I’ll start this post with the good news that I passed my Buli language interview that I took on Wednesday! I got an Intermediate-Mid which is what most people get so I definitely have room to improve which should happen in the next 2 years. I hope to get a language tutor to continue learning more in a classroom setting but I think just speaking Buli all the time will help so much.
We also had cultural presentations this week. My group chose the annual harvest festival in my district and besides talking about it showed photos and a video of traditional dancing. It’s held the second week of December so I’ll post more details about it once I get to experience it in person. Otherwise we were wrapping up training with a few sessions, practicing our dance for swearing in, and saying our goodbyes to our homestay family.
One session this week was on mental health and preparing us for the challenges of site. We had to do a creative group presentation on a problem we might face during our time here in Ghana and possible solutions. My group did a musical ski about Ghanaians asking us to help get visas to America. Prizes from America were at stake here so quickly came up with the following. Scene 1 consisted of informal situation where a passerby on the street asked to be taken to America to which I responded with my suitcase reply (‘You can come to America if you can fit in the suitcase I will take on the plane.’) Song: Leaving on a Jet Plane. Then in Scene 2, we had the American telling the Ghanaian how not everything in America is free (Song: America from West Side Story), life can be hard there (Song: It’s a Hard Knock Life from Annie which ended up being hilarious because of how high pitched we had to get while we were singing), and advising him to try to be satisfied with what he has (Song: I Can’t Get No Satisfaction to which all the trainees joined in singing with us by the end). We ended up getting first place and were rewarded with 2 Oreos each.
As ready as I am to finish training and be sworn in as a full-fledged volunteer Tuesday, it is bittersweet to leave my home stay family. I’m excited and nervous about going to site but know I will miss my family I have come to think of as just that. I will also miss my fellow trainees and almost volunteers since after swearing in we will be scattered in all 10 regions of Ghana. But I take comfort that I have a few people nearby and that we will all see each other again at Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow bright and early 69 trainees leave our training site to journey to Accra on our way to becoming volunteers! The next time I post I will be a volunteer…
Sunday, August 28, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
50th Anniversary Celebration
In one week’s time, our training class will have our swearing in ceremony in Accra where we will become volunteers! The swearing in ceremony will also serve as the 50th Anniversary celebration of Peace Corps Ghana. President John F. Kennedy signed the Executive Order to create the Peace Corps on March 1, 1961. Then on August 30, 1961 the first 52 Peace Corps volunteers (PCVs) arrived in Ghana, making it the first country in the world to receive volunteers. When we officially become PCVs on August 30, it will be exactly 50 years since the very first batch of volunteers swore-in (they completed their training in the States). We’ll be celebrating 50 years of peace, friendship, and development in Ghana on this historic occasion. I am so thankful to my home stay family and my friends and family back home for supporting me in my journey as a trainee and soon as a PCV.
“It's a timeless idea – as vibrant today as it was half a century ago. The passion and the hope, the empathy and the enthusiasm – what motivated Volunteers in the 1960s still moves Volunteers today.” – Aaron S. Williams, Peace Corps Director www.peacecorps.gov/50
Sunday, August 21, 2011
Joining the Club + other News
I was deliberating whether to post this last week but was being indecisive at the time. I now made up my mind to be completely honest with the good and the bad here. So I have a humiliating announcement that should not be read by the faint of heart… I joined the club which means I pooped in my pants. There’s a name for it among Peace Corps trainees and volunteers here because apparently it happens to about 90% of us in Ghana during our service. When I was sick last Thursday with an upset stomach I mostly vomited but woke up from a nap because oops uh-huh IT happened. On the bright side I didn’t have to throw out any clothes or wash my sheets and it didn’t happen on my birthday. Plus I got to sign the shirt of a fellow trainee who was the first to join the club and now I have a ‘war’ story to share!
