Wrapping up in Tadi

I'm sad to say that this is our last week in Takoradi, we will be leaving next Thursday to head to Koforidua. I really love it here and it's unfortunate that time has absolutely flown by. We just got ourselves into a good routine with workshops and eating! Even though we are still struggling to find time to eat 3 meals a day...usually it turns out to be 2 means a day with snacks for lunch. Workshops are going well, we will be wrapping up the MDGs with the YMCA students and heading back to OIC on Thursday and Friday to finish with the students and teachers.

This weekend was very relaxed, we just stayed in Takoradi, went dancing again on Friday, lounged pool side on Saturday and caught up on some work Sunday afternoon. Yesterday morning we finally made it to Church! We were invited to attend with Augustine and his family (Augustine is affiliated with the YMCA here in Takoradi) and it was really interesting, lots of singing and dancing! And all visitors have to introduce themselves so we had to stand up in front of everyone and state our names, where we are visiting from and what we are doing in Ghana. After 4 weeks of saying the same thing, it gets easier to stand up in front of everyone and definitely feel that my presentation skills are improving because of this!

Here are few pictures to add to my update, the first one is Devon, Kelly and I with some of the second year students at the YMCA and the second picture is of me and Emmanuel aka Box Baby! This baby is one of the lady's at the OIC school and she brings him everyday so we see him in his box every Thursday and Friday! The picture doesn't so him justice because he is the cutest thing I've ever seen! Many of you know that I don't get all giddy with babies but this little guy just brings it out in me! (not that I want one of my own...MOM!!)

Hopefully I'll get one more blog in before we head to Koforidua but if not, I will update you all soon!

Miss everyone, but love it here!
xox

Obruni, no punch backs!

So the title of this blog is a game that I have created which is similar to "punch buggy, no punch backs" instead we replace punch buggy with obruni! So far Fred is winning but we are always on the look out!

Our workshops are going well, I really love the 2nd year students at the YMCA school. Yesterday we had them write an essay on if they could spend a day with anyone in the world, who would it be and why. A few of them chose to spend the imaginary day with me and reading their stories brought a smile to my face! Some of the girls wanted to take me to the beach and others wanted to go out for dinner so we they can practice their English.

On Saturday we went to Busua Beach which is absolutely gorgeous! We arrived early in the morning so we were able to spend the entire day laying on the beach, drinking star and wondering around the town. During one of our walks on the beach we ended up with a small group of boys behind us and I made a new friend! His name is Ishmael and his father is the Pan cake man!

Me and Ishmael

Needless to say, I didn't want to leave Busua...even though we have a beach here in Takoradi, it's just not the same atmosphere! We had to leave Sunday morning because we had to be back in Tadi for yet another workshop Sunday evening with the Rotaract Club. The Rotaract Club is the Rotary club but it's for young adults instead of older adults. We didn't want to give up a full day at the beach but once we got to the meeting it turned out to be a good time. It was nice to meet people our own age and one of the girls offered to take us to her seamstress so that we can have proper dresses made! So yesterday we met up where and went to the market to buy our material and this evening we're going to pick out the style of dress that we want made. It's an exciting process, especially since I've never had anything tailored specifically for me, nor have I picked out the fabric that I want!

My soon to be dress!

Stay tuned tuned for pictures of the final products!

White, Good evening

Besides being called Obruni all the time (meaning white person) we also have been greeted in the following way which I just find absolutely hilarious... "White, good evening." We're still unsure of the proper way to respond to this besides by waving and saying hello!

Sunday we took a walk through the market and tested our bargaining skills, which we need to work on! Sunday was also the day we searched for food all afternoon! We knew that Sunday's a lot of stores are closed because people attend church but we didn't realize we'd have such a hard time finding at least something small to eat! It was definitely a lesson learned: make sure we have our own food on Sunday's!

Market Shopping

This week has been our first week of work and it's been busy and very tiring. It seems that work keeps being added to our schedule so last night we finallly sat down as a group and made a workshop schedule. So, as of now we will be doing MDG workshops Monday-Wednesday morning at the YMCA school, Monday and Tuesday afternoons we will be helping the students with reading and writing, Thursday and Fridays we will be at  the Opportunity Industrialization Center (OIC) working with the students and the teachers. We will be teaching the MDGs to the teachers and we will be helping the teachers with proposal writing, project management, fundraising and leaderships skills.

