I wish I was able to update this as much as I'd like, but even "the fastest and most reliable Internet service" in Africa is not fast, and definitely not reliable.
I have to say that I have had probably some of the most amazing experiences of my life in the past week. Tuesday was our first official day working with the children at BASIC- it started off a little bit hectic and unorganized, but I adore the kids that I get to work with. They are attempting to teach me Ga, the native language of where they are from, and they think it's absolutely hysterical when I try to pronounce some of the words.
Chokor, where BASIC is located, is a fishing community, and on Wednesday, we took a group of students down to the beach to collect shells for musical instruments, and I have to say, it was the most humbling experience of my life. I wish I could put down on words what it was like, but until you've experienced it yourself, you will never be able to understand what it is like. All I can say is that I truly believe it changed my outlook on life, and made me so appreciative of things that most Americans take for granted every day.
Besides that, I am coleader for a group of students called the transition group, who are students who have never been to school, or have attended for a couple of years and then dropped out for various reasons. Most of these kids do not even know english, so it is very challenging, but I feel like weve already accomplished so much with them, and more importantly, we are educating the other workers at BASIC in order to bring new methods of teaching to Ghana that they can continue to use once we leave. I have already made such a connection with some of the kids, it already makes me sad to know that I'm going to have to leave them in three weeks.
This weekend, we traveled out of Accra to the HoHoe Volta region and it was incredible. To start, I got to take my first hot shower in a week. I swear a shower never felt so good. On Friday, we climbed 2,900 feet to the top of the mountain Afadjato. It was a really tough climb, especially since the the ground is so slippery due to it being the rainy season, but making it to the top was so rewarding and breathtaking. I cannot wait to post pictures (hopefully tomorrow? Fingers crossed).
On Saturday, we started our day early and went to the monkey sanctuary, which was so fun. I was able to hold and feed the monkeys that lived in the forest which was a really cool experience. Then, we went to a Christian sanctuary where they had these incredible statues of the story of Christ, and I honestly could have spent the entire day there. After that, we went to a waterfall where we got to go swimming and it was so amazing. At night, our group went out to a local bar and it was such a blast :) Everything about the Volta region was stunning. Today, we went to see how they make kente, which again was absolutely amazing.
Tomorrow is republic day in Ghana so we have a day off of work, so we are going to the cultural arts center and a local market. Hopefully I'll be able to post again soon!
Peace and love :)
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