Sunday, February 20, 2011

Meeting my Ghanaian family, learning how to take a bucket bath, and avoiding fish heads


Last weekend was an in-city homestay, where NYU students had the opportunity to live with a Ghanaian family for the weekend. We were able to go either in pairs or solo, and while most opted to go in pairs, I thought I’d be macho and go by myself. I kind of regret that decision. We arrived at the AFS center, which organizes the homestays, and waited for our families to pick us up. We had gotten some instruction as to how to behave and what to expect, but for the most part I had no idea where I would be or what I would be doing. I was eventually taken to a bank, where I waited for Maame to get off of work and take me home. I played snake on my phone (soooo addicted…) for about an hour and a half until I met my mother, who put me into another car. She didn’t say much, so I tried to ask some questions about her family and what we would be doing for the weekend.
Eventually I got to a house- it was large but crumbling. I would say that it was a fairly normal middle-class accommodation; lots of space (houses here are really nice), but no running water or AC or fans or anything like that. I met grandma and Nana, 9 years old, (meaning Monday born. I don’t think I’ve mentioned this, but everyone in Ghana is named after the day of the week on which they were born. When they are baptized they take on a Christian name, so many people go by that, but there is still a large part of the population with the same 14 names. I was Thursday born, so I am “Yaa”. I like it.) and Effua (Friday born), one year old. I was ecstatic to have a baby in the house, it was pretty much the only thing I’d written on my form that I wanted when I filled out the application for the program. There were no men around, I am not sure what happened to them but I didn’t ask.

As soon as I got there, I was fed a huge pile of rice and this tomato sauce that I’ve had a lot here with spices and peppers and onions, and FISH HEADS. I have been trying to be open to trying new foods, but the thing is that in Ghana they eat every part of the animal, bones, skulls, brains, and eyes included. (even chicken bones…)
Shortly after I was fed, the power went out, which happens pretty frequently here. Maame was disappointed because every Friday night she watches CSI on the local station (they play CSI at 9 on Fridays, and Friends at 10:00 on Saturdays!) I played with Effua and talked to Grandma, but eventually decided to retire early when the power returned at 9:03- in time for CSI.
Saturday was chores day, so I awoke after “sleeping in” (8:00am, but Ghanaians typically wake up at 5am or so), to sweep the house. Maame laughed at how I swept the dirt into little piles instead of sweeping everything into the hall. They fed me an enormous breakfast and then we mostly stayed around the house, watching tv and such. I was force-fed yet another meal, and Grandma told me to eat everything. I tried my best. Later they made me my favorite meal, groundnut soup. Because I had written on the form that I was a vegetarian, they decided to use lots and lots of fish heads in everything they made. I happily ate my fufu and soup, but simply could not eat the fish heads. They had gone to all the trouble of preparing my favorite meal and I did not want to let the food go to waste, so I went into the kitchen as though I was going to do my dishes and just slipped the fish heads back into the soup pot. Mission successful.

Sunday we went to church, which is quite the social event here. I was the only white person of course, so when the minister saw me sitting in the back he shouted “Obruni!”(meaning ‘foreigner’, we get that a lot) and everyone turned to look and clap. The service was 3 and a half hours and was mostly in Twi, but it was interesting to take in the culture of church. Everyone wears beautiful tailored dresses and shoes and hats and beads, and there is a lot of dancing during worship. When it came time to give the offering, we danced to the front of the church and put our money into the pot labeled with the day of the week that we were born. Before the service was over they counted up the different pots and announced the winner (Saturday). After church I was fed again (way too much food this weekend. On Sunday morning they presented me with a vat of oatmeal, a loaf of bread, and six eggs. They expected me to finish it all. I seriously debated with myself whether it would be better to eat until I threw up.) I went home in the afternoon, and was glad to be back in the AC and amongst people who spoke English. This weekend was successful and interesting, but somewhat exhausting.



Monday at City of Refuge I began conducting my drama therapy sessions. Because you need a masters degree in order to be a drama therapist, I was concerned about how to conduct drama therapy work within the realm of my knowledge and abilities. Psychological rehabilitation is a HUGE need at City of Refuge (every child there has a story that would blow your mind, and most have had no time to process their experiences), as well as in Ghana as a whole. One of my friends here mentioned that there is a girl who showed up to her internship and was expected to diagnose clients from the DSM, and she had only taken one psychology class!
I decided to conduct some exercises but not attempt any sort of analysis, because I am not clinically able to do so— I didn’t think that pretending to be a drama therapist (which is a clinical title, btw) would be helpful for these kids in the least. I began to work with a group of five children, most of whom had been trafficked. We did some basic drama excersizes to get them comfortable with the idea, and then I took them through the session that I’d had planned for the day. Us volunteers left around 6pm in a cab, and got back home around 8:30.

On Tuesday in my film class we pitched our ideas for documentaries; there are 16 people in the class and four films will be made. My idea was selected, so I will be directing a film that explores the psychology behind beauty standards in Ghana, and compares them to the beauty standards of Western nations.

Friday I went back to City of Refuge and continued some sessions. Currently we are attempting to organize their library, which I am heartily enjoying. The children are all so great, they are remarkable obedient, not to mention talented. I was sad to leave baby Edwin!
This weekend some of my friends wanted to go to Togo to renew their visas (we need new visas every 60 days, but if we leave the country and come back it is renewed automatically and we don’t have to pay the $100.00 fee), but I was exhausted and wanted to get some work done this weekend, so I stayed in Accra. Ultimately I was happy that I did, there is a lot of stuff locally that I’ve been meaning to do.

Next week I head to Burkina Faso for the FESPACO film festival- the biggest in Africa! I am going with my film class, on an NYU grant. I am excited to practice my French, and I’ve heard it's a beautiful country. Can't wait!

3 comments:

  1. WOW! Sounds like a good time you're having there. That's good to hear!
    -Brandon Bethel

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  2. It all sounds so great! Can't wait to hear more about the kids. :) I love you!

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