Adaklu-Have, my new home

March 25th, 2009 by Elias Parisca

I arrived at around 2pm, and you could swear the Sun is about a mile away. The climate reminds me of Charallave in Venezuela or Miami in August. We finally arrived at my new, very humble home for the next month. Got my own nice little room, with a foam bed on the floor and a desk. The bathroom is a room with four walls and a drain, used for bathing and urinating. Then there’s the outhouse, which is a little hut about 10 meters from the house. Inside, there is a box with a hole. I’ll spare the details, but I’ll describe it as “stressful”, though I’m getting used to it.

This small village about 40 minutes away from Ho, down a dirt road, full of rocks and potholes. The population is at about 1,000 people, mostly farmers of maiz, yam, ground nuts and casava. As I walk the streets, I can’t help the feeling that people realize I’m not from around here. This was a little surprising at first. I bought a local hat and often wear a Ghanaian flag as a bandana, so it must be the glasses, must be. Or perhaps there’s something else? Kids can’t help but stare at me and smile while they all yell “yevu! yevu! yevu!” meaning, “white man”. Despite my best efforts to blend, I still stick out like a sore thumb.