First Grant Approved

Some of my previous blog posts seem to suggest that I’ve been on vacation for the past eight months. Contrary to popular belief, I’ve actually been working. Sometimes it’s just more exciting to write about the “fun” things that I’ve been experiencing. However, this post will be just business.

Background

A latrine artisan I’ve been working with in a neighboring community informed me that the kindergarten, primary, and junior high schools in the community don’t have toilet facilities. The students were defecating in the outskirts of the school, because they had no other place to go. Aside from the negative health implications, it also causes the students to be late for class and puts them at risk of snakebites. He pleaded with me to try to do something about it, so I applied for a small grant to build latrines for the school.

I was just informed today that the small grant I submitted over a month ago was approved! Now the actual work will begin when I have to monitor the construction of the school latrines and form health clubs in the school.

Other Projects In the Works

• I am currently writing a small grant to get shutters and doors for a school in my community. Having classrooms without doors and shutters causes many problems. You can read about the problem here, as it was featured in the news. My community seems really gung-ho about it, so I’m excited for the project.

No doors and shutters leaves the classroom open to the elements and potential thieves.

• I’m looking into getting boreholes for some nearby communities. My community received piped water right before I arrived, but some of the neighboring communities don’t have the same luxury

• I agreed to teach ICT once a week at a junior high school in my community. Teaching is really challenging for me here. I have to speak very slow and clear for the students to have a chance of understanding my English. Also, students aren’t taught how to think critically at school; they “learn” through rote memorization. I’m a firm a believer that you aren’t learning unless you are thinking. Needless to say, I’m up for a challenge.

On top of all this I’ll be supporting my Local NGO, EDSAM, with all of their Ghana WASH activities and household latrine construction in the Volta Region. We are trying to finish building 200 latrines before we start building another phase of construction. I think I’ll be very busy in the foreseeable future.

Promotional Hygiene Campaign

Last week I helped my Local NGO, EDSAM, conduct promotional hygiene campaigns in three of the four communities we are currently constructing latrines in. On Wednesday we combined my community, Abutia Teti, with another nearby community, Abutia Agorve. On Friday we went to Tsyome Afedo, a community farther into the bush where you can to take a torn-up dirt road to get to. The goal of the campaigns was to get the community aware and hopefully excited about health, sanitation, and personal hygiene. We wanted to involve the youth in community to educate them about proper hygiene. Specifically, we educated them about washing their hands, and using and maintaining a household latrine.

To do this we brought in a brass band and gathered the school children (first grade through junior high) and the band at one end of the community. Then the students marched with the band to the other end of the community. Naturally, random community members joined the march. Many Ghanaians like to break out into dance at the sound music, let alone a brass brand. After the march, everyone gathered under the community-meeting place. In my community it is under two huge trees. Here, municipal environmental health officers spoke to the community. After the talk, the students were served meat pies and refreshments.

For the most part the promotional hygiene campaigns were successful. The community and the students were excited about the march. However, the largest school in my community opted out from joining. The headmaster requested that the Municipal Government send him an official letter before he involved his students. However, the other school’s headmasters did not request a letter, so I have a hard time believe that such a letter was necessary. Unfortunately, there was not nearly enough time for this to happen, so the school did not participate. This annoyed me because we recently built a large latrine for the school. Most of all, I felt bad for the students who had to watch the march from their classroom. The next day I had to answer to some of the students who asked me why they weren’t involved in the march.

Here are some photos from the first campaign:

Brass band marching.

Front of the marching line.

Middle of the marching line.

Health talk at community meeting place.

 

 

 

Settling In

The first couple of weeks living at my site, Abutia Teti, have been both exciting and challenging. So far the Peace Corps hasn’t been a two-year vacation. I’ve been very busy working with my Local NGO, which has been subcontracted by Relief International to implement the Ghana WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) project. In short, Ghana WASH is split up into “hardware” and “software” portions (I knew this engineering thing would come in handy eventually).

The main goal of the hardware portion is to work in communities to end open-defecation by subsidizing the materials to build household latrines for anyone who wants one in the community. However, there is long and sometimes complicated process to this. First, we introduce the project to the chief and elders of the community. Next, we create a water and sanitation profile of the community. Then we “convince” the community that they need to defecation in latrines, not out in the open (this step deserves a whole blog post on its own). After people agree that they need to build latrines, they must produce some of the materials (such as sand, stones, etc.) themselves, while local artisans trained by us produce the rest (bricks, roofing sheets, etc). Finally after the latrines are built, we ensure that they are properly operated and maintained.

