It rained today. Thats a big deal here, because the rains have been sporadic this year, and the crops depend on the rains, which usually last from June to September. The yields will be low. But right now the land is green and after the rains the children are happy and people celebrate. The storms over the savannah come fast and fierce with incredible lightning and thunder that shakes the houses. Its great.

A couple of days ago, as a storm passed us just a bit too far north. The lightning was terrific, and as I was coming out of my house to watch it, a sparrowhawk flew out from a tree and smacked into the wall. They hunt the bats that hunt the insects around the eaves of my house, but this one must have missed. It lay twitching about twenty yards away as I tried to process what had happened. It was upon closer inspection, with a West African Birds reference book in hand, that I identified the limp sparrowhawk and noted its condition as deceased. I took a picture of it and called over Vic Dak, the night watchman, to share in this incidental curiosity. He picked it up, declared it was still warm and edible, and carried it off to prepare a fire.

Fever Pitch

World Cup Fever has gripped Ghana! After a terrific win against the Czechs last week, Ghana's Black Stars will be facing the USA this afternoon. Sorry all you US Soccer fans, but I'm rooting for Ghana. People here are so excited it is infectious. Its a level of involvement and passion than is unseen in American soccer. I blame the extereme capitalist ideology of the US for not allowing for a sporting event to play uninterupted by commercials, thus quelling the popularity of soccer in America. Meanwhile baseball, football, and basketball have many convenient opportunities for words from our sponsors. Go figure. If we were talkin' baseball, I'd surely go for the good ol' US of A - we always win the World Series. (ok, Canada, you won a couple of times too)
So I've got my Ghana flag waving and I'm cheering for the Black Stars all the way! Besides, I always was a sucker for the underdog.

Update: Ghana won 2-1! Everyone here was dancing in the streets!
Great game, but next they'll face Brazil.

I moved into my new house.

This week I moved into my new house. It is a guest house opened by my NGO, out in the savannah. The idea is that workshops can be held there, and people can stay for the duration. They hope to make money by doing this, also by selling food and drinks. The place is really nice. It is rather secluded, which is also nice. Living in the center of town has benefits, but it is hard to work or concentrate with children poking thier noses in my door all day...still, I kind of missed them when i first moved, then I got over it.

This week, we are beginning to set up a nursery on the premises, which I will manage. I am also getting seeds for my own personal garden. Long term plans include a rabbit hutch and beekeeping projects. Junior Secondary School (JSS) students will be involved in these. I am launching JSS clubs in four communities when the new semester begins in May - they were founded by the last volunteer in Hain but need to be reestablished for the new students coming in. I am working on a proposal to continue a project making books about the local traditional society...encouraging the students to talk to community elders about the local heritage. If anyone knows any teachers in the US interested in doing some kind of cultural exchange, let me know. We will also do some art projects to encourage appreciation of the environment outside of its value as a resource, and I am planning world map mural project, but I have to meet with some school headmasters to discuss this.

My living quarters were set up in some derelict buildings, abandoned by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MOFA), but now renovated. We work closely with MOFA, they are an excellent resource for information and technical knowledge. They also provide some seeds and saplings promoted my the Ghanaian Government. They leased the buildings to us, initially to fix up and use for 5 years. I am really happy with the place. In the evening, peregrine falcons come to hunt in the shea trees around the house. I also see hornbills, rollers, and lots of other brightly colored birds. Other than that, the wildlife maily consists of goats, sheep, and cattle.

The cattle are looked after by a family of Fulani - nomadic herdsmen that live throughout Burkina Faso, Niger, and Mali. They are often descriminated against, and even despised, by native Ghanaians. But many settle and integrate into th Dagaare culture. They often live on the outskirts of villages, and lend their expertise in animal husbandry; local people will pay them to look after their cows. They speak Hausa, a language that is as broadly spread as the Fulani themselves. They have a particular style of round hut architecture; impermanent and made from mud and straw. They are a beautiful people, with very defining features. They sell fresh milk from time to time, though I have yet to encounter this outside of Wa, the regional capital.

I have a recipe to make cheese if I do obtain some Fulani milk, I hear that around May it starts to show up. Everything is seasonal here - mango season, for instance, has cme and is almost gone. For about a month we were awash in mangoes. I was almost sick of them...almost. Right now, the Rainy season is coming. Guinea Fowl eggs are availiable, and the shea fruit is ripening.

I went to IST, and then converted to Catholocism for the Easter Holidays

I just returned from In Service Training in Sunyani, where all of the environment sector volunteers from my training group met for the first time since dispersing to our sites. It was a week long, and i don't have anything to say about it really...lots of flipcharts and activities and talks. There was a local hotel with a swimming pool, though, so many of us went and crashed the pool. It was a nice break from the village.

After IST a couple friends and I went to Kristo Buase, a Franciscan monastary to mellow out for a couple of days. I took my meals in silence with the monks; for desert and breakfast we ate yogurt! (yogurt is pretty rare here). It was peaceful. The grounds of the monastary are home to some inredible rock formations, and one night my friends and I climbed up the rocks to watch a lightning storm pass overhead. Kristo Buase is a great example of permaculture in action. It is relatively self sustaining, with plenty of fruit trees and food grown by the monks, who also make jams from all sorts of fruits and some excelent cashew liquor. They sell these things, and also accept donations from travellers who pass the night there.

On Easter Monday (Easter is 2 days here - one day for church and one for picnics), I attended my community picnic at the local Catholic Parish. I went with my neighbors, and everyone exchanged dishes and wore nice clothes. In the afternoon we had many competitions. I judged a dance contest. It rained a little, but just enough to cool us down on a hot and mostly sunny day.

People in Hain

Here are some pictures of people from my old neighborhood.