Time flies... when you're having fun

Wow. Its been far too long since I've written... sorry about that! Time goes by so quickly here....

Well, at work things have been moving along pretty quickly. I've been working closely with Lauren and Auntie Renee to draft the training manual for the GSB program. The whole training initiative seems to be on fire with excitement and vitality.... as we say in Ga, "wo bag b3 am3" (we will kill them!)

The training manual document continues to evolve. At this point in time it is thirteen pages, and still going! Every day we sit in the seminar room with the document up on the projector so the three of us can go over edits together and brainstorm new content.

Today I continued working on the visuals for the document, which is my area of responsibility. I've been compiling a great deal of photos of the trainees and their activities, and even taken a few videos. The document is going to be very long and packed with ideas and information, so I want to be able to include LOTS of images. After all, a picture is worth a thousand words eh? I am also going to put the videos together into a video presentation. I'm waiting to start that because I know I will be recording a lot of new content soon. Another part of the visual presentation of the training are some charts and diagrams explaining the structure of the training as well as the philosophy of it and its evolution. It's really inspiring to work on.

In the afternoons we often go across the street to the Design Center for discussions and workshops with the trainees. We've begun a program where each of the trainees has an opportunity to teach something to the group. So far Talata has taught us how to make our own earrings, Commey told us a story from traditional culture (his grandfather was the chief of Kokrobitey village when he was alive), and Mr. Morrison told us another story that sparked a heated debate on whether or not cleverness is a good characteristic of a peacemaker. It is really amazing to see the intelligence of these young people and their capacity for abstract thinking. We have some better discussions here than I do in some of my college courses!

I have been able to contribute to the workshop series by teaching the trainees how to draw. I began by teaching them simple one point perspective, and we spent a few lessons practicing and learning how to apply the concept by drawing a road and houses in perspective. Today was the trainees' first lesson in two point perspective. They picked it up so quickly! I am beginning to be so proud of them. I've never had the opportunity to teach like this, and I am absolutely loving it.... I'm learning just as much as I'm teaching! We seem to have a really great learning environment going.

I've been learning the Ga language as well. There are several different tribal languages spoken in Ghana, but the two languages spoken in the Greater Accra region other than English are Twi and Ga. Twi is actually more common, but since most obrunis (white people/foreigners) choose to learn Twi, I've decided to go against the flow and learn Ga. I am thoroughly enjoying it, and am beginning to pick up on what people are saying. Its a long process, but slowly I'm getting there! Everyone seems to have new words for me and I am learning from everyone.

Well, thats all I have for now, I will have more posts coming on other topics, like social life, food, new friends, etc. If I wrote it all down now I'd probably have a novel! I will attach some photos below of the training. Also, here is a list of the participants in the program:

Me
Lauren
Akrofi
Larteh
Mr. Morrison
Akos
Maame Esi
Maame Yaa
Maame Adjoa
Commey
Teteley
Talata
Kor Kor
Dzifa

The Design Center- where the sewing machines are

Maame Esi helping another trainee on the sewing machine

Talata's jewelry workshop, left to right: Maame Yaa, Talata, Kor Kor, Dzifa, Commey

Cleaning recycled inner tube for use in designing bags and jewelry, left to right: Dzifa, Kor Kor, Elorm, Teteley

Sunday on the beach

Hey,

After a fun and eventful Friday and Saturday, it was time for a restful Sunday. I was able to sleep in for a while, which was really refreshing. A few hours after waking up, I headed to the beach with Lauren, Akrofi, and Erica, a previous intern from the Institute who has continued to live in Kokrobitey. We walked around for a bit, and Lauren and I bought dresses from Beatrice, a friend from the village who makes simple dresses and walks around selling them on the beach.

We sat down to rest, soak up the sun, and relax. We saw two of our friends from Osu and talked to them for a while. They are interesting characters, one of them taught me how to play this little instrument most of the Rastas have, made of two large nuts filled with seeds and tied to one another with string. You play them by moving them through your fingers and creating rhythms. It took a lot of practice but I finally got it, and I bought one to keep. Our other friend taught me to read poetry to the beat of the Rastas' drumming. It is so interesting to pick up these little bits of knowledge and culture from the different people I meet.

While we were laying on the beach a small boy walked over with a puppy on a leash and.... a baby monkey! All three of them were adorable. I didn't catch the boys name, but the puppy was Raphael and the monkey was Rocky. They were very friendly and climbed all over us! The monkey was always glued to the puppy's side, and when they left to continue on, the monkey tried to ride on the puppy's back!

When the heat was becoming oppressive, we went into the ocean for a swim. The water was beautiful, and it was the perfect temperature. We laid on the beach for a while longer, until a wave came up and soaked our things! We decided then that it was time to head back for a shower and some dinner. It was a really fun day.

off to market

After an eventful Friday night in Osu, we had a nice breakfast at Auntie's, and headed back towards Kokrobitey. We needed to get food to stock the kitchen (we have been cooking for ourselves) so on the way back we stopped at Kaneshie to buy some fresh veggies. Kaneshie is a big market on the edge of Accra and has several floors. There are stands with a huge variety of different things to buy. At Kaneshie we purchased carrots, ginger, peppers, lettuce, tomatoes, cucumber, and several other vegetables. We then hopped in the tro-tro and went to Shop Rite (yes, there IS a Shop Rite in Ghana) to pick up some items that we couldn't get at Kaneshie. It was somewhat odd to walk around in a grocery store after being in the hectic market atmosphere.

