pictures of family and friends

a good day

Yesterday was a good day. We had language lessons in the morning and in the afternoon we had our African drumming and dancing practice. Both Twi teachers decided to combine two of our classes and we played language games. One of the teachers would say something and we had to translate it into Twi, or he would ask for certain vocabulary words or how to greet certain people. For example…one way to say “my name is” or “they call me” would be “yefrε me Hayley” and “I am twenty-two years old” would be “madi mfee aduano-mmienu.” So we did these kind of exercises for two hours and my team ended up losing (we only had 3 people and they had 4) but it was only by a few points…it was fun though and I think we were all surprised by how much Twi we have actually learned. After class I had 3 hours of independent study so I came home to hang out with my host family and eat some lunch, and then I ended up watching a couple episodes of Sex and the City.

At 3pm we all loaded into the Peace Corps bus, which is always a good time because it has AC. We drove to the Peace Corps hubsite in Kuku and got ready to practice our dance. I think the dance we have been practicing is actually from Nigeria and I think it is called “Flowers.” It’s actually pretty fun. We all look pretty silly doing it next to the Ghanaians but it’s definitely entertaining.

After dancing I came home and hung out with my sister for a little while, then my brother, Mark, and my friend Derick (his Ghanaian name is Abrokwea) came into the courtyard, so we all hung out together. My sister told me I was making dinner for us, so I decided to keep it simple and I made some spaghetti but I had no meat sauce so we just added butter. I told them I would make some better food when we go to the market and I can buy some ingredients. They kept laughing while I was cooking because I couldn’t touch the metal pot because it was so hot, but they kept picking it up with their bare hands. Fun cultural exchanges. After dinner I went to fetch water with Mark and I was trying to explain to him what a lightening bug was but I don’t think there is a Twi word for lightning bug. When it started to get dark I decided to put on the movie Tangled for all the kids that had accumulated in our courtyard. There were about 20 people gathered around my little computer and they all loved the movie. After the movie the younger kids dispersed and it was my sister, Millicent, my brother, Mark, Derick, and a few other friends of my brother that live here. They were showing me how they dance…apparently there is a dance called Azonto and they just kept saying it’s the crazy dance. It’s fun to watch Ghanaians dance because they all dance so well. It’s so unfair. We stayed up till about 1130 talking (or they were talking in Twi and I was trying to guess what they were saying), but as my language lessons continue it is easier for me to recognize some of the things they are saying. At one point all the guys were making fun of my sister because they were telling me she keeps sneaking off to call her boyfriend but she kept denying it. It was a really fun night and I’m really glad I’m living with the family I am. I really like them a lot and they are really very nice and patient with my Twi slash good about translating to English.  

This morning I am going to the Methodist church with my sisters Millicent and Grace and I think my younger brother Kujo is going as well. I think some other PCTs are going there with their families as well. The church is right next door to our house so we don’t have to go very far, which is nice. Then after church, hopefully, a couple of us are going to Koforidua (a nearby market town) so we can use the Internet. It will be the first time I have used the Internet since I left Philadelphia. I am really dreading checking my email as I imagine there will be millions of emails to sift through. 

my take

Two days ago a PCVL (Peace Corps Volunteer Leader) came down to Anyinasin to help train us. Her name is Katie, and she lives up in the Northern Region I think, and speaks Dagbani. She came to my house for dinner last night, so it was nice to chat with her one-on-one about Peace Corps life and the projects she has participated during her service. She was telling me about a widespread HIV/AIDs testing and education campaign she started with some other volunteers. It was really interesting to listen to. They took a year to test 37 villages and educate the people on HIV/AIDs. I think she said they ended up testing around 4,000 people…maybe more. Everything was voluntary and confidential. Apparently the HIV/AIDs prevalence rate in Ghana is less than 2%, which is pretty good compared to other African countries, but when you move down towards the capital, Accra, the number is a little higher. Listening to her has made me more excited for my service. Training has been stressful because we are all trying to learn a new language in 4 weeks and a lot of information is being thrown at us – it just didn’t seem to be what I thought Peace Corps was, but that comes when we actually start our service.

After dinner last night, the majority of us went to Leahy’s mom’s “spot” (a local bar) for some “American Time.” Once a week or so a bunch of us will gather like this and just talk, in English, and distress. It helps a lot and it’s always a lot of fun. We have some pretty funny people in our group, so we are always entertained. Apparently there is a Ghanaian alcohol called Apeteshie (not sure how to spell it) but it is pretty much like moonshine or firewater. Katie thought we all needed to taste it at least once while in Ghana so she bought everyone a little taste of it. I could smell it from my seat when she sat it down in front me. Imagine really strong smelling tequila. I can’t imagine myself drinking too much of that. It has a nice burn as it goes down!

