We arrived last night in Accra and what a wild ride it has been! I have so much to share with all of you and not enough time to share it all. I will probably write each day for the next week as if I was still here in Ghana, just so I can get it all out. The biggest thing I am feeling though is a sense of humbleness. The people in the village had nothing and yet the children would run out every morning to hold our hands and walk in a crowd around each of us on our way to the jobsite. Children in tattered underwear and broken flip flops would eagerly sit for hours near the jobsite just to get the slightest glimpse or smile from one of us. The adults would wave to us as we drove by as if we were The Beatles coming into town. We felt like celebrities and were welcomed into the community. People who looked as if they hadn't eaten in days would walk to our home and bring us buckets of yams, corn, plantains and apples (all carried in tubs on their heads... AMAZING!). The warmth we felt was overwhelming and reminded me why I do this. The team is amazing... everyone was SO flexible and we didn't care if it wasn't possible to shower because we had no electricity that night or we had run out of water. Instead of meaningful conversations about the meaning of life... we more often talked about the shape and timing of our bowel movements and how our scalp felt after not showering for 3 days (I tell you this, not to gross you out, but to show you how simply we lived). There were high moments on the trip where I felt feelings of exhiliration and pure bliss. Moments of laughter and joy. And there were really low moments as well. Just this past monday, Crispin (a teammate) got a phone call from his sister that his best friend of the past 30 years was killed in a motorcycle accident. Our entire team went into mourning with him. I couldn't help but have survivors guilt and be grateful that it wasn't me receiving that news about one of my dear friends. We were a 10 hour drive from the nearest airport and there are only a few flights a day... what would I have done if it had been me? It scared me to be so far from my loved ones. That same day, the villagers were also in mourning because something terrible had happened in the village (I will tell you about it in the next few days when I have time to write). In the village, mourning is a time for celebration... we attended one funeral while we were there and there was dancing and hand shaking. Grief is a public affair here and people wear red and black during the period of mourning... and every time you pass someone on the road in mourning, you are supposed to say "yakoo" to them to express your sentiments. I received three marriage proposals and one marriage threat (more about this one later as well :) ). We were able to build two homes from the ground up to where they are ready to put on the roof. Pretty big accomplishment in just a few days!
Another big moment was during a ceremony with the Chief and he said "people have been talking about how strange it is to see white people work. He said that they have seen white people do things like teach in the village but that they have never seen white people do physical work/labor." In his closing speech, he said to the people of his village "we have now seen the white people come to help build the homes of our people in Katachyakrum and now it is time for us to pick up where they left off and continue this forward." I do not even have words to express how I felt hearing that... "They've never seen white people work"... that one statement is going to impact me for awhile. The chief also talked about how some of the villagers expressed sadness that they were unable to communicate with us in English and the chief used it to tell his people that they should continue with their education so that they will be able to communicate with English speakers and move ahead in life. Simply amazing how he can turn us being there into a way to help his village become stronger and evolve.
I should probably start wrapping up now as others are waiting for the computer...
There are now 6 of us left here in Accra waiting for our flight to D.C. at 11pm tonight. It feels weird to only have half the team left... We are heading to a craft fair and will then hang around the hotel until we leave for the airport @ 7:30pm.
Overall, I am doing VERY well and can't wait to share my experiences. I'm grateful to have been reminded of the true meaning of life and can't wait to come home and see how it will evolve in my everyday life.
No comments:
Post a Comment