Let me start by wishing you a MERRY CHRISTMAS. I hope you are all still with me! It's been three months since I have written anything here in my blog. Three months which have brought along with them a lot of work with a lot of progress. I won't even begin to get into details. At this point, an overview seems like the way to go.

These months have seen the successful completion of my library/school/community book project. The Friends of the Pima County Library hand-picked over 300 absolutely beautiful books from their warehouse by subject request from the teachers here at St. Kizito High School where I have also just finished teaching my first term of Visual Arts. The library project was not completed with the donation of the books. There was also the task of finding funding for shipping these precious books. Unfortunately, projects such as this one do not receive any special mailing rates making these much needed efforts very difficult to accomplish. The mailing rates are astronomical but we did succeed in finding the funding via a funding organization. After many trips to the Ghana Educational Ministry to assure tax exemption at the Ghana end, we were finally able to mail and receive the books.

The books arrived safely and were officially received with a handing off ceremony. The ceremony included the student body, town officials, past school headmasters and several chiefs. It was a great event. The books are truly fantastic. I can now show my students what the cave and Egyptian arts we have been studying about actually look like!! A lot better than twisting my head sideways while standing facing frontwards in an attempt to strike an ancient Egyptian pose.

I am currently involved in helping St. Kizito move up from its lowest rated school ranking. The school is in a phase of development. It was awarded a Peace Corps Volunteer for this reason. Although I had planned to focus on some art projects, the need appeared greater in another area which caught my attention. The school has a brand new science building which remains unused because it lacks furniture and furnishings as well as laboratory materials. The book project got me thinking that I could possibly use a similar concept to bring over laboratory materials for the three labs, physics, biology and chemistry. I am also applying for grants to get money to build cabinets, furniture and put in plumbing for the buildings. The idea is that the science building will become a regional science resource center. At present there is only one resource center in the whole region. It is across the Volta River and too far for students to travel to make use of it. Since this whole project is for the school and about the school, there will be a further aspect to the project where students at Kizito and at a school in the U.S. (most likely in Tucson) will exchange ideas and work on a science project together. We will need a lot of people putting in a lot of effort to make all of this happen (anyone interested?) but the challenge will be well worth it. The students here in Mepe are bright, vivacious, intelligent and friendly with so much to share as well as gain.

With this, it is time to wish to you and yours and to our friends worldwide a very Happy New Year.


Amici italiani. Ti faccio gli auguri per BUON NATALE. Sono tre mesi da quando non mi faccio vivo qui col mio blog. Mi scusi e spero di recuperare qualcosa con una breve overview di cos'e' successo in questi mesi, sia alla mia scuola St. Kizito sia coi miei progetti per la scuola. E leggete il blog in inglese se potete perche' non e' uguale a questo.

Il progetto per portare libri dal'America per la minuscola biblioteca della scuola e communita' di Mepe e' stato un successo. Abbiamo trovato una organizazione che si chiama Friends of the Pima County Library che sono risponsabile per doni di libri usati dalle biblioteche della Pima County. I libri donati erano scelti per soggetto libro per libro dai Friends. Sono libri assolutamente bellissimi e cosi necessari per i maestri e gli studenti qui.

I libri erano ricevuti con grande ceremonia un giorno un mese fa'. Adesso sono nel loro posto prominente in biblioteca. Abbiamo la regola che i libri non lascino la campus! E debbono essere usati dagli student solo in biblioteca. Sono troppo belli e necessari da rischiare che spariscono.

Ormai, io sono passato ad altri progetti mentre continuo con l'insegnamento di Visual Arts. St. Kizito e' in fase di sviluppo e per questo e' meritato una presenza Peace Corps. Sto facendo di fare il piu' possibile per tirare la scuola fuori dalla sua posizione basso livello scolastico. C'e' un nuovo edificio per la scienza che dovrebbe funzionare come centro scientifico per la regione solo che al momento manca completamente mobile per le stanze e materiali per i laboratori. Mi e' venuto in mente di provare a trovare materiali per laboratori in America come con i libri e sto cercando fondi in forma di un 'grant' per i mobili e forniture idrauliche. Communque, aiuto di materiali di dovunque funzionera' se vi interessa! Pare che i miei progetti d'arte debbono aspettare un po'.

Allora, rimane solo da augure per tutti voi e tutto il mondo, per quello, un Felice Anno Nuovo.

