Camea Osborn , Teach for America. Create a free website or blog at WordPress. A results-focused 21st century transformational leader and change agent with a proven track record of collaborative success, Patricia has assembled a versatile portfolio of hallmark achievements across a variety of educational, business and non-profit ventures that demonstrate an ability to create and implement innovation in start-ups and established institutions.
Loading Comments Email Required Name Required Website. Of course to the women here there is nothing abnormal or super human about their daily routines.
They just get up, get out, and get it done. As a foreigner I see it as an image that nothing is impossible and we Americans, perhaps African American black women are quick to limit ourselves or accept weaknesses that could be over come. The University of Ghana: Oh boy, I have no idea where to begin. Well classes are going well. Instead of complaining I try to write and process the experience. They were so very cool! I love the music and the art here.
Seeing these shows made me so happy I did not choose to stay in the West to study abroad because experiencing completely foreigner art is awesome. Honestly, as far as my art goes a lot has yet to produce its self. Names are very important here because they tell where a person is from and give insight into their family history. I am Tuesday born so my day name is Abena. There are a million people with the same days names because obviously there are only 7 days in a week.
When my program discussed this I was happy to be able to tell people my entire name means something and I know the history. Not to mention, African renditions of pizza and burgers are available at a high price.
The fresh fruits are nice too. The cleanliness and smells of things here are not on my list of things to adapt to so I deal with that daily. See you soon! Sunday, September 12, Crafts Market Visit. Imagine: You step down from the crowned mini van and walk into the swarm of aromas, people, and colors. Urine reeks in your nostrils like an abusive hello. You turn you hips to slip through the slim open among the heap of round bodies. You smile shyly and keeping walking.
The merchant follows you into the large, barn like construction screaming with color and sound. You hold your purse tight and enter. So yesterday, I went to the Crafts Market in Accra. The place is a huge area with several different stalls that sell everything from paintings to clothing. Sellers have beaded jewelry, wood carvings, things made from animal skins and horns, masks of all sorts. I wish I would have taken my camera. My eyes are so full of sights my head aches.
Immediately owners of the shops approach and begin to try to get you buy things. Before you even enter the market men and women are on the street with their goods beckoning you to their stalls. The tactic they use is first asking you to have a look. Then they attempt to pressure you to buy anything you like. Oh let me not dare forget to mention, race and nationality plays a huge role in how much you get haggled and or ripped off. For example, I asked for the price of a bag I wanted and I was told 28 of Ghanaian currency.
My Ghanaian friend on the other hand was told For the first time I feel like being black is a perferred in the space I live in. So in the beginning I was crazy enjoying myself. I enjoyed looking at all the great unique crafts, bartering with people, and attempting to speak Twi the local language. After a while you realize that every type of stall pretty much has the same exact thing and many of the sellers are business men not craftsmen.
They do not make the stuff they just buy it from where ever it is mass produced. If you look though, you are in for a debate with the shop owner about how good of a price he will give you. I am a bit of a spendthrift and I want to make sure my money last me the entire trip. My mentor has always told me not to make rash decisions. People want you to decide things on the spot so they can rip you off.
My dad has always told me not to. Sunday, September 5, First Village Visit. Village visit 4. This is my first time ever seeing anything like it. I was so moved so amazed so wowed by what God is allowing me to see and do here. I really did enjoy the trip. What we did was build water purifiers for a community that otherwise would not have clean water to drink. They have a pond in the village where people go to fetch water for drinking, cleaning, and bathing, and any additional domestic needs.
It was really dirty water that is also shared with cattle and anything else that wants a drink or to live in the pond. Our program partnered with a local water sanitation organization to purchase the supplies to build 5 water filters in this community. The water filter consisted of a barrel, sand, rocks, a mesh net, a pipe and a water nozzle.
The stones and sand act as filters for the water. The way it works is people put the dirty pond water into the filter and turn on the nozzle to obtain purified water. I suppose this is a proven science. Nonetheless, we were able to build three of these filters.
Our three water filters were donated to the school in the village for the students to have clean drinking water. Two additional filters are to be built in the actually living community in the near future. I had to use a mesh net to sift the sand on the ground to remove large stones and grass.
Then my group about 3 other participants filled a large bowl with sifted sand. After that we poured water from the pond onto the sand and proceeded to swirl it around. When the water was swirled enough times we dumped out the water, removed the top layer of silky sand, then added more water and repeated the process.
I was happy to help the people of this village though. I was constantly reminded that this is how people live here everyday but soon I would return to the bustling city of Accra and soon enough home to America. I realized that people survive under really bad conditions with little to nothing therefore I have nothing to want for or complain about.
We were told that these filters could function for up to five years. I also considered what it meant that we built these filters in a school. This school was basically a series of cement, open rooms lined up next to one another. How can students really be educated when they are getting sick from the water in their classrooms? Furthermore, since all the food is washed in this water as well what they eat and how they bath are all contaminated.
So the environmental and geographical issues of a place are imperative to the education of the people. There were a lot of kids from the village all around while we worked and it was obvious that they were happy we were there. Several people from the village came out to meet us, greet us, and thank us during this process.
I could tell that they really needed and appreciated the gift of clean water. The elders of the village approved our gift, accepted it, and invited us to dance with them in celebration. They also gave everyone a coconut to drink from and eat. It was amazing to see. The village consisted of what looked like mud huts with straw or grass roofs.
From what I saw most huts were one room square buildings with not much inside them. It had no running water or electricity. The key thing I want to mention is that these people were happy and enjoying there lives.
They were happy for the help but if we would have never come they would have kept living and making it. I admire their endurance. There were girls fetching bowls of water that held about five gallons of water. They carried these bowls on their heads up hill and to their homes. Three other women and I in my program Americans had a hard time carrying one of the same bowls together. These women and I believe women in Ghana in general were innovative, strong physically, emotionally, and mentally and self reliant.
This experience has my brain full of thoughts and questions. I realized today why the Bible says that we are our best in serving because when you give to someone else you are able to be empowered and strengthened. In serving you can see how much God has done for you and be humbled. I learned that the world is dealing with grave hardships and my being here is no mistake. What am I meant to do with the indescribable emotions I felt in those moments of cleaning sand for water?
I wonder why God has chosen to be so very kind to me. All these are reoccurring thoughts that are challenging my perspective of myself, my world, the world, and my place in the greater world. She released her first cd titled Promise Kept in August She is also the star and author of the one woman show titled Langley Street.
She aspires to use her art to inspire, educate, medicate, and create positive change in her community and the world. First Wave is an emerging leader on the national hip-hop theater scene, pushing the boundaries of poetry, dance, and theatre. She will graduate with a Bachelor of Arts degree in English from the University of Wisconsin Madison with an concentration in creative writing in May
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