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.