Saying Goodbye

This trip has truly been eye opening. I have had an absolutely terrific time with these kids and the people here as well. Everyone here is beyond nice and everyone truly is interested in how you are doing and making sure you are enjoying your time here in Ghana. Greetings are a must! It would be rude to start a conversation without first saying “You are welcome” or “Good afternoon”. People here barely make what seems like enough to live off of, but no one ever complains or seems unhappy; everyone is content and makes it through each day with a smile on their face. Having worked in a daycare setting for the last few years I was amazed and humbled by the gentleness and sweetness of the children at Happy Kids Orphanage. All of the children love one another and look to help out in any way possible, they never ask for anything and are willing to help their elders in any situation. As soon as we arrive each day they bring over a plastic chair for each of us to sit down in, smile, and say “please sit”. We brought something for the kids quite often and even though they did start to expect things, they still never grabbed for our bags or asked for anything, they just looked super happy when our purses looked like they were more full than normal. It is going to be extremely hard for me to adjust to the children back home. The kids at Happy Kids never argued, made fun of one another, argued over who got what (they shared two crackers between 6 kids), the boys even wore rhinestone shirts and pink flip flops without batting an eye or thinking twice; Stepping Stone will be hard to get used to.  

Some sayings I will leave with:

1.       “YooooOO”

2.       “I am coming”

3.       “You are welcome”

4.       “I am not old to die”   

5.       “Excuse me teacher can I go urinate”

6.       “Hey Charlie”

The kids moods have changed in our last few days, some of them cry every once in a while and other just look glum and say “I am fine” until you ask them if they are sad and they say “please don’t leave”. It is comforting knowing the people they are with are truly loving and caring for each and every kid. It would be much difficult to leave an orphanage that was not caring to the children as most here in Ghana are not. I also know that they have many other volunteers that will visit this year that will bring them all smiles. One of the hardest things I have tried to master in my belief system in being present in my emotions and allowing myself to feel them rather than push them away. Doing this will help me to feel comfortable in not wanting to leave, and missing each child, but will make it less stressful. It’s been working so far but tomorrow when we say goodbye it will be hard.

Thursday: Our flight leaves at 10:00pm so we are going to have to leave for the airport around 2pm. We went to the orphanage this morning to play for a few hours and say goodbye. The kids were moving a little slower today knowing it was our last play time with them before we left for America. We brought them a bunch of ice pops, clothes we are leaving behind and all our flip flops we brought with us. The kids in my class are sad but too young to really express their thoughts so they just hang on me with sad faces and talk quick and softly, I left my e-mail and Facebook information with the teacher and told all the kids they can message me any and every day if they want, they just have to tell a teacher and they will get it to me. We all stayed together; young, old, teacher, kid, orphan, student. We all sat together and played soccer or read books on a sheet in the field. When it was time to leave they all gave us big squeezes, I held in a few tears, and tickled the little ones bellies to get a final laugh out of them. A lot of them started crying which made it harder. I went to hug these two older boys; Nelson and Bright and I saw their eyes well up and they started to ball... I lost it. After the boys I had to say by to prince and Emanuel from my class which was just as hard and then I went to hug the girls who act like little mothers already to the younger ones and were crying and hiding their face before I could even get to them. It was a sad, sad time, the teachers, the kids, all of us were distraught and it took forever to get into the cab and drive away. They opened our car doors for us, closed them and put their hands to the window for a final wave goodbye. I will never forget their faces as the cab drove away… NEVER. 

The teachers gave us each two necklaces as parting gifts, told us we must work hard and get back. All the kids wrote us letters and put them in an envelope with our names; I don’t know when I will be able to read them but I am sure they will not be easy to read.

I have learned a lot about myself during this trip. I also have a better idea of what I came into and what I am leaving. I think, if I was to come back, there are things I would do different now having been here. Going back home and adjusting to my daily life will be difficult and probably harder to adjust to than it was to adjust here.

I have experienced people and children who are truly happy with having only what they have and seeking nothing more. They strive to make their loved ones happy, their elders cared for, and their main goal each day is to wake up and enjoy every minute of every day with what they have and nothing more. Superficiality does not exist and wanting for more is not a concept they understand. I will bring this life style home with me and hope that it stays present; I have friends and family that I love, good people to surround myself with, and everything I need to be happy in life, there is nothing more to ask for. I have loved every second I have spent with these children, I believe I taught them all something and feel they have taught me as well.

