Back at homestay

So we're back at homestay now. JB got in yesterday evening and I got in later in the night. JB was up in the North checking out our site, while I was elsewhere in the North (Gushie) doing tech training. Tech training was pretty fun, we learned at bunch of different skills that we'll need throughout our service here in Ghana. We also did a lot of hands on training, which was great to do. We build (dug) two different types of latrines, made a soak-away pit, and taught different lessons. The lessons were really great, because we got over our awkwardness and learned what worked and what didn't. So I'm glad to get that out of the way. Now I'm excited to get into my community and start planning some lessons out.

Another "highlight" is that I got my first sickness out of the way. Not quite sure what I had, but antibiotics cured it, so I guess that's all that matters. It wasn't malaria, so that was a good point. So far I haven't really been bitten by many bugs and I've been good about taking my malaria meds, so I'm pretty hopeful to not get malaria. But first illness down, who knows how many to come. We have great medical care here, so I'm not really worried about anything serious, just a bunch of little bumps in the roads. :)

An actual fun highlight was the floor pounding we went to. I don't have the time to find out the characters on this computer to spell it out for you (Dagbani uses about 3 letters that aren't on an English computer), but I will someday and let you know it's actual name. The floor pounding is done when a family needs to re-do the floor of their compound. I believe this is only done in the Northern Regions, but I could be wrong. Anyways, the old floor is torn up. Small rocks and dirt are then collected and spread on the floor. A mixture of cow manure and water stirred and poured over the ground. Then a bunch of women from the community come together and pound the floor with these wooden feet things. They'll all stand together and pound together while singing and slowly moving across the floor. Once even thing is pounded (takes a few hours), it's dried and then concrete is poured over and smoothed out. It was a blast! But really hard work.

We also made it to a baby weighing day, which was awesome. We went to a small clinic that is set up for baby days every month or so. The babies are weighed, giving shots, and the mothers are given some education. It was a real joy to hang out with the mothers and hold some babies. Since a lot of these communities don't have easy access to hospitals, this might be the only medical care the mothers and children receive unless it's very urgent. So it was great to be able to help out the staff with weighing babies.

While up in the Northern region, we played a game of football (soccer) of America vs. Ghana. We tried our best to regain America's glory, however....we lost pretty badly. I'll attribute it to wearing chacos, eating lunch right before, being hot, and against a team that actually had uniforms. But really...it was probably just all skill. We held them off for the first half, but then they scored 4 shots I believe in the second. haha...it was fun.

Well I think that's all for now. We'll be swearing in soon as official Peace Corps Volunteers. We're both happy and healthy. Just excited to move into our new place and make it a home. Our mailing address has changed. The original one will still work, however the new one is closer to our home and therefore easier for us to use. We miss you guys and will try and keep you updated. :)

Training

Hey Everyone,
So I have currently been in Gushie, up in the Northern Region, for my technical training with the rest of the Health, Water, and Sanitation PCVs. We're staying in a house that has running water, but not electricity...but you take what you can get. :) We've been learning the skills and techniques that we'll need in the next few years for our service here. I'm doing a program called Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS), which is to motivate people to use latrines. Nothing fancy, but definitely needs to be done. I will also be working with the District Assembly on other projects, but I'll have to wait until I'm at my site to know more about that.
I met my counterpart a few weeks ago when I went to go look at my site for the first time. Our place is pretty nice, we have 2 rooms with electricity...and that means Ceiling Fans!!!!!!!!!! I'm very excited about that. During the hot season it supposedly gets up to 120 at night....so that fans are going to be nice. We also have running water (most of the time), so flush toilets and showers! You have no idea how nice that is. A flush toilet is almost impossible to come by, and a shower is luxury. Although I have come to love bucket baths, I'll miss them. I will be working in 4 outreach communities surrounding Zabzugu, which is found out are quite a few km away, so that's gonna be tiring during the hot season, but 'when in Rome'. :)
I don't have much time, so I'll leave at this...I updated photos! I miss you guys and I hope that everything is going well back in 'Merika!