Days out of order

Wednesday, Jan 13, 2010

After another hearty breakfast, we began our 10 minute stroll to the Senchi Ferry village. We are now familiar with the route and sights as we weave our way along a dirt path and past the small mud homes. The chicken and goats pay us no mind and we are getting used to the drenching heat. Villagers greet us with “Wo ho te sen” and we are getting better at remembering the response. The team also brought four soccer balls to be used at recess….these kids love soccer.

Today, I began teaching in one of the kindergarten classes under the eye of Madame Joyce. There are 19 boisterous children sitting two to a desk. There is a chalkboard and letters of the alphabet adorning the front wall. Along with a few posters, there is little else in the way of visual aids. The heat is oppressive and materials are rudimentary. Despite this, the children are eager to learn and learn they do.

Class begins with singing “We Shall Overcome” followed by recitation of “The Lords Prayer”. Madame Joyce has me work on the alphabet with the flashcards I brought. A, Apple, the A sound….you get the picture. The children raise their hands to sound out the cards and we go through all 26 letters. There were a couple of stumpers as S was for Skunk and P was for Pizza…..both items never seen by the children.

After a group song about how our hands, shoulders, knees and toes all belong to Jesus, we launched into mathematics. The children go into the yard to collect 10 pebbles apiece. Once back, they learn how to add by counting out the rocks. Each student has a notebook where they write in their answers. The pencils are in various states of use with some less than two inches left. Erasers are a hot commodity. Those without erasers simply wet their fingers and smudge out the mistake.

For recess we go out in the sun we and danced the Hokey Pokey, Ring Around the Rosie and played Duck, Duck, Goose. We read Chica Chica Boom Boom and they loved the rhyming way of applying the alphabet. Back in we went and I taught uppercase and lower case letters, followed with another exercise to write out on paper.

The children are at various levels of learning. The class was taught in English and the kids had a good grasp of basic vocabulary. Some children pick up new concepts quickly and others struggle just to write their name on the top of the page. The latter welcome individual attention. The more advanced students help those less so and this concern was touching to observe. Whether fast or less fast, each child lights up when told that they did a “Good Job”. The teacher and students make the most out of very little and the importance that Senchi Ferry places on education bodes well for the future of these little ones. The spirit is there!! I look forward to getting to know these children and Madame Joyce over the next 8 days.

Back at lunch, team mates discussed their morning. Those working on the library moved the heavy concrete bags and prepared the mortar mix. This was used by Reuben and his crew to plaster the interior walls. Additionally, wood was sawed for use in framing the doors and windows. Our nurses went on home visits to listen in on briefings on family planning.

Our Ghanaian adventure of the day was riding in a tro-tro. Our country manager, Esther, led the way and the destination was a small Kente fabric weaver close by. Standing on the side of the road, we hailed a tro-tro with enough seats to house the ten of us. I wonder what the two men who were already on board were thinking as ten Obrunis crammed themselves in. It was hot, it was basic, it was cheap but best of all it was travel the way the Ghanaians experience it and there will be more tro-tro rides to come. Unfortunately, the weavers business was closed but we will try again.

We returned to the village for our first tutoring session. As we waited for the key, Jane had the children moving and laughing to Heads, Shoulders, Knees and Toes and Ed engaged them in a spelling bee. Then we went inside, the children selected books, we carried chairs outside and broke into small groups. My student, Killip, read his book in flawless English. My husband, Ed and I merged our groups and we showed photos of family and travels we brought from home. They were intrigued by photos of snow, camels, pyramids, buffalo, the beach, winter clothes and Ed’s birthday party. We explained birthday traditions in the U.S. and they shared Ghanaian birthday rites. They wondered if Ed really had to blow out 63 candles! These boys were so curious about the world outside their world. Did Buddhists believe in Jesus? Where is Ecuador? Will you die in the snow? Do plants in Boston die in the winter? Can you go to any school you want? Is Mexico a dangerous place? Curious minds want to know. I leave the work day impressed by the keen minds of these children, their inquisitiveness, attention to detail and their yearning for more. They love school, love to learn and I hope they get the chance to fulfill their educational potential.

Pamela Ward

Boston, Massachusetts

What day is it???

Haley’s journal for:
Thursday, the 14, 2010

As I read this to the volunteer group, on the 15th, it is Elle’s birthday! So if
Any one wants to wish her a happy birthday, who hasn’t, now is a good time.

