Last Days in Ghana!

After a glorious day at a botanical garden and mountain biking on Saturday, I woke up on Sunday feeling like poop. Thankfully, we had the day off so I was able to sleep all day. BUT I woke up today feeling even worse and had to take the day off to sleep some more. I think it's just a really bad head cold. My plan is to go to bed real early tonight so that I can be healthy to enjoy my last couple days here.

Anyways, this past weekend we went to Aburi to go to a botanical garden. The garden was really cool. We saw some MASSIVE trees. There was a worn down helicopter in the middle too that we got to play on. And we even got eat real ice cream! Well... it was more like sherbet. Still, it was delicious.

Then we went mountain biking. We biked for about 4 or 5 miles and reached a waterfall. This one was different from the last because it was smaller and we could climb it. Brittany and I decided to climb it and walk up the stream. The farther we climbed up, the more peaceful it got. I wish I could've brought my camera because it was absolutely stunning. There were all these caves and little pools that the stream went through. I wish we could have stayed there for longer than an hour because it was awesome.

I think that's all I got for now. I may or may not be able to post again because I am leaving Thursday. Maybe if I feel better I will post one more time?

Teaching! and Some Pictures :)

I was supposed to be doing community building in Saviefe Deme this week but since there was a shortage in teachers, I ended up teaching a class this week! I don't have any experience teaching at all but I think I did a pretty good job. I had some help from another volunteer John, which was really nice. I was pretty nervous at first but got the hang of it real quick. I ended up having such a blast and absolutely loving the kids. The language barrier was definitely a major obstacle... but with the help of some advanced students, I was able to teach a few lessons. Now that I know what to expect, I'm planning a few lesson plans for the rest of the week :) I'll let you know how it goes.

I have some time at the internet cafe, so I've decided to upload some photos. There in no particular order. (Anna and I switch cameras so she has half of our photos.. just an fyi)


This is a Baboon with it's baby in Mole :)


ELEPHANTS! So beautiful.

This of one of the clinics. We have med students with us for a couple weeks, you can see some of them talking to the Ghanaians. You can also see Anna in there... she's wearing a torqoiusy dress and touching her hair haha

Waterfall!! So awesome.
More waterfall! That's me in the blue shorts on the rocks facing the camera.

The view of the mountain when we began our hike. I had Anna's camera during the hike and I took A LOT of pictures of the view as we were hiking up the mountain. I will have to snag her camera and upload those cuz they are breathtaking.
Me chillin. We had just arrived at the mountain. The background is where it's at. So awesome.

That's all I have time for! I will try to upload more and possibly with Anna's camera the next time I come to the internet cafe. I don't know what we are doing this weekend yet but I'm sure I will be taking a lot of pictures :)

Market Day

Thursday was market day, a magical day in which people gather in the center of Ho selling and bargaining food, clothes, furniture, jewelery, etc. It was my second excursion to market day. Both times were equally as chaotic and overwhelming. There are so so many places to shop at and so many interesting items to possibly perchase. My goal was to make a dent my long list of presents to bring home for my friends and family but I unfortunately was not as successful as I hoped. I just couldn't decide what exactly I wanted to get or which prices I should settle with.

Outside of market day, Ho is filled with a lot of great places that sell great souviners. Before market day, some of the volunteers and I stopped at a clothing/wooden carvings shop. We found some awesome bags, shirts, skirts, and carvings. We also stopped at two artist stores. One sold paintings and the other sold drums and jewelry. The paintings were all hand made and uniquely made. They are all really colorful and are of an assortment of African motifs. The other artist made some unbelievable drums. Some of the other volunteers have befriended him and have even got him to make some really cool drums. Maybe I will?

