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.