Ghana Girl

Trials and Tribulations

2006-06-03T10:13:00.000-07:00

First of all, I got the dreaded disease MALARIA! It was a Nightmare! One of the main symptoms is body pains and I had always wondered what that meant. Well, now I know. It means your whole freakin body hurts! Felt like muscle cramps all over and I had a ridiculusly high fever. The first 3 days I took some medicine and thought my body would fight it. WRONG! I had to be driven to the clinic and when we got there my temperature was 104 degrees! This is after taking medicine. The immediately put me on IV drips and my temp did go down. The next 3 days were a different hell. All the medicine was making me sick and it completely wiped me out. I literally couldn't get out of bed and I kept vomiting. I had to go back to the clinic for another IV drip but this time for energy. All my boys were really sweet. They came in different shifts to pray over me and yesterday a big group of over 15 crammed in the room to pray for me. Thank God, I'm now much better. I'm still very weak but I was able to go back to school today. But that's not my problem.

My big problems is Immigration. It seems they have changed their policy allowing volunteers to continue extend their visas. They told me I can no longer extend my visa. I only have 2 more months left. Martin, the director, is pleading with them to let me finish my time here but so far nothing. Tommorrow he is going to try again and it's my last shot. I'm very upset because there is so much work that I haven't finished and some I haven't even started yet. I also can't suddenly leave all my boys like that. Oh! I ask everyone to pray or send positive thoughts for me to finish my work in Ghana!

Jesus has Risen.....Everybody Party!

2006-05-01T07:24:00.000-07:00

Hello all,

Sorry I haven't written in a while but the internet here can be ridiculus. For it's own reasons, it would not let me post a new blog. Oh well.

We are now just finishing our Easter break. We had a little more than two weeks off from school. Easter in Tafo is a Big Deal! Everyone that has moved away comes back for the Easter celebrations. A lot of them have moved to Accra (the capital city) and want to show off how citified(I know that's not a word) they are now. They will be walking down the street in these really nice outfits but,Hello it's Tafo, there is nowhere to go. Then there were all these really nice cars and motorcycles racing up and down the street and once again, Tafo, the road doesn't go that far. There were parties everywhere, including the in the street,and even
one at the library. The women were dressed in their skankiest outfits, the men
were wild and I don't think anyone was thinking about Jesus, if you know what I mean. Also, in Mpraso there were big concerts and there was para-gliding off a nearby mountain. I did not partake in the para-gliding.

I think in America, we put too much focus on Jesus during Easter time. From now on it should be an excuse to have wild parties!

The Hostel

2006-04-13T03:59:00.000-07:00

Hello All,

I thought I'd tell about the hostel the boys stay at that are part of the football acadmey. The hostel is for the really good players who are from out of town. First let me describe it for you. It is a hell hole. It is a medium size room squashed with 15 cheap wooden bunk beds to fit 30 boys but I suspect more sleep there. They only have two other rooms. One small room to house everyone's luggage and the water containers. And next to that one an extremely small room where Eric sleeps who watches over the boys. There is no bathroom or toilet. They have walk 5 minutes to the coach's house to use his toilet which I hear is falling apart. There is no kitchen. They are provided one meal a day by GIMAT which is dinner. Their parents are suppose to provide the rest for them. Which usually means giving them money to buy for themselves. However, sometimes parents don't have the money so it does happen that some kids only get that one meal. Which is scary when you consider how extremely active they are. I know that they do look out for each other so if someone is without they do try to share. One volunteer last year generously donated enough money so they got 3 meals a day for almost a year but that money has run out. Anyway, back to the hostel, the roof and the walls don't meet. The roof is a tin covering more so than an actually roof and there is a big gap where the top of the walls are suppose to meet the roof but instead there is a overhang. It feels like you are still outside. Through the generiosity of another volunteer they boys all have foam mattresses on their beds but the quality is so poor most of them are falling apart now.

Now the boys themselves are a riot. A typical night in the hostel is like this. First there's Frank being chased by Guana because while Guana was sleeping Frank removed all his clothes. Now, Frank, even though he is a 13 year old boy, has a high pitch giggle when he laughs and you can't hear it without laughing yourself. So all around the hostel you here Frank running from Guana and giggling like a little girl. Then I'm sure collins will be doing something crazy like tying a shirt on his head "like an Arab" and flexing his non-existent muscles ( i have a hilarious picture of this). If someone turns on music then everyone starts dancing and most of the are really good and really fun to watch. Then someone will of course be challenge someone else to a fight. I've personally arm-wrestled most of the boys and beaten them I might add.
The boys are great I just wish they were living in better conditions but their spirits is not spoiled by any of it. GIMAT is trying to raise money to build their own hostel right now they rent that place. Currently, they have the land and the sand to build the bricks but it will cost like 10,000 dollars with them doing all the building themselves. I hope it happens for them.

A Few of My Favorite Things...

2006-03-29T03:47:00.000-08:00

I have completly lost my heart to all my children. The children here are, without a doubt, unlike children anywhere else in the world. So respectful and naughty at the same time. I, of course, have a few favorites.

First, there's Jingo. Jingo is his nickname and I don't know the meaning. He's one of the footballers (the program has two sides: the cultural group where I am and the football group). He's 13 year old and already has six pack abs! He's built like a man, solid muscle. He's an extraordinary athlete! He's the fastest kid in like 6 towns. We just had the inter-school athletic competition and they put Jingo in 6 of the 10 events. He took first in the 100, 400, 4 by 400, and the 4 by 100. He ran the 400 in 59 secs on a grass field with bare feet. That's impressive for a 13 year old. Of course, because he's soo good, everyone in town knows his name and are always bothering him at competitons. At the inter-school competition, after he won the 400, some men from town picked him up and then poured perfumed powder over him. Another man was trying to argue with some kids from another school because one of them said he could beat Jingo. Crazy! And of course, all the girls go crazy over him too but my Jingo is a good boy. He doesn't pay the girls any attention and works hard in school. I worry about him though because they push him too hard. Because he's soo good, they push him to play even when his injured or overworked. I've been mothering him to stretch more and to not let anyone push him beyond a healthy place.

I also have two,that's right, TWO sets of twins. First there's Albert and Alberto (which is some lazy naming, just adding an O). The only way I can tell them apart is that Albert has a small scar by his eye otherwise it's a guessing game. They work harder than anyone else in school. You will always find them studying or copying notes. They have a funny nervous laugh that sounds like Beavis and Butthead. He he he heh. They are brillant football players! They are absolute sweethearts but put them on the footbal pitch and whoo! watch out! they turn into seriously aggressive players. I adore them! I'm always bothering them but I can't help it.
My other set of twins are Felix and Phillip. They are like 10 years old and are also identical. I can mostly tell them apart but it's easier if they are together. I usually just look at the clothes, they both have shirts they wear all the time. Felix is the naughtier twin. He's already started with girls though if you ask him he'll deny it. Phillip is a little angel though. They are super cute and sweet.

