Beth Orton 'Feel to Believe'
6/8/2008 12.12 am
And so it begins...well technically it began yesterday since it's 12.12 am. My flight to Philly got delayed because of fog in Philly, but that meant almost everyone got delayed. I got to check in on time though. The first person I met was Patrick and I felt like I overpacked. He only had one large camping pack on his back and his carry on. I had a carry on and two 40 pound suitcases with wheels that didn't work. I'm not even out of the airport and I feel out of place. Patrick is really nice though, he's a documentary film maker from Austin Texas.
I got to the Holiday Inn and we did our check in and started making new friends. We only had a few meetings and then they put money in our pockets and let us loose for dinner. We had a good time and all seemed pretty excited. It was nice to talk to people who have spent the past year preparing for the same thing. There are 35 of us total, all teachers in either science, math, ict, or art.
I shaved my head tonight. Even though it's not much different it will take some getting used to. I'm used to a mound of hair on my head, so now that it's gone my head looks flat. It feels good though.
Tuesday, June 17, 2008
Monday, May 26, 2008
"There's so much ahead"
-Jimmy Eat World "Kill"
12 more days…. Here’s a little more info.
I fly to Philly and meet up with the rest of my group on the 7th. Once I get there I’ll get some shots, typhoid, rabies, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), yellow fever, polio, and my first dose of anti-malaria medicine. (If we don’t take our malaria medicine we could get sent home). I’ll also go to some meetings while in Philly. I fly to Accra, the capital city on the coast, with the rest of my group on the 9th. We have a layover in Amsterdam but only for a couple hours. After a few days in Accra we go on a “vision quest” and visit the site of a current volunteer. We will finally get a real idea on how we’ll be living for the next couple years, and it will help us figure out what exactly we want to acccomplish. When we get back we go to Techiman to train for the next nine weeks. That’s when I will be living with a host family and hopefully learning enough to prepare me for the next two years.
A lot of people have asked about where I’ll be living/conditions, and the only info I have are the requirements that the house I live in has to meet. There has to be at least two rooms, or one room with a porch. It has to have solid floors and walls, secure windows and doors, a leak free roof, ventilation, access to a water supply, a latrine, and a place to bathe (usually a bucket bath). I don’t know what part of the country yet; I’ll find out a couple weeks after I get there. Some sites are remote and some are in towns and cities (there is email access in all major cities and some towns), but once I get there I’ll be interviewed and they’ll decide what’s best for me.
I’m expected to live modestly and I'm given a quarterly living allowance that will cover the basic costs of living. I am not allowed to use my personal money to supplement my income; I’m only allowed to use that for traveling, sending gifts home, etc. I also get a vacation allowance and a settling in allowance to buy furniture and other things I wouldn’t normally buy.
There’s an in country clinic with a full-time medical officer, and I’ll get a physical after a year and at the end of my service. I have to take malaria medicine every week, and a couple months after I get back. Almost every tropical disease is endemic to Ghana, and if there is a serious problem they’ll send me to South Africa or the US. I’ll be receiving a lot of safety training so there shouldn’t be any problems. There are beaches but the coastal areas are very dangerous and have strong riptides and undertows.
People have been asking about food too so I’ll just throw out the list of foods I was given (if anyone has good recipes using this stuff feel free to send them to me). This is from a welcome packet the Peace Corps sent me.
“Common meats and other protein include: chicken and eggs, fish (smoked and dried), beef, pork, goat, grass cutter (small wild animal), beans (bambara, red, and white), and ground nuts (peanuts). Common vegetables include: tomatoes (fresh and canned paste), okra, garden eggs (like small eggplant), onions, kontomire (like spinach), hot peppers, red peppers (very hot), and cabbage. Fruits (in season) include: mango, banana, orange, avocado , pawpaw (papaya), coconut, pineapple, and watermelon. Staple foods include: Bread, coco yam, rice, plantain, pasta, sweet potato, yams, cassava, and oatmeal. Spices include: red pepper (not black), curry pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaves, sugar, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic. Also readily available are: white flour, popcorn, oils, corn flour, dry whole milk, soft drinks, coffee, tea, baking powder, vinegar, crackers, cookies, canned whole milk, and maggie cubes (like beef bouillon). Lettuce, potatoes, apples, cucumbers, cheese, and green peppers, are sometimes available but expensive.”
