You are now free to move about the country.

Ghana Memories in Photos - 2008 Part 3

2012-01-26T13:25:00.000-08:00

Kitten at my adopted family's house.

Pictures speak louder than words.

Ghana Memories in Photos - 2008 Part 2

2012-01-24T14:30:00.000-08:00

Just another day on the roads in Ghana...no big deal.

You can literally buy anything on the streets in Accra.

Thought it was cool so I took a photo!

Ghana Memories in Photos - 2008

2012-01-22T17:14:00.000-08:00

Some never-before-seen photos from my first trip to Ghana. These photos bring back so many memories and make me yearn to return to Ghana right now!


Baby Richmond and I. This baby is now a now a happy walking, talking, school-going little boy!

Miss Ghana -- located in the center of Hohoe.

Local children looking into my classroom at Christ Orphanage.


These little booths sell everything from toilet paper to beautiful fabrics to food to cell phone credits to clothes.

More photos coming soon!!!

Still want to donate?

2011-12-20T15:12:00.001-08:00

If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. -Mother Teresa

Still want to make a donation to The Ghana Project's Farm Animal Project? Do it today -- PayPal link is to the right of this post!

Fundraising will end on Christmas day.

You saw the video...now what?

2011-12-07T12:21:00.000-08:00

Let me guess, you saw the video that I posted on Facebook about The Ghana Project's Farm Animal Project and you came here to find out how you can help.

Well, I have answers for you!

To make a donation online, click on the Donate button just to the right of this blog entry. You can pay via your PayPal account or via credit/debit card.

If you prefer to write a check, that is more than welcome too! Please make out your check to our fiscal sponsor, Eyes On Africa and send it to Nicole Pampanin at 4924 Balboa Blvd #252, Encino, CA 91316.

All donations are tax-deductible.

Contact us at theghanaproject@yahoo.com

Feeling inspired? Want to do more? Spread the word! Let's make this project as successful as possible! Email Nicole for a copy of the fundraiser flyer.

Thank you in advance for your support!!!

Thank you for your donations!

2011-12-03T14:47:00.000-08:00

A huge thank you to everyone who has already made a donation towards The Ghana Project's Farm Animal Project! It means a lot to me and to the kids at Christ Orphanage. We are still raising funds so please spread the word to your friends and family. Every little bit helps and is greatly appreciated!

Do Something Good!!

2011-11-17T11:13:00.000-08:00

MAKE A DIFFERENCE THIS HOLIDAY SEASON!

THE GHANA PROJECT’S

FARM ANIMAL PROJECT

Help Christ Orphanage build a sustainable farm by donating an animal.

Chicken - $3.00

Goat - $50.00

Sheep - $90.00

Animal Coop - $300.00

Donations of any size are greatly appreciated -- every dollar helps.

You can make your gift by either sending a check made out to our fiscal sponsor,

Eyes On Africa to Nicole Pampanin at 4924 Balboa Blvd #252, Encino, CA 91316, or using the PayPal Donate button on the right side of this blog post. If you want to make this gift on behalf of someone else, please send us their name and email address and we will send them a holiday card via email noting that a gift was given in their name.

All donations are tax-deductible.

Kaneshie Market

2011-07-29T16:30:00.000-07:00

The Kaneshie Market, which I wrote about in a previous blog post is the market in Accra where we would shop for our produce. The Kaneshie Market was featured as a pit stop in the Amazing Race last year. Watch this clip, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wGtu9LNrUWo to see the market bustling with people.

Ghanaian Women

2011-07-23T01:23:00.001-07:00

Living in Wegbe and not staying at a hotel when I visit the village gives me the opportunity to see how things really happen on a day to day basis and gives me such an appreciation for everything that the women in this country do. Every morning, I would wake up at 6:30am and exit my room to brush my teeth and use the toilet. Every single morning, I could expect to find mothers bathing their children, setting up their shops, or cooking breakfast. They had probably already been up for hours. Around 7:30am, I would cross the road and wait in front of the church with the kids, waiting for the school tro tro to come and take us to Christ Orphanage, or rather, what has recently been renamed, Christ Academy. From this church, one could see women carrying water on their heads from the river, women walking by and carrying various crops on their heads, and women selling food items such as popcorn, which I bought for 10 peswas (about 7 cents) per bag every morning and took to the school as a snack.

While at school, I know that the women continue to work hard. They do the laundry, which is no easy task when done by hand. Since I ended up staying in Wegbe for 10 days, I needed to wash my clothes about half way through my stay. Sika, Alex’s sister who was cooking for me while I was there has a three month old baby as well as two other young children so I did not want to bother her and ask her to wash my clothing for me. Rather, I decided to take matters into my own hands. I purchased a small bag of laundry soap and was given a bucket to wash my clothes. Sika’s children, Mawuse and Richard as well as Sika’s younger sister, Millicent, and my neighbor Cynthia saw me preparing to wash my clothes and decided they wanted to join in the fun. So, the washing of my clothing became a group effort. Five sets of hands were in the bucket, attempting to wash my pretty dirty clothes. After getting through the first stage and preparing to rinse the clothes, Sika came over to tell me that she would wash the clothes for me. “We didn’t do a good job?” I asked. “No,” she responded quite honestly. She rewashed all my clothes and somehow got a ton more dirt out of them while I tried to help in some way by hanging the clothes on the line and comforting her crying baby, Bevlyn.

Women in this country are often times responsible for going to the market and buying the necessary food items to cook for their families. In addition, they are usually responsible for cooking 3 meals a day for themselves, their husbands, and their children. Cooking generally occurs outside, on a coal stove, which means that cooking food takes longer and only one pot of food can be cooked on each coal stove. If the women are lucky enough to have an older child in the household, that child oftentimes becomes responsible for helping with the cooking. In Sika’s house, Millicent, Sika’s younger sister, who is probably about 7 or 8 years old and Godwin, one of the orphans from the school, who is 11 years old help Sika prepare dinner every evening.

Most people, including children bathe twice a day. For Cynthia’s mother, that means bathing three small children in both the morning and the evening. One afternoon after returning home from the school, I went over to Cynthia’s house to visit with the family. I was amazed with the way her mother was bathing her twin girls (around 9 months old). She had one girl in the bucket, bathing her, and the other was standing, leaning on her mother, sucking her breast. It astonished me how she was able to do this and keep both girls relatively happy. Life with twins is not the easiest thing to begin with but here, with limited resources, it is even harder. Cynthia’s mother does not have a double stroller or even really any toys for her girls. When she needs to transport both of them, one baby is tied to her back and the other is carried on her hip. The babies sit on the concrete steps in front of their house all day playing with whatever they can get their hands on – dirt, water, containers that are left sitting, etc. And most of the time, these two young girls are just dressed in a shirt and a pair of underwear even though they are obviously not potty trained, therefore, one can usually find puddles of pee on the step. But these girls are generally happy babies, well, they still aren’t used to me yet but at least they no longer cry when they see me.

Seeing all the hard work that the women here do on a daily basis really makes me appreciate them so much more. Its amazing how much time and work our machines and technologies back home save us when cooking, washing, do laundry, and even bathing. These women are usually underappreciated and not recognized for all their hard work. Ghanaian women, I recognize all the hard work you do and am amazed that you manage to do it all (and do it so well)!

One of those days...

2011-07-18T13:20:00.003-07:00

Today was one of those days. You know, the type of day that you just wish that things were done differently here in Ghana, that there was actually some order to the systems here, and that people actually did their jobs well (or even just showed up to their jobs!).

I traveled to Ho on Saturday to visit my adopted family there once again before leaving Ghana and to tell them that I would be leaving. Their reactions were heartbreaking and it made me think once again if I am making the right choice. They decided that before I left we needed to visit the waterfall in their village, so off we went. The waterfall is beautiful and since the last time I visited, two years ago, the surrounding area has been cleared and is more suitable for visitors. My family told me that the village is working on turning the waterfall into a tourist attraction. There are three levels of the waterfall and we walked up to the highest one and enjoyed the relaxing sounds of the water before the rain began. On the walk home, it started pouring. My family had brought along my old March of the Living raincoat that I had given them a few years ago for me to use but I just used it to protect my camera while enjoying the cool rainwater running down my face.

I traveled back to Hohoe on Saturday afternoon with the expectation that I would not be back to Ho until the next time I visited Ghana. But, that all changed today. I decided to ask Godwin, my taxi driver friend here in Hohoe about renewing my visa in Accra and he told me that it would be better to renew it in Ho as they are usually quicker at returning it and are not as busy in Ho. I really did not want to return to Ho, did not want to spend the day traveling, and did not want to leave my kids for a day to do this but I didn’t have much of a choice as my visa expires 2 days before my departure flight. So, I called Godwin to come pick me up from the school and take me to the tro tro station so I could take care of this business. Godwin took his dear old time getting to the school and I became so frustrated that after waiting for a half hour, I decided to leave and start walking. The walk from the new site of the school to the main road takes about half an hour but I wanted to get to Ho as soon as possible so I could return to Hohoe as soon as possible so I was in no mood to deal with Ghana time today. The headmaster of the school and one of the teachers decided to “see me off” and didn’t seem too confident in the fact that I told them I could walk all the way to the main road. There were no taxis on the road near the school but there were some motorcycles and the headmaster stopped one of them and instructed me to get on. I stared at him and he asked me if I was scared. Uh…yes. I am scared of motorcycles in America where the roads are paved so yes, I was most definitely scared to get on a motorcycle here. I hung on to the motorcycle driver for my life and was so grateful when after about ¾ of a mile, I saw Godwin’s taxi approaching.

I boarded a tro tro and was met in Ho by John, the father in my family. When I told him that I had to return to Ho today to renew my visa he told me that he would accompany me, something I was grateful for as I had no clue how to get to the Immigration Office. When we got to the office, the first thing the immigration officer told us was that it was break time and we would have to come back at 2pm. Now this did not make me happy. It was 1pm and I was not about to wait an hour to talk to them. So, John and I inquired about renewing my visa and we were told that I would need an introduction letter from my sponsor here in the country. I informed the officer that I had such a letter and had sent it to the Ghana Consulate in the US in order to receive my visa in the first place. He rudely replied that it did not matter and he needed another letter. I pleaded with him and informed him that I only needed the visa extension for 2 days. Finally, I remembered that I had a copy of the letter in my email inbox and we asked if I could go print it and bring it to them. It is at that time that we were told by the rude officer that the head immigration officer that needed to sign and approve the visa extension had traveled for the day. Now I don’t remember the day when I renewed my visa two years ago too clearly but for some reason, I remember that the head immigration officer had traveled that day too. Now, what good is this head immigration officer if he is not in his office? I was beyond frustrated and had had it with the immigration officer. He had attitude and was not a very pleasant man. He happily informed me that there were nice hotels in Ho though and told me that I should spend the night and come back tomorrow. I kindly replied that I had other plans and did not have time to spend the night in Ho. He then suggested that I leave my passport with him and have someone I trusted come and pick it up for me. I informed John that there was no way that I would leave my visa with this man.

John pleaded with the officer to process the visa right away but we were told there was nothing he could do. We finally left and I returned to the Ho station to travel the 2 hours back to Hohoe. I was not happy that I had to travel 4 hours today and that I did not even get my visa extended. Sometimes the systems here are beyond annoying and I don’t understand how anything gets done in this country. I did however learn that if I return to the airport to depart without renewing my visa, I will be charged double the price to renew it (80 cedis (about $60) instead of 40 cedis) so now I am not so worried about renewing it however I will give it a try when I am back in Accra.

Luckily when I returned to Wegbe, I was greeted by some of my kids and their bright smiles and adorable laughs made me feel better. They made me realize why I love this country and made me forget about the negative experiences that I had earlier in the day.

I have decided that since I was gone for most of today, I cannot leave tomorrow and rather will stay in Wegbe all day tomorrow and depart for Accra early Wednesday morning. I need to be able to spend some final time with my kids before leaving. They are already sad that I am leaving and I know that spending tomorrow with them will mean as much to me as it will to them.

Happiness

2011-07-17T12:12:00.001-07:00

If I could have things my way, I would live in Wegbe permanently, Alex and I would both have good paying jobs here, and I would always be as happy as I have been this week. It has been amazing to be back here. Tuesday, when I go back to Accra is coming way too soon and I am nowhere near ready for it.

A few weeks ago on one of my previous visits to Wegbe, Patrick told me that two years ago when he was talking about starting a bead workshop here in Wegbe, I encouraged him to go for it. Apparently I told him that he could do it if he really wanted, if he worked hard, and if he saved his money to make his dream a reality. He told me that I inspired him to really go for it, to have faith in himself. Today, I visited Patrick at his home to see the bead workshop that he has started. It is still in the beginning stages but he is doing well and it is amazing to see. He has a kiln and is making beads and teaching youth in the community to make the beads as well. I have much faith in Patrick and I am sure he will go far with this project. Today, while making some beads, we talked about how he can start selling the beads and advertise so others in the community and passersby know that this bead workshop exists.

While I have visited the Cedi Bead Factory here in Ghana before, it was amazing to really talk to Patrick about the processes involved in bead making and see the whole thing from start to finish. Its beyond amazing how glass bottles are pounded and turned into a powder which is then used to make the beads. I also got the chance to paint some beads which was a tedious and much more difficult task than it sounds. I have a much deeper appreciation for beads after today and now realize all the hard work that goes into making them.

After making the beads, I told Patrick that I have wanted to visit the Talking River for quite some time now and asked him if he would take me. He agreed and Cynthia, my 3-4 year old neighbor decided she wanted to come as well so the three of us set off. Well, the 10-15 minute walk was a bit longer than 10-15 minutes but it wasn’t too bad. The path was grown over in areas which made it difficult to walk, especially for Cynthia since she is so small so we had to carry her at some points, something she enjoyed. When we finally arrived at the river, it was so overflown that we couldn’t get very close. It quickly became evident that Cynthia’s desire to bathe in the water would not be happening, as the water was very deep. The river apparently has some steps and if you are close enough and quiet enough it sounds like it is talking. Since the river was so overflown, it was impossible to get close enough to hear the river talking. But at least now I can say I have been there, done that and it is no longer something on my list of things to do here in Wegbe.

The way things are

2011-07-14T15:00:00.000-07:00

I am currently in Wegbe, loving on my kids here before I depart for the US in a week and a half. Its crazy to think that in less than two weeks I will be back on American soil and honestly is not something I am prepared for. In the back of my mind, I am hoping some miracle will come about and even though I am no longer looking for a job here, I will receive an offer that is impossible to turn down. Can you tell I am not ready to leave yet? I know it’s the right thing to do. I honestly in the back of my mind know that but still, I cannot imagine leaving. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I wasn’t supposed to be going back home so soon. I wasn’t supposed to go back to having a long distance relationship with Alex yet or a long distance relationship with all my friends here yet. It was supposed to work out. Or maybe it wasn’t. I am trying to see the positive in this. I am trying to understand. Trying to make the best of the situation.

This week has been so amazing thus far. Its nice to be able to stay in Wegbe for a decent amount of time and return to life here. Its like I never left. And its like I never want to leave again. But I know I have to. I know I will be back. Hopefully sooner rather than later. I need to come back, I need to continue to watch my kids grow. Its amazing how much they have grown since the last time I was here. And I can’t even imagine how much they will grow while I am back in the US.

I just keep telling myself I need to leave. It’s the right thing to do. Maybe it will actually all sink in eventually. Or maybe not. Its okay, it won’t be the first time I cry as I leave. But for now, I will make the most of every moment and enjoy being here while trying not to think about the painful good byes.

Sometimes the hardest thing and the right thing are the same...

2011-07-07T08:00:00.000-07:00

Since my first visit to Ghana during the summer of 2008, I have had a huge passion for Ghana and a burning desire to move here permanently. Preparing for this life-changing move, I knew that it wouldn’t be easy. I knew that things would be much different living in Ghana and I expected that there would be unexpected challenges that would arise as time went on.

I have been here in Ghana for one and a half months now and there have indeed been challenges, both challenges that were anticipated as well as unanticipated ones. I have realized so much living here, things that I could not realize without being here and experiencing life here myself. But I have lived in Ghana before, you say. I know I have visited Ghana many times but living here and trying to start a life here is so beyond different from visiting. When I come and visit Ghana, things are different, I spend my days volunteering, I don’t have to worry about things that one has to worry about when they actually live here, I don’t have to think about the long term, and I stay in the village, not in the city. Life in the city is different. Accra is beyond different from Wegbe. Its like two different worlds.

I know life isn’t easy in the US but life really isn’t easy here. Its hard living as an expat in a foreign country regardless of how much you love the country. Its difficult not having the luxuries we take for granted back home. Its difficult not having a car, not having a job, and just renting a bedroom in a house occupied by others.

As a recent college graduate, it is difficult to find a decent paying job here. The jobs I want, the jobs that pay the American salaries require years of experience, years of experience that I don’t yet have. The life I want to live here is not one of luxury however, I do want to live a life of comfort. That just isn’t possible in my current situation. It is not possible to live that life on the average Ghanaian salary. It is not fair to me to sacrifice my happiness, my health, and myself to work a job where I do not receive anywhere near fair compensation and live a life that I am not happy with. Yes, I know jobs are hard to find and I need to give it time but I have come to the realization that the jobs that I am qualified for and am being offered here are jobs that are not on the level that I want. I need the work experience, experience I can gain in the US while living a more comfortable life. Yes, I know it won’t be easy in the US either but I know that I have more opportunities there. I know that I will be able to find a job where I will be much more fairly compensated than I would be here at this point in my life. I know that one day, maybe in a few years, maybe in 10 years, it might be the right time in my life to come back and live in Ghana but I am also strong enough to realize that that time is not now.

I have come to realize why the expats that I wrote about during my first days here live the way that they do. Its hard to live the Ghanaian life style permanently. I can deal with it when I visit but its difficult to adjust it permanently. I don’t want to live the same life that some of these expats are living but I would like to live a more comfortable life here in Ghana. Its nice to have some of one’s comforts and luxuries from home. Its nice to have hot water once in awhile, to have an indoor kitchen, to not have to worry about the lights and fans going off because you have a generator, to always have running water because you have a Polytank, to not have to worry about mosquitoes, to have security guards, to have a vehicle, and so on. Don’t get me wrong, I love the life here, I love the simplicity, I love Ghana but its difficult to live the average Ghanaian life style.

So, I have taken a bold step. I have made one of the most difficult decisions of my life. A decision that is weighing hard on my heart but a decision that I know is the right one. I am coming home. I am spending another 2.5 weeks in Ghana and will be home towards the end of the month. I know that this is the not end of my relationship with this country and that I will be back many times…maybe even to live permanently (for real) one day when the time is right.

Wegbe and Being Sick

2011-07-07T02:17:00.000-07:00

The kids screamed my name and ran up to me like they hadn’t seen me in a year when in fact it had only been a few weeks. I was tired of job searching in Accra and decided to go to Wegbe to visit my kids again. I did promise to visit them every month and I needed a break from the city life so I boarded an air-conditioned tro tro (so nice!!) and headed to Wegbe for 3 days. It was so nice to be back in the village but on my second day there, I started to feel ill. From that point on, I wanted nothing more than to be back in Accra where I have access to a toilet 24/7 and where I could visit a full on hospital to get treated. I will spare you all of the details but basically after a long 3.5 hour ride back to Accra plus a visit to the airport to pick up some volunteers, I finally arrived home and decided that it was time to visit the hospital. I had been given an injection in the village due to the fact that we already had figured out that I definitely had malaria but I was sick beyond just that and I knew that I needed to be seen by someone in the city.

I have come to realize that when I get sick in Ghana, I don’t just get sick, I get really, really sick. So, after three visits to the hospital here in Accra within 4 days, I was treated for malaria, a stomach infection/parasite (the exact type is unknown), and tonsillitis. After the first visit and a day spent vomiting everything I put in my mouth, including water, it was back to the hospital only to find out that I was having a bad reaction to some of the medicine and was so dehydrated that I needed to be hooked up to an IV for the entire evening. I was so lucky to have Alex there to help me and take care of me and wait with me at the hospital until the 3 IV bags were completed at 1:30am. It has been a difficult week due to these multiple illnesses but I have received amazing care and am now feeling so much better.

This is Ghana...

2011-07-06T05:50:00.001-07:00

Ghana time: Yes, its 10x worse than Jewish Standard time and whatever other times you know of.
Drivers use their horn just as much as they use the gas.
And brakes, haha, ya, they don’t like to use those.
Traffic lights and signs exist in Accra and across parts of the country but who knows why since no one seems to pay any attention to them.
Where you can buy any necessity from the comfort of your car. Toilet paper. Food. Super glue. Handkerchiefs. Flashlights. Phone credits. Ice Cream. Plantain chips. And the list goes on…
Where ‘lights off’ is a common phrase. (Meaning = electricity is turned off).
And where I am learning ‘tap off’ is another common phrase. (Meaning = Water is turned off).
Where you can determine which cars are taxis because they have orange front and back side panels.
One’s head is used to carry every and anything regardless of size or weight.
Three lane roads are really five lane roads. Drivers make their own rules and own the road.
Where pedestrians do not have the right of way and when crossing the street on foot, your life is in great danger.
Where taxis are on the brink of dying at most times. Side mirrors are hanging on by threads and you’re lucky if the window actually rolls down and if the door can be opened from both the inside and outside of the car. And seat belts? Most people don’t use them regardless of whether the car has them.
Cell phones are answered regardless of where someone is or what they are doing.
It is common to see people peeing on the side of the road.
Hissing the call someone’s attention is totally normal.
Most people burn their garbage.
Babies are carried on the backs of their mothers.
Animals roam around at their own will. Yes, even in Accra, the capital city.
Drinking water is typically consumed by locals in little plastic bags. The plastic is then tossed on the side of the road after it is finished. And they wonder why there is such a huge trash issue here!
Where you will witness the most beautiful sunsets and the starriest skies.
Where being a foreigner means you get tons of attention AND get ripped off.
Where food is usually cooked outside, primarily by the women.
Where window screens are a necessity to keep out the mosquitoes.
Where crackers are ‘biscuits’ and avocados are ‘pears.’
Where the currency is called Cedis. Yes, it sounds just like ‘CDs.’
Where ‘This is Africa’ or ‘This is Ghana’ is a commonly heard phrase.

Community in Accra

2011-06-24T01:18:00.001-07:00

Part of the reason I love Wegbe so much is that I feel like I have a community there. Living in Accra has been so different from living in the village for many reasons but one of the biggest is that I do not have an established community here. For the past few days, I have been walking to the internet café every afternoon. The shop owners and others along the way have seen me walking by for a number of days now and yesterday, they finally all set out to find out who I actually was, where I was from, and why I walk past them every day. Although I had greeted the shop owners before, the conversation was never more than a quick ‘hello’ or a ‘hi, how are you?’ However, yesterday, that all changed. I had already met the bank security guards a few days ago so I stopped and had a short conversation with them before moving on. The first shop owner that stopped me asked me some questions, inquired as to where I was going, etc. and then I was back on my way. The next person to stop me was a lottery kiosk owner. He wanted my phone number and wasn’t impressed when I refused to give it to him. I met a stationary store owner from whom I bought paper and her young son, Bernard. I sat down and chatted with a man who had traveled to the US, London, Singapore, and a bunch of other places while snacking on some ice cream. I met a phone credit seller who told me that one day he is going to return to the US with me. These conversations, although short and mostly to the point are essential to me feeling comfortable and safe in this neighborhood. I now look forward to my walk to and from the internet café more than I did before as I am no longer a stranger to those that I pass. Hopefully the relationships will continue to grow and I will continue to meet more people in this neighborhood, making it truly feel like a home.

A [VERY LOUD] Ghanaian Wedding

2011-06-19T13:51:00.000-07:00

The other evening as I was getting ready for bed, I noticed that there was some very loud music playing outside. When I awoke, about 7 or 8 hours later, the music was still blasting from a speaker (or rather, probably speakers) down the street. And as I type this blog entry, the music is still blasting outside. Actually, I think it is not quite as loud anymore but I can definitely still hear it and could probably have a dance party in my room and be content with the volume of the music. But even though the music, which we have determined is coming from a funeral party down the road is of a loud volume, the music and volume of the microphones at the wedding we attended this past weekend beats it by at least 100 times.

Saturday morning, Alex, his brother Prince, his (actual, blood related) sister, Delight, and I went to their cousin’s wedding. The wedding was in Tema, which is a port city located just outside of Accra. It took us awhile (about 1.5 hours) to get there due to the fact that we were taking public transportation and had to take 3 different vehicles. Although the event was scheduled to begin at 9am, we arrived around 11am or maybe even a little later. Ghanaian time at its finest! It wasn’t a big deal though and I honestly couldn’t imagine how bored I would have gotten if we had arrived any earlier. We arrived as the engagement ceremony was taking place. Now I don’t really fully understand this whole Ghanaian wedding culture so I don’t really know what this ceremony was about and it didn’t help that most of it was in a local language and not in English. However, the woman who was leading this part of the ceremony kept breaking into song – English love songs. It was quite hilarious although I think I was the only one who seemed to think that it was funny that this Ghanaian woman kept interrupting her program to sing these songs (which were very out of tune). I also was the only American there and I guarantee if there were other Americans there, they would have been chuckling under their breath with me. After the engagement and the exchange of rings, the audience (of about 150 people) was told that the couple would be going to the church for the next part of the program and for the signing of wedding papers. Well, maybe the engagement part of the ceremony also included the wedding ceremony because at the church, about 50 of us just sat in the pews as the couple and their immediate family signed papers behind closed doors and proceeded to return and take photos with various groups about an hour later. The reason I decided to go along to the church was because I assumed that there would be an actual wedding ceremony there but low and behold there was just a lot of sitting and waiting. It honestly was one of the most bizarre things I have experienced. The bride was dressed in her wedding gown for this part but she was not wearing it for the ceremony before departing for the church and upon returning to the location of the engagement ceremony, where the party took place, she promptly changed into yet another outfit. I didn’t understand the point of the wedding gown (which was absolutely gorgeous) besides the fact that she wore it in the photos. In terms of the photos, oh, what a nightmare. There was an official photographer but there were of course, also lots of other people who wanted to use their own cameras and capture the posed family photos. But it was never stated that the guests in the photos should look at the official photographer so in each photo, I am sure that all the people were looking different ways. Not exactly the kind of official photos that I would want from my wedding. It kinda reminded me of prom when all the parents are there and they each want to take their own group photos and no one knows which camera to look at.

We returned to the location of the engagement ceremony where the party had already began since many of the guests decided to stay there rather than travel to the chapel to sit in some pews and wait for the couple to sing some papers…smart move on their behalf I must say. The music was blasting…no, not blasting, rather, BLASTING loud! It was ridiculous and not before long, my head started pounding in pain. I was not very happy and it was pretty evident but I couldn’t help it because the extreme volume of the music, coupled with the screaming of the two MCs on the already loud speakers killed my head. Eventually food was served around 3:30pm and about an hour later, we decided to leave because I was so unhappy. I felt bad for being such a lousy guest but I just couldn’t handle the noise. It was seriously worse than a concert. Worse than anything you could imagine. Its insane the level at which Ghanaians seem to think that speakers need to be set at.

It was interesting to attend my first Ghanaian wedding even though I am still not clear on some of the traditions of the weddings here. I am sure it is just the first of many weddings that I attend here and I just hope that the rest are not quite so loud!

An afternoon in the life

2011-06-17T11:19:00.000-07:00

Its 5:36pm on Friday evening. The heat has finally worn off and it is actually pleasant. I am sitting in my room, windows open, curtains tied back, enjoying the breeze that hits me both from outside and from the spinning ceiling fans. As I walked home from running some errands earlier this afternoon, I took in the scenery, the views which are so different from what I am used to in the US. Alex asked me the other day if the road we were driving on and the streets we were passing looked anything like the US. I just laughed and proceeded to explain the differences, differences which he and many other typical Ghanaians cannot even imagine. He still doesn’t understand how it is possible to live in the US and not know your neighbors or how we can walk on the street and not greet those that we pass. These are things that are essential here and add to the strong community ties that Ghanaians hold.