For me, the day started out with waking up from a weird dream at about
Seven A.M in the morning. With my father telling me we were going to be
Late for breakfast…again! Once I got to the common room for breakfast I
discovered that a few other people had bean experiencing weird dreams to.
We decided to blame it on the Malaria pills. After breakfast most of us
headed out to do our volunteer work for the day.

Bonnie & Esther left early for Accra with Phillip (our driver) and John (the electrician for the Library). Another cultural adventure.

I was working on the library again, with Ed, my dad, Deb, Sandy, and a few locals. The work I did today was the hardest work I’ve done so far. My job was the same as Sandy’s, which was to use a chisel and a hammer, or block of wood, to cut out little squares from a hard sort of platform of wood. Ed brought his I-phone to the library today, which I have to say, was a good idea. All the workers were singing and dancing to the wonderful tunes of Bob Marley! They got upset when it stopped playing, and since Ed was gone I was asked to “help the music move again.” Deb and my dad, John, were helping make the mortar, and Ed was helping make the doors and windows, while the locals helped make us do a better job. After work in the library, the Global Volunteers sort of met up to walk back to the common room for lunch, where I found most of us singing nursery rhymes for Pam to teach at a School, but when she had a notebook to write down the songs in we all had forgotten most of them. This was all right since we made up our own nursery rhyme that we named I lost my poor foofoo. Once our hunger was satisfied we were happy to relax before walking to the Methodist School, for tutoring with the kids. When we came back to the Guest house, we all relaxed with one of the tribal elders. When we ate dinner, we told each our stories from the day. There seemed to be many funny ones. Today was not as packed with things to do, and places to go, but I think we all needed a little rest anyways.

Day 4

Tuesday, January 12, 2010
By John Wark

Ghanian proverb #1: Instead of doing the wrong thing, then pacifying people with money, do the right thing and save your money to look after your children.

Ghanian proverb #2: When the old woman is hungry, she says, “Cook something for the children to eat.”

One of the most prominent facets of life in Ghana became apparent on the overnight flight from New York to the capital city of Accra. One row in front of me sat a father and his son. The boy was only about two or three years old and did not have a seat of his own. So his father, dressed in a blue blazer and dress slacks, held him on his lap the entire duration of the transAtlantic flight without so much as a hint of personal discomfort or complaint.

I watched him closely and his face remained serenely composed the entire flight. I recognized him as Ghanian because as we passed through customs he queued up in the line for Ghanian nationals. I felt the urge to go over to tell him how moved I was by his selfless act and what an inspiring example of fatherhood he presented. But I held back, slightly concerned I might somehow offend him. After being in the county a few days I realized I had nothing to fear. Ghanians accept compliments with the utmost grace. I also realized that I don’t need to see such a man step into a Ghanian customs line to identify him as a Ghanian – seeing him with his son was enough to identify him.

Since arriving in Senchie Ferry with the rest of the Global Volunteers team three days ago we have seen day by day just how deeply this sense of devotion to children reaches into the entire community. It is a devotion enthusiastically inspired by Global Volunteers, which has invited us each here to participate in helping the Senchie community grow stronger in its self reliance and confidence in pursuit of the priorities it has set.

The priorities set by the community and adopted by Global Volunteers largely revolve around the children, from the current library project to the assistant school teaching we will do here.

This trip to Ghana is for me occurring under a double sign of the child. That I am here at all is the work of a child. I flown from Florida to Africa to support my beautiful 13-year-old daughter Haley’s personal effort to become more self reliant, much as Global Volunteers is supporting the children of the Senchie community.

Here, in today’s group journal, I want to publicly thank my daughter for being brave enough to dream boldly and be daring and self-reliant enough to advance her dream of visiting Africa as far as she did. It was Haley who contacted Global Volunteers and found this program only five weeks ago and who, when I and her mother first suggested it may take a little time, effort and planning to make a trip to Africa, answered use with: “Don’t say it’s not possible. You have to believe that it is.” She said coming here would fulfill a desire held since she was much younger. Thank you, Haley, for this remarkable trip.

What I have discovered in the short time we have been here is that while your mother may be in Florida, awaiting our return, Haley, our motherland is here. Where human life first took hold millions of years ago.

The importance of children to our collective reason for being here emerged again on Tuesday, the day of this journal entry, as the children of the village dressed in their cleaned and pressed uniforms returned to the village’s schools for the first time since their Christmas break began and the members of our group who volunteered as teachers – Ellie, Jane and Kathleen -- joined in classroom activities.

The schools are simple concrete block affairs with shutters and doors that open to allow the air to cool their poorly lit classrooms. But the children are incredibly happy and well looked after. They go to school only through the sixth grade in the three schools Global Volunteers is sponsoring.

