In-Service-Training

April 21-26

This was about a week of flashback to training but we all got to bring our counterparts so that was fun. We should have/could have had this at the beach but for some reason our organizer is tired of having it there!

We ate enough protein to last the year I think. Got to go swimming and stay in a fancy hotel room with fancy tile floors that feel nice under the feet. I jumped on the bed and did flips too (so I could get hungry then just for fun). I lost my beloved change purse I have had since I was 12 and admired the stylish front desk woman's short tie.

It was a great bonding experience with Abdulai and I think he got a lot out of it all. Not just swimming in a pool which he had never done and playing Marco Polo (he kept saying Michael Polo). Or seeing me drink beer, which in my village of muslims who don't drink I never let on that I did...

We interviewed him and he said that he thinks we were all put in the right communities and he is happy with his Peace Corps Volunteer- compared to the rest. Ok - so I asked him the question but I think it's true. And it's true for me too! We shared experiences and ideas. I got paler from all the sitting inside. We got a lot of papers on proposals we could write... and the small print.

The Rain is Coming, The Rain is Coming

Yea! I have a newly built Net for my veranda to keep all those nasty little bugs that would have eaten me away. Since I live in a corn field...

I will make a local fridge to make local cheese... and I will eat more vegatables.

Buddy Abdulai says I will die because no one will visit me or be able to do anything because everyone will be at farm. Haha. Can't wait! Some school kids will still be in school sometimes and I will finally Paint. Oh and I will buy a hoe for 2 bucks so I can try to farm though Abdulai again says I will die. It's just a jokey expression, don't fret.

Under Pressure

Today I was woken up on my veranda bed (it's so hot) and was suddenly asked to do something special for a visitor and Guinea Worm Soccer game for the afternoon. It was super - we put our little drama together, made costumes quickly, rehearsed and boom.

I was told I was horror & that I should never wash my face cause it was beautiful. I wore clown makeup with a few painted Guinea Worm wiggling on my face and had my hair in pigtails with pink clothed dangly arms & a polka dotted headband. I sat on My Buddy Abdulai's shoulders with a drawn cyclops on a sheet wrapped round us. We were the Monster Guinea Worm. A gun couldn't kill us but a filter could. Defeated I was carried off hanging upside down from a stick by the warriors.

This same morning found us finally on the first day of making the Guinea Worm video drama. Superstar is Alidu who is directing and it made him hungry! It takes longer than he thought... We are racing the rains cause they are coming.

Peas & Carrots

There are two families within the large Dagomba tribe here in my Northern Region. I call them Peas and Carrots. There is hardly a difference between them except there are more Peas and "naturally" they support opposite political parties.

My Buddy Abdulai is a Carrot and Superstar Alidu is a Pea. Hmmm... The plot thickens.

Something happened about a month ago when I met a certain man called Prince from Voggu here at a funeral who now works as an advisor to the President.

I knew some of his legend and that he was powerful and had built the health center (where bats live now), put up the electrical wires (nothing running yet), and my house. Naturally I thought maybe he could do more.

What I didn't know was that he is a controversial character. He's a carrot. He was a carrot in power when the pea Paramount Chief (of all Dagombas) was Murdered 4 years ago (power changes from Pea/Carrot after a chief's death). The crime is still unsolved.

This largely small incident woke me up to the reality of my insignificant significance. I will leave it at that. I will be going on a trip for the elections here later this year... yes.

Witches & Wizards Camp

I had the opportunity to go to one of the three in Ghana, all located in the Northern Region. It's a place where people who are decided to be witches are sent. It is believed they may be cured by the Fetish Priest. But even so the're likely not given a warm welcome home. I did some taping, some interviews. When asked why they are there they say Hate. It's a prison with invisible bars.

I asked Abdulai about witches. He said there was one in Voggu who killed his bestest friend. He had to leave the village for 3 months to get over it. He told me the story though he said I would have to see it to believe it.

Basically there are certain people in the village who "know" about witches. One of those people declared a meeting with all the women in the village and said that one person there was planning to kill a young man (at this point Abdulai said is this scaring you? - I said no) and if that person went through with it that they would be caught. That night Abdulais buddy got a headache, but they thought it just couldn't be him and that couldn't be a sign. But it was and then a few hours later he was dead. Totally dead.

So the next day all the women were called again and the man declared that the woman was not present. He went to her house and went into her sisters room - that is where she hid the juju, (living in the same house as the boy - his Aunt) there was a thing that he found in that room that no one else could have noticed. It was a strange looking thing with hair and human blood in it. There was also a tooth and a woven piece of rope like for catching a fish. The woman was sacked to Dalun, a fairly nearby village that has a body of water and a fetish priest. It is said that if the witch tries to kill again the water will kill her.

Bolgatanga "Live Art" Project

This was a neat 3 week workshop that just ended which is why I have been sooo busy. I mostly taught kids how to use the video camera for the documentary the Lotus Collective is producing - they will come back in a year to show it to the communities.. yea.

What we did was largely based on Augusto Boal's ideas (founder of Theater of the Oppressed) using his book Games for Actors & Non-Actors. (Late birthday gift anyone?)

Picture Slideshow
www.flickr.com/photos/camusartink/show/

Lotus Collective
www.lotoscollective.org.uk/

Celebrity

I read an article in Newsweek (we get those kinda weekly) by a recently turned Celebrity and I felt I could relate a lot to what she was saying. I walk around and people call my name, if I stop and talk they are happy. My closest friends are somewhat harassed and people think I give them nice things. There is a (language) barrier between most of us. Everyone knows my business or wants to know.