I've just setup my new blog for my next adventures (Europe for now) and so this will be the last post.
Sorry for not writing about politics in Ghana, which I've promised quite a few times I think. If you're really interested just ask me, whenever you meet me; I'll gladly talk about it.
New blog:
http://severalnations.blogspot.com/
I've also just developed the last couple of photos, but I'll publish them on my new blog once I've scanned them, which might possibly not be before September.
Cheerioh
Simon
THE END
Wednesday 24 June 2009
Three is the magic number (Average day)
Getting home I got a nice lunch. Usually it was a fruit salad (pineapple, orange and banana), plantain with beans or some sweet buiscuits with a mineral (i.e. coke, sprite or fanta). I always hoped it would be the first one, because it was the most refreshing in the middle of a hot day. The last one I always dreaded because it was neither filling nor refreshing and the mineral was usually slightly warm...
During the afternoon I didn't do much; just relaxing and reading; listening to BBC world on my solar powered radio/ listening to scrambling noise during cloudy intervals and when the shadow caught up with the radio... That kinda stuff
As mentioned before, I had two German compoundmates, which was great for me, not necesseraly to talk German, but to have akind of family. The Ghanians don't have the same sense for that as we Europeans do: Sitting down for dinner, talking about the day... Oh no, they would get there dinner whenever the go to the kitchen and then they just go and sit somewhere to eat (often alone).
On Wednesday's it was market day and we (volunteers from the village) would go and shop. The girls usually got some cloth or something else to work on during afternoons. Typical, ey?
I only once bought way more salt than I needed and a machete. Again: Typical, isn't it?
After dinner we or the girls from the other houses would often come over and chat. Not very different from home when I think about it...
Bedtime was fairly early, because there wasn't much to do I had to get up the next day.
During the afternoon I didn't do much; just relaxing and reading; listening to BBC world on my solar powered radio/ listening to scrambling noise during cloudy intervals and when the shadow caught up with the radio... That kinda stuff
As mentioned before, I had two German compoundmates, which was great for me, not necesseraly to talk German, but to have akind of family. The Ghanians don't have the same sense for that as we Europeans do: Sitting down for dinner, talking about the day... Oh no, they would get there dinner whenever the go to the kitchen and then they just go and sit somewhere to eat (often alone).
On Wednesday's it was market day and we (volunteers from the village) would go and shop. The girls usually got some cloth or something else to work on during afternoons. Typical, ey?
I only once bought way more salt than I needed and a machete. Again: Typical, isn't it?
After dinner we or the girls from the other houses would often come over and chat. Not very different from home when I think about it...
Bedtime was fairly early, because there wasn't much to do I had to get up the next day.
Thursday 16 April 2009
Back To School Part II (the average day)
First of all sorry for not writing for sooo long; I have a thousand excuses up my sleeve, but I'm not gonna trouble you with those. The sleeve by the way is made out of Ghanaian kente cloth at the time of writing, On my last day, I left in a hurry so I went to the African market for a shopping spree. After lots of haggling and bargaining with the vendors, I bought a necklace made out of black stone, a sole-fisher-in-the-middle-of-lake-when-the-sun-goes-down painting; you know those beautiful ones?!, a cotton Ghana flag, 12 yards of kente cloth and two wooden masks. I had two shirts made out of the kente cloth - one long-sleeve and a short sleeve - and it cost me bloody 50 euros EACH; I'm really angry about that because in Ghana it would have cost me 5 euros all together, or nothing at all if my host mother had made it...
Anyway, after breakfast I made my way to the school. The walk was about 15 minutes and consisted of walking on dust roads and small paths through compounds and bush. While listening to the music on my mobile phone, I always greated the people in the chop bar half way to the school. The greetings were just the basic "Good morning" and "How are you", but I got to practice some Twi and the women and children were always happy to see me, now that's - if ever there is such a thing - positivs racism; they definitely weren't happy to see because of my personality. Not that I'm an asshole or anything, I jus never got to distance within 10m of the chop bar, so they never got no know me... Well, you know what I mean anyway, I guess...
Since I didn't have my headphones for the first weeks and after that I got used to it, I played the music on my mobile out loud. Something that is absolutely and utterly forbidden near any person in London. In Ghana however, nobody gave a shit franticly. Primarily because the people there are used to the noise. Lots of people in their compounds had their radio on anyway and only raised their heads to watch a white person passing by.
Upon arrival at scool, I received the first "Good-morning-Mr-Simon"s and proceded to the teachers' office, something not every school has. Either there or in the shade of the trees I spent most of my ...eh... "working" day. Sitting on a bamboo bench or on a chair, I read, talked to fellow teachers or students or just relaxed and dreamed away. I already told you about the discussion about god and stuff I had with the other teachers, but the funniest/ scariest conversation I had was with the English teacher. First of all: She's in her early 30s (I'm guessing), is quite large and has a baby. I don't think any 18 year male from Europe would even think about anything more than a friendship. Neither did I, however during that specific conversation she tried to convince me to have a Ghanaian girlfriend. What followed in that day and the days after that were SMS wishing me a happy Valentine's day and so on. I wonder how that would have developed had I not left the country. I also received some marriage proposals by women I had never met before...
The (few) math classes (I had) were the best. After all, that's one of my favourite subjects. After the first two lessons I knew how to handle the 40-60 children in one class. And later on, some pupil's asked me to take over their math's classes because I expained it better than their teacher:) English didn't go that great...
Between 12 and 2 I headed home.
To be continued...
Anyway, after breakfast I made my way to the school. The walk was about 15 minutes and consisted of walking on dust roads and small paths through compounds and bush. While listening to the music on my mobile phone, I always greated the people in the chop bar half way to the school. The greetings were just the basic "Good morning" and "How are you", but I got to practice some Twi and the women and children were always happy to see me, now that's - if ever there is such a thing - positivs racism; they definitely weren't happy to see because of my personality. Not that I'm an asshole or anything, I jus never got to distance within 10m of the chop bar, so they never got no know me... Well, you know what I mean anyway, I guess...
Since I didn't have my headphones for the first weeks and after that I got used to it, I played the music on my mobile out loud. Something that is absolutely and utterly forbidden near any person in London. In Ghana however, nobody gave a shit franticly. Primarily because the people there are used to the noise. Lots of people in their compounds had their radio on anyway and only raised their heads to watch a white person passing by.
Upon arrival at scool, I received the first "Good-morning-Mr-Simon"s and proceded to the teachers' office, something not every school has. Either there or in the shade of the trees I spent most of my ...eh... "working" day. Sitting on a bamboo bench or on a chair, I read, talked to fellow teachers or students or just relaxed and dreamed away. I already told you about the discussion about god and stuff I had with the other teachers, but the funniest/ scariest conversation I had was with the English teacher. First of all: She's in her early 30s (I'm guessing), is quite large and has a baby. I don't think any 18 year male from Europe would even think about anything more than a friendship. Neither did I, however during that specific conversation she tried to convince me to have a Ghanaian girlfriend. What followed in that day and the days after that were SMS wishing me a happy Valentine's day and so on. I wonder how that would have developed had I not left the country. I also received some marriage proposals by women I had never met before...
The (few) math classes (I had) were the best. After all, that's one of my favourite subjects. After the first two lessons I knew how to handle the 40-60 children in one class. And later on, some pupil's asked me to take over their math's classes because I expained it better than their teacher:) English didn't go that great...
Between 12 and 2 I headed home.
To be continued...
Thursday 19 March 2009
Photos
At last I can publish my recently developed photos. I wasn't able to do it last week, because eye problems was added to the list of already existing non-specific symptoms. "Non-specific" means, they don't point towards any peticular disease. Nevertheless, they did find pseudomonas bacteria here in Germany and they were treated with - you probably would've guessed right, if i had asked - antibiotics. Whether the bacteria is gone, I will find out on Monday, but it should be gone and the symptoms should slowly fade away now.
There are a couple more pictures on the film that's still in my camera.
