STARS '09 (with Jack as the bite victim)

It’s been about a week and I still feel euphoric about the STARS conference at KNUST in Kumasi. If you’ve been following the blog, you probably know all about THE conference that took up whatever time I wasn’t spending on my day job. There’s so much to say, but since I have so many pictures at the bottom, I’ll try to limit how much I’m typing out here. Or, you can read the brass tacks nutshell version for June 2009 in Ghana and proceed to the pictures- This month marked my first year in Ghana; I hosted 2 new Peace Corps trainees (AKA Vision Questers) at my site for a week; STARS 2009; Culture Week with my students in Wenchi; I spotted the exact type of car my dad drives.

Ok. STARS! STARS STARS STARS STARS STARS. STARS. What took months of planning and fundraising turned out to be an excellent conference for some of the brightest and best high schools students of Ghana. The event, which lasted from Sunday (when students arrived for dinner) to Saturday (when students and their Peace Corps teachers went back to their towns) was a lot like a week-long summer camp. In fact, my favorite part was how close the students got in such a short period of time. Like I said in one of my previous posts, Peace Corps Volunteers teaching high school chose two of their best students- a boy and a girl- to go to one of the top universities in Ghana and participate in several different sessions covering a range of topics. The students slept in the dorms, and some of the PCVs stayed the entire length of the program as Group Leaders. Also helping out were Ghanaian students who came to last year’s STARS- so each group had a male and female PCV Group Leader, one Junior Group Leader, and ten students coming from different regions of Ghana (students from each school were split up). As for those helping to organize the event, we stayed at the Peace Corps sub office a few minutes away from the university.

So before the event, I did some of the fundraising and media coverage for STARS. At the event, I was more or less in the background with a few other volunteers, making things happen and maintaining happiness for the architects of this year’s STARS. I would have liked to be a Group Leader, since they had all the fun working with students, but there were many behind-the-scenes jobs that someone had to do. Also, since I teach junior high students, I kind of wanted to see what goes into this event so I can perhaps help create something similar for my own students next year.

I did bring two students though- Florence and Edward. Both of these students go to a high school about 2 hours from my site in Koforidua. I knew Florence because her father is a lorry driver in my town, and one holiday I helped tutor her in Biology. She came off as very bright, and has a good chance of going on to do medicine, which she explained to me was her greatest ambition in life. So I invited her and a male student to come to STARS. She chose the school prefect- Edward, whom I picked up in Koforidua on my way to Kumasi for STARS. I got to meet the boy’s father, who turns out to know my host father from training. My two students seemed to love STARS, and even though they were shy in the beginning, by the end they were rowdy and close with students who a week earlier were total strangers. My friend Corey, who was Florence’s Group Leader, held the opinion that Florence was a diva by heart. I second that, considering how high maintenance she is. I mean, in one conversation, she wondered how I could live in such a boring town as Otumi. God! One day I need to introduce her to NYC.

Each day the students would wake up early for breakfast, do activities dealing with life skills, and go to sessions covering topics like HIV/AIDS, leadership skills, college, and issues faced at school and in life. One day, students got to use the campus computer lab, and some of the students even got to use the internet. Each evening, after sessions and dinner, the night was never over- students did dramas, argued in formal Lincoln-Douglas debates (I was a judge!), had a dance (with lots of MJ coming out the speakers, considering the circumstances), and got heavily involved in a talent show. As for the guest speakers at STARS, I was impressed by how well some of them spoke and got the students engaged. Many sessions even allowed for students to ask the speakers questions. Even the Junior Group Leaders got to lead a session on how students could bring what they learned from the conference back to their schools.

At one point of the conference, I and a few other volunteers staying at the sub office took on one of the most curious jobs I’ve come across yet- While speakers were preparing for the next day’s session and students were conversing back at the dorms, I was given the task to scrub mold off of large wooden penises for the following day’s condom demonstration. As the ribald comments flew in the air like so many soap bubbles, we probably had exhausted every wiener joke there ever was or will be by the end of the night.

