Day 91

Another day in the house, not doing very much and trying to feel better. I watched episodes of “How I met your mother” and did some sewing – making a stocking for a friend who lives nearby which we’ll fill with some wee goodies.

One thing I’ve really enjoyed/appreciated in Ghana is how little commercialisation there is of Christmas. Yes, I do miss Christmas lights, and Christmas music in shops or at church so I do wish it was a bit more Christmassy at times. But it is so nice to be somewhere where people actually remember what Christmas is all about, and people spend it with the people they care about. Christians will go to church (in huge numbers) and Muslims will probably be given Christmas food by their neighbours and spend time with their families.

Day 92

(trying out my food photography today too...)


Malaria times…

Well, day 92 was a bit of a dull one… I watched “The Constant Gardener” and was really quite confused by the plot due to what is commonly known as “malaria brain”. Later, Hannah, Ellie and I made the “noodle thing” or “Accra noodles” – a delicacy I discovered with Hannah and Vic last Christmas. It’s basically instant noodles with veg, sardines and egg – but really tasty and very quick. Then we watched “The Holiday” though I didn’t get to the end of it and had an early night.

Day 93

I’m off work today with suspected malaria – suspected as I have no medical confirmation and the test I took was negative but I’m treating it as now I’m on the fourth time, I’m pretty sure that when I feel like I have malaria, then I have malaria!

So my pictures, not very exciting, are of my medical test and drugs I’m now taking – malaria treatment drugs, blood tonic which is thick dark brown syrup with orange, honey and malt flavourings, some paracetamol and some vitamin C.

I went to get the Lonart from the chemical shop, which came to Ghc5. I then asked for paracetamol, which was another Ghc0.40. I gave over Ghc7, and he gave me back the Ghc2, saying the paracetamol was for me. I found Ghc0.40, which he refused, while giving me some vitamin C as a “dash” too – can you imagine that happening in the UK.

Being ill is never nice, and being ill in a hot country, especially if you have a temperature, is not nice at all. However, the pleasant 30 degrees or less we’ve been experiencing these last few weeks is, in my opinion, a much nicer climate than the minus temperatures that I’m sure you’re having at home just now.

The other thing about being ill in Ghana is it brings home how important your “Ghana family” are. When you don’t have your parents telling you to go to the doctor, you can think “I’m ok” when really you’re not. Thankfully, the vols in Bolga are good at looking after each other; a kind friend made me go and get tested and is making sure I’m drinking enough water and eating regularly. Colleagues have done the same in the past too.

And just as I sign off – please don’t worry about me! I know malaria isn’t good, and it gets a bad press at home (understandably), but I’m healthy, in my 20s, and taking the recommended treatment and will be fine in a few days with some rest, drugs and chocolate!

Day 94

This morning, I went to church. Towards the end of the two and a half hour service, I started to feel a little woozy, so haven’t done all that much today. However, I did go up on some friends’ roof to take some pictures this evening.

The small booth on the left is a shop – there are hundreds like this in Bolga alone. There are a few larger “supermarkets” in Bolga, which are really not much bigger than your average Spar – I was very surprised when I was first in Bolga and looking for “Daily Needs”, and was expecting something akin to the Swaziland supermarkets I’d been to previously. This one is pretty good and sells a lot of foods and other products. Smaller shops often only sell biscuits, bread, eggs and tomato paste! The lady on the left is breaking and bagging charcoal. Between them is a house – a pretty nice one, belonging to the family who own the shop. The storey building behind that is Zamstech, a Senior High School.

Day 95

Today, I couldn’t decide what to put photos up of, so I’ve just a few taken from different things that I saw today.

Firstly, the children playing near a friend’s house. You rarely see children with toys in Ghana and I’ve seen few teddy bears. This little girl was delighted to be photographed “backing” her baby. I asked its name – she said Josephine. Then I asked her name, and she said Josephine…!

Next are some Christmas cookies we baked for the little Christmas gathering I had last night, doing my usual of using several different recipes and changing them to suit my Ghanaian ingredients. I don’t think my first time making my own icing was that successful, but the colour of the icing didn’t put people off too much.

We had a go at charades last night, but I realised that this is not my forte when I had trouble with miming Christmas.

And then Laylo the cat – after trying very hard to eat the donkey in the nativity scene, he gave up and slept, while others (not me!) dressed him up for the occasion.

Day 96

One of my favourite things to do is going out for the evening, taking some drinks and some meat with Francis and Michael, two colleagues from the office.

They first invited me for a drink when I’d been in Ghana for about 6 or 7 months, and every few months we go out. Hannah joined our wee posse when she arrived last year.

Francis and Michael are both married and a bit older, so it’s a safe friendship – they are not trying to marry us like some (not all!) men. We can have real, honest conversations about Ghana, often talking about education and the problems of working in the education office in Ghana. Michael and Francis are Circuit Supervisors, so are middle management, often thought of as one of the hardest positions to be in. They supervise the work in a large cluster of schools – kindergarten, primary and junior highs. They have a certain level of authority, but not nearly as much as they’d have in a similar position in the UK.

We’re eating baa neno… and no, it’s not lamb…

Day 97

Working hard at maths

Today I was at Mama Laadi’s with a friend, helping some of the junior high children with maths. We’ve been working with the younger children for over a year with reading once a week, but recently Mama Laadi said that many of the children were falling behind with maths at high school. Some of the stuff they do is tricky – I had a bit of a time trying to remember how to do inequalities today (reversing the sign when multiplying or dividing by a negative number – anyone remember that?!) It’s a bit ad hoc at the minute as everyone tells us what they want help with, but I hope we’re making a difference to their understanding.

You're never to young to start using crayons to have fun... taken a month or so ago.