While walking along the main road here in North Kaneshie, the town in Accra where we live, I couldn’t help but laugh at the fact that every single taxi that drove by honked at me. It made for quite a noisy walk as there are lots of taxis here! Everyone (well, at least the men) seems to think that taxi driving is the key to making a living here. Anyways, its amazing that they see a white girl walking alongside the road and automatically think that she can’t walk to her destination, she needs a taxi. While walking with Alex the other day he commented on this and stated that when he walks alone, not a single taxi driver honks at him. But boom, add the white girl into the picture and everything changes. They also charge a lot more when I am added into the picture. Its been quite a learning experience to watch Alex argue over the price with drivers as we all know that they raise the price the minute they see me.

The other day, while Alex was at work, I had to go somewhere that required me to take a taxi. I stood outside the house where we usually pick the taxis from and waited for the first one to stop. I inquired about the price before getting in the vehicle as I have learned from experience that its just easier that way and was given a price twice of that Alex told me I should pay. I tried to bargain with the driver but he seemed to take me for just another stupid foreigner that he could rip off and refused to hear my offer. I eventually sent him away and waited for the next taxi. This taxi driver pulled over and told me that it would cost me 20 Ghana Cedis to get to my destination. Alex had told me that it would cost me 3 Ghana Cedis. The equivalent in American dollars is not important here as any way that you look at those numbers, the price I was given by this driver was almost 7 times more than Alex had told me. I stared at the driver and didn’t even bother bargaining with him before telling him to drive away. I refused to even deal with someone who was just going to take advantage of me to such an extreme. I know that people here need to make a living and know that they can cut their work short or bring home more money to their families by ripping off foreigners but that’s just ridiculous! I eventually found a driver that drove me to my destination for 4 Ghana Cedis. I didn’t quite make it down to the 3 Cedis that Alex suggested that I pay but hey, I think I did pretty good. I have realized that bargaining for taxis here in Accra is much more difficult than in the village where I had one driver that I usually relied on and that distances equivalent to those driven in the village are more expensive here. I have also realized that traffic here, which doesn’t really exist in the village can be horrific, but I guess these differences can be expected when moving from a village to the capital city.

I also find it quite hilarious that when I am walking alone, so many people, regardless of the fact that I don’t know them, want to know where I am going. If I was a local Ghanaian walking along, I am sure that they would have no interest in where I was going but for some reason, that changes because of my skin color and perhaps also because of my gender.

As I walked along the road, trying to ignore the honking from the taxi drivers, I passed by tons of small shops bursting with food items, stationary supplies, cell phones, and shoes, phone credit kiosks painted the colors of different phone companies – MTN, Vodafone, etc., food stands that smelled of rice, meat, fresh pineapple, and bananas and even a car wash. As the brown and red dirt blew in the air, it stuck to my black TOMS (shoes) and my sweaty body. I wiped away the sweat with one of my handkerchiefs (I have quite a collection here) while continuing to walk and greet the store owners and others who I passed. I chuckled as a young man danced on the side of the street to blasting hip life music and stopped to watch his moves. I smiled as children stared at me and nudged their parents, ‘look at her.’ Its amazing to see the life here, to smile at the people, to greet those you meet on the street, and to be recognized by those you pass on a regular basis.

We are lucky to live around the corner from a Barclay’s Bank and due to my repeated visits, I am known by all the security guards who stand outside the bank. They greet me as I walk by and ask me how my day is, etc. If they are busy and I pass them without greeting them first, they shout out to me with the look in their eye, ‘why didn’t she greet me?’

There are times that I miss things about the US – paved roads, the rules of the road, having tons of choices in the market, constant electricity and water, and of course, my friends and family, but there are so many things that I love about Ghana, so many things that make this place so unique. The people may not be the wealthiest or have all the material items that they desire but they are for the most part, very happy and kind. They may live in shacks that are falling apart and provide for children that they do not have the money or resources to support but they work hard and do it with great dignity and honor. They realize what is important in life and I am coming to understand more and more every day what that truly is.

Helping in the kitchen

2011-06-15T11:25:00.001-07:00

Today was the first day I legitimately helped cook a meal in Ghana. Yes, if you do the math, I have been in Ghana throughout my various trips here for quite a number of days. And yes, I was cooked for every single one of those days. So what changed today? Well, 1: I am currently unemployed, meaning I am in the house all day, and more importantly, 2: Beatrice, the lady who cooks and washes our laundry for us is currently traveling. Ya, number 2 is a much bigger reason as to why I helped cook today. For the first few days that she was gone, I ‘cooked’ rice in the rice cooker and we ate it with stew that she prepared before she left to travel but yesterday I finally declared that I couldn’t eat any more rice. I sure Alex was happy to hear that because he is stuck eating whatever Beatrice or I prepare before he arrives home from work!

Alex has been asking me, no, begging me to stay in the kitchen with Beatrice since we hired her three weeks ago so I could learn to cook the Ghanaian way but I just wasn’t so in to that idea. I mean, in all honesty, I would much rather eat a meal cooked and prepared by someone else than by myself. But today, Prince, one of Alex’s brothers and I went to the market (oh ya, Beatrice does our food shopping too) as we were out of most fresh vegetables and a few other necessary items. Now, think about your local farmer’s market. Then, multiply the size of the space and number of people by about 30, increase the volume by 25, and add a very bright, strong sun and a ton of humidity and you get the market that we went to. And of course, don’t forget to add the flies that are swarming around the fish (which smells horrific) and other open food and you really get a sense of where we went. Its no wonder I have hired someone to do this for me, right? I mean its an adventure, but not an adventure I am willing to embark on twice, or even once every single week. After purchasing cabbage, lettuce, bell peppers, tomatoes, carrots, yams, plantains, salad dressing, and a few other items, Prince and I returned to the house to begin cooking.

Now, in terms of the kitchen…we don’t really technically have one. Basically, the room that we are renting is located in a house, without a kitchen. Ya, brilliant design, right? I mean, a lot of people cook outside but really, I might be more willing to help cook if there was an indoor kitchen. There is a fridge and microwave in the house and a table in the hall where we keep all of our non-perishable food items and cooking utensils. The landlady is building a hotel in front of the house and because they are still working on the hotel (very slowly, if I may say) we use one of the rooms of the ground level for the kitchen area. There a few tables and stools that have been put in the room and the coal cookers are in there too. We have purchased a gas cylinder, which is like a big container to hold gas, and a stove top type cooker (it has 2 burners) but we have had quite a difficult time getting gas for the cylinder. Finally, yesterday, Alex came home and said that there was gas at the gas station and that we should go and fill the cylinder today. So off Prince and I went, with the gas cylinder, to the filling station, only to find out that once again, they were out of gas. So before heading to the market, we had to turn back, return to the house, and drop off the cylinder because that thing, even when it isn’t filled, is heavy and bulky.

Prince and I made do with the coal cooker and boiled yams and potatoes and made a vegetable stew to go with it. We also made a beautiful salad. We ate some of the food for lunch and saved the rest for this evening’s dinner. Prince departed after we cleaned up and I proceed to take a nap. Its amazing how tiring it is to go food shopping and cook here. I honestly was so exhausted from it that I slept for about 3 hours. It sure makes you appreciate all the women here who work all day, take care of the kids, AND cook in this country. It sure is a lot more work than it seems.

I took photos of the delicious food that we prepared but you will just have to wait about 2 more weeks until I get my computer charger before those photos are posted.

Trip to Ho

2011-06-13T10:48:00.000-07:00

On Saturday morning Alex and I woke up early and prepared to travel to the tro tro station. Alex had to travel to Hohoe for a meeting on Sunday morning and since he was traveling, I thought it was a good time for me to travel to Ho and visit my adopted family there. The drive to Ho wasn’t that bad as I had a seat where I could actually somewhat comfortably sleep. On tro tros, it is not uncommon to see sleeping heads bouncing around as head rests are a luxury that do not exist in tro tros. At one point during the drive, we came across a group of Ghanaian soldiers marching in the middle of the road, directly in front of our vehicle. I am used to stopping for goats, dogs, chickens, people (well, usually the drivers don’t actually stop for people, but rather, just continue at the same speed and force the people to run or dash out of the way), other vehicles (sometimes, also depends on the driver), and pot holes (or they just swerve around them and hit the smallest ones), but never before had I been stopped in the road for a group of soldiers.

Upon arriving in Ho, I was met at the station by Derrick, a friend that I know from Hohoe, and taken to the house where I would be spending the night to drop off my stuff. We then proceeded to find me something to eat before taking a taxi to my family’s house. We found a chop bar where we stopped to eat some rice but we quickly learned that they were sold out. So, off we went, walking down the street, searching for some sign of food but it took awhile before we came across somewhere. We eventually found a chop bar that specializes in serving rice. Derrick ordered me a vegetarian meal but once it came, I knew something wasn’t right as I spotted chunks of meat on the salad. Apparently corn beef is not meat or something crazy like that because the woman just shrugged her shoulders when Derrick returned and asked her why there was corn beef on the plate. Its ironic because as I am writing this, sitting in the house in Ho as breakfast is being prepared, Raymond, who knows that I do not eat meat, came out of the kitchen and asked me if I wanted corn beef. I sure consider corn beef to be meat but maybe they don’t? I ate the rice as it was not topped with the meat and left the salad, hoping that Derrick would come to the rescue and eat it but he claimed that he was not hungry. I felt bad not eating the food but whats a girl to do?

I arrived in the family’s village and walked up to the compound where I was warmly greeted with hugs and the shouting of my name. Melody, Richmond, and a few other children who were in the compound ran up to me and grabbed on to my legs. It was amazing to see Richmond, who was just a newborn when I first met him. He turned three years old this week and boy, can the child talk. Richmond has been anticipating my visit for awhile now as when another white girl came to their village awhile back, he ran up to her calling my name. I spent the afternoon playing with him and Melody and the other children before the exhaustion from traveling hit me. My family set up a bed for me in the middle of the living room and I was instructed to sleep. I was sad to loose time playing with the kids but to say I was beyond tired would be an understatement. After waking up from my nap, I was taken to an open area where men were drumming and community members were dancing. There had been a funeral in the village earlier that day so everyone was still in their funeral clothes and the community was out in numbers.

I decided to just watch the dancing rather than participate as Richmond had already fallen asleep on my shoulder. While holding Richmond, many children gathered about 10 feet away from me and played a little game where they seemed to dare each other to come closer to me. It took awhile but eventually the children came close enough where they could touch my hands and I could tickle them. The older boy sitting next to me threatened the children to leave me alone and they all dispersed…for about a minute before returning. As I was holding my camera, they begged me to take their photographs and proceeded to laugh and smile when I showed them their faces on the camera screen.

I returned to the house that I was spending the night at that evening only to find that the lights were out. In the morning, I returned to my family’s house for a few hours, much to Richmond’s delight. When I had left the previous evening, Richmond was still asleep but when he woke up, he apparently was not very happy to learn that I had left. After spending a few hours at their house, I departed for the station. Upon arriving at the station, I learned that there was a very long line of people waiting for tro tros to Accra. I had arrived at the station around 2pm to ensure that I would arrive in Accra before it got dark (around 6:30pm) but with this line of people, I quickly realized that I would probably be forced to wait at the station for quite some time. I usually have no problem quickly boarding a tro tro at the Ho station but as there was a graduation at the Polytechnic school in Ho that weekend, it seemed like everyone was at the station, trying to get home. As I waited in line, I tried to contemplate any other options to get to Accra. Much to my surprise, Derrick and his sister showed up at the station and spotted me. Derrick’s sister was also traveling to Accra so they were able to devise a plan in which the sister and I would take a different tro tro about two hours (not to Accra) and then from that station, board a different tro tro to Accra. If Derrick and his sister hadn’t shown up, I have no clue how long I would have been waiting at that station for a tro tro to Accra. The trip took a bit longer due to the stop but we made it to Accra and as it was dark, she helped me find a taxi to my house and went with me to ensure that I arrived home safely. It was a long day and I did not reach home until almost 8pm although the drive from Ho to Accra should only take about 3 hours.

It was a fun weekend and so nice to be able to see my family as they knew I was in the country and were waiting for me to come and visit them. They took such good care of me and made sure I was always comfortable and that my stomach was always full.

I took photos but will not be able to put them online until my MacBook is back up and running in about 2.5 weeks. My charger for my Mac has died and I am waiting for a volunteer from the US to arrive and bring me a new one.

Love from the USA

2011-06-13T10:47:00.000-07:00

Last week I received word that Isaac, a Ghanaian friend of mine who had planned to visit Ghana on June 20^th had actually changed his flight and would be arriving in Ghana 2 weeks earlier than planned. I was excited to see him in Ghana and for him to meet Alex as they had spent much time talking on the phone and communicating online. I was also excited to see him because due to the fact that I do not have a mailing address in Ghana yet and the mailing address that a friend gave me to use here was a PO Box, my mother and sister could not send me a package via FedEx or DHL or through any other service besides USPS. This normally would be fine but they were sending some items that I did not want to risk getting lost or stolen while in transit. He agreed to bring the items to me, making me very happy. On Friday, Alex and I met up with Isaac after spending at least 2 hours sitting in traffic to travel to the agreed meeting spot. Traffic was beyond anything I had ever seen or experienced and I was so anxious to actually be moving instead of just sitting in a car, which the driver had turned off because we weren’t moving at all, that I kept asking Alex, “at what point can we just pay the driver and get out and walk?” He kept telling me that we were too far to walk the rest of the distance and eventually after spending way too much time in the vehicle, we arrived at the Accra Mall. We met Isaac in the food court where the two men talked and talked and talked. I partook in some of the conversation while also eating my first American meal since I have been in Ghana, pizza. It wasn’t as good as pizza back in the US but it was good for American food in Ghana.

Isaac delivered my care package from home to me and I couldn’t have been happier. It wasn’t so much the items that were inside the package as it was knowing that my mother and sister picked out the items and worked so hard to get them to me. And since Melissa had been eating some crackers while skyping with Alex and I during my first week back in Ghana and Alex asked her for some, she sent some American snacks for us to enjoy too. It was so special and made me miss being with my family and being in the US. It made me think about being here in Ghana and if I made the right choice, something I still am unsure of especially due to the fact that I am currently living here unemployed. I am keeping my head up though and trying to take advantage of everything that comes my way and hopefully will find a job in the very near future. For now, I am enjoying my free time and trying to live in the moment, even when that means sitting in horrific Ghanaian traffic.

Beach day

2011-06-06T04:20:00.000-07:00

If we are friends on Facebook, you probably already saw my photos and know that yesterday Alex and I spent the afternoon at the beach. I had previously only been to the beach in Cape Coast so it was nice to be able to go somewhere a little closer (like 4 hours closer). We sat outside in the shade for awhile at a “beach resort” sipping on Fanta, enjoying the breeze and cool weather before walking along the beach. The beach was much dirtier than what I am used to in the US but it was still nice.

Unfortunately I totally lost my mind yesterday and forgot to put on or even bring sunscreen. By the time I realized it, it was too late and I already had some color – not red but some color. When we got home, I realized that my arm was a bit red and Alex became quite alarmed and concerned. I have to admit that I am super lucky that my face lotion has sunscreen in it and my face did not burn at all. Alex had never seen a sunburn before and immediately asked if he should take me to the hospital. I assured him that this sunburn wasn’t too bad (although I do have an outline of Africa on my chest from my necklace) and that with some water, lotion, and time the redness will fade.

These first few weeks in Ghana have consisted of a lot of learning about each other and cultural differences such as this one. There are certain things that I am learning that Alex just isn’t aware of or doesn’t know about because he was raised in a different place and with a different culture than I was and similarly Alex is learning that there are things here in Ghana that I am unaware and unfamiliar with. Its definitely a learning process and luckily we are enjoying it, for the most part.

Searching for a new job

2011-06-03T10:55:00.001-07:00

After searching for a job in Ghana for months, I was super excited when I finally received an offer. And it was a job working with kids. Now seriously, how much better could it get than that? It made the whole relocating to Ghana thing seem so much simpler and hopefully it would make the transition easier.

I went in to the school late last week and met the staff and kids that I would be working with. It was a good morning and I enjoyed meeting the kids and learning about the school. I was impressed with all the resources and the opportunities that the children at this school received. I started work on Wednesday and although I loved the kids, there was something that was not quite right. I do not want to reveal too many details here but I went back on Thursday convincing myself that it would be better. Unfortunately it only got worse and Thursday on the way home from work, while sitting in traffic, I really thought about things. I knew that my boss wanted me to sign a contract on Friday and I also knew that she did not have time for me to wait any longer and ponder over whether I wanted to sign the contract or not. It was a very difficult decision because I do not know what other jobs are out there and I know that finding a job here can be quite difficult but I decided to quit and start looking for a new job. Its not a huge problem quite yet as I was only training for the first two months at this job and was not getting paid during that time so the way I see it is that I now have two months to find a job. I really hope it won’t take me that long though! I am trying to have good thoughts about this and see this as a positive experience. I am happy that I stood up for myself and did not allow myself to be put in a position where I knew I would be unhappy. Now on to bigger and better things!

Christ Orphanage Visit

2011-06-03T03:09:00.000-07:00

On Monday morning, I awoke early and rode with Raymond to Christ Orphanage. The kids were excited to see me but I think I was more excited to see all of them. I spent the morning with the KG1 class and realized that the kids were just as crazy as they were when I left them last August. During break, it was pretty much impossible for me to move as I had so many children hanging onto me and grabbing every inch of my body. Luckily by Tuesday when I visited the school, the novelty of my visit had calmed down and although I was still attacked by the children, it was to a much lesser degree.

During the two days I spent at the school, I also spent time with the Nursery class. I was so happy to see Cynthia in the class and I could tell that she was getting a lot out of attending Christ. Whereas she normally does not talk at home, she was chatting away at school and loved running around the campus. It made me smile to see her enjoying school so much. I was also quite impressed with the new Nursery teacher who was engaging the children in fun and educational songs, dances, and rhymes. The kids loved it and it sure seems like they love the teacher as well.

It was such a pleasure to see the kids learning at the new site as last summer I left Ghana just a few days before they were introduced to the new facility. They love being at the site and take advantage of the open land where they play soccer and the large dining hall where they are all able to sit around tables and eat with their own bowls and spoons. The older kids have been practicing their ping pong skills and the younger kids enjoy all the toys and resources that are available to them in their classrooms. In addition, the site provides space for crops to be grown for the children to consume. Currently there is corn and cassava growing on the property. There are no longer any chickens as they have all been consumed by the children, something that provides them with much needed protein.

Unfortunately the electricity to the site has been an uphill battle fight with the contractor who tried to walk away with the money before finishing the job and therefore the electricity is still not working yet. However, I have been told that there is only one thing left to do and it should be connected within the next few weeks, if not days. We shall see – this is Ghana so things take a bit longer.

The kids were confused and sadden by the fact that I was only visiting the orphanage for two days but it is my hope that I will be able to get back out to Wegbe soon for another visit!

I uploaded a bunch of photos of the kids and my visit to Wegbe on Facebook. Here is the link to view them: http://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.1673839820846.72851.1682940028

Babies in Wegbe

2011-06-02T11:04:00.001-07:00

The trip to Wegbe was a pretty easy one. Definitely not as bad as I thought that the journey would be. It ended up only taking 3.5 hours instead of the 4 hours that I had prepared myself for and I was lucky enough to be sitting next to someone from Wegbe that Alex knew. She was very sweet and held one of my bags the entire time and offered me food to snack on during the long ride. Upon my arrival in Wegbe in the early afternoon on Sunday, I went to visit Alex’s family and meet his new niece. She is the baby that I was supposed to have named but the chief of the village ended up picking a different name for her and it superseded the name I had chosen. I was disappointed with this especially since I had spent so much time thinking about it and trying to pick the right name but I love the baby the same nonetheless. The name that she was given is Bevlyn. She turned one month old this past weekend and is seriously the smallest baby I have seen. Her 0-3 month clothing was so baggy on her and I had to roll up the sleeves on every outfit she was dressed in. Her size and cuteness make her seem like a doll. She is gorgeous and has huge eyes that just watch everything during her waking hours. I spent a lot of time with her while in Wegbe, holding her and loving on her. When sitting with the baby by the side of the road in front of the hair salon in the compound where my room is located, I got many interesting looks from passersby. I even witnessed two motorcycle drivers completely turn around while driving to take a second glace at me with this tiny black baby. Even my driver in Wegbe, Godwin, who I talked with on a pretty regular basis while in the US asked me if she was my baby. It was quite amusing.

After meeting Bevlyn, I went to visit Cynthia and meet her baby sisters. Cynthia was woken up from a nap to see me so she was quiet at first but quickly showed excitement that I had arrived. Her mother was pretty happy to see me as well and introduced me to the twin girls who are now about 7 or 8 months old. We hung around Cynthia’s compound for awhile as word spread quickly that I had arrived and a group of children had already gathered around to see me. We then walked around part of the village, me and about 25 children, as they wanted me to visit some other children who obviously had not yet gotten word of my arrival. I was excited to see my kids so I didn’t object. The kids were pretty excited to see me and a lot of the adults were as well. It was such a great feeling! I received many hugs and had the pleasure of bringing many smiles to people’s faces.

Upon visiting Constance’s new home and after receiving a huge hug from his mother, I was told that he now had another baby brother and that I should go inside to see the baby. I went inside with the mother where I learned that Constant’s baby brother had actually been born just a few hours earlier – on that same day – in that same room, on the bed. I held the newborn baby and congratulated the mother. She now has four young boys so she definitely has her hands full. I wanted to take a photo of the baby but pushed that desire aside as the room was extremely dark and the flash on my camera can be quite blinding. We could not take the baby outside for a photo as in Ghana, babies are not brought outside until they are one week old.

I eventually returned back to the compound with a whole gang of children following me, something that Alex’s family just laughed at. Lunch was prepared for me and after spending some more time with the kids, Roland and I set off, with Cynthia in tow for the soccer match which I wrote about in my previous entry.

Soccer Game in Wegbe

2011-06-01T10:57:00.001-07:00

On the way to a soccer game in the village over from Wegbe, Roland, one of Alex’s brothers said the following: “Everyone knows you here, even the unborn children.” It’s hard to deny it as when I arrive in Wegbe, regardless of how long I am gone for, everyone remembers me and my name is heard pretty much everywhere. It’s an honor that I have had such an impact on so many of the lives here and that I have connected with so many of the people on a level that they will never forget me. However, I am sure that when others walk around with me, it gets quite annoying. Luckily, I think most of Alex’s family is used to it by now as they don’t let me go anywhere alone and as a result, have spent a great amount of time walking around with me.

It was my first day back in Wegbe and I wasn’t going to part from my girl Cynthia so when Roland suggested that we attend the soccer game on Sunday afternoon, I asked him if I could bring her along. If you are new to my blog, Cynthia is a young girl who lives in Wegbe that I have become very close with during my visits to the village. She is probably about 3 years old by now but its hard to tell especially since her mother only speaks a limited amount of English. Her mother gave birth to twin girls a few weeks after I left Ghana last summer and this visit to the village was my first time meeting the girls, Sarah and Saraphine. Anyways, Cynthia, Roland, and I stood by the side lines watching the soccer game between a local team and a team from another village. After a few minutes, there appeared to be a fight and the police ran on to the field. Only a few minutes later, there was chaos and since I don’t understand Ewe and because I wasn’t really paying too much attention to the game, I was beyond confused. Apparently, the goal keeper for the visiting team was wearing a necklace and it was claimed to have supernatural powers, or what is called ‘juju.’ It was explained to me that the powers that this necklace had were allowing the goal keeper to block every shot by the other team. Next thing I knew, everyone was leaving and the game came to a halt as the two teams and referees could not settle the issue at hand. As we returned to Wegbe, Roland told me that he doesn’t believe in juju but I although it would have been an interesting conversation to actually have, I wasn’t in the mood to discuss it – I was exhausted from the drive from Accra to Wegbe and was just interested in loving on my kids and spending as much time with them as possible.

Cynthia and I enjoyed ice cream during the game which may or may not be why I wasn't really paying attention to the game!

Accra Today, Wegbe Tomorrow

2011-05-28T11:52:00.000-07:00

All week I was under the impression that Monday was June 1st which meant that it would be when I would start work. But yesterday I realized that June 1st isn't until Wednesday which means that I have time to visit my kids in Wegbe, the village where Christ Orphanage is located, before I begin work. I am so excited to see my kids and the people of Wegbe whom I love and hold so dear to my heart.

So excited to see Cynthia's beautiful face and meet her baby sisters! Also super excited to see the kids at Christ Orphanage schooling at their new site. Photos and updates to come!

Expats in Ghana

2011-05-28T11:37:00.000-07:00

An expatriate (in abbreviated form, expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing or legal residence. The word comes from the Latin term expatriātus from ex ("out of") and patriā the ablative case of patria ("country, fatherland"). This "Latin" term comes from the Greek words "exo" meaning outside, and "patrida" meaning country or fatherland. (www.absoluteastronomy.com)

During the weeks and months that led up to my departure from to US and my move to Ghana, I did much research on expats in Ghana and attempted to connect with other expats who were living in Accra. This was made possible through two expat websites that proved to be invaluable resources. It is on one of these websites that I found my job and also where I found contacts/potential friends in Ghana (one of whom I have already met since my arrival). It also provided me with the opportunity to ask questions to people who had traveled from afar about living in Ghana. Although I had traveled to Ghana previously, there were things about living in Ghana, and particularly in Accra that I was unfamiliar with.

On Thursday evening, I joined a group of about 20 expats for a small get together at a restaurant/bar. I was excited to meet other expats but it didn’t take long for me to realize that these expats were not the type of people that I wanted to befriend. It was interesting to meet some of the women at the event who were in the country due to their husband’s professional careers. As a result, they do not work and instead spend much time partying and shopping, spending what I would call insane amounts of money. They carry their designer purses, wear 5 inch heels, and show off their diamond wedding rings. I do not have a problem with people who have money and want to indulge due to their wealth, but this was taking it to an extreme. As I talked to a friend I connected with on one of the expat sites about my experiences at this event, she explained to me that this is the reason she does not attend the organized expat events here. She further told me that these women probably live in huge gated homes, equipped with gyms, swimming pools, and other amenities so that they rarely have to leave their homes and interact with the locals besides their maids, nannies, gardeners, etc. Its like they are living in their own little world. It honestly did not occur to me that I would meet expats like this in Ghana.

Tonight I will be attending another expat event. I hope that this one is different and that I am able to meet some people who are more down to earth and possibly even people who are in Ghana because they want to be here, not just because they were sent here due to their jobs. I look forward to meeting some of the other expats that I have been talking to online in the upcoming weeks as they too sound more down to earth than those whom I met last night.

*This post is not meant to be offensive to any group of people here in Ghana. It is important to realize that not all expats are the way that I have described in this entry. This blog is a way for me to speak my mind and be 100% honest and real.

Things I could live without: mosquitoes, humidity, and traffic

2011-05-27T23:56:00.000-07:00

Remember that song I referred to in my last post, Good Life by One Republic? Well, I don’t want you to think that everything here is perfect because it isn’t Don’t get me wrong, I love Ghana. But it is going to take some time to get used to actually living here especially due to the fact that there are some things in Ghana that I really could live without. Mosquitoes and humidity and traffic are at the top of that list. During my first few days here in Ghana, I relied primarily on my bug repellant that I brought from the US to prevent mosquito bites. I quickly learned that the Off! from home was not going to cut it now that I am living in Ghana especially since it is currently the rainy season and mosquitoes love water. Although my legs are currently covered in bites which itch like crazy, I am trying to avoid getting any more. For one thing, this is the first time I am not on malaria medication while in Ghana and honestly, malaria is not something I want to get again. Secondly, mosquito bites itch and hurt A LOT. Thirdly, when I have bug bites all over my legs, I feel that I must wear long pants all the time to avoid questions by the locals about the large red spots on my legs because bug bites are much more evident on white skin than on black skin. Yes, they are large spots because they itch and sometimes it is impossible to resist itching them regardless of how much medicine I put on them and how much Claritin I take. In an attempt to end this mosquito madness, I have already invested in a repellent that I have used to spray the bedroom, bathroom, and hall as well as a citronella candle. In addition, I have decided upon talking to some other expats (foreigners in Ghana) that it is probably best that I do not just hang out outside after 5/6pm. This is not too difficult, as it gets dark by that time anyways. If I have somewhere to go, I will still go there and be sure to spray myself well but otherwise, I am going to try to stay in the house in the evenings. Right now, it is not worth it to me to be outside during the prime mosquito time and allow myself to be a playground for the mosquitoes who wish to suck my blood.

