It’s Day 7. I can’t believe I’ve been here a week already! Today, Mike and I rode bicycles up the road to watch two of the vocational children weave Kenti. After the trip, I taught the children in the class math problems, and had them trace letters. After school, the 5 of us boarded the tro tro for the trip to Cape Coast. The drive here was 9 hours, and we stopped in Accra for pizza and soda…the pizza was probably mediocre, but tasted like heaven. We got stopped along the road several times to be checked for passports/visas and to ensure we weren’t being trafficed. We arrived at Cape Coast late, and toured the campus of Africa One. Each bungalow here has a theme, ours being Isis and Osiris. We figured the cost of our vacation-including 2 nights bungalow, and two 9 hours trips (to and from Hohoe). 107 American Dollars. Can’t beat that! We had to push two twin beds together, and the three of us slept in “the bed” which had a huge crack down the center. Also interesting about our room is this powdery substance which was in a ziploc bag on our bed, but then also on the floor and toilet in the bathroom…we have yet to ascertain its purpose. Our hotel, One Africa, is right on the ocean, has a “Hall of Remembrance” which recognizes African History and it’s people. The hotel was started by a family from Brooklyn, NY, who decided to return to Ghana. Their restaurant (which takes 2-3 hours to prepare food, so order ahead of time) offers pizza and veggie burgers, as well as local dishes like kenkey and banku. The menu is extensive, but they seemed to be out of quite a few things.
Day 8 We woke early to travel about 30 mins from Elmina to Kakum National Park which is host to one of seven canopy walks in the world. It was funded by USAID and constructed by 2 Canadians and some locals. The canopy walk was great, but I was so focused on my footing that I didn’t enjoy the view as much as I could have. We also decided to stay after for a more elaborate guide of the forest. After our canopy walk we ventured back to Elmina to tour Elmina Castle. The history behind it is very elaborate and sad. It was originally built by the Portugeuse in the 1400’s and transitioned through a variety of possessors and purposes, the most famous and disturbing of course was the Trans-Atlantic Slave trade. After our tours, we tried to find Global Mama’s; driving all over Cape Coast to 3 different “former” locations to find that it was closed. My roommies and I returned to One Africa for an american dinner and some brew.
Day 9 A few people in the group wished to tour Cape Coast Castle as well, but 3 of us sat out, instead talking to some locals and patronizing their shops. That ended our stay in Cape Coast and we traveled about 3 hours back to Accra to Global Mama’s there. I met a group of women who are rescuing children from fishing villages in the Volta Region. Some are orphans who are sold into the trade at a very young age and are treated like possessions. I took the card of the exec. director, as she lives in DC, and plan to stay in touch with her. Tomorrow is my birthday, I’m planning to get up early to get to my placement by 6am, and help the 2 house mothers ready 91 children for school.
Day 10. I went to my placement early today to help ready the children for the day. It was a great opportunity to interact with some of the younger children. I also witnessed their process of cleaning and bandaging cuts. I had to ask the house mother to cover the wound of a child that was just covered in flies. The children are very unaware and have quite a lot of small bumps and bruises everywhere. I’m finally getting to know the kids by name and they ask me for help with their math and writing. I really enjoy spending time with them, their spirits amaze me, and despite their disabilities they are very happy, respectful, and eager to learn. Sasha and I went to the market after lunch and met up with a local boy who likes to show us around. We grabbed “minerals” since it was a scorcher, and then headed to Beatrice’s Batik making shop. She taught us the process of Batiking, which is stamping fabric with wax and dying it. We even made some of our own. As I type this, it’s raining and very windy outside, and the electricity has been fading in and out. The other ladies (Sasha and Susan) and I are trying to decide what to do with our upcoming weekend.
