My Home

I found out later that my home is referred to as the Hotel to the local people in there area, as the conditions here are much better than most homes in the area.  I was told before coming here that I would have internet in my home (something extremely rare to find in Ghana), but when I arrived, I found out that there has recently been issues with their service provider and they haven’t had internet for several months now.  All the windows are screened here, so again I don’t need to bother with my mosquito net.  Although I have it quite well off here, the standards are still quite different from what we have back in Canada.  Power outages are quite common, and there is no running water.  I am given one bucket of water a day, for all of my needs (showering, laundry, flushing the toilet, etc.) so I will have to learn to use water very sparingly.  Pure drinking water is found by the dining table in a water cooler, like the ones we have back home.  Right now I have my own room with two beds, a fan, and a bathroom (with sink, toilet and shower).  There is only one other volunteer here right now, Emma, who has been here for 2 months already, and also works at the same hospital as me.  She’s been very helpful at showing me the ins and outs of Ghanaian life here.

My host family is very accommodating (although a little standoffish).  Frank and Oye are my host parents.  Frank is a researcher and Oye is a stay at home mom.  They have 3 children, ages 1, 3 (Mame) and 4 (Kobi).  Both Kobi and Mame are very cute, but also a little bratty.  We have to keep our rooms locked at all times, otherwise things will get destroyed or go missing (Emma now has a book missing 30 pages because of those two).  Aside from the family, Ruth (13) also lives with us.  Ruth is the family’s housekeeper.  She does the dishes, cleaning, gets water, and prepares a lot of the meals.  In exchange for this, the family pays for her to go to school.  She is a sweet girl, but very quiet.