Advice from Bub

I journaled this, but thought I should share it with you guys. It is the advice my 12-year-old host brother, Emmanuel, gave to me the Sunday before I left homestay a few weeks ago. He is an old man in a young boy's body.  I think it is what Grandpa would say to me if he were still around and were Ghanaian. Anyway, Bub sat me down in the yellow plastic chairs outside my room and said:

“Ama, Ama [my Ghanaian name], listen.. You are leaving home now, and you will not have me to watch you. So you must be a good girl. A very good girl! And do not forget what I told you. You can't just go walking about. No! You must be careful. You must be very careful, because some of these people are no good. Those people, those people are no good at all! You have to watch for them. You must be a good girl and be very, very safe. You must find a good boy, too. Yes, a good boy! But you must stay away from the black boys. They are lazy. And some of them are rotten. Some of them are no good at all. You must find a good white boy. Like you. A good, good boy who works very hard. You must be safe and you will be very happy.

Ok, yes, Ama, you will be a very good girl.  Now go.. Go pack your things.”

How funny is that?  A 12 year old said those things.  I think I'll call him tomorrow to check in and let him know I've heeded his advice :]

Bub Masterson

Mef Dreams

The malaria prophylaxis given to me by the Peace Corps is a once-weekly 275 mg mefloquine hyrdochloride tablet. It has worked so far, because I don't have malaria. Well, ok, actually I do, but I don't and won't show symptoms, because the prophylaxis keeps the blood pathogen level low. However, it is not the fact that I won't die of malaria, in all seriousness, the best part of taking mefloquine is the dreams. I have always had fairly cool dreams, but since starting mefloquine my dreams have become more perspicuous, vivid, and creative. I remember these wild dreams almost every morning and in great detail.

The reason I am writing a post today is the mef dream I had last night. I sent Raven a text about it immediately upon waking, because I knew she would appreciate the truly awesome nature of this dream. It is (and I hate that frat boys ruined this word talking about getting stupid drunk and passing out in their own vomit) EPIC.

The setting of the dream is a dark, frigid night in a small rural town nestled into the side of a mountain on the coast of Norway. A terrible blizzard is raging across the landscape.

Now, the plot. You can't write this shit.

I am battling an über-evil super villian, who has been destroying villages across the countryside. He is cloaked in all black, and his face hidden by a disfigured red mask. He as well as I have powers of flight and super strength. He can control the blizzard. I can control water, although only weakly. We are battling at a farmhouse down by the water. I summon and attempt to drown him in a tidal wave. But before the wave reaches him, he freezes the water, turning it into sharp daggers of ice, which he sends hurtling in my direction. I dodge all but one of the frozen shards, which leaves a large bloody gash across my cheek. I try again to create a tidal wave, but my powers have weakened. I can only summon small, gentle waves to the shore. The villian in black picks up an old barn and hurls it at me. The barn crashes into my body, and I go flying through the air with the barn towards the mountain. I can stop neither myself nor the barn. I am crushed into snow and rock on the side of the mountain by the barn. Everything is dark. I think I am dying. But, slowly and painfully, I work my way out. I am exhausted. But then I have an idea. I rip off a piece of the barn's sheet metal roof. I snowboard through the air on the piece of metal down the side of the mountain, and because of the blizzard's powerful gusting winds, I pick up incredible speed. The snow and wind burn my face. As I get to the bottom, the villain picks up a massive slab of concrete with which I know he could destroy me. But I am so close. I am only a few yards away. I kick away the piece of metal. The sheet metal spins through the air and cleanly decapitates the villain. The slab of concrete drops from the air onto his body.

Then I wake up.

I couldn't make that up if I wanted to.

Thank you mefloquine for allowing me to defeat the darkest, most sinister of Norwegian evils in my sleep.

The M3PP

 The Peace Corps assigns every volunteer a member of his or her community as a “counterpart.” During our two years of service, our counterpart functions as our business partner, adviser, volunteer-to-community liaison, and friend. Although we are assigned this counterpart initially, we may choose to change or add counterparts. The counterpart I was assigned is my high school's ICT teacher, a man named James Kwadwo Tannor.

James is the best counterpart ever!

Why? He is very aware that Ghana is a developing nation, and wants to do everything he can to help... which includes being incredibly supportive of me in my work with the Peace Corps. He is a forward thinker. He has both passion and work ethic. He is efficient. He is intelligent. He is resourceful. Basically, if you need anything done or reasonable advice, ask James. He advocates women's rights and gender equality. He truly listens to, respects, and values my opinions. This doesn't sounds like a big deal, but here in Ghana it is, especially for a young female working with an adult male.