Then there's my Thomas! He's actually the younger brother of Martin, the director of the program. He also with the football group but he's the smallest one so he never gets to play. Thomas is 10 years old and already a little man. He acts like he's soo tough. He's a good boy but he does bad things. When we first came he use to bother us during meal times but you look into those big brown eyes and you had to forgive him. Now the tables are turned, I bother him all the time but he loves it even if he won't say it. He'll hold my hand if we're alone but as soon as we get to where we are going he drops my hand and runs away. Nobody believes it but I know Thomas will cry when I leave.

Collins is another one I seek out. He's the one who's nickname means "big, ugly head." He's super super cute and he knows it. He tries to use his cutness to get things from me. He's a brillant footballer and he's good at scoring which is impressive since he's very small (he's arms are like twigs.) He's cocky too, when he scores a goal he has a little booty shaking dance he does. Sometimes he wants to act like I'm his girlfriend and hang all over me but I put a stop to that.

Your probably wondering why I mention only boys and footballers. It's because I see them the most and spend the most time with them. These are just my fav favorites. I have lots of them I just love. They're contagious.

How To Speak Ghanaian

2006-03-14T04:48:00.000-08:00

I've decided to teach all of you some Ghanaian phrases. I think that when you learn the language, how they organise thoughts and ideas, it is very telling about the people and the cultural. So, I'm going to teach you how to speak Ghanaian.

"I'm coming" --- seems straight forward but people say this when they are leaving. It means I'll be back.

"Go and come" --- means whatever your going to do make sure you come back.

"I like your foot" --- no, there is not foot discrimination. It means I like your shoes.

"You like _______ too much" --- fill in the blank with fighting, eating, (in my case) popcorn, etc. They love telling you what you like.

"Come on time" --- once again seems straight forward until I tell you people say this to you when you are leaving them. It means come back early.

"Where from you" --- where are you from

"more grease to your elbow" --- work harder

"macho your voice" --- speak louder

"tape" --- this one bothers me on a personal level because they use this word to mean a stereo system. They keep thanking me for the tape I sent and I'm like no it's a whole stereo system with a tape deck but they don't listen.

"Auntie" --- they use to mean like sister but not blood relative. just in general.

"Why" --- they always use this one at the end of what they are saying. It means is that right, have you heard.

"Is that right?" --- people put this on the end of what they are saying. I think it's to check that you are listening.

Ghanaians also use a lot of sounds when they are talking. I've tried my best to phonetically re-create them.

Eh
Oh
Aiii
ummhumm
why
I can't re-create the tongue clicks, sorry. But the funny thing about all of this is that I now talk like this and use all those sounds. Crazy! And I haven't even gotten into nicknames. They love to give people nicknames for defects they think they have. One of our young footballers nickname translates into "Big, ugly head." Awful, I know. I told them he's just got a really big brain, which is true. I told him that he's body is small now but he'll grow into his head, which is a lie because his head is HUGE. But hey, it's perfect for football. They also love to tell people their fat and mock them. Here it's not so much of an insult. If your fat you should know it, is how they feel.

Well, now your Ghanaian should be perfect. Are you ready to come over and give it try?

And Number 5 on the list is Education

2006-03-01T02:18:00.000-08:00

Hello all,

I haven't written much about Tafo so this blog I will tell you all about the joys of teaching in a school in Ghana.

First, I teach English to the second year students(8th) in Roman Catholic Junior Secondary School (J.S.S. like middle school). Where should I start, there is so much that you wouldn't believe. Well, like in my title, actual education is very low on the list of priorities at the school. They will cancel classes for the most silliest of reasons. For example, they have canceled class for the students to:
1. to do weeding in the catholic shrine
2. Do grounds work and weeding around the school
2. fetch water for the teachers
3. To train in netball (sport)
4. to go farming.

They, of course, never tell us or even plan ahead to when they cancel classes. You'll go to school and they'll be no students in the classroom. That's how you find out.
A lot of the teachers, themselves, are completely unmotivated. They'll go to their classes late or sleep in the staff room. Which is actually understandable. Teachers get no respect in Ghana. They are paid an amount so low it's impossible to live on it. Some schools pay their teachers only like 16 dollars A MONTH! AND on top of that most of the time they don't pay the teachers. They have to fight for that small money. I've met a teacher that has been fighting for 15 months to get paid and he told me there is a teacher at his school that has been fighting for 2 years. That's crazy!
Most of the students are really undisciplined. Mostly because the schools are too but a lot of students really don't care. Most of the parents don't really know what their children are doing in school and don't care to know. Education is not a priority. A lot students don't go on after J.S.S. You have to pass a major exam to qualify to get into Senior Secondary School (S.S.S. or high school) and most students can't do it. Not an exaggeration, but half my students can't read. They just been pushed through the next grade without actually passing. So now, they are in JSS and they can't read well enough to do any assignments or even understand me when I'm talking to them. umff! It's really hard to teach because students will be talking up a storm in class, coming to class really late with lame excuses, or they don't understand your English so aren't able to follow instructions. The English taught in Ghana is a joke. Is rare to find someone who actually speaks decent English. When I was going over one of the District exams with the students that they had just taken, I found at leat 5 grammar errors and quite a few spelling mistakes. This is on a DISTRICT test!
Another problem is the schools lack so many resources. The classrooms are bare. The children have no visual stimulation at all. Which of course makes learning harder. The textbooks are kept at the school and the students can only use them during class time. There isn't enough anyway. The students must buy their own pens and exercise books (to do homework in) but sometimes they can't afford them. They share cheaply constructed wooden desks. When farming season starts the students will have to farm during the morning hours because the school needs the money to subsidize the little they are getting from the government. The students will also be doing a lot chores and work for the parents at home also, which will hinder their learning.
A big problem is the teaching style. Most of the teaching is very poor. It's mostly just copy this into your notebook. Before we worked with them they were completely incapable of being creative. They had only learned to copy and imitate. If you asked them to make up a story they would freeze up and be completely confused.
They also teach English like it's a first language and have no tools for teaching English to students as their second language. Hell, most of the teachers don't have any teacher training. In most schools you are only required to have gone to college or technical school to be a teacher. It's rare to find an actual trained teacher.

Oh, so many problems but I just try to do what I can. That's all I can do.

I'M BACK!!!

2006-02-25T05:02:00.000-08:00

I'm back from traveling. Actually I've been back for a week but the internet has been down where I usually go. But today I'm in Kumasi and I can tell you all about my great trip.

