Briana is in Kibi!

Hi Everyone,

This is Briana's Dad.

Briana arrived in Kibi, Ghana, Africa on 9/25. She's had a hard time updating her blog since internet cafes in the region are few and far between. The one she did get to was unable to connect to the internet. Fortunately the Signs of Hope volunteer that's helping her has a satellite phone, and she was able to get a phone call off to us soon after she arrived. We were delighted to get a second call from her today.

She's been teaching American Sign Language at a school for deaf children in Kibi. She was originally assigned just the 1st grade class. The local teacher for the fifth grade class hasn't shown up since she's been there, so those students have added themselves to her class also.

Briana lives in a home about a 20 minute walk from the school. There is no running water so she and her volunteer roommates go to the well every day for their water needs. They thought there would be a hot plate to cook on in the house, but that wasn't the case. Consequently she's going through her tuna supply pretty quickly. Someone from the school brings dinner into the volunteers every night. The food in Ghana is typically starchy (plantains, rice, etc.) with spicy sauces, fruit and meats or fish. There is also food available from food vendors for dimes a meal.

Because of the water situation, Briana decided to have her hair braided, but ended up taking the braids out because they were too uncomfortable.

When the volunteers first arrived at the school, the children ran out to meet them. The volunteers tried to show the students where they were from, but discovered the maps at the school were wrought with errors. She said a donation of maps or a proper atlas would be a cool idea, if anyone's interested.

The weather is hot and rainy.

On a sadder note, Briana witnessed a student being beaten by one of the school's teachers. The volunteers have been warned not to interfere in these incidents. In this case, the child was being beaten because he could not correctly spell the word eight. Briana said he ran and hid behind her to stop the beating. It was difficult for her to keep from taking any further action.

There's a whole lot more to tell, but she was unable to give us all the details. She's purchased a phone card now and can call for short periods from any phone. I expect she'll have a lot to say when she gets an opportunity to connect to the internet. This is about all the information we were able to get from her last phone call.

If you want to write to her, you can send an email to nanners89@yahoo.com, or you could comment on this post. I'm sure she'd love to hear from everyone. She did mention that this is one of the hardest things she's ever done, so hearing from her friends and family couldn't hurt. I'll try to post an address for regular mail as soon as I can get one from her.

thanks for reading. With any luck, the next post will be from Briana herself. Our thanks go out to everyone who helped make her service possible!