Week 2: Akuapem Hills

 

 

After a week in Cape Coast, we departed by bus for Akuapem Hills, which is in the eastern region of Ghana.  We arrived in the city of Akropong four hours later.  We are staying in the home of a woman called Mercy.  Her four grandchildren also reside there in addition to dozens of chickens.  There is a painted wooden sign marking the long driveway that says “FOWLS FOR SALE”.  The driveway snakes from the busy Akropong Road to the peaceful two story estate, fitted with a few roaming chickens (most are in a coop).  Like most things in Ghana, the house is very colorful.  The host family is always happy to talk with us and are very generous with their home and food.  They share everything here.  The general consensus is that I love it here.  Although there is no running water (the bucket showers are coooold!) the good outweighs the bad tenfold.  The welcoming host family has made me not want to leave. And the cooking is incredible.  I love this area and am sad to know I only get to spend a week here.

 

Below are pictures of the house.

 

So we arrived here on the 5^th and were introduced to Mercy and her family.  I made fast friends with the 19 year old grandson of Mercy named Jonathan.   Next we had a quick orientation on how we were to care for the children at the day care and orphanage we would be volunteering at.  We talked about the games we would be playing with them and how to most effectively spend our time with the kids.  Laure, the Projects Abroad employee that works with us, made the presentation.  She checks up on us and organized our whole itinerary.  If you have a question, you ask Laure. She was a volunteer through Projects Abroad only 18 months ago and now works here in Akuapem Hills as the Care Director.  She makes me consider a future with Projects Abroad…  Enough of that.  That’s for a later post.  Let’s get back to what we have done here in The Hills.

The next day was Monday the 6^th.  We spent the morning at the Marcoff Foundation Home, which is an orphanage.  There we made a paper chain with the kids.  We colored on strips of paper, added stickers, and glued the strips to make interlocking rings that formed a long and colorful chain.  We let it dry and hung it up like a garland on the front of the orphanage.  It was a really nice touch.  We also spent some time playing soccer with the kids.  They are very good at soccer.  I can see a number of them on the Ghana national soccer team in the future if they just refined some of their skills.  I also spent some time teaching them a number of games I know from my time as a fellow kid.  Ninja is a favorite as well as rock paper scissors splits.  Any little thing can keep them occupied and happy for hours.  I’m happy to know that Ninja will be played at the Marcoff Foundation without me there. The legacy will continue on. J

We returned home for a lovely lunch and then departed again for some tourism.  We visited the Aburi Botanical Garden.  I learned a lot about the local flora of Ghana, which was very interesting to me as I am fascinated by environmental science.  The tour guide was very good and answered all of my questions about tropical epiphytes and hemi-epiphytes.  He also told me about the two types of conservation, which I had never heard of before. It was very educational and the grounds were wonderful.  It smelled so fresh and was so very green. 

Next, we went to the Projects Abroad office at Mamfe to get a lesson in Twi. Twi is the local language spoken in the Hills.  It falls under the greater language known as Akan, which also contains a dialect known as Fanti.  At this lesson, a local man taught us important phrases and vocabulary that have helped a lot with our communication with people around here, especially with the children.  “Me pe” means “I like”, “Bra” means “come”, “Dabi” means “no”, and “Nsu” is “water”.  I love learning new languages.  Jonathan is teaching me some more Twi in exchange for some Spanish lessons.  Twi is a very simple language as there are no verb conjugations.  I hope to continue learning more even though I am leaving Ghana in a few days. 

The next day was our first day at Adom Day Care, which is a day care for younger kids that does some schooling.  There, we changed the kids out of their uniforms and into their day/play clothes.  We played with them for hours and then went inside the classrooms and made Body Charts with them that outlined where the parts of the body are and what we use to keep our bodies clean and healthy.  After, we played some more.  The girls loved playing with my hair.  I let them go crazy with it.  They would twist it, yank it, do whatever they pleased.  Some boys joined in too.  I would always ask the kids if they wanted to be hairdressers when they grow up but they all said “no” and explained what they want to be.  One girl said she wanted to a doctor, another a lawyer, and another a bank manager.  I admire them for having such goals. 

 

After leaving the day care for the day, we had lunch, and then were given a traditional dancing and drumming lesson by some men at Mamfe.  They had such complex drumming rhythms and the dancing was very intense.  There was a lot of jumping and arm swinging.  They performed many songs and dances and then we had a turn to either dance with them or drum with them.  As I am the worst dancer on the planet, I chose to drum.  They gave us each a unique beat to pound out and together we made some cool music.  It was a really fun time. 

The next day was Wednesday the 8^th.  We returned to Adom Day Care to play with the kids and prep a wall for some murals we would be painting later.  Again, we changed the kids into their day clothes and played with them.  This time we made an alphabet chart with them.  They colored in little drawings for each letter and we pasted them onto the chart.  We awarded the kids stickers if they could find a letter on the chart.  They got the hang of it after a little encouraging and soon, everyone was covered in stickers.  Next, we set out to paint the wall surrounding the grounds of the day care white.  It took about an hour in the sun, but we got it done.  We said our goodbyes to the kids and then returned home to Mercy’s for lunch.