First we went to Ejura to visit the former project of Rebecca (fellow volunteer from Holland). We spent Saturday and Sunday there and got to see what they were doing at that project. The have had a lot of volunteers over the years so they had a ridiculous amount of excess supplies. So Rebecca gave us some musical instruments, masks, and books that they were not ever using to give to our kids in Tafo. I heard the kids went crazy when they saw the stuff.
On Monday, Me, Rebecca, and another volunteer went to Tamale to spend the night. Our goal was to go to Mole National Park. It is the largest park in Ghana with a huge variety of wildlife and they also offer safaris. We had to wait a day in Tamale for the next bus going to Mole. Tamale is about 10 hours up north from Tafo. The northern part of Ghana is so different that it almost as if we had entered another country. First in the north it unbelievably Hot and DRY! I now know what it would be like to visit a desert. I couldn't drink enough water! Also, although most of Ghana is Christian up North (where's there's a lower population) it is almost 90% Muslim. We also saw a lot of mud adobe houses with straw roofs riding through the towns. There was plenty of donkeys around that people were still using to haul things. Oddly enough, donkeys are really beautiful. It sounds strange but look at one up close.
When we got to Mole, we stayed in the hotel that is actually in the park. So we were literally living with the wildlife. Just driving up to the hotel we saw elephants, monkeys, and wart hogs. In the morning, I went on a walking safari further into the park. You have to go with an armed guide because the animals ARE NOT tame. We are actually watching them in their natural habitat doing what comes natural to them. They don't take care of the animals at all.
So, the first thing we saw were ELEPHANTS! I'm in love with Elephants now. Their so grand and regal. We were by their watering hole. So they came really close to us and were swimming and drinking in the water. I mean I have a picture of me with an elephant right behind me! It was so amazing! We also saw wart hogs, antelope, egrets, a shy monkey, and hidden crocodiles.
Now, I had heard about the Baboons at the park. A friend of Rebeccas' had one jump on her and run off with her bag. And the people at the hotel told us that they come in the afternoon to the hotel and cause trouble. But I still was really anxious to see a Baboon. Me and Rebecca were walking back to our room after buying water and juice and I was complaing about not seeing any Baboons. Well, spoke to soon. All of sudden we saw at least 10 roaming all over the hotel. I was trying to hurry to our room to get a camera, when we saw a really big one in the trash can of the room next to ours. All of sudden, he turned around and started coming for us. We both acted like a couple of little girls and dropped our bags and ran screaming into our room. Or I went to our room, Rebecca in her fear ran to the wrong room and then had to run back to our room. The baboon only took my juice and some children chased him away. But me and Rebecca had a good laugh over that. In my defense, let me say it was a really Big baboon. It could've took me.
I also went to the town next to Mole called Larbanga. It boast of having the oldest mud mosque in Ghana and possibly in West Africa. The mosque has an interesting story that sounds completely made up so I won't share it.
My next trip was by myself further up north to Bolgtanga. I've been reading my fellow volunteers' travel book and read about a couple of places that I wanted to go. First to Paga where they have crocodile ponds and then to Sirigu where they have a community art project.
In Paga, I went to a crocodile pond. Here they consider the crocodile as sacred. They are their totems. So they've been keeping crocodiles for centuries. They are two ponds in Paga. I went to the Chief's pond where they have like 500 crocodiles. I was a little scared but people were washing their clothes in the water and other animals were drinking in the same water where the crocodiles were. So my guide whistled to a crocodile and slowly one started to come forward. He coaxed it out of the water. Then he took a picture while (you won't believe this) I sat on it and another picture of me holding it's tail. I swear I have photographic proof. I sat on a crocodile! Also, in Paga I went to the Pikworo slave camp. It was one of the major camp sites for slave traders taking slaves down toward the coast. There were a lot of remnants of the history there. There it is unusually rocky as if maybe there once was a great river running through that area. In the rocks you can see where the slaves carved holes into the rocks to use as bowls. There was also a resonant rock which they used for drumming. The wanted to boost morale so those slaves that drummed and danced got more food. We also visited the punishment rock and the cemetery where they buried the ones who couldn't make it.
My last trip was to Sirigu. Where the women keep up the tradition of painting their houses. The women have started a community project to keep up their traditional arts like house painting, pottery,jewelry making, etc. They had a wonderful gallery full of great things. I bought myself a necklace. I also had a tour of two traditional painted mud compounds.
After all that traveling. I finally returned back to Tafo. I missed all my kids even if some of them are bad.

Seeing the Priestess and Meeting the Chief

2006-02-08T02:18:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

So last Friday was a very interesting day for me. We went to see the town fetish priest. (or priestess since she's female) No, I don't know why they're called "fetish" priest but I assure you it has nothing to do with what you are thinking about. Fetish priest are part of the traditional religion of Ghana. It pre-dates the Christian and Muslim invasion. Some people are Christians and still go see the fetish priest for problems. Traditionally, the fetish priest is someone that is able to be "possessed" by deities. Supposedly, through these deities they can cure sickness, help with problems, and if they are into black magic put some juju on someone you don't like, all for a price, of course. Our fetish priest was unusually young, they had to call her mother before we could come. We just went and talked to her and heard her story. At about 15 or 16 she had two strange dreams. In one someone offered her a traditional jug full of water and told her to bathe. In the other, someone told her to crack 3 eggs over her head. At the time she was a Seven Day Adventist so her mother took her church and they prayed over her. Then she started having strange physical things happen to her. Like a deity was trying to take over her body. Her mother took her to churches all over Ghana and had people pray for her and nothing helped. Finally, her mother took her to the biggest church in Ghana to see this famous bishop. He is well known internationally for curing and healing. Even he couldn't help her and he told her that it was her calling to be a fetish priest and there was nothing they could do. So she began training with a rasta fetish priest in Kumasi for 4 years and now she is practicing in Tafo. She still goes to church though. It was insteresting, I'm not sure how much I believe but I haven't seen her in action. There are special days in their traditional calendar where the spirits are strong so we are planning on coming back in 3 weeks to see her in action.

On our way to see the fetish priest we ran into the Developmental Chief for Tafo and he invited us to his house later for drinks. His is an very interesting story. His name is Humphrey and he is an Englishman. He was a TV producer for a famous show in England, years ago, called Desmonds. One of the main actors of the show was originally from Tafo. When this person died about 5 years ago, Humphrey came to Ghana for his funeral and the Head Chief of Tafo asked him if he wanted to be adopted into the royal family. He, of course, said yes not knowing what they had in store for him. The later asked him to become their developmental chief and he accepted. He stays in England but he visits every year for at least a month. He started a charity organization in England called "Friends of Tafo" and thru funds raised they have done some amazing things in Tafo. They built a library, a school, computer labs for schools, toilets, and more to come. It was really inspiring listening to all the plans he had for further development of Tafo. His house was ridiculous! We all used the toilet twice because we knew it be a long time before we saw one that nice again. He invited us back anytime. He probably shouldn't have because I'll keep going back.

******************NOTE***************************************************************
I will be traveling up North in Ghana next week. So I won't post next week but when I get back I will have great stories I'm sure.

The ROCK!

