I am sitting in the terminal at JFK, waiting to board my flight home! After recovering from some little bug I brought home with me from Ghana, I spent the day wandering around the city with my cousin Katie and Ben Trigg. We had Dim Sum for brunch in Chinatown and then walked around for a few hours. It was great to catch up with them, drink tap water wth ice, eat street food, and take a hot shower!
I am very thankful that everything went smoothly (for the most part) and I had such a great experience. I accomplished everything that I was hoping to accomplish on the trip. I have to send a huge thanks to Lauren. She is the reason I went and the reason I was able to do as much as I did.
One thing I should have done is given myself a day buffer between getting home and working. As is, I am getting home at 11 pm and working tomorrow morning. At least I maximized my vacation time! woohoo!
Sunday, July 18, 2010
Saturday, July 17, 2010
My last days
I tagged along with Lauren's friend to the capitol of the Eastern region, Korforidua. This cute little town was situated between green rolling hills and had an adorable infrastructure. They host a bead market every Thursday, which is patronized by people from all over West Africa. We hired a driver to take us to some remote wateralls. Of course, I took tons of pictures of twin waterfalls, huge trees, and some pretty sweet insects.
On my last day, I spent a few hours at the Ghana Red Cross Society headquarters. I met with several people to learn more about the programs and services they offer, along with the sucesses and challenges they often encounter. Much of it was similar to what I am familiar with, except for the Refugee Camp management portion, which I learned a lot about. I also had a meeting with the President of the Red Cross in Ghana, who also splits his time as a Professor of Microbiology at the main University, and advises Fulbright researchers. He was a incredibly friendly and enjoyed hearing about my stay in Ghana. I was excited to have the opportunity to connect with them, as it gave me a broader perspective of the Red Cross, and it was
nice to meet people have way across the world that do the same work you do and for the same reasons.
My last Ghanaian meal was spent at Leslie's Aunt Sophhie's house. She spent all day cooking and made a very traditional Ghanaian dish, which I will totally butcher if I try to type the names but it was like a stew on beans and rice, along with seasoned and fried plantain, noodles, and grounded cassava. It was good. And there was no cow skin or mystery meat.
I ended up getting a mild version of "runny tummy" my last night and was feeling rather sick the plane ride home. I was pretty dehydrated by the time I got to NY but I made it!! I got some rest and hung out with my cousin Katie! We walked around the city until I couldn't walk anymore. I come home to Seattle tomorrow night!
I have some final thoughts about my trip and I will be putting up tons of pics on picasa in the coming days so keep an eye out. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
On my last day, I spent a few hours at the Ghana Red Cross Society headquarters. I met with several people to learn more about the programs and services they offer, along with the sucesses and challenges they often encounter. Much of it was similar to what I am familiar with, except for the Refugee Camp management portion, which I learned a lot about. I also had a meeting with the President of the Red Cross in Ghana, who also splits his time as a Professor of Microbiology at the main University, and advises Fulbright researchers. He was a incredibly friendly and enjoyed hearing about my stay in Ghana. I was excited to have the opportunity to connect with them, as it gave me a broader perspective of the Red Cross, and it was
nice to meet people have way across the world that do the same work you do and for the same reasons.
My last Ghanaian meal was spent at Leslie's Aunt Sophhie's house. She spent all day cooking and made a very traditional Ghanaian dish, which I will totally butcher if I try to type the names but it was like a stew on beans and rice, along with seasoned and fried plantain, noodles, and grounded cassava. It was good. And there was no cow skin or mystery meat.
I ended up getting a mild version of "runny tummy" my last night and was feeling rather sick the plane ride home. I was pretty dehydrated by the time I got to NY but I made it!! I got some rest and hung out with my cousin Katie! We walked around the city until I couldn't walk anymore. I come home to Seattle tomorrow night!
I have some final thoughts about my trip and I will be putting up tons of pics on picasa in the coming days so keep an eye out. Looking forward to seeing everyone!
Wednesday, July 14, 2010
Quick trip to Togo
Lauren and I went to Togo for two days so I could get a taste of Francophone Africa. We took a 3.5 hour ride to Aflou, the border town of Ghana, and walked across the border into Togo. The only thing separating people from going over the border was a simple string held up by one guard. We obtained a visa at the border under a little wooden shack (the togo visa cost about $30) and easily entered Lome, the capital of Togo, which is right on the other side of the border.
We visited a the largest fetish market in West Africa, which was filled with a myriad of stalls displaying animal skulls, rotting bird carcasses, firs, and statues which were all considered ingredients for traditional medicine and religion. Although it seemed like a tourist trap, many of the locals patronize the market, looking for unimaginable ingredients (dried up snakes, rodents, and skulls) to grind up into powders and mix with herbs to create medicine for things like arthritis or rheumatism.
Just for fun, I consulted a juju priest that claimed he only dealt with white magic. He showed me a few relics that ensured safety, good luck, or would insure success in love. Of course the items where outrageously expensive because they were spiritually blessed. Lauren wanted nothing to do with the "scam" but I played along just out of curiosity and even bargained down the price of my "safe travel" good luck charm.
In general, I have been amazed how everyone believes in juju/which craft/black magic here. I can see in countries where the majority practices traditional religion but even in Ghana, where the majority of the are Christian, everyone believes in in Juju. I have heard many personal anecdotes of someone being juju'd and I haven't met a single Ghanaian or African that doesn't wholeheartedly believe in it.
We got around on motorbikes, which was pretty much the only version of a taxi in Lome. I got quite a rush out of it and it was a fun way to see the city. I also got to speak French the whole time. To my surprise, I understood everyone perfectly even though I had this previous idea that the accent or dialect would make it a challenge for me to communicate. My French came back to a comfortable level after a few hours of speaking so it was fun to get some practice in.
