A Broken Heart... Twice Over

Below is a quick recap on what happened during 4H last week, brief description of what we did on the farm, and how 4H and soccer went today.  My heart wasn't broken until today, so read through to understand why:

4H 7/8: A Week of Answered Prayer

Last Sunday, I arrived at the school 10 minutes early to meet with the 4H club members.  I wanted to take time to get things set up before the students showed up at 2pm and set an example for the students.  I figured they'd all be late despite my asking they be there early.  I must say I was completely shocked and super excited when I saw the 4H student leaders at the school when I got there.  They arrived early just as I had asked of them!  This, I felt, was a huge step in the right direction for maintaining a standard in the organization of the club.  


Jon and I spent some time dreaming and labeling the necessary values that need to be instilled in this group of students.  Timeliness is one of them.  We also thought that a  constructive form of competition would be extremely beneficial as well.  I realized how much I have taken for granted the level of competition that is instilled in us as Americans.  Not only do we experience it in the early years with trying out different recreational sports, we also see it everyday when we get older- our capitalist economy thrives off of competition.  The other key value that I realized we need to implement is creativity.  Creativity is not something that can be taught; it must be experienced.  I thought a day coloring would be a great way to gauge the level of creativity in the group, so I brought paper and crayons with me last week.


My excitement during last week's meeting was sustained for most of the time there.  The students were responsive to my teaching on what is corn, how does it grow, what does it need to flourish, etc.  When it came time to color, I gave simple guidelines: write the 4 H's (head, heart, hands, health) and be free to decorate as you like.  Wow was that tough.  I had to quickly color several examples to give them the understanding that the only instruction was to have the 4 H's.  Some of them got it, others just copied one of my examples.  But it was a great exercise!  They eventually had fun with it, using different colors, looking at each others' drawings of heads and hearts, and talking amongst themselves.  It was a step towards encouraging creativity.  Below is a collage of some of their work:

I left the meeting feeling energized and encouraged by our time together.  Over 30 students came and most of them were on time.  That was a win in my book!

The Past Week on the Farm

Hamza and I helped out on the farm again for the week.  Much of our involvement is learning, watching, and providing "professional" insight into how that piece of dirt should be placed (I'm probably being facetious).  We have a great time doing it and always end the day with a smile.  Ghanaians love to laugh!  And I'm so thankful for that.

We planted more corn this week and realized that birds have figured out how to pluck the planted seeds out of the ground and consume them.  This, obviously, is not ok since we're trying to grow those seeds.  While trying to discourage their eating habits, quickly learned that slingshots are not accurate, a bow and arrow is not effective, and there was only one shot gun shell in the ammo box. So we decided to "hire" two more employees for the farm to stand guard night and day. The best part is they don't require pay! Below is a series of how we managed to find these amazing employees:

Step 1: Cut grass and get clothes

Step 2: Stuff clothes with grass.  Remember to smile.

Step 3: Sew shirt to pants with dental floss

Step 4: Assemble employees for Afram Gothic photo shoot

Step 5: Pose with Elvis

Step 5.5: Pose with JLo

Hopefully you can tell the different level of scarecrow creation abilities between Hamza and I.  We spent about the same amount of time on them and his looks amazing!  I decided to leave the bottom half of Elvis out of picture since he is fairly self conscious about his image...

4H 7/13: A 34% Attendance Rate


Man was I excited for 4H earlier today!  We had a fun week on the farm (as you can tell) and I had a plan that would set the ball rolling for the weeks to come.  Since it is our goal to empower the students to create their own school garden, several steps must be taken before we start planting.  For starters, we need to find a place to create the garden.  That was the plan for today until I got there.  I was four minutes late for our 2 o'clock start time and was not happy with myself.  (How can I demand timeliness when I'm late?)  Much to my surprise, the crowd from last week was not present.  Only three students and Francis, the teacher, were there.  By 2:30, ten students had shown up.  I was not only annoyed, confused, and frustrated, but I was sad, too.  I have quickly grown to care for this project and get excited during the "wins."  I was not expecting a loss so soon after last week.  