(click on the image for the album:)
or if that doesn't work, which it theoratically should, but didn't do when I tried it:
Friday 27 February 2009
The average day
After some messages from friends, telling me that I'm not writing enough about what the usual life is like over there, Iwill now attempt to do that. If you are not satisfied or are curious about things I haven't , please feel free to ask questions in the comments section:)
I get up in the morning at around. Although I am prone to sleep until noon, it's just not possible in Ghana. I'm not sure what it is, but I rarely sleep through the night without waking up one time or another and it's really hard to sleep longer than 7. I usually wake up having to go to the toilet, which by the way is a pit toilet as mentioned before. However, it's not as bad as it sounds, because there is a pit toilet just for the three volunteers staying in that compound. And it's got a wooden seat compared to just a hole in the ground in all the others. So the toilet has upgraded comfort, but at night you can't really enjoy it due to the cockroaches coming out of the pit. I'n not going into detail any further...
The food was great. Breakfast consists of either rice or wheat porridge, bread with omelette or bread with peanut butter, or everything together on a Sunday. Since my host mother was a baker there was always plenty of good, fresh bread.
Lunch was either some cream crackers with a mineral (Coke, Fanta or Sprite that is), Red Plantain (I'll explain later) or a fruit salad. The main fruits by the way are oranges, pineapple and bananas. I was told that nobody will care if you grab an orang from a tree, because they grow everywhere and cost just 5pesewas (~2.5p / 3ct) on the street; but if you steal an apple, now that's a real felony. I don't know whether they're imported or homegrown, but there are only few, they are expensive and they are sooooooooo green, they can easily compete with grass in their greenness.
Dinner was a warm meal, which was so big you could mistake it for 2-3 meals. Plus there were always fruits for dessert;one of the three kinds mentioned above.
The Ghanaian food is generally - my Bradt Guide Book put it very nicely - "great when you're there, but forgettable once you're gone". They eat a lot of rice and meals usually differ in the sauce. Nevertheless, there are meals that cannot be compared to any Western dish. Red Plaintain is something truely Ghanaian (or West African; I don't know). Plantains (=Kochbananen) are large, green kinds of bananas that have to be cooked, before you eat them. Otherwise they're not sweet and won't taste very good. They are cooked or fried together with red palm oil, something that is used in huge quantities in Ghanaian dishes; makes you quickly gain weight... They are usually served with beans, which obviously isn't that special.
Then there's Fufu with groundnut soup: Groundnuts are very similar to peanuts and the soup is hot and usually contains chicken. Fufu is very hard to describe and so far I have only been able to describe it with a high yuck-value. I can only tell you that it's better than it sounds: if you want to imagine it, think of it like a light beige slime or paste. Search in google images for fufu and you can also see, how it's prepared: with a huge wooden stick bashing the fufu while constantly turning it inside the bowl.
Also there's Banku, which I only had once because the two German girls didn't like it at all. I personally thought it was strange, even though the tastes were familiar. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense:) If you speak German you can wiki it, but if you don't you're out of luck, because I can't really explain it; also I'm too lazy:)
To be continued...
I get up in the morning at around. Although I am prone to sleep until noon, it's just not possible in Ghana. I'm not sure what it is, but I rarely sleep through the night without waking up one time or another and it's really hard to sleep longer than 7. I usually wake up having to go to the toilet, which by the way is a pit toilet as mentioned before. However, it's not as bad as it sounds, because there is a pit toilet just for the three volunteers staying in that compound. And it's got a wooden seat compared to just a hole in the ground in all the others. So the toilet has upgraded comfort, but at night you can't really enjoy it due to the cockroaches coming out of the pit. I'n not going into detail any further...
The food was great. Breakfast consists of either rice or wheat porridge, bread with omelette or bread with peanut butter, or everything together on a Sunday. Since my host mother was a baker there was always plenty of good, fresh bread.
Lunch was either some cream crackers with a mineral (Coke, Fanta or Sprite that is), Red Plantain (I'll explain later) or a fruit salad. The main fruits by the way are oranges, pineapple and bananas. I was told that nobody will care if you grab an orang from a tree, because they grow everywhere and cost just 5pesewas (~2.5p / 3ct) on the street; but if you steal an apple, now that's a real felony. I don't know whether they're imported or homegrown, but there are only few, they are expensive and they are sooooooooo green, they can easily compete with grass in their greenness.
Dinner was a warm meal, which was so big you could mistake it for 2-3 meals. Plus there were always fruits for dessert;one of the three kinds mentioned above.
The Ghanaian food is generally - my Bradt Guide Book put it very nicely - "great when you're there, but forgettable once you're gone". They eat a lot of rice and meals usually differ in the sauce. Nevertheless, there are meals that cannot be compared to any Western dish. Red Plaintain is something truely Ghanaian (or West African; I don't know). Plantains (=Kochbananen) are large, green kinds of bananas that have to be cooked, before you eat them. Otherwise they're not sweet and won't taste very good. They are cooked or fried together with red palm oil, something that is used in huge quantities in Ghanaian dishes; makes you quickly gain weight... They are usually served with beans, which obviously isn't that special.
Then there's Fufu with groundnut soup: Groundnuts are very similar to peanuts and the soup is hot and usually contains chicken. Fufu is very hard to describe and so far I have only been able to describe it with a high yuck-value. I can only tell you that it's better than it sounds: if you want to imagine it, think of it like a light beige slime or paste. Search in google images for fufu and you can also see, how it's prepared: with a huge wooden stick bashing the fufu while constantly turning it inside the bowl.
Also there's Banku, which I only had once because the two German girls didn't like it at all. I personally thought it was strange, even though the tastes were familiar. I know that doesn't make a lot of sense:) If you speak German you can wiki it, but if you don't you're out of luck, because I can't really explain it; also I'm too lazy:)
To be continued...
Saturday 21 February 2009
Pure Misery: Episode II - Attack of the Antibiotics
When I wrote the first "Pure Misery" post, I didn't think there was gonna be a sequel. Sadly there is! Also I didn't think I was not going to write a post for such a long time.
I have some sad news and some really, really, really, really, really sad news. Sad news are, I'm not gonna write many more posts. Just the one about politics, I promised, and maybe 2-3 more non-specific posts. (I'll put a big fat THE END beneath my last post) because the really, really, really, really, really sad news are I'm back in London due to health issues. Had I just had Malaria, believe me, I would have stayed, because over there everybody has Malaria. But I didn't.
It started with a topical fungal and bacterial infection 5 days after I had arrived in Ghana (you may remember my post), which got worse over the course of 4 weeks, because none of the doctors I saw, were able to treat me probably. The doctors from the government hospital couldn't even make a propper diagnosis. It started to spread and two weeks ago (Saturday) I became really sick: Headache, nausea, abdominal pain ... but NO fever, which made the whole thing very strange. The following monday, I had a malaria test in the next door clinic in my village. I wasn't surprised, it was positiv, because that's always the result when you're sick and might just have a viral infection. So I took my Malaria stand-by treatment, Malarone, which you take over a course of three days. However, on Wednesday morning I woke up feeling hot as hell yet having no raised temperature. After two hours sitting in front of a fan and emptying the stomache, I took a taxi to go to the Nyaho hospital in Accra, which is supposed to be the best one in Ghana. The ride took 3 hours and it was the most horrible time of my life. Not knowing whether I would stay conscious until arrival, I had to keep convincing myself I was not going to die. My host mother was really great, because she actually came with me. In the Out Patience Department of the Nyaho hospital, I sat there waiting to be examined and actually translated some words into FRENCH for the receptionist, because there was a woman from Cote d'Ivoire who didn't speak. Translating into French is one thing I never dreamed of doing in my life! Anyway, the doctor there took a malaria, typhoid and a blood test, with the conclusion that I supposedly did have Malaria and should just take my last dose of Malarone.
