Technical Training

Technical training has probably been the most rewarding learning experience so far. All 14 of us WATSAN are staying in a house in Gushie, Northern Region. We have running water and a woman who cooks our lunch and dinner. I know I have not mentioned food on this blog yet and that is probably a shock knowing my ‘foodie’ tendencies. All you need to know is that there are two food groups here: carb and oil. I am so thankful that I brought multivitamins because my system would be in a complete meltdown from nutrition deprivation without them.  I am very excited to start a garden at my site and get my fill of produce. I can’t wait to make American /nutritious food as an award for kids. The yellow vacant eyes, dull skin and hair and extended bellies are practically the features of every child I encounter.  There is so much potential for education and projects; I don’t know where to begin.

The first highlight of these past 2 weeks was baby weighing at the health clinic in Pong-Tamale.  The proper name of the day is Children’s Welfare Day.  The first 6 months of children’s lives the nurses in the communities encourage mothers to bring their kids in every week to monitor their weight.  The purpose is to educate mothers on how to feed their children properly and get the kids vaccinated. Also it is a time to talk about family planning. All the children that were there were healthy; however, that is because once a child starts loosing weight the mothers stop coming. Shame of not being able to feed their children prevents them from any help the health clinic can offer. I was told one story of this happening to a boy and his parents only brought the boy back after several months of starving. He died that night in the clinic.  The death and funeral of many children will soon be a very common experience for me. Even though I have been warned, it does not make the sadness and shock less.  Although this all sounds pretty depressing the day was a lot of fun and I got a lot of awesome pictures (which will be uploaded when I get access to fast internet… which won’t be for a while).

The best lecture so far was when we went to an insectory in Tamale. The organization told us all about their projects to stop malaria.  They test different insecticides to see which one kills the species of mosquito that carries malaria the most effectively. They go into homes and for free spray the walls with insecticides so when the female lands on the wall to rest she dies.

We have Sundays as free days.  The WATSAN group met up with the Natural Resources people at the crocodile pond, which is practically part of Burkina Faso.   The whole tourist spot was to sit on the crocodiles. They have one about 12 feet long and they feed it live chickens until it is full and then you go pick up its tail and then squat over its back. It is quite terrifying I am not going to lie. I just kept imagining that it would whip its head around and crunch down on my leg. Also there was a chance that another crocodile could come out of the pond wanting to be fed, but your back is faced to the pond. I asked if there was someone with a gun ready. They pointed to a small man with a large stick. I guess that will have to do. A Stone beer was a most after the experience.

For two days we had representatives come from John Hopkins behavioral change program talk to us from 8am-5pm.  The most useful assignment was we were put into groups and had to mobilize the community and teach about a certain topic. We choose “No condom, no sex.”  We talked to a group of woman and men separately. I really gained confidence in my abilities to speak culturally sensitive and respectful to Ghanaians. All of our training is graded; therefore, I believe I am doing well.

One day was spent on building soak away pits and organizing a fun educational dance party.  I am skeptical that the soak away pits will work. Our translators were in charge of educating the families on use and maintenance. I am excited to be at my site and be able to watch projects be sustainable or fall apart and learn from it. The exercise was purely to work on our technical skills.  Later in the day the party was to demonstrate how to put up insecticide treated nets and make neem cream.  Some Ghanaians believe that you can only put up nets in their house and with a bed. We hung the nets outside in the open using sticks to hold it up.  Apparently after probing the translator, we found out that this community does us their nets in the wet season if the family has one.  So the challenge to stop malaria is to get the behavior of hanging nets in the dry season. Since it is extremely hot during this time we will have to be creative.

Neem is an indigenous tree. People use its leaves as a cure for malaria and a bug repellant.  We boiled the leaves and then added soap to make a natural mosquito lotion. They would only have to buy the soap. There is no scientific research on if the Neem really works; therefore, government organizations such as USAID do not support the use of Neem. Since there are several people in WATSAN with science backgrounds, we are really excited to do some of our own experiments. Maybe after two years have something to publish in a scientific journal. Email me if you would like to help or offer advice.

