Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
End of week 3
I want to backtrack a little to the Elmina/Cape Coast weekend. Everyone was trying to talk me out of going to Cape Coast Castle. On the internet and through word of mouth this castle was said to be the most important thing to visit in Ghana. It isn’t as old as the Elmina castle but it was only used for slave trade and contained the most people at any given time. I am glad that my stubborn nature wouldn’t let them talk me out of it. At the Cape Coast castle slaves were held in underground tunnels. They sat in 12 inches of waste and the smell of urine and feces still overwhelms the tunnels. There are scratch marks on the wall where people tried to claw their way out of the tunnels. It was the most haunting and depressing thing I have ever been to. The rooms and tunnels were meant to torture and it saddens me greatly that something like this could ever be thought of let alone created and implemented. Sadly they built a church right on top of the men’s underground tunnel. People could see and hear the slaves through a tiny opening when they went into church. It was referred to heaven and hell on earth. I just can’t imagine singing in church and hearing sermons on forgiveness and kindness while hearing the wailing, moaning, screaming and clanking of chains of the suffering slaves. Women were also raped by the soldiers and if they resisted they would be sent to the room of no return where they would suffocate to death or the punishment room where they would sit in silent darkness with little food and water. On a happier note once you walk through the Door of No Return on the other side there is a sign that says Door of Return. A few years ago they took the remains of slaves back through the door and buried them in Africa to symbolize the end of the hatred and pain of slavery.
I love my children at the school. Well actually I love all the children here in Hohoe. They are precious innocent souls who fight to rise above all odds. Resilient is the perfect word for them. Nothing here resembles America’s school system. The other day a girl got hit by the soccer ball and her tooth was knocked out. Another child had a huge cut on her leg and a boy hit his head really hard. There is nothing I can do…NOTHING. There are no ice packs, no bandaids, no Neosporin, not even a common language to soothe a hurt soul. They have to cry it out and get over it. They have cuts and bruises on them that make me cringe but their tough determined little souls continue to ignore the pain they must feel. The children have dead spots of hair on their heads, welts and open sores all over their little faces and body and it breaks my heart that there is nothing I can do about it. The other day the beater (the guy who walks around with a stick threatening to hit the children- caning is huge here but luckily at my school it is more of a scare tactic. We named him the beater because his name changes every day lol.) asked me if I could bring medicine for a headache that he couldn’t get rid of. I brought him some Tylenol. It took me forever to explain that take one of them first and if it doesn’t go away take the other. Then it took me a longer forever to explain how to take it. He wanted to chew it then suck on it. Finally I took him over to the community water pail that they all drink out of and he then finally understood. Then another teacher brought over several of the children. She started pointing to a dead spot on a boy’s head and asked if my medicine would heal it. she then brought a few more children over with sores and cuts and asked if my medicine would heal it. It was so awfully sad and it broke my heart to explain that my medicine was only meant for pain. Many of them walk barefoot or with shoes that have holes rubbed into them. Many also wear the same clothes every day. It is tragic to me that I have a million pairs of shoes and clothes and these children don’t even have one. Their amazing resilience astounds me and sometimes I just sit next to them and want to cry because I feel so helpless in improving their lives and easing their pain. I know that this is all they know and they are happy but it doesn’t relieve my grief and guilt that I have so much and these children have so little.
I gave the children a blank sheet of paper and told them to draw whatever they wanted. The children had no idea what I was talking about. They would only draw something after I gave them examples of things to draw. They just copied me. There is no creativity due to lack of resources and ideas of free thinking. The children are so eager to learn and I love teaching their sweet souls. The children yell teacher me teacher me because they want to be called to the board to answer questions even if they have no idea what I am teaching. I can’t wait to show the pictures of my little loved ones here in Africa. I can’t do it while I am here though because the computer is so slow. Also, due to the lack of continuity in teachers here in Ghana the teachers ask me everyday whether I will be there tomorrow and when I say that I will they are so ecstatic. I am so grateful that I am here for 2 months so I will be some source of stability in their lives unlike many of the volunteers who come for a few weeks. I taught them the camp version of singing in the rain and it is hilarious to watch them sing it. They love it and some of them fall on the ground because they are laughing so hard. Then the other day they finally were catching onto these math problems and I said finally Hallelujah. They all yelled together Hallelujah Praise God Amen lol. It was so cute.
The other day we went to the monkey sanctuary. Which is a place in the jungle where you can feed monkeys. This monkey came right up to me and I was trying to get Dan to get the camera so I was holding the banana up so he wouldn’t get it. That little booger ran to the other side and stole my other one haha! It was really cool though. There were like 25 monkeys all around us and if you held the banana really tight in the middle they will hold onto it, peel it and take a piece off. What an awesome experience!
I am really proud of my children. They are finally getting the concept of actually adding instead of just memorizing! They now proudly know their shapes, colors, some addition, nature words, body parts, how to interpret a clock, and directions! I am so excited about the improvement. Today one of the volunteers is leaving so I threw a little going away party for her. Many of the children are orphans and there are already so many issues of feelings of abandonment in their lives. I wanted them to know that she is not abandoning them but that she has to leave. I wanted to focus on making it a happy thing instead of sad. To celebrate their time together instead of focusing on her departure. However, I have no idea who is going to teach them. There are seven more volunteers coming in next weekend but none of them are placed at Happy Kids. There is a teacher in my class that sits there and sleeps so she might teach my class and I might have to go teach the other class.
