Kumasi, the land of no internet

What a busy day we just had in Kumasi. Riding a completely packed trotro back to the Kate Memorial Hotel a full twelve hours after we left this morning, I feel full, content, and satisfyingly tired.

A Tro Tro, a large van that everyone packs into. Only costs fifty pesway. 

We did our fourth outreach today in a small village called Tachi Mantia. At first it was just business as usual- testing visual acuity and dispensing drugs and glasses. I wasn't having very much success with the kids- I made this one cry when I took a picture of him, so I focused on learning twi instead.

But then towards the end of the day as we were packing up our stuff I saw some little heads peeking at us from the door frame. I went to investigate and this is what I found..

They were loads of fun.

My favorite was Wujen. He is eight.

He was so full of life and energy. Wouldn't stop smiling until he made a silly face in a picture. Then when I showed him the picture he would explode into giggles again.

He and many other school boys made my day.

After work we went to the market and a two hour search for dinner. I ate Foo Foo, the signature dish of the Kumasi region.

Life in Kumasi is a little different than in Accra.

Some differences:

1. I can count on hot water. Amazing.

2. Banana trees are everywhere, it is very green, and there is much less dust than in Accra

3. Breakfast is consistently one thing, not so amazing.
4. No Internet (to explain the delay in my posts)

Oh, and I have officially switched to only bagged water (as opposed to bottled). And I ate uncooked vegetables yesterday... I'm feeling risky.

On Tuesday I observed surgery at the Charity eye clinic. Very very cool. The doctor let me look in the scope with him and I saw everything. I can practically perform a cataract surgery now ;) jk

Tomorrow we are going to visit a monkey sanctuary and two waterfalls.
I cannot wait.

Love in Abgloga

We are on way back from my second outreach. Today we were in a village called Abgloga in the Volta region. Mepe from yesterday was in the Volta region too. Dennis (one of the ophthalmic nurses we work with) said that we do a lot of our outreaches there because there is not a single ophthalmologist for a population of over 2 million people.

Today I worked at the visual acuity station. Testing people for the accuracy of their vision is actually really easy.

After work the women of the village cooked for us what they call akple and we call banku. In Ghana there are hundreds  of different dialects of tens of different languages. Nearly every village has their own dialect, making it very difficult for people to communicate. In Abgloga, they speak ewe. The food was delicious, and we ate it with our right hands which was a little awkward for the leftys in the group (only me..)

I got some really great footage of two girls playing slide (a hand slap game we all played when we were little). Then i got to play the game with one of girls. It's pretty amazing that a game that I learned growing up in a suburb of Arizona is also played in a remote village 

in the middle of Africa.

I loved all the children, but there were three that especially stood out. One little girl who could not have been more than nine held her baby sister on her back for nearly the entire day. Children here are given a lot of responsibility, but not a lot of respect.  As with most cultures outside of the US, respect comes with age and children are better seen and not heard.

The other two were a smiley pair of twin girls. Adorable.

It's difficult to get them to smile in pictures. They usually just stare, but modeling agencies should do their recruiting in Ghana if they are interested in tall, thin, beautiful women with high cheekbones and a fierce look.

As I was testing peoples visual acuity, a young man who seemed to be about 17 asked me for my email address. He wanted to know if I could get him a job in America.  A lot of the people see us as their way out, their ticket to a new life. Sometimes we get marriage proposals.

When we got back to the Telecentre we went to Highway View for a Star.

Another perfect day in Ghana.

Mepe

Just finished my first outreach in Mepe, a town about two and a half hours outside Accra. I want to stay here forever. This is literally my calling. I have never been so joyful doing anything ever. 

I fell in love with all the kids at this village, but there was one in particular that I especially loved. 


Meet Isael.

He is eighteen, and wants to be a doctor. He helped us as a translator all day. I didn't want to leave him!

The kids in this village loved two things: football and pictures. 



When I had a camera in my hand they were like flies to honey. They always wanted to see the picture after I took it. A few times they almost toppled me over reaching for the camera to point themselves out.



Kids Reaching for the Camera

There is so much joy here. I think it's due to the simplicity of life. All of the stuff we have just complicates our lives and leads us to believe we need things to be happy. The evidence here points to the contrary..

I have to get better about not using my left hand. In Ghana, the right hand is used for everything except the bathroom. That is reserved forthe left hand. And they take it seriously. When I smile and wave with my left hand I get funny looks, but to the right hand they always smile and wave back.

Isael testing the visual acuity of all the younger children in Mepe for fun


We finished all the patients in Mepe quite early, and had enough time to go to the Mokola market and National Art Center to buy you all African gifts :) 





In Mokola I bought lots of beautiful fabrics. Darcus, one of the hotel women, called her tailor for us who took our measurements to makeclothes out of our fabric. Here the classy thing to do is buy fabric and have your clothes made. Clothes that can be bought at the storeare considered cheap and unfashionable. Also, women never ever wear pants. When Darcus heard us asking the tailor for trousers she said "noo how about a nice skirt? Or dress??" ha. 

She also thinks my looks are deceiving. When she saw my measurements she said, "ay Tina. You are so big! The eyes can really fool a person!"

