Destination: Ghana

Pictures

2008-07-28T17:54:00.003-05:00

Pictures from my time in Ghana can be found here and here.

Enjoy!

Miadago, I hope

2008-07-24T18:31:00.002-05:00

So, I've been back for almost a week and well...I miss Hohoe and all of my fellow CCS volunteers like crazy. I am so thankful that I was able to spend those four weeks of absolute joy and awe in Ghana with them. I don't care if it does sound trite, that trip changed me in ways I don't really understand. It opened my eyes and, more importantly, my heart. So thank you to everyone who helped me get there with their encouragement and support.

Here's the last of the entries from my journal.

Sunday 13th
The rest of yesterday continued nicely. Went in the pool. got my shorts and t-shirt completely soaking wet, but so totally worth it. The sun dried me off anyway. Had some chocolate ice cream. Went for a canoe ride on the river with Navi. Aylo's for dinner.
Am home now. Met some of the new volunteers.
I am looking forward to Grace's cooking.

Monday 14th
My last Monday. I am everywhere assaulted with noise, from so many mouths, flapping flapping, and so many! I just want silence and isolation. I guess that means I'm ready to leave. I'd rather everyone else left. But that would be illogical, not to mention inconvenient.
At school I took off my shoes and ran across the hard prickly earth with my arms out; a whim of the students who wipe the hair from my face and bury their heads against my stomach. The kids were pretty well behaved by I am continually disappointed by their lack of progress. Tried to teach them how to play 7 up. Epic fail.
After lunch, I walked with Nicole down to the market. It was a nice walk, besides being about a million degrees. This has to be the hottest week yet. People are saying that it's because it hasn't rained in a while. God, I hope it rains soon.
Anyway, bought 3 yards of fabric (2 different prints) and then was beckoned by some woman into her booth where she complimented my necklaces. I gave her one; she picked my favorite, the gray one. I walked away her declared "best friend" wondering why I gave it away. I still don't know why. But she was ecstatic and brushed her hair before Nicole could take our picture. Weird, but that's Ghana for you.
I had intended on going to Christ today; but the Trotro left without me while I was inside changing. So I did my lesson plan instead, sitting on the porch with Ariel and a dozen or so of her students.

Tuesday 15th
Good day. Really good. The kids were wonderful; they were super excited by the Mouse Paint activity and I basically just really enjoyed them. I brought my camera - chaos. During break I took my shoes off and played football in my bare feet.
After lunch went into town. Bought a t-shirt from Jawel for 6CD. Ordered a silver charm bracelet from this dude. I had to give him 15CD before hand, for materials he said. A little nervous, but it should be gorgeous.
Then jumped in a crowded cab with Mark and went to Christ. The kids are beautiful and i sang and chased and ran and turned my white shirt brown.
Not much to say though. No news is good news, I suppose.

Wednesday 16th
This morning school was wonderful. The kids were great right off the bag: enthusiastic, cheerful, responsive...just wonderful. I had a great time with them and it's only now that I'm starting to notice how attached to them I am. I don't want to leave.
We finished the alphabet today and it really felt like the end. They did so well during the review too. Even the teacher commented on their participation.
After break was less fun. Teacher went a little cane-crazy which just put of the rest of the class time off.
I've started packing, with great reluctance. Seeing how much STUFF I have makes me feel guilty and materialistic. Then I think of how it is only a small fraction of the "MY STUFF" that I'll be returning to. Compare that to any person in Hohoe. It actually makes me feel a little ill. If I have learned anything, it is that very little is needed to survive and only a little more than that to live happily. They say money can't buy you happiness. But who ever thought happiness wa marketable in the first place? Happiness is children laughing, young men chasing girls, old men still in love with their old wives. Happiness is Grace's cooking, Rebecca's intuition about the weather, Alfa's bat. Happiness is the breeze, the sky, the baby goats. Happiness is a handshake that ends with a snap. And I'm pretty sure all of that is free. You just have to reach out and take it.
Went to Emmanuel's birthday party tonight. At first I was really shocked and flattered that he had invited me; I barely recall which of the many boys who hang around he was. Turns out I'm not so special; he invited a bunch of newbs on the spot the first time he met them. But actually, I think it's sweet how excited he was.
So we all trekked about five minutes down the road to his home where his mother, a mammoth of a woman, was pounding away, making fufu. The scene reminded me a bit of the stone age. Tourists that we are, out came the cameras and we all snapped away at the poor woman, blinding her with firework flashes in the dark night. I felt immediately that we should not have brought our cameras; though I am as guilty as the rest. It somehow turned the occasion into something novel, on par with the waterfall or the slave castle. It was disrespectful in the sense that we turned Emmanuel and his family into souvenirs we'll take home and show to people. "And here is me with a little village boy and his first birthday party ever." I am torn between wanting to photograph and document everything for later and wishing to enjoy the now more fully and with distraction or disruption from my other world - say cheese!
Despite the cameras, the night was sweet and simple. We, the white people, and Emmanuel ate first, sitting around a tiny table on wooden benches. We ate fufu with chicken soup and fried plantains with our right hands and from the same dishes. I liked that. It made the meal something intimate, something truly shared. It was almost beautiful.
Ran into Rebecca on her way to church as we walked home. Good thing too as it turns out she won't be here tomorrow or Firday. I'm glad I got to say goodbye to her.

