Field Trip

Sorry for not posting lately. All is well here in Ghana; I just haven’t been to the internet cafÈ too much lately.

Anyway, this week was very eventful and a lot of fun. I went on a field trip through the southern Volta Region with the 12 other Small Enterprise Development trainees. We visited Hohoe, Ho, Leklebi, Tafi-Abuipe, and a few other places.

We left from Kukurantumi on Saturday and on Sunday we hiked to another awesome waterfall and swam in it. Sunday night we went out into the woods to have a bonfire and drink palm wine. A group of about 20 local young guys joined us to play drums and dance around the fire. It was amazing… the drumming and signing was really cool and I both learned and taught some pretty impressive dance moves. My favorite Ghanaian dance move would have to be "the chicken" or "the kangaroo." Their favorite from my teaching: "The Elaine." They also frequently sing a song here about Barack Obama… "Barack Barack, Barack Obaaama"… that is pretty catchy.

On Monday we visited a District Assembly (regional/local government) office and met with some people there to talk about eco-tourism. From there we visited a women’s pottery co-op and a men’s wood carving co-op to learn about their crafts and how co-ops in Ghana are formed. Then we went to Tafi-Abuipe, which is small old village where nearly all of the residents weave kente cloth. Ghana is famous for this type of cloth that is very colorful and is usually found in strips with very elaborate patterns. All over the town women, men, and children were operating these weaving contraptions made out of bamboo and wood with yards upon yards of colorful string in front of them. Monday night we went into the mountains and stayed at a great place called the Mountain Paradise Lodge.

On Tuesday we visited an NGO that helped young women make a living by making beads and other craft products and marketing them internationally. Then, we visited with a nonprofit microfinance firm that helps people save money to expand their businesses and also offers low interest loans to those business owners who can show a track record of saving money over a period of time. Tuesday night we stayed in a nice hotel in Ho. We took advantage of the hotel pool and bar and stayed up until 4 or 5 in the morning to learn of and celebrate Barack Obama’s victory!

We came back to Kukurantumi on Wednesday and now are back, full force, into our pre service training. Today we will have a soccer and volleyball match between the Peace Corps Trainers and Trainees. I will get to visit my site, Gwollu, from November 20-26 and then I will return to Kukurantumi for more training until I move to my site for good (well, 2 years) on Saturday, December 13th.