Next, we went swimming with the other Projects Abroad volunteers at a pool at a “Bartel” (bar/hotel).  The Global Gap Year program is not the only program that Projects Abroad runs in Ghana.  There are volunteers that work in the Hills area for various lengths of time.  I swam with a woman named Sarah who was here for a month and that day was her final day.  I also met a fellow named Marcus who had just begun a 6 month stay here.  Swimming was loads of fun.  I met a ton of cool volunteers as well as a Ghanaian police officer who was going for a swim.  We talked about the corruption in Ghana and everywhere else for that matter, and about how he wanted to join the US Marines. 

After the swim, we went to the Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa Farm and saw the first two cocoa trees ever planted in Ghana.  Our tour guide taught us about the fermentation process of cocoa.  The beans are dried in stages by the sun until they look like brown nuts.  Then they are ready to move on to the next step in the culmination process of cocoa.  Some people in our group were given the opportunity to use the super long stick with a sickle attached at the end to cut down some of the cocoa plants.  The farm also had some other types of plant life like plantains growing.  The farm tour was very interesting. I always love it when our activities involve seeing nature. 

Thursday the 9^th, we had a farm outreach and planted some trees.  We went to the school that is located across the way from the Marcoff Foundation home.  There, with the help of a local farmer, we made presentations to the kids on the health benefits of eating fruits and vegetables.  As we talked to them, another member of our group cut up some fruits and veggies provided by the farmer to serve to the kids.  It was a big success. We quizzed the kids on what certain foods can do for your body and they did very well.  After our lectures were over, we played with the younger kids while the farmer prepared the trees for planting.  Again, Ninja was a hit (literally) as well as thumb wars and playing with my camera. 

We had 30 baby trees waiting to be planted.  We dug small but deep holes using a staff with a sheet of metal attached to the end.  The Ghanaians stabbed it at the ground and used their hands to scoop out the dirt the tool loosened.  We placed the trees in the holes and filled the holes with the dirt.  Next we took some machetes to the trees to get some thick branches so we could mark where the baby trees were placed.  Finally, we did a litter run.  There is a serious lacking in the garbage can department in this country.  We gathered a ton of litter from the ground and in the plants. I asked the headmaster of the school where I could put the litter and he told me to put it in the bushes.  It was really strange for me to hear a person of power, a role model to many, just encourage littering on his own campus.  That would be unheard of in the States.  There is almost always a trash can available, and the garbage trucks pick up the waste regularly.  This is not the case here in Ghana.  Well, enough of that.  We finished with the trees, and ate a lunch there that Mercy had packed for us.

Next, we went to a bead market with an abundance of shops, where I bought a ton of stuff. I got a necklace, a bracelet, a dress, a decorative mask, a decorative wooden sculpture, and a keychain.  I had just refilled my wallet with Cedis (the currency in Ghana) and was very excited to finally have money to spend again, so I may have gone a little overboard.  At least I have gifts for people for when I return home!  The market had many lanes of shops occupied by experienced salesmen who tried to coerce you.  They were all so nice and happy to talk to me, but the whole act for business got old after a while.  I began to feel guilty for not buying and I actually allowed them to pressure me into sales.  At least everything I bought, I like.  We spent the rest of our evening at home, enjoying Mercy’s food and hanging out. 

 

The next morning, we returned to Adom Day Care to paint some murals on the walls we had recently painted white.  After sitting around at the day care for a little while playing with some children, we set off painting.  A painter had traced figures from Winnie the Pooh, Humpty Dumpty, and some fruit for us.  This is a crucial detail as our group as a whole has the artistic skills of a gnat.  His sketches were greatly appreciated.  After hours of painting in the sun, we completed the wall and went home.  It was our last day at the day care, and it was a little difficult to say good bye to Auntie Tina (the woman who runs the place).  We passed through a really fun festival on the way home and got a chance to walk around a bit.  Chiefs were raised up on throne-like seats and drummers trailed close behind, pounding out some really cool beats. 

After the festival and after lunch at home, we led a Sports Day at the Marcoff Foundation Home (the orphanage).  We divided the kids up into two teams and played four games.  First was an egg and spoon race, then a sack race, then tug-of-war, and finally dodgeball.  By the time we got into the thick of the dodgeball game, it was pouring rain, and we were loving it.  Mud was being flung and bodies were falling all over the place.  It was just a great time.  Everyone was laughing at our soaked clothes and even one boy had stripped and was just standing under an eve, naked.  We decided the teams had performed as equals, so everyone got a prize:  a biscuit and a little toffee energy cube.  It was an awesome day filled with hard work and a great pay off. 

