Blogs from Ashanti, Ghana, Africa - page 4

Hello to those who are reading this, I guess the last few days haven't been particularly eventful in terms of exciting things to tell you. Regarding the project, we have written letters to the local markets to see if we can set up an HIV stall and we are getting t-shirts made saying 'Ask me about HIV', but that is about it. I think this is probably going to take a while to set up properly as nothing really happens in a hurry here, and we need to send letters, wait for replies etc. Yesterday at the house, Bret's lock broke whilst the bolt was still engaged. Now, Francis (host dad) decided that the way to fix this would be to use his machete. The machete was used as a screw-driver to take the door handle ... read more

Last night Glenn (British ex pat) offered to take Gideon and I out to dinner, Gideon refused but after some encouragement he agreed and we went for an indian curry, something new for Gideon. He tells me that he is not at all adventurous however his wife is always telling him off because he should try new things, I agreed so I said come on lets play pool, "oh no" he said "I dont know the rules" "Neither do I" I replied "but its fun" he still insisted on no until I made him step out of his comfort zone and play, after almost taking the cloth off of the table he actually became quite good and bless him he was dead pleased with himself. I am now sitting in the hotel reception waiting for him ... read more

This morning Gideon and I set off on a 4 hour turned 6 hour road trip to Kumasi, it is so called Kumasi because the Ashanti king planted two trees called Kuma trees, one died and the other lived, the one that lived was called Kumasi. Another bit of history, a bit of girl power, 50 years ago a young brave ghanain woman led the battle of independence against the British and won! go girlie! So we set off, on good roads and really bumpy dirt tracks because the government cant make up their minds if they want to spend their money on the roads or their nice new offices (picture coming up soon) we passed many villages and a radio station discussed the desperate need for medical staff, I asked Gideon, what happens if you ... read more

“Tropical Blend” is something we generally relate to fruit juice. Kirk and I live and work in the tropical rainforest areas of Ghana. Our Ghanaian family is quite a blend of tribes, cultures and languages. African Tribes: Kusasi (from the north), Ewe (from the east), Wangalla (upper east), Ashanti (central Ghana), Fante (central coastal area). The nine of us come from EIGHT different families. 8 different families 6 different regions 6 different languages 2 different continents and 4 different countries Wow! All under one roof -- well that is … once we get a roof. That’s still a job in progress. The variety of people we have in our house took my mind wondering around our neighborhood. In our cluster of 5 houses (42yrd X 60something) I began to question; How many people actually live ... read more

Wow, thank you for your comments and messages to the last postings. They are so important to us. Reading them takes our hearts "back home". "Home" is always a nice place to be. Thank you (smile) ***************** Creativity and Flexibility are key to surviving life in another culture. I’m not always so good at it but this time I think I’ve got a good idea. I need your help to pull it off. As we mentioned, last semester Praise was enrolled at a school in the town of Dunkwa. Sparing you all the grueling details, I'll simply say, "that didn’t work out". He is happy to be home schooling again and I'm happy to have him back. As I return to the classroom in the village of Apebouso Praise will accompany me. We have purchased all ... read more