Three Blind Mice

There’s a new addition to the family! So yes, I’m still in Tumu with my NGO & they just got the cutest puppy from a friend of theirs in Tamale. She’s as playful as anything, is only about 1.5 months old, & has a fur coat of white, tan & gray. Jonas & I gave her a bath when she first got here, but we’ll need to give her another one soon because she gets into everything! My NGO wanted to give her a Sisaala proverb name, so they named her Zi Le Keng Chie (literally translated into “goodness has tomorrow” but figuratively means “goodness of the future”). If it was up to me, I would have named her Shadow because she follows me everywhere & if I’m not careful, I’ll step on her because she tries to gnaw on my shoelaces or the heel strap of my Tevas. She’s adorable anyway so I’ve posted some pictures of her below. My NGO already has a female dog named Ngaa worung na (meaning, “do well & see”) but she is an older dog that doesn’t want to be bothered with the puppy, so she’ll growl & snarl at her. Another reason why I’ve taken a liking to this new dog – to rescue her from Ngaa worung na that could easily tear her to shreds.

            This past week went by really quickly with the Peace Corps here for the Dry Season Gardening IST. It was nice to meet some PCVs from the Northern Region that I hadn’t met before & there was one PCV from the far away Western Region that came as well. He lives on the coast overlooking the Atlantic Ocean. So not fair…let’s not talk about it. Anyway, all of the PCVs & supervisors loved the food that my NGO provided them, especially the baked goodies that I gave them for snack. In the morning, the classroom sessions for the IST were held at TUTCO (Tumu Training College) where Travis, my closest PCV neighbor, teaches ICT (Internet & Computer Technology). In the afternoon, the fieldwork was done in 3 surrounding villages: Pulima, Jawia & Kupulima. The last day of the IST, we constructed a drip irrigation system in Kupulima where David, my next closest PCV neighbor, lives. Fortunately, Kupulima has a dam, so setting up a drip irrigation system was possible. Unfortunately, my village Chinchang doesn’t have a dam, so no drip irrigation system for me – manual labor all the way. Anyway, setting up the system wasn’t easy, but with several PCVs, some of the Danish health workers & help from some of the Kupulima farmers, we finished it all in one day. According to David, the most important things to remember to do with a drip irrigation system are to flush out the system & to check the filter. Word to the wise, do exactly that. Because as soon as we flushed out the system by letting the water run through the pipes & tubing that we just set up, there were clumps of reddish-brown sediment that poured out & then the water stopped flowing entirely. Hmm that’s strange everyone thought…no one turned off the pump. “Let’s check the filter!” exclaimed Jordan (my third closest neighbor located about an hour south of Tumu), acting all happy because he remembered what David had instructed us. He then turned the control valve to stop the water flow, in case it started up again while checking the filter, when everyone heard the loudest CRUNCH. Well, I don’t really know how many mice were in the tubes or if they truly were blind, but I do know that they were dumb enough to crawl through our drip irrigation system because all of them died that day. Pictures shown below - just in case anyone was interested. In the end, we finished flushing out the system, including the mice guts, & we were finally able to watch water dripping out of the holes in the tubing. Then we planted some cucumber seeds & snap peas. Not too bad for a day’s work.

            As for a sports update, CONGRATS GIANTS! And congrats to my dad & brother for winning the Super Bowl pool final score box = ) I wish I was there to celebrate with all of you (family & family friends) back home at the Super Bowl party, but I’m sure everyone had plentyyy of fun without me haha especially my cousin Nick that I’m sure was jumping up & down screaming his head off once the Giants won. Miss all of you & hope you ate some hot wings for me. And for other football news, I’ve also been watching Ghana play football (or our American soccer) in all of its matches in the African Cup of Nations on the TV in my NGO’s guesthouse. Their most recent game was playing against Tunisia in the quarterfinals & Ghana won 2-1, but their final goal was in OT & they were really lucky that they even got it. “It’s not easy oh!” all of the Ghanaians will say - & don’t forget the “oh” or you won’t be talking like a true Ghanaian. Ghana took a shot on goal & the Tunisian goalie deflected the ball rather than holding it, so a Ghanaian forward was there to easily tap it in. Luck, pure luck. Ghana has some good players, but as a team, they aren’t cohesive. I just hope that Ghana won’t get creamed by Zambia on Wednesday.

            Oh, & I’m sick again. I think it’s a combination of heat exhaustion, eating unfamiliar Ghanaian food & overworking myself – but my NGO says it’s malaria. Then again, as soon as someone is sick in Ghana, the locals always say it’s malaria. Chissà? (in Italiano: “Who knows?”) But it gave Jonas (because he got sick the same exact time that I did..as well as half our guesthouse staff. weird.) & I an excuse to hang around & watch movies. One of the movies that we watched was 127 Hours & although that was the third or fourth time I watched it, it still reminds me of how important it is to cherish the people I care about in life. I mean, you never know what can suddenly happen to you, your family, friends, acquaintances, that really nice person that you just met on the subway - okay, well maybe not that person, they were probably a creeper – but really, the list is endless. So don’t end on a bad note with people & no matter how independent you might want to be, keep in touch with those that you care about. Whether it’s a relationship among family members, between a husband & wife, boyfriend & girlfriend, you & Joe Shmo down the street…keeping relationships are hard – they’re not meant to be easy. People always make the excuse, “I don’t have the time,” but then make the time. I thought that I would have so much down time here in Ghana, but since I’ve been living with my work, I’ve been working nonstop & see where that got me? Sick in bed. So make the time to call that person you didn’t call back yet, tell the ones you love that you love them, write to your friend who now lives on a different continent because it will make her the happiest girl around (just a little plug on my part haha), etc. It’s not too late to change your ways.

Love from miles away,

Rachel

Zi le keng chie & I.

The cutest puppy in town.

A few years ago, a VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) volunteer had built a playground in Tumu, but when he left, the playground shut down. Until I walked passed the entrance did I see that some kids had broken the door open & were playing inside.

Gorgeous dam in Kupulima, David's village, where our Dry Season Gardening IST took place.    

One of the gardens in Kupulima. This is what happens if you have good fencing, a dam, mini reservoirs, & a hose to easily water your plants. 

Setting up the drip irrigation system in Kupulima.

Oh hey, that’s me punching holes into the tubing to connect the drip lines to the main line.   

A control valve, missing filter, & mice guts. Nice.   

Success! Watching the water drip down from the drip lines after the system was flushed out & officially turned on.