Monday, March 15, 2010
Thursday, March 11, 2010
Fie (good evening)
Day 4, Tuesday was our first day of placement. I’m volunteering with the Volta School for the Mentally Challenged, which was born out of a school for deaf children. I observed the first day, watching a class of vocational students first do academic work and then a trade. They spent much of the time sorting scraps of fabric and cutting it to be the proper size to use to weave a floor mat. Mike, the vocational teacher, ensures that each student has a trade to rely on in society. Most of the students in this class range from 16-22 and have varying levels of academic ability. I was picked up by tro tro (van) after placement, returned to the home base for lunch, and then Susan, Elyssa, Nancy, and I got a taxi to a nearby town (45 mins) called Kpando (K is silent). There is a pottery place there run solely by women, and its tucked away off the beaten path. It was amazing, and I bought several pieces, happy of course to buy from local women. We also drove into town, visited their market (it was their market day), and saw the only point on the east side of Volta Lake for ferrys to pick people up. I asked our taxi to take us to the local prison to see what it was like, but we were barred from taking photos After our trip to Kpando we had dinner, and walked in the dark (it gets dark here at 7) into town (yep, it’s completely safe) to use the internet café (Emmeson). On the way, a man took quite the fancy to me, declared he loved me and held my hand into town. On the way home, the 3 of us were joined by 3 teenage boys eager to learn our names, and ensure our safety of out Hohoe. We managed to find out way home, with my headlamp, after one small detour and a friendly neighbor man steering us the proper way.
Day 5 was my second day of placement, and I’m very happy I stayed with my assigned placement. The children gather around the tro tro each morning to greet me, want to hold my hand, and play with my hair. Some of the younger children today started signing the “itsy bitsy spider”, which lead (to their unfortunate ears) to me singing it. They also knew “Hokey Pokey” and “Happy and you know it”. What I’ve learned from the “older” volunteers is that many of the children memorize things, but do not understand in the proper context. So, they can sing the alphabet, but if you point to an “A” they are not able to name it. That being said, they often don’t realize what they are singing (many, many church songs). I have decided to stay with the vocational students, but I’m afraid I’m learning more from them than they are me. I helped (using rocks) the children with varying stages of math (from number recognition to division) and then they taught me how to weave a floor mat. The teachers are very laid back, so we chatted a bit, and by that time, my tro tro was there to pick me. (we all get dropped and picked up each day at our placements, because they are quite far to walk, and each of us has a different placement). After lunch, we drove to Wli Falls, hiked and swam under the falls, and stopped at the shops at the base of the rain forest to buy masks, jewelry, and Batik (which is a cloth that they print with various colors and designs). After Wli, we grabbed dinner and relaxed at the home base for the evening, a few of us trying to master internationally calling on our barely functioning phone.
Day six of placement started like the past two, we hopped in the tro tro for placement. At school today, the girls were learning sewing skills, and the boys were carrying bags of rice and cassava; therefore I was unable to interact much with them. Instead, I spent a great deal of time showing the teachers my Ipod and camera. Embarrassingly enough, the first picture that came up upon when I turned on my camera was a “gag” picture that I took yesteday at the shops at Wli. There were several wooden carvings of erect penises….I was soooo embarassed. They thought it was hilarious. What they also find hilarious is my poor attempts to pronouce their language. Michael and I spent the day discussing views on nuclear vs. extended family, plural marriage, and cheating. After placement today we walked into the town of Hohoe and bought some art and kenti, and met several local children and shop owners. Two CCS volunteers have stayed in Hohoe after their time has ended to either continue their placement of their own volition and/or travel. We then had an Ewe lesson, learning a local song…that I’ve already forgotton, and had a guest speaker talk about history of Ghana. I also had the pleasure of doing my laundry by hand today and hung my laundry on the line to dry. It them promptly rained. Tomorrow after placement, we will make the 9 hour journey through Accra to Cape Coast.