We picked the budget hotel option, which cost about $20 a night for us and we were right next to the beach. The bathroom was all-in-one, meaning the shower head was above the toilet and sink. I attempted to use the shower and quickly realized that the drain didn't work after almost flooding the entire hotel room. The sink drain was the solution to the problem so i washed my hair and most of my body over the sink and the rest over the toilet for it to catch the rest of the water. Couldn't complain though...running water can't be taken for granted here.
Despite being a tad bit nervous to travel, we had no issues and I came back to Ghana in one piece along with all my belongings in tact. It felt strange that we were so close to the border, and yet I felt very naive to the dangers we could potentially face in Togo. We practiced the same precautions used in Ghana and had no issues.
Two full days left! Better make the best of it!
We visited a the largest fetish market in West Africa, which was filled with a myriad of stalls displaying animal skulls, rotting bird carcasses, firs, and statues which were all considered ingredients for traditional medicine and religion. Although it seemed like a tourist trap, many of the locals patronize the market, looking for unimaginable ingredients (dried up snakes, rodents, and skulls) to grind up into powders and mix with herbs to create medicine for things like arthritis or rheumatism.
Just for fun, I consulted a juju priest that claimed he only dealt with white magic. He showed me a few relics that ensured safety, good luck, or would insure success in love. Of course the items where outrageously expensive because they were spiritually blessed. Lauren wanted nothing to do with the "scam" but I played along just out of curiosity and even bargained down the price of my "safe travel" good luck charm.
In general, I have been amazed how everyone believes in juju/which craft/black magic here. I can see in countries where the majority practices traditional religion but even in Ghana, where the majority of the are Christian, everyone believes in in Juju. I have heard many personal anecdotes of someone being juju'd and I haven't met a single Ghanaian or African that doesn't wholeheartedly believe in it.
We got around on motorbikes, which was pretty much the only version of a taxi in Lome. I got quite a rush out of it and it was a fun way to see the city. I also got to speak French the whole time. To my surprise, I understood everyone perfectly even though I had this previous idea that the accent or dialect would make it a challenge for me to communicate. My French came back to a comfortable level after a few hours of speaking so it was fun to get some practice in.
We picked the budget hotel option, which cost about $20 a night for us and we were right next to the beach. The bathroom was all-in-one, meaning the shower head was above the toilet and sink. I attempted to use the shower and quickly realized that the drain didn't work after almost flooding the entire hotel room. The sink drain was the solution to the problem so i washed my hair and most of my body over the sink and the rest over the toilet for it to catch the rest of the water. Couldn't complain though...running water can't be taken for granted here.
Despite being a tad bit nervous to travel, we had no issues and I came back to Ghana in one piece along with all my belongings in tact. It felt strange that we were so close to the border, and yet I felt very naive to the dangers we could potentially face in Togo. We practiced the same precautions used in Ghana and had no issues.
Two full days left! Better make the best of it!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sorry for the left
Went north to Kumasi for the weekend. It was supposed to be about a 4 hour trip but it turned into 6.5 hours even though we left at 5 am to avoid traffic. The bush roads were...not ideal and I guess Kumasi is a huge cultural center for weddings and funerals on the weekends. It is located in the Ashanti region, which is known as the center of Ghanaian culture.
It was here that I first heard the expression "sorry for the left". Apparently it is very rude to use your left hand to hand off and receive cash or eat communal food because it is considered the dirty hand (ex. used for wiping). This social norm is so embedded into the minds of Ghanaians that they will contort their body and re-adjust their belongings in order to avoid using their left hand. However, if that doesn't happen and you so happen to utilize your left hand in an exchange, you are supposed to say "sorry for the left". Let me tell you from experience that it is VERY hard to get used to this. Lauren is on my case constantly and it's not like I am trying to be rude, it just doesn't come naturally at all. She finally gave up since I am leaving in a week.
We visited a few craft villages about 30 min out of Kumasi, were we were the token tourists, walking around learning about the process of carving all the wood pieces and the meanings behind each piece. Of course everyone was aggressively trying to get us in their shops as they promised to "give us good price". I feel like everywhere I go, I am seen as a walking dollar sign. We went to another village that specialized in making traditional kente cloth. We got a tour of the village and learned the process of making the cloth, a program that was developed by a peace corps volunteer in order to bring tourists to the rural village. The income from the tourism is used for various development projects.
The next day, we went a few more hours north and then hired a taxi to take us to a monkey sanctuary. On the way, in the middle of nowhere, the taxi broke down. As we sat on the side of the road while the taxi driver attempted to tweek some things under the hood of his car, a car passed and stopped when they saw us. Some older man got out and introduced himself as the chief of the nearby village. Random. So we sat there learning about what it was like to be a chief as we waited for another taxi to pass so we could continue our journey.
The monkey village was so cool! We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, in some random African forest, and hiked a bit to find the monkeys and this tiny village where we saw way more monkeys than people. The monkeys are considered sacred and it is said that if the villagers harm the monkeys in any way, they will be harmed in the same way. There were two different breeds (one way more sacred than the other) and multiple families of both breeds. It was fun learning about and observing the dynamics of the families and meeting the chief monkeys. They were super friendly and came up very close to us thinking we had food. I gave bread to a couple of them and they came right up to me and delicately picked the bread from my hand and sat there and ate it. There was even a monkey cemetery where all the monkeys that die are given a proper human burial. They said that the villagers know when a monkey is going to die because the rest of the monkeys will howl and cry every night for several days before the death. I wanted to take one home because they were so darn cute. Several hundred pictures will have to suffice. I'll get a few up in a couple days.
In other news, I ate goat meat and feel slightly guilty about it. Tasted like a mixture of beef and dark chicken meat.