This past Sunday afternoon, I was formally presented to and welcomed by the various local chiefs in the area of Mepe. Ghanaians love ceremony and I had the honor of being the reason for one. It is customary for important guests and members of the community to be welcomed by the chiefs. The ceremony took place at the paramount chief's palace and included about 25 chiefs and a couple of 'queen mothers' (wives). I was presented by the headmaster of my school, the assistant headmaster and one other school representative. There were speeches, handshakes, where we circled the room of seated chiefs (I felt like a visiting dignitary), a traditional presentation by the school of two bottles of a special liquor to the chiefs and a ceremonial libation during which a glass of the liquor is poured on the ground at various intervals and the ancestors are invoked to assist with the welcome and assure good things for my stay here.

The paramount chief spoke for the other chiefs and then his linguist handled most of the rest of the speaking. The linguist is the chief's primary aid, so to speak, and is empowered to speak on his behalf. When the chiefs are in full regalia, the linguist carries a staff that is usually either painted or leafed in gold with a carved top having a meaning chosen by the clan the chief represents. The meaning usually has something to do with things being better accomplished in group than by someone alone. A motto perfectly suited to the Peace Corps as well.

The ceremony really did make me feel welcome and important. I thought, 'holy cow,' my job as a Peace Corps volunteer and representative of the United States government have brought me here and given me this responsibility and recognition. Part of the paramount chief's speech was an assurance that I am now a member of the community of Mepe and that their duty is to look out for me and treat me well. I used this in my own brief remarks saying that I would in turn take care of Mepe.

Actually, my headmaster asked me about one of my projects in the last few days and said he was extremely pleased with my ideas and that I should just go ahead with them and whatever else I come up with. So I feel like I am off to a good start. In recent days, a friend of mine in the U.S. has offered to get in touch with some groups that could donate to my school books for the library which is the first of the projects I am working on. This is absolutely wonderful and if any of you would like to do something similar you would be helping a Peace Corps volunteer to help the United States in its efforts in international aid and assistance for development to students who have absolutely nothing in the way of materials and resources in their classrooms. Art books, science books at the high school level, computer literacy materials and anything else would be welcome. There are charities and also various companies that will send overstock and/or used books as donations free of charge.

I am getting used to living in Africa and beginning to make a life for myself. Little by little, I hope to transmit something of the experience of being here by way of this blog.


Per gli amici italiani vi saluto da Mepe e cerchero di descrivere la mia domenica apena passata durante la quale sono stata presentata formalmente agli chiefs della regione, una venticinquina tutti assieme ad una ceremonia tradizionale di benvenuto. E' stata una esperienza bella ed impressionante. E' tradizionale per gli chiefs da dare il benvenuto a personne importante per la communita'. Essendo una respresentante del governo USA Peace Corps, vengo presentata. La ceremonia comprende discorsi dalla parte degli chiefs e della headmaster ed altri della mia scuola e da me. Poi la scuola offre due bottiglie di uno liquore speciale agli chiefs. Un bicchiere di questo liquore viene versato sulla terra ad intervalli verso la fine della ceremonia. Questa significa che gli antennati sono stati chiamati ad assistere ad assicurarmi buone cose e sicurezza qui per questi due anni avvenire.

La ceremonia veramente mi ha fatto sentire la benvenuta ed anche importante. Mi sento la responsibilita' di fare un buon lavoro mentre sono qui. Sto abituandomi ad essere qui in Africa e il mio headmaster (capo scuola) mi ha detto che gli piace delle idee che ho per i miei progetti (questi sono a parte del'insegnamento). Per questo fatto ero molto contenta. In piu', degli amici in America stanno cercando di contattare dei gruppi che protrebbero mandare libri gratis per la mia scuola. Pulire con aiuto degli studenti e fare in modo che gli studenti usano la piccola biblioteca e' il mio primo progetto. Libri d'arte mancano completamente. Sto cercando anche libri in altre materia communque.

Allora, col tempo, spero di darvi una idea di come la vita qui e un po' di come la sto vivendo io.

Well, it looks like it is Woe' Zon from now on which is Ewe for welcome. Actually the on part of the Zon is spelled with a letter that doesn't exist for us and I don't know how to find it on the computer. Woe' sounds like way. Passing the language proficiency exam meant being able to memorize enough to get through an interview which had us doing greetings, going shopping, giving directions and taking transportation. I have some familiarity with the Ewe alphabet and sound structure but basically now all I can do is say hello to people both in Twi and Ewe. Since most people here speak a little English and there is so much to do regarding school and teaching and community projects, I'm afraid that the Ewe is going to remain rudimentary. Unfortunate because when I am in groups of people and they are all speaking Ewe, I have no idea what is being said. I love the way the various languages sound.