Tonight Ghana played Brazil in the under 20 World Cup Soccer Championship. Ghana has gone to the finals two times before but has never won so this was a big deal in this country. We all went to a friend’s house to watch the game. The score was 0-0 even in overtime so they went into kickoffs. The tv conveniently lost signal at the kick offs. So all 16 of us sprinted out to watch another tv. We got there just in time to watch Ghana win the World Cup! It was incredible. There were celebrations, singing, high-fiving, laughing, and dancing everywhere. We even got to participate in a celebration parade singing and dancing with them. It was an incredible experience! However things did get a little too crazy later on. We were walking in town and this cab was purposely swerving all over the road. I watched in horror as the cab swerved towards the group and missed them by a few inches. (I was fortunately on the other side of the road. ) It was terrifying. Funny enough though one of the staff members here (a very awesome, very protective staff member) conveniently jumped out of the next cab to check on us. I haven’t said much about the staff on this blog yet. The staff here are incredible! I couldn’t ask for better staff. They are the most protective, caring people I have ever met. I had stomach problems one morning and they were begging me to go to the doctor. The security guard at night I can talk to for hours. He is brilliant and laughs at everything. There is not a single staff member that I haven’t fallen in love with. Well anways that’s all for now. I hope everyone is well in America. I miss you all! I can’t believe it has already been 3 weeks. God willing, I will be back soon getting sick off a huge Thanksgiving dinner! Love you all, take care! I am sure it is cold there, I even heard there was a prediction of snow! It is a scorching 90 plus degrees here with 100 plus humidity level every day and it is only going to get worse because we are going into dry season. Yesterday there was a complete rainbow circling around the entire sun which marks dry season. It was beautiful! I have never seen anything like it! Well anyways, take care!
Love,
Carissa
The people live for their family, friends and God. It is an amazingly simple life and in the end that to me is what matters also.
Middle of week 6
Sorry for the delay in blogging. Dan’s computer is finally working again so there is a lot for you guys to read! I have been switched to the older class. It isn’t as stressful because they are more educated by previous volunteers. But it kills me to watch the younger class sit over there with a teacher who sits and teaches them nothing. I was making so much progress and I even left the notebooks behind with the teacher so she could continue what I did but the teachers here are not like those in America. Well I hate to generalize, so at least the teachers at Happy Kids and the treachers at other volunteer’s placements as well. They write something on the board then make the children memorize them by taking turns standing up at the board saying it back to the class. Sadly, the children in the older class also have a very large learning gap and do not know things that they should know at their age.
The children make my day without even trying. The other day they had a fake wedding between two of the children. It was the cutest thing I have ever seen. They even shared a precious waterbottle. So cute! One of my students brought in a small package of biscuits. Remind you, I am in Africa and food (esp. anything besides bean and rice) is a precious commodity. Instead of greedily eating them in front of the other children she split them up into 50 pieces so everyone could have some. It touched my heart and I was over in the corner crying. The children take such good care of me. They carry my bags into the classroom and they even wipe off dirt on my pants. The staff also take such good care of me. One day I stayed at the homebase because I wasn’t feeling good and all the staff took turns came to check on me. One of the staff had the day off but she walked here to make sure I was ok. Even one of the cooks came into my room to check on me. I know I have said it so much but these people are so amazing and I am blown away every day by their continual kindness. The children get so excited over the tiniest things. I pulled out a word search and they were all screaming and celebrating. I also showed them a movie, Horton hears a who . Even though they couldn’t hear it they were so excited to just be watching the movie they didn’t care. This weekend I am planning on bringing the orphans to another orphanage to have a Halloween party. There will be music, bobbing for apples, beanbag toss, pin the wart on the witch etc. I am so excited and my children found out about it today and they were soo crazily excited! I miss Halloween and pumpking carving so this will make up for it. My mom sent me the most amazing packages today and included in it are Halloween items that I can use for the party and she didn’t even know about it! Thank you so much mom, dad and Serrina for sending me so many amazing useful things!! I couldn’t have asked for better packages! (It even had a sweet card and chocolate in it!)
I will be back in time for Thanksgiving and to repeat what my mom said, this trip will remind me of all the blessings that I have and everything I have to be thankful for. This opportunity has been incredible and has made me grow as a person. I am so thankful to be reminded of all the things that I am blessed with. Hope all is well with everyone in America, I can't believe I will be coming back in 3 weeks! I miss you all.
Much Love from Africa
Carissa
Monday, October 19, 2009
No blogs for a while :(
Hey guys! So I wrote this huge blog but cant post it because Dan's laptop has a bad virus so we have to find someone who can fix it. But I will post it as soon as possible! Hope all is well with everyone! I am doing great! Take care!
Carissa
Carissa
Monday, October 12, 2009
week 3!
