On Being the Bad Guy

She sits across me in my tiny office, her slender frame settled in on the flimsy green chair. Around her back, swaddled in cloth, rests a tiny baby, quiet. Her dark hair is pulled back, and her eyes are thick with eyeliner that I've noticed most Muslims here wear.

Beside her on the floor rests a little boy, one of my students. He has most recently taken a black crayon and scribbled across the floor, quite proudly I might add, as he awaited his mother's arrival. He was sent to my office as the last straw, the final result in a string of time outs and shouting and reprimands of "Say you're sorry!" He is a boy who leaves us exhausted every day, tired of not seeing any change in his behaviour. So the warning was made to him, and after it was repeatedly broken, a phone home was placed with an explanation of his suspension.

And so here I find myself, across the desk from his mom, who only later I would find out took that position after his biological mom left. Her eyes are sad, and I feel my heart break and voice waver as I explain to her his behaviour. I look to Rita, our teaching assistant, to explain what my English cannot, and afterwards his mom turns back to me, that familiar defeat in her eyes.

I try to find words to convey that he's not a lost cause, even though the defeat in her eyes surely has convinced her of that. I think of the moments where he hugs me at the end of the day, the rare occurences where he jumps in his seat anxious to offer an answer to a question I've posed. "He has so much potential!" I offer feebly. "I know inside of him there's a beautiful boy that's waiting to emerge."

She nods as she smiles and thanks me, reaching down for her son's hand. And my heart breaks as I watch them walk away, wishing I could have done more, wishing that a warning had sunk into his heart or a time out had made a simple impression on his behaviour. My heart hurt as I wished I hadn't seen her despair and defeat in her eyes; wishing, wishing, wishing.

I take a deep breath. Sometimes it sucks to be the bad guy.

It's the Little Things

This past Thursday Lesley and I got a little surprise. We found out, unbenkownst to either of us Canadians, that Friday was a public holiday, and consequently we weren't having school that day. It was a great surprise because we had planned to travel away that weekend to Lake Volta region. Mary's friend Becky offered us a place to stay, and so we jumped at the chance. Sadly Lauren and Kylie had to stay behind because we've adopted two (now one) puppies that were abandoned by their dying mother. They've been busy around the clock feeding, pooping, and cleaning the little guys. Sadly, on Sunday one passed away, but the remaining one is going strong! And she opened her eyes for the first time yesterday, which was incredibly exciting! :)

So anyways, Friday morning Les and I boarded a tro-tro from Asamankese towards Akosombo. We were told it would be two tro-tros to get there, which didn't seem bad, but it ended up being three. We arrived in Kofuridua at the lorry station to transfer to another tro, had the worst bathroom experience of life (I took pictures - will never complain about bathrooms back home again), then arrived in a place called Boyng but spelled Kpong. A local was very helpful in flagging down another tro-tro to take us straight to Akosombo, and 15 minutes later we arrived at Becky's work, the local hospital.

We received a tour of the hospital from one of the nurses who works under Becky (she is the Director of Health Services in Volta Region) named Grace. She was incredibly friendly and excited, and loved showing us around and introducing us to all the patients and workers! It was very different than hospitals back home; a lot older, but still well-maintained. Each wing was separated into separate buildings, and oh the beauty - there was grass! It was lovely.

After our tour, Becky picked us up to take us into Akosombo. The area was incredibly different than where we've been so far. The terrain reminded me of Quebec - beautiful rolling hills and lakes and full of vegetation. It was also much cleaner than everywhere we've been, and the roads were well maintained (paved! with guardrails!). Becky's community in which she lived was gated and the houses were all similar to ours with beautiful grass lawns! I am not quite sure why I've missed grass lawns so much, but I have and so it was wonderful to feel at home there.

Anyways, Becky, being the director of health services, holds a prominent position in the community. She arranged for a private tour of the Volta Lake dam, the dam which previously provided all of Ghana's electricity (now there are some thermal plants as well). It was a bit over my head, all of the mechanics of it, but it was really cool to get to go under the river and see the huge turbines, to get to drive and walk across the dam (it's SO BIG!), and hear about how Hydro Ontario (woop woop!) provided all of the training for the workers there. You have to love every connection to home!

