Why I Joined

Many times I wonder why did I come to Ghana?  Between the heat, the food, constant harassment and terrible transportation I find myself thinking of all my family, friends and comforts that I willingly left behind.  Usually I come to the conclusion that I am indeed crazy and at this point I just need to suck it up and keep going.  This past week I didn’t need to do that.  This past week offered the rewards that everyone who engages in any sort of philanthropic work talks about.  This past week I experienced first hand what a few volunteers and students can achieve.  This past week I could finally say that this is indeed the best thing I have ever done in my entire life.

I’m talking about our STARS (Students Taking Action Reaching for Success) Conference.  It was a week long leadership training event for 66 senior high school students from all across the country put on entirely by Peace Corps Volunteers at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology in Kumasi.

I brought two students from my nearest SHS and many other volunteers did the same.  Both of my students had never been far from home before so they were excited but also very shy.  This was true of most students at the conference.  Most had never met students from outside their region before who spoke different languages and enjoyed different foods.

The first day was just spent to settle in and waiting for those from far away to arrive.  We learned that the university had double booked the room with a group a third of our size who came to speak in tongues all week.  Even though we were a bigger group and had made the reservation before them they physically arrived before us so they were going to get the room.  I also think due to the fact they were a religious group they were getting preference although to the casual observer you’d think they were worshiping the devil not Jesus.  We didn’t let Ghana win, however, and everything was settled but we did have to listen to their shouting gibberish from the room next door.

The first full day started with team building exercises with the different groups of students that were formed from the 66.  I was one of the group leaders.  After that we discussed what leadership is and the qualities that define it.  We read about famous Africans like Nelson Mandela and Kofi Annan.  We also had some arts and crafts time just for fun to get the kids thinking creatively which is something Ghanaian schools do not foster.  The schools here teach the kids what to think not how to think.

In the evening we had a quiz bowl.  There were a variety of questions in categories such as geography, pop culture, religion, science, and even a physical challenge.  The questions were of a difficulty that the kids should know the answer or at least have a good shot but still they would not know.  For instance, one question was “What religion did Jesus Christ practice?”  Now this is a man that most of the kids in the room worshiped vehemently so you’d think it’s a slam dunk.  The first answer was Christianity…wrong.  The second answer was Christianity…still wrong.  The third answer was Israelite…closer I guess but still wrong.  They did not know that the man they look up to and refer to so many times was in fact Jewish.  This is even more evidence that they are told what to think or in this case worship but they actually don’t know much about what they think or worship.  Still though the kids did well, had fun, and learned a thing or two.

The second day was individual interest day.  We had four different groups they could choose to join: Health, Environment, Arts, and a mystery group.  The health group taught first aid, dealing with snake bites, broke myths about traditional methods and medicines.  The environment group discussed issues plaguing Ghana and how best to go about solving them.  The arts group had different sections as well like Irish dancing, drawing, painting, theater and writing short stories.  The mystery group ended up working with robots.  The students really enjoyed this because they got to pick something they were interested in and learn more.

In the afternoon came one of their favorite sessions…SCIENCE!!!  This became a catch phrase all the students would say except when they said it it sounded more like SIGNS!!!  Two science teacher volunteers conducted a bunch of experiments in front of the students most of them involving fire.  They even set fire to our Country Director’s head.  How many times do you get to set your boss on fire and not get fired in return?  It was a great way to get the students excited about science and also prove that things don’t happen because of juju  (magic) or religion but due to principles and constants.

At night we had the students do a talent show.  This really allowed them to break out of their shell and have fun.  The most popular talents were singing and dancing as well as rapping, preaching and comedy.  One of the volunteers even did some Irish dancing for them which they had never seen before.

The next day was HIV/AIDS Education day.  We went over basic facts about the virus and dispelled many of the myths and misconceptions of which there are plenty and some just ludicrous but they somehow come into circulation like if a woman has HIV and is menstruating if you smell the blood you will get HIV.  We also did condom demonstrations and played some peer education games.  We taught them how they were played and even gave each school a kit so they could go teach their classmates.  Finally each group was given a scenario to act out in front of the whole conference later that night.  My group’s dealt with stigmatization.  In Ghana stigmatization is a big problem and is the main reason why many don’t get tested even if they think they might have it.  If people find out you are HIV positive they will cease to be your friend.

On Wednesday we split up the boys and girls so they could ask more questions they may have been too shy to ask before.  This essentially turned into sex ed because Ghanaian schools do not teach it so it was our chance to talk to the kids and educate them about sex not just in the context of HIV and STI’s.  These students are all at a vulnerable age (14-18ish) where they need proper education that they only get from their friends which is, as I’m sure you can guess, not the best source of information.

In the afternoon we also had a session on malaria and the proper ways to prevent and treat it.  After that session we had a field day.  All the groups competed in events like the 3-legged race, sack race, football dribble, and tug of war.  It was a blast and even the volunteers had a team but we did not perform as well as we had hoped.

