One Month In...

Here I am, one month in and its been quite the experience both personally and professionally.

Personally, the most challenging experience so far has been having malaria - which I had about 2 weeks ago! I started feeling sick on a Tuesday afternoon... generally, I just felt "off". I wasn't hungry, I felt week, and very tired. By evening time though, the symptoms were gone and I thought I was fine. The next day at about 10.30am I started feeling sick again and was at the doctor by 12.30 to have a test for malaria. I am happy to report I didn't faint during my needle (I had great emotional support from Wofa), but almost did when waiting in the hallway for my test results. Obviously the result was positive and it was off to the pharmacy for my meds. Overall, I spent less than $5 dollars on my medications... which only made me think more about how ridiculous it is when people die of malaria!!! It is such a common sickness here and so easily treatable, that there is no way people should be dying.

After feeling better, I went away for the weekend to Kokrobrite - a beach town to the west of Accra. Six of us set of together on Saturday - 4 Canadian and 2 Dutch - and 3 more Canadians joined us on Sunday. It felt great to get away and meet some more people. It was really interesting to learn about everyone's work in Ghana and to get some suggestions of who I should be in touch with here. I was also proud of the fact that I made it to the trotro (bus) station all by myself with no problems. Now I feel much more confident about getting around Accra independently...

Speaking of which, independence, has been a major struggle for me. I really want to be able to get around on my own, go the market myself, etc... without always needing someone to come with me. But, I am recognizing that while I have been here a month now it is simply not enough time to be completely independent and I am learning to ask for help. This isn't easy, especially when I need to ask for help for simple things I could do at home no problem. Thankfully, Wofa is being patient with me and is helping me learn...

Professionally... things are beginning to take off. I had my first meeting with my co-researchers last Wednesday and they are a great group! We will be meeting every Wednesday afternoon, as the school already closes early that day and so that children will still be home in time to complete their chores (and hopefully do a bit of school work too!). When I am not with the kids, I am busy planning the weekly sessions, and 'running' into town to run errands and pick up supplies for the group. I put running in quotation marks because running to do errands is simply not the reality here. I must give myself at least 4 or 5 hours - at least - for a round trip.

I will also be teaching English classes in 4 of the classes. I think I will teach English comprehension, as it is clear that many students can read but are not able to clearly grasp what it is they are reading. I think this is a critical piece of their education, especially while trying to develop critical thinkers who can analyze what it is they are reading and think deeply about their world.