My Ghana Vacation

I think one of my most favorite vacations I’ve taken was to Ghana. It was filled with private, palm tree lined beaches, old trading forts and slave castles, and amazing food! Although Ghana is only next door to Burkina, the difference is immediately recognizable once you cross the border.



Our first stop was Butre, Ghana, where we stayed at a hotel called ‘The Hideout’, which earned its name. It is the only hotel on the cove of Butre, and houses no more than 30 people. We were the only people there for the first few days. In order to get to the hotel, you have to walk through the nearby fishing village, and then cross a rickety wooden bridge.



Each morning, I would get up early, watch the sun rise, and then head into the local village. I think this would be a rude awakening for most Americans. You are at a vacation resort on beautiful beaches, then cross the bridge into the village where you can see true poverty. I enjoyed it through. I would eat breakfast in the village each morning, and got to meet some nice people and see some interesting things. My favorite part was going in the morning to the beaches when the fishing boats arrive. All the women from the village come to the beach and haggle for fish. There are hundreds of fish; from small, minnow-sized fish to humungous ones (I even saw one dolphin!).



Looking down on Butre is Fort Batenstein, which was built in the 1600’s by the Dutch West Indian Trading Company. The locals are quick to say that this was never a slave fort because Butre didn’t support slavery, but it was used a base for the company. It housed the company’s workers and they stored their supplies there.
A 30 minute hike through the forest leads you to Busua, which is a bigger, and more touristy town. There were several hotels here, gift shops, and a lot of restaurant options. It was fun to see, but I would prefer Butre to Busua anyday.



Busua is known for their huge waves and attracts surfers from around the world. It was actually used to shoot many surfing movies. At about 5pm everyday, you would see all the surfers from the town (locals and tourists alike) head into the ocean in masses with their surfboards. I saw a few people get eaten alive by the waves, but was I was also impressed when watching some of the most experience surfers. It was truly like watching a surf scene out of a movie.

Busua was a town full of interesting people from around the world. There were so many people there who were backpacking across Africa, then ended up loving Busua so much that they just stayed there. There were a few who were there for a few weeks, and one Irishman who was turned a 3 day vacation into a 6 month vacation.

About a 15 minute walk from Busua is Dixcove. This is a pretty big fishing town, but definitely not a tourist spot due to the rock beaches and overall uncleanliness of the town and beaches. Dixcove is the home of a huge, white, abandoned fort, which was the most attacked fort in Ghana during the colonial times. I tried to go up and explore it a little bit, but was only harassed by kids asking for money.



Overall, this was a great vacation, and an excellent break from the landlocked Burkina. I am planning on going back to Ghana, and exploring even more.

The Spelling Bee

For the last few months, most of my time and energy has gone towards planning a region-wide English Spelling Bee. The Spelling Bee took place this past weekend, and I’m happy to say that it went off smoothly with no big problems.

There were fourteen participating schools, which gave a total of 41 students who participated. Each school ran a preliminary Spelling Bee to determine the best three students. Then, the students would study privately with their volunteer for about a month to learn the words, and the rules of a Spelling Bee, an idea foreign to them.

On Friday, all of the students arrived with their volunteers in Orodara. The students all stayed at a center here which was loaned to us at no cost. On Friday, we started the Spelling Bee with some ice breakers, games and an introduction (which of course included rules, like no boys in the girls’ room). After, we ran a practice Spelling Bee. This gave not only the students, but also the judges (two Burkinabe English teachers) the opportunity to see what exactly would happen the next day. It gave me the chance to iron out some unforeseen problems.

This day, naturally, didn’t pass without a few hiccups. The first and biggest problem was caused by a simple text message. On Friday morning, we (all the volunteers) received a text that our closest city was temporarily off limits due to some violent events that occurred the previous day. This is not the first, nor the last time, that we will receive something like this, so it usually isn’t a big thing. Well, that day it was a big thing because half of the students and volunteers participating had to travel through that city to get here. After a lot of stressful phone calls and panicked volunteers, we got everyone here safely.

The day only got better once all of the students arrived. It started off with a minor flood because some of the students had never seen a water spicket before, and therefore had no clue how to use it. I got panicked yells from some of the students, “Mrs. Sara! Help me! The water won’t stop!” The kids were trying desperately to catch the shooting water in buckets before I got there to turn off the knob. Another interesting incident occurred when a kid pooped in the shower. I see a group of boys running up to me, “Someone pooped in the shower!!!” As much as I tried, I couldn’t stop myself from laughing at this one. Thankfully, this was at the time when the chaperones were changing so I was no longer in charge. I sent the kids over to the new chaperone to deal with that problem.

Finally, the day I had been planning for had arrived… at 6am. Of course, this day wouldn’t start without some type of emergency as well. The woman who was supposed to be preparing breakfast for the kids never showed up. Thankfully, someone knew where she lived at and was able to get her.

Shortly after, the ‘important people’ who were invited to the event started showing up. This included our Peace Corps Director, the top Commissioner from my region, the mayor, the police commander, and several important education officials. Although we invited all these people, I doubted that any of them would want to come to this small event. They were only supposed to watch the opening remarks and the first round, but most stayed the entire day! They thought the Spelling Bee was so interesting and chose to stay there and watch it all.



The rest of the day could not have gone better. I was worried that the rounds would go too fast because the kids didn’t know any of the words, or that some kid would memorize all the words and it would be too boring for the audience. But, it was perfect. Each round, about 5 kids were eliminated, and we had a small break before starting the next round. We eliminated 32 kids in the morning, and stopped at noon to eat and rest before starting the afternoon rounds. The final rounds were very interesting because all the kids left were really good, and everyone in the audience was pulling for someone. Everyone was engaged and eager to see their kid win. Because I was a judge, I was trying my best to remain fair, but I really, really wanted my kids to win!



