Hump Week

This week has been a great week. I’ve been really busy. Actually, it is the busiest week so far. I’m afraid this entry will be long, but I want to record my memories. (I ended up being right, btw)

Garrett and I picked a Jimmy Eat World song that we both like so we can make an awesome/cute music video for World Joy, Stephen Sr.’s organization that has built many schools in the area. We have been brainstorming ideas for the video, and on Monday I went to school with Garrett and Zandra to get some shots. The two of them teach a class at one of the schools, so they invited me to their class to take video. I took what I needed wandered to other classrooms to get more shots. I was very intrusive, not because I was loud and obnoxious, but because every window I walked by, the kids would start yelling, “Obroni! Obroni!” I would put my finger to my lips, and they would imitate, but would still yell. I wandered to another school that was close, and I was recording a kindergarten class when the teacher broke into a song and dance that the kids love.  The kids were dancing on their desks and chairs, and the teacher was singing and dancing around the room. I had to hold back my laughter to keep the camera still. It was priceless.

After a visit to our favorite bowlfloat lady Margaret, I took a nap and woke up just in time to start dinner. Monday is international night, which means we cook food from home to get a break from the Ghanaian dishes we constantly eat. We have all the ingredients to make chicken noodle soup from scratch, and luckily, it is one of the few things I can whip up, so I volunteered to cook dinner. I boiled the chicken and threw in some garlic, onions, and the one carrot we had. Instead of potatoes, they have a sort of tuber that is like a potato, but they call a yam. It can have a bitter taste to it, but most of the time, it is like a potato. I prepared this yam (it is a beastly thing) and threw that in the soup. I rolled out some noodles, and we had some freaking delicious soup. The power went out while I was prepping, so we ate in the dark (the sun sets about dinner time).

When the power goes out, we roast. The heat and humidity is bearable if there is at least a fan on, but it is too warm to sleep when the power is out. We all (except Bev; she got a cold and went to bed early) stayed up until one in the morning playing Settlers of Catan. We were finally tired enough to sleep, and we opened the windows to let in the cool night’s air.

Douglas asked one of us to go with him to Koforidua, which is the capital of the Eastern Region and where the bank account for SEED is. I volunteered to go because I want to see as much of Ghana as I can while I am here, so on Wednesday morning, I boarded a tro tro and took for an adventure to Koforidua. I met Douglas in Kwabeng, which is the capital of the Atiwa District, which is where we live (there are many disctricts in a region, and many regions in Ghana; districts are like counties and regions are like states in relation to the USA). Douglas is doing his national service in a secondary school in Kwabeng, and we decided to go to the school together and leave right after his class to go to Koforidua. Douglas is a great teacher, even though teachers here do not have to have specialized education. I sat in his class and he threw down about soil and water conservation and photosynthesis. I also saw an albino black girl at the school, something I never thought I would see. There was also a black guy with red hair and milk chocolate skin, so he probably also had a form of albinism.

After class, we biked to Anyanim and caught a tro tro to Koforidua. The people always treat us obronies very well. They ask were we are going and make sure we get there. Even though I was with Douglas, I was separated, and the guy sitting next to me was kindly helping me. The trip took about 2 hours, but the roads were pretty nice! Blessings!

Our whole purpose for going to Koforidua was fulfilled in 20 minutes with a short bank visit. After the bank, we went for lunch, and he took me to a place where they only serve local food.  I’m not a huge fan of Ghanaian food anyway, so having to pick some food off of the menu to force myself to eat was kind of hard. Luckily, they had red red, which is fried plantains with beans, and I kind of like it. They served it super greasy, but it was ok. Douglas ordered fufu, but I can’t stand fufu.

