Monday, February 23, 2009

Krazy Komenda

I wasn't kidding, earlier, there really is no "c" in Fante. The word for school is the slightly warped English word "skuul". Anyway, I just thought I should explain that.

Komenda Homestay: You know you're in for an interesting time when you meet your 28 year old host sister and in the first ten minutes tells you three times how fat you are and then mentions to your friend and (thank goodness) homestay partner for the week, Anna, that, because she is a twin, her father should come here and have sex with said host sister in order for her to have twins, too. The homestay in Komenda was stressful and these are the positive things I can say about it:
-I was with Anna all week, so we were together through it all
-Our family didn't seem all that into hosting us, so interactions were limited to meal times and the occasional times they locked us out of the house
-Anna and I ate by ourselves in a corner of the family owned bar surrounded by some pretty cute kittens
-The family will never host again

I know that most of those positives include negatives, but I'm just so relieved to be back in Cape Coast with the Kums that I am being a trifle harsh. I promise most of the rest of Komenda was good. See below!

Health Research: In Komenda I was assigned to inquire about the health of the community. I paper I turned in today was a look at the three main places Komenda residents go to for their health needs- the Health Clinic, a Family Planning Clinic, and the Zion Prayer Center. The last one was definitely most interesting. It is a prayer center that an evangelist healer set up to, well, evangelize and heal. His wife has a health center set up cirectly behind the center that she uses to sell traditional herbal rememdies that are generally used in conjunction with prayers from the preacher. All three places recognized the legitmacy of spiritual as well as hpysical ailments, which was incredibly interesting. There is a spring in the middle of town called Poopoo (the name of the woman who helped establish it... but still, a bit unfortunate) that was walled off in 1948 in order to form easier access to the fresh water. So close to the sea, it is the only fresh water source for many families in KOmenda. Because it never runs dry, and comes back when it does, it is said that a "small god" has taken up residence there. But the doctor in town says it is an unhygenic stagnant pool of water and, when the water has been sitting there for a while, can cause typhoid and worms and other diseases. Still, people use it to drink and bathe and some even carry it with them while traveling for protection. Tres interesante, non?

Uncle Ebo's: the program coordinator opened his home to all 7 of us, 24/7 while we were there. We took advantage of this completely and, when not interviewing various prominent members of the community, could be found lounging in his living room, eating groundnut paste and jelly sandwiches, drinking milo (a vitamin fortified instant hot choclate), reading various novels (jurassic park, anne of green gables, the poisonwood bible, and a good old reliable James Herriot adventure), and playing uno. Also, we bonded intensely with Uncle Ebo's wife, Ama, and I will be sure to write more about him and her in my post when I finally get around to describing the cast of characters in charge of our well being whilst here.

Kids: Where ever a group of us go the chanting of young voices follow us, "Bronyi! How are you! I'm fine! Thank you!"
Bronyi means white man and most of the little ones don't even know what they're saying. When we reply, "Good, and you?" they giggle madly and run away. \Sometimes interactions are more random, like the time I got offered a tomato by an adolescent girl and then the procedded to laugh hysterically about it before I could even answer.

Out of time (rats rats rats!!), more tomorrow.
EMily

1 comment:

  1. Oh My Goodness, Emily!
    What an experience you're having...good and bad!
    The sex for twins statement reveals an interesting culture/morality...I'm assuming that twins are good luck.
    You are going to have so many stories to tell when you get home. Can't wait to hear them all at the lake!
    Love, Chelle

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