So I figure I should write one last e-mail.
I know I have been home for a week and I haven't written yet. Part of me just doesn't know what to write. I am doing ok. Some days are better than others and I find that the time I spend keeping busy is easier than the time I am sitting doing nothing. I miss the kids. I know that was expected but still that doesn't make the lump in my throat or this empty feeling go away. I'm not saying that I am not happy to be home with family and friends but it is something so much bigger than that.
I spent the last four months of my life spending every waking minute with these children and building myself a life on a different continent; A DIFFERENT CONTINENT; A place where they don't know starbucks. Fresh air doesn't exist because the stench of sewers fills the air, but somehow that fades into the background of the beauty of the country. A country where nearly 75% of the population wakes up at 4:30am. A place where the sun is so hot you can feel your skin sizzle a little bit when you leave the shade. A place where walking fast and rushing through life doesn't exist. A place where you can suck ice cream out of a plastic sachet.
Now I am back here. A bank on every corner. McDonalds just around the corner. Air conditioning that makes your fingers go numb while you are working. Suits and skirts are a must for work (with the exception of slacks). Sprinklers automatically water flowers at a certain time each day and washing machines wash clothes that can probably be worn a few more times. And its not that I don't like this or that I am criticizing the way we live but I am just expressing how different it is.
People keep asking me how I am adjusting and is it different to be home? To answer the questions it is HARD to adjust but I am doing it. There are times when I just cry and a lot of times it comes out of no where. I struggle every day with the differences of being home but I try my hardest to stay positive. I keep smiling and laughing because I know that is the only way to live your life. I am broken but growing in that. I am not afraid to feel sad and I am not afraid to scream and cry. But I won't let this control my life. I get up every morning at 5:30 take the 7am train to the city where I work hard to make money to go to school so that I can change the world. I make it back home at 6pm, eat dinner hang with a couple friends and go to sleep. Life goes on. I couldn't change leaving and I can't change being home so I might as well enjoy it.
I hope that by me writing these e-mails I have given you something that you didn't have before. Whether it is discomfort you have never felt before or a satisfaction that someone else feels the way you do. I will probably e-mail one more time about the fundraising I am going to be doing but it might not be for a little while.
Friday, June 20, 2008
Thursday, June 5, 2008
My Last Week
I know that I haven't written since my last very upsetting e-mail so I thought that I would send out a happier one. This week has been hard, there is no doubt about it. I have watched my friends wrestle with what the witnessed on Saturday night and I have sat with some of them for hours without them talking. The counseling session that was held for the volunteers turned into people blaming people on who was to blame. There was a service held last night with all the volunteers but I couldn't bring myself to go. It took me four days to get it off of my mind and I just couldn't revisit it again. Anyway I promised you a happy e-mail so I am going to move away from this topic.
It is my last week in Ghana and I have been soaking up every minute of it. I don't sleep much because I want to spend my remaining hours awake so that the time will go slower. I have been running errands of things that I put off for the past four months and working on finalizing things with the older boys.
Leaving here might possibly be the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. The boys aren't making it very easy either. Every time I see Kwesi he tells me that time is running and it makes me cringe. A couple of the boys called my mom and told her that I wasn't coming home and that I was staying here and that they were sorry but she couldn't have me back.
One of the boys told me that he couldn't say goodbye to me on Monday because he didn't want to cry. I tell them that we can't worry about me leaving until Monday but they still seem to bring it up. Okos told me that I did something here that no other volunteer has ever done before. I find it hard to believe but if it is true than that is a good feeling.
I know that I am not talking about anything important but this has been what my last few days has been like. I have helped one of my boys sell phone credit at the roadside. I have helped pack up a roadside stand and push a cart down the road to storage at 11pm. I have stayed outside everynight until at least 1am just looking at the stars and enjoying my last days.
My dinners are all planned out for the next four days as they were before I came to Ghana. Every day my twi becomes improved and more developed. I bought a shirt that said 100% Ghanaian. I had a conversation in twi with a taxi driver. Then he let me direct him to Labone Junction from the market on my own. That is a twenty-minute drive and I could show him the way by myself and so he told me that I was a black American and that I belonged in Ghana.