2006-01-30T07:02:00.000-08:00

No, I am not talking about the former wrestler turned actor. I am talking about our trek to the Boroko Rock Shrine in Tafo a couple of weeks ago. First, they lied to us and said it was only a 30 minute hike to the rock. LIE! it is an 90 minute hike but luckily we caught a ride in a back of a huge farm truck. Then the real work started. We had to hike practically straight up for over 30 minutes to reach the rock at the top. There is no path to the rock. Let me repeat, THERE IS NO PATH TO THE ROCK. Most locals had not even been there because it's so crazy. Our guide brought a machete to cut ahead of us. I was fortunate to be behind Abigail(our fabulous cook) she was so out of shape she had to keep stopping and resting. So I could pretend to be only waiting for Abigail and take a break too. You had to hold onto bushes and rocks just to keep standing. Finally, we made it to the top. It's a huge rock on top and you are so high up the view is incredible. All the volunteers who have survived (I mean survive) leave their names behind on a piece of paper they leave there. Then came the real work, how in the hell to get down. Once again I was behind Abigail but this time it worked against me. Abigail fell pretty much the whole way down leaving a nice smooth trail behind her. So, I too fell a few times. My last fall I ripped a big hole in my pants right on my butt. Martin gave me his sweats to wear over my pants. (don't worry he had shorts on underneath) Then after only getting lost once, we found our way back. At the base of the big hill or small mountain (not sure which) a family was living. The women was arguing with our guides because the people who still practice traditional religion believe the rock shrine is holy. They believe it houses spirits and they watch over us like a big eye at the top. She thought that we should've left libations at the top and given them money to go there. Whatever. I was too tired to care. Once again we were lucky and caught a ride back. It was on top of this huge truck overloaded with giant bags. We had to climb up, with help, and rode on the top. That my friends, was The Rock!

It's been awhile

2006-01-25T03:10:00.000-08:00

I know it's been awhile but we had a lot of trouble finding a reliable place for internet. Also, they been keeping me very busy here but I will try to get back on a regular schedule of posting.

So what am I doing, I'm sure you are all wondering. Well, during the day they post us in school to help out. So I am teaching 6 classes of English Mon-Fri. It is a Roman Catholic JSS or junior seconday school or middle school. Teaching English is not what I really want to be doing but the school needed help in that area. It is really disheartening to teach here because half my students can't even read and the school has a lot of needs. I am not a quailfied teacher so it's kinda overwhelming all the help that is needed. (Teachers out there, any tips?) The students love me but it doesn't stop them from being very talkative in class.
Mon, Wed, and Fri afternoons from 3:30-5:30 is the culture center. Right now there are 3 of us volunteering there. The kids do traditional dances, sketches, plays, and drumming. Right now their drums are all broken do they can't do that. There are a lot of needs for the culture group. The kids told us they need costumes, a hostel, and video camera to record their preformances. GIMAT volunteer network is trying to raise money to build a hostel for their two groups, culutural and football.
The other volunteers are helping with the football boys. They are renting a tiny space to house the boys. In this small room they have crammed 30 boys in bunk beds. The footballers train very hard for 3 hours Mon-Fri and then run on the weekends.
In the evenings tue-fri we also tutor the football boys and some of the cultural students also come.
It's a lot, so I am kept very busy. Next week I have to go to Accra to pick up a package so I'll post again and fill in the details. My new address is:
Shundreya Robinson
Kwahu Tafo R/C JSS
P.O. Box 33
Kwahu - Tafo
E/R
Ghana
Lots of love

Shun

Welcome to Tafo!

2006-01-09T04:51:00.000-08:00

Well, now I am in Kwahu-Tafo. I arrived on Friday afternoon with two other volunteers Greg and Daniel. It was really cool to talk to other volunteers who are in a similar situation. I was kinda starved for conversation. So far we've just had orientation because school does not start again until Wednesday. So we've been checking out the town. That's not hard because it is a very small town. Tafo is up in the mountains so it's unbelievably beautiful but also very remote. We have to hike up the mountain to get to where we live from the town. I've been upgraded to a toilet but unfortunately there's no running water so you have fill the water tank in order to flush. Whoever made the toilet was apparently optimistic. We met all the people running the programs and they are really nice. Christian is the head of the program here and also stays at the same compound with us. Christian is very enthusiastic and happy to have us here. It looks like I will be losing a lot of weight because everything is long walk away. That's good I was starting to gain weight from lack of exercise. Our house mother cooks really good food. Yes! Finally I get to enjoy my meals. I love my other house mother in Accra but I starting to realize that maybe she wasn't that great a cook. It's definitely adjustment to go from the city to a very small town but luckily I have the other volunteers to talk to. The internet cafe I'm using today doesn't work well at all. I will try the other internet cafe in another town but if that one is not good, I might have to cut down on my blogs. It's funny to be around white people again, Greg and Daniel are white. All the kids yell Aburni as we walk by, it means white person. I'm not sure if I included in that. Well, I gotta go before this computer falls apart.
Love
Shun

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2006-01-03T03:56:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I just spent my first New Year in Ghana. Unfortunately, it was at church. The service started at 9pm and was suppose to go on until 3AM! We went late and Thank God they ended early at 1:30am instead. They ring in the New Year by praying for what they want God to bring them in the new year. Here they say "Prosperous New Year" rather than a Happy one. Than at the stroke of midnight everyone went around shaking hands and wishing each other prosperous new years. Then the preacher started yelling Jesus and everyone got excited waving the handkerchiefs in the air. They Love Jesus.
So right about this time everyone in America is going around asking each other about their New Year Resolutions. I don't want miss out. So, now that you know how to post comments without joining blogger (chose other or anonymous) I want to hear everyone's New Year Resolutions!
I forgot to tell you about the engagement ceremony I went to on Christmas Eve. Traditionally in Ghana people have engagement ceremonies where the man's family brings money and/or gifts to the Bride at her family's house. Clothing,a sewing machine, and jewelry are all traditional gifts. Once the gifts are presented and judged satisfactory then the bride comes out and someone performs the rites over the man and woman. Years ago, people would only do the engagement ceremony to marry two people but now more people are having the marriage in church. But an engagement ceremony is considered similar to a marriage ceremony. My Host mother and father had only an engagement ceremony. Their marriage was arranged. His father went to my host mother's family and the parents decided on the match and then told them about it. Just about 2 years ago they had a church wedding after being married for over 35 years!
Well, I will be leaving to go to the Tafo Cultural Center on the 6th of January which is in 3 days. I will have figure out which day I can go to the internet cafe to email and post so there might be a lull in my posting until that happens.
REMEMBER-post your New Year Resolutions! Mine is to exercise and get married. :)
Shundreya

