Fall, Flour, and Football!

Thursday was the first PTA meeting of the school year which was held during the day. Since I was sick earlier the week I did not find out about it until the day of. Of course it was all in Buli so one of my colleagues translated for me during the first half only because then we both got tired since it lasted 3 hours. Right before the meeting began, the district circuit supervisor (similar to a county office school official in the States) and my headmaster approached me to ask if I was willing to talk about HIV/AIDS with the parents since I’m the health madam. Since it was such late notice I just discussed basic facts about transmission, prevention, and testing while one of the PTA members translated. One common misconception is that HIV can be transmitted via mosquitoes so we fielded a question around that. In the future I’ll want to prepare to go more in-depth with them regarding HIV/AIDS education. Our school health club now has an executive committee and is over 30 members strong so hopefully we will hold the first meeting soon. I want it to be as fun, interactive and student-led as possible so am brainstorming how best to go about it.

As previously mentioned, I am bummed to be missing fall back home since it’s my favorite season. But the seasons are changing here as well from the rainy to the dry season. Those are the two seasons and from what I’ve understood so far each lasts six months. There has been quite a bit of wind here recently and one day last week as I walked to my house a big gust of wind came bringing with it falling yellow leaves from the tree out front. Harmattan, winds from the Sahara, is coming soon which will bring cooler mornings and evening. I am really excited about it and hope I’ll be able to pull out my jeans, sweater, and light fleece I brought but haven’t worn since landing in Ghana. I have also been eating lots of boiled groundnuts since they’re being harvested in abundance plus they remind me of the North Georgia mountains. I hope I don’t get sick of groundnuts between having them raw, roasted, fried, boiled, as paste, ground in soup, and as soup.


Since my flour spoiled (grew mold), I asked my friend who was coming to visit me to pick up some flour for me. It was a bit difficult because we were speaking on the phone and he couldn’t quite get what I was saying so I texted him instead. He brought the flour when he came to visit me and cleared up that in Ghanaian English it’s pronounced differently which probably explains why it’s been hard for me to find when I’ve looked for it at market. So with my new ‘fl-ire’ (that’s the closest spelling I can come up with!) I made breakfast for dinner twice last week. Due to a belated birthday package from the Martz family, I happily consumed Nutella crepes and it was most definitely the best meal I’ve cooked here thus far. It’s one of my favorite foods to cook in America too so that probably helps. Then thanks to one of my lovely sisters, I cooked blueberry pancakes while one of my students watched. She didn’t like the blueberries and started picking them out for me to eat instead so I made her one with the blueberry-less batter left at the end.

Friday was a special day since our school girls and boys football teams had matches against Fumbisi JHS. Unfortunately the lorry that came to transport much of the staff and students couldn’t hold everyone who wanted to go. But at least twice as many people as capacity loaded in the inside of the lorry and many of the boys sat on top which is pretty common here except for the volume of people. Thankfully I got a seat of honor at the front. The evening got off to a great start when we were sitting around before the game started and a baby stranger wanted me to hold him once we arrived in Fumbisi. That almost never happens here! Usually I make babies cry. For example, yesterday I caused double trouble with two babies crying at once. Steph: 2 Babies: 0 or Steph: 0 Babies 2? I’m not sure which… anyways back to football… I was very impressed with my students’ football playing abilities and also had fun watching some of the girl spectators do traditional dances to cheer the players on. Both teams did well with final scores of 0-0. We loaded back in the lorry and set off toward home but then proceeded to break down just a little outside of town. I had to climb out of the lorry since I was sitting up front where they needed to get to in order to fix the lorry. While we were waiting, a truck approached and so I begged for a ride. They stopped and allowed me to get in the backseat with a man and woman while some of the guys piled in the truck bed. I then realized that the woman in the backseat was pregnant. And then I came to find out she was in labor and the vehicle was on the way to the Sandema hospital. I still cannot believe they stopped to give us a ride! I was pretty quiet the rest of the ride home. While I was bathing off all the dirt my body collected during the travel, I heard the lorry roll into Gbedema with all the kids singing merrily. O what a night!

