I'm leaving on a jet plane.....

So 8 months later and my time in Ghana has officially come to an end. This experience has been an incredible experience that I would do over again tomorrow if asked. Although I may have done a few things differently, I feel as though I came here with a positive outlook on Ghana and what I was about to encounter. It has been challenging in more ways than one yet I have not let those challenges define my experience and instead, enhance it. I have learnt so many things not only about development but also about myself. I am not the same person that I was 8 months ago. This experience has changed me and I am incredibly grateful that I was able to have this opportunity.

I am leaving on today and being so close to the leaving date brings up emotions. While I am incredibly excited to see my family and friends again, I am also incredibly sad that I have to leave Ghana. Although there are things that are frustrating at times, I really do love it here. The people are so friendly and welcoming, the culture is incredible to learn about and witness and it is just so different from home. To be able to experience this has been amazing. I can’t imagine waking up one day (even though this day is coming soon) and no longer being in Ghana. This has been my life for the last 8 months and it will be very hard to leave. The other day I was in a cab in Accra and I talked to the cab driver in Twi, told him where we wanted to go and bargained down a price. Beware, I have become quite good at bargaining! When I sat down and we started to drive, he told me that my Twi was very good and asked how long I had been here. Once I told him 8 months, his response was “8 months?! You are now a Ghanaian. You are no longer a foreigner. You should sign up and vote in the next election in December.”Although I am obviously not Ghanaian, I do feel that I have made a strong effort to become as integrated into Ghanaian society as possible. Although it was only a simple comment, not meant to be anything more than just that, it really did touch me. It also shows how much even being able to say a few words in Twi can impact someone’s view of you. I do think that I have picked up on Ghanaian tendencies and habits. For example, I do have a Ghanaian accent. It’s awkward. Also, in that same cab ride I said “some some.” (in Ghana, it’s always small small but apparently I thought it would be okay to take extra liberties). Some some?Really? I have also become a bit of a Ghanaian fabric addict. It has become a little bit of a problem. Please, no judgements.

Last night was the farewell dinner and Becca and Dorothy made a really nice speech, noting each of our codenames that will be in Becca’s book. Becca is planning on writing a memoir of our time here in Ghana. My name is “The Sleeper” because according to Becca, I have a skill that allows me to fall asleep anywhere at any time. So true. The Blazey genes shine through.

Elise, Lynsey and I at the farewell dinner 

Amy and I 

Playing the drums at the dinner 

Really concentrating 

Drums 

This last week in Ghana has gone by incredibly fast. It has been filled with stress over our final paper as well as our final presentations. It has also been filled with excitement because after 3 months of being apart we are all finally living in the same place again. It has been really nice to see everyone and get to learn about everyone’s placements. There was one significant day this week that I feel that I should mention because it really couldn’t be a last week in Ghana if something didn’t happen. I had originally been staying with a few of my TIG’s (Becca, Lynsey and Elise) when I first got to Accra but then decided to move in Mama Hette’s (my original homestay) to say hi and catch up before I finally left Ghana for good. On my last night, I couldn’t get to sleep and so decided to stay up and watch a movie. I thought I saw a red flashing light outside my window and then a hand sort of grab the curtain. I thought that I was just really tired and was seeing things. The next morning, however, I woke up and was taken outside by Mama Hetteand saw that there was a hole through my screen. Someone had apparently tried to cut a hole through the screen and put their hand in the room, hoping that there would be something that they could steal. Needless to say, as much as I love Mama Hette, it was time to move out. I moved back to the girls house in the morning before school. While trying to find a cab I stood on a tree and then when we finally got a cab, I walked around to the side and opened the door. I managed to get my one foot in the car and then the cab driver decided to reverse the car, with the other half of me hanging out. Then when we got to school, my apple was fluffy. It was only 8am and needless to say, it had not been a good day. Apart from this morning, however, my last week in Ghana has been amazing. I have been able to get my last minute shopping done, listen to my classmate’s experiences and catch up with some really important people in my life.

I have had some very mixed emotions during this week and to be honest for the last month or so as I have begun to realize that this is it. That very soon I will soon be on a plane to see my family; that I will be able to eat all the food that I have been craving; that I will be sitting at a restaurant with all of my friends around me; to be in my own bed. It is crazy to think that I have been away from my life at home for 8 months. I have missed Thanksgiving Dinner; spent my 20^th Birthday without my family but instead my new found friends; spent Christmas in a warm country and missed the snow. Missed so many things but experienced some incredible things in their absence. I have met amazing people who I hope to stay in touch with when I get back home to Canada. This experience honestly would not have been the same without them. I honestly believe in 2 things. 1) This experience can only be as good as you make it. 2) This experience is also shaped by those people who are in your life. I have been fortunate enough to be surrounded by incredible people. We have been through a lot together, more than most people have been through with their life-long friends. We have seen each other at our worst, our best, sweaty and dirty, beautiful in Ghanaian fabric, through the good times and the shitty ones (literally). We honestly have seen and been through it all. The thing is, we managed to do it together. We survived. 

