Wednesday, November 25th, 2009 was a truly unforgettable day. It started with a dose of confusion that seems to have become a staple in my life since arriving in Ghana four months ago. I was expecting to be picked up by World Vision at 1000 so when I got a call from Samuel, the World Vision driver, at 0810, I panicked. I still had to take my bucket shower and eat some sort of breakfast! But also in true Ghanaian style, it all worked out. I think the driver sensed my panic and called back minutes later saying he would be there at 0945. Much better. That gave me enough time to really enjoy my bath; now that the Harmattan winds have started, the mornings are cool enough that you aren’t immediately sweaty after a bathing. It is a glorious transition.
Samuel arrived at the college administration building at 0945. He was driving the nicest vehicle I had been in since arriving in Ghana. Seatbelts that worked, air conditioning that also worked and an air freshener. Heaven. We stopped at the Pong-Tamale market so I could add some yams to the schoolbags filled with some few items that I was bringing to Hardala. As I was about to get into the pick-up after buying some water, I saw my friend Rahi. She is the stall-owner that I go to almost everyday. She sells me my staples: toilet paper, water and pasta. She was actually heading to the hospital to get her eyes checked. They had been bothering her for awhile; she had been to the clinic a few days earlier and got a prescription for some drops but they were not helping. We drove her to Savelugu to catch a taxi to Tamale. At this point, I had no idea what to expect for the day. All I knew was that I was going to meet that beautiful little face that had been on my shelf for months. Rahi alluded to the fact that the whole community would probably be waiting and there would be dancing and drumming. Okay, so a few people would come out I thought, I’m used to dancing with random groups of Ghanaians at this point, although they still are leaps and bounds better than me, whether they are two years old or ninety. But it ended up being more than just a few…
We bumped and see-sawed our way past people trashing rice and collecting water to the Tolon-Kumbungu district ADP (Area Development Programme) World Vision office. Tolon-Kumbungu is the district beside Savelugu-Nanton. The communities are Dagomba, the same tribe as Pong-Tamale. My little knowledge of Dagbani greetings (language spoken by the Dagombas) came in extremely handy on this day. I was ushered into Faustina’s office, the manager of the Tolon-Kumbungu ADP. We then hurried out because “the whole community is waiting for us”. Oh my. Whole community? Really? Oh my.
After many more bumps and turns (I kept wondering why we even have those little carousel-style horses that you put money into and they toss you around like a rag doll back in Canada; why would you elect to have your limbs flail sloppily all over the place?) we pulled into a village called Chirifoyili. Before the car had even come to a stop, I could already hear the drumming. I stepped out of the pickup into a sea of colourful cloths, dancing and singing. Another World Vision employee, Elizabeth, greeted me and spoke loudly so that I could hear above all the noise “They are all here for you!” Wow. There must have been close to a hundred people. And dozens of dusty little kids all staring wide-eyed at me.
I was invited to sit at behind a table at what I would call the head of the gathering. People were seated in a sort of horse-shoe shaped manner and I was placed at the top of the opening. The chief of the village soon arrived and was escorted by a procession of chanting, drums and scream/singing. We paid our respects to him and then greeted the crowd. Faustina announced the event to the community and some of the members spoke in return. They all spoke of the gratitude they had for me being there. They were so thankful that I had taken the time to come and visit their community, to see how they live. They blessed me over and over again. It was a good thing that I was almost the last one to speak (in true Ghanaian style, impromptu speeches are a must) because I was sitting there for most of the procession with a lump in my throat. I felt like I was in a movie, when the sound just vanishes and it’s like the character is just lost in their own world. I was completely overwhelmed by the colour and music and energy of all the people who had come together to honour a stranger from another country. One thing Faustina said that really stuck with me “Just as she [me] probably wonders if her sponsor child really exists, today also proves to you [Hardala and her community] that her sponsor truly exists”. I had never thought of it from the child’s perspective. Of course my world must seem just as intangible and unbelievable as hers did to me. I have never felt in my life how I felt in that moment. It was a feeling of absolutely incredible connection.
For those of you who haven’t heard the story of how this day came to be:
It really all begins from an interest in human development but more specifically it began in Metrotown, a huge mall in Vancouver. I walked into a strange looking exhibit in the middle of one of the mall intersections. It was a World Vision display. You were given an iPod; either pink, green or blue, and dependent on the color, had a child’s story to follow. I remember mine was of a little boy from Malawi whose parents lived had been claimed by AIDS. As I came out of the exhibit, I talked to one of the volunteers about the common misperceptions about child sponsorship programs. She proceeded to explain the ADPs and the idea of community development in conjunction with individual sponsorship. That event sealed it for me. A child should have the chance to go to school, to live a health and productive life. This was a chance to try and contribute to that desire. Children are the future after all. I went home, went online and picked Hardala from a number of children that is just too high. I committed to a monthly contribution. I essentially took a leap of faith based on that exhibit, that volunteer and the website. I received Hardala’s picture a few weeks later and placed it on my shelf. I admit to the sponsorship having a sort of subconscious role from that point. For the next year or so I continued to receive information about the sponsorship program thanking me for my participation and providing me with updates on the programs being implemented in Hardala’s community. It’s just so hard to picture though from the 7th floor of a Vancouver condo. So Hardala became a monthly one-liner on my credit card statement and an occasional source of wonder.
Fast forward to Ghana. I had been in the country for about a month and I was lying under my mosquito net having a precious phone call back to Canada. My mother informed me that I had mail from Ghana. Puzzling. I am in Ghana. I forwarded my mail from Vancouver to Montreal… but how did I get mail from Ghana to Montreal? I asked her to open it and she proceeded to read a hand-written letter about a little girl’s schooling. I almost dropped the phone. It all clicked. World Vision. Hardala. She lives in Ghana! I reached for my map of Ghana as my mother read the district Hardala lives in. I found Pong Tamale (where I am staying) on the map and then searched for Tolon-Kumbungu. I looked far and wide and finally found it. About 20kms from Pong Tamale. How is it that I ended up being placed 20kms away from the child I sponsor?
Running with nothing but a name, I went to the Savelugu World Vision office to get the wheels in motion in arranging a meeting with Hardala. The normal procedure for sponsor visits follows strict rules and requires much advanced planning but since I was already in Ghana, people were very helpful in making this visit a success. The manager at Savelugu contacted the coordinator of Sponsor Visits in Canada who relayed me to the manager of the Tolon-Kumbungu district. Over the course of the next few months I would check my email, fill out the necessary forms, mail them to Canada and wait for the call from Faustina to arrange the visit.
And so three months, many emails, plenty phone calls and incredible chance later I was seated in Chirifoyili.
As the speeches and greetings and drumming proceeded, Faustina asked me if I would recognize Hardala. I had to admit probably not. I hadn’t seen her picture since I moved out of my condo in May. And there were so many children all around. There was this one little girl that I did notice however. She was dressed up and was sitting quietly on one of the older woman’s laps. My exact thought when I saw her was “That child is absolutely beautiful.” It turns out that was Hardala. Timid and with a demeanor that could be described as regal humility, we were introduced and she sat at the head of the event with me. Her little sister joined us and we all ended up dancing together; as is the tradition. Hardala’s father then spoke and again thanked me so much for being there. I told him that it should be me thanking them. For making me feel so welcome and for giving me this incredible opportunity of meeting Hardala.
As the large event came to a close, we were invited to visit Hardala’s home. Faustina and I led the way like a pair of pied pipers (say that 5 times fast haha). Hardala was holding my right hand, an enthusiastic little girl was grasping my left, and dozens of little legs and dusty flip flops were following behind us. For once I was not even thinking about the heat. It just didn’t matter. What mattered was the tiny hand in mine. How different our lives are yet there we were: walking together.
We sat down on a wooden bench outside her family’s compound and the procession of children and adults formed a crowd around us. I gave the few items I had brought and proceeded to learn my favourite Dagbani word as it was being told to Hardala: Lama. It means smile. And it also means love.
We entered the family’s compound, a series of round huts connected by shoulder-height walls made of the same brown dried mud that make up the structures themselves. Standing in the middle of the compound I got to meet more family members: Hardala’s mother, uncle, grandfather and grandmother. We took some more pictures, exchanged some more greetings and before I knew it, it was time to leave.
I still find it difficult to express how I was feeling as I sat in the front seat of the almost ready to go pick-up, window rolled down with Hardala still holding my hand. As the little hand went from clasping my fingers to a goodbye wave, I turned to Faustina and Elijah in the back seat and said, “I think I am going to cry.” Faustina said, “You can. It’s okay.”
Back in the World Vision office I tried to turn down my emotional levels and turn up my inquiries. I wanted to know about the ADP and have a clearer understanding of how sponsor money is spent.
It’s the 20th of the month and the contribution amount to World Vision has been charged to my credit card. Where does it go?
The money goes to the World Vision Canada support office. Each district in Ghana is linked up to a different National Sponsorship office. The district I work in (Savelugu-Nanton) is supported by World Vision USA whereas the district of Tolon-Kumbungu is supported by World Vision Canada. So funding for the ADP in Tolon-Kumbungu comes directly from the Canadian office.
The money goes from the Canadian support office through the Ghanaian national World Vision office in Accra and then goes to the various projects in the engaged communities within the districts. The Tolon-Kumbungu district is made up of about 235 communities. An unofficial census estimates the population to be about 185,000 individuals. World Vision has sponsorship programs in 12 communities but its projects reach 69 communities.
The projects themselves are designed from the community level-up. World Vision officers will go into a community and sit down with them and discuss what their community needs for the upcoming year. Faustina said in passing something that stuck with me: that the World Vision staff are actually servants; they are there to listen to the needs of the community. Once a consensus has been reached in terms of projects, the World Vision officers will go back to the office, draw up a yearly budget estimate and then get the money from the head office-Canadian support office link.
About the projects themselves: I was really interested in how Faustina explained the partnership-style work they do while implementing their projects. She explained that World Vision does not implement projects; rather they work with the local Government and local industry to support their efforts and help build their capacity. World Vision chooses different projects whose vision and values line up with theirs in the areas of health, food security, education, water and sanitation, micro-credit and small business development, agriculture projects etc and then they offer their support. Examples of these type of projects in this district include: regular health and dental assessments for community members, nutrition and health-related information sessions, reading clubs formed in conjunction with Ghana Education service which coordinates volunteer teachers to go to remote rural areas that would not normally have any type of educational training and assistance to farmers in the form of animal traction. We also passed a rain-water harvesting system and a bore-hole (water supply) that had pipes leading to the community it was supplying. This concept of local capacity building and a bottom-up approach to development resonated as these are some of what make up the core of EWB. At this point, we got to talking about aid and how Obama summed up its role “...aid should not be aid in itself. It should create the circumstances under which it is no longer needed.” It was so inspiring to be having this conversation and seeing its principles in action.
The sponsored children themselves also do get particular benefits; school uniforms, footwear, school bags, towels, buckets; in fact Faustina explained that it is the children who tell them what they need and World Vision takes that into consideration and supplies them.
The World Vision staff themselves live in the district that they work in. This is thought to promote work efficiency and to ensure that they do not lose sight of the communities they are working for. This type of relationship/trust building within the communities is invaluable. While in Chirifoyili, it was clear that all the World Vision staff were respected deeply by the community. Each of the staff is a consistent face in their lives of the community members, working with them to try and improve their livelihoods.
So in the end it all comes down to the little drop of water creating that tidal wave of change. Building capacity, making lasting connections, promoting opportunities and circumstances under which human potential, dignity and freedom are commonplace – this is what human development should be all about. I not only saw this first-hand, but felt it.
The most lasting feeling I have from that day was one of connection. Meeting Hardala, encouraging her to continue learning well in school and seeing how engaged her entire community is in the ADP projects has reinforced my already existing pledge to promote human development throughout my life.
According to World Vision, after you meet your sponsor child, you are no longer the “sponsor” and they are no longer the “sponsor child”. Your new titles are actually the same – you are friends.
November 25th, 2009 can be summed up in one word: LAMA
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Thursday, November 19, 2009
OPPORTUNITY
The paradox:
As kids in a developed country such as Canada, we are taught to dream. Dream big, use our imaginations, paint a thousand pictures of what it is we want to be when we grow up. A doctor, lawyer, teacher, business owner… the possibilities are endless. I even knew a kid who wanted to become a house. We dream so big sometimes we don’t even understand when we’re out of scope. Our parents, grandparents, teachers and role models not only allow but encourage us to think big, aim high, go for everything we want. Our struggle becomes finding our passion amongst all of the possibilities handed to us. How many times have you heard of a Canadian University graduate say soon after receiving their degree “I have no idea what I want to do with my life.” So we travel, we work odd jobs, we volunteer, until we find out what really drives us. And then we figure out a way to go after that. The common thread in our reality, from dreamer kid to exploratory young adult to successful individual is the abundance of possibilities.
The reality is different for the citizens of developing countries. They are taught to dream, yes, but realistic dreams. They are encouraged to get an education, but taught to deal with disappointment when it ends after secondary school due to lack of resources. A loose analogy is that they are sometimes the best soccer player at the match but they’re restricted to being in the crowd because they do not own cleats. They may have a passion but they are lacking in possibilities. Lacking in opportunities. And these opportunities do not necessarily take the form of coins and bills; they are often a lack of inspiring role models, solid family structures, successful private sector entrepreneurs, technologies that can connect them to the world, engaging and practical education curriculum, good governance that promotes security and growth, proper health care infrastructure, and peaceful conflict resolution.
