Blogs from Ashanti, Ghana, Africa - page 15

My father informed me that I have not supplied you with enough information about my new accomadation. It does have electricity, although we get power cuts at least twice a day and we have running water but its from a water tank, so I still have to get a bucket of water to flush the toilet and take a bath as there is no shower! I will still be extremely grateful to come home to a hot shower! Today at the orphange, we got a new baby who is about 3 months old and she got abandoned at the side of the road! She is adorbale but you can tell shes been breast fed as when I had to feed her with the cup she kept splutering everywhere and crying! But i gave her lots of ... read more

10/12/08 Let me think… There isn’t really anything too exciting to mention about this week. Classes went well for the most part. The students are having some difficulty with simplifying indices, but I’m not surprised. Indices, or exponents for those of you that aren’t mathematically inclined, are difficult. My biggest difficulty is coping with the inconsistency of the schedule and classes. There is a set schedule, but it is used more like a rough guide as to what classes are when. I often head to a class and there is a teacher in the middle of a lecture that is unaware that I am scheduled to have class at that time. Sometimes I arrive at a class to find that all but one or two students are out weeding (cutting the grass with machetes) because they ... read more

While Christine took Dara to the airport (a couple days task), I decided to spend a weekend in the village of Apebouso, by myself. I think it was one of the best decisions I have ever made. It’s easy to get caught up in all the tasks that need to be completed and not take the time to really sit and absorb all that this place has to offer. I got to learn so many things ... like how to make palm oil and how to peel things with a machete. I wouldn’t have gotten the chance to meet all the adults and parents of the children I teach. I had to keep telling myself, “This is not the norm Aloha. You are in Africa! Take it all in!” So I took the leap and the ... read more

10/5/08 It’s time for the weekly update. Just to let you know, this week was pretty busy and it flew by. Last Sunday I was in Kumasi at the KSO so I didn’t have a chance to go to church, but that’s alright because church came to me… Shortly after my tro left Kumasi on my way back to Akrokerri a passenger in the front row stood up and turned around to face the back of the tro. He proceeded to lead the tro in a song that I naturally assumed was religious, but the song was in Twi so I don’t really know. After the song was done he then pulled out a Bible and started reading scripture, still in Twi. Then he broke into a homily of sorts, and he sure did have a ... read more

Greetings from the Ashanti Region of Ghana. Monday: After our breakfast, I took several photos of the Adomi Bridge. Today, we traveled 214 miles from Akosombo to Kumasi, the Ashanti Region. We made one stop after the rest stop, that was at an outdoor famers-type market, where we purchased tomatoes and oranges. Upon our arrival in Kumasi, we (after 6 hours on the road), enjoyed a late lunch at the Jofel Restaurant. I had seafood soup and chips(fries). This was a long journey. But we passed through several cities and townships. The photo-opps. were great and quite colorful. While on the bus, our tour guide, Nathan informed us about several festivals which take place in several cities and regions in Ghana. While the spelling may be off, the sounded names of the festivals are: deepo - ... read more