my teeth hurt..

...they do, from the cold of all things, and I don't have sensodyne toothpaste here, I'm in a really spot of trouble haha. okay, silly thoughts are floating round my head, this evening has been really lovely. A few of the volunteers are leaving tomorrow and the next day so we did a special dinner (someone found a cabbage at the market so we made salad! and andi's mum sent her packet mash potato and gravy, seriously that stuff is good!). A big part of this trip that I was looking forward to was meeting the other IVs, and being here two months, I can definitely say that they have played a huge part in making this trip what it is.

I've always lived at home, so I guess being here was a taste of independence, with a whole lot of cool benefits (like we have a cook and cleaner and washing ladies and maintenance men etc etc!). All of us are fairly different characters but that has only made things more fun - we've had some pretty cool chats about life and love and religion and poverty and politics and everything in between...including the nightly conversation of every single food we miss (cheese, green beans and brocolli are high on my list!). I've learnt weird arabic expressions and realised that newfoundland is so similar to tasmania, that french sounds really cool except when everyone else in the house can speak it but you, that dutch sounds even cooler, that no matter where in the world you are from there is a lot to learn from each other :)

my brain is a bit muddled and i had lots more to write but im super tired and have to be up at 6 tomorrow (we are going to spend countless hours on a tro tro to get to the big bead markets here!). but on a funny note, we have been a little bit naughty and taught the kids some funny things to say... 'suck it to me, sucker', or 'leave me alone or i'll bite your bum!' or 'sh#t man!' (which I had no involvement in I swear!), or telling hte kids that certain people's names are 'fatty boom ba' or so on...oh the laughs :)

Blog titles really annoy me :)

I've been working with the HIV/AIDS department for two months now and am thinking of jumping into something different for my last month. Problem is, I'm not sure what... its been really interesting (and at times slightly scary!) to see how this organisation works. Definitely a huge wide gap between how I think things would be best done, and how they are actually done - though whose to say how I would do things would actually work. We have all been very frustrated with the organisation and departments across the past two months, and learning that this frustration has carried through the volunteers that have been here for a long long time. Part of the problem is us volunteers ourselves....well not us specifically, but hte role we play in the organisation.

 

Basically, our program fees fund the entire organisation, and our motivation/frustration is the driving force in getting things done. However, because IVs only stay a month or two, trying to achieve consistency and fluidity in changing things is really really difficult. Issues that IVs address one month reappear the following month when the old IVs leave and the new ones arrive. A perfect example is the way the HIV AIDS dept does outreach...we have a team of four local volunteers and as many IVs that decide to work with them. When we sit down with groups in the community to discuss the virus, transmission and prevention, it ends up being the entire group of us when essentially, one or two individuals could do the entire presentation. So we suggest that the team be broken into groups - hey presto, our productivity is increased three fold. But then we hear from a past IV still working on camp that they did the exact same thing...and yet once they left, things automatically went back to how they were. Its a small example,. but it appears to be the culture of the organisation.

 

There are a whole range of issues that need to be dealt with for this organisation to make a bigger impact than it current does. Its not that the potential isn't there - they receive significant funding (especially relative to costs on camp), they have a constant influx of talented, motivated, hardworking IVs, they have 70 local volunteers and departments working across a range of fields. We seem to be here at an important time in the organisation...they are in the midle of a review of all the local volunteers and the director is about to leave to re-establish the org in Liberia. The director himself is one of problems - at least many IVs have problems with him, as have the local staff. Seeing him leave will hopefully bring a breath of fresh air! The two guys second and third in charge will move up into the roles and have been chatting with us on our thoughts of improving and changing things to see the org really move forward. Which is really cool and I think part of my next few weeks will be spent suggesting solutions to problems and ideas for growth. But I guess always in the back of my mind is the thought that once I leave, once our group goes, everything could go back to how it was, and the whole cycle starts again.

 

If I could do this trip over (not that I don't like what I am doing, what has happened so far...but just if I could do it again!) I would have come and worked with CBW for a month then spent a good 6 months or so here connecting with other programs and projects and not constrained by just the one. There is a lot of need here, and its clear that there is a huge need for sustainable, well thought out projects that break the 'hand out' mentality that is running rife. As one girl working here said, in many ways Buduburam is a great example of what NOT to do in development. Its pretty cool though to see the reality of why things went wrong/dont work, but then see some groups and projects that are actually working. You realise though, if you want to put bread on the table each night here in camp, you either run alittle market stall, own an internet cafe (both which have limited demand) or set up an NGO and take your share of hte funding. Back to my original thought htough, it would have been cool to dedicate a more significant amount of time and energy to this place..never fear though, I haven't extended my plane ticket and will be back early Marach...all ready to jump straight back into uni haha

 

Well thank you if you got this far...its good to get some rambling thoughts out of my head. Oh and news from today, a real tragedy on camp, a young boy fell down a water well and died. He broke his neck and was left unnoticed in the water for too long..we dont know exact details and probably never will (rumours about everything and anything are the way it goes here) but its dreadfully sad. It happened somewhere behind our house, roughly in the same kinda neighbourhood though... :-(

Over half way now...