Thursday 17th
Last full day and I am so not ready to leave. Kids were great again today, but school let out early because the teachers had meetings. This was a little annoying because I only got through half of my lesson plan. But Believe (Billy), Redeemer (Regima), Joshua, David, and some kids from KG2 walked me home and we colored on the porch for a while. They are so sweet. I can't imagine leaving them. After we colored I went into down and David accompanied me the entire way, holding my hand. I bought him a lollipop and sang with him.
On the way to walking David back home after the bank, ran into Sam. Sam went with me to see if the bracelet was ready. It wasn't. So we bough some soda and chocolate and wandered before running into Sydney. Second trip to the jeweler met with success. The bracelet is pretty. The metal work ins't hte best, but I'm happy. I picked 4 symbols: knowledge/wisdom; unity; diversity/co-existance; and adapibility. Nicely represents this journey, I think.

Friday 18th
Last night in the bunk, last cold shower, last breakfast of bread and a banana. Too many lasts.
Last night, we had the Kente cloth ceremony. Pictures, clapping, awkward handshakes.

And that folks is, more or less, all she wrote. In any case, that's all she wrote for you to read. It is not nearly an adequate account of my time there. It's hard to see the magnitude of the experiences you are living when its just another day. Looking back, I feel that all these words are a joke in the face of what I have felt and seen in Ghana. But they, and a few pictures (which I will get up eventually, I promise) are all I have left to share with you. So I hope you enjoyed them.

Miadago, my friends, we shall meet again.

Snapshot of "Home"

2008-07-12T06:14:00.002-05:00

Mom asked for a description of Hohoe so I'll try to describe it a little before I type up my last few journal entries for you.