In the evening we watched Emmanuel’s Gift.  It’s a documentary from 2005 made by Oprah.  It’s about a man from Ghana who is disabled by having only one functional leg.  In Ghana 10% of the population is disabled and they have no rights whatsoever and are essentially left to beg on the streets.  You see it in all the major cities and it’s pretty sad.  Most of it stems from childhood diseases like polio and measles.  Well Emmanuel decides not to beg and tries to make a living fixing shoes.  He finally gets to the point where he’s had enough and wants to raise awareness for the disabled so he rides a bike 400 miles across Ghana to raise awareness.  I don’t want to give any more away but I HIGHLY suggest watching this movie if you want to be inspired and learn more about Ghana.  It’s very well done and very motivational.  The kids enjoyed it and even gave them a sense of appreciation for what they have which is nice because Ghanaians don’t ever think of themselves as privileged.

The next day students got to go on a tour of different academic departments at the university.  They could see architecture, agriculture, health, and graphic design.  After that they learned more about how to go from SHS to university and the process involved.

In the afternoon we took them to the campus computer lab to learn more about the internet and its uses.  Some of the students were great with computers and even had email accounts already.  Some had never used one before.  Watching them type was even worse than the students in my village.  This was followed by a session on time management and study skills.  This is another thing that students don’t know how to do it because they are never taught.  They are told to memorize something and that’s it.  Also as I’ve said before Ghanaians don’t have a sense of time or urgency.  It’s not uncommon for a student just to pray for good results and just say God wills things to happen.

At night we had a set of debates.  They were able to prepare for one of them ahead of time and the other was impromptu.  Some of the topics were caning in school, human rights, women’s rights, and volunteerism.  We would have liked to go after the big ones like religion, homosexuality, and abortion but that probably would have ended badly.  Regardless the students presented their arguments well and surprisingly to not reference God and religion in their arguments as much as we thought they would.

The final day was the culmination of the entire week’s work and it was by far the best.  The students had to choose to participate in one of four different community service projects.  The first one was an environment and litter awareness campaign on the KNUST campus.  They were to walk around and educate people on the negative effects of littering.  Another group went to the KNUST health clinic to paint a HIV/AIDS themed mural.  One group went to a nearby village where we have a volunteer and they got to practice using their HIV/AIDS peer education with the primary and JHS students there.  The last group (the one I went with) went to Central Market in downtown Kumasi to go on a march to raise awareness on the street children who live there.

Unfortunately I didn’t bring my camera because I thought it was going to be very chaotic and I didn’t want to deal with it.  We had a group of 30 students and 20 volunteers as well as a band.  We marched through the crowded streets and market with signs, banners, and handouts about the poor treatment of the children there.  Many of these children are homeless or are trying to make money to send home.  Many of them or beaten and abused by market workers who assume they are thieves.  We certainly created quite a buzz and some market ladies even joined our march.  At three points we stopped to make announcements and do skits on how the children are treated.  It was honestly one of the coolest experiences ever.  Marching and dancing through the streets for a cause with all these students who had never done anything like this before was truly inspiring.  A lot of times volunteers feel like they’re just spinning their wheels accomplishing nothing but at that point we all knew we were making a difference.  The feeling was indescribable.

When we came back all the groups talked about what they did and everyone seemed to enjoy what they did.  We also watched a slideshow of pictures from the week and we handed out certificates to all the students.  We capped everything off with a celebratory dance party.

So now I’m back in my village feeling absolutely great.  One of the best weeks ever and now to keep on moving.  Hopefully next week the supplies will start to come for the latrines.  The plan right now is to build 33.  I will also be going to Kumasi next week to turn in a report and see an official world cup qualifying match Ghana vs. Lesotho.  It will be my first football match and should be a great time.  I have uploaded pictures from the past few weeks but they don’t capture everything.  Hopefully I will be tagged in more by other volunteers and I think there will be an account created with pictures taken from our designated photographers at STARS so keep an eye out for that link.  I hope all is well back home.  I was sad to miss the Summer Camp Music Festival this weekend but I think I’m having more fun here!  Take care and next time I post it will be my year anniversary in Ghana so should be full of reflection and philosophizing.

Steve

 

Just Keepin it Real

Things have been relatively quiet over here the past few weeks.  I’ve just been monitoring the latrine building.  Were were supposed to have a meeting to evaluate the progress made so far but instead I will just go around to see what everyone has done.  The pits all seem to be complete or close to it and now they are making bricks and gathering sand, wood and gravel.  Hopefully by the end of this week I can send in a list of everything that has been completed so the NGO can bring in their materials to begin construction.  We are somewhat on a race against time because the heavy rains are coming.

This week I will also be having a meeting for the CocoaLink project.  A new field agent has taken over my area so I will meet him and the farmers.  I should also be getting a smart phone so I can remotely register farmers myself.

