Culture Trek

Posts Tagged ‘New York’

Tim, I tried to Skype but you aren’t connected. Web service here is touch and go at best. I’m pasting this from the memory stick… Glad we planned for that. I don’t now when I’ll next be in touch. Cell phone is acquired and I will buy minutes for it today. I’ll be in touch ASAP and I love you.

I Made It!

As I write, I am in Accra at the home of Gunadiish, the In-Country Coordinator (an all around jovial and hospitable guy). Since he guarantees that I’ll pass out shortly, as most early morning arrivals tend to do, I won’t fight the moment when exhaustion trumps excitement. For now, that hasn’t happened.

How It All Went Down

JFK’s Delta terminal was a madhouse yesterday, teeming with those who were stranded like me the day before. I found my way to the automated check-in kiosk but was told I had to see a ticket agent. That’s when I discovered that Accra has it’s own check-in area, with good reason. The number of bags people were transporting was astounding. One guy was charged nearly $500 with the new fees and he was less than prepared for the big surprise.

Once checked in, I met a family in security. Better stated, they met me. Two young boys going to Ghana had a million questions about where I was going and why. By the end of our conversation, I had been adopted. They were from Long Island so I scored points for having a husband from Brooklyn. When we got to the gate they were sure to tell their mom, “We need four seats, three for us and one for her.” I then heard stories about how their aunt and uncle owned a bank in Accra. “They don’t just work there, they own it. That means we’ll get FREE MONEY when we get there! FREE Money!” I didn’t have the heart to tell them anything different.

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Early Morn

Today felt like most other days. I woke to the whirr of the air conditioner, the 14 year old cat who still wants to suck on my shirt and kneed my fleece, the dog who (once he actually got out of bed) spun in circles to be fed, and my husband, Tim, whose eyes were still no more than slits but whose smile was running at full power.

“It’s Africa Day,” he said.

Then it clicked… and I cried (again) at the thought of not being able to share my amazing experiences with the person I cherish most in the witnessing of each other’s lives…

Up and Running

There was much to do by noon but nothing motivates me more than deadlines and lists. (Deadline dependence is a sickness. Truly it is.)

First up was to print a Dewey Decimal System summary to share with the newly renovated library in Have. Once on the OCLC web site I learned that printing the four volumes of instructions would require packing a tree. Another site said “You can’t learn this in a day.” Really? Holy crow, I would think not. As luck would have it, while saving some teaching documents from the Village Volunteers site, I read that Maia, another volunteer who will be in the village at the same time, currently works with the Montgomery County Public Schools in Maryland as a librarian. Check.

I moved on to collect additional lesson plans at readwritethink.org. (Thanks for the tip Elliot!), and printed copies of my passport, license, credit cards and contact info for Tim. He got the address for the American Embassy and punched holes in my preprinted pages about farming, health, teaching, etc. I ran off photos of him, the pets and our home while he repacked the duffels so I wouldn’t break my back.

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I?just learned about the murder of John Granville , a 33 year old?USAID official?gunned down in?Sudan on January 1. His?family is from Angola, NY, my own home town.

Although we have never met, this sad news occupies a place in my heart, not only because we?have ties to the?same?place or knew the same people, but because our love of Africa and our determination to make a difference has deemed us somewhat kindred spirits.

John is an inspiration, having chosen?throughout his life and with personal risk to himself,?to make the world a better place by?working?to empower?East Africans.?According to an interview?on Buffalo’s WKBW,

“He was one of them. He may have stood out because he looked different, but he was one of them. There was no?two ways about it.” said Karen Erickson, a friend of the Granville family. John Granville had a heart for Africa. The pictures only tell part of his story. He spent years there in the Peace Corps educating Africans about H.I.V. He helped to build a school, and handed out radios to Kenyans in an effort to spread democracy. His most recent work was for the U.S. Agency for International Development. “He was very big in working on a census for 2008 and then, once they got the census, then move to getting up a political election in 2009 and give their people an opportunity in 2009.” said Erickson.

John has lived the life I had always dreamed of living. As Karen said, “I think, for John, life was a mission and the mission was to find peace over there to help these people.”

As to why this happened, New York Times journalist Jeffrey Gettlement speculates in?his January 2nd article “U.S. Diplomat and Driver Are Shot Dead in Sudan:”

The attack came just hours after President Bush signed a bill… aimed at Sudan?s oil and defense industries… part of the broader campaign to put pressure on the Sudanese government to end the bloodshed in Darfur, a troubled region in western Sudan where more than 200,000 people have died.

One could say “stop the madness” and walk away, and many do, but John’s choice was to always strive toward something better. It is only when we?break that forward momentum that all hope is lost.