"We are each other's keeper"

Day 10 in Ghana...

Ghana? Yes, Ghana. So I’m in West Africa? Yes... finally?

This is how my mind has been working lately. I am here: I see the people, smell the smells, taste the food, and see the array of incredible things there are to see... but what do I feel? That’s been an interesting concept; I think I will come back to that in another blog post.

While it’s been less than 2 weeks since I’ve blogged, a lot has happened! Just that things are finally happening is an excitement in itself! We’ve been waiting so long for arrival in country, and here we are! But what have we been up to? Rather than just list events, I have found myself casually recording intriguing quotes by key persons over the past week and a half, so I will “reflect” with them.

“We are each other’s keeper”

~Mark, our awesome cultural and language trainer (who is also a pastor)

Ghana is so culturally different from the US: People smile and greet people. You feel safe around people you’ve just met. You are comfortable asking anyone for help, because they will help you. Kids run around the streets because other parents are watching them. Goats are frequent...

But really, people care about each other. They want us to feel at home. They offer up generous yet not overbearing services and kindness to welcome us. They care for each other in genuine and visible ways. I already can tell I will love the people here, which is great because people are what make cultural and international experiences so incredible!

 “YƐ frƐ me Akosua, me firi Pennsylvania wƆ Amerika.”

~Me, introducing myself in Twi; translated: My name is Akosua, I am from Pennsylvania in America.

We have been learning Twi, the predominant language in Ghana and you can BET I am SUPER EXCITED to use it to incorporate with the people! It really is not that difficult of a language so far, with only 2 unique letters and a few non-phonetic spellings. We had 3 intense days of training and I will definitely be learning from my host family shortly...

Oh, and Akosua is not Allison in Twi. Here, people take a general, gender-specific name that reflects the day of the week you were born. I was born on a Sunday and I am a female, so I am Akosua (along with 1/7^th of all Ghanaian women).

“4-H is a concept, it can be used for any organization”

~Regional 4-H director, giving training on how to start a 4-H club in an area

I found this to be a humbling ideal for development work – we don’t need to brand everything. 4-H is doing great things. When we get to our communities and have the opportunity to add 4-H esque concepts to an existing youth organization, we should do it!

AgriCorps is officially collaborating with 4-H Ghana for our year or service. This is pretty exciting, as 4-H Ghana is doing a fabulous job so far at creating positive change. However, they are only working in 2 of the 10 regions (provinces/states) of the country. We are focusing on one of the existing regions to further the reach of the current, “hub,” programs to surrounding rural communities. Given their strong foundation, we will be able to make a more sustainable impact than in Liberia, where all that we would have done would have been new and exciting, yet perhaps not as acceptable to the post-conflict culture. (P.S. keep praying for Liberia, it’s bad.)

We will be working with existing club advisers and 4-H enterprise gardens to improve practices, develop the youth leadership components of the clubs, and reach out to the homes with improved home entrepreneurial projects. More of this to come...

“What you do is just build on what they have – that’s where the magic is.”

and

“If we see you as part of us, it is easier for us to get what you have.”

~Eric, Eastern Region Public Relations Officer for the Ghana Education Service, speaking about the standards used for teaching and working in schools in Ghana

I will leave you to pick through these quotes yourself, and I will use them to dig into the entire concept of our being here and what my year will actually look like!

Ghana is actually a hub for development organizations. As one of the more developed West African countries, the development work seems to have been paying off. With that said, Ghanaians are still incredibly excited to see us, invite us in, and have us help them. Recently, an agricultural extension director from another district actually seemed upset that none of us would be placed in her district. In my mind, development is a positive thing, but feeling as though you need it and actively seeking out an oboruni (“foreigner” in Twi) to help you is not something I would expect. Then again, Ghanaians do not have the sort of American pride I am accustomed to. So, it has been refreshing to feel so “desired.” Nonetheless, I need to keep humbling myself with the truth that I do not have all the answers, for many of them already lie in the mind of these wonderful people with whom I will work. All I must do is “shut up and listen” (another quote, this one from a Ted talk we watched during reflections last week).

Well, there has been some more exciting news with all of this training and preparation. We finally learned where we will be stationed!!!!!

I will be living in the small town of Oseim, located in the Eastern Region of Ghana. This town is about 40 minutes north of Koforidua, the capitol of the region and headquarters for 4-H Ghana. I am going to be working with a decently large and developed 4-H program in the Savior Junior High School, a 3-year school of about 250 students.

