village stays!

Hey All!

I apologize for the long silence on the blog. In between work piling up and two village stays I've been fairly swamped. I wanted to take some time on this post to talk about those two village stays. The first was to a village named Bau, which is about 8 miles up the road from Salaga. I had arranged this stay through a friend of mine, and so we set off early one morning up the road, with some bread as a gift and smiles on our faces:) We arrived in Bau about 20 minutes later, at which point he explained to his family that the white lady wished to stay with them for a few days. Needless to say they were a little surprised! Hafisu (my friend) quickly translated our questions. I wanted to know where they took their drinking water from (rainwater and wells) and where I could go to the washroom (the school was equipped with latrines or otherwise it was just freeranging in the bush). They wanted to know if I would eat their food (yep!) and whether I could drink their water (sure!). After that, Hafisu hopped back on the motorcycle and said he would see me in a few days. Luckily for me he had also explained that I wished to do the things that they did and wasn't interested in the visitor treatment, and also that I had some basic knowledge of the language but wished to learn a lot more. No one in the family spoke any English, so the next four days turned out to be quite a challenge! However, the family was so extremely welcoming and were very gracious to allow me to get involved in all of their work and daily activities. I spent most of my first day hanging out with the women as they spent hours preparing the meals for the large household (about 20 people in total). We were a little bit limited that first day as it had been raining on and off for a few days. Luckily for me, the rain meant that the insects had come out in full force and the children were fully engaged in capturing the termites that were everywhere. After they had successfully captured a whole bucketful, we got right down to cooking them up! I have to say that they were surprisingly tasty, kind of crunchy like popcorn and a little salty. While everyone was very happy to allow me to get involved in the work they were doing, they were evidently a little uncomfortable and amused by it, so I didn't entirely escape the visitor treatment. The next morning I received quite the reaction as I explained that I wished to go to the farm with the men! Everyone laughed and explained that it would be too much work for me, but I persisted for quite a while and so eventually myself and Danlandi, one of the men in the house, set off on our bikes for the farm. The family had quite a few large plots, with three set aside for maize and a few others for yams and cassava. The boys quickly set in to weeding the field, which is incredibly hard work. I tried my hand at it, but the hoe was confiscated from me after about 5 minutes of awkward weeding. I have attached some pictures of said weeding. After giving me a tour of the other crops we headed over to an empty field to sow some maize. This involved punching small holes in the ground about 30 cm apart from each other, in rows, and then dropping in 2 or 3 maize seeds and then covering them up. While it wasn't physically demanding, I was pretty tired after a good three hours of this in the sun! After being told that I had done well, we hopped back on our bikes and headed for home. I spent the rest of that afternoon participating in some shea nut processing with the women of the house. Hopefully shea nuts sound familiar, as they are present as a 'premium' ingredient in many of the lotions and pomades we shell out lots of money for at home. The shea fruit itself looks a small dark avocado, and when you peel off the skin, the flesh looks and tastes much like an avocado, only significantly sweeter. However, there isn't much actualy fruit on it, as most of the mass is take up by the large pit. Shea nut products are made from the softer mass found at the center of the pit, and the final product involves quite a bit of processing. After removing the shell and fruit, the shea pits are laid in the sun to dry. After they have spent usually a full day in the sun, the women spread them out into huge piles, where they sit themselves on top and smash the pits with a long stick. This can go on for hours and is pretty tough work. After this, the women pile the shea nuts into baskets where they sort through each by hand, picking apart the hard exterior shells and the soft centers. The soft centers are then collected and squished individually. After this they are boiled several times to create a very oily liquid. This part of the process is also significant for the amount of water it requires, so for households that rely on shea as a significant part of their income, drought or poor-quality water can have a huge impact on their livelihood. The next day I toured the village, being followed by a screaming mass of children, who insisted on introducing me formally to every household. On this tour I encountered the straw huts that you can see in one of the pictures. These huts are actually for the storage of grain, as the rainy/harvest season is about 3 months long here in Ghana, so the various staples (yam, cassava, rice, etc.) must be stored and rationed for the remainder of the year. Most families in the village are engaged in agriculture and most are at a subsistence level. It may seem that that the amount of land farmed by each family would provide more than enough to sell for additional income, but given that they must store food for the remainder of the year, there is little left over to allow most to move past the subsistence level. Finally, on my last day, I was taken to the village's source of water in the dry season, a small dam about a mile and half away. This was a decent walk on rough ground, and I wasn't carrying 20L of water on my head! I have attached pictures of the dam. The family that I stayed with seemed fairly aware of water treatment and said that they boiled all of the water they took from the dam, but that they knew that not everyone in the village did so.