It was here that I first heard the expression "sorry for the left". Apparently it is very rude to use your left hand to hand off and receive cash or eat communal food because it is considered the dirty hand (ex. used for wiping). This social norm is so embedded into the minds of Ghanaians that they will contort their body and re-adjust their belongings in order to avoid using their left hand. However, if that doesn't happen and you so happen to utilize your left hand in an exchange, you are supposed to say "sorry for the left". Let me tell you from experience that it is VERY hard to get used to this. Lauren is on my case constantly and it's not like I am trying to be rude, it just doesn't come naturally at all. She finally gave up since I am leaving in a week.
We visited a few craft villages about 30 min out of Kumasi, were we were the token tourists, walking around learning about the process of carving all the wood pieces and the meanings behind each piece. Of course everyone was aggressively trying to get us in their shops as they promised to "give us good price". I feel like everywhere I go, I am seen as a walking dollar sign. We went to another village that specialized in making traditional kente cloth. We got a tour of the village and learned the process of making the cloth, a program that was developed by a peace corps volunteer in order to bring tourists to the rural village. The income from the tourism is used for various development projects.
The next day, we went a few more hours north and then hired a taxi to take us to a monkey sanctuary. On the way, in the middle of nowhere, the taxi broke down. As we sat on the side of the road while the taxi driver attempted to tweek some things under the hood of his car, a car passed and stopped when they saw us. Some older man got out and introduced himself as the chief of the nearby village. Random. So we sat there learning about what it was like to be a chief as we waited for another taxi to pass so we could continue our journey.
The monkey village was so cool! We were dropped off in the middle of nowhere, in some random African forest, and hiked a bit to find the monkeys and this tiny village where we saw way more monkeys than people. The monkeys are considered sacred and it is said that if the villagers harm the monkeys in any way, they will be harmed in the same way. There were two different breeds (one way more sacred than the other) and multiple families of both breeds. It was fun learning about and observing the dynamics of the families and meeting the chief monkeys. They were super friendly and came up very close to us thinking we had food. I gave bread to a couple of them and they came right up to me and delicately picked the bread from my hand and sat there and ate it. There was even a monkey cemetery where all the monkeys that die are given a proper human burial. They said that the villagers know when a monkey is going to die because the rest of the monkeys will howl and cry every night for several days before the death. I wanted to take one home because they were so darn cute. Several hundred pictures will have to suffice. I'll get a few up in a couple days.
In other news, I ate goat meat and feel slightly guilty about it. Tasted like a mixture of beef and dark chicken meat.
Friday, July 9, 2010
World Vision and APED
I completed my mini internship with World Vision and thought I would sum up the experience.
World Vision is a world wide non profit that focuses on Children and communities in poverty. They will go into a poor community and build schools connect children with sponsers, which will pay for things like their school fees, school uniforms, and relief items. This program is very successful for the 5-15 years that WV is in the community. But overtime, WV has realized that after they pull out of the community, it quickly deteriorates and that program alone is not sustainable. In order to combat this problem, they introduced the microfinance arm of WV for the mothers (and some fathers) in the ommunity. The idea is that they would build up their businesses with the loans provided by WV, and when WV pulled out, they would be able to continue to support their children and their community.
One glitch to this solution is that the woman saw thier child getting all these free handouts from WV and didn't understand why they had to pay back their loan from the same organization. In response to that, WV renamed their microfinance sector in each country they worked in. In Ghana, it is called APED (Association of Progressive Entrepeneurs in Development). When APED goes into WV communities, they tell them that they work in conjunction with WV to form village banking groups. APED opperates
throughout Ghana, not just in WV communities.
During a two week period, I spent time at the APED headquarters, a branch that covered all of the Greater Accra region, and I was able to visit multiple sites in the feild. This was exactly the experience I was looking for and they really went out of their way to make it happen. I was able to sit down and interview operation and client services managers at headquarters, a branch manager, a senior credit officer, a financial officer, and many clients throughout the Greater Accra region. I went into this having a fairly in depth knowledge of microfinance but this experience allowed me to greatly broaden my perspective. My favorite part was meeting the clients and hearing personal anecdotes and success stories. Learning about the struggles of the organization and the clients was also really interesting.
I took a ton of notes during my experience with APED and nothing came as a huge surprise...it was mostly getting into the fine details of how they operate. Something I found very interesting is that they now require clients to have a savings account before they take a loan (ranging from 20%-30% of the loan amount) and they must deposit a certain amount into the account throughout the repayment period. APED also started a pilot program which required clients to get funeral insurance. Funerals are HUGE in Ghana and APED had issues with clients blowing their entire loan on a family member's funeral, which obviously is not a profitable investment.
We didn't have to go far out of Accra to see some incredibly rural villages, complete with mud huts and thatched roofs. Most of the time I was the only white person for miles and that in itself was a strange experience. It was more strange
for everyone else than it was for me. Throughout my entire trip, I have been going to places that most tourists don't go and I get interesting reactions. In one of the WV communities, the entire school of children came out of their classrooms to stare
at me. When I smiled and waved, they got really excited. It is very common for me to walk down a street and here them yell "white person" in several different local languages. Or they will just look at you and say "white" in english and it's in no way meant to be offensive. In some of Lauren's research areas, where we spent a bit of time with the families, some of the young children were very afraid of us because they hadn't seen white people before. They would cry and the parents thought it was hilarious. Some were able to warm up to us in a short period of time.