The weeks leading up to swearing in are going to be busy. I have to pass a language proficiency test at intermediate mid, present on my topic of the Sima traditional funerals, and organize and put on the small community organized project at the health clinic for mothers about personal hygiene.

Ahh technology

Hey so I had two really nice long blogs and this computer does not have anything to read word documents so I can't copy and past  them...and I really don't feel like typing them back out. soooo I'm good and I hope you are too.

Chicken blood and Jeyiri

Sorry for the long wait everyone! I left homestay to go on a 5 week training in different places. The first was counterpart workshop in Bunso in the Eastern Region. It is pretty close to the home stay town of Anyinasin. After much anticipation of meeting our contact person, mine was late due to the difficulty of traveling from the Upper West Region. As everyone is meeting their counterpart and asking questions I sat and waited. There were two other trainees waiting alone as well, one going to the Upper West and one from Northern Volta.  Finally late that afternoon a young man with a Gucci shirt and tribal scars on his face walked in. My counterparts name is Bomanjor. He is a father of three (the youngest 2 months) and is a health volunteer at the health clinic right next to my house in Jeyiri.  His most distinguishing feature is his laugh, which he does often. One of my new friends brought to my attention that our job is simply to see how much we can make Ghanaians laugh with our crazy American antics.  The rest of counterpart workshop was spent from 8am-5pm lectures about mostly HIV and gender roles.  A woman living with HIV was the most riveting part of the whole week.  The mostly men counterpart group was expressing some opinions on the stigmatization of people with HIV so it was great to have this strong motivating beautiful woman speaking to them.

At the end of the week it was time to visit my home for the next two years. It was such a blessing having Bomanjor help me carry all my things. The day before leaving my lovely mother and father sent me a massive package full of goodies. The top three items were bbq sauce, hot sauce and tequila. So I had to somehow fit all these things into my two bags.  My one duffle bag was so heavy that every Ghanaian attempting to pick it up just laughed and keep in mind that they are ridiculously strong. On Saturday I got up at 4am got on a bus to Kumasi by 9:30am. We waited with other people going to the Upper West for the Wa bus to fill up. The bus we were going to get on broke down so we had to wait for another bus. We did not leave the bus station until 4pm.  The ride from Kumasi to Wa was filled with watching Ghanaian movies, which you can barely understand what it going on.  The graphic sex and rape scenes are pretty awkward to watch. I arrived in Wa at midnight. After some confusion of checking into the lodge, two PCVs showed up wanting to go out for drinks. Obviously not wanting to make a bad impression we walked to the closest spot. Our company at the spot was two males and two older females smoking cigarettes (clear sign of prostitutes). I drank a Star mingled and went home to a much-deserved shower. I woke up around 6:30am to workout and say goodbye to everyone I was with. We got a taxi to the tro station. A tro doesn’t leave until it is full so we waited at a spot. We left about 11:30am. We road the tro as close as we could to my village and then begged for a another car to take us down the road because there was no way I could carry all my things to Jeyiri.

The chief, elders, assemblyman, royalty and stakeholders were waiting for me under a massive tree when I pulled up. Most of the ceremony was in Waale so I had no idea what was going on. At one point I got to choose from several choices of names. I chose “Angla Minne” which directly translates to “Who is God”.  The way the chief explained it was that if there is someone who does not like you or what you are doing it does not matter because who are they to judge you. Are they God? Who is God? I am pretty ecstatic about my awesome name. After the ceremony the woman put my bags on their heads and sang in a procession to my house (one of two actual concrete structures in the entire village).  I couldn’t even believe that it was happening it all seemed too surreal. The rest of my time in the village was spent greeting people and playing with children. I also visited the boar holes, dam and the only latrines besides mine at the schools. On Wednesday I walked with Zoe 5km with small backpacks to the market in the next town. We got there and pounded kapala/fufu for lunch. I got a chicken for dinner at market for 6 GH cedi. I took it home killed it put it in boiling water and plucked the feathers out. It is taboo for a woman to kill the animal in Muslim beliefs but I really wanted to kill my own food. It was a lot easier for me to do than I would have thought. There will be a facebook album on the whole process eventually.