And James isn't the best counterpart in terms of only work, but also on a person-to-person level. He is so kind and hospitable. Right now, until I can obtain my own, I am using his spare mattress, refrigerator, cooking pots, and several other items. Until yesterday, I was even cooking with his stove and gas tank. He invested his personal funds so that the school could provide me with toilet facilities, a Peace Corps requirement. Furthermore, he is helpful on a level I can't even begin to describe... He's helped me travel, meet the elders of Menji, hang my mosquito net, buy food, cook food, communicate (I'm not exactly fluent yet!), set up my oven, buy electronics, hang my curtains, put up a laundry line, … and you know, just be a person living in Ghana. Also, he has an absolutely adorable family. His wife's name is Millicent, his son is Edmond (3 yrs), and his daughter is Grace (2 weeks). Yes, Grace is brand new :)! Her naming ceremony was just last week.

I am introducing you to James now for several reasons. He is my counterpart, so I will be working closely with him for the next two years, and thus mentioning him frequently. And also, I want you to know something about him before I tell you the product of our conversation a few days ago.  I haven't really done much with this idea yet, but I wanted to share the roughest draft with you guys, so you can see how the project progresses.

Anyway, now that you know James, here is what we came up with...

MENJI THREE PART PLAN (M3PP)

Peace Corps Ghana

Volunteer Betsy Conway

Counterpart James Kwadwo Tannor

Location Menji, Brong Ahafo

GOALS

Keep Menji Agricultural Senior High School (MASS) students in Menji and occupied during academic holidays.

Provide financial and social opportunities for students. Educate students on farming techniques. Educate students on sexual health and HIV/AIDS. Reduce teenage pregnancy rate. Reduce AIDS transmission rates.

BACKGROUND

MASS operates on a trimester-based academic calendar. The students are in session for three months, then are allowed a one month break. During the breaks, many of the students move to larger cities, namely Kumasi, to work menial jobs. They do so to earn money, although very little, and also because living in a small rural community is not “fun” or “cool”.

TARGET GROUP

MASS students, particularly those who move to the cities during academic holidays. The M3PP will benefit both males and females by providing increased economic, social, and educational opportunities.

A specific target group of the M3PP is the “kayayei.”  Kayayei is the local term given to the group of girls, as young as six years old, who throughout Ghana move from their homes in rural communities to the larger cities to engage in menial work. These girls usually work as market porters, selling food or other goods on the the streets. As they are often homeless for extended periods of time, they are subject to theft, rape, and coercion into sex work.

METHODS

Part 1. The PEPFARM. The “PEPFARM” will be a student owned and maintained farming operation. MASS is in possession of uncultivated, unused land southeast of the school's campus. Using funding from PEPFAR, a fence will be installed around the land to protect against grazing animals such as goats. The remainder of the funds will be used to purchase seeds, tubers, etc for planting. Students interested in participating will be gathered, and individual plots within the PEPFARM will be allocated among students. The farm work will be the sole responsibility of the students: clearing, tilling, planting, maintaining, and harvesting. Throughout the process, other Peace Corps Volunteers (PCVs) will visit Menji to give agriculture lectures and demonstrations as well as HIV/AIDS seminars. The produce harvested from the PEPFARM can be used for both consumption and selling in the market. The PEPFARM would provide students with three essentials: food, work, and money.

Part 2. The Mooney Volleyball Club. Because Menji is a small rural community, life is a little less “exciting” than life in a city. The Mooney Volleyball Club would provide a much needed fun, social aspect to life in Menji. Tantrum Volleyball is an American volleyball clothing company owned and operated by Scott Mooney, based in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Scott has agreed on behalf of Tantrum to sponsor a volleyball club in Menji. Students could form teams, hold practices, and host tournaments. Eventually, neighboring high schools could be incorporated to form a league.

Part 3. The Girls' Girls. As a personal project, I want to establish a chicken coop. I will provide the funds for the coop, chickens, food, and upkeep, while the female dormitory students will provide the labor necessary to maintain the coop. I will keeps some eggs and the students may use or sell the remainder.

SUMMARY

The M3PP is designed to keep MASS students in Menji during academic holidays and away from potentially dangerous menial work in the cities. Part 1. Plots of land within the PEPFARM, a PEPFAR-funded farming operation, will be given to students to cultivate produce crops for sale and/or consumption. Part 2. The Mooney Volleyball Club will give a fun, positive, social aspect to students' lives. Part 3. The Girls' Girls chicken coop will provide work, food, and money for the female dormitory.