<3 Good Thoughts and Much Love

Hohoe/Wegbe Ghana: May 16-June 21, 2012         

The Last Supper

I have never seen 5 year olds eat so much! The minute we arrived all the children came running to the car and helping to bring all the food to the table. I would expect thirty kids who eat the same boring thing every day would be rushing towards me with a plate and spoon ready to eat and fighting for food. This wasn’t the case at all; the older children made sure the younger ones had a seat on the bench and a spoon and plate to eat with and then they found their own place either squeezed in or standing. They each said thank you nearly 10 times and sat patiently waiting for us to serve them food. We each gave them their plate and they all waited until they all had a plate, said grace and dug in. We had plenty of food; they even got to have seconds! Some of the small children ate more than I could have even eaten myself. I wish I could get them the meal they had tonight once a week or even a month. The children AND teachers even ate the bones; I spoke to another volunteer who is at our hotel but working at a different orphanage, and she said that they eat the bones as to not have ANY waste. The children were so excited and full of energy you would have thought it was Christmas; singing, music, dancing! As soon as everyone was done the children got three buckets and without even being asked to, washed all the dishes along with the heat boxes we carried the food from the hotel in, the tables, and the benches. After playing music, taking pictures, and dancing with the kids, I wanted to stay all night but it was sadly time for us to go. These last few days will be hard and I find myself planning my next trip in my mind; the thought of never seeing these children again is hard to even think about.

I stayed up a little later than I normally do to have a drink with another volunteer who is here doing work at a different orphanage; her name is Marcela, and she is from Scotland. Note to self: beer is even MORE dehydrating in Africa. We chatted for a while about how she is able to come here as often as she does at her age (36) and still raise money for the orphanage EVERY time she comes. She said she has a fundraiser every week where all her co-workers put a dollar in a pool and one person wins the pool of49 pounds; half goes to the employee and half goes to the orphanage- that’s about 25 pounds a week! The euro exchange rate is 2.85 wowzer!!!! While we were chatting she informed me of a conversation she had with one of the younger workers here at the hotel. Princilla is 19 and wants to go to school soon for teacher training. She asked Marcela “If she had black people in Scotland”, Marcela of course said “yes a few”. Princilla responded with a question that was honestly scary; “If a black man and a black woman have a baby in Scotland, does it come out white?” Marcella caught her thoughts for a second and responded “Princilla, it doesn’t matter where it comes out, it’s going to be black”. Princilla seemed confused but just said “ohhh hmmm ok” and shook her head.  Some people here are so sheltered and have no idea about so many basic things depending on where they went to school or if their parents even sent them to school; it seems like a waste of a good human brain with so many possibilities that are in the world.

Monday: it is hard to concentrate on teaching like we have every other week we have been here with the end being so close. I feel like there should be no school this week and we should just get to play with the kids every day all day until we leave. We are trying to take pictures of all the things we haven’t over the last few weeks; teachers, our classes, us with kids (I photograph horribly!) Rachel looks exactly the same in every picture like you could take her face from every picture she has ever taken and they would all be the same. I swear she has a “perfect picture smile” she presses before every flash. Whereas I look scared meets pained meets sick in all my pictures haha… One day I will master the whole “smile for the camera thing”. I have been trying to get you guys a good picture of someone with something outstanding on their head, but it’s hard to secretly snap a picture. You really have to just see it though, I mean they will put ANYTHING on their head and just walk with it there. I am on a mission! 