My first village stay was certainly an eye-opening experience to the rural ways and means of life and survival. However, my second was even more valuable because it provided some contrast to the first and helped to expand my view of rural Ghanaian lifestyles. Whereas the first village I stayed in, Bau, had some connection to the electrical grid, Pagaza had none. As soon as the sun went down, the flashlights and headlamps came out to help everyone perform their tasks. This meant that most of the cooking was done in darkness, as was my nightly bathing, eating, and the discussions I had with Henry and his host father Mustapha. Henry is a fellow JF who has been working for the Africa 2000 Network in Tamale. To contrast the extremely urban setting of his placement, Henry has been living in Pagaza with Mustapha's family, which means he generally rides his bike 17 miles to and from town every day. On top of not having any electricity, Pagaza also did not enjoy as many water facilities as Bau. The majority of the water used for drinking and cooking and bathing in Pagaza was taken from a small lake/pond about a five minute walk into the bush. The water was visibly dirty, though Mustapha assured me that the village hadn't had a case of Guinea Worm in years. Following Henry's lead, I came equipped with my own supply of purified water. Henry and I went on a muddy walk one day to see the village's other water facilities. These included two covered wells with handpumps that had been built years ago by the Rotary club and were no longer functioning. After about 10 minutes we reached the borehole that you can see pictured. From the account Henry has heard from the villagers, when the borehole was being constructed the contractor failed to drill deep enough to reach ground water, so the borehole isn't technically providing safe water to the community as it is contaminated by ground elements. Finally, during a particularly dry dry season, the borehole and the wells ceased to provide any water and so in a desperate attempt to discover the source of the problem the community members broke large holes in the concrete pads of each to attempt to see the water. In reality, this only served to further contaminate the water sources. The problems that you can see with this whole situation are common throughout Ghana. The Northern Region is naturally quite arid, especially in the dry season, and so experiences these problems to an even greater degree.

Well there is a ton more to say about my village stays, but I seem to have rambled on for quite a while so I'll end it there.

lots of love,

g

July 21st Blog Chunk

Hello All!

Well I am taking advantage of the internet today, as I had to come and download some documents from the NGO that I am planning a workshop with, and I am now completely abusing the privilege! I apologize again about the lack of pictures - the internet here is just not able to handle them. I am having a pretty great day and after this will be heading out to gather together some supplies before I head out on my village stay. This is pretty much exactly as it sounds - I will go and stay in a local village for the next week, in order to experience and understand the nature of rural life and livelihoods here in Ghana. I am super excited and I promise to take lots of pictures. I will even be able to post these pictures, as I should be in Tamale again the weekend of August 1st, where the internet will be able to handle of the images. Once I return from the village I'll have a pretty hectic three weeks ahead of me. First I have a visit from our Director of Overseas Sending, Levi, who is coming to spend a night or two with me here in Salaga. Then the Thursday of that week I'll enjoy a visit from Jen, my awesome coach, who will help me in planning my upcoming workshops and generally help me reflect on my time and work here and the best ways to wrap everything up. Then the week following I have a much awaited workshop to sum up all of our work so far on the UNICEF project, and then all of a sudden, it's my last week of work, which I am expecting will be consumed by all sorts of report writing and such. Also, as I mentioned, I'm heading to the Tamale area on the weekend of August 1st to spend some time with one of our JF's, Henry, who is living in a village on the road between Tamale and Salaga. I'm planning to spend a few days exploring his village, so the next time I write I should have stories from two villages for everyone! Well, I still have lots of work to do and my time here is dwindling so I'lll let you go but I miss everyone and I'll be seeing you before you know it!

