My Placement: Gwollu!

Yesterday I learned that for 2 years beginning in December I will be working as a Business Advisor for Community-Based Tourism Development in Gwollu in the Upper West region of Ghana!

Some aspects of the posts initially concerned me: I will be the farthest north and farther from the Accra Peace Corps office (20 hour drive) than any other volunteer in the country and I will be the only of the 129 volunteers to learn and speak the Sisaale language. BUT, after I had some time to think about the assignment and location I have become very excited about it. Here is the cool stuff:

-Gwollu is on the border of Burkina Faso, so I will likely travel into that country and experience yet another culture.

-The Upper West region of Ghana is the last region to be created and it is by far the most poverse and in need of volunteers.

-There are 4-5 other great volunteers going to the Upper West when I do, and I have met 3 awesome current volunteers who will be there for another year.

-I am replacing a current voluneer who finishes Dec. 1 of this year. I will be the third and likely final volunteer to be posted there, so I can build upon foundations that have already been created and focus on sustainability.

Some more about Gwollu and what I will be doing... Gwollu is a town of approximately 7,000 people and is located 110 kilometers northeast of the Upper West regional capital city, Wa, and 30 kilometers from the closest "large town", Tumu. Gwollu is the regional capital of the newly created Sisaale West District and it is a growing area. It is the hometown of President of the Third Republic of Ghana, Dr. Hilla Limann. The population there is mostly Muslim.

So, I will be leading a 12 member Tourism Management Team to support the ongoing eco-tourism work in Gwollu. The town has many tourism opportunities that are still relatively untapped... There are ancient, historic Slave Defense Walls. There is the tomb of former President Dr. Hilla Limann. There are sacred crocodile ponds, a traditional bone setter, and many other aspects of the community that offer insight into the traditional life of northern Ghanian communities. I will also be working with an NGO that supports a local co-op of Shea Butter Producers, which has a lot of potential. Also, construction has begun and should be nearing completion on a musuem in Gwollu that will preserve and display the historical relics from past slave trade and local wars. I will work with the local government and boards to develop, script, and price tours of the area, create touring packages, and support the infrastrucure/development projects that are necessary to make the area accessible to tourists.

My accomodation will consist of 2 rooms adjacent to the museum/welcome center. It is quiet, yet in the center of town. There is limited cell phone conncectivity in Gwollu currently. The District Assembly, museum, and tourist center will all be within walking distance of my house. There is a borehole that will supply my water and I will have electricity. No word yet on how close there might be an internet connection.

I started my language lessons on Sisaale today. I will have one-on-one instruction from my awesome teacher, Banu, for 5-6 days a week for the next 8 weeks so I will learn a lot! Banu is a fun teacher and he is from Tumu, which is very close to Gwollu.

Well, there are so many other thoughts and facts about my site and job that I would love to share but I just don't have the time. I hope to speak to the volunteer who is there now soon to ask more questions and in a few weeks I will actually visit the site.

Email me and let me know what's going on at home... thanks to those who already have!

My Homestay Family

So, it has been a few days since I have been able to post and I have moved in with my host family in Kukurantumi. I live with my host mother, Vida, in a nice house close to my training site. Another volunteer is staying with a family right down the road too, which is great. Mamma Vida is a matron at a local technical school and she has 3 other sons. Two of her sons, aged 15 and 9, live with their Grandmother in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana, and her oldest son is 22 and is in his final year of college in Cape Coast, Ghana. Vida's landlady and her son, Kwaku, also live in the same house. I have also been given a Ghanaian name, Kwame, which is the standard name for a man born on a Saturday.

My room is very nice.... I have a double bed with a mosquito net and a few chairs and a coffee table and a bureau. Our house has elecricity, but no running water. Our water comes from a borehole in the yard. I shower by taking "bucket baths". My host mother has been feeding me very well! All sorts of different Ghanaian dishes... fufu, chicken, turkey, joloff rice, eggs, toast, coffee... lots of food.

On Saturday night, we watched "Project Fame: West Africa" on tv, which is basically West Africa's version of American Idol... it was great! On Sunday we attended a welcoming ceremony at the Cheif's Palace, which is standard procedure when there are visitors in any village/town in Ghana.

That's all on homestay for now... loving it. Sorry I have not been able to upload pictures or anything yet... perhaps that day will come.

Kukurantumi

Hello! I am writing from an internet cafe in Kukurantumi, where I will be staying for about the next 10 weeks. Tomorrow I will meet and move in with my host family... I am very excited for that. For the last 5 days I was visiting a current volunteer in Dambai in the Volta region. Lake Volta is that largest man-made lake in the world! I had a great time during my visit. The volunteer I visited was a Small Enterprise Development volunteer and she was doing microfinance work. She was also from upstate New York, and her brother is a senior at UVM, which was cool. In her village I experienced going to market, which happens every monday and tuesday. I also met many of her friends and went to church for 3 hours on Sunday... it was quite an experience. A couple nights ago I was able to stay in a hotel that not only had power and running water, but a A/C and TV! I watched the 2nd Presidential Debate in my room and was very happy to be able to see it.

I will learn by Monday where I will be "placed" to live and work for the 2 years following my training. That is also when I will learn of my specific assignment. I am very anxious to learn about where I will be and what I will be doing. Many SED volunteers here work in the areas of eco-tourism and microfinance.

Well, there is not a whole lot more to share at this point. I am having a blast. Ghanians are so hospitable and welcoming. I hope to get internet access again soon so I can write about my host family and my placement... stay tuned!

Love and miss you all.

Adam

First Post from Ghana

So, I made it to Ghana! The flight wasn't so bad... aisle seat, good company, food was pretty good, got to watch Swing Vote, and we got in earlier than scheduled. Ghana is wonderful. It is very hot! I have really enjoyed the food so far and I am having a blast. Right now I am at the Peace Corps office in the city of Accra. Today we had some language training, a tour of the office, met the staff, and got the first of a bunch of immunizations. Soon we will go back to our orientation site. The drive is a little more than an hour (though it is not too far away). The driving here is very chaotic and eventful. On our drive from the airport we were about an inch from nailing another small bus and skidded to a stop short of a fallen motorcyclist in the middle of the road about 10 feet in front of us. I definitely understand why I have to stick to a bike for my time here. On Friday we will all go into Accra for a scavenger hunt which should be a lot of fun. Then on Saturday I will leave to visit a current volunteer at his/her site for 5 days. I have met a few current volunteers here already and they are great. After I visit the site, I will have an interview with the director of Small Enterprise Development programs here and he will determine my placement. I will be able to indicate whether I want to work in a city/large town or smaller village setting as well as if I want a structured assignment (working directly with/for an NGO) or a flexible assignment in which I would have to be more self sufficient and creative perhaps. I haven't quite decided which direction to go in... any thoughts? I think I will be happy anywhere!

That's all for now... not sure when I will have access to the internet again but I would love to hear from everyone... hope all is well at home!