I took my fabric to the dress maker and I will pick up my dresses on Sunday. I am spending a lot of time with my friend David because right now he is the only one left that was here when I first arrived and one of few that was here when I moved into the orphanage. I'm trying to get in some last minute sun so that I can prove to you people that I was in Africa for 4 months and got a decent tan... haha.
This afternoon one of the boys is going to teach me how to carry things on my head.
I think this should be said as well: I am not terrified of coming home. I am terrified of leaving the children. I am so excited to come home and see my family and friends. So excited to go to Chipotle and Noodles and sleep in my hammock. I know that some of you are worried that I will hate home when I get there but the truth is I am not going to. Yes, it will be a hard adjustment but that is natural. I have never been good at change. Sometimes I will feel heartbroken and missing the kids. Sometimes I will be angry looking at the wealth in Glen Ellyn but that is something I have been preparing myself for since I arrived. I can't wait to drive my car with the windows down and the music turned up. I know that I will be back here. Maybe not for another year or so but I have complete confidence that this is not my last time to Ghana. Not to mention all the other adventures that I am going to be going on.
So I will say this to you. I get home on Tuesday afternoon around 4:00 (that is when I should be at my house). So stop by and say hello to me because that is what is going to get me through. Seeing my friends and family will make coming home worth it.
It is my last week in Ghana and I have been soaking up every minute of it. I don't sleep much because I want to spend my remaining hours awake so that the time will go slower. I have been running errands of things that I put off for the past four months and working on finalizing things with the older boys.
Leaving here might possibly be the hardest thing I have ever had to do in my life. The boys aren't making it very easy either. Every time I see Kwesi he tells me that time is running and it makes me cringe. A couple of the boys called my mom and told her that I wasn't coming home and that I was staying here and that they were sorry but she couldn't have me back.
One of the boys told me that he couldn't say goodbye to me on Monday because he didn't want to cry. I tell them that we can't worry about me leaving until Monday but they still seem to bring it up. Okos told me that I did something here that no other volunteer has ever done before. I find it hard to believe but if it is true than that is a good feeling.
I know that I am not talking about anything important but this has been what my last few days has been like. I have helped one of my boys sell phone credit at the roadside. I have helped pack up a roadside stand and push a cart down the road to storage at 11pm. I have stayed outside everynight until at least 1am just looking at the stars and enjoying my last days.
My dinners are all planned out for the next four days as they were before I came to Ghana. Every day my twi becomes improved and more developed. I bought a shirt that said 100% Ghanaian. I had a conversation in twi with a taxi driver. Then he let me direct him to Labone Junction from the market on my own. That is a twenty-minute drive and I could show him the way by myself and so he told me that I was a black American and that I belonged in Ghana.
I took my fabric to the dress maker and I will pick up my dresses on Sunday. I am spending a lot of time with my friend David because right now he is the only one left that was here when I first arrived and one of few that was here when I moved into the orphanage. I'm trying to get in some last minute sun so that I can prove to you people that I was in Africa for 4 months and got a decent tan... haha.
This afternoon one of the boys is going to teach me how to carry things on my head.
I think this should be said as well: I am not terrified of coming home. I am terrified of leaving the children. I am so excited to come home and see my family and friends. So excited to go to Chipotle and Noodles and sleep in my hammock. I know that some of you are worried that I will hate home when I get there but the truth is I am not going to. Yes, it will be a hard adjustment but that is natural. I have never been good at change. Sometimes I will feel heartbroken and missing the kids. Sometimes I will be angry looking at the wealth in Glen Ellyn but that is something I have been preparing myself for since I arrived. I can't wait to drive my car with the windows down and the music turned up. I know that I will be back here. Maybe not for another year or so but I have complete confidence that this is not my last time to Ghana. Not to mention all the other adventures that I am going to be going on.
So I will say this to you. I get home on Tuesday afternoon around 4:00 (that is when I should be at my house). So stop by and say hello to me because that is what is going to get me through. Seeing my friends and family will make coming home worth it.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
Tragic Story
This is not a good e-mail but I wanted to tell you before the media shares with you all.