I have been here 3 weeks and I am very pleased with how I have spent my time. My last week will be spent traveling throughout Ghana and to Togo so I probably won't be able to blog as much. I'll try to keep it updated a bit though. Hopefully some
of you out there are enjoying it. :)
World Vision is a world wide non profit that focuses on Children and communities in poverty. They will go into a poor community and build schools connect children with sponsers, which will pay for things like their school fees, school uniforms, and relief items. This program is very successful for the 5-15 years that WV is in the community. But overtime, WV has realized that after they pull out of the community, it quickly deteriorates and that program alone is not sustainable. In order to combat this problem, they introduced the microfinance arm of WV for the mothers (and some fathers) in the ommunity. The idea is that they would build up their businesses with the loans provided by WV, and when WV pulled out, they would be able to continue to support their children and their community.
One glitch to this solution is that the woman saw thier child getting all these free handouts from WV and didn't understand why they had to pay back their loan from the same organization. In response to that, WV renamed their microfinance sector in each country they worked in. In Ghana, it is called APED (Association of Progressive Entrepeneurs in Development). When APED goes into WV communities, they tell them that they work in conjunction with WV to form village banking groups. APED opperates
throughout Ghana, not just in WV communities.
During a two week period, I spent time at the APED headquarters, a branch that covered all of the Greater Accra region, and I was able to visit multiple sites in the feild. This was exactly the experience I was looking for and they really went out of their way to make it happen. I was able to sit down and interview operation and client services managers at headquarters, a branch manager, a senior credit officer, a financial officer, and many clients throughout the Greater Accra region. I went into this having a fairly in depth knowledge of microfinance but this experience allowed me to greatly broaden my perspective. My favorite part was meeting the clients and hearing personal anecdotes and success stories. Learning about the struggles of the organization and the clients was also really interesting.
I took a ton of notes during my experience with APED and nothing came as a huge surprise...it was mostly getting into the fine details of how they operate. Something I found very interesting is that they now require clients to have a savings account before they take a loan (ranging from 20%-30% of the loan amount) and they must deposit a certain amount into the account throughout the repayment period. APED also started a pilot program which required clients to get funeral insurance. Funerals are HUGE in Ghana and APED had issues with clients blowing their entire loan on a family member's funeral, which obviously is not a profitable investment.
We didn't have to go far out of Accra to see some incredibly rural villages, complete with mud huts and thatched roofs. Most of the time I was the only white person for miles and that in itself was a strange experience. It was more strange
for everyone else than it was for me. Throughout my entire trip, I have been going to places that most tourists don't go and I get interesting reactions. In one of the WV communities, the entire school of children came out of their classrooms to stare
at me. When I smiled and waved, they got really excited. It is very common for me to walk down a street and here them yell "white person" in several different local languages. Or they will just look at you and say "white" in english and it's in no way meant to be offensive. In some of Lauren's research areas, where we spent a bit of time with the families, some of the young children were very afraid of us because they hadn't seen white people before. They would cry and the parents thought it was hilarious. Some were able to warm up to us in a short period of time.
I have been here 3 weeks and I am very pleased with how I have spent my time. My last week will be spent traveling throughout Ghana and to Togo so I probably won't be able to blog as much. I'll try to keep it updated a bit though. Hopefully some
of you out there are enjoying it. :)
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
An Ode to the Road
Since I am lucky enough to have a personal driver most of the time and I just talked about Lauren's controversial car, I thought I would dedicate a blog to my experience as a passenger on the roads of Accra.
The roads themselves vary in quality, ranging from streets that compare to our state highways (with the occasionl stretch of dirt roads "under construction") to "hold on tight, we're goin offroading". Potholes are so prevelant because the tar on the road is very thin. A crew will occaisionally come and fill the potholes on a small stretch of a road but it's like a band-aid on a gushing wound.
Driving here is crazy. I could count the number of functioning traffic lights in Accra on 2 hands. There are no lanes and there is no concept of "right of way" (even for pedestrians). Bigger cars rule the road at all times and usually win at the game of chicken. I was in a van the other day that was side swiped by a sadan and both driver's couldn't be bothered...they just went on their way like nothing had happened. Cars weave throughout the entire width of the road to aviod pot holes and find the path of least resistance. If you want to turn, you have to beat the oncoming traffic and cut them off. If you let someone in to make a turn, everyone behind them will inch close to them to continue to block you so they can turn as well. Perhaps there is some organization to this chaos and I am too stuck in my American driver mindset to see it.
Rush hour lasts from 6:30-10:30am and from 3:30-9:00pm. I could safely guess that 20% of my day has been stuck in grid lock traffic. Random people decide that they are going to take it upon themselves to direct traffic (usually with a tree branch)
in hopes to earn a buck. Lauren warned me early on that if I make a to do list of 10 items, I should be content if 1 or 2 of them are accomplished. Ghanaians are on a different schedule, also refered to as Ghanaian time. Things take forever here and everyone is always late. If someone tells you they'll be there in 5 minutes, you'll see them in 2 hours. I'm not saying this is good or bad. It's just a different way of life.
One advantage to being stuck in traffic is that you can get all your shopping done! There are constantly people (refered to as Hawkers) in the middle of the roads and in between cars in traffic selling various items. Many of them harass you to buy
their stock and some just stroll by and stop if you hiss at them. Yes, you hiss to get their attention. The most common are bags of pure water, gum, phone credit, and plantain chips. You will also see the occasional framed artwork. Because everyone likes to buy giant framed art in traffic. Although I haven't seen it (thankfully), Lauren informs me that some Hawkers sell puppies in traffic.
Street signs in Accra are few and far between. Ghana's version of mapquest goes like this: pull over, "Please boss, can you direct me to XYZ?", he follows up with "go straight, then turn left at the lady selling coconuts, then turn right at the crooked tree, then drive a bit and turn left when you see boys playing football". What happens if they boys aren't out that day? Stop again and hiss down another passerby.
Tro Tros are the means of public transportation all throughout Ghana. They are privately owned vans that seat a driver, a mate, and about 18 passangers. Most of them are very beat up and have one corner of the door hanging on by a string
requiring the mate to pull some fancy manouver to close it. They have established routes and are very cheap to ride. I rode my first Tro Tro recently and I was impressed with how handy they are to get around.
