COUNTRY: Ghana
PROGRAM: UniBreak
PROJECT: Teaching & Health
WRITTEN BY: Camille Gray
MONDAY AND TUESDAY.
We are officially into our third week. Alice, Katie and Sally spent the day at the orphanage, opting to repaint parts of the building. Coating the outdoor children's shower area in a light blue and planning to create an underwater sea creatures mural, the kids (one in particular- the most adorable little boy named Obet) joined in making tiny brushstrokes.
A hectic day at the hosptial. Alice, Nina and Lucy began by scrubbing the entire paediatrics ward, leaving the walls about five shades lighter. Working in the maternity ward afterwards, the girls witnessed a devastating loss of a newborn. They were confronted by the casual treatment of the deceased baby, which lay partially uncovered on a bench, and the mother who lay alone, inconsolably defeated. The day became even more intense from there with a twenty year old mother struggling to deliver her first baby which subsequently did not breathe for some time afterwards. The girls waited through each excruciating minute as the nurses slapped, probed and fed oxygen into its limp body. This young mother was terrified and alone as the family is not permitted in the delivery room, so the girls held her hand and spoke reassuring words despite the suffocating atmosphere of anxiety.
Naomi, Jacquie and I tackled the primary school together. Taking on the rowdy class of thirty year one's and two's as a pair, Naomi and Jacquie drilled the alphabet, focusing on the sounds of the letters which until now was an entirely new concept for the class. I took Lucy's class meeting the most divine group of 10-13 year olds who were ecstatic upon the discovery that I could speak a few words in Mandarin. The students are particularly fascinated by other countries, so learning about China was a big hit. As we left the school we could hear the students screaming goodbye in Mandarin, singing the words at us and squealing when we said it back to them.
Hannah, Sally, Katie and Kiah ventured off to Accra today in search for supplies and gifts to give using fundraising money. Purchasing medical equipment for the hospital, copious amounts of stationary and exercise books for the school as well as food, toys and toothbrushes for the orphanage, it was a mammoth shopping effort fuelled by the desire to leave Ghana having made some sort of difference.
WEDNESDAY.
An epic day of transformation at the orphanage. The showers were completed, exploding with colour, hand prints, wobbly names, and brightly illustrated pictures of fish. The children were equally as colourful, splashing paint all over themselves, with one boy's entire face and hands dripping in bright yellow. With a majority of the group at the orphanage, Alice, Katie, Kiah, Sally, Hannah and Noami were delighted to bring such joy to the old cement walls, not to mention initiating a hilarious activity for the kids.
Back at school the teachers continued their work in developing core reading skills; something which is lacking entirely. The children in Lucy's class are extremely good at maths, yet many struggle to read longer words and their english vocabulary is very limited. Jacquie continued to both teach the class english and to read at the same time with most of the children unable to speak english at all (a constant barrier in both learning and discipline).
Nina assisted in the paediatric and maternity ward, delighted to hear that the twenty year old mother from yesterday is well and that her newborn son is breathing and healthy. Bidding goodbye to the mother, there was a small sense of achievement in her thankful smile as she walked confidently out of the ward.
We finished the afternoon at the weekly Obroni meeting, with Kiah leaving temporarily to become a pen pal with a local 12 year old girl named Gifty. The group prematurely celebrated Australia Day at Ewusiwa Gardens, a huge outdoor restaurant and dined on as many servings of hot chips as we were allowed (we literally emptied the kitchen of its supply).
THURSDAY.
Orphanage renovation part 2 complete.
Katie, Sally, Naomi, Hannah, Alice and Lucy formed a brilliant team taking on the decaying, water-borne wooden tables first, leaving behind clean, brightly patterned, plastic covers nailed into the wood. Showing typical Ghanaian initiative the kids grabbed stones from the garden and hammered the nails themselves, eager to contribute. The entire eating area was scrubbed clean and coated in a multitude of colours, with the kids once again playing an integral role in the project. The team then went out into town to purchase drink bottles, tooth brushes, shower scrubs and food for the children, rocking up two hours later in the back of Seth's bright blue ute surrounded by supplies.
Nina came to visit the Prince of Peace school assisting Jacquie and I in our attempts to control over forty highly energetic children. With Neen and Jacquie drilling sounds together for the morning, it was decided that a soccer game in the afternoon was necessary to expel the seemingly infinitive supply of energy. In the adjacent room I was covered in poster paint as the children drew then painted their homes, with one student, Evans, fiercely patriotic, as he refused to use any colours other than yellow, green and red (those of Ghana's flag).
Kiah and Hannah spent the morning getting to know the Ghanaian nurses, making jokes, sharing stories and asking questions about one another's culture.
We reunited as a group at the orphanage to hand out the newly purchased supplies and distribute some Australian flags (Australia Day celebrations strike again). Some of us huddled in the dark before a grainy television with the children to watch Ghana play Mali in the African Cup of Nations (of which Ghana won 1-0, much to their delight).