With all the frustrations at my site, it was nice to actually see mine and my fellow PCV’s hard work paying off. I also got to see several of my Peace Corps friends for a good week, and I gave updates during the conference to those sponsors I became close with during the months before STARS. Also, having access to Kim’s cooking was something only a volunteer living here a year plus could truly appreciate (think carrot cake, fajitas, strawberry jam baked goods, etc. in a carrot cake, fajitas, strawberry jam baked goods-less country).

Aside from being Ghana’s top chef, Kim, along with PCVs Matt and Melissa were the ones who organized the STARS program, and now that they are leaving in a few weeks, we’ll have to find someone to replace them. So thanks Kim, Matt and Melissa for breaking your backs for the excellent students of Ghana! Thankfully Peace Corps has a good health plan. Some more shout outs? Thank you Stella Kotey at HFC bank for getting 100 STARS shirts made, Rose Morrison for helping supply STARS with, what? over 200 bottles of Coca Cola beverages (the Kumasi factory was….overwhelming), Emma Morrison for coming through with TV3s coverage of the event, Peter Akomaning at Kingdom Books for supplying tons of stationary, Akin and Mike for driving me around Kumasi, and Tim C in the States for the generous PCPP contribution. I really didn’t want to rob banks to get the much needed money for the event, so I’m grateful to these people. Thaaaaank Youuuu!

Other than that, I also had two new Peace Corps trainees stay with me for Vision Quest a week before I was to go to mid-service medical and STARS. Both had just flown in and hadn’t been in the country for more than a week, just like when I did Vision Quest. I got the girl first, and she got to see first-hand the day-to-day life that I live. She observed me at school, and I introduced her to several of the people in my town. I did my best not to scare her away when talking about all the difficulties I encounter with my job, and I think she saw how much I liked doing what I do here. I think she might have been surprised by a few things, like the absence of most of the teachers, with a small argument between two of them, and another one randomly leaving for good, which meant I now had to indefinitely teach his Form 1 Math class. For my entertainment I had her do role call, and she didn’t do half bad with some of the students’ names, though my students and I still had a good laugh with some of her pronunciations (i.e.-Ntiamoah Ebenzer and Acheampomaa Mavis). All I know is she did not go back to the States after Vision Quest, so I must have done something right. Another guy came to my site towards the end, and I took him to see the chief, since I felt bad neglecting to bring my first VQer to meet him. There happened to be a few people at the palace that day and we spent a long time just talking. Apparently the chief recently wrecked his BMW when a taxi drove into him on his way back from his son’s wedding. He’s fine, but many of us, including one of the sub-chiefs, hadn’t known about this. Not a bad way to spend time with my Vision Quester- going to the chief’s palace and being regaled with anecdotes.

The week I got back from STARS, some of my students were going to a town called Wenchi to participate in a district-wide cultural festival, where many primary and junior high students would dress in traditional clothing and recite Ghanaian poems, play the drums, do dramas, and dance. Unfortunately, I was the only teacher to go from my school, but fortunately Stephen was able to show up to keep me company. Although our school did not do drums or drama, one of my students, Mavis, recited poetry, while the rest of the participating students at my school sang in the chorus section of the festival. On the way back to my site from Wenchi, I stopped abruptly on the street side when I saw the exact kind of car my dad drives, down to the color. This was also the first Hyundai I think I ever saw in Ghana.

The next day, classes went back to normal, and I did what I could to cover the material I desperately needed to finish teaching. I had been gone for almost 10 days, and all the work I left my students had not been done because while I was out, school was pretty much cancelled so students could practice for the culture festival.