lots of love,

g

July 17th Blog Post

Well looking at the calendar today I realized to my surprise that I have only 31 days left here in Salaga. Almost exactly one month - though I think I will be much closer to that by the time I am able to post this! Next week I am heading out to the Makango area, part of our District, to spend some time in a village. I am planning on spending five days with a local family to experience the realities of rural life in Ghana - yes, mud hut and all! I plan to explore the way in which the village generates income, which will likely include a great deal of fishing, as the area is located close to the river. I am excited to interact with people outside of what has become my home community and plan on asking some questions to learn more about what, if any, interactions they have with government structures. In addition, I will have a chance to monitor and evaluate the data collection of the I-WASH project as the village I am staying in was visited by a data collector and we have received this information just recently. Finally, the village stay will be my greatest connection to 'Dorothy', as Ghana's Northern Region is it's most impoverished and nowhere is this more evident than in rural villages. I am also hoping that my village stay will provide some great personal reflection time and will allow me to think about my time here in Ghana so far and to evaluate the impact I may have had on those around me and to start to think about trying to relate all of this to those in Canada. While this blog is one of the ways in which I will communicate my experiences here with people at home, I will have a greater responsibility to my EWB chapter, our donors, and our community to actively present my work and life here in Ghana upon arriving home. It seems a bit crazy to have to really start thinking about this, as for the past few months it has seemed a distant future, but once I return from the village I'll have three weeks of work left and then will have to start the lengthy process of returning home! Wowza! I would be lying if I said I wasn't a little bit worried about "re-integrating" into Canada, Vancouver, SFU, EWB, and my friends and family. In my conversations with other the JFs, we've all come to the conclusion that the gravity of many of our experiences here may not be fully realized until we have departed and are back in what should be the familiar environment of Canada - and we'll find that it is not so familiar or comfortable anymore. I am already certain that I will miss the friendly and welcoming nature of Ghanaians and may in fact feel a little bit lonely given the somewhat cold nature of social relations at home. Sometimes I try to figure out what I will miss and what I will be happy to have back, but I don't know if there's much point to that at this time - because I will only know once I have left and reflect on it all then. Part of our debriefing training in Toronto, in fact, includes reflection exercises and advice on how to re-integrate and answer the questions you are likely to get. For example, how do you suppose I should answer "How was Africa?" Is this something that warrants a rant on the complexities of development and how international aid is disadvantaging local industries, or should I describe at length the community that I lived in and the people I formed meaningful relationships with, or perhaps I should just answer a simple "good" or "bad"? Throughout the past three-ish months, thinking of home has consisted of one main component - when I am feeling sick or down, I conjure an image of the arrivals area at Vancouver airport, with me sporting an excellent tan and being greeted ecstatically by my friends and family and perhaps a second image of the one or two drinks that may follow my arrival;) But simply put, home has seemed like an abstract eventuality that was so far in the future there was no point in attempting to construct what being home would actually feel like or would entail. Unfortunately, the experience of many EWB volunteers in the past, and something I am starting to grasp, is that the simplicity of that arrivals scenario is just a momentary reality and that life becomes infinitely more complicated after that as one tries to make the jump from living, in my case, with a muslim family in the impoverished Northern Region of Ghana, to Vancouver, one of the world's most expensive cities to live in, in Canada, one of the world's strongest economies and a member of the G8. Huh. On top of that, I'll have just about 4 days to get back into the groove before starting school again, for what should hopefully be my last year. I am wondering where in all of this I'll have a little time to myself... if at all. This development stuff just keeps getting harder and harder, doesn't it?

I am interested to hear your thoughts on my upcoming 're-integration'. What do you think will be one of my greatest challenges, given all that you have read here on the blog? Any suggestions for how to cope with what might be called "reverse" culture shock? I am all ears!