On the map of Ghana, Hohoe is in the same font as the capital city Accra. But Hohoe is to Accra as New Castle is to Philadelphia. I'm not sure what to compare it to as far as size is because I see the same parts of Hohoe everyday and on the off occasion I venture down a different street I can't be sure if it is still considered part of Hohoe. I would estimate that the entire "city" would fit inside Great Valley school district. It's pretty tiny, I think. There are no big buildings really, except for a few government buildings, the electric company, a few randomly placed hotels, and this giant pink house adjacent to the "park" where the kids play football that I think is used by missionaries or something. CCS sometimes uses it for meetings when the other house comes down. The normal architecture here is all single story. Families tend to live in compounds with houses forming a square around a dirt courtyard where they cook, wash and dry clothes, and where we march through late at night trying to find a shortcut home from Boondocks. Normally you can't see this courtyards from the main street, which is lined with businesses, shops, hairdressers, seamstresses, witch doctors, photographers, and bars. The buildings themselves are basically shacks, reminiscent of what one might find on a boardwalk somewhere. The roads in Hohoe are not paved, which is odd because there are smaller towns surrounding that do have paved roads. We've asked about this and people have made vague references to it being political, but other than that there doesn't seem to be any real reason. As it is, there are potholes everywhere - the baby goats like to sleep in them, and huge puddles which can be treacherous late at night, especially if you've forgotten your flashlight. I usually do.
Everything in Hohoe is within walking distance though I've yet to walk all the way from House A to House B as it is a bit of a trek. Normally I'll walk up to Miss Ghana (a hideous golden statue in the center of town) and catch a cab. House A, where I stay, is right on the outskirts of town and we don't have to go far to get a bite to eat or do a bit of shopping. Occasionally I walk up to the Barkley's which I would estimate takes me anywhere from twenty to forty minutes depending on how many people stop me on the way to ask me my name, where I am from, will I give them anything. Barkley's is the only bank that exchanges American dollars and has an ATM that takes visa. Actually, I'm not sure about the ATM bit but it's still the only bank I've used.
House B is sort of out of the way, but it's beautiful out there and I've seen a pretty sunset or two out that way. You also get a great view of the mountains out there. A walk down a road that few cabbies are willing to drive down gets you to Boondocks where we eat pizza and chips and banku and fish and anything else we're willing to wait at least an hour for. I think my new favorite place to hang out is the Virgin Lips, though I've only been there once. It's closer to our house, quiet, peaceful. I don't know if they serve food though, since we went there after dinner.
Home Base A is actually two houses, the main one inside the gate where most people sleep, where we all eat and hang out on the couches. My room is in the other house, added like an afterthought, that has three or four rooms I think, all of which are about the size of a cubby and contain two bunkbeds each, a fan, and some shelves. Outside of showering, sleeping, and lesson-planning, I spend very little time inside this house. We (the volunteers, Elly, as well as a number of neighborhood kids) do spend a lot of time on the porch of this house. Plugging in an iPod to a cheap set of speakers we basically sit about and talk about nothing, occasionally pulling out some crayons and paper for the younger kids. It's funny to see people sitting on our porch when I leave for placement in the morning and to find them still there when I come home for lunch. I ask them if they get bored but I guess there isn't much else to do when you're young, out of school, and out of work. They're fun kids though and we enjoy their company.

That was a longer description than I had intended. It's probably poorly written too. I haven't been getting much sleep lately. No matter how late I go to bed I still end up waking up around seven. Even after a crazy night last night and the luxury of an airconditioned room I woke up early this morning. Ah well.

So to fill you in on the rest of Friday 4th:
Took the public Trotro to Atimpoku and from there to the Africiko hotel in Akosombo. The trotro was certainly and adventure. We waited for it to be filled before it left, then we took off at top speed accompanied by three gossipy woman, two cute babies, one chicken (which was periodically beaten on by one of said cute babies), and a man with a whacked out left eye. It felt a bit like being in a covered wagon, what with the archedish (it is so a word) upholstered with canvas, the rice, and the hen. A covered wagon that zoomed at top speed and dodged potholes ina fashion similar to the way my dad dodges squirrels - recklessly. We spoke of the Oregon Trail nostalgically. It was dirty too. When we got to our swanky hotel room we discovered that the inside of our noses and turned completely black from breathing in the soot. Gross.
It is a pretty swanky place though. Our room is half a chalet hut with a massive bed, AC, private and massive bathroom, deck, and television. Glorious. Can't figure out the hot water though...bummer.

Saturday 6th.
Went to the Cedi Bead Factory yesterday where we ran into some others from home and we arranged to share their Trotro home. Yesss! The bead factory itself was amazing. They make their beads by crushing up glass bottles and melting them down. The result is beautiful and I am so envious of their talent and skill. AFter the tour - which was free! - we went into their little store where, of course, we all went crazy and bought lots of bracelets and beads and necklaces. Let a bunch of yevohs into a jewelry store... The dude was super nice too; he gave each of us a free braclet! Yay!

Monday 7th
It was good to see my kids this morning. They were no better behaved or smarter than before, but they seem to be getting used to me; and I to them. I'm still frustrated by some of the kids who can't even recognize a letter; it's even worse when they stare at me without looking at the letter I am pointing to. Do they even try?
Teacher hit Joshua today, I had to look away.
Went to Christ after lunch. Had to push the Trotro out of the mud: got filthy. Christ was crazy, fun, and a little depressing. You see the need a lot more starkly at Christ when they're clinging to you like a lifeline than you do at school or on the street.
Political speaker tonight. Mildly interesting, but I found it too general (and I was too tired) to get much out of it.