Ghana is right above the equator so it’s hot. Some parts are dry, some are humid, but either way it’s hot. There are three Peace Corps offices; one in Accra the capital, one in Kumasi, and one in Tamale. I’ll be relatively close to one of the three. If anyone is thinking about visiting you can call the Peace Corps Ghana desk at 202.692.2326/7 so they can help in getting a tourist visa.
Letters will take between two and three weeks to get to me, and make sure they include “airmail” on the envelope. It’s also a good idea to number them in case one of them gets lost. All packages are opened and inspected at the Peace Corps office, and it’s costs 20,000 cedis (or $2) for me to get them. Letters are pretty cheap to send, under $1 I think, but packages could get pretty pricey. I would much rather get lots of letters than a couple packages.
That's pretty much all I know so far. Once I get over there I'll update as soon as I can.
12 more days…. Here’s a little more info.
I fly to Philly and meet up with the rest of my group on the 7th. Once I get there I’ll get some shots, typhoid, rabies, tetanus, hepatitis A and B, meningitis, MMR (measles, mumps, and rubella), yellow fever, polio, and my first dose of anti-malaria medicine. (If we don’t take our malaria medicine we could get sent home). I’ll also go to some meetings while in Philly. I fly to Accra, the capital city on the coast, with the rest of my group on the 9th. We have a layover in Amsterdam but only for a couple hours. After a few days in Accra we go on a “vision quest” and visit the site of a current volunteer. We will finally get a real idea on how we’ll be living for the next couple years, and it will help us figure out what exactly we want to acccomplish. When we get back we go to Techiman to train for the next nine weeks. That’s when I will be living with a host family and hopefully learning enough to prepare me for the next two years.
A lot of people have asked about where I’ll be living/conditions, and the only info I have are the requirements that the house I live in has to meet. There has to be at least two rooms, or one room with a porch. It has to have solid floors and walls, secure windows and doors, a leak free roof, ventilation, access to a water supply, a latrine, and a place to bathe (usually a bucket bath). I don’t know what part of the country yet; I’ll find out a couple weeks after I get there. Some sites are remote and some are in towns and cities (there is email access in all major cities and some towns), but once I get there I’ll be interviewed and they’ll decide what’s best for me.
I’m expected to live modestly and I'm given a quarterly living allowance that will cover the basic costs of living. I am not allowed to use my personal money to supplement my income; I’m only allowed to use that for traveling, sending gifts home, etc. I also get a vacation allowance and a settling in allowance to buy furniture and other things I wouldn’t normally buy.
There’s an in country clinic with a full-time medical officer, and I’ll get a physical after a year and at the end of my service. I have to take malaria medicine every week, and a couple months after I get back. Almost every tropical disease is endemic to Ghana, and if there is a serious problem they’ll send me to South Africa or the US. I’ll be receiving a lot of safety training so there shouldn’t be any problems. There are beaches but the coastal areas are very dangerous and have strong riptides and undertows.
People have been asking about food too so I’ll just throw out the list of foods I was given (if anyone has good recipes using this stuff feel free to send them to me). This is from a welcome packet the Peace Corps sent me.
“Common meats and other protein include: chicken and eggs, fish (smoked and dried), beef, pork, goat, grass cutter (small wild animal), beans (bambara, red, and white), and ground nuts (peanuts). Common vegetables include: tomatoes (fresh and canned paste), okra, garden eggs (like small eggplant), onions, kontomire (like spinach), hot peppers, red peppers (very hot), and cabbage. Fruits (in season) include: mango, banana, orange, avocado , pawpaw (papaya), coconut, pineapple, and watermelon. Staple foods include: Bread, coco yam, rice, plantain, pasta, sweet potato, yams, cassava, and oatmeal. Spices include: red pepper (not black), curry pepper, salt, cloves, bay leaves, sugar, fresh ginger, and fresh garlic. Also readily available are: white flour, popcorn, oils, corn flour, dry whole milk, soft drinks, coffee, tea, baking powder, vinegar, crackers, cookies, canned whole milk, and maggie cubes (like beef bouillon). Lettuce, potatoes, apples, cucumbers, cheese, and green peppers, are sometimes available but expensive.”