I’m now at the Kumasi Sub Office celebrating both the 4th and my birthday with friends as we enjoy delicious burgers, carrot cake, and beer. We got to meet the new PTO for Peace Corps Ghana, and give him a barrage of questions in between bites into burgers. Right now, I am trolling the internet now to find out how I can make my own sparklers. I also have to add, at Jack's own request, that I mention how he was bitten by a person on a lorry the other day. Someone grabbed hold of his arm and left dental records near his tricept. No one at KSO was able to top that story.

Lastly, I just signed up for the 2009 Accra International Marathon- 26 miles of madness that I am now committed to run since I paid a hefty entry fee. This means from now till October I will be training my body not to collapse on itself under such extreme conditions. There are no paved roads in my town, just a dirt road with hills, rocks, and craters- if this does not get me prepared for the race, nothing will. My friend Andrew just informed me that he ran 18 miles today as part of his training. What did I get myself into? Wish me luck!!

Love ya! Happy 4th! I'm out! Pizza for my B-Day! Please visit my friend Lenore's website. She is raising money to get computers at her school. The link is here ----> https://www.peacecorps.gov/index.cfm?shell=resources.donors.contribute.projDetail&projdesc=641-264

Wine:
Niepoort Douro Vertente 2005

Music:

Work Song- Dan Reeder
Slow Down- Goose
Flicks- Frou Frou
Overdue- Bitter:Sweet
Let’s Go Crazy- Prince
Surfing On A Rocket- Air
Feather in a Baseball Cap- Architecture in Helsinki
0340 Crazy Tonight=Strong Teeth
Etude #3 in F, Op. 25- Chopin
Bad- Michael Jackson
Solo Dancer- Charles Mingus
Feelgood By Numbers- The Go! Team
The Nurse- The White Stripes
Rescue Me- Fontella Bass
Save Us S.O.S- hot hot heat
Beneathe the City- Iron and Wine
Get Down- Rhymefest
The Littlest Birds- The Be Good Tanyas
Sexyback- Justin Timberlake
Number One- John Legend

STARS!

Florence and Edward

The dining hall at KNUST

Sessions



Activities

Using the computers

Drama night

The campus tour

The talent show

The debate

Male bonding

Florence talking with TV3

Female bonding

Final night at STARS

Thanks Coke!

Thank you so much HFC Bank & esp. Stella Kotey for the shirts!!!

Kim!

Fun with Kerry's glasses

The wooden penises

Hey now!

The culture festival in Wenchi: Dancing

Drumming

Poetry

Acheampomaa performing poetry

Getting ready

Talking Drums

At the culture fest w/ my students

Mavis

The Hyundai!!!!!

Books you probably should read, soon.

The Great July 4th BBQ of '09

Jack, he's what's for dinner

The World’s On Our Wall

Today’s Friday, and we have just finished our third week of Term 3. Guess how many classes I taught so far…… If you guessed two, give yourself a nice punch in the ribs because you are correct. Two classes! Students spent Week 1 weeding the school compounds; students spent Weeks 2 and 3 building a fence for the soccer field. I’m not going to harp on this much, but let’s just put this into perspective: There are only 12 weeks in Term 3, and the first three have been wasted. Talking to my headmaster, I learned that this term our school is hosting sports on week four and having culture week (2 weeks of no classes) sometime in June. Counting revisions and exams, during 8 of the 12 weeks in Term 3 there are no classes. I hate how much my school is like a treadmill- everything about it is preventing me from making progress.

As an outlet to all the cancelled classes, I plucked one of my students, Prince, from a group of other students building the soccer fence. I instructed him to put together a rag-tag team of painters, and then we got to work on the World Map Project. Prince is one of the school’s artistically inclined students, having a penchant for drawing what he sees (he’s the one who helps me make science posters). Since the World Map Project requires precision, I figured he’d be perfect for the job. He, Barbara, Ahunu and Boapea have been working for almost one week now tracing grids, drawing outlines, and painting. I even snuck in some math, having them do measurements and use a protractor to get a perfect 2x4 meter rectangle. What they have so far looks amazing, and next week we should be finished. Given the amount of freedom they had while working on the project, a few mistakes were made. We would work from 7 to 1, or until the intensity of the sun phone checked us to stop.

