Monday, September 18, 2006
Brief Jenell update and More Pictures...
Jenell recently went to a big gathering to celebrate the 45th year of the Peace Corps in Ghana. She got to wear her fancy Ghanaian outfit (see below) and gave the following report in a short email today (Sept 27, 2006) "... I got to meet the 50 new trainees and it's so fun to see how far I've come. How much I've learned. Peace Corps has been in Ghana 45 years and I've been apart of one going on two of them. 1 out of 45 ain't bad. Today I will head back north... I am ready to be back at site after what felt like spring break and prom peace corps style."
Jenell modeling her "Ghanaian" church/event outfit.... You should see her dance in it!
Jenell at Kakum National Forest on the "canopy walk" in the treetops of the rainforest in southern Ghana
Neighborhood boys making and playing homemade "flutes" out of pumpkin stalk
Lisa reading with neighborhood kids in Jenell's living room. (Actually this happens to be a picture of Eulalia and several of her siblings- her sister Linda is holding the book and next to Linda are Vivian and Jonata)
Jenell with headscarf made of locally woven cloth (with Eulalia in the background)
Scene on the road just outside of Jirapa
A truck loaded with people heading to a funeral in the countryside outside of Jirapa. We were riding our bikes and had to quickly veer to the side of the road to avoid the speeding truck overloaded with people...
Jenell modeling her "Ghanaian" church/event outfit.... You should see her dance in it!
Jenell at Kakum National Forest on the "canopy walk" in the treetops of the rainforest in southern Ghana
Neighborhood boys making and playing homemade "flutes" out of pumpkin stalk
Lisa reading with neighborhood kids in Jenell's living room. (Actually this happens to be a picture of Eulalia and several of her siblings- her sister Linda is holding the book and next to Linda are Vivian and Jonata)
Jenell with headscarf made of locally woven cloth (with Eulalia in the background)
Scene on the road just outside of Jirapa
A truck loaded with people heading to a funeral in the countryside outside of Jirapa. We were riding our bikes and had to quickly veer to the side of the road to avoid the speeding truck overloaded with people...
Wednesday, September 13, 2006
Preview in Pictures
Market scenes from Jirapa
Almost exactly one month after returning from my trip to Ghana to visit Jenell, here are a few pictures to whet your appetite for more pictures and a more in-depth report on our adventures. I had a great trip and thoroughly enjoyed being in Ghana. And yes, I did eat caterpillars and Jenell's description was very accurate- the thought of it was not so appetizing but the actual taste was just sort of...dusty/ashy? (is ash-y a word?). Jenell is doing great and it was so much fun to meet the people she sees on a daily basis, taste the local foods, hear her speaking Degare and just spend time with her. We spent several days at Jenell's site in Jirapa way up in the northwestern part of Ghana. Because I flew into Accra in the south of Ghana we also spent a good chunk of my two weeks there traveling to and from Jirapa, plus a side-trip at the end to Kakum national park, a slave castle at Cape Coast- a very sobering experience-, and a little time on the beach.
I'll write more and post more pictures later, but I promised myself I would not let another day go by without putting up at least a few pictures. Enjoy!
Lisa habba Stewart
One of Jenell's many small neighborhood friends
Yep, those are dried caterpillars... joining me is Jenell's friend Eulalia.
Jenell doing her laundry in the courtyard of her house in Jirapa
Jenell working with the Grasie Women's group in Jirapa (the man, Lucas, is a local contractor bringing a bid to the group for their review). This group of amazing women- Christian and Muslim- has already paid back one small business loan and is now working toward building and running a bakery for more income for the women's families.
Almost exactly one month after returning from my trip to Ghana to visit Jenell, here are a few pictures to whet your appetite for more pictures and a more in-depth report on our adventures. I had a great trip and thoroughly enjoyed being in Ghana. And yes, I did eat caterpillars and Jenell's description was very accurate- the thought of it was not so appetizing but the actual taste was just sort of...dusty/ashy? (is ash-y a word?). Jenell is doing great and it was so much fun to meet the people she sees on a daily basis, taste the local foods, hear her speaking Degare and just spend time with her. We spent several days at Jenell's site in Jirapa way up in the northwestern part of Ghana. Because I flew into Accra in the south of Ghana we also spent a good chunk of my two weeks there traveling to and from Jirapa, plus a side-trip at the end to Kakum national park, a slave castle at Cape Coast- a very sobering experience-, and a little time on the beach.
I'll write more and post more pictures later, but I promised myself I would not let another day go by without putting up at least a few pictures. Enjoy!
Lisa habba Stewart
One of Jenell's many small neighborhood friends
Yep, those are dried caterpillars... joining me is Jenell's friend Eulalia.
Jenell doing her laundry in the courtyard of her house in Jirapa
Jenell working with the Grasie Women's group in Jirapa (the man, Lucas, is a local contractor bringing a bid to the group for their review). This group of amazing women- Christian and Muslim- has already paid back one small business loan and is now working toward building and running a bakery for more income for the women's families.
