Thursday: Hockey Practice…with promise to play this weekend
So after a delightful hockey practice the day before, I showed up with excitement just glad I get to play around with the ball and stick…I think the correct term would be “field hockey withdrawal”…ya I might be slightly addicted.
We ended up scrimmaging and this time around the boys showed NO mercy to me. The instant I received the ball they were on me like peanut butter on jelly.
After the practice the coach approached me and said he wanted me to play in a match with the NATIONAL HOCKEY TEAM OF GHANA…omgosh THIS IS CRAZY…my first thought was… IS HE CRAZY…I AIN’T THAT GOOD…but apparently the national team is not spectular. So the rest of the night I was hopping around with great excitement. ☺
After that wonderful event I went to one of my friends houses…this man has lived in Ghana for four years and works with a security company. He is Israeli and is VERY FUNNY. He has as much excitement and passion as I do…an odd thing to see now in days…hehehehe ☺ But we ate and relaxed all night his is SUPER HUGE HOUSE…which was a bit creepy to be in.
Friday Mawuvio’s FOOTBALL GAME
It has become a standing tradition for me to play on the white jersey team every Friday at MOP. The older boys (14-15 year-olds) are VERY COMPETITIVE! They treat this event like the world cup…EVERY DANG FRIDAY. I love their undying enthusaisism and passion for wanting to play well and have fun. It is refreshing to see how young a 15 year old can act.
This actually makes me a bit nervous about going back to the States. This summer I am working with 14-16 year olds…and the way they act in the US is COMPLETELY DIFFERENT to here in Ghana.
But…back to MOP…I have seemed to have acquired a crush. One of the boys, Ben, who started at this school when it first started three years ago has an UBBER CRUSH on me. I find it very endearing and cute….ohh junior high and high school.
MOP has become my sanctuary…when I am having a bad day I know if I go to the school the kids will change my mood quiet dramatically. These kids have a passion for learning…that if it could be bottled up and sold to kids around the world…it would help with SO MANY PROBLEMS. I love their undying love…I want to take ALL OF THEM HOME WITH ME!
After this fruitful day at MOP I went to Max Mart and devoured a plate of hummus, pita, and veggies. Oh the glory of eating healthy here once in a blue moon.
Saturday
Women’s National Team and U-21 Team
I woke up very early this morning to go play some hockey. I met one of the boys on the University team so he could take me to the National Hockey Stadium. We hopped onto a tro-tro and got to Accra (tema station). I HAD NO CLUE WHERE THIS HOCKEY FIELD COULD BE…but it is indeed RIGHT NEXT TO TEMA STATION. We walked around a bit of the perimeter and then crossed a gate with HUGE GUARDS WITH GUNS ON THEM…no big deal…I am just an obruni attempting to go play hockey with the NATIONAL TEAM.
We were actually late so I miss playing in the first half, but the coach put me in right away. The girls were very hesitant to pass to me…I don’t blame them…they had NO CLUE WHAT SKILL I DID OR DID NOT HAVE. By the time they felt comfortable with me playing…the game was over. It was really neat to see that my skill level honestly matched up to theirs. The girls warmed up to me once I told them my Ghanaian name “Ama” because they realized I was not here to take their places, but rather just enjoy the sport they love as well.
Since I missed an entire half the University of Ghana coach, which was of course watching the entire game to see how I would do (kinda weird I felt like he was my coach away from home…sorry Ellie…I had no clue what was happening), they asked me to play for a club men’s team. I really did not have time to stay because I needed to meet up with Katie and Avery at 10am to go to the Orphanage…but they literally would NOT LET ME LEAVE. They said it was bad luck for me to cross the field until after this game. oHHH BOY…NOW THAT IS SOME CULTURAL CONFUSION!
So I brushed it off an ended up playing the ENTIRE GAME…because in the first half I scored a goal. The two men’s team had many national players that were amazing!!!! I did feel a bit out of their skill level, but what I did have is knowledge of where to go to be open at different types…which they used a lot. Because I scored a goal the goalie on the opposing team told me, “Ama (my Ghanaian name) I will KILL YOU, I WILL KILL YOU AMA.” And I responded “Dabie, dabie, dabie, dabie”, which is no no no no in Twi. Later though, he lightened up and he said he would let me score a goal if I kissed him…ummm YA RIGHT. Hahahahahahaha
After the match finished everyone adored me…because I was the obruni that managed to score a goal in a men’s game…but I could not stick around…I had to bolt back to go to the Orphanage…sorry Avery and Katie for being so late.