Every month Projects Abroad holds a monthly party where all volunteers from all over Ghana come to Accra to eat food and have a good time. Every other month the party is held at the beach. Last night we had one of our monthly parties at the beach. I had decided not to attend the party and go to watch football matches instead. However, I received a phone call last night being informed that one of the volunteers drowned in the ocean. She was wading in the water at dusk with one of the male volunteers and the rip tide took her under. The boy then jumped in after her to try and save her but couldn't get to her. After making it to shore he informed everyone that there was someone with him and he was rushed to the hospital to get treatment. After searching for this girl an hour and a half she washed up on shore. She was rushed to the hospital but I think she was already dead when she washed up on shore. She was a volunteer from Kumasi (7 hours north of Accra) so I did not know her personally. She was 24 and had only been here one week.
As things stand I am sure the media is going to get swamped with this story in the next couple days and I did not want anyone to worry.
Everyone that was at the beach party is emotionally destroyed right now and our Projects Abroad staff are really struggling. I am doing ok, shocked, but ok. Thankfully I was not there and did not have to witness such an awful event but I am still shaken up a bit. Counselors are flying in from Britain tonight to talk to volunteers and staff and make sure that everyone is ok.
I just needed to tell you before the media did.
Every month Projects Abroad holds a monthly party where all volunteers from all over Ghana come to Accra to eat food and have a good time. Every other month the party is held at the beach. Last night we had one of our monthly parties at the beach. I had decided not to attend the party and go to watch football matches instead. However, I received a phone call last night being informed that one of the volunteers drowned in the ocean. She was wading in the water at dusk with one of the male volunteers and the rip tide took her under. The boy then jumped in after her to try and save her but couldn't get to her. After making it to shore he informed everyone that there was someone with him and he was rushed to the hospital to get treatment. After searching for this girl an hour and a half she washed up on shore. She was rushed to the hospital but I think she was already dead when she washed up on shore. She was a volunteer from Kumasi (7 hours north of Accra) so I did not know her personally. She was 24 and had only been here one week.
As things stand I am sure the media is going to get swamped with this story in the next couple days and I did not want anyone to worry.
Everyone that was at the beach party is emotionally destroyed right now and our Projects Abroad staff are really struggling. I am doing ok, shocked, but ok. Thankfully I was not there and did not have to witness such an awful event but I am still shaken up a bit. Counselors are flying in from Britain tonight to talk to volunteers and staff and make sure that everyone is ok.
I just needed to tell you before the media did.
Thursday, May 29, 2008
My Plan--read all of this!!
So I know that I haven't written in awhile and that was mainly because there has been so much going on but I wasn't planning on telling anyone until I got home and devised a plan. However, I feel that I should go ahead and prep you for my return home. I am leaving here in a week and a half and I can't even express how torn I am. The happiness of coming home to my family and friends but still having this terrible empty feeling when I think about leaving these kids.
One of the girls came up to me last night and told me that when I left she was going to cry and that it would pain her so much. I haven't connected with a lot of the girls but she is one of the few. The boys told me that I am not allowed to cry when I leave-- we'll see how that goes over.
Graduation is tomorrow and I will be missing it. It is going to be a very hard day for me when I realize that all of my friends back home are together celebrating.
So I might as well just jump right in:
I will be fundraising just over $51,500 when I return to Glen Ellyn. In the past week I have found out that 6 of the older boys will be getting kicked out of the orphanage due to the change in supervisor (the one who told me I was too small to be respected). With this money I will be funding food and a place to live for these six boys for the next four years until they can finish Senior High School. I know that this amount of money sounds ridiculous but I know that God will be faithful and will help me fund raise this money. This is my plan. A plan that is bigger than me and a plan that I was brought to Ghana to achieve. I fully believe that this is the reason I stayed the extra month and this is the reason that I was brought here in the first place.
There are so many details that I am not including in this e-mail simply for the fact that I am going to do this the formal way when I return home. I will be asking for donations and I am going to need your help. I will not be able to do this without the help of my family and friends. I hope that the fact that you have followed me on my journey up to this point will help.
So as of right now I do not want any donations. I am going to have biographies of all the boys when I return and I am going to be doing this in a way that is professional and gives you more information. I just thought I should let everyone know what has been going on here and why you haven't heard from me in so long.