 <3 Good Things

Last weekend

Last Full Week

On Friday’s school is only a half daylong so we teach for about two and a half hours and then they have “games”…soccer, volleyball etc. Today we had volunteers from CCS to come join us so they did a lesson with the kids about music and taught them about the basics of music notes.  Was impressed at how quickly they caught on and how much they retained. Later I had the man who did the lesson write it out for me so we could keep in in the lesson folder for volunteers to come. Unfortunately games could not happen because it started down pouring at about 10:00, a half hour before break. Instead I got a bunch of puzzles and board games from the cabinet along with some drawing supplies and let the kids play with it all along with the volunteers. The children’s attention span dwindled quickly and I had to think of a new idea to fill the time. I took one of the computers out of the internet café and posted it in the room to get a dance party going. The kids listen to some really funny rap music and they absolutely love to dance! At first they were shy because the other volunteers where there but after I found a few of their favorite songs they couldn’t stop dancing and vying for the center spot in the video. The rain eventually stopped but it was time for us to leave for lunch. In the afternoon we played soccer for a little while and then I took another try at the motorcycle and did it all on my own from the start. I had trouble stopping the first time I stopped and the bike tipped over- it is pretty heavy. But after that I was able to stop fine and I was getting better and better at shifting too!

Usually we don’t spend too much time at the orphanage on the weekend but this is our last weekend here and we want to get in as much time as possible before we leave. We had intended on doing a big field day with the children and getting them ice cream at the end however, the weather had different plans. Instead we brought over a few movies, set the DVD player up, got ice cream for all the kids, and gathered together for a movie day outside but under covered area. The kids were so excited for ice cream they never get to have it so it was a treat. They all waited patiently in a perfect line and got which ever flavor we handed them without fuss and loved every drop of it… the little ones were too tiny to eat a whole one so they split it up and end up with most of it on their shirts. WE try to make a point of putting garbage in a bag instead of throwing it on the ground as people here most regularly do…. There are no public garbage cans anywhere they just eat/drink and toss.  The little ones (2-4) have it already instilled in them that you just throw it to the side when you are done.

 I started to get emotional today while sitting with one of the kids from my class (one of my favorites). A lot of the children’s moods are changing because they know it is getting closer to the time when we are leaving. They get a sad look in their face when people talk about it or when we are all playing together but I try to make them laugh and tell them to have a good time. Prince, the child in my class, has huge eyes, dark skin, is very quiet, and is the most precious voice ever something you would imagine a chipmunk having, but not like Alvin the chipmunk, a real LIVE one. Prince was holding my hand while we watched the rain fall together and tried to catch some drops on our toes together when he looked at me and said “Jessie I know your leaving soon, why do you have to leave me?” I nearly choked and said “Oh, Prince I don’t WANT to leave you, but it is time for me to go back to my home for now”. I tried to smile but my lip was limp and he returned it with “Well, I wish you didn’t have to leave, I am going to miss you, and I wish you could stay here with me.” I just squeezed his hand blinked like 500 times and got out the words “Me too Prince”. The kids are truly amazing and I know I say I want to come back every summer even for a week or two but I don’t know what the futures holds and that is the saddest part. I don’t know where the children will be in a year from now the older ones are nearly 15 and all though they don’t have to leave at a certain time you wonder what they have to look forward to in the real world and the little ones are so precious you want to always know they are smiling. We have a great day planned for them tomorrow and I know it will leave them with smiles and memories. We are going over at 4 in the afternoon and giving them a big feast for dinner. They never get chicken or pasta, usually just rice or fish stew (dried fish). So we have arranged them to have joloff rice, fried chicken, pasta, biscuits, and flavored juice.it is a surprise only the teachers know we are doing it and they kids will find out when we arrive with it all. I can only imagine their faces when they see all that food. It will be the perfect way to spend our last weekend with them.      

<3Good Things
Picture 1 and 2 - Group pictures of children enjoying their ice cream and movie.
Picture 3- Prince enjoying his ice cream- (this changed his mood a bit). 

Rain Rain Go Away

The weather has been kind of cloudy and drizzly all week which is a nice break from sweating but it not as cheerful and sunny how it usually is. The kids are aware that we are leaving soon and are giving us a daily count down… “Seven days right?” “Six days right?” It’s is cute but I would rather them not remind me each day is getting closer to not seeing their shining faces each day. Everyone who asks us when we are leaving follows up with the same question: “After you leave when while you be returning to us”, I wish I had an answer for them but I always just say, “It is in my future plans for sure, I love it here, but I do not have a trip planned”. They just smile and squeeze my shoulder.  

