Wednesday, June 9 2010

This morning it pouring rain and my allergies were acting crazy. I feel like I can’t catch a break lately. I just want to feel good. I honestly feel like I've been sick half the time I’ve been here

Before work we went to the hotel to use the Internet. We had to email the presentation to Renee and Kristen and file was too large to send over the Internet in the office. I also added photos to my blog really quick. The internet at the office is not very reliable and they pay by usage not a flat rate so were not suppose to upload large images or files very often.

When we got to work there was a workshop scheduled at 9am. Since were on Ghanaian time and it was raining it didn’t start until close to 10:30am. The workshop was about being financially independent. It was really interesting to watch the women take everything in and ask questions.

A lot of the information they discussed seems like common sense to me because they are have been drilled into my head since I was really little. The women here had no concept of saving. The whole idea was totally unheard of. I have to admit I am not good at saving, my dad always tells me that money burns a hole in my pocket, but its not like I don’t know how to save.

Patience who is the head of fair trade taught most of the workshop. She is a really good teacher and knows what she’s talking about. I think it’s really nice that Global Mamas has workshops like this one in order to educate the women. One of their main goals is to teach the women to stand on their own. They encourage them to have business plans and separate business and personal accounts. They want them to be financial stable enough to be able to support themselves with out the help of Global Mamas.

The workshop lasted pretty much all afternoon. There were even too snack breaks where they provided us and all the women with candy, Fan Ice and pastries. Fan Ice is ice cream Ghana style. It comes in a pouch and u bite the corner off and then eat it. They are delicious. They come in different flavors the vanilla is like similar to vanilla ice cream, strawberry tastes like frozen strawberry Go-Gurt, and chocolate is like frozen chocolate milk. Each one is wonderful in its own way.

Another volunteer, who is also called Katie, is leaving tomorrow. She came in the first group to come after I got here, so her stay was only 3 weeks long. It’s still kind of a weird feeling that she is leaving because she is the first one to come and go since I’ve been here. We all went to Elis and had a going away dinner for her.