howdy!

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Hi, friends! I am in a picture kind of mood today...so you can peruse or ignore😊 I hope you are all well! Things are going great here...it's hard to believe I'll be coming back in just 8 days! I've been spending lots of time lately at the clinic, reading Nelson Mandela's autobiography (I highly recommend😊, and spending time with friends. I will post more soon but here are some snippets of recent happenins😊
Peace,
Katie
PS. Shanna, thanks for the phone call the other day!😊 😊 😊

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Photos

Strong women!:)
The women who work on the street here are amazing...they are often balancing huge things on their heads while carrying their children while running around the streets selling their items. I thought American women have to balance a lot in life, but these women truly are amazing:)

pals
Hanging with Ann (from Kenya) and Scott (from the U.S.) at a beach party. They were both volunteers at the clinic that have since come and gone.
Everyone here thought Scott was my brother--as we sort of look alike and both talk extremely fast:)

Boti Falls
It's gorgeous!!

Boti Falls2
Kelly and Silvestre splashin around near the two Boti Falls :)

Boti Falls3
Our tour guide at Boti Falls...he is one cool kid and the irony is that despite his job of guiding folks around the water, he is deathly afraid of water:) This is actually not uncommon here--as most of the people here never learn to swim.

lottery guys
The man in the container is named Daniel and is one of my favorite folks here. He sells lottery tickets and everyday on my way past, he yells, "Welcome to Ghana!" He is a great guy who is always looking out for me...for instance, just yesterday a trotro driver took me by the arm and said that he would not let me go until I kissed him (UGH!) or agreed to marry him (UGH!) (By the way, I am in NO way bragging about such events...in actuality, these aggressive men hit on every white girl in the hopes of getting money) Anyways, I think I failed to mention that he was missing several teeth and seemed to have some mouth fungal problem...haha Sorry, that is rude..the lack of dental services in this area is really quite a problem) ANYWAYS, events like this aren't scary but rather kind of annoying and in the end, I can only laugh them off. Daniel came to my rescue to free me (ha:) and made sure I got on another trotro okay. Of course, after Daniel left and we were waiting for the trotro to fill up to leave, the trotro driver came up to the filled trotro and loudly announced his "love" for me...much to everyone's amusement on my trotro. I couldn't help but roll my eyes and laugh along:)

Kwesi and Kojo
These are my neighbors and my bestest buds...they were cooking up a birthday celebration dinner for Kwesi. I was proud to get a picture of both of them smiling, because like many Ghanaians, they usually do not smile for pictures (so I have to act stupid and make them laugh:)

Pure cuteness:)
Adwoa (who has been living at the clinic) has recently been adopted by an American woman who lives in Ghana and once volunteered at the clinic!! This is great news for Adwoa--as now she will be able to attend school and have a family life. I know I've yacked about her before, but if you want to read her full story, you can check it out at http://www.waafweb.org

My buds
Hangin' at the beach with my buds Moustapha (from the Ivory Coast) and Jonas (a Ghanaian).
Jonas is a young university student who is hoping to become a psychiatrist if he can pay for schooling. (His father just died last year and due to the financial situation Jonas was forced to forfeit a whole year's worth of school work already completed) Despite this, he is an amazing, smart, and determined fellow..one of my favorite folks that I've meant! Once when we were on a bus together, there was a preacher praying and despite the yelling of the preacher, my friend Maureen had already fallen asleep on her neck pillow. Jonas leaned over to me, "Oh, I'm so sorry about your friend's neck condition. I hope she will be okay." I completely lost it (because a similar event had happened earlier in the day) and could not stop laughing due to the confusion...he could not understand why Americans need such a crazy contraption:) He started laughing uncontrollably which only made me laugh harder. Well, I then felt like a naughty girl in church because the preacher started saying a special prayer for the white girls on the bus (even though it was in Twi, I could hear obruni every other word) and the entire time my shoulders were shaking uncontrollably and I was trying to hide my face...this, combined with the fact that my friend Maureen was konked out and clearly not praying, I'm sure caused them to think we needed some good old fashioned discipline;-)

cocoa
Once again Kojo got a hold of my camera:) Here I am eating cocoa from the tree in our yard:) Even though cocoa is Ghana's main export, I rarely see people here eating chocolate or sweets! I asked my neighbor why this is, and it is because it is seen as a luxury that is expensive...the same goes for smoking...I could count on one hand the number of people I've seen smoking here.

