Terribly sorry I've been lacking here, but I've been a busy woman.

This past week I took a little self proclaimed fall break and went to Europe for a week to travel and see Jeff. We met in Amsterdam and stayed there for 3 nights on this cute little boat hostel. We had a tiny little room with two tiny little bunks, but it was a great location and really cool to stay on a boat. They also had delicious breakfast. We then decided to head to Luxembourg for two nights and Brussels for our last night. It was quite the whirlwind of a trip, but I got to see some more cities, and Jeff, so it was fantastic. It wasn't exactly a "vacation" per se, however, I did get a break from the heat and the cockroaches so I think it was a success.

Besides that little European interlude, I've been going to classes and also working at my internship at Self Help Initiative Support Services (SISS).
SISS basically provides skills trainings for people in the slum Agbogbloshie in Accra. These include catering and IT classes, accompained by personal development courses about various topics including fitness, hygiene, etc.
It's been a very frustrating experience so far. There is very little stable leadership and little to no organization. Most of the work we have to do is on our own time, and because I live with a family, I have very little access to internet. Not only that, but we have to figure things out completely on our own. We are told to make a fundraising strategy and a grant proposal and a million other things, yet we have no guidance whatsoever. We are just thrust into the chaos that is Ghana and told to figure it out. Luckily, we interns have eachother, and are working really well together and figuring things out somewhat. We are getting some things done, but they are things one would assume would already be done, especially with years and years of interns past.

We have however gone into the actual slum and it was very overpowering. Just seeing where and how these people live makes you feel so guilty for not doing more. The river of sewage "flowing" down the middle of the slum not only makes me want to vomit, but also to cry for the state of their lives and the little power I have to change it. I felt so much responsibility for these people but just so helpless because my powers are just so small and inconsequential. Even working at SISS doesn't make me feel like I'm really helping them. I know we're providing them with really good skills to help them make a living and get out of the slum, and that is great for long term improvement, but I just wish we could relocate them to a sanitary living space and give them their basic rights. I've just never seen poverty this poor.

People think that the tribes that live in the huts in the rural areas of Africa and other developing countries are poor. And they may be, but on our standards. They don't have electricity and television and high speed internet, but they're living highly sustainable lives where they grow what they need and the community works together to solve their issues. They are not the ones who need help. Urban poverty is so much worse and is in need of so much more. These people have nothing. I witnessed a child pee in the street because there really is nowhere else for him to go. Not to mention that these slums are technically on government land so occasionally the government will randomly invade and burn down or bulldoze establishments. That on top of things is getting these people nowhere.

I know that what SISS is doing is a great step but I really feel like the entire system of Ghana is just screwing everybody over. As I've stated so many times before, Ghana is completely unorganized and chaotic and it echoes throughout every part of this country. It cannot run smoothly and it won't until someone can successfully change the way it is run.
But that is only part of the problem. It is so interwoven and involves so many aspects and different people that because of the chaotic state it is in, I feel like it would be essentially impossible because the chaos has gone too far.

I know it is a very cynical view of the state of Ghana right now, but seeing a slum can really change one's outlook.