John's Next Step

The posts on cultural differences between America and Ghana will be delayed a week.  First, I would like to get a little more information and compare my thoughts with other volunteers and the locals. Second, I've been in Accra to get my ears checked out for the week and will not be leaving until Monday.  My ears are better than I expected.  It was not a burst ear drum – just a nasty fungal and bacterial ear canal infection.  I will not bore you with more details.... I left Nandom on Monday afternoon and arrived Tuesday morning.  About 16 hours on a bus.  I was able to give a math review on Monday before I left but otherwise missed the last week of class (exams) at my school, a staff meeting, two funerals, and other functions.  It is not until I leave that I sometimes realize how busy I get at my site.  I did bring the ICT exams to grade.  I had about 120 or so to grade and got through them all by Thursday.  I'll have math exam...

The mission of the Peace Corps is to promote world peace and friendship. We have three goals (paraphrased): Provide skilled volunteers to train and support the host country nationals Provide an understanding of America and its culture to host country nationals Provide an understanding of the host country and its culture to Americans This blog is part of the way that I fulfill the third Peace Goal and some of the second goal. Recently, my conversations with locals have focused on life and culture in Ghana and in America. Certainly, I've barely begun to know and understand the culture in Ghana even with the persistent questions I have been asking. Similarly, my understanding of American culture is filtered by my narrow experiences and does not represent some great universal truth or judgment, but just my opinions at the moment. My opinions of myself, Ghana, the United States, and the world change over time. And, of course, none of this is the o...

All Volunteer Conference The Peace Corps requires a mid-service training as well as a mid-service medical review. Some countries only have one type of volunteer once a year while other countries bring all the volunteers into the country at the same time. So it is pretty easy for these countries to schedule the mid-service meeting and exams. Peace Corps Ghana has three groups of volunteers – education, health, and agriculture that come into the country four months apart. They schedule mid-service medical exams for each group  – but they would require three mid-service meetings which would be redundant and not allow all volunteers to meet. Therefore, they have an “all volunteer meeting” once a year. This means that some people are getting a “mid-service” meeting and other people may have only been volunteers for 3 months. All volunteers have the opportunity to attend two “all vol” meetings during their two years of service. Some of the volunteers at the meeting - mos...

Happy Easter to all. I am in a predominately Catholic community so Easter is a big event. There are the usual services include washing of the feet on Thursday – something that is a bigger deal because most people walk on dusty ground with sandals  (flip flops actually if my sister reads this post). There is also the Stations of the Cross and service on Friday. Saturday vigil mass is also very popular. The spirit of Easter and the joy of the Resurrection is certainly present In the community. However, I have not been able to fully participate in the services this year. I'm been having some minor problems with my stomach and intestines on Thursday during the day and night. I thought I was over it – but it came back seriously on Friday night and into Saturday morning. It was uncomfortable and annoying – but nothing truly serious. I'm doing to normal thing of waiting it out for a few days and laying low. Hopefully, the “cleansing detox” treatment is effective and I...

Actually, can I hear now?  The answer is yes, but not so well. I've been having some problems with wax buildup in my ear canals. I've got q-tips, peanut oil, hydrogen peroxide, and a syringe so one might think that I should be able to do a halfway decent job keeping them clean. However, it is not so. When I was in Accra on Friday the doctor noted some wax build up in my left ear – but the important thing was to get my eyes checked – and that took most of the day.  I was not back in time to get my ears cleaned. I could have stayed in Accra tell Monday (rather than leave Saturday) – but then I would have missed school on at least Monday and the site visit that had been scheduled for months. So I left Accra hoping things would work out. Earlier this week I started having ear pain that over the counter stuff countered, (the pain was not so bad). Certainly, ear canal issues - rather than inner ear issues. Then on Thursday I woke up to find that I had hearing loss in b...

There are plenty of children around Nandom. There are only a couple of homes with a television in my community. Some of the homes in the area don't have electricity. I don't know of any x-boxes in a hundred miles, but they could be some. Children of wealthy families in Accra and other cities likely have such things, so those kids may be sitting inside their air conditioned house eating snack food giving their thumbs exercise like so many children in America. However, here life is different and people are lucky to have screens on the windows. First, children are outside because most of the houses have small dark rooms that are hot and stuffy during the day. Many have dirt floors, bed, and little else. Second, everyone works. Most commonly I see children, sometimes small children under six years old, fetching water. No one in my place has piped in water. We all get water from the boreholes placed around the community. We fetch water in buckets, jerrycans, or large ba...

Just a short note this week. On Thursday I needed to go down to Accra so the doctors could check out my eyes. Turns out that while I've been dehydrating mangoes my eyes have also been dehydrating – dry eyes was the diagnosis for the odd feeling and intermittent blurry vision. So I'll need to use eye drops and ointment for about a week. The Peace Corps doctor and I decided on last Thursday at 11 am that I should come down. I was on an overnight bus at 1:30 pm and arrived in Accra at 5:30 am Friday. (The trip is approximately 850 kilometers or a bit over 525 miles)  I saw the Peace Corps doctor and the local eye specialist on Friday. I had dinner on Friday with a friend and was able to hang out with some of the other volunteers on Friday and Saturday.  Hanging out and chatting with the other volunteers is definitely the best part of the trip. I got to the bus station Saturday at 5:30 pm to leave at 8 pm and arrived back in Nandom around 11:30 am on Sunday. ...