The market reminds me a lot of trips I used to take with my Mom to the market in Boston. We would wake up early on saturdays and buy big loads of fresh fruits and vegetables. With all these trips to the market makes me want to start doing that again with my Mom! I forgot all about the energy of the market until I got here. I can't wait for the next market day :)

This weekend we hiked up a mountain in Vlee (sp?), which is about two hours away from Ho. It took us about 3 hours to hike all the way up the mountain to the upper waterfall. It was so darn beautiful, both the waterfall and the excursion to the waterfall. I had never hiked like that before but I absolutely loved it. I was sweating like a fiend because of the humidity but I was addicted to the view that only got more breathtaking as we trekked up the mountain. I will most definitely upload pictures of the view from the mountain. It overlooked a couple villages in Ghana with a bunch of neighboring mountains. The waterfall was equally as wonderful. It was so peaceful. I had so much fun chilling under the waterfall on some rocks. It was a really great. Once we were done taking pictures at the falls and cooling off from the tough hike, we climbed back down to go the lower waterfall. It was a really great trip and I hope to hike a lot more when I go home.

A lot of people left today, which was sad. Fortunately, we also have had a few newcomers come to the house. I leave Ghana in about a week and half! Ah, so soon!

Hope things back home are awesome!

Too Much Busy

Gah! I have been so busy and haven't been able to update my blog at all. Unfortunately the internet at the volunteer house has not been working so the only internet access I have had is at the internet cafe, which I can only visit every so often.

First off my five day trip to Mole national park:

We left on Friday morning. Early friday morning. In fact, I woke up at 3:30am thinking that we were all getting up at 4:00 but we delayed the trip an hour after I fell asleep. So I was up an hour before everyone else when it was still dark out. Oh well. I ate a big breakfast and drank a nice cup of instant coffee while enjoying the wonderful morning weather.

We got on a metro (a big cramped bus) and went for about 7ish hours to Kumasi, where we stayed in a hostel. Anna and I roomed together. They had running water! And a toilet that flushes! The water hasn't really been working at the house so it was a fricken awesome treat. Me and Anna took 3 showers each. It was absolutely magical.

THEN we woke up at 4:00am to take another metro (about 6 hours) to Tamale, to take another metro to Mole. We waited for about 4 hours in Tamale for our next metro in the sun, which was a toughy. The last leg to Mole was a long 7 hours with the last two hours on the bumpiest dirt road I have ever been on. It was so rough that the bus was falling apart; the floor board was cracking and a window fell off. Yeah. Very Hardcore.

We got to the motel (we called it a resort) at around 9:00pm and all crashed. The rooms had nice beds with a big fan. It was a very nice sleep.

The next morning we went on a safari!! We saw a bunch of animals: baboons, bores/warthogs, antelope...and elephants! Ahhh they were so beautiful. I've been a huge elephant fan but I was so captivated by these huge gorgeous creatures. We first saw them in the water in a pack and then they walked out to a plain. They were wild so we didn't know if we were actually going to see any. They were so elegant and gigantic. I loved every second of it. (I left my camera at the hostel in Kumasi so I had to take pictures with my phone...Mom, don't worry. We went to the same hostel on the way back and I got it back)

After the safari we spent the day by the pool, which was magnificent. We ate hamburgers! or the Ghanaian version of a hamburger. It was really nice to have some American food with all the rice and chicken that we eat. It was such a relaxing day but I got a baaad sunburn as a result. Thankfully it is now healed but it hurt that night.

That night we treked to a tree house in the safari to spend the night. We didn't really sleep because we all had to leave at 2:00am to catch a 4:00am metro, so we spent the night hanging out and eating rice/chicken. It was nice volunteer bonding. And the stars were crazy amazing! I have never seen so many stars in the sky. It was so beautiful and made me miss home a bit.

The trip home was also long. My butt hurt a lot. I survived though. We arrived in Ho on tuesday.

Wednesday l spent my day at the eye clinic and yesterday at Saviefe Deme, a small town/village 25 minutes outside of Ho.

