Operation Ghana

Wednesday May 14, 2008

On the way back from Cynthia’s I took pictures of butterflies.

Everyone was returning to the deaf school. On the way back, Deb and I took a detour up a dirt road to see some guesthouses that are for rent. We walked and walked for a long time up a dirt road. I started to get nervous.

We saw a restaurant that claims to serve pizza. We kept walking. We found the Nevea Guest House. The Reception Door was shut and locked. There was a phone number on it. We looked around and the grounds were beautiful! As we walked back to the road we saw a man standing in the yard, some ways away. I started to walk toward him. I stopped when I heard snarling and barking dogs. The dogs moved toward me and I backed toward the gate, through it and onto the road. In a skirt and flip-flops I had plenty of room for bites. The dogs caught the man’s attention and he called another man to greet us. This man took us through the guesthouse, which was quite nice. Some rooms were 25 cedi per night, others 20 cedi. I have no idea how those prices compare to what we pay at the Shanti Guesthouse.

The signs on the main road had indicated a second guesthouse was nearby. Deb and I walked and walked. We passed houses with schoolgirls doing laundry. They called “obruni!” we smiled and waved. There were chickens running in the yards and beautiful bushes and flowers lined the roads. Most of the homes have walls around them and some have barbed wire or broken glass on top of the wall.

We continued to walk. A little girl came out from behind a wall where we could here a dog barking. She asked us where we were going and we told her, she said, “Follow me! I will take you there!” We walked and continued to here children yell, “Obruni!” as we passed.Our little guide laughed and explained, “They call you obruni because it means white man.” I smiled and said, “But I am a white woman.”  She said, “We only have a word for white man. They call out obruni because it makes them happy to see you here.You can call them ‘obibini’ it means black man.” I thanked her for the info. I asked her if oburunis ever stay at this guesthouse. She said, “No.”

As we got closer a pickup truck came by and two men inside called to us. “Come here I want to talk to you!” I looked at Deb, she stayed put and I took a few steps closer. We were a long way from the road and way out of our element. I looked at our little guide and she didn’t seem concerned. “Yes?” I asked.

“Are you two missionaries?”

Deb and I started laughing. Yes, two white women off the beaten path in skirts. But I have never been confused for a missionary before. “No, we are working at the deaf school.”

“We would like to come see you tonight.”

“Thank you, no. We are both married and we leave in the morning.”  This seemed to be enough. They drove away.

We finally found the guesthouse. I gave our little guide some orange tic-tacs and she skipped off. The madame was in the back yard tending to dinner over a fire pit. “Hello,” I hollered, “we are interested in seeing your guest house.” She apologized for her clothing and went inside to change. She came out in a beautiful African dress and then she led us upstairs. The rooms were dark. The power is out. The prices were low but it is not a place I would stay. We thanked her, took some pictures of the incredible view and then made our way back down the road, without a guide this time.

Now it was becoming dark. Panic set in as I realized this is it, this is our last night. We still had to grab a taxi and get Deb’s drum in Aburi. I hadn’t seen Sylvia. Deb and I had only been to the school once and most of the children were not even there! This trip was too short. (Didn’t I say that last time too?)  After taking a taxi to Aburi and asking the driver to wait while Deb purchased the drum, we bumped into the rest of our group as we walked up the road to the school they were walking down the road. The power was out and the night was dark. Curry said it was almost 8:00 but since the power was out the children were going to bed. Deb and I continued toward the school in a hurry. When we arrived the children were excited to see us. The only light was from the moon. Because of our light skin the children could see our signs in the moonlight, much easier than we could see theirs. It was too dark for pictures. We signed and shared as much as we could until the dorm mother came out with her switch letting the children know that it is bedtime. She told us that since it is so dark many children fall or stumble and get hurt, so they go to bed before their curfew when the power is out.

We said our good-byes. Sylvia had already gone to bed. I left a message with Priscilla to please tell Sylvia that I am sorry I missed her. She had not yet arrived to school when we came the other day.

Deb and I walked back to the guesthouse in silence. Deb sighed and said, “Wow.” Only one word, but her voice was shaky. I just quietly said, “Yeah, I know.”

