I have now been in Ghana over a month. This past weekend I was in Wa again. This time, however, I was alone. One lone nansala (white person) wondering around the city. I was trying to find a particular store and turned down one street. After walking for a few minutes I realized that I was on the wrong street. It was hot. Really, really hot. I didn’t want to backtrack, so I turned down a side street. I figured that since the street I was on, and the street I wanted to be on ran at 30 degrees from each other, this perpendicular street would eventually take me to where I wanted to be. This side street ended up not being a direct route, but rather a winding path through a residential area. However, I kept going, following two women who looked like they were headed to market (when in doubt in Africa, follow women who look like they’re going to market, you’ll usually end up where you want to be). After a couple of minutes I smiled to myself, realizing how 4 weeks ago I was uncomfortable walking down the main street in Tamale, with friends, and now I had the confidence to follow two women through an unknown residential area to where I wanted to go. (Note: mid afternoon, broad daylight, busy area, lots of mosques, it was safe, don’t worry parents/grandparents).
I find myself often thinking about how I will change from my time as a JF. And to be honest, I don’t know what I will take away from my time in Africa. I often feel like because I am not swept away by same passionate idealism, “got to save the world” attitude, that seems to consume many JFs that have come before me, that maybe I don’t quite fit this program. However, I chose to be here, because I do want to help build skill and expand perspectives of others within the global community. And, as one of my JF colleagues pointed out, they chose me over other applicants. In my own way, yes I fit.
As the expression goes, “you are the sum of your experiences”, and therefore, I am just going to assume that being in Ghana is helping to shape me the way that I need to be shaped, to do what I need to do later in life.
Before I came to overseas I spent the last year consulting for big oil. I learned about the industry, the challenges of managing field operations, the intricacies of corporate communications and more about SAP than I ever wanted to know. During my first week in Ghana I was overwhelmed by the changes in my physical surroundings. I’ve barely even camped in my life, and here I was living without electricity, water or toilet and surrounded by more bugs and animals than I was comfortable with. Nearly in tears while trying to come up with a good excuse to jump on the next plane to Canada, I had the I suddenly had the thought: “What would the [super-field] boys do?” I don’t know where this thought came from, but I knew what they would do. They would be ok; more than ok. And somehow, because I knew this, I knew that I too could be ok. When I left this job, I thought I knew what I was taking away. What I didn’t realize was that I was taking away the confidence and encouragement I needed to make it through my first couple of weeks in Africa.
Earlier this week while biking down a side road to visit my first home here, I realized how much the road had changed since I had last passed down it a few weeks ago. The millet was now 10 feet tall, the path was slightly different, the trees were greener. This led me to think about how I had changed in the short time I’ve been here. First off, I once thought those millet plants were maize, and now I can confidently type them as millet. But are also inward, and perhaps more important, examples of this change. I see myself becoming more accepting and adopting of the openness of Ghanaian culture; I greet more and more people I pass on the streets each day. I have a deeper gratitude for everything I have back in Canada, a greater appreciation for all the education that I have received and a deeper desire to do something with it.
A friend of mine who spent 18 months living in Africa shared the following:
“ … all the things that we just got used to that we thought we never could and then we came home and it was SO weird to be home. Way weirder than going. Weirder because you think that when you come home, you are going to be fine and then you aren’t. You are different from being somewhere else … in a way you don’t realize.”
It is likely then that the things I think I am learning right now are not going to be the ones that have the greatest impact on me in 3 months when I return to Canada, or in 3 or even 30 years. Thus, instead of worrying about how I am growing, and what I can take away from this experience, I think that should just enjoy my experience, be here and live these next three months the best I can. And then, when I draw upon my collective experiences to make a decision or face a particular challenge, I can perhaps recognize some of the lessons learned and character that was built in Ghana.
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