Before leaving for East Africa, I had learned that a former coworker of mine was coming to Ghana to work with Habitat for Humanity. At the end of her volunteering, they would tour Ghana for a few days before heading back to the US. Turns out that coincided exactly with our return from East Africa, so we were able to meet up with her and convinced her to take the grueling trip up to our site, see it for a day, then take an equally grueling trip back! We were glad to show our village to yet another “foreigner”; I’m told she also enjoyed the visit :) Our chief was also glad, and is starting to see our value to the community, because he has started asking our visitors for transportation to “America.” He is convinced that one of these days the visitor will say yes. Unfortunately for him we keep bringing “poor” people to visit :P
The day after our visitor left, Tricia went for training. It was here that she met the new health trainees and started training them for their service.
We had learned in past months that Jumbo #1 would likely get replaced with a health volunteer from this group. The result is that the new volunteer will come to Jumbo at the end of April, while Tricia’s (and my) service continues into August. The priority is with the new volunteer and their integration into the community, so it means Tricia (and I!) had to find something else to do. Tricia looked immediately to the health office in Nkwanta, who were more than happy to let her come and work with them. But what about me? I cannot stay in Jumbo, and if Tricia goes to Nkwanta I would also like to go there. This would mean, however, that I am too far from New Agou school to commute every day, and so I would have to end my work there. But what could I do in Nkwanta? I talked to an education NGO in Nkwanta (Ghana Education Project, search them online) and they were also happy to have me work for them. So fear not, we will have something to do, at least for a month or so, even though we are getting kicked out by the new volunteer! It may get boring toward the end, we’ll see!
This week we hosted the new volunteer (trainee for now) as they came for their “site visit” to see Jumbo and get acquainted with it. After the visit we’re convinced that she will be a great fit for Jumbo and is capable of doing some great things here.
One lingering question you may have is, “What about my school – is it getting another PCV?” The answer to that is no. Throughout my service there were some clear barriers to development in New Agou, including an uncooperative community and non-existent support from the district. Once the district changeover takes place I hope these issues will be resolved. I recently sat down with the chief in New Agou and explained this to him, as well as the headmaster and staff. I think they are disappointed that a new volunteer is not coming, but they understand why. They do have the opportunity to apply again, so if they have a change of heart and start to work together I can easily see another PCV getting placed there. For me this is a lesson in the Peace Corps strategy. The first PCV at a site is merely there to explain what a PCV is, live with the community (“integrate”), and identify barriers to development within the community. I am sure that teachers and the chief will spread this information (we may even have a meeting where I can explain it myself) among the community. If they choose to believe what they hear and act, they can easily change. If they decide to ignore it, no development will come to New Agou. It is sad to think about, especially since I call this place my home (for now), but it has a much greater chance at being effective than riding up in a Land Cruiser and telling people to do X, Y and Z and then leaving. The thought of wasting a “white man’s time” and declining an opportunity for development is a powerful motivator for change.