We then caught a taxi and headed back to Kokrobitey. We were exhausted after unloading our groceries and got some much needed rest.

Of course, since it was a Saturday night we had to go to Big Milly's for Reggae Night. Big Milly's is a small beachside resort in Kokrobitey. There is a restaurant there as well as an outdoor bar by the beach. Every Saturday night they have live Reggae music. Almost the whole village comes out to dance and have a good time. Kokrobitey is an interesting village because it actually has more white people than most. Because it is right on the beach, our village attracts tourists. And tourists, particularly white girls, attract Rastas. There is a very large Rasta population in Kokrobitey chillin on the beach all the time. They are a funny and friendly group. We actually ran into one of our friends we hung out with in Osu while we were there. After lots of dancing, I finally headed home to the Institute and slept very well!

the beginning of many adventures...

Okay, so broken computer + power outages = late posts... my bad! I began this one a few days ago:

It's only my third full day here in Ghana and I've already experienced so much and had such a great time.

On Friday I began work on a booklet explaining the Kokrobitey Institute's Ghana School Bag Training Initiative. I'm working in Adobe inDesign compiling photos as well as the description of Auntie Renee's vision for the program. I'm excited to begin contributing more to the project.

Friday afternoon I headed out to Accra (the capital) with Lauren, another girl from America who works in the office at the Institute, and Akrofi, one of the main designers here. We took the tro-tro, which is an experience in and of itself. A tro-tro is a van used for public transportation, and will fit about 15-20 people inside (yes, its a tight fit). The tro tro is extremely affordable, which is why so many Ghanaians take advantage of it. You never know who will hop on and what they will have with them (chickens anyone?).

So, after riding the tro-tro into Accra, we went to Obruni Waru (not quite sure about the spelling), which literally means "the white man's dead". It is basically a huge secondhand market. Part of the market is covered with a kind of pavilion. It's a quite interesting place and would be fun to check it out some more, if it weren't for the people grabbing your arms trying to get you to buy something.

Afterwards we took the tro-tro to Osu, which is one of the nicer areas in Accra. We did a little shopping there and got ice cream (hard to find here!) before meeting up with Auntie Renee. We all went to a fashion show at Citizen Kofi, a multi-floored bar/club/venue. The show was for the new collection for African Mod Trends (amt), titled "button me" and "patch me bead me". The collection was made up of simple solid color designs embellished with buttons, patches, and beads with African prints. It was interesting to see what upper class Ghanaians were like after living in Kokrobitey village. There were some nice designs in the show, although many of them could have been further refined. After the show there was some live music and spoken word (poetry) and a reception. It was a great evening.

After the fashion show, Lauren, Akrofi, and I went out into Osu. We ran into some young men who frequently visit in Kokrobitey, and went to a few different places with them to hang out and dance. I feel like every experience I have here in Ghana introduces me to a new type of social circle!

We were pretty exhausted, so we finally headed back to Auntie Renee's Accra house to spend the night. It is a beautiful house and I slept like a rock!

More to come,
Emily

I made it!

Hello from Ghana!

I am finally getting settled here in Kokrobitey after arriving yesterday evening.... what a trip! My flight out of CT was two hours late, and I came very close to missing my flight out of Washington DC to Accra. However, I ran as fast as I could to my gate and made my flight on time... I think I was the last one aboard. The flight was about 10 hours, and I arrived in Accra at around 2pm, where I was met by Yaw (pronounced "yao") from the insitute. The traffic was awful as we left Accra, but luckily we had air conditioning in the car! I'm not sure what time I actually made it to the Institute- my internal clock is completely off.

Last night I got settled in my room, and went out for pizza with some of the other people at the institute... ironic isn't it? Pizza in Africa. It was pretty good though :) On the way to the restaurant we passed by a few people in the village who remembered me and I received some warm welcomes.

I spent this morning in the Design Center meeting the trainees for the Ghana School Bag (GSB) project. Right now they are working on small bags to hold and protect Kindles, which are being donated to several Ghanaian schools by WorldReader. Along with sewing and bag construction skills, the trainees are learning many other life lessons including how to accept critique, how to converse in the workplace, brainstorming, and more advanced English grammar. The production of the GSB is a great real life application for the trainees.

The girls are very sweet, and they were incredibly welcoming. I'm looking foward to getting to know them better during the next three months.

For lunch I went out to eat with Auntie Renee (the Institutes founder/director) and some of the other young people working here to talk about the vision of the GSB project as well as some programs for upcoming visitors in the next few months. Looks like we have a lot of work ahead of us!

Well, thats all for now. I've been a little too tired and busy to take photos, but there should be some coming soon :)

Welcome!

Welcome to my blog!

If you're here, you probably know that I am traveling to Ghana in the next few weeks. I received my official confirmation for my internship at the Kokrobitey Insitute on Friday, August 26th. This week I'll be taking the next steps: booking my flight and applying for a Visa.

Feel free to check back from time to time to hear more about my experiences!