We brought over all the school supplies and filled and organized the supply cabinets today with all the educational supplies we brought over from USA. They look great and the teachers and students were so grateful, they just said thank you over and over again all day long, every time they saw us. I brought over three puzzles today, to the orphanage, which were at the school compound, but were covered in dust and clearly not being used. The children I think thought that I had bought them for them and that they were new, apparently they don’t use them often. It was rainy so the kids sat down, and were able to finish the 100, 200, and 500 piece puzzles. They were so proud they just stood in front of me and held them out and smiled as if they had won a medal. They DID NOT break them… all the puzzles were kept intact and laid out for showing. I took their pictures with the puzzles they had accomplished.

Thursday- 

Rachel and I both taught the older children today because the little ones stayed at the orphanage due to the rain and weather. We didn’t have anything planned to teach them and teaching 2^nd, through 6^th graders in the same class is not possible AT ALL. Instead of teaching we showed the children the letters we had the kids at Stepping Stones write to them and then gave them art supplies to write their own letter/picture back to the kids in America. The older kids were able to read the letters we brought but the younger ones needed us to read them to them. They each wrote their own letter telling a little bit about themselves and then asking the kids some questions. I think it will be interesting when the kids at stepping stones get the letter in return and see “favorite food=FuFu or Banku” (mashed and boiled ball mixture of cassava and plantain). The kids took forever drawing their picture making sure they were just write using rulers for the flag and soccer goals and copying pictures in their literature learning book so the people looked exactly so. Everything the children do is perfectly precise. After the pictures were finished, they took break, and we all played soccer, we taught the children how to play charades. It went well but they didn’t understand the concept of NO SPEAKING and when they went up to do snake they said ssss, goat, “aaaaaa” and dog “ruff ruff”; they guessed it instantly.

Our break in between school and play time at the orphanage seemed long today but it is always the same amount of time- 12-3. We picked up some purses we had made at the local Beatrise; they were cheap but not exactly what we had in mind when we ordered them… but who doesn’t like a new bag?

When we returned to the orphanage for play the kids were setting up for sewing and we were helping them get it all arranged so they were ready to sew their dresses and shirts when the seamstress came. When the older children started sewing we brought some of the other kids to the field to get some soccer in. At the field we were joined by Emanuel and two of his friends one of which had a motorcycle and offered us to learn how to ride on the field. I know this may sound like a bad idea but the field is huge and it is where all the locals learn to ride because it is the perfect amount of space, a good shape and there are no obstacles. Rachel wanted to do it, maybe not as much as I did but she was scared at first so I went first. He didn’t explain anything to me he just tapped the seat in broken English and said “hop on, you can do it I’m sure of it”. I got on and it was already running; I go on the bike…. It was freaken’ heavy like HEAVY! He had me accelerate and get it into first, then second and then third and he helped me balance out the bike and make the turns for two laps then he turned the bike off and got off as if we had previously discussed something and said “ok you go now, you understand” I looked at him with a crazy face, eyes open and 105 pound body struggling to hold the huge bike up between my thighs and said “you’re kidding me right?” his only response was laugh and a gesture to go. I pressed the little button in, pulled the throttle to give it gas with the clutch in place, and clicked it to first gear and began to take off. I quickly went from 1^st to 2^nd to 3^rd and was doing laps and turns by myself in a field in the middle of Ghana on a motorcycle!! “AHHHHH” I said as I smiled from ear to ear like a grinning idiot; I was so excited. The guys, Rachel, a few of the kids form the orphanage and some local bystanders were all cheering me on whenever I passed them, it was the coolest experience ever. Rachel gave it a try after I stopped hogging the bike and was terrified. She is very brave though because she seemed scared to begin but we all pushed her to do it anyway. She went once with Emanuel’s friend who taught me but got freaked out and felt uneasy about it so she got off. I don’t think the guy was explaining it very well to her. I got back on and the guy got on with me and took me on a new path through the woods and into a dirt road which was cool but very bumpy, he took me around the back of a compound to this road that was a straight away to the field and had me get up to fourth gear. Don’t worry I wasn’t going too fast but it was fun! When we got to the field we continued doing a few laps, but he must have jumped off when we reached the field, because when I came around to where they were all standing, he was standing with Rachel and Emmanuel and wasn’t on the back of the bike. The young men from town watching me were making fun of him for riding on the back of the bike; I guess women don’t really ride motorcycles too much in Ghana. And if they do they don’t men don’t ride behind them. I was full of energy and adrenaline for dinner and can’t wait to do it again tomorrow. Rachel got back on the bike after a lot of persuading but this time with Emanuel and they were able to figure out her problem… she couldn’t turn right because the throttle is on the right and she would pull it when she turned… She was able to do it with Emanuel on the bike but only turning left. Hopefully tomorrow she will do it on her own and master right hand turns. I need to take Benadryl for all my bug bites and get to bed. I hope I can sleep. Tomorrow is the last day of our last full week here- I don’t know what I will do without these kids.

