucket of water if we didn't feel like going outside or walking all the way to Katie's latrine. We slept of foam mattresses on the floor, surrounded by piles and piles of dead and dying stink bugs. The whole house was sprayed the day before we arrived, and we never really saw live stink bugs, so the place was sprayed very well. Mmmm, chemicals.
Breakfast: oatmeal with currants that Barbara found in Tamale, oranges, tea bread with groundnut paste and jam. Lunch: Indomie (like Ramen noodles), fried yams with groundnut powder from the vendor across the street, tea bread with groundnut paste and jam, oranges. Dinner: the first night we had rice with a veggie stirfry, the second nice was a creamy potato and veggie soup and the third night was spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. Dawn's 30th birthday was on the last day, so Katie made brownies from scratch for her. We put Hershey's chocolate sauce on it, and it tasted like heaven. The brownies were made in the morning, so at breakfast you could already smell the brownies cooking...I thought about brownies ALL day. And it was worth it, such a delicious meal. Dinners were not quite American food, but they were definitely NOT Ghanaian food. We all greatly appreciated the cooking, and it gave me some ideas of what I will cook myself once at site.
The first day of PEPFAR activities involved us going to the local primary school to teach the children about HIV/AIDS. We split into groups: Rob, Ran and Megan took P5 and P6, Dennis and Linda took P3 and P4, Dawn and I taught P1 and P2, and Barbara and Diana took KG. Dawn and I began our class by introducing ourselves, to the class of about 50 kids, and our warm-up activity was singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Then we started asking questions like "How do you feel when you are sick?," and, "How do you want to be treated when you are sick?" Then we described how HIV compromises the immune system, so your body does not fight infections very well. We compared the immune system to an army, so when you have HIV, it is like your body does not have its army to protect it. Then we asked the kids how you get HIV. There are always some good answers, like "from sharing food" or "from shaking hands." So we set them straight on those very, very common misconceptions, but who knows how much of what we said stuck with the kids. There is lots of discrimination against those with HIV in Ghana, so a lot of our presentations focused on discouraging the stigma against HIV. To do this, we ask the kids "How can you tell when someone has HIV?" And then point of this is to tell them that you cannot tell, just by looking at someone, that they have HIV. It is true that when HIV becomes AIDS, children say you can tell that a very sickly person has AIDS, but for our purposes we emphasize that you can not tell just by looking.
After we stated the facts of HIV/AIDS, at a very basic level, we had them make cards for people living with HIV/AIDS. At first, the students just sat at their desks and looked at the crayons and paper, but eventually they started to draw their own pictures. Dawn and I drew our own card, which many of the kids decided to copy, but some thought outside of the box and came up with their own cards. After finishing their cards, they were free to play for the rest of the day. Usually the school day goes from 8 AM-2 PM, but many times teachers do not show up to class, so the children just sit at their desks all day with nothing to do. The P1 and P2 kids that Dawn and I taught did not have a teacher, so they had free reign all day.
Before Dawn and I taught our class, we watched Rob, Ran and Megan teach the P5 and P6 class. This was very difficult for them: Rob would ask a question, but no one would raise their hand to answer. Then their teacher would tell them that they should participate because we are white people that have come to teach and they should take advantage of the opportunity. Still no response. This went on for a while. Katie explained to us later why the participation was so low: in the Ghanaian teaching system, creative thinking is not encouraged, rather their method of teaching call and response, repetition. Also, if you answer a question incorrectly, you get beaten, so students would rather not attempt to answer, than answer and get hit. Our lesson plans were full of questions, but as the students got older, the harder it was to encourage participation. I also learned that corporal punishment is not allowed in Ghana, yet it happens at all schools anyways. It is ingrained in their teaching and parenting styles.
Since the P1 and P2 classes didn't have a teacher, (sometimes classes don't have teachers, or the teachers simply do not show up, but still get paid) the little ones would come out of their classrooms to look at what was going on, but then the headmaster would come around a punish them for not being in their classroom. At one point the headmaster came to talk to me, and since I had introduced myself earlier, he knew my name. He asked me if I knew Britney Spears. I said that I know who she is, but I don't personally know her. Then he said, "So you can sing?" And I said, "Oh, no, no, I can't." Him: "Yes you can." Me: "No really, I definitely cannot." And then I stopped talking to him.
At about 1, we were finally done for the day. After a lazy afternoon, Katie took us to greet a woman in her village who just had baby. We were supposed to to to the baby girl's naming ceremony, but I guess that was not in the plan. In Ghana, they have naming ceremonies about a week, sometimes more, after a baby is born. We all had a chance to hold the baby (I declined though), and the mother brought out henna ink which they produce themselves, to paint our feet with.
