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.