I hate that rooster!

Aside from sleeping on a moldy mat that is only 1 1/2 inches thick... I slept really well the first night in KTK... that is UNTIL the rooster started to crow outside our window @ 4am! Jennifer even got up and shushed the rooster! It worked for a little bit but then we started to hear the nearby mosque blaring their service and songs over a loudspeaker @ 4:30am! Looks like this night owl is going to have to start being a morning bird! :(

At 8am we were summoned by Nana (the chief) and walked up to the opening ceremonies. We again made the rounds as ALL the villagers had come out and shook all of their hands. They then made the rounds and shook our hands. There was this little girl, probably not more than 3 or 4 years old and she was dancing in the middle of the large circle. Our entire team got up to dance and soon some of the villagers jumped up as well.

Next, we gave the chief our gift of Schnapps and the Shaman poured libations on the ground while chanting to the ancestors. He then poured some schnapps into the glass and our team each took a sip and then passed it down the line. The stuff was like straight up gasoline!! Jennifer was at the end of the line and finished up the schnapps with one big gulp. The villagers all cheered!!!

JEnnifer then gave another speech about our "mission" in the village and then Nana spoke to us, thanking us for coming to the village. They then asked us to introduce ourselves and share one interesting or fun fact about us. I wasn't sure what to share... do I tell them my job? How do I explain therapy to a community that is barely living at a subsistence level? How do I tell them about helping parents understand their children better when the parenting here in this village seems to work (although... I did find it rough a few times to see adults hitting children with sticks to get them to back away from us). I ended up saying "my name is sheri and I love to dance and do silly things, so if you see me dancing, feel free to join me." IT was the PERFECT thing to say and for the next week, everytime I would pass some kids or women, they would yell out my name and then start to dance. Even just that afternoon, while walking to the house for lunch, we passed two women in mourning (I'll tell you more about that in a minute) and I smiled at them and they started to dance. It was a MAGICAL moment... dancing in the middle of the street with two women in mourning. It didn't matter that we don't speak the same language, all that mattered was that exact moment. But I digress... now back to the opening ceremonies :)


After the ceremony concluded, we began the walk to our site. We were completely surrounded by children from the village. They were excited and would link their arms around us and reach to hold our hands. It was really cool!!

On site, we got to meet the two homeowners. We didn't spend much time with them the rest of the build as they were off working their fields. We divided into two teams as there were two homes to be built. I picked the 2nd team and we walked a bit down to our site. My team consisted of Betty, Ashley, Crispin, Hailey, Marc and I. We met the workers Benjamin and Seth that would be helping us build. Crispin and I began to help this guy make bricks. We would shovel in a dry mix of concrete and sand and then he would grab the top lever of the box and slam it down 5 or 6 times to make it all bind together. The bricks in Ghana were MUCH heavier than the ones in Thailand... I'd say that they are about 40 pounds (even more when wet!) and oftentimes when we would carry them, they would break in half (I have the bruises on my thighs to prove it!) or crumble in our hands. DEFINITELY not earthquake proof!!!! There was only one row of blocks set and we began to mix mortar. Can I just say... UG!!! I was REALLY yearning for our concrete mixer in Thailand! We had to mix together the dirt/sand and rocks along with water and concrete mix. It was EXHAUSTING!!!

We walked back to the house where Regina and Jacqueline had made lunch for us. It was white rice with the most delicious red sauce you have ever eaten! It's like tomato sauce but with hints of curry and other delicious flavors! After lunch we began to dig/shovel dirt into wheelbarrows to be carried into the (now) 2 rows of bricks that would be our foundation. We needed to fill the entire house (the house consists of two bedrooms, an outhouse, a shower room and a kitchen... all in all, it is probably 600 square feet total). The children had taught us to say "Habitat Oye" (it is good) and then you throw your arms up in the air.

The chief stopped by the site and he had changed from his robes into jeans, a tshirt and black mud boots. What a hoot! He walked up to me and said something I couldn't understand (it was in Bono). Nii had taught us a few phrases in Bono (for every expression... you are supposed to respond with a specific phrase... for example, if I say MaChe (good morning), the other person responds (yamoo). To complicate matters further... if you are currently working at a job, you don't say MaChe, you say something different... and we all know how good I am at languages!). After the chief said whatever he said, I looked at Marc and said "I don't know how to respond to that" so I threw both arms up in the air and said "Habitat Oye!" The chief laughed and said "Habitat Oye.'

