Watering Hole

As of right now there is no running water at my house but I’m better off than most because its coming… like in 10 years… but this means I carry my own water from the bore hole down the hill from my house. Its not too far but by the time I get back to the house I’m usually pretty wet. Fetching water is fun and frustrating at the same time. I still do not understand nor speak much Krobo so the when the kids go wild because im down there its hard to know what’s going on, actually it’s the teenagers that worry me the most. Kids usually just want to get some sort of reaction out of me but teenagers will talk about you to each other. The fact that I am white, new, a girl, does have its advantages because I usually do not have to wait long until my bucket is filled. One of the kids pumping calls for my bucket right away even though I just arrived and there are lots of kids ahead of me. Because of this I can make three trips in 30 min when it takes them at least 30 minutes just for one trip. There are times when me being priority does not fly with some of the kids but I don’t have any control of the situation so they just make a fit for a minute or two then fill my bucket and I get out of there! 

Going to fetch water is an extremely social activity. After a long day or a day of doing nothing its nice to get a bucket or two because I get a chance to observe the kids in the neighborhood interacting. Usually they run around chasing each other or get in little fights but it ends up in laughter most the time. Just by going down there I’m a source of entertainment, now that they know my name all of them say it for the sake of saying my name. I also get a chance to talk to some of the 20 some year old people down there which usually means I try to explain where I’m living that Ill be here for 2 years and then they ask me for something, the guys like to ask for my watch, oh and I had a lady ask for my hair the other day. She told me “I like you hair, you give it to me” I tried to explain that it grows out of my head and is not a weave but either she didn’t get it or wanted me to cut it off and give it to her. In those situations im happy that my bucket gets filled quickly so I don’t have to stand there awkwardly for too long.

After two or three trips back and forth I’m usually a little tired and my water bucket is nearly full. I am socially satisfied for the day with weird confrontations and I feel just a little more apart of the community knowing that they know I have to fetch water just like them.  I still need to practice not spilling so much when I walk home because my clothes get wet but also I think they make fun of me a little but mostly they are just amazed that I fetch water.  Covered in dirt from my splashes and trying not to trip on goats, goat poo, and rocks I take a bucket bath with my new water and call it a day.

Damn Dog

No not my dog but a neighborhood dog. I came home from a long day of field sitting and then a bit of time with the beads ladies to see this dog running away with a chick in its mouth. I exclaimed with surprise and the kids were like “what in the world is she doing” (I can just tell from their weird looks in my direction). I rushed to set my stuff down and went back outside to see if the dog was gone. I had mixed emotion about what I saw and what to do next but the kids had effectively stopped the dog from hurting the chick too much and it had ran away. Now there is a hurt baby chick in the grass. I had no idea what to do but Jemima was picking it up and was not being very careful. The chick was freakin out, I mean I would be too if in the first few days of my life I was picked up and carried from my mom and played with by an animal that was planning on eating me. The bad part was that I had no idea where it had come from and it had incurred a head injury.  So now what? I had these kids holding a bleeding hurt baby chick and no idea what was the normal thing to do so I do the normal thing for me. I rushed into the house and grabbed some water cloth and a box from my room.  I proceeded to wash off the dirt and little bit of blood then wrapped it up and put it in the box. This whole time Rachel was watching and rolling her eyes at me but I think its worth it.  What kind of example would I have set if I did nothing and just let the chick probably get eaten by the dog that would have come back tonight. I think the kids need to see somebody actually take care of an animal rather than tossing it some food for a while before killing and eating it.  This is why there is a baby chicken in a box, in my room tonight. I hope the dog did not hurt it too badly and it survives. I don’t know how to take care of a chick but hopefully I get to learn.