The big event coming up is our youth conference starting on Saturday.  It will be all week with volunteers and students from all over the country.  We finally finished the workbook for the whole week and the guy who organized it did a great job.

So there’s not really much else to say right now.  After the conference I’m sure there will be a hefty post and a lot of pictures.  I’m also coming up on being on Ghana for one year!  Hard to believe and don’t worry the much anticipated reflection post will come.

Before I go shout out to my sister Dani for graduating from Miami (OH) with Honors!  So proud of her.  Also Happy Mother’s Day to the best mom ever!

Steve

 

All Vol

After this weekend I have come to the realization of 2 things: I have the best job in the world and it’s with the best people in the world.  You’d think coming back from Italy I would be in a state of depression or at least that’s what I was told would happen.  Instead I came home to people starting to work on their latrines and our All Volunteer Conference which exceeded all the hype.

Arrival in Ghana wasn’t too bad except for the humidity and transportation system. I expected these two annoyances were expected so they didn’t phase me too much.  People were happy to see me and I learned that not much happened while I was gone.

The next day we held our meeting for the latrines.  Attendance was about half of the people who had signed up and after two hours of waiting we decided to start.  We educated people on how to build and maintain the latrines and then proceeded to go to each house to show where to build.  At the end of the day we had 42 people signed up.  We decided that by the end of the month the holes need to be dug and the family’s half of the materials gathered.

What really surprised me though wasn’t the fact that half the people showed up to the meeting or that it started so late but the fact that the very next day many people had begun digging holes and making bricks!  And the even continued everyday until I left for our conference.  It’s actually pretty incredible they’re digging 2 ft diameter holes 30 ft deep!  They have a small boy down at the bottom digging with a bowl or cup and send the dirt up in a bucket tied to a rope.  Then they climb out through steps they’ve cut into the side of the hole.

So before I even left for this conference I was feeling good but good isn’t good enough.  This conference is an annual event for all the 160 volunteers in Ghana.  I had only heard great things from volunteers that went last year so the bar was set high.  And as if that doesn’t sound hectic enough, the 25 new trainees are swearing in this week so they were in their final stages of training.  And the cherry on top… Mali (2 countries over) recently had a coup and Peace Corps evacuated all 200 of their volunteers to Accra.  Luckily we don’t have to worry about a coup here because Ghanaians know better than that.

Craziness aside the conference started off without a hitch with some standard/normal aka boring training sessions.  We also had our various committee meetings for shea, cashew, gender and youth development, malaria, HIV/AIDS, and our youth conference.  At night though we had a game night which included a 26 person poker tournament.  I lost somewhere in the middle but it was still fun.

The next day consisted of a skills fair in which volunteers set up different booths on different project ideas such as making cheese, beekeeping, drying food, dry season gardening and making a hammock from used water sachets.  All very interesting and rather easy to start.

That night we had a talent show which was fantastic!  It began with a video created called Sh*t Peace Corps Ghana Volunteers Say.  Absolutely hilarious and true.  I posted it on my FB.  That was followed by lots of songs, dances (one with fire) and comedy.  I have to say we are one very talented group of people.

The next day consisted of a craft fair.  Volunteers brought goods from their villages for sale such as baskets, clothes, bags, wood carvings, tapestries, cloth, honey, and jewelry.  I bet I’m the only one in the world who has their Christmas shopping done

At night was our date auction for gender and youth development.  Volunteers offer up a date to the highest bidder and the money goes to fund various projects.  My date was to go see the new Batman movie in Accra when it comes out this summer.  After the movie we’ll go to this bar where they have cheap draft beer (a luxury in Ghana).  I went for 40 cedis to a married woman and her husband.  I’ll take it!  The date I won is with 2 other people to visit a volunteer at his site on a crater lake.  It’s awesome because we get to do some hiking and swim in freshwater which is normally a no go in Ghana due to schistocytosis a bacterial disease.  However, this lake is fed by rainwater so it’s safe!  The most expensive date was a night of drinking and going to casinos in Accra with 3 guys and it went for 325 cedis.  I think I might crash that date.  And since it was our last night we had a prom afterwards which was essentially a dance party with American music while we wore Ghanaian fabric as togas.

We all left the next morning and it’s sad because I probably won’t see some people ever again because they’ll be leaving in the next few months.  Even though it may be sad I take comfort in realizing how lucky I am to have met them in the first place.  All the people here are fun, open minded, and have hearts of gold.  They all want to do amazing things to the world and having a great time doing it.  I couldn’t imagine a better “job” situation.

Now it’s back home.  Hopefully there will be holes and piles of bricks everywhere.  I am also still waiting for materials for my CocoaLink project.  The only that can make my life better at this point besides those things is the Blackhawks winning their series.  Take care!