While digging in the dirt, we found two snakes... one black one and one white one. The workers killed them but it smelled pretty funk for quite awhile! :( We also found snake eggs and ants the size of small cochroaches! Luckily there were chickens roaming around that would eat the black ants. BEtty was hilarious and named one of the chickens "goo-gala." She said "I'd always wanted a chicken that I could name Goo-gala." LOL!

Well, this has become quite the post and there is still so much more to share for that day... looks like I will have to come back to it at a later time! After these messages.... we'll be right back... oh yea! :)

A 3 hour tour!?

Here goes... let's rewind and begin with Monday August 9th, 2010


(L-R, Back to front) Tim, Crispin, Hailey, Karen, Betty, Me, Jennifer, Marc, Angela, Ashley, Beatrice, Angela



Ok, so our 8 hour bus ride turned into 5 1/2 hours on the first day and 5 hours on the second day. Our stay at the hotel in Kumasi was brief and seriously uncomfortable! There were 5 of us to a room and only ONE TOWEL!!! No showers for any of us! It got really cold in the room that night because of the air conditioning and I didn't have a comforter. Jennifer was really sweet and took off her pillowcase and gave it to me. I tucked my feet down into it and at least my feet were warm! We awoke @ 5:30am (I'd only gotten one hour of sleep! BOO!) and we were back on the road. At one point we stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and Jennifer came over and said "dude, I broke the toilet." We tried to figure out how to flush it but Nii ended up saving the day with a bucket of water! :) We stopped in Suyani to buy some Schnapps for the Chief as an offering and I couldn't get over watching everyone walk by with all sorts of things up on their heads... one guy had a board 5ft by 5ft and it was styrofoam and had different pairs of sunglasses stuck into it! Another woman had an entire bakery up there!!! We couldn't find the village and we kept asking Nii how much longer... he would chuckle slightly and say "15 more minute." I think 15 more minutes took us about an hour and a half and we were so glad to arrive in Katakyiekrom (pronounced Kata-chia-krum). We finally arrived in KTK and were immediately requested to sit in a circle with the Chief (aka Nana). We had to go around and shake hands of all the men and then we sat down and they came by and shook all of our hands. Can we say hand sanitizer please?! Jennifer then had to get up and "speak our mission." It reminded me of all those National Geographic shows you see when the neighboring village comes by to work out a negotiation! We have to speak to Nana through an interpreter when in public eventhough he speaks English and we can speak to him directly when alone with him. It was a very brief interaction as we are having the official opening ceremony tomorrow. We piled back into the bus and drove to our house. The bus got stuck in the driveway and couldn't pull all the way up to the house. The most amazing thing happened then... little kids showed up from EVERYWHERE to carry in our luggage and supplies. There were no parents there bossing the children around or telling them to help... they were SO excited to help and were running to grab boxes! Such a different experience from here where you have to tell the kids to put down their IPOD to help grandma carry in the groceries! We unloaded the bus and once inside the house, we found that the accommodations were pretty basic but clean and simple. We had 4 bedrooms to divide amongst ourselves (3 to each room). The bathroom is an outhouse but the toilet looked similar to one here (well except for the flies that would buzz around under the seat while you were trying to use it... good times! Next to the toilet are two stalls where we take our "showers" I use the quotations because they are not hooked up to any water. There is a spigot in the front of the house, and we filled up a bucket and brought it back. There was then a smaller, hand held bucket that we would use to rinse off. By the end of the trip... I was able to get down to a 1 1/2 bucket shower WITH washing my hair! I learned that if you dip your head into the bucket first, it wets your hair enough to lather up the 2 in 1 shampoo/condit. Then you use the rest of the water to rinse of and to help wet the washcloth.
That night I took a shower and went to journal in my room (I shared a room with Jennifer and Karen). We had electricity but the small light in the room was blue and very dim. Thank goodness for headlamps! At about 8pm the chief showed up in our bedroom!!! I'd been told that we aren't supposed to wear tank tops around the chief and I was wearing a tank top because I hadn't expected him to stop by. I quickly pulled my hair forward to cover my shoulders. Silly me, not expecting the chief to show up in our bedroom @ 8pm!! He came by just to make sure our accommodations were acceptable and to welcome us again to the village. We went to bed at around 9:30pm as I had only gotten 4 hours of sleep in the past 4 nights! :( That's it for now... I will write more tomorrow :)

Home safely!

Just wanted to let you know that I am officially back in HB waiting for my wonderful mom to bring me In-n-Out for my first meal back. My luggage decided to take a detour and is flying in later today... I was hoping to upload some pics but my cable is in my suitcase. I will write more later this evening when I get some free time. Can't wait to catch up with all of you!

Bugs, marriage proposals, scrapes, Ivory Coast, dirt, hanging with the chief and magical moments!

