Ghana

Ghana: a country on the coast of West Africa, where i will be living for the next 27 months or so....

Thursday, October 4, 2012

A Peace Corps Success Story: One Person at a Time


In Peace Corps, there are a lot of pre-conceived thoughts about what you should do during your service. They come from   your friends, family, Peace Corps community and of course yourself; you are your own toughest critic.  But what most of us don’t release until further on in our service is that all it takes to cause a chain of reaction is a simple conversation.
This is one of my greatest success stories to date: I am not a small woman, I understand this, and I also understand that in Ghana, big is beautiful, but as an American women  it hurts when someone across the street for me calls me Obolo (fat, in the local language)  to get my attention. The fact that this happens multiple times a day, from both men and women can get old, very quickly. I live with 9 other people in my compound, and for the most part, they understand where I come from and how they should treat me. After a rough day of travel, and just a rough day in general, I come home to one of the boys (when I say boy, I mean he’s around 25 years old) in my compound telling me that I look fatter and should do something about it.  I won’t lie, I lost it a bit, and in my sternest voice, explained to him that he just insulted to the highest degree possible. To an American, being called fat is not only insulting but also hurtful and painful. I wanted to make sure that he understood where I am coming from and that at my home, in my compound, I would rather not be insulted. He was very sorry, and pledged it would not happen again. In Ghana, you are never sure if they are really listening to you or just agreeing with you because you are white.
The next week, someone came into my compound and proceeded to call me fat.  One of the boys that got my little sermon the week before, stepped up and explained to the visitor  that in America, calling someone fat is a great insult and to make sure to respect not only me, but in the future respect other cultures.  I sat in shocked silence……did that really just happen? Did he really listen and learn to what I had said? Pure Joy radiated through my body; there is no other situation that could have made me prouder to be a Peace Corps Volunteer and an American woman.  
It’s these little things that make your service so fulfilling, and rewarding. You don’t have to do a huge project to feel completion and success in your service, all it takes is a conversation and confidence in yourself.