Now I am in Wa staying with some PCVs. This Saturday I will be going to a send off party of a PCV. From there I will go to PEPFAR training. I don’t really know exactly what I will be doing. I think I will be teaching about HIV in a school as practice. After a week of that I will go back to the Northern Region with all of the WATSAN group for two weeks of technical training.

Red Spotted Oberoni

"Oberoni! Oberoni! How are you, what is your name?" Oberoni is the endearing term for white person. There is no racist connotation with it. I hear it a good 300X a day from the children. Lately however it seems that I am getting more red than white. No-see-ems are constantly biting me no matter how much I put bug spray on. My arms and legs look like they have gone to war. Luckily we are all experiencing the madness so there is no judgment.

Tomorrow I will be celebrating the 4th of July because on the 4th we have classes. I am sooooooo excited to cook. On the menu will be: chicken, guac with plantain chips, corn on the cob, apple pie, grilled pineapple, banana cooked in butter and sugar, coleslaw, boxed wine, gin and punch and a lot of beer. We are going to my friends house because her homestay owns a spot(bar).We have all been spending our free time planning this event. I hope all yours holidays are as fun as mine will be.

The mailing address for my permanent site is:
PCV Hannah Braun
P.O. Box 523
Wa, Upper West Reg.
Ghana, West Africa

My Site

I have settled into homestay. My father, George, is the community leader of the town Anyanisin. My mother, Ya, prepares me very delicious Ghanaian food. Most of the time I do not know exactly what I am eating. The only thing that is giving me some problems is eating the entire fish, head, tail, guts and scales. My stomach is beginning to settle now. I have 3 brothers living with me Akans, Michael and Felix. They all watch after me and make sure I am comfortable and safe. Since father is a farmer our house is set back a bit from the town so it is nice and quite. There are plantain trees and a fish pond surrounding my lovely home. There is a puppy who I named Mandiba, I am hoping that I will be able to take the little thing with me to site. My family here is really big. I feel like everyone I meet is some how related to me.  Today we all met the chief whom is my grandfather.  My father is in line to become the next chief making me a princess. There is no electricity or running water. My first time bucket bathing a snake decided to visit and a lizard jumped into the room. This is Africa.

The PC cultural trainer Zoe is staying in my homestay. She is extending another year and as it turns out I will be replacing her in her site.  So where am I going???? A extremely remote town called Jeyiri in the Upper West region. It is 40km south east of Wa. I am going to speak Dagaare. It is difficult using one language in the homestay and spending 6 hours learning another; however, I am doing a lot better than I would have imagined. My village is Muslim with very traditional beliefs incorporated.  When a traditional elder dies the funeral is a massive party. Imagine the people with the long wooden masks with lion mane fur and hula shirts dancing around. Yep, that is my village. The Upper West (Upper Best) is the most exotic region in all of Ghana. I will have red monkeys and crocodiles in my village.  Also there is no transportation to my town except on market days (every 6 days).  Otherwise I ride my bike (30-60 minutes) to the neighboring village( Kulkpong) to pick up a tro to Wa.  There is another PCV in that village.  I will also have to fetch my water from the dam or boreholes everyday. I don't believe it is too far. I am excited to become strong from carrying the water on my head. There is no electricity, but the health center next door has a solar panel so I can charge things.

My job is really what I make of it. Since I will be only the second white person they have met, there is really no expectations.  I want to integrate into the community and empower the people there to accomplish the change they seek. Although my focus is on improving health, water and sanitation I really hope to work with the Muslim men and their conservative views on woman. I am very excited to go and start greeting people.  There are at least 5 people in the town of 1000 that speak some English. They will facilitate me getting projects started.

