More Pictures

Things move by so fast here in Ghana. Before I could even finish digesting village life, the next day I arrived in Tamale, Northern Region.  Here I am wearing a headscarf and seeming unimaginable poverty. 9 out 10 people here live under $1 a day, they speak a completely different language, Dagbani. The land of the most intense heat I've ever experienced, Islam, FGM and incredibly friendly people. Despite all I imagined before coming, this is my favorite town in Ghana thus far and I think I'll probably return here for my Independent Project.

I'll try to write more soon in between projects and traveling. The day after tomorrow we're off to a two-day safari at Mole National Park and then leaving the Northern region for Cape Coast. For now I'll share some more pictures:

One of the biggest challenges in Islamic Ghana is education, more so education for girls. Camfed stands for Campaing for Female Education and their offices are next to the place we do our lectures.

Yesterday, we visited the Women's Shea Butter Co-Op. It was a very powerful experience to not only see how Shea butter is made, but to see women come together in their own business, something unheard of in this area.

Extracting the shea oil from the roasted nuts.

An attempt at doing it myself. It's quite an arm workout.

I had a hoot with the children of the women that worked at the Co-Op, how I wish I could speak their language.

Nonetheless, I was able to teach them how to say a couple of basic greetings in English. If there is something I learned in China is  you don't need a common language to teach.

Outside the Co-Op

All that black on the ground, those are plastic bags. Plastic never decomposes.

This was my incredible family in the village of Poano. The husband was not around, but those are three wives and a sister.  They were truly amazing women. The baby was the only child in that entire village who was not afraid of me. 

The KVIP and a flashlight = Life in rural Ghana.

Eating Banku. None of the other students care for the very traditional dishes like banku, or the traditional way they are eaten: no utensils, everyone out of the same bowl, and no talking.  I love it, so I ate with the staff every day.

On our first weekend in the village, the chief invited us to a major funeral going on. We went in style.

Even with malaria, the kids never leave you alone. So I decided to entertain them with a Science/English class with a rocket launcher.

We literally threw a massive town party with a blind band at 9:30am on a Wednesday. Seriously.

The band. They were from the Kumasi School for the Blind and were doing a sort of fundraiser. They were fantastic.

We make quite the spectacle.

John, the herbalist, after winning him over. Full story.

Outside the village school. Here's the full post on Twi, and traditional languages being taken out of schools.

Some of my neighbors in Poano.

Batik class in Accra.

The finished Batik turned into a dress. And me wearing it as I try to pound fufu with Auntie Grace. Check out the napping boys in the back. In the horrible heat with no fans, sometimes all you can do is nap.

Dishes are probably one of the hardest things to do without running water.

My host family in Kumasi pounding fufu.  Definitely a lot better than I can do it.

Blonde Jesus.

Adisa the water girl. I shared the story about.

Adisa and me.

Sometimes you have to get away from all the starch and the oil. This was our attempt by making avocado-mango salad on crackers and smoothie in a bowl.

Like the good sexual health educator that I am, I enjoy taking a picture of all the "Avoid AIDS" campaign billboards.  This one was right outside the campus entrance in Kumasi. It made me giggle.