The rest of us – Haley, Sandy, Pam, her irrepressible husband Ed and I – joined the workers for day two of construction work on the library Global Volunteers is building. The library will be a first for the entire region and serve communities for miles around when complete. When we arrive there is already a shell and a roof. Our morning was spent moving more than a hundred cinder blocks, wheeling barrows of mud to mix with sand, arranging scaffolding, mixing cement by hand, passing blocks to the masons up on the scaffold, offloading a truckload of wood for the framing and continuing to ready conduit for the electrical work. We also completed the upper courses of stone work at he east and west ends of the hallway. This work was all completed by noon, Ghanians and Obronies (whites) working side by side, but the Ghanians directing and guiding the Obronies every step of the way.

My daughter Haley learned how to use a trowel to throw “mud” into the channels carved into the cinder stone for the electrical conduits and then to pack it in and smooth it over, She also helped pitch sand into the wheelbarrow and mixed cement. Needless to say, I am very proud of her.

By 12:30 we were tiredly picking our way back along the network of red dirt roads and paths that thread through schoolyards, backyards and front yards to the St, James House hotel where we are all staying and where lunch would be waiting. Earlier in the day, as we walked to the schools and the library we saw the scores of village children in their fresh uniforms assembling outdoors near their schools and heard them sing their national anthem.

Many of the children we saw in the morning now roamed the pathways or milled about near the schools. I noticed that the village women set up tables near the schools and handed the children fruit freshly peeled with a machete, and such things as bags of nuts and also bags of water. Children of all ages approached us as always with open faces, hands out, touching us, holding us, hugging us, sometimes begging for soccer balls for their pictures to be taken.

Often it seems to me many of the children are simply using these encounters to practice their English and I have begin to notice for fewer requests for soccer balls, at least today. They seem to want merely to practice saying, “Hello!” and “How are you?” and “Good afternoon, sir.”

I’ve also noticed that these children often speak better English and understand more than do many of the young men working the library construction site. Although another group of teenagers who lingered in the shade of an awning near the work site demonstrated good enough skill. “Mister,” they shouted as we walked past them, give us your daughter.”

After lunch today we had been told we would begin a regular mid-afternoon routine of tutoring the children from the schools. But the teachers asked us to hold off a day so that they could complete some of their own back-to-school business. So we found ourselves with the unexpected boon of a cleared afternoon.

Esther & Bonnie headed out to find yet another internet cafe. Meeting with the home office...

For the rest of us, out came the guidebooks. The list of potential free-time activities posted near the list of must-learn Twi phrases was consulted. Was there sufficient time to leap aboard a tro tro and run into Accra to visit the Arts Center? What about a visit to a place within walking distance that apparently had kayaks for rent and a pool to swim in? Or, how about that place 10 minutes away where we could buy amazing hand woven pieces of khente cloth?

We ended up taking the advice of a veteran, Kathleen, who sagely suggested we go to the Continental Hotel where we could rent a boat to tour the Volta River, see the exotic animals they kept on the grounds, and have a drink on the veranda poolside.

The boat ride was a treat, and cooling respite from the day’s heat and hard work, as we slipped through green water below green hills. We motored around for an hour, passing by fancy resorts and pretty riverside estate houses, banana plantations, tilapia farms, what is purported to be the world’s second largest suspension bridge, and an impoverished riverside section of Akasombo.

The sharp contrast between wealth and subsistence living in this country is staggering.

At the Continental Hotel we saw monkeys and crocodiles, exotic birds including parrots, and a strange animal that looked like a big cat with a raccoon face and both stripes and spots along its body. Haley fell in love with the monkeys and now wants one as a pet. (If you’re wondering where the impetus to buy or adopt the horses, chickens, cats, dogs and goats we have, you may use the aforementioned as your clue.)

When I paused to reflect on where we are and what we have been doing I was struck by how far and yet how near everything feels. For instance, was New Years really only 12 days ago? Have we really only been here three days? It feels like weeks. It is hard to believe this is only Tuesday and also a little bit beyond imagining that I am really in Africa, that this is Ghana, and these Twi-speaking Akans are our hosts for the coming weeks here in Senchi, beautiful Senchi, emerging from the fragrant smoke of cooking fires that have been burning since the dawn of time in this part of the world; Senchie lying indolently under the hot sun in the shade of an ancient mythically large mango tree not from from the Volta river; Senchi awakening in the quiet, gentle eyes of its children, Senchie drumming the names of its children through hundreds of years, their names ringing with the passage of daily life itself: the people of Senchie and the place making the familiar as unfamiliar, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, Saturday, Sunday, Kwadwo, Kwabena, Kwaku, Yaw, Kofi, Kwame, Kwasi, Adwoa, Abena, Akua, Yaa, Alfia, Amma, Akosua; Senchie, maze of timeless red dust paths along which appear and disappear, children, old blind women past the age of 100, chickens, goats, dogs, women and men carrying a vast indescribable array of goods on the their heads, families huddled around outdoor coal fires, women pounding fuffu, driving banku.

