His (and hers?) latrines

"Life is good. i love Jirapa... here is a little bit why... but i have so much to tell you! baobab trees, mountains of ripe mangoes, good neighbors.... later.

When a past Jirapa volunteer explained to the former US Ambassador to Ghana where she had been living, the Ambassador exclaimed, "Oh, isn't that just the beginning of nowhere." For me, however, it is my Peace Corps heaven, especially coming from my last assignment. Every morning at dawn I run through grassland and African savannah while following footpaths that connect mud hut to boreholes to fields…. It's beautiful. Although I am surrounded by the bush, Jirapa is definitely a town, a town pushing for development. They now have cell phone service, a small internet café, and good (by Ghana standards) public transportation to Wa [the regional capital] – these are things that did not exist for the last volunteer only one year ago. I feel a little bit like a Peace Corps princess having a ceiling fan in my house. I was totally prepared to live in a mud hut and essentially camp for 2 years, but having a fan means I can now sleep uninterrupted when it's over 100 degrees in my house. Any signs of a strip mall being constructed and I'm out of here. This may not have been exactly what I had in mind but the potential for change is so great. My primary job is to work with the District Assembly ( the local government incharge of applying for and distributing funds through out the district) today I met with the HIV/AIDS focal person and we'll be working together to select and work with community based organizations who are applying for funding for their HIV/AIDS prevention projects. (this is only one of the many focal people I'll be working with--- others include education, gender and youth development, small enterprise development, malaria prevention, nutrition,.. the list goes on).

Although my time in Mpaha was a little rough, I love coming here with that perspective. It completely changes the way I see Jirapa… being able to talk to my neighbours about how blessed they are for the quality of life they have because they have electricity, easier access to water and jobs instead of coming straight from my expensive private liberal arts school is really nice..... having that experience lessons my celebrity status that i had before. AND i have lived in a village, this is something many of the people working in the district assembly have not done, yet they are responsible for helping improve and maintain the quality of life for the surrounding villages. although jirapa is mostly christian.... i went to a fun church last sunday with great singing and dancing and a pastor who advocates for women's empowerment!.... the surrounding areas are muslim. so, the people building latrines might not think about building 2 latrines for everyhouse so both men and women can use them."

well i am out of time

hope all is welll

jenell

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