Two root canals, 10 doctor visits, eight vaccinations, and months of eager waiting have finally paid off! To those who haven’t heard yet, we received an official invitation from the Peace Corps last Thursday. We are leaving for the African country of Ghana on September 15th! We are extremely excited and at the same time a little nervous and overwhelmed as the departure date is not far away. For 27 months we will be living in a city or small village of Ghana. In case you don’t know much about Ghana, here are a few quick facts:
- Ghana is located in the Northwest area of the African Continent.
- In 1961 it was the first country to receive Peace Corps volunteers.
- We will be part of 130 current volunteers in the country.
- It is one of the safest and most friendly countries in Africa (So moms, you can breathe a deep sigh of relief).
- Many Ghanaians in the bigger cities speak English, but there are also many other languages spoken throughout in smaller villages. We will have to learn at least one of these, probably the language of Twi since it is the most widely spoken.
- Ghanaians are very spiritual people. The country is roughly 60% Christian, 15% Muslim, and the remainder practice Animism (the worship of local spirits) or a mixture of the above.
- The southern half of the country is tropical, with rainforest and beaches. The northern part is more arid and less developed and modern.
- It is hot in Ghana! In the north it can reach 120 degrees in the hot season. Rarely does the temperature drop below the mid 60’s anywhere in the country.
- Ghana is about the size of Oregon.
- People in Ghana love music and dancing!
- While Ghana is better off than many countries in Africa, it is still a very poor and developing country. It falls within the poorest 25% of the countries in the world.
- If you want to know more about the country and the people of Ghana you can visit these websites: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gh.html,
www.worldinformation.com , http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/gh.htm .
We both received specific projects we will be working on while living there. Melissa will be a “Small Enterprise Development Volunteer”. She will be working as a business advisor providing advice and assistance to a diverse group of rural communities and urban small-scale entrepreneurs to promote the export of non-traditional products and community-based eco-tourism development. That was a mouth full! She will most likely be working with women who already have established businesses. Derek will be an “Agroforestry and Alternative Livelihood Facilitator”. Typical tasks for him may be to facilitate the development of tree nurseries, design and lead environmental education for women and children, or help local people with projects relating to farming, live-stock, and/or beekeeping. We are both very excited about the projects assigned to us and feel they fit our personalities and strengths. Although we have been given a rough outline of our jobs, we won’t know exactly what we will be doing until we get over there. In speaking with out placement officer we have learned that although we will be working on different projects, it is expected of us to work together as a couple and assist each other in meeting our goals. These projects are our “primary jobs”, but we will also be required to initiate “secondary” projects that could include a number of things. More to come on all of this in the future.
Once we arrive in the country we will go through approximately three months of training. We have been warned these months will be intense and challenging, with language classes, technical training related to our projects, and cultural immersion. We don’t know where in the country we will be living in yet. We should find this out after the second week of training. We could have electricity and water or we may not. Of course we are hoping for the former rather than the latter. Our house/hut/mud-dwelling will definitely have two rooms, a bedroom and living room, and maybe even a second bedroom for when all of you come to visit! We are hoping for a toilet and shower, but a latrine and bucket bath are definitely possibilities. Melissa is dreading the moment when Gandalf (our cat) is torn from her arms; however, she has found significant comfort in the recent discovery that most Peace Corps volunteers are encouraged to adopt a cat or a dog (both?) to keep their abode rodent free and secure. We are excited to see our new home and we will be sure to tell you all about it once we are settled in.
We have really enjoyed spending our first year of marriage in Nashville. For all of you who have come to visit us – thank you for helping to make the past year so memorable. In the next month and a half we have a ton of stuff to do! We will be spending quality time with Derek’s family, we have a trip planned for Minnesota to see Melissa’s extended family, packing everything up, buying supplies for the trip, and tying up loose ends. Leaving most of our possessions behind and packing everything we will need for the next two years in three bags that can not weigh over 50 lbs each is not easy. Some of the more interesting and unexpected things on our “to-get” list are a short-wave radio, bike helmets, as our main transportation will be mountain bikes, bug-spray and other little odds and ends. It is going to be an adventure in itself just getting everything ready to go. After all the waiting, praying and dreaming it is hard to believe we only have 6 more weeks in the States!
We hate the thought of being away from our friends and family for over two years. We will be using this blog to update you on our adventures. Letters and pictures from all of you will be GREATLY appreciated while we are away. It will likely take 2-3 weeks to receive letters (maybe longer). If you want to write us you can begin sending your letters the first week of September, so we will start receiving them shortly after we arrive, making the transition to living in a new country that much easier. Here is the address we will be at for the first 10-11 weeks:
Melissa and Derek Eli, PCT
Peace Corps Ghana
P.O. Box 5796
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa
Hopefully we will have internet access occasionally so we can also keep in touch via email also. Telephone calls may be more difficult and expensive, but we will let you know more on this in the future. In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to say hello please email us at: Missylou3322@msn.com or Dce3322@msn.com. We love you all and will be thinking of you often. We are lucky to have friends and family like you. Please remember us in your prayers as we move into this next exciting and challenging phase of our lives.