<3 Good Things           

    

Count Down Begins!

This is the beginning of our last full week, and our last ten days! I am said to think I will be leaving these kids so soon I have grown to love each and every one of them and truly wish I could bring a few home… Any takers? They are sweet and know we will be leaving soon and aren’t so happy themselves. Yesterday was Monday and we had no school because of something happening in town, we went to the orphanage instead of teaching and spent time with the kids there. I taught a few kids how to hacky sack out of one I sewed for them with some scrap fabric and stones from the ground, it was fun, they were fascinated but it was only a few rounds before it burst open with a decent size hole. For dinner I tried something new called Veggie Stew and it was very yummy but VERY spicy, it cleared my sinuses. Haha

Rachel and I have become obsessed with this corny… CORNY soap opera that is on television here, it is originally a Spanish soap but they dubbed their voice with English. It is so stupid and insanely dramatic but it is entertaining and we actually look forward to it each Saturday and Sunday night. To our surprise and excitement there was a new episode that came on Monday and we caught it right before we were going to sleep. SCORE!

Tuesday was so nice; the weather was perfect sunny but not too hot and it cooled down a bit after a mid-day rain storm. The kids were cute in class today and I noticed I had made so serious progress with three of the kids I have been working one on one with. We had some volunteers from Cross Cultural Solutions join us today to see how our orphanage is run. I was paired with an older man who was here for three week with his 18 year old daughter… I thought that was weird three week in Africa in the same house as your father while volunteering. He was very sweet but almost that kind of obnoxious happy like, “Hi, where are your emotions there’s no way you’re always laughing in their… what the hell are you really thinking!” He did some rhythm thing with clapping and then tried to teach 5 year olds double digit addition… poor guy.

We brought the kids to the field today and played some soccer and climbed some tree. I watched as some kids were feeding a baby goat some leaves- awesome. I held the cutest baby today that was just walking around with its older sister (baby= 1 year, older sister= 4) It took all I had not to ask, “WHERE IS YOUR MOTHER!” We went home around 530 and had a very fried and starchy dinner finished with an entire water bottle and a freezing cold shower! I will read a little of my last book I have on this trip and then hit the hay. The week is flying by.

<3 Good Things 

1-A group of boys spelling words incorrectly with chalk on an extra desk.

2- Elikliplm and Emanuel laughing and showing me a stuffed duck that makes a crinkly sound- they got a kick out of it... PS: I am taking Emanuel home.

 

Cape Coast/ El mina

There is a lot to say but it is going to be hard to explain it so that you understand what I am saying. Ill try.

Information you may need to understand: 

Tro tro- there are two kinds of tro tro’s they are 9-12 person vans that either have air conditioning and are in good condition and cost around 10cedis or they are not air conditions and they pack people in like sardines and charge you anywhere from 40 pueswas (cents) to 6 dollars. They also pack the van full of peoples’ belongings in all open areas and then bungy the doors closed to just barely hold everything in… Oh! And you are sitting leg to leg with the person next to you for the duration of your trip= 3 hours one one, then 3 hours on another (bathroom break you say?... a bush if you have the guts to let a van full of black Africans watch the only white girl within 100km pee in a bush) Our hotel was called Ko-Sa it was located in El mina which is thirty minutes out of Cape Coast but right on the beach..  Slave castle is on the ocean in El Mina.

