Andy's adventures in Ghana as a Peace Corps Volunteer
Belated Seasons Greetings!
December 31, 2024
Fewer words, more pictures from the past six months. NOTE: For those viewing this on a computer, try using Control [Plus Sign] and Control [Minus Sign] to expand or shrink the photos to fit your screen better.
The kids are wowed by my Christmas card collection, refreshed with new cards this year (Thanks, Barb!)The baby who was terrified of me when I first arrived has become a fast friend. Instead of running away when she sees me, now she runs to me for a hug. In September I was traveling in a trotro with her and her mom. When we arrived back at our town and the trotro stopped to drop me off, she cried because I was leaving.I’m slowly breaking the ice with this cutie, but for the time being she eyes me from the safe shelter of her mom’s dress.
I’ve come to believe that it’s very important to greet children. When we are walking towards each other along a path, those who don’t know me will glance at me tentatively. When I smile and say hello, they smile back, say hello, then skip a few steps down the path. The notion that an adult – and not just any adult but the town’s obroni (for which I hate to claim unearned celebrity) – will not just acknowledge their existence, but greet them in a friendly way makes them feel special for at least a few moments. That can be a valuable boost to their self-esteem and self-image.
<< Click this “twisty” to see what you need to bring to school today.Bring-your-cutlass-to-school dayBring-a-fencepost-to-school dayBring-a-broom-to-school day
Sweeping
Students “sweeping” the school compound to clean up leaves and trash. It’s a very old tradition in Ghana. One of the first things that a woman, girl, and/or boy will do in the morning when they get up is to sweep their compound. At school there’s a rotating schedule every week for which students are responsible for arriving early (before 6:30 AM) to sweep both indoors and out. During the dry season, sweeping kicks up a lot of dust.One of the most visible pieces of trash everywhere is the “pure water” sachet. It’s a common means of buying and drinking water in Ghana (probably elsewhere in Africa, too). They’re cheap (less than 5¢ each) and easy to use. You hold it in one hand, tear it open at a corner with your teeth, then squeeze the water into your mouth. (It can also be used as squirt gun.)
The down side to water sachets is that they’re also one of the most common forms of trash around Ghana. They’re everywhere. This is one day’s accumulation of empty sachets in one part of the school compound. I avoid using them as much as possible because I don’t want to add to the waste.
Around School
July: Primary school students cutting a rug at the end-of-school-year dance party.Cooking lunch in the school kitchen.This classroom building isn’t finished yet – there aren’t any windows or doors so the students have to collect the whiteboard from secure storage every morning, prop it up in the classroom, and then return it to storage at the end of the day – but it’s good enough for holding classes.Teachers were summoned to a workshop for most of a school day that was put on by the school district at a local church. It’s taken for granted that parents will bring their babies and toddlers to any such event, just like they bring them to school every day. I estimate that there are about 15 adults and 9 babies/toddlers in this photo (some partially hidden). Can you find them all?
From a commentary on Africa that appeared recently in the Washington Post: “The continent’s population has grown from 283 million in 1960 to more than 1.5 billion this year, and by 2050 that number will soar to 2.5 billion, according to United Nations projections.”
Based on my experience, I wouldn’t doubt that forecast. I see babies everywhere I go.
A school visitor who was soon dispatched.
Porters
I live half a mile from the main road where I have to go to get anywhere outside of my community. Whether leaving my site or returning home, I’m often carrying bags or luggage. For the heaviest items, like a just-filled LP gas cylinder, I pay a moto (motorcycle) driver GH¢ 5 to drop it off at my house. For more manageable items, I carry them myself. Within 2 minutes, children (especially students) will run up to unburden me. They may have just come from school, but they’ll retrace their steps back to my house, adding a mile to their walk home in order to help me. I’ve read that it makes them feel awkward/embarrassed if you offer them anything more than water in return for the favor – they’re just doing what’s expected of them.
Around Ghana
A peacock and a peahen admiring their reflections at a hotel where we had a meeting.At the same hotel, a sign that I saw as I left the men’s toilet stall. I’m not quite sure it conveys the message they intended.Ghanaian resourcefulness: A few links of chain serve as hinges for for the folding seats in a trotro.A friend and I hosted a Thanksgiving celebration (“Friendsgiving”) at my house on Saturday, November 30th (We made it to the Facebook page for Peace Corps Ghana: https://www.facebook.com/share/p/DP1vutW7kyQ9TnLu/). I received a host gift that I really wanted.6:30 AM on FriendsgivingA goat surfing atop a tro-tro. The photo can’t convey the fact that the goat and vehicle were traveling at about 60 miles/hr when I snapped this photo.
Not A Typical Day 
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