My first hands-on farming experience

The vegetable seeds we were planting
me wielding my cutlass at the farm
The pepe plant - makes food verrry spicey

Walking to the farm!

Rice crops

Maize crops
Groundnuts
A property marker!


Farming is the primary livelihood for the vast majority of the population in Ghana. Here in Tuna and in the surrounding communities, crops range from rice, maize, millet, beans, cassava, yams, groundnuts (peanuts to us!), sorghum, hot peppers, okra, and a variety of leafy greens that fall under the umbrella term of vegetables. I went farming with my coworker Anastasia this week. What hard work! We walked over 3 km (which really isn’t that far compared to some) to get to where she plants her crops. We spent the first while sowing seeds for vegetables, using hoes and cutlasses. She told me I caught on to the technique quickly, which was encouraging! We planted a number of rows, and I saw a variety of bugs that were new to me, some scary, some really crazy looking. My camera was not around for these sadly. It is hard to wield a cutlass, seeds and a camera. We then collected Shea Nuts and firewood, which we brought back on our heads. What a sight I was for the school children we passed. I guess a white lady carrying something on her head is very exciting around here. It was tough for my concentration having about 100 kids yelling at me! I made it back ok though! It was a long day, ending with a sweaty, dirty, thirsty me! But I had a really cool hands-n experience on how hard farmers work. And to make things even better, I have been recruited to help with the harvest of the beans in a few weeks time. I have skills I tell you! Until Next Time!

A lesson in coming clean

Climbing the steep learning curve of hand-washing my clothes!
Since the first week I arrived in Tuna, I have tried to take washing my clothes on all by myself. The result has been highly entertaining for my house family and co-worker Anastasia. I was a disaster. My clothes seemed dirtier after then when I started. It was not long before expert hands took over and the result was that my clothes had never been cleaner. Washing clothes is hard work! It takes at least 3 cycles of wash-wash-rinse (or more if your clothes are really dirty) and it is all done standing over large basins of water (which by the way is best to do after it rains because water is plenty!) Being the beginner I am, I started by sitting on a stool and only being allowed to do the wringing out and hanging of my clothes. I have since graduated to being able to do the second wash cycle and the rinse cycle. It has only taken 6 weeks! I am also standing and bending, as you can see in the photos. Maybe by the time I am ready to leave, I will be able to do the whole process! I really enjoy the time I spend with my family and my coworker Anastasia when we wash my clothes. We always have a good laugh and they love how red and prune like my hands get after we are done. This method gets my clothe cleaner than ever before. If I have a clothesline when I return to Newfoundland in the fall, I will definitely be practicing it before it gets too cold out! My stain removing abilities are going to be 10 times better. Red wine spills, watch out! Until Next Time!

P.S. for those who know my clothing buying love, please take a look at the clothesline and see half of my wardrobe for 4 months. It is a pretty different experience for me, but I am not minding it at all!