The most exciting piece of my entire time in Ghana so far is that I got to SEE my town and school already! Part of our training included a visit to a local program and “4-H meeting” and it just happened to be mine! We even chilled out at my host family home for an hour before the 4-H meeting as we waited for the downpour of rain to stop (something that prevents much from happening here).

I am really pumped. But still a little “bleh” overall – I am not sure what to feel. We have seen awesome things so far. Last week, when we arrived, we toured some cool areas in the capital city of Accra. Then we got to stay in a pretty nice hostel in Koforidua for training. Now we are in another town for agricultural training. Next week we get to do a 4-5 day “site visit” to gather data about our towns and move in. Then, after a few days reflection, we begin. We begin? Hmmm, what does that mean? I am still not sure, and I am still figuring out how to feel about it. Nonetheless, I am content with where I am and I am learning new things daily.

"Life is now, and so it shall continue to be as it goes on. I will continue to embrace it as it comes."

Akyire yƐbƐhyia (pronounced “eh-sheer-ey yeh-bey-shia”)!

See you later! 

(sorry for lack of photos - the internet is prohibiting that kind of data upload right now... hopefully soon!) 

Wait, we leave tomorrow?

WOHOOOOO I finally get to get on a plane and leave the country - TOMORROW!

While I have been learning a LOT about contentment over the past several weeks, I (and my entire team) am SO ready to get moving to West Africa and get on the ground in our villages. While I still don't know what village I will be working in, I know we will be in the "Eastern region" which is the area to the east and south of the giant lake Volta (largest man-made reservoir in the world). We will arrive on Sunday night after a flight to Amsterdam (and hopefully some "outside" time during our 7 hour layover there), then we have 2 days in the capital city (Accra) before moving to our region for cross-cultural training.

What has happened in the last week? Well... a lot. But it has been great. After a week of work and learning at the ECHO farm in Fort Myers, we had a nice day off on Saturday - so, being in Florida and all, we of course went to the beach.

Then we drove to Gainesville on Sunday - did you know I lived in Gainesville for 8.5 years? My mother worked at the University of Florida for those years between being born and (currently) residing in State College, PA. So to majority of my childhood occurred in that humid college town! It was weird being back under these circumstances, but nonetheless refreshing to visit my favorite childhood restaurant (Sonny's BBQ) and even SEE MY CHILDHOOD HOME (which is for sale if anyone is interested)!

The best BBQ restaurant ever. 

On Monday, we presented our agricultural lesson plans to some AEE faculty and PhD students at UF - in the same building my mom used to work in! Talk about deja-vu... it was a great experience and a wonderful opportunity to meet with (or re-unite with) the outstanding faculty at UF. We also got great teaching tips to take with us to Ghana!

My mom's old building - where we spent Monday morning

Lesson practice!

It was fun to have some of the experts serve as students for activities... 

Monday afternoon and Tuesday afternoon we were occupied with preparations for and execution of a "leadership day" at the Boys and Girls Club. Again, I experienced some flashbacks, as I had spent some of my summers at this exact club (not very fond memories, mind you) in NW Gainesville. However, we got some good "facilitation" experience with the group of about 30 kids, ages 10-14. While they went a little crazy and were hard to handle and several of us left very frustrated, I was pleased to get the chance to interact with them and love on them, as several of those youths come from low SES or struggling backgrounds. Also, working as a counselor for the YMCA day camp for 4 years probably left me with a greater patience level for these kids...

Tuesday night was a lovely evening with some great people - Lisa Heinert is a member of the AgriCorps board, and her husband, Seth, is a UF AEE PhD student. Their adorable 4-month old son, David, has been of great stress relief and comfort to us (they were present at the training in East Texas a few weeks ago), so I am glad I got to spend some time with all of them at dinner on Tuesday.

David is not angry - he just has the funniest facial expressions of any baby I have ever seen... he seems so mature in how he looks at the world! 

Wednesday morning we had some medical and safety training from a former Peace Corps medical officer (who happened to work in Ghana) before hitting the road! After 8 hours of driving, we arrived in our slightly planned mid-point overnight spot - New Orleans. It was a first time visit for 6 of us, so we wanted to be sure to see the city. It was quite an interesting night - there are very interesting folk in New Orleans, and Bourbon street is a fun place! Nonetheless, we got to unwind a bit after some crazy transitions. Then, on the road again to arrive in Dallas last night!

