Hello,
I hope all is well with everyone! It's been a while since my last posting and I am sure you are all wondering what I am up to. Well, I am busy teaching my little school kids everyday, and I am amazed at how much they are all learning. I have Raymond reading full sentences, I have Sariyum finally breaking out of his shell and communicating with me, and I have a little cling-on in Eric. He follows "teacha Heatha" everywhere!! And he gets very upset if he's not getting my full attention! He's so cute, I could take him home! I will be posting more pictures of them in the upcoming week, including some photos of some of their school work.
This Saturday Prosper is taking me to a live Reggae concert in Accra. Now if you are familiar with Jamaican Rasta music, you will be sure to love this! However, I am a beginner when it comes to understanding this style of music, so I have a lot to learn. I tell you though, I am becoming a bigger fan everyday. You can't go anywhere in Ghana without hearing reggae blaring through the speakers - it's something that connects blacks and whites everywhere in Africa and around the world. The concert begins in the afternoon and continues until after midnight! We'll see how long I last! I will be sure to take lots of pictures to help enlighten you on what a mass concentration of Rasta fans looks like! Should be interesting!
I want to inform all of you that I have an article appearing in the Fort Saskatchewan Record tomorrow (Friday, October 26) that details some of my work here thus far. For those of you who do not have access to this, I will be sure to post the link to the article on the blog. I hope you enjoy it!
All right, it's diner time and I'm hungry, so I better run!
Take Care,
Love Heather
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Beautiful Time in the Volta Region
Hi Everyone,
I hope this message finds everyone well! It has been a trying week posting photos from my weekend trip. But I have finally been able to add them to my blog, so I hope you enjoy!
My friend Prosper and I met up in his home town of Keta, on the Eastern coastline not far from the boarder of neighbouring Togo. I made the two hour tro-tro ride into Keta after school on Thursday and met up with Prosper at 6:00 in the evening. As I meet him at the station, he tells me I have to meet some of his buddies, and that the plan is to go to Mom’s for dinner. We went and hung out with his friends, me having my Coke and Prosper having his STAR (Ghanaian beer!). His close friend is a teacher, so I had an awesome chat with him! We then headed to his old stomping grounds to visit his mother. Now you have to understand, on the coastline, everything is fish, fish, fish! I have had many difficult moments contemplating whether or not to try it, and up until Thursday night, I have always decided no. We proceed to wash our right hand and dig into our meal. (In Ghana, you only ever use your right hand to eat, never your left!) I was so reluctant at first; I mean the bloody fish still had the eyes in them. Just little suckers! So after spiting up nothing but bones, Prosper, being the gentleman he is, helps to tear the fish up for me. I grit my teeth and hammer on! I am quite pleased with myself actually. I didn`t gag once!
After our enlightening dinner, we headed to his Uncles house where we spent the night. What an absolute beautiful spot on the sea! The house was a stone`s throw from the ocean and you could hear the massive waves before even setting your eyes on the water. Keta at one point years back was washed away and the entire city became a ghost town. It now holds one of the largest markets in the region. One of the most beautiful sights I have seen thus far!
Unfortunately, we did not get an opportunity to head north and see some of the devastating flood areas in the region. We would have had to travel north about two hours to see some of the worst hit places. We are talking about a path of destruction that has wiped out every single structure in some areas and has killed hundreds of people. The threat now is the development of water-borne diseases such as cholera in the water. A horrific natural disaster that so many Sub-Saharan countries are facing here in Africa. If we return to Keta in the upcoming weeks, I hope to visit these regions and check out some of the devastation first hand.
You will notice the large chunks of rock that line the coast. They are there to prevent the town from being washed away, and these massive rocks line the coast for miles. They go down some 30 feet into the ground. The photo with the tops of our heads cut off was taken by a man who had never seen a camera before – he is pictured with Prosper. So many cool people in Keta, and they have such a laid back mentality that was a welcomed change from the hustle and bustle of Accra! I will return again soon!
I still have many photos to share with you – photos that will help you gain a better understanding of the hustle and bustle I was just mentioning. I will post those photos of Accra soon! And I have a precious blog entry to add of the children playing in my house! You will love it!
By for Now! Take Care!
Love Heather
I hope this message finds everyone well! It has been a trying week posting photos from my weekend trip. But I have finally been able to add them to my blog, so I hope you enjoy!