Journey there:

We decided to take a Tro Tro for our trip it saved us nearly 200 Cedis each so it was the only possible option if we wanted to go to Cape Coast at all. We left the hotel and arrived the tro tro station at 830am we were bombarded by men telling us to “come in their van” (creepy) and giving us all sorts of different prices we got help from our dear friend and taxi driver Godwin and landed ourselves the first seat on a 10 cedi, air conditioned van with a nice driver who was going to help us locate our connecting tro tro in once we were in Accra. The ride was ok but long and cramped with 12 other people, oh and we didn’t leave the station until around 10 so we were waiting in the van for two hours before we even departed. When we got to Acraa we were ushered out of the tro tro and into a cab by our friendly tro tro driver and on our way to the next tro tro that would take us to our hotel… We got ripped off 30 cedi for a 15 cedi ride… sucks to be white! Our second tro tro was just as long and just as tightly packed getting to our hotel was like seeing Elis Island, a relief! 10 hours it took us ten hours!!! It should have been 6!

The hotel:

The hotel was amazing, so cute and literally right on the beach, our bungalow was rustic but enclosed and we each had our own bed and mosquito nets (enclosed didn’t mean ENCLOSED!) We were joined with many small lizards and weird red bugs but our nets kept them out while we were sleeping. WE had dinner which was also amazing and I had a drink called Bisop- African hibiscus drink= SO DELOCOUS! Breakfast was just as good and so was dessert! Yes dessert... fried banana, ice cream and chocolate sauce mmm. We went to the slave castles right after breakfast and then returned to lay on the beach and burn to a crisp… I didn’t burn but I turned a maroon brown and have some intense lines to even out. I also bought myself two really nice necklaces from a sweet old man who was selling his hand made glass beaded necklaces on the beach.

Slave Castle:

We got out of the taxi and was greeting by weird people wanting us to buy their items… One man actually said “Hello pretty white ladies are you lost? I can keep you company!” Was he serious? Like I want company from a man who looks as though he has never been introduced to soap, and is selling dried fish next to a drain infested with malaria… “No thanks”. As for the castle, I don’t have too much I can say about it. It was devastating. It is one thing to learn about the history of it all and to know what you’re about to see but to be in the very spot where women were raped and men were starved and beat to death was a whole other thing in itself. We saw the ‘door of no return’, the chambers where the men and women stayed and much more. It was horrible to see what a beautiful place El Mina was and to think that these people were being treated so horribly. I will have to show you picture… its hard to explain but I am sure you can imagine the creepy feeling you get seeing the last place so many families saw their loved ones alive for the last time.

Our Journey Home:

It was a short amount of time but we were able to relax and ready to get back to the kidos and start the week. The first tro tro was from Cape Coast to Accra where we would have to connect somehow to another tro tro to take us to Hohoe. Our first tro tro was a fancy very nice and very spacious bus and only 7 cedis!!!! It was a long ride but left fairly quickly and our driver said he would help us get a connection so far so good… I speak to quickly. We got to Accra and before we even knew were getting off we were pushed out of the tro tro and onto the street of Accra our driver grabbed us and before I could even put my backpack on forced two men out of a nearby van and pushed us in… I was squeezed in the front seat of a 12 person van next to a 300 pound (no exaggeration) man in a Muslim dress and Rachel in the way back… 23 PEOPLE AWAY, YES 23 people in a 12 person van!!!! It cost us 30 pesuwas to get to our tro tro station… we were packed and I was laughing out the window at the man I was sharing a seat with but we made it to the station and for cheap… Rachel and I just looked at each other- no words. The station in Accra was really just a very dirty and very large parking lot with tons of beat up old un marked vans bringing people to different destinations… and all of them want you in their van and they grab your arms and hiss at your and make kissy faces its insane! We finally found our station to Hohoe and bought our ticket and were on our way home! Yay!!! An air conditioned van with the legal amount of people in it and my neighbor was a young Muslim man with soft skin who smelled of baby powder and violets; I was happy. The ride took entirely too long and the trip turned out to be 4 hours to Hohoe, and around 9 hours total from Cape Coast. We were home during daylight though and able to relax a bit before dinner.

The trip:

It was relaxing, a great change of scenery but also exciting and eventful as is everything in Ghana apparently. On to the week ahead! Our time is winding down; less than two weeks and tons of loose ends to tie up… I’ll keep you updated!

<3 Good things    

 This is the beach where our hotel was located and the bungalo we stayed in!