Site Visit, Danger Time, and Other Oddities: Part 1

A lot has happened since my last post! First of all, how can you tell you are a Peace Corps Volunteer? When you don't find your tan lines until after you bath.

I suppose the most anticipated event was site visit. We trekked out to Bunso College (the site of a beautiful arboretum) for a 2 day workshop with our soon-to-be Headmasters and Counterpart Teachers. Immediately the cultural differences were felt. This was largely due to the fact that there was only 1 female in the group of Ghanaian Educators. Gender roles in Ghana are very different than in America. That is still taking a lot of adjusting. Some of the headmasters appeared to be, for lack of a better term, chauvinistic jerks, with very little respect for the female volunteers. (One of my friends was actually told by her headmaster that she is forbidden to go to the river during her "danger time" because she is dirty. How backwards is that?) Luckily, I seem to have a pretty wonderful headmaster. He seems to have a progressive outlook on education (well, as progressive as one can expect in this country). I initially felt comfortable and happy with him. I hope that it will work out. His name is Samson. My counterpart teacher also seems like a nice guy, though I've spent less time with him. My counterpart will more or less be my liason at the school for any problems. Ghanaian schools have a strict hierarchy (a la "Harry Potter"), so most of my day to day problems will not be dealt with through the headmaster. More on that later.

After our workshop, we headed out at 6 am on Friday morning for Kpandai. We did not arrive until 8 pm on Saturday night. Yes, you read that correctly, it took 2 DAYS of travel to reach my site. Ok, we weren't traveling the whole time. For those keeping track, we left at 6 on a tro-tro to Kumasi. From Kumasi, we caught a metro bus to Tamale. That took 1 day of travel. I think we arrived in Tamale around 6 pm. We overnighted in Tamale, as it is rather dangerous to travel at night. My headmaster's family actually lives in Tamale, so I spent the night at their house. I met his wonderful children, and I think made some nice friends with them. They will be great assets for bartering when I come to Tamale to shop. I'm looking forward to spending more time with them. From Tamale, there is only 1 bus to Kpandai, leaving every day at 1 (technically it leaves at 1, but I don't think it ever actually pulls out of the station until 2. To leave Kpandai, that same bus only leaves once a day at 4:30 in the morning!) The distance between Tamale and Kpandai really isn't that great, but the journey still takes quite a bit of time. I think it is about 200 km, though the trip is around 6 hours. In the north, and in the Volta Region, the roads are terrible. Pot holes are everywhere, they are only dirt, often devastated by heavy rains or winds, through the bush, etc. The stretch of road that leads into Kpandai off of the main road is about 25 miles. That 25 miles takes 3 hours by private car! Not fun. I really am pretty far away from everything. It will be worth it, though. It is absolutely beautiful here. The north is vastly different than the south.

Upon arrival I was taken to a guesthouse, since I was told that my house wasn't finished yet. The next day I was taken to see my house, and "not finished yet" means no roof, no floor, no doors, no windows. Just some cement walls. That was a bit of a shock. I am still feeling pretty stressed about that. I am told that it will be finished by the time I arrive (in just about 2 weeks), though I find that very hard to believe. Peace Corps is already preparing me to live in "temporary housing" (i.e. a bed at a guesthouse) for up to the first 6 months. I really hope that is not the case. There are a lot of politics going on in the town, and unfortunately I think I have landed right in the middle. I have heard bits and pieces, but I think I will wait to write more on that once I have spent some more time in the village.

Another surprise in Kpandai was that Twi is not the common language! Nawuri is actually the common language of the village. I guess there are bout 7 languages spoken in all. The Nawuri tribe is rather small, and the language is only spoken in a small area of Ghana (maybe 3 or 4 villages). Gonja used to actually be the primary language spoken, but about 15 years ago there was a war between the Gonja and Nawuri tribes, and the Nawuri tribe prevailed, kicking the Gonjas away. The Gonjas still dominate the majority of the region. So, Twi is not common in Kpandai. A few people speak it, but not many. I guess that by speaking a language other than Twi, I may inadvertently involve myself in the tribal conflict. I suppose Twi is seen as a neutral language. This will make integrating into the community a much more difficult challenge. I'm hoping that I will be able to hire a tutor to help me pick up a little of each other language. I'm told that could be a problem, though, because Nawuri is such a small language, and thus there are not many defined rules or grammar. It sounds as if it is hardly written. At least at my school English is the spoken language, as with every secondary school. There are also bound to be some Twi speakers among the students. At schools in Ghana, one applies to secondary school after taking the BECE exam at the end of JSS (Junior Secondary School). They submit their school preferences with their exam results, and then are admitted to a certain number of schools around the country. In a way it is similar to the college application process in America. As a result, most of the students at the school are not from the town where the school is located.

So, it seems I'm going to have a few challenges when I get to site.

Luckily, I have a great headmaster and counterpart, and I must say that they bent over backwards to accommodate me during my stay in Kpandai. I feel good having them on my side, and in a lot of ways I think I am better off than some of the other volunteers.

I spent most of my time at my headmaster's side, either walking around the school or exploring the village (the school is about 2 km away from the village). He is also new to Kpandai, so we both went to meet the police inspector, the local doctor, etc. It is hard to remark on the village yet, especially since I was not really able to communicate with many people. I did enjoy the school, and am looking forward to my time there. I was introduced at the morning assembly, and now the students shout "Auntie Yaa" when they see me. I guess "Auntie" is a term of respect. I am still trying to understand the layout of the school. I was also informed that I will be the Girls' Housemistress! Apparently I will be the first female teacher ever at the school. The school has about 100 girls (compared to about 750 boys), and they live in a dorm on the edge of campus. I am still not entirely sure what my responsibilities will be, but my headmaster has talked to me at length about the importance of a female role model. I think this will be very exciting! I do know that one responsibility as housemistress is to sit on the disciplinary committee. That will certainly be interesting... I will also supposedly be teaching physics and biology. There actually is no biology program at the school, so when I return I will help to organize the curriculum and get the program off the ground.