Well I suppose that's enough heaviness for now!


until next time folks,

g

July 16th Blog Post

I thought I would take the opportunity today to write on a topic that has been on my mind basically since I arrived here in Ghana, but especially over the past two weeks. This is of the issue of child labour. Now, you might think that with Ghana being in the medium grouping on the Human Development Index (HDI) and being generally one of the most prosperous and 'developed' (whatever that means) countries in Africa that child labour would be a feature of the past. However, the practice is alive and flourishing here in Ghana, and is so pervasive that I have found myself desensitized some days to the image of a small child carrying a load of firewood on their head, pulling a handcart loaded with goods, or selling trinkets and biscuits in the town center. Pretty much everywhere you go in the larger cities you will be bombarded by small children attempting to sell you sachets of purified water for 5 cents or unpurified water for even less. If you are looking for essentials such as toothpaste or a toothbrush, you will likely find these being sold by a child of anywhere from 5 years to 18 years, with a string of each strung over each shoulder, as well as an assortment of various other inconsequential goods. I have had an internal struggle over this practice while being here. Should I purchase anything from these children? Clearly they and their families are in need of the money, and I might in fact be contributing to these children going to school. On the other hand, I don't want to contribute to the viability of child labour and so sometimes contemplate only buying goods from adults so as to indirectly influence the parents who have set their children to work by making them unprofitable. I am constantly going back and forth on this issue. However, on my return trip from our mid-placement retreat in Damongo, I spent a good 5 hours waiting for my bus in Tamale. The bus station is essentially an informal market, with men, women, and children of all ages attempting to sell anything from bread, apples and mangoes, to watches, jewelry and cloth. I had one small girl approach me who couldn't have been more than 8 years old, carrying a tray of small chocolates and biscuits on her head - she was so cute that I just couldn't resist. I bought a few chocolates and crackers from her and she comfortably settled in next to me on my wooden bench. Soon two of her friends had joined her, one of them selling a selection of mangoes and the other also selling biscuits. To my surprise, the three of them spoke fairly good English and so I took the opportunity to find out more about their lives. As it was around 1 in the afternoon I had assumed that they didn't attend school, but I had failed to consider the fact that it was a national holiday and so they had been selling for the whole day, whereas regularly they said they would attend school in the morning and then come to the bus station afterwards until dusk to sell their wares. One thing that impressed me so much was how much they seemed like, I hate to say it, 'regular' kids, despite the fact that they were spending upwards of twelve hours a day in the heat and crowds selling their goods for an average price of about 5-20 cents (more for the mangoes than the biscuits). They were laughing and joking with each other and had giant grins plastered on their face for the whole of our conversation. They eagerly wrote their names for me in my journal and were quite pleased when I asked if I could take their picture. I just couldn't believe what spirit they had in such conditions. Considering that the money they earned at this assumedly contributes to their school fees, what is your opinion on this? Suddenly it seems like not such a straightforward decision when you consider that their participation in the practice of 'child labour' allows them the opportunity of education, which greatly increases almost every significant statistic - lifespan, income, etc - and decreases the chance that their own children will be engaged in the same industry. However, I doubt that the majority of child labourers have access to education and so if the practice continues to remain a viable way of supporting families, it will undoubtedly continue, with extremely undesirable effects on the health and futures of hundreds of thousands of children in Ghana, and millions worldwide. What is the role of child labour in the world and in development? Can it contribute to a country's development? Is it called for in today's economy and in a culture of large family sizes? Or is this an issue of basic human rights and should it be punished accordingly? I think that my answers to these questions would have seemed much more obvious before coming here, but a lot has changed now.

To further illustrate my questions, I'll present the case of my host father. I was quite familiar with the fact that he had received his secondary school education, and owed his English as well as I think many of his business skills to this. However, I had made the assumption that all of his siblings were equally educated. Not so, as I found out! Z and I had an interesting conversation where he explained to me the circumstances of his education. He is the youngest of his family, with 7 older siblings. None of them had been educated and he was to be the same, until a friend of his father's insisted that Z be sent to school. Unable and perhaps unwilling to pay for his education, Z's father allowed him to attend, as long as he could pay the fees himself. So, Z would attend school every morning and then every afternoon would tramp into the bush to collect firewood, which he would then carry into town and sell each day until he had enough money to pay for his lunch the next day and his school fees every term. Thus, Z, my successful and generous host father greatly benefitted from child labour. Does the issue seem perhaps slightly more complicated now? Thought so:)

While I can't deny the extreme conditions that most children labour under, I also am now incredibly dismayed at the thought that it could contribute to Ghana's development in it's own way. What are your thoughts on all of this? I'd love to hear them in the comments!