The humidity here has already put my emotions to the test a few times since I arrived back in the country. I don’t think it is something I can really explain to you but rather something you have to experience to really understand. Just know that the humidity is so extreme here that I am never found without a handkerchief to wipe away sweat. When I arrived, the room that Alex and I are renting only had one fan in the middle of the room and it turned pretty slowly as it was quite old. I quickly decided that something had to be done about this. We purchased two new fans and hired an electrician to install them on opposite sides of the room. The difference is amazing. Whereas with the old fan we had it running on the highest speed at all hours, we now actually turn down the fans because they keep the room cool and quite pleasant.

Traffic. Ha. Traffic is….interesting because driving in Ghana is basically a race to one’s destination with little regard to other drivers, pedestrians, or animals. It is absolutely insane but I am trying to resist freaking out all the time and trust the drivers, which I know, will take some time. As the school I will be working at is about a 30 minute drive from the house, we have already hired a driver to take me to work in the morning and pick me up in the afternoon. I have only driven with him once thus far but I trust his driving and hopefully will learn some Twi (tribal language in Accra) from him as he only speaks English “small small.”

I know this post is full of complaints but I needed to get some of the difficult things about Ghana off my chest and share them. I am trying to learn to deal with these issues but I am sure that it will take some time.

Los Angeles --> Heathrow --> Accra

2011-05-27T07:03:00.000-07:00

Have you heard OneRepublic’s song Good Life yet? It is a song that I came across a few days before I left for Ghana and is one that I listened to on the plane and since I have been in Ghana. It’s one of those songs that just gets to you. Or at least, it gets to me. Before I left for Ghana, it didn’t get to me like it did when I was on the plane. With my ipod in one hand and kindle opened to the book Water for Elephants in the other, I listened to this song and tears just streamed down my face. I was excited for this new experience in my life and had counted down the days until it was time to leave but at the same time, I felt a bit scared and sad about leaving my loved ones back home. On my flight from LAX to Heathrow, after a teary good bye to my mom and sister and tears in my eyes through security and even upon entering the plane, I met two women who were traveling to various European countries. The woman immediately next to me had, just like me, graduated from college only a few days earlier. If you thought that I had a limited amount of time at home, think again. She had graduated two days prior to leaving for Scotland, among a number of other countries. The other woman who was sitting with us was traveling to visit her daughter who had moved abroad years earlier. Her daughter also went to Lewis & Clark and graduated twenty some odd years ago. Its always amazing to me how I can travel across the world yet meet people who have so many similarities with me.

Upon arriving in London at the Heathrow Airport I sat down at a restaurant to grab a bite to eat. A woman from New Jersey was seated at the table next to me and we got to talking while we dined on our food. She told me a lot about the Montessori method and informed me that there were some good books written about the Montessori approach, which I proceeded to purchase on my kindle before leaving the airport. I have yet to read the books yet as I slept most of my flight but plan on starting them soon.

The second flight was longer than expected as there was something on the plane that needed to be fixed before we could depart. As a result, we sat on the plane for quite some time before leaving but once we were in the air, it was only about 7 hours to Accra where I was met by Alex and his brother Prince.

Arrival in Ghana

2011-05-25T13:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick update that I arrived in Ghana on Monday night and am busy settling in here. Hope to update with more details soon!

Leaving for Ghana...TODAY!

2011-05-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

My bags are packed. I am off to start up my life in Ghana today. So excited and nervous. I still can't believe this is happening...

My College Career Coming to an End

2011-05-04T01:30:00.000-07:00

So today was my LAST DAY OF COLLEGE!!! Can you tell that I am pretty excited about that? Its been a long 4 years and there were many points when I questioned if I could do it and debated just giving up but I am so glad I pushed through and got to this point. I already started the whole packing thing which is a ton of work and makes me so tired. I am super excited that all my family is coming up this weekend to celebrate with me and see me graduate. I just hope it isn't raining on Sunday because if it rains, graduation will be held in the gym instead of on the football field and tickets will be limited. Everything else has been working out lately so I really, really, really hope that this does too. By the next time I update this, I will probably be a college graduate! I can't believe I am even saying that -- it still doesn't feel real and graduation is only 4 days away!

Thesis Status

2011-05-01T15:58:00.000-07:00

My thesis is officially completed and ready to turn in on Tuesday. It feels like the world has been lifted off of my shoulders. So happy to be done and so proud of all the hard work and dedication that I put into this 60 page document. One final, one paper, and one presentation until I am officially done with college! :)

Even Closer

2011-04-30T15:56:00.000-07:00

Today is our second of two reading days at L&C. Reading days are days when there are no classes or finals. While I am not happy that one of our reading days is on as Saturday, I am using the day to the best of my advantage anyways. Of course, that means that I am...yepp, you guessed it...at Starbucks again. Unfortunately I am so beyond exhausted today that I am not proving to be as productive as I hoped I would be. Three more days and my academic work will be 100% completed and turned in. 9pm on Tuesday night is the time at which I will officially be free. Then I get to put all my time and effort towards something much more fun -- packing!

So close

2011-04-28T22:09:00.000-07:00

Today was my last day of class EVER!!!! I honestly do not intend on continuing my education beyond this point so any lecture I sit in from this point forward is because I want to, not because I have to. Its crazy how long I have been waiting for this day to come. There have been way too many instances throughout these past 4 years where I have just been ready to give up, ready to drop out, and not turn back. But now, I am just 10 days away from graduation. I am ready to give up right now, sitting in the library at 10pm, working on a paper that is due tomorrow, knowing that I will be up practically all night, if not all night. But I am so close. I CAN NOT give up now. I keep asking myself: If I give up now, then what has all of this hard work, dedication, and energy that I have dedicated to school been for? I can do this. I know I can. I might hate it right now but I know that I need to finish this journey. I know the importance of my education and that is why, even when times were tough, I stuck it out and am still here at LC. So, back to work on this essay I shall go. I will succeed. I know I can.

Today was a good day. No, a GREAT day!

2011-04-21T20:58:00.000-07:00

In January, I came back from Winter Break early in order to attend my school's Senior Survival Seminar. I attended this seminar in order to receive much needed help on resume and to get tips and ideas about how to find a job. One of the biggest things that was stressed at this seminar was the importance of networking. Due to the fact that I was looking for a job across the world when I was still in Portland made the job search even more difficult for me and meant that I, more than others, really needed to focus on the networking piece of the job search. So, I networked...for months....and months...and months. Okay, fine, it really was only like 3.5 months but it felt like forever. I wrote to every single person that I knew in Ghana and asked for help. I received a little help this way but the big thing that really contributed to my networking was joining Ghana expat sites. I previously had no clue that these websites existed and had no idea how helpful the people that I met on them would be. I have talked to many American, European, and other expats in Ghana and already have plans to meet some of these people upon my arrival in Ghana, which is super exciting. It is like I already have a community in Ghana even though I am not there yet. :)

So, I talked to people on these websites, posted inquiries about job openings, and contacted every and anyone who would talk to me. In addition, I continued to submit job applications to job postings on two different Ghanaian Job databases. I submitted probably 10-15 applications this way and heard NOTHING. To say that it was frustrating was an understatement. At a point, I just wanted to get rejected from some of these jobs so that I knew that my application was actually received and reviewed. Instead, I felt like the emails I sent were lost in cyberspace.

Well, today, all that networking finally paid off. I was offered a job working in a pre-school and I ACCEPTED! I could not be happier about this. I had been applying for office jobs because I was not qualified to apply for any of the educational jobs posted on the job databases but honestly I did not want to sit in an office all day. I love working with kids and this is SO perfect for me -- I couldn't ask for anything better. And it is even better because Alex and I actually have a place to live in Accra as well. Now, the only thing I am waiting for is for Alex to find a job. I know that he is working hard at it and I have faith that he will find something soon. I mean, everything else has worked out -- yes, it has required much time and effort, but it has worked out. Oh, and the other thing I am waiting for is for these next two weeks to fly by so I can officially become a college graduate, go home, spend time with my family, and pack for this adventure!

Lewis & Clark's Presidents Award for Outstanding Community Engagement

2011-04-21T00:07:00.000-07:00

Yes, that is the award which I received tonight from 3CE, Lewis & Clark College's Community and Civic Engagement Center for my community service work both on campus and in Ghana. Although I do not participate in service to receive awards such as this one, it is nice to be recognized every once in awhile for the hard work and dedication that I have put in to the various clubs, organizations, and projects that I have been a part of. Here is part of the speech that I read upon receiving this prestigious award which is only awarded to one junior or senior each year:

As this is my senior year here at Lewis & Clark, I have recentlyspent a lot of time reflecting on these past four years and my experienceshere. Yes, Lewis & Clark has shaped the person I am today. Yes, Lewis &Clark has provided me with opportunities to make new friends and connect withamazing faculty and staff members. And yes, Lewis & Clark has helped mebecome a brighter, more intelligent individual. All of these things areessential, but in my eyes, the most important thing that Lewis & Clark hasprovided me with has been the encouragement and support to follow my passionand continue to give back to the community that I fell in love with in Ghana,West Africa.

It’s amazing how much that first trip to Ghana, during the summer of2008, changed my life. I left Los Angeles simply wanting to volunteer inAfrica. I was told that I would be working at an orphanage that was made up ofa classroom and shaded courtroom and served 150 children between 2 and 10 yearsold. I had absolutely no idea how much these children would impact me andchange my life.

On my first day volunteering at Christ Orphanage, I arrived to 150children running towards me, giving me hugs, begging to be picked up, andasking my name. Approximately 30 of these children were orphans, while theremaining 120 children came from underprivileged homes. Christ Orphanage servedas a school for these children and ensured that they received education, food,and health care.

During my two-month stay in Ghana, I realized that although many of thepeople I was interacting with were not financially rich, they were extremelyrich in other ways. I was in awe of the strong community and family bonds thatI witnessed, the dedication to cultural practices and traditions, and thegenuine happiness that I saw on a daily basis, despite the fact that thesepeople lacked many basic things such as running water and electricity.

Although I admired the way that these people lived, I also realized thatmaterial items can be an essential contributor to children’s education. Theorphanage lacked basic educational materials such as pencils, paper, andcrayons so I donated all of the educational supplies that I brought from homeas well as items that I purchased in the country to the orphanage. Hard to misswas the fact that the class that I was to teach, a class of twenty fivekindergartners contained nothing besides a few wooden benches, a dustychalkboard, four brick walls, and of course, the children. I realized that thesupplies I purchased for the children to use would only last a few months atthe most. I wanted to do something to continuously assist the orphanage. Withthe help of my friends and family, we were able to provide Christ Orphanagewith four computers and a printer before I even left the country.

Because I just can't get enough

2011-04-20T22:49:00.000-07:00

Don't these faces just make you smile? [32 days...]

MORE Faces that make me SMILE

2011-04-15T22:46:00.000-07:00

Makes you think...

2011-04-15T02:01:00.000-07:00

GoodSearch

2011-04-14T21:29:00.000-07:00

Have you added the GoodSearch toolbar to your browser? If not, do it now. If you designate The Ghana Project as your charity, we will earn money for Christ Orphanage every time you use the search bar or make an online purchase. It is super easy and only takes a minute to install. Last year, we raised $277.43 from GoodSearch for the children in Ghana. So far this year, we have raised less than $1. Lets get to work on this -- its super easy and makes a huge difference in the lives of these children. $277.43 can go a long way! Lets try to match or beat that number this year!! I can't do it without your help though. Add the toolbar by visiting: http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/ghana-project-christ-orphanage.

2008 Video

2011-04-12T01:40:00.000-07:00

As I prepare to finish school (26 days til graduation) and move to Ghana (40 days), I am thinking about all my experiences there and the reflecting back on all the amazing people I have met in Ghana. Its incredible how I feel so connected to these people who live across the world, on a totally different continent. Its incredible how connected I feel with the children, the children in Wegbe and especially the children at Christ Orphanage. I love them more than anything and CAN'T WAIT to see them next month. I already told Alex that even though we will be living in Accra, one of the first things we need to do is travel the 4 hours to Wegbe so I can see all my babies there. I am super excited for this (well, not for the 4 hour tro tro ride) but, to see the faces I have yearned to see for about 8 months now. I am more than excited to meet Sarah and Saraphine, Cynthia's baby sisters who were born a month or two after I left last year. In addition, between now and the time I arrive in Ghana, Mawuse will also have become a big sister. I am excited to meet this little new addition to Alex's family, his niece/nephew. I know that I still have SO MUCH to do before I leave for Ghana and trying to take advantage of all the time I have left in the States, but it is hard not to think about these people and children who have changed my life and how much I miss them. I missed them so much today that I uploaded the video I made after my first trip to Ghana (summer of 2008) so you can see some more of the faces that changed my life.

The Ghana Project: Christ Orphanage 2008 from Nicole Pampanin on Vimeo.

Some favorite photos

2011-04-08T22:54:00.000-07:00

Beautiful Children

2011-04-08T22:46:00.000-07:00

These beautiful faces make me smile. 43 days til I get to see these faces again. :)

Beautiful Wegbe

2011-04-08T22:44:00.000-07:00

Missing this place and the beautiful sunsets...

Moving to Ghana in 50 days!

2011-04-03T03:19:00.000-07:00

The countdown has been on for awhile now but it just recently started to hit me that I.am.leaving.so.soon. It's crazy. I am super excited but super nervous at the same time. I've been to Ghana so many times, know so many people there, understand the culture and the ways of life but I know that living there will be so much different than just visiting, even the three and a half month long visit. I know that I will experience things that I never had to deal with while just visiting once I move to Ghana. Apartments.Accra.Grocery Shopping.Cooking (ha. I can barely do that here, how am I supposed to cook in Ghana?).Banking.And the list goes on...

When I go to Ghana for visits, I know that I am coming back to the US. I know that I will be coming back this time too, for a visit, but it's different. I don't know when I will be back. Yes, I have a return ticket but I do not know if I am going to try to extend that ticket or possibly not even use it. Who knows? Not knowing when I will be back to the US makes it much more difficult to pack. I don't know when I will be back and able to pick up those necessities/things that I want that are only available here. It's stressful. But I know I can do it. I want to do it. I've wanted to do this for so long. A little less than three years to be exact. And I am so ready (well, I guess, I'll be ready in 35 days after I become a college graduate)!

Christ Orphanage Kids: Photos

2011-01-03T03:18:00.000-08:00

Life in Ghana: Photos

2011-01-03T03:09:00.000-08:00

Blog Overview/ Recap

2011-01-02T23:11:00.000-08:00

Recap:

Year 1 (2008): My first trip to Africa. Traveled to Ghana to volunteer for 8 weeks with Cross Cultural Solutions (CCS). Placed at Christ Orphanage where I taught a class of 25 kindergarten children on my own. Fell in love with a guy, the kids, local community, and Ghanaian life style, traditions, and values. Returned home inspired and changed, knowing that my work in Ghana and with Christ Orphanage was just beginning.

Year 2 (2009): Returned to Ghana solo days after finishing my sophomore year of college. Spent 3.5 months teaching, organizing the orphanage, and putting ideas into practice at Christ Orphanage, followed by 3 months studying abroad in Kenya and Tanzania. Returned to Ghana for three weeks in December to celebrate Christmas and visit the children at Christ Orphanage again before returning home to America just in time for the New Year.

Year 3 (2010): Received a research grant to return to Ghana and spend three weeks carrying out my thesis research. Extended my trip to spend time with my community in Gbi-Wegbe, the kids at Christ Orphanage, and my boyfriend. During my trip to Ghana, I will witness Christ Orphanage's move to their new site.

Future Plans (2011): After completing my undergraduate education and graduating from college, I plan on permanently relocating to Gbi-Wegbe, Ghana. Plans for this move are currently underway.

Christ Orphanage: The New Site

2011-01-02T03:05:00.000-08:00

Christ Orphanage: The New Site (Summer 2010)

If you have made a donation to The Ghana Project, this is what you have helped to build! Thank you for giving the children at Christ Orphanage a chance to learn, grow, and excel. There are still many needs at Christ Orphanage. If you would like to make a donation, please email theghanaproject@yahoo.com. Every little bit makes a huge difference in the life of a child at Christ Orphanage.

With Love, From Ghana - Shop

2011-01-01T23:23:00.000-08:00

Give One, Get One (www.theghanaproject.org)

Help a child at Christ Orphanage receive a schoolbag of their own to carry their school supplies. For every purchase over $30 (before tax and shipping), a schoolbag will be given to a child at Christ Orphanage. As of October 2010, The Ghana Project has already provided 40 children at Christ Orphanage with their very own schoolbags!

All products were created in Hohoe, Ghana by a local seamstress, Beatrice Agabe and her apprentices. As the merchandise is handmade, there are extremely limited quantities available. If you see a design or pattern you would like to purchase that is no longer available or if you have ideas for future products, please email theghanaproject@yahoo.com and we will do our best to fulfill your request.

Please note that many of the fabrics use to create the merchandise are printed using a technique called batik (whereby melted wax is applied to cloth before it is dipped in a dye). As a result, merchandise is likely to bleed when washed. We recommend that you hand wash your merchandise.

The Ghana Project

2011-01-01T23:14:00.000-08:00

From The Ghana Project Website (www.theghanaproject.org)

The Project:
The Ghana Project aims to help underprivileged communities in Ghana. Our current project is working with Christ Orphanage to provide a safe, loving home for 36 orphans and a first class education to 150 underprivileged and vulnerable children.

Our Story:
The Ghana Project was founded after Nicole’s first trip to Ghana during the summer of 2008. During this two-month volunteer trip, Nicole taught at Christ Orphanage, an orphanage in the Volta Region that provides food, clothing, education, and health care to 150 underprivileged and vulnerable children. Nicole was so inspired by Raymond, the founder and director of Christ Orphanage and his goals for the children that she immediately wanted to find a way to help the children in Ghana even after she left. With the help of supporters, The Ghana Project has provided the orphanage with four computers and a printer and has raised a substantial amount of money for the building of Christ Orphanage’s new site.

Nicole’s dedication to Christ Orphanage has brought her back to Ghana three times since her initial trip. During these trips, Nicole teaches in the orphanage, provides assistance and training to the teachers, and helps with the logistics and organization of the orphanage. During Nicole's trip to Ghana during the summer of 2010, she helped prepare for the official move to Christ Orphanage’s new site. Christ Orphanage’s new site is a huge improvement over their current site and will provide the children and staff with a much improved learning and living environment. The Ghana Project aims to help underprivileged communities in Ghana. Our current project is working with Christ Orphanage to provide a safe, loving home for 36 orphans and a first class education to 150 underprivileged and vulnerable children.

About Christ Orphanage:
Christ Orphanage was founded by Raymond Attrah, a local Ghanaian on January 1, 2007. Over the last three years, Christ Orphanage has quickly grown and has gone from serving just a handful of underprivileged and vulnerable children to serving 150 children. Raymond, his staff, and volunteers ensure that the children are provided with shelter, education, medical care, food, clothing, and love.

Although the children come from families that do not have much, they are extremely happy and appreciate the opportunities provided to them. They attend school five days a week where they are taught English, Math, Science, Art, French, and other subjects by well qualified Ghanaian teachers. Volunteers are extremely essential to the lives of these children and assist with teaching phonics, math, and English.

In September 2010, Christ Orphanage moved to a new site equipped with a dormitory building to house 36 orphans, a dining hall where each child has his/her own plate, cup, and chair, a classroom block with desks and white boards, a library full of books and games, and a play area. In addition, the children were introduced to Western style toilets and showers at the new site, something most of them have never seen before. This is a huge improvement over their previous run down building which was not adequate for properly educating and providing for the children. As funds become available, a volunteer house, medical center, chapel, and additional classrooms to accommodate 375 students will be built.

How You Can Help:
The Ghana Project has many needs. We can accomplish great things by working together. There are several ways you can get involved with our work. You can make a difference here in the US or you can even make a trip to see things in Ghana firsthand.

Donate
The Ghana Project offers you– individuals, corporations, foundations, NGOs, and partner schools– an opportunity to put orphaned and underprivileged Ghanaian children at the center of your charitable giving and the chance to participate in inspiring change.

The Ghana Project aims to raise money to build a new site for Christ Orphanage as the current site of the orphanage is in despair and is not an adequate learning environment for the children. As of June 2010, a dormitory building complete with showers, toilets, and sinks for 36 orphans had been completed. In addition, a well, water pump, and water tanks have been purchased and installed to ensure that the children have constant access to clean drinking water, something they currently lack. A dining hall, kitchen, and classrooms have also been built to provide the children with an education, food, and care.

Money donated to The Ghana Project will assist with one of the remaining projects for the new site. To view the 19 projects that make up the Christ Orphanage Development Plan, please visit www.christorphanage.com and click on ‘Document.’

To donate via check, please send your donation to: Nicole Pampanin 4924 Balboa Blvd #252 Encino, CA 91316 USA. To donate online, please visit www.christorphanage.com.

Shop Online
Just download the GoodSearch – Ghana Project - Christ Orphanage toolbar at http://www.goodsearch.com/toolbar/ghana-project-christ-orphanage. Each time you search the web with GoodSearch's Yahoo-powered search engine, about a penny will go to The Ghana Project: Christ Orphanage. Also, every time you shop online at 1,000 participating stores including Amazon, eBay, Target, Apple, Staples, Expedia, etc., a percentage of your purchase will be donated for free! The site also has thousands of money-saving coupons!

Volunteer
From your home: Want to help from the comfort of your couch? Volunteer your time and expertise by emailing theghanaproject@yahoo.com. Please let us know if you have any suggestions or ideas about ways to improve our organization or if you have any skills or connections that could benefit The Ghana Project.

In Ghana: Christ Orphanage welcomes volunteers with huge hugs and outstretched arms and has been fortunate enough to receive volunteers since it was founded in 2007. There are no qualifications for volunteers to be eligible to volunteer at Christ Orphanage. Volunteers dedicate a minimum of three weeks to making a difference in the lives of the children by interacting with them, speaking to them in English, playing sports and games with them and tutoring them in phonics and basic reading skills. For more information about volunteering at Christ Orphanage, please visit www.christorphanage.com and click on ‘Documents’ or email theghanaproject@yahoo.com.

Raise Awareness
Help raise awareness about The Ghana Project's efforts and the needs in Hohoe, Ghana by forwarding our website to a friend.

About Ghana:
Ghana is a West African country located between Togo and the Ivory Coast on the Gulf of Guinea (Atlantic Ocean). Accra, Ghana’s capital city is about a four hour drive from Gbi-Wegbe, Hohoe, the village in which Christ Orphanage resides. Ghana is divided into 10 administrative regions. Hohoe is located in the Volta Region, the region northeast of Accra. Although English is the official language of the country, the people in the Volta Region speak a government sponsored language called Ewe.

Ghana is a peaceful country that has operated under a democracy since its independence in 1957. Ghana is home to about 24 million people of more than 100 different ethnic groups. Ghana serves as one of the world’s top gold producers in addition to producing cocoa, timber, diamonds, and manganese. The country relies heavily on agriculture. Hydo-electricity is provided to Ghana and its neighboring countries by the Akosombo Dam, which was built on the Volta River in 1965.

Ghanaians are very diverse people. Like most African countries, Ghana is proud of its soccer team, The Black Stars who will be playing in the FIFA World Cup. Kente cloth, art, dance, music are all important aspects of Ghanaian culture.

The Ghanaian flag is made up of red, yellow, and green bands with a large black five-pointed star in the center. The red represents the blood shed for independence, the yellow represents the country’s mineral wealth, and the green represents the country’s forests and natural wealth. The black star represents African freedom.

About Gbi-Wegbe, Hohoe:
Hohoe is a town of about 30,000 people, making it the second largest town in the Volta Region of Ghana. The Volta Region is located in eastern Ghana between Lake Volta and the border of Togo. Most of the residents in Hohoe are part of the Ewe tribe and speak the Ewe language.

Christ Orphanage is located in Gbi-Wegbe, one of Hohoe’s seven traditional villages. Wegbe is the second largest of these villages with about 1,500 residents and is known as ‘America Town’ for its laid-back life style. Wegbe is located on the major road from Accra to Northern Ghana, about a four-hour drive from Accra.

The people are known for being extremely welcoming and warm. Most of the Wegbe residents make a living from agriculture. The people benefit from fertile land and rivers, which provide food and water for the local people. Hohoe’s weather is hot and humid and subject to heavy downpours.

Partners:
Tuviano Rocks - http://tuvianorocks.com

The Ghana Project is always looking to partner with new communities and projects. Are you interested in partnering with us? Contact us at theghanaproject@yahoo.com.

The Ghana Project operates under the sponsorship of Eyes on Africa which is a 501©3 non-profit organization. Donations are tax deductible to the extent allowable by law.

Inspiration

2010-11-29T01:25:00.000-08:00

I do not usually have much to post on my blog when I am not in Ghana and I don't really even know if anyone reads my blog when I am not in Ghana, but even if I am only writing this for myself, I need to take the opportunity to write about something amazing that I found out about today. So, as you might remember, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads wrote an article about my trip to Ghana and beading in Ghana which was published on their website last year. I got a few emails from FMG customers about my work in Ghana but not many. I was proud to be on their website but didn't really think much had come out of it. Boy, I sure was wrong. Today, I learned that three volunteers who traveled to Ghana this past summer to volunteer at Christ Orphanage were inspired by ME! They went to Ghana, and specifically Christ Orphanage to volunteer after reading the FMG article. Its amazing how far this article truly went and how much it inspired these women. Its so amazing that my story touched them so much that they traveled around the world and volunteered with the children that I had written about. Today, I truly realized the power of words and photos. I hope that I am able to inspire more people to travel to Ghana, to volunteer at Christ Orphanage, or to even make a donation to help these children continue to live, learn, and thrive.

Happy Holidays!

Til next time,
Nicole

"Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground"

2010-10-26T01:27:00.000-07:00

"Ghana: Digital Dumping Ground" by the UBC journalism school, winning an Emmy for investigative documentary:

http://www.pbs.org/frontlineworld/stories/ghana804/video/video_index.html

Because she is just so darn cute!

2010-10-21T01:39:00.000-07:00

Because they are just so darn cute!

2010-10-21T01:37:00.000-07:00

Cynthia's new baby sisters: Sarah and Saraphine

Thank you!

2010-10-21T01:30:00.000-07:00

My aunt is a softball coach and donated her team's uniforms to Christ Orphanage. The uniforms were a bit big on the kids but they loved them anyways! They loved them so much that they asked to wear them everyday! Here are some photos of the kids sporting the uniforms.

In case you haven't heard yet...

2010-10-21T01:28:00.000-07:00

Lewis & Clark College, inspired by my work in Ghana, has put me on the homepage of their website. To check out the story and homepage photo of Atsufe (one of the children at Christ Orphanage) and I, visit www.lclark.edu or to go straight to the story, visit http://www.lclark.edu/live/news/8308-students-and-alumni-blog-about-service-work-in. This is a very exciting opportunity for The Ghana Project to gain some attention. Please feel free to share the links above and spread the word about The Ghana Project.

Thank you for your continued support! I could not do this without YOU!

Inspirational Video - I Need Africa More than Africa Needs Me

2010-10-04T01:42:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tAB-zJPsJjs&feature=player_embedded

My blog's new home!

2010-09-23T23:46:00.000-07:00

I have moved my blog from Blogger to my website, theghanaproject.org. You can find all my blog posts there, read about The Ghana Project, and purchase hand made Ghanaian products!