Steve

 

 

Italy

This was one for the books.  Rome>Assisi>Venice>Florence>Cinque Terre>Amalfi Coast>Pompeii>Rome…in 10 days!  My dad, mom, brother and I did this in full with cameos by my sister Ali, her boyfriend Dave, our neighbor Jack and some knuckleheads from my fraternity (Adam, Nick, Trace, and John).  A motley crew to say the least and I don’t really know hot to begin to tell this tale.

My last post came right before I left for the airport.  It was only a 10 minute taxi away but Ghana still tried to get the best of me.  We got a flat tire.  Luckily we were close enough that I just walked the rest of the way.  The second I sat on the plane I already felt like I was in the first world.

Flights were fine (layover in Lisbon, Portugal) and before I knew it I was in Rome.  The first thing I noticed was everything just nicer.  Cars, buildings and roads all in pristine condition.  The weather was also perfect 70s and sunny (this was the case for our whole trip!)

I met a crying Ali at the train station as well as Dave and Adam.  Dave is studying abroad in Rome and Adam was visiting on his Spring Break.  We went to our hotel and cruised by some sites like the Colosseum and the Forum.  I was definitely stoked since I’m somewhat of a history buff and I took Latin once upon a time.

We killed the afternoon at an Irish pub and a restaurant next to a piazza (town squares that are all over Italy).  It was nice to drink wine and good beer for a change and just relax until the rest of the family arrived.

That night we had the first of many incredible meals.  The Italians do meals right.  It’s delicious and the meals last for hours.  Exactly what I was looking for after months of bland food that everyone scarfs down with no conversation.

That night I went out with Dave and Adam to another Irish pub to watch the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament.  It was great to be around Americans drinking and watching the tourney.  I may have enjoyed myself a little too much but it was well worth it.

The next day was the Vatican which was very cool.  Although I’m not religious it was awesome so see such significant historical landmarks and incredible works of art.  It’s a shame we couldn’t take pictures inside the Sistine Chapel ( as well as many other Italian landmarks) but then I would have ended up with probably double the photos I have now.

The next day we toured the Colosseum and Forum before heading to Assisi.  It’s amazing that the buildings are still so intact ofter thousands of years of weather and vandalism.  Followed by the smooth train ride I could the Italians knew how to things right both past and present.

Assisi is a town I had never heard of until this trip.  It’s famous for St. Francis being buried there but it’s also a called walled in city in the countryside between Rome and Florence.  I highly recommend checking it out if you’re ever passing that way.

Venice was next and what a cool unique place!  I’ve never seen anything like it.  The canals were gorgeous and t wasn’t that crowded.  It was definitely full of couples but still an enjoyable place to go with your parents and brother.  We checked out St. Mark’s Square as well as the basilica.  We also did a gondola ride (expensive but a must do).

After Venice was Florence to visit Ali.  Florence is like a huge college town.  Everywhere I looked were college kids studying abroad.  Despite the hordes of tourists as well it wasn’t too crowded but I can imagine how bad it gets in the summer.  We climbed to the top of the Duomo (the dome) in the center of town and had dinner with Jack who we just ran into on the street.  The next day we hiked to Piazza Michelangelo and got a good look of the city before heading to the Cinque Terre.

Cinque Terre is made of 5 towns on the northwest coast of Italy.  They are located where the mountains meet the ocean.  GORGEOUS!  The towns got hit by terrible mudslides in October causing 36 million Euro in damages.  They are still cleaning up but doing a terrific job!  We hiked to one of the towns but the other trails are still closed.  Our first night there we had literally the best meal I’ve ever had.  We got a sea food soup that came out of this giant urn.  It contained fresh lobster, shrimp, mussels, fish, and squid.  AMAZING!

We jetted down the coast to Sorrento which begins the Amalfi Coast.  It was somewhat similar to Cinque Terre except more popular.  Mountains and cliffs meet ocean which make for intense driving.  We also saw Pompeii which was very interesting.  I never realized it was so big!

Now I’m back in Rome ready to go back to Ghana in a few hours.  Luckily I got to have one last dinner with some other DU friends studying abroad.  I’m definitely going to miss the family, friends, food, transportation,and hotels but there is work to be done!  I have to hurry back home because we have a meeting to start building the latrines.  Also in one week we have our All Volunteer Conference for everyone in Ghana (all 180 of us) which should be a good time.  So while I’m sad to leave I’m going back to work that will keep me busy.  Finally I have some good news…I’ll be coming home for Christmas and New Year’s!  So start planning some epic adventures and I’ll see you before I know it!

Steve

 

Leavin on a Jet Plane

The time has come for me to get away for a while.  Even though the timing may not be great with all the traveling and work I’ve been doing I’m still looking forward to family, friends, and food!  It will certainly be nice to have the comforts of first world life again.  We’ll see how I react.