X-MAS in Ghana

2005-12-27T03:08:00.000-08:00

Well, I just had my first Christmas in Ghana. They do things a little be different here. Those that have money can go to the many concerts and events going on but for the rest of us it's church. Christmas eve night we went to church and watch the Ghanaian version of Jesus' birth. On Christmas most people go to church and celebrate Jesus. Yea Jesus! We were at church for 4 hours! 4 hours people! Meanwhile, the heathens go drinking, to the beach, or dancing. (I envy them) The next day is boxing day (UK holiday) where they exchange gifts. (Mom I'm sure you love the idea of having Christmas just be about Jesus and the next day about presents) Most people don't really exchange gifts though because were all poor. They give out biscuits, cookies, cake and soda. Soda is a hot commodity in Ghana and for those of you who love Fanta it's alive and well in Ghana. My host mother gave me a beautiful Ghanaian outfit. I gave presents to everyone in the family even though they weren't expecting it. They have been unbelievably kind, it's the least I could do. So Boxing day is more like our Christmas where people visit and exchange presents. They also don't have big meals here like we do. The only thing they did different was that they'll kill a couple of fowl and add it to the meal. Yea! I know I'm vegetarian but I was happy to see those buggers get what's coming to them. So the holidays here last a bit longer. This year it's 4 days because Christmas fell on a Sunday so people got the 24-27 off from work. So that was my Ghanaian Christmas. I apologize to Muna for all the talk about Jesus and Christianity. She's Muslim.

Shundreya
P.S.
On New Year's Eve, guess where I get to go. More church! I'm so excited.

WaterFall

2005-12-20T03:18:00.000-08:00

Hello All,

I just wanted to tell about my trip to the waterfall in Dodowa Forest. Dodowa Forest is historically famous. Supposedly during a great battle with Britain the Ashanti warriors entered Dodowa forest and vanished. Some people believe that this makes the forest magical. I know that it is beautiful. The forests here are very different from American forests. They are more like jungles. Impossibly tall trees, lush vegetation, and untarnished. It was quite a trek to get to the falls. I mean narrow pathways, climbing over fallen trees, and crossing creeks on logs. I am not kidding, it was very Indiana Jones. But when you get there the view is so amazing. I took pictures on my digital camera but I'm still working on my charger problem. My friend told me that if you shout more water will come. I didn't believe him but I shouted anyway. Sure enough, more water came rushing down. The louder you shout the more water you get. I don't understand it but it's true (Patrick I'm sure you have an long explanation why). Maybe it's just more of the magic of the forest.

Well, I miss you all during the Holidays but Merry X-mas to everyone except Muna and Happy New Year!

Shundreya

Some Chit Chat

2005-12-13T03:53:00.000-08:00

Well, this week I don't have much to say. My beautiful mother has sent me a Great Christmas package which included a Digital camera. I was taking shots of Ghana to hopefully share with all of you but then my computer charger went kaput. Till, I can fix that, NO picture for you! (said like Sienfield soup nazi)

In 3 days Dodowa ICCES will go on vacation for 3 weeks. Which means that by the time they start classes again I will be in Tafo so these are my last 3 days. No I am not sad. Everyone around is in disbelief that I am actually leaving but I'm happy. Dodowa ICCES has problems. Teachers not being paid in 3 months or under paid. Chickens and goats taking over the school compound. Chickens actually walk right into the classrooms sometimes. Here's a funny image for you: Me chasing after goats in a dress and a rock in my hand. I've grown to hate chickens. They are Loud, Greedy, and Everywhere. Even if I wasn't vegetarian I would never eat chicken again. Free range chicken especially because they are Dirty! Excuse my chicken tirade, back to the problems. The school lacks discipline. It's an open compound and the students just come and go as they please. Showing up to class 45 minutes late because they were eating or getting their hair done. And even though the title stands for Integrated Community Center for Employable Skills, most of the students don't know and (before me) not taught what a Resume was and how to do interviews. I just found this out but I've told the Center Manager they need to be taught this before they leave the school. Ah, dodowa icces.

It's Christmas time here and Ghanaians love Christmas carols. I suppose we would like them to if we weren't bombarded by them everywhere in America. Here, they buy karaoke DVDs with Christmas carols. I suffer people. I suffer. You have to imagine really bad milli vanilli lip singing with cheesy Christmas scenes of fake snow and those Huge Ugly sweaters. I've started to limit how often they can play that Dvd.

Well, that's all for now. Hopefully I can fix or get a new charger so I can starting posting pictures to you.

Shundreya

Meet Sarah and Agnes

2005-12-06T04:10:00.000-08:00

Hello All!

Today I want you to meet two very special girls. They are both students at Dodowa and are training in Catering. They both want to be Air Hostess (flight attendants) and then further their education.

Sarah is very enthuastic. She will greet you every single time she sees you. Even if she sees you 20x in one day, every time she will excitedly smile and greet you. She is very smart. In my English class she is always raising her hand to either ask a question or to answer one. She has one of best English speakers and writers which is a big feat there because before me there was no English teacher. She is unbelievably curious and loves to hear about America. She hopes to go there one day. Her parents are divorce and she lives with her mom and her siblings. Her mother is finding it difficult to continue to pay for Sarah's education. I've told the Centre Manager of the school to use some of the leftover funds from my mother's donation as a scholarship for her. He is also will appeal to World Vision Organization to sponsor her. It would be a shame for someone so bright and eager to learn to have stop.

Agnes just breaks my heart. She is soft and kind. She is also very smart and one of my best students. It doesn't take much to get her excited. She loves to hear about America and like Sarah has a dream of going there one day. Agnes's father died a while ago and her mother and step-dad are divorced. Her Step-dad wishes success for her but he is too poor to really assure that. Her mother is another story. She doesn't take care of Agnes at all. They were living with her uncle. Her mother use to have a food stand in front of the school and she would make her own daughter pay for food. A couple of months ago she just left and didn't tell anyone. Agnes tells me her mother is traveling but the truth is she doesn't know where she is. She tries so hard to hide her sadness and pain. The other day though it was too much for her. Because she has to take care of herself, the school has not been charging her school fees. However, she was asked to write a letter to appeal for sponsorship from World Vision Organization. As I was correcting the letter for her she began crying. I guess writing about her situation made all to real to her. She wouldn't tell why she was crying and kept insisting she was fine. The next day she was back to her usual kind and cheerful self. I pray for her and please do the same.
Sarah and Agnes would both like to say Hi to all of you. They also say May God bless you.

Shundreya

Things that make you go Hmmm...

2005-11-29T03:39:00.000-08:00

So, I'm living in this strange land and having strange experiences so I've decided to dedicate this post to the strange things.

1. Whenever I see a white person I want to ask them if they are American so then I can bond and reminisce. However, I never do. Why? Because to them I look like just another Ghanaian so they look right past me. It's funny that I can't be recognized as an American by my fellow Americans. It's as if History doesn't matter and origin is everything.

