I have been stationed in Ghana since September 13th, 2010. I began my journey in a small village named Ofaakor 2 hours outside the capitol, Accra. No flushing toilets, No showers, eating the same not so tasty food all the time, but the people are happy. Over time it makes yo realize that there's no point in feeling bad for people when they are happy. There is an exchange of knowledge of how they live and how you live, which could either make you appreciate life more and/or realize that all the petty things in life that we complain about are stupid and irrelevant. I learned more than enough lessons from living in this village for 4 months, including robberies, arguments, lack of work, lack of food and misguided emotions.
I am currently stationed in a town 30 minutes outside of Kumasi named Tanoso. I visited Kumasi about 2 months before I moved here and the people here are much different than in the Accra region. The people are nicer and more understanding of not wanting to be bothered just because you are a foreigner. The School I am currently working at is alot more welcoming and the students arent stubborn and arrogant like the other school. I now have flushing toilets, internet access, showers(still no hot water) and my German friends also work and live here with me. Me and my German friend Stefano are now writing a album together and hes teaching me some guitar so im really enjoying this new place and feel alot more productive. More work gets done when you have less day to day stress on your shoulders and you can actually teach and actually help people.
On a final note, every time I look online and see the petty things that I once complained about and that people at home continue to make big deals out of, I shake my head. Its not your fault, just want to encourage people to get out of the big bubble called America that we were raised in. Theres so much in our society that can keep us busy that we dont look past it but we have to....
Headed to South Africa after this, then my trip across Europe maybe September...we will see :]
Samir S