I LITERALLY RAN TO TEMA STATION AND THEN ALL THE WAY UP TO ISH (the hostel I am staying at). I threw on some clothes and was out the door with Avery and Katie in minutes.
Journey to Koforidua
Katie, Avery, and I went to Medina bus station and caught an air-conditioned tro-tro to Koforidua. It was odd to be in A/C…it always is in Ghana. I find myself feeling really sick if I am in it too long.
Bead Market
Once we are in Koforidua (which is a two hour tro-tro ride from Accra) we search the market for directions to the bead market. We end up taking a taxi there…and the bead market only has three stands actually open for business…there are probably 50 stands ready for the chaos of Thursdays (which is the actual bead market day)…we plan on coming back. After we looked through the beads one of the teachers from the Orphanage met us at the bead market and we took a taxi back to the main market in Koforidua. Koforidua is about a fifth of the size of Accra so it was nice to see a city that was not HUGE.
Journey to Baptist School Complex and Orphanage (BASCO)
We hopped on a tro-tro to the junction where the BASCO was at. It was a 45 minute tro-tro ride with BEAUTIFUL scenery. It was a reminder that we are in a rural area…in Africa…in the tropical forest. From the junction we got a taxi to the actual Orphanage.
I honestly do not know how to articulate the orphanage and all that I witnessed. There was so much that went on that I cannot formulate the right words that will do the experience justice…but I will try.
We enter the complex which had about 10 cement buildings…this is VERY COMMON in Ghana. Every building is made from cement because there is no need for insulation…it is TOO HOT…and the cement will last MANY, MANY YEARS. This school/orphanage was in the middle of the forest with beautiful foliage surrounding it. Every time I looked up I felt like I was in a dream.
We received a tour, which included seeing what they building represented. The building consisted of a house for the boys and a house for the girls, classrooms for kindergarten up to high school, a kitchen, and a main gather room where meals were eaten and church was practiced. The rest of the area was just dirt…with one area having bricks for a soccer field (which was currently being used by the high school boys).
After we were shown the volunteer head quarters…which was being occupied by us and two German volunteers who have been here for over 6 months…they are volunteering an entire year here. They both finished high school last year and wanted to give back. The male German is a math teacher and the female German is the nurse and teaches some creative arts classes. It was refreshing to meet these volunteers and just talk about Ghana and compare our experiences. They seemed to enjoy seeing some obruni faces just as much as we did.
We then meandered over to the dirt soccer field and watched the boys play. I stepped in for a bit to play…but was too exhausted from hockey early that day to play for too long. The Orphanage/School seemed to be occupied by many older boys and girls. I was honestly expecting an Annie/Africa cliché but what I got was an entirely different perspective. While watching the game Katie, Avery, and I got eaten alive by these odd bugs. They left a red mark on our skin…but oddly enough they did not itch (except for Katie’s which got swollen the next couple of days…poor Katie ☹). It made me realize that I am in an entirely new environment…it may be still Ghana…but there are new bugs that can take prey on us.
Slowly some of the kids arrived and started talking and playing around with us. Many of them asked how many years we are going to be here…hahaha funny thing is…ya we are only here for a night. They didn’t really understand that response.
There was one girl I fell in love with instantly. Her name was Anita and she just had something about her that stood out. She was 5 years old and just seemed so fascinated with what was going on around her at all times. I wanted to snatch her up and show her the world.
Okay, so BASCO is a boarding and day school where Orphanages and street kids come too. There are other kids where their families pay fees for them to come and other kids in the neighboring areas that come for the daytime. There are over 200 students with about 100 that board. Out of that 100 there are 50 kids that are Orphans. So the dynamic is really interesting with a mix of classes and past experiences in their lives. The school fundraises so that each child after they finish school and then teach at BASCO will go to university one day. This gives all the students motivation to complete and try really hard.
Their English was not as good as Mawuvio’s kids, but I did not understand why that was considering some of them have been to this school for many years.
Dinner and entertainment
After chatting with the kids we were served dinner of rice and veggie stew. It was very tasty. After the meal we played games and chatted with the older girls…which was fun because they were not present at the soccer game. These kids…in the rural area of Ghana give me the passion to teach. I only wish I could teach all of them in this world.
Night FREEZING
We fell asleep REALLY FAST! It was FREEZING OUT THAT NIGHT THOUGH… We were in the middle of the forest…which I guess gets cold at night…what an odd thing to happen, but very refreshing to be cold for once. ☺
To be continued...
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