ALWAYS DO THE CRAZY THING!!

Sometimes we wonder if we can make a difference no matter where we may find ourselves, and if we could turn cloudy days into sunny ones or decide to whether we can or not. Every day I am reminded that this opportunity is passing and that I may never get it again, that decisions which take me a long time to make may take away the waiting opportunity. I learnt that challenge makes me stronger and wiser and each time I choose to keep moving forward, another thrill, another exciting adventure, another heart full of courage comes my way. I’ve learned that the word impossible doesn’t exist and now when I find myself saying it, I feel like a fool because nothing really is impossible. Everything is possible once there is a sincere, willing heart, one that gives all of its self, the best it can. For usually, our best is the possibility.

There are days when I get tired of the heat and everything seems to exhaust me. When the constant chatter of my kindergartners seems to be a nuisance and when I have so much to do that I can’t seem to figure out what and where to start. Most mornings I lie awake in my bed, unwilling to get up, especially so on days when the nights have been really warm. Some days turn out good in the end and others help me to learn a lot more about myself and the things around me. But I am glad that one thing that never leaves is the peace I always feel. It’s always there even on days where I am tired and stressed out and when I feel I don’t have the strength to do anything, not even smile.

Today I watched as my little kids learned new sentences. I saw how excited they got when they were asked to repeat it and how they giggled and laughed at the affirmation that they received from the teacher. I watched them and realized how easy it is to laugh at the simple things we have.

I have just started with my research project on the island, the main reason why I came to live on the island. I am collecting data for a big solar project that Empower Playgrounds INC, the organization I work with wants to start. I am therefore collecting data on the entire island, a really daunting task but I hope to finish it before I leave…nothing is impossible. This project involves me going to all the households on the island and interviewing them. This island is the biggest of the 5 islands and there are 22 villages on it. Most of them are far apart and involve a lot of trekking to and fro. Some of them I have been told are inaccessible and would require me going in a canoe or boat. This is what I have been doing and will be doing until my 12 weeks are done.( I am already in my 4^th week) I have been given an IPAD for the data collection –awesome!! I know. I am using an app called the IFORM to collect the data. It’s pretty fast actually and very techy. No papers, no stress or missing data, the IPAD has internet which enables me to send the form immediately I am done filling it out.  It’s got GPS and a really cool Google mapping system so I am able to see where I am and so can everyone with assess to the form. There are about 40 questions which I ask and since I don’t speak the language which is Dangme, I usually need a translator. The teachers in the school have been helping me out by going with me to the villages however they can’t always go with me since they have to teach. I still don’t have any one permanent that is helping me out with that but I am grateful that when I call on them they come and fill in for me. Going to the villages has helped me to know other parts of the island and to see more of it. its been really stressful and tiring asking questions over and over again but I am enjoying all the new things I am seeing and doing and learning and I am really grateful to have this opportunity to be a part of something that will be a blessing to others.

I move from house to house collecting information about how much they spend and earn, how much they spend on fuel for power and whether they are employed or not and if they will be able to make payments monthly. So far I have been to 3 villages so 19 more to go. Most of the people have been lamenting that so many people have been to their houses to ask them about the same things and to bring them electricity but nothing has come out of it and nothing has been seen. I sincerely don’t know what to say to them in times like these because I dont know when the solar project will be started on the island by EPI.  Most of the people here have no jobs and majority of the people here are self-employed and poor.  Moving from house to house collecting data and listening to the stories community members tell me seems to sink my heart each day. When I ask people how much they make, they snort and say it is impossible to calculate one lady told me, “This is a basket of palm nuts I am cleaning up and preparing to sell. Whatever I get, that is what I am going to use to feed myself and my family. I have no income, I have nothing. When I ask about how many people live in a house they always have to do a head count which takes forever. I don’t know about you but I know the number of people that live in my house and I can tell you even if I am half asleep. The men would ask their wives to do the counting and usually they are the ones who don’t know how many children live in the house. Someone told me once that in some communities in Ghana, fathers don’t count the number of children in the house because it’s the number of things you own, animals, houses, farms etc that are counted and not human beings. Human beings are not to be counted like animal (I have no opinion on this matter; you tell me what you think).

 Most of stories are a little depressing and people here spend a lot of money on food, buying kerosene for kerosene lamps and batteries for torchlights since there is no power. Most basic things are luxuries here and whenever I ask people about how many fridges and computers they have, I feel really silly. Who would be having a fridge and a computer in a village with no electricity? I wonder why this is even on my interview list. Being here has opened my eyes to so many things. Life can be simpler and meaningful if we let it; it can be beautiful small but still filled with contentment if we let it be. It can be peaceful and calm if we let it. So many times we forget about this, live through life like passing moments and like tides on the sea, going and coming, never staying and never bringing or leaving anything meaningful. Why don’t we purpose in our hearts to live life in service of others, to let go of all the comforts and to leave home in search of something bigger than ourselves. Sometimes all it takes is a little dreaming, a little wanting, a little giving of our selves. Do something different but something worthwhile, something that will bring some joy where there hasn’t been any. Live a life building schools, libraries, hospitals for villages with none so that kids can go to school, can read and can be healthy. Why don’t we leave that same pattern of life that everyone follows, that does not fulfill, and do something that will change a little corner of our world? If today you have an opportunity to do this don’t say no. if you don’t have an opportunity create one, find some satisfaction if you can, but don’t sit still doing something you know brings you no joy and makes no impact. There is so much you and I can do for the people of this world. We may not have much but we have feet to move and hands to work.

I’ve been trying to figure out what I really want to do with my life, what I want to achieve. Living on an island without running water, electricity, WC’s, and comforts have made the picture clearer than it could have ever been. It took a village without electricity, far from home to make me see clearer. I still don’t have a big picture but I have lots of little clear pieces and I hope to fit them together soon. There is so much more to life, to living, to being. If you can choose to do something crazy, then being a receptionist, waiter, teller, and cashier won’t be enough and you’d always need more and want more. So today if you have an opportunity, don’t miss the sunrise, for opportunities are like sunrises, if you wait too long, you can miss them. Life is waiting to happen; you just have to take a step of Faith.