Ghana and the Environment

Something that I have really been struck by since arriving in Ghana is that it is totally acceptable to throw garbage anywhere Out the lorry window, in the open sewer, on the street corner or even on your front step. Due to the overwhelming (at least to me at first) amount of animals that roam about, throwing out food waste does not have a huge effect because it is eaten right away by any number of animals, from birds, cats, dogs, goats, sheep, pigs and even donkeys and cows. Unfortunately, everything else just piles up. Aside from just throwing ones garbage anywhere, another commonly used method is to collect up your garbage and burn it. This is a more popular choice with volunteers, because often if you throw your garbage with your families, if they do not burn it, you are running a high risk of children picking through what you see as waste. To them, since you are different and exciting, anything you have touched is exotic, and even what you see as waste, they could see as treasure. This can be embarrassing and sometimes dangerous, so it is really important to be mindful of what you are throwing out. Things such as used razor blades and batteries are better to save and wait until you head to a bigger city. For me, this will not be until the end of August. In Tuna, most people just toss their garbage. I choose to get rid of mine in the middle of the night so that the children around me do not see. It is at times frustrating to do this, but has become a routine. This is one of the many challenges that each overseas volunteer has to find their own best practice for. Now, I do not want you to think that Ghanaians are lazy or dirty. They are in fact a very clean people, who bathe 2 or 3 times a day. If I choose to only bathe once, I am laughed at by my family. They just do not have many options to waste removal. There is no-one coming around picking up tidy bags of waste at ones door step. The government is trying to improve this. They have hired a private company called ZoomLion that travels around towns and cities with trucks and bicycles (As you can see in the photos) picking up waste. A number of questions I have about this but have not yet found answers to are:
- What do they do with the waste they collect? Apparently it is sent to the bush and left there.
- How are they training people to prevent waste from piling up? There does not seem to be a formal program happening to do this
- What kind of effort does the government have planned for more rural villages that are not located on main roads? The waste they may be less because more natural resources are used, but it is still piling up somewhere or burning into the air.
I think that the government is on the right track, but I think that they need to ask themselves how the methods they are taking can be more sustainable. An exciting event that took place here in Tuna a week ago was Arbor Week. The local Catholic Church has a series of events including presentations, community clean-ups and tree planting sessions to emphasize caring for Mother Earth. I think this is awesome! It was especially targeted at the school children of the area, which is vital to Tuna and Ghana in the future. An interesting point that the priest gave when he was telling the parish about these events during mass and what a success they were was one that really got me thinking. He talked about all the people who cut down trees for firewood and to make charcoal to sell. This is their livelihood. How can we tell them to not cut down trees and take care of the earth when that is how they feed and take care of their families? For me, poverty and its effects on the environment was something I didn’t spend much time thinking about. Now it has gotten my brain asking different questions and gives me an area to learn more about regarding development! Exciting isn’t it? I hope that those of you in the MUN chapter will think about this and share what you know and try to find out more. I am looking forward to having a discussion about it when I come back.

Until Next Time….

It's raining, it's pouring!

Nothing like a tropical storm!
I have me feeling really down lately, on account of a little parasite or bug that took over my system for the past week or so, and recovery has been long. My blog-writing juices had come to a halt, while my body was working on overdrive to get rid of a bug I picked up. But now, since the wind has picked up, the skies have darkened and thundered has sounded loudly in the distance, I can feel the energy in the air and my mood has changed. I just spent the last little while running around the courtyard with my family putting things in a place where they will not get wet, a race against time to see if we can get it all done before the skies open upon us. This flurry of activity and energy is unlike any other. As soon as the dark clouds fill the horizon, the lazy humidity is filled with activity. Life in my household and like countless others in Ghana revolves around the courtyard. Almost everything takes place here, from washing, cooking, brewing pito, spending time with the family, hanging out with others in the community, drying Shea nuts, and even sleeping only really hot nights! We answer the call of thunder by tucking everything away and getting any thing that can hold water clean to collect the rain. Rain makes the women’s’ and children’s’ day shorter buy colleting water for all the household activities for them. This is one of its many gifts for Ghanaian people. Rain is life for farmers- as long as there is not too much. It creates life, and provides for the crops almost every family I know depends on. It scares me how much faith people here have in the weather. I have no idea when it will ever rain until it is on top of me. My Ghanaian friends can tell me when I wake up in the morning! Rain seems to make time and work stop. If only for a few minutes or for a few hours (or days I am told!) People spend so much of their time outdoors that these interludes provide a quiet moment. Activity still continues indoors, but the time seems to go at a slower pace. When the rain is over, it is like a new dawn. Everything seems greener and waking up at a slow pace, until the buzz of activity takes over again. I have to say, I love the rain. It brings a calm to everything, and also makes my friends and family here so happy! My only complaint is the bugs! They love to attack after the rain. Ghanaians on the other hand, only have one complaint about the rain. That it is getting cold! I kid you not. I have seen winter coats, hooded sweat shirts and long pants constantly since the rain has come. This is cold to them, time where people catch pneumonia. I have shown friends photos of snow and ice and they just laugh at me when I tell them I find the temperature just right now (at about 20 degrees or so!) I am falling in love with tropical rains. They are certainly a far cry from the Newfoundland gusts and gales.

