Some day I'll return to Mama Africa

Happy Canada Day!
My "I'm home safe and sound" entry is long overdue, as I've been home since the 16th of June, heh.
My first thoughts after stepping off the plane were I can't believe this is my home, just knowing that so many people spend their whole lives trying to get out of Ghana for the kind of opportunity we take for granted. After an emotional reunion with my parents (I have parents), I marvelled at the orderliness of the traffic but missed the vendors selling chips, chocolate, apples, water, and anything and everything else as they dart between the cars. I left home just as winter was ending, and I came home to summer! The summer heat, however, that I barely notice (while wearing a sweater).. it's just not Africa! We had pizza for dinner, that was exciting, and so was the whole running-water thing.. including proper toilets, sinks and showers (inconceivable!).. oh what luxury, and to sleep in my own bed, with an actual pillow, and no need for a mosquito net.

On my Frankfurt-Ottawa flight home, it finally hit me that I was leaving behind the life I'd created in Ghana, not knowing if or when I'll return. I was upset, looking at the couple sitting next to me with their beautiful, fat baby, that was getting all their love and attention and felt as if I was leaving my own baby behind. I spent my last moments at the orphanage playing with Yaw, and passed him off with tears in my eyes to a volunteer I had trained up to follow my routine with him. I know he's in good hands, and a few days ago I got an update that he started crawling!
Looking back, I really didn't know what I was in for, and barely knew what "volunteering in an orphanage" really meant. I didn't even have the mentality that I could make a difference.. I just wanted to go to Africa, help out, and learn something. Well, I've learned a lot. About Ghana, myself, and what's possible if you put in some effort and open yourself to a new way of life.

My last couple of weeks went by pretty quickly, and some of the highlights include planning a party for the kids with the other volunteers and Jennifer from Canada who had donations from the kids' penpals. We planned to have a big celebration on one day but had to span it over 2 days because of the rains, which worked really well in the end. We had our cook from the hostel prepare lots of amazing traditional food (that the kids probably have never had, or at least just the orphanage version) and they put on great traditional dances and skits where they got dressed up. The next day, we got them on a sugar high with cake and big bottles of Coke, Fanta, and Sprite, and had candy, bracelet-making, party favours and a blow-up bouncy castle! We called the party "A Royal Celebration" and we were dropping hints in the days leading up, and got them all excited about a party just to celebrate them. It was really the brainchild of 2 girls from California who left a couple of days before I did and wanted to do something fun with the kids, and it was a nice way for me to say goodbye too.

I wanted to spend my last weekend with my penpal Irene, who really became a good friend and I think there's no better thing I could have done than look for a penpal after deciding to go to Ghana, to be able to already know someone there and actually be able to meet them. In the morning on my last Saturday, I went to Winneba a couple of hours away with Richard to visit a new orphan that was in the hospital. We walked into the children's ward that smelled like urine and I met little Kobe, about 5 years old. He was found by the side of a river and his face and legs were swollen. His body was covered in open sores and he was visibly malnourished. It was a little startling for me to see, and really sad. We stayed for a little while and Richard said he was actually looking a lot better, because he was able to sit up. I showed him pictures and videos on my camera from the party, saying "this is where you'll be going, and these will be all your new friends," and he was mesmerized.

In the afternoon, I went to an internet cafe in Accra and then to the Accra Mall, where they have a movie theatre and I met up with Irene. It's definitely possible to live a completely western lifestyle in Ghana, and never know that little boys get abandoned and found by rivers probably quite often. We got snacks at the grocery store in the mall and then saw Angels & Demons, an awesome movie and book, which I read a few years ago.
The next day I went to Accra again but then continued straight onto Tema, where I hung around the trotro station and talked to people (introducing myself as "Efua," the Ghanaian name for a friday-born girl, which I began to do a while ago) and then met Irene and her sister Laura who had come back from church in another city. After stopping at their place for a bit, we went back to Accra to see a long-anticipated football (soccer) game of two of the most popular teams in Ghana, at the stadium. We got there kind of late, and joined a throng of people pushing and shoving like mad to get into the entrance. I was holding my bag close to my chest keeping a close eye on it and actually watched a guy try and undo the zipper right in front of me, so I yelled at him, and soon couldn't take it anymore.. especially once the riot police came out with their tasers. Getting a little clausterphobic, I left the crowd knowing that they probably weren't even selling tickets anymore and Laura and Irene caught up with me soon after. I just didn't want to see the game badly enough to put up with the exact situation one tries to avoid, especially if there's a chance of getting electrocuted. Anywho, it turned out that someone had slashed Laura's purse, and stolen the kleenex out of Irene's, heh. We decided just to get out of there and go to dinner, and then they walked with me to the trotro station and I hated to say a final goodbye. We'll still write, and will see each other again some day!

That night, I went back to the hostel and met some new volunteers, one was an American guy almost finished university who I gave a pep-talk to about living there. He asked if I was overwhelmed at first and I admitted to having a bit of a panic-attack my first night. I let him use my phone to call home, and answered all his questions about the orphanage and things in general. It made me realize just how far I'd come, from everything being new, chaotic and different to normal and practically routine. People thought I was crazy to even consider going to Africa on my own as a little blonde girl, but I'm sure glad I never listened.

The past few months have been really something. Over a short period of time, I set foot in 5 countries (Canada, US, Guatemala, Germany, Ghana), spoke 7 languages (Spanish, K'iche', German, English, Twi, Ewe, and even French), dealt with 5 currencies, passed through many timezones, and met lots people from the fictitious Universal Society of Friendly People from the corners of the Mayan highlands to the streets of Berlin and the mud-hut villages of Ghana. I built stoves, climbed a volcano, went ziplining, hiked a waterfall, danced in church with refugees, got close to wild elephants, visited an old slave fort, and took home pieces of the Berlin wall. I've lost a lot of pictures, but I'll never lose the memories, or the love of travel that's so much a part of me.

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