Southern Roots

I gave my first class test in all three classes this week. Form 1’s results were pretty dismal which indicates they’re having a difficult time understand my American English. I am hoping by end of the first term in December it will be easier for them to ‘get’ me. I am also going to issue textbooks (which isn’t always done) to the students for them to take home and read and do homework out of. My pace of covering material has been slow already so I don’t think I can go much slower but probably need to be more creative in my explanation of computers. Especially since most of my students haven’t ever seen one, which is one of the main challenges I’m facing as I’ve previously mentioned. I was pleasantly surprised when I discovered that two of my students in my Form 1 class have computers at their houses. The textbooks came with an educational CD which these two students helped me remove and the boy asked if we should just leave them so people can use them if they have computers. My response was we could just give them to the students who needed him- so then he and the girl each took one. Besides the challenges of the language barrier and teaching ICT without computers, the large class sizes are also difficult to manage because of marking (grading) papers, controlling their behavior, and learning names. My form 2 and 3 students did much better on their tests so that made me happy and less worried that they aren’t understanding me.

Some of my form 3 students really want computer lessons so I’ve agreed to let them come by on the weekends. Unfortunately with my travels the past two weekends we have yet to begin. I did give my friend and fellow teacher Chris a short lesson one day on the internet and email during which we found out that if you yahoo (doesn’t quite have the same ring as google- but that’s what I use with my browser here) Gbedema Upper East Region my blog is listed 5th. This week Chris helped me distribute and post some Operation Smile posters since they’re coming to Ghana in December and Peace Corps is helping support them in their efforts.

Earlier in the week I made fried green tomatoes which I don’t think I’ve ever cooked in the States. The other teacher’s quarters has a garden behind it growing green bell peppers, tons of tomatoes, and some local vegetables. I was inspired to make fried green tomatoes since I’m Southern and all. They turned out pretty well and I ate them with a vegetable plate of Dijonnaise (whatever that means) green beans and stewed okra and tomatoes. There were definitely tasty but I did get sick the next day, ironically when there was a representative from the district health services office came to the school to meet with the students. Well done job Health Madam- way to take care of yourself! Anyways I’m all better now but the fried green tomatoes were probably won’t be happening again for a while. Back to the veggies, there’s a ton of okra here so I’ve made gumbo a few times and okra and tomatoes cooked in the skillet. Speaking of okra, it’s one of the staple vegetables here but a lot of Volunteers can’t get over the mucous-y texture. I’m glad I’m Southern and grew up eating okra. My sister reminded me of one summer where we had an abundance of okra in our garden until we were sick of okra. I hope that doesn’t happen to me here since it’s one of the few familiar green veggies I can get consistently. So if you come across any fabulous okra recipes please send them my way!

I cannot believe it’s already over halfway through October but I am definitely feeling more settled in. I’m not feel so exhausted all the time and don’t feel like I’m on an emotional roller coaster as much. As I’ve mentioned before, the highs are really high and the lows very low during cross-cultural adjustment and perhaps living in its entirety. If you’re wondering how you can pray for me, the challenges I mentioned in the classroom is a good place to start. Also I’ve been experiencing some anxiety and panicky feelings when I am in very crowded cars with a low ‘ceiling’ (much more so than the photo but you can get an idea of what types of cars are available). It’s a very specific case and thankfully I really only have to worry about it on the weekends but it’s still a struggle I am facing here. I was always slightly claustrophobic in America (elevators aren’t my favorite) but never had it pushed to the limit like it has been here. Thanks for keeping up with my blog and enjoy the lovely autumn weather and festivities!

Mi Biisa

I love all the kiddos in my village who come hang out on my front porch and entertain me. Sometimes they're waiting for me when I arrive home from school to which I usually exclaim 'Mi biisa!' which means my children (I think) in Buli. I also blow bubbles, snap photos of them (which they get a huge kick out of), and play games. I uploaded a new album to facebook today most of which are the photos of the kids.

Two neighbor boys Kofi and Awombisi come around often and when we have nothing else to do Awombisi and I like to whistle together. He's my whistling buddy. Check it out:


As you've seen from the old post of my host nephew dancing, kids are amazingly good dancers here. I recorded a quick video of two sisters Edna and Ama dancing and singing. They pass my house on a daily basis on their way to the borehole and occasionally stop by to hang out for a while:

Goldilocks

In case you’re wondering, the temperature last week has been the hottest here thus far. One night I couldn’t go to sleep because of the heat and looked at my clock where I discovered it was 90 degrees. I guess that’s my limit. When people found out I didn’t have fans in my house yet, they would say ‘You are suffering-oh!’ As such I finally bought a stand fan when I was in Bolga over the weekend for a meeting with all the Upper East volunteers. Hope you enjoy the silly photo I had one of my students snapped of me with my brand new contraption. I can now be a walking advertisement for the brand Binatone when I go shopping in the market with my shiny reusable bag. I went to Bolga for a meeting with all Upper East volunteers (there are 7 of us total) and was great to see everyone and compare notes on our first month at site as well as to help each other out with ideas. Some of the natural resource management volunteers end up teaching and education volunteers often work on health projects so it’s nice to have resources.