My friend Prosper and I met up in his home town of Keta, on the Eastern coastline not far from the boarder of neighbouring Togo. I made the two hour tro-tro ride into Keta after school on Thursday and met up with Prosper at 6:00 in the evening. As I meet him at the station, he tells me I have to meet some of his buddies, and that the plan is to go to Mom’s for dinner. We went and hung out with his friends, me having my Coke and Prosper having his STAR (Ghanaian beer!). His close friend is a teacher, so I had an awesome chat with him! We then headed to his old stomping grounds to visit his mother. Now you have to understand, on the coastline, everything is fish, fish, fish! I have had many difficult moments contemplating whether or not to try it, and up until Thursday night, I have always decided no. We proceed to wash our right hand and dig into our meal. (In Ghana, you only ever use your right hand to eat, never your left!) I was so reluctant at first; I mean the bloody fish still had the eyes in them. Just little suckers! So after spiting up nothing but bones, Prosper, being the gentleman he is, helps to tear the fish up for me. I grit my teeth and hammer on! I am quite pleased with myself actually. I didn`t gag once!
After our enlightening dinner, we headed to his Uncles house where we spent the night. What an absolute beautiful spot on the sea! The house was a stone`s throw from the ocean and you could hear the massive waves before even setting your eyes on the water. Keta at one point years back was washed away and the entire city became a ghost town. It now holds one of the largest markets in the region. One of the most beautiful sights I have seen thus far!
Unfortunately, we did not get an opportunity to head north and see some of the devastating flood areas in the region. We would have had to travel north about two hours to see some of the worst hit places. We are talking about a path of destruction that has wiped out every single structure in some areas and has killed hundreds of people. The threat now is the development of water-borne diseases such as cholera in the water. A horrific natural disaster that so many Sub-Saharan countries are facing here in Africa. If we return to Keta in the upcoming weeks, I hope to visit these regions and check out some of the devastation first hand.
You will notice the large chunks of rock that line the coast. They are there to prevent the town from being washed away, and these massive rocks line the coast for miles. They go down some 30 feet into the ground. The photo with the tops of our heads cut off was taken by a man who had never seen a camera before – he is pictured with Prosper. So many cool people in Keta, and they have such a laid back mentality that was a welcomed change from the hustle and bustle of Accra! I will return again soon!
I still have many photos to share with you – photos that will help you gain a better understanding of the hustle and bustle I was just mentioning. I will post those photos of Accra soon! And I have a precious blog entry to add of the children playing in my house! You will love it!
By for Now! Take Care!
Love Heather
Wednesday, October 10, 2007
A Busy Week! - And a Busier Weekend Planned!
Hello Everyone!
Yes, I know - long time since I posted! Sorry about that. It's been a very busy week and I have hardly been home! I have this close friend and we have been hanging out everyday for the last few weeks. Prosper is such a cool friend, and of course, he is highly educated and intelligent, which is all the more reason I love to hang with him! He is a bit of a political animal and he travels throughout Ghana to promote change in the current government. You see, this country is in ruins and no one in the upper echelons of power wants to do anything about it. So people like Prosper need to go and out and make some noise and help change the political wave of this country! I am currently helping him to write a personal documentary of sorts to highlight his experiences with corruption throughout Africa. He has been the highlight of my evenings here - night clubs, trips to the beach - and this weekend, we are heading to his home town of Keta, up in the Volta region of Ghana. It's about a two hour ride on the bus, and from what I hear, an absolutely beautiful trip! I can't wait. I depart after school tomorrow afternoon! I will let you know how it goes! And of course, I will snap up a ton of pictures!
Oh, and this goes out to all my Legion friends - I have been proudly wearing my "Support Our Troops" t-shirt in Accra! I hope you are all doing the same every Friday!
Take Care,
Love Heather
Yes, I know - long time since I posted! Sorry about that. It's been a very busy week and I have hardly been home! I have this close friend and we have been hanging out everyday for the last few weeks. Prosper is such a cool friend, and of course, he is highly educated and intelligent, which is all the more reason I love to hang with him! He is a bit of a political animal and he travels throughout Ghana to promote change in the current government. You see, this country is in ruins and no one in the upper echelons of power wants to do anything about it. So people like Prosper need to go and out and make some noise and help change the political wave of this country! I am currently helping him to write a personal documentary of sorts to highlight his experiences with corruption throughout Africa. He has been the highlight of my evenings here - night clubs, trips to the beach - and this weekend, we are heading to his home town of Keta, up in the Volta region of Ghana. It's about a two hour ride on the bus, and from what I hear, an absolutely beautiful trip! I can't wait. I depart after school tomorrow afternoon! I will let you know how it goes! And of course, I will snap up a ton of pictures!
Oh, and this goes out to all my Legion friends - I have been proudly wearing my "Support Our Troops" t-shirt in Accra! I hope you are all doing the same every Friday!
Take Care,
Love Heather
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