Melissa and Dustin were in as much need of a night off as I was! Note: Courtney in the background :) 

Twilight view of Bourbon Street, New Orleans!

While I love this group of people dearly, I needed some "away" time after 21 straight days in this group - and thankfully I get to see a friend tonight. She is living and working in Fort Worth and she is going to take me touring around Dallas tonight!

I am definitely ready to get on that plane tomorrow... but I am so thankful for the last several weeks of crazy travel, learning, and fun! It almost doesn't feel like we are leaving tomorrow - I have been so content just 'being' that it hasn't become a reality in my mind that we will be in a village, teaching, within the next few weeks... This year of service is not at all what I've expected it to be so far, but it has nonetheless been a great time for personal growth and new experiences - even if we still are in the U.S.

Let's just say that the inaugural group of AgriCorps will most likely never, ever be duplicated in their experiences...

With love from Dallas!!

Pondiferous moments

Pondiferous: (adj) to ponder, mull over, consider, or discuss; usually of deep philosophical context (but does not have to be)
(Word credit: Courtney Angel, 2014 AgriCorps member)

Today would have marked a week of being in Liberia... but we are not in Liberia. We are in Florida (similar climate, severely different culture).

Today also marks 2 weeks of being with my AgriCorps team: learning, traveling, laughing, dancing, living. I have learned much over the past 2 weeks: whether it is learning about the lives of those who I am with, how to cope in unique situations, about tropical agriculture, how to make a trellis, or simply learning how to be content... we'll ponder contentment a little later.

So here I am in a lovely guest house on the ECHO Global Farm property in Fort Myers, Florida. After 2 full days of driving from Dallas, we arrived on Sunday evening to two spacious guest houses with full kitchens - lots of space to spread out (we all got our own rooms after being squished in an apartment and hotel rooms for 4 nights!). We definitely needed some decompression time, but then we got to jump right in to a week full of learning and fruitful labor! While here at the farm, we've been able to attend a daily seminar/lecture about some aspect of global agriculture/travel. Topics have included: nutrition, problems in tropical ag development, cultural immersion, underutilized crops, appropriate technology, and a few more. Our composition note books are filling up with lots of useful information.

Appropriate Technology talk - these are Rocket Stoves!

A rice hull cooker - super hot and efficient

Carpet gardens - using wicking technology in an "urban" setting

In addition to great talks, we got to work with the ECHO interns around the farm over the past several days. On Tuesday, I was given a machete (yes, I have been waiting a while for this, please see former machete post) and asked to take down some past-production banana stalks. Talk about using built-up energy! After chopping apart 2 full grown stalks, we helped sort seeds in the seed bank before lunch... I have a new found respect for white sesame seeds. Wednesday's labor included building a trellis from bamboo stalks - Leah and I may have struggled a bit, but we eventually got one up! Then yesterday was "farm day" where all the interns and some employees break out to do weekly farm tasks - Cassella and I worked with an intern and volunteer to move over 100 cinder blocks from one location to another to disassemble and set up shade garden tables... talk about full body pain... it was good hard work!

Everyone got to partake in the sesame seed sorting due to the thunderstorms :)

Fenangling a trellis together with Leah for Loofah plans!

The final product! Please do not lean, climb, or blow on the trellis. 

Other than the pain that can ensue from literally carrying around a ton of bricks, we have been having a great time so far. Today is a work day to catch up on our "assignment" of developing 3 full lesson plans (each) of relevant content for west Africa - a great thing to have to do when in walking distance of one of the best tropical agriculture libraries in the U.S.!! While I do have some lesson planning experience, this will be a good refresher and means of learning a bit more about the agriculture I will have to experience.

Tomorrow will be a good "down" day - we're going to a local beach for the day :) Maybe get to see a nice Florida sunset like this one I caught on our way down here...

THEN, on Sunday, we will be traveling up to my ex-hometown, Gainesville!!!

We will be working further on our ag education background and teaching experiences by teaching one of our lessons to some Ag Ed faculty and PhD students at the University of Florida! I am excited to see Gainesville again, as I haven't been there in over 10 years, and I am super excited to tap into the great AEE resources at UF!