After Becky picked us up, we headed home for a lazy night in. We had a lovely homemade dinner, and then vegged in front of our first TV we'd seen in almost two months. It was wonderful! And to top it all off, I got to have a hot bath. Yes. You don't need to remind me that I am in Africa, where it's over 30 degrees every day without the humidex - I love hot baths. It was a huge huge treat! I think Becky must have been amused at my enthusiasm, because she told me, "Angie, if you want you can have a bath here three times a day!" (Don't worry, I didn't ... or maybe I did ... hehe, just kidding!)

Saturday was a busy day for not only us, but Becky as well! Because of her position in the community, she had two events that she had to be at, and so we went along. The first was at the Catholic church. It was a huge celebration for the 51st anniversary of those killed while building the Volta dam. There was fundraising, and unveiling of a memorial, lots of speeches, and of course, dancing. It was interesting - but so incredibly long (and eventually boring) as it lasted for over four hours. But in the end, the wait was worth it - because as Becky's guests, we got to accompany her and other dignitaries to the fancy Volta Hotel and have lunch. We dined with the ambassador from Italy, the man who designed the dam, a right-hand man to the president of Ghana, tribal chiefs, and other people I can't quite remember the title of. It was really cool - and the food was great too! Not to mention the views of the hills and dam were spectacular. We took a lot of pictures!

After lunch finished, we made our way to Becky's next event, which was an olympics-like event called the Volta Lake utility games. Basically it is a bunch of energey companies who compete in events like football (soccer), volleyball, tennis, and of all things, musical chairs. Which is the event we took in when we arrived. Let me tell you, it is incredibly amusing to see grown men arguing over the rules of musical chairs! So after viewing a few matches, getting drawn up into the dance floor in front of a huge crowd (there are videos which will remain tucked away on my computer - so embarassing!), we headed home for a quiet evening.

Sunday we headed home by tro-tro, and got to have a special dinner to commemorate Lesley's leaving. Belinda made us fufu. It is basically plaintain and cassava ground together into a dough, and then shaped into a ball and put into a bowl of soup. You are supposed to use your hands to scoop the dough and soup into your mouth, but if you guessed I used a spoon, then of course you are right! :) It was delicious though!

Yesterday marked our first day without Lesley here. She spent yesterday and today in Accra, and flies out tonight. I have loved having her here and she will be greatly missed, but I am excited for her to go home and be with her family once again! She has taught me a lot - not just about students and school, but about life in general and I've been very blessed to have her here.

I am busy teaching on my own this week. I taught alone last week, but Les was always nearby if I needed help. I'll definitely share more about how teaching is going, but his blog is long enough, so I will write about teaching later on this week!

Miss you all back home! I hear it is getting colder, but here it seems to be getting hotter and hotter and it remains an impossible challenge to dress without feeling like you've enveloped yourself in a sauna! Very thankful for fans and of course our favorite fandangos.

Love to you all,

Angie

Life Lessons in Ghana

1. I can understand the point of rain dances now. Seriously. We have gone without rain for days now, I hadn't showered since Friday, and when the rain drops started pouring on the tin roof of the school, I literally made all the kids follow me out into the front courtyard and run and dance and flap our arms with joy.

2. You haven't lived until you've laid under the African starry sky. 

3. Never will I ever complain about losing power for two hours back home. We have lost power three times since Saturday - I appreciate laptop batteries incredibly!!

4. We waste SO MUCH WATER. Seriously. Why do we flush every time we pee?! Water is so precious and so very few of us have the privilege of using clean water to wash away waste.

5. Dirt doesn't kill you. Spiders don't kill you. Leaving eggs out on the counter instead of the fridge won't kill you. Unrefrigerated cheese won't kill you. And sachets filled with water? They don't kill you either!

6. Any poop is good poop (sorry, but I'm being frank here!)

7.Canada is awesome. I'm serious. As much as I am loving Africa, and learning about a new culture here in Ghana, I am so thankful for my country and the freedom and blessings we have offered to us in our country. I've never felt patriotic until I've left. Today we taught the kids the national anthem for Canada, and my heart just swelled at the words to the song, words I'd heard a thousand times over before, but words that now carry so much meaning to me.

