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Akwaba

Hope you all are well!! It has been another chaotic week in Ghana but I don't think the country does it any other way. Its such a strange place to be the city is bustling from dawn until late in the evening with people selling their goods but the service has one speed- slow- very very slow. Food takes over an hour to arrive in restaurants and for a group of more than 5 everyone usually has there meal at least two hours after ordering!! Its fine as long as you are prepared for the wait, some volunteers find it harder to be patient than others! They key is to always carry snacks!! The service here isn't exactly polite either the staff are usually quite short and blunt and many volunteers respond to this by treating them the same which upsets me really because its not our culture to be rude but this is how ghanian service is,it's a debate I have had many times with volunteers!! I gues the flip side to the problem is we are usally mocked for saying please and thank-you but I'd rather that and feel better myself!! J

I think the biggest revlevation this week for many of the volunteers myself included is our role in ghana. Although I never came to Ghana with any intentions or ideas that I would make a difference to the teaching of the children I hoped I would learn from the ghanian teachers and the children. This has definitely been the case, I have learnt how to cope with a variety of new situations but I cannot bring much from the English education to a system that is essentially 100 years behind. The children learn by rote the teachers otherstand this method of teaching and the children belive this is the only way to learn and no one can change this over night. So rather than fighting this and becoming frustrated with the system and style of teaching ive decided to teach them about England and use my experiences and knowledge of something new and although I don't like teaching by rote ive managed to include games that the children love to ensure that they understand rather than just memorise. This they found so difficult to adapt to but I have found it hugely rewarding that they have learnt in just one situation to try and think for themselves. Im sure that one day they will develop the eduation system to make way for independent thought but they aren't ready for that yet. Just from the advertisesments on bill boards and the televisions the ghanian people are told what to be doing, thinking and how to behave although they are obviously capable of behaving in any way they choose mpost do follow and believe the ideologies which are given to them, this is hard to swallow for most of the volunteers here. Although this all might sound quite negative I have found getting to grops with this idea has helped me a lot to cope with living here, understanding the way the country works makes living here almost manageable and enjoyable!! Also understanding the way that we as white people are viewed has made the attention we get easier to cope with. White people seem to represent to the Ghanaian people prosperity and wealth. The ghanian people want to be friends with us because they believe we can give them the secret or help them to achieve this to. It's a strange concept and mioght not make much sense but it does when you are experiencing it everyday.

Well revelations aside I have visited the market this week which was an experience in itself. The markets are very crowed and compact. We arrived just as the rain started which is definitely a take cover situation. Once the rain stoped and we tried to dodge the puddles and flooding we browsed the fabric section of the market ( feet filthy after several steps!) The stall holder pinch and grab us as we walk [ast trying to make us look at their materials, no need to say that we uaully avoid these ones!! The fabric is beautiful with different patterns and fanatastic designs. I really like the geomateric designs have purchased a range to make into clothing when I get home J I say I mum will - I hope!! J Fabric is very cheap only a couple of pounds for 3 yards,. I choose one fabric with the intention of having this made into an African dress. I have now taken this bold and bright print to the seamstress who got great pleasure out of measuring me for a style of dress which I cam clearly the wrong shape for,. All African woman seem to be very busty and with big bottoms!! The girls at my sc hool always amuse me as at the start of the day when wiaiting for the teacher they take it in turns to put one of their school bags at the back of their dresses and walk around the classroom like an true African lady! Hilarious!! I also saw a little boy with a doll strapped to his back like the African ladies do with their own children. A much more practical option here I wouldn't like to push a puishchair through the crowed streets or on the uneven sandy ground.

I have spent the weekend at a resort on the gold coast called Green turtle. It is run by a british couple who give money to fishmen who's nets are broken by turles. They compensate them for their nets and return the turle to the sea. Turles otherwise would be sold for their shell and meat. The resot itself was idealic, it was so peaceful after the busy streets of Kumasi, no one to pressure us into buying something or to get into their taxi just free to relax under the palm trees by the sand and sea. We swam in the sea , well I say swam we jumped in the waves the current was too strong to swim really. Unfortuately I enjoyed the sum a little too much and am now paying the price with a very red and itchy sunburnt stomach! ( I am expecting little sympathy for this!!) The trip to the resort was interesting after a 5 and half hour bud journey we reached the city and had to take a taxi on very poor roads for over an hour. We travelled through some very very poor villages and this was quite an experience, they weren;t excited to see white people they were quite hostile. The children were welcoming. The conditions they were living in were very different to even the worst we had seen in the city. Huge piles of rubbish spilling into the roads with vultures on top of it! First vulture I had seen but was not the last of the weekend!! The children were barely clothed and were very dirty the buildings were all in major disrepair. This was by far the worst living conditions we had seen so far until we ventured down the beach from our resort. On Saturday we deicded to walk down the beach, we soon realized tht there was a village in the background, we thought this would be interesting to see. Again we received the same hostile treatement, the children were even hostile, they didn't want us to take pictures. The children were playing by the rocks in the sea which were also used as the toilets, so not a sanitary place to play. The beach was full of goats ( a regular occurance EVERYWHERE in Ghana) and their poo. The place smelt awful of human and goat poo and just general decay of rubbish. We had to walk directly through the village to get to the other side of the bay, the villagers just stared at us rather than the usua,ll running up and wanting to touch and hug us. The houses were huts and sum just lean-tos open to the elements and not very sanitary. The woman were washing some rags which we assumed to be their clothes given what the people were wearing. It was a very difficult situation but I think a worthwhile one to experience and understand the variation of living standards across Ghana. I will do my best to upload pictures so you can understand what I am talking about. On the other side of the village was a beautiful bay where the men were fishing and more goats were roaming around. The banks were lush with greenery. We trekked back to the village and were glad to return to our little bubble. The weekend was so relaxing and I particularly enjoyed real bread!! I think the addition to fibre in our diets did us all the world of good!!

Oh I almost forgot, on Thursday the medical volunteers came to my school to provide medical oputreach to the children. They treat their cuts and grazes and most importantly ring worm! I was excused from my lesson early and helped to attend to the ring worm. The children got so excited that I was on the playground with them shouting Miss Naomi (NA-omie!) a name I have grown to love! I helped to sort out the ring worm cases from the the crowds of children. One of the volunteers invited me to help him treat some of the children, treating the children with short hair was not a problem cleaning the ring worm effected areas and then applying anti-fungal cream. Those with longer hair had to have their hair shaved in that area, most have very short hair so it isn't too much of a problem and they don't end up looking too ridiculous. I treated one boy who had a very bad 'open' ring worm patch on his leg,. I treated him with the cleaning fluid and his wound actually bubbled I could feel his pain and did my best to comfort him as he cried and to restrain him on the chair. I did my best but all that was going to help was a cuddle so I popped him on to my knee and distracted him while the medical volunteer but a plaster onto the wound. A gold star and keyring later he was right as rain and possible my best friend for ever!! I am hoping this Thursday to take part in the outreach programme again, not only because I enjoy doing something different and practical with the children but it is an opportunity to see another school or an orphanage.

Thank-you for your messages it good to know someone is reading and enjoying my rambles!!! xxxx