2. When I first came to Ghana there was a big news story going on. A semi-famous music artist name Mzbel (pronounced Miss Bell) had performed at the University of Ghana. After performing an encore the crowd was still asking for more and when she tried to leave the stage some men grabbed her. They stripped her mostly naked and tried to fondle and insert their fingers in her. The strange thing is some people were saying she asked for this because she was wearing provocative clothing. A lot people in Ghana still think that women who wear provocative clothing are provoking men who are too weak to resist them. However, this interesting to me because they have no problems with women baring their breasts to breast feed. I seen women do it everywhere and not discreetly. They also are not big on wearing bras here but no one cares. Where as in America that is seen as provocative. It's strange to me what we chose to say is provocative and when.

3. In one of the newspapers they have a section called "From the Foreign Press." However, they have articles from the Weekly World News like their legitimate. As we know in America the Weekly World News is the most ridiculous tabloid with Elvis sightings and Alien autopsies. However, here they have these articles in the paper like they are real. Some of them are really racist and ignorant. For example to name two articles, One was about a representative of China acknowledging that "Yes, in fact we do all look alike and it has started to become a problem." and the other was that a lesbian couple which had adopted a baby boy now wanted to give the baby a sex change because they hated all men. I'm a little worried that people here might actually think that these are really true articles. Oooh!

4. Here you don't call the police. Why? Because they will probably charge you for coming to your house. Police corruption is really bad here. Corruption period is bad here. Not that corruption doesn't run rampant in America, i.e. Haliburton but it's just sadder to see in a country that is already so poor.

5. When someone is missing, in the description they will say instead of race (b/c everyone is Ghanaian) whether the person is fair or dark. This is strange because I wouldn't call anyone Fair in Ghana but if you are a medium brown shade than you can call yourself fair. It's sad to see. However, it's gotten better because years ago a lot of people were permanently damaging their skin with bleaching creams. Aii! Michael Jackson!

6. In Ghana, a MAN (only) can have as many wives as he can afford. This leads to some interesting situations. For example, in the advice section I regularly see letters asking advice from girlfriends that want to become or don't want to become second wives. Adultery doesn't exist since you can say your courting a girl to become another wife. Or another problem is divorce. My friend's uncle had 3 wives but divorced two of them before he died so they got no money. Of course, most people are Christian and therefore stick to just one.

7. Lastly, why do all the insane people look alike? They are all have dreadlocked mated hair that is light brown on top, are very dark, male, and can be found digging in the sewers. Hmmm.

Well, that just a taste of some of the strangeness of living in place where they have their own rules of life. It makes you question the sanity of your own rules and of rules in general.

Till next time
Shundreya

And May Those Who Return Find Their Roots

2005-11-22T05:00:00.000-08:00

Hello Everyone,

Saturday was quite an eventful day for me. We went to Kakum National Park and El Mina Castle both in Cape Coast. The Cape Coast region is about a 3 hour trotro ride away. So we had to leave the house at 5am! But, oddly, I've become use to the early mornings.

Well, first we went to the park. Kakum is actually also a nature preserve. It's the last of what was once a huge Rainforest that covered West Africa. Belatedly, the realize the damage from logging and poaching and started the park to preserve what was left and to educate others on the dangers. I never imagine that one day I would get to see a rainforest, although technically not a true rain forest b/c Ghana has a dry season but we won't complain. Rain forests are our last unknown, unspoiled territories. There are thousands of insects living there unclassified and undiscovered. Our labeless land. We did the canopy walk through the forest. Which, is to say, that we walked across tree tops on canopies made from rope and boards about 132 feet in the air! It was amazing! The trees are sooo tall. Even though we were walking above most of the forest there were still plenty of trees that were still even taller. The landscape was beautiful. I didn't see any animals or insects but, I imagine since the canopy walk is the most popular tour, that they all steer clear of that area. I'm hoping to go back and do a different tour and hopefully this time see some more of the Life of the forest.

Next, we went to El Mina Castle. Since reading about Ghana this has been the place that I knew I could not leave without seeing. El mina castle is the first and largest castle in the former slave trade. It was built by the Portuguese but when the Dutch acquired it is when it began it's history as a slave trading port. The castle is over 500 years old! It is right on the sea, as they call it but we would say ocean. It is in a small fishing village that is amazingly beautiful. The sand is almost white and the sea is a beautiful light blue. We took a guided tour of the castle and learned her horrible history. The guide wanted to make sure we knew the horrors that had been done there. He took us to the female dungeons and painted an explicit picture what living there would've been like. A small area, hundreds of women, no ventilation because the only "window" led to the ammunition room where chemicals were mixed, and no way to bathe or relieve yourself. He said you can't underestimate the stench. He then told us how the women were all dragged out to the courtyard while the Governor of the castle chose which one he was going to rape that night. If she refused, she was chained to a cannon ball and kept standing outside. The ones that got pregnant got leave which is a mixed blessing because they were sometimes too weak to make the journey back home. It's the reason why you will see a lot of mulattos in that region. He also took us to the male dungeons which were just as bad. He showed us the room of no return. It 's where they were loaded unto the ships. They had to pass this incredibly narrow door. The door was only like 3 feet tall and less than 2 feet wide. The reason being that way only one person could pass through at a time. The guide didn't want us to think that there were no fat or big Africans but after spending a few months at the castle everyone became thin and even if you were big they would squeeze you through. He also showed us the Dutch church and the Governor's quarters which as you can imagine were much nicer. The church was called Zion and had an inscription from psalms 132 which basically meant that God dwells here. Our guide was so kind to point out to us that this meant God only lived there in that room not below where they were raping and killing men and women. He also showed us the prisons. He left us in both and closed the door so we would get the full experience. The first one was for the soldiers who misbehaved usually by getting drunk and were put in only for a few hours for punishment. That prison was well ventilated. The second was for the freedom fighters, or the slaves who fought against their captors. That one had no ventilation and they were left in their until they ALL died which means that the last one had to stay in there among the dead bodies. Our guide said it only took 2 days to die. The slaves that left the castle were shipped all over the which is why our guide said you can find blacks all over the world. As we were leaving I saw an inscription that they had put up. It read:

May those who died rest in peace
May those who return find their roots
And may Humanity never perpretrate such crimes against Humanity again
This vow we uphold.

