Matt's last day and Adventure in Accra

Time is really flying and I am having a hard time keeping up with my blogging because of my access to internet has been slow or non existent, so sorry for the slow updates. Matt left on June 22^nd, and our day is Accra was full. We went to James Town for the morning and met with a man named Nii who runs a children’s after school program entitled Streetwise and a drumming and dance group entitle Jaynii Cultural Troupe. The center and troupe headquarters is on the beach and he is in the process of building a school and dormitory there. His organization supports low income children by paying for school fees, making school uniforms, teaching drumming and dancing lessons as well as providing a library. He has a small bar and if you purchase drinks there the money goes to the organization. His main form of financing Streetwise is through Jaynii Cultural Troupe performances and lessons. I have decided to send him school supplies when I return home. He is really in need of laptops or computers for the library, but is open to any assistance. If you want to check out his organizations you can go to www.jaynii.com.

We then left and went the original home of the fancy Ghana coffins. The Ghana coffins were something I had read about when I was really young in a magazine. The coffins are designed after an individuals' profession. The original coffins were designed in Teshie, Ghana (about 10 miles outside of Accra) in the 1950s by Seth Kanekwei. Seth designed the first coffin for a chief (chiefs are buried in a snail or tortoise shaped coffins). People saw the coffin and soon others wanted their own specialized coffin. Still in business, Seth's grandson, Eric now runs the business with his father. Coffins are 600-800 Ghana cedis and most of the Gn people (the original tribe that the coffins were designed for) can no longer afford them, but people throughout Africa and the world come to get personalize coffins made. In the shop, Eric had a fish, coke bottle, filming camera, water bottle, and hammer on display. He says it takes about 10 days to make a coffin and he sells about 4 each month. There are a handful of Americans that come over and go through carpentry apprenticeship programs with them. If you want to learn more about the coffins check out Eric's website at www.Ghanacoffins.com. It was exciting to finally see these coffins in person. It used to be the only thing I really knew about Ghana as a kid. They are really quite amazing!

Matt is safely back home now!!!Miss you honey!!

What a week!

So Matt has been here a week and we have been busy exploring and taking in Ghana. We made reservations at Peter's Pizza last Wednesday. It is a small green restaurant that sits on the edge of Aburi town. Peter went to culinary arts school in Italy and can make french fries as long as you give him a days notice, so he can get potatoes from Accra. It was quite a treat. We had hamburgers and fries, listened/watched Ghana music videos and played cards with Maren and Cara. It was a fun night. We have also been to the wood distrust in Aburi, which is 3 blocks of wood carving artist who have individual shops set up. It is like an outdoor shopping market and you can either purchase items off the shelf or have things custom made. Matt, of course has been trying new Ghana foods, and I have encouraged him on the sides. I was content eating my American snacks and being good company while he explored.

This past weekend we took a group trip to Cape Coast. I have had mixed feelings of excitement and anxiousness about visiting the slave castles. We left Friday morning and 20 of us (both the Mampong volunteer team and the Kibi volunteer team) crawled into a trotro and headed down the street for our 6 hour ride to the coast. It was a beautiful and interesting ride. We stayed at an Crocodile hotel. There were crocodiles in the water that surrounded them and the food was pretty good. Saturday, we headed to Kakum National Park. It is a protected area by the Ghana government and is the home to several different types of trees, the Forest Elephant, and various other animals. They also have 7 rope bridges, which allow you to walk from treetop to treetop appreciating the amazing views and looking down at how dense the forest floor is. The rope bridges are pretty narrow and only 4 people can be on them at a time. It was a highlight of our trip.

We then then headed to the Cape Coast Slave castle. More than 2 million slaves can through this castle and were sold into the Transatlantic Slave trade. It was crazy to walk through such a beautiful fort and know and feel the horror that happened there. We walked through the dungeons, the torch rooms, the governors' living corridors, the kitchen, and the trading market area. Our guide was very informative, and I was happy that I had gone to the National Museum in Accra the week before, so I had a better understanding of what he was talking about and could ask more in depth questions. We ended our tour at the "Door of No Return." The door of no return was haunting at the museum and even more so standing next to it. Knowing that hundreds of thousands of slaves from around Africa walked through that door and perhaps my ancestors was overwhelming to say the least. Choked up, but determined to get through that door, I was greeted with what is now the fisherman's community on the other side. Very different than what it would have been for captives being send to various places within the Americas. The guide said that the Cape Coast community had a memorial ceremony at that particular castle several years ago and the other side of the door now read the "Door of Return." The hope is that the African Diaspora (all Africans that live throughout the world) will come home and reconnect with their roots and culture. When you walk back through the door you are greeted with Awaaba which mean Welcome in Twi. We took another 30 minutes to explore the castle on our own. I didn't feel like it was enough time to see and take everything in. I had 30 minutes, only one minute for each year I have been alive, to take in and process a place that many Blacks will never see. I was frustrated by the lack of understanding that I needed more time there. Others were greatly impacted too, but not the same way I was. Many just couldn't understand.