So I left the hospital with the intention of staying in Accra for some days to recover and spoke to my local organisation, my insurance and Rainer Gerstner for some long-distance medical advice (thank you very much for that!). In the late afternoon, I went back to the hospital to be admitted, not feeling great. There a doctor had to admit me, so I explained everything again to a different doctor this time, who told that me that I didn't have malaria, but typhoid. He also took a blood and urine test for cultivation. The latter one showing two days later that I had coliform bacteria. After being pumped full with antibiotics and some anti-malarials - just in case - and staying at the hospital for 8 days I barely felt better. Nevertheless, when I showed the resident doctor the leaflet of my malaria-prophylaxis, Lariam - Mefloquine, and seeing that most of my symptoms (which now also inlcuded blood circulation problems) were written under side effects he was quick at blaming everything on the Lariam. Lariam is notorious for having some not so uncommon and some really bad side effects, but it could not explain all my symptoms. Most of my symptoms are very likely "just" side effects of the four weeks of 6-7 different antibiotics and partially maybe even the Lariam, but some are not.
I was then (Thursday) discharged on the grounds of just having side effects from Lariam and stayed in a hotel in Accra, with two other volunteers from my village. They came to the Nyaho clinic as well, because one of them was very sick, and was told by a different hospital in Accra that they could not find anything wrong with her. At least she doesn't miss out on that much because she's in Ghana for only another two weeks. On Friday I managed to change my flight to that evening, which means I arrived in London at 7:30 this morning.
To summarise and clarify my health:
I possibly, but not very likely, had Malaria;
I possibly, but very unlikely, had typhoid;
I did have coliform bacteria;
I currently have blood circulation problems, headaches and other pains, most of which is probably caused by the side effects of the antibiotics (hence the title) and Lariam, but I have a full check-up.
My immune system is very low (that's just a conclusion I drew, but I don't think anybody who knows my story will challenge me on this)
I really hate to have left Ghana early, because except for my health issues I loved it there. My plans for the near future are obviously to fully recover before making any definite plans. I will go to Germany this week and stay there, because my mother and brother are going there, because (for those who don't know) we are moving there soon. Whether I will go back to Ghana for the rest of my volunteer service, I do not know yet. However, it's not very likely, as I don't have the money for a return flight to Accra AND for travelling. Instead I was thinking of making a backpacking tour around the Baltic sea or through Eastern Europe. The idea of travelling through Eastern Europe is not a new one. My friends from school know I wanted to do it on a bike, but that plan was abolished/postboned because I was going to Africa. Now however, that plan creeps into my mind again:) Having met many Norwegians and Swedes in Ghana, I am also curious about Skandinavia now.
For those who have been been notified by me about this blog via internet: They will be notified by me again, should I resume this blog or open a new blog. If you've been told about the blog by my parents you'll have to hope they'll do it again. That is of course, if you liked the block or just wanted to spend some time in the office not thinking about work (sorry for reminding you:)
Just to remind you, there are 2-3 more blogs to follow (and I will write down the address of the new blog, if I start a new one). Recovering is not a very exciting activity so I might write a lot in the next posts and some irrelevant stuff (see below). After all, this and the next paragraph were written because I have time and I am bored:)
For those who did not (fully) understand why I chose the title: It's very obvious that this is a sequel to Pure Misery (at least the part where I talk about my health, and I truly experienced Pure Misery in the taxi to Accra). So that justifies the II. When I thought about movies that had a II in their name, I thought about Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. The Clones are sent in to fight the bad guys (the Separatists), thus keeping the Republic intact. But then, they start killing the good guys (the jedi), turning the Republic into an Empire...
I know explaining a title (or even worse a joke) kinda destroys it, but I'm bored! Remember?
I have some sad news and some really, really, really, really, really sad news. Sad news are, I'm not gonna write many more posts. Just the one about politics, I promised, and maybe 2-3 more non-specific posts. (I'll put a big fat THE END beneath my last post) because the really, really, really, really, really sad news are I'm back in London due to health issues. Had I just had Malaria, believe me, I would have stayed, because over there everybody has Malaria. But I didn't.
It started with a topical fungal and bacterial infection 5 days after I had arrived in Ghana (you may remember my post), which got worse over the course of 4 weeks, because none of the doctors I saw, were able to treat me probably. The doctors from the government hospital couldn't even make a propper diagnosis. It started to spread and two weeks ago (Saturday) I became really sick: Headache, nausea, abdominal pain ... but NO fever, which made the whole thing very strange. The following monday, I had a malaria test in the next door clinic in my village. I wasn't surprised, it was positiv, because that's always the result when you're sick and might just have a viral infection. So I took my Malaria stand-by treatment, Malarone, which you take over a course of three days. However, on Wednesday morning I woke up feeling hot as hell yet having no raised temperature. After two hours sitting in front of a fan and emptying the stomache, I took a taxi to go to the Nyaho hospital in Accra, which is supposed to be the best one in Ghana. The ride took 3 hours and it was the most horrible time of my life. Not knowing whether I would stay conscious until arrival, I had to keep convincing myself I was not going to die. My host mother was really great, because she actually came with me. In the Out Patience Department of the Nyaho hospital, I sat there waiting to be examined and actually translated some words into FRENCH for the receptionist, because there was a woman from Cote d'Ivoire who didn't speak. Translating into French is one thing I never dreamed of doing in my life! Anyway, the doctor there took a malaria, typhoid and a blood test, with the conclusion that I supposedly did have Malaria and should just take my last dose of Malarone.
So I left the hospital with the intention of staying in Accra for some days to recover and spoke to my local organisation, my insurance and Rainer Gerstner for some long-distance medical advice (thank you very much for that!). In the late afternoon, I went back to the hospital to be admitted, not feeling great. There a doctor had to admit me, so I explained everything again to a different doctor this time, who told that me that I didn't have malaria, but typhoid. He also took a blood and urine test for cultivation. The latter one showing two days later that I had coliform bacteria. After being pumped full with antibiotics and some anti-malarials - just in case - and staying at the hospital for 8 days I barely felt better. Nevertheless, when I showed the resident doctor the leaflet of my malaria-prophylaxis, Lariam - Mefloquine, and seeing that most of my symptoms (which now also inlcuded blood circulation problems) were written under side effects he was quick at blaming everything on the Lariam. Lariam is notorious for having some not so uncommon and some really bad side effects, but it could not explain all my symptoms. Most of my symptoms are very likely "just" side effects of the four weeks of 6-7 different antibiotics and partially maybe even the Lariam, but some are not.
I was then (Thursday) discharged on the grounds of just having side effects from Lariam and stayed in a hotel in Accra, with two other volunteers from my village. They came to the Nyaho clinic as well, because one of them was very sick, and was told by a different hospital in Accra that they could not find anything wrong with her. At least she doesn't miss out on that much because she's in Ghana for only another two weeks. On Friday I managed to change my flight to that evening, which means I arrived in London at 7:30 this morning.
To summarise and clarify my health:
I possibly, but not very likely, had Malaria;
I possibly, but very unlikely, had typhoid;
I did have coliform bacteria;
I currently have blood circulation problems, headaches and other pains, most of which is probably caused by the side effects of the antibiotics (hence the title) and Lariam, but I have a full check-up.
My immune system is very low (that's just a conclusion I drew, but I don't think anybody who knows my story will challenge me on this)
I really hate to have left Ghana early, because except for my health issues I loved it there. My plans for the near future are obviously to fully recover before making any definite plans. I will go to Germany this week and stay there, because my mother and brother are going there, because (for those who don't know) we are moving there soon. Whether I will go back to Ghana for the rest of my volunteer service, I do not know yet. However, it's not very likely, as I don't have the money for a return flight to Accra AND for travelling. Instead I was thinking of making a backpacking tour around the Baltic sea or through Eastern Europe. The idea of travelling through Eastern Europe is not a new one. My friends from school know I wanted to do it on a bike, but that plan was abolished/postboned because I was going to Africa. Now however, that plan creeps into my mind again:) Having met many Norwegians and Swedes in Ghana, I am also curious about Skandinavia now.