You know sometimes when you just have one of those days? When things are frustrating and the weather is bad and you are just annoyed and grumpy and irritable and what not? Had one of those the other day, just getting sick of having faces ALWAYS staring in the windows, and sick of eating rice and fried chicken and cabbage stew, over the heat and the frogs and the mice and having no power etc etc. Thank God for our dear housemate Sarah, she brought along a video Ipod with the entire series of Grey's Anatomy...I'm now officially addicted. It eased the frustration but has made me a little more emotional (we just watched the end of season three and meredith is close to dead and christina's just got engaged and george got married and oh my goodness its been a rollercoaster of emotions!) Haha, but seriously, made me think I'd like to get some of my feelings about everything down in a blog, not just regurgitating up what we've done each day.

 

So here goes...

 

APPRECIATIVE to have this exprience, to be learning and seeing in reality what I've been studying in theory, to be rooming with some really fantastic girls from all around the world, to have the chance to hear the personal stories of a handful of people whose lives have been so much more full on than I could ever imagine, to eat fan-ice icecream, to be able to escape the camp on the weekends if things get too much, to be part of the journey towards something better for some of these people.

 

FRUSTRATED that there are no easy answers at any level - for the child that gets beaten at home, for the kids whose parents can not afford school fees even though they are no more than $10, for the families that have been split up over the past 17 years, for the girls who, in order to feed clothe and care for themselves and their children, must sell their bodies in a region with the highest AIDS infection rate, for the community of 40,000 people who are not accepted here in Ghana, are too scared to return to Liberia and live in false hope of leaving for the US, Canada, Australia etc.

 

IRRITATED that an entire generation are growing up with a handout mentality, that so many of the organisations that are here to help are either unable or unwilling to provide the extent of help needed, that Ghanaians are denying the refugees opportunities and jobs, but making money off them instead, that Liberian's themselves are making a profit off the suffering of their people, that I don't really understand how this place works and probably won't ever, that three months is not enough time to even scratch the surface of this unsettled society.

 

DELIGHT in the beautiful, smart, funny, intelligent, cheeky kids, in meeting individuals and getting to know them day to day, in being able to contribute even a little to seeing some good happen in this place, in trying some delicious food, in seeing an amazing country, in water fights with the kids, in seeing a bunch of boys brighten up when they hear they will go to school for the first time in a long while due to their own efforts in making beautiful jewellry, in eating nutella and brie and bread (sometimes all at once), in watching Grey's Anatomy :)

Livin' it up!

So some exciting adventures have been had, and because sharing is caring, I thought I'd jot them down and share with you all - aren't I lovely? :-)

 

The past few days have been filled with glorious scenery and a real collection of new experiences. One of the most momentous moments occurred on Friday. Iris and I decided, rather late in the day actually, to embark on another trip into Accra. Iris' reasons for going were really quite trival matters - meeting up with a friend who is going to visit her in Holland, heading over to immigration to renew her visa and make sure she isn't kicked out of the country etc. My purpose, however, was a much more serious mission - the purchasing of a shiny glass jar of heaven, commonly known as Nutella. I won't share how much it cost us, I'm truly embarrassed, lets just say it'd be enough to buy my dinner with for near to three weeks. Ouch! But oh glory be, it is just delightful :) Another Accra moment was eating at a scrumptious vegetarian place owned by a Brisbane girl. Hommus to die for (but not as good as the nutella!)

 

Next highlight was trying to travel with eight others. We have a really great group, all girls and much fun, but it can get tricky trying to make plans...actually to make any sort of decision! As such, we ended up almost stuck in a forest, in the middle of no where, for the night. It was dark, we were too late to get accomodation and there was a general agreement that the night had a very Blair Witch Project feel about it. Thankfully we had trotro drivers who were happy to cart us to the closest accomodation (Hans Cottage Botel...yes thats botel not hotel, apparently it isnt just a spelling mistake but over all the uniforms and signs and what not).