I will e-mail again before I leave in the next week and half but right now I need prayers. Prayers that God will provide for these boys and will help me to achieve my goal. I am sorry that this e-mail is so vague. I promise that once my thoughts are organized you will know more.
Claire
P.S. Here is a funny story. Last night I was outside at the orphanage and it started to down pour so I ran to the social center thinking I could get in and walk through to my room. Turns out the social center was locked and so I stood under the canopy hoping the rain would stop. Well the rain kept coming and only got stronger. So strong in fact that the sewers flooded and I had to stand on a table so that I wouldn't be standing in sewage. I was there for about an hour. I was very very wet. That's all for now. I hope that made sense.
One of the girls came up to me last night and told me that when I left she was going to cry and that it would pain her so much. I haven't connected with a lot of the girls but she is one of the few. The boys told me that I am not allowed to cry when I leave-- we'll see how that goes over.
Graduation is tomorrow and I will be missing it. It is going to be a very hard day for me when I realize that all of my friends back home are together celebrating.
So I might as well just jump right in:
I will be fundraising just over $51,500 when I return to Glen Ellyn. In the past week I have found out that 6 of the older boys will be getting kicked out of the orphanage due to the change in supervisor (the one who told me I was too small to be respected). With this money I will be funding food and a place to live for these six boys for the next four years until they can finish Senior High School. I know that this amount of money sounds ridiculous but I know that God will be faithful and will help me fund raise this money. This is my plan. A plan that is bigger than me and a plan that I was brought to Ghana to achieve. I fully believe that this is the reason I stayed the extra month and this is the reason that I was brought here in the first place.
There are so many details that I am not including in this e-mail simply for the fact that I am going to do this the formal way when I return home. I will be asking for donations and I am going to need your help. I will not be able to do this without the help of my family and friends. I hope that the fact that you have followed me on my journey up to this point will help.
So as of right now I do not want any donations. I am going to have biographies of all the boys when I return and I am going to be doing this in a way that is professional and gives you more information. I just thought I should let everyone know what has been going on here and why you haven't heard from me in so long.
I will e-mail again before I leave in the next week and half but right now I need prayers. Prayers that God will provide for these boys and will help me to achieve my goal. I am sorry that this e-mail is so vague. I promise that once my thoughts are organized you will know more.
Claire
P.S. Here is a funny story. Last night I was outside at the orphanage and it started to down pour so I ran to the social center thinking I could get in and walk through to my room. Turns out the social center was locked and so I stood under the canopy hoping the rain would stop. Well the rain kept coming and only got stronger. So strong in fact that the sewers flooded and I had to stand on a table so that I wouldn't be standing in sewage. I was there for about an hour. I was very very wet. That's all for now. I hope that made sense.
Friday, May 23, 2008
A Plan
Hello everyone,
This is going to be a very vague e-mail but....
I have a plan. A plan that is so much bigger than me.
It is the reason that I was brought here and the reason I stayed an extra month.
I can't do this alone and when I get home I am going to need everyone's help.
Pray that God provides for Kwesi and Edward (two of the boys at the home). I can't explain until I have more information.
I was sent here for a reason.
Kwesi looked me in the eyes last night and he said "Claire, there is something different about you. You are different than all the other volunteers that come here. You care so much about us and you can tell."
The wheels in my brain are spinning. I need an organized plan.
This is going to be a very vague e-mail but....
I have a plan. A plan that is so much bigger than me.
It is the reason that I was brought here and the reason I stayed an extra month.
I can't do this alone and when I get home I am going to need everyone's help.
Pray that God provides for Kwesi and Edward (two of the boys at the home). I can't explain until I have more information.
I was sent here for a reason.
Kwesi looked me in the eyes last night and he said "Claire, there is something different about you. You are different than all the other volunteers that come here. You care so much about us and you can tell."
The wheels in my brain are spinning. I need an organized plan.
