Two Weeks Down , Two to Go!

We are now on day 14 of our adventure in Ghana!  It feels like we have been here for months – other days it feels like we just got here.  Although our jaws are no longer hanging open, we still feel very much awake and alert to all the things going on around us that are so different from home.

We just spent the past week at Adjamarko where we helped construct a kitchen that will be attached to the village school where children ages 2-8 attend.  They are so grateful for our help and the kitchen will make it so much easier for them to prepare food for the children. 

We rode a tro tro (which is public transportation that is wilder than any ride you would get on at Disneyland!) stopping for 6 bags of cement.  We had already arranged to have 100 pre-formed bricks delivered to the site so we could start building right away and then had a brick-maker help us form the bags of cement into another 100 bricks.  By Thursday the walls were up!  Our mason was amazing….so strong … carrying buckets of mortar as though they were buckets of feathers.  Ben and Riley gained a ton of muscle and I gained a ton of knowledge that I am not as muscular as I might have thought – I was so sore – my knees, hips and back from using the pick axe and shovel and hauling water. 

Before leaving for Ghana I envisioned playing with groups of children, blowing bubbles and teaching them little songs and games.  But this has not been the case!  Unless I am sure that there are only 5 or 10 children within earshot any attempt to play is chaos as 50 or 60 children will suddenly appear and with their poor understanding of English and my poor understanding of Cree there is so much excitement and confusion that whatever I had intended to play with has to be put away.  For example, yesterday I brought out bubbles and within minutes a 2 year old was crushed by the crowd of 4-5 year olds and fell against a concrete slab and cut his lip.  Another little girl did a face plant into the dirt and there was nothing to clean her up with besides the edge of her school uniform.  So the bubbles went back in the backpack – which was so disappointing for everyone including me.  Turn taking and getting in line are just not in their make-up!

We visited the clinic that Riley and Raegan have been working at – this has been a really good experience for both of them.  Raegan was happy to take the bag of stickers there as even the adults look forward to getting one.  Raegan tells the story of an elderly man who visited a week after getting a sticker – he still had it – he transferred it to whatever he was wearing and it was looking pretty ratty.  He loved his little monkey sticker!

We have not done any official site-seeing yet but every day feels like we are sight-seeing as soon as we walk out the door!

I love all of the food we have tried so far.  Fufu was delicious – and made in such an interesting way.  So much work!  Rice jelloff is also a favourite and the little bananas are delicious.  We go through several bunches each day along with the pineapples that are soooooo green on the outside but soooooooo sweet on the inside.  A pineapple is 1 cedi which is equivelant to about 60 cents.

When the children see us they call out “Abronie! Abonie! How are you?”  and within minutes they are following you no matter where you happen to be going.  In the village we rarely see children with their parents – siblings take care of their baby siblings carrying them around on their backs when they are not much bigger than the babies themselves!  A two year old can be wandering around for hours with no one apparently concerned about their whereabouts.  So different than at home.  But they are very safe in their villages – everyone is so industrious and busy. 

The thing I am missing most is running water.  Living without hot water has not been a problem but running water is a very nice thing to have! Water is so heavy – I am grateful we have a flushing toilet but it needs a good 2 ½ gallons of water to have it flush properly so using the washroom is a bit of a chore if the bucket is empty and water needs to be hauled.

All of the water we drink comes in small 500 ml bags that are sealed.  They are quite convenient but the small bags are everywhere – I have not yet seen a garbage can in a village or town.  It is a shame really as the country is so beautiful yet so littered with debris.  The water costs about 5 cents a bag and we each drink 4-6 a day.  It can be bought anywhere on the street.  Children carry stacks of it on their heads to sell. It is always a bonus if they have had a fridge to keep it cold – yum! 

We have done laundry twice now – that also use some muscles that I have not been used in a long time!  The washing part was fine but the wringing was brutal – Ben’s clothes dried 3x faster than mine because he could wring his out so well. 

When our host mom asks, “what have you taken today?” I always hesitate for a second until I remember that she is meaning ‘what have you eaten today?”  The family we are living with this week are wonderful – they have twin boys – 21 years old and so much fun and so helpful and kind.  The do all of the family laundry, the ironing and the carrying of water.  It amuses me when I see ironing boards everywhere – in villages, in small huts, in houses – there is always an ironing board and if electricity is not available then a coal iron is used.  I thought I had better iron my skirt for Sunday and one of the twins caught me and said, “Oh!  Let me do that!”  I could tell my capability was being questioned!

Our friend Patrick, who Riley and Raegan met when they arrived in Cape Coast has started his own NGO called ProAid (Riley helped him set up a website online for the organization so that volunteers can apply to come to Ghana and work through his program).  We have been really grateful for all his help and assistance almost daily in helping us make sure our donations are going to places that are most needful and setting up the kitchen project for us.  Patrick is 28 years old and has lived in Ghana his whole life – he was married 5 months ago but his wife, who is a teacher is only home on weekends. 

Morgan is loving Africa and is adamant that she would relocate here in a second if the opportunity arose. She has been a great travelling companion for all of us!  She is smart, funny, easy going and so agreeable – we are so glad she came with us! Raegan and Riley feel the same about living in Ghana – they could easily live here.  But last night we went to the internet café and Raegan applied to the college in Lethbridge for school in September.  She is ready to buckle down and try to get into a dental assisting program.  Riley is also registered for his 2^nd year at the college.

Posting photos here on the blog has been too time consuming so I have only posted on facebook.  Add any one of us as a friend if you are interested in seeing some of our days in Ghana so far!

July 30  2011 – Ben’s birthday!

We took a day off the usual activities and found a nice resort hotel where we could spend Ben’s 17^th birthday – it was a quiet little spot with a pool overlooking the beach – we spent the afternoon there with some local friends who we spend much of our time with.  We all treasured our time in the public bathroom in the hotel that had running water and a clean and sparkling flushing toilet.  Ahhhhhhhhh!  Heaven!

August 3^rd

This afternoon we went on the canopy walk.  This was amazing!  Walking on swinging bridges high above the treetops…Agnes, who does tours on the weekends, and who runs a little orphanage on her own was our tour guide.  She scrubbed and shined all 13 orphans this morning and brought them all with her!  Ages 1-6.  They were sooooo good – so quiet and shy but you could tell they were so excited to be out with us!  I have posted  some photos on facebook …