The Last Saturday: Friends
Ugh, Saturday morning I woke up definitely sick.
Mishellen came over to do my laundry, as she does every Saturday (I will miss her, but then again, in Canada, I will have a washing machine), and I just slept. A little while later Mabel (Mishellen’s sister) and Mark (their neighbor) showed up. I let them in, but still slept. And then my friend Zion arrived to visit (from Wa) for the day.
Four visitors, but I did not feel anywhere near alive.
I continued to lie on my bed coughing and half sleeping while M3 (Mabel, Mishellen and Mark) played with my computer, camera and iphone and Zion read. I realized that they were all intent on spending the day with me, so I dragged myself out of bed, showered and resolved to make it through the day.
We headed into town on a mission: to take pictures of Lawra and to buy a few things I needed to gather for my family. The pictures morphed into a video, with continual narration by M3. The commentary was hysterical. We stopped in a couple of the shops I frequent, and the shop owners humored them by doing what they requested and let them run through their stores videoing and conducting interviews. I couldn’t stop laughing.
I successfully completed my shopping, and we ended our trip by picking up food for lunch. (Side note: There were pineapples in Lawra on Saturday!).
The kids eventually went home.
For dinner I went to the Lawra Chief’s palace, where Ruth (Zion’s aunt) prepared TZ for us. I don’t have the same strong feelings against TZ as some of my fellow volunteers do (not naming any names, you know who you are), but I can’t say that I’ll miss it. Ruth was happy that she was the one to prepare my last TZ (for now), and was very adamant that she will have the opportunity to do so again in the future. I’ve enjoyed being a welcome and fairly regular guest in the palace (meaning, I think I’ve been there twice), and will miss the friends I’ve made there.
After dinner the plan was to go for one last round of minerals, but for some unknown reason, all the bars in Lawra were closed. Lawra is known as one of the “night spots” of the region, so this was strange for 8pm on a Saturday night. Alas!
Feeling tired and sick, but very happy, I crawled into bed. As Mabel said: “This was the best day ever”.
The Last Sunday: Packing and Gifting
My last Sunday was a lazy day. I pretty much just gave everything I had away to Mabel and Mishellen. They were soooooo excited to have a basket full of new clothes. What girl wouldn’t be?
Alison (the VSO volunteer from Toronto) came over as well. I love her and am sad there wasn’t more overlap in our placement. She is absolutely amazing and I wish her all the best in the remainder of her time in Lawra.
The Last Monday: Cough, Cough & Goodbye MoFA
I woke up still feeling super sick. Did I even sleep? I’m not sure. I looked at the clock and decided to not bother getting up. Eventually I mustered the strength to go to town and buy antibiotics. Must kill the bugs! I then went to work, so I could officially say goodbye.
I had a good discussion with the Director to transition out EWB from the Lawra District, and then at the end of the day, received my official goodbyes and thank you gift from MoFA. By this point I had no voice, which I was fortunate because if I had to say some something I probably would have cried.
On the way home from work I ran into a group of girls from Lawra Secondary School. They decided they wanted to taunt me with the ‘Nasa Po’ (white lady song). I agreed, on the condition that I could film them. Teenage girls in front of a video camera are no different in Ghana than they are in Canada. Full of cheese and hysterics.
My girls (Mabel and Mishellen) came over one last time and walked around my apartment and picked up everything that I hadn’t yet packed and asked if they could have it. In the end, they went home with yet another bag of goodies.
The Last Tuesday: A GOOD day in Wa
Monday evening Anna, a VSO Volunteer, called me to say she was driving to Wa Tuesday morning, would I want a ride? Um, yeah! Private lorry. Most definitely. So after a few more teary goodbyes in Lawra, I had a dust-free, AC-ed trip into Wa, direct to Kunateh Lodge. Because I was arrived in the morning, before everyone checked out, there was only one room left for me. I don’t normally spend the extra GHC5 to get a self-contained room (toilet in room, instead of communal washrooms), but I had no option, and hey, it’s my last night in Wa, let's have a little bit of luxury. (It turned out to be a good thing as I spent most of the night, quite literally, coughing my insides out).
After I deposited my many things in the room I headed out for one last stroll around Wa.
Beans and plantains for breakfast? Why not?
Next on the agenda was Trends Internet Cafe to visit Hamida. Hamida has to be one of happiest people I have ever known. When I arrived at the cafe she informed me there was no internet service. I said it didn’t matter, I was coming to see her. She was more than delighted, and we just hung out. I then gifted one of my USB keys to her, my nicest one too. She loved it. While I was there a new VSO volunteer came in. He was doing a very short placement at the Regional MoFA office, but had no background knowledge about MoFA. I was able to spend an hour with him and shared all I knew, and many of our basic EWB resources with him. It was nice to be able to sit and share the little that I had learned about how to effectively (?) operate as an outsider in MoFA. I felt that this was a nice way to (unofficially) end my placement.
Feeling a little sleepy and in need of some rest, I started to head back to the Lodge. Jody called to let me know about my bus logistics for the day. As I was talking to Jody I sat on a bench in some shade. I group of little girls, probably kindergarten age, passed by. They stopped and watched me for a little bit, then spontaneously started climbing on me and giving me hugs. Actually, they couldn’t stop giving me hugs. I let them. I acknowledged the fact that I didn’t really have anywhere to go, and in Canada, I’m pretty sure I won’t have four little kindergarten girls showering love on my. I decided to enjoy this moment. We took pictures and laughed together. As I eventually tried to leave, they wouldn’t let me. The all wanted more hugs. I gave them. I picked them up and gave them hugs. Then one girl started to climb me like a tree; I nicknamed her Monkey Girl. Then the girls started arguing about which one of them should really be the Monkey Girl. I should note that I was totally amazed by their English, it was far better than most adults I had met in Wa. As I started heading down the street, they came with me, holding my hands and legs. Apparently their homes were in the same direction I was headed … we got to one side street and I was told I was coming with them to see their houses and meet their mothers. Why not? I went. We got to the one house, and I was hesitant to come into the compound. A neighbor saw my hesitation and came over to greet me and told me to go on in and meet their mother. And so in I went. The girl got her mother and they all started talking to her at once. I was slightly bewildered, but smiling. I greeted their mother, and then a younger sister came and also wanted a snap (her photo taken). Her mother told me it was ok. I said goodbye again to the girls, and as they started to follow me, their mother thankfully told them to stay.
I went back to the hotel, had a shower and a nap. I realized it was starting to get dark out, and remember the last time I was in Wa after dark (and got terribly lost!) and decided to head out for some dinner. By the time I reached the vendor I wanted to go to, it was pretty much dark. I successfully made it back to my hotel, and settled down in front of the tv with my dinner. While I’ve stayed in this place before, I never really bothered to watch TV / had a room with decent reception. It was really strange to see Christmas commercials on TV. TIGO’s Santa wore a blue suit (TIGO’s color).
The next morning I headed to the bus station with all my luggage; too much luggage. Jody had pre-booked the ticket for me from Bole, and so there was a little confusion about why I didn’t have a physical ticket. Eventually, they figured everything out and the white lady’s luggage was accepted on the bus. And so I left Wa.
For additional photos of my last days in the Upper West see: Upper West Photos!
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