Dodowa ICCES

2005-11-15T02:14:00.000-08:00

I am sure a lot of you want to know more about the school where I am volunteering. First to clear up confusion. The place I was originally going to volunteer at is a cultural center in Tafo. There I was planning on mainly doing theatre with kids of all ages. The program director, Martin Asamoah, however asked me, right before I came, to help out a school in the Accra region for my first 3 months. So, that is why I am at Dodowa ICCES. Later, In January, I will be moving to Tafo to volunteer at the cultural center.
The centre manager of the school, Seth Botchway, is a good friend of Martin's. And trust me Dodowa ICCES needed all the help they could get. Seth wanted me to come in and teach English and help them in the office to get more support. ICCES stands for Integrated Community Center for Employable Skills. It is government subsidized school/centre. The students pay a small fee to learn a skill that would allow them to get a job right after graduation. Because the nature of the centre the ages of students varies fro 15-20 and sometimes even older than that. It would be a substitute for high school for us. In Ghana, as I've written before, students are expected to pay fees to attend school. (the only exception is government schools for primary ages only) ICCES is for students who can not afford college or even high school (they call senior seconday school). So what they do instead is go to an ICCES to learn a skill and they can start working right away. Right now at our ICCES they are offering courses in electricals, dress making, catering, tailoring, and masonry. One of the problems with this is, if the student has to pay for their schooling, then sometimes they also have to work while they are in school to pay their fees. So, you never know how many students will come to class. Currently there are about 60 students but usually they are not all there.
When I first arrived, a month ago now, the school was in bad shape physically. They only had a broken down typewriter to use to write letters. I'm talking key jams, worn ribbons, and rust. It completely broke down right after I came. The staff room was very sad. The sofa had ugly yellow foam pieces they were using to sit on as cushions but it had only 1 piece of foam as a back cushion. So only one person could be comfortable at a time. The other chairs only had bottom cushions. The paint on all the buildings and windows was worn and chipped. And let me tell you about the student chairs and desks. SAD! The wood they used is of very poor quality and the craftmanship looks like a 6th grader did it as a 4-H project. They couldn't even afford their electricity bill so when I first came there was no electricity. They even had one whole building they were not using because it had been built so poorly they were afraid of it collapsing.

However, things have changed! With a Generous donation by my mother Jessie Frierson they were able to buy some much needed items. They were able to buy a computer and printer for the office. I personally plan to burn the old typewriter. They also bought enough paint to re-paint the exterior of the school and the inside of the office and staff room. I am happy to report we now all have nice cushions for the sofa and chairs so everyone can sit comfortably. The teachers bought textbooks they needed. And through another source they are working on getting new chairs and desks. The students were so excited! We actually had more volunteers to paint than we needed. One student said to me he is now proud to call Dodowa ICCES his school and now wants to show other people where he goes to school. I am hoping that this changes will help bring in more students. Because the more students they have then the more money the centre has to use toward the school.
Also, more good news. My friend Ellen Fenster connected me with a friend of hers, Jonathan Blaseg. He is a teacher at a traveling high school. The students travel to Costa Rica and Ghana and help out where ever they go. Jonathan is planning on going to Ghana in March and he is hoping he'll be able to bring supplies for the school with him. He is hoping that they will be able to bring computers. This would be incredible because they the centre could start offering a computer course which is a big dream of Seth's.
Well, that's all about the school. All the students are anxious to learn more about America and to go there one day. So, I'll ask them if they want to say something to all of you.

P.S. I've changed my setting so now anyone can comment without having to join Blog spot.

Funerals and Festivals

2005-11-08T04:14:00.000-08:00

Well, now I've been to both a Funeral and a Festival.

The Festival I went to a couple of weeks ago. It was for a town up in the mountains. The drive up was absolutely beautiful. Green everywhere you looked. The reason for the festival was unknown. A lot of them have lost the specific reasons for the festivals thru the years. Usually they are for celebration of a harvest of certain crop, usually yam, or for the anniversary of a great victory in a battle. I think ours was for the latter. That festival goes for 1 week but we just went on Friday. Friday was the day where they had a parade of Chiefs. Even though Ghana has a president they have kept the heritage of having chiefs for each town. There is a head chief that reigns over the lower ones. In Kumasi, in the Ashanti Region, they even still have a King. It was similar to Mardi Gras in the former New Orleans. People lined the streets on both sides to watch. Then one after another the chiefs were paraded down the street. The bigger Chiefs were carried on small wooden designed floats. Sometimes it was a chair or a canoe like structure. The people under that chief would carry the floats on their heads and others would dance around the chief waving handkerchiefs. Some the chiefs threw out candy to the children. Others were dancing in their floats. One man was swallowing bullet shells to show that he was a warrior. Another man did a expressive dance that meant" if you cross me I'll cut off your head." Behind some of the chiefs the had huge drums, 4 feet, that one person carried on their head and the other person played. The bigger chiefs had full bands playing for them. I felt bad for the smaller chiefs they weren't big enough to have floats so they had to walk and sometimes they got smooshed in between the bigger chiefs. And yes, some of the chiefs were women! I took lots of pictures but alas it was not a digital camera.

The funeral was a whole another occasion. Funerals in Ghana have become big parties over the last 5 years. In the Ghanaian culture funerals are a big affair. People will take out loans to give someone a big funeral. It's a sign of respect to give someone a big funeral. They last over several days and people put out notices in the newspaper and on TV. In the paper most of them don't say obituary but say(you'll like this mom) Home Call instead. Some of them have a wake first where you can have your final talk to the deceased. Next is the burial which is it's own separate occasion and usually it's more sad. Last is the funeral which lasts two days, Saturday and Sunday. My Friend Ruth, a teacher at the school, took me to Kumasi for her uncle's funeral. Kumasi is the other major city in Ghana and it's about 4-5 hour drive away from Accra. Her uncle had 3 wives and a good business so his funeral was Huge! They were expecting over 500 people. They hire a drumming band and a M.C. There is suppose to be a lot of dancing but our funeral was rained out. You also donate money to the family. On Saturday, People dress up in black or black and red outfits. On Sunday, you were a white outfit with black designs. It was explained to me that because you go to church you wear white but you have a black design to show that your still mourning. The wife of the deceased will wear black for a full month. The children of the deceased were wearing matching black and read outfits and a gold ribbon necklace with a picture of the decease on it. It's not unusual to see people wearing T-shirts or having handkerchiefs with the picture of the deceased on them. The funeral is treated like a big get together with people come in from all over within the country and outside. In some places they will bury you in a specially made coffin designed after your profession. For example, if you were a banana seller then you would have a banana shaped coffin painted yellow and all. Funerals are so big that people will put them off for a month after the death. The uncle had died over a month ago but the funeral was delayed because of all the planning and people coming in from out of town. The first thing they do is form a plannning committee for the funeral. It's gotten so out of hand that I read in the paper today that in one town they banned bands and set a monetary limit on funerals. Very interesting.
well, that's all for now. Please keep commenting. You can send me an email to comment if you don't want to join the blog.
Shundreya

2005-11-01T02:43:00.000-08:00

I See White People....

Hello Everyone,

Your probably wondering why I put that title there. It's because everytime I see a white person I get very excited because I think they might be an American. And therefore they might be like me and I could have someone to talk to about America. Let me tell you, I saw white people all the time in America and never got excited but here it's so rare that I find myself pointing them out to my other companions. They're like yeah, a white person, I've seen one before. Now whenever we see one they'll tell me "hey, there's one of your people. " And it's true. It's a weird experience to be surrounded by black people and looking for a white person to identify with. As most of you know I was never a big fan of America but I'm sure missing it now.
Another thing I get excited about is anytime I get to use a regular toilet. All you people take your toilets for granted. I want everyone to go home and kiss their toilets!