Hello all, I hope everyone is doing well. It is hard to believe I am on week 3 already! I am loving it here and cant seem to get enough of the people here! It has already been 3 weeks and it still makes my day to hear the little children yelling yevo yevo and waving and people all around yelling welcome. I love it! This weekend we decided to stay around the homebase to relax. On Saturday we went to town and looked for more batik fabric so I can make lots of gifts for everybody! I have spent way too much money already on souvenirs and gifts and I still have 6 weeks to go! We then played volleyball with the staff. They just put up the volleyball net and the staff and not used to playing it and they can't get enough. I am sure I have already told you this but the staff here at CCS are some of the most amazing people I have ever met! They take such good care of us and are so overprotective and caring I can't help but smile. Sunday I attended a Church of Christ here in Hohoe. At first I was a little skeptical because all of the churches supposedly dance and have several different traditions. However, this church was exactly like the one that I attend in Winchester. The only difference is it lasted for many hours and this woman sitting right beside Dan kept non-discreetly breastfeeding haha. They translated it in Ewe and English and sang songs in both languages. I couldn't help but feel home there and I hope to do some service for the church while I am here. I wanted to go on a missionary trip but was unable to find one that was structured enough or I felt comfortable enough with.
Later on Sunday we went on a hike at Mount Paradise. It is definitely a paradise on Earth. It was a three hour hike in the jungle. We were repelling, rock climbing, using ropes to get up and down the mountains and using a barely there trail. It was incredible and I loved the experience. If we slipped on the rocks or mud our tour guide would yell, no danger, no danger! I believe I will make that my motto. One of the girls slid and fell and hurt herself and while he yelled no danger I couldn't help but think come look at her leg and that slippery cliff we are repelling on with no protective gear and the thought of no danger sounds rather ironic. We saw beautiful scenery and waterfalls and it was so amazing!
One thing that is so different here and I can't seem to get past is the sewage system. Everyone uses the bathroom on the side of the road and just goes wherever they feel like it. The sewage flows through open tunnels through the city. It stands to reason why there are so many illnesses here. I wish that I could assist in building latrines but who knows if they would even use it because they are so used to this lifestyle. As a social worker I was taught not to assume that people would want things altered in their culture and lifestyles. So who am I to come here and build many latrines and expect them to use them! But anways I feel like latrines would help this country drastically. In Nicaragua we built many latrines and there are many less illnesses. It appears to be such a better system. The children don't even know what it means to wash their hands. There are no hygiene habits.
Today teaching at the orphanage was frustrating yet again. I thought that the children knew their addition, subtraction and multiplication tables becaues the first day I came here they did their 1 and 2 times tables. Well today I realized that it was all memorization. I tried to get them to add the zero tables and they could not get it! So now I somehow have to break them out of their memorization habits and teach them. I love these children and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to help them grow and learn. I am so glad I am here for 2 months so they will have some continuity which will hopefully result in major improvements. I will definitely accept advice from teachers or creative people for lesson plans! :)
Well I am heading out for the night. I hope all is well in America. I miss you all and hope all is well. I am sure it is getting cold there and the leaves are turning colors and for once in my life I wouldn't mind a little cold :) It is always 80 and 90 degrees with lots and lots of humidity! I love heat but walking several miles during the hottest part of the day can be difficult. I don't typically sweat that much but here I drip sweat (hot huh!?)
By the way... one of my dear friends from Camp Fantastic who was a fellow co-counselor passed away from a 7 year battle from colon cancer. I am greatly grieved by her death and I ask that you please pray for her family and friends. It makes it harder that I am over here and can't attend her funeral. Well all of you take care and have a great night as Ghanians would say bai bai!!!!
Later on Sunday we went on a hike at Mount Paradise. It is definitely a paradise on Earth. It was a three hour hike in the jungle. We were repelling, rock climbing, using ropes to get up and down the mountains and using a barely there trail. It was incredible and I loved the experience. If we slipped on the rocks or mud our tour guide would yell, no danger, no danger! I believe I will make that my motto. One of the girls slid and fell and hurt herself and while he yelled no danger I couldn't help but think come look at her leg and that slippery cliff we are repelling on with no protective gear and the thought of no danger sounds rather ironic. We saw beautiful scenery and waterfalls and it was so amazing!
One thing that is so different here and I can't seem to get past is the sewage system. Everyone uses the bathroom on the side of the road and just goes wherever they feel like it. The sewage flows through open tunnels through the city. It stands to reason why there are so many illnesses here. I wish that I could assist in building latrines but who knows if they would even use it because they are so used to this lifestyle. As a social worker I was taught not to assume that people would want things altered in their culture and lifestyles. So who am I to come here and build many latrines and expect them to use them! But anways I feel like latrines would help this country drastically. In Nicaragua we built many latrines and there are many less illnesses. It appears to be such a better system. The children don't even know what it means to wash their hands. There are no hygiene habits.
Today teaching at the orphanage was frustrating yet again. I thought that the children knew their addition, subtraction and multiplication tables becaues the first day I came here they did their 1 and 2 times tables. Well today I realized that it was all memorization. I tried to get them to add the zero tables and they could not get it! So now I somehow have to break them out of their memorization habits and teach them. I love these children and I am so glad that I have the opportunity to help them grow and learn. I am so glad I am here for 2 months so they will have some continuity which will hopefully result in major improvements. I will definitely accept advice from teachers or creative people for lesson plans! :)
Well I am heading out for the night. I hope all is well in America. I miss you all and hope all is well. I am sure it is getting cold there and the leaves are turning colors and for once in my life I wouldn't mind a little cold :) It is always 80 and 90 degrees with lots and lots of humidity! I love heat but walking several miles during the hottest part of the day can be difficult. I don't typically sweat that much but here I drip sweat (hot huh!?)
