I Have a Job to Do

Maadwo me adamfo! Good evening my friends!

Guaman, Volta is a town of 2500 people, on the Togolese border. Their population will soon balloon to an astounding 2501 when I move there.

In mid-August, I will be moving to this small farming village in eastern Ghana to aid them in overcoming many of the environmental problems they are facing. Guaman is suffering from many of the crises endemic to Africa: de-forestation, erosion, water contamination, monoculture, etc. I will primarily work with the Wofabeng Agro Forestry and Environmental Development Group. My projects will be varied and plentiful. They range from re-forestation to water development, composting to teaching, water sanitation to staring a nursery. There will be no shortage of work to do for this obroni.

Anyone who knows me knows that this is an absolute dream job for me.

I will not be living with water or electricity, but I will be close enough to a town that has such amenities, that updating this blog periodically should not be difficult. I will be living with a hammock. This is important.

I will be speaking Twi, a tonal language widely spoken in Ghana. The first few days of language training have been difficult, but I am progressing very rapidly thanks to a wonderful group of language trainers, and a very supportive and patient host family.

For now, though, my job remains largely centered on taking trips to Ghana's forests and parks, learning Twi with my best friends I have ever had, eating delicious fufu, and occasionally cheering for Ghana's Black Stars in the World Cup over a cool bottle of Star lager. Not too rough, if you ask me. Not too rough.

Mepε Ghana papaapa na mepε te Peace Corpsni paa! Mewo εkyε a εyε fε!
I love Ghana very much and I love being a Peace Corps Volunteer! I also have a very nice hat! (those of you that know me, know that this has been a very important phrase for me to learn).

Much love, and give peace a chance.