CONCLUSION

The most difficult part of implementation will be applying and waiting for the PEPFAR grant. All other parts of the plan are already in motion. The school currently owns land for the PEPFARM, which the students can begin to clear in the meantime. Several PCVs have shown interest in giving agriculture lectures, demonstrating farming techniques, and/or conducting HIV/AIDS seminars. Tantrum Volleyball has already agreed to sponsor the volleyball club. Finally, other PCVs have volunteered to help in construction of the coop, which will be built as soon as possible.

Ain't Life Funny

From what I've experienced thus far, Ghanaians don't really tell jokes, they don't really use sarcasm, and in general they don't really go out of their way to be humorous. At first I thought that Ghanaians just aren't very funny people. But every day that goes by, I realize that Ghanaians don't have to try to be funny, because life in Ghana is funny on it's own. The best way to explain what I mean is examples...

• On the reg, I will be walking down the street and a child (who is squatted over the ditch taking a deuce, mind you) will wave, say good morning, want to know my name, and how I am doing.
• A chop bar (fast food kiosk thing) in Takoradi advertises “PORK SHOW” on their sign... hahahah what?
• A six foot blonde speaking an African tribal language.
• Ghanaians LOVE Michael Bolton...WTF
• In Ghana the greeting process is very structured and fairly lengthy compared to that of the greeting process in America. As I was walking through Old Tafo one night a few weeks ago, I went through the greeting process with an elderly man only to realize at the very end that he had been peeing throughout the entire exchange.
• The other day David and I were on a tro in the far backseat. We were talking about something benign like the trees or the weather, when all of a sudden a weird guttural animal noise comes from directly underneath our seat. We look at each other like, “WTF was that!” and start cracking up. Turns out there was a cute little goat hanging out down there.
• Amit heard an adult woman yell at a little boy who was loitering around her store, “Fuck off you fucking kid."  Don't mess with her, I'm telling you.
• I saw a car traveling about 80 mph with 2 sheep standing on top of it. I don't even know if they were tied down.
• The other day Caitlin was in a cab, the car hit a bump, the key fell out of the ignition, and the car kept going.
• A goat just strolled into my living room, pooped, and walked out. Literally 5 seconds ago.
• This one is a favorite among my fellow volunteers... I have a Ghanaian name. “Ama” (pronounced ah-mah) is my first name, which indicates that I am a female born on a Saturday. My second name is “Fati” (pronounce fah-tee), a Muslim name given to me by the elders of Menji, which means gift from God. Thus, my Ghanaian name is “Ama Fati.”
• One of the teachers at my school said to me this morning, “Look at this guy,” (putting his hand on the noggin of a ~9 year old boy), “He is so funny. Sometimes he can be so annoying that I just have to beat the shit out of him.”
• A chop bar in Koforidua is painted with the words “Mind God, Not Your Wife.”
• Unclean water or unsanitary food prep or any number of things can lead to diarrhea. A Peace Corps volunteer pooing their pants is funny no matter what type of sense of humor you have.
• Condom demonstrations are an important and universal part of HIV/AIDS education programs. Common on, a giant wooden penis? Ahhhhhahahhaa I die laughing thinking about the guy who carves and paints wooden dicks for a living.

So you see what I mean? None of these things were meant by any means to be funny. They were just a regular moment in a regular day. But, sometimes I just have to crack up at the amusing nature of life in Ghana.

Oh hey there.

7 Breath Taking Days

Day 1 (Saturday, August 27)... Good Bye Ceremony.  The Peace Corps office in Kukurantumi hosted a get together for the 69 volunteers and their host families.  It was mostly a thank you to the people of Kukurantumi, Old Tafo, Anyinasin, and Maase for giving us a home for the past 3 months.  All of the volunteers were in beautiful Ghanaian clothing and head wraps.. some matching their host parents.  The host families were presented with gifts from the Peace Corps, a set of cooking dishes.  After the celebration, we went home and Cube made me my favorite dinner of jollof  (spicy tomato-y rice) and chicken.  Bub and I played our favorite game of bottle cap soccer.

Day 2... All day packing and gift exchange.  I gave my host father a watch, my host mom a set of dish towels (hand-knitted by Janers), my sisters bracelets, and I gave Bub a harmonica.  They presented me with a beautiful piece of pale green cloth with gold and silver embroidery.  I think I will eventually have it made into a dress.  I cried a lot this day.

