live from ghana, its sunday afternoon
i arrived in ghana safe and sound, and in just 4 hours have crammed in what feels like days worth of experiences. i was picked up at the airport by hayford siaw, who runs volunteer partnership for west africa. i was already impressed by what i had read about him and what he has done with this organization in just over two years, but was doubly impressed in person. he is doing really innovative and effective work to help ghanians raise their standard of living and build their own capacity. just the conversation with him in the car ride alone made me happy that i am here, spending the next two weeks working on and talking about these types of issues. i am really looking forward to learning from this person, and feel that i will be contributing to important work that is being done here.
on the plane ride here, i sat next to a woman who is on the board of a nonprofit that focuses on potable water and orphanages in ghana. i broke my no talking to people on plane rides rule to chat with her. i really love being a part of the dialogue on development issues and feel good being here and being involved in this type of work. i am really looking forward to the coming weeks. i still cant quite believe that i am here.
i am still learning about how my next two weeks will be structured, but i do know that i will be working with microloan beneficiaries and helping one in particular to build her business development skills. she is apparently excited to meet me, and i feel likewise. i met another one of the women in the microloan group on the street of one of the small towns earlier today, and she said she has heard about me! there are two other interns working while i am here, since february is a bit of a down time. all of us are working on microfinance projects. microfinance is the issue du jour, and that is what a lot of volunteers are wanting to do. hayford wants to focus on skill building and training, and i sort of wish i was running a training class here. for those of you who know him, that would get me one step closer to becoming jawara, my mentor and friend. maybe i can pull a course together or design something when i get back....
to paint a picture of where i am staying, i am on a compound that includes a big house and a couple of smaller buildings. the office here consists of an apartment with two rooms, a bathroom and a kitchen. this is where hayford lives and where i will be staying. the two other volunteers are housed next door. the compound is owned by the village chief, tumo, his wife princess, their two little boys and 6 month old baby. other people seem to filter in and out of the compound as well. the atmosphere is laid back. when i first met him, tumo was defeathering a chicken and wearing a white hat and a white cloth draped around his waist. luckily i read ahead and knew to bring chocolates for princess, who asked me about that even before greeting me. i think she was surprised that i had come prepared. there is not much to the town that i am in, mostly dirt roads and a few open air stands. it definitely feels remote, but i think i'll have enough to do to keep myself entertained.
after i arrived i instantly started hanging out with christina, a very nice volunteer from pennsylvania who is originally from florida...i can even find floridians in africa! christina graciously went exploring with me and gave me the lay of the land, filling me in to some key cultural nuances. you have to greet anybody you encounter by asking them how they are doing or saying good morning before asking for anything. it is considered rude otherwise. the american english accent can be hard to undertand so you have to speak very clearly and slowly *a challenge for me, of course* you never, ever hand anybody anything with your left hand.....just to name a few. we took a tro tro, a microbus of sorts, up the road for about twenty minutes to the town of assaman. the town consists of one long street lined with cinderblock structures, stands, huts, schools, goats, chickens, and cars. ghanians apparently like to blast music, so the first thing i heard was elton john blaring from a tiny bar. some roads are paved, but most are dirt. most of the women wear the traditional colorful batik wraps, while the men dress a lot more western. it feels both familiar and like no place i have ever seen.
my internet access will be somewhat limited due to my lack of foresight in not bringing a laptop. i snuck on hayfords computer while he left to take the other volunteer to the hospital with a fever. the two volunteers both have had serious fevers in the past couple of days, so fingers crossed that i stay healthy....