This past week the clinic changed it's agenda in welcoming medical students from Virginia. They came to join the eye clinic with a general medical clinic to diagnose common diseases dealt with by Ghanaians. One major issue that they are dealing with is Malaria, for the obvious reasons. Yesterday was our first day with the med students and began a bit chaotic getting ourselves adjusted. The med students have chosen five villages to visit with the clinic, targeting specific health issues with certain areas. As untrained volunteers, we couldn't get into the hardcore medical stuff but we were able to observe on the outside, working with medication and the eye exams. It was really interesting to see what they have prepared and how they have been interacting with the Ghanaians. They spend two days at each village, one day educating the village on the health issues/how to keep themselves safe and another day doing the actual clinic by treating the Ghanaians for their respective ailments. It was pretty complicated. It was great seeing so many people getting treated.

When we were done with the day we had a meeting with the elders of the village we were at. It was really awesome to see the village leaders and hear them talk about their gratitude for our work. I felt very satisfied with the work we did that day.

Then yesterday I went to the town Saviefe Deme, where Ghana ACT both teaches and does community building. After transporting bricks to the building site for a long time with a large group of the community, we were out of work because our supplies for the next step weren't coming till the next week. While waiting for the volunteers who were teaching to finish, some of the school and town employees gave us a tour of the cocoa trees and some of the town. The cocoa trees were located in a beautiful little street and there were hundreds of the trees. The cocoa beans come in pods and you can suck on the seeds to taste the fruit on the outside. It's really sweet (tastes nothing like chocolate) and is delicious. After that we met up with a Peace Corps volunteer from the next town over named Mike. I hadn't met him before so I was able to get to hear his experience in Ghana as a part of the Peace Corps. It was really nice to see how successful he has been in his year here. It motivated me to possibly apply for the Peace Corps in the future!

It days have gotten me really thinking about what to do with my future, learning from the medical students and Peace Corps workers. It's really overwhelming yet exciting. I definitely will use my experiences here to help me with those big decisions in the future

Pictures!

I'm going to dedicate this post to pictures because I have been promising them and I only have time to upload pics now. I will actually blog when I get back to the house.

This is the Cape Coast. I took this picture at the restaurant on the roof of the hotel.


These two pictures are from the night that we had the drum/dance party in the rain. They both are in the beginning of the party, before we all started dancing but you can see a bit of the magic :)

Here are some pictures from the rain forest. We had a canopy walk that was wicked high up. It was so exhilarating.



For those of you who know Anna, here she is on the canopy walk. She was pretttty excited haha

These are the kids I met during one of our breaks at the eye clinic! I would shout out something to them and they would shout it back to me. They LOVED it when I brought the camera out, they freaked out. As you can see.
After I said OBAMA they yelled it back to me with thumbs up :)I had to tell them to show me their teeth in order for them to smile haha. The girl in the front wasn't impressed.

Alright I'm out of time but I will upload more photos and a full blog when I have time to write again! I went to the safari this weekend so I will tell all about it! (especially my wicked bad sunburn eeeek) Miss everyone at home!

OBAMA

The clinic that we work with travels to different villages to perform eye care on local Ghanaians. Usually we station in local churches, which are often located to a primary school. Because of this there are always kids who are around the clinic. Today, when the school near our station had a break they played right outside the church so I decided to go out and see them during our break. They were so energetic and fascinated by everything I said to them. At first I would just shout out "hey" and they would respond with a wave of screams/laughter. It turned into a game where I shout something and they shout the same thing back...they were absolutely loving it. They especially liked when we chanted "OBAMA!" In the midst of the random back and forth shouting, I asked if they like to climb trees and they responded with a joint "dooyouliketoclimbtreeees" with one boy who said "yes". It was hilarious and I loved it. Since it was so darn cute, I decided to take out my camera and take some pictures. They went even more wild with the camera. When they saw their faces on that camera they went craaaazzy. It happened when I went to the schools too. They just can't get enough of the camera!