As few highlights from this week… a few of my fellow trainees joke that I am the most loved person here since I get a lot of packages and mail. So thanks to all my dear friends and family for sending me so much love in the form of stuff- you guys are the best! Speaking of which, I received an awesome package on Monday containing Funfetti cake mix and icing. The timing was amazing because I had just dreamed the night before of opening a fridge in the States and seeing my Aunt Barbara’s 7 layer chocolate cake (it’s amazing) and tiramisu (my favorite dessert) in it. I think maybe I missed having cake on my birthday. On Tuesday I brought America to Ghana in the form of watching the movie Enchanted with my host brother and nephew. We enjoyed the butterscotch candies they got me for my birthday and later had popcorn- one of my favorite snacks here. After the movie, I played Uno with Chief and taught him the Spanish for the numbers 1 to 10 as well. It was a nice break in a week full of language review. We started learning our traditional Ghanaian dance for the swearing in ceremony on Wednesday which was a lot of fun. Today I captured a video of my host nephew Raymond dancing to the song ‘I Love My Life’ so I will try to post that the next time I’m in a high speed internet café.
I’ve been meaning to ask people to send me a comment or an email if you know people in Ghana. It’s nice to have contacts here so please let me know. I’m planning a post soon on the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps Ghana since the date August 30 coincides with our swearing in as Volunteers. Only one week of training left- the end is near! I want to end with a few shout outs in English and Buli (since I’m trying to practice every chance I get) . Ni zu masuk (congratulations) to the Akin family on the birth of cutie Mr. Maddox! Fi biam dai zu masuk (congrats on your birthday) to my sweet nephew Will who is turning 10 today! You’re so special to me.
As few highlights from this week… a few of my fellow trainees joke that I am the most loved person here since I get a lot of packages and mail. So thanks to all my dear friends and family for sending me so much love in the form of stuff- you guys are the best! Speaking of which, I received an awesome package on Monday containing Funfetti cake mix and icing. The timing was amazing because I had just dreamed the night before of opening a fridge in the States and seeing my Aunt Barbara’s 7 layer chocolate cake (it’s amazing) and tiramisu (my favorite dessert) in it. I think maybe I missed having cake on my birthday. On Tuesday I brought America to Ghana in the form of watching the movie Enchanted with my host brother and nephew. We enjoyed the butterscotch candies they got me for my birthday and later had popcorn- one of my favorite snacks here. After the movie, I played Uno with Chief and taught him the Spanish for the numbers 1 to 10 as well. It was a nice break in a week full of language review. We started learning our traditional Ghanaian dance for the swearing in ceremony on Wednesday which was a lot of fun. Today I captured a video of my host nephew Raymond dancing to the song ‘I Love My Life’ so I will try to post that the next time I’m in a high speed internet café.
I’ve been meaning to ask people to send me a comment or an email if you know people in Ghana. It’s nice to have contacts here so please let me know. I’m planning a post soon on the 50th anniversary of Peace Corps Ghana since the date August 30 coincides with our swearing in as Volunteers. Only one week of training left- the end is near! I want to end with a few shout outs in English and Buli (since I’m trying to practice every chance I get) . Ni zu masuk (congratulations) to the Akin family on the birth of cutie Mr. Maddox! Fi biam dai zu masuk (congrats on your birthday) to my sweet nephew Will who is turning 10 today! You’re so special to me.
Sunday, August 14, 2011
O Why?!?
First off I finally uploaded photos from my July travels so everyone can see what I've been up to and also where I will be living the next two years! Moving on to the update...
It’s been tough being back in the classroom this week so Alex and I have been exclaiming ‘O why?!?’ a lot which is a new favorite Ghanaian phrase. But we did learn a lot of new vocabulary about our daily routines, shopping, directions, and travel. Now next week we’ll just be revising (Ghanaian English for review) what we already know in preparation for the upcoming LPI (Language Proficiency Interview). In the LPI we are expected to hold anywhere from a 5 to 30 minute conversation. Right now I can talk about myself for a solid 7-8 minutes straight but the problem comes in when people ask me questions that throw me off. So next week will be a lot of practicing Buli, Buli, Buli as I like to say.
