Some people just make themselves lunch. But not me.
I go into battle.
Continue reading Doing Lunch
It’s a Family Affair
One of the questions I’m often asked is, “Who owns the land.” Like many questions about Ghana, it’s difficult to answer.
Continue reading It’s a Family Affair
A Visit to Bui
We get out of the tros-tros in Nsawkaw and I point out the pineapple for sale to my friend. “I want to get one,” I tell her, and we cross the street.
Continue reading A Visit to Bui
Rivers and Bridges
She’s about twelve, and very shy. She doesn’t speak English well, and I don’t know her name because I can’t understand what she is saying when she tells me. She is one of the neighbor kids who frequently visits my porch, alone or with others.
Continue reading Rivers and Bridges
Simple Twists of Fate
At first we were going to leave early in the morning. Then Stephen said he wanted to leave after church. It wasn’t my first choice, but the guy is giving up almost an entire week to go to this thing, during harvest season, and that’s not a small sacrifice by him and his family.
Continue reading Simple Twists of Fate
A Bit of Housekeeping
There are a couple bits of housekeeping I need to take care of here.
First off, if you or a friend has had any trouble logging in to junden.com or with anything on the site, please let me know. Everyone who has created an account should be approved; I haven’t intentionally tried to keep anyone out (except for some spammers). But the software is a little squirrelly and I recently found that people had been locked out and shouldn’t have been.
If you have friends who you think might like to read, feel free to invite them to create an account. Just tell them to put that they are a friend of so-and-so, so I know. Mainly I’m trying to keep bureaucratic agencies out of here. *smile*
Finally, I have been thinking of gathering up things I wrote while at the goat ranch and see if I can work them into a collection of essays. I would love to know if there was anything from that time that spoke to you or made an impression. You can let me know by whatever way is convenient.
Thanks for reading! I could write this stuff without sharing it, but it would a lot different. Thank you for making the experience that much richer!
Love,
t
Make a Joyful Noise
There’s a dilemma that many volunteers here face. That’s whether or not to go to church. Like many, I didn’t like the idea. I understood that it could be useful for integrating into the community, but it’s uncomfortable…I didn’t like the idea of participating in what I see as the eradication of the indigenous spiritual culture.
Continue reading Make a Joyful Noise
Bodily Fluid
A wise woman once told me that if you dug deep enough into any of the seven deadly sins, you’d probably find pride at the kernel.
Continue reading Bodily Fluid
Co-op Meeting
Earlier in the week, they told me that the farmers’ cooperative would have a meeting today at 7 am, and I was eager to go.
Continue reading Co-op Meeting
Elusive Delight
Being here, it’s easier to appreciate things.
Continue reading Elusive Delight