On out second day in Gushie, we planned an HIV/AIDS fair. Beth, the new PCVL in Tamale, came to help us. She seems nearly fluent in Dagbani (the local dialect), so it was fascinating to watch her interact with the village. Katie rented some big speakers, and we even had a DJ with a pretty impressive set-up- computer and all. We came up with games that we would play with the adults and children- water balloon toss, relay races, bread-eating race, dizzy bat/carry things on your head races and corn hole. For prizes, we gave the children toffees, and the adults condoms. Katie told us that the people in her community go CRAZY for free condoms, so we always had someone guarding our huge bag of condoms.
All the games were successful- the kids had a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. We were happy that a lot of people showed up; Katie says you ever really know how many people will show up to events or meetings you have. The music had all the children dancing; it is so much fun to watch them! The area was very dusty, so as the dancing went on, we were all covered in the red dust.
After games, we had two Ghanaians demonstrate how to put on a condom, then we were treated to an HIV/AIDS drama (Ghanaians love putting on dramas). It was very entertaining, even though we couldn't understand it. The dancing continued late into the night, and there was also an HIV/AIDS movie shown, but lets face it, I was tired, so I went to bed instead of watching something I wouldn't understand anyways.
Our experiences at PEPFAR were very interesting and useful. At some point I plan on doing activities in the schools in Kongo, so having a chance to teach firsthand and see the Ghanaian teaching system in action was very valuable. Putting together the fair also seemed like it worked well-people enjoyed the games and prizes and dancing.
The following day, it was time to leave Gushie to travel to Techiman to have our off-site technical training. Gushie doesn't have any tros that specifically stop there, so Katie told us we'd have to hitch rides on whatever passes through- truck, tro or taxi. Luckily, eight of us caught one taxi to Tamale. Needless to say it was a very cramped 40-minute right. Dawn sat up front with the existing passenger, then four of us squeezed int he back row, and the rest were in the trunk. All of our luggage was piled on top. Once in Tamale, by some small miracle, we all caught the same tro to Techiman and it left within 10 minutes of us getting to the tro station- by far the least painful tro experience I have had in Ghana.
The ride took about 4 1/2 hours...no stops. I'm getting good at not having to go to the bathroom on these long trips. Rob, Ran and I were in the very back of the tro, which at first wasn't so great, since the back is usually where its the most cramped, but once it started to rain, and water poured through the holes in the roof and through the windows into the middle of the tro, sitting in the back didn't seem so bad. Rob and I were fascinated by the dramatic change in environment and weather. At the start of the day, if you were to have said we were going to see rain, we wouldn't have believed you. We got used to the days being very hot and sunny and dry and dusty in the northern regions. As you drive south, it becomes very lush and green, even cloudy and rainy, humid...and for a minute there, as it started to rain and the windows of the tro were still open, we felt a little cold.
At the Techiman tro station, we crammed into a couple taxis to the hotel. I was pretty hungry, so I bought some boiled eggs out the window of the taxi. At the hotel, I walked down the street and bought some red red (beans in lots of palm oil), with gauri (a type of ground grain), and some fried plantains. Back at the hotel I washed it down with a beer. Delicious.
All 25 of us NRM trainees were split in to about seven groups, based on site location, for PEPFAR activities. My group was made up of all o us in the Upper East Region, and part of the Northern Region group. This ended up being the biggest group, comprised of Ran, Rob, Dawn, Barbara, Dennis, Megan, Linda, Diana and me. So Tuesday morning we all left our sites and started our journey to Gushie, a town about 45 minutes north of Tamale, where Katie would be hosting us for these HIV/AIDS activities. All of us Upper Easters met in Bolgatanga to catch a Metro Mass bus to Tamale. We met at the bus station at 8:30 AM, left at 10:30, and arrived in Tamale at about 2 PM. Once in Tamale, we navigated ourselves to some taxis to get to the TSO (Tamale Sub Office), where we would meet up with Katie. Rob painstakingly negotiated fares with two cab drivers for about 10 minutes. I will keep it PG and leave out the profanity, but we do still have a good laugh when I remind him of the funny things he said when he was quite peeved. (Dan told Rob that the fare between the taxi station and the TSO should be 50 pesewa/person, plus a little extra for our luggage, which would have means it should have been about 3 cedis total per car. Well both drivers wanted 5 or 6 cedis...yea, that did not fly with us.)
At the TSO we got a few minutes to unwind, and talk to some of the other PEPFAR groups that were meeting their respective PCVs at the TSO also. And, thankfully, those who HAD to get to a computer were able to get on to the internets. Once we met Katie, we went over the game plan: go into Tamale to buy food for breakfast and luncd (dinners were already planned for), and then catch a tro to Gushie. So we stocked up on oats, oranges, Milo and anything else we wanted. Katie warned us that Gushie didn't have much food to buy. (Normally villages have a few chop bars, or at least vendors that sell food, but Katie was right, there really was nothing at all to buy at her site.) I treated myself to a FanIce (really sweet vanilla ice cream in a plastic bag) and a chocolate milk (which wasn't a great idea since I haven't had much dairy since getting to Ghana..)