By the way... one of my dear friends from Camp Fantastic who was a fellow co-counselor passed away from a 7 year battle from colon cancer. I am greatly grieved by her death and I ask that you please pray for her family and friends. It makes it harder that I am over here and can't attend her funeral. Well all of you take care and have a great night as Ghanians would say bai bai!!!!
Saturday, October 10, 2009
Hey all! Things are going so well so far! The kids are already showing a lot of improvement and that makes me hopeful! It makes a huge difference to bring them pencils and paper. I want them to get out of the habit of memorization. I have a blog I wrote up but my wireless isn't working right now. So I will post it as soon as it is working. I haven't been on for a while so I just wanted you all to know that I am doing good. Thanks for the prayers and thoughts please continue. I want to make a huge difference in all of the lives I come into contact with! I miss you all and hope all is well. I feel kinda sad that I am missing handing out candy and carving pumpkins but this opportunity is once in a lifetime and I will hopefully have many more years to do those traditions! Take care :)
Much love from Africa,
Carissa
Where there is love, there are miracles
Much love from Africa,
Carissa
Where there is love, there are miracles
Saturday, October 3, 2009
Day 7 and 8
Day 8 October 3, 2009
So yesterday we took an 8 hr drive to get to Elmina and Cape Coast in the central region of Africa. It’s not very far from where we are in Hohoe but it takes forever because of the conditions of the roads and traffic in Accra (capital in Ghana). We stopped in Accra at the mall. It is mostly like an American mall but much more expensive. I actually got to eat some pizza and fries (even though it wasn’t very good! ) I am so glad that we are staying in Hohoe, it is a whole different world in this part of Africa. We stayed at a place called Coconut Grove Resort and staying here almost makes me forget we are in Africa. It is located on the beach and it is beautiful! At this resort, there is nothing to show for the poverty that devastates this country. The food is amazing and we have warm showers!! I won’t get in the water even though everyone says it is alright because I have heard way too many horror stories! We went to a crocodile farm and went to Elmina castle which is one of the places where slave trade occurred. It was extremely depressing and I can’t help but feel so sad and ashamed of this part of the past. I can’t even fathom people trading humans as if they were cattle. Regardless of race we are all people and I would only hope that if I lived at that time I would stand against slavery and slave trading. They are kept in these tiny cells with no bathroom and little food and water. The females got raped by many of the soldiers. One thing that stood out to me the most was there was a room where they put the guards in if they misbehaved. It had 2 windows and was large. Then right next to that room there was a cell with a skull and crossbones above it. If one of the people held as slaves misbehaved, they would be thrown in there to die. There were no windows and they would not be fed or given drinks. The tour guide placed us in both of those cells and I couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked in the cell where people were left to die alone. I couldn’t imagine what they felt as they laid there dying. It is tragic what occurred at these castles and I can’t understand how a building so beautiful from the outside could have contained such horrific events inside.
Elmina contains more poverty then Hohoe and since more tourists come to this area because of the beaches and slave castles the people here are very persistent and in my opinion, rude. The people outside of the castle will strike up a conversation and then ask your name. Then as you are coming out they carve your name in a conk shell and then force you to buy it. Dan and I wanted to walk into the town to look at it. We barely made it out of the hotel when we were approached by about 18 children. They harassed us and kept digging into my pockets trying to steal money. They kept mocking us and saying give us money give us money. It was the most uncomfortable feeling I have ever had. A few teenagers came out with sticks in their hands and I actually feared that they had the intention to hurt us. So sadly, due to their behavior we walked right back into the hotel. We figured if we experienced that right outside the hotel then we would never make it through the mile of an extreme poverty area we had to walk through to get to the little town. So for now I am enjoying the high speed internet, the beach, tv, and the warm showers because for the next 2 months we won’t have those things. However, I don’t mind at all, I can’t wait to see the smiling faces of the children at my school and be around all the friendliness that exists in the hearts of the people of Hohoe. This has been quite an adventure and an experience. It has definitely opened my eyes more to poverty and what is produced when poverty and tourism collide. Anyways, I hope all is well with the rest of you in America. I miss you and Love you all! Take care! If you get time please send an email, I would love to hear about how things are going in America!
God bless the rains down in Africa- Toto
Love from Africa,
Carissa
So yesterday we took an 8 hr drive to get to Elmina and Cape Coast in the central region of Africa. It’s not very far from where we are in Hohoe but it takes forever because of the conditions of the roads and traffic in Accra (capital in Ghana). We stopped in Accra at the mall. It is mostly like an American mall but much more expensive. I actually got to eat some pizza and fries (even though it wasn’t very good! ) I am so glad that we are staying in Hohoe, it is a whole different world in this part of Africa. We stayed at a place called Coconut Grove Resort and staying here almost makes me forget we are in Africa. It is located on the beach and it is beautiful! At this resort, there is nothing to show for the poverty that devastates this country. The food is amazing and we have warm showers!! I won’t get in the water even though everyone says it is alright because I have heard way too many horror stories! We went to a crocodile farm and went to Elmina castle which is one of the places where slave trade occurred. It was extremely depressing and I can’t help but feel so sad and ashamed of this part of the past. I can’t even fathom people trading humans as if they were cattle. Regardless of race we are all people and I would only hope that if I lived at that time I would stand against slavery and slave trading. They are kept in these tiny cells with no bathroom and little food and water. The females got raped by many of the soldiers. One thing that stood out to me the most was there was a room where they put the guards in if they misbehaved. It had 2 windows and was large. Then right next to that room there was a cell with a skull and crossbones above it. If one of the people held as slaves misbehaved, they would be thrown in there to die. There were no windows and they would not be fed or given drinks. The tour guide placed us in both of those cells and I couldn’t help but feel slightly panicked in the cell where people were left to die alone. I couldn’t imagine what they felt as they laid there dying. It is tragic what occurred at these castles and I can’t understand how a building so beautiful from the outside could have contained such horrific events inside.
