Nkawkaw is the capitol of the Kwahu West District and is about midway between Kumasi and Accra on the Kumasi-Accra Rd. The town is always bustling. Around 5:30am the town wakes up, and by 6am it is in full swing. Tro-tros, taxis, trucks and cars honk their way up the road, while shopkeepers open their stores. The taxi repair shop just below my window always plays music in the morning- I've heard everything from Beyonce to accordion music to Bob Marley.
As I walk to work, people are quick to yell out, "Obruni! How are you?" As the day progresses, the greetings change to "you are beautiful, are you married? You will be my wife." Needless to say, everyone is very friendly, and by now, most people in Nkawkaw know me. Apparently, one of the other volunteers (who lives on top of the nearby mountain) was getting into a taxi the other day and the driver said, "Are you Aislynn?" When she said no, the cabbie asked, "where is she? what is she doing?" Since I'm the only obruni in town, I think the driver assumed any female obruni must be me.
'Wo fi Ehe' means 'where are you from', so I should spend a little time talking about my host family. We live on the Kumasi road, above and behind a restaurant they own. I'm still trying to figure out how many people live in the house. Josephine, the mother, has 4 children, but I rarely see her son or her husband (I actually met hom for the first time a few days ago). Gifty, a young girl who is their hired help, may or may not live in the house...I've seen her late at night, but am not really sure where she sleeps There is a girl who works in the restaurant whom I'm fairly certain also lives in the house. So in addition to my room, there are three other bedrooms, a living room and a bathroom. My host family is incredibly kind and really hospitable. If I text Josephine to tell her I'll be home late, she responds with something like, "ok sweetie. take good care of yourself. i love you." Awww
Tuesday, July 17, 2007
Friday, July 13, 2007
Akwaaba means Welcome
I know I did a terrible job updating my blog while in South Africa, but I was having too much fun! And since it's impossible to summarize an entire semester in a few paragraphs, I'll just have to tell you all about it in person and attempt to be a better blogger in Ghana. Though considering my time here is halfway over, I'm not off to a great start....
So, why Ghana? Having already been to parts of eastern and southern Africa, I wanted to intern somewhere in west Africa. Through idealist.org I contacted a couple of organizations in Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali. Unfortunately, most of the groups seemed rather unorganized and wanted money more than volunteers. Furthermore, the State Department had travel advisories for Nigeria and Liberia because Americans were targets for kidnappings. So when Fred from SVG emailed me to say I could intern at the District Assembly in Nkawkaw (Ghana), I immediately said yes. And after finishing exams, booking my plane ticket and several frustrating phone calls to the Ghana High Commission as to the whereabouts of my passport (which I finally received a few hours before my plane left), I was on my way.
So, why Ghana? Having already been to parts of eastern and southern Africa, I wanted to intern somewhere in west Africa. Through idealist.org I contacted a couple of organizations in Liberia, Nigeria, Ghana and Mali. Unfortunately, most of the groups seemed rather unorganized and wanted money more than volunteers. Furthermore, the State Department had travel advisories for Nigeria and Liberia because Americans were targets for kidnappings. So when Fred from SVG emailed me to say I could intern at the District Assembly in Nkawkaw (Ghana), I immediately said yes. And after finishing exams, booking my plane ticket and several frustrating phone calls to the Ghana High Commission as to the whereabouts of my passport (which I finally received a few hours before my plane left), I was on my way.
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