(Spencer) Insides Out

Hello my friends,

It is a fine morning here in Karaga with a gentle breeze blowing and a calming heat in the air. I just arrived into the District Assembly office complex and sat down in my very comfortable office…jokes…I don’t have an office and not even a desk, I sit on the couch which is like heaven after sitting on wooden benches all other times. It’s a rush to many blog posts before I catch the afternoon lorie into Tamale. I made a silly mistake of writing 4 blog posts concurrently and in doing so didn’t actually finish any of them. Today I shall correct myself (not like Jack Torrance seeks to “correct: his family in the Shining, but in a wholesome sharing way).

What better way than a good ol’ heart, body and mind?

Mind

Where is my mind lying? This morning I woke up from a dream muttering to myself “theres not enough time” in regards to what time is left in Karaga. The reality of the approaching end is slowly dawning on me, of course I have always known I was leaving; however as the end  actually comes the sadness of leaving all those who I have come to love and knowing that my placement could use another six months  so much more vivid in feeling.

I am nervous about the sustainability of the database and the future of the data usage in the Assembly, there is much work to do to wrap up all the loose end but little time. At the same time I am excited at the prospects of with a small change in office functioning or decision made; working the District government hopefully means the trickledown effect could be significant or make some impact.

I am super pumped at my village stay this coming weekend, from Thursday until Monday, five days of solid village life and living with the family. It seems to be the perfect time; building great relationships, gaining a deeper understanding of village life, loving life, diving into a hypothesis or two (why are the CLTS latrines used at wells?), and definitely playing games with children.

The summer is an emotional rollercoaster. One day I may be loving my time in Ghana and don’t want to leave, valuing all the small experiences. Than the next feeling like Ghana is the last place I want to be anywhere, wanting to eat cheese, be with my family and far away. Than the next back to feeling as though Ghana is exactly what I need in my life right now, building confidence, building friendships, learning about rural living, and growing greatly. As the summer has moved on those bad days have become less and less but occasionally still do pop up.

At Kate Middleton’s host father put it last year in regards to her leaving, it is as though she is dying because she would very likely never see the family again.  My death in Karaga is soon approaching and I have come to terms with that death least I handle it in a way that is less than satisfactory.

Body

Overall my body feels great and is on the up and up despite the daily mysteries of what my stool will be like(apologizes for the talk of poop but it really is a cause of daily interest, its different every day!). Im getting great sleep that is filled with dreams all night of which are very vivid and no larium needed, talking to myself or Rigel about dream recall if you are interested!

Due to the bike ride to and from Nyegbolo every morning, I am feeling much stronger and more energetic during the day with a huge appetite for teezet and much coco in the morning.

I am unfortunately not Superman like Mr. Man of Steel Kevin Lees, and have been plagued with many ailments. As a preface, none of these illnesses have affected my happiness in a very large way at all; I took a very positive outlook in every situation as I did not want to poison my mind with negative thoughts. Alas, heres a recap; respiratory tract infection during the third week in Karaga, stomach parasite for the first 7 weeks, and countless cases of diarrhea. Though again, none have been too serious so perhaps I have been lucky?

PLUS!! I am looking quite fine if I do say so myself. Rocking a very nice tan and my teeth are better than ever thanks to the wonders of chewing sticks. My long hair is a huge hit, the ladies are super jealous of it and men find it very interesting.

Heart

When I think of the coming school year I think of two things and not one of which is school itself. The first is living with Kevin in our secret forest retreat and the second is chilling out with all you awesome ewb-in Guelphites.  Whenever I think of the either of these two things a super wide smile spreads across my face; in fact one has just spread. “you are laughing” says Barraca has just said to me, “just thinking of very happy times” I reply, she smiles as well.

My host family are awesome, I am drawn to return to them every night and it feels great to do so. The ladies are wonderful and so kind. I am awed by their personal strength; they work from sunup to sunset and always have a joyful attitude about them. The children are hilarious and I am hilarious to them.  There is a feeling of being accepted amongst the family that warms my heart quite deeply. When I spend a night away from the them and the village I am genuinely quite sad, tonight I am spending the night in Tamale which is the last place I want to be but necessary from a living and monetary standpoint. It comes down to what I was muttering in my sleep, “there is not enough time” and I want to spend as much time with them as possible before my departure. They get me excited for when that departure does eventually come to see my own family once again, my mother needs a hug I am sure =)

The entire community of people in Karaga, I don’t exactly know how to articulate the feeling exactly but I will try. This town has become so much more than just a town, it is; where I do all my living, where I have had incredible experiences, pushing my boundaries greatly, meeting wonderful friends, learning things I never expected to learn, a community where everyone knows each other including me, full of playful children, the great kingdom of Dagbon, the same yet new and different every day, the list goes on… The people of Karaga are part of me and I a part of those in Karaga. To bike down the main street and recognize most of the faces is such a comforting feeling, reminds me of the community at Guelph and all the other people I love.

There is a man who needs a shout out. He doesn’t read the blog and likely doesn’t even know of me being in Ghana but has been positive force. Mr. Kyle May and your feedback loop of happiness. If you ever read this message you’ll know what’s up!

I suppose the thing about the heart is that it has a ton of love to give and as I write where my heart is at the moment I realize that my heart is with everyone who I care for. It is tangential as I think about my host family I branch to my family in Canada than to my extended family and thinking of the wonderful times shared and each of those thoughts spreads to another than another and another and they connect with other groups of people I love such as my friends back in Waterloo and those experiences which mirror ones in Guelph and oh my oh my there is lots of love……

I can’t do everyone justice but keep in my mind, my name is Suhuyini and you are in one heart.

-Suhuyini