You're trying to do too much..No, you're not, you're just pushing ahead..leading..and however far Y'ALL get is good!

..and why not? after all, i do have oodles of relevant experience and most people that i interact with here don't..and once you find some folks who really do want to improve things/resolve things, then it's OK to lead as long as you make it 'we' and not 'me' ..and you recognise and smilingly accept that this is indeed Ghana, and rural Ghana at that, and so some limitations on expectations have to be understood....and you have to be patient, etc.

A time ago, when i was waiting and waiting on PC to decide that i wasn't really too olde and decrepit to come to Africa as a PCV, i would tell myself that PC was '.. just a platform..' and that if they finally said 'No' then I would find another platform to come to Africa on. I would tell myself that whereas PC would give me some good training, some financial support, some contacts..and GREAT Medical support, what i could do here would be entirely up to me..and Lady Luck..and that once i was placed then it was always going to be a question of what i could make of the situation...PC or not-PC.

Now i recognise that, for me, that is exactly the right 'attitude'.

There is no such thing as the ideal, the perfect, the 'normal' PCV..but i was never going to be interested in PCV group activities or committees..partially because...hmmm..partially because...emmm, partially because 'younger' PCV's don't have much respect for (much) older PCV's (the U.S. youth worship thing?) but also because it never seemed to be a real part of why I came here as a PCV and i was never willing to fake it. I would have 'joined up' if I'd thought that there was a real desire to share across the generations but there isn't and there wasn't. Does it hurt a little..sure..and one is conscious of it at all PC functions to some extent.

But I knew coming in (coming back) that my PC life was always going to be what i could make of it, what i could make of the opportunity.

Easily then the best part of my current 'situation' in Whuti-Srogboe is that i'm working exclusively with Ghanaian people whom i can begin to call 'business associates or community-development partners' and to that extent then having to go up to Accra next week for a 2-day Mid-Service Health Check seems like a pain in the ass and negatively impacts (only really a very small amount) our progress here. ..although now that i'm here and editing this post, it seems like a nice little break where i can work on some other aspects...like a SPA proposal to fund the Primary School Library. And it's done and delivered to the new SPA co-ordinator, basically in two days..and it's good and the timing is good too ...and, and... there are two other possibilities for getting funds for the Primary School Library..which is great because we can't do it without funds.

Overall hereI may end up being disappointed (...and that may have happened in my life before!!!) but I feel very optimistic about the broad potential of our efforts now AND most encouragingly the feeling of real support and enthusiasm from some community members, some teachers AND some students. What we're doing if we can fully realise it, not just in terms of setting up the two Libraries but in actually developing and operating them as Learning Environments with student Library Volunteers ...is a low-cost replicable model for many schools and communities in this area and perhaps at 3-4,000 GH cedis per Library there could be organisations with deep pockets (like Nivole's Hong Kong bank ) who could fund us/them.

Of course, too, the proof of the pudding is in the eating and it isn't as important what we or other 'elders' think of the work, etc ..what is important is the effect on student literacy at the Primary and the JHS. This has to be measurably improving by next year's exams..and then has to continue to get better. Then we won't need to worry about justifying ...just pushing on, widening, improving.

I have to control my excitement and expectations but this all makes me feel very good about being here, coming here...and staying here.

I will add some JHS Library-Work in Progress pictures..and some Whuti Primary Library..this is the space we start with pictures also.

Food for Thought...about Libraries and Learning

For a while now, I've tried to find the famous Osu Children's Library in Accra on my trips down there..but the directions that i had were vague. Embarassingly, as i now find out, the start point or the directions was a bar called the Honeysuckle which 'all PCV's know'...except me, so i could never get the start point and direction right. Address?-sure but that is of limited, make that very limited, use in Accra because most streets have either no name or no street signs. And City Maps are not very detailed, and there is no handy grid pattern like Manhattan, etc. Eventually by locating a building that showed up on Google maps and guessing where the Library might be from there, i used my first afternoon in Accra last week ( in town for the big 50th Anniversary of PC Volunteers arrival in Ghana) to determinedly strike out for the Library. A couple of tentative turns and some confusion but i found it at last.... and it is a good 30 minute hike to get there from the top of 'Oxford Street' in Osu.... but five minutes after it had closed for the day! No matter...it looks interesting, formed as it is by putting three big shipping containers together. And now i know how to find it.

So next day, after our PC celebrations in the plush surroundings of the US Ambassador's Residence, which turned out to be quite close to the Library, i headed back there.

The Library was started on a shoe-string by a Canadian lady in the mid-90's and has been very successful and the NGO now has many (how many..?) children's libraries in Ghana.