Monday, May 19, 2008
Being Sick Sucks
So I got sick on Friday night. I had a fever, a headache, and the shakes. I just felt like crap in general. I haven't been properly sick since I have been here and let me tell you I would prefer if it didn't happen again. I don't have a roommate and I certainly don't have my mom here. Going to sleep on Friday night knowing that I was sick was difficult. Luckily on Sat. morning I had one of my friends take care of me. He called me as soon as he woke up at 7 and told me that I needed to get up and go wait outside because he was going to come and pick me up in a cab to take me to the hospital. I spent 5 hours on Saturday getting tested for malaria. My friend sat with me the entire 5 hours we had to wait and then made sure I got both of my meals that day. Turns out I don't have malaria just an infection of some sort and so they gave me antibiotics and I have to go back on Wed. to pick up some test results. I am not feeling 100% but I am doing a lot better. I am so thankful that it wasn't malaria and thankful that I have such good friends here that they are watching out for me when I don't have parents to do that.
This past week has been hard and I think that is part of the reason I got sick. I need everyone back home to know that I am not staying longer cause I am running away from things back home but I am doing this because I think it is the right thing for me and the kids. Trust me, it is hard to be here sometimes. Knowing that I was supposed to be home by now is difficult when I hear stories about things going on at home. I miss home and I miss real showers and healthy food and not having to wear mosquito repellent everywhere I go. I am pressing on and the kids make it a lot easier on me. They can read me and they can tell when I am having a hard time. Having said all of this I do not regret my decision in staying. I am positive that this is where I should be even when I just want to be home.
I walked out of my guest house the other day and at the same time Edward (one of the older boys) was leaving the house and tears were just streaming down his face. He tried to cover up his tears by telling me that he had just woken up. He is 16 and is the smartest boy (as far as I can tell) at the home and shows the most potential. His parents abandoned him 10 years ago and he said that sometimes he just has this feeling of emptiness. That sometimes there is a sadness that comes over him that is so strong he can't push it away--no matter how hard he tries. He wants to become a lawyer and from there go into politics and change Ghana. He studies more than any of the boys and is so articulate. I am going to the U.S. Embassy to pick up a practice ACT book for him. He wants to go to University in America and I believe that he has the ability. I get so angry sometimes because I don't have the slightest idea how someone could abandon their child. I know that I don't know the story and maybe it was for the best but it breaks my heart to see Edward struggle with something like that; to think that he isn't good enough because his parents left him. It takes everything within me not to scream and kick holes through walls. I want to see him succeed and I know that he will, I wish his parents could see that too.
I have also made an executive decision that if you stuck a bunch of Ghanaian babies and a bunch of American babies in a room together with small objects the American babies would choke first. I have sat here for the past 3 months watching these kids shove stones, coins and beads into their mouth and not once have they choked. Maybe they are just lucky but somehow I think they might just be a little bit smarter. Survival of the fittest.
I am going to go now but I hope that you all know that I miss you guys back home and I will be so happy to see you.
This past week has been hard and I think that is part of the reason I got sick. I need everyone back home to know that I am not staying longer cause I am running away from things back home but I am doing this because I think it is the right thing for me and the kids. Trust me, it is hard to be here sometimes. Knowing that I was supposed to be home by now is difficult when I hear stories about things going on at home. I miss home and I miss real showers and healthy food and not having to wear mosquito repellent everywhere I go. I am pressing on and the kids make it a lot easier on me. They can read me and they can tell when I am having a hard time. Having said all of this I do not regret my decision in staying. I am positive that this is where I should be even when I just want to be home.
I walked out of my guest house the other day and at the same time Edward (one of the older boys) was leaving the house and tears were just streaming down his face. He tried to cover up his tears by telling me that he had just woken up. He is 16 and is the smartest boy (as far as I can tell) at the home and shows the most potential. His parents abandoned him 10 years ago and he said that sometimes he just has this feeling of emptiness. That sometimes there is a sadness that comes over him that is so strong he can't push it away--no matter how hard he tries. He wants to become a lawyer and from there go into politics and change Ghana. He studies more than any of the boys and is so articulate. I am going to the U.S. Embassy to pick up a practice ACT book for him. He wants to go to University in America and I believe that he has the ability. I get so angry sometimes because I don't have the slightest idea how someone could abandon their child. I know that I don't know the story and maybe it was for the best but it breaks my heart to see Edward struggle with something like that; to think that he isn't good enough because his parents left him. It takes everything within me not to scream and kick holes through walls. I want to see him succeed and I know that he will, I wish his parents could see that too.