On my last day we took a trip to the nearest bank, in Bimbilla, about 3 hours away by private car. I'm still not sure how to get there besides that 4:30 am bus. I think the only other way people travel is by motorcycle. There are no tro-tros in the north! I never thought I would miss them so much. I guess the roads are too bad and the towns too spread apart. Moto is the way to go. Everybody seems to have one! Unfortunately, Peace Corps Volunteers are strictly prohibited from riding one. If we get caught, we get a plane ticket home. That's a bummer. I will be getting a bicycle, though. My headmaster has already forbidden me from riding the 25 miles into Bimbilla. The dirt roads are basically carved out of the bush, and he thinks that a white girl riding alone with no one else around could be quite dangerous. I guess he's got a point, though I'm starting to suspect that he's a bit overprotective. Anyway, Bimbilla was interesting. I had a nice conversation with my headmaster along the way- I like him more and more each day. It's a larger town, and the location of Ghana Commercial Bank. Rule of thumb, if you plan to bank in Ghana, never use that bank. Peace Corps told us to just pick up an application from the nearest bank- simple enough, right? So I walk up to the door, and I swear I've been transported to the floor of the New York Stock Exchange. There appears to be absolutely no order, just everybody yelling, obviously waiting in "lines" for hours. Just ridiculous. Sometimes I wonder how things get done here. So I walk up, and of course since I'm the obruni the armed guard pushes me to the front of the line. I ask the teller for papers to open a bank account, and he tells me that he cannot give them to me because they are not allowed to be taken off of bank property. So he sends me to a tiny office where the bank managers work. I go to the office and wait a few minutes, again ushered to the front of the line. I tell the secretary what I am here for, he asks for my ID, which I give to him, and he tells me that it is insufficient. Peace Corps holds on to all of our important identification, and we are only given a Peace Corps ID. Apparently that is not good enough. Then I am sent to the first bank manager and explain my situation, and he tells me that I cannot open a bank account unless I have some sort of Letter of Introduction. He tells me that he knows Peace Corps and that they always do that. I am getting pretty confused and frustrated. All I want is the application! So I get on the phone with PC and try to navigate the bureaucratic BS. After about a half hour they agree to just open the account for me. So, they need a copy of my PC ID. Oh, but they don't have a copier in the office, so I'll need to go down the street and find one. I obviously look a bit distressed, so he sends me to the co-manager, who then sends someone to fetch a copy "for this beautiful woman." I finally get the application, fill it out, and give it to this other manager. He just can't seem to keep his hands off me. He doesn't seem to care about my application and instead proceeds to tell me that I will be his wife, and on and on and on. I try to be nice, but then he gets my application and says that he now has my address and will come visit me in Kpandai! How inappropriate is that? To make a long story not as long, I finally left and now have been receiving phone calls from said bank manager. He took my phone number from my application and is now calling to tell me how he loves me! I am not happy about this. That is one thing that would not happen in America. How unprofessional. My headmaster tells me he is a "cheap man" and that I should stay away. So I will no longer be banking at Ghana Commercial Bank.

On our way home I think my headmaster could sense my stress, so he let me be for the most part. At this point in the car I am starting to get really upset, just not happy with my site. I have no house, I don't speak the language, creepy men seem to be everywhere, and I am isolated from what feels like everyone else. I really felt like I was going to breakdown. Just one thing on top of the other. Even just getting things to put in my house will be a journey, I'll have to go to Tamale, which is 6 hours away. That becomes an overnight trip. I just want to see my friends, my family, be around other Americans. I am sick of being called obruni, I am sick of no one understanding my English, I am sick of having to deal with these ridiculous stereotypes, I am sick of having to shower with cockroaches, I am sick of not being able to eat my own food, I am sick of how backwards Ghana seems, I am sick of how Peace Corps Ghana is run. I am just getting sick of it all. Eventually I calm down in my head, and I begin to realize that I'm just going to have to accept this. This is what I signed up for. If I can't handle it, then I need to reevaluate why I'm here. I didn't come here to be with other Americans, I didn't come here to live an American lifestyle. I think up to this point life here hasn't been so bad, we've been well taken care of. I guess I thought the transition to site would be easy. It's beginning to sink in how tough this is really going to be. I was also am getting upset with myself for stressing about these material objects, or lack thereof. The people that live here seem to be so happy, and I have more than they could ever imagine having. I still have a lot of emotional reconciling to work out, but I hope that I'll be able to manage. When we arrived back in Kpandai my headmaster took me for a Fanta. We just sat and enjoyed a chat. I am learning how important these little moments are. How wonderful it is to just be able to sit down with someone and not think about anything else but the moment you're in. I'm not sure why I don't seem to appreciate these as much in America. I think perhaps it is because we don't need them as often at home. We know how to deal with our problems, we actually have resources to solve our problems. I guess I do appreciate them, just in a different way. I suppose at home I am not so desperate for a break.

This is only part 1... I've got a big language test to prepare for, so I'll continue this post on Thursday. Cheers.

(I've also posted some new pictures and added some links to blogs of other volunteers. They might be a little better at capturing this adventure than me.)