I spent a couple of hours there and was warmly greeted and treated.And it was VERY ENLIGHTENING AND THOUGHT PROVOKING!

Ever since i came back from my trip back home to the U.S. over 4th July, I've been struck by the fact that my time in Whuti is halfway done ..and that now i have to consolidate the work here and leverage it to really reach and help the community's children.

Putting together the Library and running it for the last ten or eleven months has obviously been a learning experience...for me and for the community. Initially, of course, i thought that once we opened the Library, children of all ages would come, would 'discover' the library and books and make it a regular part of their lives. And some did, and we're happy about that and the number of users has steadily grown and we have quite a few regulars. But many children don't come, aren't encouraged to come..and none of the schools, churches, or parents seem to be pushing them towards the Library.

That is addressable and with the start of the new school year, we will aggressively reach out to children via the schools and teachers and the churches..and via the not very activist Library Advisory committee. We should be able to get three or four times as many users as we had at the end of the school year.

But the other part of the resolution is to use the Library to actually help children...and simply having a nice place and lots of books isn't enough.

I can't radically change the literacy levels of the community's 1000+ students but we can use the Library to establish an alternative process (group-based remedial reading?) that will immediately improve literacy for some students and if we catch them young enough, we can really begin to solve the problem over time. The Library then needs to become a Learning Centre and we need to find older students who are willing to work with small groups of younger children to help them in their reading. That is doable but difficult and i should point out that it isn't easy for me to figure out how to put that together ...it surely involves pedagogical skills that i don't currently have (and that are so far from the teaching model in Whuti that there is no point in asking)

It was in this uncertain frame of mind...am i on the right track, can the Library be put on the right track?...that i visited the Osu Library.

I will try to attach some pictures but the first thing one notes is that it is quite small, has a free-form feel and uses covered outdoor space to extend its area. Small...it is built round three big blue shipping containers (..not unusual in Africa!) ...two end-to-end and one across the way from the 'other' two.

But it works..or seems to.

The Library is run by one Ghanaian lady, Joanna, who has a few volunteer helpers (high-school students?)...and it probably doesn't run without volunteers.

When i was there there were probably 20-25 children present..doing a variety of things and relatively few sitting reading.

There was one group of ten or twelve younger children, (aged 5-10? guessing. )who were sitting mostly on mats on the floor, 'working' with two young volunteers. They were practicing spelling with a book that they were clearly familiar with. It wasn't a sophisticated process but it was working and most children were eager to try to spell the words and success was greeted by rhythmic applause, which i've seen/heard before.

Then there were a couple of smaller groups in the other container and they were playing board games... Scrabble was one. These students were older but maybe 12-15..so JHS level? Hmmm.Scrabble..can't imagine Whuti-Srogboe children having that mental dexterity or confidence yet..but it would be a very strong improvement indicator...note to self...take a look at this..get Scrabble sent over plus other similar games.

Additionally there was another group or perhaps two working outside ...art and crafts, putting together ...emmm,stuff, you know, gluing bits of paper to a a sheet, etc..children's play stuff!!! Maybe it was finger painting?

The children seemed happy, were enthusiastic and were learning and gaining confidence.

Cute stuff...they had simple 8-12 piece wooden jigsaw puzzles made...African animals, a country map of Africa (wow!) to engage the 5- and 6- year olds. They had slots of educational stuff on the walls

And they publish their own books!!! There is a serious shortage of African/Ghanaian children's books here ...a shortage of titles that is. And so the Osu library has published their own. They have 20-30 titles, and they're really nicely produced..and cheap at 3-5 GH cedis each (so $2-$3.50) I bought 8 and the kids here really like them

Duh, yes, richard..to really teach children you need to engage their minds in a collaborative fashion. You need to make it fun..and supportive..etc, etc, etc

I sort of reeled away after a couple of hours...and headed over to 'Honeysuckle' to listen to 'my site sucks, they don't love me or let me love them ,etc '. In truth, after Romania, i can easily enough identify with this ...but i don't want to.

So now i'm back in Whuti..where over the last two weeks, 'we' have committed to renovate a space at the JHS as a Library (and possibly a Computer Lab) and inspired by generous donations, we've also committed to finding and renovating a space at the Whuti Primary as a Library also!!! Yea, don't ask....i don't know where the money will come from. Maybe a SPA grant?

But here's the thing...i somewhat despair of turning the Community Library into an interactive Learning Environment. The physical set-up is not conducive at all and i really don't know how to do it there....maybe... yet?

But with the two school spaces, we start from scratch and it may be less expensive in terms of set-up and furnishing to make them less-formal Learning Environments?