Day 5 was my second day of placement, and I’m very happy I stayed with my assigned placement. The children gather around the tro tro each morning to greet me, want to hold my hand, and play with my hair. Some of the younger children today started signing the “itsy bitsy spider”, which lead (to their unfortunate ears) to me singing it. They also knew “Hokey Pokey” and “Happy and you know it”. What I’ve learned from the “older” volunteers is that many of the children memorize things, but do not understand in the proper context. So, they can sing the alphabet, but if you point to an “A” they are not able to name it. That being said, they often don’t realize what they are singing (many, many church songs). I have decided to stay with the vocational students, but I’m afraid I’m learning more from them than they are me. I helped (using rocks) the children with varying stages of math (from number recognition to division) and then they taught me how to weave a floor mat. The teachers are very laid back, so we chatted a bit, and by that time, my tro tro was there to pick me. (we all get dropped and picked up each day at our placements, because they are quite far to walk, and each of us has a different placement). After lunch, we drove to Wli Falls, hiked and swam under the falls, and stopped at the shops at the base of the rain forest to buy masks, jewelry, and Batik (which is a cloth that they print with various colors and designs). After Wli, we grabbed dinner and relaxed at the home base for the evening, a few of us trying to master internationally calling on our barely functioning phone.
Day six of placement started like the past two, we hopped in the tro tro for placement. At school today, the girls were learning sewing skills, and the boys were carrying bags of rice and cassava; therefore I was unable to interact much with them. Instead, I spent a great deal of time showing the teachers my Ipod and camera. Embarrassingly enough, the first picture that came up upon when I turned on my camera was a “gag” picture that I took yesteday at the shops at Wli. There were several wooden carvings of erect penises….I was soooo embarassed. They thought it was hilarious. What they also find hilarious is my poor attempts to pronouce their language. Michael and I spent the day discussing views on nuclear vs. extended family, plural marriage, and cheating. After placement today we walked into the town of Hohoe and bought some art and kenti, and met several local children and shop owners. Two CCS volunteers have stayed in Hohoe after their time has ended to either continue their placement of their own volition and/or travel. We then had an Ewe lesson, learning a local song…that I’ve already forgotton, and had a guest speaker talk about history of Ghana. I also had the pleasure of doing my laundry by hand today and hung my laundry on the line to dry. It them promptly rained. Tomorrow after placement, we will make the 9 hour journey through Accra to Cape Coast.
Tuesday, March 9, 2010
Woezor (you are welcome)
Despite a few minor snafoos at the airport, I made it to my seat on the flight from JFK to Accra (thanks Tyra!). My seat was next a Ghanaian man named Benjamin who now lives in Tampa. The seats in front of me were occupied by 4 students from Buffalo ( UB, strangely enough) to perform dental work in Accra. The flight was cramped and I hardly slept. We arrived in Accra at about 7:30 am, met Dela our driver, and drove 4 hours in a tro-tro to Hohoe (prounounced Ho-hway).
When we arrived to the house, we were met by 7 volunteers who have been here varying times, the longest two are finishing up their 12th weeks. Most are ages 18-24. My roommate Shelley (Ontario) is 60. The others, Ariel (Boston), Erin (McLean), Tyler (Chicago), Maureen (Ohio), Ruthy (Boston) and Tia (Salt Lake). Starting the same time as me are Elyssa and her mother Nancy from Toronto, and coming the following day were Sasha and Susan (Cali).
The first day we settled in, unpacked, and relaxed. The second day we walked to town, had an Ewe lesson (local language). And today, the third day, we went to House of Hope Orphanage and played with the children, then walked to market, and had a dance/drumming lesson. Since Saturday was Independence Day, I haven’t been able to buy a calling card yet.
When we arrived to the house, we were met by 7 volunteers who have been here varying times, the longest two are finishing up their 12th weeks. Most are ages 18-24. My roommate Shelley (Ontario) is 60. The others, Ariel (Boston), Erin (McLean), Tyler (Chicago), Maureen (Ohio), Ruthy (Boston) and Tia (Salt Lake). Starting the same time as me are Elyssa and her mother Nancy from Toronto, and coming the following day were Sasha and Susan (Cali).
The first day we settled in, unpacked, and relaxed. The second day we walked to town, had an Ewe lesson (local language). And today, the third day, we went to House of Hope Orphanage and played with the children, then walked to market, and had a dance/drumming lesson. Since Saturday was Independence Day, I haven’t been able to buy a calling card yet.
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