6th of March, 1957

Last week I announced to my form 3 students that I wanted to give them a class test on Tuesday before the holiday. They quizzed me and asked “Madam what holiday?” so to answer their question I sang. “6th of March, 1957-7, Ghana’s Independence Day…Ghana is marching, Ghana is marching. Ghana, Ghana, Ghana is a marching.” The whole class erupted into laughter and thought it both hilarious and impressive that I knew “their song.” I explained that last year when they practiced their marching and singing for Independence Day I heard the song repetitively so I couldn’t help but learn it!

In typical Ghanaian fashion, the letter inviting 40 students to participate in marching at our new district capital class this year for Independence Day didn’t arrive until Thursday. This meant that a good portion of school time was devoted to practice on Friday, Monday and Tuesday which is almost better than weeks of practice. It’s rather ironic that Ghana celebrates its independence from British colonial rule by having school children march in colonial style marching. Much of the time kids are caned when they make mistakes but thankfully the new master at my school who led the students in the marching didn’t use this tactic. It’s particularly brutal in the North since it falls during hot season so the poor kids are sweating out in the sun while first practicing and then performing.

I had a funny conversation with some of my students who asked me if I knew how to march. I explained to them that I didn’t know how to do this kind of marching but that I participated in marching band in high school. It was pretty interesting trying to describe the instruments we use since only drums and wooden flutes are common here. But I did show them how to march by rolling their feet like we did in band. I kind of wish I had a video to show them of a marching band because I think they would be quite fascinated.

Yesterday the chosen 40 had their final practice in preparation for the big day and they were looking pretty good. Especially when compared to the first day of practice when there was much giggling and little seriousness. I decided to take a break from marking some class tests and walked out to the field to take some photos of them. More girls were chosen to perform and frankly they looked much better than the boys. The boys couldn’t quite get their arms and legs moving at the same time. But both the girls and boys were spot on in their salutes and singing. Today instead of having a day off like the rest of us they travelled with two teachers to Fumbisi. I think they were all proud to take part in celebrating their country’s independence.

Peer Education

One of the main secondary projects I’ve been working on during my service has been training HIV peer educators at my school. Per the request of my headmaster, the assistant health teacher and I chose 12 form 1 and form 2 students during second term last year to meet with as often as possible to educate them on HIV/AIDS, STIs, and Life Skills. We based the program on the HIV Alert curriculum used her in Ghana but I also supplemented material using a Life Skills manual Peace Corps gives us. Once we finished with them last year we worked on a small grant to be able to hold a one day program to further educate them, swear them in and reward them for their hard work. I wrote two posts back in November on the success and challenges of the program but haven’t updated you much since then on what the peer educators have been up to.

After they were sworn in as peer educators, two outreach ideas the students came up with were holding session in the various sections of the village where they live and also practicing and performing dramas. Though we’re still working on the dramas, the peer education sessions have started and are going really well. Our boys senior prefect Michael was the first to start his in Ballerinsa. Other peer educators com to help him lead the sessions when they can and I’m also present to answer questions. I try my best to let it be student led as much as possible since that’s the power of peer education after all. We’ve met with his “people” three times now and have discussed HIV transmission/prevention, condom use, STIs and PLWHA. They’ve played games (with toffee as a reward), done demonstrations, danced, played quizzes (with stickers as prizes), read stories, and completed exercises. I’ve brought my camera a few times to take photos of the peer educators and students. During the last meeting, they did the loss exercise (which teaches empathy and compassion for PLWHA) and one of the boys wanted to pose with his paper which was kind of perfect. Michael will conduct his last meeting this coming Sunday and we’re hoping to debut one on drama called “The Shop” based on a Scenarios from Africa short film.

A couple of stories from going to Ballerinsa for the trainings….for the first meetings three other PEs- Raymond, Linda and Mary- also came to help Michael which was great. That day I’d brought my iPod and small speakers so they could play the condom game so one the trip home we blared the music as we rode our bikes. For me it was one of those surreal moments where you’re like “Yes I’m in Africa and in Peace Corps- and I’m loving that this is my job!” Of course now that hot season is in full swing the bike rides in the middle of the day (we start at 2PM on Sunday afternoons) have not been so pleasant. Last week none of the PEs went with me so I biked the 30 minutes by myself in the worst heat of the day. I had to stop three times to rest in the shade and drink water. I kept noticing how few people I was passing and how all the farm animals were resting in the shade meanwhile the white lady was out in the brutal sun.

Another peer educator Mary held the first meeting in her section of the village Kunkwak and had a good turnout. About 20 youth came and 3 other peer educators came to help out. It’s made me so proud to watch my students use their peer education training and to witness the fruits of my labor. Hopefully more of the students will start up similar programs in their parts of the village next term.