For those who have been been notified by me about this blog via internet: They will be notified by me again, should I resume this blog or open a new blog. If you've been told about the blog by my parents you'll have to hope they'll do it again. That is of course, if you liked the block or just wanted to spend some time in the office not thinking about work (sorry for reminding you:)
Just to remind you, there are 2-3 more blogs to follow (and I will write down the address of the new blog, if I start a new one). Recovering is not a very exciting activity so I might write a lot in the next posts and some irrelevant stuff (see below). After all, this and the next paragraph were written because I have time and I am bored:)
For those who did not (fully) understand why I chose the title: It's very obvious that this is a sequel to Pure Misery (at least the part where I talk about my health, and I truly experienced Pure Misery in the taxi to Accra). So that justifies the II. When I thought about movies that had a II in their name, I thought about Star Wars: Episode II - Attack of the Clones. The Clones are sent in to fight the bad guys (the Separatists), thus keeping the Republic intact. But then, they start killing the good guys (the jedi), turning the Republic into an Empire...
I know explaining a title (or even worse a joke) kinda destroys it, but I'm bored! Remember?
Friday 6 February 2009
Diamonds aren't just a girl's best friend
I'm a bit behind, so for now, I'll start telling about what happened on Sunday the 25th of January:
I met a guy, Musah, a few days earlier on the trotro, who comes from Akwatia and wanted to show me the diamond mines there and present me to his brother the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the current ruling party.
So when I arrived in Akwatia, Musah took me to his home to meet his family. There I met his brother sitting in a circle with his associates. I talked to him about politics in Ghana; he's obviously one of the best people to do that with. Basically, the Ghanaian system is a mix between the English and the American, with a President and checks and balances and a Parliament consisting of members voted for by their constituencies. (I'll explain the system in greater detail in a different post, but since it is time-irrelevant I will write about it whenever I've got time)
I also challenged him on the security of the constitution and thus the possibility of a totalitarian regime, but just because he does not see any loop holes in the constitution does not mean there aren't any.
After that, Musah and I went through the town to see some of the diamond dealers. Sadly I came too late to see the vivid diamond market, where the individuals sell their mined diamonds. Nevertheless, the dealers have their offices and since that morning was the diamond market, the dealers had plenty to show. We first sat down in the biggest dealer's office. There was a pile of low-quality diamonds worth approx. 50-100$, there were high-quality ones worth about 200-300$ and he also had a few processed diamonds worth about 500$. I even got to keep one diamond!!!
Afterward, he took me on his motorbike to see one of the old diamond mining plants, which are no longer in use due to the fact that the mining company went bust soon after the British had to hand it over to the Ghanaians because Ghana was decolonized.
This is the deserted plant, where only two security people remain, to make sure nobody does anything foolish. One of them walked round it with us to explain the process that happens when mining for diamonds.
This is Musah on his bike.
The week after that was the sports tournament, where the volleyball girls became third and the boys reached the final where a winner has yet to be determined because some people from town disallowed the game to continue. As I understand it one football team tried to bring on an unregistered player, which the organisers disallowed. I hope the match is going to be continued, but I'm not certain.
After having been in Accra on Saturday, I went to Swedru to have a dip in the pool of the Greenland hotel and to use the internet. The internet was closed because it's Sunday and the pool was being cleaned with chemicals... So I just sat by the pool all day relaxing, reading etc.
Yesterday, my headphones (one of the things I forgot to pack in London) arrived which really made my day. Today, I was asked by some students from form 2 whether I could teach them maths instead of the normal maths teacher because I explain better, which also made my day. However, coming home fairly late yesterday, I was too tired to fulfill their request.
Just a note on the side: If you want to test the quality of a football, give it to an African child! The football I bought in England for 3GBP and gave to my host brother, was kaputt after about 2-3 weeks.
I met a guy, Musah, a few days earlier on the trotro, who comes from Akwatia and wanted to show me the diamond mines there and present me to his brother the Deputy General Secretary of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), the current ruling party.
So when I arrived in Akwatia, Musah took me to his home to meet his family. There I met his brother sitting in a circle with his associates. I talked to him about politics in Ghana; he's obviously one of the best people to do that with. Basically, the Ghanaian system is a mix between the English and the American, with a President and checks and balances and a Parliament consisting of members voted for by their constituencies. (I'll explain the system in greater detail in a different post, but since it is time-irrelevant I will write about it whenever I've got time)
I also challenged him on the security of the constitution and thus the possibility of a totalitarian regime, but just because he does not see any loop holes in the constitution does not mean there aren't any.
After that, Musah and I went through the town to see some of the diamond dealers. Sadly I came too late to see the vivid diamond market, where the individuals sell their mined diamonds. Nevertheless, the dealers have their offices and since that morning was the diamond market, the dealers had plenty to show. We first sat down in the biggest dealer's office. There was a pile of low-quality diamonds worth approx. 50-100$, there were high-quality ones worth about 200-300$ and he also had a few processed diamonds worth about 500$. I even got to keep one diamond!!!
Afterward, he took me on his motorbike to see one of the old diamond mining plants, which are no longer in use due to the fact that the mining company went bust soon after the British had to hand it over to the Ghanaians because Ghana was decolonized.
This is the deserted plant, where only two security people remain, to make sure nobody does anything foolish. One of them walked round it with us to explain the process that happens when mining for diamonds.
This is Musah on his bike.
The week after that was the sports tournament, where the volleyball girls became third and the boys reached the final where a winner has yet to be determined because some people from town disallowed the game to continue. As I understand it one football team tried to bring on an unregistered player, which the organisers disallowed. I hope the match is going to be continued, but I'm not certain.
After having been in Accra on Saturday, I went to Swedru to have a dip in the pool of the Greenland hotel and to use the internet. The internet was closed because it's Sunday and the pool was being cleaned with chemicals... So I just sat by the pool all day relaxing, reading etc.
Yesterday, my headphones (one of the things I forgot to pack in London) arrived which really made my day. Today, I was asked by some students from form 2 whether I could teach them maths instead of the normal maths teacher because I explain better, which also made my day. However, coming home fairly late yesterday, I was too tired to fulfill their request.
Just a note on the side: If you want to test the quality of a football, give it to an African child! The football I bought in England for 3GBP and gave to my host brother, was kaputt after about 2-3 weeks.
Wednesday 4 February 2009
Pure misery
I'm currently reading a book from Bartholomaeus Grill: "Ach, Afrika Berichte aus dem inneren eines Kontinents (~Oh, Africa Reports from a continent's interior) and today I read the chapter about the genocide in Rwanda in 1994. However, that's not the only reason I chose that heading.
Some of you might be under the impression that I am purely enjoying myself over here. Although that is mostly true, there are some downs, that I will tell you about now. So if you want to keep the impression that Africa is a paradise, please skip this post!
The worst thing I have experienced so far is the medical service over here. I would advise anybody not to get sick over here, but since that's not so simple, I would advise to seek European medical help if you fall sick. I have had an infection for 4 weeks now, which the doctors from the next town have been unable to diagnose ad thus treat. So after 3 weeks I decided to seek medical help in a private hospital in Accra. Although they seemed to be able to diagnose it, they have not been able to treat it properly. So yesterday I went back to Accra, but with the determination to seek a German doctor. Since the German regional doctor from the German embassy is in Germany at the moment, I had to telephone around until I ended up going to a German gynaecologist (which I never even dreamed of doing before). Hopefully, it will get better now, but there is a small chance that I will have to go to Europe for 2 weeks or so. (This is one of the reasons why I haven't written anything in the last two weeks and it is the only reason for the crashing of my travel plans last weekend, the Saturday before and this weekend).
Secondly, I must admit my own hypocracy. You might remember, that I made fun of some people wearing jackets, because they think it's cold. Well, I caught a cold two days after writing that.
Thirdly, the strenght of the GBP seems to oscillate. For most of you that might not have a big impact, but for me that can be horrible. With the normal exchange rate at about 1.9 Ghana cedi to the British pound, I was devastated when I saw that the exchange rate had dropped to 1.75. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it made me loose 20-3o pounds and I would have lost considerably more had it not gone back up by now. (For reference: 20-30 GBP is 40-55 Ghana cedi which is worth one weekend of travelling or about 5 weeks of not travelling).
Fourthly, Ghana has a garbage problem, caused by the lack of a garbage disposal service. People either burn the litter in front of their house or just drop it on the streets, which causes terrible stenches in the gutter. So walking on the side of the road is not always very pleasant.
Fifthly, I do get the occasional urges for something specific from home, for example while listening to Vertigo from U2 I had the sudden urge to play electric guitar.