I met with the district environmental health officer and we have scheduled a meeting in my village for the day after I get back from Italy.  The rep from the NGO will also be there.  We will have a general community meeting followed by siting at individual homes.  There are supposed to be announcements being made while I’m gone to make sure everyone who is participating attends.  I know the interest is high because people have been asking me what to do next and some have even started to dig.

I have also selected the two students for our leadership conference.  Their names are Ernest and Gloria.  They are both 17 and a little shy but that will soon change.  They are both very bright and eager for the event.  Which brings me to answer the popular question many of you have:  What can we do to help?  I now have an answer for you.  Go to https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=donate.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=641-319 and donate to the conference.  Every little bit helps and every cent will go to putting on the event.  It’s also tax deductible woo!  Volunteers and students alike will truly appreciate it.

Well this is just a little update to keep everyone up to date while I go on vacation.  Ghana has been starting to get to me (all the little things) and I’ve been told it’s just because I know I’m about to leave.  I hope everyone is enjoying the March Madness (both basketball and weather).  Quick shout out to those that are pen pals I know some of you have gotten letters already and I thank you for participating.  Moses is looking forward to your responses.  If anyone else wants to participate let me know.  Take care and for the lucky ones I get to see this week…get ready!

Steve

Almost Italy Time!

March has come roaring in like a lion with the rainy season and lots of work! The last week was spent traveling. We had our regional meeting (at the beach of course) for volunteers to discuss any issues so that I can bring them up at the national meeting. Our region has been fairly quiet with no major problems as we are just waiting for our new volunteers to move into their villages come April.

Next I had to go to Accra for a meeting so I stopped at another volunteer’s village for a night along the way. He is a chemistry teacher at a senior high school. His school, however, has been closed the past 2 weeks because they have no water. This is not the first time this has happened and the students have been “demonstrating” against the school by chanting, breaking windows, and burning tires. The headmistress is nowhere to be found. Despite this my friend is in good spirits and trying to find other projects to occupy time until the school reopens. Building a borehole perhaps?

I then traveled to Accra which was only a few hours away. It was Ghana’s Independence Day (55 years) so there were parades of school children in the streets in all the villages. It was very similar to America’s own Independence Day. I thought this may create huge traffic problems in the capital but luckily I was wrong.

The next day I had a meeting with other volunteers, Peace Corps staff, and partner NGO’s. We were discussing the future of my sector as there are global changes being intiated by Peace Corps Washington. The main one is condensing all our programs and sectors to try and be more uniform across the planet to save money, resources, and allow us to maintain a better focus. My sector which is Natural Resource Management will now be Agriculture. It will focus on creating awareness on farming issues, implementing and maintaining practices to alleviate the issues, and advocating that those practices be carried out elsewhere. This can be anything from changing physical farming methods to agribusiness and organization. While it’s annoying that our goals and focus are changing it’s nice to know that we have a well thought out project plan. Sometimes I doubt the amount of planning Peace Corps does is adequate.

Now comes the really cool part of the trip. I was planning to meet with my supervisor from World Cocoa Foundation the next morning before I left. I called her after my meeting to confirm this and she said oh you should come to a cocktail reception we’re having tonight for CocoaLink, some people from Hershey’s in America will be coming. So I went down to a VERY nice hotel in the city center and went to the private room they had for the event. It wasn’t a large amount of people (maybe 30 total). The attendees were mainly Ghanaians from WCF, World Education, and the Ghana Cocoa Board. The American contingent was made of 5 VPs from Hershey’s as well as the head honcho himself the CEO. I got to meet all of them and explained what I was doing over here. They all thanked me and told me to keep up the good work. The CEO was a very nice guy and has worked in over 50 countries around the world. He addressed everyone in attendance and commended the good work and shared his hope for the future. He talked how Hershey’s is committed to helping all those involved in the cocoa supply chain and pledged more money and programs to achieve this. One of the VPs there was one I met at the CocoaLink meeting in October who had also been a Peace Corps Volunteer in Ghana (’82-’84). I didn’t know he was a VP when we first met but I guess that offers some bit of hope for my career.

My meeting the next morning with WCF went very well. They are giving me a BlackBerry (their idea not mine) so I can remote register farmers for CocoaLink wherever I go. They’re also bringing me farming DVD’s in Twi so I can show them to my village as well as others. They are planning to visit me this week to deliver these as well as show some other NGO workers my community because they are considering duplicating the ICT Center somewhere else.

Finally I stopped in Kumasi on my way back. I was planning to stay just one night but there was a going away party a few days later for the volunteer who runs the office so I decided to stay. The guy leaving has been here 3.5 years. He was the first person we saw off the plane and has been there for me ever since. He is a leader who everyone looks up to and has been helpful in more ways than you can imagine. Everyone is sad to see him go but we all understand and wish him all the best!

