Monday, April 24, 2006
White Stomach email from Jenell 4/4/06
A short update before I get to Jenell's email. I am slow in posting this email, so the countdown she refers to at the end is done and Cooper and Neacail are both in Ghana as I write this. Messages and crackly time-delay phone calls indicate they are all having a wonderful time. Apparently Cooper has been setting outrageous brideprices for Jenell to fend off the marriage proposals he is getting daily as her father. So far no-one has been able to come up with 1,000 elephants. Coop and Neacail are in Ghana for another week as of this writing, so expect some more photos and stories on the blog when they return next week... there was some talk of a helping of fufu as large as a nerf ball.... They were all in Jirapa this past week (from Easter Sunday to now), then heading to the Mole National Preserve to check out those elephants and then to some other sites in Ghana and finally to the beach for a bit before flying out next weekend.
And now to Jenell's most recent email, which isn't so very recent anymore (from beginning of April.... sorry folks!!:-)
White Stomach.
No, not a strange GI disease, not the next Zadie Smith novel,..... my new name. My name in Dagaare, which I can hardly say and cannot type because there are letters that do not exist in english in my name. It sounds like Pwou-peeair-loang and means happiness (but literally means white stomach--- not as in I need a tan around my bellybutton but that I am harboring no darkness inside)
The other day while running along footpaths in the yam fields, I passed a girl carrying a large metal bowl of borehole water. I smiled and breathlessly greeted her, "ansoma." instead of responding with the usual inquiring of how I slept last night, she quickly yelled out (in english), "give me money." "WHAT?!?" I exclaimed in udder disbelief almost tripping over a yam mound as I searched for a response to this untimely and rude request. "Mooowneeey" she repeated with a hint of sass as she effortlessly turned to watch me pass despite balancing her own weight in water on her head. "what?!? no! I am running." I continued along the path watching the sun rise over the Dawadawa trees.... my mind raced..... the first reaction to seeing a white person was to ask for money. What a strange response.... has she received cash handouts in the bush before? True, the only white people to come to this area have been missionaries, volunteers, and doctors all trying to do their part to "develop." so, I guess it was worth a try... but so strange, did she think I would stop and pull money from my sports bra and hand it to her?
It really makes me second guess aid work when the automatic response is to get handouts from foreigners (who are all rich, in case you haven't heard the village gossip). Luckily, later that day I was approached by a woman, Elizabeth (now a good friend), who has a lot of initiative and has already researched the market and done some planning.... we are currently working on proposals to get a start up loan. Which I guess is still the white person helping to get money, but I feel a lot better about creating jobs, income, and food than pulling wads of cash out of my sports bra and handing it to a random girl.
Official countdown: 12 days until my dad and brother come to visit.
jenell
And now to Jenell's most recent email, which isn't so very recent anymore (from beginning of April.... sorry folks!!:-)
White Stomach.
No, not a strange GI disease, not the next Zadie Smith novel,..... my new name. My name in Dagaare, which I can hardly say and cannot type because there are letters that do not exist in english in my name. It sounds like Pwou-peeair-loang and means happiness (but literally means white stomach--- not as in I need a tan around my bellybutton but that I am harboring no darkness inside)
The other day while running along footpaths in the yam fields, I passed a girl carrying a large metal bowl of borehole water. I smiled and breathlessly greeted her, "ansoma." instead of responding with the usual inquiring of how I slept last night, she quickly yelled out (in english), "give me money." "WHAT?!?" I exclaimed in udder disbelief almost tripping over a yam mound as I searched for a response to this untimely and rude request. "Mooowneeey" she repeated with a hint of sass as she effortlessly turned to watch me pass despite balancing her own weight in water on her head. "what?!? no! I am running." I continued along the path watching the sun rise over the Dawadawa trees.... my mind raced..... the first reaction to seeing a white person was to ask for money. What a strange response.... has she received cash handouts in the bush before? True, the only white people to come to this area have been missionaries, volunteers, and doctors all trying to do their part to "develop." so, I guess it was worth a try... but so strange, did she think I would stop and pull money from my sports bra and hand it to her?
It really makes me second guess aid work when the automatic response is to get handouts from foreigners (who are all rich, in case you haven't heard the village gossip). Luckily, later that day I was approached by a woman, Elizabeth (now a good friend), who has a lot of initiative and has already researched the market and done some planning.... we are currently working on proposals to get a start up loan. Which I guess is still the white person helping to get money, but I feel a lot better about creating jobs, income, and food than pulling wads of cash out of my sports bra and handing it to a random girl.
Official countdown: 12 days until my dad and brother come to visit.
jenell
Monday, April 03, 2006
Life is good in Jirapa (email 03/27/06)
Life is good. I love Jirpa... here is a little bit why... but I have so much to tell you! baobob trees, mountains of ripe mangoes, good neighbors.... later.