After lunch, Douglas’ friend and SEED collector Moses had some issues with the EPA that needed to be resolved, so we paid a visit to the regional office. We sat for an hour waiting for some gal to come and talk to us. Finally, the secretary made a call, and told us that Moses needs to pay 5,000 GHC ($2,500!!!) for a fine. We left, and I ranted to Douglas about corruption. As we boarded the tro tro to go home, he received a call from the EPA office saying that the fine was now only 500 GHC ($250) and that he should come pay it now. He said he would have to come back and pay later because we were leaving. Then they called back again and said that he should name his price for the fee, and he lowered it to 200 GHC ($100). Of course, any of the money he pays will go straight into somebody’s pocket, but if he doesn’t pay or goes around the system, the same people would use their authority and power to punish him for not paying them the ridiculous fee. GAH! It bothers me so much! The country will never grow if the government agencies use their power to steal money from its citizens. This mindset is ingrained into the people, though. They have no idea how to be selfless; it is always about me me me. Garrett and Zandra told me the story about how they were teaching class and brought a couple of hard-boiled eggs for a science experiment that didn’t work out. After class, a girl asked if she could have one, and when Garrett said yes, the whole class tried to get their share of the egg. After each person tried to get his or her handful of egg, pretty much nobody got any egg because it all ended up on the ground. Everybody thinks that if one person gets something they also deserve it. No sense of gratitude, just selfish entitlement. 

Sorry for being didactic. Haha oh well.

After the tro tro ride, we biked from Anyanim to Abomosu. I put in my headphones and enjoyed the music and the air. I love riding on Douglas’ bike!  We stopped in Ekorso on our way and did some collections. As we parked at this one place, somebody called, “Obroni! Obroni come!” I was busy, so I ignored it and followed Douglas, but he caught up to me and told me that nobody comes from America to not give anything, so I have to give him something. I told him I don’t have anything, and because we were mid handshake, he grabbed harder on my hand as I pulled to leave. He was drunk; I could smell it on him, and he was acting a little lethargic. It pissed me off so bad because, FREAK, you don’t detain me to make me give you something, especially when I am busy! I told him to let go, and I pulled my hand out and left. Douglas didn’t stick around to watch, but I’m glad he didn’t because it showed that he trusted me to take care of my self. He wasn’t too far anyway, so if I did need help, he would be right there. As we were leaving, the drunk guy found us again with his child in his arms and asked if I had seen the children. They know how to play it! I just told him you work for your money, and I work for mine, and we drove off.

We hurried to the chapel in Abomosu because our second-time loan class was about to start. Of course, it started raining, so nobody showed up for class. Well, Margaret did, and others slowly filled in, but we ended up postponing class til next week. It was supposed to be our last day, too! But we filled out proposal forms for everybody that was there, so it ended up being productive anyway.

Because of class ending early, we were able to make it back to the house in time for dinner! We invited the Elders over for chicken and rice, and it was pretty good! It is nice to have some obronis to talk to about Ghana. They just had an emergency transfer, so there was a new Elder that just moved in that day. We played Scum with the four Elders, and it was super fun. The new Elder said that he never expected that on his first night in the bush he would have a nice meal with a house full of obronis. They left us a ridiculously funny note the next day.

Thursday is usually a day off, but because Bev and Allan had finished their class in Akokom, it was funding day for them. Garrett and I figured we should go out for the big occasion to try and help, if we could. It took a lot longer than I had thought it would take, but it was exciting to see the fruits of the classes. I was the designated picture-taker, mostly because I have a decent camera I have figured out how to use. That took most of the afternoon, and I went to bed super early: in bed at 9 and up at 8 the next day.

After several weeks of traveling to Amonom, Friday was our last class day. I have grown to love our class. I love their personalities and quarks, even though we speak different languages. The last class went super well, though. Garrett talked about the pod structure and how the whole pod was responsible for each other’s loans. They didn’t like that much, but we told them they can pick who they want in their pods, and they liked that a lot. They almost cheered, but were just super excited. We explained the loans, the interest rate (48% annually, which is obviously pretty high), and how collections will work. They didn’t like that very much either, but when I told them about the interest rebate, they cheered! They loved it! Every time Eva would translate what I said, they would start clapping and cheering! It was awesome. We have set up appointments with all of them for next week to see their business and fill out their loan applications. The class has been the best part of the internship because we get to know so many people here.

Garrett and I took a taxi by ourselves because the other two weren’t quite finished with their class when we were. During our taxi ride back to Abomosu, it started to rain. We walked as much as we could, but we stopped at a store and waited for about 30 to 45 minutes. We had a good chat, then ran the rest of the way to the house during a small break in the storm. Of course, the power was out, but during dinner, the power came back on. Blessings! After dinner, we corrected all of the homework that our class gave back to us. Bless their hearts, but they can’t do homework worth a shiz. We laughed at their attempts, but it really shows us their dedication. Every once in a while, they get the homework, and that shows us they truly understand what we are teaching.

The week has been a long week, but it’s hump week! We are half way! Woo!!