Saturday, June 23, 2007

long overdue-sorry

Sorry for the long periods between my updates. It is not easy to get out of my site and use internet and when I do I usually only have enough time to reply and send emails. Many people have asked questions about what the culture and daily life is like here so I will try and describe the life here. I am likely to forget many things since I have grown accustomed to the life here and the things that may have struck me as odd at first have become normal to me now. Although I may forget some things I also have a better sense of the culture now that I am in my ninth month of being in Ghana.

In the rural areas it is predominately farming communities and right now we are getting into the farming season. People have been plowing their fields by hand and now after the last rain many people are starting to sow. I am also going to have a garden, but am taking a little while to get my field plowed. There is also a lot of livestock, especially up north where I am at. At any given time of day I can open my front door and see itleast thirty animals-goats, sheep, cows, etc. Often when I am riding to town, which from my house is about two miles, I see several people riding bicycles with three or so goats tied to the back of their bike and maybe carrying chickens in one hand also. I have also grown accustomed to riding my bike with one hand on the handle bars and the other holding two chickens, but I have bought a woven basket and now I put them in their and tie it to the back of my bicyle.

The food was probably the hardest for me to get used to. It is hard to describe since it is unlike anything that I have eaten back home. During training I probably lost about ten or more pounds due to the time that it took me to get used to the food. Since I have been at site I have gained it all back-I think-it is hard to picture what I looked like even when I look at pictures. There was also about a three week period where I got sick at site from eating cow meat from the butcher and lost about 10 pounds. The butcher is someone who kills a cow each morning outside and then chops it up based on how much you want. I think I got sick due to the meat being outside in the heat all day. As far as groceries I can usually get the necessities in town and on market days.

The house that I live in is more of a modern style Ghanaian house but the houses here in the Upper East part of Ghana are predominately mud huts that are built in a round compound with several mud huts built inside. When you go into a compound like this it can be hard to find your way around because it can be like a maze walking through it. My house is pretty nice with running water and electricity about half the time, the only downside is that the roof leaks pretty bad-so I’m trying to get that fixed.

I buy most everything I need at the market which is held every three days at the market square. The vegetables, food, and other goods are either laid out on mats on the ground or on tables. This is where I usually speak the local language the most and sometimes you really have to bargain with them to get a good price-especially being white, although it is not as bad as it is in the south.

Where I live many people dress traditionally but often there is a cross between the traditional clothes and modern styles. The traditional clothes are very bright with many colors and various designs. There is also a traditional type of clothe called Kente which is really nice and amazing to watch being made. There are different types of Kente depending on the region that you are in, but the biggest difference is between the Northern style and the Southern. Kente is probably the best traditional good that you could buy here and it is very unique to Ghana.

As far as entertainment there really isn’t much. The kids love football and play all the time, even though their ball is usually completely flat, or one that is home made. As for myself I usually listen to the BBC in the morning and the radio in the evening and read a lot. My neighbor has a television, but Ghanaian television is really hard to watch.

The people are usually really nice here, especially where I’m stationed. They are very hospitable and will go well out of their way to help you. Down south they can be really aggressive and try and rip you off because your white-especially in Kumasi which is probably my least favorite place in Ghana yet.

The poverty can be pretty extreme, although it you are a tourist coming here it could be hard to see. The government is really corrupt and when the aid comes in it usually goes to the big cities or into their pockets with the rural areas getting left out. The corruption is probably one of the, if not the most frustrating things here.

The transportation is pretty sketchy. When traveling I am usually crammed into a small van with about 15-20 other people. Many of the roads here are dirt and are marked by many potholes that will leave you feeling numb. The transportation options are either a taxi, line or drop, a line is one that is shared with other people and is cheaper than a drop. A drop is one that you charter and will take you right to your destination. Then there is a tro tro, this is a small van or bus that is crammed completely full of people, this is my usual choice because it is cheap and you don’t need to buy a ticket in advance. Then there is STC buses, which are similar to a greyhound, comfortable the downside is you have to usually buy your ticket in advance.

If there is anything else that you want to know just send me an e-mail. As far as my projects and what I have been up to I will give you a brief description of each of my projects.

Moringa Tree Project: Moringa is an extremely nutritious tree that grows very well in tropical and dry areas such as Ghana. Little has been known previously about this tree but it has been gaining popularity lately in Africa for it’s nutritional value and how easy it is to grow. I am planting this tree with a nutritional clinic for malnourished children so they can benefit from the nutritional value and when the tree produces pods they can nurse them and then sell the seedlings. I am also planting the tree with two other NGOs in the area.

Sandema Resource Center: The Sandema Resource Center is a computer center that the previous volunteer set up. My invovlment is with business advice and business/strategic planning.

People with Dissabilities Association: The disabled in Ghana are extremely looked down upon. It is considered very shameful for a person to have a disabled child here and traditionally if a parent had a disabled child they were told to either let it die or to confine it to the families compound. The founder of this organization is a very inspirational and amazing person. He was never allowed to leave his families house until he was 24. He has never even any formal schooling, not even primary one. When he was 24 after fighting for his rights in his family finally was allowed to leave and attended a literacy class where he learned to read and write Buli the local language, after that he went to an English literacy class but dropped out when he realized he could learn faster than the classes pace and he tought himself the rest. He then went to a vocational school at the Bolga Rehabilitation Center where he learned leatherware. While he was there he also met the disabled association in Bolga and when he returned to Sandema started the disabled association in the Builsa district.

With this association I do a variety of things. I help give business and organizational advice to members and the association as a whole as well as planning. The primary focus though has been in trying to develop a proposal to build a vocational school on their property. They want to be able to train their members in the district and have a center where they can stay while in the training. Currently they have been sending members to the Bolga Rehabilitation Center which has been very costly with the school fees, food, transportation and lodging expenses. By having a vocational school on their property they could greatly increase their ability to train the disabled in a trade and become self-sufficient.

Disabled Athletes Association: This is a project that I have started with an NGO Presby CBR and the Disabled Assoication. I wanted to teach the disabled in my district, starting with the children, how to play sports. This is something that most people here never thought possible but I want to show them that they have the ability and try and start a team or teams in my area. Last month I traveled down south to Koforidua and met with Emmanuel who has an NGO called Emmanuel’s Orgainization for Disabled Athletes. He is the same Emmanuel who rode around Ghana with one leg (610 kilometers) in 10 days to advocate disabled rights. There was a documentary that you can rent at any video store called Emmanuel’s Gift narrated by Oprah Winfrey about him. He was extremely nice and gave me some good information on my project and will likely be someone I will go to for advice throughout my two years.

Well, in other news I just got over malaria this last week and am now on vacation. I’m going to Cape Coast and Kakum to celebrate my birthday.

I think that is about it--again let me know if there is something in particular you want to know.

Peace