Until next time folks,

g

July 14th Blog Post

Hello all,

Just a warning... the following post is a little bit, um, delicate so if you aren't big on anatomy or bodily discussions you could avoid it, although you'd be missing out on a laugh!

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Well it is the beginning of another week here in Salaga at the District Assembly. The last week has been an interesting and trying one, with some challenges presenting themselves on many fronts. The first being that last Sunday I fell sick, and continued to feel that way throughout the week. As we have all experienced before, feeling less than optimal can really interfere with your motivation and capabilities to do all sorts of things. As I blogged about previously, being sick here seems to intensify those feelings. I felt extremely useless and slow last week, and this was added to the frustration of already being behind schedule on our data analysis. So, after a sleepless Thursday night, I biked into the hospital Friday morning to see if I could get some answers and hopefully some respite. Now, I wasn't feeling so bad that I felt that I couldn't go to work, but I still felt that my mild fever, fatigue, and general achey body shouldn't be continuing on for this long... Well, the hospital just seemed to add to my frustrations. I visited the same male nurse that I had on my previous visit to the hospital, and was optimistic at the outset. My last visit, about 3 or 4 weeks ago, involved me sitting down with him and describing my symptoms, at which point he suggested I take a malaria test, but that I was also possibly suffering from Diabetes. Given that I was fairly certain I had malaria, I didn't think much of this second diagnosis. I took a quick and relatively painless malaria test, which came up positive, treated myself, and began to feel better almost immediately. This past friday, I wasn't so lucky. I had arranged to meet the nurse at 8, though he didn't show up until half past, at which point we sat down and I described what I was feeling. He then asked me what my washroom facilities were like in my home and I explained that I was living with a local family and so was sharing their latrine with them. He then proclaimed that I had gonorrhea. Imagine how surprised I was to hear this! I explained that this didn't make much sense to me, for two fairly significant reasons:

1. Gonorrhea is an STD. I am not sexually active.
2. I have none of the symptoms associated with Gonorrhea.

His response was as follows - and though it seems almost comical now, let me assure you that I was close to throwing something at his face, that was how frustrated I was.

Me: I'm fairly certain I don't have Gonorrhea.
Him: Are you urinating frequently?
Me: Yes, but I think that would have a lot to do with the fact that I have been running a fever and so trying to drink lots of water
Him: Well that's one of the symptoms of gonorrhea
Me: Um, ok... Well I don't have any of the other symptoms associated with Gonorrhea and more importantly I'm not sexually active so I can't have gonorrhea, it's an STD
Him: Well anything that affects your private parts (his words, not mine) are referred to as an STD, regardless of how you contract it
Me: Really. I'm not too sure about that. But I'm not sexually active, so I can't have gonorrhea
Him: You don't have to have sex to catch it. Someone in your family likely has it and you've caught it by using the same toilet facilities
Me: But we don't even have a toilet, it's a latrine
Him: So you've caught it through the air - it's an airborne disease
Me: Huh. Listen, I am 100% certain I don't have gonorrhea. I think I might have a parasite or maybe malaria again.
Him: I don't like to use drugs when I don't know what it is though
Me: Ok, well I'll take any test you give me
Him: Here, take this book (of female case histories) and read through the symptoms listed and see if you can figure out what it is that is afflicting you

No Joke!

Now, you may be saying, Glynnis, why didn't you see the doctor instead of this clearly incompetent male nurse? Well, the answer, my dear friends, is that it was Friday so the doctor was not in and wouldn't be in until the following week, despite the crowds that were gathering to seek treatment. After quickly skimming the book and explaining to him that I didn't have any of the ailments listed, I quickly bolted from the hospital so angry I was almost in tears. I went to work for a few hours and then headed home to take a nap. I decided that my self-diagnosis was better than nothing and took a course of malaria medication and felt immensely better the next morning.

