Chapter 38...The Volta vacation begins!

Having spent the last couple of days feeling like I've taken on the role of Julia Roberts in 'Eat, Pray, Love' the start of my two week vacation has arrived and it's timing couldn't be better! Never fear though as I haven't found myself crying on the bathroom floor at 3am over lost loves (although I have come close) and I haven't found myself booking flights to Italy, India and Indonesia either (although that would be nice and as you will see later I have come close)! But what I have found is that my frustrations with work have reached their peak, my patience with Ghanaian culture has reached it's limit, my mind has been wandering to times gone by and my itchy feet syndrome has returned!

So all-in-all this spells out that after two very intense months settling in Ghana, a break away from everything I've come to know about my life in Bolga is very much needed! Now unfortunately due to a lack of finances this will be rather more low-key than that of Julia Roberts year long trip away visiting three major World countries! Instead I shall be spending two weeks travelling the length and breadth (quite literally) of Ghana! So ahead lies a fortnight of yoga, wine and chocolate; trekking, jogging and waterfalls; hotels, swimming pools and lakes; beads, beads and more beads and at the end of all this, the Capital city and the coast, which will be like going home for me, being near to water again!

Hopefully though like good old Julia I will be able to eat as much fancy food as she did (but not put back on the 7kg I've lost so far), achieve as much soul-searching as she managed to and finally close the door on old loves, in order to open the door for new ones! Oh and alongside all of this plan my workload for the ten weeks I have between this vacation and the next! Oh and one last thing too...plan for my next big trip to New Zealand and Australia at the end of January 2012 (sorry oh to everyone back home, I know this will be a huge shock, but to soften the blow it does mean I'll be back for Christmas this year *smile*)!

Chapter 37...The two month Ghanaversary!

Woke up. Ate a stringy mango. Brushed teeth to remove flesh of stringy mango. Chased a goat from the compound. Kickstarted moto. Rode to VSO. Made it in one piece through town. Met Damien. Saw Bas, Jeannine and Adrienne. Arranged to cook dinner tomorrow night. Need to decide what to cook for dinner tomorrow night. Collected Doxy. Met Country Director. Told him work was slow. Regretted telling him work was slow. Rode to Total garage. Put ten Ghana Cedis in tank. Ten Ghana Cedis filled tank. Result. Rode to work. Hit some pot holes. No flat tyre. Result. Got to work. No-one there. Held cleaners baby. Drank some water. Director arrived. More staff arrived. Did my morning greetings. Director remembered my name. Shock. Sent some emails. Read a report. Got bored at work. Ate some avocado. Held cleaners baby. Text a friend. Rode home. Ate some bread. Chatted to Vic. An hour later was still chatting to Vic. Ate some chocolate. Enjoyed chocolate. Watched end of SATC 2. Watched Marley and Me. Researched where to spend 2012. Researched what to spend 2012 doing. Thought about going for a jog. Went for a jog yesterday. Decided against the jog. Made tuna pasta for dinner. Skyped Annie. Skyped my parents, my brother and my sister. Made plans for 2012.  Result. Felt content. Ate two M&M's. Went to bed.

Chapter 36...The appointment of Regional Rep!

On Saturday us Upper East vols had our regional meeting, which is held around every six months and is an opportunity for our regional rep to tell all the volunteers in the region what has been going on in recent times and what the future plans are for VSO Ghana. The rep is voted in yearly to act as a middle person between the volunteers in their region and VSO Ghana and to be there as the first point of call if there are any problems. At our meeting Rachel and Stephen who were our reps for the past year decided it was time for them to step down and hand the responsibility of the Upper East region to two new responsible, organised, highly intelligent people (you may have seen already where I'm going with this) and who would have guessed it from that criteria...I got voted in!! So the new regional rep for the Upper East region is me, with Jackie as my shadow/second-in-command/Robin/Clyde (her full title is yet to be set in stone)! I am super excited about this role and what I can potentially do to help current and future vols in the region and I am even more excited about one of my biggest responsibilies which will be to collect the new intake of volunteers in May from Accra and make sure they make it safe and sound up to Bolga then stay safe and sound for as long as I am regional rep!

To continue with the high spirits on Saturday we then spent the evening celebrating Christina and Laura's birthdays (I turned it into my own personal celebration of becoming regional rep) at a huge house party with a live band - Tangaculture and all the usual suspects at a Ghanaian celebration - guinea fowl, goat, jollof rice, plantain, dancing, pito, Star...

The non-pregnant birthday girl enjoying herself a little bit too much!

Abbie invading the bands personal space!

Tangaculture!

Chapter 35...The adventurer in me - riding motos and crocodiles!