8. Living in a new culture takes a lot of grace, a lot of turning the cheek when they laugh because you said a word wrong, or when they look at you funny because you prefer salad instead of rice and stew, or when they laugh and tell you you have no idea how to do laundry because you rubbed your knuckles raw since you've never washed laundry by hand before. It's a lot of swallowing your pride ... which is a good thing!

9. God is not confined to the boxes we put Him in. He speaks wherever you are, through whatever you're doing, through whoever is around you. He takes brokenness and makes it beautiful. And He is near to us when we are lost, confused, broken ... especially in those times. He is my Home, my Shelter, my Strength.

10. Mosquitoes here don't bite like at home. You don't feel them bite, and most times they don't even itch very much - they just swell into that ugly, familiar bug bite. 

11. In Ghana they call avocadoes pears. How interesting - needless to say we were a bit confused when Belinda said she was going to cut us up a pear to eat with dinner.

12. Speaking of food, Pineapples here are so much sweeter than ones at home (they are more acidic). Watermelon is ALWAYS amazing, and mangoes are the best fruit in the entire world. (Also just because it's always hot here doesn't mean that they don't have seasons for fruit - sadly they do. And mango season is finished).

13. It really does make more sense to call soccer 'football'. 

14. We are overcharged for everything back home. Taxis. Cell phones. Internet. Food. It's ridiculous.

15. I am so enthralled by all the colour here. Colourful dresses. Red dirt. Green and pink and red buildings. Brightly coloured chickens and roosters that freely roam the streets. I am in love with colour - we need more colour back home.

And that my dear friends, are some life lessons I am learning here in Ghana .. so very thankful for all that I am learning and experiencing!

Love and miss you all!

Angie

Empty parking lots, the bead market, and teaching

I can't believe it has been almost a week since I've written! I had started to write a blog post last weekend, but got interrupted by a power outage (our first since having been here - I'm told they are a common occurence, but we had yet to experience one). Last weekend was fairly relaxing; we spent the time doing laundry, cleaning, and enjoying the hot African sun out in the backyard. I didn't expect the sun would feel hotter here, but it really does - my skin literally burns in the afternoon sun some days! But I just slather on the sunscreen and am determined to be as dark as possible when I return home! :)

This week marked a busy week for us. The kids are incredibly difficult to control in the classroom, which continues to be our biggest challenge here. Our methods of discipline in Canada are very different than here, as children are quickly hit with a cane or a hand as a way of creating obedience. So here we are, a small group of Canadians, entering an entirely different culture, and expecting these children to understand what it means not to hit, not to bite, and what a time out means. They don't. So we leave the school quite exhausted from chasing children who run away, holding crying students who've been bitten or beaten up, and swallowing sarcastic comments when children laugh at our instructions. Consequently our evenings are filled with laying on the couch, eating fandangos or fanmilk, and watching a movie. 

Needless to say, when Lesley and I took off Thursday to go to nearby Kofuridua, we were quite excited for a breather! It is a town about two hours away that has a famous bead market on Thursdays. We hired Issac, Belinda's friend, to taxi us there. We left around 9, and I have to say although I was exhausted and tempted to sleep the ride there, the drive was beautiul! We seemed ot be driving in more of the hilly and jungle-y areas, so it was mesmerizing to this artist's eye. We had lunch at a nice air-conditioned resaturant (had a burger and cheese - so lovely! haha). Then we headed out to walk to the market. On the way there, we veered off the main street into a fairly empty (but huge) parking lot. Lesley and I sort of looked at each other, then at Isaac, who said, "Last night Auntie Jo told me to take you guys here. This is where funerals are held." Les and I managed to hold in our laughs, because apparently this was a big deal for Auntie Jo, this empty parking lot, but to us it was just that - an empty parking lot!

We continued on our way to the bead market, and I have to say it was absolutely amazing! Beads of every colour, of every shape and pattern were scattered among vendors. There were beads made from Ghanaian glass and beads imported too, but all were handcrafted by the vendors (as you could see, because most of them were busy making necklaces right in front of us). We spent almost three hours walking through the stalls, trying on necklaces and rings and earrings. Everything was beautiful. They had really old beads there too - they said that some where a hundred years old. But these were incredibly expensive. 