As I said before, this is all pretty funny now, but imagine what my experience means for the quality of medical services here in Ghana? Now, I feel on some level that it has much to do with this particular individual's personality - I have a feeling that he has a need to seem intellectually superior to others and so is always looking for the non-obvious diagnosis, but regardless there was no form of oversight or trained medical professional to contradict his suppositions. Imagine the mountains of consequences that could have happened from his 'diagnosis' - perhaps out of his neglect I had developed a severe case of malaria and died? Suppose a parent brought their teenage daughter in with the same symptoms, were told she had gonorrhea, and disowned her for having contracted an STD? I could go on, but it just serves to frustrate me more. Now, Ghana doesn't seem to have a shortage of medical students, but certainly a shortage of doctors. In fact, the two doctors in Salaga aren't even Ghanaian, they're Cuban. So where do they go? Well, like Canada, Ghana suffers from the power and positions offered to it's medical students by more developed countries, as their medical students have a fairly good reputation on the international scene. So, after their graduation, many of them follow the 'brain drain' and take positions in North America and Europe, leaving their own country to be seriously understaffed and for people to receive treatment from the likes of the man who treated me. This only adds to serious problems that exist in regards to access to medical services, as now once someone has managed to travel the distance to receive treatment and has managed to save their money to pay for their treatment, they may not be receiving care that is anywhere near the quality that should be offered.

The problems of receiving adequate medical care in Ghana just seem to keep mounting and I think it is one of the foremost problems facing the country's future development. Any thoughts on what I've related here?

I'll share a quick bit about the rest of my weekend. I woke up feeling much better Saturday morning, which was a good thing because I had a visitor for the weekend! Sophie is a teacher in Toronto with a good friend who is part of EWB's overseas team. She stayed with me for Saturday and Sunday night, before heading onto Kitare, a village in the Kpandai District just next to ours (which formerly used to be part of our District until last year.) It was great to show someone around Salaga and share my experiences here with, as most people will only read about them and/or see the pictures. I hope that I was able to give Sophie a good welcome and introduce her to some more Ghanaian food and cultural activities, as she has only been here about 10 days so far. Saturday we attended a local ceremony called Passing Out, which is a graduation ceremony for semstresses, and then Sunday we took a nice walk down the road on which I live, in the opposite direction in which I usually head, out in to the countryside. It is certainly a beautiful site and we stumbled upon the local muslim cemetery, which I have included a picture of. One thing you'll notice is that some graves have cement markers, while others don't. My cousin explained to me that there is some disagreement within the Muslim community over whether these should be used or not. Additionally, if you look closely you'll see that each grave is marked by a cactus, which will presumably survive much past the lifetime of the formal cemetery. I really liked this feature of the cemetery and am considering introducing it back home!