My heart broke as I allowed myself to examine the growing cycle before me.  These children are not instilled with a culture of commitment.  It will carry the men to the point of abandoning their pregnant girlfriends and cause the women to drop out of school.  As I focused back on the students before me, I realized how quickly the innocent faces will change when they are asked to commit to something far more serious than a school club.  Trying not to lose a grip on myself, I channeled my emotions into creating a new plan for the day.


I decided it was important to stick to the 2pm to 3pm timeframe, so I shortened the plan.  Instead of a recap of last week, garden description, garden location choosing, then net ball, we would only do the garden description.  I took some time to explain to the students why I was there.  I told them (in broken English since they understand it better), "I come from America to do 4H with you.  I am here today for 4H with ALL of you.  If you do not want to be here, that is fine- I will return to America."  I told the president of the club that it is his job to encourage the other students to come each week and to be on time- that without their attendance, we won't get anything done.  I let it sink in for a minute and then proceeded to conjure up a laugh by promising "spankings" the next time they do not show and told them I would bring something special for those that came this week.


We had a productive rest of the meeting during which I explained in full what our plan is for the school garden.  The students and I brainstormed what kind of seeds we want to plant in our half-acre garden plot.  Our ideas ranged from pineapple to tomatoes to casava- all great things to plant here.  The students were also able to wrap their heads around the big picture: the plan to cultivate, plant, grow, harvest, sell, repeat (emphasis on the sell).  We want to expose them to the farming market cycle beyond what they are used to seeing (grow, harvest, eat, repeat).  We stopped at 3 since several of us had a match to attend!


Football in Agbokpa (sp?)


First off- I am SO mad at myself.  I forgot to put my battery in my camera after charging it!  Today was not the day!  With that, I will only have one picture to share of my experience on the field (no videos today, dad)...


The match was set to begin at 3:30pm.  I arrived at 3, thinking I would miss the warm-ups and such but was surprised to find no one was there yet. (Why do I keep expecting some level of timeliness?!?)  By 4 some people started to show up and by 5 a crowd had formed.  I had an awkward encounter when trying to find out if I was for sure playing or not.  Through the language barrier I found out that they did not know I was on the team but wanted me to play anyway.  By 6, I was in full uniform on the field, starting at striker.  


I quickly evolved my position to an attacking midfielder since there seemed to be a constant gap between the offense and defense.  The opposing team was strong, fast, and united.  They were from Kotoso, the major village across the lake that I have talked about before.  After about 20 minutes, we were down 1-0 and only had one or two looks on the net.  The coach's words kept playing through my head, "You will staht at strikah.  You can score fast and they will be no good to win."


I did not touch the ball often, but when I did, I made sure to do something with it.  Whether it was a through ball to a striker, a driven pass to a wing, or a simple pass, I tried my best to prove myself on the field so that the other players would trust me with that scoring opportunity.  I never received that perfect pass despite my efforts to stay open, so I decided to create the opportunity.  


My right wing was racing down the sideline, passing each defender.  He makes a move for the inside and stumbles, misplacing the ball.  It bounces high enough for him to head it to the middle.  I receive it on my right thigh and drop it to my foot.  I can hear the women screaming on the end line- they want a goal!  The defender behind me slashes at my ankle as I keep the ball in the air.  I chest the ball forward to play a volley, but the ensuing defender pushes me from behind.  The ball moves too quickly and I swing in desperation.  I hope to connect and send the ball to the back of the net but my foot only finds dust-filled air and I fall to the ground.  So much for that all-star white kid on the field...

They subbed me off shortly before half to "give me a break."  As I sought water, the Kotoso team scored again and the sidelines turned into a mess.  Fingers pointing, faces sweating, the men next to me screamed orders.  Before I knew it, it was halftime and I was waiting for the coach to bring us in a huddle.  My scattered teammates stayed scattered and I stood back to watch and wait for someone to take charge.  Random (random to me at least) men from the sidelines sought out specific players and recommenced the yelling.  I turned to my new friend George and asked him what they were saying.  He answered, "They tell the players what they do wrong."  I turned back to the small pockets of my teammates faced by yelling men and my heart broke for the second time today.