Road terminology has given me some good laughs. If you get pulled over for driving to fast, it's not a speeding ticket, it's considered overspeeding. Passing is refered to as Overtaking. If you are caught drinking and driving, you will be
punished for "drink driving". Officials that direct traffic are Trafitacs. And my
personal fav: a turn signal is called a trafficator.
As the passenger, I get to watch the world pass me by. On a daily basis, I see goats, roosters, chickens, cows, and skinny little dogs walking on the roads. I see people carrying giant bowls or bags on their heads. I am so impressed at how much
weight and bulk they can carry and even run without it falling. I see multiple men, boys, AND girls urinating in the open gutters that runs along the side of the roads (the girls have amazing aim!). I see hundreds of shiping containers that have been turned into storefronts and painted to advertise 1 of 4 cell phone companies. Each of them have a name that religious in nature. Here are some of my favorites: Clap for Jesus, A chapter a day keeps the Devil away, God's time is the best Ent., and Finger of God. Lauren and I saw one Pepsi sponsered store front sign entidled "Pussy in Booth" for a provisions shop. Lauren inquired about this store name and learned the store had a cat.
As a driver, you inevitably interact with Ghana Police on a regular basis and Lauren has learned a few tricks to dealing with them. She has handled herself very well and adapted to getting around even though she has the worst sense of direction of anyone I know. That being said, I am looking forward to drving again in the US in my little Prius (haven't seen any hybrids here).
The roads themselves vary in quality, ranging from streets that compare to our state highways (with the occasionl stretch of dirt roads "under construction") to "hold on tight, we're goin offroading". Potholes are so prevelant because the tar on the road is very thin. A crew will occaisionally come and fill the potholes on a small stretch of a road but it's like a band-aid on a gushing wound.
Driving here is crazy. I could count the number of functioning traffic lights in Accra on 2 hands. There are no lanes and there is no concept of "right of way" (even for pedestrians). Bigger cars rule the road at all times and usually win at the game of chicken. I was in a van the other day that was side swiped by a sadan and both driver's couldn't be bothered...they just went on their way like nothing had happened. Cars weave throughout the entire width of the road to aviod pot holes and find the path of least resistance. If you want to turn, you have to beat the oncoming traffic and cut them off. If you let someone in to make a turn, everyone behind them will inch close to them to continue to block you so they can turn as well. Perhaps there is some organization to this chaos and I am too stuck in my American driver mindset to see it.
Rush hour lasts from 6:30-10:30am and from 3:30-9:00pm. I could safely guess that 20% of my day has been stuck in grid lock traffic. Random people decide that they are going to take it upon themselves to direct traffic (usually with a tree branch)
in hopes to earn a buck. Lauren warned me early on that if I make a to do list of 10 items, I should be content if 1 or 2 of them are accomplished. Ghanaians are on a different schedule, also refered to as Ghanaian time. Things take forever here and everyone is always late. If someone tells you they'll be there in 5 minutes, you'll see them in 2 hours. I'm not saying this is good or bad. It's just a different way of life.
One advantage to being stuck in traffic is that you can get all your shopping done! There are constantly people (refered to as Hawkers) in the middle of the roads and in between cars in traffic selling various items. Many of them harass you to buy
their stock and some just stroll by and stop if you hiss at them. Yes, you hiss to get their attention. The most common are bags of pure water, gum, phone credit, and plantain chips. You will also see the occasional framed artwork. Because everyone likes to buy giant framed art in traffic. Although I haven't seen it (thankfully), Lauren informs me that some Hawkers sell puppies in traffic.
Street signs in Accra are few and far between. Ghana's version of mapquest goes like this: pull over, "Please boss, can you direct me to XYZ?", he follows up with "go straight, then turn left at the lady selling coconuts, then turn right at the crooked tree, then drive a bit and turn left when you see boys playing football". What happens if they boys aren't out that day? Stop again and hiss down another passerby.
Tro Tros are the means of public transportation all throughout Ghana. They are privately owned vans that seat a driver, a mate, and about 18 passangers. Most of them are very beat up and have one corner of the door hanging on by a string
requiring the mate to pull some fancy manouver to close it. They have established routes and are very cheap to ride. I rode my first Tro Tro recently and I was impressed with how handy they are to get around.
Road terminology has given me some good laughs. If you get pulled over for driving to fast, it's not a speeding ticket, it's considered overspeeding. Passing is refered to as Overtaking. If you are caught drinking and driving, you will be
punished for "drink driving". Officials that direct traffic are Trafitacs. And my
personal fav: a turn signal is called a trafficator.
As the passenger, I get to watch the world pass me by. On a daily basis, I see goats, roosters, chickens, cows, and skinny little dogs walking on the roads. I see people carrying giant bowls or bags on their heads. I am so impressed at how much
weight and bulk they can carry and even run without it falling. I see multiple men, boys, AND girls urinating in the open gutters that runs along the side of the roads (the girls have amazing aim!). I see hundreds of shiping containers that have been turned into storefronts and painted to advertise 1 of 4 cell phone companies. Each of them have a name that religious in nature. Here are some of my favorites: Clap for Jesus, A chapter a day keeps the Devil away, God's time is the best Ent., and Finger of God. Lauren and I saw one Pepsi sponsered store front sign entidled "Pussy in Booth" for a provisions shop. Lauren inquired about this store name and learned the store had a cat.
As a driver, you inevitably interact with Ghana Police on a regular basis and Lauren has learned a few tricks to dealing with them. She has handled herself very well and adapted to getting around even though she has the worst sense of direction of anyone I know. That being said, I am looking forward to drving again in the US in my little Prius (haven't seen any hybrids here).