Elmina contains more poverty then Hohoe and since more tourists come to this area because of the beaches and slave castles the people here are very persistent and in my opinion, rude. The people outside of the castle will strike up a conversation and then ask your name. Then as you are coming out they carve your name in a conk shell and then force you to buy it. Dan and I wanted to walk into the town to look at it. We barely made it out of the hotel when we were approached by about 18 children. They harassed us and kept digging into my pockets trying to steal money. They kept mocking us and saying give us money give us money. It was the most uncomfortable feeling I have ever had. A few teenagers came out with sticks in their hands and I actually feared that they had the intention to hurt us. So sadly, due to their behavior we walked right back into the hotel. We figured if we experienced that right outside the hotel then we would never make it through the mile of an extreme poverty area we had to walk through to get to the little town. So for now I am enjoying the high speed internet, the beach, tv, and the warm showers because for the next 2 months we won’t have those things. However, I don’t mind at all, I can’t wait to see the smiling faces of the children at my school and be around all the friendliness that exists in the hearts of the people of Hohoe. This has been quite an adventure and an experience. It has definitely opened my eyes more to poverty and what is produced when poverty and tourism collide. Anyways, I hope all is well with the rest of you in America. I miss you and Love you all! Take care! If you get time please send an email, I would love to hear about how things are going in America!
God bless the rains down in Africa- Toto
Love from Africa,
Carissa
Thursday, October 1, 2009
First week of Africa
Day 1
So the plane ride was long but nothing too eventful. A few days before we left, the embassy put a travel alert on Germany because Al Quadi threatened a terrorist attack prior to and after September 27th. Guess what? We flew into Frankfurt on the 26th so I will admit I was extremely worried about that. We get to the security gates in Germany and there are people standing around with machine guns. Yeah, a little freaky. Then they start acting weird after my bag goes through the x-ray machine. They pull me aside and take out my little camping lantern. How unlucky is it that it is on the setting that flashes red light. Yes, sadly those kinds of things happen to me all of the time. They pull me to the side with the people with the machine guns and do a lot of tests to make sure it isn’t a bomb. However after it is cleared nothing more eventful happened except a lot of turbulence flying into Accra. (The capital of Ghana)
Day 2
People kept telling me that Ghanaian people are the nicest and friendliest people you will ever meet. They were not lying. These people are incredibly amazing and nice. The little children will yell yevo yevo!! ( white people, white people) because they are so happy to see someone of a different race and they feel hope because they know we are there to help. My arm is tired from waving continuously J I started my first day of placement ( a school/orphanage) today and it was wonderful… chaotic and extremely disorganized but wonderful. I get there and the lady in the room says teach teach! Teach what? I can’t speak their language and I have no idea what they do and don’t know. And they have NOTHING for me to use. No books, no pencils, no paper, just a chalkboard and chalk. The ages of the children vary from 3-7 and their learning levels are very different. Some know their times tables and others don’t even know how to count 1-10. I felt frustrated , like I was not teaching them anything but I remembered that this culture is different from ours and just being there is helping. We are in this small building that feels like an oven. Some of the kids only are wearing shirts and there is no bathroom. The kids just walk outside when they feel like going to the bathroom and just pull it all out wherever. The kids are amazing, loving and are extremely excited to see me. They don’t even notice that I am freaking out on the inside because I am standing in front of 26 children and have no idea where to even start. They just smile and grab my hand and want to touch my hair (they say… you have the best weave.) So I leave after a few hours feeling more exhausted and overwhelmed than I have ever felt in my life! But all is well because the kids and their sweet smiling faces made me feel like a million bucks!~
So later today we went to the market. It was an incredible and yet another chaotic experience. People are selling anything you could possibly imagine. The fish look like they have been setting out in the sun for 15 days. They are all black and smell awful. There are fruits, fabric, nuts, shoes, underwear etc. I bought some beautiful batik fabric (their form of tye die- I am learning it later so I will let you all know how they do it). You can pay someone to make anything for you out of the fabric (if you would like something let me know your favorite colors and what you would like and I will try my best to get it for u). I am really looking forward to getting dresses, skirts, duffle bags, and purses! So it feels like a million days since I had a cell phone but really it’s only been 2. I finally got a phone so I can make a much needed call to my family. I miss all of you dearly and even though the food is spicy and amazing (chicken, chicken, chicken, rice, rice, rice, oranges, oranges, oranges) it’s already getting a little repetitive. I hope all is well in America and know that I miss you all so much. I am having the time of my life and I love the people not only in the community but also the other people who I stay with. Take care and email me if you get the chance, I will try my best to write back!