Then as part of our education training, we conducted a Small Community Outreach Project (SCOP) Friday. Our group did a skit about malaria during half-time of a short, informal football match for kids in Kukurantumi. My host brother acted as our translator and our project wouldn’t have been a success without him. Earlier in the week I accompanied him to a business venture of his where they have a TV setup for folks to pay a small amount to watch football matches and other events. We watched the Manchester United versus Manchester City game (I have a United poster in my room so you can guess who we were rooting for). It was a very exciting match and fun to watch with all the Ghanaian men because they get really into it. The Ghana Black Stars match was cancelled later in the week because of the London Riots. It’s pretty interesting because one of my homestay sisters Cynthia moved to London a few weeks back and now the family is hearing so much about it in the news. It makes me thankful Ghana hasn’t made world news yet so my family in America doesn’t have to worry about me!
I learned a valuable lesson this week on being careful what you wish for. I made a flippant comment to my friend Sarah earlier in the week that I wished I could be ‘sick’ on my birthday so I could be lazy and watch movies in bed all day. The reason being is that I’m pretty spoiled since I grew up just getting to have fun on my special day since I didn’t have to go to school. Well I was sick Thursday with an upset stomach but unfortunately my day went like this: feel really quite awful, go vomit and maybe more, feel better temporarily, take a nap, wake up and repeat from the beginning. At least I wasn’t sick on my birthday that would’ve awful!
Speaking of my birthday, thank you to all my wonderful friends and family for all the lovely messages. It made me feel so very special and loved. My homestay family also made it memorable as well- the sang me a beautiful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to you’ complete with ‘How old are you.’ To which I answered ’27!’ and I think I caught 5 year old Chief off guard by this response. He looked at me as if to say ‘It was a rhetorical question!’ But yes I guess I am officially in my upper twenties- woo hoo. I ate a lot of eggs because apparently it’s traditional to do so hear to celebrate life by what I gathered. After our project a few of my friends hit a spot (bar) with me where I had a coke float to celebrate. Vanilla ice cream is sold here in these amazing squeeze packets and then of course I had it with Coca-Cola which is made with real cane sugar. It was coined as the ‘Stephanie’ by one of my friends which was cool because I’ve always wanted a drink named after me.
This week I was watching the news with my host mom and a story came on about the famine in Somalia. We were both pretty touched and though we can’t communicate well agreed that it was ‘very bad.’ It weighed on me throughout the week and in an email from a dear friend this week she mentioned reading a story about a Ghanaian youth raising money for Somalia. It’s a pretty cool story and I want to end this post by sharing with you so check out if you want to learn more about the dire situation in Somalia: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14474860">
Sorry the link isn't showing up how it's supposed to but I'm out of credit at the internet cafe so please excuse me!
It’s been tough being back in the classroom this week so Alex and I have been exclaiming ‘O why?!?’ a lot which is a new favorite Ghanaian phrase. But we did learn a lot of new vocabulary about our daily routines, shopping, directions, and travel. Now next week we’ll just be revising (Ghanaian English for review) what we already know in preparation for the upcoming LPI (Language Proficiency Interview). In the LPI we are expected to hold anywhere from a 5 to 30 minute conversation. Right now I can talk about myself for a solid 7-8 minutes straight but the problem comes in when people ask me questions that throw me off. So next week will be a lot of practicing Buli, Buli, Buli as I like to say.
Then as part of our education training, we conducted a Small Community Outreach Project (SCOP) Friday. Our group did a skit about malaria during half-time of a short, informal football match for kids in Kukurantumi. My host brother acted as our translator and our project wouldn’t have been a success without him. Earlier in the week I accompanied him to a business venture of his where they have a TV setup for folks to pay a small amount to watch football matches and other events. We watched the Manchester United versus Manchester City game (I have a United poster in my room so you can guess who we were rooting for). It was a very exciting match and fun to watch with all the Ghanaian men because they get really into it. The Ghana Black Stars match was cancelled later in the week because of the London Riots. It’s pretty interesting because one of my homestay sisters Cynthia moved to London a few weeks back and now the family is hearing so much about it in the news. It makes me thankful Ghana hasn’t made world news yet so my family in America doesn’t have to worry about me!