By the time we were finished looking at the market, and found our way back to the restaurant where we'd left the car (and made an impromptu stop at a fairly modern looking store for jam), we assumed that becaue of the late hour (it was probably almost four) Isaac would take us home then. We had hoped to have enough time to visit Boti Falls, which was a waterfall about an hour away, but Isaac had said it was quite late so we just assumed we were headed home. Never assume here, is a lesson I've learned - too much gets lost in translation!! So about an hour into our drive of what we thought was headed home, we pull through a set of wooden gates and have arrived at Boti Falls. Les and I look at each other with a look much similar to when we first saw the parking lot earlier that day, and just laugh.

Boti Falls turned out to be a lovely sight, even without there being much water since it's the dry season right now. There are 250 steps down to the falls, and along the way we saw not only gigantic trees, but gigantic slugs as well! I managed to wait until we were heading back up at the end of our trek before asking if there were snakes in the area (answer: yes, black cobras and vipers, but much deeper in the jungle than where we were). The falls were beautiful; Les and I took our time exploring and taking pictures.

So, as we left the fall area, it was beginning to get closer and closer to dusk. We were sure we were headed home at this point, but as we are driving off, Isaac tells us he has one more thing to show us. A palm tree with three trunks. Not sure why this is significant, but once again, Les and I just laughed and agreed we wanted to see it. It was literally in the middle of no where; down a dirt road, through a valley (which was beautiful - pictures can't seem to capture the beauty here) and up a path. At the foot of this three trunked palm, there lies a rock engraved with an insignia of some sorts on it. Isaac pointed out that it is considered by locals to be a magical stone, which, if you sit on it, will bless you with the birth of twins. Lesley laughed and she no longer needed that blessing; I stepped forward gladly, but Isaac grabbed me and wouldn't let me sit on. Oh well! Haha!

Across the road from where the palm tree was was a cemetary. We headed back to the car, but Isaac kept walking towards the cemetery, so Les and I followed him, down a long winding path up this amazing rock. It's hard to describe it to you, but it was basically a bunch of smaller rocks with a HUGE slab of rock placed on top of it. And this rock overlooks a huge valley. There was a rickety ladder that you could climb to the top (which I almost climbed all the way, then decided it was too safe to risk it and climbed back down), but even without being on top the view was amazing. I want to go back at sunset, because by then it was dusk, but even still, it was spectacular. I think this was my favorite spot I've discovered here - I wish it was closer!

It was a long ride back again, because of our many detours, but it was so worth it. We had an amazing day.

So after our day away on Thursday, Friday marked my first day of teaching on my own. Lesley is still here, but I am feeling a bit hesitant in regards to teaching - I feel like a fish out of water. I didn't realize how much work goes into teaching kindergarten, from lesson planning to different types of learning to understand curriculum. It's hard! But I managed to make it through the day, and for the most part the kids listened - it was during play time and outdoor play that they got wild again. This weekend Lesley and I have been going over more teaching things - I feel like I am getting my BEd in just a day - but she sadly is sick and in bed. So I am getting caught up on blogging and emails. Tomorrow us girls plan on getting up at the crack of dawn (by that I mean 5:30) to go see a friend, Smart's, soccer game and then we are going to forgo three hours of Twi church and do a Bible study here at home. Last weekend we visited Auntie Jo's church, and it was a great experience, minus not understanding a word spoken! I love how joyful church is here, filled with dancing and so much singing. But, I do however love understanding the sermon and the hymns being sung as well! Belinda told us that there's an English speaking church here in Asamankese, so we are going to visit there next weekend.

Hard to believe we are already half way through September. Thinking of you all at home and missing everyone very much!

Lots of love,

Angie

The One with the Monkey

Hi everyone!

It's been a busy week starting our full day, full week kindergarten classes. It's been incredibly challenging with both the language barrier and a completely different way of teaching and discipline here. The kids are quite ... insane. 'Terrors' might be a good word ... today I got bit, broke up a fist fight, and spent most of the day yelling at kids to stop hitting one another. Needless to say ... glad that tomorrow is Friday. Lesley gave me some time to spend supervising the class by myself, as most of the time I am just observing ... and it was challenging and nerve wracking to be in charge of so many kids on my own! We had thirty today, the most we've had, but thirty-six are registered. So our class may grow.