Last but not least, and probably the most annoying thing is the Oburoni calls, I talked about in an earlier post. That can really get on your nerves, especially when you're in a bad mood. There are times when I just want to show my two fingers and say :"Fuck you!"
For now I'll stop the moaning and get on with writing about my experiences.
Some of you might be under the impression that I am purely enjoying myself over here. Although that is mostly true, there are some downs, that I will tell you about now. So if you want to keep the impression that Africa is a paradise, please skip this post!
The worst thing I have experienced so far is the medical service over here. I would advise anybody not to get sick over here, but since that's not so simple, I would advise to seek European medical help if you fall sick. I have had an infection for 4 weeks now, which the doctors from the next town have been unable to diagnose ad thus treat. So after 3 weeks I decided to seek medical help in a private hospital in Accra. Although they seemed to be able to diagnose it, they have not been able to treat it properly. So yesterday I went back to Accra, but with the determination to seek a German doctor. Since the German regional doctor from the German embassy is in Germany at the moment, I had to telephone around until I ended up going to a German gynaecologist (which I never even dreamed of doing before). Hopefully, it will get better now, but there is a small chance that I will have to go to Europe for 2 weeks or so. (This is one of the reasons why I haven't written anything in the last two weeks and it is the only reason for the crashing of my travel plans last weekend, the Saturday before and this weekend).
Secondly, I must admit my own hypocracy. You might remember, that I made fun of some people wearing jackets, because they think it's cold. Well, I caught a cold two days after writing that.
Thirdly, the strenght of the GBP seems to oscillate. For most of you that might not have a big impact, but for me that can be horrible. With the normal exchange rate at about 1.9 Ghana cedi to the British pound, I was devastated when I saw that the exchange rate had dropped to 1.75. I don't know what happened, but whatever it was, it made me loose 20-3o pounds and I would have lost considerably more had it not gone back up by now. (For reference: 20-30 GBP is 40-55 Ghana cedi which is worth one weekend of travelling or about 5 weeks of not travelling).
Fourthly, Ghana has a garbage problem, caused by the lack of a garbage disposal service. People either burn the litter in front of their house or just drop it on the streets, which causes terrible stenches in the gutter. So walking on the side of the road is not always very pleasant.
Fifthly, I do get the occasional urges for something specific from home, for example while listening to Vertigo from U2 I had the sudden urge to play electric guitar.
Last but not least, and probably the most annoying thing is the Oburoni calls, I talked about in an earlier post. That can really get on your nerves, especially when you're in a bad mood. There are times when I just want to show my two fingers and say :"Fuck you!"
For now I'll stop the moaning and get on with writing about my experiences.
Saturday 24 January 2009
White men CAN jump
Contrary to common belief, white men can jump, at least when it comes to volleyball over here. Since next week is the big sports tournament with all the schools of Akroso participating - hopefully, because it was supposed to be this week - I am currently coaching the girls' and boys' volleyball team. Looking at the boys' team, I hope to get a kind of system into their game before the tournament. Looking at the girls, I have lost all hope...
Prior to the tournament every child had to be weighed, because there is a weight limit. Even though I lost 5kg, stepping onto the scale, I am still too heavy to participate (overlooking the fact that I have a teacher and not a pupil status).
I also had my first lesson, but at the moment I am more of a substitute teacher, teaching when one of the teachers decides not to show up. Nevertheless, considering the seize of the classes, which oscillate between 40 and 70 - depending on whether it's market day and other factors - and the fact that I do not use the cain like my fellow colleagues to punish students, I'm fine with a slow start:)
On Thursday the whole school marched through town to advertise for education/ their own school. (a picture will be added)
Prior to the tournament every child had to be weighed, because there is a weight limit. Even though I lost 5kg, stepping onto the scale, I am still too heavy to participate (overlooking the fact that I have a teacher and not a pupil status).
I also had my first lesson, but at the moment I am more of a substitute teacher, teaching when one of the teachers decides not to show up. Nevertheless, considering the seize of the classes, which oscillate between 40 and 70 - depending on whether it's market day and other factors - and the fact that I do not use the cain like my fellow colleagues to punish students, I'm fine with a slow start:)
On Thursday the whole school marched through town to advertise for education/ their own school. (a picture will be added)
Thursday 22 January 2009
Life in general
Before I get to my first lessons I will talk a bit more about life in Ghana. I have noticed that I have barely written anything about life in general over here, only about things that were kinda special. Domi's comment asking me about the weather made it even clearer to me that I had to write about daily occurrences.
First of all the weather is really nice at the moment due to the Harmattan, a wind that blows from the Sahara and makes the air relatively cold down here in southern Ghana. When I get up in the morning I actually feel a bit cold, but it's bearable and during the day it's very pleasant. However, I'm used to colder weather, which the people over here are not. That means that I see many of my pupils running around, wearing jackets and jumpers over their school uniform and telling me that it's really, really cold.
(This video was filmed at the church on my first Sunday in Ghana, only I forgot to upload it so I'm doing it now. You will have to turn your head 90* for this because I don't know hao to turn videos. The more important part is the sound anyway, for which you don't have to turn your ears 90*, hoehoehoe; I know that joke was extremely bad:)
To get from one point to another I usually use trotros, which are converted Mitsubishi vans (or similar) to hold 10-20 people, depending on the vehicle and the "mate", who collects the money and decides how many more people can fit in the trotro. They do regular police checks here, because - from what I've heard so far - the trotros used to be very overcrowded, which I feel they are right now, so I cannot imagine how packed they must have been years ago...
On trotros and off them I get regularly talked to by strangers, mainly because I am an Oburoni. Many of them want to be my friend and ask for my email adress or phone number, to which I usually regretfully reply that I have nothing to write with at hand and they never have either. But generally, the people are really friendly and many would go miles off their way just to help you. However, I still need to find the line that seperates the individual from his culture. By that I mean, I don't know what is the general norm of the people and what do they do because of their individual character. It's really hard to tell.
My hostparents have three TVs in their living room, but so far I have only seen ne of them work. On TV3 they show LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES!!! So on Monday evening I watched Liverpool v Everton.
Powercuts occur regularly here, mainly because the whole of Ghana has only one huge source of energy: The Volta dam. It produces enough energy for the whole of Ghana, but especially in villages, like Akroso, the energy network lacks reliability. When I came home from school two days ago there was no electricity until yesterday afternoon, which made Tuesday kind of special, because everybody had their oil lamps outside and the kids weren't glued to the television...
That night I also heard drums. Maybe that was the replacement communication system or maybe that was a group celebrating like the two days before, not being disturbed by the power cut.
Chuck Norris fact:
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
This fact has a reason to be here: Last week at school some pupils said, I look like 'Walker', by which he meant Walker Texas Ranger, played by the one and only Chuck Norris.
I'll write about the school on Saturday, because I don't have any time left on the clock and I want to get home before dark. Not becuase I'm afraid of muggers or anything; Ghana has an extremely low crime rate, but because it has the third highest road accident rate in the world. Those happen mostly at night, because the trotro drivers tend to fall asleep and the condition of the road is sooooo bad. Streets have as many potholes in the road as there are stars in the sky.
First of all the weather is really nice at the moment due to the Harmattan, a wind that blows from the Sahara and makes the air relatively cold down here in southern Ghana. When I get up in the morning I actually feel a bit cold, but it's bearable and during the day it's very pleasant. However, I'm used to colder weather, which the people over here are not. That means that I see many of my pupils running around, wearing jackets and jumpers over their school uniform and telling me that it's really, really cold.
(This video was filmed at the church on my first Sunday in Ghana, only I forgot to upload it so I'm doing it now. You will have to turn your head 90* for this because I don't know hao to turn videos. The more important part is the sound anyway, for which you don't have to turn your ears 90*, hoehoehoe; I know that joke was extremely bad:)
To get from one point to another I usually use trotros, which are converted Mitsubishi vans (or similar) to hold 10-20 people, depending on the vehicle and the "mate", who collects the money and decides how many more people can fit in the trotro. They do regular police checks here, because - from what I've heard so far - the trotros used to be very overcrowded, which I feel they are right now, so I cannot imagine how packed they must have been years ago...