I have also made an executive decision that if you stuck a bunch of Ghanaian babies and a bunch of American babies in a room together with small objects the American babies would choke first. I have sat here for the past 3 months watching these kids shove stones, coins and beads into their mouth and not once have they choked. Maybe they are just lucky but somehow I think they might just be a little bit smarter. Survival of the fittest.
I am going to go now but I hope that you all know that I miss you guys back home and I will be so happy to see you.
Thursday, May 15, 2008
Really Long
So I decided I should write to you guys about what living in the orphanage is like.
For starters, I am so exhausted. My body feels like it is still asleep and I am trying to drag it along. I guess we can start with my room.
My room is a good size, not enormous but big enough to hold a couch, dresser, coffee table, double bed and mini fridge. Also there is a toilet and shower that have running water....sometimes (as I discovered this morning). Still it is a lot better than before. I am out of toilet paper though so I need to go and buy some. I know that from my description my room sounds HUGE but it is all very close together. I am on the second floor of the guest house and I have two neighbors (I already knew them). One is a pastor and his wife and kids. Then the other is a young man (Ghanaian) that is living there and I think working at the orphanage part time?? Who knows. Anyway, back to the room: I am on the corner of the house so I have to walls that have windows on them. No sign of cockroaches yet and hopefully there will never be any. My mini fridge is amazing because I am now having to supply my own water sachets.
How I am feeling about it: The room is lonely to be honest. I think it is just going to take some getting used to. I feel very safe but it is still very different from living with a family. My friend Edwin (a volunteer that sleeps at the orphanage sometimes) has been keeping me good company. He has helped me be creative in setting up my mosquito netting because there was no hook on the ceiling. My first night I slept horrible. There was a huge storm and so I couldn't sleep and normally when this happens I have a roommate to talk to but instead I called home and talked to my brother for a decent amount of time. Fell asleep at 3:30am and got up at 6:30. There is something unique about living at the orphanage though. Yesterday I walked out of the house at 7am and all the kids were getting ready for school. They all ran up to me and were so happy to see me which was refreshing. I then walked out to the road with Edwin to find some porridge (tasted sweet) and some bread (that was fried like a donut...very good). I sat with Alfred (one of the boys that now has a job at the roadside) and I shared my porridge with him and Edwin.
I went back in and helped out with the babies for a little while and then the toddlers like I normally do. I only ended up leaving for an hour yesterday until the night but it felt nice. A lot of the older boys are at the home during the day now because they just finished their exams and are waiting 5 months before they go back to school. Having them around during the day makes a big difference and I am also helping of the boys with his English. He is not attending school right now because his mother told him that she was going to come back (and the home doesn't want to have to leave school) so they just never enrolled him. Last night I took one of my old roommates to the airport and then went back to the home where all the boys were waiting up for me. I actually got a phone call while I was gone and it was Yakubu asking me where I was and when I was going to be home. I have more parents at the orphanage than I did at my host house. All the little boys came out and said goodnight to me before they went to sleep and told me they would see me in the morning before school. As I was falling asleep last night I could hear someone yelling my name in my window.
This morning I was out of my room by 7am and hung around for a little with some of the little boys. They had an empty suitcase that they were playing with and so I showed them how I could fit inside of it (they thought that was pretty funny). Then two of the boys (Junior and Yao (older Yao)) sat in the suitcase next to each other and I rolled them around the compound as they pretended they were flying. Once I was done with that I felt pretty useless and so I asked one of the Aunties if I could help out with anything and so she gave me a lot of different chores. I helped serve the kids breakfast (porridge and bread). I helped clean the dishes from breakfast. I helped feed one of the special needs kids and cleaned him up. Then finally I got to watch how the little boys get ready for school and remind them of anything they had forgotten. They are trying to teach them how to get ready on their own and so they just watch them and tell them steps they miss. All the things they need to do are: button up the uniform and tuck it in properly, make sure the collar is in the right position, rub oil on their skin and hair (not sure why), brush their hair, eat their breakfast, get their biscuits, pick up their lunch, take medicine (if they have it), and then get their books and walk to school. They are definitely taught with tough love but it clearly works.