The emerging youth in Africa make up over half the current population. By sheer numbers alone they will inevitably drive the greatest changes over the next few decades. We need to recognize this as a massive amount of potential and ensure that we are all connected in sharing opportunities. Our world depends on us recognizing, in the words of Obama as he addressed the Ghanaian parliament this July; that we now live in a world that consists of far more connections than boundaries.
This is realization we need to make: we need to walk off the soccer pitch after tripping over our own feet for the fifth time, hand the cleats to the young star lacking in proper footwear but brimming with potential and smile knowing that the team will now be more successful and we can now move onto finding where our own real talent and passion lies.
Let’s end this era where we show pictures of poverty and paint landscapes of helplessness to try and get people to care and start a legacy where caring come from pursuing opportunities that release the potential in each other.
“the world doesn’t need more salty water. It needs more inspiration.”
That's just a little insight to where my head space is right now regarding development :D
As kids in a developed country such as Canada, we are taught to dream. Dream big, use our imaginations, paint a thousand pictures of what it is we want to be when we grow up. A doctor, lawyer, teacher, business owner… the possibilities are endless. I even knew a kid who wanted to become a house. We dream so big sometimes we don’t even understand when we’re out of scope. Our parents, grandparents, teachers and role models not only allow but encourage us to think big, aim high, go for everything we want. Our struggle becomes finding our passion amongst all of the possibilities handed to us. How many times have you heard of a Canadian University graduate say soon after receiving their degree “I have no idea what I want to do with my life.” So we travel, we work odd jobs, we volunteer, until we find out what really drives us. And then we figure out a way to go after that. The common thread in our reality, from dreamer kid to exploratory young adult to successful individual is the abundance of possibilities.
The reality is different for the citizens of developing countries. They are taught to dream, yes, but realistic dreams. They are encouraged to get an education, but taught to deal with disappointment when it ends after secondary school due to lack of resources. A loose analogy is that they are sometimes the best soccer player at the match but they’re restricted to being in the crowd because they do not own cleats. They may have a passion but they are lacking in possibilities. Lacking in opportunities. And these opportunities do not necessarily take the form of coins and bills; they are often a lack of inspiring role models, solid family structures, successful private sector entrepreneurs, technologies that can connect them to the world, engaging and practical education curriculum, good governance that promotes security and growth, proper health care infrastructure, and peaceful conflict resolution.
The emerging youth in Africa make up over half the current population. By sheer numbers alone they will inevitably drive the greatest changes over the next few decades. We need to recognize this as a massive amount of potential and ensure that we are all connected in sharing opportunities. Our world depends on us recognizing, in the words of Obama as he addressed the Ghanaian parliament this July; that we now live in a world that consists of far more connections than boundaries.
This is realization we need to make: we need to walk off the soccer pitch after tripping over our own feet for the fifth time, hand the cleats to the young star lacking in proper footwear but brimming with potential and smile knowing that the team will now be more successful and we can now move onto finding where our own real talent and passion lies.
Let’s end this era where we show pictures of poverty and paint landscapes of helplessness to try and get people to care and start a legacy where caring come from pursuing opportunities that release the potential in each other.
“the world doesn’t need more salty water. It needs more inspiration.”
That's just a little insight to where my head space is right now regarding development :D
Sunday, November 15, 2009
Thursday, October 15, 2009
The last month...
It really has been awhile hasn’t it? I tried to upload an album and a test post from Windows Live Writer last week but I had only a few more minutes on the internet and well it turns out albums take a long time to upload… so it’s back to the old methods for now! Quite a bit has happened since my last post, here are some of the highlights:
• To make a really long and coincidental story short, I found out that the World Vision child I sponsor, Hardala, is actually only 20kms away from Pong-Tamale! After a trip with Ruth to the WV office in Savelugu (the district’s capital) I am now going through the rig moral of protocol to hopefully get to visit with Hardala before leaving Ghana in Decemeber!
• Jody visited Pong-Tamale and we had a “5 mile diet” meal. We killed our own chickens that we bought from a local villager in PT. Yes we are chicken killers. We killed them, de-feathered them, carved them, cooked them and ate them. See “chicken killers” story
• With Jody’s help, I moved out of the former principal’s house and into the girl’s dormitories. The dorm is a one story bungalow-style building with rooms that house either 2/3 girls. There are two “bathing rooms” one at each end of the building and a large cooking room two rooms away from mine. There is also a common hall with some couches and a TV. My roommate is Florence, a level 300 (final year) student. She is the top student at the school, is highly involved with the Student Union and is one of the best teachers of the Ghanaian way of life that I have had the pleasure of meeting.
• Us pro JFs had our retreat in Damongo. The 5 of us were all together again for the first time since our arrival in Tamale in early August. Damongo is about 3 hours East and slightly South of Tamale. Just North is Mole National Park, the location for the final day of our retreat and our chance to try and see some elephants and other wildlife as well as swim in the luxurious hotel’s pool. Nadia, Claire and I arrived a day prior to the retreat to check out the Agriculture college located in Damongo. We met with the principal and vice principal and sat in on a lecture in hopes of learning a bit more about the curriculum offered at this college and their direction moving forward. The retreat itself was awesome. It was great to hear about the life and work of the other girls. We did a lot of sharing, reflecting and laughing. Sarah even managed to bring a cake for us to celebrate all the birthdays that had happened since arriving in Ghana (everyone except Jody)
• Country and Sector Meetings in Tamale after the retreat with all the EWBers in Ghana: anyone else’s account of these days would probably be more exciting than mine as I was down with malaria again. The evening we got back from Damongo I started feeling the muscle aches and fever. The meetings that I did attend were great and informative and my friends were awesome in bringing me back food from the early Thanksgiving dinner and after-ultimate Frisbee dinner. I stayed in Tamale a few extra days, got tested, saw a doctor, got medication and started to feel better.
• Once back in Pong Tamale, the visit I had arranged for the Human Resources Director to come and visit the college was underway. He arrived with his deputy on Oct 9th and we had meetings with some of the school faculty before holding a school-wide assembly on education, youth leadership and entrepreneurship. It was highly motivating and exciting. The main idea behind the meeting was to link the high-level government officials from Accra and their vision for youth to become more innovative and self-sufficient and entrepreneurial to the grassroots level reality. Overall I’d say mission accomplished with many more ideas stemming from that Friday.
That is a little summary of what has been going on for the last 3 weeks or so. On the agenda in the upcoming weeks: visit to Upper East Region to check out the work Nadia, Claire and Ryan are doing with the AAB (Agriculture as a Business) curriculum, a Halloween celebration in Tamale, Country Meetings at the beginning of November, a visit to Kumasi to check out a Fair Trade Cocoa Production as well as another Agriculture college… busy busy! Before I know it, it will be December and I’ll have to start thinking about coming back to Canada! That thought is something we’ve definitely already started to think about as we try and figure out how to make sure our experience is continued in our home country. There are some pretty exciting projects underway, I’ll keep you posted!
Chicken killers:
Those who remember that day at Sarah’s (Marsden) cottage where I stayed behind while those of you went fishing will attest that I do not enjoy the “hurting” of animals. Even for food. I am that hypocrite who doesn’t like to prepare chicken or meat but smiles with delight while feasting on dozens of saucy wings. No better time or place than 5 months in Ghana to challenge myself into preparing the food I love eating. One of those loves definitely is chicken. The idea of preparing my own chicken came about while talking about food with some students during my first week in Pong-Tamale. They were surprised at my lack of knowledge in terms of preparing food from scratch. I admitted to buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the grocery store. To hold myself accountable to this challenge I told a few people. Some of my new friend in PT, some of the Pro JFs, some other EWBers and some people back home in Canada. I admit I “chickened out” hahaha a few times in that I didn’t arrive in time to help with the preparation but that all ended September 26th with Jody’s presence. George was back for that weekend (he had left for teacher’s college the previous week but it turns out that his semester was postponed by two weeks) and he was to practice his teaching skills with 2 terrified Canadians and 2 more terrified chickens. The whole thing was quite the event. It started at about 3pm. I rode with George to about 4 different houses before finding chickens. The lady selling them was a Dagomba (Tribe in the Northern region, the most common one to the area where I stay) who spoke only Dagbani (the local language), George is from the South and speaks Twi and well, I just am not that helpful with my English. It took half and hour, an old lady, a young girl, fetching of guinea fowl the Dagomba lady thought we wanted, returning of the unwanted guinea fowl, fetching of the chicken, bargaining of the prices in the language of hand gestures and smiles and pauses. It ended with George and I driving away as an odd sight. I’ve never carried chickens before, much less two by their feet tied together. They were oddly heavy. And flappy. And I suppose to show their discontent with the whole situation, one of them decided to poop on my hand/arm. This was obviously the one I decided I would be showing who’s boss.
Back at the Principal’s house, Jody meets us with a look that is caught somewhere between “this is so cool!” and “but we’re not really going to do it right?”. Before I knew it I was holding a knife, had one foot on the chicken’s legs and the other on its wings and was being instructed by George on how to kill it. I’ll spare the details but suffice to say that it did not feel like me doing it. And it was in no way pleasant. And I don’t think I would do it again. Jody just watched me in what was now just one clear look: horror. As my bird was taken care of and I was sufficiently shook up, I handed her the knife to which she said “when in Rome”. Not exactly Rome there eh Jody lol. Watching her do it was probably more scarring than doing it myself. But now that was all done, no time to lose, boiling water was poured on the birds and we went to the mighty pleasant task of de-feathering. Then the nerd in me emerged. “Cracking” open the bird and having the opportunity to see all the anatomy; things that are similar to humans and those that are compltetly different but completely necessary for the birds, well that was great. Unknown to us, Sunfred’s sister Erica actually videotaped us preparing the chickens; from de-feathering to carving. So all my geeky excitement was caught on film. It was a household effort as we very slowly and expert-lessly took care of the chicken while Sunfred and her mother, Doris and her sisters all took part in preparing the “light soup” which is A. delicious and B. primarily made of tomatoes, garden eggs (kinda like a cross between a tomato and an eggplant), onions, garlic, ginger, spices and our chicken of course. Foo foo was pounded over the next hour and bit; made from boiled plantains and cassava. Pounding foo foo is definitely working for your food. Despite all the drama, it is safe to say that the meal was one of the best I’ve ever had. And although I feel a little bit more true to the ambitious assertion that “if I enjoy eating it, I should be able to prepare it all the way from living to my plate”, I saw a cow the next day and had no desire to challenge myself again just because I eat the occasional hamburger lol. Small steps. Small steps.
Val’s day:
Of the many really interesting explanations of Ghanaian culture that Florence has enthusiastically shared with me, some are just really worth sharing. Like I’ve said before, she’s great. She’s the same age as me and is very smart. I don’t have to slow down my speech or change words; in fact she’s often outwitting me. Education, politics, social issues, gender issues, development issues, relationship issues, no matter what it is I can ask her and get real answers. But I digress. I don’t even know how we got to talking about Valentine’s day but somehow it came up. It was originially adopted in Ghana by the youth and they take “Valentine-o-grams” to the next level. In high school they would send parcels between schools to the people they were dating. But somehow the special day somehow started getting out of hand and it seemed like it was sex day instead of love day. There were nation-wide condom shortages around Valentine’s day that even caught the attention of the Government. 2 years ago Valentine’s day was changed to Chocolate day. The Ministry of Tourism saw this as an opportunity to decrease the alarmingly high prevalence of sex around February 14th as well as an opportunity to promote Ghana chocolate. So now people give heaps of chocolate to each other. Ghana chocolate does not may contain nuts. For all those of you who know me well know that this is like my dream come true. Too bad I won’t be here for chocolate day…
Oh and the reason it’s called “Val’s day” amongst the youth. They have a language called Pijin. It’s like a combination of English, Twi, other Ghanaian languages, some excerpts from Nigeria and a whole lot of abbreviations. I hear the students speak it all the time and I get excited because sometimes I recognize some English but then it quickly evaporates into this quick-tongued dance that I haven’t been invited to.
Time for Justice:
In an attempt to try and stay more in touch with the world, I was browsing BBC’s highlights last week. It seems a man involved in the Rwandan genocide has been arrested. This quote stood out to me:
“There is no time limit for justice, whether it comes fast or slow it is something we want to see,” said Augustine Nkusi, a spokesman for the prosecutor-general.
“Fifteen years is very little compared to what was committed in Rwanda. There are many victims who have not yet forgotten, who have not yet received justice.”
For those of you who have seen “Hotel Rwanda” or “Shake Hands with the Devil” (or read it) think back to those depictions of the horrible events of 1994 for a moment. It has been 15 years hasn’t it? Imagine if you still don’t know who was responsible for the death of your friends and family members. It made me think of the Tiananmen Massacre and the fact that Chinese Government still refuses to acknowledge that it took place. Media and publication censoring in China have attempted to erase the travesty from its history, leaving many parents of students without a feeling of justice.
It just made me think; how many more things are happening in the world that we are being prevented from seeing? How many more people are quietly waiting for justice?