Moving Forward One Day At A Time

January 18, 2012

So this past week and some has been quite a ride. I am coming to understand that each day is a force to be reckoned with and the only way to handle it is to take one day at a time. The end of last week had me kinda in an odd place, I haven’t done much of anything the whole week and felt bad about it. That Friday I met up with my supervisor and had a little chat. We discussed what my role is supposed to be with the NGO and the community but of course its still a lot-a-bit hazy. You see the NGO is putting up a training facility about a kilometer down the road and there is a lot to be done with designing the animal pens and how the office is going to run, so they day I will be very busy…soon.  But right now sitting at home or going to the field just to watch chicken coops be built really isn’t my style so I wanted to see what I could be doing right now.  It turns out that its not much. My counterpart is extremely busy with the farmers and moving his family from his village to Nkurakan where he is in the process of building not to mention taking care of his farm with over 300 chickens and sending his children off to school for another term (side note he’s also a church leader in his village so he goes back every weekend).  It tires me out just thinking about all he does. Back to me, I needed something to do, anything, even busy work just to make me feel like I’m contributing something.

So the plan was to go to the beads office on Monday. I liked this idea, I had wanted to get over to the beads ladies for a while now but it didn’t seem right going without Rachel who’s finger and stomach have been really hurting her lately. She is now doing better and is coming to work so I headed over there to find something to do. The last PCV they had worked there so I figured they could at least find me something to do for a little bit. I was new to the office so it was like stepping into a whirlwind of beads. I met the ladies stringing the beads and got a little tour of the building which is basically three rooms and a bathroom. Then I was set to work I got the mindless task of winding the bracelets and putting tags on. There is an order to be sent out soon so they are trying to finish up but ran out of plastic bags (something I never thought I would say) which is holding up production for the time being, that and Rachels hurt finger.  I have a lot to learn about how the office is run and how I can help in little ways to improve it.

I went out to the field to check on the farmers for the next few days which was actually semi-productive except that one of the communities was not ready for us which was disappointing.  I have to be very careful on days I go to the field. Ghanaians or at least the ones I work with do not eat lunch or snack really they just have a huge breakfast and wait to eat until 3 or so. That’s not how I work. So I have started to learn from my mistakes and take snacks with me. This helps my blood sugar levels and my attitude for the most part but I still have to be conscious of how I am acting. It’s hard to pay attention and even just act like you know what’s going on (Im becoming a very good actress).  The second day I had the task of taking pictures of coops and a meeting in one of the communities which kept me more engaged but sometimes the heat and just sitting really gets to me and I totally space out.  I think the best thing for me is to just keep going out there and pack more snacks.

So one day at a time I am slowly figuring out my place here in Nkurakan. It is going to be a complex mix of farmers, animals, beads, kids, and me trying to be me. Things are getting easier. Kids are learning my name. I’m trying more foods. I’m still excited to be here. 

Live in Love 

Settled!

January 11, 2011

         Settled. I’m sorry that I have not posted anything for quite some time and I’d like to say that its because I have been busy but I haven’t been. For the past 3 almost four weeks I have been trying to figure out what living in Nkurakan is going to be like but I think that’s going to take a much longer time to find an answer. Somethings I did do however is set up my kitchen I now have a table for cooking and a shelf unit to store all my food and supplies. Having things made is very expensive so I waited until I got paid in January to have the carpenter build me a shelf for my room. I had wanted to make these things myself because I can but there were more obstacles than paths so I decided to take the easy way. I am very happy with my two shelves, they are nothing fancy but they give my stuff a place that’s not the ground or my bags. Oh I also procured a desk and chair after trying not to offend the family here but getting something I need. I know the world does not revolve around me but when I came to site I expected a little more help to settle in but the onset of the whole family being here delayed that to a grinding hault. It also made it awkward to bring anything home that I had got at market to in Kof because it was almost like I was flaunting the little money I have here, and the fact that they wanted to see everything I had bought was a little off putting.  

             Now that I have made a space for myself and am satisfied for the most part with my rooms (there are always places for improvement) I can focus on what I am supposed to be doing here.  I have been out to the farming villages we are working with a couple times in the past two weeks to help… well observe chicken pens being constructed. I am still struggling with the language, as in I haven’t learned anything yet, so participating even if they would let me would be really hard. Im looking forward to knowing what a project is about from start to finish and running my own trainings because right now the farmers do not see me contributing anything. This chicken pen construction is going to last the rest of January but then there will be a bee training in February that I hope to be more involved in.  School has started for the first time since I’ve been at site so I will hopefully get a chance to meet with some teachers and seeing if they are open to let me do some projects with the students.

         Im sorry this is kinda just a blob of information but soon I hope to be able to update regularly like a real blog.