Amazingly, we all caught one tro tro to Gushie, and Katie negotiated a very good price for us, despite all of our luggage and pots and pans and food we had to carry with us. We all stuffed ourselves in the tro, I got the very back right coner, next to an open window. The breeze felt very nice as I watched the sunset out of the back window.
Katie's site was right on the highway that runs between Tamale and Bolga. The guesthouse we stayed in was a few hundred feet off the road and Katie's house, which right on the road. The rest of the community was on the other side of the highway. Crossing busy, busy highways and roads is now a normal occurrence; at first it was a bit scary to cross the roads as cars flew past. Luckily Gushie has speed bumps, so it was not quite as bad to cross the road as in some towns. Katie's little living area was very nice- there was a room outside, screened off, that we cooked in, a small living room where we ate, and her bedroom. The latrine was inside the compound, which required you to walk around the building to get to. Most of the time we just urinated in the bush right outside here door. We were promptly greeted my Katie's three small kittens- so cute! Dawn and I went into cat-mode (i.e. baby voices, lots of lovin', etc...) much to the surprise of our fellow trainees.
The guesthouse was very big, even walled off with a security guard. It was all set up to have electricity and running water...buuut neither worked, for reasons I don't quite know. We were supposed to get running water while we were there, but it never did come. So we walked around at night with our headlamps, and flushed the toilet with a bucket of water if we didn't feel like going outside or walking all the way to Katie's latrine. We slept of foam mattresses on the floor, surrounded by piles and piles of dead and dying stink bugs. The whole house was sprayed the day before we arrived, and we never really saw live stink bugs, so the place was sprayed very well. Mmmm, chemicals.
Breakfast: oatmeal with currants that Barbara found in Tamale, oranges, tea bread with groundnut paste and jam. Lunch: Indomie (like Ramen noodles), fried yams with groundnut powder from the vendor across the street, tea bread with groundnut paste and jam, oranges. Dinner: the first night we had rice with a veggie stirfry, the second nice was a creamy potato and veggie soup and the third night was spaghetti with fresh tomato sauce. Dawn's 30th birthday was on the last day, so Katie made brownies from scratch for her. We put Hershey's chocolate sauce on it, and it tasted like heaven. The brownies were made in the morning, so at breakfast you could already smell the brownies cooking...I thought about brownies ALL day. And it was worth it, such a delicious meal. Dinners were not quite American food, but they were definitely NOT Ghanaian food. We all greatly appreciated the cooking, and it gave me some ideas of what I will cook myself once at site.
The first day of PEPFAR activities involved us going to the local primary school to teach the children about HIV/AIDS. We split into groups: Rob, Ran and Megan took P5 and P6, Dennis and Linda took P3 and P4, Dawn and I taught P1 and P2, and Barbara and Diana took KG. Dawn and I began our class by introducing ourselves, to the class of about 50 kids, and our warm-up activity was singing "Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes." Then we started asking questions like "How do you feel when you are sick?," and, "How do you want to be treated when you are sick?" Then we described how HIV compromises the immune system, so your body does not fight infections very well. We compared the immune system to an army, so when you have HIV, it is like your body does not have its army to protect it. Then we asked the kids how you get HIV. There are always some good answers, like "from sharing food" or "from shaking hands." So we set them straight on those very, very common misconceptions, but who knows how much of what we said stuck with the kids. There is lots of discrimination against those with HIV in Ghana, so a lot of our presentations focused on discouraging the stigma against HIV. To do this, we ask the kids "How can you tell when someone has HIV?" And then point of this is to tell them that you cannot tell, just by looking at someone, that they have HIV. It is true that when HIV becomes AIDS, children say you can tell that a very sickly person has AIDS, but for our purposes we emphasize that you can not tell just by looking.
After we stated the facts of HIV/AIDS, at a very basic level, we had them make cards for people living with HIV/AIDS. At first, the students just sat at their desks and looked at the crayons and paper, but eventually they started to draw their own pictures. Dawn and I drew our own card, which many of the kids decided to copy, but some thought outside of the box and came up with their own cards. After finishing their cards, they were free to play for the rest of the day. Usually the school day goes from 8 AM-2 PM, but many times teachers do not show up to class, so the children just sit at their desks all day with nothing to do. The P1 and P2 kids that Dawn and I taught did not have a teacher, so they had free reign all day.