.... Thanks Darcus

I can't wait to see how my clothes turn out!  Until next time :)

Church, Chicken, and Dance Parties

In Ghana, every occasion is an excuse to dance. In church this morning, the preacher actually said, "if in your worship through music you do not have cheer in your heart and movement through your body, God will not accept it". When we were walking to He is Mighty Chop Bar this evening for dinner (Chicken and Jollof), on the way we passed by a huge celebration. We asked Victoria (the sweetest lady and the owner of He is Mighty) what the occasion was. She said it was the Ghanaian equivalent of a baby- shower, only post-birth as opposed to pre-birth like ours are. Except at this baby shower, there was no diaper counting or cooing over a Tiffany and Co. Rattle (SATC reference). No no, this baby shower was rowdier than most college parties I have been to. Let me tell you, Ghanaians know how to have a good time..

Some of the kids hanging around outside the party had waved and said "Hello Obruni" to us as we passed the first time so I decided to go back and see if I could film them for a bit with my flip cam (thank you SBHSE)...

Chicken and Jollof Rice, yum.


I definitely got some footage. But not really of the kids... As soon as I have fast internet I will post the video.

Basically I went to ask if I could film the kids and instead was thrust into the middle of their party. All of the footage was taken by some random Ghanaian man who grabbed the camera from me.

Needless to say, I love Ghana!!

On the way back from dinner we stopped for Fanice, which is basically frozen ice cream in a bag. Super delicious.

Cape Coast

Today in Ghana we went on a mini-break to Cape Coast.

My absolute favorite part of the day was the canopy skywalk that took us through the rain forest canopy.

 

I can't remember the last time I felt so alive, energized, and awed. Being up 10,000 feet at the top of the rainforest reminded me that all of this, all of Africa, all the people, the plants, everything is His creation.


The Canopy Walk


A (still inaccurate) attempt to show you how high up we really were. The floor is much further down.

I also got to live my dream of drinking coconut milk out of a real live coconut. 

On a much sadder note, the second place we visited was the Cape Coast slave castle. 

We took a guided tour, and things we learned awed me in a completely different way. We visited the dungeons where captives were held in the dark for sometimes three months before being released onto a slave ship. They were forced to live, eat, and sleep in their own urine, vomit, and feces which climbed the walls as high as three feet. The feeling of solemnity I felt inside the dungeon stays with me now, even after a happy and filling dinner of fried chicken and jollof. 


Mostly I can't believe that we as humans are capable of doing that to one- another. Where was God in all of this? To add a little irony in the mix, the Englishmen held church in a room above the dungeon. As our guide so eloquently put it, "they were singing their praises to Heaven while above the living hell". Despite it all, the Ghanaians continue to remind me through their signs and store titles that God is good. And if they don't forget it, neither will I.

Now we are in the car on our long drive back to Accra. It was a wonderful day, and I am falling more and more in love with Africa every second. The scenery alone is just so beautiful, not to mention that delicious food and genuinely kind people.

 

I haven't done any actual work yet, having arrived on a Friday. Also, I am feeling healthy and in good spirits besides the jet lag that dominates me everyday. Tomorrow we plan to visit a market and go to church. Glorious! Will keep you posted.

PS. I want to introduce you to my friend Bismark.

He is one of the Unite for Sight drivers and he was the one who was kind enough to drive us three and a half hours each way. 

Breaking Expectations

Ghana has already wowed me in numerous ways, and broken many expectations I had before arrival. I guess it was foolish of me to go with expectations in the first place, but either way I was pleasantly surprised.

In the Airport with Katie, another UFS volunteer

Also, I’d like to note that Yvette Arreguin told me she would only read my blog if there were lots of pictures, so I am doing my best to accommodate that request.

Here is the short version of a very long list of things that surprised me on my first day in Accra, Ghana.

1.       Every shop, restaurant, and store is named for Jesus in some way or another; and the majority of the country is Christian.

 2.      I feel very safe despite the constant attention I get for being “Obruni” aka white. The people are very kind and welcoming.

3.       We are allowed to go out and do things. The first night I was here about twelve of us volunteers went to a local bar and drank Star (the local beer which is brewed about 30 feet away from where I am staying) and Palm wine. Then we took a taxi to Osu (a ritzy touristy part of Accra) for pizza.

Street Performers in Osu

4.       Some things are very cheap, but others are very expensive. For example, the “large” pizza we ate in Osu cost 30 cedi (about 20 dollars), but the huge bag of Kenkey below cost only 2 cedi (about $1.30)

5.       Mosquitoes don’t actually attack you when you step off the plane… no bites yet!

 6.       The Hotel we are staying in called the Telecentre Guesthouse is comfortable, safe, and clean.

7.       Water comes in plastic bags.

8.       I actually like grilled plantains (this one is for you, Emilio)

9.       Everyone carries things on their heads. Resultantly, their posture is nearly perfect. I’m going to start practicing…

That’s all for now. To my parents: I am being very safe, I promise. I love you guys!

PS. Letting me know you guys are actually reading/caring about this blog will be encouraging because it takes hours to upload pictures here. so comment or write on my fb wall or something.