Day 3... Travel to Accra.  All volunteers met at the hub site in Kukurantumi and loaded onto buses which hauled us to Accra, specifically Valley View University, the place I spent my first 5 nights in Ghana back in June.  I drank wine and played volleyball with the friends I've been growing so close in the past months.

Day 4... Swearing In at the US Ambassador, Don Teitelbaum's. Big white house with lush green lawns, large patios, and a pool.  The ceremony took up most of the morning and afternoon.  Speakers included the Country Director of Peace Corps Ghana, the Ambassador, the Regional Director of Peace Corps Africa, and Ghana's Director of foreign affairs.  We were sworn in as the 50th group of Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana, the oldest Peace Corps program in the world.   Furthermore, the first PCV's were math and science teachers... :)  In the afternoon we drank aperitifs, ate hors d'oeuvre, and chatted. Also, I was welcomed by the current Brong Ahafo volunteers who were also in attendance with a shot of whiskey and a machete.  Not kidding.  After the celebration, we went back to Valley View to spend time together drinking and having fun.

Day 5... Accra with David.  David and I decided to take a personal day in Accra, so from Valley View we got a ride with a couple of dudes in a pick- up truck.  When we asked their names, one replied something that sounded like "My Wiener."  I got really car sick.  Ew.  They dropped us off next to the Accra Mall, which was exactly where we were headed.  We cruised around a little bit, then found pizza and ice cream.  Following food, we went to get drinks at an incredible sports bar called Rhapsody.  Of course, I had wine and he had beer. We watched a rugby match on TV... All Blacks vs somebody.  Finished drinks, then went for an afternoon matinee of Captain America.  Shout out to Ryan Cook.  The movie was perfectly entertaining as was the company.  Popcorn and all.  Following the movie, we returned to Rhapsody for another beverage and dinner.  I had more wine and a calamari salad.

Important note: David has quite the affinity for talking to strangers.  He says it's a good way to 1) hear interesting stories, 2) make new friends, and 3) network.  And he's right.  Continuing with the story.

David steps out to take a call, and down the bar I see a group of 50 to 70 year old men drinking vodka and red bull.  To make things even better the vodka was contained in a skull shaped bottle.  Shout out to Auby.  So, taking a page from David's book, I decide to chat up these fellows because they looked too funny not to!  We end up talking awhile with these guys, who are incredibly interesting, kind, intelligent, and successful human beings.  We might have taken shots of Jäger with them. And a particularly nice man with whom I had been talking, Walter, invited us for dinner Friday night.  We exchanged numbers and parted ways.

Day 6... President of Ghana.  Along with all the other volunteers, I dressed up nicely after breakfast and got on the bus to the main Peace Corps Office in Accra.  We hung around there awhile.  Biddle and I left to walk around the grocery store near by to stare at cheese and ice cream and seafood and all the other lovely things unavailable in rural Ghana.  Around noon, we got on the bus again, and they took us to the presidential castle in Accra where we had lunch in the gardens. The president of Ghana, John Atta Mills, addressed us, thanking us for our service to his country.  It was an incredibly special ceremony to be a part of.  I feel very honored to have met and been thanked by the President of Ghana.  I did not and will not take his words for granted.

http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=624712#!/photo.php?fbid=909999421898&set=at.900488766328.2382067.19701239.625355&type=1&theater

Day 7... US Embassy and South Africa.  David and I tagged along with a couple of current volunteers to the US Embassy to a party hosted by US Marines.  Burgers, wine, beer, YES.  I mostly chatted up Marines while David made connections with USAID people.  I also got to say hi to the Peace Corps Ghana Country Director and the US Ambassador who were also in attendance.  Furthermore, I was invited to the Marine Ball at the embassy in a few months... Count me in.  That evening, David and I called Walter, the South African businessman.  He sent his driver "Bismark" to pick us up.  We then proceeded to spend the evening talking, eating, and drinking with a group of ten-ish South Africans. Walter made paella on the grill (oil, onions, peppers, tomatoes, rice, broth, chicken, shrimp, and scallops.  It was a really fun evening of talking with many intelligent and successful people who have very happily made their home here in Ghana.  It was inspiring to hear their stories of hard work and finding happiness.

Needless to say, my batteries are recharged and I'm ready to take on PC in rural Ghana.  My next blog will likely be very different... Maybe something about scrubbing bat poo with my bare hands.

LOVE YOU ALL AND MISS YOU XXOXOXOOXOXOXOXOXO