John's Next Step

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. ...

Independence Day in Ghana   As a Peace Corps volunteer currently serving in Ghana I have a couple of events to note this week. First, as I have been mentioning, March 6 th is Ghana Independence Day. Ghana gained independence in 1957. The single black star on the flag signifies that Ghana was the first African country to gain independence. Since that time it has had democratic and military rule. It has enjoyed relatively peaceful democratic elections in the last twenty or so years. This is one of the pictures I was sent: "God bless our homeland Ghana" is the opening line to the national anthem Ghana does not celebrate the independence of the country by blowing up a small part of it (Bonus points for knowing the reference). There are no fireworks at night – at least in this area. The local celebration is held on the Church park grounds in the morning, the common area for most major Nandom festivals. Independence day is Ghana is celebrated in the morning wi...

Dry season starts around November or December and continues to April or May. We had heavy rain on Oct. 4 and Nov. 30 along a few small showers between those two dates. There was no rain in December and January, although I'm told that a heavy rain or two is not uncommon around the end of December and the beginning of January. January and February are suppose to be the harmattan season – a period of very low humidity, cool nights, and dust blown in from the Sahara. It was dusty for a few weeks back in January. You could see a haze in the distance and taste the dust in your mouth. This caused some minor sinus issues that were easily reduced by using dust masks, particularly while sleeping. The locals tell me the dust never really got bad this time. The cool nights – down to high 50's low 60's overnight only lasted a couple of weeks. The short season was a great relief to the locals as 50's is basically freezing for them. Winter coats and boots are common for ...