The past couple nights after school we've spent exploring. I tend to stay inside in the evenings, minus an occasional trip to the rooftop to see my sky, but Tuesday night Lauren and Kylie encouraged me to go for a walk with them. We loaded up on bugspray and went for a walk down the main street. We didn't get too far before we were greeted by a friendly woman into her shop, so we stopped to talk, and visited with her family ... and their pet monkey! Their pet monkey is named Hope, and his favorite treat is bubble gum. They gave us some bubble gum so we could see him play with it, and he pulled it out of his mouth, played with it with his hands ... it was hilarious. The lady, Gladys, is a teacher here in Asamankese, and her English was great - she taught us a few Twi words, and sent us home with some ground nuts. They are sweeter than peanuts and small and round. The kids that were there loved playing with Lauren's iPhone and listening to her music, and Gladys told us that the next time we come from Canada she wants us to bring her back an iPhone, haha! Anyways, Asamankese is a different place at night. Everyone is out and about, walking and visiting and it was awesome to experience it.

Yesterday after school Lesley and I went to visit the girl from Switzerland that stopped by the school a couple weeks ago to introduce herself (I think I blogged about it). She is here until December, and invited us to come visit her and her host family. She is volunteering at a hospital about a half an hour away from here, and staying with a family who runs an orphanage. We had quite the adventure on the way there. We hired Isaac, one of Belinda's friends, to take us there in his taxi, but we got stopped at a police check. There seemed to be an argument or disagreement between Isaac and the taxi driver, and before we knew it the police driver poked his head into the window of the backseat, and said, "You are welcome here. But your driver is misbehaving. We are going to call you another taxi." So we waited, confused, until another taxi picked us up to drive us the rest of the way. Needless to say, we later found out that the police told him he was underage to own a taxi (?) and actually threw him in jail and confiscated his car! It was such a strange situation!

Anyway, we finally made it to meet Sarah and her host family, and they were incredibly welcoming and excited to see us. They showed us the orphanage and we met all of the kids, fourteen of them in total. Kylie and the rest of us hope to visit again this weekend as they are always looking for volunteers. We met two other girls, from Holland, who are spending a couple months at the orphanage to help out. We talked about where we'd travelled, where we hoped to travel still and all the things we missed about home (showers, flushing toilets, and cheese!).

So anyways, I am headed off to bed to be well rested for what I am sure is to be a crazy day tomorrow. Please keep us all in prayers, and especially the students as I know one of our biggest challenges is the language barriers. Missing you all!

Angie

Full moons, Lies, and Walking on Water

Thursday night we began preparations for our long trip to Beyin Beach by staying up far too late – Kylie, Lauren and I found our way onto the top of the roof of the guesthouse to observe the blue moon. Sadly it was cloudy, so we sat and talked and waited until in one glorious moment, the skies broke and the beautiful moon shone straight atop of us. It was a breathtaking moment – Asamankese's lights below us on the hill, and the hidden moon now appearing above us. This, I thought, this is beauty!

Friday morning we were up bright and early as our driver was supposed to arrive sometime in between eight and nine. However, a flat tire combined with African time meant we left closer to ten instead. We passed the long drive by reading and sleeping and watching movies, and after one short detour, we arrived just in time to catch the African sunset over the ocean. It was absolutely stunning. The sun shone a bright pink, and literally dropped so quickly the sun was set within mere minutes. I guess this is what happens when you live so close to the equator! As night descended, we unpacked in our rooms and went to the dining hut (I say hut because all of the buildings were thatched and minus our chalets were open concept). We discovered the best treat for four Canadians living in Africa – hot, gooey, fudge brownies! Needless to say we had those every dinner while we stayed there :)

After supper we explored the ocean under the full moon and a sky full of stars. We definitely left our mark in the Gulf of Guinea ... let's just say there was more than one full moon that night! :) After we headed to our rooms to enjoy beautiful hot showers – what a treat! - and then headed to bed. The next morning we discovered a beautiful day outside, and after breakfast we spent the rest of the day by the beach. Kylie, Lauren and I wandered down the beach to discover the fisherman taking in their catch for the day. Many of the locals were gathered around, and were incredibly friendly and explained the different types of fish they had caught. They offered to sell us some but since both Lauren and I don't like fish we politely refused! Amongst all of their fish in their nets were jellyfish and stingrays, and we saw some of the young kids playing with squid that they had caught. It was interesting to see how the daily 'fish catch' was something everyone was involved in, whether it be the actual fishing or the bartering and selling.