When a past Jirapa volunteer explained to the former US Ambassador to Ghana where she had been living, the Ambassador exclaimed, "Oh, isn't that just the beginning of nowhere." For me, however, it is my Peace Corps heaven, especially coming from my last assignment. Every morning at dawn I run through grassland and African savannah while following footpaths that connect mud hut to boreholes to fields…. It's beautiful. Although I am surrounded by the bush, Jirapa is definitely a town, a town pushing for development. They now have cell phone service, a small internet café, and good (by Ghana standards) public transportation to Wa [the regional capital] – these are things that did not exist for the last volunteer only one year ago. I feel a little bit like a Peace Corps princess having a ceiling fan in my house. I was totally prepared to live in a mud hut and essentially camp for 2 years, but having a fan means I can now sleep uninterrupted when it's over 100 degrees in my house. Any signs of a strip mall being constructed and I'm out of here :D.
This may not have been exactly what I had in mind but the potential for change is so great. My primary job is to work with the District Assembly ( the local government in charge of applying for and distributing funds through out the district) today I met with the HIV/AIDS focal person and we'll be working together to select and work with community based organizations who are applying for funding for their HIV/AIDS prevention projects. (this is only one of the many focal people I'll be working with--- others include education, gender and youth development, small enterprise development, malaria prevention, nutrition,.. the list goes on).
Although my time in Mpaha was a little rough, I love coming here with that perspective. It completely changes the way I see Jirapa… being able to talk to my neighbors about how blessed they are for the quality of life they have because they have electricity, easier access to water and jobs instead of coming straight from my expensive private liberal arts school is really nice..... having that experience lessons my celebrity status that I had before. AND I have lived in a village, this is something many of the people working in the district assembly have not done, yet they are responsible for helping improve and maintain the quality of life for the surrounding villages. Although Jirapa is mostly christian.... I went to a fun church last Sunday with great singing and dancing and a pastor who advocates for women's empowerment!.... the surrounding areas are Muslim. So, the people building latrines might not think about building 2 latrines for every house so both men and women can use them.
Well I am out of time. Hope all is welll
jenell
When a past Jirapa volunteer explained to the former US Ambassador to Ghana where she had been living, the Ambassador exclaimed, "Oh, isn't that just the beginning of nowhere." For me, however, it is my Peace Corps heaven, especially coming from my last assignment. Every morning at dawn I run through grassland and African savannah while following footpaths that connect mud hut to boreholes to fields…. It's beautiful. Although I am surrounded by the bush, Jirapa is definitely a town, a town pushing for development. They now have cell phone service, a small internet café, and good (by Ghana standards) public transportation to Wa [the regional capital] – these are things that did not exist for the last volunteer only one year ago. I feel a little bit like a Peace Corps princess having a ceiling fan in my house. I was totally prepared to live in a mud hut and essentially camp for 2 years, but having a fan means I can now sleep uninterrupted when it's over 100 degrees in my house. Any signs of a strip mall being constructed and I'm out of here :D.
This may not have been exactly what I had in mind but the potential for change is so great. My primary job is to work with the District Assembly ( the local government in charge of applying for and distributing funds through out the district) today I met with the HIV/AIDS focal person and we'll be working together to select and work with community based organizations who are applying for funding for their HIV/AIDS prevention projects. (this is only one of the many focal people I'll be working with--- others include education, gender and youth development, small enterprise development, malaria prevention, nutrition,.. the list goes on).
Although my time in Mpaha was a little rough, I love coming here with that perspective. It completely changes the way I see Jirapa… being able to talk to my neighbors about how blessed they are for the quality of life they have because they have electricity, easier access to water and jobs instead of coming straight from my expensive private liberal arts school is really nice..... having that experience lessons my celebrity status that I had before. AND I have lived in a village, this is something many of the people working in the district assembly have not done, yet they are responsible for helping improve and maintain the quality of life for the surrounding villages. Although Jirapa is mostly christian.... I went to a fun church last Sunday with great singing and dancing and a pastor who advocates for women's empowerment!.... the surrounding areas are Muslim. So, the people building latrines might not think about building 2 latrines for every house so both men and women can use them.
Well I am out of time. Hope all is welll
jenell
More Pictures...
A few more pictures from Jenell's memory card. The whole peace corps group (above) and a Fulani girl (above- remember the story of the adventure for milk with her friend Jessica?). Below are pictures of a monkey in a tree, Peace Corps friends at a waterfall during the initial training period, and a few more pictures of Mpaha village life (children, a crowd at a celebration, building a mud hut). Enjoy!