I realized that the focus of the game was on how each individual played.  The men from the sidelines had a stockpile of the specific plays that each individual failed to make the best decision or failed to perform correctly.  I still stood waiting for the coach to bring the team together and address them as a whole.  He never did.  

Engrained in this African culture is the value of self.  It is an excellent value to maintain and strengthen but it is debilitating if it is not accompanied with the value of a team.  My "team" never played as a team the way I define it: a group working together to achieve a desired goal.  Yes, each player worked towards the desired goal (winning) and at times we experienced seamless spurts of collaboration, but at the end of the day we were never addressed as a team and never played as a team.

I'm not talking through this to make a point about soccer nor did my heart break from the outcome of the meaningless game.  I saw how this inability to work together is arguably a learned trait from their prominent and political leaders.  A nation with potentially endless resources is stuck in a state of underdevelopment because influential leaders, entrenched in the value of self, find corruption as a means to benefit themselves.  

While all of this raced through my head on the side of the field, I felt a tug on my shorts.  Innocence (yes that is his name), the son of one of the women that works on the farm, was looking up at me with a blank stare.  I realized that not only was Innocence looking at me but innocence was, too.  The mind behind the eyes of each one of these children here is constantly observing, listening, reflecting, and mimicking.  Innocence will be lost in this world  all too quickly as the values of the surrounding culture mold the mind.  I can't help but look into each one of their eyes and wonder what they see, how they perceive it, and whether they will decide it will be good to model or not...

We Made the Cut!

After playing every day after work this week, Hamza and I made the local team!  The best part is that at first we did not even realize that there was a local team.  Once we found out they had a team and that they were to have a match on Sunday (tomorrow), we knew we wanted to watch.  We certainly did not think they would want us to play on the team with them.  But sure enough, they asked us to join the squad at the end of yesterday's scrimmage.  The guy told me, "Hello will you please play with us tomorrow.  We saw your skill this week and we will like you to play.  You will play first half and your brotha will play second half."  (Be sure to read that in an African accent.)


So after the 4H meeting today, we'll be warming up for the soccer match!  I'll be sure to tell you about all of my goals... ha... right.  I will have to share about last week's 4H and this week's later today.  Hamza and I spent the morning cleaning the house because we have guests coming later today.  Two American ladies that are interning with a Ghanaian Christian organization are joining us this evening.  Kris picked up his cousin yesterday from the airport and is coming with her later today as well.  His cousin is a doctor that has worked in Afghanistan on medical missions for some years now and is taking a hiatus due to heightened violence in the area.  We are excited to host all three women on the farm and gain their insight into ideas and issues associated with our friends in the local villages.


For now, I'll leave you with a taste of what Hamza and I focused on on the farm this past week:

Pictures and Kotoso

I'll just cut to the chase- here is this week's "What is this?"  Just remember you need to guess in complete sentences!

Picture 1: What is this?

Picture 2: What is this?

Picture 3: What is this?

Going back to one of last week's pictures, the boats give us a bit of insight into what life on Lake Volta is like.  The town of Kotoso (some of it pictured right) does not show up on any map- not even Google!  The town popped up as a result of Ghana's growing population and the opportunities for income close-by.  Kotoso is the send off point for many of southern Lake Volta's fishermen as well as ours.  Below we are packing all of our suitcases, food, water, and supplies into the AAF boat.  Made entirely out of wood, this boat can carry upwards of 5 tons!  Seemed like a lot to me...

Really the only way to reach the people on the other side is by boat (or drive 4 hours around the south-eastern tip).  The boats are also the main source of income for many of the villages that sit on the lake (right).  Most of the boats (or canoes?) head out early in the morning filled with a couple men and fishing nets.  They run the nets through the water hoping to pull out Tilapia or other fish to sell (below right).  They typically smoke the fish so as to preserve them until market day.  Market day is every Tuesday and Friday in Kotoso.  I will definitely be going sometime in the next week!  We walked through market day two weeks ago on our way back to Accra.  I had to turn down every, "Here Ububini!  Here!"  Ububini means white man.