IGF
I have recently introduced a project idea to my class called IGF. It’s a play on words for
1. Internally Generated Funds and
2. Initiative Guinea Fowl
And yes, I made up the second one. I know I’m a nerd lol. For those of you who don’t know what a guinea fowl is well here is my description (I had no idea these things existed prior to being in Zambia last year):
It is a bird that is shaped like a rugby ball with a tiny head. It is already pretty unattractive but its incessant squawking at all hours makes you want to wring its thin, disproportioned neck. Its feathers are not so bad, they’re dark with light spots and the meat resembles that of chicken only there seems to be more dark meat. It’s sort of equivalent to a chicken in terms of what you eat it with and how you prepare it…I tried to capture one on camera but the thing kept running away from me…
So the idea behind this IGF project is to see if we can try and pilot an entrepreneurial project this semester at the college. It is to practice skills of doing market research and trying to find a way for a project to really be profitable. I have split my class up into groups of about 6 students and they have an initial overview of the guinea fowl and the current hatchery at the college on their to do list They have to research health specifics of the guinea fowl, explore different markets and market prices, and answer some questions such as: is it more cost effective to buy guinea fowl eggs and hatch them or to breed the guinea fowl and hatch our own eggs? We’ll see where it goes from here!
A day in the life:
So what does a typical day here in Ghana look like for me? It’s actually a much more difficult question than you would think. Everyday seems to throw some sort of unexpected twist in my direction therefore making the day anything but standard. The best I can do is give you a description of what my days are like right now and then in the future, write another “day in the life” so you can see the changes:
• 0300: My roommate, Florence, wakes up by means of her internal alarm clock, gets dressed and goes to study across the field in an empty room with benches and broken windows. I roll over in my bed, under my mosquito net, and think “Thank goodness that’s not me.”
• 0500: Florence usually comes back around this time, I’m not altogether sure what she does because I’m still asleep but according to her she either goes back to sleep for an hour or stays up and gets ready to go for morning practicals at the college farm (they start at 630).
• 0620: Florence says bye, she tells me she’s filled a bucket for me to bath and she leaves. While still sitting in bed, I pull my mosquito net off the edges of the bed and twirl it and tie it in a lump so it is now hanging out of the way above the bed.
• 0620-0730: I take my time getting ready. This usually involves me boiling about half a liter of water in a little silver saucepan on the equivalent of a Coleman stove. ¾ I use for a drink of some sort and ¼ I use for oatmeal. I read while eating and then clean the dishes using the little bit of hot water left in the pot. Then I get ready for my bucket bath. I tie my 2-yard (literally 2 yards of cloth) around my body, grab my little bucket containing my soap and a cup and head to the bathroom at the end of the hall. The bathroom has three “shower” stalls and 2 “toilet” stalls. There used to be running water here, I don’t know how long ago, but currently the big, black polytanks (just a huge, black, plastic tank filled with water) at the back of the dorm is the water supply for cooking, cleaning and bathing. I use less than your average pail full of water to wash my hair and body. It’s amazing how little water we actually need to bath.
• 0730-0745: I get dressed, put on my contact lenses, take my vitamin pill and get my bag ready. I then bike to the school with my new, white, well-fitting bike! (for those of you who read story about the green bike early on in my placement, I have since replaced that craziness with a much more user-friendly bike)
• 0800-1400: This is where the variation starts. Depending which day of the week it is I will be doing different things during the day. But typically I bike to the administration office and greet Ruth and the other workers and the Principal. I walk over to the library, which is either open because Moses is already there or I open it. I sit in the library and let the day unfold. I work on my computer, interact with students and teachers and try to get some work done. On Tuesdays I teach my class. So that means at 0945 I am in the classroom adjacent to the library waiting for my students to arrive. Half the class usually takes place in the classroom where I use the time and space to pretty much whatever I’ve chosen to talk about that week concerning agriculture, ICTs and entrepreneurship. The second half of the class we go to the library and the students have the opportunity to use the computers. This week they were given the period to finish their overview of the IGF project.
• 1400-1900: This also is a variable period. Before moving into the girl’s dorm, I would often go home and relax for a bit and then go to the principal’s house to hang out and help make dinner. My routine now has not yet been set but it seems like it will be following this trend: I’ll bike to a nearby little stall and get some bread and tomatoes if I think we’re running low and then bike back to the dorm. Florence is there doing work or napping and so I read or work. Yesterday I visited the Vet Lab after closing the library and so was actually on the internet for a few hours. Supper is made around 1730ish and so far involves me trying to help but usually just results in me watching and asking questions and then eating.
• 1900: Study time. Florence has a study partner, Christiana (who is also a student in my class, as well as the only girl who participated in the Run to End Poverty) who joins her in the morning at that ridiculous hour and also in the evenings. I joined them yesterday to study and will continue to do so as it is a great opportunity to get in a few hours of solid concentration time each night. And it is very reminiscent of my studying when I was at McGill. Only this is not Starbucks, or the Redpath library. This is the room with broken windows where you share a small desk just large enough to place one book each. Florence sits on a wooden bench and I am given the privilege plastic lawn chair. Christiana uses a stool as her desk. I keep brushing little insects off my page as I try and figure out a way of containing my textbook and notebook in a small area….I’m used to spreading my stuff out everywhere. There is no coffee, no bathroom, and no power outlet but there are goats wandering outside that scare me periodically as I look up and see figures appear out of the darkness.
• 2200: studying over. I realize that not only is it possible to study without coffee and the amenities I am used to back in Canada, but for Florence (who is the top student at the school btw) and Christiana, and all their colleagues for that matter (there is a little community of night studiers that spread throughout any building with lights at night on the college grounds) it is necessary. This is how they study. These rooms and makeshift study areas are their libraries and Starbucks and Tim’s and local coffee shops. Florence was even telling me that students from the SS (Senior Secondary school) in Pong-Tamale come to study in some of the college facilities because there is light. Apparently they sometimes stay there until class the next morning because they fall asleep and then don’t want to walk all the way home in the dark.
• 2205: back in the dorm, time for bed. I read for a bit and then fall asleep. Last night I feel asleep around 2300 thinking “Wow, in 4 hours she’s going to be up studying again…”
and sure enough, at 0300, she was up quietly preparing to make the most of her day.
My days generally turn out to be observations of the days of those around me. I had no idea of this huge studying culture when I lived in the former principal’s house because I was never around the college in the evenings. You would think after two months in a district I would be familiar with my surroundings but it seems I am still learning and discovering daily.
Acronyms:
100 standard abbreviations. That was the assignment of the level 100s from their communicative skills class. Suddenly there were about a dozen of them in the library searching through whatever book they could find to try and find a list of common acronyms. I was curious as to what they were doing so I asked. I suggested they just start to make a list off the top of their heads and then go from there. I got a paper out and started to write them down as they said them. Before you read what some of their top ones were, make a list of your top 5 that come to mind….
Okay, here are a few of the ones in the first ten given to me:
UN (United Nations)
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
MoFA (Ministry of Food and Agriculture)
WHO (World Health Organization)
WV (World Vision)
GCB (Ghana Commercial Bank)
…
I bet the list differ somewhat. I can think of over 20 acronyms of TV channels alone in Canada and I’m not even a TV watcher. Developmental, political, economical and social discourse is not on the top of our minds as young Canadians. But for Ghanaians of the same age these topics are life. These are the acronyms found in their daily news, newspapers, billboards. I remember a conversation I had with Jody where she was describing a day in her life here in Ghana. She works with the government and often goes out for “drinks” after work. She says that about 90% of the casual discussions she has with her colleagues is around development. In developed countries like Canada and the States, we struggle to create awareness and harvest motivation around development. Let’s let Jon and Kate plus 8 live their lives and find something more meaningful to talk about! Make BBC your homepage! When you read something you’re unsure of, wiki it! Google it! If you have kids, ask them questions that make them think: if they could change something in the world, what would it be? If they could visit another country right now where would they want to go and why? If you don’t have kids, find some to ask, or ask yourself the questions!
I'm now going to try and upload some pictures!!!!!!!!! Stay healthy and inquisitive!!!!
• To make a really long and coincidental story short, I found out that the World Vision child I sponsor, Hardala, is actually only 20kms away from Pong-Tamale! After a trip with Ruth to the WV office in Savelugu (the district’s capital) I am now going through the rig moral of protocol to hopefully get to visit with Hardala before leaving Ghana in Decemeber!
• Jody visited Pong-Tamale and we had a “5 mile diet” meal. We killed our own chickens that we bought from a local villager in PT. Yes we are chicken killers. We killed them, de-feathered them, carved them, cooked them and ate them. See “chicken killers” story
• With Jody’s help, I moved out of the former principal’s house and into the girl’s dormitories. The dorm is a one story bungalow-style building with rooms that house either 2/3 girls. There are two “bathing rooms” one at each end of the building and a large cooking room two rooms away from mine. There is also a common hall with some couches and a TV. My roommate is Florence, a level 300 (final year) student. She is the top student at the school, is highly involved with the Student Union and is one of the best teachers of the Ghanaian way of life that I have had the pleasure of meeting.
• Us pro JFs had our retreat in Damongo. The 5 of us were all together again for the first time since our arrival in Tamale in early August. Damongo is about 3 hours East and slightly South of Tamale. Just North is Mole National Park, the location for the final day of our retreat and our chance to try and see some elephants and other wildlife as well as swim in the luxurious hotel’s pool. Nadia, Claire and I arrived a day prior to the retreat to check out the Agriculture college located in Damongo. We met with the principal and vice principal and sat in on a lecture in hopes of learning a bit more about the curriculum offered at this college and their direction moving forward. The retreat itself was awesome. It was great to hear about the life and work of the other girls. We did a lot of sharing, reflecting and laughing. Sarah even managed to bring a cake for us to celebrate all the birthdays that had happened since arriving in Ghana (everyone except Jody)
• Country and Sector Meetings in Tamale after the retreat with all the EWBers in Ghana: anyone else’s account of these days would probably be more exciting than mine as I was down with malaria again. The evening we got back from Damongo I started feeling the muscle aches and fever. The meetings that I did attend were great and informative and my friends were awesome in bringing me back food from the early Thanksgiving dinner and after-ultimate Frisbee dinner. I stayed in Tamale a few extra days, got tested, saw a doctor, got medication and started to feel better.
• Once back in Pong Tamale, the visit I had arranged for the Human Resources Director to come and visit the college was underway. He arrived with his deputy on Oct 9th and we had meetings with some of the school faculty before holding a school-wide assembly on education, youth leadership and entrepreneurship. It was highly motivating and exciting. The main idea behind the meeting was to link the high-level government officials from Accra and their vision for youth to become more innovative and self-sufficient and entrepreneurial to the grassroots level reality. Overall I’d say mission accomplished with many more ideas stemming from that Friday.
That is a little summary of what has been going on for the last 3 weeks or so. On the agenda in the upcoming weeks: visit to Upper East Region to check out the work Nadia, Claire and Ryan are doing with the AAB (Agriculture as a Business) curriculum, a Halloween celebration in Tamale, Country Meetings at the beginning of November, a visit to Kumasi to check out a Fair Trade Cocoa Production as well as another Agriculture college… busy busy! Before I know it, it will be December and I’ll have to start thinking about coming back to Canada! That thought is something we’ve definitely already started to think about as we try and figure out how to make sure our experience is continued in our home country. There are some pretty exciting projects underway, I’ll keep you posted!
Chicken killers:
Those who remember that day at Sarah’s (Marsden) cottage where I stayed behind while those of you went fishing will attest that I do not enjoy the “hurting” of animals. Even for food. I am that hypocrite who doesn’t like to prepare chicken or meat but smiles with delight while feasting on dozens of saucy wings. No better time or place than 5 months in Ghana to challenge myself into preparing the food I love eating. One of those loves definitely is chicken. The idea of preparing my own chicken came about while talking about food with some students during my first week in Pong-Tamale. They were surprised at my lack of knowledge in terms of preparing food from scratch. I admitted to buying boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the grocery store. To hold myself accountable to this challenge I told a few people. Some of my new friend in PT, some of the Pro JFs, some other EWBers and some people back home in Canada. I admit I “chickened out” hahaha a few times in that I didn’t arrive in time to help with the preparation but that all ended September 26th with Jody’s presence. George was back for that weekend (he had left for teacher’s college the previous week but it turns out that his semester was postponed by two weeks) and he was to practice his teaching skills with 2 terrified Canadians and 2 more terrified chickens. The whole thing was quite the event. It started at about 3pm. I rode with George to about 4 different houses before finding chickens. The lady selling them was a Dagomba (Tribe in the Northern region, the most common one to the area where I stay) who spoke only Dagbani (the local language), George is from the South and speaks Twi and well, I just am not that helpful with my English. It took half and hour, an old lady, a young girl, fetching of guinea fowl the Dagomba lady thought we wanted, returning of the unwanted guinea fowl, fetching of the chicken, bargaining of the prices in the language of hand gestures and smiles and pauses. It ended with George and I driving away as an odd sight. I’ve never carried chickens before, much less two by their feet tied together. They were oddly heavy. And flappy. And I suppose to show their discontent with the whole situation, one of them decided to poop on my hand/arm. This was obviously the one I decided I would be showing who’s boss.
