crazymalc.co.nz - Home Page of Malcolm Trevena

Living Arrangements in Ghana

12th May 2006
Accommodation
When I applied for the Philippines position, I was under the impression that I would be staying in a dormitory. This wasn't the case, which was a little disappointing at the time. In the end though, I really enjoyed my time living with a Filipino family. It was one the unexpected highlights of my experience. I think about Reza, Nicole and Jen Jen often.

One of the annoying things though is that it is so hard to contact them! "Email" may as well be a foreign word to them and postage is too expensive. I plan to send them some pictures of me in Ghana, New Zealand and Uganda. Hopefully I can find some sort of pre-paid envelope so they can send me stuff back if they want. Ditto for Pulao Elementary School.

In Ghana, I will be staying in a dormitory style environment. There is no option B. I will be staying in one of two volunteer houses. Each house features:

Four bedrooms and two volunteers per bedroom
I would prefer to have my own space. I'm hoping this won't be too much of a problem. I'm hoping mine and my roommate's room becomes a place to be quiet and relax and the social room becomes the place to talk and hangout.
A Western Style Inside Toilet
Yes! The toilet at my Ugandan placement is of the outside squatting variety...

Showers will be of the bucket variety.
Sporadic Electricity
I doubt if there will be any creature comforts like televisions and DVD players in the house, so it's not like I'll be missing out anyway. Potentially using candles and flashlights in the evening will be a pain, but I'm sure I'll slip into a groove.

I am concerned about being unable to write on my laptop while the power is out. I wrote 69,370 (!) words while I was in the Philippines. That's about 367 a day. Writing has become something that I really enjoy doing and I would fret if I were unable to. It allows me to express myself, work out issues and keep friends and family up to date with my what I am doing.

The same goes for internet access in the camp. I don't mind waiting due to slow bandwidth, but being unable to update this site would be annoying.

I am hoping this does not become a source of frustration.
Mice and Insects
Ah well. Not ideal, but I'm sure I'll get used to it.

I will be taking anti-malarial medication, drenching myself with bug spray several times a day and sleeping under a mosquito net. Malaria is a very real threat in Ghana.

Prior to going to the Philippines I was very concerned about my irrational fear of bugs. Many Filipinos became aware of this and took great delight in tormenting me. I didn't like the thought of people having such power over me, so I decided to face the fear head on.

Bernard - one of my great tormentors - approached me with something wrapped up in some paper and asked me to open it. I knew full well that there would be a bug inside. It turned out a be a large beetle, maybe six or seven centimeters in length. I put the beetle on my face and let it crawl around to the amazement of onlookers. It was a sweet moment. Any future attempts to torment me were greeted with similar shows of bravado.
A Cook and a Housekeeper
Sweet! I will pay a local women (very doubtful that a man will be doing laundry) about $US 3 to do my laundry.

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(c) 2005 and 2006 Malcolm Trevena.
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