Our 2nd year students at the YMCA school

Us playing the Shrinking Island game!

Happy Thanksgiving Canada!

 So, now I’ll explain what exactly we’re doing here in Tadi! Our partner is the YMCA vocational school and the 2 trades being studied are sewing and catering. Starting on Monday we will be working with the first, second and third years and conducting workshops to teach them about the millennium development goals. Our work weeks will be Monday to Friday and we will be conducting the workshops from 8am to 9:30am with a break from 9:30 to 12:30! We will come back to the school at 12:30 and work with the kids from 1 to 2:30. This time is more open and we will work to support the curriculum in any way we can, ie: essay writing, math, etc.

On Friday evening we went out for a few drinks and a lot of dancing! It was a super great time and I think it will become our regular Friday night hand out spot! 

Saturday was jam packed with tourist stuff but it was really interesting. In the morning we headed to Kakum and did the canopy walk which is a set of 7 very narrow canopy bridges suspended between 40 meters above the ground! 

Next we went to Cape Castle in Cape Cost which is a UNESCO world heritage site and was built in the 1600’s and it was initially used as a trading post until the start of the slave trade. The tour we had was really interesting, we got to go into the slave dungeons underground and our guide explained the whole process of moving the slaves from one dungeon to the boats as well as the punishment cells for those who tried to escape.This was really interesting for me to see first hand as I did an entire presentation in 3rd year economics class about the slave trade.

After this tour, I was super tired and I thought we were heading back to Tadi, but we ended up visiting the home of a chief. The chief’s wife is Emilia and she is the principle at the YMCA we are working with. This was a really interesting experience. We went into the village and visited with the head chief in his palace and went through the actual steps of greeting the chief. The chief then offers each guest a drink and you have to take it as a sign of acceptance into his palace. Our choices were Star beer or Malt Guinness, the star was a huge bottle so I opted for the smaller Malt bottle because you are supposed to finish your drink before you leave. However, next time I visit a chief I will opt for the Star because Malta has a horrible after taste! It’s definitely an acquired taste! After our village visit we went back to the chief’s house and feasted on roasted chicken, rice with curry sauce and fries. I think this home cooked meal was the best thing I’ve ate so far and being surrounded by so many people it reminded us all of thanksgiving dinner!

So, work starts tomorrow, hoping that our workshops run smoothly and the kids actually learn something from us!

Good Morning, Good Afternoon and Goodnight!

In Ghana, you don't just say "hello" or "bye" instead you should specify your greetings using the time of day! So, I will say good morning to you all!

This is the first posting since I've been in Ghana and we've done so much already! We arrived in Accra (the capital city) Monday evening and met with Fred who is our in country manager and Jane who is the acting country manager for YCI in Ghana. I was actually able to sleep Monday evening because the flight and the lay over in Amsterdam were just exhausting.

We only spent one full day in Accra which was jam packed with orientation and meetings, but we were lucky enough to meet the Canadian High Commissioner who just started her role here in Ghana, she was previously working immigration in Nairobi.

Wednesday morning we had a long tro-tro ride (bus ride) to the city where we are currently living, Takoradi...it's on the coast and we've been told that the beach is right behind the place where we're staying, unfortunately we've been so busy the past 2 days that we haven't had time to go there yet. And believe me, we want to because, YES it is HOT here! Mind you, the cold bucket showers that I've been having are a nice and refreshing way to cool of in the evening!

I woke up in the middle of the night last night and wondered why Devon (my roommate) had turned the ceiling fan off. Some how, in my sleepy state I managed to piece the puzzle together and I came to the realization that our power had went off. Needless to say, the rest of the night was hot and restless and this morning's bucket shower was by the light of my flashlight!

My internet time is running out but next week I will have some pictures to post along with our weekend trip and more of an explanation of what the heck we're doing here....which we only just really pieced together yesterday and today. Hey, it is what it is!