Back at the Principal’s house, Jody meets us with a look that is caught somewhere between “this is so cool!” and “but we’re not really going to do it right?”. Before I knew it I was holding a knife, had one foot on the chicken’s legs and the other on its wings and was being instructed by George on how to kill it. I’ll spare the details but suffice to say that it did not feel like me doing it. And it was in no way pleasant. And I don’t think I would do it again. Jody just watched me in what was now just one clear look: horror. As my bird was taken care of and I was sufficiently shook up, I handed her the knife to which she said “when in Rome”. Not exactly Rome there eh Jody lol. Watching her do it was probably more scarring than doing it myself. But now that was all done, no time to lose, boiling water was poured on the birds and we went to the mighty pleasant task of de-feathering. Then the nerd in me emerged. “Cracking” open the bird and having the opportunity to see all the anatomy; things that are similar to humans and those that are compltetly different but completely necessary for the birds, well that was great. Unknown to us, Sunfred’s sister Erica actually videotaped us preparing the chickens; from de-feathering to carving. So all my geeky excitement was caught on film. It was a household effort as we very slowly and expert-lessly took care of the chicken while Sunfred and her mother, Doris and her sisters all took part in preparing the “light soup” which is A. delicious and B. primarily made of tomatoes, garden eggs (kinda like a cross between a tomato and an eggplant), onions, garlic, ginger, spices and our chicken of course. Foo foo was pounded over the next hour and bit; made from boiled plantains and cassava. Pounding foo foo is definitely working for your food. Despite all the drama, it is safe to say that the meal was one of the best I’ve ever had. And although I feel a little bit more true to the ambitious assertion that “if I enjoy eating it, I should be able to prepare it all the way from living to my plate”, I saw a cow the next day and had no desire to challenge myself again just because I eat the occasional hamburger lol. Small steps. Small steps.
Val’s day:
Of the many really interesting explanations of Ghanaian culture that Florence has enthusiastically shared with me, some are just really worth sharing. Like I’ve said before, she’s great. She’s the same age as me and is very smart. I don’t have to slow down my speech or change words; in fact she’s often outwitting me. Education, politics, social issues, gender issues, development issues, relationship issues, no matter what it is I can ask her and get real answers. But I digress. I don’t even know how we got to talking about Valentine’s day but somehow it came up. It was originially adopted in Ghana by the youth and they take “Valentine-o-grams” to the next level. In high school they would send parcels between schools to the people they were dating. But somehow the special day somehow started getting out of hand and it seemed like it was sex day instead of love day. There were nation-wide condom shortages around Valentine’s day that even caught the attention of the Government. 2 years ago Valentine’s day was changed to Chocolate day. The Ministry of Tourism saw this as an opportunity to decrease the alarmingly high prevalence of sex around February 14th as well as an opportunity to promote Ghana chocolate. So now people give heaps of chocolate to each other. Ghana chocolate does not may contain nuts. For all those of you who know me well know that this is like my dream come true. Too bad I won’t be here for chocolate day…
Oh and the reason it’s called “Val’s day” amongst the youth. They have a language called Pijin. It’s like a combination of English, Twi, other Ghanaian languages, some excerpts from Nigeria and a whole lot of abbreviations. I hear the students speak it all the time and I get excited because sometimes I recognize some English but then it quickly evaporates into this quick-tongued dance that I haven’t been invited to.
Time for Justice:
In an attempt to try and stay more in touch with the world, I was browsing BBC’s highlights last week. It seems a man involved in the Rwandan genocide has been arrested. This quote stood out to me:
“There is no time limit for justice, whether it comes fast or slow it is something we want to see,” said Augustine Nkusi, a spokesman for the prosecutor-general.
“Fifteen years is very little compared to what was committed in Rwanda. There are many victims who have not yet forgotten, who have not yet received justice.”
For those of you who have seen “Hotel Rwanda” or “Shake Hands with the Devil” (or read it) think back to those depictions of the horrible events of 1994 for a moment. It has been 15 years hasn’t it? Imagine if you still don’t know who was responsible for the death of your friends and family members. It made me think of the Tiananmen Massacre and the fact that Chinese Government still refuses to acknowledge that it took place. Media and publication censoring in China have attempted to erase the travesty from its history, leaving many parents of students without a feeling of justice.
It just made me think; how many more things are happening in the world that we are being prevented from seeing? How many more people are quietly waiting for justice?
IGF
I have recently introduced a project idea to my class called IGF. It’s a play on words for
1. Internally Generated Funds and
2. Initiative Guinea Fowl
And yes, I made up the second one. I know I’m a nerd lol. For those of you who don’t know what a guinea fowl is well here is my description (I had no idea these things existed prior to being in Zambia last year):
It is a bird that is shaped like a rugby ball with a tiny head. It is already pretty unattractive but its incessant squawking at all hours makes you want to wring its thin, disproportioned neck. Its feathers are not so bad, they’re dark with light spots and the meat resembles that of chicken only there seems to be more dark meat. It’s sort of equivalent to a chicken in terms of what you eat it with and how you prepare it…I tried to capture one on camera but the thing kept running away from me…
So the idea behind this IGF project is to see if we can try and pilot an entrepreneurial project this semester at the college. It is to practice skills of doing market research and trying to find a way for a project to really be profitable. I have split my class up into groups of about 6 students and they have an initial overview of the guinea fowl and the current hatchery at the college on their to do list They have to research health specifics of the guinea fowl, explore different markets and market prices, and answer some questions such as: is it more cost effective to buy guinea fowl eggs and hatch them or to breed the guinea fowl and hatch our own eggs? We’ll see where it goes from here!
A day in the life:
So what does a typical day here in Ghana look like for me? It’s actually a much more difficult question than you would think. Everyday seems to throw some sort of unexpected twist in my direction therefore making the day anything but standard. The best I can do is give you a description of what my days are like right now and then in the future, write another “day in the life” so you can see the changes:
• 0300: My roommate, Florence, wakes up by means of her internal alarm clock, gets dressed and goes to study across the field in an empty room with benches and broken windows. I roll over in my bed, under my mosquito net, and think “Thank goodness that’s not me.”
• 0500: Florence usually comes back around this time, I’m not altogether sure what she does because I’m still asleep but according to her she either goes back to sleep for an hour or stays up and gets ready to go for morning practicals at the college farm (they start at 630).
• 0620: Florence says bye, she tells me she’s filled a bucket for me to bath and she leaves. While still sitting in bed, I pull my mosquito net off the edges of the bed and twirl it and tie it in a lump so it is now hanging out of the way above the bed.
• 0620-0730: I take my time getting ready. This usually involves me boiling about half a liter of water in a little silver saucepan on the equivalent of a Coleman stove. ¾ I use for a drink of some sort and ¼ I use for oatmeal. I read while eating and then clean the dishes using the little bit of hot water left in the pot. Then I get ready for my bucket bath. I tie my 2-yard (literally 2 yards of cloth) around my body, grab my little bucket containing my soap and a cup and head to the bathroom at the end of the hall. The bathroom has three “shower” stalls and 2 “toilet” stalls. There used to be running water here, I don’t know how long ago, but currently the big, black polytanks (just a huge, black, plastic tank filled with water) at the back of the dorm is the water supply for cooking, cleaning and bathing. I use less than your average pail full of water to wash my hair and body. It’s amazing how little water we actually need to bath.
• 0730-0745: I get dressed, put on my contact lenses, take my vitamin pill and get my bag ready. I then bike to the school with my new, white, well-fitting bike! (for those of you who read story about the green bike early on in my placement, I have since replaced that craziness with a much more user-friendly bike)
• 0800-1400: This is where the variation starts. Depending which day of the week it is I will be doing different things during the day. But typically I bike to the administration office and greet Ruth and the other workers and the Principal. I walk over to the library, which is either open because Moses is already there or I open it. I sit in the library and let the day unfold. I work on my computer, interact with students and teachers and try to get some work done. On Tuesdays I teach my class. So that means at 0945 I am in the classroom adjacent to the library waiting for my students to arrive. Half the class usually takes place in the classroom where I use the time and space to pretty much whatever I’ve chosen to talk about that week concerning agriculture, ICTs and entrepreneurship. The second half of the class we go to the library and the students have the opportunity to use the computers. This week they were given the period to finish their overview of the IGF project.
• 1400-1900: This also is a variable period. Before moving into the girl’s dorm, I would often go home and relax for a bit and then go to the principal’s house to hang out and help make dinner. My routine now has not yet been set but it seems like it will be following this trend: I’ll bike to a nearby little stall and get some bread and tomatoes if I think we’re running low and then bike back to the dorm. Florence is there doing work or napping and so I read or work. Yesterday I visited the Vet Lab after closing the library and so was actually on the internet for a few hours. Supper is made around 1730ish and so far involves me trying to help but usually just results in me watching and asking questions and then eating.
• 1900: Study time. Florence has a study partner, Christiana (who is also a student in my class, as well as the only girl who participated in the Run to End Poverty) who joins her in the morning at that ridiculous hour and also in the evenings. I joined them yesterday to study and will continue to do so as it is a great opportunity to get in a few hours of solid concentration time each night. And it is very reminiscent of my studying when I was at McGill. Only this is not Starbucks, or the Redpath library. This is the room with broken windows where you share a small desk just large enough to place one book each. Florence sits on a wooden bench and I am given the privilege plastic lawn chair. Christiana uses a stool as her desk. I keep brushing little insects off my page as I try and figure out a way of containing my textbook and notebook in a small area….I’m used to spreading my stuff out everywhere. There is no coffee, no bathroom, and no power outlet but there are goats wandering outside that scare me periodically as I look up and see figures appear out of the darkness.
• 2200: studying over. I realize that not only is it possible to study without coffee and the amenities I am used to back in Canada, but for Florence (who is the top student at the school btw) and Christiana, and all their colleagues for that matter (there is a little community of night studiers that spread throughout any building with lights at night on the college grounds) it is necessary. This is how they study. These rooms and makeshift study areas are their libraries and Starbucks and Tim’s and local coffee shops. Florence was even telling me that students from the SS (Senior Secondary school) in Pong-Tamale come to study in some of the college facilities because there is light. Apparently they sometimes stay there until class the next morning because they fall asleep and then don’t want to walk all the way home in the dark.
• 2205: back in the dorm, time for bed. I read for a bit and then fall asleep. Last night I feel asleep around 2300 thinking “Wow, in 4 hours she’s going to be up studying again…”
and sure enough, at 0300, she was up quietly preparing to make the most of her day.
My days generally turn out to be observations of the days of those around me. I had no idea of this huge studying culture when I lived in the former principal’s house because I was never around the college in the evenings. You would think after two months in a district I would be familiar with my surroundings but it seems I am still learning and discovering daily.
Acronyms:
100 standard abbreviations. That was the assignment of the level 100s from their communicative skills class. Suddenly there were about a dozen of them in the library searching through whatever book they could find to try and find a list of common acronyms. I was curious as to what they were doing so I asked. I suggested they just start to make a list off the top of their heads and then go from there. I got a paper out and started to write them down as they said them. Before you read what some of their top ones were, make a list of your top 5 that come to mind….
Okay, here are a few of the ones in the first ten given to me:
UN (United Nations)
FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization)
MoFA (Ministry of Food and Agriculture)
WHO (World Health Organization)
WV (World Vision)
GCB (Ghana Commercial Bank)
…
I bet the list differ somewhat. I can think of over 20 acronyms of TV channels alone in Canada and I’m not even a TV watcher. Developmental, political, economical and social discourse is not on the top of our minds as young Canadians. But for Ghanaians of the same age these topics are life. These are the acronyms found in their daily news, newspapers, billboards. I remember a conversation I had with Jody where she was describing a day in her life here in Ghana. She works with the government and often goes out for “drinks” after work. She says that about 90% of the casual discussions she has with her colleagues is around development. In developed countries like Canada and the States, we struggle to create awareness and harvest motivation around development. Let’s let Jon and Kate plus 8 live their lives and find something more meaningful to talk about! Make BBC your homepage! When you read something you’re unsure of, wiki it! Google it! If you have kids, ask them questions that make them think: if they could change something in the world, what would it be? If they could visit another country right now where would they want to go and why? If you don’t have kids, find some to ask, or ask yourself the questions!
I'm now going to try and upload some pictures!!!!!!!!! Stay healthy and inquisitive!!!!
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Mid September!?
Hi! Since the last posting:
-I’ve had 3 ICT classes
-2 visits to Tamale to use the Internet with the students
-Run to End Poverty
-Ramadan is ending
-Sarah (my coach) came to visit
… and somehow I’ve become super busy. Not just with thoughts about my environment and the cultural differences, but with objectives for my placement, for the college, for personal development, and for connecting back to Canada.
It was great to have Sarah visit, she arrived just in time to see some of my class in action and we spent a bit of time touring the college and interacting with the students. Oh I also managed to lock the key inside the library. Turns out Moses locked it with my bag still inside lol but thank goodness in the end there was an extra key at the principal’s house. At this point Sarah had created this intense stick structure that we were going to try and put through the window to reach my bag and somehow unzip it and then unhook my keys…haha… I am curious if it would have actually worked. So we had a good time but it was also really helpful to recap what I’ve been doing so far and putting down on paper what my objectives are. It gave me a tangible to-do list that I’m excited to attack. So some of the stories below were written last week but I did add some new ones. I think the overall feeling this past week, well it’s been for the past few weeks I’d say, is that we (all the pro jfs) are surprised at how we’ve adapted to our new worlds. Nadia, Claire and I were reading entries from our journals from when we first arrived in Ghana and then recent entries and it was really interesting to see the difference, the development. I’m still struggling to put into words the difference or what happened to make our headspaces so different. Yes…me…I am struggling for words haha. Okay, so here are some stories and general observations and things that stuck with me:
Perceptions.