Street children
There are currently an estimated 22,000 children living and working on the streets of Accra...this is not including the other surrounding cities and popular fishing ports often used for child labor. It is a huge problem here, and yet it is such a complex issue that does not heed an easy solution. I have been reading and learning a lot regarding this topic..even if the "compulsory education" was adaquately enforced and school fees reduced, often these children would run away from school to the streets due to the fact that they can make more money and support their families on the streets, as well as they are not used to the structured setting of a classroom. Hopefully, in time as the economy improves, this situation will change. (Even though people here seem pretty dang happy without education (seriously, Ghanaians are the happiest people I've ever met), I do hope that the educational opportunities continue to open up for all Ghanaians regardless of economic class.

watering hole
There aren't any elephants in this picture but this is the watering hole where they could be seen grazing. Isn't the greenery gorgeous?? I can't wait to paint some of these scenes:)

animals galore
Bamboons and other monkeys were everywhere at Mole National Park...and they can be aggressive! They are known to go into people's rooms to steal food, and while we were hanging at the pool, we saw some steal towels and bookbags! Once while walking back to my room with some cookies, I became surrounded by a bunch of them---thankfully one of the workers scared them off:)

liz
This is a friend I met (who has come and gone) but I had to include her in these pics since...she is a med student at Harvard and she has PAUL FARMER as an instructor!! (if you don't know who he is, he is an amazing medical doctor who has started public health systems in countries where they didn't exist such as Haiti...he has saved soo many lives and is becoming famous for his work and his books) Anyways, Liz is an amazing, upbeat, and humble gal who is going to change the world:)

Watering hole at Mole National Park
The view from our hotel was gorgeous!

SLU crew
It was great to see some familar faces---the social work students from SLU came through the clinic last week for a presentation and tour.

being sarcastic with my boss:)
This is Matthew, one of the founding directors of the AIDS clinic. His mother died from AIDS (from a blood tranfusion) and it has sparked a passion for him. He worked on Wall Street in the U.S. for many years but he said despite living the American dream, he was not happy and therefore moved to Ghana to work for the AIDS cause.

Kojo and Kwesi's work-out area
Ghanaians have to be the most resourceful folks I've ever met. Case in point--Kwesi and Kojo did not have money to buy work-out equipment so they simply made their own. They took two empty paint cans, filled them with cement to be used as weights and they welded some bars to do push-ups on.
I have noticed, too, that many Ghanaian children are very creative in their ways of entertaining themselves...instead of relying on external things (such as tv, video games, etc), they spend hours playing with car tires, drawing with sticks in the dirt, or simply running after each other. It is great to see their creativity and imaginations at work!

Dr Naa
The Doc hard at work (as usual)..this woman is amazing!

patient
A beautiful woman who is a patient at the clinic.

Comments

[Linda]

The pictures made me cry!
Hi Katie, It seems like your experience in Ghana has been wonderful! The pictures made me cry when I looked at them because I miss my friends and "African Family" in Ghana, but also because I know what kind of a life the street children life, and I know how hard life is and what a stigma Aids is. That is the part of Ghana that breaks my heart! You have done a great time of getting the Ghanaians to smile on pictures, I had that challenge also and I would resort to doing anything to make them laugh! The pictures brought me back to my memories of Ghana and makes me even more excited to go back and visit next year! I am so happy you have interned in Ghana, you seem to have embraced everything there and learned so much! I am sure there are many there who will never forget you because you have such a warm and open personality! Take care and enjoy your last days! I hope when you get home and have time we can have a nice chat on the phone and compare experiences! Be prepared to shed some tears when you go to Kotoka to leave, it was so hard for me to part with the wonderful Ghanians I know and had met there! Have a good trip home! Linda

[Kelly]

sweet pea
Kates, i love the photos!!! i miss you a gazabillion and will be in Chicago on the 27th. Soak up your days there, my best to kojo, kwesi, twany, bowan, and all those kids! love, your sis, k

[Pops]

Katie . . .we are so very proud of you!! Wow, the experiences that you've had! We will talk soon . . .see you in eight days!!!!!!! Love always, Mom and Dad

[Donna M Branca]

Welcome Home
Katie: I hope you arrive home to Iowa safely. Please keep in touch. Thanks so very much for sharing this part of your life. Donna