I love and miss you all! I am in the perfect place at this time in my life. I hope all is well with you. Please keep me updated on current events since I am in a bubble here. 

First Impressions

Ah I made it! After much travel I am officially living in Ghana. There are so many new things and sites that I am having a sensory overload. To describe what it is like is almost beyond words, but I will tell you one story to try to capture the uniquness of this new place I call home.

Vision quest is an opportunity for the volunteer to visit a current PCV and see what it is all about.  I was chosen to head to the northern region where it is more rural, traditional and Muslim.  There is a good chance that I will be sent to this region for site so I was very excited to see and explore the area.  It took a group of us a full day to reach Tamale where a PC office is on buses.  The next day we were going to split up and get on tro-tros to our destination. I was going to a town called Chirifoyilli and it was too small to be on any map.  I went to the crowded Aboabu station (one of many tro stations) and started asking where the tro to this small town was. A man pointed to not a tro, but a massive open bed truck about the size of a school bus. After looking bewildered at him he assured me that yes this will be my transportation for the next two hours. I had to climb a ladder up and over the truck and jump in.  It was market day in the village before my destination.  One woman asked me where I was going because when you see a white woman by herself jump inside a truck Ghanaians will make sure she knows what she is doing. After many slaps on the arm and pointing of fingers, I finally settled down on a bag of salt surrounded by the older woman. They did everything they could to make me comfortable including pushing woman with children away from me. Then everyone started to feed me. I have no idea what I was eating, but I did not want to be rude.  I dug in with my hands and shoveled the food in my mouth.  They quickly learned that I did not know their language. One woman I believe told me I was her friend and another asked my name. Soon I heard "Hannah" being whispered all throughout the truck. 

The truck stopped at the market; however, I had no idea if this was the place I was supposed to be at so I began asking people if they knew a Kim or white woman. No one did. I called Kim and found out that I was a 45 minute walk from the village. The options were to wait and chill out and wonder in the village or continue with the truck. Of course I waited and witnessed my first goat kill three steps into the market. When Kim arrived we drank pito (fermented millet) and sat in a hut. 

That night it was a lunar eclipse. The moon turned red and the vastness and brightness of the stars was brilliant. The traditional story is that the sun swallowed the moon. To free the moon the kids parade down the street drumming for the sun to release the moon.  I just kept thinking this is Africa.

Last Night at Home

Ever since I found out what the Peace Corps was all about I knew that after I graduated college I would be a PCV.  This dream has become my reality.  Now I can only think should it have stayed a mere dream? Can I handle this reality? What have I gotten myself into? Questioning your own capabilities is healthy and I am no longer worried about being worried. I am mentally and physically ready for this experience. Also I am officially packed 79 lbs (80 lb limit).

Wednesday morning I will arrive in Accra, Ghana. The flight is just over 10 hours long. If you have seen the news about the flight last week going to Ghana from Dulles International Airport, yes I am on the same flight and yes I will be putting my seat back because I do need to sleep. It would just be completely ironic if a fight broke out on our flight with 73+ PEACE Corps workers, so no worries.  The first week I will be getting orientated; therefore, I will not be able to use the Internet. By the next time I blog I will be able to tell you all about the food, weather, other volunteers and my home stay family.

Thank you all again for your support and love. Here is a short list of things that I will miss and not miss:

Miss

Dry red wine (Cabernet Sauvignon)

Mango sorbetto

Caprese salad...really any type of salad

BBQ sauce (some Masterpiece might have to be sent to me)

Fresh organic vegetables (maybe I'll get lucky and have some agriculture person near me)

Listening to Smiley and West podcasts

Watching Democracy Now! in the morning

Family, friends, dogs (OBVIOUSLY)

Possibly going on walks by myself

Eventually the Ithaca snow

Not Miss

TV

American politics

Over zealous soccer moms in minivans

Consumerism

Cookie cutter neighborhoods

The things I am looking forward to are endless!

"I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear."
-Nelson Mandela