I Bless the Rains Down in Africa

School started back up this week. Well kind of. The first week of school is time for weeding and getting things in order. I finished marking because I was in Morocco when we finished last term so I wasn’t able to mark the term exams.

My Form 3 students write their final exams in T-30 days. Unfortunately the teachers seem to be more concerned about this than the students are. This exam is how the students get into Senior High School.

[Just a little side note here. It’s currently 8pm and there is a tropical down pour going on. This is probably my favorite part about living in this country. The rains come out of nowhere and it will down pour anywhere from 10 minutes to the whole day. You can fill buckets of water in minutes and the temperature usually decreases by about 10 degrees which is always welcome. The only downside is that my lights went out. Oh well, life goes on.]

Anyways the teachers have been getting a lot of pressure from everyone in town. They say we should have a 100% pass rate on the test this year (last year we had 18%). This is going to be difficult given their poor English skills but we are doing everything we can including organizing extra classes. Sadly out about 10/17 students come to these classes regularly.

Let me tell you a little bit about termites here in Ghana. I’m not sure if termites are the same worldwide, but this is my first experience with them and I tried finding a description on the internet, but I couldn’t. The following information is only what I’ve been told so the facts may be a little off. Anyways, during the dry season the termites seek shelter in their giant homes that they build. When the rains start to come slowly in March, April, and May, the termites start to come out. Their bodies are about an inch long, but their wings are like two inches long. They are attracted to light, and this is where they go to mate. So after a heavy rain you will usually see hundreds of termites swarming around the lights the next night. After they mate, their wings fall off which results in piles of termite wings everywhere. Their homes look pretty cool though. Unfortunately I don’t have my own picture, but I stole this one from the internet. I’ve seen these structures get up to like 8 feet tall.  

Average liters of water I drink a day: 3-4

1 US Dollar = 1.98 Ghana Cedis. Prices for most things have gone up a lot since I’ve been here. Fuel prices have skyrocketed which means transportation costs have increased. Everything else has gone up to: water, eggs, bread, etc. Thankfully the Peace Corps does a good job of monitoring this to make sure we are still getting enough money. Also means I got a raise.

I got malaria (sorry Mom and Dad, I didn’t tell you because I knew you would be too worried).

Malaria (transported by mosquitoes) is rampant in many African countries. Unfortunately, malaria can be fatal, especially to infants and elderly people, but no one is above it. Although volunteers are mandated to take anti-malaria prophylaxis, they are not 100% effective. Symptoms of malaria include: fever, headache and other flu like symptoms. Malaria is a wicked sickness that I wouldn’t wish on anyone. Lucky for me I just so happened to be in Accra (the capital of Ghana) when my symptoms started. I was perfectly fine Thursday. Woke up Friday with a slight headache. By 10am I had a high fever. By noon my fever was at 102 and my headache was severe. I went to our health unit, got tested for malaria, and started treatment around 1:30pm. Friday afternoon/night was rough, but the medicine is strong and works fast. By Sunday I was fine. I was very fortunate to start the treatment early, and also to have a lot of people around to bring me food, etc. because frankly, malaria sucks.

Care Packages!! If you have any interest in sending care packages here are some items I can always use. I am by no means suffering here, and most of these things I can buy its just that they are crazy expensive and outside my budget. UPS seems to be the best way to go and they have flat rate boxes but those can get pricey so there is also the padded envelope option which is much cheaper if the items aren't fragile.
Instant coffee (the instant coffee here is really bad), deodorant, shampoo+conditionaire 2 in 1, Q-tips, lotion, candy, granola bars, easy mac (the microwave kind-i just add hot water), dried fruits/nuts, flash drives (can be used and old) with movies/music of any kind, letters (for me or my students if you're associated with and school group somehow), pictures, one of those camping towels that's supposed to dry super fast, s'mores ingredients, deflated soccer or volleyball, bug spray, cheez-its or really anything else you can think of. I'm sure I'd be able to use it. Clothes are also appreciated if you think you can figure out what I'd like/know my size. Hand washing really does a number on most materials and it's hard to keep your clothes looking nice.
Well, in a nutshell, things are going well here. Miss and love everyone! Until next time.

Marching, sports, Easter and Morocco!



The 6th of March is Ghana's Independence Day. As a tradition, students from around the country march in a competition. They prepare a little routine and they compete against several other schools to see who is the best at marching. Teachers also join their students in this event, which means I also got to march. Unfortunately this process took up a lot of class time. Training the students on the proper form and technique took up the morning time and then classes in the afternoon seemed to be pretty unsuccessful because we were training for sports week. Our school participated at Dzolokpuita, about a 5-10 minute ride from my village. Many other schools also participated and it was a lot of fun. I was very nervous when going out because I'm not used to this style of marching. Well, I guess I'm not used to marching at all. Everyone seemed to be very impressed and they were happy the white lady was supporting her school.

Then sports week started. The girls played netball (similar to basketball except when you catch the ball you can't move so it's more about passing), and soccer. The primary boys also played soccer. My girls did very well, especially in netball. The day before we prepared kenkay (which was a first for me) for all of the players. It was a lot of fun to hang out with all of the other teachers and support our kids.

