A pessimistic blog... get ready. (what's new there?)
I was annoyed the other day for many reasons. Let me start from the beginning. I had to wait for someone to come by to fix my locks (since my house was secured by me, not a real carpenter-- you know what that means). The guy who came, I guess I got him in trouble because I told my boss that it was not secure. I went to the guy the day before and he just ignored me, so what was I supposed to do when my boss called and asked if everything was okay? Right. I told him the truth.
Anyway, he could not secure my house that day and said he would be back the following morning. What was I supposed to do till then? Let me just say that was not the best night of sleep. Along with almost all but one. So, he left, there was still a small boy hanging around. The boy fell asleep in my living room. What was I supposed to do? I left him there and went out on my hammock to read for a few hours (thank you Sarah for the book!). After a while, I needed to take my bath. My bath house is in the back and there is no light, so, of course, I wanted to bathe before the sun set.
More children came by, which I was okay with, since I still had a good hour before it was dark. But then they decided they could go in my living room too. Fine. Whatever, as long as they did not go any further (which they did not). All of the sudden, the small boy told me (not asked) TOLD ME to give him my rain jacket. I was furious. Maybe more mad than I should have been. I said, "No!" and grabbed the jacket from him and took it into my bedroom. They all knew I was upset because they were quiet. I walked back out and told them they needed to go home.
I told the small boy but he did not listen, or did not understand. After about five times of telling them, I started getting frustrated, especially because they were starting to abruptly play with my hammock outside. Did I tell you you could sit on that?! Let alone break it?! I told them to get off, they did... kind of.
Finally, I got the small boy to get the other children away, but he stayed. I really needed to take my bath. So, since I tried, I decided I would take my bath. Sorry to his parents, but I tried to get him to leave multiple times.
By the time I got out of the bath, there were more kids in my back yard. Now they were messing with my garden in the back corner. I tried telling them to leave, but no. I know they understood me, I was speaking perfect Gonja. I even tried Dagbani.
Finally, a guy from the health clinic stopped by to tell me my supervisor wanted me to go to the next town over (instead of him coming to me like planned) the following morning. I asked him to tell me what the kids were doing and he told them to leave. I tried that. Exactly. And it did not work. What the heck?! Really? Am I really that big of a pushover?!
Well, the guy for the locks was supposed to come the following morning, so now I was in a bind. I tried to get a hold of him to tell him to come in the afternoon. No answer. So, of course, on my way to the town (walking about 2 kilometers) he called and told me he was on his way to my house. Will no one yield?! I am not made of rubber... I can not afford to be so freaking flexible.
Okay, I go back home. I do not want to deal with no locks anymore. So I call my supervisor, who is totally okay with that. Great. I hung around my house for about two hours while they fixed the mosquito netting and locks on my doors. Everything is great now. Another great thing, he dropped me in the next town when we were done (for free!).
In the meeting, I sat there most of the time wondering why we were talking about the same thing for about five hours. Yes, I understand that we need more commitment. You do not have to go on for five hours about that! I also sat there wondering when it would end. Americans have a weird habit of getting angry when they are hungry. Living off of bread for the past few days because they have not paid you makes you kind of aggravated (to say the least).
After the meeting, I was surprised to find that someone would drive me all the way to Tamale. Before that, we had to stop in a town and I got told (again) to give money to some kid. I said no, of course, and ignored the little guy. They should not expect that, especially since I do not make enough money to even support myself most of the time. That is what frustrates me the most. Other organizations or just tourists come in thinking they are doing something great by being here for a few weeks at a time, giving them money, maybe some supplies, and leaving. Where is the education? The facilitation? If they do not know how to use these resources, they are not going to. It's that simple. And the people that just hand out money. I could slap them. It DOES NOT help me. I can not give them that. All I can give them (which is ten times better) is skills and knowledge. They just do not see it because it is not materialized.
Anyway, I was going into the good about my recent experience. I was surprised to find someone to take me about 40 km to tamale, free of charge. It was amazing. I just met the guy and he took me all the way there. Just when I am annoyed with a lot of my surroundings, something great like that happens to make it all worth while. It was amazing to experience that. It is the little things that make it great.
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