Moment to moment life in Africa shape shifts. Almost instantly the days in Ghana take on the quality of a waking dream filled with sounds and sights and smells in which one feels one’s self suddenly becoming more African, less white European. This is liberating, is it not?

The shade from the tree with the root that reaches to the instant mankind was born spreads out its leafy African limbs, shading the white brother and the black sister indiscriminately. One feels the stirrings underfoot, knows the substance of life, the ancestors felt. The same earth. The same stirrings. The same aliveness at one’s core.

Africa is less a place to know that a place that presents one with a new way of knowing.

Me da ase, Senchie.

Me da ase, Global Volunteers.

Me da ase, Ed, Pam, Sarah, Bobby Jo, Ellie, Deb, Kathleen, Jane, Bonnie, Sandy, Haley.

Me da ase, my Akan sister Ester.

Me da ase my African ancestors with whom I stand eyebrow to eyebrow.

Day 3

Day 3
Written by Sandy Wessner
Woke up at 5:30 am to traffic along the highway. Bobbi Jo woke up to a crowing rooster a the crack of dawn. Gathered for breakfast and received our direction from Esther. Breakfast consisted of eggs, toast, and cornflakes with condensed milk. With full bellies most of us headed for the village. Deb, Bonnie & Esther went for a banking adventure - Ghana style.

Another hot, humid, sunny day. School was not in session today so there was no classroom teaching. A walk through the village brought children out greet the “Ebronies” (white man or woman). Stopped at the clinic to drop off Sarah and Bobbi Jo for their assignments. Two new newborns and a waiting room full of patients awaited them. The rest of the gang headed to the library worksite. John, Haley and Sandy mixed mud and packed it around the conduit tubes. Jane showed her stuff carrying blocks. Ed masterminded the conduit cutting and placement into the electrical boxes. Pam, Ellie, Bonnie, Kathleen and Deb sang songs and played games with the children. At 12:30 we began our walk back to the Guest House.
We had lunch, another great meal, and were off to the Cedi Bead Factory. We were shown the process of manufacturing beads by Mr Cedi himself. The process includes glass crushing, designing, firing and stringing. We all went into the tiny gift shop to make our purchases of necklaces, bracelets and bowls.
We were off to the open air market after a stop for phones and sim cards. We said goodbye to Esther and explored. The market was filled with smoked fish, fruits, vegetables, trinkets, shoes, cloth and people. An hour there was more than enough!
We all hopped back in the van for a quick ride to the Volta Hotel. There we had drinks, appetizers and singing (Happy Birthday to me). What a way to celebrate my birthday – half way around the world with my new found friends.
We also took pictures. The Volta Hotel overlooks the Volta Dam and Volta Lake – the largest man made lake in the world.
Back to the guest house for dinner and planning.

