Quotes of kindness:

Be kind, for everyone you meet is fighting a hard battle. Plato

I never fully understood the significance of that quote until now.

More:
"I'll be very sad when you leave."
"You only have one week left? I'll have to watch you very well."
"I'll cry every day when you are gone. I'll think, 'Oh, I'm going to Emily's house to learn,' but you won't be there."
"You're my best friend. Do you want to know why? It's because you like learning. Every day, you're teaching me."
"You're beautiful no matter what hairstyle you have."
"Don't you know you're the volunteer of the year? It's because you teach us."
"That's why I like you. You always have time for us."

Some people are unfortunately fortunate. They never need to worry about money for high school or getting a pair of shoes or going to bed without eating. Some people believe that happiness can only come by social climbing, having the latest phone, or maybe the coolest clothes.

Well, the kids at the center are happier people than I've ever met in my life, and I think they all look great in the maybe 3 T-shirts they own.

The fact that I got to come here at all makes me an extremely lucky person - I have my parents to thank for that. But what probably makes me even more lucky was meeting the people in Eguafo. I'll never meet a more motivated person than the head of Sankofa, or someone with a more genuine smile than E2, or a cuter kid than little R.

Nobody will ever be as unintentionally delightful as A, and nobody will be so naturally entertaining as F is.

I'll never meet a more brilliant student than S, and I'll never have a better friend than E1. I wouldn't call this a village full of have-nots, because I found more here in 2 months than I have ever found in America. I'll be returning back to quiet, but maybe not to peace.

As I am sitting here in the Cape Coast Hospital with 3 children and 2 volunteers I realized that I'll be in Switzerland in almost a week. Like, no big deal, I'm going to Europe.

Most of these people have never even been out of their region, let alone the continent. I'm planning on changing that fact, so I have a lot of work to do when I get home. I have tons of ideas, and I'm going to start working on them ASAP.

You might ask me some questions.
If you ask if I've read The Cat in the Hat to a grown woman, I would say, "That's not all I can do!"
If you ask if I've ever taken a shower in the pouring rain? "Naturally!"
Have I ever almost been killed by a coconut? "You betcha!"
Have I ever hunted for and eaten African bush/suitcase snail? "Yum!"

So if you want to know if my experience in Africa has been a life-changing one, the answer is a resounding "Yes!"

Yoo, yen ko!

Emily

Success is our Failure

Let me explain something: I don't know how to explain things anymore. I could tell you a lot of good things or I could tell you a lot of bad things and either way I wouldn't be lying at all. I could tell you things that make me sad or tell you why coming here was completely worth it. I could tell you how much I've learned or grown as a person, about the people I've met, conversations I've had... Which is what I meant to be doing with this blog. But a blog can't even begin to describe my experience here. There's too much to say and too many ways to say them. There's so many sides to everything that I just can't explain it anymore. I don't even know the truth behind a lot of things, or what will happen in the future when I'm gone.

Ok. It's like this: I love you too much, but I'm so so worried about you.

That's the only way I can put it.

Emily

It's Nice to be Nice

This is what people in the city say when they're trying to get something out of me.

Example 1:
"Which of these paintings do you like? Just point to the one you like best and tell me how much you would pay for it."
"But I don't want a painting."
"It's nice to be nice."
"Ok but I still don't want one"

Example 2:
*40 year old grabs my hand while I'm dancing*
Me: "No thank you" *pulls hand off me*
"Hey, what's the problem? It's Friday night! Feel free! Let's dance."
"No" *pulls hands off me again*
"Hey, it's nice to be nice, right?" *Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't realize that your pelvic thrusts in my general direction were an act of kindness. My mistake.*

On a happier note, how many people can say they've danced with Ghanaian orphans in the rain? This girl right here. Even though J kept looking at me like, "Good God, woman, is that really how they teach you to dance in America!?" Even so it was a blast. All of them are such fantastic dancers, I could watch them go all day.

Also, if you like tetris, you'll like this: we took all the kids to the beach on Saturday, and we managed to cram 30 people into one van. Impressed? Now that's the Ghana way. It's not often that they get to go somewhere, so it was fun to see their reactions. Especially F and A, who were both intrigued by and afraid of the water.

Ghanaian beauty standards: be big.
American beauty standards: be small.
Hmmm... are the most beautiful also the most difficult to come by?

My favorite things to buy in Cape Coast: fabric, lunch, yogurt drinks, mangoes. But then, I'm very privileged.

Because, you can eat all the animal crackers and cassava you want, but you're still going to be malnourished. How do you expect a child to do well in school when this is all they get?

But I can't keep giving people handouts. Sometimes I hate the way people ask me for things here. It's more like a command...
"Emily, where is my bread?"
"Emily, teach my class."
"Go away"
"Give me a biscuit"
"Madam, you are block my view!"
"Give me 10 pesewas (cents)"

But then there are special situations. Like what are you supposed to do...
If a girl says, "Emily, I haven't eaten since breakfast"? You know you have to give her some food.
Or if you say, "C, how many shirts do you have?" and he answers, "Two"? You know you have to give him one of your own.

Or if a little boy comes up to you and says, "I like you too much"? When you know you'll have to leave?
All I can say is,
Yoo, yen ko.
But really, it will be just me going.

Emily