Batik and Baskets

This post is about some of the handicrafts I’ve acquired while in Ghana that I plan to take home.  First off, Bolgatanga is very famous for their colorful baskets and are even sold in stores like Whole Foods and TJ Maxx back in the States .  In December I took a trip to Bolga to go visit a fellow Upper East volunteer Barbara’s village and buy baskets for Ed to take back home.  I love all the colors in those baskets but I also decided I wanted to buy some made in my own village.  Each Sunday at church during the collection (offering) time a simple basket is set out.  The baskets have a square base and are woven in my village.  I asked my friend Chris to take me to a house where the lady makes the baskets (she’s the grandmother of one of my students- of course) and I commissioned her to make baskets for me.  Her granddaughter brought them to my house before school one day.  She'd made two baskets for me to choose from but I couldn’t decide since I liked them equally.  So I just bought them both and love them- especially the handles!

 Whenever I’m in Tamale I almost always visit a store called COLWOD because I love all their cloth and goods (headbands, purses, etc).  They sell a ton of gorgeous batik, which is one of the traditional clothes here.  It is made by stamping a design (for this one the gingko leaf) in wax on dyed calico cloth.  My friend Mary and I discovered a mutual affection for the gingko leaf a while ago and have been talking about getting gingko batik made.  We finally did it and it turned out great!  The first round of batik was in what the store calls ‘blue black’ and it’s close to a navy.  The woman Tumu who made it did a fabulous job and has since made more for me in a gorgeous green that I’m now having sewn into a tablecloth and napkins.  I’ve really enjoyed learning about and buying different crafts here.  I think it’ll be very special once I’m home to have reminders of Ghana throughout the house. 

HIV Community Service Day

On January 23, I travelled to Navrongo to help with another HIV testing event at a fellow Georgian’s site. Ethan is an Education volunteer who came to Ghana in the new group last year and teaches art at a high school. As part of his art class, he gave the students an assignment to create posters advertising the event and then posted them around town. He worked with the clinic closest to his house to organize the testing event which also provided education. Two other Upper Geeks (volunteers in the Upper East) Liv and Britney also came to help out. Navrongo, like our regional capital Bolgatanga, has a higher HIV prevalence rate (around 2.2%) than the rural areas where most of us live so it was a good place to target.

The event started in the morning and by the time I arrived everything was setup and there was a steady stream of people getting tested. There were speakers and a DJ outside blaring music to attract more people. Before I arrived an entire local JHS had come and one of the nurses did a condom demonstration but then they all went back to school when they realized they couldn’t all be tested at once. The headmistress then allowed the students to come in small groups so we did plenty of education with them. We had a condom picture game, a laminated HIV quiz that students used a dry erase marker to answer Fact or Myth, did condom demonstrations, and had blown up condoms with questions inside for the students to answer. The clinic also had pamphlets, posters and condoms to distribute. A projector was setup in the waiting area and showed Scenarios from Africa HIV films to keep people entertained in the 5-10 minutes they had to sit before being tested. It was first setup outside under a shelter but because the sun was so bright it made it hard to see so it was moved inside. Flexibility is definitely essential in holding events like this! It got a little crazy midday when the JHS went on break and tons of students came back but we made it through and the rest of the day was calmer.
Once all the students left we finally got to take a small break and eat some lunch. 

Of course no event is complete without making friends with a baby. One of the nurse’s kids was super chill and let us hold him and pass him around. By this time people were trickling in to get tested since it was later in the afternoon but people were still there. Around 4:30pm the nurses informed us that the testing kits ran out which was a little frustrating since the event was schedule until 6pm and people were coming. Originally we had asked the clinic to request 200 testing kits but bumped the number up to 300 after Dennis’ event tested more people than planned. But then the day of Ethan found out they’d only gotten 200 but was told that they could go to the District Health office at any time when they ran out to pick up more. But it was too late by the time they ran out to go get more so we had to close early. Despite this challenge, it was a very successful event. Around 200 people were tested with 1 positive result. The woman was told to come back the next day to start treatment. Besides the number of people tested, many more people received valuable education about HIV and condoms.

Kids Do the Darndest

The weekend I was home between HIV testing events I had two funny kid encounters.  On that Saturday I took an hour long bike trip to a nearby village called Siniesi with one of my students Joyce.  Her older sister lives there so we went to visit her.  From her house we went with her sister and baby 30 minutes farther away to go to their grandmother’s house.  By this time I was pretty tired especially because it was midday.  While we were visiting with her grandmother, the baby girl was sitting on my lap.  All of a sudden I felt something wet…my reflexes were too slow so by the time I lifted the baby up she’d pretty much finished peeing all over me.  There was really nothing for me to do except to laugh since I was away from home.  Thankfully I was wearing my Northface pants that dry quickly.  I’ve now had another common Peace Corps experience: getting peed on by a baby.  It happens to Health volunteers all the time since a lot of them help with baby weighings.  