Thursday 10th
I want to recap the past few days but I seriously do not recall Tuesday at all. I guess that means nothing worthy of note happened. For some reason, I am doubtful of that. There is rarely a day here not worth noting. I'm also very sleeping.
Yesterday, class was pretty hellish. No teachers except for this scary young-ish woman who would disappear for long periods of time and then return to beat the shit out of my kids for acting up. They were acting up and it was hard to impossible for me to keep control over them - let alone teach them anything. It was pretty miserable but after today at the School for the Mentally Challenged, I shouldn't complain.

Friday 11th
Went to the Virgin Lips last night instead of finishing my journal entry yesterday. Nice place. The sky was marvellous.
I left off yesterday taking about the School for the Mentally Challenged. But I should go back to Wednesday and talk about the caves.
We went to Lipke and were introduced to our guide, Original Boss. Great nickname. I think it took us about an hour to climb up the mountain, maybe a little longer. It was hard work and I'm glad I opted to wear my sneakers instead of my chucks; but it wasn't so difficult that I needed to use my inhaler. The scenery was beautiful and Sydney whined the whole way up.
We paused near the top at this sort of field where the grass was very long and soft looking; feathery like the brush strokes in a painting. (Yes, I have been storing that cliched expression in my head all this time.) There was this really great tree up there with a swing hanging from one of its branches. Most of us had a go on it. I went first. It felt like flying.
Then we went onto the caves. There were six of them adn they were all pretty similar. Most were smallish. They were really cool though. The rock was beautiful and the climbing really challenging. It would never fly in the STates. There would have to be ropes and harnesses and helmets and waivers to sign. But there we were, scaling a rock wall with nothing but our hands and feet. Amazing. And I felt really great once we had finished.
Yesterday: left the house at 7:30 with Jackie and Carly to walk to Jackie's placement, The School for the Mentally Challenged, which is located out near Christ. It took us an hour so I'm putting it under the category of good exercise.
The place itself was pretty overwhelming and I felt uncomfortable and eager to leave at once. The building they use for the school is similar to the one at Musama and of all of the schools around here. But they had electricity - lights and fans - which makes it a million times nicer than Musama. It didn't seem too filthy either but that's probably because Home Base B cleaned it on Monday. I'm disappointed and relieved that I didn't get to see the dorms.
The ids were...well mentally challenged. They were loud or too quiet; wild or practically asleep. Some drooled and hung all over us (one boy bit Carly) and others watched us from across the room. There was really no structure to the day so we "played" with them. Mostly just sat with them, hugged them, and read them stories. ONe girl, Deedee, pretty much clung to me and I'm ashamed to say that her rolling, unfocused eyes, fat lips, horse teeth, and dopey voice rather repelled me. She had a fever too. I was glad that Carly was there and that she seemed to feel just as uncomfortable. I felt overwhelmingly sorry for them and it was a sickly pity that churned in my stomach and made me feel guilty. I wanted to turn away. As soon as the Tro came, I did. I won't be going back there. Jackie, however, has my upmost respect. She is great with them and never complains.
Yesterday was also Elly's birthday. Aurdey, Navi, and I bought him a football (soccer ball, Americans). It was overpriced at 30 CD but was the nicest we could find here. He seemed to really like it.
Last night was the farewell shindig where everyone who is leaving was presented with their Kente cloth. I was sad to see most of them go - the Fam, Brittney, Audrey especially.
This morning I went with Patrick to listen to a man speak about living with HIV/AIDS. It was interesting to hear and more so to watch the reactions of the students.
We leave after lunch for Lake Volta.

Today
I took a warm shower in the dark this morning. This place. It cannot allow the luxury of hot water to coexist with the commonly expected working electric lights. To not continually draw a stark line between luxury and commodity would be to permit one to lapse into forgetfulness of where one is. And Ghana must always remind you that you are here and nowhere else.
Made it safely to the Continental hotel last night despite almost smashing into a suddenly stopped car.

Have to go now. I was supposed to meet the others for lunch like fifteen minutes ago and I'm starving. Hope all is well at home and that Rach and Katherine had a safe flight back.

With love and well-wishing,
Lesedi

I Love African Skies

2008-07-04T05:13:00.002-05:00

Again, too lazy and cheap to come up with a separate summary of what I've been doing, so I'll just type up some more excerpts from my journal. Enjoy!

