DAILY LIFE IN KONGO: NABIT LANGUAGE, SOLAR PANELS, FARMERS AND SCHOOLS

A month has passed since my arrival in Ghana. So many things have happened. I have learned some Nabit language, which means I can communicate with locals in the village better. It is absolutely mandatory here in Kongo to greet everyone as you pass by them, as well as ask questions like how are you, how is work. I love it.

Talking to locals makes me feel like I am a local myself. It is different in my country. We do not greet strangers. In fact we do not even look at each other while passing by, and smiling to a stranger is pretty much a crime in our unwritten rules book. I think I will experience a reversed culture shock once I get back home, because I will want to say hi to everyone and ask if they are married or not. And yes, some people ask this question right after greeting you, but this is just a funny joke to break the ice, which always makes me laugh.

The temperature is still super hot, but I think my body has used to it quite a lot. I still struggle with heat exhaustion some days, but it is not as bad as it used to be during my first days here. The crazy storms no longer scare me, in fact I find it peaceful when it is raining cats and dogs. I also do not get bothered by power cuts anymore. To summarize my adaptation period, I truly feel like a local already and this is all thanks to the amazing and kind locals and also the fantastic host organization that is doing everything they can to make my life great here.

In terms of my work as a climate change advisor, I have been working on a couple of projects now. To begin with, I have started talking to several solar panel companies about installing some panels on the ICT center in Kongo. Due to the power cuts that are quite common, it would be great to have solar panels on the ICT center roof, so that even when there is no electricity, local children could still go learn how to use computers. Hopefully I will have more updates on this in my next blog! 

I have also been visiting local farmers and speaking to them about issues that they face because of climate change. Farming in a 40 degree weather, dealing with heavy rains, winds and floods, plastics covering soil and disturbing the growth of crops were some of the issues mentioned by the farmers. I want to get a better idea of how climate change affects the locals so that I can work on finding ways to reduce the climate change impact on the local community.

My local mentor and I also came up with an idea to visit three schools in Kongo, set up climate change clubs and have regular weekly sessions with them about climate change. We have also decided to make a competition between the clubs to see which school is doing the best in terms of climate change knowledge. We are also planning to plant trees in each school with the help of the club members. 

I would like to emphasize the fact that some of the locals are already doing amazing things that contribute to improving the environmental situation in the village. The farmers I have been speaking to make ropes from plastic waste and sell them at the market which is a great way to reduce plastic waste in the village. Local children make ropes from tamper-evident bands from plastic bottles, that can be used as a decoration for example. There is even one food stand on the main road in Kongo, that uses paper to wrap up meat instead of using plastic.

So far, everything is going great. I am sad that time is flying by so quickly and that a month has already passed in this beautiful village.