Both Deb and I have spent much of our deaf daughters’ lives fighting for their rights and education. When Leah was about to start preschool at age 3, we lived in Los Angeles. When we looked at school options we had two choices, oral or total communication.  Aaron and I knew the pitfalls of both these methods. We told them we wanted Leah to be in an ASL environment, which would require a fluent teacher and another fluent signer in the classroom so the children would have the opportunity to “overhear” conversation as you would in a hearing class as well as see their language in action. Deaf children miss out on so much information because typically their hearing teacher speaks to another hearing adult in the room, rather than signing to them. We were told in no uncertain terms that the program we wanted did not exist and we HAD to choose one of the two programs already in place. I asked, “How can I in good conscience choose an educational program for my child when the only programs you offer are guaranteed to leave her unprepared for life? Your programs will not support her in becoming the fullest possible contribution to society. You admit that statistically my child will graduate from high school with a third grade reading level and yet these are the only programs you continue to offer? You cash your paycheck every two weeks knowing full well that you are literally failing generations of deaf students!”  There are aspects of deaf education in America that are unconscionable. If you were to tell someone that their child would graduate with a third grade reading level because they are blond, or black, Hispanic, or short, or have blue eyes, or a Christian, there would be a public outcry. No one would stand for it. No one would believe it. Yet it is somehow a believable and acceptable outcome for the deaf child?

A child who cannot hear only lacks the ability to hear, they do not lack the capacity to learn. It makes me sick that some people actually believe it is true that a deaf child cannot learn. In a way, I guess it has been my personal mission to guarantee that Leah is “not that child.” My daughter does not get a passing grade because she is deaf, but because it is the grade she has earned.

As Deb and I walked in the dark, in Africa, the sadness and happiness and helplessness and hopefulness of these incredible cultures and countries weighed on my mind. How can you continue to judge another person as less just because they cannot hear?

Wednesday May 14, 2008 (writing about May 13)

It is morning and the power is not on but the sun is up! Back to the meeting…

Some of the people at the meeting were surprised that the teachers are being paid by Signs of Hope (SOHI) to learn sign language. They said a teacher should want to continue their education especially if it directly benefits their students. They said, “Usually teachers PAY to attend a class to further THEIR education!” They were still grateful that SOHI has put their programs in place.

Wow what a relief! They know the issues! Can you imagine how things would have gone if we waltzed in telling them everything that is wrong? Here, let me hand you a list of the issues you need to address. That, never goes well!

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Today, Curry and Heidi from Signs of Hope International left for Ghana. 3 down 4 to go! Last night I called Curry about some last minute things. He has been there many times and it was at his invitation and the invitation of the schools that we are fortunate enough to be part of this amazing experience! I was asking him about packing swimsuits and rain gear.  Yes talk about two ends of a spectrum. The packing list we received from SOHI mentioned both. He said there is not a body of water that he would recommend getting into. As far as rain, he said, WHEN it rains it is still 90 degrees so jackets aren’t necessary. I told him that I had been looking up different travel sites that talked about Ghana and I saw some pictures of very large lizards. He laughed and said on one of his past trips a lizard gave birth on their front door and there were baby lizards everywhere! Then he said “Do you like spiders?” He actually sounded serious. I hardly dared to ask him, “Why?”
“There are spiders as big as your fist. They come out every night, the same spiders. You start recognizing them and naming them after a couple of nights. And you’ll wonder hmmm, where is that one?” I could hardly answer. I think I managed a very weak, “Oh good!”

Leah’s skirts arrived yesterday and then I found a great skirt in her closet… yeah, I didn’t think to look there. Luckily Old Navy is having a huge sale. 50% off the sale price! This trip brought to you by Old Navy, Ziplocks and Ebay Actually this trip is brought to you by real live Signing Time fans!! Every time I see that the Chip In meter has another contributor, I am so touched by YOUR generosity!

I only posted the Chip In donation meters 2 weeks ago and so far 51 people have donated raising more than $2,145. We have hit the 50% mark of the final leg! You can visit the Chip In page and see the messages some have left. You have kept me busy sending out “Thank you!” messages to each of our Signing Time friends. And I mean it “Thank you!”

If you were one of the many who almost Chipped In over the past few weeks… maybe you clicked but got distracted, or planned to do it later, there is no time like the present. Chip In now and I might even name a fist sized spider after you!!!

Robi left for Africa today. Curry and Heidi leave tomorrow. They are all going in advance to have meetings and take care of some of the business aspects and formalities so that we can hit the ground running when we arrive.

