Children at work and play in the heat
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 basins. Some people, like the white man, carry the buckets in their hands. Most carry the load, whatever the load, on their heads. There are three small boys from a nearby house that have a wheelbarrow for their three jerrycans. However, that still means that the oldest boy, about 6 or 7, has to lift the heavy plastic container full of water into the wheelbarrow.
From an early age people carry things on their heads. You can see little children balancing a single book or a small container on their heads. I've seen women walking with their purse on their head and her hands were empty. Women are responsible for fire and cooking so I see many women and girls with loads of branches on their heads. But frequently it is a basin of water or something that holds maybe three or four of my buckets.
Many times the person carrying the load cannot pick it up or take it off without help. Any yet the person can carry the load for a mile or more. Since they start at a young age their neck muscles and spinal column must be very strong. Their posture of course needs to be perfect.
The children also have time for play – which typically means a lot of running around. There are children (mainly boys) playing football, soccer, on a relatively flat area. The goal consists of a couple of sticks placed close together on side of the field. A small plastic bag made into a sort of ball is most commonly used. The fields pop up and move around the community.
A lot of children play with bicycle or motorcycle tires. I had a book of early American toys that included boys playing with a hoop from a barrel. This is the same idea and as I mentioned before there are times when I feel I've gone back in time more than a few generations.
Children also get some string and drag behind a box, a broken jerrycan, or some sort of toy made from tin cans. Some of these are very ingeniously made and are used in races between children.
I tend to see more boys that girls playing. This may be because
the time that I'm out the girls are helping with the cooking or
because every child has close cut hair and many are wearing just
shorts, or an ill fitting shirt or just underwear and it is hard to
tell the difference between the boys and the girls at a young age.
Some smaller boys – up to five or so - may also be running around
naked – so maybe many of the young kids with just a pair of shorts
are the girls.
It has not yet gotten really hot, but the locals and I have all begun to talk about the heat. I've got heat rashes on my arms and prickly heat on my back. It has been hard to sleep at some nights. The social media communication among Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana now frequently have comments about the heat or the problems of no fan when electricity is out.
Still, the temperature is not that much hotter than it was a month ago. The high is close to 90 – but even in the morning it can be close to 88 inside my house. I've not seen temperatures in the 70's for over a month, but the major difference is the humidity.
The humidity was around 20 or 30% in January and February. This allowed the heat from the day to rise up and out in the clear skies at night and create cool mornings in high 60s and low 70s. This dry weather was one of the reasons my eyes to dried out and I traveled to see the Peace Corps doctor in Accra.
Since I returned from Accra the humidity has been around 50% with high clouds and overcast skies. There are times when it feels like rain and I'm told there was rain while I was in Accra. My eyes are feeling better even if I don't have time to put in all the eyes drops prescribed.
The extra humidity has made a huge difference in the feel of the place. The humidity is less than we had in the rainy season in September of 70% but then the temperatures were closer to 80. I'm told that it will get hotter, up to 125. I'm hoping the humidity does not also increase. If it does I'm sure to have a post complaining about the heat.
As of now – it is not comfortable, but hardly dangerous. I'm dealing with it with an extra bucket bath, shea butter, and drinking extra water.
My fan is being used a little more often, but still sparingly for now. I've already had to fix it once, so I'd like to hope that it can make it through the hot season in these next two months.
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 basins. Some people, like the white man, carry the buckets in their hands. Most carry the load, whatever the load, on their heads. There are three small boys from a nearby house that have a wheelbarrow for their three jerrycans. However, that still means that the oldest boy, about 6 or 7, has to lift the heavy plastic container full of water into the wheelbarrow.
On their heads
From an early age people carry things on their heads. You can see little children balancing a single book or a small container on their heads. I've seen women walking with their purse on their head and her hands were empty. Women are responsible for fire and cooking so I see many women and girls with loads of branches on their heads. But frequently it is a basin of water or something that holds maybe three or four of my buckets.
Many times the person carrying the load cannot pick it up or take it off without help. Any yet the person can carry the load for a mile or more. Since they start at a young age their neck muscles and spinal column must be very strong. Their posture of course needs to be perfect.
 |
| Gerrycan of water |
 |
| Three girls carrying water across a field |
 |
| Roger's children carrying yams back home. (Bicycle ride is about 15 minutes, never tried walking.) |
Games children play
The children also have time for play – which typically means a lot of running around. There are children (mainly boys) playing football, soccer, on a relatively flat area. The goal consists of a couple of sticks placed close together on side of the field. A small plastic bag made into a sort of ball is most commonly used. The fields pop up and move around the community.
A lot of children play with bicycle or motorcycle tires. I had a book of early American toys that included boys playing with a hoop from a barrel. This is the same idea and as I mentioned before there are times when I feel I've gone back in time more than a few generations.
 |
| I think a boy with a tire |
 |
| I know this boy with the tire |
 |
| Keep the tire rolling |
 |
| Run towards the camera with or without the tire |
Children also get some string and drag behind a box, a broken jerrycan, or some sort of toy made from tin cans. Some of these are very ingeniously made and are used in races between children.
 |
| The boy made these three cars. He and two smaller children were pulling them behind when I called them for a photo |
 |
| Close up of the cars. Axles are commonly bicycle spokes. |
It's not the heat its the humidity
It has not yet gotten really hot, but the locals and I have all begun to talk about the heat. I've got heat rashes on my arms and prickly heat on my back. It has been hard to sleep at some nights. The social media communication among Peace Corps volunteers in Ghana now frequently have comments about the heat or the problems of no fan when electricity is out.
Still, the temperature is not that much hotter than it was a month ago. The high is close to 90 – but even in the morning it can be close to 88 inside my house. I've not seen temperatures in the 70's for over a month, but the major difference is the humidity.
The humidity was around 20 or 30% in January and February. This allowed the heat from the day to rise up and out in the clear skies at night and create cool mornings in high 60s and low 70s. This dry weather was one of the reasons my eyes to dried out and I traveled to see the Peace Corps doctor in Accra.
Since I returned from Accra the humidity has been around 50% with high clouds and overcast skies. There are times when it feels like rain and I'm told there was rain while I was in Accra. My eyes are feeling better even if I don't have time to put in all the eyes drops prescribed.
The extra humidity has made a huge difference in the feel of the place. The humidity is less than we had in the rainy season in September of 70% but then the temperatures were closer to 80. I'm told that it will get hotter, up to 125. I'm hoping the humidity does not also increase. If it does I'm sure to have a post complaining about the heat.
As of now – it is not comfortable, but hardly dangerous. I'm dealing with it with an extra bucket bath, shea butter, and drinking extra water.
My fan is being used a little more often, but still sparingly for now. I've already had to fix it once, so I'd like to hope that it can make it through the hot season in these next two months.
Love always.
John
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