December

December 1^st marked World AIDS Day. Last year in my school I held discussions on HIV/AIDS instead of normal classes. I had planned to do the same this year, but when I showed up that morning there was a problem. The headmaster had cancelled classes and made a “project” day(during which students doing work either for teachers or for the school) to harvest and shell maize from the school farm. The shelling took the whole day. The next day was a holiday, and then the weekend came, and on Monday we started exams, so there was no chance for me to reschedule the discussions. Frustrating, to say the least. Here these students were, doing manual labor instead of learning about a very important and deadly disease (though with low prevalence in Ghana so far).

When it was time for the new health volunteers (those that arrived June 2011) to hold their in-service training, Tricia was asked to come and help lead some sessions. This was a good way for her to practice her presentation and discussion-leading skills, in preparation for being a trainer for the pre-service training of the next group of health volunteers arriving in February.

Around the same time, the nurse moved into the clinic and officially started receiving patients. Yay!

Before we knew it it was late December, and time for Tricia’s surprise birthday trip. It was held at a guest house along the ocean. Swimming in the ocean and the salt-water lagoon, drinking beer and chatting with other Americans and some Brits, eating wonderful food and lying in a hammock, our faith in humanity and goodness was restored. There was even a birthday cake. With frosting! One evening at 10pm the proprietor came around and mentioned that a leatherback turtle had been spotted on the beach, so I was able to witness the turtle her lay eggs and bury them. (Unfortunately we had to guard the turtle and dig up the eggs and rebury them secretly, as locals will eat both the turtle and the eggs.)