 

We made the journey much more memorable with lime cordial and strawberry gin, however our minimal planning skills left us with out any cups - though where we lack with planning things, we make up for in resourcefulness - strawberry gin and lime cordial were mixed in an empty popper box, an icecream wrapper and a cookie packet. Hans Cottage was lovely and the restaurant was built over this small lake with real baby crocodiles in it - crikey mate!

 

This morning (Sunday) we packed up and returned to where we were almost stranded the night before - Kakum National Park. The park has Africa's only canopy walk, a rope and wood suspension bridge trail 40m above the ground and one of the most beautiful rainforests in the world. Its true, I'm scared of heights, but the beauty of it was overwhelming enough to forget any previous fear. If we can get our act together we are going to head back in a few weeks time and camp up in the trees on one of the platforms. Should be amazing! And being there in the early hours of the morning, you are more likely to see some African wildlife (we only saw butterflies...but very pretty butterflies at that).

 

After Kakum and some more trotro madness, we went to Elimina, a coastal town made famous by the ex-slave castle and fort on the shore. The castle is architectually beautiful and painted white all over with black shutters and trimming. However the place quickly loses its charm after listening to the tour guide. We visited where they held the slaves and heard about the tragic conditions the slaves, especially the women, were kept in. Historically, the coast of Ghana was spotted with slave forts, where the Dutch, Portugese and British (often under the guise of Christianity) traded other human beings, usually after destroying any sense of humanity held by these individuals. The moment that most disgusted me was walking in and through the church building right in the centre of the castle's courtyard. It made me think back to Amazing Grace, the film about William Wilberforce, and to actually be at a site so important to the trade - wow, very thought-provoking.

 

One disappointment was having a camera without charged batteries, but I'll definitely try and get some photos off the others. The view from the top of the castle was amazing, right along the coast and back to the township, all bright and colourful and busy, full of old style colonial portugese buildings and markets and gondala style boats along the river that weaves straight through the middle. Seriously, Ghana is beautiful!

 

Okay internet time is ticking away and my belly says its dinner time, so signing off for now but will be back soon as there are many more stories to share! much love, Laura xx

Early January Update

Here's some mini stories for you all...

 

In the cuteness stakes, there is a little girl that lives near the office that doesnt really say much but loves to be around you. We were doing hiv/aids outreach two days ago with all the new IVs, and I was holding the presentation props, including a fake penis, on my lap (waiting to blow everyone out of the water with the fantastic condom demonstration I get to do each day). The little girl came up and was fiddling with everything, pointing at the penis and trying to take it off me. She ran off for a few moments before returning with 5 peswas (cents) to buy the "candle" aka fake penis. It was very cute :)

 

The kids at our house wanted to see any photos that we may have, so Sarah brought out one of her and her boyfriend, to which all the kids, girls and boys alike, declared the boyfriend to be 'very very beautiful' and Sarah to be very lucky to have him. I have a few photos here, one being a big group of friends (that we took at church one night for steffs birthday, for those involved). The kids were keen to know who everyone was so i went through the whole group and told them the name of the person and how I knew them. One girl announced that all of us were very fat and should stop eating so much (nobody in the photo was really overweight at all!) though she thought Sam Gray and Dave Stay were 'so fine!' said only as an african girl can. Gave me the giggles :)

 

This is the gross story :) . Last night Iris and I rearranged our room to seat up a couple of chairs and small table to relax in in one corner. We were moving our bedside table across the room so I went to grab my pile of books off it (they were on the lower shelf and kinda in the dark). I went to grab what i thought was a bracelet off the top of the books but knocked it by mistake and everything fell on the ground. To my horror it wasnt a bracelet but the head of a very dead mouse, brains slowly falling out and no body to be found. I almost threw up and used at least 3 L of hand sanitiser hahaha. Almost as bad as the time I stood in a drain by mistake because it was so incredibly dark by the internet place. Drains here carry rubbish and water and sewrage and anything else you can think off, truly a disgusting moment that I do not want to think about again ever hahaha. unfortunately I got stopped by a ridiculous amount of guys on the way home and had my patience realllllly tested!

 

Speaking of guys, they are hilarious. All declare their love or interest in you, say some of hte funniest things and really don't take the hint. I resorted to telling htem all that Josh, one of last months IVs who only just left, was my boyfriend, or that I'm married with kids back home, but even then they suggest that you could have an African man and a husband back home. The best is when they pull out the 'I will pray and fast that God changes your heart' line, because 'I knew from the moment i met you that we are meant to be together, my heart believes it and I can not deny my heart'...oh the gold ones are 'I very very love you girl....and sorry what is your name again?' Apart from camp politics and finding dead bodyless mice in my room, the guys are probably the most frustrating thing here heheh. Oh and the new late night church sessions they are running about ten metres from our house.. good times hehe.