- Ghana is located in the Northwest area of the African Continent.
- In 1961 it was the first country to receive Peace Corps volunteers.
- We will be part of 130 current volunteers in the country.
- It is one of the safest and most friendly countries in Africa (So moms, you can breathe a deep sigh of relief).
- Many Ghanaians in the bigger cities speak English, but there are also many other languages spoken throughout in smaller villages. We will have to learn at least one of these, probably the language of Twi since it is the most widely spoken.
- Ghanaians are very spiritual people. The country is roughly 60% Christian, 15% Muslim, and the remainder practice Animism (the worship of local spirits) or a mixture of the above.
- The southern half of the country is tropical, with rainforest and beaches. The northern part is more arid and less developed and modern.
- It is hot in Ghana! In the north it can reach 120 degrees in the hot season. Rarely does the temperature drop below the mid 60’s anywhere in the country.
- Ghana is about the size of Oregon.
- People in Ghana love music and dancing!
- While Ghana is better off than many countries in Africa, it is still a very poor and developing country. It falls within the poorest 25% of the countries in the world.
- If you want to know more about the country and the people of Ghana you can visit these websites: https://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/gh.html,
www.worldinformation.com , http://worldatlas.com/webimage/countrys/africa/gh.htm .
We both received specific projects we will be working on while living there. Melissa will be a “Small Enterprise Development Volunteer”. She will be working as a business advisor providing advice and assistance to a diverse group of rural communities and urban small-scale entrepreneurs to promote the export of non-traditional products and community-based eco-tourism development. That was a mouth full! She will most likely be working with women who already have established businesses. Derek will be an “Agroforestry and Alternative Livelihood Facilitator”. Typical tasks for him may be to facilitate the development of tree nurseries, design and lead environmental education for women and children, or help local people with projects relating to farming, live-stock, and/or beekeeping. We are both very excited about the projects assigned to us and feel they fit our personalities and strengths. Although we have been given a rough outline of our jobs, we won’t know exactly what we will be doing until we get over there. In speaking with out placement officer we have learned that although we will be working on different projects, it is expected of us to work together as a couple and assist each other in meeting our goals. These projects are our “primary jobs”, but we will also be required to initiate “secondary” projects that could include a number of things. More to come on all of this in the future.
Once we arrive in the country we will go through approximately three months of training. We have been warned these months will be intense and challenging, with language classes, technical training related to our projects, and cultural immersion. We don’t know where in the country we will be living in yet. We should find this out after the second week of training. We could have electricity and water or we may not. Of course we are hoping for the former rather than the latter. Our house/hut/mud-dwelling will definitely have two rooms, a bedroom and living room, and maybe even a second bedroom for when all of you come to visit! We are hoping for a toilet and shower, but a latrine and bucket bath are definitely possibilities. Melissa is dreading the moment when Gandalf (our cat) is torn from her arms; however, she has found significant comfort in the recent discovery that most Peace Corps volunteers are encouraged to adopt a cat or a dog (both?) to keep their abode rodent free and secure. We are excited to see our new home and we will be sure to tell you all about it once we are settled in.
We have really enjoyed spending our first year of marriage in Nashville. For all of you who have come to visit us – thank you for helping to make the past year so memorable. In the next month and a half we have a ton of stuff to do! We will be spending quality time with Derek’s family, we have a trip planned for Minnesota to see Melissa’s extended family, packing everything up, buying supplies for the trip, and tying up loose ends. Leaving most of our possessions behind and packing everything we will need for the next two years in three bags that can not weigh over 50 lbs each is not easy. Some of the more interesting and unexpected things on our “to-get” list are a short-wave radio, bike helmets, as our main transportation will be mountain bikes, bug-spray and other little odds and ends. It is going to be an adventure in itself just getting everything ready to go. After all the waiting, praying and dreaming it is hard to believe we only have 6 more weeks in the States!
We hate the thought of being away from our friends and family for over two years. We will be using this blog to update you on our adventures. Letters and pictures from all of you will be GREATLY appreciated while we are away. It will likely take 2-3 weeks to receive letters (maybe longer). If you want to write us you can begin sending your letters the first week of September, so we will start receiving them shortly after we arrive, making the transition to living in a new country that much easier. Here is the address we will be at for the first 10-11 weeks:
Melissa and Derek Eli, PCT
Peace Corps Ghana
P.O. Box 5796
Accra-North, Ghana
West Africa
Hopefully we will have internet access occasionally so we can also keep in touch via email also. Telephone calls may be more difficult and expensive, but we will let you know more on this in the future. In the meantime, if you have any questions or just want to say hello please email us at: Missylou3322@msn.com or Dce3322@msn.com. We love you all and will be thinking of you often. We are lucky to have friends and family like you. Please remember us in your prayers as we move into this next exciting and challenging phase of our lives.