Until Next Time☺

Electricity! or not...

Lights, camera, no power! - A tale of Tuna and its power woes.
Power poles have been in Tuna since 1996. At that time the hook for Phase 1 power was a connection away. Many people, however, wanted to wait for the connection for Phase 3 power so they could operate bigger machines (industrial types) The power was not at that time connected. Instead, Sawla a town down the road and the new district capital got power. 12 years later, the government has promised it is coming. The latest has been before the election in December. Some are still optimistic but most just laugh or scorn bitterly when the topic is mentioned. They see this as a empty promise or an attempt to get votes. Some places in Tuna have generators to have lights for a few hours at night, but for the most part, aside from the occasional torch or kerosene lantern, the town of Tuna is dark. My office has a generator my boss will turn on one or two nights a week for an hour or two, but only at night so he can have lights and TV as well.
Adjusting to living without power has hit home with me how convenient a lifestyle many have in Canada. Having the internet at the tip of our fingers, not worrying about power outages, or no power to charge our phones, run our tv or our refrigerator is an incredible luxury. When Ghanaians were asking me about having a computer and internet in my home, I felt almost embarrassed to explain that I did indeed have this in my home. Between this stark inequality and getting used to office work without a computer and google at my finger tips, I was certainly questioning my efficiency. Since I have gotten more used to this, and thought of how I can be useful and efficient, I have learned more about myself, and how I work and can be resourceful and creative. I admire how successful my NGO has been for over 14 years without power or internet. I am thankful for this experience and what it is teaching me. Sometimes, I still get frustrated, but I am definitely learning how to channel that and also learning what an outlet writing in a journal or writing a blog entry an do for you!

Until next time!

On a side not, places that have power will often have outages, scheduled or not. So even if power is hooked up, it is not a sure bet. This is also something I have experienced when trying to get to the internet!

My Placement

TUWODEP
The Tuna Women Development Network, my placement is a small grassroots NGO with 2 staff, a board of directors and a small number of volunteers, They work with a network of 14 Women Groups around Tuna, totaling over 230 members. The groups we work with, while having various crops such as groundnuts and maize, also partake in Income Generating Activities (IGAs). These include Shea Nut collection and processing and piggery projects. The women are able to make extra money for their families through these activities, so they can do things such as send their children to school. The women are also involved in advocacy work, working with committees in their villages, and learning to lobby the local government members for their needs.
My work this summer at TUWODEP is to study the groups and see what makes them successful. I will also look at the Shea Nut value chain, form the women who pick it, to the companies that use it across Europe and North and South America. Finally I will be observing storage units, and comparing what materials are more effective. I am also hoping to help the staff at TUWODEP to create short and long term goals, to make a future plan for the work they want to do. THey are also interested in creating a stronger connection and feedback system between the beneficiaries and donors they work with so I am hoping to also aid them in this. I am really excited about my work!
I have gotten to take a number of trips to the field so far, which have been a lot of fun! Although my Dagaare is still a big work in progress, and the women cannot speak English, they are extremely welcoming, kind and open to answering questions. They are also excited to ask me question about my family, country and the work I am going to be doing with them.
In the photos below, you can see part of the Shea Nut gathering and processing. Gathering Shea nuts involves going to the bush very early in the morning, between 4 and 5 a.m. and gathering nuts from the ground and shaking the trees to send more to the ground. It is very hard, long work, and I am quite a rookie!
I am really lucky to be working with such strong women. I am sure I am going to learn many lessons from them!
Until next time!