A bit of background is necessary for this. IVSA = International Veternarian’s Student Association. Four vet school students from Bristol in the UK paid the PT college a visit this past week. Jennifer, Simon, Morgan and Sky, four wonderful people, all of whom say “reckon” and “lovely”. They were respresenting the IVSA from the UK and were received by Rockson, the IVSA Ghanian president as well as the rest of the student association. They spent about a week or so visiting the college. They attended classes, stayed with the students in the dormitories, took part in evening festivities, met with teachers and the school administration. They donated books and surgical equipment and are expecting a few of the students from the PT to their school back in the UK. It was absolutely amazing meeting all of them, I learnt so much. We of course chatted about Ghana and all the shocks and amazements but also about the perceptions of Canadians and the British. Through them, I visited the girls dormitories for the first time and went to the “drinking spot” just off of the college grounds. We had a spaghetti dinner at my house on their last evening in PT and I was sad to see them go but happy knowing they had such a great experience.
As I was walking back to my place escorted as usual by George, we were talking about perceptions. So after having met the 4 soon to be vets from Britain, I was just thinking how diverse culture and systems are in even the developed world. Then George spoke about the perception of Ghanians about white people. They don’t generally distinguish between the nations that make up the developed world just as we tend to put the entire continent of Africa into one lump sum. He asked me the perceptions North Americans have about Africa, and then about Ghana in general. I said that the majority of NA seem to think of Africa as this continent in a state of chaos. A continent riddled with disease and corruption and primitive tendencies. Ghana I said, for those who know a little bit about the differences in history and policy between African nations will agree that it is a leader in terms of reflecting where the continent is striving to be. It was hard to think about the generalizations that NAs make about Africa, as my own view of Africa is quite different from what I assume are the generalizations and also my opinion is just that, an opinion, I cannot speak for NA and so what I perceive that the general population perceives may not be accurate. But he asked for sweeping generalizations so that is what I did. I asked the same question to him and his generalization firstly was that all white people are the same. And we all have money and therefore happiness. Again, this does not represent his personal opinion but just generalizes what he has seen and heard over the years and regions of his country.
What are your perceptions of Africa? Do you think they are correct? If not, why do you think you have those perceptions? If so, what proof or experience can back up your claim?
How would you respond to the generalization that all whites are the same?
Wireless Internet
An utter phenomenon. All of you who are reading this at your leisure on a high speed, wireless connection, take a minute and be thankful. I was fortunate to experience this luxury this past weekend, last Sunday, as Claire and I went to the Gariba Lodge in Tamale. Actually, we first tried an Internet place near the EWB house to learn that their link was down. So we took a shared taxi to another place that we had to walk to from the intersection only to find out it was also closed. The third place we tried opens at 4pm on Sundays and it was 11am. So we decided to go try the Gariba Lodge…it ended up being a great choice. The internet was fast, reliable and free! I think they forgot to turn on their server because normally you have to pay… we both got emails sent and blog posts up and research done. We were exploring some articles and things online through ewb.ca and called Nadia to ask her about one particular article. Nadia helped us out but sounded a little sad. She had missed one of her friend’s weddings that day by being in Ghana and was just feeling that familiar feeling of melancholy that creeps up on you sometimes when you are so far from everything familiar and comforting. So Claire and I decided to take advantage of our Internet situation and looked up all kinds of quotes in an effort to make her feel a bit better. We saved the ones we really liked on a word document and then called Nadia back and read them to her… we had some good laughs and even though we couldn’t make everything better I think it’s fair to say we all had some extra food for thought. Here are a few of my favourites from our favourites:
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
-Helen Keller
“Don’t follow your dreams; chase them.”
-Richard Dumb (it was noted beside this quote that the people who chose this one though he was very smart despite his name haha)
“The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.” - Donald Williams
“Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all your fellow humans everywhere in the world.” - Margaret Laurence
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” - Martin Luther King
“Fall seven times, stand up eight. “ - Japanese proverb
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”
-Anonymous
“Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”
- Walter Anderson
Run to end poverty:
A concept: Ghana time and Canada time. the run was scheduled for 2pm on Saturday. A little insane, perhaps, it is only the hottest time of the day at that point, but many members of the school community attend church on Saturday morning and then the rest attend on Sunday. So Saturday afternoon it was. It wasn’t a problem for the ghanians, I was mostly worried about us Canadians falling over into the bush on the side of the path from heat exhaustion. There were four of us who set up the race. Nadia and Claire (2 of my fellow pro jfs) as well as our friend corey, who is part of the peace corps and is also a marathon runner. They all arrived in pong-tamale on Friday and we ate well, chatted and went to bed much later then we would have liked. Saturday morning we spent discussing how the run was going to go and we started to get things in motion. We set the course (probably about 5km) and drew up banners and decided on what we were going to say and how we were going to conduct the race details. So I said the race would start at 2pm. And I believed that the students would actually show up at that time! and then I saw them all walking with bowls in their hands at 2pm. Lunch time. so 2pm became 3pm. Lol. But it was great anyhow. There were about 30 students who showed up in every variety of footwear known to mankind. Loafers, slippers, soccer cleats, rubber boots, flip flops… it made me think about companies like asics and mizuno and new balance whose livelihood is dedicated to the need for specific footwear for specific activites for specific feet. The only thing our shoes had in common with the students was the layer of red dirt that I am convinced is there to stay. Favourite parts of the run:
-the excitement of the start and the dancing the students were doing before
-a student telling me as he ran past me that he thinks the run is great because the school pushes academics but he also thinks the body needs to be healthy and active
-coming around the bend for the home stretch and knowing there is water at the end
-being doused by water sachets
-seeing the students have a great time and be enthusiastic!
(oh one of the pictures I’m going to put up seems like it’s just of dirt in the ground but if you look carefully you can the see course I’ve outlined…with a stick… it went something like this: so down this dirt path, past those trees, up where the road becomes paved, you know, where the goats always lie right in the middle, into the market, past those huts, no no the ones near the church, the church near the place where they burn the hair off the goats, down this path, no that path, past the primary school, through the soccer pitch and back to the college…anyways I knew where I was going Lol)
So all this to say, thank you to those who ran in Montreal and raised over $15,000! We had a great time in Ghana running to support the efforts of those in Canada!
You can always check out the website www.runtoendpoverty.ca to see details from the Montreal, Vancouver and Ghana races!
Mme Faustina’s stories:
I’ll introduce mme first. She’s a teacher at the college and a vet technical officer. She is full of life and energy and we get along really well. She cares about the students and is self-motivated and very dynamic. I am attending her class on Thursdays with the level 100s as it is the only course offered on agriculture extension at the college this semester. And if you recall one of my objectives is to evaluate the effectiveness of the extension curriculum so I thought it would be a good idea to actually attend the class. The class is rural sociology. It’s actually really interesting. She’s engaging and full of real examples. The main things she’s been talking about so far involve how as an extensions agent, you need to be sensitive to the culture you are going to be working in. And that building trust and empathy with the community you are going to be working in is essential to doing your job well. It actually reminds me all the time of the type of pre-departure training we had in terms of integrating culturally and building trust relationships and what not. Anyways there are 2 stories in particular that she shared in class that I’d like to pass on for thought!
(1) Building a church:
A westerner came into a rural African community and saw that they were primarily Christian but had no church. So he decided to build them a church. He got funding for it, got the materials, had some other foreigners build it and then within 2 months it was done. The people of the community were happy, they attended the sermons and enjoyed the structure. But then one day there were extremely heavy rains and half the church collapsed. The westerner would come weekly for the sermons and so when he came to the community and saw that the church had collapsed he was surprised to see the community members just sitting around. All the community members had to say to him was “hey! Your church fell down.”
-the community took no ownership in the church and therefore felt it was not theirs but that of the westerner
-they didn’t understand that they should feel like they should rebuild it because they hadn’t even asked for it in the first place
… mme’s emphasis here was on the fact that if you involved the community in a project you learn about their strengths and weaknesses and also allow them to have ownership in projects happening in the community. A better way to approach this project would have been to involve different groups in the village who would have been happy to help ie the women fetching the water, the men laying the bricks, the youngsters running little errands here and there. Then when the church was completed everyone could be proud of the work they had done. She wanted the students to understand that just going in and giving an answer is not the way to go about things. That knowledge and involvement is much more valuable in the long run than immediate treatment.
It was really interesting to hear about this because it echos many thoughts about the development industry. People debate about the need for immediate relief versus sustainability. About charity versus capacity building and empowerment and increased opportunities. And a huge one is how outsiders enter a community where the culture and norms are completely different from what they’re used to and try and impose all these solutions when often in the end they might not even be attacking the right problems.
(2) “But we did what you said! Why are our women still pregnant?!”
There was a health worker who went to a rural community to promote family planning and contraceptives. She brought a supply of condoms and was demonstrating how to use them. Unfortunately, she was using a stick model to demonstrate. So all these men and women of this community were listening and learning how to put a condom on a stick penis. So the health worker left and the people of the village continued having sex. Only they took her advice and put the condom on a stick model and put it under their beds while they had sex. Or beside their beds if their beds weren’t raised. Because that’s what they had learnt. The health worker came back a few months later and all kinds of women were pregnant. And beaten. Because now the men assumed they were cheating on them because well how else would they have been pregnant. So not only was the health worker faced with the problem of many unwanted pregnancies but she was also faced with the social problem of explaining to the men that in fact their wives were not cheating on them….
We were all sort of laughing in the class because it just seems so incredible that this could have actually happened. But it was a true story. And these were fellow Ghanaians, so you can see even within a nation the difference in education and awareness. Mme’s message here was that you need to be super clear on your delivery of instructions and make sure that you don’t assume anything. Just because you know something does not mean the person you’re trying to communicate with does as well. Needless to say, the credibility of that health worker was thrown out the window.
So those have been some things that have stuck with me over the last 2 weeks. I was told that after about a month the feeling of being shocked kind of wears off. I think that perhaps that is true to a certain extent, shock would no longer be the word I would use, but surprise is definitely still there. I am still constantly learning and absorbing… and looking forward to much more of it!
-I’ve had 3 ICT classes
-2 visits to Tamale to use the Internet with the students
-Run to End Poverty
-Ramadan is ending
-Sarah (my coach) came to visit
… and somehow I’ve become super busy. Not just with thoughts about my environment and the cultural differences, but with objectives for my placement, for the college, for personal development, and for connecting back to Canada.
It was great to have Sarah visit, she arrived just in time to see some of my class in action and we spent a bit of time touring the college and interacting with the students. Oh I also managed to lock the key inside the library. Turns out Moses locked it with my bag still inside lol but thank goodness in the end there was an extra key at the principal’s house. At this point Sarah had created this intense stick structure that we were going to try and put through the window to reach my bag and somehow unzip it and then unhook my keys…haha… I am curious if it would have actually worked. So we had a good time but it was also really helpful to recap what I’ve been doing so far and putting down on paper what my objectives are. It gave me a tangible to-do list that I’m excited to attack. So some of the stories below were written last week but I did add some new ones. I think the overall feeling this past week, well it’s been for the past few weeks I’d say, is that we (all the pro jfs) are surprised at how we’ve adapted to our new worlds. Nadia, Claire and I were reading entries from our journals from when we first arrived in Ghana and then recent entries and it was really interesting to see the difference, the development. I’m still struggling to put into words the difference or what happened to make our headspaces so different. Yes…me…I am struggling for words haha. Okay, so here are some stories and general observations and things that stuck with me:
Perceptions.
A bit of background is necessary for this. IVSA = International Veternarian’s Student Association. Four vet school students from Bristol in the UK paid the PT college a visit this past week. Jennifer, Simon, Morgan and Sky, four wonderful people, all of whom say “reckon” and “lovely”. They were respresenting the IVSA from the UK and were received by Rockson, the IVSA Ghanian president as well as the rest of the student association. They spent about a week or so visiting the college. They attended classes, stayed with the students in the dormitories, took part in evening festivities, met with teachers and the school administration. They donated books and surgical equipment and are expecting a few of the students from the PT to their school back in the UK. It was absolutely amazing meeting all of them, I learnt so much. We of course chatted about Ghana and all the shocks and amazements but also about the perceptions of Canadians and the British. Through them, I visited the girls dormitories for the first time and went to the “drinking spot” just off of the college grounds. We had a spaghetti dinner at my house on their last evening in PT and I was sad to see them go but happy knowing they had such a great experience.
As I was walking back to my place escorted as usual by George, we were talking about perceptions. So after having met the 4 soon to be vets from Britain, I was just thinking how diverse culture and systems are in even the developed world. Then George spoke about the perception of Ghanians about white people. They don’t generally distinguish between the nations that make up the developed world just as we tend to put the entire continent of Africa into one lump sum. He asked me the perceptions North Americans have about Africa, and then about Ghana in general. I said that the majority of NA seem to think of Africa as this continent in a state of chaos. A continent riddled with disease and corruption and primitive tendencies. Ghana I said, for those who know a little bit about the differences in history and policy between African nations will agree that it is a leader in terms of reflecting where the continent is striving to be. It was hard to think about the generalizations that NAs make about Africa, as my own view of Africa is quite different from what I assume are the generalizations and also my opinion is just that, an opinion, I cannot speak for NA and so what I perceive that the general population perceives may not be accurate. But he asked for sweeping generalizations so that is what I did. I asked the same question to him and his generalization firstly was that all white people are the same. And we all have money and therefore happiness. Again, this does not represent his personal opinion but just generalizes what he has seen and heard over the years and regions of his country.