Today we have some more census training – we have been learning how to take a census and how to ask questions regarding certain topics etc. After that, this afternoon we are driving up to Kuku (Kukurantumi) for our drumming and dancing lesson. We have to learn an African dance for our swearing-in ceremony on April 19^th. All the PCTs dance in front of our trainers and host families and I’m sure it will be quite embarrassing, but entertaining for the Ghanaians. My brother was telling me that I get to pick some material (fabric) and my mom will make me a dress and then matching outfits for the rest of my family for the ceremony. Most families do that for the ceremony so we can tell who belongs to whom and so they can show their support. It’s pretty cute. 

past two weeks...

These past two weeks have been pretty fun but hectic. My little brother, Richard, had a cold and I’m pretty sure I got that from him, so I have been sick for about a week, which isn’t too fun, but I’m starting to feel better.

It’s been hard adjusting to the food. There doesn’t seem to be much variety. It’s usually a type of meat with some starch. Banku and Fufu are popular here. I forget which is which, but one is mashed yams and cassava and the other is mashed yams and plantains. This turns into something like looks like bread dough and then you dip it in a stew/soup. I don’t really like it because I feel like I am eating slimy bread dough and you can’t chew it otherwise it expands in your mouth, so my mom has been giving me rice and noodles and other soups/stews, beans, etc. Ghanaians also eat with their hands, so that has been hard to get used to because everything is scorching hot. My family always laughs at me because I’m not used to touching a boiling pot with my bare hands but they are. The other day they were grabbing hot coals to move them around and I was grimacing, which was entertaining for them. They also don’t eat anything that is cold, so when it’s a million degrees outside it gets even hotter when your dinner is boiling. Luckily my mom often gives me some pineapple, which is so delicious. Ghanaians also eat out of the same bowl as each other. So the girls sit at once place and the boys at another and they all have the same bowl to eat out of…I have my own, except for one night when I shared some Fufu with my sisters.

Last week I got watch my older brother, Mark, kill a chicken. I think it was pretty entertaining for them to watch my reactions because I’ve never seen a chicken killed before. This chicken happens to be the same chicken that stole food off my plate the other day…it shouldn’t have done that! So on Saturday, my brother caught the chicken and held its wings down with his feet and then he poured water down its throat, which I have been told is a tradition that some Ghanaians have before killing a chicken so that it can have a safe passage to the next world. After giving it some water he slit its throat and let the blood pool into a hole he dug in the ground. After that my two brothers poured some boiling water on it and started plucking its feathers (all has been captured on my camera!). Then my mom came and started to chop it up for dinner. That was definitely and interesting experience. I hope I don’t have to kill my own chickens when I go to site, otherwise I won’t be eating chicken!

The next day all the PCT (Peace Corps Trainees) and our host parents went to meet the village chief. You can’t talk directly to the chief so you have to talk to his counterpart who refines what you say and then tells the chief. As is tradition in Ghana, when going to visit the chief you have to take a gift, and they prefer hard alcohol. So our trainers took the chief some schnapps. Another tradition is that the elders pray to the ancestors and ask for help and wish others well, etc. After doing so, they pour libation and pass around the schnapps so everyone else can do the same. We each got some and poured a little on the ground and drank the remainder. It tastes like moonshine, so at 830 in the morning this was not so great for our stomachs!

After meeting the chief I went to church with my family. We went to my brother’s church, which is about 5 minutes away (my sister usually goes to the Methodist church next door, but my brother prefers the Pentecostal one because his uncle is a preacher there). There was a lot of dancing and singing and then all of a sudden I heard my name being called. So my mom and sister took me up front to introduce me to the church. I forgot to mention but I have been given a new name here in Ghana. I am not called Hayley anymore (at least by Ghanaians); instead, my Ghanaian name is Dokua (sounds like doe-kwee-uh). Apparently Dokua is a special name because it was my mother’s mother and everyone really seemed to like her. 

akwaaba (welcome)

Akwaaba!

Well I’ve been in Ghana for about 2 weeks now, and so much has happened. It feels as if I have been here for so much longer.

I will be working in Ghana as a Health and Water/Sanitation Volunteer but we are just usually called WATSAN Volunteers. In total, there are 24 of us. We started out with 25 but after a few days at our training site we lost a girl to ET (early termination).

The first few days after we arrived in Ghana, we stayed in Accra at a local university called Valley View. We had some introductory workshops and basic lessons in Twi (one of the many languages spoken in Ghana). We had two PCVLs (Peace Corps Volunteer Leaders) with us at Valley View. Beth from up near Tamale and Mikey from Kumasi. It was really nice to have them around and share their experiences and hear all their advice.

During one of the days in Accra we had to divide in groups and go into Accra. This is called Accra Quest. We broke up into groups of 3 except for one group of 4 (two married couples) and we all had tasks we had to accomplish and return to Valley View. My group was instructed to go to Kaneshi Market, Kaneshi Station, and the STC. It was extremely hectic but very fun. We had to find our own way there and back within 4 hours I think. Everyone had places scattered throughout Accra. Our group ended up having to go the furthest…more to come on that later…let me explain how we are supposed to get to these places….