On trotros and off them I get regularly talked to by strangers, mainly because I am an Oburoni. Many of them want to be my friend and ask for my email adress or phone number, to which I usually regretfully reply that I have nothing to write with at hand and they never have either. But generally, the people are really friendly and many would go miles off their way just to help you. However, I still need to find the line that seperates the individual from his culture. By that I mean, I don't know what is the general norm of the people and what do they do because of their individual character. It's really hard to tell.
My hostparents have three TVs in their living room, but so far I have only seen ne of them work. On TV3 they show LIVE PREMIER LEAGUE MATCHES!!! So on Monday evening I watched Liverpool v Everton.
Powercuts occur regularly here, mainly because the whole of Ghana has only one huge source of energy: The Volta dam. It produces enough energy for the whole of Ghana, but especially in villages, like Akroso, the energy network lacks reliability. When I came home from school two days ago there was no electricity until yesterday afternoon, which made Tuesday kind of special, because everybody had their oil lamps outside and the kids weren't glued to the television...
That night I also heard drums. Maybe that was the replacement communication system or maybe that was a group celebrating like the two days before, not being disturbed by the power cut.
Chuck Norris fact:
When the Boogeyman goes to sleep every night, he checks his closet for Chuck Norris.
This fact has a reason to be here: Last week at school some pupils said, I look like 'Walker', by which he meant Walker Texas Ranger, played by the one and only Chuck Norris.
I'll write about the school on Saturday, because I don't have any time left on the clock and I want to get home before dark. Not becuase I'm afraid of muggers or anything; Ghana has an extremely low crime rate, but because it has the third highest road accident rate in the world. Those happen mostly at night, because the trotro drivers tend to fall asleep and the condition of the road is sooooo bad. Streets have as many potholes in the road as there are stars in the sky.
Saturday 17 January 2009
A few things about home
Ghana is a noisy country and everybody has got his radio turned on, which consists 50% of advertisement and 40% of noise and shouting from the presenter and 10% of proper music.
So you might sometimes think there's a big party going on when actually there's just a woman washing some clothes while listening to the radio.
They don't understand the question "Do you mind, if...?" which is why I have to learn to ask directly "Can I...? or something similar.
I still don't have a clue, who is related to whom at my compound. There are a few families with lots of children, most of which just live nearby and just come over.
When Ghanaians talk (between themselves, not with me), they usualy talk Twinglish over here. Similar to Denglish, only I don't understand half the conversation
So you might sometimes think there's a big party going on when actually there's just a woman washing some clothes while listening to the radio.
They don't understand the question "Do you mind, if...?" which is why I have to learn to ask directly "Can I...? or something similar.
I still don't have a clue, who is related to whom at my compound. There are a few families with lots of children, most of which just live nearby and just come over.
When Ghanaians talk (between themselves, not with me), they usualy talk Twinglish over here. Similar to Denglish, only I don't understand half the conversation
Sittin' in the shade of the tree, wasting time...
Before I tell you about my project I'm just gonna talk a bit about what happened after last weeks blog entry:
On the way back, sitting in the trotro, there was a big group of people coming towards us shouting and whisteling, basically celebrating. A couple of guys were carrying a coffin, not like they do here, on the shoulders and very slow. Oh noo, they were dancing and jumping with the coffin in their hands. Back at home, while peeling the maize, my two German housemates, Clara & Judith, came back from their travels.
The next morning I tought I would meet two other volunteers in Akroso around 8:30 to go to the Salvation Army school together. However, at about 7:50 I asked my host mother whether she received a letter of introduction from my organisation for the headmaster. Reading it, I discovered I have to go to the Presbyterian Junior High School and a girl would take me there. The girl said the school starts at 7:30, so I skipped a few things and rushed to the school, where no teacher had arrived so far. Since the school opened that day after the Christmas break, the children tidied up the school on Tuesday and Wednesday. That meant I just sat in the shade all day and talked to colleagues and students hence the title (a litte homage to Otis Redding, for those who didn't notice. It's one of my 3 favourite songs in the world by the way)
My colleagues asked me, if I believe in god, and after saying that I'm atheist I had to explain the universe, including the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, as simple and as short as possible. That's really hard considering they have never heard of the big bang and can associate the theory of evolution only with a guy called Darwin.
Thinking about the current English sensitivity towards knives (in school), I discovered they couldn't be more relaxed about it here, with the children carrying big machetes around with them... I bought one myself on the market in Akroso on Thursday. Depending on airline regulatoins I am considering bringing it home and hanging it on the wall. (I guess my mum will not be very happy reading this:)
On Wednesday I was in Swedru at the Oburoni meeting,where I talked to two Germans who are here for 12 months and gave a a few ideas about getting a few financial gains from my trip to Ghana. They want to ship African drums to sell them in Germany, which is too much hassle for me, but I might do somethig like that on a lower scale.
Yesterday I travelled with a few other volunteers to Cape coast to see the castle, which was really interesting (I don't mean that in an English way). Cape Coast was one of three castles on the Gold Coast, where thousands of slaves were held til a ship brought them to the New World. Together with Elmina castle, a few miles away, it forms the epicentre of one of the greatest crimes in human history.
Together wit 14 other volunteers, I met during the introduction week in Accra, I'm staying at Hans Cottage Botel, which is a small resthouse complex with a lake full of crocodiles and a pool. I'll be leaving on Sunday and until then I'll just relax and sleep looooong. Yesterday evening, after dinner, I abseiled myself from the group and joined two German volunteers and their Ghanaian coordinator, because I thought the group was too large and I enjoyed the company of the two girls more than most members of the other group:)
I'm still looking for a good travelling companion. There was a Norwegian, but he's been sent to Tamale on short notice. Also he's got Malaria after just one week, taking one of the best malara prophylaxis. If I count correctly he must have been stung by a mosquito while we were sleeping in the same room in Accra. So it could have been me. Travelling-wise I'll se how it goes.
This morning I went to Kakum National Park, walking on the canopy walkway and afterwards doing a nature tour on the ground afterwards. There were two American girls with me on the canopy walk, but they then left so only the guide and I did the hour-long tour on the ground of the rain forest. I will return in May to stay in the Park for the night and be shown around very early to be able to see some of the larger animals like monkeys and such. (My phone was empty so I couldn't take any pictures for my blog, but I'll be back)
On the way back, sitting in the trotro, there was a big group of people coming towards us shouting and whisteling, basically celebrating. A couple of guys were carrying a coffin, not like they do here, on the shoulders and very slow. Oh noo, they were dancing and jumping with the coffin in their hands. Back at home, while peeling the maize, my two German housemates, Clara & Judith, came back from their travels.
The next morning I tought I would meet two other volunteers in Akroso around 8:30 to go to the Salvation Army school together. However, at about 7:50 I asked my host mother whether she received a letter of introduction from my organisation for the headmaster. Reading it, I discovered I have to go to the Presbyterian Junior High School and a girl would take me there. The girl said the school starts at 7:30, so I skipped a few things and rushed to the school, where no teacher had arrived so far. Since the school opened that day after the Christmas break, the children tidied up the school on Tuesday and Wednesday. That meant I just sat in the shade all day and talked to colleagues and students hence the title (a litte homage to Otis Redding, for those who didn't notice. It's one of my 3 favourite songs in the world by the way)
My colleagues asked me, if I believe in god, and after saying that I'm atheist I had to explain the universe, including the big bang theory and the theory of evolution, as simple and as short as possible. That's really hard considering they have never heard of the big bang and can associate the theory of evolution only with a guy called Darwin.
Thinking about the current English sensitivity towards knives (in school), I discovered they couldn't be more relaxed about it here, with the children carrying big machetes around with them... I bought one myself on the market in Akroso on Thursday. Depending on airline regulatoins I am considering bringing it home and hanging it on the wall. (I guess my mum will not be very happy reading this:)
On Wednesday I was in Swedru at the Oburoni meeting,where I talked to two Germans who are here for 12 months and gave a a few ideas about getting a few financial gains from my trip to Ghana. They want to ship African drums to sell them in Germany, which is too much hassle for me, but I might do somethig like that on a lower scale.
