September 1, 2008

Hello everyone!

I am officially in another world. At first I didn't think I would have enough to write about for another week, but so much has happened! I arrived in Accra, the capital city of Ghana, on Thursday morning and was greeted by Gunadiish Nyavie, a member of the Village Volunteers crew. There happened to be another girl named Stephanie on my flight working for the same organization, so the three of us went back to Gunadiish's home where we stayed one night. On Friday morning, we left early to go to a market in Accra where a tro tro, the Ghanaian form of taxi, would take us to Kpando. The market was really incredible. It rained the night before so everyone and everything was very muddy. Masses of people walk around trying to sell their goods (water, candy, food, shaving kits, bling bling, body spray, towels, boxers, etc). While we sat waiting in the tro tro, about a hundred people put their hands through the window wanting us to buy something. Thankfully, they aren't insistent, however, and they take no thank you for an answer.

I've found, in my short time here, that a tro tro ride is not something to look forward to. They are either small cars, in which 4 people at most can fit comfortably (what model of Chevrolet was our little red carreee mom?) or big vans that fit 13 people fit snugly, but usually carry around 16. Neither of these have seatbelts for passengers. The drivers have somehow come up with a way to ride along paved roades at 80-90 mph (dirt ones at about 50), barely missing goats, sheep, chicken, enormous potholes, and people along the way. Brakes and horns are used frequently and with force. In the 4 hour ride to Kpando, I thought I might die about 8 times, though no one else was phased at all.

Kpando is very much a village, there are dirt roads, mud huts, scarce running water, all of the things that you would imagine a village would have in the olden days. Some of the people have cars, magazines, radios [with very large speakers], television, etc, though so it all seems very surreal. People and animals share the road rather respectfully with the cars and seem to innately know to heed to the honk of a tro tro, I guess because the other option is surely death.

THE CHILDREN! YAY! As soon as we got here on Friday afternoon, they ran out to greet us, all twelve of them. They took our bags (6 year old boys wanting to carry your luggage is quite impressive) and wanted to hold our hands. One of them said to me 'you are welcome' and I hadto hide my face for a minute so I didn't cry in front of them. I had heard the term once or twice already but I realize now that it means, here in Ghana, that you are welcome to stay in my home, you are welcome to all that I have. People say it to me in passing on the streets, I think it's something I could get used to. Mama Esi, the mother of the house, was also waiting to greet us, I went to shake her hand, but she looked at me like I was crazy and gave me a hug. The youngest of the children is 4 and the oldest is 14. There are 4 girls (Christabel, Mary, Comfort, and Cecilia) and 8 boys (Mawuli, George, Love, Etse & Atsu [twins], Komla, Wisdom, and Israel). They speak little English, some more than others. From what I've noticed thus far, they are generally quite happy, they love to play and are very eager to learn. Some, however, you can tell have a story that I hope they will teach me. They love to have me as a guest though, I think it's exciting to have new people around. When school starts again (Sept. 9), I will be getting them ready in the morning and walking them there. I can either stay and help out at the school or walk back and help with the littler ones who aren't in school yet. I think it will be nice to have a choice, and it will give me an opportunity to meet some of the other children from the area. Until then, I'll be hanging out at the orphanage every day, helping to teach and getting to know everyone better.

On Saturday and Sunday, Stephanie and I went on an excursion to the Volta Region of Ghana. We fed monkeys, SO cute. We walked to the Wli waterfall, the biggest in the country. It is a waterfall that runs down the center of a mountain and is pretty spectacular. We also climbed Afadgato, the highest mountain in Ghana. I had "stomach problems" that day, so the hike was pretty horrible, and I thought I was going to die or pass out a few times, but the view from the top was definitely worth it. I'm glad I went.
Today is my first day of work, so I'll have to go back to them soon. When I left this morning, they were all eating breakfast, the same thing they had for dinner: fufu in a fish and okra stew (you were right Josh!). I do not care for this dish, and am still trying to figure out the polite way to tell them. Food seems to be a very sensitive issue here, because that is a big part of what the woman has, her cooking. I've been forcing it down as much as possible, any ideas? Don't say feed it to the dog because there aren't any.

Anyway, I will update you as the days pass, but I'm going to leave with you a list, in case you love to gather and send goods. It was given to me by Venus, the son of Mama Esi, and I have reproduced it here exactly as it was given to me.
1. underwears (age 4-14 years)
2. footwears
3. school bags
4. pressing iron
5. shirts/shorts (4-14 years)
6. books

I felt stupid for bringing toys after reading this list, but those would be put to great use as well, as I am sure most anything would. If you have any extras of these things laying around please let me know. I would be happy to cover shipping expenses.
For future reference, my mailing address is:
Morgan Hanson
c/o Mrs. Regina Esime Djentuh
Ryvanz-Mia Orphanage
P.O. Box KP161
Kpando, Volta Region
Ghana, Africa

More later.
Love and miss,
moh