I love Ghana and I am overwhelmingly happy here. Most of my blog posts depict an optimistic picture. Most days I laugh and smile excessively. Most days I go to sleep so grateful.
But underneath it all, I still experience a great deal of frustration and sadness inside.
Life is hard in Ghana. Life is so hard in Ghana. I'm not referring to how hard it is for me, as a white, in Northern Ghana. No, not for me; life is hard for the average Ghanaian. A common response to the question: "how are you doing" here is: "Oh, we are managing... Small small". This really summarizes the situation of the vast majority of people I interact with here in Northern Ghana. They are just managing, and hopefully for most, "small small"; gradually- little by little- things are getting better.
Some days when I am feeling demotivated it is easy to blame it on the sweltering heat, blame it on lack of sleep, blame it on overwork and lack of time off., or maybe its because I haven't been eating well, haven't been exercising.. but really, days like today, I have to acknowledge that underneath it all, sometimes the daily tragedies just get to me.
In lieu of the fact that I want to always present an honest picture of my personal experiences here, I share these feelings openly and candidly with you- wherever/whoever you are. I respect and appreciate the time you take to connect to my life and I send you my love and gratitude as I sit here, blessed fan blowing on my face, thermometer telling me it is 35.5 degrees, Sulemana sleeping beside me with his hand on my lap.
I really love you all.
Hang in there Robin. And thanks so much for being so honest on your blog. It is usually such a joy to read, as well as (posts like this one included) being incredibly helpful for people like me who have never travelled outside of the standard tourist destinations.
ReplyDeleteThanks!
Elizabeth (EWB McMaster)
Hi Robin,
ReplyDeleteThanks for the honest post. It is nice to hear that you are enjoying your life in Ghana on a day to day basis and I think that it is pretty incredible that you have shared when you were feeling down.
I hope that today you had a great day
Lauren (EWB Western)
ROBIN : )
ReplyDeleteI love and miss you soo much!
It's great that you write so honestly and profoundly; thank you.
This makes me think about how so many people live this everyday of thier lives, and maintain a sincere smile regardless. May God make the rest of your time in Ghana easy for you, so that you may do all that you can.
Remember always Robin, that some time ago, it was worse and amazing people worked together through reality and optimism to make it a more beautiful world.
I love you,
Ghada
Hi Robin,
ReplyDeleteI am not sure if you are still checking comments on this post, but I wanted to let you know that I just started following your blog and thanks for the work you are doing.
I am a volunteer with the EWB-MUN Chapter and I just found out you are our long term overseas learning partner. I am really proud of the in-Canada work I do with EWB, but am equally proud to be part of the great work that you and other APS are doing overseas. I doubt I will ever take-on a placement like yours, but I consistently draw inspiration from the many stories and successes (or even failures) that come out of EWB's development work.
I hope you can continue to share your stories, reflections and learnings on this blog between now and the end of your placement.
All the best,
Daniel Miller
Robin,
ReplyDeleteYou, my dear, are such an inspiration. Love you!
Sarah