On Wednesday and Thursday we will travel back to Texas to prepare for our DEPARTURE TO GHANA!!! Yes, we are leaving next weekend - we will fly out of Dallas on Saturday, August 16 with just one layover in Amsterdam before arriving in the capital city of Accra!

Now for some reflective and pondiferous writings...

Has it sunk in that we will be in Ghana in 9 days? No, not really... but that probably has something to do with all the craziness over the past 9 days. Just 9 days ago, we were expecting to be leaving shortly for Liberia. Meanwhile, the whole world is freaking out about Ebola virus - something that was still not of concern to us due to our non-affiliation with medical places. However, I was feeling pressure from my family and friends about the situation and their discomfort of us going (and my team mates also felt said pressure). I was torn for several days - trust our AgriCorps leadership with wise decisions (which were still pointing to Liberia) or avoid the uncomfortable situation of causing constant anxiety for my family... thankfully I didn't have to choose between the two, and thus began the crazy change in plans/places. Let's keep this organized:

• Morning of Tuesday, July 29 - we still thought we were leaving for Liberia on Thursday
• Evening of Tuesday, July 29 - we were told departure was delayed 2 weeks to assess Ebola situation
• Evening of Thursday, July 31 - we were told we were going to Ghana instead of Liberia
• Thursday and Friday nights - all of us share a 1 person apartment (with sufficient floor space) before roadtripping 
• Morning of Friday, August 1 - we were told we leave the following day to drive to Florida for a week at the ECHO farm
• Saturday and Sunday, August 2 and 3 - drive to Fort Myers, Florida with a stop in Mobile, Alabama
• Monday to Wednesday, August 4-6 - work at ECHO farm with no knowledge of the following week's plan
• Wednesday, August 6 - we were told our plans for the following week: Gainesville, drive home, fly out Saturday the 16th 
• TODAY, Friday, August 8 - I think we now know how its going to look... at least until we get to Ghana... 

As you might imagine, all of these changes, transitions, and places of residence could easily frustrate and irritate our team... however, I feel blessed to be in a group that is so flexible and mature at handling the situation. I personally have been learning more and more about what it means to be content. 

No, I don't picture myself in Ghana in less than 2 weeks. Yes, I am enjoying where I am right now. Yes, I get frustrated at times, but it passes quickly. Yes, I am living in contentment. 

Paul sums it up pretty well in this letter of his to the Philippians: "Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content."

But to place that verse in context, I will leave you with the whole passage - one that reflects the struggles that will continue over the next year... and ending in the verse that will hopefully find true meaning in my life in Ghana.

[Philippians 4:10-13]

10 I rejoiced in the Lord greatly that now at length you have revived your concern for me. You were indeed concerned for me, but you had no opportunity. 11 Not that I am speaking of being in need, for I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content.12 I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. 13 I can do all things through him who strengthens me.

Just as an added bonus, here are a few shots from a hiking path I found this morning at a local nature preserve.

Until next week (or until something drastically changes again) - I'm signing off for a nice relaxing day at a Florida beach :) 

An update on that first, unexpected post!

"It's Ghana be a great year!"
~Trent McKnight, AgriCorps Founder

If you're a pun-lover, you may catch up on the irony and informative nature of this sentence... yep, we will be going to GHANA!

Due to the severe and growing concern of Ebola in Liberia right now, we will be re-assigned to work with 4-H Ghana for the coming year! There still remains much to plan/organize/discover, but we are so excited to still be going to West Africa - even if we are upset it is not to Liberia.

Ghana is several countries removed from the Ebola situation and currently has prevalence of the disease. While there still remain the typical concerns of traveling to a developing country in West Africa, we feel prepared and motivated to learn all about the country and its agriculture in preparation for departure.

So when is departure? We are hoping to leave within 2-3 weeks from Texas.
But before we do that, we are driving to Fort Myers, Florida this weekend for a full week of volunteer training at the ECHO international tropical ag farm!!! I'm really excited, as I've always wanted to go there!
What comes after that? I'm not quite sure, but I know it will be great...

I am glad that we don't have to go home, considering we have all prepared our hearts and minds to leave home and go abroad. I think it would just be too confusing and difficult a transition to go home for a few weeks... and I love this group of people, so I am excited to continue spending life with them!

Okay, that's enough blogging for one week. I'll keep you in the loop!!

Keep West Africa in your prayers! Ebola is a dangerous evil that seems to be out of control and ruthlessly claiming several lives - we should pray for patience, peace, healing, and a cure.