For those of you who are not familiar with last year’s debacle…here’s a link: http://kimmieinghana.wordpress.com/2009/09/28/the-accra-marathon-and-some-other-things/ It was awful.  It was beyond awful.  I need a new word. And now:  Accra Marathon 2010:  The Rematch I’ll start Saturday, the day before the race.  There were about 30 volunteers from West Africa signed up for either the [...]

Long time, no write. Let me say, though, that I’ve begun several blog entries and simply discarded them because I feel like I have nothing to write about, really.  Ghana is so normal to me now.  So, so normal. And, now that I finally feel like myself over here….yep, you guessed it. It’s almost time [...]

Long time, no write.  I know, I know…I am a horrible blog keeper-upper. Again, not much new to report on my life.  I still live in Ghana.  My life is somehow African.  I go to crowded outdoor markets and haggle, I speak a weird language, I wear brown and khaki to maintain the appearance of [...]

So last time I wrote I was in America and promised to post pictures of my visits home.  My, my…how time flies. It’s been a while.  Let’s see…what have I been up to… Let me summarize.  My life is oddly like America, only I’m still far, far away from home.  And it’s HOT.  Melt-your-face-off hot. My weeks are [...]

Am i getting confused about where to go to the bathroom and having to stop myself from peeing outside in the middle of the night when the urge strikes me (yes…i would pee outside in the bush rather than make the 100 yard trek to my latrine)? And the answer is…no. Besides, it’s [...]

my dear friend, maria, came to visit me last week.  she brought her fancy camera and took some pictures of me during my last days in zoggu.  http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2039278&id=1051239038&l=24e2e5ee7c one week from now i’ll be in america!  i hope you are all well and happy! love, kimmie

Okay. So.  Lots going on right now. Let me first say this.  Thanksgiving at the US Ambassador’s house.  12 turkeys.  For real.  Here are some highlights (and some old photos from the village that I don’t think I’ve shown you…it’s a long link…you may have to cut and paste the web address): http://picasaweb.google.com/kimmieellison/Thanksgiving2009WithSomeOldOnesFromTheVillage?authkey=Gv1sRgCO-Zrf-UpYKwKQ&feat=directlink Spending a year in the bush [...]

Hello friends and family. I’ve added a link under the web albums tab with some recent photos.  I am not a photographer.  The quality is not good. I hope you are all well and happy! Sincerely, Kimmie

I ran a marathon yesterday.  Below is my race report.  But first, a few quick updates. The first annual “Zoggu Malaria Awareness Day” was a success.  Me and some volunteers I recruited from the village went door to door to 151 huts (there are 208 total) to provide basic malaria education (read “don’t wait until your [...]

Yes, I’m still alive.  Not sure why I haven’t updated my blog recently. Probably because there’s not a whole lot to report. Let’s see…First off…the “road” to my village is now a swamp (note the lack of quotation marks around swamp…I am not speaking figuratively here…it’s a muddy path that is now covered in lots and [...]

I finished reading a book last week called When a Crocodile Eats the Sun.  It’s a book about Zimbabwe by a guy named Peter Godwin (who is himself from Zimbabwe).  And in this book the author describes experiencing something called “first world panic” when he is trying to procure proper treatment in a Zimbabwean hospital [...]

I haven’t written in a while…that’s because there’s not a whole lot to report from my end. I’m still working the health education program. I’ve posted a couple of the pictures that I’m using in my presentations (thanks I haven’t written in a while…that’s because there’s not a whole lot to report from [...]

Dear friends and family, Last time I wrote I described to you Juakin, a little boy that was grossly malnourished. Here’s a photo of him prior to receiving nutrition therapy at the regional nutrition center Karaga, Ghana. This is Juakin today! With the help of some intensive nutrition therapy, Juakin almost doubled his weight in only five weeks. [...]

Things get real in Zoggu   Since I last posted a blog entry, things have gotten scarily real here in Zoggu.  Let me tell you the short story of a baby boy named Yakim (pronounced Yah-keem).   Yakim is 15 months old and has a twin sister.  He is the youngest of several children and lives in one of [...]