Thursday 26th
Today was amazing!!! I walked to school alone because I went in after Carly and Audry but before Arianna. The kids were really good for the first hour or so, Billy especially - I adore him. They did really well at the clap counting activity compared to yesterday. They still need work on letter recognition; I guess I really need to come up with a better way to help them to remember. I was really impressed when we worked on big, medium, and small. They are bright kids I think, and eager to interact with me, but I'm not sure how much they're taking in. It's so bewildering. All the volunteers are so amazing and are doing so much for their kids and I just feel like I'm barely keeping my kids focused. I really want to help these kids. I also really want to feel connected the way some people appear to. Lately I've had trouble relating to people. For example, we went to Wli waterfall today and I nearly cried when I stood in front of it. I just felt so there, so intensely aware of my size and powerlessness in relation to this massive waterfall. I had felt more of myself there than I had in any of my interactions with the people around me. I dunno, that's hard to explain.
The waterfall was an amazing experience though. We all piled into Big Blue and Dehla drove us to the start of the trail. There were a number of shops selling masks, carvings, and jewelry. Really beautiful stuff. I picked up some gifts there and had my first real experience haggling. What fun!
I want to write more about the waterfall but I'm so exhausted. In the middle of writing this journal entry we got into this huge debate on feminism which was hilarious and so much fun ut completely dashed any hopes of getting an early night. So peace out.

Saturday 28th

Drove up to Cape Coast on Friday in an air -conditioned silver Trotro, driven by the ever-charming Francis. We are spending entirely too much this weekend and I have to keep reminding myself that this weekend is my vacation and I have to enjoy myself. There certainly have been ups and downs so far.
In Accra we got bombarded the moment we opened the door. Boys asking us our names, where we were from, would we like a necklace for very good price? It was annoying and some how a little violating. I don't like being targeted to buy shit just because I'm white, young, and a woman. The bombardment is the same everywhere we go here. At first I was surprised by how much I miss Hohoe and its genuine and happy people. We stopped in Accra only long enough to eat at Frankie's, a place where white people go to overpay for barely descent American food. Rachel and I split a Lebanese dish and some chips.
Today was a mix of the good and the bad. The hotel we are staying at is amazing: right on the beach, air conditioned, flush toilet...and of course we are paying way too much for it. Woke up cranky and remained so until we went to the rain forest for the CANOPY WALK!
The canopy walk was amazing!!!!!!!!!!!!! I wish I had been there alone with my pen and paper, then I migh have been able to express in words the sheer power and silent dignity of that magical place. At the same time, there was also a heavy blanket of defeat about the place that felt oppressive in a way separate from the humidity or the aggressive sun.
Our guide taught us about the trees and their uses (one was a natural Viagra, the other black magic). Most of them are also endangered. We didn't see any animals because we were so noisy. there were a lot of people there. As we waiting to leave, one man let me try a coco seed. You don't actually eat it, just suck on it for a while. It tasted like yogurt a bit. I also ate coconut and drank some coconut milk.
Next stop was the slave castle which was both beautiful and sobering. The things were learned were really really depressing just as the architecture was really really gorgeous. What an odd combination. One of the most ugly stains on humanity's collective history, framed by the walls of an absolutely exquisite castle.
Back at the resort we had lunch: fish and chips and for desert, vanilla ice cream with a sweet rum sauce. Delicious. We were joined at our table by Sylvester AKA Sly AKA Rasta Man. He gave us a hilarious and bizarre lesson on true love and abstinence and then sold Rachel and I dresses. He was cute, right up Kristy's ally, but he was clearly a salesman which was off putting. We left him bartering with Navi and went down to the beach, which was beautiful.
The real fun happened at dinner. Rach and I put on our dresses and all of us put on our pretty faces. I shaved my legs for the first time since I've been here!!!! We went down to dinner and opted to sit apart from the big group. Rachel and I split snapper and Kenkay with this spicy salsa-is stuff. It's the first really Ghanian meal I've had and it was really good. I ate it with my hands.
After dinner, we went down to the bonfire on the beach where Sly, who was off his rocker high, promptly asked Navi to marry him. So much for abstinence. Hung out with Mary, Carly, and some new American friends. We sat around with our feet in the pool and chatted about anything and everything. I vaguely recall someone pulling out a harmonica and I played a shitty version of "when the saints come marching home" - still the only song I know.
All in all, I had a good time. Tomorrow is the cultural market.