As it stands, Guatemala is under water, the Koreas have been cloaked (ha ha Park), several countries, including Germany and France, seem to have been swallowed by Italy and Spain, and Israel (to some people’s delight) doesn’t exist on our map. The last thing really is to finish the Peace Corps logo and put a few major countries on the map. One of my PCV friends here also decided to paint the World Map Project, and this weekend I plan on helping her out some. Two World Maps should keep me slightly preoccupied from the nagging thoughts of cancelled classes.

Going back to school affairs, last week, no one, not the headmaster or the teachers were at the school this one day; but 80 students did… and me. Two teachers hadn’t shown up for two weeks. After finding out that eight of the twelve weeks of classes will be cancelled, I got in my first argument with my headmaster, whom I am very close with at my site. I argued that there is no structure at our school- teachers come and go as they please, there was no schedule for going to class or completing a projects dealing with sports or culture, and many students either stayed home or sat idle during school hours. What sparked the argument was when I started haranguing the headmaster about the need for extra classes, even though they were cancelled because students no longer had to pay for them. I said I’d do them for free, and he remained obstinate until I reminded him of the test I gave during the first week. This test was given to my Form 2s during an informal class- it had 40 questions and assessed their math skills at the basic level- addition, subtraction, division, multiplication, fractions, exponents, square roots, simple algebra and simple word problems. Everyone failed; mostly all the students couldn’t even subtract a negative number by a negative number. Based on my students’ performance during previous terms, I knew my students would fail. The point was to bring them back to reality, to squash their cockiness.

I convinced the headmaster to allow me to hold mandatory after school classes for 30 minutes to go over one part of the Math Basics Test (like subtraction or fractions). To make it more appealing, I paid for exercise books for every student, and pitted the Form 1’s against the Form 2’s. I would write four questions and go over each one. Then I would give another four and time the students to do the work on their own. Then, after 10 minutes, I stopped them and randomly chose a boy and a girl from each form to come to the board and write their answer. So far, these classes have been going well, but it’s only been two weeks.

I’ve also shifted my focus from formal classes to informal reading classes, which puts less pressure on the students to memorize, and they get to have fun learning. I started them on a chapter in their science books, one we won’t get to cover due to time constraints, and then we discuss it. I’m hoping to have labs like this. You might ask why I don’t just teach what I’m supposed to- well because the students and I don’t know when the next class will be. If I see the students aren’t doing anything I jump on the opportunity. Reading comp is something my students need to work on, and since it’s not for a grade, my students actually like to write what they read in the books. I emailed this company [Darien Books] to donate about 30 pounds of middle-school level books to us (they specialize in sending books to Peace Corps volunteers), but I have to wait 3 months for the order.
Next week the new volunteers, or trainees (not trannies), are coming in for training. I wish I could be at the airport to see their wide-eyed faces while we lob Ghanaian goods at them like every group did before us. I can't believe we've been here for one year, and that we are now the "old" group. At the one year mark, Peace Corps issues us orthopedic shoes, a cane, and gives us epson salt bucket baths on the weekends.

A little after arriving in Ghana, the new trainees are given five days to go, on there own, to a volunteer's site to see what life is like there- this is called Vision Quest. On top of staying with the PCV, the trainee is to observe and record what they see at the volunteer's site. I remember my Vision Quest host, Phil, in the Volta Region. Phil isn't a teacher, he is doing agriculture with the farmers in his community. He took me around town and gave me some pointers and background into being a PCV in Ghana. In about a week, it will be my turn to show the trainee around my site and be the host with the most. Luckily, the person I'm paired with is in science education.