The TIG family 

So it’s time to leave this beautiful country; time to return home to my family and friends and say goodbye those who have made this experience as amazing as it has been. It’s been one hell of a journey and I couldn’t have asked for anything more.

<3 Ghana 

GHANA MISS LIST

-The playlist of about 10 Ghanaian songs that are constantly on repeat with the additions of celinedion

-Twi

-The trotro

-Bartering. Te so!

-The markets

-Obruni

-Surfing

-Getting into a cab with missing mirrors, cracked windows, no seatbelts but a working radio and speakers

-Dancing everywhere….all the time

Tthe handshake. Snap.

-Babies on backs

-Fabric shopping (probably better for the bank account that this will not happen anymore)

-Yam chips and plantain chips

-Busua and my students

-Honking horns

-My fellow TIG’s

-Never knowing what’s going to happen next....

LOOKING FORWARD TOO

-European Adventures 

-Snuggling on the couch with movies and ice cream

-Good food!

-Driving

-My pillow and bed  

-Seeing my family and friends

Below are some pictures from campus with photo credit going to Elise once again! (She also took the photos from the Farewell Dinner)

Me and Becca on campus 

Walking into the Institute of African Studies 

Playing football on campus 

So its time to say goodbye. There will be no more blogs about Ghana but please stay tuned to see what will happen on my European Adventure with the rest of the Blazey's. 

Akua (Wednesday Born) 

My Home Away from Home

So for the last three months, I have been living in Busua in the Western Region of Ghana. It is a small community located on the coast. I was incredibly lucky to have lived in this community during my placement. Every day I would walk down the street and people would yell out “Chelsea.” There was one particular man who was on the corner and everyday would yell, “My Wife” and I would reply with “My husband.” (Joking Dad-he was old and it was just a friendly greeting!) I have moved around a lot and to be honest, this was one of the only times that I have ever felt part of a community. By that I mean, truly part of the community; past recognizing and acknowledging people. By the time I left, I felt as if I fit in there. Obviously there were times when this was not the case, I am an outsider but for 99% of the time I felt nothing other than as if I was an insider. It was incredibly rewarding to experience something like that.

So, as I have mentioned before, I was there to set up an After School Program in the local school to improve the literacy rates of some of the students as well as their leadership skills. I was also there with another girl from my program, Amy. The program was incredibly challenging yet one of the best experiences I have ever had. It was incredible to be able to have the freedom to create a program however Amy and I wanted to. We were eventually able to get 20-25 students coming every day to the program which was a success in itself especially as the program is not mandatory and at the beginning, hardly any one showed up at all. The students really enjoyed the program as did Amy and I. It was incredibly frustrating at times but the rewards were definitely worth it. The growth of the students during the program was unbelievable. In addition, we were able to create an open and welcoming relationship with the students which were one of our main goals. Near the end, there were even a few times where the students had been released from school early yet still waited for us to come to the school. That would have never happened within the first week of the program. I really did enjoy the After School Program and working for Black Star Development. They are a great organization and my   co-workers were also amazing. With some money that my parents were able to fundraise, we were able to provide the students with some books, pens, buy chalk and blackboard erasers as well as t-shirts for all of the students. We really wanted to reward the students for their hard work and as a result, implemented a star system where the students each received a star for coming to class, staying for class and for showing leadership qualities or helping their fellow students. The students had to earn each of their rewards and it was great to see that positive reinforcement can work. In the Ghana Education System, caning is used as a method of discipline. We have ethical and moral dilemmas with this so we decided to focus on positive reinforcement. It took a long time but eventually the rewards paid off. It was amazing to see the student’s faces when they received their t-shirts. They are not very often rewarded for any good work and instead only punished for bad behaviour. It was great then to be able to give them their t-shirts and see their faces when they realized that they had really earned them. They were so happy and I was so proud of them. Speaking of how proud I am of them, there was one instance where we were able to hold a collaboration session with another organization in Busua who runs an After School Program for younger students. Prior to the collaboration, I was incredibly apprehensive as I did not know how the students would do. They were not really looking forward to teaching younger students and I to be honest, I was not sure if they were ready to either. We went ahead, however, and I am incredibly glad that we did. They did an amazing job and far surpassed my expectations. They were so good with the younger students and did an incredible job. Amy and I felt like proud parents!(Check out the bottom of the blog to see a video!)

The students and me with their new t-shirts 

Laura happy to get her t-shirt 

Some of the students. Ali, Emmanuel and Bright. 