Monday 30th
It is so good to be home. The culture market was hellish. I had arrived fully prepared to spend a lot of money on gifts for people back home. But getting out of the van we were mobbed and dragged in a thousand different directions. At one point Katherine tripped and like three dudes rushed to wash her leg. So bizarre. The pushiness very soon ceased to be amusing and after much effort and frustration, I went with Katherine to find sanctuary from a nearby church service.
Today school was fun. The children ran to greet me and were very good in class. Went to Gifty's and got our hair braided. We were there for five hours but it was actually pretty cool - and now my hair is long and blonce since they used extensions of a lighter color.

Wednesday 2nd.
Yesterday was awesome. Had the opportunity to sleep in but ended up getting up before 8. Ate a lot of french toast. Around nine a group of us met at "the park" - a bare patch of land with scattered grass and puddles. We were met there by a bunch of neighborhood kids. Britt had organized a soccer game the day before. We played yevos vs amebos and were defeated 6 -3. I was pretty much awful but had a blast.
After a quick shower, spent the rest of the day lazing around and reading, falling in and out of sleep on the couch. It was glorious.
Went to Boondocks to celebrate Canada Day and Republic Day as well as getting the results from my AP exams back. Three 5s!!!! What what! That's right people, I am going to Warwick. Soooooooooooo pumped!
Today, class went well. Some of the students are really coming along so it shocks me each time I discover a student who can't write the letter G. It's hard to give individual attention to students but I am donig my best. Introduced the concept of zero today and taught them "do your ears hang low." The rest of the activities were just variations on previous days. I need to be more inventive.
Biggest upset today was went Bridge fell and cut her knee open. When I asked where the first aid kit was, the teacher told me there wasn't one. Luckily Carly had a band-aid but the situation is ridiculous. Carly and I are thinking of buying a bunch of first aid kits and giving them to the school.
Went to the monkey sanctuary today which was a little boring but at least I can say I've had monkeys take bananas from my hand.

Today
Again, no placement for me today. It's field day or something so no class. I slept in and took my time getting ready.
Quick recap of yesterday: awful. The kids were wild, I was frustrated almost to tears by how little they have learned and am questioning my ability to really be effective here. Also, the water system for the school is broken so the students are having to work to carry dirt to sell so the school can afford to get it fixed. And this is supposed to be a public school. Disgraceful. These poor kids. After lunch and a short nap we we went to Beatrice's to learn how to Batik, so much fun!
I'll be leaving today for Lake Volta with Rachel and Katherine. That should be an adventure as we're taking public transport. I'll make sure to pack my bug spray.

I love you all lots and lots and hope you are all enjoying your summer as much as I am! When I get home I'll upload some pictures to show you the places and people I've been talking about. Feel free to e-mail me, I try to get up to the internet cafe at least once a week.

Lesedi

Ndo!

2008-06-25T09:25:00.004-05:00

Good afternoon, everyone! This is Lesedi writing. I finally found the time to sit down and update the blog. I don't really have much time, I get charged by the minute, and as cheap as it is, Katherine and I have other plans while we're in town. So I'll just type up a few excerpts from my blog. I'll write more next week.

6/20 So I am on my way. I am writing with a kickass complimentary clicky pen, eating salsa flavoured pretzel nuggets, as I contemplate the sheer awesomeness that is World Traveller Plus.
Despite nervous and drastically pessimistic thoughts, no mishaps in the airport. I ate sushi with a fork - which is probably criminal.
Was properly obnoxious on plane and photographed leg space and cup holders.

6/21 Flight was surprisingly good. Watched Kite Runner, ate stuff. Slept. Drooled a little bit on Katherine. Sorry Katherine.
Arrived at Heathrow. Good spirits dissipated upon entering the airport. Feeling cranky and out of sorts. Exchange rate bites. Katherine and I exchanged forty dollars between the two of us and got like fifteen pounds back. This bought me a breakfast of coffee and a sandwich form Starbucks.
I lost my ring. The one my parents got for me on my birthday. I put it in the pocket of Rachel's sweatshirt - which I was wearing - only to find out later that it must have fallen through a hole. I am disappointed but...there isn't anything I can do.
On the brighter side, Katherine and I have been bumped up to first class. We met some girls from the program while waiting to board, Navi and Carly, they both seem really nice. (Edit: Carly ended up being a teacher at Musama with me.)
We had starters. cheese mousse or some such culinary delight - it was delightful. And then, main course? Lamb. Yes, lamb with roasted potatoes and carrots. And it was soooo good. for dessert I had some cheese cake. I just finished napping - my seat becomes a bed. When I awoke I was immediately offered a sandwich. I accepted along with a cup of green tea with Jasmine. YUM. I have also peed on this airplane no less than four times. apparently high altitudes make my bladder shrink.

