Busy Busy Busy

Well a lot has happened since my last post. August is flying by, like every other month. September 8^th will be my seven-month in Ghana mark, if you can believe it! At this rate, two years seems like nothing, but we’ll see how long I can keep that mindset.

In the beginning of this month, my fellow Health/WATSANers and I had our Reconnect In-Service Training (IST). We stayed in Kumasi for a week, where were learned everything there is to know about being a PCV in Ghana. We learned about different kinds of grants and funding options and how to apply for them, previous PCV projects, HIV/AIDS, malaria, Moringa, and much, much more. Even though we were in session from 8-5 everyday, I truly enjoyed it. After three months of not being able to do much at site, this IST really got me motivated and I am very excited to start work in my community.

As PCVs we are not allowed to write grants during our first three months and last three months at site. If you look at the calendar that means that we only have about a year-and-a-half, which doesn’t seem like enough time, especially since most things move pretty slow over here. During our training I filled a piece of paper, front and back, with ideas I have for my community, but knowing my timetable, I’m trying not to become overzealous. But still, I’ll do what I can with the time that I have and we’ll see what happens.

Afere has a lot of mosquitoes; therefore, there is a lot of malaria – real malaria, that is. As most people know, mosquitoes like to breed in standing water, which Afere also has a lot of. Most of the standing water, from what I have observed, comes from bathhouse run off. Households don’t have the proper drainage system outside, like a soak away pit, so the water just collects in puddles outside. Some households do have soak away pits, but they have not been constructed properly and just fill to the brim with water. Even though these families have attempted to stop bathhouse runoff, the pits aren’t functioning correctly, which just exacerbates the problem. Due to this problem, I think one of my main projects will be helping households construct proper soak away pits and educating them on the prevention and seriousness of malaria. Building soak away pits is a relatively lost cost project, so I think I can get people motivated to participate, as long as they understand why they are doing it.

Another project that I am in the process of starting is working with HIV/AIDS patients at my local clinic. One day I was perusing the USAID website and I just happened to stumble upon an article about my local hospital in Juaboso. USAID has implemented a project to sensitize the hospital staff regarding HIV/AIDS. The project aims to stop the stigmatization and discrimination of people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHIV). In Ghana, HIV/AIDS is a very taboo topic, so most people living with HIV/AIDS do not talk about it or admit it. Many are abandoned by their families and lose their friends. Some don’t even want to be tested because they fear that if they are positive they will lose everything, so they feel it is best not to know. PCVs all over Ghana are working to stop this way of thinking and show that you can still live positively even if you are infected. It’s a long and arduous process but one day it will happen, just like PCVs helped to eradicate Guinea Worm. Juaboso hospital has a HIV/AIDS clinic where they conduct voluntary counseling and testing (VCT). I met with the pharmacist in charge of this clinic and he showed me their facilities. They have a room with couches and a television, and a separate room for counseling and testing. I was very impressed with what they have already and I could tell the man was very dedicated to helping his patients – that made me happy. He mentioned that they were interested in forming a support group, but hasn’t started the process yet. After I went through my “I’m a health volunteer for Peace Corps” spiel, we decided that we are going to collaborate and share our resources to expand the clinic and form a support group, as long as there are interested people. I know other PCVs have done similar things in their respective villages/areas, and it seems to have worked well for them. I have plenty of literature on HIV/AIDS as well as some videos on prevention, anti-stigma, and care. Hopefully sometime this week I can meet with the man and start setting up a program, or at least drawing up a plan. I am very excited!

Yesterday I met with Ambrose from my LNGO to discuss projects for Afere, like the aforementioned soak away pits. We talked for about two hours and devised a work plan to help us accomplish our goals. I was very happy with how it went and he is very dedicated to helping, which will make my job a lot easier. We eventually started talking about the ICT (information and computing technology) center next to the JHS. The DCE (District Chief Executive) started funding the center out of his own pocket, but has since stopped, and now the building is left unfinished. Most of the buildings foundation is finished, now it just needs doors, windows, paint, theft protection, and some other things. In the afternoon we went to visit the DCE to discuss his plans for the ICT center. He said that as soon as he has some extra funds he will continue work, but in the meantime, I’ll see what I can do to help.

