festival today

hey yo. so i don't have too much time to write since i need to get back for language class soon. today there is a large festival in my village to ask the ancestors to bless the land. there should be some fun festivities going on tonight, as well as african dancing. apparently the other volunteers and i might have to dance in front of the chief. not sure if that will be a blessing since we all pretty much look like robots. ha.

so every night, some of the other volunteers and i have been learning to drum and dance. it is not really a lesson as so much a community gathering for 100 kids with big eyes staring at the white people making fools of ourselves. we have a good time together and all of the other health volunteers like to have a good time. i must admit, though, that i tried to master the cowbell and after ten attempts to get the beat, a youngster took over and i sank back into my seat. i was able to play the drums and dance. something about actually being able to feel the beat in my body....

yesterday, our assignment was to do a census of the community we are staying in for now. my group did a census of villager's opinions and knowledge of family planning. it was quite interesting. i love learning about people's ideas and perceptions about reproductive health and family planning. we found that the majority of the women do know about family planning since they found out about options from a doctor in accra or tamale. a few of the women do not want more children but do not use any form of family planning. um yea...
also, another disconnect was the fact someyoung girls get pregnant here at the age of 15. family planning is not an option for them until they have their first child and after that, they are sent to the clinic to get birth control. there is no orientation around prevention. and young girls must be accompanied by parents to get birth control. thus, the probability of becoming a young mother is high. we spoke to men and it seems the majority of them use condoms, though they do not see this as a family planning method. it seems that they see the use of condoms as only prevention against stis.

we also completed a community map on sites that women in the community identify as important to them. they identified these as the farm (yams, cassava, plantains, cocoa), church, the market, and the clinic. the women do the majority of the labor in the day. the men's work is very strenous, but it gives them a bit more free time and this has been identified as a reason for the prevalence of stis within some areas of africa. i am not sure of this village yet since people seems to deny that there are people with hiv/aids living in the village. when another group attempted to ask questions relating to hiv/aids, the women just giggled.

another interesting experience was last night when my host father, with 40 children staring at me, told me that the children told him that they want to have white skin and go to america. i could not believe what he was saying and that these children actually said these things. i then promptly told him to tell them that all skin colors are equal and all are equal. hmm...beyond that, a young man grabbed my arm and told me to take him to america. crazy. i told him no and walked away. all of us are having similar experiences. one of the my fellow volunteers wants to tattoo a dollar sign on her head since people always ask her for money. ha. it is a given with life here.

oh yes, and my site in the volta region does not have electricity. i don't mind. it is interesting how candles cost 2.5 cedis each and a month of electricity only costs 5 cedis a month. hmmm....
thus, if you send anything(parentals!) make sure it has a solar charger.

other ideas:
copies of Ms. magazine, NY Times, Time, Oregonian, National Geographic, etc.
candles
mix cds (Chrissy!, Michael! haha)
stationary with envelopes
incense
matches

of course, thank you for following my blog and sending something is not necessary at all. i just think of things and it is also a way for me to keep track of things i should pick up when i am in europe or south africa. ;D

tata
linds