How to act out first aid.

Last week I got to observe a workshop Krobodan is putting on for the farmers in the district. The topics are; National Health Insurance, First Aid, Civil Society Concept, and Leadership in the community groups. I cannot pick up on much Krobo at all so trying to fallow the ideas is really hard. When the First aid presenter came up I was interested to see the similarities and differences between Red Cross Ghana and the American Red Cross. It was so much easier to fallow because he literally acted out everything! He had a fake stroke, nearly choked to death, and I think at one point he pretended to stab himself in the eye. He would then go about fixing the problem while acting it out and explaining. CPR had a  surprisingly similar technique and was even demonstrated on white manikins.

Its always an interesting day when I go to see the farmers. There is always at least one really drunk farmer that everybody tries to ignore but cant because he is so loud. So far there is two that are notorious for demonstrating their ability to drink. For the ones that make things difficult there is always a couple that make everything better. After shooing away one of the drunks while trying to eat lunch two farmers that I haven’t seen before came over to introduce and chat. They were so nice and proceeded to try to teach me a bit of Krobo, I'm not a very good on the spot learner, I need to write things down especially when there are sounds that I cant even picture. The word for water is nyuo which sounds like the twi nyum meaning music (I'm even worse at spelling in foreign languages), really confusing. But that is the one thing that I remember, slowly learning.

Next week we will have the same workshop for another set of farmers, so I can only imagine what will happen!

Let the rains begin… Please!

Today was the first large rain of the season. You could hear it coming from miles away, the low rumbling, the wind picking up, and the sky darkening, all tell tale signs of rain. It has been trying to rain for the past couple days but this afternoon the sky opened and it poured cats and dogs. I had to run out to the line and make sure I collected all my clothes in time and then it started, it was light at first but grew to be a downpour. In true northwest fashion I was out there just standing enjoying the rain and all it brings with it. The kids were in the house can came out to stare at their crazy American standing in the rain. With only a tiny bit of coaxing I got Jemimah to come join in the puddle jumping, Francesca was out there right from the beginning and loving it! Since there is no grass and the dirt got so slippery she decided to just slide around on her butt, so proud. The mamma wasn’t home and I don’t think we would have gotten to play if she was there. After about 20 min of playing in the rain the girls got cold and wanted to warm up. I rung out my freshly rinsed hair and made us some warm Milo and tea.

It is these days that I am so happy to be here experiencing these moments of joy. Someday are harder than others but Im always looking forward to these special days where it all comes together in a happy moment.

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