As we cross the lake to get to the farm, we pass hundreds of stationary nets, traps, floating plastic bottle markers, discarded waste, and dried up trees.  These pieces speak to a practice of overfishing, pollution, and lack of resources.  People are so focused on making money, they lose sight on how their fishing is hurting the fish population.  Since there is no waste removal system in place trash is either burned or forgotten about as soon as it leaves your hand, much of it eventually landing in the lake.  And the lack of resources on all levels keeps boating on the lake a hazardous endeavor.  If you can dodge the fish nets and debris, you have to sense where the ancient trees still stand beneath you.  The long forgotten valley that is now Lake Volta was not removed of its trees before the damn was built.  With no funds available or ability to remove the trees, they merely stand firm, waiting to tear the bottom of boat apart and send people overboard.  The majority of the people around the lake do not know how to swim and life preservers are for people with disposable income.


And all we can do right now is look at all of this, smile, take a picture, and build a strong community with the people we are quickly learning to care deeply and passionately for.  So thumbs up!  Everything is OK for now, we'll keep encouraging development and you keep praying!

I must sidebar and say that I had this entire post written this morning and ready to hit "Publish" but I wanted to upload this last picture.  Running on battery since the generator was off, the upload bar hit 99% while my battery hit 1% and right in synch the picture uploaded and my computer shut off.  I had to wait until now to finish!

Award Winning Monday

In an another attempt to make Monday less dreary (I've seen a lot of Facebook complaints about today marking the beginning of another work week), I decided to announce the "What is this?" winner today.


I have to say it is a tie between my parents and Joyce Sabin for getting the most/closest to being right on the pictures.  Both of them were right about pictures 2 and 3, but, like everyone else, did not get picture 1 correct.  If you need a refresher, check out that post here.  So picture 1 was actually drinking water!  Picture 2 was boats tied up on shore and picture 3 was the seed planter.  Thanks for playing everyone!  I'll put up another set of 3 pictures on Wednesday.

If you're still confused about picture 1, when I first saw the plastic pouches of water, I was baffled too.  It has taken some getting used to, but as long as you store them in an area that doesn't smell bad, they work just fine.  You simply nip one of the corners with your teeth and sip away.  Apparently the guys hear learned the hard way that the plastic does not keep out odors.  They had the big bag of waters near the diesel fuel and soon found that their water had taken on the taste of diesel.  Yum!

Now here's the moment you've all been waiting for! (Yeah right, Trevin...)

Just to briefly walk you through the video- the first two shots we were taking a walk around the corn crop, checking the status, assessing the weed situation, and planning out how to best deal with issues.  We walk into the "elephant grass" to get a better look at the loud noise that was coming from there.  Hundreds of birds have nested in the grass, stringing their nests between two grasses, hanging about 6ft from the ground.  It was amazing to see and hear!  The first one on the right is a shot from between the grasses of the nests and the birds.  The one below is a close up of the nests.  Not long after that we went to replace the oil in the generators and found a massive beetle.  I tried my best to show it off, but some of the pictures may be better suited for that.  The bottom picture shows the beetle in a bit more of a ferocious view.  We were able to change the oil and then get out of the heat to do some work in the office that we just set up.  Then I prepared the English lesson for today and had some fun with my Ghanaian coworkers.  Hamza and I sealed off the day with some soccer in the village.  The last video shot is my attempt to show you the level of gnat activity at night.  It's insane!  Even now there's about an inch layer of dead gnats in between the window and the screen.  So crazy...  Anyways, hope you've enjoyed the video!  Let me know if there is anything you would like to see/know more about (people, culture, wildlife, farming, myself, etc).  You ask and I'll deliver! I hope... 

As a side note: Please be advised that the mustache shown in the video is real.  It is potentially temporary so those that are possibly disturbed can hopefully rest easy.

Farm and 4H Friday

This is the first of many Fridays that I will be posting about the Farm and 4H.  It is a great opportunity for me to share what has happened this week and keep me organized while doing so. First up is the farm.