This year, training and host families will be in the same place as when we were trainees- in and around Kukurantumi. When we were trainers, some of the Senior and Junior HS volunteers took turns coming and helping the Peace Corps staff with training. This year, instead of just education volunteers, the new group is double our size and has education, small business, water sanitation, and environment volunteers. A few of my friends in my group will go this year to train the new trainees. Training the new group takes a lot of time away from site, and since I'm so far behind at my school, I did not sign up for this year's training, though I really wanted to do it. On the bright side, the training site is about 2 hours from my home and I can crash it whenever I please.

Also, just in time for the trainees, we convened last week in Kumasi to put together and publish the first Ghana JHS teacher's manual. The manual was started 6 years ago by the first group to teach JHS, and contains the words of every JHS volunteer so far in Ghana, each contributing a section or tips. I wrote a section on professional relations with the school staff. Other sections include a year at the JHS, a day at school, a brief background into the Ghana Education System, and tips for teaching math, science and ICT. After reading the manual, I'm envious of the new volunteers.

Back at my site, I have a new way to relieve stress- weeding. I had bought this really nice machete to help my neighbor cut bamboo (we were building a new gate for his goats as well as a new kitchen), and found that I could take out several blades of 7 foot high grass with one swing. One of the women in my town who comes to the school and gives me fruit and home made food always jokes that we'll one day go to farm. I took her up on it, and we walked all the way out to her orange tree field now inaccessible due to the new elephent grass the rain brought. I loved every minute of weeding, and the motions reminded me of playing tennis back home. But the amount of sweat pouring out of me got my friend nervous, and after about two hours she pleaded that I stop. I told her I wasn't tired and it helped relieve my stress- she thought I was nuts. I found out she has a bad leg, so whenever I'm in town on the weekends, I've decided to go with her to her farm.

A few days later, I got a knock at my door, and when I opened it there was this little old man, with loads of kontummere (the elephent-ear looking leaves I love to eat) in his arms. The man spoke good English, and a whistle escaped the gaps in his teeth to accompany every word. He had the shakes as well, reminding me of Jell-O. Shaking and whistling, he introduced himself as Papa Kofi, and explained that he heard from people around town that I loved kontummere, and that he would like to pick some for me whenever he went to farm. I myself go and pick kontummere after school, which grows like weeds in some areas at my site. I thanked the man, and found out he lives right behind me. I plan on going for a visit sometime soon. Man do I have it made in the shade here.

A few days ago, a lizard the size of a small iguana had found its way into my house, and as I chased it to release it back into the wild, I saw this huge insect, something I've never seen perched, yes it was big enough to use the word perched, on one of the halwway's windowsills. The entomologist in me immediately told me to apporach with caution, but capture it no matter what. It was a fly the size of one of those large moths, with what looked like a probiscus that could suck a pint of blood from even the most thick-skinned of animal. I thought it was dead, but when I poked it with a rolled up magazine (Science, haha) it flew at me and I almost broke my skull falling on myself. Despite swatting and killing it, I was able to preserve the body. Then I stared at it for maybe 10 minutes, followed by a photo shoot- the bug might have well been a bikini model, I was taking so many pictures. I later found out that it is harmless, and doesn't even feed as a fly, it gorges itself as a larva, then mates in the adult stage. I think it was called a soldier fly. Good name for such a frightful insect.

Lastly, STARS is coming up in a few weeks. It dawned on me that I should invite the high school student I helped with Biology over the break- she's bright and told me she wants to go to college to become a doctor. STARS would be the best forum for her to go out and meet students with similar ambitions. Luckily, I was able to give her all the forms on time. I'm finding fundraising going much better now compared to when I started. I'm in Accra now sealing the deal with a company donating 100 STARS t-shirts and another providing cash donations. It's almost the 11th hour, but it looks like this year's STARS is going to be quite successful.

Ciao!

