Day 22

So, I know it has been forever since I have posted last and it is not because I haven’t wanted to! Unfortunately, we have had major problems with the internet provider, Vodaphone, that we use for our wifi connection and we have been completely without it for over a week now. Luckily, Dr. Herlin (Chief) has purchased a portable modem that we can use! Unfortunately, it charges by minute or data used or something, so my time is limited. In any case, I will summarize everything that has been going on with as much pertinent details as possible!

We will start with school. I began teaching last week and I absolutely love it! I only taught on Tuesday and Wednesday because Thursday and Friday were the annual “Sports days.” Which is somewhat like a “field day” in the states. I went to sports on Thursday and had a great time. It was quite a sight to see! The event took place in a large arena type area that was basically a huge dirt field surrounded by a chain-link fence with barbed wire on top. Inside the fence, there was a “track” of sorts. Basically, it was a large circular indented path that had just been created by so many people running it. This is where all the races took place. There were students from many of the schools in the region; some were competitors and some were just spectators. I would say there were at least 200 kids there. There were all kinds of events that took place and a student from each school would participate in each race. First were short sprints, like a 100 meter dash. Eventually, there was the longer race which would compare to our mile race I believe. None of the races had a defined starting or finish line, they were both just kind of outlined by the teachers who helped organize it all. I saw a great deal of racers passing out at the finish line!!! In fact, it actually seemed like a somewhat common thing to do. I got to see a lot of the girls I teach while I was there and they were SUPER excited to get pictures with me, so I have quite a few pictures with some of my students now J

As far as actually teaching, I LOVE it!! Despite being totally terrified every time I walk into the room (due to the 50 plus faces staring back at me each time), I have a wonderful time. So many of the girls are so excited to participate and answer any and all of the questions, and they also seem to understand what I’m saying and teaching! I do hear a great deal of giggling as I’m writing on the board which always makes me self-conscious, but it usually ends up being directed at my pronunciation of some word.  Especially “water.” I’ve found that they emphasize different syllables in their words and sentences as well which I’m sure makes many of my statements and questions sounds a bit odd to them. At any rate, I’m really enjoying teaching!!

In the Public Health setting: I met with the director of Administration again last week and he gave me a rundown on the health care system in Ghana (which I will have to review a few times, but is fairly straight forward)! He also offered to set up some meetings with other doctors as well, but that has yet to pan out. This Monday, however, I am supposed to be working with Mubareck, the SCT secretary on setting up some work in that area. One of Chief and Prof’s friends from England, Patricia, is actually a professor of Occupational Health at the medical school here and offered to set up some meetings with people there to get me introduced and hopefully start with some work! Apparently, it is the only public health school here that sends students out into the field to do the health work while still in their beginning levels (from what I understand). Another contact that I have acquired is Nash, who is an alum of the Zo-Simli-Naa scholarship and aid fund and who now works in the Health Department of Tamale! I think with the help of Mubareck (and a great deal of determination and pushing on my part) I will be able to set up a pretty good program for the public health part of my internship!

So far, I have interviewed 33 scholars!!! And I have yet to hear a story that isn’t truly inspiring J I have also visited a few of the alums at their jobs now! My favorite visit was to the Shekinah Clinic where Mariam, one of the first batch of scholars, works. This is a health clinic that offers its services free of charge to the severely needy . Mariam’s husband is the head doctor and Mariam is one of the nurses that volunteers at the clinic. It was a truly amazing place!

Probably the most important announcement I have to make is that Dr. Herlin, aka Chief, and Wyatt, aka, Prof, arrived in Tamale on Sunday, June 10^th. I was fortunate enough to join the welcoming posse at the airport to greet them! The group consisted of at least 10-15 people (3 of which were drummers). It was quite the little ceremony I must say and I was happy to be part of it. Back at the palace, there was another welcoming ceremony in the greeting room (where Chief sits two days a week to welcome people who come to visit her) and I was formally introduced to everyone. This week Chief has been very busy with greeting people and scheduling events and all, but we are all able to eat lunch and dinner together and sometimes meet for mid-morning or afternoon tea, too J Today, I joined Chief on her first visits to some other local chiefs, and that was very, very interesting! I borrowed one of Chief’s traditional outfits to wear for the occasion (the print on the dress is actually Sister Cities 25^th anniversary print!) complete with the head garment and all (someone helped me tie it on my head!). We visited two nearby chiefs, Lamegushu and Dakpena (the spelling is just an educated guess). The chiefs sat in their welcoming hall in a big chair with the crew of their elders sitting around their feet, and Chief and Prof sat in chairs to their right. I sat with Chief’s crew of elders in chairs to the welcoming chief’s right. The whole ritual was really interesting and intriguing and fortunately I was not expected to do or say anything because taking it all in was almost too much for me!

The food here continues to be amazing! My favorites remain the same, but so far I haven’t tried anything that I haven’t liked (and I’ve tried quite a bit!)

There was a bad storm last week that blew down a mango tree and the electrical wires and Bro Zee had quite a time trying to get it all back in order before Chief arrived!! For a while, we were without electricity and wifi. Then the electricity was restored, but there was a water shortage in town that left us without running water for about a day. Soon after the electricity was restored, there was a power surge that ruined a great deal of our appliances, including the refrigerator, microwave, toaster, and my A/C unit. They fixed most of it, but still haven’t been able to fix the A/C unit, so I have been relocated in the other guest room that does have a working A/C unit J Now, the only thing we still lack in a reliable internet connection! But, that is not a huge worry to me!

I’m getting to know more and more people that frequent the palace and Razak is working on teaching me Dagboni phrases so that I can greet them in their local language! I have also formed quite a strong bond with Magi and Ediya, the two littlest kids that live here. We play for an hour or two every evening in the courtyard around the palace. We have played hopscotch, had wheelbarrow races, and practiced writing numbers and letters in the dirt. I absolutely adore them both! And I believe that they have taken a strong liking to me as well!

So, in all, I have started adjusting pretty well to the new culture and environment that I have been living in for a little over three weeks now! There is still a lot that I have to learn and understand about how things works around here, but I’m slowly catching on, and everyone here is more than happy to help me along ;) Hopefully, I will be able to keep you up to date a little more frequently soon!