Tuesday, October 18th, 2005
I got news last week about where my permanent site is going to be. Get your Ghana map of Ghana and go all the up to the upper north east region of the country (almost to Burkina Faso). Find Bolgatanga ... my village is about one hour from there. It's called Binaba. I started learning a different language (until now, I've been learning Twi). I'm now learning Kusaal (pronounced Kooh-Saul). Since my host family speaks Twi, I'll still keep learning that, so let's hope I am able to keep them separate in my head. Haha :)
My family is a little disappointed that I will be so far away, but they keep telling me they will come visit and I am always welcome back in their home in Techiman.
My job will be Business Advisor to an association of women farmers. The past two volunteers at this site have been men, so they specifically requested a female volunteer this time. The group has made tremendous progress the last several years and what they need to work on most now is management of the group. I will work closely with the business manager on helping make daily decisions in addition to building relationships with nearby non profit associations for support.
I will be living in a mud brick compound style house. It will have 2 bedrooms, a kitchen, a hall, store room, latrine (oh, boy!!!), and a summer hut attached. I will not have electricity, but I hear they recently put a pole up next to my house, so perhaps I will have electricity before I leave in two years. Currently, a married couple (both Peace Corps volunteers) live there and will be leaving the house mostly furnashed for me. They tell me I have a lot of shelving space, a gas stove with a propane tank, and an extra mattress for guests (hint, hint).
The Anglican Church is the dominant church in my area, but the majority of the population practices traditional religion (animism). This could be interesting ... certainly a learning experience for me!
I will be close to a hospital and they've already expressed interest in having me volunteer with HIV/AIDS education as well as assisting new mothers (as if I know anything about this). There is a library very close by that I will be given keys too. Apparently, a previous Peace Corps volunteer built the building, so every PCV gets the keys.
They say the northern part of Ghana is TOTALLY different from the southern part of Ghana ... so much so that they sometimes call it a different country. I hear the weather is much more bareable in the north (even getting down to the 60s some months). The couple who I am replacing have not said anything but wonderful things about the site, so I'm getting more and more excited. They said it's very laid back and the people are really great!
Ok, so that is where I'll be beginning December 3rd. Until then, I'm in Techiman and really enjoying life here.
Previous entry | Next entry
|