Tuesday, July 6, 2010
Powder wigs? Really??
One experience most tourists don’t have is spending a day in court and learning about the country’s judicial system (unless you’re Amanda Knox). Lauren is being sued in the high court of Ghana and I got the opportunity to go with her to court on Monday morning. It sounds rather bizarre and I am sure that being sued was not on her Ghana to do list.
Lauren bought a car from a dealership after she moved here. She found a great deal on a Toyota Corolla (Paid about $4000). After paying the dealer for the car and driving it for a couple days, the Nigerian woman that took the car to the dealer to be sold changed her mind and decided that she didn’t want to sell the car. Perhaps she realized she didn’t ask a high enough price, perhaps she sold her company car without permission…no one really knows why she changed her mind. After getting the police involved and threatening Lauren (who is a 3rd party and really should have no relevance in the case), she threatened to sue the car dealer and Lauren. And that she did.
Anyone with a normal brain wouldn’t think she has a case. She sold the car and the transaction was finalized. That was 5 months ago. 3 months after Lauren bought the car, she was served papers at her apartment by the plaintiff. She somehow found Lauren, tracked her down, and threw the papers at her porter after he wouldn’t tell her what room she was in. Unfortunately for Lauren, it was over a month after the case had been opened, so she didn’t have much time to get a crash course in “what to do if you get sued in Ghana”. Through a connection at her church, she found a Colonel in the military and he set her up with a lawyer.
Skip to Saturday…Lauren got a call while we were in Cape Coast saying she had to be in Court Monday morning. We met her lawyer on Monday and he explained that the plaintiff and her lawyer were trying to win the case on small technicalities, bribing, and lying. I got a taste of all of that during the day. The plaintiff filed paperwork on Friday and someone was probably bribed to have the court date set on Monday. Because of that, Lauren’s lawyer had to work on it over the weekend, submit papers very early Monday, and get to the court by 8 am.
To find the court room, we had to go to the central courthouse and look at the postings on the wall for that day. Since the date was set on Friday, the case wasn’t even posted. After a ton of scrambling around, we guessed which court house it was and drove there. Talk about a cluster...
The court room looked more or less like what you would expect…a judge up front, a row of lawyers seated closest. Behind the lawyers were all the people involved in cases being addressed that day. All lawyers and the judge had large black graduation like gowns, strange little white stringy collars, and powder wigs! The judge’s wig was by far the nicest but all the lawyers had little scrubby looking ones that were plopped on their head and would often fall off when they stood up or leaned their head too far to one side. Each little wig had a little crooked rat tail coming out the back. I found it so amusing and I wanted desperately to take photos in the court room but the last thing I would want to do is piss of Lauren’s judge. I did get a picture of Lauren and her lawyer (with the powder wig!) after the trial. Hope you enjoy it.
After they went through a couple other cases, it was Lauren’s turn. The lawyers addressed the judge as “My lord” each time they spoke. I felt like I was in some backwards British courtroom circa 1800. It was a bit hard to understand the interaction but I know that the plaintiff’s lawyer lied a few times to the judge, saying that they had served papers to the dealer involved in the case. Leslie called the dealer right after and he said had received no official papers that he was being sued (and this is 2 months after Lauren was informed).
The day was pointless. Basically the point of the day in court was to address the plaintiffs request to make a default judgment. Because Lauren showed up and said she had a defense, the request was denied. On Friday, Lauren has to go back to court to find out if her car will be taken away in order to preserve the vehicle while the trial continues. That would be a HUGE inconvenience to her. The car would end up sitting at the court house for months and would probably be used by police officers to run errands.
IF Lauren lost (which won’t happen), she would lose the car and get her money back. But she would have to pay all of the plaintiff’s lawyer fees AND pay the taxi fares of the plaintiff for the past 5 months.
We talked to the Colonel (lauren’s lawyer) for a bit after the trail, and he could only really laugh at the whole situation. He went into detail about many of the lawyers who lie and cheat/bribe the crooked system and get away with it. This is a very high up guy in the Ghanaian military and it was amazing to hear him so casually talk about how corrupt the judicial system is. He said he hoped that justice would prevail but that all you could really do is pray to God.
Lauren bought a car from a dealership after she moved here. She found a great deal on a Toyota Corolla (Paid about $4000). After paying the dealer for the car and driving it for a couple days, the Nigerian woman that took the car to the dealer to be sold changed her mind and decided that she didn’t want to sell the car. Perhaps she realized she didn’t ask a high enough price, perhaps she sold her company car without permission…no one really knows why she changed her mind. After getting the police involved and threatening Lauren (who is a 3rd party and really should have no relevance in the case), she threatened to sue the car dealer and Lauren. And that she did.
Anyone with a normal brain wouldn’t think she has a case. She sold the car and the transaction was finalized. That was 5 months ago. 3 months after Lauren bought the car, she was served papers at her apartment by the plaintiff. She somehow found Lauren, tracked her down, and threw the papers at her porter after he wouldn’t tell her what room she was in. Unfortunately for Lauren, it was over a month after the case had been opened, so she didn’t have much time to get a crash course in “what to do if you get sued in Ghana”. Through a connection at her church, she found a Colonel in the military and he set her up with a lawyer.
Skip to Saturday…Lauren got a call while we were in Cape Coast saying she had to be in Court Monday morning. We met her lawyer on Monday and he explained that the plaintiff and her lawyer were trying to win the case on small technicalities, bribing, and lying. I got a taste of all of that during the day. The plaintiff filed paperwork on Friday and someone was probably bribed to have the court date set on Monday. Because of that, Lauren’s lawyer had to work on it over the weekend, submit papers very early Monday, and get to the court by 8 am.