What are your perceptions of Africa? Do you think they are correct? If not, why do you think you have those perceptions? If so, what proof or experience can back up your claim?
How would you respond to the generalization that all whites are the same?
Wireless Internet
An utter phenomenon. All of you who are reading this at your leisure on a high speed, wireless connection, take a minute and be thankful. I was fortunate to experience this luxury this past weekend, last Sunday, as Claire and I went to the Gariba Lodge in Tamale. Actually, we first tried an Internet place near the EWB house to learn that their link was down. So we took a shared taxi to another place that we had to walk to from the intersection only to find out it was also closed. The third place we tried opens at 4pm on Sundays and it was 11am. So we decided to go try the Gariba Lodge…it ended up being a great choice. The internet was fast, reliable and free! I think they forgot to turn on their server because normally you have to pay… we both got emails sent and blog posts up and research done. We were exploring some articles and things online through ewb.ca and called Nadia to ask her about one particular article. Nadia helped us out but sounded a little sad. She had missed one of her friend’s weddings that day by being in Ghana and was just feeling that familiar feeling of melancholy that creeps up on you sometimes when you are so far from everything familiar and comforting. So Claire and I decided to take advantage of our Internet situation and looked up all kinds of quotes in an effort to make her feel a bit better. We saved the ones we really liked on a word document and then called Nadia back and read them to her… we had some good laughs and even though we couldn’t make everything better I think it’s fair to say we all had some extra food for thought. Here are a few of my favourites from our favourites:
“When one door of happiness closes, another opens, but often we look so long at the closed door that we do not see the one that has been opened for us.”
-Helen Keller
“Don’t follow your dreams; chase them.”
-Richard Dumb (it was noted beside this quote that the people who chose this one though he was very smart despite his name haha)
“The things that we share in our world are far more valuable than those which divide us.” - Donald Williams
“Know that although in the eternal scheme of things you are small, you are also unique and irreplaceable, as are all your fellow humans everywhere in the world.” - Margaret Laurence
“We must accept finite disappointment, but we must never lose infinite hope.” - Martin Luther King
“Fall seven times, stand up eight. “ - Japanese proverb
“A smile is a curve that sets everything straight.”
-Anonymous
“Our lives improve only when we take chances - and the first and most difficult risk we can take is to be honest with ourselves.”
- Walter Anderson
Run to end poverty:
A concept: Ghana time and Canada time. the run was scheduled for 2pm on Saturday. A little insane, perhaps, it is only the hottest time of the day at that point, but many members of the school community attend church on Saturday morning and then the rest attend on Sunday. So Saturday afternoon it was. It wasn’t a problem for the ghanians, I was mostly worried about us Canadians falling over into the bush on the side of the path from heat exhaustion. There were four of us who set up the race. Nadia and Claire (2 of my fellow pro jfs) as well as our friend corey, who is part of the peace corps and is also a marathon runner. They all arrived in pong-tamale on Friday and we ate well, chatted and went to bed much later then we would have liked. Saturday morning we spent discussing how the run was going to go and we started to get things in motion. We set the course (probably about 5km) and drew up banners and decided on what we were going to say and how we were going to conduct the race details. So I said the race would start at 2pm. And I believed that the students would actually show up at that time! and then I saw them all walking with bowls in their hands at 2pm. Lunch time. so 2pm became 3pm. Lol. But it was great anyhow. There were about 30 students who showed up in every variety of footwear known to mankind. Loafers, slippers, soccer cleats, rubber boots, flip flops… it made me think about companies like asics and mizuno and new balance whose livelihood is dedicated to the need for specific footwear for specific activites for specific feet. The only thing our shoes had in common with the students was the layer of red dirt that I am convinced is there to stay. Favourite parts of the run:
-the excitement of the start and the dancing the students were doing before
-a student telling me as he ran past me that he thinks the run is great because the school pushes academics but he also thinks the body needs to be healthy and active
-coming around the bend for the home stretch and knowing there is water at the end
-being doused by water sachets
-seeing the students have a great time and be enthusiastic!
(oh one of the pictures I’m going to put up seems like it’s just of dirt in the ground but if you look carefully you can the see course I’ve outlined…with a stick… it went something like this: so down this dirt path, past those trees, up where the road becomes paved, you know, where the goats always lie right in the middle, into the market, past those huts, no no the ones near the church, the church near the place where they burn the hair off the goats, down this path, no that path, past the primary school, through the soccer pitch and back to the college…anyways I knew where I was going Lol)
So all this to say, thank you to those who ran in Montreal and raised over $15,000! We had a great time in Ghana running to support the efforts of those in Canada!
You can always check out the website www.runtoendpoverty.ca to see details from the Montreal, Vancouver and Ghana races!
Mme Faustina’s stories:
I’ll introduce mme first. She’s a teacher at the college and a vet technical officer. She is full of life and energy and we get along really well. She cares about the students and is self-motivated and very dynamic. I am attending her class on Thursdays with the level 100s as it is the only course offered on agriculture extension at the college this semester. And if you recall one of my objectives is to evaluate the effectiveness of the extension curriculum so I thought it would be a good idea to actually attend the class. The class is rural sociology. It’s actually really interesting. She’s engaging and full of real examples. The main things she’s been talking about so far involve how as an extensions agent, you need to be sensitive to the culture you are going to be working in. And that building trust and empathy with the community you are going to be working in is essential to doing your job well. It actually reminds me all the time of the type of pre-departure training we had in terms of integrating culturally and building trust relationships and what not. Anyways there are 2 stories in particular that she shared in class that I’d like to pass on for thought!
(1) Building a church:
A westerner came into a rural African community and saw that they were primarily Christian but had no church. So he decided to build them a church. He got funding for it, got the materials, had some other foreigners build it and then within 2 months it was done. The people of the community were happy, they attended the sermons and enjoyed the structure. But then one day there were extremely heavy rains and half the church collapsed. The westerner would come weekly for the sermons and so when he came to the community and saw that the church had collapsed he was surprised to see the community members just sitting around. All the community members had to say to him was “hey! Your church fell down.”
-the community took no ownership in the church and therefore felt it was not theirs but that of the westerner
-they didn’t understand that they should feel like they should rebuild it because they hadn’t even asked for it in the first place
… mme’s emphasis here was on the fact that if you involved the community in a project you learn about their strengths and weaknesses and also allow them to have ownership in projects happening in the community. A better way to approach this project would have been to involve different groups in the village who would have been happy to help ie the women fetching the water, the men laying the bricks, the youngsters running little errands here and there. Then when the church was completed everyone could be proud of the work they had done. She wanted the students to understand that just going in and giving an answer is not the way to go about things. That knowledge and involvement is much more valuable in the long run than immediate treatment.
It was really interesting to hear about this because it echos many thoughts about the development industry. People debate about the need for immediate relief versus sustainability. About charity versus capacity building and empowerment and increased opportunities. And a huge one is how outsiders enter a community where the culture and norms are completely different from what they’re used to and try and impose all these solutions when often in the end they might not even be attacking the right problems.
(2) “But we did what you said! Why are our women still pregnant?!”
There was a health worker who went to a rural community to promote family planning and contraceptives. She brought a supply of condoms and was demonstrating how to use them. Unfortunately, she was using a stick model to demonstrate. So all these men and women of this community were listening and learning how to put a condom on a stick penis. So the health worker left and the people of the village continued having sex. Only they took her advice and put the condom on a stick model and put it under their beds while they had sex. Or beside their beds if their beds weren’t raised. Because that’s what they had learnt. The health worker came back a few months later and all kinds of women were pregnant. And beaten. Because now the men assumed they were cheating on them because well how else would they have been pregnant. So not only was the health worker faced with the problem of many unwanted pregnancies but she was also faced with the social problem of explaining to the men that in fact their wives were not cheating on them….
We were all sort of laughing in the class because it just seems so incredible that this could have actually happened. But it was a true story. And these were fellow Ghanaians, so you can see even within a nation the difference in education and awareness. Mme’s message here was that you need to be super clear on your delivery of instructions and make sure that you don’t assume anything. Just because you know something does not mean the person you’re trying to communicate with does as well. Needless to say, the credibility of that health worker was thrown out the window.
So those have been some things that have stuck with me over the last 2 weeks. I was told that after about a month the feeling of being shocked kind of wears off. I think that perhaps that is true to a certain extent, shock would no longer be the word I would use, but surprise is definitely still there. I am still constantly learning and absorbing… and looking forward to much more of it!
Sunday, September 6, 2009
A full week in Pong Tamale!
This week was all about finally getting fully started in Pong-Tamale and being ecstatic about getting over malaria. I thought it would be funny to include a little excerpt from my journal from when I was sort of deliriously still in Tamale getting over malaria and pretty drugged up:
Midnight dilemma: (Aug 28)
Hmmm describing my current situation. I’m in tamale, in the ewb “house” which is essentially 2 rooms in a compound…compound being usually like an L shape or U shape structure with separate rooms with shared bathroom and shower…well that’s what this one’s like anyways…so I’m under a mosquito net with my knees touching my chest and my shins on the bed…so crouched down I guess. “Child’s pose” keeps entering my brain from my very limited knowledge of yoga but without the upper body part obviously cause I’m typing lol. Elbows on the bed too I guess I sort of am in a pouncing pose. Although my toes are not curled in preparation and I’m definitely not pouncing anywhere. I made the probably wise decision not to go out with some other volunteers tonight after dinner seeing as I’m still feel kinda icky. But the Lonart (malaria meds) is still making me sleepless and to avoid mixing benadryl in there for a sleeplessness vs drowsiness duel I’m trying to ride it out. I’ve successfully listened to many Jack Johnson songs in their entirety. He is great. Oh yes it’s raining. Pouring in fact. More like waterfalling. And the thunder was so loud at one point that even though I had my headphones on and was listening to music it shocked me to the point where I almost started crying. Like a tiny child. Lol. My dilemma: I have to pee. Once I step out of the room I have about half a meter of covered area and then about 3 of not covered, I have to fumble with a key, turn it twice (it seems all the locks here are turned twice) and get inside the room with the toilet. I will be totally soaked. i suppose I could just get changed afterwards it just seems like such a wasted event just because I can’t stop drinking water.
Did it. Wasn’t that bad. Like most things. Made it into a big deal and now it’s over. Really in retrospect I could have just used the umbrella I’m now seeing in the corner of the room.
So you can see why I am glad that is all over. Good health is definitely something I have a renewed appreciation for. I arrived back in Pong-Tamale on Sunday evening and was feeling pretty anxious about starting “work” the next day. I called the Principal as soon as I was settled in my home only to learn he was out of town until the end of the week for meetings. Hmmm so what exactly was I going to do now seeing as my plan had been to meet with him on Monday. I decided to just go into the college for about 9am and see what happens. So that’s exactly what I did. I walked to the college and greeted the teachers I had met when Evan was around and the administration. I the opened up the library and in doing so, students started to come in, probably more out of curiosity than anything else initially. Throughout the week I had numerous conversations with students about their lives, education in Ghana, their expectations for school and just some general friendly chatting. They have great energy and are always willing to answer whatever questions I ask. I “taught” my first class on Thursday ( I’ll write a separate story about that) and met four British students from a Vet school in Bristol who were visiting the college as part of the IVSA (International Veterinarian’s Student Association) I had a few great nights that week at the principal’s house, only his daughter Sunfred and “son” (not biological) George were there. I left for Tamale on Friday feeling great and feeling as though I had some clear goals in mind. Apparently when you have good weeks out here the feeling can last for awhile. I hope it does.
This weekend was wonderful; I got to meet up with Jody and Claire in Tamale. The three of us stayed in the EWB house and just caught up. We shared stories and laughs and concerns and observations and opinions and lots of good, solid food. All of our districts seem to be a little scarce in terms of food variety so Tamale has been quite the treat. We roamed through the city, visiting the cultural centre and the market and even ran into some Peace Corps volunteers we had met when we played ultimate Frisbee back at the beginning of August. It was really interesting to see everyone’s progression in terms of cultural integration and understanding and to compare!
This week should be fun, I’m looking forward to making my “pilot” ICT trip to Tamale (see the story about my first class) and also I’m organizing one of Ghana’s “Run to End Poverty”. Claire and Nadia are coming into PT for the weekend to help with it while EWB members in Montreal run after having raised a whole lot of money! Check out the website www.runtoendpoverty.ca! I’ll make sure to talk about the run and include some pictures and videos (if I can figure our how) next week!
Here are some stories from this past week:
(1) The reason why mosquitoes are so annoying:
While reading “Things Fall Apart”: (story takes place in West Africa)
“…he stretched himself and scratched himself where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept. Another one was wailing near his right ear. He slapped the ear and hopes he had killed it. Why do they always go for one’s ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. But it was as silly as all women’s stories. Mosquito, she had said, had asked Ear to marry him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. “How much longer do you think you will live?” she asked. You are already a skeleton.” Mosquito went away humiliated, and any time he passes her way he told Ear that he was still alive.”
My thoughts on the issue:
Ahhh that’s why they do that is it??? stupid Ear. Why couldn’t she have made all our lives slightly less miserable and just married the Mosquito. Although I guess I don’t blame her, I definitely would not marry a mosquito. Except if I was trying to be a serial killer bride. Marry one, kill it, marry another etc etc until they’re all gone. Lol.