I have been officially sworn in as a United States Peace Corps Volunteer at quite an official ceremony. I have been in Mepe now for almost three weeks during which I have tried to meet as many people as I can and also have spent time helping another art teacher with an outdoor sculpture for the school that he designed. I helped a little with the construction in cement but mostly it was a chance to participate and get to know some of the people at my school which is called Mepe St. Kizito Technical School. It is the high school where I will be teaching General Knowledge of Art or GKA. I have also got some other projects which I am figuring out how to get going. One of these involves cleaning up the little school library in which you will find spider legs and the occasional whole spider coming out from the pages of every book on the shelves. I needed some art reference material and figured out that I could have the students cleaning up the library and then using some of the children's books and old encyclopedias as reference for them since there are no books on art specifically. The library (one room) was a one time donation probably awhile ago and is clearly little used. I also have several long term project ideas which are more specifically art oriented.

My camera has broken and I don't know yet how I will replace it. I will figure out how to post some of the pictures I did take. I have also just set up my computer. The connection here in Mepe is extremely slow but at least I do have it by way of a modem which is a USB key. I have to disconnect while writing to save on my prepaid MB's and then reconnect, so if the electricity goes off (which it often does), I have lost my posting.

I will get on to the Italian part of the posting now since tomorrow is our first staff meeting. Next week classes start.


Woe' Zon! E' come si dice akwaaba in Ewe. Attualmente si scrive diversamente ma la lettera che representa la on di zon non si trova nel nostro alfabeto e allora faccio cosi' .. zon. Abbiamo dovuto passare un esame/intervista nella lingua Ewe ma per la maggior parte conosco solo salutazioni e certe espressioni relative al come fare lo shopping per verdura ecc. Conosco l'alfabeto and un po' della costruzione della lingua ma credo che il resto rimarra un mistero siccome c'e' talmente tanto da fare qui e dobbiamo insegnare in inglese. Cosi' quando la gente chiacchiara intorno in Ewe, allora, non ho idea cosa viene detto.

Sono ufficialmente una United States Peace Corps Volunteer e adesso mi trovo a Mepe dove insegnero' per i prossimi anni. Sto cercando di incontrare piu' gente possibile mentre faccio programmi per lezioni e anche altri programmi che ho in mente tipo ripristinare la piccola (una stanzetta) biblioteca della scuola. Ne escono delle pagine di ogni libro gambe di ragni piu' tutta la polvere. Stavo cercando del'informazione d'arte e siccome non c'era ho pensato di fare in modo che i ragazzi puliscono e poi utilizzano qualche enciclopedia (vecchia) e libri con illustrazioni per ragazzi come libri dove possono trovare del'informazione e qualche esempio relative al materiale che studieremo.

Provo di postare qualche foto quando posso. La mia macchina fotografica si e' roto e non so se sia possibile prendermi un'altra. Communque, un po' di foto sono riuscita a fare prima che mi si e' roto la macchina.

Vi saluto e vado a preperarmi per il primo giorno di scuola domani.

I'm back at the Vodafone Internet Cafe in a town near our Peace Corps training and homestay site called Koforidua. It is a bustling town/city with a huge market area open various days of the week. I am beginning to get the hang of shopping for things in Ghana. It takes getting used to both the physical arrangement of places in Africa and also what is available here. I am looking for some items that I won't be able to find in the village/town where I will be teaching for the next two years. I will need to go to larger towns to find certain things. My clothes are not holding up being washed by me by hand by the bucket method. You would think that wouldn't be the case but it turns out that machine washing keeps clothes in good shape. My things are stretching out and some have even lost their fabric content. And in just two months! The markets have large piles of second hand clothing which I believe were donated and people resell here. The prices vary wildly so negotiating is the order of the day. The other day I found a skirt from the Target (Mossimo Brand) which started out at $5 and ended up at $2.50 (not so different from some of the sales they have actually at the Target). I am at the Cafe (foodless) this afternoon because we have the afternoon off (a first!!) because we passed our language proficiency exams and are almost through with training. Our swearing-in and celebration party with our host families in attendance is next week, after which we head to our sites to begin our Peace Corps service. My site is the town of Mepe in the Volta Region of Ghana. It is at the southern end of the Volta River and only 25 miles from the Ocean as well.