The main goal of software portion is to ensure that community water and sanitation facilities have continued use and function. We plan to accomplish this by working with the Water and Sanitation (WATSAN) committee in each community.

In the past few weeks I’ve worked in both in the hardware and software portions in about a dozen different communities. My Local NGO is in charge of over 30 communities and each community is in a different stage of the process—so we always have something going on. I’ve had a lot of practice speaking Ewe and people are often surprised that “the white man can hear Ewe”, however I still need a lot more time until I’m conversational. Here is a photo of my co-worker and I monitoring latrine materials for each household of the community.

The most challenging part of the Peace Corps isn’t the physical aspect of living in “harsh” conditions (although I have running water and electricity most of the time) or the mental aspect of learning a new language. The most challenging part is the psychological aspect. Living in a village where you are the only foreigner can get tiresome at times. There is definitely a fishbowl effect where it feels like everyone is always watching you and there is nowhere to hide. Luckily everyone in my community is extremely friendly and always willingly to help the Yevu (foreigner). For example, the other day someone I just met gave me 5 huge avocados (or pears as they are called here). Sometimes it seems as if everyone under the age of eighteen is scared of me or nervous to interact with me. However, I’ve already noticed people have started to get more comfortable being around me, especially when I try to speak Ewe.

So far I have no big complaints with my community or work and I feel blessed to have this opportunity. Here is a photo overlooking part of my community. I will get some better shots once I climb the steep hill that overlooks my community.

Site Visit

I passed my LPI with an Intermediate High rating. Peace Corps trainees need at least an Intermediate Medium rating to pass. My LPI lasted 17 minutes and I had to introduce myself, introduce my American and Ghanaian families, talk about my daily routine, and do a market role-play all in Ewe. Passing the LPI proved that I can memorize a monologue in Ewe, but at this point I still struggle when it comes to actually conversing with someone in a real-world situation.

Last week all of the Peace Corps trainees travelled to Kumasi for our “Counterpart Workshop”. We finally learned where we will be living and what we will be doing for the next two years. I previously knew that I would be heading to the Volta Region, but I didn’t know which community I would live in.

The Peace Corps staff revealed our sites to us by drawing a map of Ghana and marking each community with chalk. One-by-one each person’s name was read and each person stood on his/her location on the Ghana map. After this, we met our work counterparts and discussed our work projects. I will be working on the Ghana WASH (Water and Sanitation Hygiene) project improving sanitation and hygiene in multiple communities. I’m exited about my project because it seems relatively structured and there is a lot of work to be done. I don’t think I’ll be sitting under a mango tree for the two years.

After the Counterpart Workshop I travelled from Kumasi to my community, Abutia Teti, which is right outside of Ho, capital of Volta Region. I only had two days to visit my community and the surrounding area, but so far I like what I see. My living area isn’t what you would expect from the Peace Corps. I have two bedrooms, a toilet, and a shower. I was told that my community has been waiting for a Peace Corps volunteer for 8 years, so everyone seems happy to have me there. I was surprised at how few children yelled “yevu” at me. “Yevu” means “obrini” in Ewe, which means white person or foreigner.

The first day of my visit I went to three churches in my community and introduced myself in Ewe. All it took was just a few lines from my LPI monologue to impress my community members. The second day my counterpart and I took a taxi to Ho. She showed me the office of the Local NGO and introduced me to the people I will be working with. After that I was introduced to the Municipal Assembly of Ho. The Municipal Assembly is the group of Government of Ghana officials that govern the district of Ho, which Abutia Teti is located in.

It was a short two days visiting my site, but I’m happy with it and I can see myself living there for the next two years. The only downside is that I won’t return for another month. All of the trainees are meeting in Tamale for technical training for 3 weeks and then we return to our homestay community for 1 week.

A picture of my room, mosquito net and all.

Introducing myself at church in Ewe. I accidentally greeted the group in singular form, but they cut me some slack.

Introducing myself at another church. They prayed for me afterwards.