Nicole

The darkest thing about Africa has always been our ignorance of it -George Kimble

2010-09-23T01:43:00.000-07:00

Found this map of Africa on another blog and thought it was so enlightening and interesting. Plus, I am so excited that I now know how to put photos in my blog that I had to take advantage of this opportunity to share a photo with you!

Farewell Party

2010-08-25T21:29:00.000-07:00

Writing this final blog entry from my summer 2010 trip to Ghana has been an unbelievably difficult thing for me to do. I have been home for two weeks already and although I keep trying to write it, I keep putting it off. In my mind, it is like, if I don’t write this final blog entry, then the trip really isn’t over. I know that this reasoning doesn’t really make much sense but in my head, it seems to make sense.

It’s amazing how quickly my trip flew by and how much I wanted to get done that didn’t get done, but at the same time, it is amazing how much I did get done that I didn’t plan on doing. Unlike my previous trips to Ghana, this trip was more about me. Yes, I was going to see my kids at Christ Orphanage and to spend some time volunteering, but I was also going to do my research, see my friends and kids in the Wegbe community, visit my adopted family in Ho, and of course, spend time with my boyfriend, Alex.

The night before I had to leave Ghana, Alex threw a going away party for me. The family prepared fufu (and jollof rice for me because I am not a fan of fufu) and we danced the night away. My local kids came over and we danced together as they begged me not to leave. I promised them that I would be back soon as I know that after I finish school, I will be on a plane, back to Ghana. It was a very special night. During the party, which was of course held outdoors, it began to rain. It was so magical to be dancing in the rain, something I have to admit I probably haven’t done since I was a child.

I danced with Mawuse in my arms (and Cynthia holding onto my legs), and just hugged her as tight as I could. I couldn’t believe I would be leaving the following day. I couldn’t believe that my little girl Cynthia wouldn’t be coming to my room every afternoon and evening to join me for meals any more. I couldn’t believe that I wouldn’t be there to see Cynthia’s baby brother or sister be born within the next few weeks. I couldn’t believe I wouldn’t be able to hear the kids at Christ Orphanage singing songs as I walked from my room to the orphanage every morning. I couldn’t believe that I would no longer hear ‘Sister Nicole’ called out every second of every day. I couldn’t believe that I would no longer be where I feel so at home. I couldn’t believe I was going back to America, back to school, back to the fast paced, capitalist life style that has overtaken America. Its amazing how fast five weeks can fly by.

The following morning, I went to the new site to take some final photos of the site. I witnessed Raymond and some local volunteers and parents planting corn, which will help to relieve some of the food costs when it is harvested. By this point, the classrooms were completely decorated and we worked on decorating the bedrooms. I must admit, the rooms look pretty cute with the stickers adorning the walls and the glow in the dark stars on the ceilings.

Following my visit to the new site, I went back to the orphanage to say a final goodbye to the children and teachers. The kids sang for me as I sat there taking it all in and realizing that I was actually leaving (again). Alex refused to let the kids sing the ‘Goodbye song’ as he knew that I had already cried enough about leaving Ghana and he didn’t want to see me cry anymore. That song gets to me every time the kids sing it so I have to admit, I was quite happy that they didn’t sing it this time.

As my flight was at 11pm, Raymond decided that we should leave Hohoe around 1:30pm. I knew that we would not leave at 1:30 because, come on, this is Ghana that we are talking about, but I didn’t expect that we wouldn’t leave til 4pm. Luckily we still had plenty of time to drive to Accra and stop by Alex and Raymond’s uncle’s house before my flight. As we drove out of Wegbe, the Christ Orphanage kids were crossing the road to go to the park to play. They yelled out my name as I waved to them and started crying. It was nice to see them again before leaving but it was very difficult, as I wanted to go play with them at the park. I didn’t want to endure the 4 hour drive to Accra and then the long flight back to LA. I wasn’t ready to leave.

Although I didn’t get to see the kids officially move into the new site or do everything that I wanted to do while I was there, I think I accomplished a lot. I learned so much more about the Ghanaian life style. I learned more about what life would entail when I finally make that step and move to Ghana. I realized that I have the potential to continue to make great things happen for the community in Ghana that I care about so much and other communities that I hope to be able to help in the future. And most of all, I learned once again to appreciate life and live every moment to the fullest. I learned the hard way that nothing in life in certain and that things can change (for the better or worse) in the blink of an eye.

I treasure every moment of this trip and cannot wait to get back to Ghana after I graduate from college (what a crazy thought!). Thank you to all of you for taking this journey with me and for reading about my experiences in Ghana for the fourth time! If you would like to make a donation to The Ghana Project or purchase a beautiful, one of a kind bag, coin pouch, or purse, or other item, please email me. Your purchase could provide a school bag for a child at Christ Orphanage.

Thank you to all of you for your love and support! It means the world to me!

Until next time,
Nicole

The Big Move

2010-08-10T21:31:00.000-07:00

If you have ever been to Africa, done business within Africa, or even sent something to Africa, you know that things here take a long time. They say it will take a day but it takes a week, they tell you that you will be somewhere in 5 minutes and 30 minutes later, you still aren’t there. This is what we like to call African Time, or in Ghana, Ghana Time.

We were supposed to move the kids to Christ Orphanage’s new site on August 1st. This is part of the reason why I decided to come to Ghana at the end of the summer instead of the beginning of the summer this year. Unfortunately, even with planning my trip late in the summer, I will not see the move to the new site. A lot of progress has been made at the site and we have started decorating the classrooms but it still is not ready for the official move to occur. The workers are still painting, putting on doors, making steps, and putting in the electrical wires. The water tanks are not yet hooked up for the plumbing and the electrical poles that have been placed all along the road to the new site have not yet been wired. So basically, although a lot of progress has been made, there is still a lot to do. I just keep trying to remind myself, this is Ghana, this is the way things work here, this is normal for them, nothing happens on time here.

Although I will not be able to witness the move to the new site, I have been able to witness some of the older kid’s reactions when they have come to the site. The oldest class was invited to the site late last week for the first time to come and help us decorate the classrooms. They helped for awhile but their attention was mostly focused on the playground equipment which they had a blast playing on. After spending a lot of time at the site over the past few weeks, it was so nice to be working and hear children’s laughter, to hear them using the equipment and enjoying themselves. I wish that all of you who have supported The Ghana Project could have heard this laughter and seen the smiles on these children’s faces. Like always, I have done my best to document their beautiful smiles but I know that my photos and videos do not do them justice.

Even though some of the work that we have done at the site this past week has been tedious – cleaning the windows in all the classrooms and varnishing all the desks, I know that these things will make a difference in the way the new site operates. I know that these things will help to make the experiences at the new site even better and help to keep the new site operating efficiently and effectively for Christ Orphanage’s current children and many more children to come. I know that the decorations and learning materials that we have put up in the classrooms will put smiles on the children’s faces and help enhance their learning experiences. I am so happy that I have been able to be a part of it. I just can’t wait until the children are able to move to the new site and take advantage of all the new resources that we have provided for them.

It is also exciting to think about the way that the lives of 30 of our children will change when they move to the new site. These 30 children are the orphans and most underprivileged children at the orphanage and they will be living in the dormitory at the new site. Although I was a bit skeptical about taking these children out of their current homes, as they all live with extended family members or other people in the community, I know that they will greatly benefit from having their own beds, receiving three meals a day, and being forced to attend school on a daily basis. Currently, some of the children are not sent to school on a daily basis as their guardians keep them home to help cook, wash, farm, or sell. It is something that has been very difficult for us as these children then become behind in school and it affects the entire class. Although I understand that at a certain age, children become extremely important parts of the household and are able to help maintain the family, it saddens me that these guardians do not see the importance of school and do not recognize the opportunity that is being provided for their child. Many of them do not look at the bigger picture. They look at the present and do not realize that education is their child’s way out of poverty. Luckily we only have a few children who are kept home from school by their parents/ guardians for these reasons.

I know that within the next few weeks, the children will move to the new site. Although I would have loved to see the kids move to the new site, I know that the safety of the children is more important and at the current moment, the new site is not a safe place for them to be as a result of all the construction and work that is still going on. I know that next time I return to Ghana, I will be able to witness the changes that have occurred as a result of the new site, resources, teaching practices, and change of environment. I cannot wait for that day.

(I will post photos on Facebook within the next few days of the new site so you can all see the progress that has been made there).

Consecration in Peki

2010-08-07T21:31:00.000-07:00

Although I never really sleep in here in Ghana, I usually enjoy an extra hour or two of sleep on the weekends. On Sunday morning, I was awake by 5:30am. After showering and eating some rice, I got dressed in my white traditional outfit that Essie had made for me as Alex got dressed in his matching one. We wore white as that is the color traditionally worn to a consecration. The outfits consisted of long tops and pants which were adorned with some modest decorations which really added to the outfits. Essie and another family member tied my braids back for me and we went outside to wait for the taxi that would be taking us to Peki, a village about an hour and a half away from Hohoe.

I had been told about this family event that we were going to before I even arrived in Ghana so it felt kinda crazy that it had finally arrived. We were going to Peki for the Catholic Church consecration of one of Alex’s aunts as a Cathekist. I had met Melody, his aunt who was going to be consecrated a few weeks prior and she was very excited that I would be attending this special event. She made sure that I would bring my cameras along to document the event as well. As I had never been to an event such as this, I was not really sure what to expect but I was excited to be able to attend this event and to be able to meet more of Alex’s family members.

We arrived in Peki after passing through three or four police stops, all of which stopped and checked our driver’s papers or gave him trouble for his missing side mirror. We went to a family member’s home, where there were already a good 30 or 40 people sitting around, chatting, and eating. Everyone was dressed up, even the children and some of the women were dancing and singing. From this house, we went to the church. As there were maybe 30 or 40 other people being consecrated with Melody, there were a lot of people at the church. We sat in plastic chairs outside with hundreds of other people as the church was already full. It was nice to sit outside because it meant that it was cooler and that we didn’t have to stay quiet. I played with some of the children that were with us and snacked on some local food. The service was still going on but we decided to walk over to a local chop bar where the locals dined on some grasscutter. I sat around and watched as they sang and paraded around before eating the grasscutter and the stew that accompanied it.

We returned to the church and sat around some more as the service and ceremony were very long. Some of Alex’s brothers had my cameras and were taking photos/ videos so I didn’t really have anything to do besides sit there and take in what was going on. The consecration eventually began and I was pulled into the church to witness it. After the consecration ended and the church emptied out, we paraded down the road, singing and dancing with Melody. Our party had grown and about 60 of us went to another house, located a lot closer to the church for the celebration.

Throughout the afternoon, there was dancing, eating, tons of photos taken, and lots of fun to be had. I was the official photographer meaning that I took most of the posed photos that Melody requested to be taken. Alex’s brothers also took turns with my camera which was nice because it meant that I could enjoy the event without having to always think about taking pictures. Since the event, I have gone through the hundreds of photos that were taken so that I could share them with Melody and the rest of the family. Melody was extremely grateful of all the photos that I took for her and her fiancé complemented me and told me that I was the best photographer in Peki.

A Million Tiny Braids

2010-08-03T21:32:00.000-07:00

It is Saturday evening. I am lying on my bed and can hear the loud, highly amplified music and singing from down the road. As there are three funerals in Wegbe this weekend, the village is very busy and loud all the time, even at 1:30am, when I am trying to sleep. And at 1:30am last night, one of the funeral guests decided it would be a good idea to use a whistle to accompany the singing. Lovely, right?

There is a large tent set up in our compound for one of the funerals. Luckily, the main activities are not taking place in our compound or else it would probably be impossible to sleep at all. However, it means that there are a lot of people here. And it means that the village of Wegbe has become a sea of red and black.

Earlier this week, in preparation for the funeral, one of the women in my compound decided to purchase a goat. She bought the goat on Monday and kept it tied up all week, until yesterday. After dealing with the goat’s extremely loud and obnoxious cries for a few days, I finally decided to ask why the goat was tied up. As I do not recognize the goats that belong to the families in this compound, I did not realize that this was a different goat, one that had been purchased from the market. And the reason it was purchased from the market, of course, was so that it could be slaughtered.

Luckily, I happened to take a little walk yesterday late in the afternoon with some of my kids in the village. By the time I returned, the goat was dead and lying with its legs up on a table in the compound. I couldn’t watch as the two men skinned the goat and then proceeded to cut it up. However, I couldn’t help but see parts of the process as I went about what I was doing, which included occasionally walking across the compound. And as the process of getting the goat meat took awhile, it would have been highly unlikely that I would have totally been able to avoid witnessing parts of it. Although I am a vegetarian and refused to eat any of the meat, I do have to admit that I am happy that I no longer have to deal with the goat’s loud, obnoxious cries at all hours of the day and night.

On Thursday afternoon, after a long morning at the orphanage, I decided to go into town with Roland and get my hair done. I had asked Essie, the woman who cooks and cleans for me if it would hurt and she assured me it wouldn’t hurt that much. I didn’t know how to take this answer as it was coming from someone who picks up burning coals with her bare hands and scrubs clothing until her hands are raw – things that I cannot do.

As Roland and I arrived at the beauty salon in Hohoe, I started to get a bit nervous. Alex was out of town so it was going to be a surprise for him, something he had told me a few weeks earlier that he wanted me to do for a family celebration that would be happening this weekend. I showed the girl which style I wanted – small braids and she went to find some fake hair. I was not very excited for the fake hair part. It would add a lot of weight to my head and it kinda grossed me out at first.

Two women began working on my hair and I was impressed. They did the first few braids and they did not hurt at all. I was glad as I was basically sitting in the middle of this salon, in which about 6 other women were getting their hair done as well. I relaxed and was happy now that I realized that I would not be in pain. Unfortunately this quickly changed.

The braids started getting tighter and tighter and the women started pulling so hard on my head. I was in so much pain it was pretty ridiculous. My scalp was so sore. There were five women working on my hair and I was pulling away, trying to ease the pain as they yanked my hair. About two hours into the torture, I made the women stop and take a break. I needed a break and my head needed a break. And I was hoping that by allowing the women to stop working for a few minutes, they would come back and not yank my hair so hard. I returned to the chair and the yanking resumed just as hard, if not harder than before. I somehow dealt with two more hours of this before they finally finished. I regretted my decision to get my hair done but was not going to stop midway through the process. I think that I managed to thoroughly amuse the other women working and the other customers in the salon but I did not care because I was just so happy that they were done. I gave the women a nice tip as I felt bad that I was such a difficult customer. I think they were probably just as happy to get me out of the salon as I was to leave.

I returned home and was complimented by everyone on my hair. I still wasn’t sure at this point if I actually liked it or not. It was long, black, and heavy and my head still ached. I took a pain reliever in an attempt to relieve the pain and went to bed. This was not as easy as it sounds because every way I attempted to lye caused pain to my head. Even sleeping on my stomach, although it meant that I would not be lying on my hair was painful. I woke up many times throughout the night but luckily by the next morning, most of the pain was gone.

Alex returned from his trip the following evening and was impressed by the fact that I actually went out and got my hair done. Like everyone else, he loved it. I am getting more and more used to it as time goes on but it is somewhat annoying. I decided that this is going to be both the first and last time that I get my hair done. I can’t wait til we have to remove all the braids from my hair. That will be fun!

Jennifer's Funeral

2010-07-30T21:33:00.000-07:00

“We are the world” was playing from a teenage boy’s cell phone. Local Ghanaian music was blasting from the speakers. The guests were dressed in red and black, traditional funeral colors here in Ghana. We were secluded from the rest of the funeral guests, sitting under a canopy as one of the family members introduced the other family members and important guests.

As Alex was extremely busy with stuff at the orphanage, Roland, one of Alex and Raymond’s brothers traveled to Ho with me for Jennifer’s funeral. Funerals don’t always occur so quickly after a death here in Ghana so I felt lucky that Jennifer’s was taking place so quickly after her death. I felt this way selfishly as I knew that attending her funeral would bring me some closure.

As the man was talking, the guest sitting to my right whispered that he was talking about me. I was told to stand up as John, the father of the family further introduced me and told the family members how this white girl, the only white person of the hundreds of funeral attendees was associated with their family. As he talked in Ewe, I couldn’t understand most of what he said, but it really didn’t matter. I understood when he introduced me as Nicole Pampanin and then proceeded to tell everyone that I am also Nicole Dogbey, part of their family. I was then told that they wanted me to come and see the corpse. I had been doing pretty well until then and suddenly burst into tears.

Prior to arriving at this compound where all the guests were gathered, we went to Klepe, the village where the family lives. As we arrived in Klepe, I noticed huge groups of people on the side of the road dressed in black and red. The children were dressed in their green school uniforms and had red scarves and cloths tied around themselves. We were in a pick up truck and went to pick up some of the guests so that they didn’t have to walk. The scene was overwhelming. I had attended funerals in Ghana before but this one was different because I actually knew the person who died. It meant so much more to see all the people standing out there, dressed in black and red and it touched my heart to see that so many people cared about Jennifer and were mourning her loss. One of the things I have learned in Africa is that if something happens, whether good or bad, positive or negative, it affects the whole community. When a marriage occurs, the community celebrates together and when a death occurs, the community mourns together.

When I was told that I was to go and see the corpse, I turned to Roland and asked him if the casket would be open or closed. He told me that he was not sure as this practice varies from family to family. I was nervous, scared that the casket would be open. I was hesitant to go into the room where the casket was but I was pulled in regardless. Once again, I burst into tears. The casket was open. Jennifer was lying there, dressed in a beautiful dress. I turned away after about two seconds. I couldn’t look at her. It was real. Seeing her body laying there in the casket made it real.

Being in Hohoe, while Jennifer’s family was in Ho made it difficult for me to really comprehend Jennifer’s death. I cried when I heard the news of her death but I was alone. I had support here in Hohoe and from home, but no one else knew Jennifer. It was something that really only affected me. Therefore, it didn’t really seem real. I didn’t see anyone else crying over her death, I was distant and it made it easier for me to pretend that it wasn’t really real. Even as Roland and I traveled to Ho on Friday morning, I was still hoping that I would arrive and be told that it was all a joke. Seeing all the people in Klepe mourning Jennifer’s death began to make it more real but it wasn’t until I saw her corpse that it became reality. It finally clicked. There was no turning back. Jennifer’s death was real and I just couldn’t handle it.

I turned and was hugged by Peace and Dela, two of Jennifer’s siblings. They walked me out of the room as I cried my eyes out. I was walked back to my seat and just sat there, unable to think, move, or do anything. I watched Jennifer’s biological parents, whom I had never met before as they cried and wished that I could just give them a huge hug and wipe their tears.

I don’t remember what happened next. I was in such a daze. I tried to be present but it was so difficult when all I could do was think about the fact that Jennifer, the bright, somewhat quiet but funny girl whom I had gotten to know and love over the past few years was gone. I thought of her as one of my sisters. And now she would no longer be there when I came to visit, I would no longer be able to talk to her on the phone, or play Uno with her and share laughs with her. I thought about the fact that I was so lucky that I had never before had to attend the funeral of a child because I did not know any children who had died (besides Nyanuie, the child from Christ Orphanage who died last year while I was in East Africa) and hoped that this would be the last funeral of a child that I would have to attend. But with doing work in Ghana and knowing so many children and people here, I have to be realistic and realize that however sad it may be, I might be living in a dream world to think this way.

Peace and Roland sat with me. Peace put her arms around me. And I put my arms around her. I knew that I needed her love and support just as much as she needed mine. I felt sad for Jennifer’s parents, for John and Annie who had cared for Jennifer for longer than I had known her, and for her other friends and family members, but I felt the most pain for Peace. Peace is 17 years old and is the other teenage girl in my adopted family. Although Peace and Jennifer were not biological sisters, they were ‘sisters.’ They grew up together, lived together, played together, and loved each other’s company. Although Peace was staying strong, I knew that it must have been very difficult for her, something that became very evident at the gravesite.

I was escorted to the pick up truck and told to get inside as about 20 men jumped into the back. The men sang in the back as we drove to the cemetery. The weight of all the men began to take a toll on the vehicle. We eventually had to stop at a gas station and put more air in the tires but that did not fix the squeaking and other noises that the vehicle was making.

We arrived at the cemetery and had to walk past a number of graves to get to the gravesite. As we were walking, we witnessed a fight which had broken out between some of the family members. Apparently one of the men was upset that he did not get to help carry the casket from the truck to the gravesite and decided to make a scene. I know that he wanted to be a part because he loved Jennifer but it saddened me that they were fighting and making such a big scene at her funeral, at the gravesite.

The casket was laid on top of the burial plot as some words were spoken in Ewe. Amidst my crying, I tried to comfort Forgive and Peace who were also crying. The casket was lowered into the grave and the tears escaladed. If seeing the corpse didn’t make it real enough, this did. And the thumps as the dirt was thrown on top of the casket made it even more real. She was gone. She was really gone. I was a mess. Hearing the dirt pound on the casket killed me inside. I was pulled away and taken back to the pick up truck. The men were already crowded in the back of the truck and I was seated inside. The ride back to the family’s home in Klepe was quieter than the ride to the cemetery although there was some singing.

We arrived at the family’s house in Klepe. The compound had been rearranged to accompany three large tents and dozens of plastic chairs. The elders who could not attend the actual funeral were present and the events of the funeral were described to them in Ewe. Melody and Richmond were both there and I just held them when they came and sat with me. Alcohol was served and some other proceedings that I did not follow took place.

When there was a break in the proceedings, I talked to John to try to fully understand how Jennifer died. I was confused and had questions that I wanted answered. As I knew, Jennifer was taken to the hospital on Sunday night. She was given an IV and died when receiving the third bag of medication. She had been to the hospital earlier that week and received medication for the malaria but apparently she was very stubborn about taking medication and had to be forced to take it. I am not sure if she actually ended up taking the medication as she was supposed to or if that is the reason she ended up getting worse and had to go back to the hospital. No one seems to be very sure. However, they know that Jennifer began loosing a lot of blood during the IV and became anemic. Apparently it is very easy to get blood from the blood bank (something that Jennifer’s parents investigated after her death) but the doctor was upset with his nurses and did not order the blood. It is due to this that Jennifer ended up dying. Hearing this made me upset. How could the doctor neglect to do something as simple as order some blood for this young girl? This blood would have saved her life. I turned to Roland and asked if anything would happen to the doctor due to his negligence in this case. He just shook his head and asked if anything would happen to the doctor if this happened in America. I couldn’t believe that the doctor would be able to continue practicing medicine as if nothing had happened, as if he was not at all responsible for this death, as if he had no role in Jennifer’s death. I know there is a lack of doctors here in Ghana but this was upsetting. I wished there was something I could do, but I know that I can’t fix everything. I can try my best to make an impact here but there is only so much one person can do.

Jennifer’s death inspires me to keep working hard and serving the community here in Wegbe. I know that my presence here brings joy and hope to the locals and right now, that is all I can do. I will do my best to continue making their lives a bit brighter with my presence, help to provide food, education, and healthcare to their children at Christ Orphanage, and work even harder to keep raising funds back home so that we are able to continue providing for these children. They are the future of this country. They are the hope of Wegbe, Ghana.

And life goes on

2010-07-20T21:34:00.000-07:00

It’s Tuesday evening and I am sitting outside enjoying the sounds and smells of the village. The young kids quickly figure out that my face is lit up due to my computer screen and come over to check it out. Essie, one of Raymond and Alex’s cousins is preparing my dinner, potatoes. We quickly ran out of the potatoes we bought in Accra when I first arrived, so, I sent Godwin with some money when he went to pick up Brother Mark yesterday so that I could stock up. As the people like sweet potatoes, yams, and cassava, potatoes are not really a part of their diet and as a result, they are practically impossible to find in Hohoe. However, potatoes and rice are what basically make up my diet here so I am very happy to have more potatoes.

Essie is only 22, her birthday was just a few days ago, yet, she does practically everything for me. She buys and cooks my food, sweeps my room, washes and irons my clothes, makes me traditional clothing, and heats my water. I don’t like having to be so dependent on another person to do what seems like such basic things for me, but I have to admit, she is truly amazing and she makes my life here a lot easier and more manageable.

The kids run around the compound, attempting to avoid the laundry that is hanging from the lines. Essie puts the coals on the fire. I listen to the conversations that are taking place in Ewe but although I am trying to learn the language, I don’t even recognize a single word. The older kids are playing jenga. I taught them the game a few days ago and now they come to me asking to play it. When the get tired of playing jenga, they use the blocks and build houses, using the extra pieces as people.

My legs itch. I try not to scratch the millions of mosquito bites that cover them but it’s so difficult. I truly don’t understand how I have gotten so many bites and how they manage to multiply every single day. It truly amazes me.

I received a phone call this evening. The arrangements for Jennifer’s funeral have been set. Just hearing these words shocks me. I still can’t believe that she is no longer alive. It is too difficult for me to truly comprehend. I will be traveling to Ho on Friday morning to attend the funeral. As this funeral is for a child, it is not as long and intensive as the 3 day funerals that are usually held for adults.

The children are growing anxious. They want me to play with them. I will write more later.

RIP Jennifer

2010-07-19T21:35:00.000-07:00

As tears run down my face, Alex tells me how in Africa, things are different than in the Western world and death among children is much more of a reality. The sound of his words bothers me. The fact that they are so used to the idea of children dying bothers me. It is not fair. It shouldn’t be that way.

On Saturday, I boarded a tro tro headed to Ho to visit my adopted family there. Forgive, Melody and Richmond’s mother had moved to Accra a few months ago with Richmond, but upon hearing of my visit, they traveled to Ho. They arrived shortly after I arrived on Saturday and Richmond was warmly greeted by everyone. It was the first time he had been back to Ho in quite awhile and all the kids and adults had missed his presence in Ho so much. I was quite happy to see him as well as he was the baby that I fell in love with and spent most of my waking hours with during my first trip to Ghana.

I spent the day with my family; talking, playing, and showing them the photo album that I brought for them full of photos from last year. The photo album was quite a hit and was passed around as friends and family members arrived at the compound throughout the day. That photo album must have been flipped through at least 50 times just during the few hours I was there.

Genevieve, also known as Jennifer, the 13 year old girl in my family was laying on a bench in the family’s compound. Her eyes were very puffy and this reserved girl who usually enjoys my presence did not say a word to me. I asked what was wrong with her and was told that she had malaria. I enquired as to whether she was being treated and was told that she had been taken to the hospital and given medication. She spent the rest of the afternoon sleeping but as I know from experience, that is pretty normal for someone who has malaria. Although she was quite sick, she was being treated, so I didn’t think much more about it. She was asleep when I left that afternoon so I left without saying good bye, assuming that she would be better the next time I visited.

On Monday morning, I headed over to the school. The children were singing and praying, dancing and drumming. The children went to class and I taught a math lesson to Class 1 before Alex came to get me as we planned on going to town to run some errands. We walked to the house where, I took my phone out of my bag and noticed an unread text message. It read as follows: “Nic, good morning. Sorry to inform you that Genevieve is dead. Call you later”. Thankfully I was on my bed as I just collapsed. I immediately called John, the father of the family because I was in shock. I had just seen Jennifer two days ago, how could she now be dead? She was just a child, how could she now be dead? She had malaria, a treatable disease, how could she now be dead?

John told me that Jennifer’s condition had worsened on Sunday night. He told me that she was taken to the hospital and then died early Monday morning. I told him I was so sorry and he told me that he would alert me when the funeral arrangements had been made. After I hung up the phone, I laid on my bed, crying. It just didn’t make sense in my head. I know that death is a natural process but Jennifer’s death seemed so preventable. I cried for Jennifer, I cried for Jennifer’s family, I cried for the other children across Africa and the southern hemisphere who die every day due to a lack of good medical care, and I cried because I wished there was something I could have done to prevent her death.

I will keep you updated and let you know when details arise regarding the funeral. Thank you to those of you who have already sent your prayers and kind wishes. It means a lot to me.

Disciplining Children in Africa

2010-07-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

After we send the kids home from the orphanage around 4:30-5pm, I go home and take my second shower of the day. The first shower is a bucket shower at the compound where I live at lunch time and the second shower is a western style shower at a nearby house, which means that I can actually wash my hair, something I have not yet learned how to master with a bucket shower.