We left the castle and headed to a resort to play on the beach and have dinner. Uneasy with the transition from the slave castle to a privileged private beach resort, I tried to just sit by the ocean side and think. I don't really have words for the day I had. We had dinner and headed back to the crocodile hotel that night. We left Sunday morning and headed back to Mampong. It was quite a weekend.

It is a beautiful warm Tuesday!

So it is a really beautiful day, so I decided to journey to the Internet cafe. Matt, my husband, arrived this last Saturday, and it is really good to see him. He didn't sleep at all on the plane, but he met a really interesting man who shared a lot about Ghana's culture with him throughout the 10 hour plane ride. Though we had a challenging morning trying to get him (our TroTro was 2 hours late and Matt struggled a bit to get through customs), it all worked out in the end. We spent the day in Accra, picked my African drum (it is amazing and I love it), headed to Independent Square again for Matt which allowed us to see the beach, and then to the Accra mall for pizza and cake. It was amazing. Loving Day was on June 12th (the anniversary of the case that legalized interracial marriage), so we celebrated a day early on June 11th at the mall with a little comfort food.

I am heading into my fourth week here and the challenge is consistent yet always changing. I can't change a broke educational system, but I know there is a purpose for me being here. I was given advise from a friend to narrow my focus down to what will really matter once I leave Ghana in July. As I reflected on what really matters I thought about how much I have adapted to this place. I live a simpler life.....mostly cold showers, a mild breakfast (one slice of bread and applesauce), I walk most places, wear the same clothes for several days, am learning Twi, and find it just as important to greet each stranger I walk by similar to the locals. I appreciate sitting in my new friend, Ben's, cell phone shop just looking out the door at the green mountain ranges.

At the school, it is important for kids to lean to read and do math (the students are growing and improving each day), but if I can't be completely successful at that, and I only focus on that, then I will miss what matters most here. Their education is paramount to their success, but so is encouraging them to dream and have hope. The aspects I have control over is hugging each of those little and some times big kids each time they reach out, and showing them that they matter to me if only for a moment. It is learning as many names as possible because when you can remember their name when they ask you, it means you are friends and will not forget them and that matters.

This experience has been an emotional roller coaster. I have had moments of frustration, fear, uneasiness, happiness, success, excitement, laughter, panic and joy. Though I don't have control over every aspect of this experience, I have control over many aspects which are typically the most important ones. This doing what matters each day has become my new outlook, so I can appreciate and fully experience Ghana and give what I am here to give. This experience is continuous beginning a new and I still have plenty of time to make the most out of it.

City Life...Accra

Maren, Cara and I spend the weekend in Accra. We originally went down with the group Saturday morning. We hit up the fabric district (thousands of different fabric prints). I picked up fabric to get a shirt and dress made. We then headed to the National Culture Center, which has a misleading name because it is really an outdoor wood and craft center. I met a man named Dontty there. He was a tall Rastafarian man. His mom is from Ghana and his father is from Jamaica . His locks came down to his shoulders and he was tall and dark. A bit skinny and pushy, but a kind spirit it seemed. He approached me right outside the center walls and asked me to come to his shop. After a lot of negotiation, I decided to have him make my African drum. I took an African drum lesson about two weeks ago and decided I wanted to have a drum made while I was here. I am really excited about it. It will take him a week, and it will be black and red with a variety of adinkra symbols and my Ghana name.

It was so interesting talking to him about his Rastafarian life and he asked me which of the Rasti values I practiced. My hair is locked but I do not currently practice a Rastafarian life. It was an interesting awaking for me to think about what it means when you take one aspect of a culture and do not educate yourself on all aspects of it. This motivated me to look more into Rastafarian culture and values. I don't have to believe in them, but I should be able to speak to what I do believe in and why and visa versa. An interesting moment of self awareness!

So we also went to the Accra mall- they have AC, pizza and ice cream- it was just what I needed!!! After the mall, we split from the group and went to get our room key for the place we'd be staying. We found a person on couchcrashers.com that was renting rooms in Accra, so we made arrangements with her. It was a nice place, but we quickly met Ms. Maggi, the landlord, and head out for movie. We saw Fast Five. It is always cool to go see a movie in a different country. Unfortunately, no Ghana movies were playing at the time.

Sunday, we woke up and headed to the National Museum, Independence Square and Ghana's first President's memorial. It was a very informative day, and it felt good to get a better understanding of Ghana's history from their perspective. I think this new information will help me be a better teacher.