Also it's interesting – I don't consider myself someone who can lie easily, sometimes I am convinced I have an inability to lie – but here you find the lies sometimes just slip off your tongue when single Ghanaian men are being incredibly forward! For example, here's a conversation that happens far too often and happened while observing the fishermen bringing in their catch:

Ghanaian male: Are you married?

Me: (Pause) Yes. Yes, I am. (Hide left hand behind hip)

Ghanaian male: Oh. Where is your partner then? Back in Canada?

Me: (Another pause). Yes. Working.

Ghanaian male: Oh wow. You are apart for a long time then!

At this point I changed the topic hurriedly to avoid any further slips! After this unfortunate conversation, we headed back to our beach to enjoy the water. We got horribly burned even after applying sunscreen – well, all of us except for who Lauren, who apparently tans quite easily. It was an incredibly relaxing afternoon, but by the evening the waves were getting quite rough and strong, and after watching the sunset, we had dinner and headed to our rooms. It's incredibly strange having the sunset so early; it sets around 6:00 p.m., and is almost completely dark by 6:30. It's because of this that somehow my night-owl habit is being forced out of me ... all three nights away, without internet, and I was asleep by 11 p.m.!

Sunday morning we awoke to bad news ... Lesley was incredibly sick (we think it was food poisoning, as none of the rest of us felt sick at all). We had planned to go to Nzuleo, the stilt village built on water, but after breakfast we waited for awhile to see if she was feeling any better. We walked down to the ocean and did our devotions by the water and afterwards went for a walk along the ocean, where we were spotted by a church group from Kumasi who wanted their pictures taken with the 'obruni's. It's funny feeling like celebrities just because of the colour of your skin!

Sadly Les wasn't feeling any better, so we headed to Nzuleo without her. You had to walk along a long board walk to get to the end of a channel of water that led out to a lake which I believe was called Black Lake. We had to wait a long time, probably close to two hours, before we were taken in a canoe to the stilt village. While we were waiting we met a group of three Dutch girls who were volunteering in Ghana for a medical placement and spending a week travelling. It's always fun to meet others who are travelling and hearing their stories! We finally boarded our canoe, and it was a bit of a scary experience to say the least – our first sight of the canoes was of a man emptying it of water! But we survived, and made it through the swampy waters to the lake. Kylie and Lauren had a blast terrifying all of us of sightings of crocodiles (even though they were small ones who live in the water, and our guide said they only came out a night) and singing songs at the top of their lungs. The stilt village was quite fascinating – all of the homes are built on poles coming out of the water, and there are board walks in between each home or shop that you walk over the water on. There was electricity, which was surprising, but I think that we saw some of the most poverty we've seen since we've been here. The locals use the water from the lake for washing, drinking, and sewage. And the school that they had built was a three room schoolhouse, but there were no supplies, just basic wooden desks and one chalkboard in each room. We so take for granted our classrooms back home, filled with toys and posters and every type of book imaginable. These people simply have nothing. There were two churches in the village – both built on a slant, and they also had some shops along the boardwalk. Everywhere we've been we've felt incredibly welcome, but here we felt invasive, almost as if we were walking through someone's home that had been turned into a tourist destination. But I'm glad we were able to see it and experience this village that is almost 600 years old (it was originally built on the lake to hide from their enemies during a war).

When the tour was finished and we canoed back, we spent a little time in the ocean before we headed in for the evening, but by then the water was quite choppy and rain was on its way. We spent the night watching Friends on my laptop, and headed back around 10 this morning with a few stops to visit some people that our driver, Anthony, wanted to visit while in the area. Sometimes I can't get over how social Ghanians seem to be – always paying a visit to one another multiple times to thank them or offer condolences. I considered myself a social person, but goodness, if I was half as social as the Ghanaians are I am sure I would be completely exhausted all the time!

Tomorrow we start our first full day week of teaching. It's going to be exhausting, so I'm headed to bed early tonight! Hope everyone had a great long weekend back at home, miss you all!!

Love,

Angie