I have been back home in Wa for two weeks now and am getting back to the normal rhythm of life here.
Most of the work for me right now is simple and tedious and so that portion of the work is not the most enjoyable. Viruses seem to be on every single computer that is around. This is impressive seeing as there is no internet connection in the building, so basically, they have all come in on flash drives from outside sources. The person that I replaced left at the end of May I believe and by the time I got there in September a lot of computers were not working for one reason or another. One of the main things is that they are not really using the computers for work anyway. If I look at the computers, they are just full of games. They still write everything out by hand instead of using the computers. This also hinders their learning of computers as they are not practicing typing or other office skills. Once I get all the computers working I will begin training and we will see if this makes any difference. They are all eager to learn which is good.
Aside from work life is easy. Lunch time is generally spent with some Red Red (Beans and Plantains) a bit of rice and or Yam. A few beers usually make an appearance as we sit in one of the local spots. The Mango trees down and Prisons Canteen provide ideal shade in the afternoon to drink and eat under. Back to work for a couple hours after usually and then heading home. Wa’s extracurricular actives are limited so we basically do the same old things. Have dinner at someone’s house or out at a spot, maybe watch a movie on a laptop, play cards, or talk. Spending a few hours having a few beers or shandys (you can get a premixed bottle that is very good) in the evening with people is very common, most volunteers are alcoholics I think, or it might be that that’s all there is to do.
Last Saturday I went for my first long bike ride. Mel and I rode our bikes up to Jirapa to visit Cath, Aaron and Noriko. They had decided to do a Spanish style meal. What you can get in Wa is limited so you need to buy things if you see them. It’s funny when you started getting excited over finding lettuce in the market or a can of sweet corn in a shop because you haven’t seen it for two months. The fruit is great though, pineapple, oranges, bananas and apples. However limited Wa is though Jirapa is even more so, they get a lot less. Wa is the Regions capital so shipping things here you can make a bit of money since the population is an ok size. But the trucks stop in Wa, there is not much money in going further north. Wa and the communities north of it are not really on any trade route like the one from Accra to Ouagadougou that Tamale and Bolga sit on. So, we had to buy a few things to bring up with us.
The ride took about an hour and a half and was an easy ride. The road is all paved and there are not too many potholes. I enjoyed the ride and am looking forward to doing longer ones. I am not really supposed to be riding my bike yet as I have not had the in-country motorcycle training. But with the training I got in the UK I feel very confident on the bike and I am only doing short rides and no dirt roads yet.
It was a very relaxing evening; we played Frisbee, ate good food and had good conversation. They had made sangria out of the boxes or red wine you can get here; fruit and sprit weren’t too bad, and it did resemble sangria. We spent the remaining part of the evening at their local spot which was beautiful. It was out behind their house in a field and the stars were out in force. Was very relaxing and was nice to catch up with people and hear about the difference experiences.
Also as a side not I promise I will get pictures up soon.
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