Mood:
chillin'Alright ya’ll. I know you’re thinking I’m lying dead in the bush somewhere ‘cause you haven’t heard from me in a while. Well, contrary to your belief, I’m still alive and kicking. I’m still surviving at site working hard and enjoying life too. (I know you’re thinking I’m telling stories especially after how much I complained of missing home last year but this year everything seemed to fall into place.)
Work has been the same at the Nutrition Rehab Centre, orphanage and support group for people living with HIV/AIDS: program planning, health education, staff training, and proposal writing. I’ve been focusing a little more on transferring skills to my counterparts so they can pick up after I’m gone. It’s coming along; it’s a little slow because the main woman I’m teaching is pushing 60 years old, which means I have to keep repeating myself over and over until it sticks. But I’m confident that we’ll get there.
About a month ago, I started computer literacy training for the health staff at the District hospital. We started off with 15 people but now only half of them are fully committed and attending the classes. It’s interesting to see how something that comes so natural to me takes the staff extra time to learn. Because of that, I’ve been going at a very slow pace, starting off with the parts of the computer, how to use a mouse and keyboard, etc. I do have to say that I’m enjoying watching how they are learning and becoming more confident with the computer. At times it can be frustrating when the lights go off and we have to cancel a class or students are rushing each other so they can get their turn to use the computer. But in a couple of months, they’ll be pros. My goal for the course is for them to learn how to operate common application software – Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint- and how to locate and browse the internet and use e-mail.
My social life is cool. I’m still having fun with my friends here. Actually, a couple of weekends ago we had a big party. I danced my a$$ off, lol. (Family, please don’t be surprised at my language… I’ve been an official adult now for a few years ;P ) We had a good mix of music at the party: hip life and high life (Ghanaian music), hip hop/R&B, Merengue (courtesy of the Cuban doctors) some francophone music, and Soca. My friends LOOOOOVED the Soca music. I guess it’s because it sounds a lot like francophone music. My friend Mercy thought it was from Cuba because she didn’t understand what they were saying. That was funny because to me Caribbean English/Patios sounds just like the Ghanaian English/Pidgin English people speak here. But it was really fun. People in town were talking about it for a long time afterwards. We’re planning to have another one in a couple of months. I can’t wait. I’m sure it’ll be a big one since it’ll be the last one before I leave in November.
Now that my departure time is approaching, I’m constantly thinking about the things I’ll miss about Ghana. Any time I get the chance to experience them, I really cherish them. I’ll definitely miss my social life here. There’s not a day that goes by when I don’t go to visit my friends or vice versa. I’ll miss going to my friends Benedicta and Mercy’s house. Normally after work, I go there; we cook and eat together and then spend time talking about everything: life, men and marriage, work, the future, etc. It’s really nice to have people and a place nearby to go to just to wind down and pass the time away. They are also the ones who have taught me to prepare almost all the Ghanaian food I know how to make. They, especially Benedicta (aka, Bene) have been my backbone, my confidante and support, since day one.
I’ll surely miss sharing a big bowl of tuozafee and soup with a bunch of friends. I know y’all might not it’s kosher to eat with your hands and, furthermore, from the same bowl with a bunch of other people, but for me it’s fun. It feels like we’re forming a closer bond (and germs,ha ha ha, but we do wash our hands with soap before eating) and fighting for the last piece of meat. It’s like eating dinner with the family.
Riding a bike every day is also on the top of the list of things I’ll miss. Besides the fact that it’s good exercise, it’s liberating to take a ride and enjoy the scenery – pigs, goats, trees, blue skies, children, etc- as you ride to your destination.
I’ll miss the friendliness of Ghanaian society. I’ll miss Ghanaian hospitality and caring for others. I’ll miss sending children to buy kosé (a fried snack made of beans). I’ll miss playing with the children at the nutrition rehab centre and orphanage. I’ll miss fooling around with and visiting our people living with HIV/AIDS at home. I’ll miss not waking up to an alarm clock; the ever-constant, clear blue skies; the social event of a funeral. I’ll miss a lot and some I may not have even captured here.
While it’s nice to know the things I will miss, I think I should also be unbiased and tell you what I won’t miss. I won’t miss waiting hours and hours on end for transportation; I won’t miss riding in death-trap vehicles where the interior no longer exists and the speedometer, gas gauge, and engine lights don’t work; I won’t miss traveling long hours on bumpy roads that make your skin itch from the vibration. (Notice how they all cluster around traveling? It sucks, lol)
And there are some things that are in between, meaning I neither like nor dislike them but I will probably miss or laugh about them after some time of being home. Things like chasing goats from the garden in front of my house, running out of water and not being able to fetch water from the locked borehole nearby, or the crazy man coming to my house to talk but not saying anything.
The positives do outweigh the negatives and I’m sure as time passes, I’ll even forget some of the negatives. I’ve decided that there are some things I’ve adapted to doing here that I would like to bring home and practice. First, I will buy a bicycle to get some daily exercise. (The rising gas prices are really pushing me towards that goal.) I want to adopt Ghanaian hospitality and friendliness- going out of your way to accommodate a guest, calling a friend just to say hello and check-up on them, helping someone when they’re in need, cooking extra food just in case guest pop in. Not only do I plan on practicing these things, but I will also surround myself with my Ghanaian friends back home – big ups to Nana Ofori aka Kwaku and his wife Jennifer and their families, and Juliette A.
Ghana has definitely been good to me. I’ve experienced and learned so much in these two years. I think I’ll have to write a separate journal entry on lessons learned.
That’s all for now folks.
Nneka
