A Temporary Home

My home in Ghana

24th July, 2013. 6:56AM in Cape Coast, Ghana

I’ve been here for just over a week now and already I feel like I know this place really well, in terms of both people and getting around.

Ghanaians have such a welcoming and kind hearted nature, they're always wanting to help you out or be your friend. Whenever I walk down the street, even if it’s just to the shops (2 minutes from my house) I am sure to say hi to at least 5 people. And it’s funny because you won’t just be saying a simple hello you will be asked how you are, what your name is and where you come from. Being proposed to and told 'I love you' is also very common here as well, even many taxi drivers have proposed. I think I have had the potential to be married at least 10 times already. Definitely getting a huge ego boost here!

Ghanaians remind me of Fijians by the way that they're incredibly helpful and friendly. The dominant religion here is Christianity, followed by the Islamic Religion and then Traditionalists. I’d love to learn more about the Traditionalist religions, I think it’d be based more on nature and probably likened to the Aboriginal cultures of Australia. Or so I think. So there are quite a lot of churches, I was hoping to attend last Sunday but my host brother told me that I would have had to get up in front of everyone and introduce myself and say why I was there... I’m a little overwhelmed by that idea for my first week. Maybe next weekend. 

My host family is so wonderful, I love coming home to them each day. I still don't know everyone who lives here, it’s a 3 storey house and I meet someone new who loves here every day. There is even a grandma who lives here and is 102 years old, wow!!

My host mum Milicent, who I just call Ma, works at a shop near our house selling her own food - so I definitely have been loving the food here, she’s a wonderful cook and person. She is very caring but also gives you the privacy you need. From what I know she has two kids, Angela who is a teacher and Joseph who works at a clinic. They are both unmarried and have children. Angela's child's name is Eugene but we call him P.K, he is I think 7 years old. His name has to do with this really beautiful idea here that the day you are born determines your Ghanaian name, for instance I was born on a Saturday therefore my name is Ama. However, when there are too many with the same name you are either called by your birth order or your other name, for instance Ama Julie for me. Joe's child's name is also Milicent, but we call her Nana. I have uploaded a photo of her, she is very very sweet. I play with both of the kids lots because they’re funny and very happy all the time. Whenever I come home from work they always run and jump onto me and then won’t leave me alone until Ma calls them for dinner. Only the other day I met another little girl who lives here too, her name is Dorothy Asantua and I’m not so sure of her mum’s name yet. She is very very cute, she loves to braid my hair and she is an amazing dancer! I hope to upload a video of her dancing soon! Another person that I know who lives here is Jeffrey, he is just a friend of Joes who doesn’t really have anywhere else to go, he is originally from Nigeria and the rest of his family is still there. His English isn’t as good as the others so I don’t feel like I know him as well as I do the others but still he is very friendly, we went to watch them play football yesterday.

Volunteers are generally very nice, initially it was 3 of us living in the house - my room mate Brianne and another volunteer named Greg are both from Canada, but a new guy named Christoph moved in the other day next door – he is from Austria.

Julie from Norway, pronounced Yulia, is one of my closest friends. We arrived on the same day and she lives just next door so we see each other every day and apparently act like a married couple, in the eyes of Greg. I really am appreciative of Julie’s friendship because I feel so comfortable with her and trust her completely. I feel as though she is a global travel sister. A girl named Jenny from England moved in with Julie and she is very kind as well :) It’s so nice to meet people from around the world every day.

The food here is really amazing, but I think I am very fortunate to have a wonderful cook as a mum for my home. Others have been complaining about the lack of hygiene in their kitchens, I think I’ve been very fortunate as my host mum is very hygienic and careful. The photo I’ve attached is the view I have of them cooking each morning from the balcony, where our rooms are. Each morning at 5AM they all wake up and begin their ritual of cooking, such amazing scents to wake up to. Often I do my yoga on the balcony, and go downstairs to help with some chopping or just sit and chat with them. I feel so alive here.

My usual day consists of walking Nana, the daughter of Joe, to school at about 7:30 AM, coming back to hang out with Joe, Jeffrey, Ma and another lady whose name I don’t know just yet, having breakfast, taking a wash (if the water is running) and then catching a taxi to work, staying till 4:30 or 5... Depending on whether I play football or not with the kids, coming home, playing with the kids from the street, taking another refreshing wash, eating dinner and then hanging out with the other volunteers, either going to a bar or someone’s house – this is a very very basic outlay of my general day here. Though the thing I love about my days here is that there is no real attachment to time. I can go and come as I please, I only need to follow the ways of the sun, making sure I’m not travelling alone too late in the evening – though the other night I did come back from the orphanage at 7, when it was dark and didn’t feel an ounce of fear. I really enjoy flexibility of my days. The freedom from time is so liberating. The place where I am volunteering at is an Orphanage but it is also attached to a school and a day care centre. Every school has holidays this Thursday so this week is mainly cleaning up and so on Friday only those who live here at the orphanage will be at my placement, not the school kids, which means about 30-35 people.

This place makes me feel so alive and the people are so warm and generous.

Love you truly <3

To be continued... :)