The Journey to Natural Hair #teamnatural

The journey to natural hair has definitely been a process for me. I've always appreciated that my mother had my sister and I have natural hairstyles. She learned how to braid our hair and also style our hair in its natural curls. These hairstyles continued until I was 14 years old and my mom finally agreed that I could get a perm. I was so excited because I was seeing girls around me getting perms and at that time I thought that stick straight hair was the most beautiful. When my hair was first permed it was past my shoulders but over the years of perming and straightening my hair it became shorter and shorter. I remember that it would take me about two hours just to straighten my hair; I have really thick curly hair.
When I reached my sophomore year in college I got really tired of constantly straightening my hair and it was no longer the length that I wanted it to be. So, I started wearing weaves. For the next year I wore various wigs until one of my friends said to me, "Why are you wearing weaves? Your real hair is nice!" I actually took this to heart and questioned myself why? I decided to go back to my real hair. By then the weaves had actually helped my hair grow a lot because I wasn't constantly straightening it and putting chemicals in it. After the weaves I decided to go to my natural curly hair. This was a process because my natural curls were damaged because of all the chemicals and straightening. Some of my hair was curly and the other parts were straight. It was frustrating but I knew it was going to take time. It has been two years of my hair being natural and not perming or straightening my hair. My hair is naturally black and I decided to dye it blonde. This took awhile for me to do because I had never fully dyed my hair. I remember walking out of the salon thinking that it was an extreme change but after a couple days I loved it!  I love my curly hair and I don't know why I didn't embrace it sooner.

Products & Styling:  I have 3C hair so my hair has really coily curls with a lot of shrinkage. I only really do wash and gos for now. I'm still learning different styles to do in my hair. But I did try to do twists and they don't work on my hair because they actually make my hair really shrink. I do wash and gos every other day.  I can only use sulfate free shampoos because it really dries and strips my hair. I also learned that for curly hair shampooing it all the time actually isn't good I use the organix conditioners. It depends on the time of year which specific conditioner I use. I use the argon oil and the morrocan oil conditioners in the winter and spring. For the summer and fall I use the kukui conditioner because it helps with frizz and my hair is really frizzy in the summer and fall. For a leave in I use kinky curly knot today in the winter and spring and mixed chicks in the summer and fall. On day two I just wet my hair and apply the leave in. I also deep condition my hair, every two weeks or once a month. I use honey, 1 egg, and shea butter. I apply it to my hair and let it sit for an hour and then wash it out and style my hair as usual. This really helps my hair stay soft and not dry. I also use apply cider vinegar once a month to prevent buildup in my hair.

Curly Hair Gurus: I often watch youtube videos of Hey Fran Hey and SunKissAlba for different styling techniques and products. I also follow CurlyNikki via facebook.

Enjoy!

Winding Down

Last weekend, I had an amazing time! I had a cookout with some of my friends from town. They prepared fresh fish, banku, and fried egg. It was so delicious! Then we went swimming in Lake Volta. Well.... I don't know how to swim for me it was more like standing...lol But they promised they will teach me how swim! Then for the evening festivities a dance off! Congolese vs Ghana! I won!!! They were surprised that I could actually dance the way I do. Final Round this weekend!! I will have to be practicing in the evenings! The term is winding down so it is getting very busy. Finals start next week so we are getting prepared for that. I'm also going to form study groups for the children so that they can get the help they need to study. Mostly for the study groups I will be focusing on the JHS. And very exciting news!! We finally have running water in the house! Wahoo! I must say I appreciate water a whole lot more!

"It's been so long since I've been on"

All you 90's babies will know my title reference! I know it’s been a long time! Internet access isn’t easy in Torkor that’s why I’ve been kinda quiet lately. I’m really enjoying Torkor. My stage 2 class is tough, they don’t like to sit still but I’m really liking them. We started reading groups in the evenings for students who need extra help/a place for them to study. So far there is 5 boys who come to the house every week day evening. Two,( Richmond and Kelvin) are in JHS 1, and the other 3 (David, Hope, and Godsway) are in JHS2. I’m really happy that they want to learn outside of school and are willing to let us help them. We started reading groups for stages 1-4. It started off a little bit of chaos but we got the groups under control. Assigned a teacher to each group and then Colleen and I each have a group as well. The children absolutely love the reading groups. They didn’t want it to end! We had a quiz bowl Friday, which was so much fun! There was three groups of three. The subjects were French, English, General Knowledge, Science, and Math. Most of the competitors were in JHS but one of them her name is Prisckilla in stage 3 she absolutely killed the French section! She knew all the answers! I was so proud! We had midterm break last week and I got to catch up on my sleep, tv shows, and did a little bit of sightseeing as well. My roomie went to Accra for the 3 days, so I was home alone. One of the teachers asked if I was lonely, I said no! I’m never alone, lol! It was nice for a day or two. And I had 5 visitors over the duration of break so how was I lonely? Lol! I went to the grotto which is a special place for Catholics to worship. There are huge beautiful statues. And when I say huge I mean huge! The place was so beautiful and peaceful. The only thing was that I got eaten alive by mosquitos! I’m really enjoying myself and I can’t believe I only have a month left! Until next time!