And the children deserve every little tweak that we can make!

so..no wonder my little head is spinning. Libraries 'R Us..sure, but where's the money going to come from?

all ideas cost money here..some cost less than others and are way more cost-effective...i think

Fun though and having three libraries here would be cool and get us noticed

Funerals 'R Us..say the Ghanaians.

It's hardly news but it's been news to me. Ghanaians are very, very big on funerals...bigger than i know, bigger than i've ever seen. You don't have to be living here very long without figuring that out.

I've got one more year...i should be able to understand/learn more about why. (hmmmm...i mean..one more year in Ghana!)

so, yesterday, i attended my first formal funeral..as in I was invited to attend, previously i've 'seen' but floated round the edge.

I've come to understand that families will put themselves in serious debt to pay for funerals; that bodies lie in morgues for months, even years, perhaps, before they are buried..for financial reasons.

I've come to know ..though not to understand ..that people/families are members of funeral clubs which operate like susu's?..such that money is 'saved' on a regular basis within a group to pay for funerals.

In a small community, issues over funeral financing are very, very political.

When one is invited to a funeral, one is expected to make a cash contribution towards the funeral expenses. It seems to operate like paying tribute at a Mafia wedding. People stop off at a nearby house.....or at a table and an envelope is passed over. Like a Romanian wedding though not such a celebratory occasion (the giving).

The funerals then take place over a number of days..and in fact, there can be multiple funerals occurring in different parts of the country e.g. Accra and the deceased's rural hometown.

I do not yet understand the sequence of events that occurs over the three of four days of a funeral. Some days are celebratory, some days involve the delivery of the body from the morgue...not, it should be noted, in a coffin, but wrapped...let's leave it at that.

There seems to be a wake involved but the Saturday is the big day. That is the big day for celebration and paying one's respects.

It's not yet clear who attends but it's as if ...each community/area has their dance/church/funeral groups and no matter who the deceased is..they will be there in their finery..and indeed it is.

So Saturday is the big dancing, singing/chanting, drumming day...and the big day for paying one's respects.

The burial itself is a low-key event..on the Sunday?...and there are rules about where the body is kept and who can view. And no hallowed ground hang-ups here either.

Nope, i don't understand on what basis the dancing/drumming groups perform..but the groups have a significant identity...and 'outfits'.

Overall the dancing and drumming is not choreographed..just a succession of free-form happenings but eventually after each 'group' has had their say it begins to disintegrate.

And so I was formally invited to attend my first Ghanaian funeral this weekend.

It was for the mother of a friend of mine and took place in a small community over on the other side of the Keta Lagoon- as in, difficult to get there from here! Atiavi is probably about the same size as Whuti...but it's the end of the road-this side the Lagoon. As compared to Whuti which does sit astride the W-E highway. It took six hops to get there..tro's and taxi's...and three and a half hours. A ride like that gets slower and slower..and oddly,more and more expensive and with longer and longer waits between hops as one goes on..tho, i think the total cost was less than 8 cedis i.e. $5.50.

When i arrived, things were in full-swing...a large space with covered enclosures on each side where different groups sat between 'performances' and then a couple of satellite 'performance' spaces.

I was invited and expected and so after a short while, i was invited to attend 'Madame Millicent', my friend, and taken to a nearby house.

Very quiet..ah, funereal.

I do not understand anyone's role here..not mine, not the dancing groups, not Millicent's..for example, i was told that she could not go to the house where her mother's body lay?

After duly paying my respects I was given an 'escort' for the ceremonies who helped and explained and yes, of course, it is OK to take pictures.

Except when it isn't.

clearly I was ... and felt, at odds culturally...it is very different and although i was invited, i'm still the yevu..and the yevu with the (somewhat obvious) camera.

Ultimately i felt uncomfortable .. i was part of something i did not understand. i didn't feel threatened but i was observed, watched ...people wonder..who, why? My 'escort' said that everything was fine..perhaps i couldn't sit there but it was fine to take pictures, really.

After a while i saw things I had never seen before ...they were explained to me as women who were possessed. They acted very strangely..maniacally ..and if i hadn't been somewhat intimidated by it all, i might have seen the funny side!

If you look at the women's costumes...and there are many, many more women than men present..you'll see that they're not good for running in ..and many of these women are past their athletic best. And so to see these women running across the dancing/performance space is..scary!

But possessed by the devil they will run at each other, their friends, like NFL linemen; they will seize each other like Sumo wrestlers; they will beat and gnash and wail, etc; and they will pour buckets of water on themselves; they will hurl them selves upon their seated friends and pass out to be held up by others.

