So much has happened since my last post. I don’t even know
where to start. I’ve been at my site for a few weeks now. I’m officially a
Peace Corps Volunteer. For the first three months we are not supposed to start
any projects, and from what I understand that means any projects that require
funding. Really we are supposed to be integrating into our communities and
learning the language.
My village is predominantly Sefwi people and they speak the
Sefwi language. However, as far as I know, Sefwi is a dialect of Twi, so anyone
who speaks Sefwi can also speak Twi. I’ve been in continuous debate with myself
as to whether I should continue to learn Twi or start to learn Sefwi. So I’ve
decided to continue learning Twi, officially, as of today. It will be more beneficial
in the long run because more people speak Twi than Sefwi and Twi is spoken in
more parts of Ghana. So Twi it is.
I haven’t really done much these past few weeks so it’s easy
to feel like I’m just wasting time, but I guess that is how a lot of people feel
in the first three months. I went to farm with my mother one day and the rice
farmers let me pound the rice grass into the container. Afterwards the told me
that I need to bring them machines so they don’t have to do so much manual
labor. As the popular Ghanaian English saying goes…it’s coming.
School has resumed so I will be attending classes at the
junior high school and primary schools in my villages. I’m going to observe for
a small while and eventually will conduct small lessons about health. I want to
gauge what the students already know and how they like to be taught before I
start with any kind of lessons. I think it will be fun. Sometime this week my
community mobilizer and I will go on a transect walk of my town. That means
that I will go and visit all the boreholes, other water sources, place of open
defecation, rubbish sites, etc. It’s a way to learn about your community and
it’s needs.
On a completely different note, I had to travel to Kumasi
this weekend to the PC Sub-Office, the KSO, and when I came home I got my cat!
My two sisters, Akosia and M’Adowa (aka Ruby 22 years, and Lydia 8 years) took
my to the other end of the town to get the little kitty. I wanted a girl cat
and that’s what I got. She is white with beautiful blue eyes and she has a grey
spot near her right ear and a little grey tail. She’s the size of a beanie baby
– it’s adorable. I decided to name her Pineapple. As all the Ghanaians tell me,
pineapple is my “best food.” I eat about a pineapple a day and I thought that would
be a cute name for a cat. Anyways, welcome to Peace Corps, Pineapple! Right now
she is hiding under my bed, but she keeps popping out every now and then to
check it out.
I’ll try to be better about updating! I finally bought an
internet modem for my laptop so I can connect more often now!
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