Tonight we danced African style. Even though I looked like well… a white person (no offense) it was so much fun and the kids were so eager to teach us their dances.. and laugh at us haha. It kinda reminds me of crumping and the chicken dance but more intense. I will post videos sometime of all of us trying to dance. Then they taught us how to play on the drums. That was also an incredible experience and I would love to take a small one home with me (I am going to look into that). So the men loved my hair and one in particular seemed to like not just my hair lol. He said come here come here I want a picture. He was getting a little too close for comfort- being all huggy and flirty and all the African people thought it was the funniest thing. He wanted several pics including one where he caught me by surprise and picked me up. I felt loved but a little violated.. who knows where those pictures will end up haha. Dan better watch out because these African men have the hots for me and I love Africa so much I just might have to find one and stay here! J Hahaha just kidding just kidding. Then these little girls kept pointing to someone and saying they are calling for you, they are calling for you. I assumed it was a little boy with a crush but I walked over and it was a girl and she said come here. She then said, “Will you please be my friend?”Then all of the other kids were saying the same thing to me It was so sweet and touching.
Every time I travel to third world countries it blows me away that the people own and have nothing but they are so appreciative and friendly. People in America are blessed with so much but so many people are so unhappy and ungrateful. Society tells us that money buys us happiness but obviously from an outsider perspective looking at Africa, MONEY DEFINITELY DOES NOT BUY HAPPINESS. All of them want to come to America because they believe that money flows through the water and we have everything and are so happy. I think they would be extremely disappointed to know that even though we have so much there are many people drowning in unhappiness. These people have a special place in my heart and I will treasure this experience forever. Living the simple life has been an incredible experience and I wish that everyone would have the opportunity to try it out. Anyways, I am heading out. I will keep you all updated. Please continue to pray that I make a difference, stay healthy, have fun, and do what God has planned for me on this trip. Thanks so much, take care and God bless you all! I miss you all so much!
Day 3
Today was much better at the school because I was much more prepared. I taught about animals and luckily found some plastic toy animals. We had 25 kids in our class yesterday and 35 today. They keep multiplying and getting younger! There are still a lot of things that shock me about Africa that I find it hard to get used to. Today I asked if I could go to the bathroom at the school. They take me over to a hole in the ground with no privacy. However, the kids don’t even use the hole they just pee anywhere. The girls even pee standing up. We play in their pee, its really unsanitary. They all drink from the same cup out of a bucket with dark dirty water. Regardless of the sanitary conditions the children are so happy and don’t know anything different. I am falling in love with these kids and I already can’t imagine leaving them and I still have 2 months to fall more in love! These children are so innocent and laidback. There is no media to pollute their minds. Their little faces light up every time we walk by. Africa is amazing.
Day 5
Yesterday, I got heat exhaustion and I have only been here for 4 days… how pathetic huh? Dan took me to town and told me that he knew how to get there. He did know how to get there but it was the super long way. We walked for about an hour at the hottest part of the day. I started to feel weird and I took my backpack off and my back was drenched with sweat. (I don’t naturally sweat a lot) and I forgot my water. Well then we tried to locate the short cut and Dan took us down this side street only to get us lost in a strange place. Finally this little girl got us back out to the main road and we just went the long way. By the time we got back I was really sick and had to stay sleeping in bed all night. But everyone here took good care of me and I feel much better today. One thing I take for granted is air conditioning. If you get over heated In Ghana you can’t just walk to the nearest building and get cooled off. You have to walk everywhere and if you get overheated there are no cool places to rest. Even the shade is hot. I also got a drum yesterday which is really cool and I love it! As we were attempting to find our home base everyone would stop us to give us lessons about how to play it. This little boy ran up to us and said can I see your drum. My pathetic natural instinct (and I hate to admit it) was that he was going to steal it but instead he taught us a how to play and gave us Ewe language lessons. People here are so helpful and caring. One of our instructors informed me that they all believe that it is their God given duty to take care of each other. Wouldn't be nice if all people thought that way.
Wednesday September 30, 2009
Today placement was rough again since I was sick yesterday I didn’t really have a formal lesson plan. But I survived and we took a long recess break. They kick the soccer ball barefoot and it makes me cringe every time they kick it or get hit but they are tough. Afterwards we went to the Wli waterfalls. It is the largest waterfall in Western Africa. It is huge and beautiful. Knowing me and my nature to be slightly a daredevil, I jumped at the idea of going under the waterfall (even though Dan told me I might be killed by a log coming over the waterfall and the idea that there might be parasites in the water that can get in my feet). The pressure was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes or breathe and the water pounding on me stung, But it was so worth it to get under it. It was an amazing feeling but I feel like I might have permanent damage to my eardrums because of the water spraying forcefully in my ear lol. Dan and I swam back to shore and everyone that lived here was so intrigued that we knew how to swim. I take a lot for granted I realized…. Well I already knew it but it’s only being reinforced. We then went to an ostrich farm and got to feed them which was pretty neat too. I had no idea those things were so mean and scary looking. The sunset coming back to the home base was breathtaking and overall today was an amazing day. Have a great night, take care. May God bless you! I miss you all! I hope all is well.