Sidenote: Often times when we are walking in the street the kids will freak out and wave to us like we are celebrities. But the adults like to yell, "Obama!" or "Obama's people!" when they see us on the street. They love Obama here, there are huge billboards of him everywhere...there is even a snack called Obama Biscuits. I've seen many Ghanaians rocking clothing that is covered with Obama all over it. Good thing I like Obama.

Anyway, it was a really nice addition to the clinic. It reminded me how much I love working with kids here and how I can't wait to go visit the primary schools we work with again. We play soccer with the kids at one of the schools sometimes, which is super fun. Soccer (or football) is the game above all games here. Playing USA vs. Ghana games is always a thrill for them, especially since they always destroy us, no matter how old they are. I'm having such a blast with the Ghanaian kids and Ghanaian's in general. I can't wait to get closer with the community because they're great :)

I have a bug bites on my body that seem like bed bug bites... but we can't find the bugs in my bed or sheets so I just got new sheets and we're are gonna see if I get any more bites. Hopefully it isn't bed bugs or anything serious cuz that would be a major bummer.

Two Blogs, One Trip

There is a blog for Ghana ACT that all of us volunteers have been invited to for all of to blog on. I didn't realize until I got here that I was supposed to do that so I will be copying my posts on that blog. Normally I have to go to the internet cafe to use a computer but I can use the internet at the house to blog. So I will be trying to blog a lot more :)

It's only been a day since I last posted so this will short. I will try to upload using the house computer because it seems easier to do.

Today - I had my first day at the eye care clinic! All of the volunteers were separated into different jobs: Nicole and Sae were taking the blood pressure and registration of patients, Anna and Deanna were managing the medication, and I assisted the Optometrist, Innocence (yes, that is his name). I learned so much today! Thankfully Innocence was patient with me as I was getting the hang of the patient form and the eye test. Once I was familiar with the test, Innocence showed me what the different eye ailments the Ghanaians were dealing with (like cataracts and glaucoma). Hopefully by the end of this month I will be able to unofficially diagnose some of the problems that we deal with at the clinic! I feel like a real doctor.

Some of the names of the Ghanaians here are really different. There are kids who live in the neighborhood that hang around the house all the time that have interesting names. Some examples are Precious, Princess, Livingston, Kingdom, and Perfect. Who would think that Perfect could be someones name? I wonder how people would react if she introduced herself in America, "Hi, I'm Perfect." Um, cool? People will think she's so modest...

This kids here are so great. They are all so nice. When I first arrived at the house one of the neighborhood kids just grabbed my hand and started talking to me, like I was already a part of the big Ghanaian family :) I love going to the schools and seeing so many happy faces. They treat us like celebrities, waving and smiling at us whenever we pass any kids on the street. It's bizarre but nice when we get to know them at the school. They are fascinated with cameras. I have a TON of pics of them.

I wake up around 6am every morning and go to bed around 10/9 pm. Its early but I don't mind here. Its really nice waking up in the morning cuz its colder than it is during the day. I ran the other morning at 5:45 before going to the school and it was really nice :)

I'm having a great time and am pumped to see what else this trip has in store!

Peace Ghetto

I tried to upload a bunch of pics but I'm having troubles at the internet cafe. I will make sure to figure it out the next time I blog!

This is what has happened since I last Blogged:

Saturday - We took a 7 hour tro tro ride to the Cape Coast. We took one tro tro to Accra, the capital of Ghana, then waited for the next tro tro (for 2 hours) to take us to the Cape Coast. In total, a brutal 7 hour trip. Once we arrived at the Cape Coast, though, we dropped our things at the guest house (which had running water past 7 pm! and a real bed!) and went to the slave castle. It was really interesting and extremely depressing but it started to rain in the middle of the tour. After the tour, we shopped for a bit and as we decided to head home, the rain turned into a downpour. We decided to hide under a hut outside of the shops to wait out the rain. THEN a bunch of the Ghanaian workers gathered to play the drums. It was so magical. Then I decided to go dance in the rain. Once a few other volunteers joined me, everyone joined and it became a huge dance drum jam party!! It was the best thing... EVER. We then walked home in the rain because we were soked from dancing and stopped at this bar called the Peace Ghetto. We were all in such a good mood and the people at the Peace Ghetto were so nice. It was the perfect ending to the most magical night :)