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.

Abruni= White person

Two posts two days in a row?! Change of plans... we were supposed to head out to the village today but it has been POURING down rain and the 8 hour drive has already taken 6 1/2 hours and we still have 150 kilometers to go. We stopped at a hotel for dinner @ 9:30 and the decision was made that it is too dangerous to continue on tonight. We are going to be staying here tonight but don't have enough team funds to buy enough rooms. There is two double bed in each room and we only got three rooms (there are 12 teammates!). The boys get one room (3 people), one girls room has 4 people in it and the other has 5 people in it. It's going to be a really cozy night as we pushed the two beds together and are going to sleep all 5 of us in the beds!!! All of our luggage is piled on top of the bus so we will be sleeping in the clothes we've worn all day and then wearing them tomorrow as well. It might even resort to sharing toothbrushes!! On the up side... looks like I get another day of a shower! :) We will head out to the village at first light, it's now midnight and we are waking up @ 5:45am to get on the road. I got a whole three hours of sleep last night... looks like I will get 5 hours tonight! :) We will be staying in a 5 room house with a toilet! (No idea what kind of toilet but Ne (our host) said the word toilet!!! We are supposed to meet with the Chief tomorrow morning but we need to stop first and buy a bottle of Gin (turns out you are supposed to bring Gin to the chiefs!). Ne went over some of the customs here (like don't do ANTHING with your left hand and you have to speak to the chief through an interpreter (even if he is speaking english to you!). The bus is actually pretty comfortable and AIR CONDITIONED! Yipee!!!

I am absolutely LOVING it here!!! The teammates are AMAZING and I can't stop laughing! The food is good... takes about 2 hours to get it once you order... no fast food here! :) I am already growing and expanding... this group of people is REALLY friendly and although Andrea annoyed me yesterday, she was much more chill today. It's been a great journey thus far and am REALLY lookign forward to getting out to the village tomorrow! I wish I could write more but the teammates are all waiting for a chance @ the computer. I love and miss you all!!!

Goats, roots in the shower and serious stinkage!

I'm here!!! Yipee!!! After many (MANY) hours of travel, I have officially arrived in Accra! We left LAX @ 10:30 in the morning yesterday and flew to D.C.. I sat next to the CRANKIEST woman!! Not even two minutes after sitting down, she had already turned off my air and confiscated the entire armrest between us :( We landed in D.C. and had three hours to kill before our next flight. Ashley and I had some Wendy's for dinner and hung around. I got a chance to talk to Jennifer and she told me that her flight from JFK was overbooked so she and Crispin (another teammember) volunteered to take another flight. They got a $600 voucher, FIRST CLASS seats to London and then Ghana AND unlimited beverages in the Priority club!!! Plus they have a 5 hour layover in London and are going to do some sightseeing.

While waiting in DC, we met this super cool woman named Allie. Ashley and I talked to her for quite awhile. She's from Dallas and was on her way to Afghanistan! She teaches over there during the school year and comes home for the summer. She was blonde haired, blue eyed and spunky as all getup! She's convinced me to come teach with her in Afghanistan next year (HAHA! Just kidding mom! :) ). At about 8pm Andrea (another teammate from San Fran) came up. I have three words for you all... Amanda from Thailand (UG!) She's super clingy, a bit snooty and nervous. Luckily she clung to Ashley and poor ashley had to sit next to her the entire 10 hour flight! Hailey came up next and she is SUPER cool. She lives in Minneapolis and just took her BAR exam last week. She is mature, thoughtful, funny and cool. BEfore we got on the flight, we had to have our VISA's checked to make sure that they were still current.

On the flight to Accra, I was sitting next to a very kind woman named Nanee. She is originally from Accra but lives in Oklahoma. She was flying back to Accra for the one year anniversary of her father's death. She was REALLY nice! BEfore I sat down she picked up my pillow/blanket and even helped me put by backpack up top. While waiting for the plane to take off, my seat kept getting kicked and I turned around and there was a man standing in the aisle. I smiled at him. Two minutes later he is dragging this little girl (probably no more than 3 or 4 years old) and says "do you see this lady, you are disturbing her, quit being naughty." I completely flushed with embarrassment. On one hand... AWESOME parenting skills!!! On the other hand, would he have done that if I was black? There were only 6 people in the entire coach section that weren't black. The flight was pretty easy... we ate dinner and then I watched the movie "the losers." I dozed on and off but didn't really sleep. In the morning, they fed us breakfast (ham sandwich and yogurt). OH... I almost forgot the fabulousness of the people on the flight. I have never seen people so "done up" for flying. I was practically wearing my pj's and everyone else looked like they were going to a party!!! This one woman had her hair styled in this elaborate style with gold (YES GOLD) streaks in her hair. Nanee had gold eye shadow and two rings on every finger. Even the kids across the aisle were all wearing name brand clothing and looked very tidy!