That was the end of our volunteer work in Ghana.  The next two days were devoted to tourism, fun, and relaxation.  We visited the Shai Hills Reserve.  We got to see the vast rolling plains from our tough little van and after about a half hour drive, we reached the start of a hike.  We hiked up some steep terrain to reach Hioweyo Cave, which is located at the highest point in the reserve.  Winded, we snapped some gorgeous pictures from on top of the cave.  That was when it started raining.  Rain and I have a really special kind of relationship.  I love it, it doesn’t notice me.  It’s commensalism at its finest (any bio nerds out there getting my symbiosis reference?).  Soon after the downpour began, we were ushered by our leaders to begin our hike down.  The water on the path made it very slippery and difficult to maneuver down.  Still, I made it without falling, although I was a little muddy.  Once we exited the trail, I stood in the rain taking pictures of the serene surroundings.  I loved the rain.  It posed an added challenge and made it all the more special.  I hiked down a mountain in the pouring rain in Africa.  What did you do today?

On the way back to Akropong, the axel on our taxi detached due to the mud and rocks in the reserve ravaging the vehicle.  So, we improvised and crammed 4 extra bodies into our already full van.  I was one of two people to volunteer for a make-shift seat.  I spent half the time wedged between two seats and the rest of the time on the lap of my friend.  It was hilariously uncomfortable.  We made it to the grill we were eating lunch at in about an hour and I was finally able to stretch my legs and un-contort my body.  We ate while shivering in our wet clothes and then went home to change.  Never take for granted the luxury of dry clothes.

We then ventured to a wood market in the region of Koforidu.  Like the bead market we had visited a few days earlier, the market was filled with dozens of well-stocked shops.  I only had a few Cedis left, but sold my Sharpie to a fellow global gapper who was coloring his shoes for 10 more.  Because of this miraculous exchange, I was able to shop.  There I got a few gifts, the likes of which I will not expose.  The salespeople again were extremely persistent to the point of annoyance and guilt.  With the ridiculously low prices, and the lack of business in the market, a few of the other volunteers and I wondered how these people got by.  Some seemed so desperate for us to come look in their shops.  And just the number of shops in this one area selling all the same items was insane.  There is a serious supply and demand flaw in that market.  So much supply and so little demand.  I spent what little money I had to support these people.  Perhaps the severity of the situation will be realized when I tell this story.  I wanted to give the purse I brought on this trip to my host sister, Lydia, because she really liked it.  So, I needed to buy a new one to replace.  At the wood market, I found a bag priced at 12 Cedis (the equivalent of $4), but I only had 5 Cedis (the equivalent of $1.66) on me.  The woman considered my offer for a few moments and then reluctantly accepted my money in exchange for the purse.  I felt so guilty, as if I was robbing this poor woman.  At least I gave her something.  It’s nice to know that my presence here in Ghana is helping the struggling Ghanaian economy limp along and grow stronger.  It’s nice to know I’m supporting these people with my expenditures.

I didn't take any meaningful pictures there, but I did take one of this cane. Ooooh ahhhh.  Sorry.

That evening, we returned to that same grill from lunch to grab some dinner.  There, the restaurant was having some kind of big endorsement party for MTN (a phone company, I believe).  So, there was a DJ and dancing, and I won a hat for going up on the stage and flailing about (that’s how I dance; pretty cool).  It was a hoot and a half.

 

And then poof!  It was our last day in Ghana.  We spent the morning and afternoon at a resort fitted with trampoline, foosball, ping pong, pools, volleyball court, basketball hoop, soccer goals, and to top it all off, boat rides on the river that leads from the Lake Volta to the ocean.  It was a blast!  I scarped my leg diving for the volleyball in the rocky sand and went 4-0 in foosball.  We ate lunch there and then went on a boat ride up down part of the river.  The views were spectacular.  The hills surrounding us went right up to water’s edge and were so very lush.  We passed small little groups of homes as well as some kayakers.  It was very peaceful and I, of course, fell asleep on the way back.  I will not show you the pictures of me sleeping on a boat with my mouth hanging open for obvious reasons.  I don’t want you to have a stroke from laughing so hard.  See?  I care. 

We drove home and it was time to say our goodbyes.  Jonathan, Lydia (pictured below making me look like a giant), and Mercy were hard for me to say goodbye too.  I even promised Jonathan that I would return one day and see him.  He kept saying “No you can’t leave. I won’t let you”.  He even threatened to lock me in my room.  J  I already miss them all. 

Akuapem Hills was an amazing experience for me.  The volunteer work and just getting to see the area and its culture were wonderful.  The people are so open and friendly. I am certainly going to miss the welcoming atmosphere I breathed in here in Akropong.  I do sincerely hope that I can make it back one day.  There is so much more to explore and take in.  I love this world and am so ready to see more of it.

South Africa, I’m coming for you!!

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