No Words

I just returned from living in Bogunayili, a small village outside Tamale.  It's less than an hour from Tamale, but it is worlds upon worlds apart.  On the ride over here, on the most horrendous road ever, so bad a car couldn't go through and I rode in a motorcycle, I kept asking myself one thing: what am I getting myself into?

I've come to realize that the answer to that question I quite simply have no words for.  I'll never be able to describe accurately in words or even pictures what it's like to live with so so so little, yet amidst the most extraordinary warmth and hospitality I could ever imagine humanly possible.

The village of Poano in the Ashanti Region was certainly a tough time, but Bogunayili is about 10x poorer  and 10x more magnificently welcoming.  This family welcomed me in, a complete stranger, and housed me, fed me, translated for me to the best of their ability and guided me through everything and everywhere, and would not take a single cent from me. (I ended up giving them lots of gifts). In Poano, SIT was renting my room and the family was compensated, but here they were not prompted or asked by anyone, they just welcomed me in with open arms.

Life in Poano was absolute luxury compared to this.  The KVIP or latrine are quite honestly fit for royalty when you think about this community of 4,000+ people and not a single toilet, hole, KVIP, bucket, or any "poop in here" facility.  None. You must grab your little ablution can (a watering can) and head towards the bush to relieve yourself.  The added humiliation of everyone laughing and joking that the white girl is going to poop as you walk through the village was always a nice touch, but really it was just another opportunity to learn new words in Dagbani (which I still can't really speak much beyond basic greetings).

The entire experience was just amazing.  To lie under my little hut every night and spend afternoons on expeditions to fetch water, and climb trees with 60 year old women to search for firewood and haul them back on my head for cooking. I learned how to make TZ (a concoction made from corn and cassava flour)- and eat it twice a day every day, extract oil from peanuts (a great arm workout), process and dry rice, collect shea nuts for shea butter, and finally mastered the art of wrapping a baby to my back with nothing but a piece of cloth. I witnessed and helped ration out every morsel of food throughout entire families, and saw the reality of food insecurity first hand.

But most importantly, living in Bogunayili and visiting nearby communities for interviews I witnessed just how separated and neglected these communities are from all those initiatives the Ministry of Food and Agriculture claims with success. While they are wonderful ideas and programs, there is simply not enough staff to successfully implement them. A lack of collaboration between the Ministry and NGOs that have established relationships and programs in the communities, leaving the farmers and families trapped in between in a cycle of poverty. What is evident is that NGO programs help a lot, even if they are limited in resources, not just in a direct benefit way, but in increasing morale, group formation and leadership within the own communities.

It was through the inspiration left by NGOs long gone that the community formed women's groups, farmer's groups, and help start and have their own daycare without a single source of outside funding. In the same way a program over 12 years ago resulted in the community forming a student's association (BOCSA: Bogunayili with Communities Students Association) organized and funded by the communities' own youth to help each other succeed in school ,and encourage the youngest, particularly the girls, to stay in school.

In 10 years of the organization's existence, Bogunayili went from having not a single girl and few boys having finished primary school, to 21 currently enrolled in high school (11 of which are girls), and 2 in university.  They each contribute a few cents to help the neediest among them pay school fees, organize tutoring and extra classes during school breaks, have a football club for boys and girls (and managed to dispel the cultural opposition of girls playing football). The openness to help each other amidst such extraordinary poverty is nothing but humbling and inspiring.

It was with these extra classes organized that I got a chance to teach again. I'd forgotten how much I love to teach (high schoolers, can't do the little ones, they drive me crazy), there is simply nothing that compares to the feeling of sharing knowledge with youth. Their passion for learning and moving themselves and their community forward was amazing, I'll never ever forget them. (I'll be going back this week to teach again, since I'm nearby in Tamale).

Being completely alone added another dimension to the entire experience that again, I have no words for.  There was no classmate, no staff, not a single familiar face with me. (Don't worry, I have mandatory call-in times to my main staff in Accra and my guide in Tamale was just a quick ride way to bring me anything I may have needed). It was complete immersion and it was not a problem, I do prefer it that way.  Honestly, choosing to do this Ghana program I always knew that the toughest part for me was going to be having to spend 14 weeks with 17 people of my own age. And as much as I've come to really love and appreciate my peers, saying goodbye was not exactly difficult. I wouldn't have had this Bogunayili experience any other  way.   I saw and learned so much, and took away memories that I will never be able to truly express in words.

When I called Papa Attah in Accra for my mandatory check-in and explained where I was and how life was going, he was amused, and couldn't believe even the chief had to use the bush for his toilet-needs. "Giselle, only you could do this. Any other student would've called me crying days ago. ::Insert imitation tears in his 'American girl' voice::  But you, you have the maturity and compassion to handle any experience you put yourself into. Now you'll really get to see the differences between the North and the South in a way none of your friends will ever know. I have no doubt your ISP report will be great. Enjoy your life!!"

And that's exactly what I did.