I also spent the rest of my settling in allowance on a new mattress since I had means to transport it back to my house (Alex and I caught a ride back with his headmistress in a pickup truck). The Latex Foam one I was given was too soft. But now my new Ash Foam (who’s slogan by the way is partner for life- guess it’s gotta come back with me to the US) high density mattress is too hard. I am hoping it will break in overtime so that like Goldilocks it will be just right. Once I realized I am Goldilocks, I told the story to my friend Chris and then again today to my form 3 class at the end of the lesson. I was asking my students if the pace of my class was too fast. To which most answered no and a few said yes. Too slow? No. Just right? Yes! So again it reminded me of Goldilocks; some of the girls especially were giggling so I guess I did an ok job storytelling. Some of my girl students were reading Alice in Wonderland during PE time Friday (my kind of girls) so I told them it was a wonderful book and full of nonsense. I sat with them working while they were reading and one girl laughed aloud to the part where the rabbit says ‘I’m late for a very important date.’ I then launched into an explanation of Disney movies specifically Alice in Wonderland so I could sing ‘I’m late, I’m late, for a very important date. No time to say hello, goodbye, I’m late, I’m late, I’m late!’ for them. Again this elicited laughter so that made me pretty happy.

Continuing with the theme of girl’s names, I have many names here so it can get rather interesting. I am Akosua in the Eastern region which is Sunday born in Twi, Stephanie if people want my English name but the pronunciation is rather difficult, Madam Carey at school, Laadi to the kids (it’s Hauser for Sunday born), and my newest name is Awenle in Buli. It means God’s daughter but for the longest time I thought it meant God’s doctor because I misunderstood the Ghanaian English. I didn’t really understand why God needs a doctor or why I of all people would fit that role so this makes so much more sense to me now!

This Friday will be the first quiz (think quiz bowl or trivia) for our compounds or houses. Besides the quizzes, each house is assigned a section of the school compound that they are in charge of cleaning and wedding each morning before school starts. Houses will compete in the quizzes, cleaning, and other games including sports. Last Friday students were divided into their 4 groups. One of our discussion points in our staff meeting was around naming the houses. Since there are 4 houses I desperately wanted to suggest the names of the houses from Harry Potter like any good fan would but I knew it would take too long to explain what I was talking about. So instead they are local names: Agbera , Aparinchaang, Azantilow, and Nkrumah. I don’t think I mentioned before that Buli surnames all start with A, which means almost all my students last names start with A. Since formal education was established in Ghana by the British, their educational system has left its mark including the designation of school prefects. There are many prefects including ones for each form, ones for the entire school, and even a health prefect to assist in my health madam duties. So as my good friend said, ‘You are living Harry Potter without the magic!’ Which reminds me, people think I'm magical when I shuffle (or box) cards which is pretty hilarious. Back to Harry Potter, I plan to borrow the first few books from the Tamale sub-office when I go there this weekend for a vaccine. One of my students and some of the teachers want to read it. I hope to upload a few videos this weekend when I have access to high speed internet!

As promised, here’s a photo of the inside of my latrine. Whenever I travel it makes me appreciate the access I have to my latrine when I’m in my community which is most of the time. For example, on the way back from Bolga this weekend I really had to go to the bathroom when we stopped by the hospital for madam to visit a friend in the maternity ward. I was told the toilets at the hospital were only for patients so I ventured outside and wandered toward the back of the hospital. Thankfully a kid asked me where I was going and I said I was trying to find a toilet. She then took me to her house (the nurse’s quarters are right next to the hospital) which had a real toilet and toilet paper! Usually when I go to Sandema for market I end up urinating (as it is referred to) in people’s outdoor washrooms. It’s pretty common for people not to have a place dedicated to relieving yourself but isn’t something I think I’ll ever adjust to. Speaking of adjusting, I feel pretty settled in here and in the routine of school. That's all I've got for now folks...