We also discussed setting up a community health committee. Luckily I live with the community chairman so I was able to discuss this idea with him. We went to meet the chief to inform him of our plans and we are now working on forming the committee. The chief and community chairman are going around Afere and selecting people for the committee. Both the chairman and the chief said that the committee must have a member representing the different groups in Afere. For example, the committee must have someone to represent the youth, women, elders, teachers, carpenters, etc. I was glad they mentioned that because I strongly believe that is necessary so that everyone is given a voice and all ideas can be shared. Once we get the health committee formed, we will hold a community meeting to discuss the health and sanitation needs of Afere.

This evening Ambrose and I are going to walk around town and visit households to conduct a household latrine survey. We want to find out how many households have latrines and how many don’t and if people are interested in building one. If Afere shows enough interest in household latrines, we can submit a grant for household latrine building. 

A fellow PCV in Western Region is in the process of submitting a grant for a borehole mechanic training. Many villages face the problem of broken boreholes and there is no one to fix them. Knowing this, he is trying to organize a training so that at least one person in our respective communities will know how to repair a broken borehole. No one is happy when there is no water, especially with all the red clay dirt flying around. It gets quite dusty...and we need that water to bath! The proposed training will span a few days in a not yet determined place, but it's coming. Luckily Afere has piped water so not everyone relies on boreholes, but still there are some that fetch their water from there. I'm going to meet with our WATSAN committee in the next few days/weeks (hopefully days) and see if there is anyone who already knows how to repair a borehole, and if not, see who is interested in learning. 

I feel like I'm going to be quite the busy bee the next few weeks...at least I hope I will be!

Life Thus Far

Nothing too remarkable has happened since my last post, but I felt like sharing a few stories regardless. This past weekend all the volunteers in Western Region went up to Kumasi (capital of Ashanti Region) for our regional conference. There are a few more than 15 volunteers, I think, in our region. Those of us that were able to attend the meeting stayed at our Kumasi sub-office, aka KSO. It was a blast, actually. Once we had finished the necessary Peace Corps work, we got down to business - food. We made quite the spread and it was delicious. There were fajitas with pork and chicken, queso dip, guacamole, salsa, rice, beans, and jello jigglers (apparently no one else has heard this term besides me...Mom you can back me up on this one). It was a wonderful time spent with great people. I'm so happy I was placed in Western - I've met some amazing people and I'm glad to call them my colleagues! 

Ambrose, the account for my LNGO and he also lives in my compound, is back from Cape Coast. He was completing his masters degree in Educational Administration at the University of Cape Coast, so congratulations to him! I am very excited to start working with him and I can tell he is very enthusiastic about his job. This will make my life a lot easier, which is always a nice thing, and I can truly tell that he puts his heart and soul into helping his community. We've already had a few discussions regarding our plans for the future and what we'd like to do in Afere, and needless to say I'm stoked. Technically PCVs aren't allowed to start any official projects during our first three months at site, so it's been a long three months and I'm ready to work! I've mostly been working on forming health clubs and teaching health lessons at the various schools and clinics. 

Next week all the Health/WATSAN volunteers that came in February (that's me) have a Reconnect IST (in-service training) in Kumasi. We will learn how to write grants and apply for funding, so when we return to site we can get down to business. I've been making a list of things I'd like to do in the community, so in the next few weeks I'm going to call a community meeting and conduct a needs assessment. We'll see if my ideas line up with what the community would like. I'll keep everyone posted! 

The school year has ended so there are more children than usual running around town. However, there are a few who are attending summer school, my younger sister included. I spent the morning at the school with the teachers and students and I'm glad these students are getting extra help, some of them really need it. The teacher asked one class, "Is a human being a living thing?" and the class was silent. I'm really hoping that it was because they didn't understand the English or that fact that they can't think critically, but I was still shocked. Finally one student raised their hand and yes, a human being is a living thing. I really wish the teaching style in Ghana was different. I can't imagine the students are truly learning anything. Everything is repetition, repetition, repetition. When the teachers are teaching, they ask a question, and since none of the students respond, the teacher ends up leading them and eventually just gives them the answer - that's not really learning. The students rely on being told what is what and how to think. It's sad, really. 

I opened my younger sister's workbook to look at her school work and was shocked. I guess they don't reach handwriting in school. So I told her each evening we will start practicing handwriting and hopefully she'll improve. If I can at least help one student improve, hopefully they can impart their new found wisdom to others and the cycle will continue. We'll see. 

Well that's all for now. This past weekend I borrowed a friends hard drive and now I have over 400 movies and TV shows, and over a 1,000 kindle books so I'm going to see what I can find to entertain me for a little while! 

Me, M'Adowa, M'Abena

Summer School

M'Abena washing