My Return to Ghana

I have just returned to my village in Ghana after a three-week adventure with my sister that took me through Uganda, Rwanda, Tanzania, and Kenya. It was fun and fascinating, from black rhinos in the Ngorongoro Crater of Tanzania, to a two-day local wedding celebration in Uganda, to the remarkably progressive, cosmopolitan, and rather eerie city of Kigali, Rwanda. I have to say that, on the whole, I find East Africa to be a gentler, more easy going place than West Africa. People smile more, heckle you less, and seem to be more genuinely interested in knowing you as an individual (I have to disclaim that my being a tourist rather than a volunteer put me in a rather different scene that may have shaped this sentiment).

Returning to my little village in Ghana was something like a dream—it was as before, but not quite. It was nighttime, and faces of people I couldn't see off the roadside yelled, “Teacher!” from the shadows. Outside the Catholic church, the choir was practicing a harmonious tune to the rhythm of four male drummers. One of my school boys ran up to hold my hand and said he and a friend had tried to call me during the holiday but didn’t have my number (nor did they have a phone, but he didn't seem to care about this fact). None of this was unusual, but it was the weight hanging over me that I had not really come back, truly—I am only here for a few days to gather my things and move to the new school—that made it strange, even uncomfortable. Of course, the parents, children, and community elders have been informed, but I still get the feeling that many people won’t quite get it until I am really gone. Outside of the people, I will most miss the peacefulness here…

This week I will move to the city of Ho, which is the regional capitol and two hours south from my village. My director and I have decided that I will go to work at the government primary school there, just outside the city. I will continue to teach, but this time it will likely be science as my principal subject. As for the big-picture NGO stuff, whereas in my village I was trying to establish and administer a new partnership with the primary school there, at Ho I will be assessing a preexisting partnership and seeing how we can move forward with it. There are many challenges here, but I will write more on the new site once I am set up there.

I wish you all a rewarding, successful, and happy 2011.

All the best, Nathan

p.s. Here are a selection of photos I promised from my time at the village here. As I mentioned, they were taken by Tony Hoare, a wonderful guy and professional adventure photographer that came to document our work in a series he’s doing on NGOs in Ghana (www.tonyhoare.com). He basically shadowed me for a few days—enjoy!