Before I end this post I need to step on my soap box. When I was at the office I noticed this “KONY 2012” video going more viral than any other video I’ve ever seen. I wanted to watch it but couldn’t because our internet was too slow but I think what I have to say doesn’t lose any merit. While it sounds like this guy is pretty bad and I’m sure he is, people just sharing this video saying we need to do something is pathetic. I have no problem with sharing videos like this to create awareness and all that but some of the comments I’ve seen attached to these are “oh this is so terrible” and “we need to do something.” Well if something needs to be done then do it! I’m sure none of my friend’s who posted actually did anything like donate money or sign up to volunteer in Uganda (where we currently have Peace Corps which means it can’t be THAT bad). Everyone in this world loves to complain about things and say what needs to be done but very seldom do people follow through with action. I’m not telling you to go join the Peace Corps but take time out of your life to change something or help if you believe in it. A few weeks ago my dad and brother went with a group from the high school to help out in Joplin, MO, the site of the horrific tornado last year. I remember when that happened people said how terrible it was posting pictures/videos claiming that we need to do something to help but very few people that I know actually did go help (just my dad and brother). I don’t mean to preach but it’s just something I noticed.

So back to my life. I now have 38 families signed up for latrines as well as both schools. I’ve debated on making a YouTube video of people in my village pooping everywhere generating pity for my village resulting in world fame with no latrines actually being built. Instead I am meeting with the District Environmental Health Officer tomorrow to begin the “siting” process for the latrines. The health officer needs to come and establish where exactly each latrine will be placed to avoid water contamination as well as structural deterioration. As I also said earlier some people from WCF will also be visiting this week. Other than that I’m just counting down until Italy (9 days!) I’m sure it is going to be an incredible experience in more ways than one. Take care and I’m sure everyone’s happy that sad excuse for a winter appears to be over!

Steve

P.S. Most of you changed clocks in the US so you are now one hour closer to my time. So in Chicago you are now only 5 hours behind as opposed to 6.

Work! Work! Work!

The rains have come!  Never before have I seen such a storm.  IT was like being in a hurricane.  Water got into my room as well as the ICT Center.  Luckily nothing was damaged just a mess I had to clean up.  The next day everyone was rethatching their roofs with palm fronds.  The power was out for  few days as well.  This storm is just an indication of what’s about to come in the next few months.

Besides the change in weather there will be more changes in the community coming up.  Most notably we will be building private family latrines!  I had a representative from the NGO come and give a presentation to the community about the project and there seemed to be a good amount of interest.  After a few days of sign ups I got 35 different families interested in building as well as the primary and junior high schools!  Now begins the hard part of getting the family to provide their half of the materials and to dig the hole.  I have confidence that this will get done it will just take some poking and prodding.

We also held a meeting amongst volunteers about the youth leadership conference we’ll be putting on in May.  There has been a lot of interest and we have even filled all 60 sots with students.  I will be bringing 2 from my local senior high school.  I met with the headmaster last week and he said they will send 2 students and will get me the names soon.  At the conference we put the students in groups of 10 and I will be one of the group leaders.

One of the main topics at the meeting was fund raising.  We do have grants and companies funding part of it but we will also have a fund that you can donate to.  It’s tax deductible and you can donate as little as $10.  I will post the link on here once we get it set up but I’d appreciate and amount you can send.  People have been asking how they can help me out over here and this is a great way and it’s cheaper than sending a package!

I have also been attempting to fix the solar power but the company that installed the system just isn’t cooperating.  They never give me an answer of what they can do and they never call me back.  It’s especially annoying because it’s a European company.  I will keep trying though since the rainy season will render the national power grid useless.

On Thursday I was a guest lecturer for my aunt’s business class at USC.  The class met in Second Life (think Facebook meets the Sims meets Skype).  After some technical difficulties due to internet connection problems due to the rain, I talked to them about Peace Corps and the CocoaLink project.  I had never used Second Life before but it was pretty cool and shocking that the first time I use it I’m in Africa.

Finally, I completed my first official quarterly report for Peace Corps Washington.  At the end of the year all the reports are compiled for Congress and are used to decide the budget for the next year.  Unfortunately for Peace Corps that has been dwindling of late.  Most notably last year it went from $400 million to $350 million.

Today I go back to my village and will be there until Friday when I go down to the beach for a regional meeting.  Then I come back to the office in Kumasi to help with an HIV testing event.  After that I will begin my countdown to when I go to Italy for some family time   Take care everyone and enjoy that snow Chicago!

Steve

P.S. Here is an amazing blog post by a volunteer in Ethiopia but is entirely applicable to here.  Please read because he tells you the truth that I only hint at.  http://waidsworld.wordpress.com/2011/08/07/the-real-peace-corps/#comment-164

Training and Spelling Bee

Happy February to everyone back in the frozen tundra (or not so frozen this winter so I hear).  My mini version of winter has come to an end.  The heat and humidity are back in full force and we have gotten our first rainfall.  Once March rolls around we will be in the rainy season.  They stopped working on my road back in November and there’s no sign of them returning before the rains come so it will be interesting to see how it holds up in the coming months.