Greetings from the thriving metropolis of Zoggu! Am doing well here…blown away that it’s already March. But in Ghana, March often brings with it RAIN. Which, does it’s part to decrease the temperature (it was 104 degrees yesterday). In Texas I can recall many, many days of 100+ degree weather. However, I wouldn’t dare think about [...]

Dear friends and family,   I’ve added a link to a new photo album under the web albums tab.  There are captions to explain them.     Please note, many of the pictures show malnourished kids that live in my area.  However, while malnutrition is, of course, a big issue here, please don’t think that it’s all doom and gloom.  Many [...]

Just warning you…this blog entry gets a little technical.    So…Over the past few weeks I’ve seen several births. Since January 1, I think there have been almost 20 …pretty busy as far as African clinics go.  I thought I’d share my experience with you all…particularly the mothers and the nurses/doctors who read my blog.   “Delivery Room”:  [...]

So…I survived the holidays in Zoggu! Christmas came and went quickly…and for those of you who were able to get through to me on my cell phone that day… I love you!! And for those of you who tried but couldn’t get through…I love you too!!! So aside from the extra phone [...]

  So…what’s it like living in a small African village?  Well…right now it’s…well…VERY DUSTY.  Let me give you a “small small” (a phrase used frequently here in Ghana) lesson on the seasons of my new country.   Rainy season (major):  April to August.  This time of year it rains heavily almost everyday for long periods of time.  An [...]

Right now I am at the Peace Corps Office in Tamale and there is WIRELESS INTERNET!!!!!  I was able to add an entire album of photos to Picasa….click on the “web album” tab then “Monkey Sanctuary”.  A brief history on the monkeys…there is a village in the Brong Ahafo region of Ghana called Boabong Fiema.  A [...]

So…a lot has happened over the past couple of weeks here in Ghana.   I’ll sum up.   Ghana Presidential Election.  Very close.  The two most popular candidates received 49% and 47% of the votes.  63% of eligible voters voted.  In order to be declared victorious, one candidate has to receive 50% of the total votes.  This did [...]

  So…last week I saw for the first time the village where I will be living for two years.  The village’s name is Zoggu (or Zogu…depending what sign you look at).  It is a small-ish Ghanian village of about 3,000 people, located in the Northern Region of Ghana.  There are 10 regions in Ghana…and the further [...]

Dear friends and family, Many of you have been asking what I would like in the way of CARE PACKAGES. (and for those of you that have already sent them…I LOVE YOU!!!!). Here are items that I could use: M&Ms (they really do melt in your mouth and not on transatlantic postal trips…many of my fellow Peace Corps [...]

Hello to my friends and family! Here are a few photos from Ghana. Sorry it has taken me so long to post these. Internet connections here lack the bandwidth that I am used to in the States. Anyway…here they are: This is a photo taken in a village in the Northern region of Ghana.  It’s several women making [...]

Hello friends and family! Still alive and well in Ghana! My Peace Corps training continues. In addition to learning the language of Dagbani (it is the dialect spoken in the region where I’ll be moving in December), I’m also receiving a lot of education on basic water/sanitation issues. I took [...]

Hello friends and family. Right now I am in Kukurantumi at an internet cafe. Things in Ghana are going well. In case you are curious…here is a daily rundown of what my life is like: 5:00am: Succumb to the rooster crowing and wake up. Just FYI, roosters crow at all hours of the night (not [...]

Wow.  What a difference only five days can make.  I’ve been in Ghana since Tuesday morning.  I arrived here with the 41 other volunteers who I met in Philadelphia.  We are still overcoming our culture shock!  I can’t really even describe how different things are here.  Different…but really wonderful.  This experience is doing wonders for [...]

Hello to my friends and family!  Welcome to my blog! I am headed to Philadelphia tomorrow for my Peace Corps staging.  Staging is where I meet the rest of the Peace Corps trainees with whom I will be headed to Ghana.    On Monday, the entire group buses to JFK airport to depart for Accra, Ghana (on a [...]