Thus Far

So what have I done for the last month in Damanko?  To recall it, it feels like “not much” though I suppose that’s not really true.  In a nutshell, I’ve really just been trying to feel at home in the place, make myself a presence in the town, and observe alllllllll I can.  My days are not really filled with tasks, yet somehow the days pass.  In the mornings, I like to walk to the bridge over the river and watch the fishermen go out in their boats.  It is the end of the rainy season, so the river has swollen to twice its normal size.  Its flood plains have increased more than anyone can remember; it’s taking farm crops and submerging the water intake (which has been waiting to work, but that’s another story).  For all its destructiveness, it’s still beautiful.  On Wednesdays I go to the town’s clinic to help with the baby weighings.  In order to monitor malnutrition, the government of Ghana instituted Child Welfare Days throughout the country.  Once a month mothers take their children from newborns to four years old on a designated day to have them weighed, registered with the state for birth certificates, and given childhood immunizations.  All these things are recorded and kept in every child’s individual health book.  If a child is underweight, the nurse counsels the mother or refers her to a bigger clinic. This is a chance for me to get to know the staff at the clinic (all 5 of them!) and to see and be a presence to the women in the community.  Other times, I may walk down to the police barrier at the end of town to get to know the other police people since I have an in there with my counterpart anyway.  I might sit with the apprentices at the sewing school next door to my house and try to learn Likpakpaln from them or just chat with Simon, the teacher.  Other days I might travel a short distance to Kpassa or Nkwanta—bigger towns with local government people who have an affect in Damanko without being there.  Or I might devour half a book, or watch the kittens romp in the garden, or take a nap, or do a crossword puzzle.  Who knows?