Happy Rain Day!

Well hi everyone!
Things have been a little on the busy side for me lately, which is a nice departure from the laid-back lifestyle that I've grown pretty accustomed to... I'd like to share with you some stories of a project that we were able to complete this week, and then a few thoughts about rain.

First of all, we officially kicked off the construction of our soak-away pit project this week and were able to complete all of the pits that we intended to do (and more!). This was the sanitation project that I mentioned a few posts ago, but never shared the details of, so here we go ( I'll try to be brief). Soak away pits are basically a simple waste management system to deal with excess water left after bathing, washing, etc... Many of the compounds in my community simply have a pipe (if they're lucky) leading from their bathing areas to the outside ground. As you might imagine, when 10 or more people are using the same room to bathe in, there is a lot of excess water waste that flows outside, creating stagnant pools of dirty water. These areas, which in the case of my village often intersect with walking paths, are a prime breeding ground for flies and other insects, and negatively affect the overall health of our village. In order to improve the drainage and reduce the existence of standing water, we built 12 soak away pits in the community, which are waist-deep pits dug into the ground and filled with stones where the extra water can flow and eventually be absorbed into the ground. In many cases, we had to install new pipes or re-route old ones, which left us plenty of work to do. I implemented this project alongside a youth group in the community, and I was amazed at their enthusiasm and commitment even in the scorching heat of long days. These young men dug all of the pits, gathered the rocks, and patiently taught community members the process of pit construction so they could build more in the future. I was so proud when I walked around the village the day after finishing the project and saw that a few families had actually begun constructing more pits behind their houses, having been inspired by the what we had accomplished and eager to start their own work. I could not be more proud of my community for the way they embraced this project and all of the many hours of hard work that they put in for the betterment of their future health and well-being.

Enough of the bragging about my awesome village; it's time to talk about rain. Here in West Africa, it's the rainy season. Or so they say. Here in the north of Ghana, things have been pretty dry lately. Considering that most families in the north make their living through farming, the lack of rain this season has meant that crops have been disappointing, which in turn affects the overall livelihood of entire villages. Whenever we'd get a much-needed rainstorm after a period of dryness back at home, my mom would always say, "I bet the farmers are dancing in the fields!" I always laughed and agreed, although until moving here, I never truly understood WHY the farmers would be dancing in their fields. In fact, I always viewed rain as more of an inconvenience rather than something to celebrate, complaining when I had to walk through it to go to class or clean the mud off my shoes on a spring day. A good, long rainstorm after several dry weeks here, however, is a downright exciting event. The other day, I woke up around midnight to the sound of pouring rain, which ended up continuing until well into the morning. When the rain finally let up and I made my way outside, I was greeted with an uncharacteristic enthusiasm from my friends in the village. They greeted me using the greeting that we usually reserve for holidays, and I wondered why, considering I hadn't been aware of any upcoming holidays on the calendar. After a few people greeted me this way, I turned to one of my friends and asked which holiday it was that I was missing. He laughed and said, "Oh Mandeiya, it RAINED last night!" And then I really started to understand. In our village, rain IS a reason to celebrate. When your life is directly affected by the whims of weather, things like a good rainstorm are worth celebrating. When your life is intertwined with earth's beautiful rhythms, then it merely seems like a natural reaction to give thanks that you've made it through another completion of the cycles. It is such a different way of understanding the seasons when your life literally depends on the way that they change. For me, it has been a unique lesson in living in harmony with the changes around you. Even when the weather changes once again, the thermometer rises above 100 degrees, and we see barely a drop of rain for months, I want to try to be thankful for that change. After all, our lives will depend on that season too.

Happy Birthday, Peace Corps!

Last week, we celebrated the Swearing-In Ceremony of 70 new Peace Corps Ghana volunteers. During this event, we also celebrated the 50th anniversary of the Peace Corps, which, as some of you may already know, was launched (so close to home!) on the steps of the University of Michigan in a speech by President Kennedy. The exciting part about being a volunteer in Ghana is that this was the destination of that very first group of Peace Corps volunteers way back in 1961, and since stepping onto Ghanaian soil, Peace Corps has maintained a continuous presence in this country for fifty years straight. The newest group of volunteers was sworn-in on the same day as the first batch of Ghana volunteers back in the 60s, so last week's event was an amazing culmination of the challenging and rewarding development work that has taken place over the past five decades.
At the ceremony last week, the Ghanaian Secretary of Foreign Affairs and other dignitaries addressed the audience and shared with us some of their personal interactions with Peace Corps volunteers, some of them having been taught by teachers in the first group of volunteers in Ghana. It was absolutely beautiful and touching to hear the stories about how these young Ghanaians were challenged and inspired by their American teachers (in the beginning, the programs in Peace Corps Ghana mostly centered around the education sector). It was also fascinating to hear about the experiences of those first volunteers who boarded planes in the early 1960s in their three-piece suits and high heels with no idea what they might face ahead of them. Those first volunteers were not awarded the luxury of researching their destination before they departed, or receiving any intense cultural or technical training to prepare themselves, or having access to cell phones or the internet. They were truly committed to embarking on an adventure and offering themselves as tools in the work of international diplomacy and development. After having asked themselves what THEY could do for their country, they found an answer that lied halfway across the world. Generations after them have continued to ask the same question of themselves, and have found the answer by following in the footsteps of those first Peace Corps volunteers. I consider myself lucky to be named among those who have taken those steps and found themselves here, even though I'm becoming convinced that my life has been more impacted by my service than any Ghanaian that I've worked with.
As I've been reflecting on the existence of Peace Corps in a country like Ghana for 50 continuous years, I've thought a lot about a question that I've been asked many times: "Why isn't the country developed yet? Is Peace Corps really doing its job if they still need volunteers after this long?" To put it bluntly, I'm really starting to hate these questions. Sure, I understand where they originate, but I think that asking these types of questions illustrates a limited understanding of the scope of Peace Corps and its mission. For me, personally, my job as a volunteer is less about bringing this country to a higher level of development and more about cultural exchanges and mutual learning experiences. Certainly, we as volunteers can help by bringing our education, technology, and experience to areas where these services are needed to improve the basic health and well-being of our international neighbors, but I believe that the work of a volunteer ought to focus more on the exchange of beliefs, culture, and ways of life than it should about bringing the "third world" lifestyle up to "first world" standards. This is why I think that the work of an organization like Peace Corps is something that ought to be encouraged to EXPAND, rather than diminish over time. Leaving your own way of life, even if it's for a short period of time, to experience a new way of thinking, acting, or living, is a powerful challenge to the mind and spirit. Entertaining or even EMBRACING new perspectives is one of the most effective ways we grow and develop personally, and I feel like like my experiences here are the daily illustrating that point.
Maybe I'm making volunteerism sound more glamorous or impactful than it really is, but I truly feel that a life dedicated to opening up oneself to new experiences is a powerful inspiration to the world around you. I have certainly been inspired by the example of that first group of volunteers who took President Kennedy's challenge seriously and allowed themselves and their communities to be changed, and I hope that my service here, in some small way, will become a part of that cultural legacy of the USA.
So thanks for everything, Peace Corps, and happy birthday! My hope for you is that many generations to come will have the chance to reap the rewards of this beautiful experience.