Hey Everyone!

The good news is that I found myself a working computer cafe! There’s a lot around, Its just that none of them actually seem to be working.

Well, I arrived in Accra over a week ago and spent two nights at a hostel there with the rest of the group. It’s pretty crazy. Stepping out of a plane after a ridiculously long flight, it’s pretty bizarre to feel the hot humid air. It was something like 9:00pm and still so warm. Accra is crazy though. So many people, so much sun and these huge gutters that you have to try not to fall in. Well actually they have the gutters here in Mampong too…

We settled in with out host families last Friday. My community is Mampong-Akuapem. It’s in the Eastern Region of Ghana. I’m with my counterpart as well as another counterpart pair, It’s great, there’s 4 of us from the program in one house. Plus everyone in the group lives really close together. One of our supervisors lives in the house next to us, and then two down from that are 3 other participants.

The house I’m staying at is a Compound house. That means that there are multiple houses that are attached, with a courtyard in the middle. The kitchen, bathing room and toilet room are all separate from the house we sleep in. There isn’t running water so we have to go fetch water from the stream everyday. The locals all laugh as me and Dara (the other Canadian in my house) try to carry water on our heads. It’s harder than it looks…We always get soaked. Apart from us, no one really spills a drop on themselves. It’s pretty incredible.

No running water means no taps, no showers, no sinks, no washing machines. Everything is quite a lot more complicated. To take a bath you first have to go to the kitchen and fill up a bucket from the water we collected in the morning. And by morning I mean 5:30 am! Then you take it to the bathing room and try to figure out the easiest way to wash. For example I have yet to figure out which makes the most sense, washing your hair first or your body first? And people here bath at least twice a day. And another thing. I never realized just how much water it takes to flush a toilet. But when each bucket you use is one that you’ve walked 5 minutes to the stream for…It changes your perspective. Don’t get me started on laundry Because it’s an adventure and a half.

I’d love to write more, but my session is about to time-out. So next time! I hope everything’s terrific with all of you and that you all have a Merry Christmas and New Year!