The country is certainly a buzz right now with the football team in the semi finals of the Africa Cup of Nations.  They play Zambia on Wednesday and if they win they will play the winner of Cote d’Ivoire vs. Mali on Sunday.  If they do indeed end up playing our neighbors to the west Cote d’Ivoire (and actually win) the country will erupt and it will surely be a sight to see.

The training that I had went smoothly.  It was great to see how everyone was doing and catch up.  It’s nice to be able to bounce ideas off of other people and set up possible collaborations.  I might go to a neighbor’s site for beekeeping training if my village is interested.  I do also hear about problems people have at their villages.  In fact one volunteer had such a bad time that she actually moved to a different village.  It’s hard to tell whether these “issues” are indeed the fault of the community or if it’s the volunteer just not being able to adapt.  Whatever the reason it make me appreciate my situation because other than the common annoyances and frustrations of living in Ghana I haven’t had any problems.

I went back to my village for a few days and did some cocoa research with my neighbor who is going to try and write a grant to advocate the government to promote moving up the value chain of cocoa by doing more processing in country.  A lot of the cocoa is processed elsewhere which has Ghanaians missing out on more profits.  Apparently this has been their goal for some time now but they haven’t quite gotten around to doing anything about it.  If this grant comes through perhaps it will give them a little push!

Then this past weekend I went to help out at the National Spelling Bee which was awesome!  I got to stay with an embassy worker and his wife and it was just like being at home again!  Air conditioning, internet, satellite TV with American channels, home cooked meals with American products, hot water, and most important…American alcohol.  I arrived after a 13 hour travel day to a dinner of nachos and Blue Moon.  I was on cloud 9.

The Bee itself was a great time!  It did take all day as we were there from 7 to 7 and it was chaotic at times but it was amazing to see 89 spellers from all over the country ages 9-12 spelling in front of 1000 people!  Their English was incredible.  It was sad to see them get one wrong and have to escort them to the staging room.  They’d cry and say things like the kids at school were going to make fun of them.  But we reassured them that they are so much farther ahead than anyone else their age and they should be proud.  They were even spelling some pretty difficult words that even we hadn’t heard of before!  The winner ended up being a boy from the Volta Region (Eastern part of the country).  It was the first time someone from outside Accra had won.  Now he will get to compete at the Scripps National Spelling Bee in Washington D.C.

There were a lotta other volunteers helping out so it was great to see them too.  At night we went out to a party at the Canadian Embassy, the US Embassy, and our local bars that we like.  I even met two Peace Corps Volunteers visiting from Kenya so it was nice to compare countries.  Yesterday we watched Ghana win their quarterfinal match against Tunisia in extra time which was fun.  We were at a huge bar with big tv screens and cheap draft beers which was a great atmosphere.  Then we went and watched the Super Bowl at the Embassy at night.  Boring game if you ask me but it was still fun to watch.

Tomorrow I got back to my village and I get to ride in a Peace Corps vehicle which is free and has air conditioning.  I’m hoping to get moving on this latrine project so I need to have a meeting with the village to see if there’s enough interest.  I’m also going to look to get the CocoaLink in some other neighboring communities.  A new group of volunteers get here Wednesday and we are supposed to be getting five in my neck of the woods so that will be nice.  Finally I want to apologize for more poor proofreading of my last blog post.  I read it today and it was riddled with mistakes.  Bear with me.

Steve

Fightin the Good Fight

Sorry for the long delay in posts.  I’ve been busy working with other volunteers as well as traveling.  All has been well here in Ghana.  I’m still loving the Harmattan (dry season).  I’ve been seeing my breathe in the morning which I think is a welcome sight.  The Ghanaians disagree, however, claiming it is too cold as they shiver everyone morning wearing coats and hats.

School has begun but still not all the students have reported.  The solar power for the ICT Center has still not been fixed since a storm knocked it out around Thanksgiving.  Apparently they have already replaced the unit twice due to faults.  I have talked to the company and hopefully they fix it sometime soon.  I was under the impression my NGO was taking care of it but that was false.

With this new year came high fuel prices which sent the costs of everything up.  While not as high as Nigeria it certainly created an impact felt across the country.  There was also a natural gas shortage conveniently when my stove runs out of gas for the first time ever.  Luckily the natural gas came and fuel prices have dropped slightly but not to original levels.

My main activity recently was helping my neighboring volunteers  teach HIV/AIDS as part of a football tournament.  There were 4 teams each from a different village participating.  The week before the tournament we went to each village to educate the teams (all made of males in their 20’s) along with community nurses.  WE lectured them on basic facts and modes of transmission, led condom demonstrations, did role plays and a game show, and had an exit quiz.  Afterwards the teams has to do a skit to educate their communities.