After this second shower, I usually hang out outside with the local kids, many of whom attend Christ Orphanage. They love seeing me outside of school and the more personalized attention I can give them since there are not a hundred other children yearning for attention at the same time. Instead, there are only between 2-15 other children, which I have to admit is still a lot!

This evening, I was at the neighbor’s compound, playing with about 10 children, having a good time. All of the sudden, I heard a girl screaming and witnessed a woman beating the 12 year old girl who lives with her. I am not sure what their relation is but I know that they are related in some fashion. The woman beat the girl with the flat side of a machete as the girl screamed in agony. It killed me. No one got up. No one did anything. Everyone just turned and watched as the girl screamed and tried to run away. What killed me even more was the fact that I felt that if I did or said anything, it would just make things worse and possibly result in another beating of the girl. I felt so helpless and wished that I could have done something.

About a half hour later, when the girl had stopped crying and screaming, she came over and sat by me. I asked her why she was beaten but she refused to tell me. It saddens me that it was probably over something so small, something that doesn’t really even matter in the long run.

I left the kids for awhile to return home and eat my dinner before returning to play with them for a little longer. As it was dark and getting late, I told them that I would see them tomorrow and returned home to go to sleep. As much as I tried, I couldn’t get this incident out of my head. It breaks my heart to even think about it. Maybe it is ethnocentric of me to think this way. I realize that in America, parents used to beat their children too. But although we have become developed in America and now categorize such behavior as ‘child abuse,’ they have not yet gotten to that point in Africa.

Comforting Sounds

2010-07-13T21:36:00.000-07:00

Back home it is a miracle if I am out of bed by 10am. It is currently 6:46 am and I have already been awake for 46 minutes. I know, this is something that is unheard of for me! Maybe its because I am more excited to get up and start my day when I am here, maybe it is because I go to bed at a more decent hour, maybe it is a combination of both of these things, but whatever it is, I somehow happily wake up at the crack of dawn when in Ghana. I wake up to the sound of my fan billowing from the ceiling, the cries of babies as they are bathed, the sound of people talking, the sound of roosters signaling the beginning of the day and the sound of goats crying out for their kids. Over time, these have become such comforting sounds.

In a similar way, the sounds of the kids at Christ Orphanage crying, laughing, talking, and singing has become something I am used to when approaching the compound. And of course the chanting of my name as I approach never gets old although it starts to die off as the children realize that I am here for a prolonged amount of time.

The first question the kids at Christ Orphanage asked me when I returned to the orphanage about a week ago was where my elephant was. Since returning home from Ghana in December, I had replaced my elephant necklace with a necklace I had purchased in East Africa. The new necklace is of Africa with a small elephant on it. Even though this new necklace has an elephant on it, it is not the same as the previous necklace that all the kids had grown used to and remembered me wearing every day. I couldn’t believe that the kids remembered what my old necklace looked like and asked about it. And it wasn’t only one or two of the kids that asked about it but a great number of them inquired about it. They now come up to me and point to my necklace, “Africa AND elephant.” Maybe its one of those things you have to be there to understand.

This past weekend, I stayed in Wegbe as I love being here (and because I feel like I have been to most of the tourist places in Ghana and because I do not feel like I am a tourist when I am here). Saturday was spent getting some work done and resting from the week’s activities. On Sunday, we followed the sounds of singing til we reached the church (which is across the street). The children, including a number of Christ children, were ecstatic that I was at their church. They would stare at me and wait until I made eye contact with them. At that point, they would laugh and turn away. It was somewhat like peek-a-boo but across a large distance in a church, and played with more than just one child. As the service went on, children came and sat with me. One young girl whom I don’t even know came and sat between Alex and I. She proceeded to lay her head in my lap and sleep for most of the remainder of the service. Other children came to sit with me and wouldn’t stop talking so it became my task to quiet them as the pastor was giving his sermon. This task was not quite as easy as it may sound.

Following lunch, Alex and I as well as a number of other family members went to visit the home of a cousin who had just given birth to a baby the previous week. It is tradition to keep the baby inside for the first week of life so this was the baby’s outdooring ceremony, meaning it was the first time the baby would be brought outside. The baby was fetched from its bed and somehow immediately ended up in my arms. The baby, so small and light in color just slept in my arms as the family chatted in Ewe. Of course I was in heaven and had absolutely no issue with holding the newborn until I was forced to give him up.

Later that day, I was taken to a birthday party in Wegbe for a girl who was turning 14 years old. I did not know the girl, but her and her family were happy to have me there. They were so happy to have me there that they brought me a cold drink and biscuits which I was instructed to finish before getting up to dance. I danced for hours with the other guests and kids, some of which I knew from Christ and from around the neighborhood. At one point, the mother of the birthday girl even brought out a beautiful fabric which she wrapped around me. Then, I was instructed to stand with family members and be part of practically all of the ‘professional’ photos that were taken. They were so excited to have me in their pictures yet they didn’t even know me. After a few hours of dancing and taking tons of photos, I returned home to help prepare dinner and get some much needed rest.

It is now only Tuesday, but this week has been very productive thus far. I have been working on taking new photos of all the children at Christ for the website and collecting data for my research. Hopefully the rest of the week will continue to be as productive.

Goals

2010-07-07T21:37:00.000-07:00

Although I have to do my research and a ton of stuff at the orphanage during this trip, my number one goal was not to get sick. Last year’s malaria and typhoid was enough sickness for me for quite awhile so I have been doing everything possible to avoid getting sick this year. It is only day 4 and that plan has already failed. Granted I only have a cold, the fact of the matter is that I am sick and I didn’t want to get sick. I have already been to the pharmacy and have begun some medicine and will hopefully be fully recovered very soon.

After arriving in Wegbe on Saturday evening and briefly visiting a few friends, it was time for bed. If it wasn’t for the fact that it was dark outside and everyone was already asleep, I would have walked around the village right then to visit my kids. But, instead, I saved that for the next morning when I awoke at 4am. I waited til 5am to actually get out of bed and leave the house before walking around the village and causing chaos. I tried to quiet the kids and other people who saw me and started to scream but it wasn’t as easy as it may sound. By this point, I had a whole group of kids following me and mimicking my every move. I think it is fair to say that they were beyond excited to have me back in their village.

The village became quiet as people started heading to church. I opted to stay home and use the time to unpack my belongings. Two of my favorite girls came over and quickly discovered that much to their asking, I had brought some story books for them to read. They were definitely a hit and kept them occupied while I continued to unpack.

On Monday morning, I finally got to see the rest of my kids whom I had yet to see. As I approached the orphanage, the chanting began. Seesta Nicole. Seesta Nicole. Seesta Nicole. A huge grin came across my face as I was greeted by the children and their open arms. They ran to hug me and stare in astonishment although I think that by now they are used to the fact that I am one of the volunteers who actually will come back when they say that they will. I quickly became a human jungle gym once again as the kids jumped all over me, tried to get into my pockets, began playing with my hair, and tried to climb onto my back. Nothing had changed. I was beyond excited to be back.

The children were soon escorted inside and began their devotion. It warmed my heart to hear those voices sing the familiar songs that I had not heard in seven months. They then expressed their gratitude to me and told me how joyous this day was because I had returned. I spent the rest of the day observing the various classes, impressed at how far the children had come since I left. In particular, I was very impressed with the level of mathematics that the oldest two classes were doing.

After eating lunch, I went into town to run some errands. Our stop at the bank took forever as a huge group of CCS volunteers had arrived at the bank just a minute or two earlier and made the line very long. It began pouring but we continued our errands which included making copies of the questionnaires and other forms for my study and buying water. Of course, I couldn’t visit Hohoe without visiting my friend and seamstress, Beatrice, so we stopped by her shop before returning home.

Seesta Nicole is back in Ghana

2010-07-06T21:38:00.000-07:00

After a tiring, long day of traveling from Los Angeles to Washington D.C. to Accra, I finally arrived in Ghana. Although I had been traveling for many hours, it didn’t hit me til I was waiting for my flight from D.C. to Accra that I was actually going back. As I had been looking forward to this trip so much, it just seemed like a dream that would always be in the future. As much as it felt like a dream, I am so happy that this trip is no longer in the future and that I am finally here!

On my flight from D.C. to Accra, I met a 30 something year old woman and her adorable baby. I know, I know, nothing out of the ordinary. The mother was going to Ghana to visit her family for the first time since she gave birth to her 10 month old son, Wisdom. I told the mother that I would be more than willing to hold her baby on the plane if she got tired or needed to sleep or anything. As our flight was only about 65% full, she moved closer to me, which meant that I got to play with him when he was awake which helped make the super long flight a bit more fun.

When we arrived in Ghana, I couldn’t contain my excitement anymore. I knew that it would be hot and humid the minute I stepped off the airplane but I wanted nothing more to get off that plane. After gathering my bags, I was met by my welcoming party: Alex, Raymond, Wisdom, and a few other family members as well as the driver. We traveled about 30 minutes, through lots of Accra traffic to meet Alex’s mother’s at her house. After meeting her and spending some time with her, we travelled another 30 minutes through lots of traffic to Alex and Raymond’s uncle’s house. It has become like a tradition now that we visit him and his family every time we are in Accra so of course, we had to go and visit them upon my arrival. Sammy, Alex and Raymond’s nephew was excited to see me and even more excited about the photos that I brought of him from my last visit. He loved them so much that he held onto them and just looked at them for most of the time I was there.

We were served lunch and then got back in the tro tro and began out long 4 hour journey to Wegbe. As it became dark, I became sad that I would not be able to see my children until the following day. However, when we arrived in Wegbe, out neighbors, Yaira and her family were still awake and I just had to go over there and say hello. They did not know that I would be returning on this day and were so excited to see me that you could hear their screams from down the road. They ran to me and hugged me and were in amazement that I was back. After getting over their initial shock, they inquired as to where Sister Melissa was and when she would be coming. They were not very happy to hear that she would not be coming this time but I assured them that she would be back one day soon.

Back in my Happy Place

2010-07-04T21:38:00.000-07:00

Just a short note to let you know that I have arrived safely in Ghana. Will post more later.

Three Weeks Til Ghana!

2010-06-12T21:39:00.000-07:00

It’s only been seven months since I was last in Ghana but it’s been the longest seven months of my life. December 28th is the day I left Ghana and returned to America after spending a majority of the year in Africa. Three more weeks til I am back there. Only three weeks but it feels like it is going to be the longest 3 weeks of my life.

The plan was to wait until 2011 to return to Ghana again. As I plan on moving to Ghana after I graduate from college, I should be saving my money so that I can start up my new life there. As the flight is quite expensive, there was no way that I would be able to return this summer. It broke my heart to have to think about not returning to Ghana and to my kids in Wegbe this summer but at the same time, I had to be realistic. So, how am I returning to Ghana this summer?

Last summer, while I was in Ghana, I began thinking about my thesis project, something that is required in the Anthropology/Sociology major at Lewis & Clark. I discussed my ideas with Raymond and Patrick and they helped me come up with a topic that would not only serve as a good thesis, but a topic that would also benefit the local community. This is exactly what I wanted. So, I got to work. I developed a questionnaire – actually three different questionnaires, one for children, another for older youth, those in secondary school or university, and one for adults. I received help distributing the surveys and ended up collecting a total of 70 completed surveys. These surveys served as my pilot study. When I returned Lewis & Clark in January 2010 with the smelly, dirty surveys, I knew I had to find a way to continue my research. But I didn’t have the money to get back to Ghana and carry out the rest of the research with a greater sample size in order to write a more accurate and reliable thesis.

Although I was beyond stressed with school and my health problems from Africa, which were still affecting me, I wrote a grant to SAAB, Lewis & Clark’s Student Academic Affairs Board. I went through an interview process where I presented my proposal to a roomful of students who were to decide if my research and proposed project were worthy of a grant. The committee liked my proposal and granted me my optimal budget to carry out my research in Ghana. By this time, I was also working with IRB, the Institutional Review Board, a committee that formally reviews research proposals involving human subjects. This was a difficult process but my hard work paid off a few weeks ago when I finally received approval from the IRB to officially carry out my research. So, I am returning to Ghana to carry out the research for my thesis. I extended my trip, as I wanted to have plenty of time to spend with my kids at Christ Orphanage, my boyfriend (who is a local Ghanaian) and the local community. I will be in Ghana for 5 weeks this summer and I could not be happier. While there, I will also be making plans for my move to Ghana, which is planned to happen next summer.

Of course, I will be updating my blog throughout my journey. Feel free to contact me while I am in Ghana. While I will not have internet access as often and reliably as I do in America, I will do my best to reply to all my emails.

Hope you are all having a great summer. I look forward to sharing my experiences from this trip with you!

My 7.5 Month African Adventure Comes to an End

2009-12-29T21:39:00.000-08:00

I’m sitting at a restaurant called giraffe in the Heathrow airport in London, ordering breakfast. It is 8:25 am and I am on my way home. These past few months have been the highlight of my life and I am not exactly ready for it to be over. I still can’t come to grips with the fact that I am no longer in Africa. Why do we love this commercial, materialistic world that we live in so much? Well, the truth is, I don’t.

I am sure that from reading about my experiences, and just from knowing me, you probably know that I have every hope, dream, and desire to move to Ghana after I finish my college education.

Ghana is where my heart is and I can’t deny that to you or myself. But I know how important my education is so I must complete that first. I know that I can’t just move to Ghana without a plan which is why I have local people currently helping me to research various business options. I love the orphanage and will continue to help the community and the children but I know that I too am a human and I will need money to live on and to survive.

Raymond, the director and founder of the orphanage, his family, and I have become very close. Raymond and his brothers are like my brothers now. A few weeks ago, I was asked how many siblings I had. I answered that I had one sister. Raymond was quick to correct me and explained that I have both a brother and a sister. Raymond considers me part of his family and I too consider him part of mine.

Living right next door to Raymond for these past few weeks was an amazing experience. I loved being right there, in the midst of things, with the local people and the children and not escaping to a hotel. It also helped strengthen my relationship with the local community. I could spend more time with them but if I needed a break, I always could just go into my room.

My room had a front room where I kept some toys and markers for the kids who would come over to play and draw. They loved the mini Etch-a-sketches and on the first day that they used them, they taught themselves how to write my name on it. There was a door behind a curtain connecting that front room to my bedroom. When I first arrived, the room only had a bed frame, a light hanging from the ceiling, and a new paint job. With the help of my brothers, we transformed the room. Wisdom installed a ceiling fan, Raymond helped me with the mosquito net and brought in a comfy chair from his house for me to use. The guys helped me buy a mattress and sheets, lay down linoleum carpet, had a window screen and a screen door made, and put up curtains. In addition, I put up some artwork that I had gotten in East Africa. The room is pretty simple but it became my home and I love it.

And when I return to Ghana, my room will still be there, exactly the way I left it besides the fact that Raymond will definitely use some of the room for storage while I am gone.

I have recovered from my mysterious illness and am doing much better now although it is still hard on my stomach when I eat. They did blood tests as the doctor told me it was malaria but of course, I wanted to confirm that. They found that it was not malaria nor typhoid so we don’t know what it was. What I do know though is that I had to take a break from doing anything and lay in bed for a few days, hooked up to an iv.

By Tuesday, I was pretty much all better and joined the two oldest classes at the orphanage on a trip to the waterfalls. Due to the fact that I was still recovering and did not want to get sick again, I choose not to swim in the water although I had fun just watching the children swim.

On Thursday evening, Christmas Eve, celebrations were held in Wegbe. The children were running around outside, throwing fire crackers and other things that light up. Music was blasting and people were happy, yelling out Merry Christmas to me as I walked by. I gave out glow sticks to a bunch of the kids and they loved them. The men were drumming and everyone was in such a joyful mood.

The following morning, we celebrated Christmas at the orphanage. It was such a lovely day and I was so happy to be there to celebrate this holiday with them. All of the children came to school in their best dresses and, I must say, they all looked adorable. They sang and danced to Christmas songs, put on a Christmas play, and enjoyed sodas and a delicious lunch. After lunch, we separated the children into their classes and handed out Christmas presents which Mark had brought from Ireland. The children were supposed to wait until they got home to open the presents as the teachers thought that the children might loose some of the pieces if they opened them at school. But, children will be children, and eventually the suspense got to them and they all started opening their presents. They were so happy. It was such a touching moment to see the kids ripping the wrapping paper, some of them ripping such paper to find a gift inside for the first time in their lives. The girls loved their dolls and bracelets just as much as the boys loved their cars and sunglasses.

Although Christmas Day was a very enjoyable day, it was also my last day with the children. Of course, it was a sad day for me and I cried my eyes out. My brothers tell me that I shouldn’t cry when I leave because we all know that I will be back soon but for some reason, I just can’t control the tears and somehow they magically appear in my eyes.

I spent one more night in Wegbe before leaving for Accra. On Friday evening, we had a celebration, blasted the music from speakers and danced the night away. The children who were there were surprised that I, a white girl was dancing and just stared at me for awhile before I made them dance with me. They think it is amazing anytime I actually do anything on my own. Dina, Raymond’s wife always wanted to sweep my room for me. I told her that even though their brooms are not the same as ours, I could do it. The children, Dina, and my brothers would just watch me as I swept my room and even applauded the fact that I could do it. Even though I am a guest in their community, I am not helpless and I don’t feel right letting other people do everything for me. The other thing that they thought was amazing was the fact that every once in awhile, I would shower at the house, instead of going over to Raymond’s uncle’s house. They have an outdoor shower that you take a bucket shower in and were so impressed that I actually could shower this way. The children would just stare at me as I walked across the compound to the shower with my towel and soap. It was quite funny.

On Saturday, I had to say a final good bye to my community. It was not easy for me nor for some of the children and that just made me cry even more. Raymond’s brothers packed the tro tro and we drove a few hours, past Accra, to Budaburam. Budaburam is a village about 45 minutes outside of the capital city. This village is a refugee camp but is not your typical refugee camp. There are no tents or anything like that because the refugees, the Liberians, have been there for so long that they have built homes. We visited an orphanage in the camp that was started by Raymond’s aunt, Deborah. She has turned her home into a school for 100+ children and houses only two of them because she does not have the space to house more than that. The children as well as the staff at the orphanage were happy to see me and I spent the early afternoon on Sunday and Monday morning playing and interacting with them. The oldest children, who are about seven years old, told me that they were going to come to America with me, but first they needed to paint their skin white and green. The green comes from the fact that on white people, the veins are much more viable than on darker skinned people. I tried to explain this to them but I don’t think they fully understood the concept.

Raymond’s aunt explained to me some of the challenges at the orphanage and told me that just visiting them and spending time with the children meant a lot to them. Deborah informed me that one of their goals is to start a website. I told her that I would try to help her with that task. I am now reaching out to you. I have no clue how to start a website or what starting a website even entails, but if you personally know how to start a website or know someone who can help with this and would be willing to lend their talents, please let me know. This is a simple way to really make a difference at this orphanage and to help people across the world learn about the orphaned children in Budaburam.

We moved from the orphanage to Raymond’s uncle’s house and spent the afternoon there before departing for the airport in the evening. Sammy, Raymond’s nephew who lives at his grandparent’s house was happy that I had returned and even asked to see the photos of his truck that I had taken. Now, let me tell you that Sammy is a four year old boy and these pictures that he was asking to see were from the day I arrived in Ghana, seven and a half months ago. I was so impressed by his memory that I went through my bag to pull out my computer and show him the photos.

I will leave it to you to figure out how the rest of my evening went after departing for the airport.

That’s the end of this trip. Thank you for following my adventures in Africa over the last seven and a half months.

Kenya --> Ghana

2009-12-11T21:40:00.000-08:00

On December 5th, at 6:30am, my Riruta Satellite host father, Moses drove Kai and I to the Nairobi Airport. I had my big suitcase, full to the brim with stuff and a duffle bag which I carried on as well as my backpack. Before checking in to my Kenya Airways flight, I had to weigh my bag. I guess this is how they keep people like me whose bags are too heavy out of the way of the check in counters. The man told me that my bag was 8 kilos overweight and I needed to take that weight out and put it into my other bags. Luckily, I had my duffle bag and there was still a bit of room in it – enough to fit 8 kilos worth of stuff.

After I finished the difficult task of rearranging my stuff, I successfully checked in and proceeded to the gate. The flight was a bit longer than I expected – about 5 hours until we landed in Accra, Ghana. I was lucky enough to have a seat in the exit row but unlucky to have the dreaded middle seat. After everyone boarded the plane, we were told that we would have to wait awhile as the technicians tried to fix one of the toilets. I was so tired that I fell asleep during this time and woke up just in time for take off.

We touched down in Ghana a few hours later. The minute I exited the plane, I could feel the sticky heat on my body. It was crazy because we were further from the equator in Ghana than we were in Kenya but it was so much hotter.

I went through passport control and customs without any problem. I usually get stopped in customs and have to open my suitcase but this time, the man asked me who I was staying with in Ghana and I said…”do you want his name?” he said, “him?” and waved me off. It was kinda funny but I was glad to get out of the hot airport as soon as possible.

As I walked out of the airport, I was approached and hugged by Alex, Wisdom, and some other guys who are related to Raymond. I knew them all and was happy to see them. They took my luggage and told me that Raymond was in Wegbe waiting for us.

Four hours later, we arrived in Wegbe. I couldn’t have been happier. Alex saw the smile on my face and said “welcome home.” I said hello to Dina, Raymond’s wife and Anderson, Raymond’s son and went to say hello to some of my friends who live nearby. They spotted me before I even approached them and yelled out at the top of their lungs, “SISTER NICOLE.” They all ran towards me and hugged me and then proceeded to ask where Sister Melissa was. They were not too happy when I told them that she was home in America and that she would not be meeting us in Ghana this month.

I spent my first few nights at Raymond’s uncle’s house which is less than a five minute walk from Raymond’s house. I had decided that I was not going to stay in a hotel this time and had asked Raymond for suggestions regarding where I could stay. He told me that I could stay in one of the rooms in the compound where he lives. We had to get the room set up before I could actually sleep there so we spent the first few days buying a mattress, putting up the mosquito net, installing a ceiling fan, and putting the plastic tile looking floor in place. Since I have moved in, we have also put up a screen door and a screen for the window as well as curtains and a mirror. Godwin, my taxi driver came in to my room a few days ago and told me that it was just as nice, if not nicer than the hotel that I had stayed in all summer. I agree and realize that it is much more sustainable and less expensive than staying in a hotel. Plus, I am right here, with the local people and the kids which is nice and when I need a break, I can just go to my room.

I really like my room and the fact that I can leave it and come back to it when I return to Ghana. It’s like I have my own place now! I am very lucky that Raymond’s uncle lives so close as he has allowed me to go over to his house (which he doesn’t live in as he lives in Accra) and use the flushing, Western style toilet and the running water shower whenever I want. This is very important as the toilet at Raymond’s compound scares me and I just can’t use it. And also because it’s nice to have running water and not have to take a bucket shower.

This first week in Ghana has been so hot that I have been somewhat lazy as it is at times, too uncomfortably hot to do anything. It is especially bad when the electricity goes out and the fans stop turning for hours. Nonetheless, I have been doing a lot, from shopping for stuff for my room to taking tons of fabric to my seamstress, Beatrice for her to sew, to playing with and doing art projects with the children, to taking care of some business at the orphanage.

A few random things that don’t really fit anywhere in particular:

Our student leader, Alex who graduated from L&C in the spring decided that she wanted to acknowledge people who went beyond what was required and did something pretty special. So far, I have acquired three army men – which are what she gives out to acknowledge these actions. I believe that I have the largest collection of army men. My first army man was for coordinating and getting all the photos together from the students to send to our host families in Pemba. My second army man was for making it through a very strenuous hike even though I was having issues with the whole concept of hiking uphill and breathing at the same time. My last army man was to acknowledge the fact that I run the charging of electronics in one of the trucks every time we are on the road. It was nice to have something like this acknowledged because it’s not something that people really thank me for.

Also, Melissa, I thought I should let you know that our student leader said that she thought I was the one on the program with the best sense of fashion. On our last night together as a group, three other students were wearing my clothes. I need to thank you because you have played an integral role in inspiring my fashion sense.

Luxurious EA09 Retreat

2009-12-03T21:43:00.000-08:00

Our retreat was short and sweet. On December 3rd, we arrived and checked in to the hotel which took an hour and a half. We were then shown to our rooms, which were mostly triples. As soon as we opened the doors of our rooms, all you could hear throughout the whole hotel were screams. We were not in any way prepared for what we saw. We knew that this was a nice hotel but the rooms were like fully furnished, beautiful apartments equipped with a living room, full kitchen, and two bedrooms. One of the bedrooms had a huge bed, adorned with tons of pillows and was the type of bed that you just want to jump onto. So that’s what we did! I ended up getting that bed which was amazing and was quite a change from the tents that we had been sleeping in for the last few weeks. Each bedroom had its own bathroom with hot water and tons of hotel goodies – shampoo, foot scrub, etc. We seriously felt like we were back in America.

The hotel workers came by our rooms to drop off our bags a few minutes later. I asked one of them how much this hotel costs per night. He said, “is there something wrong with the room?” I had to assure him that there was not a thing wrong with the hotel and that it was the nicest hotel I had ever stayed in before he would tell me how much it cost per night.

Dinner was buffet style and was delicious. We sang happy birthday to Peggy and ate cake for dessert before heading back to our rooms to finalize our presentations for the following morning.

After breakfast, we all met in the conference room and gave our presentations about our projects. Us, General Culture students went in the morning, followed by the Biology students in the afternoon. The presentations were quite interesting but it took so long to get through all of them that we started to loose focus by the afternoon.

After the presentations ended, I went to the Maasai Market with a few friends to spend the little bit of Tanzanian money I still had. As I didn’t have a lot, I figured that I should spend it instead of exchanging it and loosing money in the process. The fact that I only had a limited amount of money with me made it so much easier to bargain. The only negative thing was that it took me so many months to realize this. I ended up getting a bracelet for half as much as I had bought a similar one for a few days earlier. At least I have a technique which I can use from now on.

That evening, we had a nice dinner in a different dining room, set up just for us. We all dressed up for this event and enjoyed our last night together as a group. Some people were much more emotional than others but we all know that we will see each other back in Portland.

The following morning, about half of us boarded a bus to Nairobi. The other half of the students decided that they were going to stay in Arusha as they were traveling around the country independently from the program before returning home.

It was a long drive, especially when we hit traffic coming into Nairobi. A majority of the students stayed at a hotel while the rest of us went back to Riruta Satellite to stay with our host families. My host sister, Peris met me in town and took me home. I was so happy to see her and she was just as happy, if not more happy to see me.

Searching for Bush Babies

2009-12-01T21:43:00.000-08:00

Wow! It’s December. That’s crazy! It feels like it was just yesterday when I was like, oh my goodness, it’s already August. Our semester abroad is quickly nearing the end and in 4 days…yes, 4 days, I will be back in Ghana! I am just a little excited about that in case you couldn’t tell.

Some of the other students on this program have asked me why I love Ghana so much and how it is different than Kenya or Tanzania. There are differences which I don’t really want to get into right now but the thing is that I love Ghana so much because that is where a bunch of people that I love with all my heart live. It’s not because Ghana is so much prettier or that life is much different there. It is because of the people. And yes, there are nice people here too, but I haven’t made the same kind of connections that I made in Ghana in East Africa (except with my 1st host family in Nairobi who I love and am going to stay with the night before my flight to Ghana).

They are amazing for many reasons but let me just fill you in on something they did for me earlier this week. Before leaving for Africa, my mom gave me my paper ticket from Ghana to Kenya and told me that I needed to keep my boarding pass from that flight so that I could get airline miles. So I did. And I sent it home with my sister, not realizing that my paper ticket from Kenya back to Ghana was attached to it. So I was in Kenya. My ticket was in America. My mother called the airlines and was told that it was no problem; she could scan the ticket and email it to me. So, I printed out the scanned copy of the ticket and stopping worrying about this issue for awhile. It wasn’t until a few weeks ago when I asked my mom to double check that I would be able to get on my flight with the scanned copy of the ticket. Of course, she was told that I needed my original ticket and that the scanned copy would do me no good. In an effort to get my ticket to me, my mother express mailed the ticket to the travel agent in Nairobi, Kenya.