Before Dawn and I taught our class, we watched Rob, Ran and Megan teach the P5 and P6 class. This was very difficult for them: Rob would ask a question, but no one would raise their hand to answer. Then their teacher would tell them that they should participate because we are white people that have come to teach and they should take advantage of the opportunity. Still no response. This went on for a while. Katie explained to us later why the participation was so low: in the Ghanaian teaching system, creative thinking is not encouraged, rather their method of teaching call and response, repetition. Also, if you answer a question incorrectly, you get beaten, so students would rather not attempt to answer, than answer and get hit. Our lesson plans were full of questions, but as the students got older, the harder it was to encourage participation. I also learned that corporal punishment is not allowed in Ghana, yet it happens at all schools anyways. It is ingrained in their teaching and parenting styles.
Since the P1 and P2 classes didn't have a teacher, (sometimes classes don't have teachers, or the teachers simply do not show up, but still get paid) the little ones would come out of their classrooms to look at what was going on, but then the headmaster would come around a punish them for not being in their classroom. At one point the headmaster came to talk to me, and since I had introduced myself earlier, he knew my name. He asked me if I knew Britney Spears. I said that I know who she is, but I don't personally know her. Then he said, "So you can sing?" And I said, "Oh, no, no, I can't." Him: "Yes you can." Me: "No really, I definitely cannot." And then I stopped talking to him.
At about 1, we were finally done for the day. After a lazy afternoon, Katie took us to greet a woman in her village who just had baby. We were supposed to to to the baby girl's naming ceremony, but I guess that was not in the plan. In Ghana, they have naming ceremonies about a week, sometimes more, after a baby is born. We all had a chance to hold the baby (I declined though), and the mother brought out henna ink which they produce themselves, to paint our feet with.
On out second day in Gushie, we planned an HIV/AIDS fair. Beth, the new PCVL in Tamale, came to help us. She seems nearly fluent in Dagbani (the local dialect), so it was fascinating to watch her interact with the village. Katie rented some big speakers, and we even had a DJ with a pretty impressive set-up- computer and all. We came up with games that we would play with the adults and children- water balloon toss, relay races, bread-eating race, dizzy bat/carry things on your head races and corn hole. For prizes, we gave the children toffees, and the adults condoms. Katie told us that the people in her community go CRAZY for free condoms, so we always had someone guarding our huge bag of condoms.
All the games were successful- the kids had a lot of fun and everyone enjoyed themselves. We were happy that a lot of people showed up; Katie says you ever really know how many people will show up to events or meetings you have. The music had all the children dancing; it is so much fun to watch them! The area was very dusty, so as the dancing went on, we were all covered in the red dust.
After games, we had two Ghanaians demonstrate how to put on a condom, then we were treated to an HIV/AIDS drama (Ghanaians love putting on dramas). It was very entertaining, even though we couldn't understand it. The dancing continued late into the night, and there was also an HIV/AIDS movie shown, but lets face it, I was tired, so I went to bed instead of watching something I wouldn't understand anyways.
Our experiences at PEPFAR were very interesting and useful. At some point I plan on doing activities in the schools in Kongo, so having a chance to teach firsthand and see the Ghanaian teaching system in action was very valuable. Putting together the fair also seemed like it worked well-people enjoyed the games and prizes and dancing.
The following day, it was time to leave Gushie to travel to Techiman to have our off-site technical training. Gushie doesn't have any tros that specifically stop there, so Katie told us we'd have to hitch rides on whatever passes through- truck, tro or taxi. Luckily, eight of us caught one taxi to Tamale. Needless to say it was a very cramped 40-minute right. Dawn sat up front with the existing passenger, then four of us squeezed int he back row, and the rest were in the trunk. All of our luggage was piled on top. Once in Tamale, by some small miracle, we all caught the same tro to Techiman and it left within 10 minutes of us getting to the tro station- by far the least painful tro experience I have had in Ghana.
The ride took about 4 1/2 hours...no stops. I'm getting good at not having to go to the bathroom on these long trips. Rob, Ran and I were in the very back of the tro, which at first wasn't so great, since the back is usually where its the most cramped, but once it started to rain, and water poured through the holes in the roof and through the windows into the middle of the tro, sitting in the back didn't seem so bad. Rob and I were fascinated by the dramatic change in environment and weather. At the start of the day, if you were to have said we were going to see rain, we wouldn't have believed you. We got used to the days being very hot and sunny and dry and dusty in the northern regions. As you drive south, it becomes very lush and green, even cloudy and rainy, humid...and for a minute there, as it started to rain and the windows of the tro were still open, we felt a little cold.
At the Techiman tro station, we crammed into a couple taxis to the hotel. I was pretty hungry, so I bought some boiled eggs out the window of the taxi. At the hotel, I walked down the street and bought some red red (beans in lots of palm oil), with gauri (a type of ground grain), and some fried plantains. Back at the hotel I washed it down with a beer. Delicious.
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