Really late or really early:
I am not in g good mood. Bag put on top of van and got soaked during three or four hour drive from Accra to Hohoe. Everything inside, soaked. And worst of all, I'm not with Katherine or Rachel. They are in the South base and I am in the North.

6/22 Spirits much better today than they were last night. I still haven't' seen katherine or Rach yet, but everyone here is really nice and we all get alone fine.
I woke up early. sleeping didn't come easy; it was hot; the fan was noisy; and my pillow is like a thick bundle of pebbles. But I wasn't tired when I finally lifted the mosquito net and rolled out of my bottom bunk. The shower was cold but refreshing and I felt about a million times better after finally being clean.
It is beautiful here. Despite the trash and dirt roads, the I am struck silent and still just looking about me. Walking out of my house I see three different types of tropical trees - I must learn their names - and beyond them are the mountains, whispering delicious secrets. Up above, the sky is intimate and large. Now it is draped with heavy rain clouds as I sit on the porch and write.
Walked about town a bit with Audrey, my roommate. We waved and said hi to everyone, they all said hi back. The children were the best. Their faces lighting up as we said hi to them or shook their hands.
The streets are all dirt and side stores with signs like "lord Have Mercy" and "I am afraid of my friends even you" are the norm.
The food here is great and Grace, our cook, i adorable. Had an ewe lesson today but forgot most of it.

6/23 Orientation was long and boring. I learned that if I am proposed to, I should simply say that I am already married. As Katherine puts it, Ghanaian men are not afraid of commitment.
No soccer, but a lot of dancing. A group of children came to do traditional drumming and dancing for us. I got some great pictures. t the end we danced with them and the children all laughed at us. The children all loved posing for pictures and playing with the cameras. It was a good time and ended too soon.
Talked to Akos about switching houses; she didn't seem to keen. I agreed to wait until Friday to see how often I actually get to see the others.
It gets dark very early here. Erin and Ariel played guitar and sang for us. It was nice. The trees seemed to breathe time and calm instead of just oxygen. It is intoxicating. I feel so much at home.

6/24 Today was my first day at Musama. I was put in front of a kindergarten class. There are two teachers in the class with me, and they are both very good. Today I mostly just watched and got to know the kids. I played soccer at break. The children are lovely even though I can't remember most of their names. Tomorrow I am supposed to teach.
After lunch, Audrey and I went into town. We came here, to the Internet cafe, and up to the bank. We took a taxi home and I think we overpaid him, but I don't really mind.
Then a bunch of us when to Christ Orphanage. We picked up over fifty children and walked with them to a big field where they basically went crazy. The children were all adorable but more interested in my braces and the others' cameras than anything else.

Today:

School today was much more challenging for me. I had to teach the entire three hours that I was there. We worked on letter and numeral recognition and the children are all enthusiastic and some of them are really bright, but they are not where I feel they should be. I taught them a few songs and played some games, but mostly I worked on different ways of teaching them to recognize letters and to understand what the numbers they were saying meant. We also played Simon Says, which was great fun.

Tomorrow we go to the waterfalls where we can swim! I am so excited.

Lots of love to all of my friends and family,

Lesedi

P.S. I will again try to get Katherine or Rachel to post something.

Drum Roll Please!

2008-06-12T20:12:00.002-05:00

It's nearly time to leave! We are all so excited. Today we received our placements and everyone seems really pleased with what they got. Rachel was placed in a hospital which is really great since she wants to pursue a career in medicine. Katherine will be working in an orphanage which is perfect since she is absolutely the most loving and caring creature ever. I was assigned to work as a teaching assistant at the Musama Local Authority Basic School. I've been reading up on it a bit, our advisor sent me some testimonies by previous volunteers at the school. It actually sounds as though it will be rather challenging. Their are problems of violence and cheating at the school. Many of the teachers there, it seems, choose to use the cane if they bother to discipline the children at all. I just hope my patience will last. On a more interesting note, I am encouraged to help the children grow creatively, as most of their lessons involve simple memorization. I'm going to try to spend my time before we leave planning activities. Luckily I have an excellent resource to aid me: my mother, a kindergarten teacher and a Peace Corps alumna.