Happy Holidays

Happy Holidays!

December 27^th

                I want to take a second or two to thank everybody for a wonderful year. I have been able to do many things but only because I had a lot of help! The last year of college, lots of ups and downs and confusion about the future. Graduation, somehow I made it happen! I had a great summer full of adventures and seeing everyone I love.  Joining the Peace Corps. Leaving for Ghana to live and learn from some of the most friendly people in the world. None of this would have happened without the support and love of my family and friends. Thank you.

                I thought leaving for Peace Corps in October would be a wonderful time to leave, school started, summers over, but then it’s the holiday season right off the bat. It’s a bit difficult to be so far from home and so early on in this process knowing that the holidays continue back home. I love calling home and saying hi to everybody congregated at my home or grandma’s house but it’s hard because I can remember what it’s like to be there myself surrounded by my family and enjoying good food. I think part of what makes it a little difficult is that I have not been able to settle in, call a place my own, which is something that is fairly important to me. I feel comfortable here, I can handle myself here, but I haven’t had the time to settle into my site. The holiday has only made it worse, banks are closed, markets are packed, my counterpart is busy and there are a bunch of extra people staying at my house. I cant say enough how much I love my site, my counterpart, my site mother, but guys I need a table chair and desk! At the moment Im sitting on the floor on my yoga mat with two legs that have completely fallen asleep, not really comfy.

                I was able to do one thing that has definitely made me feel much more at home. I painted my room with a “Christmas tree” and ocean!  It’s a Christmas tree because I did it on Christmas day to help fill my time. It’s probably exactly what you expect from me, a tree with flowers and an ocean with sea stars and a fish. I want to add a heart and a quote in the corner I just haven’t picked the right one yet (I’m starting a poll). The family was amazed by the painting, the little ones sat and watched for a good hour… I’m actually starting to get used to the watching. Painting really released a lot of stress for me. I’m beginning to realize how much the small art project I do really help me balance my life. For three months I didn’t do much at all, I definitely needed a little craft time!  I’m really happy with how it turned out although I couldn’t figure out how to make purple, it’s a lot harder than you think! I hope to continue this outlet of creativity once I get a desk/table/ way to organize my thoughts, I want to get my hands on a chalk board but I don’t know how possible that is going to be.

Off Site Training

Cashew Workshop.
I will be in the southern half of Ghana and therefore for three days I had to be in a conference room talking about cashews. Cashews do not grow near me. I have nothing to do with cashews. They tried saying it wasn't all cashew because there was a business aspect to it, although the business part was a bit entertaining for about 10 min because me and my counterpart would get the worksheet done in two minutes and then talk about how to do it better. I felt bad that he left from a training for our farmers to come to this workshop that had very minimal application  our project. He had such a wonderful attitude towards the whole thing it made me feel bad about feeling bad. His perspective was that any training is a training and you can get at least the experience of sharing ideas out of it. Im telling you I have lucked out on getting an amazing counterpart. Although I was half heartidly trying to pay attention and get something out of the training I was not happy, I did not feel great and the food was pretty bad, the vegetarian plate (that was just the rice without the chicken) was always 20 min later then everything else. This led me into the habit of scarfing down an entire plate in 5 min because I just wanted to get out of there and begin the digestion process of vegging out a while. I did like meeting some of the volunteers that were involved with the cashew project mostly to hear their stories about being at site and their projects. OH I remembered a highlight, Cash and Carry.  Now I know what you are thinking and no its not an actual cash and carry. BUT it is a larger street shop that does carry some obruni items like SHAMPOO something I have wanted to get my hands on. They carried almost everything you need to get by including spices, noodles, tomato paste, ect. the basics and then some. The biscuit selection was pretty large and included digestives which I almost went for but somehow I held back because the prices are a bit high. How could I forget the bar up the street from Cash and Carry its called Hooters! Once again not the same, however, they did have cheaper beers than at the hotel and it was on the second story of the building making it a prime place to people watch. It was somebodies birthday while we were in town and so we went and had a few beers. Although im sure its hard to believe the place was not all that packed (or at all) because it was a Tuesday night. The obrunis had the run of the place. I can say that we were glad to be moving on from Techiman. Excited to head north and excited to see something new, not excited about the van ride.