We felt that this part of the project went well.  The players paid attention most o the time and even appeared to have fun (especially with the condom demonstration).  The problems came at the actual tournament when a team was refusing to play because their opponent had players from other villages.  Even though this tournament means nothing and is more about education they still want to win.  Ghanaians don’t care about the  competition or the spirit of the game they care about winning and getting a trophy.  While the games did end up being played after one volunteer gave them an earful in the end the tournament never got finished because the Ghanaians ended up in a brawl over a “bad call” in the championship.  Unfortunately we ended up leaving with the trophy the other volunteers made and the other prizes they were going to give out.   No fighting was the one rule that was emphasized and the Ghanaians could not follow it.  Almost every football match I’ve seen in Ghana has an involved a fight or argument.  It’s truly sad that Ghanaians can’t get past the fact that it’s just a game.  So while the project ended on a sour note we think in the end were able to reach some people and hopefully changed some lives and saved some babies.

Now I am at a hotel for a workshop with all the Natural Resource Volunteers from my group.  Hot water, a pool, air-conditioning, satellite TV and good food are all included.  There’s supposed to be free wifi but of course it’s broken right now.  At this workshop we’ll review the first 4 months from site and how to move forward.  We will learn how to write grants and how to get involved in more projects.  I’m hoping to learn more about building latrines in my village because I’ve come to realize people are pooping in the wrong places e.g. my latrine, the disgusting/dilapidated school latrines, the school urinals, and also just on the ground in front of their houses.

That’s pretty much it from here for now.  I’ll give another update after the workshop.  The Africa Cup of Nations has also gotten under way.  It’s essentially the World Cup but for Africa.  Ghana and Cote d’Ivoire are the two favorites to win so there is a lot of excitement in these parts.  I hope everyone’s new years are going great.  It looks like winter finally has it’s grip on Chicago and their sports teams are dominating.  I’m definitely missing me some pond hockey.

Steve

P.S. I’ll post pictures next week or if this wifi is ever fixed.

Happy Holidays!

Hello everyone!  I hope this post finds you well and enjoying this wonderful time of year.  It’s been my first holiday away from home and has been nothing short of amazing.  The beach was great as always.  I met most of the new volunteers and they were all very nice.  Most of them are pretty young and excited for their new adventure ahead.

While the beach trip was very relaxing and rewarding it did not hold a candle to the next trip…Mole National Park.  This is the premiere national park in the country.  It’s quite large and known for their elephants, warthogs, baboons and monkeys.

I first went to the very far north to meet some volunteers in a town.  First thing I noticed up there was the dryness.  No humidity like down here and it’s dry season so everything is browned up.  Since it’s dry season the farmers also burn all the bush so you’d see vast expanses of charred earth and you can see fires glowing in the distance at night.

The next day we headed off to the national park.  Unfortunately this was Christmas Eve which made travel very difficult.  There were not many cars running so we got stuck in a random town for a few hours.  We kept trying to charter a tro tro but they were trying to charge a ridiculous fare but finally we got them down to something somewhat reasonable.  After a crazy ride on a terrible road we arrived at the park covered in dust.

We stayed at a hotel on the southern part of the park on a vista the overlooked the valley and watering hole.  It offered great pictures for sunsets and animals coming to drink.

Now the animals and topography were great at the park but the best part was the company.  I was with 15 other volunteers and we all just had such a great time relaxing by the pool and conversing.  There also might have been a little bit of drinking

I thought that being away for Christmas/my birthday would still not feel the same no matter how hard I tried.  Luckily it turns out I was wrong.  Even away from home I still find myself surrounded by such great people.  All the volunteers are smart, driven, open-minded people who are just always great to be around.

This year I also got one of the best birthday/Christmas presents ever.  As some of you already know my lovely sisters decided to make a secret Facebook group about a month ago and invited my friends and family to post messages, pictures, and videos and then invited me to join the group on Christmas day (my birthday).  I happened to have my laptop with me and despite being in the middle of no where I had internet.  When I logged on FB I saw the invite and went to the group and was absolutely blown away.  All the messages and support almost made me cry (but I didn’t because I’m a man).  It was one of the greatest things I have ever seen in my entire life.  The amount of support that I have from everyone is extraordinary.  The hardest part of Peace Corps for me is being away from friends and family and this lets me know that you all are always with me.

Now I will be going back to my site tomorrow to celebrate the new year there.  I hear this will be a lot of church and booze so we’ll see how that goes.  The new year is shaping up to start off very busy.  I will work on spreading the CocoaLink project.  I will also be starting to translate to my local dialect so we can begin recording.  Later in January I’ll have two training events for writing grants, reviewing the last three months, and moving forward with my service.  Then the first weekend of February is the National Spelling Bee.

So 2012 is shaping up to be a great yer for me and I hope it is for everbody back home as well.  My parents sent me the confirmation for my flights to Italy which a greatly appreciate but it still doesn’t top the amazing amount of support I’ve recieved from everyone.  Take care and have a safe and happy new year!

Steve