With this last piece in its place, we're just waiting to set off. A few tidbits left to pick up, we really need to put together a first aid kit, and then we're about ready. I wrote an article in the school newspaper about our trip, which I will try to get a hold of and maybe upload onto here. Lots of people keep asking us about it and I'm eager just to BE THERE.

I'll try to get the others girls to post since its been me this whole time and it might be nice to hear what they're feeling about their placements and this whole process.

Peace out, friends.

- Lesedi

It's Official!

2007-10-07T15:49:00.000-05:00

The $275 deposit has been made. On June 21st I am going to Ghana for four awesome weeks! I can't wait. I've been working really hard, giving up a lot of free time, to make this happen. I am so excited.

Rachel had enrolled in the program also, which is excellent since for a while we were uncertain whether or not she could go. She will only be staying for three weeks, one less than my four, but it will certainly be a lot of fun.

We're still waiting on Katherine, but are pretty confidant that she will be able to make it.

The next step is to send out letters to family and friends asking for donations. As much as I've been working, I don't know if I'll be able to make enough and, with university to pay for next year, I hate to rely too much on my parents. We also need to set a date for a garage sale and maybe figure out some way to do some fund raising at school.

Inch by Inch

2007-07-06T20:45:00.000-05:00

Slowly but surely we are finally starting to make progress. I've finally gotten a job working a diner and while I'll keep trying to get another, I'm am immensely relieved to have at least one source of incoming funds to put towards Ghana. Also this weekend, inconveniently my first weekend at work, we've bought two tables at a flea market event. We've spent the past two weeks ripping the house apart to find things to sell. I hope we do well and I am tremendously thankful to my mother who had put an awesome amount of work into this event. She will be the one up there selling things since I have to be at work. I also hope that this even will give me the chance to raise awareness about what I'm doing as I've made small fliers to give out with the web address of this blog as well as my e-mail address. I think its important to let people know what's going on and maybe even inspire them to take similar steps to help build the international community.

On a not so positive note, Rachel and Katherine's parents are still yet to be convinced to allow them to go with me to Ghana. Since the summer is moving along steadily and soon we will have college applications and senior year courses to deal with, we really need to start making some serious decisions as to the specifics of our trip. There is an even in Philly hosted by Cross Cultural Solutions on July 15th that hopefully we can all attend with our parents to find out more information about that particular organization as well as qualm any worries Rachel or Katherine's parents might have.

MySpace!

2007-03-05T15:20:00.000-05:00

We now have a MySpace! Show your support for the Ghana hopefulls by friending us.

Two roads diverged in a yellow wood...

2007-03-01T20:59:00.000-05:00

This is the beginning of what I dream will be a rewarding and enjoyable adventure. Right now we have little more than a single goal to guide us, but this beacon of light is enough. We know enough to get us moving in the right direction, and as we learn more about our options and our own desires, the rest will become clear. This is what we know so far:

We want to volunteer abroad in the summer of 2008.
We want to go to Africa to volunteer.
We want to go for at the very least 3 weeks.
We want to help people, make a difference, experience a new culture, and have the time of our lives.

That's nice and all, but alone, it won't get us anywhere. There's a lot of work, dedication, and determination in front of us. These are our immediate goals:

Research, research, research! We need to learn as much as we can about as many different international volunteering organizations and programs as we can. So far we have found several good ones and are in the processing of learning more about them.
Focus our goals. What sort of volunteering do we want to do? What country would be best? What sort of people do we want to travel with? What are we expecting? We need to compare notes, straighten and clarify what we already know, and come up with a simple and organized list of goals.
FUND RAISING! This is a biggy. Even the least expensive program is going to cost over $2,000 plus airfare (which is like another $2,000). We need to plan out the best way to do this, set goals for dates, discuss different ideas, and form a realistic expectation. We need to talk to people who've done this before, ask our school for advice and assistance, and do more research to learn about what other people have done.

It isn't much more than a to-do-list but it is a start. A person cannot get anywhere without first taking a step.

With love and peaceful wishes,

Lesedi