Dagomba woman...in Techiman

2 weeks ago, the PCTs were divided into two sections for travel, half went to teh northern part of Ghana and teh otehrs to the Southern Part. Luckily I was among th Northern travelers, since my permanent site is going to be in the north, I wanted to get a glimpse. We packed our hikers packs, and 2 yards, bedsheets and every emergency tool you could think of really for travels ina foriegn country. Although some of us are slowly getting comfortable with travel, some are still on guard most of the time. We all had our cameras on tow of course, for those regular moments for the host country nationals but fantastic for us and our families back home.
The trip from Techiman to Tamale is 4 hours, and another 45 mins to the specific site of our field trip. We arrive in the light of day as planned, and was welcomed with locally grown sugar canes and the harsh smiles of the sun. I squinted to greet and recoiled into my cloth. It was so hot!!!. So much so that I feared exposing any part of my skin. who said people of color dont get skin cancer?!?!
After the initial shock of the sun, when I could actually open my eyes, I was taken by the terrain, mostly flat but beautiful. Everthing had a grainy color, if any at all, and the people were blue black. I felt like I was taking a stroll through the National geographic special report on Northern Ghana. I kept having to jot things down. Its a habit that im trying to lesson..jotting everything down...I wish to remember everything, I keep forgeting that im actually here to stay and work for a bit longer. When we arrive at the seasoned voluteers homes, I quickly surveyed teh room and planted my things where I would call my bed for the night. We drank lots of water, I mean lots, but I felt like a drain, nothing was actually sticking, the water was just draining away. After we rested, it was time to greet all teh importanat people in teh village. Chiefs, Assembly men, market women, nurse etc....
Shep Lessons: As peace corps volunteers we have to incorporates School Education programs into our work. the subject of which coudl vary depending on teh need of the community, but mostly do focus on guinea worm, food hygiene, and hiv Aids. I taught the Jss1 students about food hygiene, and water sanitation, im getting lots of practice teaching and gaining more confidence as I do more. After our Shep lessons, and games, we headed for Tamale to visit the GWEP, guinea Worm Eradication program, which is the main focus of my job, egro I found much more interesting. the carter center in ghana is much involved in this prcess, but ghana seems to be ;agging behind in the eradication of guniea worm. the experts have accepted that much is dependent of behavioural changes, and this is a big challenge for workers, health officials and policy makers. Much is also dependent n teh Peace Corps Volunteers ability to integrate properly into his or her community and beging more grassroot work on behavior change. Im excited to begin working and hopefully be an effective change agent. I will give a more scientific detail on gunea worm at a later date.
Speaking of Integration, I actually picked up a cutlass and attempted to weed the front of my host families home this weekend and i was rewarded with blisters on my hands, after which I went to farm and harvested yams and cassava. took lots of breaks and ate an uncountable amount of baby cocunuts!!! Language is going well, I will be fluent in twi and Dagbani in no time!!! I have ost a few pounds, but I am eating three persons serving of food every meal. Im not sure if its the sun or the water...any ideas?!

I complete my training on teh 27th of this month and move to teh north, there I will have more regular access to teh web.
Love you guys!!! keep me in your daily prayers if you remember of course..
much love,
Ledor