Ghana is right above the equator so it’s hot. Some parts are dry, some are humid, but either way it’s hot. There are three Peace Corps offices; one in Accra the capital, one in Kumasi, and one in Tamale. I’ll be relatively close to one of the three. If anyone is thinking about visiting you can call the Peace Corps Ghana desk at 202.692.2326/7 so they can help in getting a tourist visa.
Letters will take between two and three weeks to get to me, and make sure they include “airmail” on the envelope. It’s also a good idea to number them in case one of them gets lost. All packages are opened and inspected at the Peace Corps office, and it’s costs 20,000 cedis (or $2) for me to get them. Letters are pretty cheap to send, under $1 I think, but packages could get pretty pricey. I would much rather get lots of letters than a couple packages.
That's pretty much all I know so far. Once I get over there I'll update as soon as I can.
Sunday, February 24, 2008
New Info
So, I'm finally getting around to posting a little more about what I'll be doing in Ghana. Before I leave I'll be meeting with other volunteers for a couple days in Philly where we'll get shots and stuff like that. Once we get to Ghana, we will live with a host family during our 10 weeks of training. We will learn about the Ghanaian culture, language(s), safety, etc. That's where we'll find out where exactly we'll be living for the next two years. I don't know too much about what I'll be doing, only that I'll be teaching science, and probably a little english too. The ages of my students could vary anywhere between 12 and 23.
Once I'm done with training I'll move to my assigned city/village, most likely by myself. Although it's possible, I don't expect to have running water or electricity. I'll be able to get mail there, and the address for now is:
Liz Strohecker PCT
Peace Corps/Ghana
P.O. Box 5796
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa
I'm allowed to have visitors, just not during training, the first three months on site, or the last three months on site.
I know I didn't post a whole lot of info, but there's only so much you can prepare for by reading about it. I'm trying not to expect anything because there are still so many different possibilities. June is going to get here really soon. I'm excited now, but I know I'll be nervous once it gets closer to my departure.
Once I'm done with training I'll move to my assigned city/village, most likely by myself. Although it's possible, I don't expect to have running water or electricity. I'll be able to get mail there, and the address for now is:
Liz Strohecker PCT
Peace Corps/Ghana
P.O. Box 5796
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa
I'm allowed to have visitors, just not during training, the first three months on site, or the last three months on site.
I know I didn't post a whole lot of info, but there's only so much you can prepare for by reading about it. I'm trying not to expect anything because there are still so many different possibilities. June is going to get here really soon. I'm excited now, but I know I'll be nervous once it gets closer to my departure.
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Ghana
I got my letter/package yesterday! I'm being offered a position in Ghana, and I would be leaving in early June. I'm really happy about it. There's a lot of stuff for me to read, like how I will probably have to wear dresses and skirts! (yeah yeah, laugh it up everyone) I'll try to condense it all and post some stuff on here later. I could hardly sleep last night, my mind was racing. They gave me some names of books to get if I want to start learning one of the languages, Twi (I think I'll be learning two). I can't believe I finally have some information. I can stop being annoyed when people ask me where and when I'm going. I can finally provide a real answer :)
Wednesday, January 9, 2008
Invitation
I just got an update in my application status, it says I've been sent an invitation. So that means that it's my official assignment if I want it! I'm excited about getting it, and a little nervous too. I hope it gets here soon. After it gets here I have ten days to decide and respond, yikes.
Thursday, October 25, 2007
Still waiting
I know that I haven't done a very good job of keeping this updated (as Mary so kindly reminded me :-D ), but there really isn't any news to post. I'm still just waiting. I haven't heard anything and my status online says my medical papers are under review. If anything changes I'll be sure to post it here and everywhere else. Until then I'll be hanging out in fabulous Williamsburg, VA. And despite their persistent effort, I'm trying not to let the Richmond ruggers get me into too much trouble ;-)
Sunday, September 2, 2007
New Info
I got an email last week about a spot that might be available in early November in Africa. Nothing is set though, but I am getting my shots on Tuesday, which are the last of the requirements for my medical papers (I think). Once that stuff clears they'll be able to give me an assignment, hopefully the one in early November. If not it will just be more waiting, but I'll keep this thing updated.
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