Bathrooommmms:)

The bog, toilet, latrine, urinal, or free range(a.k.a in the bush!)
My bathroom escapades from Accra to a remote village outside of Lassia!
My first bathroom in Ghana was a flush toilet in Accra, in the hotel we stayed in (I use the term hotel lightly! It is not what you would think compared to Canada). From there it went to urinals- for women - something that requires a lot of skill and even more practice! Then we had toilets that theoretically flushed, but when the running water is not working when the power has been out for 4 days, the flushing stops. These introduced a new concept. Paying to use a public toilet, between 5 and 20 Ghana peswas (5-20 cents) for use and piece of paper or toilet paper for the trip. Finally the last stop from Accra to Wa involved my first pit latrine. Once you get the squat motion down, for these you are golden! At first I was wary of the public bathroom, but after finding myself having eaten some soup with too much pepe (hot pepper) in it, I soon became very familar with public bathrooms and how to ask people where to find one! Bathroom woes and successes are common talk among overseas volunteers here in Ghana. It is a topic we can all relate and agree on, and especially share one of those deep belly laughs! In my home in Tuna, we have a pit latrine, which is a concrete and metal hut outside of our compound, complete with a padlock so only our family members will be able to use it. I am starting to get get very comfortable with my latrine. Even at night when I share it with large cockroaches!
This past week on the bike ride, the school we were based at did not have a latrine. The information sheet we ere given stated that the bathroom would be "free range". I asked the PCV Michael what that meant, and he pointed to the bush and said "Find a tree and do your business." Slightly intimidating yet at the same time, free range certainly has its benefits. When you have to go, you can, anywhere!So as my bathroom adventures continue, some words of wisdom are: Always carry your own roll of t-roll (toilet paper!) It will most definitely come in handy!

HIV/AIDS Bike Ride in Wa West District

PeaceCorps Volunteer HIV/AIDS Bike Ride
So I will start this blog off with a slightly humiliating note...well maybe quite humiliating, but you can decide for yourself! I had built up a somewhat false sense of confidence on my biking ability. I thought, I used to ride a bike, and do spin classes once in a while at the gym, this is going to be fine. 90 km bike over a week? No problem! Well, I was way off the mark. THese skills of mine, they did not transfer to a mountain bike and the terrain of Africa. After some adjustments to the bike and smalll attempts, and a near disatourous crash very near into an open sewar (with an audience of at least 50 villagers watching and luaghing at the nasala (white person)), It was decided that I would be riding a motorbike for the bike ride. It wasn't hurt very much from my fall, don't worry. My ego may have been slightly bruised, but that is something I can easily weather!
During the week my team of 12 Ghanaians, myself and a PCV, Mike travelled to 10 different villages in the Upper WEst Region of Ghana in the Wa West district. We facilitated presentations that focused on HIV/AIDS awareness and prevention, There was singing, dancing, games, questions (and comments from some villagers who disagreed with some of what were delivering!) and many people's favourite activity, the condom demonstrations. We had a very good turn out to our programs, reaching over 2000 people. The program overall with all the teams had numbers of over 13.000. This is all fine, but for me, I think that the measurement of what message and information people took away is more important than physical number (also, much much harder to measure...) Many of those who came to our presentations were youth, who are Ghana's future, so this made our group very happy! GHana has a comparatively low rate of HIV/AIDS compared to other countries, but this does not mean that the fight has stopped. In the Upper West where this bike ride was taking place, they are trying harder than ever to get the mesaages about awareness and prevention across. It was exciting to be a part of this!
The village my group was based in was called Lassia Tuolu. It seemed much smaller than Tuna, but I think this is because of how spread out it is. WE slept at the primary school, outside on the front steps. At first I thought this was really cool, sleeping under the stars. My ex itement soon faded when I discovered that spiders also inhabited this area. My fear of these little fellows along with some stomach problems resulted in me spending a few of the nights with a local health care worker I became friends with. My first Ghanaian girl friend, she is a nurse, with plans to study nutrition. We had some great discussions about our cultures, religions(she is Muslim) and even boys! (Great things only Stephen:)) It was nice to have some girl talk!I made friends with the other members of my team as well, through hilarious attempts at card games, building cards houses, learning how to do laundry (what I think will be never-ending for me!) and lots of laughs, which I think were often at my expense. All in all it was a great week! Until Next time!!!!