 

I think I may have mentioned the forest behind our house before, no? Where people go to get high or relieve their bladder..or both.. So a few of us went exploring a couple of days ago, lots of fun. Its this lovely rainforest style thing with a stream and all these dug out areas, lots of people playing board games or poker, a little veggie plot and its much cooler than the rest of camp. A friend of one of the guys led us around and then we reached all the stoned guys :) :) My favourite moments include :

 

Our guide friend was telling us, while smoking a joint, that 'the forest is a place for us to escape the frustration and congestion', while one of his equally stoned friends was off in his own world, stating in a chant-like, almost melodic manner, "frustration... congestion"...I half expected people to break into some disney Scar and the hyenas song routine, one of those moments you think 'holy crap im in africa on the other side of hte world in some random forest with a bunch of stoned guys and disney really wouldn't condone this but heck it'd be funny and why again am i here?'

 

Second moment was all of them telling us that 'we Liberians are peaceful people' but none of us really hearing a word their said cause a huge fight/yelling match broke out behind them :)

 

Last thing that is making me smile as I write this is thinking about our security guards, both nice guys but they are a little crazy, both completely sure that the other one is trying to kill them :) I guess that works in our favour though, both so concerned in staying awake all night for their own safety that they are sure to stay awake and keep an eye on our house.

 

And one last thing, I promise, the kids here are so adorable haha, their names are really something else hey, next door to us lives 2 year old Tigger, behind us lives 4 yr old Queenstar, up the road lives 13 yr old Fanta and other names include Push, Surprise, Prince, Queen, Queengirl, Nanna (poor little boy!) etc.

New Years

Happy New Years :) Thought I'd pop in with a quick update on the last few days...

We haven't worked for the last week and a half with Christmas and everything, so have had heaps of fun with the kids and everyone else we've met along the way. One highlight was a killer waterfight with half the neighbourhood and probably half our water supply for the week. BUT for the fun and heat relief it brought - totally worth it :)

 

Our last minute plans for New Years were to head into Accra. We stayed at this crazy little hostel right on the coast, literally perched on the top of the cliff. Great view, rooms were very basic but the manager was a lovely old rasta man with funky teeth and a passion for yoga. As always, my memories revolve around the food I've consumed - lunch was at a little smoothie place in Osu (the trendiest suburb) that has smoothies to die for. We stuffed ourselves silly at dinner time, dining at the most popular western restaurant, Frankies, and then stopped at a deserted bar for drinks. Half the country seemed to be in church, but there were a lot of people out on the main street in Osu, so we hung there for awhile, waiting for a count down that never came, hence we actually missed the turn over from 2007 to 2008. Once we got over our disappointment we kept moving, trying to find anywhere with some good music. That hunt led us to a gas station of all places, where the little eatery attached was playing cool reggae beats. There was probably a total of six others there when we arrived, but by the time we left we had attracted a small crowd (I'd like to say it was our good looks and charm, but i think it was mostly the delight of watching uncoodinated white girls try and dance reggae to Bob Marley!). There were some gold conversations that night - I ended up with a set of Ghanaian twins that were certain that my friend Zeina and I were twins (Zeina is a dark-featured Egyptian girl and I'm, well you all know how white I am!). While being way from camp is fun and often really needed, there is nothing like coming back to this place :) i can't post photos at the moment but if you do a google search (buduburam) i'm sure you'll find some sweet shots to get a better idea of what everything looks like.

 

The Jan IVs arrived yesterday and today, very exciting to have some more people around and cool to show the sweet places we've found on camp. I started working again today, doing hiv/aids outreach this morning and brainstorming with one of hte dept. guys on how to improve the work they do. I've got two months left and while I did get to do some cool things in the first month, much of my time was spent figuring out the basics of this place. I feel a lot more in tune with whats going on (always something crazy - we've had sick children and medication overdoses and ghanaian gangs on camp and the usual neighbourhood bickering!) and am looking forward to getting in and doing some cool stuff!

 

Internet time is almost out so I best be off - much love to everyone!! Oh and if anyone has the time, im desperate for news, like current affairs Aus and International, it takes too long to load websites and there are no newspapers here and as a journo student its killing me!! just a copy and paste of an article on anything (even cricket - yes i know thats desperate!) would be appreicated...esp. news on kenya!

 

love to all xx