Ok well, I guess that's enough for now. Until next time folks,

g

July 7th Blog Post

Well it is week nine of work here in East Gonja. Had a pretty interesting weekend. Spent saturday morning catching up on my washing and cleaned my room, which I had fallen behind on last week due to the retreat. Funny how that got in the way of my life here. One thing the retreat accomplished that I hadn't planned on, was making me realize how comfortable I am here. When I arrived home tired and sweaty from traveling on Tuesday night, I was so relieved to climb into my own bed and was happy to be around people I knew in an environment where I could fully function. Had some interesting reflections on that. Anyways, following my washing on Saturday, I took a quick bucket shower and raced into town in my best outfit to meet up with Sister Babe (pronounced Baby) (I've gotten into the habit of calling everyone here sister, as that is simply how you're referred to once you know someone, regardless of their relation - in reality she is a cousin of the siblings in my home). We then headed over to something called 'Passing Out' which is essentially the graduation ceremony for the seamstresses that have finished their three years of apprenticeship. Before we arrived, each had been given some material and was asked to create an outfit. Upon completion of the outfit, each was walked into the centre of the circle of people and knelt down on the pillow and rug that had been set up. They were then sprinkled with glitter and what appeared to be baby powder and attended by a small girl holding a bucket under their chin. Music played as people then proceeded into the circle to press money onto her forehead which was then collected into the bucket. I am assuming this is essentially her start-up fund for creating her own seamstress shop, but this is essentially unconfirmed. Following this, each girl was given a certificate, which certified their 'graduation' by the Ghana Seamstresses Association. I watched all of this seated with Sister Barkisu, my host father's sister, who is a seamstress and quite a senior one too, judging by her participation in the ceremony. When Sister Babe and I first arrived at the ceremony, I attempted to quietly take my seat, but this was ambushed by everyone's enthusiasm to see the white girl dance in public once again! Oh lord. So, despite my protestations, the man in charge of the announcements kept chanting 'Sister Alala' into the microphone, until I finally got up into the middle of the circle to dance with Sister Babe. The even more interesting part came when the second girl was being given her certificate, and I was called up to take a picture with her, even shaking her hand and handing her the certificate. Despite the fact that not only am I not a seamstress, nor even Ghanaian, I can barely sew a button onto my sweater without severely injuring myself and said sweater. This is just one example of the reality of being a white person living in Ghana. You are constantly being held up as a permanent 'other', someone unique who is to be treated with respect, while all the while you are trying so hard to work against the perception and establish yourself as just the same as them. At one point, the girl I was presenting the certificate to bent down a little lower than me and I thought this was to prevent blocking the people behind us in the picture so I bent down a little as well. The entire crowd burst out laughing, and someone pulled me back upright. Turns out she was simply bowing to me. No joke. What the heck! Anyways, I extricated myself from that situation as soon as possible, as I didn't want to be held up as such an example, but my refusals were simply not being listened to. What an interesting paradox of respect and cross-cultural communication.

Anyways, following that I headed over to the family store to share some lunch with Ajia, my host mother, and then collected a large bag of pure water sachets to take home on my bicycle. Following a brief interlude conversation during my bike ride home that involved turning down a marriage proposal by a man who wanted to have 'light-coloured children' with me, I arranged that for $2000, some goats, some cows, and some cloth, he could maybe marry one of my friends from Canada. Any takers? I seem to have a knack for negotiating bride-price, so maybe I'll just stay in Ghana and make a business out of it:)

Ok, so I finally arrived home and then started to feel really exhausted.... time for another round of sickness! I think it has come from a parasite that has been lurking around in my body for the past few weeks, so I spent Saturday night and all of Sunday lying in my bed, dozing, drinking water, reading a book, and popping some antibiotics that target anerobic bacteria and parasites. While I'm still feeling a little weak, I'm at work today and raring to go to get our data collation and analysis finished. However, before I get started on that I'd like to offer some reflections. I actually think that being sick will be one of my most valuable experiences here in Ghana. There's nothing quite as lonely as being sick in a foreign country with, let's just say, less than adequate health-services. Outside of the personal reflection time, I really came to understand the insecurity experienced by the average person living below the poverty line. It was a sunday, so I was unsure whether the hospital would be open. On top of that, having visited the hospital previously for a malaria test, I was reluctant to visit the hospital should it be open, as it is a teeming mass of sick people and confusion. It can take hours to be seen by a doctor or be administered a test of any kind - and this doesn't even speak of the supposed reliability of said test. On top of that, you must then travel back into town to buy whichever combination of drugs the doctor has recommended, although this could be supplemented by anything else deemed necessary, as drugs do not require a prescription here. When buying the drugs, there is always the worry that they are counterfeit and won't actually do anything towards curing you, which would then necessitate a repetition of the process already undertaken. Now, however laborious this process may seem, this is the experience of a person living in the city with relatively easy access to health services and drugs. Imagine the average Ghanaian, who lives usually some distance away from a hospital or clinic, attempting to access the same services when sick, with perhaps only a bicycle for transport, and all of that transport and treatment time being taken away from time devoted to livelihood activities or the care of their family. On top of that, there are the fees associated with the hospital services and drugs. So, what happens when you aren't able to access the services and drugs needed, either for reasons of distance or money, or simply because you are unaware or intimidated by the whole process? Imagine the uncertainty of lying sick and wondering first and foremost what it is that is affecting you and whether you will manage to pull through, and then wondering how this will affect the livelihoods and health of those around you? In the past three years, Ghana has instituted a National Health Insurance Scheme, though it will be at least a few more years before coverage and the provision of benefits reaches an adequate level. So, the same thoughts were running through my mind feeling pretty, well, shitty all day yesterday. I couldn't imagine feeling any worse, and yet I didn't have to worry about any of those things. I knew that if I suddenly took a turn for the worse I would be given the utmost care and attention by my host family and my EWB safety net. I had the money to access the service and medications needed and if it turned out to be a dire problem, EWB would arrange the proper treatment for me, either inside or outside of Ghana if necessary. In reality, I had nothing to worry about, other than attempting to get better quickly so that I didn't miss a day of work. And, even then, me missing my work has no direct impact on me, other than feeling down that I have missed it. It doesn't affect my food supplies or my ability to purchase basic necessities for my family, as it would influence most other people here. Ok, so this has been kind of a rambling attempt to communicate everything that ran through my mind here, but I hope that was able to get accross the basic insecurity that comes as part of life here. When you are living so close to the level of basic subsistence, getting sick is simply not the same experience as we have in Canada. I just couldn't imagine having felt physically as I did yesterday, while knowing mentally that I had no safety net whatsoever. The possibilities that entailed for me really overwhelmed me yesterday, and really made me feel how incredibly unequal the world is, in that I can experience such things and not really have to worry about how the end result will turn out. It is hard to acknowledge that my reality is just not shared by many people here, or the world over. Sigh. I guess that's what I'm here to change, but yesterday and today it seems pretty daunting. I think the full reality might not even hit me until the next time I get sick at home, and am able to curl up on my couch, drink some tea, read a book, (not watch tv though - i am still a student!) and generally drift off, not having to worry about anything in my life being affected by my physical condition. Maybe the next time you contract a cold or the flu or some food poisoning, or whatever, just think about how secure you really are in relation to the rest of the world.