To find the court room, we had to go to the central courthouse and look at the postings on the wall for that day. Since the date was set on Friday, the case wasn’t even posted. After a ton of scrambling around, we guessed which court house it was and drove there. Talk about a cluster...
The court room looked more or less like what you would expect…a judge up front, a row of lawyers seated closest. Behind the lawyers were all the people involved in cases being addressed that day. All lawyers and the judge had large black graduation like gowns, strange little white stringy collars, and powder wigs! The judge’s wig was by far the nicest but all the lawyers had little scrubby looking ones that were plopped on their head and would often fall off when they stood up or leaned their head too far to one side. Each little wig had a little crooked rat tail coming out the back. I found it so amusing and I wanted desperately to take photos in the court room but the last thing I would want to do is piss of Lauren’s judge. I did get a picture of Lauren and her lawyer (with the powder wig!) after the trial. Hope you enjoy it.
After they went through a couple other cases, it was Lauren’s turn. The lawyers addressed the judge as “My lord” each time they spoke. I felt like I was in some backwards British courtroom circa 1800. It was a bit hard to understand the interaction but I know that the plaintiff’s lawyer lied a few times to the judge, saying that they had served papers to the dealer involved in the case. Leslie called the dealer right after and he said had received no official papers that he was being sued (and this is 2 months after Lauren was informed).
The day was pointless. Basically the point of the day in court was to address the plaintiffs request to make a default judgment. Because Lauren showed up and said she had a defense, the request was denied. On Friday, Lauren has to go back to court to find out if her car will be taken away in order to preserve the vehicle while the trial continues. That would be a HUGE inconvenience to her. The car would end up sitting at the court house for months and would probably be used by police officers to run errands.
IF Lauren lost (which won’t happen), she would lose the car and get her money back. But she would have to pay all of the plaintiff’s lawyer fees AND pay the taxi fares of the plaintiff for the past 5 months.
We talked to the Colonel (lauren’s lawyer) for a bit after the trail, and he could only really laugh at the whole situation. He went into detail about many of the lawyers who lie and cheat/bribe the crooked system and get away with it. This is a very high up guy in the Ghanaian military and it was amazing to hear him so casually talk about how corrupt the judicial system is. He said he hoped that justice would prevail but that all you could really do is pray to God.
Sunday, July 4, 2010
Runny Tummy
WARNING: the following content is fairly graphic. Read at your own risk.
Lauren and I took a bus to Cape Coast this weekend, which was about 3.5 hours. The trip was going quite well until I felt a rumble in my tummy and suddenly had a problem. After my "problem", I sat on the non-bathroom bus for an hour and a half longer until we FINALLY reached our destination which was a gas station in Cape Coast. This is when I discovered the meaning of runny tummy. Lauren has all sorts of names for this problem, my favorite is "effortless". The very unfortunate thing was that there was no toilet paper, no soap, and the bathroom was disgusting by anyone's standards.
We somehow made it to our little beach resort (which was amazing!). I had heard all about the amazing fresh fish meals they had but I was instructed to only eat plain rice. After the 4th trip to the bathroom in our room from the restaurant, we decided to order room service so I would only be about 5 ft from the bathroom at all times.
I will skip to the part that Lauren decided to walk to the pharmacy (thank you Lauren for taking care of me!) and she picked up an antibiotic, Imodium, and oral rehydration salts. It was a rough night but I think that little cocktail did the trick. I was pretty weak all day and stuck to plain rice and bread. My stomach is still cramping like crazy but I feel sooooo much better already.
We spent the morning lounging on the beach watching fishermen to our right, and a ton of guys playing soccer on our left. The Cape Coast slave castle was right down the beach from our hotel and I mustered up the energy to visit the castle museum and take the tour.
It was a haunting experience to be in the dungeons of the castles where so many Africans were kept in unimaginable conditions and many of whom died. It was even more weird to see the layout of the castle and learn that the church was literally on top of the male dungeons. We have all learned about the middle passage and the history of slavery for so many years. Nothing I learned really surprised me so I feel like my education on the topic was pretty accurate. But being there in the dark, cramped, and humid rooms really gave me a greater appreciation for this history lesson.
Sorry for the lack of pictures...I have plenty to share so hopefully I will get the chance to put them up at some point.
Happy 4th everyone! Hope it clears up for fireworks. Stay safe.
Lauren and I took a bus to Cape Coast this weekend, which was about 3.5 hours. The trip was going quite well until I felt a rumble in my tummy and suddenly had a problem. After my "problem", I sat on the non-bathroom bus for an hour and a half longer until we FINALLY reached our destination which was a gas station in Cape Coast. This is when I discovered the meaning of runny tummy. Lauren has all sorts of names for this problem, my favorite is "effortless". The very unfortunate thing was that there was no toilet paper, no soap, and the bathroom was disgusting by anyone's standards.
We somehow made it to our little beach resort (which was amazing!). I had heard all about the amazing fresh fish meals they had but I was instructed to only eat plain rice. After the 4th trip to the bathroom in our room from the restaurant, we decided to order room service so I would only be about 5 ft from the bathroom at all times.
I will skip to the part that Lauren decided to walk to the pharmacy (thank you Lauren for taking care of me!) and she picked up an antibiotic, Imodium, and oral rehydration salts. It was a rough night but I think that little cocktail did the trick. I was pretty weak all day and stuck to plain rice and bread. My stomach is still cramping like crazy but I feel sooooo much better already.
We spent the morning lounging on the beach watching fishermen to our right, and a ton of guys playing soccer on our left. The Cape Coast slave castle was right down the beach from our hotel and I mustered up the energy to visit the castle museum and take the tour.
