This morning we went to Ho, aboard the bus filled with people bound for Market Day. We skipped the market and went straight to the BRIDGE office, but it wasn’t open so we settled in for some quality time at the internet café. While we waited for our lunch at White House, I looked up and saw a man pulling an odd looking dog on a leash. The dog had a funny side-hop instead of a normal gait. Then I realized, it wasn’t a dog—it was a monkey. The tro-tro ride home was uneventful, though we did have to stop at a lumber yard to put some kind of metal thing, and a couple boys had to ride on top of the tro-tro. The lumber yard had a few designer coffins sitting out front—a common sight in the market. As we sat there, a couple men carried a brand new fantasy coffin (designed as a shark) across the road.
Once we were home, the afternoon dragged on with nothing to do. Mama brought us some fresh mango, which we ate way too fast; we should have dragged that out more if we knew what was good for us. After our snack, I lost the fight to keep my heavy eye lids open, crashing before I even knew I was tired. In the early evening, Mama came over to teach us how to “back” a baby (using a single cloth to wrap a baby to your back) using precious and trusting Mawufemor (previously spelled Maufuaemo because I was guessing; and pronounced Mow-Fway-Mo) as our prop. Little Cicho came alive; he was excited and animated, which was a new thing for his usually cautious demeanor. It may take a village to raise a child, but it also takes a village to teach a yavoo how to back a baby. I leaned over with my back parallel to the ground, and gently swung Mawufemor under my arm and onto my back. Mama, with Cicho perched on her back, stood behind me situating the cloth, and Sema was in front of me showing me how to twist the fabric into a tight twist that wouldn’t loosen and thereby allow the baby to fall. After the first try, I was all set! It was so easy! Not so much a strain on the back and you can go anywhere you want and the baby just goes along with it. If they’re tired, they sleep, and they get used to you moving around to do your own thing and they’re quiet—perfectly content. Not to mention there are FAR less straps and fasteners than are involved with the Baby Bjorn. After Mawufemor was safely snuggled onto my back, I was ready for another challenge. I placed a basket on my head and tried to walk, baby on back and thing balanced on my head… I made it about 10 feet, but I’m still proud. Mawufemor was such a good sport, maybe because she was tired, but I think it’s because she’s one of the sweetest kids I’ve ever met—I should note that I find most children somewhat obnoxious unless they’re absolute gems. Jessica, Michael, and Mawufemor are definitely in the gem category. Kofi on the other hand, means well but is constantly dirty and way too persistent in his attempts for constant attention, which IS annoying. But I still feel for him; he gets no attention otherwise.
We had some rice and red sauce for dinner, and we asked Sema to fetch Emil so we could use his phone to call Joy. Emil returned, phone in hand. When he dialed Joy’s number, a loud voice came on speaker saying his credits needed to be replenished before he could make a call. His response was a little funny when he explained, “I just called Joy to tell him I was coming to see you so he should call back; so it is unfortunate that the percentage is low…” He went home to retrieve another phone, and we did get to speak with Joy long enough to realize travelling to his friend’s vacation spot was probably not very feasible. We hung up and Emil hung around for a little bit, which yielded an interesting conversation about the education system. I made a few suggestions, which for better or worse, set several things in motion: Monday we (Samantha and I) will meet with JSS head about collaborating with area heads that are doing better, and talk to him about holding teachers accountable for their work. We also plan to show him and the teachers the useful resources at their fingertips in the library and show them how to use the books appropriately. Emil suggested that on Tuesday when Samantha and I go to Ho, we should meet with the manager of the regional education office to discuss more involvement of the Education Director and the Circuit Supervisors who are supposed to be supervising the rural schools. It would also be helpful to ask about implementing an English as a Second Language program as part of the curriculum, reaching out to area NGOs and the Ministry of Education, and possibly send current teachers for extra training on ESL courses. Wednesday will be the weekly Anyo meeting, where we’d like to discuss a petition from the community to the manager at the Education Office regarding these issues. I’m on board with the plan, but I do think it would be more effective if one or two members of Anyo or the community came as well to voice their own opinions. I also don’t know how much good this will all do, but I guess an effort can’t hurt.
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