Practicum and Site Announcement!

It’s very difficult to try to summarize a whole week in one post but I will try my best. Last Sunday I attended Emmanuel Presbyterian Church with my brother after hand washing all my clothes with my sister. There was definitely dancing in the aisles and dancing as you went to the front to give your offering but other than that was pretty normal to me except everything was in Twi of course. My brother translated a lot for me which was really helpful. In the afternoon I helped pound and 'drive' (move around while the other person pounds) the boiled plantains and cassava we made fufu with. I will try to post photos of it soon because I don't really know how to describe it- google it if you're super curious! Then we ate the fufu (you don't chew it just swallow!) with a stew before going to meet the chief of Kukurantumi. He welcomed us, blessed us, introduced himself, and met us all. It was an interesting experience...

This week was the first week of practicum at Opasse JHS for me. I taught form 2 (equivalent to 7^th grade in America I suppose) math and science this week. My class had 60 students but they were amazingly well behaved and respectful. In math I covered probability so really enjoyed teaching the topic and it was easy to make fun and interactive. In science the topic was simple machines including levers, work, power & efficiency. Current Peace Corps Volunteer teachers and our trainers observed and gave us feedback after each lesson for us to improve upon. My lessons went very well this week and I had fun teaching. One funny story from teaching this week: I used a coke bottle to demonstrate how a simple machines make work easier and started the class by having students first try to open it without a bottle opener. The first girl I handed it to proceeded to move it toward her mouth to use her teeth- so I had to add the caveat that they could only use their hands! Another student then tried to use the desk-one thing that’s really important in teaching here is remembering the cultural context so I am working at incorporating meaningful Ghanian examples in my lessons. Next week I will trade classes with another trainee who taught form 1 this week so on Friday I asked students to give me feedback. One girl told me they liked me because I smiled a lot while teaching :) Then another student said that when I teach she understands math- score! I told her that is what every teacher wants to hear. It was a great confidence booster!

Site announcement was on Thursday. A map of Ghana was drawn in chalk on the concrete at the Peace Corps training site so when they called our names we’d go stand in our region. They did Natural Resource Management first and then Math- I was hoping to be in the southern part of the country so when they started south and moved up the country I kept hoping to hear my name. Alas it didn’t happen until we reached the northern part- my site is Gbedema in the Upper East up toward Burkina Faso and Togo. I didn’t want to be quite so far away- it is at least a 2 day journey from Accra (thus making it more difficult for people to come visit me)- but I am still excited about my site. I will be the very first Peace Corps Volunteer ever in this community so that’s pretty cool. It is the home stay coordinator Agatha’s hometown so her excitement for me to go there has helped a lot. I am sure you're wondering what my accommodations there will be like there....well the teacher’s quarters does not have electricity though the community has electricity. My water will be retrieved from a borehole. I am in for the ‘real’ Peace Corps experience! Another trainee Alex will be teaching science in a community 10km away- I am glad to have another Volunteer so close to me. We are the only 2 trainees learning Buli this year so will have lots of individual attention during lessons with our trainer PP. I am ready for site visit next month so can actually see my site instead of just read about it!

Yesterday I was out of commission (aka sick) so felt very homesick but was also overwhelmed and blessed by the concern shown to me by my home stay family, my fellow trainees, and the trainers. I slept the whole night and am feeling much better today thankfully but have just been taking it easy today so I feel 100% for my students this week. If you've made it to the end of this post thanks for reading and please leave a comment. Hope all is well with everyone back home!

First Two Weeks!

I wrote this blog post last week but then when I went to the internet café had trouble posting it so had to wait until this week….sorry for the delay!

It is just now starting to sink in that I’m in Africa (my 5th continent!). I have been in Ghana for almost 2 weeks now. And sometimes it feels like a month and at other times only a week. Our first week was spent pretty sheltered at Valley View University outside of the capital Accra in sessions, Twi for all lessons, and doing administrative tasks (including vaccinations). I am so thankful for the gentle acclimation in the first week to the weather, food, time change, living conditions, language, etc. It was also great meeting my ~70 fellow PCTs (Peace Corps Trainees) especially now that we’re split up by Education and Natural Resources/Water-Health Sanitation for week 2.

Our first real outing in Ghana was the first Saturday we did a scavenger hunt of sorts called Accra Quest which took my group to Mokola market. We also had the task of noticing religious themes in stores names- here’s a sample of a few seen: Amen Driving School, El Shaddai Medical Lab, Invisble God Beauty Salon, Jesus is Lord Fabric Shop, and my personal favorite God’s Way Spot (which is an outdoor bar). Ghanaians are very friendly and helpful especially with navigating transportation options. We experienced taking both tro-tros (mini-buses) and buses throughout the day.

