Week 2 in the Life of "Team Go Hard"

Zane and Paul (our ASF superhero volunteer) just getting started.
The week of community service left us splatter painted.

A funeral procession for someone who rode motorcycles passes by my house.  There were 100+ bikes.

Hello from bedtime in Achimota Market. Outside my window it's as live as any block in Brooklyn.  I hear motor bikes, taxi horns, people talking, walking by, having friendly arguments, and loud music - hip-life is playing.  It's the new generation's answer to Ghanaian highlife music, influenced by hip-hop.   The music will stop after I fall asleep.  I will wake up at dawn, when I hear Constance sweeping below my window, sssssk sssssk sssssk, and the street will slowly come back to life.  If each student described their home and neighborhood to you, they would each be a bit different.  Accra is huge!  

This is week two, a lot has happened, though blogging was off to a slow start.  Getting up and running with the internet took some time.  Even now, please be patient as we handle the technical difficulties as they come.  Neighborhoods in Accra trade nights without electricity. Families store water in their bathrooms and kitchens as water pressure can be unpredictable.  So, you know, the internet connection operates in a similar fashion.

Laurence and David attempt blogging at the school.  We're trying.

International travel is exciting, but really takes a lot of energy.  We did a little reading on "cultural adjustment" and it seems there are four phases: 1) Initial Euphoria and Happiness, 2) Irritability or Hostility, 3) Gradual Adjustment, and 4) Adaptation.  We found it safe to say that we've moved through stages 1 and 2.  :)  On to gradual adjustment!  And there are always people like Zane, who announced two days in a row, "I haven't had a bad day yet."  If he defies the model and skips stage 2 completely, I wouldn't be surprised.

Our second week found the committed travelers bonding with host families, undertaking an intimate study in teamwork, hugging hundreds of kindergardeners, and gaining a better understanding of how to navigate Accra, a city large and busy enough to overwhelm even the wisest and savviest of New York City teenagers.

Our first day, but something like this happened everyday.

Best playground ever.  Eric and Laurence.

Our community service site was the Adenta Community Kindergarden.  See us painting and leading activities with the students.  This project was both rewarding and challenging, and provided an opportunity for us to discuss youth leadership - where we're at, and where we want to be.

Our initial design included adinkra symbols for Intellegence, Harmony, and Strength in Diversity.  But the existing nursery rhyme paintings on the outside of the school had to stay, so the team had to regroup.

And let the painting begin...

Vivian's a hard worker.

David was excited to use the sign language he learned from Ms. Creed to "spread love the Brooklyn way"
with the professional painter who schooled us in painting in the nicest way possible.

Games were fun.
We play "huggy bear" to show love to one another - so we taught it to five year olds.

Head, shoulders, knees, and toes

With ASF volunteers, headmistress, and Adenta Community Kindergarten staff.

Monday - Thursday we got real painty.  On Friday we debriefed the experience (very productively) and went swimming (also very important!).

Our bloggie and ninjas go underwater.

The name of our game: recover from setbacks with style.
We're too fabulous to let some mandatory swim caps get us down.
Especially Marisa, who's really into it.

We will spend this weekend with our LOVELY host families before departing on Sunday for Cape Coast, about four hours away.  There we will have morning lessons on Trans-Atlantic slavery at Elmina Castle, the fort where many people were held before boarding ships, never to return to Africa again.  In the afternoon we will be able to learn some of the rich culture and creativity that surrounds us daily in ways both big and small.  We will be taking batik dying, drumming, and dance workshops.  

Each member of this group is learning and growing everyday.  Be very proud of them.  I certainly am.