Things my parents taught me: Responsibility.

I chose this quality that my parents taught me because right about now, I’m dealing with having lots of off, entrusting lots of it, and asking for more of it. Things are possibly the busiest right now as they ever have been here and maybe ever will be for me. I am travelling all around Ghana to receive trainings, lead trainings, buy supplies, and do other business. This includes traveling to 2 different countries (pending a military coup from ruining my trip to Mali). I’m implementing projects that have deadlines, and needing to spend relatively lots of money to do that. And the time that I’m back at site, nearly every minute is scheduled for something to be happen. Now I’m a busy body in most cases and like it this way, so this is overall a good thing but of course it can be incredibly stressful. All of this reminds how important it is to be responsible. This seems like a blanket term told to children and adults alike, but my parents taught me at a young age and have shown me how to implement it.

They would start out easy with chores. I’d be responsible for cleaning the windows and mirrors on our Friday night family clean the house parties (or at least that’s how they made it sound so it didn’t sound so much like work). Mow the lawn, vacuum the stairs, clean your bathroom. These and others were relatively simple tasks, but they were mine to take care of. When things were done well, I heard about it, and when things weren’t done well, I also heard about it. I was held responsible for my tasks. This includes the things I did that I shouldn’t have. I learned what it meant to be responsible for my actions as well and how to handle a situation when I’d screwed up.

Now we’re in Africa. Its getting to the point in our service where we can really see the potential of projects and see what would have the most impact and which have the greatest chance of success. The most important success for our projects is through the sustainability potential. This has a lot to do with responsibility. If we as Peace Corps Volunteers do all the work on a project we think is great, and then hand it over and it turns out it was completely our project and not the community’s, we didn’t do our job well, and have to take responsibility. However, if we can show some restraint in our busy-body Westernized work mindset and have most of the work done by the Ghanaians, then when we fly home, the projects and hence the benefits are still there. We’re just supposed to be here as the spark, the organizer, and bringer of new ideas. The whole “teach a man to fish” deal. So now I’m here in Kumasi, far from site taking on more responsibility as a trainer for the Natural Resource Management class of PCVs that arrived in Ghana after us. What makes me nervous is that this is a very important time for our tree nursery project back in Tarsor. A lot of work needs to be done to have it ready for the return of the rains. So I’ve left the responsibility of getting this work done in the hands of the handful of gardeners who are destined to take over this project when we leave. I like having control and really knowing what’s happening with my work, but I have to start to hand over responsibility even now.

Now its also the time of year for our All Volunteer Conference. One of the really important things that will happen are elections of officers to all the various committees for Peace Corps Ghana. Some of these committees include Gender and Youth Development, Ghana AIDS Project, Peace Corps Volunteer Media, and the Information Communication Technology Think Tank. All have important tasks that help us to accomplish the 3 Goals of Peace Corps (1: provide basic needs assistance for communities to help themselves in development, 2: teach your community about life in America, and 3: teach America about your community). But to be on these committees let alone be an executive officer can be a lot of work. I once again find myself a little overwhelmed by the opportunity to be a part of this and that and everything. I’m interested in the Food Security Committee, Volunteer Advisory Council, and our growing group of Volunteers committed to improving the shea industry in the northern 3 regions in Ghana aka Peace Corps Shea Volunteers. As I act somehow like a politician, I’ve been trying to get a sense of who is interested in assuming these positions and I find out I could have a decent chance of leadership positions in all 3 of these committees. Also, being here as a Trainer, I have a reasonable chance of being asked to be a Trainer for the next NRM group coming to Ghana in October 2012 and being gone for around 3 weeks. This can be great, or it could backfire. It comes down to responsibility. If I want to go for these, maybe I’ll end up with the responsibility of many PCVs and Ghanaians alike relying on me working my butt off. If I can’t commit my time and energy sufficiently to all the things I jump into, then I’ll have to take responsibility for these failures.

So I think back to my parents’ teaching about being responsible for my actions and knowing what I’m getting into. I’m excited about all that is happening here, but I also hate letting people down. Decision time is approaching, what should I do?...