The next day I was in my house before church and a few kids dropped by to play on their way to church.  One small girl Mary and her little sister Martha came to my house all the time when I first got to the village but I hadn’t interacted with them in a while.  Martha played for a while but then decided it was more interesting to stare at me and follow me around.  Things like that don’t really bother me any more so I let her while I went about morning.  It was a little disconcerting though to have a kid waiting for me outside my latrine when I finished using it. Finally it was time to go to church.  I usually wait until the madam who comes from the next village arrives for church before I change into my dress so the kids were leaving before me.  The kids were headed out the door when Martha started crying, ran and grabbed onto my legs.  I told her and Mary to wait for me while I changed clothes.  Then the three of us went to church together; Martha sat and slept in my lap the entire service.  It was such a strange day for me since I usually make kids cry; they never cry because they have to leave me.  And that’s my story of how I had a kid here for the day.  

Camp Video!

Gambibgo Testing Event

I’m about three weeks behind on blogging so bear with me as I try to catch up to present day events. The weekend after Ed left to go back to America I went to help another Upper East volunteer with an HIV testing event in his village. Dennis, an Agriculture volunteer, lives in Gambibgo just outside of Bolga. Since I’m the GhAP (Ghana AIDS Project- our HIV Committee) rep for our region, he asked me back in November asking how to go about planning such an event since one of the nurses at his clinic approached him about doing one. He started working on a grant then and throughout the process I tried my best to assist him by answering questions and offering advice. So I was really happy to be able to go and witness the actual event on 12 January.

The morning was a bit of a rush with Dennis and the former counterpart of a PCV going around town picking up the rental equipment in a big truck. Chairs, sound system equipment, tents, water, and snacks were all loaded up and taken to his village. It took a while to setup and in typical Ghana fashion the event was late starting but the three nurses who were doing the testing got started anyways since people were waiting. Plus that was the most important part of the event- everything else was to attract people and educate them. Since the venue was the primary school there were a ton of kids around. One of the activities for the event was cultural dancing. One of the masters at the primary school runs a cultural club and teaches/helps the kids practice local dances. The boys opened with some drumming, fluting and dancing on their own while the girls warmed up. Then the girls, ranging from small to practically grown girls, paraded out and did their dances. I think my favorite aspect was the fact that most of the kids had on matching costumes- love it! I took a ton of photos and videos and really enjoyed the cultural display.

By this time a ton of people were in line to get tested and really there was a steady stream all day. There was one woman with a baby on her back that I greeted when we first arrived since she’d been waiting to get tested. After she got tested she was really into dancing- while I went to go buy rice she was dancing around and the lady selling the rice explained to me that she’s happy because now she knows how to protect herself from getting HIV. I tried to get a good photo of her smiling while dancing because she wore this infectious smile but wasn’t able to. But it’s still a great success story!

Later in the afternoon, two local football teams played a match for the event. During halftime the organizing nurse Kennedy did a condom demonstration for the teams and the crowd. During the second half of the game, some local adult drummers started surrounding first Dennis and then me. This is a common practice because if they drum ‘for you’ they expect money from you. It’s happened to me in my village a few times and still embarrasses me- as if I don’t already stick out enough I usually try to avoid extra attention. Dennis’ expression when I walked up to find him with the drummers all around was hilarious and I was cracking up. But soon I experienced the same phenomenon. And I literally had 1 cedi in my pocket because all my stuff was in Dennis’ house besides a tiny amount of spending money I had on me. I decided if I couldn’t get them to leave me alone I might as well join them so I got to do a little drumming myself. Later Dennis paid them for their music at his event and then they were happy. Back to the football, at the end of the game the two teams both received drinks, snacks, a new football, and a box of condoms. I think they were most excited about the condoms.

About this time we were about to get setup for the film show when the lights went out. The budget had included money for a generator but it wasn’t rented since the electricity had been fairly stable- oops. Everyone waited for a while hoping the power would come back on but it didn’t until later in the night so breakdown of all the equipment commenced. I think Dennis and I were rather glad we finished early since we were both exhausted but it was unfortunate people didn’t get to see the films. When we got back to the family compound where Dennis stays his family wanted to watch them so Dennis setup his laptop outside for them. The film was in their local language Fra-fra with English subtitles (you can imagine the quality of those) so much of the time I had no idea what was really happening meanwhile Dennis’ family was laughing loudly. Sometimes humor doesn’t necessarily translate well. Or maybe the translation just wasn’t very well done. Either way his family loved the film and it was a nice end to a very successful day. We weren’t sure how successful it was until later in the week. 356 people were tested (many were children) and 2 people were found to be HIV positive. I hope and pray that those 2 people receive the support they need to seek treatment in order to live healthy and happy lives. It was great to take part in my first testing event and I learned a lot to help with the next Upper East testing event a short time later. More on that next time…