It was a haunting experience to be in the dungeons of the castles where so many Africans were kept in unimaginable conditions and many of whom died. It was even more weird to see the layout of the castle and learn that the church was literally on top of the male dungeons. We have all learned about the middle passage and the history of slavery for so many years. Nothing I learned really surprised me so I feel like my education on the topic was pretty accurate. But being there in the dark, cramped, and humid rooms really gave me a greater appreciation for this history lesson.
Sorry for the lack of pictures...I have plenty to share so hopefully I will get the chance to put them up at some point.
Happy 4th everyone! Hope it clears up for fireworks. Stay safe.
A taste of village banking
My internship has been working out very well! On Friday, I went in a private vehicle to the Eastern and Volta regions of Ghana which are places I would have probably never seen had I not had this opportunity. I went along with one of the branch managers, a credit officer, a driver, and another intern from Chad. We drove around to meet different group executives and collected payments.
I offered to take photos for APED for marketing purposes so they went out of their way to introduce me to many of their clients. A group of woman took out loans from APED for their rice production. I was able to visit their tiny village (complete with mud huts) and take a tour of the rice mill. They showed me the whole process of producing the rice and I was able to take a ton of great pics. I actually bought about 10 lbs of rice from them but I don't think it would be wise to pack that to come home given my 50 lb limit. Lame!
We went to another small village and went to a few meetings with the groups of women. Some of them had just finished paying off their loans and were submitting proposals to start a new loan cycle. All interactions were in Twi (one of the local languages). I had thought that most people spoke English but I have found that the only people that speak fluent English are those that are pretty well educated. Fortunately, I was getting the play by play from our Driver, Kofi. He filled me in on the disputes and interesting dynamics of the group. I was able to speak to some of the clients and ask them about their personal story and how village banking has impacted their lives.
I am looking forward to getting some more field experience...not to mention getting out of Accra for a few days. This city is a bit overwhelming at times.
I offered to take photos for APED for marketing purposes so they went out of their way to introduce me to many of their clients. A group of woman took out loans from APED for their rice production. I was able to visit their tiny village (complete with mud huts) and take a tour of the rice mill. They showed me the whole process of producing the rice and I was able to take a ton of great pics. I actually bought about 10 lbs of rice from them but I don't think it would be wise to pack that to come home given my 50 lb limit. Lame!
We went to another small village and went to a few meetings with the groups of women. Some of them had just finished paying off their loans and were submitting proposals to start a new loan cycle. All interactions were in Twi (one of the local languages). I had thought that most people spoke English but I have found that the only people that speak fluent English are those that are pretty well educated. Fortunately, I was getting the play by play from our Driver, Kofi. He filled me in on the disputes and interesting dynamics of the group. I was able to speak to some of the clients and ask them about their personal story and how village banking has impacted their lives.
I am looking forward to getting some more field experience...not to mention getting out of Accra for a few days. This city is a bit overwhelming at times.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
My first car accident
I started my mini internship this week for a two week period with World Vision after meeting at their administration office. I am working with Association of Progressive Enterprise in Development (APED)which is the microfinance sector of World Vision in Ghana. They were very open to me going out to get field experience in the Greater Accra region. I have been learning a ton about the administration side and I am going to start getting some field experience on Friday.
On our way from a meeting on Tuesday, Lo and I noticed some serious screeching noises from the car. Not knowing anything about cars except that that can't be good, we took it to the mechanic and waited around about an hour until he fixed it. All labor and repairs cost about $3.
As we were driving down the main motor way after the mechanic, lauren was going straight through an intersection when a car coming from a cross street on the left pulled out in front of us before she had time to stop. We slammed into them. No one was hurt. It was 100% their fault.
We pulled over to a bus stop to work it out with the other driver and it was crazy from that point on. Screaming match of whose fault it was. Lauren called her boyfriend, who called her mechanic, who ended up coming to the scene to assess the damage of the car which more or less ended up being a fender bender. I asked about calling the police and quickly learned that there wasn't a reliable number to call and the last thing you want to do is get the police involved. They will ask for money for their time, they will favor those who pay them more, and they will keep your car for several days to review the accident. Insurance is a joke. It cost about $20 a year and no one files claims becuase it's too much of a hassle and it takes forever. As we stood on the side walk arguing about whose fault it was, we finally decided to give up and both go our separate ways. Fortunately, Lo drives a beater. The car she hit was a nice BMW so he will end up paying more anyway. Anyway, learned a lot about Ghana from that experience.
Have so much more to write about this week but I have 4 min left on my internet cafe at the Accra Mall. Hopefully going to post tomorrow so I can keep up with this week.
On our way from a meeting on Tuesday, Lo and I noticed some serious screeching noises from the car. Not knowing anything about cars except that that can't be good, we took it to the mechanic and waited around about an hour until he fixed it. All labor and repairs cost about $3.
As we were driving down the main motor way after the mechanic, lauren was going straight through an intersection when a car coming from a cross street on the left pulled out in front of us before she had time to stop. We slammed into them. No one was hurt. It was 100% their fault.
We pulled over to a bus stop to work it out with the other driver and it was crazy from that point on. Screaming match of whose fault it was. Lauren called her boyfriend, who called her mechanic, who ended up coming to the scene to assess the damage of the car which more or less ended up being a fender bender. I asked about calling the police and quickly learned that there wasn't a reliable number to call and the last thing you want to do is get the police involved. They will ask for money for their time, they will favor those who pay them more, and they will keep your car for several days to review the accident. Insurance is a joke. It cost about $20 a year and no one files claims becuase it's too much of a hassle and it takes forever. As we stood on the side walk arguing about whose fault it was, we finally decided to give up and both go our separate ways. Fortunately, Lo drives a beater. The car she hit was a nice BMW so he will end up paying more anyway. Anyway, learned a lot about Ghana from that experience.
Have so much more to write about this week but I have 4 min left on my internet cafe at the Accra Mall. Hopefully going to post tomorrow so I can keep up with this week.
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