Spiritual revival center
Yep, for a whole week we would be staying at the spiritual revival center. It was so much better then it sounds. The area was absolutely beautiful the draw back was that we were in the upper east. It was extremely hot but in the morning until about 8 or so and in the evenings after 4:30ish the temperature was really very comfortable. The scenery is very different from the south with more grasslands and less green trees. There are not as many hills so you can see for miles. I was looking forward to seeing the northern part of Ghana because I don't think I will be able to get up there very much. It really is a whole different place, one of our trainers went as far as to joke that we were in Burkina Faso and welcomed us back to Ghana when we traveled back down south.  Our first night at the center was so quite because there was only half the group, it was so peaceful, just what we needed after a long uncomfortable bus ride. I really enjoyed the evenings when we were done with dinner it was pretty dark out and it made for great star gazing. Looking up at the stars remindes you that you are somewhere different it was odd to not see the ushuall sky that Im so used to seeing. It made me a little sad because I loved it so much but also made me want to learn about the constalations that we can see from here.

Bees!
So people in Ghana take care of their bees at night. Kinda creepy right, especially if you have never worked with bees before, but it was actually quite nice. In the evening its cooler so your not dieing in the suits and supposedly the bees are more relaxed. About 15 of us set out on the bee hive harvest mission and man oh man we learned a lot. We learned about Ghanaian culture, their attitudes towards bees, how not to harvest honey, and that walking in the dark for 10 min not knowing where you are going is rather surreal from the safety of a bee suit.  After we arrived at the bee hive and opened the rather rotten top-bar hive the bees were not as aggressive as we anticipated. African honey bees are supposed to be more aggressive than honey bees back home but these were not. There wasn't any capped honey in the hive and no brood. This is pretty odd for the amount of bees that were there so we think that maybe the hive was abandoned and the bees that were there were robber bees stealing what was left of the honey. It makes sense that the bees were not as aggressive because they were not protecting their hive just stealing from it. I believe that I learned a lot from getting to go out to the hive see the bees and the comb but we learned more from the people in our group that have kept bees before. Without their knowledge I think we would all be confused and would make lots of mistakes if we decide to start hives. Later in the week we were able to talk to an "expert" about how to take care of bees and it only added to the confusion so I think a lot of us will be talking to others in our group and doing our own research. Although the whole bee keeping topic was confusing I think many of us still want to keep bees and do it correctly, at least im excited about it!



Thanksgiving Crocodiles
Thanksgiving was a day off but it was scheduled to take a trip up to Paga home of the crocodile ponds. Its a tourist trap alright but hey its ok for us to take one day to be tourists for heavens sakes we will be here 27 months integrated into the community! Anyways it was pretty great we got a small talk about how they came to have these crocodiles and the importance they serve in the community. It is believed that they protect the people of Paga and the locals even swim around in the same ponds without any incidents. So after their speal they called one of the largest crocodiles out of the pond by making whistling noises and carrying a chicken. A few of the smaller ones came out first and were sent back in because we wanted to touch the big one!  It finally came and all of us got to pick up the tail and squat over the back end of this croc. It was cool but thats kinda all we did. A few people bought chickens to feed them which was entertaining and a horse came by to give little rides. Overall it was cool but really an odd series of events. But hey I can say Ive touched a crocodile now!
Thanksgiving dinner was amazing. After we got back from the ponds we all chipped in and cooked up a storm. It was great we had sweet potato dish, biscuits, veggie stew, turkey, guinea fowl, apple pie, apple crisp, wine, beer, mashed potatoes. It was a feast! We also dressed up for the occasion which meant putting on our two yards and sticking turkey feathers in our hair!  The lights went out right before dinner which made it a beautiful candle lit dinner. Very relaxing but kinda hot because the fans weren't on. It was amazing how everybody worked together to get dinner done and it turned out perfectly! Not excactly the thanksgiving at home but the best thanksgiving Ghana has ever seen I think! That evening I called home to everybody at the Eide thanksgiving, it was great to hear everybody in such happy spirits and ready to get to eating! I miss thanksgiving at home but as my mom says there will be more holidays back here so make the most of them in Ghana. Not going to lie its kinda hard but realizing I have strong support back home makes it all worth it.