Sunday 8 January 2012

It's Time


I know, I know, it’s been forever since I’ve updated this thing! Does anyone even read this? Everything feels a tad strange because I realize I’m coming to the end of my adventure. Can you believe it?! Only 7 weeks left. I’ll turn around twice and it’ll all be over. It’s like seeing the finish line, but not wanting to end the race. 

Truth be told, I’m silly excited to see all my friends and family again. To see how much or how little things have changed. To enjoy consistent and reliable electricity and always knowing that when I turn on the tap, water will come out. To have obnoxiously long, hot showers (although I might feel guilty). And to sit on a spacious and sometimes even air conditioned bus! But with all this said, a part of me will stay in Ghana, just as my experience in Ghana will always remain with me. Tiringly cliché I know – but it’s just so true! 

I wonder how long this fresh perspective will last me? Will I ever make it back to Ghana? I hate questions to which the only viable answer is “time will tell.” But if I’ve learned anything during my time here it’s that time is as much an objective truth as it is a subjective one. No matter how hard we try it just keeps moving us forward to an inevitable end..kinda like this trip. But it’s also a social construct, an understanding, an idea. It’s the reason a simple task that should take 2 hours, takes 2 weeks. It’s an appreciation of the process rather than the end result. It’s knowing that nothing is worth it if it’s rushed. We are all servants of time. And in due time, I’m sure I’ll be back.

Another realization I came to was that I’ve been here for 6 months and I havn't really given you the low down of my work. I’m sorry ooo! I’m the Gender Advocacy Assistant to the Girl Child Officer of the Adentan Municipal Education Directorate. We design programming to support girls through school while working to make school environments more inclusive to female students.
 So far we have: conducted personal hygiene workshops to address cleanliness and sanitation habits with a special focus on how to deal with menstruation. This workshop was important because many girls end up missing school every month when they are menstruating, leaving them at a distinct disadvantage to boys. Equipped with easy, low cost methods of keeping their bodies clean, girls are able to stay in school even during Mother Nature’s little gift.

We also facilitated sexual transmitted diseases workshops as a method to reduce new infections of HIV/AIDS and teenage pregnancy. Girls here are often encouraged to marry young and aren’t given the tools or the confidence to turn down sexual activity or endorse condom use. Often when they become pregnant they are not given another opportunity to finish school. These workshops were done with both male and female students. We gave them the opportunity to ask anonymous questions and some of them were just fascinating! It became clear to us that this type of education is crucial for youth. Many were very curious about condom use and diseases, but I could tell that condoms are still not socially acceptable or even  affordable for many sexually active teens.

After the workshops, we planned a Role Model Conference for over 500 girls. This conference was designed so that girls could see that their hard work in school can and will pay off. We invited prominent, successful and inspiring Ghanaian women as guest speakers as well as University of Ghana students to act as mentors. The conference featured poems, and dramatic performances by the girls as well as an open forum where participants could as the role models any questions.

Then we began our training sessions with teachers who run Girls’ Clubs in schools. These clubs are meant to be a safe place where girls can meet, discuss their challenges both at home and at school and strategize ways to address them. Unfortunately most schools didn’t have functioning Girls’ Clubs and it is hoped that our training sessions will motivate teachers to come up with new activities to run and create avenues of community engagement.  Our second session is scheduled for later this month.

Lastly, we have our first annual Youth Arts Festival. This event is meant to allow students to really delve into social and cultural issues through performance. We also hope to provide skill training in basket-weaving, beads making and painting in order to showcase their works during the show. Any proceeds we receive will go into a Girl Child Education Fund which will help girls in need with school fees, uniforms and stationary. The festival is scheduled for the end of Feberuary and wouldn't be possible without the generous support of Fusion TV in Canada. 

Well, I think that’s about it! I hope you feel a little more up to speed. During my last two months I hope to travel more, finish my last few activities, wrap up my data collection for my research and write a couple more posts pour vous! If I don't get around to all that, well, I'll be seeing you all soon regardless. Be prepared for endless stories about Ghana.

I will not spare you!

 P.S. I tried to upload some pictures for your viewing pleasure - but it's way too freakin' slow and I'm way too impatient =)


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