(2)Abermani’s story
Just as a reminder, Abermani is a Pong-Tamale local, he was one of Evan’s friends during his placement and is a great guy. He is always willing to help and always making sure I am okay. He came with me to the tailor’s this week to drop off fabric for me to get some clothes made and then we walked back to my place where I made dinner and he told me his story. I tried to remember as much of it with as much accuracy as possible:
-his father’s parents died at a very young ago leaving him (his father) alone. He worked hard and became a carpenter and found a wife.
-the youngest of 4 children, his 2 sisters and brother live outside of pong-tamale
-he was the only one of them to finish junior high. He could not continue afterwards because of the lack of money. Even while in school, in order to eat, he would often go to his friends houses for dinner. One such good friend was named Godwin, he later moved to Ho in the Volta region.
-he heard of a World Vision program which was supporting educational training for some “picked” people. The application alone was 100 GhC but he applied and thankfully got chosen. He wanted them to cover the expense of furthering his education but they said no and asked him to choose from a list of trades including land tillage, carpentry, engineering mechanics etc etc. he chose mechanics
-5 of them were then sent to Tamale to begin training as apprentices or “learners” 2 of whom left almost right away because there were 5 in one room…
-World Vision was paying for their rent, water bill and lights bill. But there was no money for food nor for soap to wash their clothes.
-abermani said they went sometimes a whole week without going to the bathroom because well there was nothing to come out if you ate nothing. And when asked when was the last time you ate you weren’t sure. They would sometimes pick some maize, roast it and put a bit of sugar and put it in their pockets and sneak it when feeling hungry at work
-their masters didn’t pay them anything for their work, as they were “learners”
-3 years of this training
-abermani stayed on with his master for another 2 years and even though the master didn’t outwardly pay him, he would get abermani to do small jobs here and there and pay him for those. He said the master loved him like a son and saw that he was a good worker. Meanwhile the problem was that the room rent, water and light bill needed to be paid. So the little jobs the master was paying him for covered this.
-abermani then decided he wanted to open up his own shop. So he called on his good friend alex and they picked and cleared a spot and then started working. But they needed tools. And tools are 1.19 million or about 100 dollars.
-he then decided to take the trip to Ho in the volta region to visit Godwin and basically plead with his parents to help him out. To get there you have to go all the way down to accra and then all the way up.
-once there, godwin’s parents unfortunately couldn’t help him financially but would try and help him find work that he could then do and then buy the tools himself. But many private companies were occupied so he kept asking until there was a local mechanic who took him on
-he was a very good worker there and in particular treated the apprentices very well. He remembered what it was like to be learning and starving and so always made sure to give them a bit of the money for the job they were doing. Little by little he managed to save enough money to buy his tools. He spent about a year in Ho as far as I can tell. Upon announcing his departure the learners were very sad but he left and went back to Tamale.
-the shop alex and him had started wasn’t doing well. Alex wasn’t self-motivated and also the market for a mechanic was very weak because there were so many of them everywhere. So eventually abermani had his electricity cut and eventually evicted out of the room.
-he went back to pong-tamale and told his father who then told him to move home. So he did that, with his tools
-he was called on by the college driver one day to come and help fix a bus that was needed to go to Contempo for an excursion. He was in Syala at the time helping a friend with work. He hurried back, fixed the bus and then was told to put his tools in it and go along in case the bus broke down.
-he was called on in the same way again when the principal died (car accident) to transport the body to Wa. He fixed the car and then put his tools underneath and set off. Dr. Bempong was on this journey.
-the bus broke down at one point and so he got out to take a look at it. turns out the tools had all fallen out at some point. A priest in a car behind them said yeah they fell out but he didn’t stop to get them. There was a body in the bus and so they couldn’t go back to get the tools. Dr bempong said he’d help abermani get them replaced. This was before they were “friends”
-it’s been 2 years and still no tools. Dr bempong sees the value in abermani and always gets him to do little jobs here and there and offers to pay but he refuses saying that his payment will be his tools.
-he has recently gotten his license and is going to put in his application to be a driver mechanic for the college. I wonder if they are hiring a driver mechanic at the moment….
World of difference. I have never known what it is like to be hungry. To be making absolutely no money and really not being able to eat or to clean my clothes. It really makes the multitude of food choices we have in Canada seem like wealth is pouring out of the crevices. My goodness.
(3) “my first class”
So I on the timetable for the level 200 students, on Thursday from 1215-1415 my name is there along with Moses under the header “ICT in Agriculture”. Until George informed me when I arrived back in PT last Sunday that one of his friends from the school mentioned I was scheduled to teach on Thursday, I had no idea. On Tuesday I was asked if my class could be moved to Tuesdays from 10am-12pm because the Thursday block suited another teacher better. No problem, I just made a note on my copy of the timetable. But I still wanted to meet the students this week and so I was told I could take the block on Thursday from 10am-12pm for this week as that instructor had not yet arrived in PT. Perfect. I would meet the students, introduce myself and tell them about how 49 students are all going to get hands-on experience with a computer when the school only has 7. The problem was no one told the students that their first ICT class was going to be at that time. So come Thursday at 10am, not one student has shown up for class. Moses tells me they will come so I just take his advice and we wait. It’s now 1020ish and still no one. I have a feeling they don’t know they’re supposed to be there because the students actually take school quite seriously. So I ask Moses if I can go and get them and he looks at me with a surprised smile and says “you’re going to go get them? Oh ok” like I’m crazy. So I march over to the boys dormitory and call out for the second year students. I’ve met a few of them over the past days in the library so I put one of the ones I know in charge of rounding up his classmates. Meanwhile I am told I am going to have to use the library for the class because the third years need the whiteboard in my classroom. No problem, I move to the library. Only the library has 2 large desks and 5 chairs. So all the second years come noisily piling in and there we are. I start by introducing myself and asking them if they have any questions about who I am and where I’m from and what not. Of course I get asked if I’m married. Haha. I continue and ask them what they want to learn in ICT and what they think will be the most useful lessons for them. They all unanimously agree that practical, hands-on usage will be imperative. And so we discuss the problem of 7 computers for 4 students. These students want to do well. They want to enter the workforce, or their next level of education, fluent in computer literacy. They want to use the internet to get information, they want to be able to do word processing. I got them to watch the Patrick Awuah TED talk I had mentioned in an earlier blog and they really enjoyed it. I asked them to write down what they thought was the most important thing he said during the talk. I got 49 answers that showed me how much each and every student wants to be the best they can be. It was amazing. I told them I was applying for the EWB Innovation Fund to try and make a push towards a new style of learning. They are used to, and are highly critical of, the teach, memorize, regurgitate methods of their past courses. A new approach to instruction is needed. The innovation fund would provide the money necessary to take the students into Tamale on Fridays so they could use and IT centre complete with Microsoft word and the Internet. I got some students to volunteer to dictate to me why they think they need practical computer usage. All in all it was quite the class, by the end I was tired but happy.
(4) “I wonder if george is home”
What did you do the afternoon of Wednesday, September 02? I was on my way home from the college and saw George’s moto outside the Principal’s house. Just as a reminder, George is a student at a teacher’s college in the Volta region and he spends his breaks with the Principal and his family. He came with Abermani that time to change my light bulb, the day when the goat was thrown into the bush. He has recently taught me how to read the electricity meter (it’s pay as you go) and he also so carefully laid out all my onions on a tray when I went to Accra so they would not rot in the bag I had them in. The principal has been out of town with his family (except his eldest daughter) and has left the house under the watch of George and his eldest daughter, Sunfred. So I knew that it was just them two and decided I would say hello before retiring to my house and making my staple pasta with tomato and onion and pepe sauce. (sidenote: I’m becoming pretty good at cooking with very little…I found out where to buy eggs just yesterday – yay protein! Ps I haven’t mustered up the courage to kill my own chicken yet…soon soon….) So I went in to say hi and turns out – he has the start of malaria! But somehow he was happy to talk and whatnot so we chatted for a bit and then went to my house where I showed him pictures of friends and family and skiing…snow seemed a little crazy for him. Banff seemed really crazy. He still hadn’t gotten medication for his malaria so I told him we’re going now. So we went on the moto to the edge of Pong-Tamale and visited one “pharmacy”. No Lonart, at least that is what I was looking for, so we continued a little further down the road and we found a single dose treatment he’s used in the past. Then we had a flat tire. Right in front of these guys who seemed to be mechanics. So with a few words we left the moto there and went for a walk. Evening prayers were taking place at the mosques, people were on the side of the street just watching other pass by. There were also the usual suspects, bikes, other motorcycles, cars, buses, tro-tros, lorries oh and of course goats. We walked back to the mechanic area and sat down as the man continued to work. I saw someone selling bananas on her head and so bought some of those. Then 0.80$ later the moto was ready to go. Back on and back to the house. I was then invited for dinner, yam and coco yam slices with what I knew what would be delicious stew. While on the moto, it was cool (for Ghana) out, I was still able to greet people, the sun was beautiful and it was just green all around. We had to avoid the cows and goats and ditches and potholes in the red earth. But somehow it just felt so great. Peaceful I think is the best word for it. George put on a South African movie “Mr Bones” which my goodness I’m going to find, buy, and show everyone I know in Canada, really funny movie. Mid-way through the movie my dinner was ready. Sunfred then taught me how to really eat Ghanian style. And you know what? It did actually taste better somehow, I mean it was already delicious but this just added to it. I mean I ate with my hands. Breaking off pieces of yam and coco yam and then scooping up the spicy stew. We both had a good laugh at first as I had a hard time breaking off acceptable pieces and then just wasn’t sure what to do. One hand only also. Right hand only. And she sat and talked with me the whole dinner. I asked her how she prepared the stew, she explained, and next time she’ll teach me how. We talked about moving around and school and her dreams of visiting countries other than Ghana. She wants to see other places in the world and learn about different cultures. Her birthday was last week also, the 22nd, she turned 23. We talked about how everyone assumes I’m married and how when they find out I’m not, they are surprised and then suggesting themselves (if they’re men) or male relatives (if they’re women). It was great to actually talk to her, the other times I’ve been to the Principal’s house it’s pretty much been Evan and I talking to him and then Evan and I eating dinner and then me trying to talk to the Principal’s wife for a bit. I could tell tonight the daughter was at ease with only George around and so it made for great conversation! So it all started with me just going to say hi… George walked me home at the end of the night and although it was not what I planned at all, I had a great afternoon and evening!
Something that George said that really stuck with me
As we were motorcycling slowly through Pong-Tamale on our way to the main road, he asked if I was offered a job in Ghana would I accept it. I said I think it is too early to tell exactly how I feel about Ghana being a long-term stay. He laughed at this and then I asked him if he were given a job outside of Ghana, of Africa, would he want to go, knowing his answer would be yes. And so I asked if he thinks he would miss home if he ended up getting a good job abroad. His answer was: “Where you are comfortable. That is home.” For anyone who has ever moved anywhere, I’m sure I will be joined in smiling at this simple truth.
Midnight dilemma: (Aug 28)
Hmmm describing my current situation. I’m in tamale, in the ewb “house” which is essentially 2 rooms in a compound…compound being usually like an L shape or U shape structure with separate rooms with shared bathroom and shower…well that’s what this one’s like anyways…so I’m under a mosquito net with my knees touching my chest and my shins on the bed…so crouched down I guess. “Child’s pose” keeps entering my brain from my very limited knowledge of yoga but without the upper body part obviously cause I’m typing lol. Elbows on the bed too I guess I sort of am in a pouncing pose. Although my toes are not curled in preparation and I’m definitely not pouncing anywhere. I made the probably wise decision not to go out with some other volunteers tonight after dinner seeing as I’m still feel kinda icky. But the Lonart (malaria meds) is still making me sleepless and to avoid mixing benadryl in there for a sleeplessness vs drowsiness duel I’m trying to ride it out. I’ve successfully listened to many Jack Johnson songs in their entirety. He is great. Oh yes it’s raining. Pouring in fact. More like waterfalling. And the thunder was so loud at one point that even though I had my headphones on and was listening to music it shocked me to the point where I almost started crying. Like a tiny child. Lol. My dilemma: I have to pee. Once I step out of the room I have about half a meter of covered area and then about 3 of not covered, I have to fumble with a key, turn it twice (it seems all the locks here are turned twice) and get inside the room with the toilet. I will be totally soaked. i suppose I could just get changed afterwards it just seems like such a wasted event just because I can’t stop drinking water.
Did it. Wasn’t that bad. Like most things. Made it into a big deal and now it’s over. Really in retrospect I could have just used the umbrella I’m now seeing in the corner of the room.
So you can see why I am glad that is all over. Good health is definitely something I have a renewed appreciation for. I arrived back in Pong-Tamale on Sunday evening and was feeling pretty anxious about starting “work” the next day. I called the Principal as soon as I was settled in my home only to learn he was out of town until the end of the week for meetings. Hmmm so what exactly was I going to do now seeing as my plan had been to meet with him on Monday. I decided to just go into the college for about 9am and see what happens. So that’s exactly what I did. I walked to the college and greeted the teachers I had met when Evan was around and the administration. I the opened up the library and in doing so, students started to come in, probably more out of curiosity than anything else initially. Throughout the week I had numerous conversations with students about their lives, education in Ghana, their expectations for school and just some general friendly chatting. They have great energy and are always willing to answer whatever questions I ask. I “taught” my first class on Thursday ( I’ll write a separate story about that) and met four British students from a Vet school in Bristol who were visiting the college as part of the IVSA (International Veterinarian’s Student Association) I had a few great nights that week at the principal’s house, only his daughter Sunfred and “son” (not biological) George were there. I left for Tamale on Friday feeling great and feeling as though I had some clear goals in mind. Apparently when you have good weeks out here the feeling can last for awhile. I hope it does.