Madam

As the ICT (Information and Communication Technology or Computers as I like to call it) ‘madam’ at my school, I feel compelled to use technology to show my students how it can make life easier. So to aid in my effort to learn the names of my students, I had them fill out an index card with information about themselves (name, age, favorite subject, what job they want in the future, etc.). Then I had them line up outside in groups of 5 or so and took their photo. In the photo you see 5 of my form 3 (equivalent to 8th grade) students who all want to be teachers when they grow up. I’ll be introducing you to more students from time to time. Some of the most common names of my students include Gifty, Daniel, Abigail, and Robert. I have around 60 form 1 students, 75 in form 2, and 50 in form 3. They are still adjusting to my American English and I continuously find myself at a loss for words because the word my brain is telling me to say would mean nothing to them. So when new vocabulary words arise I do a little mini-English lesson. For example, last week in the form 3 class I ran into a desk. To which all my students exclaimed ‘Sorry Madam!’ I laughed at myself which then gave them permission to laugh at me as well. I took the opportunity to explain what clumsy means.

In other school news, we had our first staff meeting on Monday. One of the main topics was sharing of responsibilities and duties. Somehow I ended up being the secretary for the meeting and will be for subsequent meetings as well which should not be a big burden since staff meetings occur only occasionally. I am also the ‘Health Madam.’ I didn’t really know what this job entailed when I signed up for but I soon found out I (with the help of my assistant) am expected to run the health club and work on initiatives set forth by the district education office including having a pit for burning rubbish (trash), hand-washing station, students bring separate cups for drinking water, and latrines (currently the student use the public ones some distance from the school). All are worthy projects and I think it worked out well for me to take on this role since I hope to work on some health issues in the community including HIV/AIDS and malaria education. Also our timetable (schedule) was reset and now I am not teaching on Fridays. I will still go to school most Fridays but I am glad to have flexibility to do other things if I need it.

Over the weekend I went to Sandema on Saturday for market. My day was spent at market buying my food for the week and also eating way too much Ghanaian food (I had rice and beans for breakfast- does that count for being fully integrated?). I also visited the hospital with my friend Adam who works as a nurse there. It was a good reminder of why I am not working in the medical field- I can’t handle the smells and sights. The vomit, blood, wounds, etc. are not my cup of tea. But I did dispense smiles to patients as they were receiving medicine. I have so much admiration and respect for nurses and doctors everywhere. Side note: Many of my students aspire to be nurses and doctors and I’ve been thinking it would be good to have professionals come talk to them about their jobs… so if I can figure out a way to incorporate that into my lessons I want to try to make that happen. Back on track: After being productive shopping, eating, and visiting the hospital, it was entertainment time. I have replaced watching American football (not that I did it that much in the States) with watching football here. Adam is a Liverpool fan and is determined to convert me from my current team Manchester United. I like Man U because my host brother follows them and also I had their poster in my room at homestay so it just felt right. I will have to make my final decision soon because Liverpool will face Manchester United next weekend. Next I watched the nurses from the hospital play the teachers from one of the high schools. During the middle of the game a goat walked right through the middle of the field. I don’t think anyone noticed besides me.


I’ve had lots of questions about latrines recently so I thought I would describe mine to you. I have two and in each one there are two holes. Now at my homestay family you could actually sit (though I usually hovered you’ll understand why in a minute) and there was a toilet seat. To use my latrine, I must squat and though I have a piece of wood I have set aside to cover the holes I am usually lazy and don’t do it. Thankfully toilet paper can be bought here so I make sure that is on my shopping list. That luxury is well worth the 60-70 pesewas (~40-47 cents) I spend on a new roll each week. A few latrine stories… at homestay cockroaches loved the latrine so quite often I would yell when I discovered them which is my typical response really. One particular morning I went outside and unfortunately didn’t notice the odor of insecticide. So when I opened the lid at least 4 were crawling out of the latrine so of course I screamed and my host brother came the rescue. He would always tell me ‘Don’t be afraid’ but would then kill them for me. Last week here at my house I went outside to use the latrine before bedtime wearing my headlamp since I hadn’t bought a light bulb for that spot yet. A frog happened to be in there that I couldn’t see and proceeded to freak out and hop all over the place including bumping into my legs. Needless to say I bought a light bulb at market over the weekend since that ‘prince’ scared me! I plan to take a photo of the inside of the latrine for you to see but every time I think of it there are kids and students in my ‘back yard’ playing volleyball and football. And that would just be awkward… ‘why is that strange white lady snapping a photo of THAT?’ So please stay tuned for the exciting picture and also leave a comment if you have any burning questions about my life here in Ghana!