Me and Dinah 

Little Ebenezer and Big Ebenezer 

Rosemary

Dinah with her books outside school. 

Some of the students with their t-shirts 

Friends-Bright and Ali

The group with their t-shirts

Amy and I 

Helena reading to me in the library 

Ebenezer and Enock reading to each other 

Bright and Dinah reading to each other in the local library 

Sports Day-Playing Volleyball on the Beach 

First, there is Elizabeth. I was fortunate to live in a homestay with a wonderful woman named Elizabeth. She is a retired nurse and currently is a pastor at a local church in the community. She runs an Inn, “Elizabeth’s Inn” and also has a pharmacy downstairs. She is a truly incredible woman and definitely a leader within the community. People often visit her to seek advice or help if they are sick. There have been times were she has really looked after me while I was sick. The people who often visit her can’t afford to pay for medication but she still provides it to them anyway. Not only that, she looks after lots of children. During my time there, there was Simon, Kofi, Prince, Calvin, Emmanuel, Adrina and Junior. They were always around the house and so were numerous other children. It was a great place to come home to as the kids were all amazing, as was Elizabeth. She really welcomed me not only into her home, but also into her family. I couldn’t have asked for a better place to stay anywhere in Ghana. It was an incredible place to live for three months. She also made a mean banana pancake and yam chips and stew!

Elizabeth before Easter Sunday Mass 

Outside Elizabeth's 

The kids outside Elizabeth's 

Cute kids 

Simon and Prince 

Kofi 

Outside Elizabeth's 

Well outside Elizabeth's 

Girl outside the well carrying water 

Next, there are other important people who were part of my life during my time in Busua. There is Florence who made me banana pancakes and rice and stew. Then there is Emmanuel who ran a shop where I was able to buy fruit juice and fruit from. Next is the Surf Shop Boys. The list is too long but they were all really incredible. They were great fun to be around and even helped me with my surfing. Also, Ebenezer deserves to be mentioned. He is a Ghanaian who is working for Black Star Development who comes from Busua. He was a great guy, always willing to help us with anything that we needed in regard to the program but also in general. He is also a Liverpool Fan so we got along really well. After the surf shop boys, I should mention the ex-pat family. There was Mary, Mark, Paolo, Harry, Amy and Tabitha. I was fortunate to have these people in my life. They weren’t “weekenders” as most people who visit Busua are and instead stayed for quite a while. I was lucky enough to be in Busua while they were there and get to know them. I feel like they were my family. They really made my time in Busua so much more than I could have possibly imagined and I couldn’t imagine not having known them at all. They are all incredible people. 

Busua 

Busua 

Next, there are other important people who were part of my life during my time in Busua. There is Florence who made me banana pancakes and rice and stew. Then there is Emmanuel who ran a shop where I was able to buy fruit juice and fruit from. Next is the Surf Shop Boys. The list is too long but they were all really incredible. They were great fun to be around and even helped me with my surfing. Also, Ebenezer deserves to be mentioned. He is a Ghanaian who is working for Black Star Development who comes from Busua. He was a great guy, always willing to help us with anything that we needed in regard to the program but also in general. He is also a Liverpool Fan so we got along really well. After the surf shop boys, I should mention the ex-pat family. There was Mary, Mark, Paolo, Harry, Amy and Tabitha. I was fortunate to have these people in my life. They weren’t “weekenders” as most people who visit Busua are and instead stayed for quite a while. I was lucky enough to be in Busua while they were there and get to know them. I feel like they were my family. They really made my time in Busua so much more than I could have possibly imagined and I couldn’t imagine not having known them at all. They are all incredible people.

Harry and I 

Mark and his fried egg sandwich 

Florence and Family 

Florence's 

Emmanuel 

Tiger

Paolo, Mark and Me 

Tabitha and I after a midnight swim 

Surfer Obed and Me 

Surfer Kofi 

Busua 

Catching one last surf before the sun goes down

Busua 

Busua 

Fishing Boat

Cuties 

So there is also a monkey that lives at a place called Busua Inn. It is a French Restaurant and lodge. It also makes some great mashed potatoes.She usually jumps on the table and then rolls over for a belly rub. Sometimes she even takes a look at your hair to make sure there isn't anything in there that shouldn't be! 

Monkey 

Just checking it out...

So, with all these wonderful people in my life, it is safe to say that leaving Busua was incredibly hard (there may have also been some tears involved). When you feel that part of a community and surrounded by such amazing people, it is only natural to feel a little sad when it comes time to leave. I feel like this internship has changed me and my thoughts on development in more ways than one. It has also shown me that there are wonderful people out there and I incredibly lucky to have had so many be a part of my life during my time in Busua. I only hope that I can continue to stay in touch and maybe one day, meet up with them somewhere else in the world, starting again just where we left off.

Here is a video of two of the students teaching the younger students.