This weekend was wonderful; I got to meet up with Jody and Claire in Tamale. The three of us stayed in the EWB house and just caught up. We shared stories and laughs and concerns and observations and opinions and lots of good, solid food. All of our districts seem to be a little scarce in terms of food variety so Tamale has been quite the treat. We roamed through the city, visiting the cultural centre and the market and even ran into some Peace Corps volunteers we had met when we played ultimate Frisbee back at the beginning of August. It was really interesting to see everyone’s progression in terms of cultural integration and understanding and to compare!
This week should be fun, I’m looking forward to making my “pilot” ICT trip to Tamale (see the story about my first class) and also I’m organizing one of Ghana’s “Run to End Poverty”. Claire and Nadia are coming into PT for the weekend to help with it while EWB members in Montreal run after having raised a whole lot of money! Check out the website www.runtoendpoverty.ca! I’ll make sure to talk about the run and include some pictures and videos (if I can figure our how) next week!
Here are some stories from this past week:
(1) The reason why mosquitoes are so annoying:
While reading “Things Fall Apart”: (story takes place in West Africa)
“…he stretched himself and scratched himself where a mosquito had bitten him as he slept. Another one was wailing near his right ear. He slapped the ear and hopes he had killed it. Why do they always go for one’s ears? When he was a child his mother had told him a story about it. But it was as silly as all women’s stories. Mosquito, she had said, had asked Ear to marry him, whereupon Ear fell on the floor in uncontrollable laughter. “How much longer do you think you will live?” she asked. You are already a skeleton.” Mosquito went away humiliated, and any time he passes her way he told Ear that he was still alive.”
My thoughts on the issue:
Ahhh that’s why they do that is it??? stupid Ear. Why couldn’t she have made all our lives slightly less miserable and just married the Mosquito. Although I guess I don’t blame her, I definitely would not marry a mosquito. Except if I was trying to be a serial killer bride. Marry one, kill it, marry another etc etc until they’re all gone. Lol.
(2)Abermani’s story
Just as a reminder, Abermani is a Pong-Tamale local, he was one of Evan’s friends during his placement and is a great guy. He is always willing to help and always making sure I am okay. He came with me to the tailor’s this week to drop off fabric for me to get some clothes made and then we walked back to my place where I made dinner and he told me his story. I tried to remember as much of it with as much accuracy as possible:
-his father’s parents died at a very young ago leaving him (his father) alone. He worked hard and became a carpenter and found a wife.
-the youngest of 4 children, his 2 sisters and brother live outside of pong-tamale
-he was the only one of them to finish junior high. He could not continue afterwards because of the lack of money. Even while in school, in order to eat, he would often go to his friends houses for dinner. One such good friend was named Godwin, he later moved to Ho in the Volta region.
-he heard of a World Vision program which was supporting educational training for some “picked” people. The application alone was 100 GhC but he applied and thankfully got chosen. He wanted them to cover the expense of furthering his education but they said no and asked him to choose from a list of trades including land tillage, carpentry, engineering mechanics etc etc. he chose mechanics
-5 of them were then sent to Tamale to begin training as apprentices or “learners” 2 of whom left almost right away because there were 5 in one room…
-World Vision was paying for their rent, water bill and lights bill. But there was no money for food nor for soap to wash their clothes.
-abermani said they went sometimes a whole week without going to the bathroom because well there was nothing to come out if you ate nothing. And when asked when was the last time you ate you weren’t sure. They would sometimes pick some maize, roast it and put a bit of sugar and put it in their pockets and sneak it when feeling hungry at work
-their masters didn’t pay them anything for their work, as they were “learners”
-3 years of this training
-abermani stayed on with his master for another 2 years and even though the master didn’t outwardly pay him, he would get abermani to do small jobs here and there and pay him for those. He said the master loved him like a son and saw that he was a good worker. Meanwhile the problem was that the room rent, water and light bill needed to be paid. So the little jobs the master was paying him for covered this.
-abermani then decided he wanted to open up his own shop. So he called on his good friend alex and they picked and cleared a spot and then started working. But they needed tools. And tools are 1.19 million or about 100 dollars.
-he then decided to take the trip to Ho in the volta region to visit Godwin and basically plead with his parents to help him out. To get there you have to go all the way down to accra and then all the way up.
-once there, godwin’s parents unfortunately couldn’t help him financially but would try and help him find work that he could then do and then buy the tools himself. But many private companies were occupied so he kept asking until there was a local mechanic who took him on
-he was a very good worker there and in particular treated the apprentices very well. He remembered what it was like to be learning and starving and so always made sure to give them a bit of the money for the job they were doing. Little by little he managed to save enough money to buy his tools. He spent about a year in Ho as far as I can tell. Upon announcing his departure the learners were very sad but he left and went back to Tamale.
-the shop alex and him had started wasn’t doing well. Alex wasn’t self-motivated and also the market for a mechanic was very weak because there were so many of them everywhere. So eventually abermani had his electricity cut and eventually evicted out of the room.
-he went back to pong-tamale and told his father who then told him to move home. So he did that, with his tools
-he was called on by the college driver one day to come and help fix a bus that was needed to go to Contempo for an excursion. He was in Syala at the time helping a friend with work. He hurried back, fixed the bus and then was told to put his tools in it and go along in case the bus broke down.
-he was called on in the same way again when the principal died (car accident) to transport the body to Wa. He fixed the car and then put his tools underneath and set off. Dr. Bempong was on this journey.
-the bus broke down at one point and so he got out to take a look at it. turns out the tools had all fallen out at some point. A priest in a car behind them said yeah they fell out but he didn’t stop to get them. There was a body in the bus and so they couldn’t go back to get the tools. Dr bempong said he’d help abermani get them replaced. This was before they were “friends”
-it’s been 2 years and still no tools. Dr bempong sees the value in abermani and always gets him to do little jobs here and there and offers to pay but he refuses saying that his payment will be his tools.
-he has recently gotten his license and is going to put in his application to be a driver mechanic for the college. I wonder if they are hiring a driver mechanic at the moment….
World of difference. I have never known what it is like to be hungry. To be making absolutely no money and really not being able to eat or to clean my clothes. It really makes the multitude of food choices we have in Canada seem like wealth is pouring out of the crevices. My goodness.
(3) “my first class”
So I on the timetable for the level 200 students, on Thursday from 1215-1415 my name is there along with Moses under the header “ICT in Agriculture”. Until George informed me when I arrived back in PT last Sunday that one of his friends from the school mentioned I was scheduled to teach on Thursday, I had no idea. On Tuesday I was asked if my class could be moved to Tuesdays from 10am-12pm because the Thursday block suited another teacher better. No problem, I just made a note on my copy of the timetable. But I still wanted to meet the students this week and so I was told I could take the block on Thursday from 10am-12pm for this week as that instructor had not yet arrived in PT. Perfect. I would meet the students, introduce myself and tell them about how 49 students are all going to get hands-on experience with a computer when the school only has 7. The problem was no one told the students that their first ICT class was going to be at that time. So come Thursday at 10am, not one student has shown up for class. Moses tells me they will come so I just take his advice and we wait. It’s now 1020ish and still no one. I have a feeling they don’t know they’re supposed to be there because the students actually take school quite seriously. So I ask Moses if I can go and get them and he looks at me with a surprised smile and says “you’re going to go get them? Oh ok” like I’m crazy. So I march over to the boys dormitory and call out for the second year students. I’ve met a few of them over the past days in the library so I put one of the ones I know in charge of rounding up his classmates. Meanwhile I am told I am going to have to use the library for the class because the third years need the whiteboard in my classroom. No problem, I move to the library. Only the library has 2 large desks and 5 chairs. So all the second years come noisily piling in and there we are. I start by introducing myself and asking them if they have any questions about who I am and where I’m from and what not. Of course I get asked if I’m married. Haha. I continue and ask them what they want to learn in ICT and what they think will be the most useful lessons for them. They all unanimously agree that practical, hands-on usage will be imperative. And so we discuss the problem of 7 computers for 4 students. These students want to do well. They want to enter the workforce, or their next level of education, fluent in computer literacy. They want to use the internet to get information, they want to be able to do word processing. I got them to watch the Patrick Awuah TED talk I had mentioned in an earlier blog and they really enjoyed it. I asked them to write down what they thought was the most important thing he said during the talk. I got 49 answers that showed me how much each and every student wants to be the best they can be. It was amazing. I told them I was applying for the EWB Innovation Fund to try and make a push towards a new style of learning. They are used to, and are highly critical of, the teach, memorize, regurgitate methods of their past courses. A new approach to instruction is needed. The innovation fund would provide the money necessary to take the students into Tamale on Fridays so they could use and IT centre complete with Microsoft word and the Internet. I got some students to volunteer to dictate to me why they think they need practical computer usage. All in all it was quite the class, by the end I was tired but happy.
(4) “I wonder if george is home”
What did you do the afternoon of Wednesday, September 02? I was on my way home from the college and saw George’s moto outside the Principal’s house. Just as a reminder, George is a student at a teacher’s college in the Volta region and he spends his breaks with the Principal and his family. He came with Abermani that time to change my light bulb, the day when the goat was thrown into the bush. He has recently taught me how to read the electricity meter (it’s pay as you go) and he also so carefully laid out all my onions on a tray when I went to Accra so they would not rot in the bag I had them in. The principal has been out of town with his family (except his eldest daughter) and has left the house under the watch of George and his eldest daughter, Sunfred. So I knew that it was just them two and decided I would say hello before retiring to my house and making my staple pasta with tomato and onion and pepe sauce. (sidenote: I’m becoming pretty good at cooking with very little…I found out where to buy eggs just yesterday – yay protein! Ps I haven’t mustered up the courage to kill my own chicken yet…soon soon….) So I went in to say hi and turns out – he has the start of malaria! But somehow he was happy to talk and whatnot so we chatted for a bit and then went to my house where I showed him pictures of friends and family and skiing…snow seemed a little crazy for him. Banff seemed really crazy. He still hadn’t gotten medication for his malaria so I told him we’re going now. So we went on the moto to the edge of Pong-Tamale and visited one “pharmacy”. No Lonart, at least that is what I was looking for, so we continued a little further down the road and we found a single dose treatment he’s used in the past. Then we had a flat tire. Right in front of these guys who seemed to be mechanics. So with a few words we left the moto there and went for a walk. Evening prayers were taking place at the mosques, people were on the side of the street just watching other pass by. There were also the usual suspects, bikes, other motorcycles, cars, buses, tro-tros, lorries oh and of course goats. We walked back to the mechanic area and sat down as the man continued to work. I saw someone selling bananas on her head and so bought some of those. Then 0.80$ later the moto was ready to go. Back on and back to the house. I was then invited for dinner, yam and coco yam slices with what I knew what would be delicious stew. While on the moto, it was cool (for Ghana) out, I was still able to greet people, the sun was beautiful and it was just green all around. We had to avoid the cows and goats and ditches and potholes in the red earth. But somehow it just felt so great. Peaceful I think is the best word for it. George put on a South African movie “Mr Bones” which my goodness I’m going to find, buy, and show everyone I know in Canada, really funny movie. Mid-way through the movie my dinner was ready. Sunfred then taught me how to really eat Ghanian style. And you know what? It did actually taste better somehow, I mean it was already delicious but this just added to it. I mean I ate with my hands. Breaking off pieces of yam and coco yam and then scooping up the spicy stew. We both had a good laugh at first as I had a hard time breaking off acceptable pieces and then just wasn’t sure what to do. One hand only also. Right hand only. And she sat and talked with me the whole dinner. I asked her how she prepared the stew, she explained, and next time she’ll teach me how. We talked about moving around and school and her dreams of visiting countries other than Ghana. She wants to see other places in the world and learn about different cultures. Her birthday was last week also, the 22nd, she turned 23. We talked about how everyone assumes I’m married and how when they find out I’m not, they are surprised and then suggesting themselves (if they’re men) or male relatives (if they’re women). It was great to actually talk to her, the other times I’ve been to the Principal’s house it’s pretty much been Evan and I talking to him and then Evan and I eating dinner and then me trying to talk to the Principal’s wife for a bit. I could tell tonight the daughter was at ease with only George around and so it made for great conversation! So it all started with me just going to say hi… George walked me home at the end of the night and although it was not what I planned at all, I had a great afternoon and evening!
Something that George said that really stuck with me
As we were motorcycling slowly through Pong-Tamale on our way to the main road, he asked if I was offered a job in Ghana would I accept it. I said I think it is too early to tell exactly how I feel about Ghana being a long-term stay. He laughed at this and then I asked him if he were given a job outside of Ghana, of Africa, would he want to go, knowing his answer would be yes. And so I asked if he thinks he would miss home if he ended up getting a good job abroad. His answer was: “Where you are comfortable. That is home.” For anyone who has ever moved anywhere, I’m sure I will be joined in smiling at this simple truth.
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