Day 2

Written by Jane Durkee

Woke feeling energized after a good night’s rest at Airport View Hotel. Team met for breakfast, of coffee, tea, toast, beans eggs, and sausage at 7am.
Then the comedy began as we watched the driver many helpers load our bags into the van for the drive to Senchi Ferry. We gave up to the luggage Gods that all of our bags would fit… The back door of the van would not close so ropes were employed, with great hopes that it would hold over the “rumble strips” (the African version of speed bumps).
We piled into the van with no room to spare. We were ever so thankful for the breeze from the windows since the AC did not work! There was one quick pit stop for gas. All in all, I was amazed at the quality of the roads – paved, very smooth.
After less than 2 hours, we arrived at the St James Guest House. We checked in and started our first team meeting. Esther runs an efficient, purposeful meeting – a very good facilitator. Deb provided the message of the day, Bonnie read her Day 1 Journal.
We played a name game, reviewed Global Volunteers’ policies, and then reviewed objectives. With Ed as our tape master, we filled out and posted five cards each listing our personal objectives for this service program and arranged into the following:
- To Learn/Experience the culture
- To give our time & talent
- To make friends & have fun
- To grow personally
- To teach children
After reviewing characteristics of an effective team, we broke for lunch. Another great meal, this one consisted of chicken, salad & French fries. We took a brief rest after lunch then walked to the village for our meeting with the chiefs.
The walk started at 3:30 on a rather rough path through a small field. Our team was very engaged and had a lot of fun. It was rewarding to see everyone come together for a larger purpose. My favorite phrase “the power of the people” comes to mind.
The crossed the 2 lane highway and started through a field which led us by various small huts and a high school soccer game. The people along the way very friendly, greeting us in English & Twi. It was an amazing walk – who knew of the welcome we were about to receive. We turned a corner and suddenly there were kids everywhere greeting us with hugs and handshakes. We all agreed that we had an overwhelming feeling of warmth and genuine happiness. This could easily be described as a Human Blanket of Friendship!! The kids are a variety of ages, all so interested and happy in these people with red faces (from the heat) and white skin.
The village had arranged a welcome ceremony. There were chairs set up around a clearing under some trees. They even hired a DJ for music and entertainment. Several welcome speeches were given. We shook hands with the chiefs and introduced ourselves to the village. A highlight for me was the “drama” put on by the kids, called The Life of a Child. All were proud of the children to perform for the audience
And then there was dancing! Mystery Jane got us started when a local gentleman asked her to dance. Kathleen and Bonnie jumped right in and almost instantly had many kids to dance with. It was grad a kid or two and dance. FUN!
We said farewell after final set of meetings and a tour of the soon to be
Senchi Ferry Library. Yeah Deb for all your hard work raising this money!
I would like to bottle up all the warmth and energy from this first introduction to the community and share it with the world.
Wrote this journal after dinner, looking forward to Day 3.

After dinner (at 7) it’s off to bed for most. The time differernce does not seem to be a problem for anyone.

Day 1 – Wow a new continent for many of us!

It was fun to meet and greet the other team members, discovering each other both on the plane and in the airport. Eight of us came in on the same flight from JFK. And, a lively flight it was. I was surprised by all the “activity” on the plane – and a little in awe at those who were able to sleep on the plane.
Esther, our new Ghana Manager, was there with a big smile to greet each of us with a hug!
After some confusion about a mystery team member (Jane) who seemed to be MIA, we proceeded to the hotel shuttle bus. I imagine our driver was a bit overwhelmed by all the unwanted help that swarmed around us once we walked outside. I was taken aback by the young man who begged me for a magazine. I finally gave him an Oprah issue I hadn’t yet read to get him off my back!
Checking in at the hotel was another little round of chaos. I had three different room assignments in the course of it all getting settled. My roommate here in Accra is Miss Ellie, an amazing woman who has traveled to every continent and has been on many mission trips. She was on our India program 4 years ago.
The Airport View hotel is simple and close to the airport. A shower & a bottled water to go with my toothbrush were my first priorities.
A little walk after the nap made Miss Ellie and I realize we really did enter a new world. It is very hot in the full afternoon sun and I had forgotten my hat (you won't see me without a hat very often). We met a young woman walking up to the busy corner to sell oranges. A whole platter of oranges nicely arranged and carried on her head. We took pictures.
We found Deb & Sandy sitting at the pool. Too hot for me – I went and sat in the hotel lobby using my laptop. Have to do what I can while I still have internet.
I was struck by the level of activity in the lobby. It seemed to me that they had far more workers mulling about than they had tasks to complete. They seemed to mostly ignore the American’s hanging out.
Dinner was server in the small hotel restaurant, almost next door to our room.
We gathered in the lobby and met up with Mystery Jane, who had actually arrived a day early. We have a great mix of people. A father and 8th grade daughter from Florida (John & Haley). Bobbi Jo and Sarah from St Catherine’s college. Ed & his wife, from Boston, were adventurous and toured the city via taxi during the day. Still awaiting the arrival of 1 last team member – Kathleen.
Dinner was very good. A pan with ½ chicken and ½ fish (no clue what kind of fish, but it was good). There was a bowl of beef in sauce. They had an excellent mix of veggies, and two rice dishes that were very good. And, they had French Fries, which made me laugh. I hope they didn’t do the French fries for us!
Back to our rooms for a good night sleep. So, here we are - people with varied backgrounds each coming from our little corner of reality to spend the next 2 – 3 weeks together helping a small community most of us have not even seen yet. The power of the human spirit!

And, I'm off... Well actually I'm off to Ghana Friday morning. I wonder how it feels to have a 100 degree swing in temps in 1 day. I may melt!