Wednesday, October 26, 2005
To Mpaha and Back!
I have just returned from Mpaha.
I was able to spend the last few days there as the current volunteer Lauren, from Florida,(known here as Kenyiti or patience) closed her 2 years in Mpaha and said her good byes. She has done some awesome work, as the first volunteer here and I am excited to take the baton in December. Her work was less health oriented then mine will be, so there will some overlap with guinea worm, HIV/AIDs, and continuing the library she started, but I will definitely have some new road to pave as well. (I live next door to the town midwife and I can see the clinic from my house!! right now I am thinking about mobilizing weekly community outreach clinics)
The library just opened last week; it is in a community where most people are illiterate and have never seen a library before. Right now it consists of 1 bookself (including an encyclopedia set, a handful of national geographics, a handful of kids books, some career books, learning arabic books (remember almost all
Islam community). They have put in a lot of time to fixing up the building and are very proud. I am excited to see it progress. It is run by a group of 10 community volunteers. The head of the group is named Original, and he is an amazing man in a wheelchair, who has just recently become literate. I will tell you more stories as they come about this amazing man and the other volunteers.
I don't intend to pressure any of you at all, but many of you have expressed interest in helping out.... well, here is your chance. If you feel so inspired, you could start a community book drive with your church, your work, or just what you have around the house... all books can be sent to me via M-bag, which is much cheaper and will taking longer, but that's ok b/c I will be here for 2 years!... once again this not a requirement at all!! Just something for fun, if you feel like it.
For Lauren's going away party there was some traditional drumming and donga dancing. It consisted of two rings: a men's ring where everyone had noise makers made from recycled scrap metal on their ankles, and a women's ring where they all wore traditional northern style textiles and let out amazing cries in rhythm with the drumming and percussion of ankle stomping. Nearly everyone in Mpaha was fasting for Ramadon, so festivities only lasted until sun down when i broke fast with them. A sheep was slaughtered and cooked for the occassion.
We also went to the chief's palace, a small concrete building with a simple tin roof, with a few open-air windows and doors, and mats on the ground for us to kneel on in the presence of the chief and his sub-chiefs. It was here that I received my new Gonja name, Jamaneba, because let's face it "Jenell" is way to hard to say when you can't pronounce "L". It means the maker/bringer of change... I think I got lucky considering some of the other names floating around Mpaha, but I won't point any fingers.
On the way there, one thing became apparent fast... I will be living in the bush. I am 52km of pot-holed dusty road from the paved road that runs from Techiman to Tamale. It takes over and hour to get down it, and frequency of traffic down this road sporatic. It will be an awesome road to run and bike on. all along it are villages even more small and poor than Mpaha. It is a beautiful area with tall grass land spotted with mango or Odum trees that are nearly essential for their shade in the afternoon sun. At night, b/c the closest electricity is over 52km away, the stars are absolutely amazing, and there are thousands of fire flies that light up the grassland to match the sky. Because i am lucky enough to have my own compound, I will be able to sleep outside under my misquito net in my courtyard... maybe i can find a hammock in Ghana. (?)
Sorry that this email has gotten so long... I have so much share... I will try and pace myself.
I hope all is well,
Jenell or Jamaneba :D
c/o Peace Corps/Ghana
PO Box 5796
Accra North, Ghana
West Africa
I was able to spend the last few days there as the current volunteer Lauren, from Florida,(known here as Kenyiti or patience) closed her 2 years in Mpaha and said her good byes. She has done some awesome work, as the first volunteer here and I am excited to take the baton in December. Her work was less health oriented then mine will be, so there will some overlap with guinea worm, HIV/AIDs, and continuing the library she started, but I will definitely have some new road to pave as well. (I live next door to the town midwife and I can see the clinic from my house!! right now I am thinking about mobilizing weekly community outreach clinics)
The library just opened last week; it is in a community where most people are illiterate and have never seen a library before. Right now it consists of 1 bookself (including an encyclopedia set, a handful of national geographics, a handful of kids books, some career books, learning arabic books (remember almost all
Islam community). They have put in a lot of time to fixing up the building and are very proud. I am excited to see it progress. It is run by a group of 10 community volunteers. The head of the group is named Original, and he is an amazing man in a wheelchair, who has just recently become literate. I will tell you more stories as they come about this amazing man and the other volunteers.
I don't intend to pressure any of you at all, but many of you have expressed interest in helping out.... well, here is your chance. If you feel so inspired, you could start a community book drive with your church, your work, or just what you have around the house... all books can be sent to me via M-bag, which is much cheaper and will taking longer, but that's ok b/c I will be here for 2 years!... once again this not a requirement at all!! Just something for fun, if you feel like it.
For Lauren's going away party there was some traditional drumming and donga dancing. It consisted of two rings: a men's ring where everyone had noise makers made from recycled scrap metal on their ankles, and a women's ring where they all wore traditional northern style textiles and let out amazing cries in rhythm with the drumming and percussion of ankle stomping. Nearly everyone in Mpaha was fasting for Ramadon, so festivities only lasted until sun down when i broke fast with them. A sheep was slaughtered and cooked for the occassion.
We also went to the chief's palace, a small concrete building with a simple tin roof, with a few open-air windows and doors, and mats on the ground for us to kneel on in the presence of the chief and his sub-chiefs. It was here that I received my new Gonja name, Jamaneba, because let's face it "Jenell" is way to hard to say when you can't pronounce "L". It means the maker/bringer of change... I think I got lucky considering some of the other names floating around Mpaha, but I won't point any fingers.
On the way there, one thing became apparent fast... I will be living in the bush. I am 52km of pot-holed dusty road from the paved road that runs from Techiman to Tamale. It takes over and hour to get down it, and frequency of traffic down this road sporatic. It will be an awesome road to run and bike on. all along it are villages even more small and poor than Mpaha. It is a beautiful area with tall grass land spotted with mango or Odum trees that are nearly essential for their shade in the afternoon sun. At night, b/c the closest electricity is over 52km away, the stars are absolutely amazing, and there are thousands of fire flies that light up the grassland to match the sky. Because i am lucky enough to have my own compound, I will be able to sleep outside under my misquito net in my courtyard... maybe i can find a hammock in Ghana. (?)
Sorry that this email has gotten so long... I have so much share... I will try and pace myself.
I hope all is well,
Jenell or Jamaneba :D
c/o Peace Corps/Ghana
PO Box 5796
Accra North, Ghana
West Africa