Africa Atlantic Farms


It is important to know the players at the farm before diving too deep into what we do.  In short, Hamza and I have been at the farm by ourselves this week, helping Prosper, George, and Kwasi (the full-time local employees) transplant sunflowers to a smaller area.  It has been a hot couple of days doing this, but we're had some fun.  These guys make a great team.

Prosper is pictured first, standing outside his home with his mother.  Prosper has worked for AAF from the beginning- starting his job by clearing a small patch of grass for Jon's first night in the area.  Now Prosper basically runs the show as the lead farm hand.  He manages a group of women that work on the farm as needed.  Due to his job, Prosper is one of the wealthiest men in the village.  He has a tin roof and satellite TV, unlike most who have grass roofs and no generators to run electricity.  Sadly, Prosper lost his fiance this past Spring due to an untreated ear infection.  (I will be sure to give more background story on that later.)  I have seriously enjoyed getting to know this man!  He is truly a blessing to the farm here.  He has persevered through so much of his 27 years of life.

Next is George.  Father of four, George is one of the hardest workers I have ever seen. His fluency in English has made him a huge asset to my English teaching lessons.  He often ends up taking control when the others are unable to understand some of the more basic questions.  This sense of leadership is certainly making his time here on the farm impactful.  If he is not leading through guidance, he is doing so through his actions- setting the pace for those to follow during the work day.  I'd like all of you to guess how old he is!  I first heard he was 37, when I asked him one day, he said he was 27.  When I brought this up the next day, he was 25.  His serious sense of humor has got me still wondering his age...


Kwasi is the youngest of the crew but definitely the strongest.  His role on the farm definitely favors his youth and strength.  He has a very difficult time understanding English though, so I have tried my best each day to encourage and teach him in this.  I long for the day when I can have a decent conversation with him- either in English or Ewe!  As a 20-year-old with a steady job, he has many of the local ladies watching him carefully.  I wouldn't be surprised if he got married soon!  Although I haven't caught wind of any steady girlfriend.  


The other women that work on the farm range in age from 15 to 50- all equally capable.  They are posing for a picture with Kwasi below and I am giving them a ride back for lunch far below.

4H: Head, Hands, Heart, Health


Last Sunday I had the first 4H meeting with the students and teachers.  Well... I scheduled the first meeting for last Sunday with all the students and teachers...  About half the students showed up by 2:30 when we had planned to start at 2 and one of the five teachers came at 2:45.  We had a meeting despite the low turn out and had a great time.  A simple "Whats you name, favorite food, and age" ice breaker, some talk on 4H, and a soccer match put us all in a fun mood.  I set up the day to be very low on the group talk time so that I could 1) get a quick idea as to what level of communication and respect I am working with and 2) get us all playing a sport we love together to start building some of that community.  My team's name during the game was "ajata" or lion.  We would huddle together and yell "AJATA!" and then proceed to roar.  It didn't help us score and the game ended 0-0, but it did bring a sense of community and now they yell ajata whenever they see me.


This past Wednesday, I was set to meet with the four student leaders and teachers to discuss some of the planning at the school.  School lets out (or is supposed to) at 2:15.  When I arrived at 2:15, no one was there.  The construction workers that are working on the school told me that everyone had left 30 minutes earlier.  Splendid!

I showed up yesterday at 1:45 just in time to see the children get dismissed.  I met with the student leaders and the teacher and was able to spell out each of their job responsibilities as  president, vice president, treasurer, and secretary.  Unfortunately, I found out that the secretary is unable to write her name.  I decided to reduce her responsibilities to just keeping track of when we start and end each meeting for now.  To the right are the four leaders (the kid in the white shirt photo-bombed).  I'd be interested to know who you think has what title!  I think their personalities fit quite well with each.


The next 4H meeting is this Sunday. I definitely need your prayers as I may find myself losing patience.  I asked these four students to set an example by being there early.  I'm just hoping they show up!


With that, I leave you with how Hamza, Prosper, and I ended our day: