We have great news…we were able to buy everything we all wanted (and more) for Timtooni Community School and Koko Duu Nutritional Rehab Home! This wouldn’t have been possible without the generous (to say the least) contributions from our amazing family and friends. Over the last two years you all asked if there were things you could do to help….and you did! We have two donkeys, a cart to fetch water and firewood, a merry-go-round, a see-saw and a swing set is on its way! In addition, we were able to buy writing books, slate boards, chalk, pens, pencils, teaching books, and Cameron and I had matching cloth made for the teachers and staff (which was very, very much loved!). To the Women’s Relief Society, the teaching materials you’ve made and sent (not once, but twice) have been a huge help in educating our students.

To both our Moms and Dads, Grandma and Grandpa Pearson, Uncle Kevin and Aunt Kristen, Shelley and Dan, Lindsay and John, Joseph, Matt and Irene, Eliza, Bryan and Shanna, Dorthalina Family, Jenkins Family, and Hiergesell Family, from all of us in Karaga....Naa wuni son ni tem piah, which is our tribal language meaning “May God bless you and thank you”. Words can’t express how grateful we are for each and every one of you. Your helping us buy these items for the school was just icing on the cake for all the support, love and words of encouragement that helped us push through when times were tough. You’re amazing people and we’re so incredibly lucky to have you in our lives.

Enjoy the new videos and photos...this is for you!

Wow! Can't believe that our WORLD CUP TRIP has come to an end. It seems like it was just yesterday that we were making plans and deciding if it was even possible. I don't think there are words for how amazing this trip went and how things seemed to just fall in place for us, but I will try. Our trip started the day we flew out of Accra to Addis Ababa Ethiopia. It was all 5 of our first time flying "business class" and what a time to travel in luxury. (A special thank you goes out to Ray for booking the flights for us.) At every airport we went to we received the business class treatment; moved to the front of the line and our favorite access to the business class lounge where we got to enjoy free food and drinks while we waited to board our plane. Our first flight was just over 6 hours and due to full reclining seats were able to sleep pretty well, especially after our 6 course meal (who knew wine and cheese was it's own course). We knew ahead of time that we had a 17 hour overnight in Ethiopia and were prepared to try and sleep in the airport. However, once we arrived we found out that we qualified for a free hotel voucher which, due to our business class tickets, got us a room at the Hilton. The following morning, after our complementary Hilton breakfast buffet, we flew out for Jo'burg. We arrived in Johannesburg at around 4 pm and hurried to catch our train to Durban. Beth, Cary and Shelley helped us through possibly the most stressful part of the whole trip; paying for the train tickets. When we got to the platform we were all looking around and started noticing that every person had a huge down blanket. Of course we're coming from Ghana and none of us had more than a zip-up hoodie (and Corey didn't even have that!). Hence, we started to worry a bit. After 15 hours on the train, frozen toes and wearing every article of clothing we brought we made it to Durban. We made a group decision to transfer the return train tickets to the bus (which was only 6 hours, heated and served hot drinks on the way, phew!). When we arrived in Durban our friend Joseph (who's friends with PC volunteers in South Africa) picked us up, took us to get bunny chow (a delicious Indian speciality), and dropped us off at the Durban High School where we stayed for the whole week. There was hot running water and comfy sheets....what more could we ask for! Joseph and his friend Charlie were another unexpected bonus and Moms you will be grateful for them. They would not allow us to go anywhere without them at the wheel. Anywhere we wanted to go they insisted to take us, whether it was to the stadium for our match or to the 6 level shopping mall or picking us up late after watching the match at the local pubs. Not one time did we feel anything but safe. Our first match was Nigeria vs. S. Korea at 8:30 under the lights. The Durban stadium is an amazing stadium to be at at night and we all were just aw-struck and yes, I think I even shed a few tears of joy and excitement just staring out on to the pitch jaw dropped. Nigeria lost but it was a close game. On the days that we weren't at matches we went swimming in the Indian ocean, visited the Zulu villages, saw a 105 year old crock, held a giant python, did some shopping at an outlet mall, and watched the other matches at our favorite pub called Booty (funny, huh?!?!). Our last match had plenty of hype going into the days game, but due to both Brazil and Portugal almost guaranteed to move on, the game lacked the excitement of others. Leading up to the match we were surrounded by singing and chanting Brazilians that made for an amazing environment to witness. Also, it was just cool to speak Portuguese with Brazilians again. This was truly a trip of a life time and after all the special treatment and AMAZING food we are finding it difficult to readjust to the volunteer village lifestyle.

This week the newest group of Volunteers arrived. Making us not just the old group but the old old group. This makes the end of our service seem even closer. We have some BIG news, but I will get to that in a second. We have enjoyed our village and feel that it is a good site for a new volunteer to replace us. There have been some changes to when new volunteers arrive, as you will rember we arrived in Oct, so the new volunteers who are replacing a previous volunteer will come to their site in August. We have found out that we are going to be replaced (and now for the big news)we have the option of closing or service by then end of SEPTEMBER which means that WE WILL BE HOME IN TIME FOR CHRISTMAS THIS YEAR!!!!!!!! We don't yet have all the details and dates but we wanted to tell everyone the good news. Kym is super over excited and can't wait to call and tell you herself. We are now in Tamale ready to watch the opening ceremonies of the World Cup on our way to Accra and then flying out to South Africa on the 19th.

We also took some video of Km's students doing some dancing!

The Peace Corps asked us to write a description of what we do in Karaga. I thought you all might like to know, too, so this is what we've been up to for the last two years....

Description of Service

For the last 20 months, Cameron and I have been living in the Northern Region of Ghana in the District Capital called Karaga. The population is around 17,000 and is continuously growing. We're Health, Water, and Sanitation Volunteers having separate supervisors, counterparts, and primary projects.

Dizem Bella Nutrition Center requested a WATSAN volunteer and this is my primary project. Here at the center we have the Executive Director/PC supervisor, two health extension workers, a cook, and a grounds keeper to help assist the many women and their malnourished children. The typical length of stay is 6 weeks where the women pay three Ghana cedis per week for food that is prepared for them, medicines, Plumpy Nut nutritional packets, sleeping mats and water. Each morning the children's weights are taken to record their growth progress and a health lesson is taught. These lessons include topics such as nutrition, HIV/AIDS, family planning, basic sanitation, exclusive and complementary breastfeeding, and the importance of using iodated salt. These lessons typically last 20-45 minutes and are ideally taught five mornings a week. In conjunction with the nutrition center, we started a primary school for the orphans in our village called Timtooni Community School. We currently have six teachers, all paid for through the Ghana Education Service and 120 students. Our family from home has graciously sent homemade teaching materials and USAID has given us a series of 25 Ghana-specific teaching posters.

Cameron's primary project is working with the Carter Center helping in the eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. He does weekly GW case searches, abatement of any source of water the people fetch from, and village volunteer training sessions. He is currently assisting in the Karaga shift of only Guinea Worm eradication to Trachoma education and prevention. The Austrian Government through the NGO Vamed is currently constructing a polyclinic in Karaga where Cameron has helped the general contractor in site development and construction. Our dam broke in early 2009 causing a major water shortage. Cameron helped reconstruct this dam, by hand, with the people of Karaga. He's also started a small Moringa farm. This is a tree that grows quickly without the need of lots of water, is entirely edible, and is used in animal forage, water purification, medicine, and plant disease prevention. His goal is to grow the seeds in small plastic baggies then have our students at Timtooni transplant them around the school and nutrition center to be added to the meals prepared for the students, mothers and malnourished children.

Together we've sponsored a "Know Your Status" campaign with a village screening of the Kayayo film (of village women and men becoming porters in Kumasi and Accra where HIV is a serious problem) , a question and answer program with the Karaga nursing staff on HIV/AIDS facts and concerns, a town versus secondary school football match, and free HIV testing. We've also just completed a World Map in one of our primary/junior high schools and are hoping to complete another.

Future projects, in conjunction with our continuous projects, are an HIV/AIDS poster contest at the Junior High School and an HIV/AIDS Jeopardy match between the four houses at the Senior Secondary School. The winners of these competitions will receive a new football sent from the States by Pat and Dave Griffith and the South Aiken Soccer Team.

We're also still pursuing the hope of a library in our community. This, of all our projects, has been the most difficult and tedious to carryout. We'll continue to talk with our District Assembly and GES in hopes that our replacement volunteers will have more success!

We're lucky to say overall our projects and experiences have been successful, even considering the frustrations and roadblocks. Our PC supervisors and counterparts are supportive and accommodating and our community members are willing to express their ideas, wants, and needs for change.

When we moved to Karaga we replaced a volunteer. She wrote this quote on our wall and I read it every day. It gives us the courage to continue here in Ghana for a few more months knowing that this Peace Corps experience will forever change our lives.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”

-Mark Twain

Kymberly Tuckfield

Last week Kym and I started a new project at one of the local junior high schools. The world map project is a popular Peace Corps project. It has been time consuming (which is a good thing for a Peace Corps volunteer) and very rewarding. We have both discovered hidden artistic qualities. Actually, the project is set up so that anyone can look like an artist just by drawing within a 3 inch block one at a time. The first step is to measure out your map. We made ours 5 feet high by 10 feet wide. We then created an ocean with blue paint and filled in the block. Next, we drew grid lines to create 2.5 inch blocks. In our instruction book titled "World Map Project" (how original) a page by page layout of a world map drawing within a scaled down grid system allowed us to draw our version of this great Earth of ours. Also in the book is a list of all the countries and their territories that all correspond to a color. So all that was left was an adult size color by number. We have all but finished labeling the countries and are thinking of drawing a Ghana map along with it. I have included some pictures to help with a visualization.

We're here in Tamale where they've just opened a new 3G internet cafe so we're taking advantage of this and posting LOTS of videos we've had for awhile. Everyoone seems to really enjoy these....so hope you like! Also, Cameron doesn't know I posted the video of him in Karaga, which I think is so funny, so hope you get to see it before he'll probably take it down. Kym

We've had quite an amazing month of April here! Cameron and I went paragliding with all our friends and had the most fun! I had a hard time suppressing the urge to vomit (I was "lucky" to get the pilot named "The Crazy Norwegian"). Really though, it was one of the coolest things I've ever done. Then we went to Mole and saw the oldest mosque in Ghana. Just this past week we were able to head down to the Volta Region to have a mini vacation where the Volta River forms a fresh water lagoon right near the ocean. Cameron was in bird watching heaven with the new binoculars my Dad gave us for the World Cup (thanks Dad!). After those few days (of hotel rooms with AC....wonderful!) we headed to Ho for our All Vols conference. We met with all the volunteers in Ghana for meetings and TONS of fun! We shared stories of frustrations and triumphs all while swimming in a pool and experiencing our first Peace Corps Prom. We're working on adding videos and pictures, so keep checking for them. Hope you all enjoy! Kym

A quick congrats to Katie and Matt. They've just welcomed their new baby boy named Benton. Can't wait to meet him! Also, to Kathy and Stephen, can't wait to meet Baby #2!

We have a couple hours before we head to Mole (the national wildlife park) with our friends, so I also wanted to add a new post (this is Kym by the way). Last week was one of the most emotional/amazing weeks I've had in Ghana. I was reading the book Mountains beyond Mountains by Tracy Kidder about the physician Paul Farmer and his non-profit work in Haiti. It was a wonderful, eye-opening book that I thoroughly enjoyed but made me feel, even though I'm a health and sanitation volunteer, that I'm not doing enough in helping the people of Karaga fight disease and malnutrition related issues. As I'm having these emotions, our neighbor Zakaria, who's around 3, walked into our compound with this huge, rock-solid growth on the side of his neck down his jaw-line. He wasn't able to turn his head and he was lethargic, which is completely the opposite of his personality. He's the kid who literally comes running into my arms every time I see him, about 10 times a day. So this is when I start having a small panic attack and start reading our Peace Corps book that helps us self-diagnose any issues we're having and decide it's a tumor (or something really, really bad). I walk to my other neighbor who's a nurse and speaks Dagbani (our tribal language) and make her walk with me and Zakaria to his family's hut to talk with his Dad. His Dad says Zakaria has the national health insurance (which only costs $3 per year) but don't have the money to go to the clinic. So Cam and I give them 5 Ghana cedis (about $4) and they all start to shake our hands and the mom is crying. The next day they go to the hospital and come back with some antibiotics and pain relievers and he sleeps most of that day. I'm still worried at this time because the growth is still the same size and completely solid, but am feeling a little better because he now has something in his system that might help. Literally the next morning he walks into our compound with this huge smile on his face (still has the growth, but it's smaller) and gives me his usual hug. So as you can imagine, I start to cry. You can tell he's feeling better and is getting back to being his usual sweet, crazy self.

Now the day after I first saw Zakaria's growth I started thinking about all the orphans at our school and whether they have health insurance, too. When we went to the States Cam and I told Lindsay and John (Cam's sister and her husband) about the "cell phone challenge" we were doing for the health extension workers at our nutrition center. We were leaving for 3 weeks and told the workers that whoever taught the most health education lessons would get a new cell phone from us (which is about $50). This is a huge expense for us, but we felt it was a good "challenge" to get the workers more motivated to teach more lessons. Linds and John gave us that $50 for the cell phone (which was so amazing!). When we went to the center, prepared to see who "won" the challenge, they both decided that they'd rather use the money for something better; more sustainable. That's when I asked my supervisor at the school if our students (who are orphans) had the national health insurance. We went and had the kids bring their parents to the school. Twelve of the students didn't have the health insurance (which is a total of $48), exactly what Linds and John gave us! We literally walked (I'm not kidding, 5 minutes after talking to the parents) to the place to buy the health insurance. Just like that, all our students have health insurance! Again, I started to cry. Linds and John, you're amazing, thanks so much.

It's been a little over a week now and the growth is completely gone and he's our little Zakaria again, running hugs and all. All our students have health insurance and our health extension workers are ACTUALLY teaching health lessons when I'm not there. What started out to be one of the most difficult weeks here in Ghana ended by being my favorite. It's amazing the highs and lows we have, in such short periods of time.

We had a great Easter weekend! We went paragliding for the first time, enjoyed a day at the pool (or half a day because a guy vomited in it...ugh!) and a delicious bar-b-q with some of our favorite people in the world. Life is good....

Oh, one more thing! I was just talking to Maria, who is also building a library in her village, and she was telling me about a shipping company her family and friends are using to send books over. She just sent an email to her Dad to get more details, so we'll let you know more about what they're doing soon. Thanks for working so hard to collect books, Karaga is excited about the possibiites of a new library!

Last week we were able to find out more about getting books for our library. We talked with our District head and he said he would get a carpenter from Tamale to make "very nice" book shelves and tables for us and seemed very excited for the project to begin. We also talked to the Ghana Book Trust to find out how they get their books and where. All of their books are donated from Books for Africa. So... I think that the best way to get the books that you all have collected would benefit the most if you sent them to Books for Africa. Though your books may not be sent directly to our village library, Books for Africa seems like a great program and would benefit some much needed schools and libraries. Here is their website to help find a drop off place for your books. We can't thank all of you enough for collecting the many books to help us improve literacy in Karaga. Thank you all and happy Easter.

We have now made it to America and are loving every minute of it. Great food and lots of family. Dawn and Thomas' wedding was beautiful and a blast. We are just enjoying the time spent before it is an other year before we see them all again. The first couple of days were a shock at how different things are after just 18 months! But somehow have made a smooth transition back to the fast paced life. We are missing all our friends in Ghana and can't wait to get back. We have a new link to our picasa pictures.

We just thought we would add a couple of videos to let you all see what has been going on in Ghana. The first video is of the students at Kym's school preforming one of their dances during break. The second is a clip from the Fire Festival. You can hear the shouting and even a cool West African wind instrument. It was all very intense, as you can see.

That's right it's Kymberly's 27th on the 27th. And it gets to happen far away in West Africa. We have had a fun Christmas and birthday for Kym, both of which we spent at "home" in Karaga. For Christmas our fellow PCV Andy came to stay with us to celebrate. We were given a couple of Guinea fowl and were able to grill them and enjoy and good Christmas BBQ. Kym's birthday started out quite but later turned out to be quite an event. Her birthday turned out to also be the night of the Fire Festival signifying the start of a new year. On this night the whole village comes out to burn whatever they can. Fire is brought to the chief's palace where everyone then lights their "torch" and we all walk to the end of town to dump the fire into the bush. It certainly made for an eventful evening and a memorable birthday. If there is anyone who deserves special treatment (i.e. fire on their birthday) it is my wife. Kym has been and amazing wife to have and a friend to be proud of. The amount of love that is in Ghana must of doubled in size when Kym arrived. She is so giving of herself to anyone in need and already like a village mom to all the children of Karaga. Kym you're amazing!!! HAPPY BIRTHDAY

We had a great Thanksgiving here in Tamale with the whole group (including turkey, stuffing and mashed potatoes thanks to packages that were sent from home). There's a picture of Cameron with Ana and Cat stuffing their faces. It's amazing that we've been able to make such amazing friends...makes us feel not so far away from home during the holidays.

After my mom left we went to the Green Turtle beach near Takoradi to celebrate our third anniversary. It was literally a hut on the beach, and we had a GREAT time! There's a picture of where we stayed below.

Last night was the World Cup draft and we found out we're watching Nigeria vs. South Korea and (much to Cameron's delight!!) Brazil vs. Portugal. If you don't know, Cameron lived in Brazil for almost a year, so I think this was his secret wish to see them in the World Cup. I don't think I've seen him this excited....ever!

We're planning to have Christmas in Karaga with Andy. It'll be nice and quiet, but we'll be missing all of you! We're so thankful for you all, and all you do for us. Happy (late) Thanksgiving and Merry (early) Christmas. Hugs to you all!

-Kymberly

My mom (Kym's mom) just left after a two week "vacation" in Ghana. It was an amazing visit, with everything from mosquitoes to canopy walks to Chinese food to tro-tro rides. First, I have to say, I've never been more proud of my Mom. This was her first big trip outside the US and she did great! There were times where I was getting nervous she might freak out, but nothing seemed to phase her (ex. having to use latrines, a pile of human poo outside our house, riding in a tro-tro cramped in with 20 people). We started the trip with me (Kym) meeting her in Accra, where she slept that first day after being awake and traveling for 20 hours (I was in heaven....we had an A/C hotel room and she brought a baggie full of Halloween candy and 3 tabloid magazines!). The next morning we flew to Tamale where we met Cam and our amazing group of friends, where she took us all out for dinner and drinks. Then, we headed to our site, Karaga. Here she was really able to see a "day in the life of Cam and Kym". We went to the nutrition center, school, polyclinic, and went for walks into the bush. This was by far her favorite part of the trip, and I agree. She was able to write in her journal, which I think was a first for her in many years (thanks Ms. Judy) and take a couple naps (again I think a first in MANY years!). After Karaga, we started to make our way down south by buses. We stayed a night in Kumasi (where she took us out for pizza with REAL cheese and we stayed at a hotel with a pool)then headed to Cape Coast. We visited Cape Coast Castle and ate delicious fish, lobster and shrimp (sorry for all the details about food, but we ate so well with her!) Then we went to Kakum National Park where we did the canopy walk and had a blast. After that, we headed to Accra, where we ate steak and fried calamari and for dessert had GELATO! It was a great trip and I'm so happy someone in our lives back home got to experience what our lives are like right now.

Mom, thanks for an amazing 2 weeks....you're AWESOME! It may not have been your ideal vacation setting, but you gave us a chance to see Ghana in a whole new light. We love you to pieces and we're so proud of you!

So here’s a special Holiday challenge for anyone willing to do it! Our village has a building that was built specifically for a library. The District Chief Executive (a.k.a. The Big Man in Town) took the districts’ desire for a library and made this structure, but it continues to sit empty. When we were walking by the building with Cameron’s supervisor one day, we asked what it was. With tremendous pride and excitement he told us that was the “library”. We decided we had to look into this “library” more. Thus, we went to the Ghana Education Service team and talked to them about what their intentions are and where they want this project to go (if anywhere). They told us they want this library, but don’t have the books to fill it (and they’re willing to help pay if there is an organization willing to support us). Being in our regional capital with two secondary schools within a 2 hour radius and multiple elementary and middle schools, it’s the perfect location to reach a large amount of people. If this project was initiated by us, with me and Cameron providing the money and books without their desire for and contribution to this, it would fail. This has to be a project that doesn’t need us, just our assistance to jump-start it. Therefore, we want to propose a book drive. We’re sending out this challenge to anyone who wants to help fill our library. Clean out your shelves; look in your attics and basements for those old books you don’t read anymore. If you’re interested in helping us, we’d love to have your support. We’re already being sent a large box of books from Darien Book Aid and are speaking with the Ghana Book Trust to help us, too. We have lots of failures, few tangible successes and a great deal of frustrations. Now with all that said, we think this project is worthwhile. This library can be a success, we truly believe it. Thanks for your constant support….we couldn’t do it without you!

Our address if you want to help:

Cameron and Kymberly Tuckfield

Peace Corps

PO Box 962

Tamale, Northern Region

Ghana, West Africa

So, I have made it safely out of the Volta and off the boat with only minor injury(to the boat, but I'll get to that). After a short planning meeting, I left to embark on a true Peace Corps adventure with a few other volunteers. I set out for the Northern Volta to travel by boat to remote and isolated villages to teach HIV/AIDS awareness and offer free testing. The District which the villages were in had a health boat used for such excursions as this as well as other health outreach services. We hired a boat driver and navigator to get us to the communities and the district HIV coordinator to conduct the counseling and testing. He would only "recommend" coming to the Hospital to those testing positive to confirm the positive test. I don't know how I feel about that, but it is an all together different story. In all we were 5 P.C. volunteers (Caitlin, Adam, Andy, Maria and me); and 4 Ghanaians (boat driver, navigator, HIV coordinator and translator). Our Program would kick off with me explaining what HIV/AIDS is, how they are different and some basics about the immune system. [One quick side note, at most villages our translator needed a translator as our program needed to be in 4 languages to reach everyone.] Next, Maria would explain how the the virus attacks the body by playing a game called lions and elephants. It is played as follows: 1 baby elephant (human body); 5 adult elephants (the immune system); 1 lion (diseases); 1 hunter (HIV). The Adult elephants would surround the baby elephant and the lion would begin to try to "chop" (a.k.a. eat) the baby elephant. Then the hunter would kill off the adult elephants until there were none left and the lion could easily get to the baby. Then Adam and Andy talked about the means of transmission and played a game showing cards with activities such as eating with an AIDS patient or having sex with out a condom. The cards then had to be categorized as "high risk", "low risk" or "no risk". Next, Caitlin would talk about prevention methods. In Ghana they like to use the "ABC's". "A" for abstinence - "B" for be faithful - "C" for condom use. She then played a game called "narrow bridges"where volunteers would have to try to cross a wooden plank and avoid falling and being eaten by crocodiles (diseases like HIV). Then a second bridge is brought out representing the use of condoms to support us as we cross the bridge of life. At the end of the program Andy gave a condom demonstration using a wooden penis, which received much laughter from the crowd. Throughout the program our HIV coordinator was offering the testing and we had at least 1 person test positive in each village. We arrived at a village one evening and greeted the chief to tell him about our program. The next day we found out something very interesting. It turns out that this community had two chiefs and two tribes who were quarreling over the fate of a thief. One chief wanted him killed and the other did not. This proved difficult to gather the entire village to hear our program. After our 7th or 8th village we were headed for the day's next village and while in the middle of Lake Volta we hit a partially submerged tree. After we hit no one seemed to do anything. I could see we were taking on water and began to bail using a nearby bucket. This clued in the rest of the crew that there was a possibility of sinking and we began heading for shore and the others began to bail as well. Once on shore we assesed the damage and saw an extremely large gash in the boat. It was clear that we were not going anywhere on that boat. After finally finding an alternative boat we left for home 3 hrs away. It was actually a beautiful night and we got to see an amazing sunset over the lake and watch a storm roll across the lake and eventually drench us on the 2 mile hike back to Caitlin's house. Andy, Maria and I traveled a couple of days later up through the Volta Region to get to Tamale. In Tamale we got some much needed rest and I got sick again, threw up every hour for 12 hrs and spent the night in the hospital on a IV. What a Trip. Some of the pictures should help explain how things went.

-Cam

Also check out our friends blogs to hear their side of the story and see pictures:

http://adammartyn.blogspot.com/

http://marlakarla.blogspot.com/

I will be leaving for an incredible adventure on the 30th of September. I am going to the Northern Volta to teach HIV/AIDS to 10 villages along the shores of Lake Volta. We are going to borrow a district health boat to travel to villages on both sides of the lake spending a day or so camped at each one. I am very excited to camp and excited to see how much the people know about HIV/AIDS and if they will be open to what we have to say. I will post pictures and let you all know how it went when I return. Site is going well and I am staying busy. We had our first guinea worm case since March and the first of the new transmission season. We will be picking up our surveillance, performing case searches and posting more dam guards starting this month. I hope the case is the last of the year and I still think this next season will be better than the last. The Polyclinic is coming along just fine. There are five of these Polyclinics being built by this company and they use almost the same crew for each. Our project has been coming so fast that we sent the rest of our crew to the other sites for last and this week so the others could catch up. Our big hang up now is our septic tank. Upon digging for the tank we found very large slabs of rock. Our current solution is to build a large fire in the pit to weaken the rock so it can be broken by hand tools. It seems to be working although rather slowly. It still amazes me what we do at one end of the site by hand while at the other we construct a "trailer" (see "cabin in the woods photo") with A/C, flush toilet, heated shower, and a refrigerator all with power tools. This is Ghana in a nutshell-- Western means with African methods.

I just wanted to write a quick post before the craziness of this month catches up to us. We've had a great couple of weeks at site. They told us coming into Peace Corps that the "highs" will be high and the "lows" will be low, and they've been right on the money. I'm sad to say that I've really put off my responsibilities with the nutrition center that brought me to Karaga because the preschool was taking up all of my time. We've had the last month off of school, so I've really been focusing on getting lessons together for the moms who come and stay with their malnourished babies. They've been going so well! I've been focusing on the importance of eating a variety of different foods (not all starches), malaria prevention (since it's the rainy season and the mosquitoes are ridiculous), HIV/AIDS prevention and awareness, family planning (I was at the clinic and a 26 year-old woman came in who was giving birth to her 9th baby, and only 4 are still alive), and the importance of breastfeeding. At first the women were quiet (my counterpart was helping me translate), but after the second lesson they were laughing and asking questions. It was just beautiful! The thing that always bothered me about the center is that we would rehabilitate the babies, but send them home without any proper "health care/food" education for the moms. Many of the babies (upon a home visit a few weeks after they came to the center) would lose the weight again and be right back where they started. I'm hoping to continue these lessons with my counterpart in the hopes that eventually he'll teach the lessons, if I'm there or not. It's nice to be somewhat busy....makes the time go by faster!

Cameron has a pretty awesome month ahead of him, which he'll tell you about next week, so check out the blog in a few days.

Being Peace Corps volunteers some part of each day is spent alone in "deep" thought. There have been many days for me when the work is going slow and my frustration level is high and my "deep" thoughts focus on one question; What is development? I want to believe that everything I am doing here is working and more importantly will continue to work when I am gone. I have just finished the book "Banker to the Poor" by the man who started the Grameen Bank in Bangladesh. His belief is that everyone possesses at least one skill he calls a survival skill and that by having this the poorest of poor don't lack training but rather they lack the opportunity to capitalize on this skill. I want to adopt his way of thinking and want to find ways in which my fellow Karagans can create capital with the skills they already posses. There are so many arguments in this book that I feel point out the flaws in the way that development is perceived and distributed by those of us in the western world. I would like to share a quote that highlights this perception: "Most people distance themselves from the issue by saying that if the poor worked harder they wouldn't be poor. When we want to help the poor, we usually offer them charity. Most often we use charity to avoid recognizing the problem and finding a solution for it. Charity becomes a way to shrug off our responsibility. But charity is no solution to poverty. Charity only perpetuates poverty by taking the initiative away from the poor. Charity allows us to go ahead with our lives without worrying about the lives of the poor." My dilemma is now whether my presence is just charity from the American Government or if I am helping bring Ghanaians to a level playing field with the rest of the "developed" western world.

We've had a great and productive last couple weeks. The Austrian Government is building a new Polyclinic (which they say is a big step down from a hospital, but a big step up from the typical clinic) in Karaga. There are many steps here, so we're just taking them one at a time! Cameron has been really busy meeting with the project manager and helping supervise at the job site. He's been enjoying this so much, since he's able to get back to the kind of work he left back in the States. At the school I've been trying to give the teachers some new ideas (they do the same thing, over and over, but the kids still don't know the material). Instead of the teacher pointing to the blackboard (with the kids falling asleep or running out of the school) saying "1, 2, 3, 4, 5", we've started to count rocks and sticks. As primitive as this sounds, it's been doing amazing things. Teachers here like to sit, but with twenty 2 and 3 year olds, sitting down just doesn't make sense. We've also been teaching HIV and AIDS lessons at the high school. We've had some interesting questions, but at least they're asking, right?! We're working on getting our district health team to come and test the students and teachers who want it. It's a free service, but most of the students are too scared to have it done, so we're really focusing on the fact that knowing is safer than not knowing, and that you can still have a marriage and babies with the virus. It's difficult for them, so we're trying to find someone who can come to the testing day to offer immediate counseling. We'll let you know how that goes.

About the photos, we had a blast going to Andy's site. He put on an HIV and AIDS drama in his village and it was a huge success. Most of the new photos were from that trip. Then the others were of us hanging at home with Asiyah and Sulo, two (sometimes) cute kids that live in our compound. The construction photo is of the new Polyclinic.

We hope you enjoy! OH, we want to send out a HUGE, HUGE thank you to Beth's (Cameron's mom) church ladies who put together a bunch of materials to teach with. They're just beautiful and I'm so thankful. We'll put up pictures of the materials in action when school starts up again after the break. Really, thanks again, you can only do so much with the sticks and rocks.

So... there is some exciting news that Kym and I would like to share with everyone. We have just bought tickets to two WORLD CUP matches in SOUTH AFRICA with some Peace Corps friends. The games will be next June and we are not sure yet who we are going to see, as it is not final who has qualified. We are super excited and just wanted to let everyone know so they could be jealous and look for us in the stands during the games. Our games are going to be on the east coast in a surfing town called Durban. We have yet to work out the logistics (i.e. hotel, plane tickets, enough money to pay for it all...yikes) but we can't wait!!!! GO USA!!!!!!

On a side note the poles have closed and it looks like clean shaven has won by a landslide with over 62% of the votes. So it appears that I will remain shaving for as long as I can stand it. Thanks to all of you who voted.

Things are looking much better here in Karaga. We’ve had a pretty tough couple weeks, so I’ll try to sum up everything. To all our family, we haven’t told you only because we didn’t want to worry you (because to be honest there’s nothing you can really do except worry!) but Cameron was pretty sick for a few weeks. He actually got malaria and typhoid fever at the same time. I’m sure you can all see from the photos, but he lost a couple pounds (I think it’s around 15, but he keeps saying only 10). He was taking all kinds of meds and we were in constant contact with our Peace Corps doctor, so we felt like we were in good hands. He’s feeling 100% better and has his appetite back, which I’m so thankful for. Then a week later I got giardia, which was no fun either. All our friends here have been so supportive and helpful, we truly couldn’t ask for a better group of people to be spending our time with. So, I just want to emphasize, we’re feeling great right now and hope we haven’t upset you be not letting you know (that’s really for our moms). We just know how hard it is for you not to be able to help, so we thought we’d wait a few weeks before we told you the whole scope.

Now, on to describing the photos! First you’ll see two of our favorite little guys who always hang out at our house (I think it might be because we give them candy). Then the next two photos are of a “clean-up Karaga” day we did with the villagers. We’re working with the Ghanaian Water and Sanitation Team to help start an Environment Club for the junior and high school students. We went with the group to meet our Chief (who has 22 wives…..and a lover…. and I’m totally not kidding), which is the following photo, to tell him about the project. Every morning and evening I’ve been taking walks out into the “bush” to have some time to myself, and the sunset photo is what I get to look at every night. It’s honestly one of my favorite parts of my day. There are a lot of cows around the area, and the “small boys” in the families have to sleep out in the bush to make sure they don’t run away (and some are as young as a 6 years old sleeping out by themselves!). Here’s a photo of a couple of them hanging out during one of my walks. Then there’s a photo of Cameron making (drum roll please) RAVIOLI! It was absolutely amazing (which I have to tell you we weren’t eating very well when he was sick because I’m practically useless in the cooking department). Next there’s a photo of me and Reubetta waiting for the storm to come followed by some cute kids coloring while it was raining. Then there’s me reading by candlelight on one of the many days we have lights out (we have electricity about 60% of the time).

So that’s what we’ve been up to, and I just want to say again that we’re healthy and happy and doing well (moms, we know we’ll probably get phone calls right after this is posted, but don’t worry!). Enjoy the photos!

Things are going great and the peak rainy season is approaching. Kym has been enjoying her time at the health clinic helping taking weights of the pregnant women and children and helping with vaccinations. She is enjoying having some days away from the school and working with some adults. At the school she has built a hand washing station so that the kids can wash up for meals and after lunch. As almost all meals the kids eat are with their hands. So this should teach them the importance of clean hands. For an update on the dam we are finished with the wall and almost the whole inner bank is finished. We still need to plant the grass and place stones in the west end. We are still working on designing the spill way, but will soon begin it's reconstruction. Guinea worm work has been slow thus far, there has only been 3 cases so far this year and it looks as if the goal of Ghana eradication could happen soon. One problem that I am dealing with now that has me perplexed is that as Guinea worm is eradicated in certain areas the Carter Center is going to phase out those workers especially at the lower level. This poses the risk that those employees will make sure that the Guinea Worm stays in their villages to keep their jobs. This is frustrating and we are working up some ideas to keep this from happening. Other than that we are having a great time and still miss you all.

GO BARCELONA!!!!!

Hi All, We've had a great few weeks in Karaga. It's been awhile since our last post, so we'll try to fill you in on the "latest and greatest" with the new pics. The rainy season has finally come....and not a moment too soon! In the first photo the kids came running to our compound to play in the puddles. They had a blast (and we did too!). All the Ghanaians call us "silliminga", which means white person in Dagbani. Awal, Zakaria and Hadija came running to us one afternoon, raising their feet saying they were "silliminga" too because the bottom of their feet were "white". We thought it was hilarious and photo-worthy! When Cameron and I first came to Karaga, we wanted to have some things to do with the kids, so we had two 1x1x10 sticks cut into "blocks", then we painted letters and numbers on them. The kids come every afternoon to play with them! The adults thought we were crazy and that the kids wouldn't like or know what to do with them....but they figured it out....especially when Cameron builds a huge tower, picks up a kid in "airplane" fashion and knocks them over. The next photo is of a couple of kids who had fun with some side-walk chalk (it's kinda funny, but chalk here is a form of candy, so they eat it, then have pink and blue mouths!). Then there's Candi (who's one of my FAVORITE little kids!) We had some frozen juice drinks and shared with her....it was the first time she's ever had something frozen and she completely freaked out!!! She couldn't even hold it in her hands, so we had to wrap it in a towel. After it melted she had the biggest smile on her face and was TOTALLY loving it! The next one is of me hanging our clothes in the house. A huge storm came and we didn't know what to do with our wet clothes, so we put up some sting and let them dry there. We've definitely learned to be innovative here!! Next is Cameron and our friend Ana at her village a couple hours from us. She helped build a nutrition center and we're so proud of her! This past week was Child Health Promotion Week through UNICEF, so we had a hand washing table built for our school. It was kinda crazy....I had to literally "hand-over-hand" teach the kids what to do with the soap and water. Now the kids are constantly washing their hands...it's amazing and I'm so proud! The last photo is of me and some of the school kids. The little girl I'm holding is Hadija....I keep trying to convince Cameron to bring her home with us! We'll see in a year and half......:) Enjoy the photos!

Well... it finally happened! I decided it was time for a change when I was walking down the "street" someone shouted out "Hey! Osama Bin Laden". After getting home I looked into the mirror and noticed just how long the beard was. So, I figured it was time for a change. Thus I came up with "the 5 stages of Cam". The stages are full beard, Fu "cam" chu, the handle bar, just the stash, and last but not least (after seven bearded years) clean-shaven. For the next few months I will have a vote off for your favorite of the 5 stages and then the winning look will get to be shown on my face for as long as I can stand it.

Yesterday was our nephew Tucker's 7th birthday! He's an awesome kid who loves legos, video games, Cookie Crisp cereal (remember at the beach Tucker....you ate the whole box!), and wants to be a professional snowboarder. We wanted to do something really awesome since we couldn't spend the day with you, so all our friends posed for this picture to wish you the BEST birthday EVER! We miss you so much and can't wait to see you soon. Love, Uncle Cam and Aunt Kym (or as Rylie says "Aunt Cam")

Hello Everyone! We hope you're still enjoying our blog. We added some new pictures....so here goes. The first one is a Guinea worm that was taken out of a woman's knee in our village. It was super long and not fun to come out. The next two pictures are of the dam that's almost repaired....and just in time for the rain to come and fill it up. Hopefully there won't be any more cases of Guinea worm! The next photo is hilarious.....really! We were invited to a wedding, but our neighbor Sapashinee said we shouldn't wear our "western" clothes, so he made those AWESOME outfits for us. It's hard to believe, but it's even funnier seeing us in person! The next photo are two of our students. Zanab greets me ever morning with a running hug and Alhassan usually runs screaming in the other direction (I still scare him!). Then there's a photo of a wall that was built for protection and you can see a bunch of our PC friends. After that there's me with some kids and Cameron at the watering hole with the cows and crocodiles....just a typical day in West Africa:) Then there's Cameron and the boys hangin' at the spot and a group photo of what a typical tro ride is like. Not too comfortable, eh? Last you see Cameron and me with our neighbors Assea and Sulo....they're too cute!!:) We're here in Kumasi for the rest of this week, so hopefully we'll be able to post some more pics soon....so keeping checking up on the blog. Enjoy!

It can't possibly be getting to April!!! Everything is still chugging along. Last week a Ghanaian friend of ours had us over for dinner. He is not from the Northern Region so his Dagboni is not much better than ours. His fiance was in town from Cape Coast so we were able to have our first couple double date. During the course of the evening our friend began to play us some of his favorite music when Kym and I did not recognize a song by Einrique Iglesias. His ipod on shuffle would consist of Phil Collins, Michael Bolton and Einrique Iglesias just to name a few. He is especially fond of Michael Bolton. It reminded me of a movie quote : "I celebrate the guys entire album...for me it just doesn't get any better then when he sings When a Man Loves a Woman". It seems this genre is very popular in Ghana. You can't go an entire day with out hearing some Celine Deon. Sometimes Ghana can be very funny.

This next blog entry is dedicated to Audra, our ridicously cute, hard-working little sis! Cameron posted a couple new pictures right below the "about us" section. Audra grills us about every picture...and what happened before, during and after the picture was taken....and we love it! So, in the first photo you see our friend Kimmie riding on top of the tro. On our way to our Volunteer Action Committee meeting, we were all riding inside the tro, but we feared for our lives because every bump we hit (which was one about every 5 feet) the roof was about to cave in (with all the cargo and people on top). So on the ride home, we decided not to test fate and rode on the roof (yes, we understand that riding on the roof isn't any smarter, but really, it was the scariest tro ride to date!) The next photo is where we went swimming....which was just AMAZING! The water was gross, but you have to look at the big picture in situations like this....we weren't sweating for about 20 minutes and that was worth the dip in the nasty water. In the village we visited they make the special dyed smocks that are a traditional outfit for the men in the north. Our friend Hannah and I got the hat Cameron calls "the Irish paper-boy hat" and Cameron and Ana got the more traditional Northern Ghanaian men's hat. What do y'all think about the beard.....I LOVE it!!! The next picture is me pounding Fufu (they peal the yam, boil it, then pound the heck out of it until it's a huge ball of Fufu). It's quite a workout!!! The next two pictures are men in the village dying the yarn and worknig at the loom. Then there's me, Cameron and our friend Catherine (we call her our baby sis because I couldn't understand why during training I keep hanging out with her until Cam said....."Kym, you know why you like Cat so much....cause she's exactly like 'Dra....and he's totally right!). The last photo is us having to cross the river by canoe to get to the village where all those photos were taken. So, that's all...we hope you enjoy!!!

I am happy to report that our dam has begun to be repaired. It took much coxing from the district assembly to get started. I half expected to have some heavy machinery to aid the work. Nope! All the work is being done by hand. I have been spending the majority of my days helping anyway I can. It is amazing as I work (intensely back breaking labor) I look at the women as the walk the line back and forth from where we are digging the clay to the new dam wall. They laugh and joke and are able to enjoy the work. There is little compensation, I think for one weeks work they receive one bag of corn/bean mix. I can't help but admire their spirit and how the everyday trial to survive is just the everyday. Last Saturday Kym came to the dam with me and was able to join the line of women carrying clay. They local drummers came to help motivate us by getting us to dace as we worked. It is a good way to let the community see that we are here to help. We have posted new pictures, some of the dam with the last bit of water and then some of the community beginning the construction. Kym has taken some photos of her school and her students. She is enjoying the work but she is We went to a neighboring village to visit an other Peace Corps volunteer for her birthday. She had a huge festival with a drumming and dancing ceremony. Kym and I got a chance to show our skills.

We are now fully into the brunt of the dry season and things could not get much worse for our poor village. The last rainy season was so much that it caused the largest of the dams to break. This has posed quite a problem for this year's dry season. The dam has completely dried up and we are all now forced to get our water from our bore holes and what little shallow wells we have. The proper demand for a bore hole is around 300 people per bore hole, we are at about 900 people/bore hole. This causes much stress for the community as some people have to jump from bore hole to bore hole to find a bore hole with enough yield to get water. WOW!! The rain could not come any sooner. We are in the process of getting funding and designing our repair for the dam so it may be ready for the rains. Kym and I are staying very busy as you might have guessed. Kym's school is finally running with out her constant watch, though with any new project requires much attention. They now have enough teachers for her to be able to teach health lessons in each and go back to being a health volunteer. I am filling my days with the solving of the water problems in our community and measuring water volume in others. It is a very primitive process. WE measure with just some rope and a stick. Both the stick and rope are measured by meters and streaked to calculate the length and width of the dam in order to calculate the volume. we are doing well and will upload pictures soon.

Well, we've made it to Karaga! We wanted to post some new pictures....we hope you enjoy!

Wow what an adventure it has been. Christmas was different as we had to spend it still in medical care in Accra. We were able to get out of the medical unit and on our own for a few days to house-sit for the admin officer while she was in Togo for Christmas. It was quite a luxurious stay. There were hot showers and a high def projection screen with movies. This is how we got hooked on "Lost". We were also able to cook our own food for a change and did not have to get "chop". For our Christmas dinner (on Christmas eve) we made beef tenderloin with mixed vegetables and bread. What a treat to have American food. On Christmas day we went to the newly opened Accra Mall Cinemas to see the movie "the day the earth stood still". It was nice to see a new movie on the wide screen. Our day outside the luxury hotel revolves around our food schedule. We wake up around 8, get breakfast check e-mail, get lunch, watch movies and then go to bed. Hmmm! Exciting! Because of the elections we are restricted from traveling and can not see much of Accra. New Years was a little less exciting. We rang in the new year eating Fan ice (Ghanaian ice cream) and watching Lost. Not too shabby. We just found out that our lock down has extended through the 6th of Jan. So we have a few more days in Accra. Oh well.

Training is finally over!!!!! We were sworn in as official Peace Corps Volunteers last Friday the 12th of December. It is a great relief to be done with our training and we are excited to focus on our real purpose for coming to Ghana. During our last excursion to the north I developed an abscess on my hip and had to have is cut out by the Peace Corps Doctor a couple of weeks ago. It is now healing "somehow", though the doctor wants to keep us in Accra to make sure it does not get infected again. Kym and I have now been referring to it as the "bullet hole" for its resemblance to what I believe a bullet hole would look like. After our swearing in ceremony we decided to visit a monkey sanctuary located in the Volta region called Tafi Atome. The monkeys were extremely people friendly, and though I thought the whole monkey and banana thing was a stereotype, they really do love to eat bananas right out of your hands. If you hold the banana tight enough they peel the banana in your hand and break off a piece. Kym was a little timid the first time but can now handle monkeys like a pro. But enough monkey business. It looks like we are going to be spending Christmas and New Years in the Medical office of Accra. So if you guys have any good ideas for fun things to do in Accra (Dan), let us know. Can't wait to talk to all of you soon!

It was yet another long journey to the north, though this time we were able to see our new home of Karaga. We had to stay over in Tamale for a night as the last bus to our town leaves at 3:00 and we got in (again against Peace Corps recommendations) after dark. We were able to move into our new home. It is a quaint two room apartment on a compound shared with around 15 other professionals. Kymberly and I met our Counterparts that we will be working hand in hand with and who will be showing us the ropes. I think that they may have introduced us to the entire town. We met the Chief of the village who has over twenty wives. There are very structured ways of greeting a Chief. First as you enter his palace, you must remove your shoes. You then squat or sit at his feet and next to his interpreter, as no one is supposed to talk directly to the Chief. Once we are in our squat we start to clap during which a plethora of greeting are said to which we reply "Naa". This take almost a full minute to get through all the greetings (e.g. How are you? How is your work? How was your journey? How is your home? How is your family? just to name a few.) Then our counterpart tells the Chief, through the interpreter, why we are here. Kymberly and I got a chance to visit the dam, the largest source of water for the community. It had recently broke and is a big concern for the upcoming dry season. I will definitely have my work cut out for me with water, sanitation and guinea worm. Kymberly will be working at the Nutrition Center for malnoursihed children with kwashiorkor and marasmus. It's intense to see these children, completely emaciated. We both had to fight off tears the first few days we were there. Also, we'll both (which we're so excited about!) be starting a preschool for the young girls in the town. This trip was amazing and we can't wait to go back home and get started.

Last week our Health Water and Sanitation group took a field trip to the northern region. It took us 18 hours to get there passing through the Volta region mostly on pot hole filled dirt roads. On the way we got to stop at a restaurant called Taste Lodge. Here we got to enjoy some non Ghanaian meals such as spaghetti, curried chicken, and even macaroni and cheese. We have now entered into the dry season and this makes driving on dirt roads especially fun. As you sweat you attract the dirt kicked up from the road and by the end of 18 hours you appear to be orange. This, we discovered toward the end of the trip when we all looked toward the back of the bus and saw that Andy was looking particularly orange. So he now bears the nickname Sandy Andy. The field trip was a productive experience. We were able to participate in "K" walks which are walking home to home to check guinea worm filters and replace if needed. The area which we checked has not had a case in over a month and seems to be on it's way toward eradication. We also had many opportunities to go into schools and teach health and HIV/AIDS lessons to various age groups. Kym and I are doing well and are anxious to see our site and new home for the next two years. We have been taking pictures and will not be able to post them until we can get to a Peace Corps Sub office, which should be in two weeks or so. Enjoy the cold weather just a little bit more for us :)

Kym and I had a chance to get out and do some hiking at an amzing waterfall. We even got to go swimming. It was very refreshing to finally be submerged in water. We are getting ready to go on a "field trip" to the north a similar area to where we will live for the 2 years. The updated picture is from that waterfall. We will have time later to send more photos as the connection is slow.

Kym and I have now been here for over a week, yet it seems like it has been a lot longer. Time is flying by right now due to the busy schedule of training. We are currently on a site visit in the northern region in a town called Tamale. We are finding out what it takes, on a day to day basis, to be a Peace Corps Volunteer. We are still getting used to the heat and currently the humidity as well. We can only imagine the incredible adventures to come. We have been taking pictures slowly and hope to soon have enough to post to the blog for all to see.

One last thing Kym and I needed to check off before we left Oregon was to climb Mt. Adams. We left on Friday the 8th of August and camped near the base of the Mountain. Saturday we left camp at a bout 10 am and climbed to lunch counter around 9200 ft. and camped for the night. We then woke at 5 the next morning and pushed for the summit, finally reaching it at around 10:30 am. It was not an easy climb but it was non technical so doable for a couple of novices. We are now in preparation for our departure to Ghana and our Peace Corps adventure. We have included a slide show of our Mt. Adams trip and promise that we will include many more slide shows while in Ghana.

Well, we have finally found out the where and when for our Placement. We will be leaving for Ghana at the end of September. Our Staging is going to be in Philly, and we are getting very excited to go. We will be learning to speak Twi while we are in training and then possibly another language once we receive our placement.

Hello Family and Friends! We're so excited to share this blog with you! We hope this will help us keep in touch while we're gone....and to make plans for you all to come and visit:)

This will be our first entry. It has been 8 weeks since the Peace Corps told us they would tell us our departure date and the country we would be serving. They said we would find out in 4-6 weeks...so it should be any day now. We can't wait!!!!