I am good and I am happy but it is very different. I am tired and worn out. I get lonely and find that I am using more phone credit than I ever did living in my host house. I love being with the kids at all times and they love me being there. It is going to take some getting used to but it is overall good. As for food-- I will buy street food and try and limit my spending.
Sorry this is so long.
For starters, I am so exhausted. My body feels like it is still asleep and I am trying to drag it along. I guess we can start with my room.
My room is a good size, not enormous but big enough to hold a couch, dresser, coffee table, double bed and mini fridge. Also there is a toilet and shower that have running water....sometimes (as I discovered this morning). Still it is a lot better than before. I am out of toilet paper though so I need to go and buy some. I know that from my description my room sounds HUGE but it is all very close together. I am on the second floor of the guest house and I have two neighbors (I already knew them). One is a pastor and his wife and kids. Then the other is a young man (Ghanaian) that is living there and I think working at the orphanage part time?? Who knows. Anyway, back to the room: I am on the corner of the house so I have to walls that have windows on them. No sign of cockroaches yet and hopefully there will never be any. My mini fridge is amazing because I am now having to supply my own water sachets.
How I am feeling about it: The room is lonely to be honest. I think it is just going to take some getting used to. I feel very safe but it is still very different from living with a family. My friend Edwin (a volunteer that sleeps at the orphanage sometimes) has been keeping me good company. He has helped me be creative in setting up my mosquito netting because there was no hook on the ceiling. My first night I slept horrible. There was a huge storm and so I couldn't sleep and normally when this happens I have a roommate to talk to but instead I called home and talked to my brother for a decent amount of time. Fell asleep at 3:30am and got up at 6:30. There is something unique about living at the orphanage though. Yesterday I walked out of the house at 7am and all the kids were getting ready for school. They all ran up to me and were so happy to see me which was refreshing. I then walked out to the road with Edwin to find some porridge (tasted sweet) and some bread (that was fried like a donut...very good). I sat with Alfred (one of the boys that now has a job at the roadside) and I shared my porridge with him and Edwin.
I went back in and helped out with the babies for a little while and then the toddlers like I normally do. I only ended up leaving for an hour yesterday until the night but it felt nice. A lot of the older boys are at the home during the day now because they just finished their exams and are waiting 5 months before they go back to school. Having them around during the day makes a big difference and I am also helping of the boys with his English. He is not attending school right now because his mother told him that she was going to come back (and the home doesn't want to have to leave school) so they just never enrolled him. Last night I took one of my old roommates to the airport and then went back to the home where all the boys were waiting up for me. I actually got a phone call while I was gone and it was Yakubu asking me where I was and when I was going to be home. I have more parents at the orphanage than I did at my host house. All the little boys came out and said goodnight to me before they went to sleep and told me they would see me in the morning before school. As I was falling asleep last night I could hear someone yelling my name in my window.
This morning I was out of my room by 7am and hung around for a little with some of the little boys. They had an empty suitcase that they were playing with and so I showed them how I could fit inside of it (they thought that was pretty funny). Then two of the boys (Junior and Yao (older Yao)) sat in the suitcase next to each other and I rolled them around the compound as they pretended they were flying. Once I was done with that I felt pretty useless and so I asked one of the Aunties if I could help out with anything and so she gave me a lot of different chores. I helped serve the kids breakfast (porridge and bread). I helped clean the dishes from breakfast. I helped feed one of the special needs kids and cleaned him up. Then finally I got to watch how the little boys get ready for school and remind them of anything they had forgotten. They are trying to teach them how to get ready on their own and so they just watch them and tell them steps they miss. All the things they need to do are: button up the uniform and tuck it in properly, make sure the collar is in the right position, rub oil on their skin and hair (not sure why), brush their hair, eat their breakfast, get their biscuits, pick up their lunch, take medicine (if they have it), and then get their books and walk to school. They are definitely taught with tough love but it clearly works.
I am good and I am happy but it is very different. I am tired and worn out. I get lonely and find that I am using more phone credit than I ever did living in my host house. I love being with the kids at all times and they love me being there. It is going to take some getting used to but it is overall good. As for food-- I will buy street food and try and limit my spending.
Sorry this is so long.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