Lunch time was chaotic. Katie, armed with a single bread knife, simultaneously cut, buttered and spread over sixty pieces of bread with orphans swimming at her feet, and outstretched hands grabbing at her waist, yelling, "Please madame! Please madame!"
Somehow each one was fed and sat content at their newly furnished tables, slurping from a juice popper in one hand, and a packet of biscuits in the other.
This moment of peace evaporated as soon as Kiah whipped out her polaroid camera and began distributing photos of the children. With the rare chance of owning a tangible self portrait, the kids were crazy with excitement, and chanted Kiah's name as if she were a demi God.
We bid yet another painful goodbye with the eldest orphan, Junior, refusing to let us go at the road, crying for a hug.
FRIDAY.
The group has split up for the weekend with Katie, Kiah, Hannah, Naomi, Sally and Alice off to the Volta regions leaving Lucy, Jacquie, Nina and I in Swedru.
The Volta gang rose early and headed off for an 8 hour Tro Tro journey, planning to visit the famous waterfalls on Saturday.
Nina, Lucy, Jacquie and I set off to the school for another day's work with some of the younger children screaming as Nina walked in, "Madame is coming! Madame is coming!" Huge progress in the younger class with Jacquie and Nina reaching a milestone as the children recognised some sounds of the alphabet without prompting.
Lucy and I experienced some minor memory blanks as we taught the maths class (nothing a sneaky calculator check can't fix), and began introducing the idea of decimals to the children.
Another game of soccer finished the day, with some of the girls (one named Princess...actually), showing some serious skill. Utterly exhausted and coated in alternating layers of dust and sweat, we returned home to our families and were greeted by the news that the rest of the group had finally found accommodation despite being turned down five times!
SATURDAY.
Nina, Jacquie, Lucy and I ventured out to Gomoa Takwa, a small village about forty minutes from Swedru to visit the 'Hope for Orphans' Orphanage. Our arrival was rather celebratory with lines of children sprinting up the dirt driveway towards our taxi, swarming and spinning in circles with excitement. Even our taxi driver was laughing, "They are happy to see you," he said as we stepped out, and were immediately grabbed by a dozen small hands.
Greeted by a young, exceedingly kind man named John, we were given a tour of the home, and were alarmed at what we saw. Crumbling concrete walls and windows with torn and gaping mosquito nets formed the exterior of the largely empty house. A few excessively old mattresses lay on the floor, with one large bed taking up an entire room, which we were later told was the sleeping quarters for over twenty children (on one bed!), with many simply sleeping on the floor. A large portion of the house has a dirt floor, and the kitchen occupies an outdoor space near the back of the house, amidst chickens and naked toddlers who roam next to the fire.
The children are beautifully behaved, yet many suffer from severe chicken pox and other skin conditions, and after about an hour we were met with hopeless crying as the younger children scratched at their skin, pointing to it, while we had nothing to offer.
We immediately assumed responsibility for changing some basic needs in the home-establishing a good supply of food, medication, beds and water has become our goal for the week. It wasn't long before we were at Swedru shops buying bulk packs of soap, nappies, toothbrushes and shelves, talking to Seth to arrange for bed orders as soon as we could.
Nina and I experienced a Saturday night like no other.
Upon returning home we were informed that we were to be escorted to the Swedru High School 'Entertainment night', of which we had absolutely no clue what to expect.
It was insane.
We were thrown into a huge school hall with over three hundred Ghanaian teenagers dancing before a DJ on a stage. At one point we were led up onto the stage, and then pushed straight into the middle of the dancefloor with the teenagers subsequently forming a circle around us, laughing and clapping at our 'Obroni' efforts to replicate their natural born sense of rhythm.
Literally drenched in sweat, and almost sore from laughing we left two hours later having heard one particularly catchy Ghanaian pop song four times.
SUNDAY.
Lucy and Jacquie woke early to attend a 6:30am Catholic mass returning home two hours later to breakfast set out by their gorgeous host mother. Lucy noted the similarities in the service to Australia, with the main difference being the length of the mass and Ghana specific prayers.
Nina and I were taken by our host family to an Assemblies of God service which went from 9am to 12pm. We spent the first hour in small 'study' groups discussing specific topics. This was followed by the loudest, most exuberant hour of the service involving copious tambourines and amplifiers, four vocalists on microphones and one extremely enthusiastic drum player. At one point we were taken to the front of the church hall with the older women to dance in a circle before the entire congregation (which despite last night's activities was still fairly daunting).
Well recovered from the volume of the singing and preaching at the service, we met Lucy and Jacquie afterwards to return to the Gomoa Takwa orphanage again to deliver some of our purchased donations. We recoated the tables in Lino plastic, using hammers and nails, and were greatly amused when the children began fanning us with recently donated books, remarking that we looked very hot (mainly due to the fact that we were covered in sweat, an all too familiar sensation in Ghana).
Ending a wonderful day, we eagerly checked our phones to hear that the rest of the group was in Accra and heading back to Swedru after an adventurous weekend away (soon to be updated!!)
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