July 17, 2012
The end…WOW…lots been going on. Towards the end of June I took Francis to Tafi Atome Monkey
Sanctuary and then to stay the night in Chris’s village. He hadn’t been to either place and I figured
we needed a fun day together away from the village. He loved playing with the monkeys and then we went and drank with
Chris and his counterpart, Akins. We
had a good time laughing and being silly together.
For the 4th of July a group of volunteers from my
year all met at the beach for one last white people party. We roasted hot dogs, Molly had brought
s’mores stuff back from America, danced, played Survivor on the beach, and just
generally had a great fun, relaxing time.
Then it came time to say goodbye to those of us we wouldn’t see again.
Sad. I spent a few days in Accra
getting some PC stuff finished and picking up some things I want to take
home. I stayed with an Embassy worker
from Houston, Beth, and her daughter, Peyton.
Hot showers, real beds, and American food! FRIED BALOGNA SANDWICHES!!!
Back to the village for the last time…sad. I spent the last four days in the village
just trying to soak it all in. The
walks I take everyday, the annoying goats and roosters, the goofy kids, and my
funny old ladies. I ate a lot of fufu
and drank a lot of palm wine and pito.
Wednesday the 11th was my going away ceremony; exactly 2
years to the day of my naming/welcoming ceremony to Todome. Chris and Aikins, Kim and her mom came. Francis helped me write my speech in Sekua…I
was nervous about giving it as I knew my pronunciation would suck…I’ll post the
English version on here. So the kids
played drums and came and picked us from the house. The chief gave his speech of thanks to me and then it was time to
dress me up and plop me on the Queen Mother’s stool ( I was enstooled as the
Queen Mother of Development). The
village had a really nice, really bright Ghanaian dress made for me. Confidence and one of the women elders took
me into the school to dress me and did not feel shy to yank around on my naked
boobs to get them to fit in my dress right…most action I’ve got in a long time.
We came out and the other women piled on the beads and
danced for me. Next they presented
their gifts to me. The teachers gave me
a dress and some beads, the batik group gave me a bead set, Fo Nicho and Esther
gave me a women’s smock, the Women’s group gave me a purse and a skirt, Kafui
from Wli gave me a huge bag of bracelets and earrings, and Koku the wood carver
gave me wooden salad spoon/fork and a bottle opener…my bag is now much
heavier!!!
After the gifts, which I spent my time sitting on the stool
with people taking pictures and me feeling embarrassed…all my photos look like
I’m either scared or cheesing like an uncomfortable dork…after the gifts came
my speech. I was so nervous and stuffed
in my hot Ghanaian dress…my hands were shaking so bad that the paper was
vibrating the whole time. The villagers
loved that I tried though. Mama
Victoria got up and gave me her booty shaking dance which made me laugh and kept
me from crying. After that we
danced…I’ll miss dancing with my ladies…they make me happy.
After some palm wine and pictures, it was
finished….ahhhhhhh. We went back to the
house and ate banku and groundnut soup and relaxed. Thursday I spent the day cleaning and packing. Throughout the day I would just start
crying: while burning my trash, while taking a bath, while walking to
town…geeze. I went to town early in the
morning and saw a vo fruit (a fruit I love and hadn’t seen in the village yet
this year) and bought it! Yeah, it made
me happy!!! Later in the day I went
back to town and met Gifty for a last couple calabashes of pito. I asked the women’s group and the batik
group to come up to my house in the evening to take pictures.
The women came and brought their fancy clothes…they stripped
down on my porch and put on their fancy duds and combed eachother’s
hair…they’re so funny. We took a bunch
of goofy pictures in my front yard; this was a really happy moment for me; I
always looked forward to Thursdays working with the women; no matter whatever
else was going on in the village, my days with them always made me happy and
made me smile. Most of us couldn’t talk
to each other very much; we combined Sekua, Ewe, English and hand gestures to
get our points across…and it always worked out. I was laughing as we were taking the pictures, but also fighting
back the tears. After our last picture
I gave them each hugs and looked over and saw Gifty crying…I lost it. Then the women started yelling at her for
making me cry. When mom and dad came
here, dad said Gifty reminded him of my sister, Jennifer; until that moment I
hadn’t realized it, but he was right.
Over my time here, Gifty and I had become close, like girlfriends or
sisters, I’ll miss her.
After the women left, the batik group came later. We took a bunch of pictures together too,
and that was fun. My emotions are not
as connected to the batik group as they are to my women. The batik group members always fought and
stole money any chance they got; I always just felt like they were using
me…well most of the members anyway. Oh
well. So after these pics we started cooking light soup and fufu…ohhhhh how I
will miss this. It was delicious and
Francis gave me the biggest ball of fufu I’ve ever seen; I did my best, but
didn’t finish.