I learned a valuable lesson this week on being careful what you wish for. I made a flippant comment to my friend Sarah earlier in the week that I wished I could be ‘sick’ on my birthday so I could be lazy and watch movies in bed all day. The reason being is that I’m pretty spoiled since I grew up just getting to have fun on my special day since I didn’t have to go to school. Well I was sick Thursday with an upset stomach but unfortunately my day went like this: feel really quite awful, go vomit and maybe more, feel better temporarily, take a nap, wake up and repeat from the beginning. At least I wasn’t sick on my birthday that would’ve awful!
Speaking of my birthday, thank you to all my wonderful friends and family for all the lovely messages. It made me feel so very special and loved. My homestay family also made it memorable as well- the sang me a beautiful rendition of ‘Happy Birthday to you’ complete with ‘How old are you.’ To which I answered ’27!’ and I think I caught 5 year old Chief off guard by this response. He looked at me as if to say ‘It was a rhetorical question!’ But yes I guess I am officially in my upper twenties- woo hoo. I ate a lot of eggs because apparently it’s traditional to do so hear to celebrate life by what I gathered. After our project a few of my friends hit a spot (bar) with me where I had a coke float to celebrate. Vanilla ice cream is sold here in these amazing squeeze packets and then of course I had it with Coca-Cola which is made with real cane sugar. It was coined as the ‘Stephanie’ by one of my friends which was cool because I’ve always wanted a drink named after me.
This week I was watching the news with my host mom and a story came on about the famine in Somalia. We were both pretty touched and though we can’t communicate well agreed that it was ‘very bad.’ It weighed on me throughout the week and in an email from a dear friend this week she mentioned reading a story about a Ghanaian youth raising money for Somalia. It’s a pretty cool story and I want to end this post by sharing with you so check out if you want to learn more about the dire situation in Somalia: www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-africa-14474860">
Sorry the link isn't showing up how it's supposed to but I'm out of credit at the internet cafe so please excuse me!
Friday, August 5, 2011
Movie Star, Babies & Rabbit Pizza
We had a great week at a current Volunteer's site in Kpendua in the Northern Region. Besides eating really good food and having fun, I learned a lot too! Monday tested our patience a bit since filming for the movie was supposed to started in the morning but didn't until after lunch in the afternoon. I am definitely learning patience with all the waiting that happens quite often in daily life here. The drama team in the community wrote, practiced, and filmed a full length drama in Dagbani. It was really cool to see how motivated and passionate about the project they were and how the Volunteer played a background support role. The five of us trainees all got to play bit parts- one of the guys and I got to wear Ghanaian army uniforms and run to capture the bad guys. We biked to a nearby community (which made me really excited to get a bike at site) and a lot of the members came out to watch the filming process.
The next day we broke into groups and conducted a survey about malaria in 6 households with the help of 2 nurses from the clinic. It was really interesting to collect information on how many people in their house had malaria recently, if they had/used mosquito nets, and their general knowledge level about the disease. I think it would be a useful way to assess the need in my community as well as meet people. We had the chance to help put up 2 nets in a house so joked that we did our saving the world for the day. Market day in a surrounding village was in the afternoon so we headed there to delight in finding hats, eating fried cheese (wagachi) and doing our grocery shopping. One of my favorite parts of the week were all the cute kids hanging around the house with us. There were two darling sisters who would just wander over to the house on their own (would never happen in America) and hang out for hours on end. My big accomplishment for the week was teaching them to parrot me and say 'I love you.' I also got the older one to repeat 'Say it again' as well completely by accident. It was pretty great. I hope to get some photos posted soon!
