Wow it has been awhile so I thought I better send out an
update. I am working on a new video blog because I know they are much more
interesting than reading what I have to write. Sorry-O it won’t be for a while
because I am somehow extremely busy. I thought editing video would be a great
way to pass long hours with nothing to do…. But the long hours with nothing to
do have yet to come.
So today is a glorious day. I have been traveling all week
and am finally back at site. I fell asleep at 8pm last night and slept a nice
11 hours through all the noises that begin at 5am. Chef was waiting impatiently
outside my door when I woke up…apparently he does not need 11 hours of sleep.
He lost bed privileges due to puppy bladder control issues so now he has a
pillow in the living room that he spends many hours napping and sleeping on.
So today is a holiday so no school. I have the whole day to
myself. I am very excited to get caught up on my life after a busy week. I have
all day to work on my lit review, respond to letters, play with my puppy, work
in my garden, make papaya ice cream…or papaya anything on my way back to site I
passed through a town that has huge bags of papaya for a cedi because they are
harvesting so many right now. So now I will be eating papaya for the next few
days
So last Saturday I went with some volunteer for a day at the
beach. I had a long week at school. A rollercoaster would best describe it. Someday
the kids are great they participate in the lesson, they get so excited when I
bring balloons, or a thermometer for a simple science experiment or math
calculation, we laugh, we play, they do their homework.
Then the days where it is clear that out of my 63 kids only
a few understand English, let alone my accent. Most of them don’t want to be
there. Most of them don’t care. They mock me during class. They make excuses,
tattle-tell, and no matter how slowly or how many times I give directions they
fail to follow anything I say. Somedays I am so worn out, my voice is gone, my
head is pounding, and I wonder what I could have accomplished with all that
energy working on my other projects.
So enough about school but an invite to the beach sounded
rejuvenating. So chef and I enjoyed a day at the beach and on our way back in
the afternoon we stopped and when I was coming out of a bathroom a dog ran up
behind me and grabbed my ankle. It was a pretty big dog but it let go quickly
and ran off. I didn’t see any damage so we continued our way back and I noticed
later a few drops of blood on my ankle and it was a bit sore. So I ended up
having to go to Accra to get a rabies vaccination….well two actually. So Sunday
I went to accra Monday I came back Tuesday I taught all day and graded a
million papers for hours (63 kids=lots of homework grading) then Wed morning
headed back to accra again.
It worked out well because I met a lot of volunteers and got
to find out as much info as possible on aquaculture in Ghana. There are some
farmers in my village interested in raising fish so I am currently trying to
figure out the feasibility of a project and get educational materials for the
farmers (and myself). Well I learned there are not many resources in Ghana, but
I had the chance to follow many leads in Accra and get a better idea what I am
in for. I also met a volunteer who was wanting to help food security build an
aquaponics system in the Accra PC office…… ummm, excuse me…aquaponics….I LOVE
AQUAPONICS. So luckily they did not know much about aquaponics so I jumped
right in and offered any help they wanted. I got to tag along on a field trip
to see the only and very new aquaponics endeavor in Ghana. It was very
interesting and a bit different than I expected. I learned a lot from Chris the
guy running it (a returned PCV) about aquaponics and aquaculture resources and
issues in Ghana.
Anyways there are a lot of roadblocks especially in aquaponics
due to the requirement of a pump of some sort and fish feed which is supper
expensive and unavailable in Ghana. At the Accra office they are wanting to use
a bicycle rope pump……ummm…. BICYCLE….WATER PUMP… cough..cough…..please please
let me design and build this. Now we are looking into raising tilapia so we
could try using an algae bloom and local compost for food, which would actually
make it feasible for rural application (what I am considering for aquaculture
projects). I am not sure though how that will effect an aquaponics system
(clogging the pump, ph balance, plant nutrients, filtration). The aquaponics
system we visited is using feed so if we could use food security funding to set
up a small system at the accra office to see if we can pull it off we could
learn so much. Let alone create a solution to the fish feed problem!
Any way I am very excited about being able to help out by
sizing the system and giving my input (Luckily for them I had been reading
crazy amount of literature on these topics and have past experience with
aquaponics). Hopefully because of Peace Corps food security interest it will
get built and I can be apart of it. Although I plan on doing aquaculture and
not aquaponics with my farmers both projects can benefit from each other.
So if I never got bit by a dog this wouldn’t have happened J how ironic
It feels good to do solve problems like how big of a system
can a bike pump run. Doing calculations makes me feel like an engineer again.
Although my calculator I brought is not working which is a bit of a bummer.
Hmm lets see…other parts of my life:
My garden is great, it is a lot of trial and error but I am
starting my second compost bin (well actually third someone stole my second one
I built…who steals a compost bin…come on) and about to harvest my compost crop.
I have planted a ton more seedlings in hope to stop spending money on veggies.
baby pineapple
compost bin number 2 and future duck area
satchet seedlings
When I get tired of reading I play music and I paint my
walls
When I was in Accra they have a store called Koala which has
tons of Obruni things and is very expensive. I walk around looking at
everything, picking up things, putting them back. Fresh broccoli 40 cedi a Kg…
I would kill for broccoli but when you get 350 cedi a month to live off of you
cant spend that much on broccoli. I then made my way around staring longingly
at all the things I want but can’t have. I then found the frozen broccoli 8
cedi a bag...okay not bad…but I can eat for a week in my village for 8
cedi…pick it up… put it back… pick it up…. Put it back…. I finally parted with
the frozen broccoli. They have a deli, I decided I hadn’t had cheese in 6
months so I should probably fix that. The wheels and containers of cheese are
too expensive plus too big. Looking at the crazy prices at the deli I found the
cheaper ones and asked what kind it was, the lady cut of a small sample…..oh
man….what about that one? Another sample. I continued to try as many of the
cheeses as possible. If only you could know what cheese tastes like after 6 months
without it. I then watched as a lady bought 10 slices and saw the price. I will
take two slices. I walked out with a very small amount 2 cedi ($1) worth of
cheese, some toothpaste, and a belly full of samples. I ate my cheese savoring
it, 2 slices was plenty because it tasted so rich.
So that night I got unbelievable sick, I don’t think I slept
at all I felt like an alien was going to tear out of my stomach, I vomited for
the first time since training. I am not sure if it was the cheese, but I doubt
I will be eating cheese again. Apparently at site some people eat laughing cow,
powdered milk, and fan ice so it keeps there stomach somewhat used to dairy. I
never buy laughing cow, powdered milk, or fan ice (the ice cream things here).
So I think maybe my body went back to being lactose intolerant.
So friends and family I miss you all! I am going to go work
in my garden (there is a window when I don’t get eaten alive by bugs). I have a
long list of people to write back too so I will get on it later today, I love
hearing from everyone and I am excited to have some time to catch up on writing
back.
Em