We were late getting down to my chief’s palace where he had
some palm wine for us. I thanked him
for the ceremony and for letting me live in his village and then gave him some
photos and schnapps. After the chief, we
headed to the community grounds where I set up a projector and played the movie
I made of the village on the side of a building. The movie was about 25 minutes long and featured over 200
pictures I’d taken in the village over my two years. The villagers really enjoyed it and it made me happy to look over
all the memories I’ve made here. When
you look at the pictures you see all the great times, not the bullshit times
that made you want to burn the place to the ground…thank God for pictures.
Friday morning was goodbye morning. I had been dreading this morning for
weeks. I didn’t sleep well and woke up
early. I got some more of my vo fruit
and went out my back door to sit and look at the mountains one more time. I opened the door and there sat Francis. “I wanted to be still this morning, so I
came here to sit.” “Yeah, I wanted the
same thing…want some vo fruit?” So
Francis and I sat on my little cement slab and ate our fruit without
talking…then I had to go inside to stop myself from crying. I started getting things organized for the
morning. Later I went to throw out
dishwater and I see Salomay coming around the corner. I went to the front to meet her and immediately bust into
tears. Salomay is also one of my
favorites; she would always send me avocados and bananas and kind-of felt like
a grandma. She brought me a huge bag of
corn dough and cassava dough so I can make banku in America. So we’re standing there on my porch crying
and telling each other that we love each other in different languages and that
we will meet again. Salomay’s sister
then comes with 2 big bunches of bananas and more cassava dough. The sisters bless me and my people and we
cry and hug and blubber some more before they leave.
Confidence comes to the house, then Francis. I pack up my final things and we head to the
roadside. I take my key off my key ring
and that makes me cry again. I no
longer have a place in Ghana. We walk
down to the road, I look at my mountains.
Then comes my kids; Rose, Dixon and Michaela come up and I try to kneel
down and play “forehead, eyewinker” with them, but pretty much just sob behind
my sunglasses. Michaela is being a
silly little goof and keeps saying, “Sister Boala” over and over which makes it
worse and worse. While I’m messing with
the kids, Francis has squatted down and tucked his head and won’t look up. I say let’s go greet Fo Nicho and Esther at
the house. We start walking and then I
hear Francis bust into tears behind me.
OMG. So he and I walk arm-in-arm
through the goat path balling our eyes out, snot running down our faces, and
the kids following us and looking at us like we’re insane. I greet Fo Nicho and Esther and give them
hugs. I tell Esther thank you for everything she’s done for me and she tells me
to hurry and leave, and then hugs me and goes into the house to cry. Fo Nicho and the kids follow me and Francis
to the roadside. We sit and wait on the
taxi (I had Confi call her uncle to pick us in his taxi so I didn’t have to cry
on a tro with everyone looking at me).
I sit with Francis and we cry; he tells me that he would not have had
peace in this community without me; I tell him he’ll be out of the community
soon and be in school and they can all go fuck themselves. We sit and wait. The taxi finally comes, we load my bags in it, I give Francis, Fo
Nicho, Confidence, and the kids hugs goodbye.
I turn around to see them waving goodbye, including my Michaela. Gifty never did come to the roadside like
she said she would…I’m kinda glad. She
and I had said some more goodbyes and hugged after the movie the night before.
And then it was over.
I drove past the school, Esther’s store, the bean lady’s, the meeting
grounds, and then over the hill and on to Bakua. I tried to really pay attention to the trees and mountains, the
villages, the goats…but I was sad and spent most of the ride to HoHoe
sobbing. I’m lucky that Kim and her mom
stayed with me. They were just quiet
and let me cry, but then I could at least talk to them once I calmed down…that
was nice.
Last tro to Accra, one last good fight at the tro station
not to get cheated. On the way to Accra
my chief called me to see if I had left yet, wish me a safe journey, and to say
he’d like me to send him a digital camera once I get to my place…jerk. At the check point near the bridge, one
woman had 4 pieces of fried sweet potato left!
I was so excited…they hadn’t been frying sweet potato yet this year and
I had told Francis I hoped I got some before I left….this made me happy, Ghana
was sending me off well.
Now I am in Accra finishing up my medical, administration,
and other PC stuff I have to do. I feel
exhausted and dazed. It still doesn’t
seem real that in 2 days I’ll be in the U.S. with my family…that’s a crazy
concept after two years of being here.
So, see you soon!
Boala.