Wednesday morning we awoke to lots of rain which basically means people do not go out. It makes a lot of sense that downpours here shut everything down since cars aren't readily available to shield you from the storm. Baby weighing was supposed to happen at the clinic starting at 8am but because of the rain didn't start until much later. So instead we learned about grant writing and even practiced by coming up with a sample HIV/AIDS project on our own. Mothers bring their babies in monthly for the first two years of their lives to track their weight and make sure they are healthy. We helped by weighing the babies and recording their weight in their books. Of course the first baby I was given to weight screamed bloody murder- ah no wonder babies terrify me. There were some super adorable babies thought so I couldn't help but enjoy myself. For our last night in Kpendua, we made rabbit pizza! A man came buy in the morning selling rabbits he killed so we bought some that he then roasted (the product of which was disgusting looking) and then one of the nurses fried for us. It was amazingly tasty! I was grossed out by the prospect of eating bunny (yes I know it makes it worse to use that word) but it really was delicious. Especially on top of our awesome pizza with homemade dough, fresh tomato sauce, cheese, onions, and green peppers. Plus we made macaroni and cheese! It was a glorious food night.
Beginning on Thursday we started out journey back to the training hub stopping over in Tamale for the night. Now I am in Kumasi and tomorrow will be heading back to Kukurantumi. We decided to travel in small small (popular Ghanaian-English saying) legs to break up the travel. On the very long travel days I just tell myself it will be completely miserable so then I expect it and accept it so I don't get too frustrated. I am excited to see my home stay family since I've been away for a while now. I also feel motivated to return to the classroom for more Buli learning after going to site visit and being reminded of how much I have to learn.
The next day we broke into groups and conducted a survey about malaria in 6 households with the help of 2 nurses from the clinic. It was really interesting to collect information on how many people in their house had malaria recently, if they had/used mosquito nets, and their general knowledge level about the disease. I think it would be a useful way to assess the need in my community as well as meet people. We had the chance to help put up 2 nets in a house so joked that we did our saving the world for the day. Market day in a surrounding village was in the afternoon so we headed there to delight in finding hats, eating fried cheese (wagachi) and doing our grocery shopping. One of my favorite parts of the week were all the cute kids hanging around the house with us. There were two darling sisters who would just wander over to the house on their own (would never happen in America) and hang out for hours on end. My big accomplishment for the week was teaching them to parrot me and say 'I love you.' I also got the older one to repeat 'Say it again' as well completely by accident. It was pretty great. I hope to get some photos posted soon!
Wednesday morning we awoke to lots of rain which basically means people do not go out. It makes a lot of sense that downpours here shut everything down since cars aren't readily available to shield you from the storm. Baby weighing was supposed to happen at the clinic starting at 8am but because of the rain didn't start until much later. So instead we learned about grant writing and even practiced by coming up with a sample HIV/AIDS project on our own. Mothers bring their babies in monthly for the first two years of their lives to track their weight and make sure they are healthy. We helped by weighing the babies and recording their weight in their books. Of course the first baby I was given to weight screamed bloody murder- ah no wonder babies terrify me. There were some super adorable babies thought so I couldn't help but enjoy myself. For our last night in Kpendua, we made rabbit pizza! A man came buy in the morning selling rabbits he killed so we bought some that he then roasted (the product of which was disgusting looking) and then one of the nurses fried for us. It was amazingly tasty! I was grossed out by the prospect of eating bunny (yes I know it makes it worse to use that word) but it really was delicious. Especially on top of our awesome pizza with homemade dough, fresh tomato sauce, cheese, onions, and green peppers. Plus we made macaroni and cheese! It was a glorious food night.
Beginning on Thursday we started out journey back to the training hub stopping over in Tamale for the night. Now I am in Kumasi and tomorrow will be heading back to Kukurantumi. We decided to travel in small small (popular Ghanaian-English saying) legs to break up the travel. On the very long travel days I just tell myself it will be completely miserable so then I expect it and accept it so I don't get too frustrated. I am excited to see my home stay family since I've been away for a while now. I also feel motivated to return to the classroom for more Buli learning after going to site visit and being reminded of how much I have to learn.
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