This was great. My ticket was in Kenya. But there was still a little problem. I was in Arusha, Tanzania, at least 8 hours away from Nairobi and had no way to get my ticket. As I don’t return to Nairobi until the evening of December 4th, and my flight is early in the morning on the 5th, I was a bit worried about how I would actually get my ticket.

Then, it occurred to me that it wouldn’t hurt to ask my host family from Nairobi to arrange to get the ticket for me. They were amazing and a few days later, they had the ticket, safe and sound in their house where it is now waiting for me.

So, no worries, as long as everything goes according to plan, I will have my ticket and will actually be allowed to get on my flight.

Today was a really good day. Last night, I finished my paper which was due today and just had to print out the raw data to attach to my report. After doing this and chatting with my sister online, which makes my day, a bunch of us went to town to go shopping. I had a few last minute things that I wanted to look for before leaving East Africa and I must admit, I was very successful. The thing I was most excited about buying was a piece of artwork of elephants which my sister really wanted to find while she was here but had no luck with. I had been keeping my eyes open for something I thought she would like and today, I finally found it. I must admit, I really like it too so I hope she has somewhere in mind to put it up at home because it is something that I want to be able to see every once in awhile as well!

Tomorrow afternoon, we are leaving the campsite and the village which we have called home for the last few weeks and moving into a very nice hotel for our retreat which isn’t going to be much of a retreat as most of us will only be there for a day before having to leave to catch the bus to Nairobi. So tonight is our last night of camping.

Last night, realizing that our time at the camp was soon coming to an end, I went on a search to find and see at least one bush baby, I was I not having luck finding them in the trees, even though they would call out every once in awhile, I asked one of the night guards for help. We went on a walk behind camp, with big, bright flashlights, looking for bush babies. After half an hour of searching, we returned to camp. They told me that we should look in the morning but due to the fact that I love my sleep, I was not up early enough this morning to see them.

This evening, after dinner, I set out with James, one of our cooks to find a bush baby. Once again, we were unsuccessful but we did find some tree hyrax which have orange eyes and are quite scary looking when they are staring at you from above in a tree.

Going to the Movies in Tanzania

2009-11-30T21:44:00.000-08:00

The last few days have been paper writing days as our paper for our Independent Study course is due tomorrow. On November 28th, we gave presentations about our various studies to the Olasiti Village Government. It was nice to be able to share our findings and suggestions with them but the meeting was extremely long as everything we said had to be translated into Swahili. The meeting was supposed to begin at 10am but of course, we were on African time and the meeting did not start until 10:45am and went until 2pm.

Earlier in the week, we decided to take a break from academic work and go to the movies. I hadn’t seen a movie in theatre since at least May but didn’t really feel like I was missing out by not seeing any new movies. One of the girls in our group told us that she had seen Inglorious Bastards back home and loved it and suggested that we go to see that. I knew nothing of this movie nor any other movie that would currently be playing so I didn’t really have an opinion.

I was surprised by the looks of the movie theatre when we pulled into the parking lot. This beautiful place was definitely a place only for mzungus and well off Africans. We bought our tickets, got some popcorn, and went into the theatre.

All of the other students loved the movie but I was not a fan at all. As I am sure you guys back home know, the movie is about the Nazis. But it is meant to be a funny movie about how the Jews get back at the Nazis and Hitler. Yes, the Holocaust is in the past but I do not think that this movie was appropriate at all. The movie, although obviously not true made it seem like the way to get back at the Nazis was to torture them and treat them in horrific ways like they did to the Jews which really bothered me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

2009-11-28T21:44:00.000-08:00

Happy Thanksgiving! Sorry for not updating this in quite some time…I have been very busy working on assignments for my International Studies course. As soon as the assignments are completed and turned in, I will fill you in on everything that has happened during the past few weeks.

A brief Thanksgiving update: Even though we are far away from America and are working on writing our papers, we are a group of American students and we felt that it was necessary to celebrate Thanksgiving. We got all the supplies and spent Thanksgiving Day cooking, just like we would have back home. We were lucky enough to be able to use a house with a stove and oven in order to carry out this affair. We made mashed potatoes (which were good but not as good as Grandma Gloria’s) and sweet potatoes and green beans and corn and stuffing and appetizers and chicken and apple pies. It was a very fun day and the end result was absolutely delicious. Our make shift Thanksgiving in Tanzania was definitely a success.

Arusha Homestay

2009-11-24T21:45:00.000-08:00

Our eight day long home stays are coming to an end today. I think that the theory and idea behind staying with a family in the village that we were doing our projects in was a great idea but it was somewhat limited as about half of the group stayed at the chairman of the village’s house. It was nice to stay with Alex and get to know his family and his lifestyle but it was somewhat odd that we were not more spread out in the greater community as I am sure there were other people in the village who would have loved to host us.

It was interesting however to see how Alex, the chairman of the village played a role/ didn’t play a role in some of the projects. For example, Natalie said that when she went to one of the orphan centers with Alex, the director and other staff people there acted much different than on the day that Natalie and I went there with Zenan. I am not sure if they felt threatened or scared or intimidated by having Alex there but it definitely changed the entire environment and the conversations as well as the information which was exchanged that day.

The home stay was a good experience though as I enjoy home stays and could make comparisons with the other home stays that we have done during our program here in East Africa. This home stay was most like the Riruta Satellite home stay as we were in a somewhat modern home with modern technologies in a somewhat poor and developing village. It was interesting to see the way in which other people in the village were living and struggling to get resources such as water and how easy it was for our family to access those resources. Instead of having to walk to a water tap or well or something, our family had jugs of water delivered to their home. This increases their ability to do work around the house and do other important tasks as they do not need to spend the time or energy carrying jugs of water to and from the water tap. I am not sure if the reason that our family had water delivered and always available was due to the fact that they could afford to pay for it or due to the fact that it was the home of the chairman of the village. I am not exactly sure how much power this gives Alex and what kind of rights he has that other villagers lack.

Surveys

2009-11-22T21:45:00.000-08:00

Not many additional surveys got completed today as I was not feeling well and was too weak to walk around and survey people in the village. Four of the five of us staying with our host family got sick at the same time. We were taken to the hospital and didn’t have anything too serious. It took a few days to recover but then we were back to normal.

I tried to go out and do surveys today but didn’t make it more than about 5 minutes away from the house before having to return home to rest. It was somewhat disappointing in that manner but that is life. However, two people from the village came over to the house today and I took the opportunity to survey them so I made a tiny bit of progress but not as much as I hoped to have made.

As I was not out doing surveys, I spent a lot of time reading some of the research that I had found on the internet. It was very interesting and fascinating to read about various people’s perspectives on the issue of orphans in Africa and more specifically in Tanzania.

Orphans: Independent Study Projects

2009-11-20T21:46:00.000-08:00

After splitting from the Biology group, we immediately got started on our Independent Study projects. We were given suggestions and some guidelines but often times, our questions, no matter what they were, were answered by our ‘professor’ saying, “It’s independent.” We had to develop research questions and prepare for interviewing/ surveying people in the village. My research project topic changed multiple times and drove me crazy until earlier this week, I finally settled on a topic that would stick. My research question is: how many households in the village of Olasiti house and support/ care for children that are not biologically theirs? I created a questionnaire and got some help translating it into Swahili. I have been walking around the village with my host sister who is 14 years old and knows English pretty well. We approach people at their homes and my host sister tells them about me and explains what we are doing, why we are doing this research, and answers their questions. Then, they hopefully agree to do the survey and we ask them about 20 questions ranging from demographic questions such as: year born, religion, tribe, etc. to questions more specific to my topic of orphans. We ask how many children the person has and if they have any children living with them that are not their biological children. We then find out why the child(ren) are living in this home and how they are related as extended family culture is big in Africa and relatives will often take in orphans. The survey takes about 10 minutes but we often end up spending more than 10 minutes just explaining our purpose and answering all the questions that the person has about the project, often regarding how it will help them. Being with a group of Americans in Africa for three months was something that I wasn’t really looking forward to very much before our program started. It has been difficult at times as some of the other students haven’t been so understanding and open to African culture and ways of life. Currently, we General Culture students are in home stays in Olasiti, located outside of Arusha. There are five of us in my home stay as we are staying with the Chairman of the village, Alex and his family. I enjoy home stays and don’t mind being the only student in the home stay but others have gotten a bit fed up with that by now so they are really happy that we are grouped together.

The main issue bothering me right now is the fact that spending time with these other students all the time is making them complain vocally at an extreme level. I understand that other students do not enjoy being called ‘mzungu’ when walking down the road and being asked for money and other things but I believe that it is our fault that this happens. Americans make all of these movies and music that display white Americans as rich people, better than other people in this world. Of course Africans who haven’t had the chance to interact with Americans only know what they have seen in the movies. And the children who have only seen white people a handful of times get excited when they see us. Some of the students think that the children should call them by name but they don’t take the time to talk to the children and tell them their names or explain to them that they don’t like being called ‘mzungu.’ It’s funny how they don’t even think about what it is like to be a child here in Africa and to have never seen a white person before but just looks at this through the eyes of someone who thinks they are of higher status.

Maasai Homestay

2009-11-07T21:46:00.000-08:00

This evening is our last night on safari. Although it has been awesome to see and learn about so many different cultures, animals, and areas, I am happy to be going back to civilization. We arrived at our last camp to find our tents already pitched and threw our belongings inside of them before heading off for an half hour hike to a waterfall. This ‘hike’ consisted of walking across the river in places and getting pretty wet, making the rocks that we had to walk on pretty slippery. I definitely slipped and fell a few times. One of these times that I fell, was when we were crossing the river. I freaked out because my camera was in my backpack which came down into the water with me. Luckily, my backpack is amazing and even thought I got soaking wet, my camera did not have a drop of water on it!

When we arrived at the waterfall, we stripped down to our bathing suits and ventured into the water. It was hot outside and we were all pretty sweaty so the water felt so nice. The waterfall was coming down quite hard so we couldn’t go right under the main part of it but we were able to go under other parts of it. After being in the water for awhile, it started to rain. We started to think about how much more difficult this would make the walk back because the rocks would be even more slippery. We hurried out of the water because we were informed that it might flash flood and walked back to camp.

As I am typing tonight, I have little, annoying insects flying around on my screen. I must tell you that I cannot wait to be in a place where there are no biting flies (tse tse flies) and million other biting and stinging creatures. I currently have a bunch of flea bites on my ankles which itch like crazy. Apparently they are from our most recent home stay with the Maasai.

The Maasai home stay was an experience different than anything I could have ever imagined. It is one thing to see pictures of the Maaai and to read about their lifestyle and such but it is another thing to actually be there, living with them, doing the things that they do on a day to day basis. The gender roles in the Maasai family are very clearly defined. The mother stays at home, cares for the children, fetches water and firewood, builds and cares for the house, and cooks. The father on the other hand is responsible for herding and caring for the livestock.

It is amazing how much responsibility the children have as well. One of my host brothers, about 11 years old went out with us to collect firewood and helped with preparing food and cleaning around the house. The children are also responsible for caring for their younger siblings and helping their elderly relatives. It was amazing to see the respect that the children have for people that are older than they are. I couldn’t go anywhere without hearing shikamoo or greeting someone else in that manner. This respect towards the elderly is definitely something that we are lacking in America.

Our host mothers arrived on the morning of November 3rd. Us students we each given a walking stick which we held along with our belongings as all of the host mothers sang together for us. In return, we sang Row, Row, Row Your Boat in rounds. All of us students were lined up and the mothers, all decked out in their Maasai jewelry and kangas with their shaved heads were maybe 50 feet away in a line facing us. In order to decide our home stay assignments, the mothers walked towards us and grabbed onto the student closest to her. Before this occurred, I had no clue that our home stay assignments were going to be random. It was awesome though cause I think everyone had a good experience and the staff didn’t have to go through and pair us up or anything.

We started walking, following the mothers, not knowing where or how far we would be walking. Some of the mothers, including my mother spoke Swahili and the rest spoke only spoke Maasai. We had been given a sheet with important Maasai words but those of us with mothers who spoke Swahili were able to better communicate with each other. As we walked, the mothers jingled as they wear a ton of jewelry…all the time! My host mother took one of her many necklaces off and put it around my neck.

As my host mother and a number of the other mothers lived quite far away, we were picked up by Habibu, our driver after walking for some time. As it was a pick up truck, we all jumped into the back of the truck and smashed together, standing up for the ride. It was quite frightening at times as the road wasn’t great and we would hit potholes or be on a slant which made it feel like the whole truck was going to fall over on its side.

We were dropped off and walked towards our ‘boma.’ As we approached, I saw some children come outside and stand there, just staring at me with huge smiles on their faces. I was happy to have host siblings and would later learn that I actually had seven host siblings. The youngest child, Naomi was about a year old and the children ranged in age to about 16 years old. I greeted the children in the traditional way, by placing a hand on the child’s head and saying ‘supa.’

The boma was made of cow dung mixed with water and mud and was quite dark inside. There was no electricity but there was a fire which provided a bit of light. My bed was a cow hide on top of some sticks. I was happy to have my sleeping bag as I had some major issues sleeping. And every time I moved to try to get more comfortable, which was pretty much impossible, the bed squeaked. The work was physically tiring and at the end of the day I was so tired which helped until I woke up in pain in the middle of the night due to the way I was sleeping.

I was lucky to be sleeping in the room furthest from the fire as other students who had beds in the room with the fire complained about the smoke. The smoke still bothered me, especially when I was helping to prepare meals. It got so bad at points that I had to walk outside and get some fresh air as my eyes were watering uncontrollably. On my second day in the home stay, I had my translator explain to my host mother that when I started crying, it was just because of the smoke from the fire and not because I was actually crying. She totally understood and actually told me at times that I should go outside when she started to see that my eyes were beginning to water up.

After arriving at the boma, Mama and I sorted through uncooked rice and picked out pebbles and even a piece of glass! This is an activity that I did at least once a day, depending on what we were eating that day. It is a tedious but necessary activity as I would hate to bite down on a rock or something worse. Mama, ready to cook the rice, blew on the fire to get it started up again. She told me to try so I did. The children laughed at me as I was not as good at it as their mother or even them.

While Mama was cooking dinner, I went outside with some of the children and attempted to help milk the goats. I didn’t realize how difficult it was and on this first attempt, I made no progress. The milk was brought into the house and added to the chai which we drank while waiting for dinner. Dinner was delicious and consisted of a rice, potato, tomato stew.

That evening, before heading off to bed, one of the translators stopped by to make sure everything was okay and to help with any translations. It was so nice to have the translators come by every day as it helped me express things to my family that I couldn’t express through hand signals or in Swahili. In addition, having the translator there allowed my host mother to feel more comfortable asking me questions about my family back home and life in America.

I was exhausted by the time I got in bed at 9:50pm but unfortunately this did not make it any easier for me to actually sleep as I woke up every few hours during the night.

Here is a piece of what I wrote in my journal on November 5th, during my home stay. “Mama is sitting next to me chewing on something that sounds like gum but isn’t. Every so often, she slurps it and then continues chewing. Naomi starts crying, signaling that she is awake from her nap. Mama carries her back outside in her orange in green dress which makes her look somewhat like a pumpkin. She also brings out Naomi’s bowl of rice and feeds Naomi as she chomps away on her gum like stuff. She calls Kokoyoi, one of her daughters to bring some water. She obeys and sits with us for a minute before mama orders her to do something else. Naomi stares at me, tears in her eyes still and her face covered in food. It’s nice outside today. Yesterday, the sun was so strong that I felt like I was burning even when I was in the shade. It looks like it is going to rain soon – the clouds are dark and grey and the sun is hidden behind them.

Mama drinks water, her jewelry causes her to jingle. She is adorned with beads – from her ears to her neck, wrists, and ankles. Her ears are gauged as are almost all the women’s ears and a majority of the men’s. Even Bibi, grandma, who is at least 50 years old has her ears gauged. Mama drops the spoon she was feeding Naomi with in the dirt. She tries to pour porridge into Naomi’s mouth but just makes a mess. She picks up the spoon and rinses it with the water remaining in her cup. I look up and we smile at each other. She continues chomping away as the wind picks up and the clothes hanging to dry start blowing in the wind. ‘Zach,’ she says and points in the directing from which Zach and his host mother are walking from. His mama is dressed in red and green cloths and of course, is adorned with beads. She jingles as she walks as does Zach as he has beads around his neck and across his chest.”

Later that same day: “It is evening now and although it is still light outside, it is raining. The rain is much needed here as the drought has really affected the Maasai. When we were driving here and even when just walking around, one sees dead cows all over the place. On the drive here, we saw Maasai men sitting and their cattle laying down next to them. The cattle looked dead to me but we were told that the cattle were not yet dead but rather, their owners were waiting for them to hopefully get up enough energy to stand up and walk.

I am listening to the rain hit our tin roof and Mama talking to some relatives. They are preparing dinner by the fire. I would be helping but every time I have gone in to help, I start crying uncontrollably. I am not crying because I am sad but rather because the smoke makes my eyes water a ton.”

On November 8th, we will briefly stop at Lake Natron before spending the entire day traveling back to Arusha. We will have one free day before our last portion of the program begins. At this point, the Biology group will be splitting from the General Culture group. Those of us in the General Culture group will be staying right outside of Arusha in Olasiti and doing our Independent Study projects. I will be working on the issue of orphans and researching, observing, and suggesting ideas about how to improve this issue. Other students are doing their projects on: water, family planning, and other important issues that effect Olasiti (and most other African villages). The Biology group will be traveling more – going back to the coast to do some marine studies and back to safari for awhile. During our last few days of the program, we will all come back together for a retreat in Arusha, where we will also be responsible for presenting about our Independent Study projects.

Hadza Camp, Ngorogoro Crater, Halloween, and more

2009-11-02T21:47:00.000-08:00

On October 24th, after eating lunch, we hiked up the mountain which wasn’t too bad. We were so happy when we reached the top and saw blue tents in the distance, meaning that our camp was getting very close. The safari staff had set up our tents for us as they knew we would be tired when we arrived from this long journey.

During our time at the previous Hadza camp, we learned about the roles of the men and women. Today, we spent the day with the Hadza women and began the morning by visiting their homes which are very small and cozy. It is weird walking into a home that is about the size of my bathroom back home and realizing that this is the amount of room these people have to live in. Its amazing how materially obsessed we are in America and how these people can live with so little and be so happy and content with it. I wonder how they feel when we arrive with our huge cameras and other things that these people do not use or possibly even know of.

We gathered tubers with the women, digging in order to find these roots which were later cooked for us to eat. I must admit that I did not like them at all as they kinda tasted like uncooked potatoes. In order to get to the area where we dug for the tubers, we had to walk for a good 30 minutes and then in order to actually dig for the tubers, the women were doing a lot of physical work. And those women with babies carried them and kept them on their backs the entire time. It is amazing how much physical work they do. We have technologies to do this type of stuff for us back home or we hire other people to do this type of work but these people do this on a daily basis in order to survive. This is normal for them.

We all gathered around as they opened a bee hive and tasted the honey inside which was pretty good. I only ate a small piece because unlike the other students, I didn’t want to eat a piece with bugs in it. The Hadza then taught some of the students how to make fire before we headed back to camp.

We had the rest of the day for free time but there were activities that we could choose to participate in. A group of us sat with some Hadza women and did some beading. I made an anklet and then one of the Hadza women made me two more – unfortunately one has already broken but I am still wearing the other two. A majority of the students made arrows but I decided not to do that because:

a. I had no clue how I would get it home and did not want to have to carry it around
b. I just didn’t really want to make an arrow

But I definitely heard the students ‘wows’ and clapping when someone succeeded at shooting their arrow at the target.

This day was a very hot one and the sun was beating down on us. I put on sunscreen five times on this particular day and guess what…I still got sun burnt. Aloe Vera definitely became my best friend for the next few days!

That evening, we sat around the campfire and the Hadza sang for us. We decided on a few songs and sang to them in return. It must have been hilarious listening to the 30 of us singing rounds of ‘Row Row Row Your Boat’ and ‘This Land is Your Land’ but we managed to pull it off.

At this camp, we had class and presentations on top of a mountain and watched the beautiful sunsets. Some people opted to sleep up on the mountain but I felt safer in my tent and didn’t want to freeze or get attacked by animals or insects during the night.

On October 27th, we traveled through the Yaeda Valley (this time in safari trucks) to Dofa campsite near the entrance of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. We camped in what seemed like the backyard of a mansion. From our campsite, we could see a road – a real one that was paved and everything. It was such a change from the other places that we had camped at so far. This mansion backyard had amazing, hot showers which we definitely took advantage of. That evening, those of us in the General Culture group gave presentations about our findings from the hunt with the Hadza. We had to estimate the abundance of the animals that we had seen or had seen any evidence of (tracks or dung) during our hunt. This was an interesting assignment as all of us students knew that our estimates were not accurate at all especially since we probably did not see as many animals due to our noise and scent.

The following day, we got into five Safari Land rovers, smaller than our Safari trucks and drove to Ngorogoro Crater. Our driver, Kevin was very nice and enjoyed driving us around and watching our expressions when we saw animals. When we arrived at the crater, there was a group of people shooting a music video. I inquired about this and learned that they were shooting a gospel music video. It was neat to watch these Tanzanians all dressed up dancing in the rain. We entered the park but couldn’t see much for awhile due to the heavy fog.

The crater is a touristy area which is described as a gigantic zoo. It is however a World Heritage Site and is considered by many people to be the Eighth Wonder of the World. This crater claims to be home to about 25,000 animals throughout the year while the Ngorongoro Conservation Area as a whole claims to be home to more than 2.5 million animals depending on the season and used to be home to many Maasai and their cattle before they were kicked out. Within the Ngorongo highlands, there are nine volcanoes, one of which is still active. The ash and dust from the eruptions of these volcanoes has been carried by the winds to form the fertile soils of the Serengeti plains.

The crater is the largest unflooded and unbroken caldera in the world. It measures 19.2 km in diameter, 610m in depth, and 304 square kilometers in area. The crater floor has permanent water which supports the large resident population of wildlife. Besides the grazing land, the crater also has swamps and forests which allow hippo, elephants, waterbuck, reedbuck, bushbuck, baboons, and vervet monkeys to live there. The crater is a dynamic and constantly changing ecosystem, home to animals such as wildebeest, zebra, gazelle, buffalo, eland, warthog, dikdik, jackals, lions, leopards, cheetah, serval cats, and hyenas.

We saw two different prides of lions in the crater. One pride walked between our safaris vehicles – which was so amazing. They were so close and we could hear them roaring and growling. It was the most amazing thing ever! We followed them as they went to drink water and watched as one of them fought with a buffalo. In addition, we saw a lioness with one of her children elsewhere in the crater protecting a buffalo that they had killed. They were calmly sitting there as we took pictures and watched them. Its amazing how used to cars the animals in National Parks have become. They are not scared of cars one bit and actually have been known to lie under cars and get some shade causing the driver to be unable to move the vehicle.

This crater is part of the yearly migration of hundreds and thousands of plains animals (wildebeest and zebra). They travel through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, into the Serengeti, the Maasai Mara (in Kenya), and then back into Ngorongoro.

That afternoon, we sped out of the crater in order to get to our campsite on the rim of the crater by 6pm. I did some laundry with freezing cold water which made my hands burn and was interrupted by a very close elephant spotting. The elephant was seriously maybe 200 feet away. It was just hanging out, drinking water from the campsite. Other tourists who had stayed in this campsite for a few nights said that this elephant comes to the campsite every evening to drink water. In addition, during our campfire that evening, we had some zebra come pretty close and visit us.

On Thursday, October 29th, we traveled from Ngorongoro Crater to the Serengeti Plains. As there has been a drought here in East Africa and everything is so dry we didn’t see many animals besides a few gazelles and vultures on the plains. The plains were exactly as they sound – very plain! They are extensive, flat grasslands, but due to the drought, there was not much grassland, rather it was more like short dead grass. Before crossing the plains, we stopped at Oldupai Gorge where the archeologists, Mary and Louis Leakey discovered the earliest hominid remains from 1.8 million years ago. Oldupai was first made famous in 1911 by a man looking for butterflies. Much to his surprise, he found elephant bones instead. In 1928, Dr Leakey visited the Berlin Museum where he saw remains of the fossils and bones found in the gorge. The Leakeys made their way out to Oldupai and spent 29 years doing archeological research. Among their findings were a 1.75 million year old hominid skeleton and a 1.5 million year old human erectus skeleton. In 1978, after her husband’s death, Mary found hominid footprints which had been preserved in volcanic rock 3.6 million years ago and were exposed due to weathering. These footprints were still intact due to the volcanic rocks and ash that hardened on top of the prints. The ash, rain, mud, and other weathering and natural occurrences created five geological layers in the gorge. The first layer (bottom most layer) is made of grey sediment and is rich for early hominid fossil remains from 1.8 million years ago. The second layer is 1.5 million years old and is where human erectus was found. The third layer is about 800,000 years old but due to drought and dryness, nothing is known about this layer. The fourth layer is 400,000 years old and is where human erectus was found. The final layer, the fifth layer is 100,000 years old and is where human sapien was found.

Mary has since passed away but every year, between June and September, research groups come to conduct archeological studies in the gorge. The research occurs during this time due to weather conditions and also because summer is the time when students are out of school and free to come and do research.

After stopping for lunch on the plains, we continued driving and came across some shifting sands. These are triangular shaped mounds on the plains which have accumulated ash from the nearby volcanoes and must have some kind of magnetic energy in them that holds them together.

As the drought is significantly affecting life here in East Africa, we had to change our next campsite plans so that we would not be staying in an area with tons of dead cattle. We stayed at our campsite in Soitorgoss for four nights – the first time in awhile that we have stayed in one place for a significant amount of time and didn’t have to pack up after only a night or two. While in Soitorgoss, there was not much planned for us to do which was amazing! It’s difficult for me to have everything planned out for me. I like to decide when to do things and not have to rely on other people planning things for me and dictating when and where I will go somewhere, but I guess that is part of a program like this one. Before arriving at the campsite, we stopped at a manyatta, which is a traditional Maasai age-set event in which the young Maasai men become warriors. As they were still setting up the event, we just waved and smiled to the children and basically all the rest of the community as they all surrounded our two trucks to see all the white foreigners.

We set up camp, which has become somewhat natural now (but something I will not miss by any means) and got ready for dinner as we arrived just before the sun was setting. Our time in Soitorgoss was mostly free time in order to study and catch up on the readings we were supposed to be doing throughout our safari which we were never really given much time to actually do. I had done a number of the readings but definitely spent a lot of time, actually until the night before the test catching up on all the readings. In case you were wondering, I did in fact eventually finish all of them. I really wish that we would have had more time at our other camp sites to do the readings as a lot of them were really interesting and would have been of benefit to read while we were in a specific area/ with specific people.

On Halloween, we spent most of the day studying for our final the following day. In the late afternoon, we celebrated Halloween by dressing up in costumes. About half of the group had decided to dress up as other people on the program and had drawn names out a hat for that. They surprised me in their ability to mock and dress as each other. Those of us who did not partake in that dressed up as: a superb starling (a bird here in East Africa), a Kool Aid man, and a cheetah (me). Of course, a number of people didn’t dress up as we had a lot of work to do but I decided that I needed an hour break and I think it was much needed and worth it.

On the morning of November 1st, we took our biology final. This means that the General Culture group is now done with our biology course and has one International Studies course left to complete during the last three weeks of our program.

I just keep thinking back to the Lion King. I never realized how much of that movie was really based on things that we have seen and experienced here in East Africa. I can’t wait to watch this so called children’s movie from a different perspective.

Lions, Elephants, Giraffes, Zebra, Antelope, Leopard Part 1

2009-10-26T21:48:00.000-07:00

Written on October 26th, 2009 as well as on other random days when I managed to find some free time.