Yesterday I travelled with a few other volunteers to Cape coast to see the castle, which was really interesting (I don't mean that in an English way). Cape Coast was one of three castles on the Gold Coast, where thousands of slaves were held til a ship brought them to the New World. Together with Elmina castle, a few miles away, it forms the epicentre of one of the greatest crimes in human history.
(That top bit of the picture is my hat, I bougt on the arts and crafts market in Accra, and the walls belong to Cape Coast Castle)
Together wit 14 other volunteers, I met during the introduction week in Accra, I'm staying at Hans Cottage Botel, which is a small resthouse complex with a lake full of crocodiles and a pool. I'll be leaving on Sunday and until then I'll just relax and sleep looooong. Yesterday evening, after dinner, I abseiled myself from the group and joined two German volunteers and their Ghanaian coordinator, because I thought the group was too large and I enjoyed the company of the two girls more than most members of the other group:)
I'm still looking for a good travelling companion. There was a Norwegian, but he's been sent to Tamale on short notice. Also he's got Malaria after just one week, taking one of the best malara prophylaxis. If I count correctly he must have been stung by a mosquito while we were sleeping in the same room in Accra. So it could have been me. Travelling-wise I'll se how it goes.
This morning I went to Kakum National Park, walking on the canopy walkway and afterwards doing a nature tour on the ground afterwards. There were two American girls with me on the canopy walk, but they then left so only the guide and I did the hour-long tour on the ground of the rain forest. I will return in May to stay in the Park for the night and be shown around very early to be able to see some of the larger animals like monkeys and such. (My phone was empty so I couldn't take any pictures for my blog, but I'll be back)
Monday 12 January 2009
Oburoni, Oburoni
That's what I'm called over here, in Akroso, by people I don't know. It translates as "white person", but literally means "he, who comes from the horizon", which was the Portuguese hundreds of years ago. Some call me Sammy because they cannot pronounce my name, but since my Twi isn't that great either, I'm not the one to judge. My African name, used by the Ghanaians who know me is "Kwaku Bokoo", Kwaku for I was born on a Wednesday and Bokoo for "exercise patience" (kind of ironic, because in Europe I'm the patient one:) . My host father is called Bokoo and he gave me his own name.
On Friday we were brought to our projects. All the people from around Swedru were brought by Tina, the coordinator of the local organisation. The further we went out of Acrra the greater it got. The outskirts consisted mainly of slums. Outside of Acrra is was mainly grass and bush with some tree groups on the hills, but once we had travelled some distance the jungle started. Lots of palms, orange tress, banana palms... I couldn't swipe that smile from my face. On the way we dropped of the other volunteers until we reached Akroso, where only the last six volunteers, including me, remained. Three girls were dropped off before me and two girls were brought to Oda, after I was dropped.
After getting to know my family and giving them the presents I went to bed fairly early, because I was exhausted, mainly because of the heat and sun. The bucket shower felt brilliant. Yes a bucket shower. Basically that's a bucket full of water, with a small bucket to scoop and pour water over my head. The toilet is a small hut with a pit...
One of the girls that arrived here with me left yesterday for Accra because the living conditions were too basic for here. But I can manage and I don't mind the occasional cockroach in the "bathroom" that much:) By now I'm also adjusted to the heat. Dinner was really weird because I ate alone facing a wall. They do not eat together as a family over here.
On Saturday I went farming with the children of the compound. We went into the jungle, where we started digging out roots like kasawa and getting bananas, firewood... The children seemed to know which part of the jungle was their farm and which was the farm of others. I just saw a group of orange trees there and a group of banana palms there. From there my mother received her first call from the jungle:) The reception is amazing, because everybody uses mobile phones instead of landlines. This also means that the calls are extremely cheap. (Fresh oranges straight from the tree are very nice; I also learned to like fresh pineapple over here)
On Friday we were brought to our projects. All the people from around Swedru were brought by Tina, the coordinator of the local organisation. The further we went out of Acrra the greater it got. The outskirts consisted mainly of slums. Outside of Acrra is was mainly grass and bush with some tree groups on the hills, but once we had travelled some distance the jungle started. Lots of palms, orange tress, banana palms... I couldn't swipe that smile from my face. On the way we dropped of the other volunteers until we reached Akroso, where only the last six volunteers, including me, remained. Three girls were dropped off before me and two girls were brought to Oda, after I was dropped.
After getting to know my family and giving them the presents I went to bed fairly early, because I was exhausted, mainly because of the heat and sun. The bucket shower felt brilliant. Yes a bucket shower. Basically that's a bucket full of water, with a small bucket to scoop and pour water over my head. The toilet is a small hut with a pit...
One of the girls that arrived here with me left yesterday for Accra because the living conditions were too basic for here. But I can manage and I don't mind the occasional cockroach in the "bathroom" that much:) By now I'm also adjusted to the heat. Dinner was really weird because I ate alone facing a wall. They do not eat together as a family over here.
On Saturday I went farming with the children of the compound. We went into the jungle, where we started digging out roots like kasawa and getting bananas, firewood... The children seemed to know which part of the jungle was their farm and which was the farm of others. I just saw a group of orange trees there and a group of banana palms there. From there my mother received her first call from the jungle:) The reception is amazing, because everybody uses mobile phones instead of landlines. This also means that the calls are extremely cheap. (Fresh oranges straight from the tree are very nice; I also learned to like fresh pineapple over here)
(I climbed on a tree to take that picture)
(My host brother on the way back)
The next day my hostfather took me to church. We were the first because the night before they were at the church until 24:00!!! People strarted coming and the service eventually started. My host father as one of the elders of the church community to the side of the priest. Mostly the service is not much different from ours with exception that the preachiongs have more power and are often followed by an equally powerful Amen from the community. Also part of the service consists of singing and dancing accompanied by music from a small band.
(Pictures and a video will follow as soon as I get to an internet cafe where the USB port is not disabled)
In the afternoon I went to Swedru to have something checked out at the hospital. A fungus probably, but they are not certain either and I only know/ think because I've had it before. Apart from an ointment the doctor perscribed me antibiotics. Surprise, surprise!
This morning my hostmother was making bread, but I couldn't be bothered getting up at 5:30 so I didn't join her:) I'm really looking forward this afternoon because the two German girls that stay at my host mother's as well return from their travelling.
Thursday 8 January 2009
A few of facts about Ghana 1
Ghana has thje Ghanaian cedi is about equivalent to the US dollar. In 2007 it was redominatedwith 10.000 cedi = 1 cedi
After no canditate reached absolute majority, a re-run of the election took place between the two strongest canditates, Atta Mills and Addo (see link on right side for more information on the election). Atta Mills won the re-run with a difference of about 40.000 votes,not even reaching 51%.
A packet of water (500ml) costs 5 pesewas (about 3-4p)
After no canditate reached absolute majority, a re-run of the election took place between the two strongest canditates, Atta Mills and Addo (see link on right side for more information on the election). Atta Mills won the re-run with a difference of about 40.000 votes,not even reaching 51%.
A packet of water (500ml) costs 5 pesewas (about 3-4p)
Ssessime
(That's Twi for 'change is coming' or something similar)
In the morning, we went through Accra by bus, which has a couple of nice sites to look at, but nothing special. What was special however, was that the whole area around the Independence square was crowded with thousands of people celebrating the fact that the opposition leader Atta Mills won the re-run of the presidential election. The Independence square was packed and people were going round taking down flags of the old leading party, but everything in a jolly and celebrational manner. Lots of people made the sign of change (substitution in sports) and were happy when we repeated the sign. Imagine Gordon Brown loosing the next election and Picadilly Circus and the area in front of the Parliament being so packed with people that the average car speed is 10 feet per hour. Those who watched "V for Vendetta" already have a rough idea of what I'm talking about. Also great was the market, where lots of people would great us and ask were we came from and so on. Again lots of people were happy when we repeated the sign of change or Ssessime after them. Some also taught us the sign for 'no change' :)
In the afternoon, we had an inroduction to the places to visit and Twi, the language spoke in Ghana, except for the north and the Eastern Region.