Now as anyone who knows me well enough will know I am an adrenaline junkie who loves to include myself in situations or to create situations where there is a need for extremes! I'm a risk-taker who isn't happy unless I'm throwing myself around a raft on scale 4 rapids, diving in the World's most tropical waters or climbing and nearly dying on the Inca Trail! I have come to accept very quickly that this is a part of my personality that I totally love and that I don't want to lose as I grow older and wiser, after all I wouldn't be where I am now if I wasn't this way...I wouldn't have jumped on a flight on my own to Rio De Janeiro two years ago, I wouldn't have then spent six months travelling South America and South East Asia and realised that I have an inner desire to get to know this crazy World that we live in, I wouldn't have booked that flight to Frankfurt Hahn and then three months later one to Cambodia too! I want to live my life with no regrets and that is why I have these 'moments of madness' when I do dramatic and extreme things and chase the things in life that mean something to me, because those things come around so rarely and should be treasured when they are found! Next on the list...a skydive wherever in the World I end up after Ghana, which will no doubt be somewhere cold after all this time in 40 degree heat and somewhere I can ride a bike!

So back to the point...last week I undertook and passed moto training and again realised my need for speed, my complete lack of fear when it comes to trying new things and my love for extreme sports! The first day of moto training saw me hammering my Lifan bike around a playing field in Bolga and then throwing myself off my bike as I did my usual trick of getting too cocky and playing with the big boys instead of the sensible group of people who were really trying to learn things properly! I was dared to ride my moto through the end of a goal post, which had a triangular frame just wide enough to fit my bike, so in true Hannah style I took on the dare whole-heartedly...until I found myself riding towards the frame in third gear, braking slightly and changing down to second with the intention to come down to first just before I rode through, but instead as I neared my target I realised that actually my bike was not going to fit through the triangular frame at all! This is when panic mode kicked in and I decided the best option for me and my bike was to throw myself off taking the bike down with me too! Now I don't intend to scare you all (especially my parents) with stories like this so never fear because also in true Hannah style I was not injured and stood up giggling away whilst dusting myself off...oh and with a valuable lesson learnt! The boys were in hysterics as they told me that I had actually been hurtling myself towards the wrong goal post frame, which really was too small to fit my bike through, hence my last minute decision to throw myself from my bike was probably a good one!
 

Following the excitement of the first day it was time to get to grips with riding on the right hand side of the road when we headed out into the real World for the rest of the week! We spent around 15 hours of the next four days reaching speeds of 80kph and visiting some familiar places - Tongo Hills and Tengzug...

The road less travelled...?!

...and some not so familiar places - the border with Burkina Faso (yes of course we did step into Burkina for a short stroll)!

...and Paga crocodile farm where we rode crocodiles as a short break from riding our motos!

...and here is a list of some of the other animals who crossed our path along the way:

• Pigs with their many many piglets, 
• Sheep, 
• Cows, 
• Goats with their many many kids, 
• Guinea Fowl, 
• Chicken, 
• Dogs...it really was like riding through Old McDonalds farm!
  

...and now the time has come to meet my new best friend, which is yet to be named so all suggestions are welcome!

And finally to complete the moto story so far trust me to do this...most vols decide to take it easy when they first pass - not riding in the dark, not picking others, not riding too far, not drinking alcohol etc etc but oh no not me because at 4am this morning, having had my Ghanaian driving license only three days I broke two of those VSO Ghana recommendations when I took Abbie to the bus station to get her bus back to Wa! Which two I will leave you guessing, but the more genius readers of my blog (you know who you are) should be able to get it pretty quickly...!

Chapter 34...The story of Boy F

This blog post takes us back to Tengzug festival and tells the story of Boy F...

Boy F has a name and a father. Boy F has no mother, no siblings, no education and no age. Boy F looks around fifteen years old. Boy F has a physical condition similar to cerebal palsy and suffers from fits similar to epilepsy. Boy F's condition has not been diagnosed. Boy F can speak his local language. Boy F was found roaming around the local Primary School. Boy F was wearing a pair of rag shorts, no top and no shoes. Boy F had dust filled hair and the teeth he had were rotting and yellow. Boy F was left to fend for himself...

I entered Boy F's life three weeks ago when I was taken to the Primary School to meet him.  Boy F told us he wanted food, sandals, a school uniform and an education. Boy F wanted to fit in with his peers and to lead a 'normal' life...

I saw Boy F at Tengzug festival. Boy F was in a small compound house the size of most people's kitchen table and the heat of an oven. Boy F had his legs tied together. Boy F had clearly had his wrists tied together too. Boy F had a split lip. Boy F was dazed and confused...had Boy F been beaten? Boy F had had a fit. Boy F had fallen and cut his lip. Boy F's father had tied him to stop the fitting. No-one in Boy F's life knew what to do with Boy F...

Could I help Boy F? Should Boy F be taken to a doctor, should he be diagnosed, should he be treated? Who will pay for Boy F's treatment? How will Boy F get to hospital in Bolga? What will happen to Boy F when VSO leaves? Should Boy F be left to live his life in his community without intervention from VSO and others? Should Boy F's community be sensitised to the issue of Boy F's disability? Should Boy F be sent to school with his peers despite the fact there are no qualified teachers to assist him? The questions continue...!

A week later Boy F had a shaved head. Boy F had a school uniform. Boy F had sandals. Boy F had a school book and pencil. Boy F was sat in a primary class drawing lines. Boy F did not understand, but Boy F was smiling.