Sorry I haven't posted in awhile but since school started its been crazy. The teachers have warmed up to me a lot and are excited about the dance. The kids are picking it up pretty well. Only a week until the performance so I'm hoping they will be ready. In the middle of the second week I started mentoring students who really need help with reading. Some are 12 and are reading at a level 1. The students are willing to learn and even want to skip their breaks so i can teach more! Which makes me feel good. We had reading assessments last friday and it was not good. A lot of them are really struggling. Starting monday i will be mentoring 10 children in reading all different grades. The volunteer in torkor-kpando left so i was sent monday afternoon to help at the school there. I was supposed to leave tuesday afternoon but im still here! The children at torkor are wonderful! Really helpful! One of the kids Schneider picked me up at the kpando station and escorted me to the house. We met his friend Hope and they showed me where i could get take out. The next morning, the children from the school came with water from the well. I mean like 10 all carrying water on their heads. Two young boys Godsway and Confidence helped me to figure out the stove but they realized that there was no gas. I went to the school and the children ran to greet me. I entered the office and discussed with the director Bishop about all I had to accomplish. We went to the classrooms to talk to all the sponsored children to tell them to send their parents the next day. The next day. I ended up meeting parents all day to talk to them about their money responsibilities, 5 cedes renewal fee, daily feeding fee, health insurance card, and the difference the sponsors aren't paying. I also had Christian and Walter sign for their Pagus High School Awards and give them their scholarship money. The next day I met with parents again and Christian accompanied me to buy the provisions at the market. I also bought some flip flops since mine, broke in town and bartered for a couple dresses. The next day Thursday, we handed out the provisions to the sponsored children who came the first day of school boy were they happy! Today, (friday) me and Hope were supposed to pick up the new volunteer in Accra. But the volunteer Colleen called and said something went wrong with her ticket and we'd be picking her up Saturday instead. So i went to school and today was fun day. The kids were cleaning the compound and then they had a soccer match teachers vs students! Me and mavis and her friend had a dance competition with the younger children it was so fun! Some of them can really dance! The match was fun too the students won! Tomorrow to Accra we go! Yay, this Wisconsinite misses cheese and chocolate bars and potato chips! Until next time!

Basic Living

This week was an eventful week. I worked hard on the inventory, 18 boxes and I am proud to say that I finished them today! Yay Me! On Wednesday, I went to Kpando to work with the other volunteer John. The trip was about an hour and a half. It was my first experience on a trotro. A trotro is basically a large size fan that is supposed to fit 11 people but really crams about 15 in there. An interesting experience, especially since I made the mistake of traveling in midday. It was literally like a sauna! But, the scenery was absolutely beautiful. I arrived in Kpando and as soon as I stepped out of the trotro I was swarmed by people they already knew I was not from there because Kpando is so small and again I stick out like a sore thumb. I think they are less used to Americans because everyone stared more than usual. John and his two girls arrived and we took a taxi to the house. I thought I was living in basic living already, but nope I quickly learned. There was no running water installed yet so you guessed it I had to take my first bucket bath! It's not as bad as it sounds actually. Secondly, I was told there were bats in the ceiling and I could hear them at night so the first night I didn't catch too much sleep. The next day we visited the other school Bishop Forson and it was a lot bigger than Airfield. They have dormitories for the kids there unlike Airfield. Before I left, we went to Lake Volta during the day which was breathtaking.  The biggest man made lake. The trip back on the trotro went a lot smoother after you get the hang of it. Today, I picked up one of my outfits that was done in time for me to go to church. I really enjoyed the service today. School starts next week!

Stop And Smell The Roses

Unfortunately I wasn't able to climb the mountain today, we all overslept so we will have to go another day. I went to church yesterday. I'm still getting used to three hour long service. The pastor called me out in church, and I knew that it was bound to happen since I am a visitor that sticks out like a sore thumb! He asked me a question from the bible luckily I thought quickly on my feet, and gave a very vague answer that wasn't incorrect but vague enough not to be wrong! Lol oh well! This time it felt more like my usual mass I go to because they gave communion today. After church, I was teaching the kids dance moves and we gained an audience of passerbys. The kids absolutely love the dances, I hope the kids at Airfield will enjoy it just as much. Today, I am getting ready to go to market to buy some of my groceries. After, I have to do some inventory of supplies that were donated to the school.