This morning, the only reason that I have some free time and can work on my blog is because the two other girls in my hunting group were not feeling well so we came back to camp early. I was not too disappointed about returning to camp early because we had spent more than two hours walking around silently, looking for animals, following tracks, and identifying various animal dung. The Hadza hunters that we were with had shot at some dik dik (a small antelope), a large bird of some sort, and a cat but had missed all of the shots. The Hadza, the hunter gathers of the area that we are in rely on hunting for their meat and use a bow and arrow. Going out and hunting animals this morning made me realize how difficult of a task this actually is.

We returned to camp and I did some reading before the other groups returned with their hunters a few hours later. The next group back, a group of General Culture students returned excited. They had no dead animals with them but quickly informed us that the Hadza that they had gone with had shot a giraffe with a poisonous arrow. They were all so excited but as I sat there listening, I was just sad. Sad that we had spent so much time learning about these animals and watching them and now there was a dead one. This afternoon, after lunch pretty much everyone except for me is going to see the giraffe and bring it back to camp. I had absolutely no interest in going with them and felt like if I went and saw the dead giraffe, it would just make me cry. But, they will be returning with the giraffe so I might end up crying anyways.

Good news! The giraffe was not killed by the poison arrow. Apparently the giraffe bled so much that she bled out the poison from the arrow. The group of all the students except about 4 of us went on a search to find the dead giraffe. From what I was told afterwards, they went on a two hour giraffe chase, running after the giraffe for a majority of the time and trying to shoot it again but missing. Eventually they returned disappointed as they had not succeeded in bringing back a giraffe for dinner but had to return because it was getting late and would be getting dark soon.

So, during our free days in Arusha, before safari began, I worked a lot on my blog (which is why it was 15 pages long) but also explored the town. On October 12th, about 10 of us students got up early and went to the Arusha International Conference Center (AICC). This conference center is run by the United Nations and is where the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda is taking place. We had to go through security and turn in our passports in order to receive a visitor’s pass. This pass gave us access to pretty much everywhere but we had no clue where to go. We walked into a building and were directed to the elevator, told to get off on the 2nd floor as the person we asked thought that there was a trial in session there. We didn’t have luck on the 2nd floor and were then instructed to try the 4th floor. We found a trial that hadn’t started for the day yet, put our bags on the shelves, and then walked into the area where people could come and sit to watch the trial.

In order to protect the witness that was being questioned while we were there, he was blocked by a curtain. This witness was referred to as ANAJ in an additional attempt to protect him. Besides that, we could see everything else through soundproof glass. We each received a headset through which we could hear what was going on in the court. When the judges were talking to each other and didn’t want the audience or other people in the court to hear what they were saying, they could turn off their microphone. The court came to order and for quite some time, they tried to figure out technical issues such as the fact that the witness had a doctors appointment on Friday and that they needed to make sure that the trial would not be in session during that time and so on. Then, finally, they started questioning the witness. This was obviously not the first day that the witness had been questioned and the defense lawyer spent a lot of time trying to get at minute details which were apparently important to his case.

The trial took place in English but due to the fact that the witness did not speak English, there was a translator who translated everything for him. The defense lawyer, who was British, would ask a question in English. The translator would translate the question for the witness and then the witness would respond to the question in his native language. Finally, the translator would translate the witness’s response to English. We heard all of this through our headsets. The whole thing with translating made things difficult, as at one point, there was a discrepancy which was due to the quality of the translation.

The defense lawyer asked many questions referring back to the events in Rwanda back in 1993, at the time of the genocide. The witness explained that although he was a Hutu, due to the fact that his wife was a Tutsi, he was attacked and injured. The questioning continued for awhile and both the defense lawyer and witness were becoming fed up and annoyed with each other as was evident by the tone of voice. After maybe an hour and a half or so, the court went into a closed session which meant that we had to leave. We were told that we could come back in awhile so we walked around and found a place to buy some chapatti and other snacks. When we returned to the court room, we were told that the court was still in a closed session and that it would probably be another hour before we would be able to come back in. As we didn’t want to wait around for an hour, we decided to head back to our hotel.

Before we set out to Arusha, our guide had told us that there was a circus called Mama Africa going on and that during the week, the tickets were buy one, get one free. Of course, we were all interested and planned to go on Monday night as we were all being picked up on Tuesday afternoon. I walked with a group of students to dinner and then to the place where the circus was supposed to be. We could see the circus tent and some lights but it was very quiet. As the ‘mother’ of the group, I went to investigate and asked some people if the circus was happening that night. I was told that no, the circus was not happening that night. As some of the students wanted to double check that the circus really wasn’t happening, we asked some other people and were told that the circus was not happening that night due to an outside performance.

We were all disappointed as we were excited about the circus but whatever, maybe we can try to go again when we are back in Arusha in a few weeks. I led the group back to our hotel as one of the other girls commented on the fact that I was like the mother duck with all of her ducklings following her. This is because I am usually the leader and take care of all sorts of things such as checks at restaurants, etc.

After our free days in Arusha, we returned to Olasiti, the village in which our guides live. The tour company that Lewis & Clark uses was established by three brothers who were raised in Tanzania and have lived their lives here but are American citizens. Two of the brothers were with us while we were at the coast doing the snorkeling and the other is now with us on safari. They all live in Olasiti with their wives and have children, most of whom are away in college. We spent two nights in tents in their ‘backyard.’ During this time, we walked around the village as a group and visited some of the places that might be of assistance to us General Culture students when we do our Independent Study projects during the last three weeks of our program. Some of the activities from this day included meeting local village government leaders as well as traditional leaders, visiting an herbalist, primary school, and orphan center, and learning about an organic gardening project.

All of the places we visited were interesting in their own ways. Of course, my favorite stop of the day was the orphan center. Now, this was not a typical orphanage, not even like Christ Orphanage. The orphan center is one of the places where I will be conducting my research as my topic is ‘orphans.’ Other topics for Independent Study projects include water, family planning, etc.

So, safari thus far has had its ups and downs. My tent mate, Peggy and I have become pro at setting up and taking down our tent. It took a few times to get this down but we can now do it without any help and in a timely fashion.

On October 15th, we departed from Olasiti and traveled to Oldonyo Sambu, a community wilderness area adjacent to Tarangire National Park. We camped there for two nights, beginning the safari part of our course. We went on walks where our guides taught us how to tell the difference between various animals, their dung, tracks, and habitats. We used our binoculars not only to view game out in the distance, but also to view birds (which I have decided that I do not particularly enjoy).

On October 17th, we drove a little ways to Mount Sambu. We started the hike up the mountain which looked so much easier than it actually was. I had a difficult time with the hike on the way up the mountain as the altitude made it difficult for me to breathe. At one point, we encountered a cave – to get across this cave, we literally had to spread our legs and put one foot on each side of the cave and move our feet forward to get across. I was a bit scared (okay, rather, really scared) about this cave crossing. After a lot of hiking, we finally arrived at the top of the mountain. It was so rewarding to finally have reached the top! The view was amazing and we took the opportunity to eat some snacks and relax a bit.

The hike down was a bit scary as the mountain was pretty steep and my legs were shaking all the way down. I had to shuffle my feet so that I did not roll over or give in to my wobbly legs.

Later that night, we sat around the campfire, listening to some Maasai and asking them questions. All of the Maasai men who we were talking with agreed that they wanted to open bank accounts and save money as they are realizing that due to the drought, they will not always be able to rely on cattle for their survival. After asking them many questions about their lifestyles, they asked us some questions. Their questions all focused on how cattle are cared for, where they live, and how they are herded in America. They didn’t understand why we did not each own cows at home as cows represent wealth in the Maasai society.

As we were so close to Tarangire National Park, of course we had to go there next! I was excited as our time at the park would actually be two days of game animal viewing. Ken, our professor from Lewis & Clark who is our program leader told us to keep our eyes open for leopards in the trees as the last group that he led got to view leopards in this park. I definitely had my eyes open the entire time, scanning the trees for possible leopards and being pretty much unsuccessful.

A little story about luck. So we are driving along, seeing lots of awesome animals in their habitats and all of the sudden, Lisa, Ken’s wife tells the driver to stop and go back because she saw a jackal. Up until this point, we had not seen any jackals so it was kinda exciting. Of course, not as exciting as a leopard or something though. The jackal was barking loudly and looking up a tree which prompted our guide to look up the tree and realize that there was a leopard in the tree which of course was what the jackal was barking at. It was pretty amazing and the only reason we found that leopard was out of pure luck.

On our first day of game driving, we also saw lions…yes, plural, not just one or two but more like five or six of them. They were so cute! One was sleeping under a tree, not at all bothering by us all staring at him and photographing him; another was in a tree just relaxing. We witnessed another lion run across the road and jump up into the tree to join his friend/ brother. We were all convinced that one of the lions up in the tree would jump because of the way they kept scanning the ground and due to his actions but we did not end up witnessing that happen. In addition, we saw elephants, giraffes, a variety of antelopes, vervet monkeys, baboons, warthogs, hyena, hyrax, and of course lots of different birds. We were able to watch and photograph these animals up close which was amazing but made it somewhat disappointing when we later saw them at further distances.

Tarangire National Park prides itself on having more elephants per square kilometer than anywhere else in the world. This park was a famous hunting group before becoming a national park in the 1970s. Tarangire is filled with baobab trees and in their brochure, it says that the legend about these trees is that “the baobab once angered God. It was thrown to the earth and planted upside down.” These trees are very popular throughout East Africa and live for hundreds – thousands of years.

We had lunch at a picnic site in the park before continuing on with our animal viewing. We stopped at the luxury hotel in the park where work was done on our trucks as they were having issues running. This gave us a great opportunity to see the amazing view of the park from the balcony. We hung out and I took photos of other students and the huge dust storm which we could see moving across the park. It started pouring so I went inside to protect my camera but could still watch all the crazy things that the other students were doing outside.

That night, we camped at a public campsite in the park that had flush toilets and showers! Now this is pretty exciting when you are on safari and only have pit toilets and irregular bag showers. We hand washed our laundry with a monkey hanging around not too far away and apparently had lions and other animals within a distance of our campsite as people (including our professor) claimed to hear the lions roaring during the night. Our laundry pretty much covered the entire campsite – there were laundry lines with clothes hanging on them everywhere you turned as well as random clothes on branches of trees and bushes.

On our second day in the park, we were on more of a mission rather than just game viewing. We split up into groups of four for an animal count on a 10 km transect in the park. The groups of four then broke up into two pairs with a pair on each side of the truck. Each group of four was responsible for counting certain species during our drive which lasted a little more than half an hour. We first did a test transect for 5 km but we did not see many animals out at this time. As a result, the professors decided to add to the species we were responsible for counting. For example, my group was originally just responsible for counting elephants and giraffes but due to the fact that between the pairs on each side of the truck, we only saw a handful of animals, they decided that we would also include zebra in our 10km count. After all of the data was collected, our assignment was explained to us in detail. We were to share our data with the rest of the General Culture students and write a lab report about our findings. This lab report was a bit more challenging than a lab report at school would have been for a few reasons:

1) We were out in the wilderness, in tents. It was cold outside and therefore cold in the tents.
2) We did not have access to computers or other technologies which make research easier.
3) Because we did not have access to computers, we had to handwrite the lab reports and couldn’t just edit our drafts easily like we do on computers.
4) They kept us busy all day and tired us out, not leaving us much time to actually do the assigned work.

Eventually, they extended the due date as we made it clear that it was impossible to get it done on time in addition to participate in all the other required activities. It was not easy to get the teachers to realize this and resulted in many breakdowns by us General Culture students because we were feeling extremely stressed. However, after they realized that they were overloading us, they gave us some time to get the assignment done which allowed us to get a huge weight off our chests and actively participate in the other activities.

On October 20th, we exited the game park which was obvious as the scenery suddenly changed. Immediately outside of the park boundary, there were Maasai bomas (houses) and no wild animals. It was amazing how quickly things changed from the national park environment to the village environment.

We stopped in a village to fill up the gas tanks of our two large trucks. This little stop took quite awhile as they had to use containers to fill up the tanks as there was no gas pump. This provided us with some time to interact with local people which we hadn’t really done during the last week except for with our safari staff. I was so happy to be in the village as it reminded me of my village in Ghana. I walked around a bit and then interacted with a bunch of children. Eventually, my camera came out and all the children were engaged, posing and begging me to take their picture.

After a long stop, we left the village and traveled to the Nou Forest, through the Rift Valley. We had to drive up a steep mountain. During part of the drive, we had a dog running in front of us, leading us up the mountain, having to stop and wait for us at points because our truck was a lot slower than the dog. The sides of our safari truck started hitting tons of trees, bushes, and other plants on the sides. This meant that this stuff was all hitting us as well. It was quite a drive and I was covered with all sorts of beautiful flowers, leaves, thorns, sticks, and other random plant material which made me so itchy. As soon as we arrived at camp, before even pitching our tents, I stripped off my clothes and wrapped a kanga around me. It was very cold but I couldn’t put my jacket back on because I had worn it on the truck and it was making me so itchy.

We set up our tents in the dark and piled on clothing as this camp was super cold. It was definitely the coldest place I have been in while in Africa thus far. Yes, Melissa, it was much colder than even Kenya was when we arrived from Ghana and were freezing cold for days.

During the time in the Nou Forest, we put up mist nets to catch birds to study. I wasn’t a huge fan of this as when birds were caught in the net, they were brought back to camp and held even when they were making sounds which obviously meant that they were scared and wanted to get away and attempting to loosen themselves from the person handling them (our professor, Ken). In addition, the bird was held until a bunch of pictures were taken of the bird (keep in mind that at this time, it was dark outside so the flash was required). I did not take any photos of the birds as I didn’t think it was appropriate and thought it would add to the fear of the birds.

Other than looking at the birds which were caught in the mist nets, we had a free day. While most of the students went to a nearby open area to play capture the flag, I stayed at camp and finished preparing and practicing my elephant presentation. Each of us General Culture students had picked a topic at the beginning of safari to research and present on as part of our Biology class. I chose elephants because I love them but don’t really know much about them except for the fact that they are huge animals, grey in color with a trunk.

As it was so cold, we were all sitting close to the camp fire and I was standing on one side, presenting my findings about elephants. Here are some selected facts about elephants taken from my 10 minute presentation notes:

• Tusks weight about 134 pounds each for males (bulls) and about 42 pounds each for females (cows)
• Elephants have unique tears and holes in their ears which helps researchers tell them apart
• Elephants have padded feet for silent movement
• Elephant’s trunk = no bones, 300 pounds of hair, skin, connective tissue, fat, blood, lymph vessels, and networks of muscles and nerves
• A big elephant feeds from the ground to 20 feet high, higher than a giraffe can reach
• Adults consume about 330 pounds of food per day
• When in search of food, especially when food is scarce, elephants will push over trees, strip the bark from trees, and stomp around, transforming the woodland into open savannah and providing grazing habitat for dozens of grassland species (We witnessed during safari tons of trees that had been stripped of their bark and had been knocked over because the elephants had difficulty finding any other food during the drought)
• Baby elephants weigh about 256 pounds at birth and can walk within an hour after birth
• Matriarchal society: Herd’s welfare depends on the matriarch’s leadership as she sets the herd’s direction and pace
• During a life time, an elephant has 6 sets of cheek teeth – 2 upper and 2 lower – that move into place as the previous set wears out – They go to the swamp as last set of teeth wears in search of soft food and usually die there
• Elephants can make low pitched rumbling calls, too low for humans to hear that can be heard by other elephants up to 5 miles away. These calls travel through the earth and are picked up on the skin of the elephant’s feet and trunk
• There are 15 different types of rumbling sounds
• Poaching epidemic: In the early 20th century, there were 5-10 million elephants throughout Africa. By the last 1970s, 1.3 million, by the early 1990s, 350,000-500,000
• Elephant tusks = underground currency, by the 1970s, elephants were no longer seen as an animal but rather as a walking fortune, worth more than a dozen years of honest toil
• 1970s = sold elephant tusks at $100 + per pound
• Is selling ivory encouraging illegal practices or allowing poor countries to raise money to ‘help with the conservation of elephants?’

I did well on my presentation (100%) even though I was crying part of the time due to the fact that the smoke from the fire was severely irritating my eyes. I was happy with my grade as I put a lot of dedication and effort into my research and in preparing my presentation.

On October 22nd, we hiked a few hours to a waterfall. It was a long hike but not a difficult one as we were generally either hiking downhill or on a flat area. I was not excited for the hike back though as I knew that we would be hiking uphill, something my body does not like at all. It was so cold outside and for this reason; I had no interest in changing into my swimsuit to go swimming in super cold water. However, most of the other students stripped off their clothing, put on their bathing suits, and hopped into the water.

Like on the hike to the waterfall, I was close to the front on the hike back to camp. But that didn’t last too long as I started having lots of difficulty breathing pretty soon after leaving the waterfall. I moved to the back of the line and frequently took stops with our guides who always wanted to stop and look at birds. It was a long hike back and I was so happy when we finally arrived back at camp. My chest continued to pain me for the rest of the day even though we didn’t do any physical activities after the hike.

At this campsite, we saw a number of beautifully colored chameleons. We had been warned that during the drive to the forest, we might have chameleons fall onto us but luckily that didn’t happen. Although they are cool creatures, I know that I would have freaked out if one had landed on me unexpectedly.

The following day, we walked into an Iraqw village and saw the one remaining traditional Iraqw house. It was basically dug into the ground and had a bump over it – for protection and insulation, I assume. From this village, we traveled to a Hadza camp where we would spend the next few days. The Hadza camp was the first opportunity in quite awhile that we could shower. Now think about how much you take showers for granted at home and know that you can take one at any time and that there will always be water flowing from the showerhead. Now, imagine that you are in East Africa where there is currently a drought and you are with 30 other people who all want to shower and you have a few bags of water for showers. Yea, that is pretty much how it worked on safari. There were times when the camp staff had to go get more drinking water and water was to be used sparingly meaning that we couldn’t shower or do laundry for days at a time.

I think the longest I went was 4 days without a shower which was not really fun cause we would do hikes and get all sweaty but couldn’t shower. Wet-wipes became our new best friends. But even when I went four days without showering, I don’t think myself or the other students smelled too bad. This made me think about some of the people at Lewis & Clark who are hippies and decide not to shower for long periods of time. If you walk past them, you get a whiff of their horrid stench – if we didn’t smell much after four days, I wonder how long these hippies go without showering.

After a night in the Hadza village, we broke down camp and put our bags in the trucks. However, this time, we did not get on the trucks and drive to our next campsite. Instead, we walked. And walked. And walked. And walked. We walked across the Mbulu highlands and into the Yaeda Valley through the dried up Lake Eyasi Basin. This long walk was about 10 miles long but honestly wasn’t too bad at all. We had to be quiet as we were with Hadza guides who wanted to take advantage of the ability to hunt animals during this walk. It is obvious that our scent and noise must have made their attempt at hunting a million times harder but they tried anyways. They shot at some impala but did not hit the impala. Towards the end of the walk, at the base of a mountain which we had to climb up to get to camp, we took a little break. There was a Hadza village at this spot with a few bomas scatted near eachother. Besides the open land, animals, and these few bomas, there was nothing else out here. We took the opportunity to eat lunch and I got my dose of children as I got to hold and play with a baby. Everyone on this program knows that I love children and knew that when I got up after eating my lunch, I was heading over to play with the baby.

Life is Precious

2009-10-12T21:50:00.000-07:00

This afternoon, while taking a break from blog writing, I went to the Internet café to send some emails. One of the many emails that I sent was to Mark, the guy who initiated the new site project for Christ Orphanage. I wrote to him to get an update of the orphanage and got a response back from him almost immediately with some very sad news. A week or so before I arrived in Ghana in May, one of the youngest boys at the orphanage passed away. Now, only a few months later, I received news that another one of the children at the orphanage passed away about two weeks ago. This young boy had a mental disability but was starting to excel in school and in his social life. He was a sweet boy who loved when I gave him attention or tickled him. According to Mark’s email, this boy fell sick with malaria and was taken to the hospital where he was prescribed malaria medication. His grandmother who cared for him decided that in order to speed up his recovery, she would give him more medication than he was actually prescribed to take. The following morning, her grandson passed away.

Events like this make me realize just how precious life truly is. It is so sad that these young children and millions of other children around the world who die at a young age are unable to live out the lives that they have ahead of them.

Today marks our last day as part of civilization for the next three weeks as we are leaving for three weeks on safari. I am not exactly sure what to expect but am not too excited to be camping for the next three weeks of my life with no connection to the outside world. This means that I will not have internet access for at least three weeks. I will update you when I get back from this adventure!

Catching Up (With a Super Long Post)

2009-10-11T21:51:00.000-07:00

So since I have so much to catch up on, I am going to try to keep it all in chronological order. Since I have been so busy with school and traveling and stuff, I have to go back a few weeks to fully update you.

What feels like a long time ago, I had to say good bye to my Riruta Satellite host family. The night before I was to leave my host family, we all were sitting around together in the family room. I thanked my family for their hospitality and gave them each a gift. I had brought some of the gifts from home and had bought others at the supermarket, Nakumatt which is somewhat like a Target but not as cool. They all loved their gifts, especially the jewelry I gave to my host mother and sisters which my mom back home had made. In addition to the individual gifts, I gave my host family a photo album with about 40 pictures that I had printed from my stay with them. They loved it and looked through it many times before I even left. I was not expecting anything from my host family so I was quite surprised when my host mother told me that they had some gifts for me as well. They gave me a necklace as well as a jewelry box, a wooden giraffe, and a carved mother and child statue. Even though the gifts were quite heavy, I was very thankful and was sad to be leaving them in the morning.

That night, like every other night, I went to brush my teeth. My host family thought it was weird that I brushed my teeth twice a day but my little sister, Stephanie loved it and joined me every time I went to brush my teeth. Whenever she heard me brushing my teeth, she would run into the kitchen, grab her toothbrush, and join me. It was seriously the cutest thing ever.

The next morning, I worked a bit on my paper for my history class and went on a walk with my sisters to deliver photos to a mother and baby that I had become friends with in town. They were not at the mother’s shop so I decided to hold on to the photos and try to deliver them again before I left Riruta for good. We returned home and hung out there until 1pm when we left for the Riruta Satellite goodbye lunch. My sisters and mother got all dressed up and we walked over to the house where I had been attending school for the last week. Our head Swahili teacher, Rose had told us that the lunch would start at 1pm, mzungu time, not African time so I made sure that my family and I were actually on time. My host mother wasn’t too fond of this as she said that we should arrive around 2pm instead of 1pm. Of course we were one of the first families to arrive and waited around for a good hour before a majority of the families actually arrived. My host father had to work that morning so he came over around 2pm and joined us for lunch. It was frustrating to have to wait for other people to show up for so long but eventually we were allowed to eat the feast that had been prepared for us. After a few hours of sitting around and talking, we left and walked home.

On the walk home, the mother who I wanted to deliver the photos to was at her shop. We stopped by and she told me how happy she was to have the photos. As it was the last time I would see her and her 2 month old baby, Ashley, I wanted to hold Ashley one last time. Of course she was asleep but that didn’t stop her mother from telling me that I should go get the baby. She was behind the shop counter, asleep in a cardboard box. This was somewhat sad but at the same time was better than some of the other places that I have seen babies sleeping in Africa. After saying my good byes, I returned home for the last time and put my bags into the car. My host family then drove me back to the Methodist Guest House where they had picked me up about a week earlier. I truly enjoyed my time with my host family and was so grateful that they welcomed me into their home and were so kind to me. Although it was sad to leave them, I know that they are the kind of people that I will stay in contact with. In fact, I have already communicated much with my host aunt (who I just call my sister because she is 21 and more like a sister) via Facebook since I left Nairobi.

All 23 of us students arrived back at the Methodist Guest House at various times that afternoon/ evening and spent the night there. Being in the hotel, with all of our bags allowed us to reorganize our stuff and pack a duffle bag for our next adventure.

The following morning, we checked out of the guest house and boarded a big orange bus to Mombasa. The trip to Mombasa was an eight hour trip on mostly a good road. And now that I have gone back and checked my last blog update, I realize that I already told you a little about this journey. On this long bus ride, which I spent chatting with David Sperling, our history professor, we saw many animals including giraffes, monkeys, elephants, zebras, and camels. It was exciting when one of us would shout out that we could see an animal and David was impressed when I spotted an animal before the others.

After the long ride, other students apologized to me for having to sit with David for the entire trip but I actually really enjoyed our conversations. He gave me ideas and names of organizations that I should look into as I told him that I had wanted to do the Peace Corps but no longer wanted to as I wanted to continue doing work in Ghana and it was very unlikely that I would actually get placed there. The only part of our conversation that I did not enjoy was when David decided to test me on my Swahili. David is an American man who has lived in Kenya for so long that he is fluent in Swahili. As a result, I was a bit nervous having a conversation with him in Swahili but he told me that he was impressed with my Swahili after only 2 weeks.

By the time that we arrived in Mombasa (which is on the Kenyan coast) that evening, we were informed that it was the end of Ramadan. Our hosts in Mombasa took us to a Swahili restaurant for dinner and then we all went to the end of Ramadan festival. There were so many people at the festival and many rides and much food. We walked around awkwardly for about an hour before heading back to our hotel for the night.

The following morning, we were taken shopping by our local hosts. As Mombasa is 99% Islamic, we had to go out and buy traditional Islamic clothing to respect their culture. The boys went with our male host as us females went with our female host. We first went into a kanga shop where I decided to purchase a two piece kanga – a piece for your head and upper body which is worn over a shirt and a piece that is worn as a skirt. The kangas here are very pretty and have sayings on them in Swahili. I have worn one piece of my kanga, as a skirt but also bought a bui bui which I preferred to wear while in Mombasa. A bui bui is a long dress which basically covers all of your skin and is worn with a head scarf. Our bui buis were black and had different designs on them – mine had some rhinestone flowers on the top center and some on the sleeves. Of course, Mombasa is a very hot part of the country which made it very nice to be walking around completely covered up all the time.

The locals were impressed with our dress and treated us differently when we dressed in our bui buis. Upon leaving the shop where we purchased the bui buis, people stopped us on the streets and others chatted with us from their car windows. They complemented our dress and asked us if we were Islamic. We were no longer seen as tourists when we walked around town and were not hassled by any of the store owners or other people on the streets.

The boys who had purchased the male equivalent of bui buis were also treated in a different fashion. At a governmental event that we attended that morning, the boys were photographed and their photo was published in the national newspaper the following day. Our group of females was photographed as well but unlike the boys, we did not make it into the newspaper.

On one of the first days in Mombasa, David took a group of us for a mini tour of the town. He showed us the market, bank, exchange bureau and internet cafés. On our mini tour, we stopped at the bank to take some money out of the ATMs. The first student to use the ATM was very confused by the exchange rate and didn’t understand that she could type in a smaller amount than the amounts listed for withdrawal. As a result, she took out the equivalent of about $300 USD which was way more than she wanted. Unfortunately this also happened to another participant on our program that missed the warning about this.

One evening, we dressed in our traditional clothing and tennis shoes/ other closed toe shoes and dined at the Mombasa Club, of which David Sperling is a member. The club rules are that you must wear closed toe shoes so we looked awfully funny but obeyed the rules. This club, located on the ocean front is exclusive and very difficult to become a member of. We dined outside at a few decorated round tables overlooking the Indian Ocean. The dinner was delicious and included lime juice which I was not a huge fan of but others truly enjoyed.

While in Mombasa, we also visited the Cultural Center of Swahili which our local hosts, Ahmed and his wife actually started. At this cultural center, Ahmed taught us about the forms of Swahili poetry as he is a Swahili poet, and according to David, probably the best Swahili poet in the world. He explained to us that there are 13 different forms of Swahili poetry and went into detail and described the three simplest forms as well as the role of poetry in Swahili culture. The Swahili poetry forms varied in the rhyme pattern, stanza length, and reason – some for explaining a place or riddle and others for other purposes. After describing all of this to us, Ahmed read us some of his poetry and his wife who is an award winning Swahili poetry reader read/ sang some of his poems.

