The Simple Life

Two weeks is too long to wait between posts- I really hope I will be able to post more often once I am at site. I will quickly update on Counterparts Workshop in Bunso last week. The highlights of the week included meeting my counterpart Clement, eating pizza at a nearby restaurant (I miss cheese o so much), and listening to drumming/watching traditional dances. Also dancing with all the Ghanaians was so much fun! Clement is the headmaster of my school and also teaches one class of math. He enjoys listening to gospel music, watching football (soccer), and keeping up with the news. He also is doing distance education so is a very busy man. The sessions themselves on Peace Corps policy, HIV/AIDS education, and Behavior Change Communication contained good information but for the most part were presented in a dull way. Plus sitting 8 hours a day got to be pretty painful. I did soak in as much socialization at nights as possible because I knew site visit would be lonely...

The travel last Saturday to site was grueling since we started at 5am and didn't arrive until 11pm. Many students and some teachers were around to greet me, take my luggage to my house, and show me my new home. I only knew I would be living in teacher's quarters and wasn't sure what that entailed. Turns out I have my own small 2 bedroom house close to the JHS with a living room, kitchen, washroom, and latrines outside. Currently my furnishings are minimal with only a desk, chair, and bed. I am looking forward to turning my house into a cozy home come September. Currently the house is wired for electricity but not hooked up yet- that should happen in two weeks but we'll see if it happens on that time table! I was hoping to have a baobab tree in my backyard but instead have a beautiful neem tree in the front that provides wonderful shade. My community is a very rural- or in the middle of nowhere as I keep telling people. The most common crop they farm is millet but they also grow maize and groundnuts. I am sure I will learn a lot about farming during my two years especially since all the students help their families farm. I will be teaching one form (ie grade) of mathematics (or maths) and then also ICT (Information and Communication Technology- basically computer) for the whole school since there is nobody else to teach it. The main challenge is that my school does not have electricity or computers. So looks like my first secondary project might be starting a computer lab. My first day at site was pretty difficult- I felt disconnected because my cell phone didn't have signal and it also the reality that I would really be living here for two years alone hit me hard. Training keeps us pretty insulated so I think I will go through another round of culture shock in September.

The week definitely improved as my fondness for my community grew. Almost every day contained a surreal moment. On Monday on the full bus ride to the nearby town of Fumbisi where my friend Alex will be living I was given a special cushioned seat in the very front of the bus. Tuesday was our meeting with the chief and the sub chiefs where Clement explained my role as a teacher and development worker in Peace Corps. Part of my job this week was to do a community needs assessment on HIV/AIDS by interviewing various community members so we discussed this topic with them. While I was sitting there and Clement was translating, I realized I was the only woman in the group which wasn't surprising or really anything new for me coming from the world of engineering and software. But it struck me as being perhaps a more unusual occurrence here. On Wednesday on the way to the clinic to talk to the nurses, I found myself surrounded by a group of curious primary school kids all watching me while I spoke to a man from Gbedema who now lives in Germany. Thursday I went to the district capital Sandema with Alex and his counterpart where we made the rounds meeting tons of different officials. The doctor's office at the hospital had freezing air con- hadn't felt that in ages. Friday morning I decided to go for a short run around and stumbled upon the dam that is close by. It is quite lovely and scenic. I really hope to upload lots of photos from the month of July and especially my site for everyone to see. I think pictures show so much more than I can just explain! When I wasn't meeting people or conducting the community assessment, I had a lot of down time to read, study Buli, journal, etc. It was nice to have some down time since training has been so hectic. I think I will really learn to slow down and enjoy the simple life here.

Currently I am at the Tamale sub office in the Northern region. For PEPFAR (our President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief) activities this week I will be traveling to Kpendua with 4 other trainees to stay with a current volunteer at this site. We will be helping with a HIV/AIDS project he is working on. I'm sure I'll have lots to update everyone on next week. One quick note on packages- manila envelopes or other mailers are great for sending small stuff since they do not have to go through customs so arrive here faster. Also dried fruit (cranberries, apricots, etc) is my current craving but it changes pretty often. I can't believe it is almost August and school in US will resume soon. I hope everyone is enjoying their summers!