I asked Curry, how we are going to get from the airport to Mampong, a one and a half hour drive. He said he will be picking us up in the Deaf School’s bus, if it is running. Why am I having flashbacks of “The God’s Must Be Crazy?” I can’t imagine it will be hard to spot us at the airport. Just look for a group of 5 sun-deprived Utahns… very pale:) It helps that Aaron is 6′ 5″ and sun-deprived. When we lived in CA and Leah was 2 years-old, I was always amazed that people would stop us in the store and say “Wow! Your daughter is SO WHITE! I have NEVER seen a child so WHITE!” I am not kidding, it was like a running joke. I don’t think you could get away making that comment about any color other than white though and I don’t suggest trying.

The flight from JFK to Accra is about 12 hours. I would love some suggestions of things to keep Alex and Leah interested and happy for 12 hours. I think our ipods last about 3 hours each. My laptop (if I bring it) will last close to 3 hours, ooh 3 hours of backgammon;). I know there will be movies, sleep, food and snacks… but 12 hours in the air? I picked up the 3rd Traveling Pants book for Leah as a surprise… she will devour it in an hour or two. I should have picked up the 4th as well… there is still time.

Yesterday Aaron and Leah completed their shots! Today I am ordering 15 family pictures at Costco. I am making copies of our passports. (You keep the copy on you at all times, rather than keeping the real thing – except for when you are at the airport, you better have the real thing). I will pick up 400 Signing Time temporary tattoos for the school kids. Doing wash and then spraying our clothes with insect repellant. Do you think I should spray then pack or pack then spray when we arrive in Ghana? I just don’t know.

A few days ago I checked weather.com for Accra Ghana. I was stunned to see highs of 91 and lows of 77 with 100% humidity. I don’t think I will be wearing my Signing Time sweater while we are there. We are basically going to live in a sauna for 10 days. Feel free to check out weather.com while we are traveling. You can see what time it is in Ghana. Ghana is 7 hours ahead of Utah.

Today I rationed out all of our food that we are bringing to Africa. We have dinners “catered” each night – I can’t wait to report on what they make for us. From what I hear it is mush and spicy stuff and always a hard boiled egg. Breakfast and lunch are up to us. I guess the easiest way to describe packing for this trip is to imagine a game. In this game you can’t bring chocolate or anything that will melt. You can’t bring anything that you don’t mind eating even if it is smashed to bits. You can’t bring anything that might pop or explode under pressure, turbulence and general baggage handling. Only bring things you are sure you want to eat even if they are warm. Bring small packaging, but not too small if it has extra wrappers. Think Skittles, not Starburst. Bring things that don’t require refrigeration… remember if the power is on for 20 hours, it will soon be off for 20 hours.

I had bought some dried apricots and dried blueberries as well as a huge bag of trail mix with dried fruit in it, but I realized the fruit will probably plump up in 100% humidity and end up moldy. I will return those tomorrow. Besides we can eat fruit there, as long as it has a thick rind that is cut off. We can eat bread there as well. We packed peanut butter and tuna fish and beef jerky as our main protein. I laid the food out for each person and then put 2 days worth of food in a gallon ziplock bag. That way we can grab a ziplock and toss it in our backpack every couple of days.

We can’t eat a lot of things. No vegetables unless thoroughly cooked. No thin skinned fruits. From what I have read it is best to consider all water polluted unless it is bottled and brought in from somewhere else like Europe. SO I am thinking no fish:) Most people can’t afford meat. It’s sort of like Survivor Ghana – but only for 10 days.

I found 3 skirts for Leah and 2 for me on ebay. Walmart had t-shirts for $2.50. I have 4 dark blue shirts and 4 bright blue shirts. When you see the pictures and it looks like I only have 2 shirts, just know I actually have a fresh one each day. Curry from SOHI suggested a shirt a day rather than doing laundry (BUT remember we don’t want to look like we have 10 different shirts). Our laundry would be done by hand by the girls (me and Leah) some locals would come show us how to do it, which by all accounts means scrubbing until your hands blister. In the humidity your clothes take 3 days to dry. While drying, bugs land and lay eggs, so you have to iron everything before wearing to kill the bugs and eggs.

Since we are there over a weekend, we will be able to travel. Now, Ghana is not safari Africa with lions, it is more rainforest Africa with monkeys. We will visit Kakum National Park When we travel we will be staying at a botel. Say hotel but with a “B”. You may be asking what is a botel? Well it’s a hotel over water and the best part is there are crocodiles in the water. (of COURSE there are!)

Remember when I suggested you ought to donate just to see what happens next… yeah that was before I knew we were sleeping over crocodiles…. LOL If you haven’t Chipped In already, what are you waiting for???