Jackson the Headteacher, Boy F and me!

Last week Boy F was taken to see a doctor at Bolgatanga Regional Hospital, the doctor wanted to test Boy F for malaria. Boy F's condition is not malaria. There were no disability doctors at the hospital. There was no-one who could help to diagnose Boy F's condition. What happens next to Boy F...

Boy F has so far taught me...to try not to jump to conclusions, that everyone deserves basic human rights, more about the Ghanaian way of life, to be grateful for what I have got and that I can give so much through doing so little during my lifetime...

Chapter 33...The first Ghanaian Birth...day/weekend/week!

Following on from last Sunday evening this week, for various reasons out of my control, somehow turned into a marathon few days of birthday celebrations, much to my content! On Wednesday Rachel turned up at the house around 11am with a live chicken that she had been given as a gift from a school! What with one pet in the house already (Laylo the boy cat, not Layla the girl as was first thought) we decided it would be a very grand idea to get the chicken killed and grilled up for a chicken casserole dinner that night! So at 5pm Rachel, Hannah, Abbie (my fellow ICT-er who's over for the week) and I headed to collect the chicken from Mussi our local BBQ man! When we got there though we were told that one of Lewis' friends had asked for a guinea fowl to be prepared for us as well and that we should stop for a drink (or four) until he got there to eat it with us! Rachel and Hannah decided to head home to prep the casserole so Abbie and I stayed to enjoy the guinea fowl as a starter then strolled home just in time for a lovely chicken casserole, some red wine and Sangria!

Thursday, which was my actual birthday, I woke up to find endless emails, texts and Facebook messages from all over the World wishing me a happy birthday! What a perfect way to start the day I thought, but no Vic coming into the living room (as I was eating my French Toast breakfast made by Rachel and Hannah) singing me happy birthday just about managed to top that! So in the evening, after a busy day of CASO meetings, we headed to a restaurant in town called Swap for a slap-up meal of Chicken Burger and Yam Chips as well as Kadai Chicken Curry with rice (Abbie and I shared two meals between us to be able to try as many things as possible)! Following the guinea fowl and chicken casserole the night before as well as the jollof rice and goat meat we had for lunch that day we were absolutely stuffed, but arrived home that evening to find a yummy chocolate brownie birthday cake waiting, which Vic had been slaving over all evening! Surprise surprise we all managed to find room somehow for a slice or two!

So Friday started with more CASO meetings and ended with a an evening of meat, meat and more meat, the infamous Star beer and some midnight drumming and dancing! I planned dinner and drinks to celebrate my birthday on Friday evening, by which point most of us were shattered from the week of celebrating we'd already had and were pretty full of good food too! Nevertheless at 6pm on Friday we dragged ourselves out kicking and screaming (I literally was as I had managed to somehow catch a cold) for another slap-up  meal at Comme Ci Comme Ca! 

Abbie and I!

Abbie and I both agreed that we would share one meal between us after already having red red - beans and rice, as well as jollof rice and chicken for lunch that day! Unfortunately that plan went out the window when we looked at the menu and both really fancied chicken sandwich and french fries and spaghetti bolognese...we decided the best compromise was to order the chicken sandwich and french fries as our meal to share and the spaghetti bolognese as our 'side order!' So after some delicious food and plenty of Star we found ourselves fashionably late for the 8pm drinks I had organised at Rocky Base, a spot in town! Upon arrival it was lovely to see so many vols who had travelled in for the weekend and also lots of our Ghanaian friends there too! Despite how full we all felt we managed to tuck into the four different kinds of meat (there is a prize in it for the person who can guess all four meats (not a volunteer here in Ghana before you try Vic and Rach)) that had been bought to celebrate my birthday and take plenty of Star too to wash it all down with! At the end of the evening some local friends of the boys played the drums and I won't lie I did have a little boogie and even at one point pulled out 'the moves' to the Ghanaians delight! As it neared 1am Abbie, Vic and I who were the last vols standing decided to call it a day so after an eventful evening we crawled into bed feeling full of meat and beer and looking forward to a lie-in Saturday morning...!

The house plus Ben who was too ill to move out of the photo!

Three of the five different meats we ate last week!

Following a day of craft market shopping and showing Abbie the delights of Bolga on Saturday a few of us 'ladies who lunch' spent Sunday moto'ing to Navrongo (35-40 minutes North of Bolga) for a day trip of clothes shopping and yet more food (we're back on the food again people, back on the food)! We spent a lovely morning roaming around the clothes market and rummaging for goodies then enjoyed a late lunch of rice balls with groundnut soup and fried rice with chicken (once again these meals were shared!) 

Finger food Ghanaian style!

So this Sunday evening I find myself tired and full (again) with a much lighter purse, but pleasantly content with how my first Ghanaian birthday turned out! Even though obviously I missed the fact that there are a lot of people I didn't get to share it with, I am more than happy that I got to share it with the people in my life who I am experiencing this crazy adventure with!