We landed and stepped out onto the tarmac... AFRICA!!!!!! The earth here is bright red and the foliage is pretty green. We got in line for customs and it took FOREVER!!! Random people kept calling over their family members into our line and there was some guy bring all of his people straight up to the window!!!! Needless to say, we were one of the last few people to get through. Nothing like the smell of B.O. in a crowded room while waiting in line to welcome you to a new country! All of our luggage made it safely (YIPEE!!!!) We went outside and there was a man waiting for us. His name is Isaac and he has already asked us if we would marry him and he could move with us (he also teased us and asked if we would move here and build him a house!). He took us to the money exchange and we got out CD's (CD is the name of the money used here. one dollar equals about 1.4 CD;s). We got back in the car and his phone rang. He answered the phone and turned to Ashley and said "it's for you." LOL! Seriously? We've only been in Africa for a few minutes and she is already getting phone calls? :) It was our host BEtty and she was just letting us know to grab some food at the hotel and charge it to our room. The drive to the hotel took about a half hour and on the way we saw some random goat in the back of a pickup truck, women carrying EVERYTHING IMAGINABLE on their heads, babies is sacks slung around their mom's back and lots and lots of traffic.

The hotel is comfortable but a bit... um... definitely not a 4 star. Our air conditioning in our room doesn't work and there is something growing out of the ceiling down into our shower. I swear... the roots have broken through the ceiling and are starting to hang down!!! :) We went downstairs and met Karen and BEatrice. They both are SUPER cool. Karen is older and lives in Canada (works as a librarian). She has been in Ghana for 2 weeks already. Beatrice lives in Florida but is from Haiti... she is SUPER cool. Betty came in next and she seems a bit shy and reserved. Angela came next (she had already been here for one week volunteering at an orphanage). Last but not least was Tim (carpenter from WI). I've met him before and he is super cool.

So that's the group. We are waiting until Crispin and Jennifer arrive tonight and then Marc comes in tomorrow @ noon. We walked to an internet cafe a ways from the hotel. I am sitting here, sweaty and seriously stinky. No amount of deodorant is going to be able to cure this stink. Luckily for me... everyone else stinks too (hmmm... maybe that makes it UNLUCKY for me because i can SMELL them all?!). Probably wouldn't be able to write again so have a great couple of weeks!

Ghana is awesome! The people are super kind! Can't wait to tell you all about itwhen I get home!

It's here! It's finally here!

One Anti-malaria pill down, only 22 more to go!! :) Take that you stupid 'skeeters! :) On the eve of my trip I am feeling a jumble of emotions! The first being complete and total excitement! The second being complete and utter nervousness! The third being complete and utter (well... you get the picture! :)). It's 6:30pm and I am finishing up some laundry before packing my suitcase. As of right now, my things are all just in a jumble on the floor around the suitcase. I am also chilling in some REALLY old tennis shoes to see if they hurt me feet (I want to bring at least one pair that I will leave there)... so far so good!

My flight leaves tomorrow @ 10:30 in the morning and I head from there to Washinton D.C.. I have arranged for "shuttle a la mom" to take me to the airport and to give me the traditional send off. After that, I head directly from D.C. to Accra!!! There are four other teammates on the same flight to Accra (I have a feeling there are only two flights tpto Ghana every day!) and we are hoping to all meet up in the airport! Upon arriving in Accra on Saturday @ 1pm, myself and my 4 new friends will be picked up (hopefully! Can you tell I have been traumatized before by having someone not pick me up at an airport in a foreign country!!!) by the affiliate host. The host will then take us to the hotel (the Crystal Palm in Accra) where 7 of our teammates will be waiting with baited breath to meet us! That evening we will have an orientation meeting and get to know each other over dinner. The next morning we will pack everything up and head to the airport @ noon to pick up our last teammate. From there we will drive 8-10 hours to our village. After that... I've got nuthing:) I have no idea where the trip will head from there except I know that it will be quite an adventure. There is a possibility that we will head to a town about an hour away sometime during the following weekend, and I've heard a rumor that the town MAY have internet. I am hoping to update this blog at this point so check back. If not, than I will update you all after the 21st when I return! Please keep me and my teammates in your thoughts and prayers and I can't wait to follow up with you all when I get home! Here I come Africa!!! :)