Much Love coming from Africa…
Carissa
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Day 6
I am so frustrated at the lack of structure at my placement and I need a lot of prayers for patience and creativity! The lady that sets in the room falls asleep and the man that stays in the room beats the children with canes. It is almost impossible to teach 35 children ages 2-7 anything because they are all on different learning levels and do not speak English. I have been doing the abcs, 123s, weather, months, expressions, and body parts. I am worried because it is only been one week and I am running out of ideas. With no resources for the children it often feels impossible to be creative. I love these children though and I pray that I can find creative ways to make a huge impact in their lives. These children have touched my heart in so many ways and I adore them. Today this little girl got hurt and it was so frustrating because there was nothing I could do. No bandaids, no ice packs, and a language barrier grr! They told me that everyone here speaks English but they lied.. there are very few people who know it well enough to communicate. So anyways please pray that I can touch these childrens lives with what little I have to work with. I miss you all and I really miss hot showers. I love it here though and can't wait to see what opportunities arise for me next week. I am going to Cape Coast this weekend which is where the slave trade occured. It will be rich in history and I will be sure to fill it in. Until next time... take care. I love you all, thanks for following my blog!
Love Carissa
So the plane ride was long but nothing too eventful. A few days before we left, the embassy put a travel alert on Germany because Al Quadi threatened a terrorist attack prior to and after September 27th. Guess what? We flew into Frankfurt on the 26th so I will admit I was extremely worried about that. We get to the security gates in Germany and there are people standing around with machine guns. Yeah, a little freaky. Then they start acting weird after my bag goes through the x-ray machine. They pull me aside and take out my little camping lantern. How unlucky is it that it is on the setting that flashes red light. Yes, sadly those kinds of things happen to me all of the time. They pull me to the side with the people with the machine guns and do a lot of tests to make sure it isn’t a bomb. However after it is cleared nothing more eventful happened except a lot of turbulence flying into Accra. (The capital of Ghana)
Day 2
People kept telling me that Ghanaian people are the nicest and friendliest people you will ever meet. They were not lying. These people are incredibly amazing and nice. The little children will yell yevo yevo!! ( white people, white people) because they are so happy to see someone of a different race and they feel hope because they know we are there to help. My arm is tired from waving continuously J I started my first day of placement ( a school/orphanage) today and it was wonderful… chaotic and extremely disorganized but wonderful. I get there and the lady in the room says teach teach! Teach what? I can’t speak their language and I have no idea what they do and don’t know. And they have NOTHING for me to use. No books, no pencils, no paper, just a chalkboard and chalk. The ages of the children vary from 3-7 and their learning levels are very different. Some know their times tables and others don’t even know how to count 1-10. I felt frustrated , like I was not teaching them anything but I remembered that this culture is different from ours and just being there is helping. We are in this small building that feels like an oven. Some of the kids only are wearing shirts and there is no bathroom. The kids just walk outside when they feel like going to the bathroom and just pull it all out wherever. The kids are amazing, loving and are extremely excited to see me. They don’t even notice that I am freaking out on the inside because I am standing in front of 26 children and have no idea where to even start. They just smile and grab my hand and want to touch my hair (they say… you have the best weave.) So I leave after a few hours feeling more exhausted and overwhelmed than I have ever felt in my life! But all is well because the kids and their sweet smiling faces made me feel like a million bucks!~
So later today we went to the market. It was an incredible and yet another chaotic experience. People are selling anything you could possibly imagine. The fish look like they have been setting out in the sun for 15 days. They are all black and smell awful. There are fruits, fabric, nuts, shoes, underwear etc. I bought some beautiful batik fabric (their form of tye die- I am learning it later so I will let you all know how they do it). You can pay someone to make anything for you out of the fabric (if you would like something let me know your favorite colors and what you would like and I will try my best to get it for u). I am really looking forward to getting dresses, skirts, duffle bags, and purses! So it feels like a million days since I had a cell phone but really it’s only been 2. I finally got a phone so I can make a much needed call to my family. I miss all of you dearly and even though the food is spicy and amazing (chicken, chicken, chicken, rice, rice, rice, oranges, oranges, oranges) it’s already getting a little repetitive. I hope all is well in America and know that I miss you all so much. I am having the time of my life and I love the people not only in the community but also the other people who I stay with. Take care and email me if you get the chance, I will try my best to write back!
Tonight we danced African style. Even though I looked like well… a white person (no offense) it was so much fun and the kids were so eager to teach us their dances.. and laugh at us haha. It kinda reminds me of crumping and the chicken dance but more intense. I will post videos sometime of all of us trying to dance. Then they taught us how to play on the drums. That was also an incredible experience and I would love to take a small one home with me (I am going to look into that). So the men loved my hair and one in particular seemed to like not just my hair lol. He said come here come here I want a picture. He was getting a little too close for comfort- being all huggy and flirty and all the African people thought it was the funniest thing. He wanted several pics including one where he caught me by surprise and picked me up. I felt loved but a little violated.. who knows where those pictures will end up haha. Dan better watch out because these African men have the hots for me and I love Africa so much I just might have to find one and stay here! J Hahaha just kidding just kidding. Then these little girls kept pointing to someone and saying they are calling for you, they are calling for you. I assumed it was a little boy with a crush but I walked over and it was a girl and she said come here. She then said, “Will you please be my friend?”Then all of the other kids were saying the same thing to me It was so sweet and touching.