Yup...new to me and scary, almost intimidating in that they seemed out of control.

I pretty much stopped taking pictures for a while partly because I felt intimidated but mostly because i felt as if I was intruding.

It was an odd experience for me..unsettling but educational...integration in any real sense is really impossible but this was how i always saw it anyway...and this was just a recognition that old beliefs still run very strong

Another Day in Ghana + pics.

Almost every day in Ghana is unlike every day of my prior lives (i don't know why i say 'almost every day'..hedging my bets...it's silly..every day is unlike every day of a pre-Ghana life!!!!..)

Today (Saturday)..slept badly because i have a streaming cold...a cold in Ghana..yup, doesn't happen that much but it happens..and i know exactly how i got it...Teaching/tutoring on Thursday. Mawusene was sniffling and coughing and i should have sent her home but i didn't. And at this point in our CompSci class they all need lots of individual attention. And i probably have no resistance to West African cold viruses.

so i have a cold..the coughing, spluttering, sneezing variety...nice...get by on tea and chicken soup? Hmmm, oh yea, no propane..tho word has it that it will reach the region 'soon'. Can hardly wait.

Not going to run...bit pointless..i feel fairly awful and i'm ahead of my 2011

'goal' mileage. (yup, at my age..)

I do decide to go down to the beach and walk a little after taking as many drugs as i can find and end up showing the faith/solidarity by hauling on nets for a couple of crews. My ulterior motive is, i suppose, that they will feel entirely comfortable with me taking pictures of them. I want close-ups of the surf wrestling as they bring in the end of the net...and i want the faces as they survey the catch..these days you can see the disappointment, the quiet anger..

then, back to the 'house' which isn't a house..two rooms, a well, and a mango tree in a compound..and no, doesn't feel like home.

eat something..cold, drink lots of water, shower, etc..then do my weekly laundry, and wash the dishes accumulated since the last time i washed them.

pretty hot today..in fact very hot..and it hasn't been. I read for a while outside...i always read..i read 3+ hours a day...i'm trying to burn off my cold..it won't make a difference, and drugs won't either..i'll be better in 2-3 days, relax.

Then i pop up to the market in Anloga..and take some more market pics..attached. I like the market very much..it's unique, it's fascinating, it's friendly, it's very colourful and it's noisy!!!! AH, that's what my pictures lack..they don't capture the sounds!!!

Not grating, not disturbing...just constant cries of hawkers, wandering through the marketplace with 'stuff' to sell on their heads.

At this point in time, i'm a generally accepted and recognised market buyer..there's the lettuce lady; the egg lady; the bottle of Pastis guy!; the general store(front) where i go for staples-OK, my staples-ready for this??...Lucozade, juice, ginger snaps..and i make them guess what i'm buying today; the old tomato ladies...no, it's the ladies that are old, not the tomatoes!; and, of course, the Togolese bread ladies..now up to four every market day..and they compete for my custom..now i have a "4 x mini-baguette plus one 'sandwich' with avocado" habit (every market day)..i'm a addict! and they all love the 3 or 4 Ewe phrase i drop on them...my favourite is 'ga mele asinye o'..they all love that (me too)..it means ...i have no money!!! and it's generally true!

And I run into people..who'll hail me variously...Kofi or Yevu are pretty much it..no-one seems big on 'riccardo'. But they're happy to see me...i'm integrated..just another Ghanaian shopping in the market.

Hot today, i hide in the shade and take pictures..better than usual, i think. I'm more relaxed..during the week, i feel then that i have to get back to the Library, etc.

Then back 'home', wander over to buy my 'diet' Coke...no, it isn't actually a 'Diet Coke'..it's just that a Coke while i read under the mango tree is my regular tipple after 'work'.

Still feeling crappy, but relaxed too..i was very good yesterday..sorted through all my notes, memos,lists, etc and put them tidily in a couple of binders.

I wander down to the Library- recognise that, increasingly, every 'wander ..to' is a pantomime of greetings with children of all ages..i don't know why but they'll rush out to do hi-fives ...oooh that hurt so much!!!...or shake hands or jump up and down or sing 'yevu, yevu..your mama swims out to meet troopships..' or whatever it is they are singing. I really am a shoo-in for dog-catcher in this town at the next elections.

I like working..why is that, richard? ...and today i'm preparing for next week's classes/CompSci..an Intro to PowerPoint ...and Excel

..and now home to blog, to eat a cold sandwich..but the bread is so good,

So ...the attached pictures seem better..see what you think.

I never had a day in my life quite like this..and for a day with a shitty head-cold it was pretty fun.

baci e abbracci

some market pictures..it's been a while