Ciao a tutti. Forse vi faccio leggere in inglese perche ho poco tempo qui al internet cafe e ho gia' scritto un bel po' in inglese qui sopra. Stessi descrivendo il mercato in questa citta' che si chiama Koforidua e dove si trova l'internet cafe. Il mercato e' enorme ed e' un misto tra l'Europa e Morocco fisicamente e per quello che viene venduto. Qui pero, la gente non ti segue per strada che e' bello. La gente di Ghana e dignitosa ed anche elegante perche' portano tutti i tipi di roba sulla testa e cosi camminano col corpo dritto dritto . Devo lavare le mie cose a mano e si stanno disfaccendo di gia' in solo due mesi. Cosi sto cercando nei mercati tra le pile infinite di roba a secondo mano venduta in Africa. Sarebbero state delle cose mandate qui come aiuto ma vengono venduto un'altra volta.

Abbiamo questo pommeriggio libero perche' abbiamo passato i nostri esami di lingua ieri. Nostro training e' quasi finito e la prossima settimana ci facciano una bella festa con i nostri famiglie ospite e' veniamo 'sworn-in'. Poi andiamo ai nostri siti permanenti. La mia sara' il villaggio di Mepe sulla Volta River e neanche tanto lontano dal mare (40 km). Si sente l'aria del mare li'.

A presto allora.

Hello to All

It is so great to get back to my blog and find some new faces. I have to make it brief because I am at an internet cafe a couple of hours and modes of transportation away from my homestay village. Today we went to a place called Boti Falls and took a short hike. This is the first chance we've had to relax a bit. We've been doing teaching practicums and learning the languages both of this area and the regions we will be going to. I am now learning EWE (pronounced ehvay) which is spoken in the Volta River region that I will be teaching in. The town is Mepe and it is on the lower Volta River and not too far from the sea. I am still in the process of trying to figure out a way to describe what life is like in Africa. For a westerner, it is truly inconceivable to imagine even after having seen a bit of it on television. I can use words to describe events but the surroundings in which they are taking place is so far beyond what the words call up. A challenge it is. When I get to my teaching site in mid-August, I hope to be able to set up my netbook which is in storage in Accra until then. I am currently in a small village called Asafo.
Hope you are all enjoying your respective summers.

Ciao a tutti,

Vi saluto da un internet cafe dove mi sono fermata dopo una gita a un posto che si chiama Boti Falls. Abbiamo fatto delle settimane di praticum insegnando e oggi abbiamo avuto questa gita. Sto anche imparando la lingua EWE (si dice Evei) perche' si parla nella regione della fiume Volta dove mi trovero' per i prossimi anni. Ci vado a meta' agosto. Per il resto, e' davvero difficile descrivere com'e' l'Africa e come mi trovo. Parole per gli eventi ne ho ma per noi nei paesi del'ovest le parole non evocono quello che si puo' immaginare. Spero eventualmente di poter dire di piu'. Per ora, direi che una sfida c'e' affrontando la vita qui in Africa e nella Ghana. Communque mi trovo abastanza bene con la mia famiglia ospite nel villagio di Asafo e anche col mio gruppo di 'obruni' (bianchi) americani Peace Corps.

Vi auguro tante belle cose durante l'estate

AKWAABA AKWAABA

Welcome (Akwaaba) to my blog. Seems like as good a start as any. By now you all know that I will be blogging you from Ghana where I will be working in the Peace Corps as an artist, teacher in the arts and community worker. I plan to use the blog as a way to communicate what I am doing as much as anything else.

I leave for Philadelphia and our Peace Corps Staging on June 1st. On June 3rd we fly out of JFK at 4:30pm on Delta Airlines direct to Accra, Ghana arriving at 7:40am local time after an 11 hour flight.

For now I will leave you all with just this brief welcome until I have something substantial to say.

Benvenuti (Akwaaba) al mio blog. Mi pare un buon punto di partenza. Ormai, sapete tutti che vi bloghero' dalla Ghana dove lavorero' come artista e insegnante di arte e poi lavoro su progetti per la communita' in generale. Tutto questo per La Peace Corps che fa' parte del governo USA nell'area di relazioni internazionali.

Scrivo questo blog sia in inglese che in italiano per voi amici e famiglia in italia.

Vi scrivero' di piu' quando ho qualcosa di sostanza da dirvi. Per addesso vi faccio solo sapere che parto dalla Arizona 1 giugno per La Filadelfia dove facciamo un breve 'staging' con gli altri di nostro gruppo. Partiamo da JFK 3 giugno arrivando ad Accra la mattina del 4 giugno.

Allora saluti a tutti. Ci sentiamo poi.

Pamela