In the morning, we went through Accra by bus, which has a couple of nice sites to look at, but nothing special. What was special however, was that the whole area around the Independence square was crowded with thousands of people celebrating the fact that the opposition leader Atta Mills won the re-run of the presidential election. The Independence square was packed and people were going round taking down flags of the old leading party, but everything in a jolly and celebrational manner. Lots of people made the sign of change (substitution in sports) and were happy when we repeated the sign. Imagine Gordon Brown loosing the next election and Picadilly Circus and the area in front of the Parliament being so packed with people that the average car speed is 10 feet per hour. Those who watched "V for Vendetta" already have a rough idea of what I'm talking about. Also great was the market, where lots of people would great us and ask were we came from and so on. Again lots of people were happy when we repeated the sign of change or Ssessime after them. Some also taught us the sign for 'no change' :)
In the afternoon, we had an inroduction to the places to visit and Twi, the language spoke in Ghana, except for the north and the Eastern Region.
That's us sitting in the shade next to the mausoleum of Nkrumah, the man who declared Ghana's independence and became the first president of independent Ghana. There was a smale museum solely consisting of pictures of famous people visting Nkrumah and a couple of things Nkrumah possessed or used. Nevertheless, I could still feel the admiration and pride our guide felt for Nkrumah.
That evening I arrived at the hostel finding out that I had got a room mate, who nobody at the hostel had excpected.
Today, we learned to cook Ghanaian food, which was delicious, but one dish was also extremely hot. I didn't really participate. Not because I don't want to learn to cook the food, but because I will ask my host mother to teach me 1 on 1, which I think is more uselful than 10 people standing around one cook, some doing something, others not...
After that we just ate the food and relaxed in the shade on the premisis of the local organisation. With a gust of wind that afternoon was perfect.In the afternoon all the German and Swedish people went to their embassy to register. That way, if there's a ,they know, which Germans/Swedish are in Ghana. After that we took a cab to beach, where the sea was seriously warm. I would say it was warmer than the Mediterranean Sea is during summer!!! Apart from the Ghanaian 'salesmen', there was a German who wanted to sell me something. Saws in fact. Very cheap for building community centres and schools... Not even the Germans leave you alone over here:)
Tuesday 6 January 2009
F***ing Hell
That's what I first thought stepping out of the plane and I don't mean that in a negative way. When I left London, it had snowed there overnight, whilst in Accra it was around 20-25*C. It was like stepping out of the winter into the summer. (Fucking hell is also what I'm thinking right now, because the internet so soooooooo slow) After having watched "Ghost Town" and "How to loose friends and alienate people", two films I can definitely recommend, on the plane I landed at 21:00 and was picked up by members of the local organisation. Together with a couple of Germans and Norwegians I was brought to my hostel, where I got a room for myself with ensuite bathroom. Isn't as great as it sounds, because the air conditioning isn't working properly and the room isn't that nice (depending on the point of view). Also I didn't sleep that well...
Considering that I am no morning person and had to get up at 7, I didn't feel very well in the morning either. Nevertheless, from then on it only got better.
(For those who don't know, I'll be staying in Accra til Friday for my introduction course before leaving for my project) In the hostel there are about 40 volunteers from Norway, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia taking part in the course. However, I'm the only one from my organization in Germany and male volunteers are in the minority, which isn't a bad thing necessarily:).
At around 8 we were picked up and brought to the local organisation, where we were split into two groups. My group had an introduction course about Ghana (culture, health...).
After lunch in a Chinese restaurant, we got to the most fun part of the day:
Drumming and dancing
(Apart from taking pictures with my analog camera, which will be hopefully better than this one, I will take a few pictures with my mobile phone so I have of pictures to put on this blog)
After learning the basics of drumming and the "Fume Fume" (I don't know if that's spelled correctly), we also learned to dance to this "song". I'm really amazed by the African sense of rythm (for my thoughts on this, see title). We've been offered to have a custom built drum for 50 cedis, chossing everything from wood colour to signs and words on the side of the drum. I will decide this later depending on money and baggage.
Considering that I am no morning person and had to get up at 7, I didn't feel very well in the morning either. Nevertheless, from then on it only got better.
(For those who don't know, I'll be staying in Accra til Friday for my introduction course before leaving for my project) In the hostel there are about 40 volunteers from Norway, Germany, Sweden, the Netherlands and Australia taking part in the course. However, I'm the only one from my organization in Germany and male volunteers are in the minority, which isn't a bad thing necessarily:).
At around 8 we were picked up and brought to the local organisation, where we were split into two groups. My group had an introduction course about Ghana (culture, health...).
After lunch in a Chinese restaurant, we got to the most fun part of the day:
Drumming and dancing
(Apart from taking pictures with my analog camera, which will be hopefully better than this one, I will take a few pictures with my mobile phone so I have of pictures to put on this blog)After learning the basics of drumming and the "Fume Fume" (I don't know if that's spelled correctly), we also learned to dance to this "song". I'm really amazed by the African sense of rythm (for my thoughts on this, see title). We've been offered to have a custom built drum for 50 cedis, chossing everything from wood colour to signs and words on the side of the drum. I will decide this later depending on money and baggage.
Sunday 4 January 2009
Yes, there's a huuuuuge mess in my room and I'm probably the only one who can see a structure in that pile of chaos.
As I was just browsing through the internet looking for ideas for presents, I stumbled upon a blog by a German girl, who incidentally lives not just in the same village, but also in the same compound and has the same host mother. Now that's just pure luck (finding the blog on the internet - not the fact that there's somebody in the same compound, because there are a couple of other volunteer there), so as I read it I found out quite a lot about my accommodation. Since this shot down a lot of uncertainties of mine, I feel a huge relief. I couldn't be in a better mood right now. This also means I couldn't care less about the mess in my room...
Friday 2 January 2009
Project details
Accommodation: Room in a compound house
Where: Akim Akroso, a village in the Eastern Region (That's the name of the region, it doesn't actually cover the eastern part of Ghana due to the historical formation of Ghana)
You can see where the village is, if you search for "Akroso" in google maps
Host family: 6 children, 2 girls, 4 boys
There are no communication centres in the Town, so I won't be able to phone anybody, unless I go to Accra or a nearby city
My living conditions will be very, very different. They have no shower, a pit as a toilet, a local fire/ coal pot for cooking and a borehole for drinking water. At least they have electricity and guaranteed running water. Seriously looking forward to that...
Project:
Akroso Salvatio Army Primary/JSS (It was established by the Salvation Army, but it is now run by the government)
Work duties: Teaching English and Mathematics (Very keen to do the second one, not quite as much entusiasm for the first one)
Also I'll be helping with extra curricular activities, e.g. sports
The school has got about 100 pupils and 8 members of staff and no volunteers so far
I can have any off time I want and there's about a month of holidays => Lots and lots of travelling
Apart from the official language of Ghana, English, the local language Twi is spoken.
I do hope to come back from Ghana being able to speak a few sentences in Twi:)
Where: Akim Akroso, a village in the Eastern Region (That's the name of the region, it doesn't actually cover the eastern part of Ghana due to the historical formation of Ghana)
You can see where the village is, if you search for "Akroso" in google maps
Host family: 6 children, 2 girls, 4 boys
There are no communication centres in the Town, so I won't be able to phone anybody, unless I go to Accra or a nearby city
My living conditions will be very, very different. They have no shower, a pit as a toilet, a local fire/ coal pot for cooking and a borehole for drinking water. At least they have electricity and guaranteed running water. Seriously looking forward to that...
Project:
Akroso Salvatio Army Primary/JSS (It was established by the Salvation Army, but it is now run by the government)
Work duties: Teaching English and Mathematics (Very keen to do the second one, not quite as much entusiasm for the first one)
Also I'll be helping with extra curricular activities, e.g. sports
The school has got about 100 pupils and 8 members of staff and no volunteers so far
I can have any off time I want and there's about a month of holidays => Lots and lots of travelling
Apart from the official language of Ghana, English, the local language Twi is spoken.
I do hope to come back from Ghana being able to speak a few sentences in Twi:)
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