Reinstatement- First month back


Saying goodbye to mom and dad was different this time. It wasn’t leaving safety and going off into the unknown. Don’t get me wrong. It was sad. But this time it was leaving one family and heading towards another. We said our goodbyes with no tears, knowing it wouldn’t be long before we’d meet again.

Some time on a plane.

And there I was. Plopped down in the same Ghana I’d left 8 months earlier. The same wall of heat stepping off the plane. The same African-accented English. The same smells of rich spices mixed with wafting garbage. Cars honking, drivers yelling out destinations in the distance. Curious eyes watching me, the foreign siliminga. And then there was Nash. The best constant of all. He had come the 12 hours from Tamale to meet me at the airport. I didn’t see him at first. He had talked the guards into letting him into the passenger area. Separate from the crowd, there was his lone figure. Grinning and waving. Suddenly I hadn’t been gone 8 months at all. Time rewound and Ghana picked up right where it had left off.

Peace Corps also met me at the airport. After a quick reunion with Nash and a plan to meet later, they whisked me off to headquarters. I spent the morning making the rounds. A long update with the medical officer. Introduction to the new Country Director. Figuring out paperwork with the finance lady. And Joe B, my boss and Ghanaian father. We spent a long time talking about all that had happened since I left and I introduced him to Nash. He was smiling and laughing and told Nash that if Nash ever hurt me, he would personally go and hunt Nash down. Oh Joe b… haha, I missed him 

Some Accra greetings- Nash’s cousin, Majeed and sister, a very pregnant Rahma.

A 12 hour STC bus ride.

TAMALE. A sigh of relief. I’m home. Things are mostly the same. The bustling market. Line taxis. The calmness of the Dagomba people. The dry heat.
SAVEDEAF. Savelugu School for the Deaf. Bonyeli. Kids grow an amazing amount in one year. There is a noticeable difference in the upper primary kids. I have missed this place. Most of my sign language is not forgotten- or just needs a quick reminder. No one told the students I was coming back. The first afternoon I walked through campus, jaws were dropping all over the place and my “K” sign name was flying around. Art class had ceased in my absence. Students couldn’t believe it was really me. It’s an amazing feeling to have everyone as happy to see me as I am to see them. Warm fuzzies all around.

I spent most of the first week going back and forth from Bonyeli to Tamale. Getting my house back in working order, arranged, stocked with food and water. Catching up with the teacher’s families next door. Visiting Nash’s family. Brushing up on the little- very little- Dagbani I know. It was wonderful seeing everyone again. Nash’s sisters especially. They were so happy.

I started teaching the next week. We did clay in all the classes. Messy, but fun. I had gotten some from a nearby village pond before I left. It was actually still soft enough to use. We did shapes and things like cylinder/cube/pyramid. They loved it. I had forgotten how excited kids are to learn here, over the littlest things. Then they made whatever they wanted for the last half. The boys would all do motos and cell phones and the girls would make pounding basins and babies.

This last week Nash’s father has been sick in the hospital. Luckily he has turned around and is fine now. It has been interesting watching the process. I keep trying to ask what the doctors are saying. But no one seems to know. Family isn’t allowed to speak with the doctors. The doctors order tests and prescribe meds. But no one knows why. Similar to the USA, doctors are extremely overloaded with a surplus of patients. Yet there isn’t anyone to make sure things are correct. The way a family member might in the USA. The care of each patient is also very different here. The family is in charge of all aspects. Food. Water. Fans. Sheets. Baths. Health Insurance, if the patient has it. Bribing if they don’t. A family member is expected to be present 24 hours a day to be tending to the patient’s needs. When someone is admitted for more than a few days, it is a huge hassle for the family. I admire Nash. He has been bearing the brunt of this burden the past week.

And I’m back in the swing of things. Normal life in Northern Ghana has commenced.

An interesting 8 months.


Almost an entire year has gone by since I last wrote something. Here's the short and sweet:

In January, I contracted viral Meningitis (diagnosed later) and it relapsed several times and brought on a load of complications in my body. I fought it out and did pretty well, if I do say so myself, considering I was 12 hours from a decent hospital and shriveling in Ghana's 140 deg. hot season. However, the decision to medevac me to Washington DC was finally reached in June.
It was a very odd way to return to the USA. I was a mess of emotions from not knowing what was happening to me (still didn't know yet everything had been related and Meningitis had caused it). And I was suddenly confronted with all these things I hadn't seen in an entire year: an endless supply of water, ice cream, a dishwasher!, a laundry machine!, a supermarket with anything I could want, air conditioning, a mattress with springs, sidewalks, fast internet, grapes, loads of white people, roomy cars, clean air... I could go on and on. My parents came and met me at the airport. It was wonderful to see them, I hadn't seen my dad in a year! The next month was spent seeing doctors and specialists and PCMOs. In the end I was given no choice but to be Medically Separated and give myself some time to heal.

And I was plopped back in Ohio. I hadn't lived at home since high school! After 7 months of doing little things here and there: a ghana month with the church youth group, odd jobs for my mom's business, visiting friends and family, talking to Nash every day on Skype, playing with the dogs.... Peace Corps has finally cleared me to go back! Whoo Hoo!

I will leave in a week.
Here I come Savelugu, you haven't gotten rid of me so easily!
I can't wait to see everyone. So many things have happened in my absence.

The Drumming and Dancing Troupe has gotten up and off the ground. We were able to give it a start before I left: 5 drums were bought, an instructor agreed to teach, and a few lessons were had. By now, though, the Troupe has been practicing for 2 full quarters and the deaf students are becoming dancing whizes! (I've seen video) Also, a second sponsor has been found-a Dutch group. They have provided a moto for the instructor to ride to the school, have organized the school's weaving/sewing class to produce original costumes for the dancers, and are even planning to found a non-profit organization that will support and expand the troupe. The first official performance is to be at a local restaurant this Friday (Jan. 30). I'm sad I won't be there to see it, but I'm planning to arrive before the second one! All in all the troupe has turned into a great success.

My sister, Sara, spent 6 weeks in Savelugu. The plan was for her to stay with me and bike to an internship at the local hospital every day. However, I was medevac-ed shortly before she was scheduled to arrive. We were discouraged that we weren't going to be able to spend those weeks together. Sara made the decision to go ahead without me. Nash picked her up in Accra, and my good friend and fellow PCV, Alicia, spent the first week with Sara to help her get acclimated. Despite my absence, everything actually worked out. Sara spent her days at the hospital getting all kinds of experience with malnourished babies, burn victims, and Malaria. Also, she actually contracted Malaria, which gave everyone at home a scare. In the afternoons she helped the Dance Troupe practice, often drumming or helping with dance moves. When she finally returned home, we talked for hours about all the different people she had met. It is interesting, without me there, she had a completely different experience, making/visiting her own set of friends at the hospital.

And let's not forget: BARACK OBAMA is our new president!!!!!!!!!!!!!
With a wonderful plan to double the size of the Peace Corps. Get excited.

Videos!

Lunchtime at Savelugu School for the Deaf




Savelugu Market



Kakum National Park- Trip with Mom



Alicia's Video(Sara is in it)- How To See To Dance A Painting