Girl Goes Ghana

One of the things that has been hardest for me to get used to in Ghana is my utter lack of privacy compared to what I was used to at home. One of the weirdest ways that this lack of privacy manifests itself? People dig through my trash. There is no garbage man in Ghana who comes around weekly to collect waste. In my community, there aren't even garbage cans. A few people burn their trash, but most (including me) throw their garbage into a specific spot in the bush which has more or less been designated a community dump. It actually works much better in my community than it does in many others; there is very little trash scattered around the village. This is a little stream in Ho, my market town. It smells about like it looks. Luckily, my community is nothing like this. However. The day after I threw away my first bag of trash, I was stunned to see kids running around town playing with things that I had thrown away. An empty floss dispenser, bits of paper, a piece of a br...

I have officially crossed the halfway mark on my service in Ghana. I arrived here about sixteen months ago, which means I have eleven months left in country. I have lived here longer than I ever lived in Korea, Austria, or Russia. So how am I feeling about this? Well. I am feeling a lot of things. I often feel frustrated by the fact that I haven't been able to accomplish much. I haven't managed to do much of what my community hoped I would do, and I also haven't managed to achieve many of the goals I set for myself. There have been a lot of moments over the last year when I have doubted exactly why I came, and wondered if I might have been better off staying home, where at least I would have things to do every day. Although it doesn't feel like a lot, I have managed to do one or two things over the course of the last year. I have held cooking demonstrations, tended my garden, taught adolescents about malaria and HIV, created a Grassroots Soccer group, and atten...

A couple of months ago, I sat down with a couple of Ghanaian friends and interviewed them about their lives. The other day, I got the chance to sit down with another friend and do the same thing. Here's what he had to say. Just as a reminder, the views that he expresses are entirely his own and do not reflect my opinions nor Peace Corps'. Israel is a 20 year old kente weaver and farmer who lives in my community. He finished SHS (the equivalent of high school) last year, and since then has been working to grow his small kente business. Israel at work. Can you tell me about this community? As you know, we all are farmers. If it's dry season, some people won't be going to farm because of the lack of rain to produce their products. Sometimes I go to farm. I have a farm. I grow maize. My parents grow maize, groundnuts, yam, and okra. What is the best part about living here? I like how this community works together. For example, if someone is sick...

Sometimes, I am very much taken aback by the difference between how many of my Ghanaian neighbors see me and how I see myself. For example, here is an actual conversation I had the other day: Neighbor: Why don't you have children? Me: I don't want any now. Maybe later. Neighbor: What?? If you wait, you will be too old! You will be an old lady! Me: I don't think so...I would prefer to wait until I am in my thirties or so to have children. Neighbor: What? You mean you aren't thirty already? Me: No... Neighbor: I thought you were at least forty. Me: Not quite. Neighbor: Then how did a young girl like you get to be SOOOOOO fat?? Good question, neighbor. Good question. I have encounters like this fairly regularly. If you pay too much attention to these comments, they can wear away a bit at your self esteem. However, I know that nothing bad is meant by them. I'm pretty confident that I don't look forty, anyway, and no one means to insult me by...

I thought it might be a good idea to share with you a list of the things I love most about living in Ghana and being in the Peace Corps. This is by no means an exhaustive list, but hopefully it will give you some idea of the things that have given me joy over my year in country. 1. The music!  I really love a lot of Ghanaian music. I don't know the names of half of the artists that I like, but I'll really have to get on top of that before I head back to America. I enjoy hearing it when traveling, out to eat, or just blaring from random radios on the streets in my market town. Here's one of my favorites by the very popular Shatta Wale. 2. Riding my bike! I can't easily access the town where I live by car, and there's no food for sale in town, so I end up spending a lot of time on my bike, usually at least a few miles a day. When I first got to site, I found this to be a huge pain. I spent a ton of money on taxis getting my room furnished and once carr...

Some of my friends and neighbors making gari, an extremely popular food made from cassava. It is difficult, sometimes, for me to share my experiences as a Peace Corps volunteer knowing that for many people, I'm their main source of information for what life in Ghana as like. I know that many of my friends and family extrapolate and assume that what is true for me is likely true for all Peace Corps Volunteers, or all Ghanaians, or all Africans. Here are some of my friends and neighbors hard at work making garri, one of the most popular foods in my town. I would like to take a brief moment to correct that and let you know that Ghana isn't poor. Neither am I, and neither are Peace Corps Volunteers in general. Let's start with me, since that's the easiest assumption to correct. In USD, our "salary" is a pittance. I could make more in a week at a minimum wage job in the United States than I live off in Ghana in a month. But that doesn't mean I...

A few weeks ago, there was an explosion in Accra, the capital of Ghana. It was pretty bad, and I thought my family might see it on the news and worry about me. I texted them to let them know I was alright, that the explosion was miles and miles away from me, and that there was nothing to worry about. The response? "We didn't hear about the explosion, but we've been worried about you every minute since you got on that plane to Ghana." I don't think this is uncommon for the families of people who join the Peace Corps. You're sending your loved one off for more than two years to a foreign country, and it ain't no Paris, France. Rightly or wrongly, I think many people have the perception that the countries that Peace Corps operates in are fundamentally dangerous in some way that the United States is not. Is there any truth to this? Not too much to be afraid of when this is the main road out of town. I can't speak for every Peace Corps country...