Music:

Life’s What You Make It- Talk Talk
Lovely Day- Bill Withers
Change- Sean Kingston
Think- Aretha Franklin
Here Comes The Sun- The Beatles
Disorder and Disarray- Rancid
Pull Up The People- M.I.A.
Don’t Let It Get To Your Head- Nat King Cole
Rogues- Incubus
Black Velveteen- Lenny Kravitz
Moi, Mon Âme Et Ma Conscience- Paris Combo
19th Nervous Breakdown- Rolling Stones
Hangin’ Around- Counting Crows
Bollywood to Battersea- Babyshambles
Don’t Believe A Word- Thin Lizzy
So He Won’t Break- The Black Keys
Bullet and A Target- Citizen Cope
Salute Your Solutions- The Raconteurs
Get Ready- The Temptations
Ooh Wee- Mark Ronson

Flowers in bloom

Weeding

Ghana lawnmower

The Bush Samurai and his lady

Let's make...a fence

World Map outline

Painting the World Map

Almost finished

Found this amongst the paint guards we used

Lord of the Flies

Another beautiful sunset in Otumi

A Vacation of Sorts

The second holiday of the school year is almost finished, and Term 3 is coming up. I would say this has been more or less a productive holiday, with some fun thrown in to make things interesting. I did not paint the world map with my students, unfortunately, but I felt that should wait until school opens and all the students are present. Besides, most of my students were busy picking oranges or helping their parents on the farm. Instead, I spent much of the holiday promoting the STARS conference around Accra. I also finished my section of the JHS teaching manual that will be introduced to the new volunteers in June.

Briefly, STARS is a five-day conference held for Ghanaian high school students at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. Each Peace Corps volunteer chooses two of their top students (a boy and a girl) to go to Kumasi to learn about leadership skills, science, technology, HIV/AIDS, as well as meet and pose questions to successful Ghanaians with various backgrounds. Keeping in mind transportation, food, accommodations, and various supplies, the event costs a few thousand dollars- well worth it in my opinion. Each year, the conference counts on grants, PCPP funding, and corporate sponsorship. It was my job to help out with corporate sponsorship in the Accra area.

Twice now I’ve been to Accra, speaking with different people from major companies in Ghana. It was an amazing experience to meet so many people at the top and bottom of these corporations. Several of the people were very supportive (verbally), but it was frustrating at times when most of the companies no longer were able to sponsor fundraising events-they told me this was due in part to the economic crisis. It felt so strange though to come from my town of Otumi, where there are no buildings taller than one story, to Accra, where I would hit the button for the 17th floor and be zipped up to a luxurious office. I met Ghanaians with various foreign accents, like English and even American. On my beat around town, I met a student studying journalism at the university, a manager of a small business looking for a good summer camp in the States for her children, a division 1 (?) football player, and several Ghanaians who traveled the world, each with their own novel-worthy stories.

The first time I left for Accra, I had been gone for about 5 days, giving the care taker’s children enough time to run amok through my house- I mean they must have gone ape shit- breaking things and eating my food. When I got home, I found my bike in shambles, mud on the floors, and open, empty containers of what used to have contained food. I was pissed. Every day, the children (11, 9, and 5, I think) are supposed to come into the house to turn the lights on/off, sweep, and clean the compound. If I am not home, they have a spare key. When I found the children, I brought all three of them to the house to show them what they had done. It turns out that the parents went to Togo for a few weeks, leaving the children to stay at home and take care of each other- so I had no parents to complain to. Immediately I took back everything I had given them over the months- the books, the jump ropes, the toys. I told them they lost the privilege of coming into the house for a long time, and I made them sweep and mop up the mess they left throughout the house. The days following my return from Accra, the children stayed away from the house, and probably cringed when I cursed at a newly discovered item damaged by the children (i.e.- broken bike pump, discarded shaving cream). The thing about all this was I probably would have gotten into the same mischief if I had been their age and left alone- My idea was to play the parent, I had to be tough on these kids. I even threatened to tell their primary school teacher, but the looks on their faces said that would result in a terrible beating, so I laid off- my point was crystal clear to them though- what they did was not right.