For Easter this year I went to Peki, the hometown of a fellow teacher. It was a nice get away from town and we had a lot of fun hanging out. I also got my hair did.

I was medically evacuated to Morocco. In the Peace Corps, many countries don't have the capabilities to provide medical services that are up to par with the US standards. So a lot of people in Africa get sent to South Africa, Senegal or Morocco for medical treatment. I wasn't sick at all I just had to go for a biopsy (don't worry, turns out I'm just fine). Morocco is an amazing country though, not to mention it was cold when I went which was heavenly.

Although we aren't allowed to leave the capital city, there's still plenty to do. The food was amazing. I had cheese three times a day (cheese in Ghana is rare and crazy expensive) and so much fruit (kiwi, plums, peaches, etc.). Two of their most common dishes are cous-cous and tajine, and both are very delicious. I also ate McDonalds. It was ah-maze-ing. They had different types of "street food" in Morocco than in Ghana. One thing they had that was really good was escargot. It is prepared in a broth type substance with a lot of spices.

They serve it to you in a small bowl and you pull the snail out with a tooth pick. Once you've finished they give you a bowl of the broth to drink. Delicious. They also serve chick beans in little rolled up paper "cups". They sprinkle some sort of spice on them which tastes like paprika.







  

Volubilis

We went to Volubilis. This is an ancient Roman city in Morocco that was then taken over by Muslims. Here you can find many beautiful ancient beautiful buildings with Roman architecture. The floors are all tiled with colorful mosaic designs. Unfortunately an earthquake destroyed many of the buildings, so now it is a tourist attraction.

Mausoleum







We also went to the Mausoleum of Mohammed V. This is a historical building containing the tombs of Moroccan king and his two sons, late King Hassan II and Prince Abdallah. It was beautiful. In front of the Mausoleum is the incomplete Hassan Tower. It was meant to be the tallest minaret in the world with the largest mosque but in 1199, Sultan Yacoub al-Mansour died and construction on the mosque stopped.



Snails



Morocco is famous for their leather production so although I wasn't able to go to Fes/Fez (the main production site) I did get to see/buy a lot of it. Of course, I had to get some henna done too.

Henna

Overall I would recommend any Peace Corps Volunteer to get hurt in some way that isn't too serious but they also get to be sent to Morocco!









A Tribute

A Tribute

The death of a loved one is more difficult for some people than for other people. In Ghana, when somebody dies it is tradition to celebrate that person’s life instead of mourning their departure from this earth, especially if the person lived a long live. If the person was young, they might not celebrate with a party, but the service is still much more upbeat than it would be in the US. As Americans, this is weird to us.

A few months ago, the wife of a good friend of mine gave birth to twin boys. She was in labor for about 24 hours with a midwife before finally going to the hospital. Once she was finally able to deliver, one of the babies died. They brought him home and buried him, but I didn’t see one person shed a tear. This is not because they don’t care, but Ghanaians just have a different way of expressing emotions. Also, most people in my area are Christians meaning that God can give, and God can take away, but by all means you will see that person again in heaven. In the US if parents were to lose a baby they would be devastated. It would seriously affect their mental and emotional state and they would find it difficult to function in normal situations. Here, life goes on. It has to.

So they brought the second baby home. He was tiny, but they said he was healthy. About a month later he developed a cough, which sounded to me like some sort of respiratory infection, maybe pneumonia. Within a week, he passed away. This one seemed to affect the family a little more. It was clear their spirits were a little down, but once again, life went on. In some respects, Americans could learn a lot from Ghanaian culture.

The third tribute I’d like to make is to Danielle Dunlap. She was a PCV here in Ghana who was almost done with her service here. She was due to go home and start med school at Emory to become a doctor. She was beautiful, talented and full of life. Unfortunately this life ended much too soon. She passed away on Sunday April 28^th, 2013 after a brief illness. I didn’t know Danni that well, as she was from a different group and sector than me, but the stories I’ve heard of her are just amazing. The work she did here truly inspired many volunteers to actually get work done instead of maybe staying in the house all day. A memorial service was held for Danni on Friday May 3^rd, 2013. It was beautiful. After the news several volunteers rushed to Accra to start the planning process. Many picture slide shows were made. A collection of videos that Danni was in were compiled. Her group of volunteers made a tribute video. Cloth was made in remembrance of Danni with a Dr.  Pepper stamp, which she designed herself some time ago, but was never able to use. We presented gifts to her mom including a memory book, fabric and copies of all of the videos that were made. This service was different than the typical Ghanaian service. I’d say most people cried for about 3 hours straight as her friends shared their funny, sad and favorite memories of Danni. Many of the Peace Corps staff members spoke who were close with Danni. I think this was truly a cross-culture exchange for them, and it may have been even more difficult for them than most of the Americans. They are not used to expressing their emotions in that way, but being surrounded by so many people who are reduced to tears can have quite a strong effect on any person. Danni and her mom went back to the US yesterday. As their plane flew over the Accra Peace Corps office around 10:30pm, we all waved and said our final goodbyes to Danni with a toast. Although she has left this world, she will never be forgotten.  I think that if we’ve learned anything as volunteers in Ghana it should be that it is more important to celebrate the life a person had, no matter how short.

Keep smiling Danni! RIP