So if you're reading this blog, I'd imagine you are at least a little interested in learning more about Ghana. Or hey, maybe you just like to giggle at the image of me struggling to wield a hoe or flailing around trying to kick a soccer ball. Yeah, I struggle sometimes. But for those of you interested in learning about Ghana, I'm afraid maybe I've let you down a little bit. I've only been in Ghana for ten months. Moreover, no matter how integrated I may feel, no matter how much I learn, I will never, ever be able to explain Ghana like Ghanaians do. My perspective will always be that of an outsider. So I decided to interview some people who might actually know what they're talking about: Ghanaians. (Left-right) Noah, 20 years old; Bright,  23 years old. These brothers, Noah and Bright, are good friends with one of my fellow PCVs, and over the months I've been here, they've become friends of mine, too. I decided to sit down with them and ask s...

For the last two months, one of my counterparts and I have been going to the local school every Wednesday and Friday to deliver Grassroots Soccer sessions to a group of twenty-one adolescent girls. Since our sessions at the school will be coming to a close when the girls graduate tomorrow, I thought it might not be a bad time to clue you in on what I've been up to. I ran away to Ghana to become a professional soccer player. Grassroots Soccer (GRS) is an NGO that partners with Peace Corps in countries around the world. GRS is a method that volunteers can use to deliver education about HIV/AIDS, birth control, and healthy relationships, among other things. Although soccer (or football, as Ghanaians call it) is involved, the focus of GRS is using games and activities to help students talk about difficult subjects, and to help them feel empowered to take action in their homes and communities. A typical session goes like this: my counterpart, Evelyn, and I arrive at school aro...

So my last version of this post was a huge hit with me, if even with no one else. Clearly a part two was required. So here we go: the toughest job I'll ever love (so they tell me) in the form of Disney songs. 1. Reflection (Mulan) A lot of people who are living in a country that is not their own feel a degree of alienation from their surroundings. Unfortunately, there are definitely days in Ghana when I look in the mirror and wonder who is looking back. Before coming to Ghana, I cut my hair. I wear glasses instead of contacts. I even go by a new name and speak a new language. Some days, I really feel that even my closest friends here won't get to know who I really am. There are no shortage of stories I can't share and values I keep to myself because it might cause people to lose respect for me. Then again, it's not all gloomy. There are plenty of days I'm full of laughter and happiness. And then--there are the Mulan days. 2. A Whole New World (Aladdin)...

Most of you probably know that I'm in Ghana as a health volunteer, but I don't think many are aware of the fact that officially, I am a Health/WATSAN volunteer. WATSAN means Water and Sanitation. When I first arrived in Ghana, I wasn't quite as excited about that part of my job as I was about the other parts. I was much more interested in educating people about malaria and HIV than I was about improving water and sanitation practices. However, the longer I am here, the more I recognize that issues with water and sanitation are a massive part of the health issues here in Ghana. For example, a lot of babies and children suffer from frequent diarrhea that could probably be prevented with regular hand washing. But if bringing water to the house entails walking five miles with a fifty pound bucket of water on your head, hand washing might not feel like such a priority. A lot of people are aware that burning trash at home is associated with respiratory issues, but if there is ...

So I've been planning this post for a while. I have made a lot of people listen to me ramble on as I planned it. And maybe no one will find it quite as amusing as I do. Nonetheless, without further ado, here are the Disney songs that best encapsulate my life in the Peace Corps. 1. Belle (Beauty and the Beast) Basically everything that Belle says in this song are thoughts that go through my head on...pretty much a daily basis: "Little town, it's a quiet village. Every day like the one before." Maybe that doesn't describe Peace Corps life so much as rural life anywhere in the world, but it's definitely something I've had to get used to as a newly minted citizen of a town of 200. I also am a fan of Belle's favorite method of entertainment: reading. If I am otherwise unoccupied, you can usually find me sitting on my stoop outside of my room with my nose stuck in a book. Finally, and most importantly, much like Belle, the moment I leave my house e...

Back in April, when I visited my community for the first time, the town hosted a welcoming ceremony. They sang and danced for me, I sang and danced for them. They thanked God for sending me to their town, and I tried to hide how incredibly intimidating I found that. All was going well. Then they asked my name. Now, I happen to like my name. And I've lived in a few different countries and never had any particular trouble with it. However, for whatever reason, despite the fact that all the sounds in my name are also present in Ewe, it seems to be impossible for people in my community to pronounce without significant coaching. They can get "Billy" or "Belly" just fine, but when I try to get them to say "Bailey" I might as well be trying to get them to imitate the sound of the vomiting cat. They seem to think it's a little uncouth, and probably not worth the effort. Thus, the very first night I spent in my new home, I was given a new name: Adzo. ...

When I was little (and not so little), my mom was fond of reciting a nursery rhyme to me: "Mary, Mary, quite contrary, how does your garden grow? With silver bells, and cockle shells, and pretty maids all in a row." I don't know what a cockle shell is, but in all fairness, I do have a tendency to be contrary. I came to Ghana to be a volunteer in the Peace Corps health sector. Of all the Peace Corps sectors in Ghana (health, education, and agriculture), I would say that ours is the most loosely defined. At my site, I don't have any projects that I'm specifically assigned to work on. For the first three months, in fact, we are not encouraged to work at all. Instead, we are meant to spend time getting to know our new neighbors and friends and practicing the language. This is all well and good, but to be honest, there are only so many hours I can spend every day socializing and hanging out with people with whom I still don't share a common language. I have a ...