Sunday - We woke up made early to go the rain forest and take a canopy walk. It was incredible how high up we were. I have a butt load of pictures that I will upload to show you all. it was very fun. Then we took another 7 hour tro tro trip back home. It was brutal yet again. But we had a really nice meal under the stars when we returned to Ho :)

Monday (Today) - We didn't have the eye clinic today so we went to an elementary school and helped build a building. We carried mud bricks on our heads! Like the people that sell stuff on the streets! I felt like a Ghanaian. Then we hung out with the kids and they gave us a beautiful dance/drum show. They were so talented and energetic. I loved it, it was yet again very magical. My teacher from school, Billbob Brown, and fellow dance majors would have been so proud :) I will upload photos from that too!

Alright time is running out. But I will post more with more info! Missing everyone!

In Ghana!

Wowza. It is so different here. I only have 4 minutes left at the internet cafe so I have to keep this short. Let's just say, the culture is different here. Way, way different. There is definitely a culture shock going on. Everything from goats, stray dogs, Tro Tro's (taxi type vans that cram as many people as they can), to mud huts. Today we went to a school/nursery and played soccer with the Ghanain kids :) Of course they destroyed us but we had a good time. Then we built two goal posts for their field. The kids were so freaking adorable and nice, they would just grab your hand and start conversation with you like we were family. I am having a fantastic time and cannot wait to update more when I have more time. Hope everyone is doing well! Miss everyone a ton!

Introduction

There are 5 days until I leave for Ghana...gahh. I have so much to do before June 8th it's crazy. But instead of rushing around purchasing mosquito netting, bug spray, sunscreen, light clothing, and other fun goodies I will introduce myself to this blog...

My name is Nick and I am 19 years old. I am a rising sophomore at UMass Amherst, majoring in Biology and Dance. When I am not at school I live in Needham, Massachusetts. Yeah. I don't know what else to say. I like the color blue? I'm right handed? I have five siblings? And two dogs? I love Harry Potter? Team Edward?

Ghana! My flight is on June 8th and I will be returning one month later, on July 8th. My best friend Anna and I are volunteering with the organization Ghana ACT (ghanaact.org). In Ghana we will be a part of the organizations healthcare program, traveling with a local eye care

clinic throughout the Volta region providing services to communities without adequate healthcare. We will also be doing some community development on the days we do not do healthcare.

We will be staying in the town of Ho, which is a little ways north of Accra, the capital of Ghana (you can see it on the map below). Ghana is about the size of the state of Oregon and is bordered by Togo, Ivory Coast, and Burkina Faso.

Fun Fact: According to the CIA World Factbook, Lake Volta is the worlds largest artificial lake! It is not too far from Ho, I assume I will be making quite a few visits?

Another fun fact... using sporcle's super addicting/fun online quizzes, I decided to refresh my memory of the geography of Africa. After almost failing the quiz, I spent my morning memorizing the names and locations of all of the African countries... lolz.

There are many languages spoken in Ghana but the language that is primarily spoken in southeastern Ghana is Ewe. The language is a part of the Gbe languages and is also spoken in Togo and parts of Benin. Ewe is a tonal language so tones can greatly alter the meanings of certain words. I plan to try to learn as much of the language I can before I leave. I've never been good at picking up languages but I'm hoping Ewe will be an exception... We'll see haha

I'll add more information about this wonderful country before I leave and as I learn more while I am there.

So far I have gotten all bajilion of my vaccinations, purchased my malaria pills, got my visa/passport/plane ticket, and gathered a few necessary supplies. I still have a bunch to buy before I leave. and find a load of school supplies lying around the house to donate to the trip. then I need to pack... SO SOON. CAN'T WAIT.