Over time I warmed up to them again, and when the parents eventually came, we had talked and the problem seemed to be resolved. The parents were extremely apologetic, and the children felt genuinely sorry for what they had done. Now, all is well and things are back to normal- in fact I just got climbed the mango tree to watch the sunset with the little ‘uns. I hope I handled the situation well… but it did give me practice as a future parent (god help us all).

Around the time I started warming up to the children, I left my site again- this time I was off to watch a festival in northern Ghana as well as make my way back to Accra for a second round of STARS fundraising, knowing full well the children wouldn’t try the same things again. Of course, when I got back, everything was in its place.

As for going up north, I went to Techiman [in the Brong Ahafo Region] to participate in the Apoo Festival, where people in Techiman and Wenchi get to call out and criticize their fellow citizens for wrong doings done onto them- the citizens are even allowed to call the chief out on things as he sits on his thrown in front of the huge crowd. As hostile as this event sounds, the mood was quite the opposite- people were having a grand old time dancing, drumming, and marching in the streets. I was even led to the chief of Techiman to pay my obeisance amidst the sea of Techimanians. There were a few cross dressers in the crowd, for fun mind you, and people wearing masks and paint on their face. I was left wondering what happened to the people after the event- like what would the chief do if you really went up to him and gave him a hard time for this or that.

While in Techiman I finally purchased a smock (see pictures below), mainly for the occasion, from the market in town. I’ve been itching to get one for a while, and now I have something formal to wear for festivals in my own town. Smocks are more of a northern Ghana thing, and I wanted to wait until I went up there to purchase one.

Walking my way towards the smock section of the market, I passed booth after booth of juju supplies- juju is a major part of Ghana’s traditional beliefs, where juju is a type of magic dealing with the occult. At each booth, one could find a myriad of strange objects, mostly coming from animals of all sorts. There were crocodile skulls, husks of blowfish, birds, and local bush rats. There were live chameleons in cages hanging over their deceased and desiccated relatives. Monkeys’ paws. Gold rings and spears. Dark cloths. Wild cat fur and porcupine spines. It seems like anyone buying this stuff would be up to no good.

Around my town, I have only seen one stall selling juju items, mainly because almost everyone around me is either Christian or Muslim. In talking with my headmaster and a few people in my community, juju and traditional beliefs are “evil” and don’t belong in Otumi. There are some, though, who are Christian or Muslim and still hold traditional beliefs, like some of the people I met in Kukurantumi during training. All opinions aside, the things I’ve seen dealing with traditional beliefs are all intriguing to behold. Traditional beliefs are so ingrained in Ghanaian society, people often speak of juju with fear and seriousness, with anecdotes like someone seeking retribution and employing a juju man as an agent of vengeance . The papers sometimes have a story on juju, like the one I read yesterday blasting some sort of practice called “sikadura” (using juju to get money) as evil.

Up north, I enjoyed my new favorite food- wagashee. Wagashee is simply fried cheese, and in a land with a serious cheese deficiency, wagashee is highly sought out by Westerners like me. The cheese is not all melty like you might think- it’s spongy, but not in a bad way. I love the stuff, and I must have spent a small fortune eating my weight of the snack since I don’t get it in my area. I asked around my town today, and so many people never even heard of the stuff, with one vaguely knowing about it.

I also went out of my way to get some other stuff, the name of which I did not bother to remember because it tasted horrid. Never mind that the reason I got it was because some friends played a practical joke on me, saying “Oh, Darren, when you go to the north you HAVE to try this pastry shaped like a ball and coated with powdered sugar. The inside tastes like chocolate!” While on a lorry, I spotted someone selling the food off their head and beckoned them to come and sell me one. Mouth watering, I bit into the donut-whole-sized thing, and met a taste not too far from wet cement. Ha. Ha. It was a good joke. Good enough for me to lay on the new volunteers coming in June. Ha. Ha. Ha.

