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Africa » Ghana » Volta » Lake Volta
January 17th 2008
Published: January 17th 2008
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Hello all! Because the computers are so slow here (we've been here for an hour, gone through a power outage, and now I am onto the first thing. An hour!) I thought I would take care of a few housekeeping things first, that pertain to only a few people. First, Kristen, this is me! Read on, sister! Second, Aunt Wynn or Mom, please call Walt and tell him this link. He sent me an email and in the subject line asked for the link. Smart man new it would take half an hour just to open it. Third, to all of you that have been messaging and commenting, thank you. It means a lot to me and I will get back to all of you personally upon my return.

On to business. There have been a few setbacks recently that have made the past few days a bit trying. First, there was about a two-minute rain shower the other night, smack dab in the middle of dry season. Because of this rarity, the electricity in the entire town has been flickering on and off for the past two days. This means that our water has also been effected. Plenty to drink, to be sure, they keep us stocked in bottled water, but showers and flushings have been few and far between. To look on the bright side, I feel as if I've known the other 21 volunteers for much longer than six days.

At the jobsite things are slow going. We were warned repeatedly of the lethargy when it comes to getting things done, but I had no idea. Our third day at work today and we did more of the same: sitting, talking, sitting, sitting, sitting. If this were the only problem, it wouldn't be so bad. Add a sprinkle of on-the-job sexual harrassment and a slice of uncalled-for guilt trips and you have yourselves a spicy stew. There is a man there, a so-called accountant, who has singled out one of the girls that we work with and has been lavishing some unwanted attention on her. We brought it to our director's attention and it seems to be resolved. He also told us that we could start going to schools ourselves to do the sex education, and that we wouldn't have to wait anymore for the center to get off their bums to do something. It's hard to understand why they would sit and tell you all of these horrible things about the situation here and then not be on the edge of their seats to get you out in the field to do something about it. But that is the lay of the land, I suppose. The dusty, goat-filled land.

If you are getting depressed by all these messages from a foriegn land, never fear! Pull up your britches and settle in for some positivity. Yesterday we took a short, bumpy ride to the Wli waterfalls. It was a short hike in, surrounded by palms, mahogany, cacao and fluttering yellow butterflies. At the end of the trail you come upon this giant waterfall, seemingly squeaking its way to the pool below. Upon closer inspection, you realize that the squeaks are coming from the gazillions of bats nestled in the spray. We all got in (remember: no showers) and splashed around like nutcases. It even got to the point, under the falls, that people were just laughing hysterically. There was nothing else we could do... I suppose we just needed it that much.

This weekend a group of 19 of us are headed to Cape Coast via Accra. We will tour the slave castle, take a canopy walk in the rainforest, and perhaps eat something besides rice and tomato sauce. Laying on the beach might be nice as well.

Love to all,
Miadogo.

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