As the cultural center is adjacent to Fort Jesus, we walked around the fort but did not opt to go inside as admission was a bit expensive. We rather opted to spend our stipend on shopping excursions.

Ahmed also took us to his mosque and showed us how they do the traditional washing before prayer. Ahmed explained to us that women are not as likely to come to mosque but if they do, they must pray in the back as the women are less likely to get distracted from the men as the men are to get distracted from the women. Some mosques, like orthodox temples have separate areas for the women to pray that are sectioned off from the men’s area.

Ahmed showed us the way that he prays and chanted some of the prayers for us to hear. As Mombasa is 99% Islamic, there are lots of beautiful mosques and the call to prayer which occurs five times a day (and which I think is really pretty to listen to) can be heard from a number of mosques throughout the day, starting early before the sun rises until evening.

After our stay in Mombasa, we boarded a bus, ready for another full day of travels. After driving not too far, we had to all get out of the bus and board a ferry which took us across a large body of water. We had to wait for the next ferry to take our bus across as the ferry that we were on did not have room for the bus. Other people who were in busses or other vehicles did not have to get out of their cars to go on the ferry but the officer who was instructing us on what to do wanted to show us who was boss and made us all get out of the bus. During this trip, we also crossed the border from Kenya to Tanzania. Once we were out of Kenya, we had to drive for awhile before arriving at the Tanzanian border which confused me because I was not sure if that land between the two border points was part of Kenya or part of Tanzania. About half of the students in our group already had Tanzanian visas and the rest of us had to buy visas there at $100 each. At the border crossing, we were harassed by guys trying to change our Kenyan shillings into Tanzanian shillings even though there are signs every where that say that such activity is illegal.

We stopped for a quick lunch – we literally had five minutes to find food and get back on the bus which meant that we all had nuts, chips, and soda or juice for lunch. The bus then took us to the Tanga Airport which is the smallest airport I have ever been in. This makes sense as the plane that we took was the smallest plane I have ever flown in. As we arrived at the airport about 2 hours before our plane was to depart, we sat around outside and waited. Some of the boys played soccer while others of us worked on our essays which were due in a few days.

After sitting around for a long time, we finally went into the airport which consisted of a small little waiting room and a desk with a very old scale and a little bit of counter room which served as the check in counter. We had to put our bags on this counter as the guy weighed our bags which had a 15 kilogram (30 pound) limit. Our teacher had separated us into two groups – my group had 13 people and the other group had 11 people. The thirteen of us in my group were to go on the first plane and the 11 others plus two other passengers were to go on the second plane. As the planes can only hold 13 people each and there were only two flights, we had to send three other people from our group (our leader’s wife and daughter and our student leader) a day earlier.

We were taken through security which consisted of us opening our bags and then the staff performing a wand body check (or whatever you call the metal detector wand type thing that they use when you set off the metal detector at real airports). This process was quite funny especially in comparison to all the security features that we are used to any and everywhere else.

The thirteen of us then boarded our tiny plane. Seriously, I was so scared! I knew that it would be a small plane but I never imagined that it would be this small. The plane was so small and compact that one of the students even got to sit in the front with the pilot. I did not opt for this seat as I thought that if the plane was to crash, I would rather be in the back where I couldn’t see what was happening and probably had a better chance of surviving. Luckily, I did not have to test this theory.

During the 22 minute flight, I took a bunch of photos from the window. It was pretty awesome as the plane didn’t really get very high so we could totally see everything on the ground and the reefs in the ocean which we flew over. Landing was the part that I was most nervous about and was a bit bumpy but I guess that is somewhat expected on a small plane.

After landing, we walked off the plane and entered a totally empty airport. Our luggage was brought in and placed on a conveyor belt type thing which was lacking a conveyor belt. We spent the hour that we had to wait for the rest of our group playing Hearts which has become our group’s favorite card game.

We were finally joined by the rest of our group and had a bus waiting outside the airport, ready to take us to a guest house in Wete, where we would spend our first night in Tanzania. We arrived at the guest house around 6pm, just in time to watch the sunset over the Indian Ocean. I was the first person up on the rooftop, watching the sunset while taking photos. While up on the rooftop watching the sun set, we watched as hundreds of bats flew over us. It was beautiful to watch the bats flying past the moon in the evening sky.

We then met as a group as David wanted to brief us on our second home stays. David left Mombasa a day before us and had arrived in Pemba early to meet with the village elders and finalize the plans for the home stays. This home stay would be much different from the Riruta Satellite home stay as we would be in a much more rural village on the island of Pemba. Unlike our first home stays, where all but one of the families were Christian, all the host families on Pemba were Islamic. As the home stays in Pemba had only been done once before and had been a success, David told us that over a hundred families wanted to host us. As there were only 23 students and about 4 students were quite sick, only about 20% of the families that wanted to host a student were able to. This home stay was only a two and a half day home stay but unlike our first home stays, we would not attend class but rather hang out in the village with our families and learn about village life. In addition, we had been warned that our host families in Pemba would probably not speak much English and there was a possibility that the only way we would be able to communicate with them was through Swahili. After only two weeks of Swahili classes, this was a bit nerve racking.

That evening, some of us attended another Ramadan festival. In the Islamic religion, the fasting of Ramadan continues for 6 days after Ramadan ends so the celebrations continued for those six extra days. Personally, I think it is just an excuse to continue partying. I wasn’t super excited about attending another Ramadan festival as the first one was not too much fun but the electricity was out and there wasn’t really anything else to do that evening.

The walk to and from the festival was the most interesting as I spent the whole time chatting with one of the guys who worked at the guesthouse and offered to walk us to the festival. He explained to me how Pemba operates on two lines of electricity – the old line and the new line and how only one line was supplied electricity at a time resulting in many blackouts. We also discussed Tanzanian politics or rather he talked to me about it because I knew nothing of Tanzanian politics. While at the festival, we got somewhat bored and went to buy some sugarcane which we shared with the rest of the group. I fell in love with sugarcane last summer in Ghana because the night guard at CCS would bring it to me quite often but many of the other students who went to the festival had never tried sugar cane before. Some of them loved it and others just hated it.

We pulled up to the village of Tumbe the following afternoon in two dolla dollas which have pick up truck fronts and have two benches of wooden seats in the pick up part of the truck with an aisle down the middle. There were barefoot children standing outside, waiting for our arrival. David had told us that the families were very excited to host us and probably spent the whole day waiting for our arrival. Being in the village made me so happy as it reminded me a lot of Wegbe, the village I stayed in while in Ghana. The only difference here was the fact that I couldn’t communicate much with most of the people (which is somewhat an issue in Wegbe) and I had to walk around completely covered up and sweating hot.

Since Tumbe is an extremely Muslim village we were dressed in our traditional clothing which we had to wear during the entirety of our two and a half day stay. We were shown to a courtyard where we sat down and waited to hear who our host siblings were. The host siblings were standing around, waiting to take us home and show us off to everyone in the village. My host sister picked me up and we walked home, exchanging a few words in Swahili. She kept talking too fast for me to understand what she was saying and when I asked her to repeat it again slowly, she repeated it at exactly the same speed. I would later learn that this would be a common occurrence when trying to communicate with the people of Tumbe.

When we arrived at the house, my sister took off her shoes so I did the same. We entered the house and she showed me the room I would be staying in. There was a Queen sized bed, some cupboards, and windows and a bunch of empty space. My host sister, who had a very difficult name that I could never remember, introduced me to another sister, who also had a very difficult name. I don’t think they could remember my name either as they always just called me ‘friend.’ Both girls were probably about the same age as me. My host sisters made me show them my clothing that I had brought with me which consisted of a kanga, a skirt which went to my knees but was too short to wear at all during my stay in Tumbe, a pair of capris, and a few shirts. They pulled out the kanga and tied it tightly around my head. I had been proud of myself in Mombasa for finally figuring out how to properly tie the headscarf so that it wouldn’t fall off but they wanted to be certain that there was no potential for my headscarf to fall off.

I met some other people who I assumed were part of the family but am still not really sure if they were part of the family or just neighbors and friends. I took out my Swahili dictionary to help me communicate and they loved it. They took the book and looked at it, trying to learn English words. My host father arrived and introduced himself. He told me that he wanted me to come and see his office, which ended up being right across the road from the house. He was one of the two chiefs of the village and showed me the chart on which the voting for the chiefs was tallied up on. He decided that it was important to teach me the body parts in Swahili as I did not know any of them. After he wrote down the words for arm, leg, each of the fingers, nose, mouth, etc, we moved on to food. I knew most of the food words but he added in some strange and unfamiliar new words that he told me I should learn before I left.

After our Swahili lesson, he took me back across the road to meet one of his sons who instantly decided that he wanted to marry me. This son, like his father spoke English pretty well. He asked me questions about America and then told me that we should go on a walk to the farm. A group of about 5 of us walked down the dirt road to the farm. One of the young men climbed up a coconut tree and threw down a couple of coconuts for us to open. The other guys cut the coconuts and gave me the coconut milk/ water to drink. I am not a huge fan of coconuts but drank some before handing it off to one of the guys to finish off the milk and eat the coconut meat.

We then walked back to the house and I was served a late lunch of rice and vegetables as David made sure that my family had understood that I did not eat meat or fish. I spent the afternoon playing with some of the children. My youngest host brother who was about 12 years old took me across the road and showed me his school. They were excited when I took out my camera and posed for a ton of pictures.

That evening, another one of my host brothers arrived and told me that he wanted to take me on a walk through the village. I agreed and we chatted as he told me how he wanted to marry me as well. I am very used to this by now and know how to handle these conversations and the harassment about marriage but many of the other female students on my program who did not know how to handle such situations were not happy about this. This is something that came out in our discussions about the home stays after the home stays had ended.

We walked around the village and my host brother took me to meet his grandparents and some other family members. We ran into some of the other mzungu (white people) and my host brother introduced himself and talked to each and every one of them. Eventually, we returned home and I ate dinner on a mat outside with my host father and his two wives. Like in Ghana, meals are eating outside and with your hands. I was glad that I was already familiar with this as many of the other students were not and some of them didn’t even know that it was not appropriate to use their left hand while eating until after the home stay ended.

I went to bed somewhat early that evening and slept on the far side of the bed as I assumed that one of my sisters would be sharing the bed with me. When I awoke in the morning, I was the only one in the bed and was confused as to where my sisters slept. However, I did not want to burden myself with having this conversation with them in Swahili.

The way I was awoken that morning was quite funny as one of my sisters woke me up at 6am and told me to go to the bathroom. After I obeyed this, she told me to go back to sleep. The reasoning behind this puzzled me and continues to puzzle me – I guess some things are just not understood across cultures.

After awakening a bit later, my sisters instructed me to dress in my bui bui and once again tied the headscarf around my head very tightly, making sure that none of my hair was showing. We were to meet all of the other students at the secondary school at 8am mzungu time that morning. Of course my brother and I were on time and as a result had to wait two hours before everyone else arrived. I don’t really mind dealing with African time when I know that things will run on African time but it really annoys me when they say that it is going to start on American time and then it actually starts on African time.

We walked around the secondary school and looked into the classrooms which were arranged around an outdoor compound in the center. The classrooms have no doors and are just open to the outside which I can imagine must be difficult when one class needs quiet in order to take an exam or something. When the others finally arrived, we were all seated in a classroom and were addressed by the school’s headmaster. There was basically no reason for this meeting except for the fact that we took a pretty cute group picture.

We returned home and I spent the rest of the morning playing with Zachariah, a baby who I had fallen in love with. During the few days with my host family, I also held a tiny 3 month old baby who was the smallest, most frail baby I had even seen. It saddened me that this tiny baby was obviously very premature or sick and was suffering. It was something that I still cannot get off my mind.

After lunch, my host sisters took me to the beach which was very nice. As we were all in our bui buis, we couldn’t really go into the water and I didn’t know how far I could pull up my bui bui to get my legs wet. Both on the way to the beach and on the way back, we visited some of my sisters’ friends and greeted the elderly with the greeting used to greet elders which basically translates to ‘I bow at your feet.’ On this walk, we were joined by many children who laughed when I attempted to speak to them in Swahili and got a huge kick out of me saying ‘bata bata bata’ which means ‘duck duck duck.’

After our visit to the beach, I decided to take a shower. I entered the bathroom and was immediately surrounded by a million mosquitoes. I immediately came out and tried to communicate with my sister about the issue in the bathroom. She did not understand the word mosquito so I had to take her into the bathroom and show her all the mosquitoes that were flying around everywhere. She got a cloth and swatted the mosquitoes out and thought that the situation was a bit funny. During the rest of my time there, I would occasionally hear her talking to other people about this mosquito issue and explaining to them that I was afraid to go into the bathroom with so many mosquitoes due to the possibility of getting malaria (again).

On my last night with my host family, one of my sisters did henna on my arms and legs. We had gone to buy the henna earlier that day but my sister decided that she wanted to do it at home. I didn’t realize how long of a process henna was until it was midnight and my sister was just getting started on my feet. She did the henna on the floor in the bedroom which I stayed in. There were 10 or so other women in the room as well as well as some children watching me get the henna.

Let me explain this a little further, now this was no ordinary henna where you get a flower or something small on your arm or something. This was intense henna. My sister started with my hands and did the backs of my hands as well as the palms and my arms, about halfway up to my elbows. After doing the outlines in black, another woman put the brown henna inside all of the flower petals and in other various places. I think that the best way to describe it would be like coloring in the designs. As one of my sisters was doing the henna, the other one started doing my hair. She made five big braids which luckily came out easily because I was not a fan of them at all.

By the time that my sister started the henna on my feet, I was so tired. She instructed me to lie on the bed as she sat at the end of the bed and worked on my feet. This in itself took an additional hour and a half. So, basically the whole process of henna took 6 hours. It was insane! And I saw so many other women in the village who had so much more henna than I did at the time that my sister finished. I could not even imagine how long it must have taken them.

As the henna process went on until 1:30am, some of the women and children who were watching fell asleep on my bed. My sisters kicked everyone off the bed so I could go to bed and everyone else slept on a mattress on the floor. It was kinda weird as there was a whole other side of the bed but I didn’t want them to think that I was ungrateful for the hospitality so I slept on the far side again, leaving room for one of my sisters to possibly sleep on the bed even though I didn’t expect them to actually sleep there.

That night, the bed got super dirty as the henna dried and rubbed off in my sleep which is normal but very messy. In the morning, my sister told me to go to the bathroom and followed me there. I was a bit confused but then she turned on the shower and washed off my hands and feet, scrubbing off the remainder of the dried henna, leaving behind the henna designs on my skin and the gorgeous orange nails that she had given me by painting the brown henna on them. I did not realize at the time that it would take a few months until the orange nails completely disappeared as I would have to wait until my nails fully grew out for the orange-ness to go away.

The next morning, I was served breakfast and then my siblings and I walked to the house where they had picked me up a few days earlier. We said our good byes and boarded a bus for about a half hour ride to the ferry dock. The bus backed into a parking space on the boardwalk and freaked all of us out as we were scared that we were going to back up too much and fall right into the ocean. Luckily, there was a huge concrete ball our bus hit and which stopped us from actually falling into the ocean.

This ferry ride was my first experience on a boat here in East Africa and let me tell you, I was not a fan. At all. I had my barf bag close at hand but luckily didn’t actually need to use it although I sure felt like I needed to at multiple occasions. About two hours later, we arrived in Zanzibar. We packed into another bus and drove to our hotel, the Garden Lodge in Stone Town. This coastal town is also highly Islamic but due to the fact that Zanzibar is so touristy, our professors decided that in Zanzibar we did not need to dress in our traditional clothing. Instead, they let us be tourists for a change. As a result, we dealt with many shop owners and other people hassling us to buy their products or come into their stores. As almost all of us girls had henna on our legs and arms, we were questioned many times as henna is often a sign that you have either recently been married or have attended a wedding. This is the main thing that separated us from the rest of the tourists in Zanzibar. The touristy portion of this part of the trip did not end there.

For one of our first meals in Zanzibar, we all dined at a restaurant on the beach which prided themselves on serving pizza and gelato. Everyone was in heaven. I didn’t even miss pizza and rather just ordered pizza. But I gotta admit, the gelato was mighty tasty. And we returned to this restaurant two more times for free meals that week.

During our afternoon classes which occurred on the rooftop of our hotel, we could hear the call to prayer. Often times we would have to stop conversation as it was too loud to talk over. These afternoon sessions were either group meetings or featured a speaker. My favorite speaker was a lady named Beth. Our professor, David had met Beth by chance on his flight to Pemba just a few days earlier. Beth is an American lady who is probably about 50-60 years old and now works for Millennium Village Projects. She was a very inspirational speaker and is working on a village project in a village on the island of Pemba, close to the village we stayed in for two and a half days.

Beth told us how she became involved with Millennium Village Projects and how luck had so much to do with it. She had no education in anything relating to her current work but met a guy named Jeffrey Sax one day when he moved in next door to her. Jeffrey Sax started the Millennium Village Promise program and convinced Beth to jump aboard on the project. She has been working for him ever since even though the name of the organization has changed over time.

It was amazing to hear how much of a role luck played in Beth’s story. It was luck that she met Jeffrey Sax, just as it was luck that our professor met Beth and asked her to come speak to our group. This reminded me much of the way in which I became involved with and ended up at Christ Orphanage. It was all through luck. Honestly, it was all luck that I ended up in Ghana in the first place. The program that I volunteered with had a program to the African countries of Tanzania and Ghana. I wanted to be home for my sister’s high school graduation and the program in Ghana had a trip leaving the US the following day. I arrived in Ghana not knowing how much this experience would change my life.

I was very lucky that I was placed at Christ Orphanage. A majority of the volunteers through CCS work in education – either at schools or orphanages -- and for some reason they placed me at Christ Orphanage. The best things that could have ever happened to me occurred that summer and the children at the orphanage and Raymond, the founder of the orphanage truly changed my life forever.

In her discussion with us, Beth stressed the fact that when you are looking for something, especially if you are specific about what you are looking, luck will play a role and help you. I didn’t really know what I wanted but I sure am happy with the results.

Another one of our meetings was to discuss the Pemba home stays as many people were not happy with them. Many of the girls felt uncomfortable with the way that they were treated by their host families, especially their host brothers. This meeting was a good chance for all of us to get everything off our minds about the home stay and to share ideas with our professors for the next year’s program. As the Pemba home stays the year before went so well, they had not expected that our group would have so many issues.

While in Zanzibar, we had a fair amount of free time which was nice and allowed us to relax/ work on the three essays that we had due that week. In addition, we had our Swahili oral exam while in Zanaibar. The end of our time in Zanzibar marked the finish of our Swahili class and one of our International Studies classes.

As a group, we visited the Sultan’s Palace/ Museum which was somewhat interesting as we had learned about the sultan in our history course. In addition, we visited the site of the former Slave Market. It was somewhat similar to the Slave Castles on the coast of Ghana which I have visited.

During our time in Zanzibar, I became responsible for collecting photos from all the students to send to our host families in Pemba. This meant that everyone had to put their photos on my computer and pick out a few that they wanted printed. I made a folder for each student and kept the photos organized so I could organize them after they were printed. On our last night in Pemba, I received the printed photos which looked amazing and labeled them so that the families in Pemba would know which ones were for them. This required a bit of work on my part and the nagging of the students to bring their memory cards to my room and decide on the photos they wanted to send. I was happy that the families would get these pictures though because I know that a lot of the students on our trip will go home and never send any photos to their host family. The people in Pemba are very rural and I am sure that they will treasure the photos that we sent them forever.

In Zanzibar, we also visited a madrasa school – a mostly Islamic school. This school went from primary to secondary so there were students of all ages at the school. It was a very well organized school which was evident when we toured the classrooms and met some of the students. They were excited to have us at their school and were very welcoming.

We spent another one of our days in Zanzibar visiting the Jozani Chwaka Bay National Park which is home to a beautiful forest, many monkeys, and a mangrove forest. The monkeys were so cute but not quite as cute as the monkeys at the monkey sanctuary in Ghana. We couldn’t feed these monkeys either but they got very close and let us take lots of cute photos of them. The photos were even cuter by the fact that many of the mother monkeys were holding onto their babies. One of the babies was very active and was practically performing for us and posing for our cameras. After taking hundreds of photos of the monkeys, we went over to the mangrove forest where we were able to walk across the mangroves which are coastal trees that grow in tropical/ subtropical areas.

In addition, we visited a family owned and operated spice farm. The spice farm was awesome as I didn’t realize where so many of the spices that we use in our foods everyday actually grew. The vanilla, cardamom, nutmeg, and other spices smelled so good. The cinnamon was seriously the most amazing thing though. The cinnamon tree bark tasted just like cinnamon and the root of the tree, believe it or not is the source of Vicks vapor rub. And trust me, it smelled just like the Vics that we buy at the market. We also were shown and got to smell coco, coffee, star fruit, cloves, black pepper, curry, ginger, iodine, passion fruit, henna (body paint), and chili peppers. Some of the students decided to try the chili peppers and ended up crying their eyes out.

From Zanzibar, we traveled north to a beautiful beach resort called White Sands. We spent the day relaxing on the beach, laying in hammocks, and swimming in the beautiful, clear ocean. I spent a few hours laying on one of the hammocks, writing in my journal, and watching the ocean. I loved the fact that while I was lying in the hammock, I could hear the group of guys next to us talking in Hebrew. There were four Israeli men and two Israeli women – probably in their mid 20s. It made me realize how much Swahili has made me forget Hebrew. I was trying to think of basic words in Hebrew but all that kept coming to my mind was Swahili. I guess my foreign language part of my brain cannot hold very much but I already knew this.

After a lovely day on the beach, we woke up early and boarded two small boats that picked us up right on the beach where we had been swimming the previous day and took us to Pemba Abwe. This boat ride might sound like fun to most people but as I have been feeling quite motion sick here in East Africa, I was not looking forward to the boat trip at all. I got some Dramamine from another student which made me so tired but I couldn’t fall asleep on the wooden benches lining the sides of the boat because I felt so sick. The Bodine that my mother had sent here to help me with motion sickness which has no side effects at all did not help me at all on the boat and car rides, which is why I had to resort to the Dramamine this time around. After about two hours, I was so incredibly tired and got up and laid down in the middle of the boat, on the ground with the bags. I was finally able to fall asleep and slept for the last two hours of the trip.

When we finally arrived in Pemba Abwe, I was so relieved. That afternoon, after being reunited with our big bags that we had left behind for the last two weeks, we got settled in our bondas.

We quickly changed into our swimsuits and set out to practice snorkeling as the biology snorkeling aspect of our trip was to start the following morning. I was one of the few people who had never been snorkeling before and to be honest with you, I was a bit nervous. Lisa Clifton, our professor’s wife helped me find a snorkel and mask that fit me and some fins. I guess we picked out a good pair of fins because a ton of other people’s fins ended up giving them blisters but mine were perfect and didn’t hurt at all nor leave any blisters. Lisa took me into the ocean and helped me get comfortable with breathing in the snorkel. I was not a fan of this at all that first day but by the second day, I became a pro. When we were practicing in the ocean, we mostly stayed in shallow water where I could stand but I was a bit scared about the next week when we would be snorkeling in deeper water.

That evening was very tough for me as I felt sick and still felt like I was on the boat and I was rocking. This was a feeling that stayed with me the entire week and didn’t go away until a few hours after finally leaving the coast. As a result, I went to sleep relatively early every night as the nauseous feeling made me feel too horrible to actually do anything.

On the first real day of snorkeling, we ate breakfast at 7am and boarded the boats by 8am. I did not want to be exhausted all day so I didn’t take any medicine before the boat ride. By this time, I had started getting used to feeling sick when traveling so I just worked my way through the pain. The boat ride took about 30-40 minutes and stopped near the protected reef, Maziwe, where we spent most of our snorkeling time. Lisa went out into the water with me that morning and showed me all the cool things that are possible to see when you go snorkeling. I never before really realized how many beautiful animals and plants lived under the ocean’s surface. Honestly, I was a bit grossed out by the ocean before this trip and was extremely scared to swim with fish.

As I was still a bit nervous about the whole snorkeling thing, Lisa suggested that I wear a life jacket. I loved this idea and actually wore the life jacket during snorkeling the entire week. This meant that I could not swim deep like some of the other people but I didn’t care because I felt so much more comfortable and safe this way.

The first day of snorkeling was a day to explore the ocean and look at all the animals, coral, algae, etc. We snorkeled for about 2 hours that day before returning to the boats to go back to Pemba Abwe. After eating lunch that afternoon, I was so exhausted from all the snorkeling that I took a nice, relaxing nap.

While we were snorkeling that first day, we were told to think about what most interested us on the reef as we were going to be split up into groups to do research later that day. As I wanted to use the life jacket all week, I was restricted as to which groups I could be a part of. This was the case because some of the groups, like Lobsters and Octopus required the researchers to dive under the water to gather data. As a result, I got placed in one of the two Benthic Communities groups. Benthic means bottom dwellers and basically meant that we were collecting data on the corals, both hard and soft, algae, sand, and rubble. I was in a group with two other girls and we started to practice our strategy of collecting data the following day.

Our strategy to determine the amount of coral, sand, rubble, etc. was to use a quadrate which was a meter squared and was made out of PVC pipes. We would throw the quadrate in various directions, swim over to the quadrate, estimate the amounts of the various things that were inside the quadrate, record our observations, and then do it all again. It was pretty simple and did not require me to dive under water at any point.

We collected data for two and a half days. One and a half days of data collection was spent at the protected reef, Maziwe, and the other day of data collection was spent at an unprotected reef, Fungazinga. After collecting all this data, we had to average it all out and come to some kind of conclusion. We had to present our findings to our group, as well as to some of the local community members, including a dive team. This data that we collected had never been collected before and hopefully will help the community. It is hoped that in the future East Africa study abroad programs, the students will continue to collect data in the same way so that at some point in the future, there will be data on these reefs over an extended period of time.

During our week of snorkeling, the weather was amazing and the water was in the 80s. Luckily, I was thinking and had brought a swimming shirt and capris to wear over my bathing suit and wore them every day. Others on my program didn’t really think about the sun and got quite some painful sun burns over the week. On our last day of snorkeling, the weather changed a bit and the water got very choppy. On our way back to Pemba Abwe from the reef, our boat was rocking back and forth way more than it previously had. I was so scared and was sure that we would tip over and fall into the water. Seriously, I was probably the most scared I had ever been in my life. It was hot out and the sun was beating down on us as we had to remove the tarp that provided shade on the boat due to all the wind. I was so scared that we were going to tip over that I was just holding on to my life jacket the entire time. I didn’t want to take the risk of letting go of my life jacket to get my sunscreen and apply it so I didn’t. As a result, I ended up getting a bit burnt that last day.

After fighting with the waves and the wind for awhile, we turned off the motor and put up the sail. This meant that our 30-40 minute boat ride turned into more like a two hour very rocky boat ride. I was too scared during this ride to feel sea sick which was pointed out by my professor. However, I explained to him that I would much rather be sea sick than be so scared out of my mind and convinced that we were going to tip over. The guy steering the boat as well as many of the other students thought I was hilarious as I was definitely the most scared about this experience. Luckily, my professor had used his entire camera battery taking underwater photos and only was able to get one of me freaking out on the boat ride.

I had figured out exactly what I would do if the boat were to tip over and was prepared for the worst to happen. Luckily, I did not have to test out the strategy that I developed in my head. I had never been so relieved to arrive back at Pemba Abwe as I was that afternoon.

Off to the Coast

2009-10-02T21:53:00.000-07:00

As I fell asleep last night after only writing a little in my blog, I will work on continuing to write this week. Today, we are heading to the beach for the day and tomorrow we are heading back to the mainland of Tanzania. We will not have internet access for about a week as we will be snorkeling in the Indian Ocean so I will have a lot to update you on next time I am by a computer.

Let me apologize in advance because I have a feeling that there are grammatical and other mistakes in this blog post, like there have been in my other posts but I have no time to reread it and make those corrections.