After a heated back and forth between the last two (neither of which were mine unfortunately), we finally had our winner. The kid was extremely excited about winning. The first prize was a bicycle, and various school supplies, which were presented by the top commissioner. The second prize was a new school bag and school supplies, and the third prize was the school supplies. Afterwards, the winners were all interviewed and photographed by a journalist. I think this part was more excited for them than actually winning.



After the Spelling Bee, everyone was so happy with how well organized it went. All the volunteers had a great time, and the important people thought it was a great idea. A few talked to me about continuing it next year!



That night, we organized a small ceremony to celebrate all of the kids who participated. We wanted to congratulate everyone, and not just the three who won. Each kid received a French/English dictionary as well as a participation award. During the competition, some of the students who were disqualified were really upset, and some cried, so the celebration was a great surprise to them. The dictionaries cheered them all up, and they were really excited about showing off their dictionaries to their schoolmates at home. After the dinner, we all danced to a mix of Burkinabe and American music. I’m sure the students thought we were crazy when they saw us all dancing around like idiots, but they all had a great time.



All in all, the Spelling Bee went off without a hitch (… mostly), and I’m so glad that I did this. Although, I’m also glad that it’s all over and now I’m heading off to the beach for a nice little vacation.

Transportation in Burkina is Really Fun…

Have you ever been in a taxi or a bus with no break pads, one that has run out of gas in the middle of the road, one that has broken down on the side of the road for 13 hours, or one that has left 6 hours late for no apparent reason? All of these things have happened to me here at least once, and some on multiple occasions.

I have two methods of transport: my bicycle and public transport. My bike I use on a daily basis to do everything in close proximity, which includes rolling (literally) up to school to teach while I’m hot, sweaty, covered in dirt, and don’t forget my helmet. Although this is a pain, and I’ve had my share, or more than my share, of bicycle accidents, this is the preferable method when possible because the other option is public transport.

Public transport… how do I even start to describe it? When you step into the bus station, which is literally an empty, dusty, dirty lot with a latrine if I’m lucky, you have no idea what lies ahead of you. I have been on plenty of trips that went off without a problem, and I have been on a lot of trips that make me never want to leave my house again.



Public transport comes in two types: somewhat reliable buses, or bush taxis. Now, I’ve had my share of ‘fun experiences’ in the reliable buses, including have the door fly off on the highway, the tire fall off, and having a baby poop in a cup next to me. Once, after a much anticipated departure, the bus pulled out into the road, then immediately broke down horizontally across the road blocking the entire thing.

But the real fun starts with the bush taxis. They cars they used change on a daily basis, so it’s all luck of the draw what car you get. Sometimes you get a ‘good’ one with real seats and all the windows. Sometimes you get the bad ones where you sit on crates, and there are holes big enough in the ground that a baby could fall through. One of my favorite times was sitting behind the driver, who had no seat (see picture below). He was sitting on the metal part that one would normally hook a seat on. Then, as we prepare to take off, he starts the car by hot wiring it. Almost every bush taxi I’ve ever been in has to be pushed by a few people to get it started.





No matter what type of transport you get, two things will always be the same. One… they will always pack in at least double the amount of people than the car should normally hold. And two… they will pack any luggage, no matter of the size. This includes any amount of motorcycles and bicycles, any living animal you can imagine, or even a car (which I actually saw once). Often times, the crap piled on top of the car is at least 2-3 times higher than the height of the actual car. Thank god the cars are so crappy that they can’t go very fast.





After living here for a year and a half, almost nothing surprises me about transportation anymore. But, I must admit that funniest part of all this is imagine my parents doing transport here. They are planning on visiting here, and I can’t wait to put them on public transportation. The thought of them cramming into a car like cattle, or holding some woman’s baby who’s peeing on you, or having a chicken flapping around at their feet… priceless.

Fishing & Hiking

A few weeks ago, I took a nice trip away from my busy city life into “the brousse” (AKA the middle of no where) to visit another volunteer’s site. Despite its close proximity to me, it took a whopping 11 hours to cover the 90 kilometer distance. The road is bad… to put it nicely. But on the other side of the 11 hour trip was the gorgeous Burkina landscape.

Most of the weekend was spent relaxing and taking in the beautiful scenery. With a backdrop like something out of ‘The Lion King’ how could you not enjoy it? The two highlights of the trip included me fishing and a trip out to one of Burkina’s lesser known tourist attractions.

I have to say, if I was a Burkinabe man, I would choose fishing as my occupation. The one hour I spent out on the lake collecting the fish was a most serene and peaceful experience. I’m saying this because I wasn’t the one who had to spend the energy paddling me across the lake and scooping buckets of water out of the boat. I’m sure his job was less relaxing than mine.



The fishing experience started with the fisherman taking me to his boat, which looked like something a boy scout would’ve made, and was half drowning before I even got in it. Anyway, then we headed out into the middle of the lake where he set up large nets spanning the distance of the lake. We (and by we, I mean he) would pull the boat by the net, and at the same time, lifting the nets out of the water to see if any fish were caught in them. There were four nets, which were set up in a square around the lake. In only an hour’s time, we caught 6 pretty big fish! Then, afterwards, the fisherman, thanking me for all of my ‘help’ gave me 4 of the fish for free! Needless to say, after de-scaling them and gutting them, they were delicious!





The next day after fishing, we biked out to a small village at the base of cliffs. In the 60’s in these cliffs, the people used to live in small mud huts, some of which are still there today.



This is a picture of the inside of the king’s house. There are two “rooms”, which housed a total of 8 people!