People have asked about sending me things. I'm not saying no but I'm not recommending it. It's costly to send things here, it takes a long time, and then when it gets here they'll make me pay a big tax to collect the item. But here is my address to send letters or items. It is:
Shundreya Robinson
c/o Martin Asamoah
P.O. Box MD 134
Madina-Accra
Ghana
Please note, postage to Ghana is more, so you have to get special stamps.

Alright More fun facts about Ghana!

This one is for all my Mill City people or Water Power Nerds. Ghana has the largest artificial/man made lake in the world. It is called Lake Volta. The River Volta was dammed to produce electricity for the whole country and some parts of Togo. As we Water Power Nerds know that means the power is not always reliable. It's all based on how much rainfall they receive. Power outages are common. In my first 11 days, the power went out 10 days in a row. They claimed that they were working on the power in our area. But even when you have electricity the bulbs they use are so dim that you mights as well be in the dark. To read I have to have my flashlight on with the light.

Ghanaians LOVE football/soccer. Well, the rest of the world outside of America is pretty serious about their football/soccer. The Black Stars, the Ghanaian soccer team, qualified for the first time to the World Cup. So there are ads telling people where they can send donations to the Black stars to help them go to the World Cup. Now, never mind that all the players and the coach received bonuses from the Government for winning. And, never mind that Puma has promised them millions of dollars. But these players are already getting paid upwards to 200,000 Pounds a week! That is unheard of salary for a Ghanaian! And now they want all us poor people barely making ends meet to donate to them! I was appalled! But we all know how I feel about sports. To give you an example of how serious football is in Africa, listen to this. A player on the Cameroon team, 2 countries to the east, missed a penalty goal that cost his team a spot in the World Cup. The first thing he did was call the police to make sure his family was safe! And with good reason, because people have been targeting cars they think are his. That's crazy!

And Now Religion. The big religion in Ghana is Christianity. They are a lot Muslims but most of them are in the northern region. Ghanaians take their Christianity very seriously though. People here have Christian names and then house names, traditional names. I am currently teaching 2 Ibrahims, Paul, and Moses. They also name their business with Christian sayings. This makes me laugh. Here are some examples:
God is Great beauty salon, Psalm 34 taxi service, No weapon shall prosper concrete company, The devil is a liar day care, and Put God first Sex shop. Ok, those last 2 I made up but you get the idea.

Oh, I'm out of time. I don't have a digital camera so right now I am not able to post pictures. I'll try to figure this out.

Shundreya

2005-10-25T04:50:00.000-07:00

Hello Everyone,

Welcome to my first post and my first blog page! So, many of you have asked me to tell you more about Ghana. Well, you are going to now hear all about it! Where should I start, hmm..

Well, first I think that if you trace my ancestry you will find that it is Ghanaian. I look just like a Ghanaian and there are some distinct features that we share. They have small toes, remember everyone who made fun of my feet, that I also have small toes. Like me, they also have small ears. So, Mom, your stingy theory is out. They also have high cheekbones that runs in my family. Finally, like me they all have BIG eyes. The only thing that gives me away is my hair. It's natural. All the females in Ghana have relaxers. The only exception is the school girls who have to keep their hair short so they keep it natural. I couldn't believe it! I came all the way to Africa, the roots, and everyone was sporting perms! And they think I'm odd because I keep my hair natural! There is something wrong with this picture. The thing that is even sadder is that nobody has healthy hair. All the hair is short and breaking off. Oh, my black people.
Another thing that upset me is once again even though I am in Africa, you still can't find a black doll. All the dolls they give their kids are white. That make no sense to me!

Ghanaians themselves are such an unselfish people. People are always taking other people in consideration in everything they do. For example, when you are riding in a trotro with someone that you know, if you are older it is customary for you to pay for that person. Also, when you go to town it is also customary that you bring something back for other people. They are so kind. But there are problems. Osu is the tourist part of the city of Accra. It's where I experienced discrimnation for being black by other blacks. I was trying to register with the US Embassy but they assumed I was Ghanaian at first and were very rude to me. When they realized I was American all of sudden they were much nicer. It's sad, Ghanaians treat others better than they treat their own.

The government here is a democracy. There is a president with a parliament. Ghana was a former British colony and, for your info, was the first African country to gain her independence.
So the national language is English. All the schools are taught in English but still a lot of people have a hard time understanding me. Their English is heavily accented. I have to speak very slowly. Which I know a lot you wish I would do anyway. There are 75 local languages which people speak depending on what region they live in. In Accra, the major language is Ga which I'm suppose to be learning. Everyone keeps telling me they are going to teach me but so far all I know how to say is Thank you, welcome (see above), yes, and no. Well, it's start. When I go to Tafo, the major language will be Twi. A lot people speak both Ga and Twi. In Twi all I know how to say is Thank you. So, no matter where I go I can at least say thank you. heh he.

I officially declare Ghana The Bootleg Capital of the World! Here you have to buy everything bootleg. Big stores and shopping malls are very rare. Most people sell things at stands on the street. The other big thing is hawkers where people sell merchandise by walking around. They'll wait at traffic lights and when it's red they'll come out to the cars and trotros offering their wares. You can buy anything this way. I mean anything! Food, water, and even toilet paper. It's funny sometimes when the light changes the hawker will have to run after a trotro to give somebody change back. All the movies are illegal copies. I haven't even seen anyone selling legal DVD's.

Let me tell you about Ghanaian TV. They have 4 TV stations. Most of it is soap operas. A lot of the soap operas are imports from Mexico and one from the Philippines is really popular. The Soaps come on at night here. They have Ghanaian soap operas and movies. Both are really bad. I mean really bad. The look like something people made in their basement. They are really boring and the acting is AWFUL! Martin said he is going put in one. They also have some American TV shows. I saw Gilmore girls and season 3 of American idol. I also saw that they are showing "Roots" on Tuesday nights. Roots in Africa. Am I the only one that thinks that's funny!?

Ghanaians get up really early. I mean between 5am-6am. When I sleep to 7am they look at me strange. 7am is sleeping in! Can you believe it! But they work hard. The get up and the first thing they do is clean their compound and home. Ghana is really sandy and a lot areas there is not a lot of vegetation. So they sweep the dirt on their land. There is no trash pick-up so they have to pick it up and take it to a dump. My feet are always dirty. Sharon you were right I can't wear my pretty beige sparkly shoes. And when it rains then it mud and giant mud puddles everywhere!

The children are so beautiful here. Unbelievably! I want a Ghanaian baby! The country is too poor to pay for schools. So the kids have to pay to go to school. If your family can't afford to send you to school well, then you work instead. I seen kids that look as young as 10 working jobs. Teachers, you think that you don't get paid enough. In Ghana, the teachers get paid between 600,000- 1,000,000 cedis a month. That's about $60-100 dollars A MONTH! They can't live on that. Some teachers live at the school to cut on costs.

Well, that's a lot about Ghana. Next time I will tell you about the Festival I went to on Friday. Stay Tuned and Please feel free to comment.