Also while in the north, I visited Kintampo Falls, an excellent spot for relaxing. The landscaping for the place was incredible, and taking it all in, I let every aggravation go. Eventually, several groups of Ghanaians and tourists alike showed up, breaking the tranquility and creating a different atmosphere of contagious exuberance. Since it’s not too far out of the way from the main road, I might have to visit the falls again in the near future.

Meanwhile, one of my PCV friends and her five pieces of luggage had just arrived back in Ghana after a brief visit to the States. She called me from Accra asking where I was, and miles away from the place I could only slap my head in remorse- I had let her down again. At least I’m consistent. I’m not what you’d call a good friend in many cases, but I do try, which also sometimes back-fires- like when I bottled some pineapple jam I had made and put it in her mail box at the Accra office, only to find out that it leaked on her packages and went bad. I guess I’ll hold back giving her the home-made, battery operated fan/spray bottle I made for her the other day.

After the north, I headed back to Accra for another round of STARS fund raising; more or less for follow ups with the companies I talked with on my first visit. Overall, I would say my meetings were successful- a big stationary supplier in Ghana donated a generous amount of items we would have had to buy for the conference; also, a major television station signed on to cover two of the five days of the event. I’m kicking myself for not going to the television station in the first place- so many of the companies I talked to were interested in promoting their own company, and mentioning “media coverage” would have surely gotten my foot in the door. It’s not too late though!

That’s about it. Next week, we start Term 3 at school, and we’ll just have to see how that goes. I’ve tweaked a few things in my teaching approach that might get things moving faster, although it might be to the detriment of some of my students- more about that in my next post. I have to hold my students accountable for learning at least the basics, and if that means keeping them for class even though all the other classes have been dubiously cancelled, so be it. I’m also trying to hatch another scheme, this time involving a huge parent/teacher workshop that includes my school and the rest of the schools in Otumi. After interviewing some of the teachers and community members, I’ve gathered that parents don’t really promote education outside of the classroom, and even if they did, many of them might not know how to best go about getting their children to study. This in turn frustrates the teachers, who allege that students are not retaining anything taught in class. Perhaps after having a meeting with all the teachers, the chief, and some of the parents, we could hatch a large workshop that would turn things around here. I think we can actually do this. Later!

Wine: Seghesio Zinfandel Sonoma County 2007

Music:

That Old Pair of Jeans- Fatboy Slim
On Green Dolphin Street- John Coltrane
So What- Field Mob
Take Me Out- Franz Ferdinand
Fa Fa- Guster

Shining Star- Earth Wind & Fire
Escape- Hoobastank
Hints- Jose Gonzalez
Holes to Heaven- Jack Johnson
Mega Bottle Ride- Joe Strummer and the Mescaleros
After School Special- Jurassic 5
I Predict A Riot- Kaiser Chiefs
Touch The Sky- Kanye West
Of Moons, Birds & Monsters- MGMT
Jumping Jack Flash- The Rolling Stones
Odo Ho Akyire Noa- Amakye Dede
Luv 2 Luv Ya- Timbaland
Gravity Rides Everything- Modest Mouse
Blue Monday- Fats Domino
Get Down- Nas
Money (That’s What I Want)- Barett Strong
Monkey- Counting Crows
CrushCrushCrush- Vitamin String Quartet
On the Sunny Side of the Street- Diana Krall
In A Big Country- moe.
Last Stop: This Town- The Eels
Fade In-Out- Oasis
Unwritten- Natasha Bedingfield
Pay to Play- Nirvana
Sofisticated- Stereo MC’s
Superstition- Stevie Wonder

Juju Items


Monkey's paw




Medicinal tree bark

Tailor making a fine smock

Being forced to dance

Under the sub-chief's umbrella

One of Techiman's sub-chiefs

A thronging crowd

Drummer

Dancer

Lover (I meant to tell you about her earlier, I swear!)

Kintampo Falls lounge area

Kintampo Falls

Wagashee (fried cheese from the north)- delic!

I was told this is bean paste. It looks, tastes, and has the consistency of wet cement.