I was both excited and nervous to start the homestay but mostly ready to be more settled in a place. That place is the Ansah family compound in Kukurantumi. I instantly liked my host dad Kwadwo when he stood up and spoke at the homestay orientation at the Peace Corps Training Office (or hub) here and talked about his expectations in hosting a trainee: sharing in dialogue, exchange of ideas, and that if we are free with our host families they will be free with us. He is the headmaster of a private school and his English is very good. My brother Boafo also came to pick me up; he is doing his volunteer service in marketing away from home but took a couple of weeks off to get me settled in. He is the one who convinced his dad to host a Peace Corps Trainee (I am their first) after he met some of the trainees last year. He has been my buddy the past few days; took me on a walk into town my first day and taught me a very useful phrase ‘My name is not ‘obroni’ (white person), my name is Akosua (Twi for Sunday born).’ My host mom Mary speaks only Twi and has been cooking really good food for me- hopefully I will learn to cook from her during my stay. Besides me, the home also houses a dorm for ~20 male high school students, my 2 sisters Cynthia + Joyce (own a beauty shop), my niece Janet (who does her homework while I do my lesson plans) and my nephews Chief (who warmed up to me after brought out bubbles) + Raymond (who is very shy with me right now). Plus there’s a kitten, many chickens (including roosters who start crowing at 4am) and baby chicks, and 8 or so goats (2 babies).We have electricity but no running water so I am learning the art of bucket bathing and also using the latrine.

Since arriving in Kukurantumi on Tuesday most of our sessions have been Education focused. We’ve started learning lesson planning, math specific information, and have now had teaching practice. We observed a Peace Corps Volunteer and Ghanian teachers teach math and science to junior high school students this morning and then each delivered at 15 minutes lesson this afternoon. It was good to see a school and fun to teach. For the next two weeks I will be doing practicum (practice teaching) at Opasse JHS with 3 fellow trainees who live near me. This week we had our site interviews with the Math education program manager and our sites will be announced on Thursday June 26. I am ready to know where I will be during my 2 years of service! After site announcement we will continue more language learning a more specific language spoken at site (could be Twi) and after practicum is over we will go through a pretty intensive language learning process. A few upcoming dates I am looking forward to:

7/11-7/15 Off-site Language Training
7/23-7/29 Site visit
7/30- 8/6 PEPFAR (HIV/AIDS program) Field Activites

I miss everyone at home very much but am having a great experience so far! I will try to post a list of what to send me in a package very soon. Letters are exciting to receive too (thanks to Kathryn for my first letter received here).

The time has come...

I leave for Staging in DC tomorrow so thought it's about to time for me to put up my first blog post. I cannot believe it's time for me to say goodbye to all my friends and family members and start this new adventure in the Peace Corps. Thanks to everyone who has made my last month or so in the States very full and memorable. Between trips, goodbye parties, the Martz wedding, and other activities I've somehow managed to get 'ready' to go to Ghana. By ready I mean my bags are packed and my life is kind of in order for me to leave. I don't know that one is ever really prepared to leave loved ones behind but all the support I have received means so much to me. All that said, I'd like to start my blog on a cheesy note by answering the top questions I've been asked by people about my joining the Peace Corps:

1) How long will you be gone?
Peace Corps is a 27 month commitment. When I depart on June 6 for DC, I start the training phase. I have a 1 day staging in Arlington, VA before flying to Ghana with 72 other volunteers the next day. Then we have 3 months of Pre-Service Training (PST) before hopefully being sworn in as an official Peace Corps Volunteer. Then I will serve as a Volunteer for 2 years at my site.

2) Where will you be in Ghana?

Site placement occurs during training but for the first 3 months I will be in Kukurantumi living with a host family. I will be sure to announce it here once I know the location of my site!

3) What will you be doing?

I will be serving as a Math Teacher in the Education program. I will be teaching at the junior high school level which equal grades 7-9 in the US. I could be teaching trig, algebra, statistics, etc. I will also be working on secondary projects which will be determined by the needs of the community.

4) When/how did you decide to join the Peace Corps?

Peace Corps always interested me during college but I never looked into seriously at that time in my life. After studying abroad in Thailand for six and a half months, I knew I'd love to live internationally again for a longer period of time in order to further integrate into a community. I attended a Peace Corps Info Session January 2010 but didn't apply until July 2010. It's taken 11 months for me to go through the entire process but my departure date is finally here!

5) What are you most excited about? Most nervous?

I'm very excited to become a part of a community, learn about a new culture, and also use my skills to help people. At the same time I'm nervous about language learning, adjusting to a new place, keeping in touch with folks back home, and training in general since I've heard it can be pretty intense.

6) Will you come home during the 2 years?

Currently I'm thinking I'd like to come back to the States at least once during my service. Next summer would be halfway through so that seems like the natural time to visit but it depends on what's going on in my work and also with friends and family here.

7) How can we keep in touch with you?

I'm not sure yet what level of access to forms of communication I will have but do plan to buy a cell phone once I get to Ghana. I can also be reached via my gmail account though I don't know how often I will be able to check it. Lastly I've added my initial address so you can send lots of mail and packages. There's nothing quite like letters and goodies from home. Please keep in touch!