The local transportation in Ghana is quite something and that was how we had to get into Accra. Most people take Tro Tros, which are small vans that can sit about 20 people plus bags and various animals like goats. Its not uncommon for the lights to be broken or have holes in the floor. Tro rides are always interesting. There is a driver (and you never talk to him) and a mate. The mate is in charge of filling the tro and collecting the fare. However, you have you be able to decipher what they are saying as they shout out their destinations. One place is known as “circle” so the mates call out “circle circle circle…” while swinging their hand in small circle except it sounds nothing like “circle circle circle” more like “circ circ circ” or if you were like us and had to get to Kaneshi station, they would call out “circ-kanesh.” If they are going to Accra they usually yell out “accra accra accra” while pointing up to the right. There are various signs like this. This is how the majority of people in Ghana travel.

So back to us. We flagged down a tro and had to transfer tro’s in a little city called Medina before Accra. We made it to our destinations and decided to walk around the market for a while to kill some time before we headed back. They sell everything at the markets. Material (fabric), batteries, stoves, soaps, live crabs and snails, smoked fish, pigs feet, etc. You can imagine the smells. Experiencing a typical Ghanaian market is quite interesting.

We decided it was probably time to start heading home but before Adam, the only guy in our group, decided to take Leahy and I down this narrow alley that sold car parts. “Charlie” is a common name given to white men – they use it to mean “friend” – so as we were walking down this alley all the men were shouting “Charlie, how much for your sisters?” Several men grabbed our hands and proposed to us (not uncommon here in Ghana). One man actually bowed down to me and touched my ankle. None of this is aggressive or scary (don’t worry mom). It’s pretty entertaining actually. But apparently if while shaking their hand they scratch your palm it means they want to take you back to their place dot dot dot…! Hah. That happens too. These things always make for good stories later.

Anyways, we made it back to Valley View but we were the last group. We got in a tro accident on the way back...our driver hit a taxi so that delayed us and then there was crazy traffic in Medina. In total, it took us 6 hours to complete this mission, when it should have taken about 3 or 4! Still it makes for an interesting story later.

On one of our last days at Valley View we learned how to take bucket baths (goodbye American showers) and how to HANDWASH our clothes. Bucket baths really aren’t that bad. It makes you realize you don’t actually need that much water to get yourself clean, but as my hair gets longer it might get harder to get all the shampoo out!

You usually have two or three buckets for washing your clothes. The first is filled with water and a powdered soap, the second has water and you can use a bar of soap for extra scrubbing, and the third is a rinse bucket. To get your clothes clean you have to scrub (with your hands…duh) the armpits and the collar pretty well. It’s definitely an arm workout.

So after our time at Valley View we traveled up to Anyinasin, a town in the Eastern Region. We will be here in Anyinasin for 3 months about doing Pre-Service Training (PST) and living with a Ghanaian family. We have all been divided into our various language groups because we will all be going to different regions that speak different languages. 14 out of 24 are learning Twi (the most common language, pronounced chwee), 3 are learning Dagbani, 3 are learning Dagaare, 3 are learning Kaseem, and 1 is learning Ewe. I am learning Twi so that means I WILL NOT be going to the Upper East, Upper West, or Northern Region. I could be going to Central, Volta, Eastern, Western, Brong-Ahafo, or Ashanti but we don’t find that out till sometime in March. I’m lucky that I am learning Twi because my host mother and aunts and some uncles don’t speak English.

The family system is complicated in Ghana because Ghanaians considered everyone their sister, brother, mother, father, husband, so if you want to know if they are “real” brothers and sisters you have to ask “same mother same father?” otherwise it could get real confusing. In my household I have my mother, Margaret, an Aunt, 3 uncles (1 speaks English), 5 brothers, and 2 sisters…I think everyone is accounted for. I don’t know two of my brothers’ names because they aren’t my real brothers, they are my brother’s friends who live in the compound, I think they are in their early 20s. So my “real siblings” are Apweyah or Mark 23 years old, Aduwah or Millicent 16, Kujo 16 (I don’t know his English name), Orgray or Grace 12, and little Richard 5. There is always something happening here. Mark and Millicent speak English really well so I talk with them a lot and they translate what I say to my mom. But as I continue to learn Twi I will be able to speak with my mom better.

My days are pretty busy. We usually have some training exercise in the morning or late afternoon and in between that we have language and culture lessons. 3 hours of language instruction with our teacher and 3 hours of independent study, which sometimes turns into naptime or other various things like that. Our language classes are really small…just 3 people so it makes it easier to learn and ask questions. And they are outside, usually under trees or on a porch.

My typical day….

4am: woken up by church bells

6-6:30am: officially get up

6:30-8am: bucket bath and eat breakfast, talk with family

8-12pm: classes

12-1pm: lunch

1-5pm: class or independent study

5pm onwards: dinner and hangout with my family or sometimes with Americans for designated “American time”

8pm (9 at the latest): bedtime!

But usually throughout the night I wake up to goats, sheep, chickens, people preaching, music, etc.