Every time I travel to third world countries it blows me away that the people own and have nothing but they are so appreciative and friendly. People in America are blessed with so much but so many people are so unhappy and ungrateful. Society tells us that money buys us happiness but obviously from an outsider perspective looking at Africa, MONEY DEFINITELY DOES NOT BUY HAPPINESS. All of them want to come to America because they believe that money flows through the water and we have everything and are so happy. I think they would be extremely disappointed to know that even though we have so much there are many people drowning in unhappiness. These people have a special place in my heart and I will treasure this experience forever. Living the simple life has been an incredible experience and I wish that everyone would have the opportunity to try it out. Anyways, I am heading out. I will keep you all updated. Please continue to pray that I make a difference, stay healthy, have fun, and do what God has planned for me on this trip. Thanks so much, take care and God bless you all! I miss you all so much!
Day 3
Today was much better at the school because I was much more prepared. I taught about animals and luckily found some plastic toy animals. We had 25 kids in our class yesterday and 35 today. They keep multiplying and getting younger! There are still a lot of things that shock me about Africa that I find it hard to get used to. Today I asked if I could go to the bathroom at the school. They take me over to a hole in the ground with no privacy. However, the kids don’t even use the hole they just pee anywhere. The girls even pee standing up. We play in their pee, its really unsanitary. They all drink from the same cup out of a bucket with dark dirty water. Regardless of the sanitary conditions the children are so happy and don’t know anything different. I am falling in love with these kids and I already can’t imagine leaving them and I still have 2 months to fall more in love! These children are so innocent and laidback. There is no media to pollute their minds. Their little faces light up every time we walk by. Africa is amazing.
Day 5
Yesterday, I got heat exhaustion and I have only been here for 4 days… how pathetic huh? Dan took me to town and told me that he knew how to get there. He did know how to get there but it was the super long way. We walked for about an hour at the hottest part of the day. I started to feel weird and I took my backpack off and my back was drenched with sweat. (I don’t naturally sweat a lot) and I forgot my water. Well then we tried to locate the short cut and Dan took us down this side street only to get us lost in a strange place. Finally this little girl got us back out to the main road and we just went the long way. By the time we got back I was really sick and had to stay sleeping in bed all night. But everyone here took good care of me and I feel much better today. One thing I take for granted is air conditioning. If you get over heated In Ghana you can’t just walk to the nearest building and get cooled off. You have to walk everywhere and if you get overheated there are no cool places to rest. Even the shade is hot. I also got a drum yesterday which is really cool and I love it! As we were attempting to find our home base everyone would stop us to give us lessons about how to play it. This little boy ran up to us and said can I see your drum. My pathetic natural instinct (and I hate to admit it) was that he was going to steal it but instead he taught us a how to play and gave us Ewe language lessons. People here are so helpful and caring. One of our instructors informed me that they all believe that it is their God given duty to take care of each other. Wouldn't be nice if all people thought that way.
Wednesday September 30, 2009
Today placement was rough again since I was sick yesterday I didn’t really have a formal lesson plan. But I survived and we took a long recess break. They kick the soccer ball barefoot and it makes me cringe every time they kick it or get hit but they are tough. Afterwards we went to the Wli waterfalls. It is the largest waterfall in Western Africa. It is huge and beautiful. Knowing me and my nature to be slightly a daredevil, I jumped at the idea of going under the waterfall (even though Dan told me I might be killed by a log coming over the waterfall and the idea that there might be parasites in the water that can get in my feet). The pressure was so strong I couldn’t open my eyes or breathe and the water pounding on me stung, But it was so worth it to get under it. It was an amazing feeling but I feel like I might have permanent damage to my eardrums because of the water spraying forcefully in my ear lol. Dan and I swam back to shore and everyone that lived here was so intrigued that we knew how to swim. I take a lot for granted I realized…. Well I already knew it but it’s only being reinforced. We then went to an ostrich farm and got to feed them which was pretty neat too. I had no idea those things were so mean and scary looking. The sunset coming back to the home base was breathtaking and overall today was an amazing day. Have a great night, take care. May God bless you! I miss you all! I hope all is well.
Much Love coming from Africa…
Carissa
Be the change you wish to see in the world.
Day 6
I am so frustrated at the lack of structure at my placement and I need a lot of prayers for patience and creativity! The lady that sets in the room falls asleep and the man that stays in the room beats the children with canes. It is almost impossible to teach 35 children ages 2-7 anything because they are all on different learning levels and do not speak English. I have been doing the abcs, 123s, weather, months, expressions, and body parts. I am worried because it is only been one week and I am running out of ideas. With no resources for the children it often feels impossible to be creative. I love these children though and I pray that I can find creative ways to make a huge impact in their lives. These children have touched my heart in so many ways and I adore them. Today this little girl got hurt and it was so frustrating because there was nothing I could do. No bandaids, no ice packs, and a language barrier grr! They told me that everyone here speaks English but they lied.. there are very few people who know it well enough to communicate. So anyways please pray that I can touch these childrens lives with what little I have to work with. I miss you all and I really miss hot showers. I love it here though and can't wait to see what opportunities arise for me next week. I am going to Cape Coast this weekend which is where the slave trade occured. It will be rich in history and I will be sure to fill it in. Until next time... take care. I love you all, thanks for following my blog!
Love Carissa
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