Busy Days

Hi

Sorry I haven’t got round to blogging for a while, the last few weeks have provided me with quite a rollercoaster of emotions and I haven’t really felt like sitting down and capturing many of these moments.

I have however been quite busy over the last few weeks. I was involved in the planning and delivery of a phonics workshop involving 125 Head teachers from the district I’m working in. This was a true introduction into how things are done here in Ghana. We arrived at 8.45am for a 9am start, the cleaners were just starting their morning clean, a few teachers had also started to arrive and sit down, the main speaker arrived and started his presentation at 9.45am and the rest of the teachers joined bit by bit. It soon became clear that there were not going to be enough chairs for everyone to sit down. A rally to the district office to borrow the ‘funeral’ chairs and everyone was finally seated by 10.50am. The morning session overran and a 15min lunch break followed before it was our slot to deliver our presentation, during this time the teachers were given what they had really come for, their  T’n’T (Time and Travel) a sum of money given at each workshop, which unfortunately is for some the only reason they attend trainings. Not sure how much of our presentation on teamwork actually went in ! !

I was invited to join in on the ‘International day for persons with disabilities’ in the regional capital, Wa. This started at 8am with a lively band and lots of dancing outside the School for the Blind. The turnout was very humbling, children and adults with a various array of differing disabilities joined in the celebration.  We were tasked with filling out a number of questionnaires to raise the awareness of the number of persons with disabilities living in Ghana. We began a VERY long walk (about 8km) through Wa with lots of banners and plaques stating lots of interesting facts about how people with disabilities are perceived. Lots of music and dancing lined the streets resulting in a very enjoyable time. We finally reached our destination and were entertained with a traditional dance by students from the School for the Deaf.

Being isolated from the television, newspapers, magazines, decorations, shop windows, the cold weather, it hasn’t really felt like the usual run up to Christmas that I’m used to. I did manage to get myself invited to help out at one of the local schools, teaching them some Christmas carols. We’ve sang our hearts out to O’come all ye faithful and the little drummer boy as well as a song in Dagaare which of course I had to dip out of. A few schools came together in the local church at the beginning of December and put on a carol concert. I was also given a Ghanaian Christmas card too.

Last week saw a trip to Bolga for a ‘Christmas Party’ and a VSO conference. Only this trip to Bolga was not in the VSO pickup like my first trip here after moto training. The 7hour journey on the Bolga bus is an experience never to be repeated. The road between Wa and Bolga is all dirt road with the most uneven surface and full of potholes, you are flung about in your seat for the entire journey.  We waited in Wa from 4am just to buy our ticket, the bus finally leaves at around 6am. The bus itself leaves a lot to be desired, you sit in rows of 5 with a seat the width of a 30cm ruler, therefore you spend the journey with someone more or less sat on your knee, with their smelly armpits and elbows in your face. We hadn’t been on the road for more than 2 hours and we broke down in a small village in the middle of nowhere at about 8.15am. But don’t worry folks we’ll have it fixed in 10 mins when the mechanic arrives. Yeah you guessed it he had to come the 2 hour journey from Wa. So we sat and we sat and we sat. No water, food, no toilet, an old man for entertainment and blazing sun. A fairly ingenious young guy managed to find / dig groundnuts. He even managed to roast them under some dry hay, they were delicious and very well received. We were finally back on the road by about 1.30pm. (5 hours later) When we finally arrived in Tumu, just over half way of our journey, I unfortunately had to experience my very first ladies urinal, not a pleasant one. We eventually arrived in Bolga about 6.30pm and then boarded a tro to Zebilla for the party to begin. Another potholed road, tarred this time though ! !  A great party and a good chance to meet up with volunteers who arrived in country at the same time, as well as a chance to meet some of the old timers.

We also had a meeting of all those volunteers that do the same job as me throughout Ghana. This was a good learning experience, finding out what others have been doing in their placements so far, sharing successes and difficulties within their jobs and motivating each other to try new things.

The return journey from Bolga on Wednesday thankfully went without any hiccups.

While I was in Bolga my housemate returned to England for Christmas, I hear you have had a good dusting of snow, a huge contrast to the 30^oc heat we are experiencing here, although night times are starting to get chilly and I even had to get my blanket out last night ! !

This weekend has also been busy, I met up with a friend in Jirapa on Saturday for another Christmas party where we were in charge of the mulled wine. (A very new experience for the Ghanaians – ‘You drink this wine hot ?’) We partied into the late hours and arrived home around 9.30pm (a late night in Ghana) We were both up bright and early to attend the 8.30am Mass at the local church in Jirapa, this is the only Mass read in English. We were hoping to go and have a good sing along to all the Christmas carols so near to Christmas, not a carol in sight. Apparently they save the carols for the service on Christmas Eve. It was nice to see how church is done Ghanaian style and I’m sure I’ll probably make it to more services in the New Year.

Well this week sees the arrival of Tim to Ghana, it seems like I have been counting down the days forever. We’re going to be travelling up the Volta Region over Christmas and hope to visit a village on Christmas Day and see how a traditional Christmas is celebrated in Ghana. We have planned visits to see the traditional Kente cloth being made, a visit to the Wli waterfalls, a trip to the monkey sanctuary, an afternoon watching beads being made and finally a trip to Kakum National Park, where we will do a canopy walk through the trees. We will then spend a week along Cape Coast on the beach for New Year, lots of volunteers will be there to see the New Year in together.

I hope to report of all these adventures in my blog on my return in January.