We headed back to Mampong around 2:30pm on a Tro Tro (bus) and arrived home around 4pm just in time to unwind and celebrate Kaylee, one of the volunteer's birthday. It was a good city weekend, and yes, I did run into some ants, but no major bugs or animals.. I love city life!

They can TELL TIME!!!

So today was a successful day in the classroom. The day before we were teaching the kids how to tell time. We had visual aids, hands on activities, colored chalk, etc. trying to get them to connect the idea of time to their daily lives. One activity we did was having the kids pass a old peanut jar filled with bottle caps to each other in a straight line. They stood facing each others' back and had to pass the jar over their heads and under their legs until it reached the last person. We were trying to teach them about seconds. They had one practice round and then were timed. We showed them the stopwatch at the end. It was a lot of fun.

Today in class, we reviewed the concept of time. All but one or two remembered how to tell time. I feel like we're finally making some progress. Their multiplication tables are coming and we're moving onto division, so we have a lot of work to do. I am most concerned right now about their reading skills. I think most of the kids are memorizing, which means they cannot really read. I am trying to figure out how to teach them how to read when we keep moving forward with lessons. Wow.. this is challenging..I am trying to meet them where they're at, but reading is so foundational..deep breaths today.

Matt is coming early. He will be here on Saturday, and will stay until June 22nd. His work schedule changed, so he was able to move his flight without any problems or major fees. It will be good to see him and share this experience because culture shock is real. I could use a little home right now.

Ants, Snakes, Dead Frogs Oh My!!

So this blog is all about the interesting creatures I have encountered while in Ghana. I heard about the ants and the importance of doubling up all my Ziploc bags for my snacks because some ants will eat through plastic as well as not throwing food away in my trash, but I clearly underestimated the sophistication of the ants here. They are different sizes and colors, and the hardest working things around. The red ones work in large packs each morning creating redish colored lines across the drive way, and I almost step in them daily. You can see their hard work by the tunnels they create and the numerous mounds everywhere. The black ants should not be stepped on because they bite. Maren got bit yesterday....good grief they are huge and nasty little things!

Now, I have come across 4 dead frogs so far which I'm not sure is a blessing or not- alive or dead they all make me jump and scream in disgust. I live among the lizards as we have a mutual respect for one another. We stay out of each others way. They stay on the walls and I stay off the walls. They are hunger, and I welcome them to each the other bugs in my room. They move when I walk and I try hard not to step on them.

Now the snakes on the other hand are a very different story. I have no desire to have a relationship with them. I would just prefer never to see them. However, while walking to school the other night, Maren and I made it almost to the bottom of the drive way and her head light spotted a light green and white snake stretching the length across the driveway and about the size of my hand cupped like a letter "c" touching each other. I screamed and ran up the hill . Needless to say, I didn't make it to school to play with the kids that night. I wish I could just get over the bugs and animals, but I'm just a city girl.. I am headed to Accra this weekend and am looking forward to a few less bugs--- hopefully!!

Oreos- I'm the Chocolate Stuck in the Middle

I love Oreos specifically double stuffed oreos. Maren and I have one each night cold straight from our small ref. It's a way to connect to home, end a day and bond as friends. It is a moment we take each night before bed and wouldn't missed for the world. In many ways an oreo is a good representation of how I feel most days expect inside out. I, a chocolate person, am stuck in the middle of an all white group. When we go out taxi drivers, guides, community members, etc approach me first to ask questions, negotiate prices, to collect the group's money, sell items to the group, etc. Charity, our group leader is a Deaf woman. I try to push people to talk to her, but in many situations I end up interpreting for her and the person doesn't have an interest in talking with her. I do more translating information than interpreting because of this, which doesn't allow me to walk away from a situation and let her handle it as our group leader. It can be really exhausting and requires me to be mentally on all the time. Some days it make me not want to participate in group outing, just do my own thing in smaller groups. I thought about what it might be like to be the only Black person in this group, but I didn't really imagine this. Not sure how to navigate it yet.

Maren and I found more BOFU (like a donut) on the street today and bought 15 of them.. Oh my gosh they are so GOOOOOOOOOOOD!!!! It's going to be a good breakfast morning. Typically, when my breakfasts start off well the dinner is good to.. Fingers crossed

At school, yesterday Maren and I arrived to a group of children standing outside along the road. As we walked over, we were greeted by the African Momma, Dora, who said that the children were waiting for the President of Ghana to pass by to wave and pay their respects to him. He was on his way to Koforidua. We stood on the street chatting with Dora and her husband, Samuel, the school librarian and sign language teacher. My chatting was interrupted by the sound of sirens coming down the street. There were 4 individual cops on motorcycles zooming down the street zig zagging back and forth down the street. They were followed by two large vehicles and then the President's car. His window was down and he was waving out at the children. The children and all of us out there started waving hysterically at each car and in minutes after standing for a little over an hour the President and posse were gone within minutes. It was a cool experiences.