Oguaa Village

Hello all!

Sorry for the two-week delay - the past several days have been marked by moving out of Accra, into Kumasi, then into Oguaa, the village.

Oguaa is a small village of about 500 people, mostly farmers of cassava, plantain and cocoa. Located in the Asante Region, about an hour away from the city of Kumasi, most of the villagers are Asantes, and thus speak Twi. With limited possibilities of communicating in English, the multiple lessons at Accra are definitely paying off. Though people here are still impressed at the sight of oburonis speaking Twi, conversations are much more about daily occurrences, instead of the common "wow, you speak Twi!!" from Accra.

The friendliness of the villagers was clear from the moment we arrived. Many children ran over to our van to help carry bags, and every person standing nearby started to greet emphatically. After just over a week of living in Oguaa, calls of "oburoni" have given way to my Twi name, Kwame.

Though the lifestyle for the farmers must be a straining one, the village is in considerably positive conditions, in terms of health and sanitation. Granted, there is no running water, and pit holes are the most common toilet option (the next one being the ground itself). However, it is rare to see the conceptualized image of an "African village" - children are running happily and healthily, enough even to do as much work at home as an adult would.

As a visitor, my duties stretch to a very modest part of the so-called village life. Preparing food and washing dishes is a daily job, and a pleasant one at that (mostly preparing the food, though... I don't usually look forward to scrubbing with no running water at hand).

Also, fetching water from the village borehole is the equivalent to exercising. In the afternoon, after school hours, several children line-up around the pump, with empty buckets waiting to be carried for washing, cooking and bathing. Pumping in itself is fun, and a substitute to gym-work. The uphill walk that follows, however, is the stage where water spills all over, regardless of if you carry the bucket on your head or with your hands.

In the past few days, however, children who were late for school have been coming over to the house with buckets of water. This is their punishment - fetching water for their teachers.

Pounding palm nuts and fufu (a mixture of cassava and plantain), as well as assisting in weeding the farm with a machete are some examples of less regular physical activities. Though less frequent, they were already enough to make my hands worthy of an actual worker at Oguaa.

 
At night, about twenty children invariably show up at our compound, either with homework questions or just wanting to play. By now, tutoring has become a regular appointment for many, one that complements teaching at local Junior High Schools (7th-9th grades). This will be better covered on the next post, though.

Especially on weekends, we have learned and taught several songs and games. My personal favorite has been teaching some of the children (the coolest ones) how to play basic rhythms on my kpanlogo drum.

Last Sunday, some of the children started a shouting match outside my window, in an effort to get me to the football pitch for a few matches. Note: it was 5 am.

Though I missed the football (real football) that day, tomorrow I will make up for it, at 5 am, yes. In the middle of the week there were small pick-up matches, also great fun. After one of these, Ebenezer, one of the boys from the Oguaa's school, asked me to help him take his five goats back to his house. Below is the picture, first time I ever walked a goat.

Life in the village has been incredible. The simplicity with which things happen - from eating to working to playing - is refreshing after the somewhat scattered rush that was Accra. Regularly speaking Twi and meeting the people around is also very pleasant.
Teaching, probably the main aspect of this stage of the program, has been challenging and already very rewarding. However, I will write about this topic on the next post.
(Unfortunately, I can't say exactly when that will be... It was a two-hour commute to get to this internet cafe in Kumasi today).

All the best,

Kwame