I hope I haven't been too much of a downer today. Wishing you all the best, really:)

lots of love,
g

July 2nd Blog Post

Hello again everyone!

I trust and hope that this post finds you well. I am finishing up my second month here in Salaga and am enjoying being back home (definitely feels like that now!) after the retreat. I wanted to write a little bit about that, as my return trip internet access was pretty rushed and unsuccessful at sharing many things. Our first day was mostly a travel day, with all 14 of the Ghana JFs meeting at the Mahama Guest House in Damongo, joined by 4 long-terms overseas volunteers (including my coach, Jen) and our super-awesome JFSS (Junior Fellow Support Staff) Cat! The transformation in our team over the past 7 weeks was just amazing. It was immediately apparent based on physical appearance when we first arrived, but we spent the next three days diving beyond that to really explore the learning and growth that we all have experienced. I really feel as if our team this year was meant to be, as we all really enjoy the company of each other and were feeling pretty bonded after pre-dep and I am now basking in the glow of 5 wonderful and inspiring days with Team Ghana 2008!


I really enjoyed being able to learn more about everyone's placements, as they are all so different and I am the only JF actually working for government, and it was really constructive to be able to analyze each in depth and the action plans that we have set in place. It was very validating and encouraging to discuss my workstreams with others and to get their support and suggestions. I was on a bit of a down slope the week leading into the retreat - mostly justing getting a little bit tired and worn out with everything - but now I am feeling extremely invigorated and excited about my placement and my life here in Ghana! When discussing everything one on one with my coach I actually said "I just wish I could be here longer." My biggest worry at this point is that I won't have the time to do everything I want to do before I have to leave... so I have to stay pretty committed to the goals and outcomes I have planned for the next seven weeks.

Following some in-depth discussion and general sharing of our placements and experiences we had a fun day to head to Mole National Park! The park is absolutely huge and the only park in Ghana that isn't fenced or structured like a zoo. From my recollections of the guides schpeal (how do you spell that?) the park is something like 4000 square km, but those who know me know that is entirely unreliable. The park was originally established to control the spread of sleeping sickness because many people thought that the large animals, such as the elephants, were spreading the disease. Eventually this view changed and more people began to realize that the animals were something that should be preserved for the people of Ghana. The guide gave the right numbers, but I can't remember, but it is sufficient to say that the park holds an infinite number of mammal, bird, insect, and reptile species. These animals include lions, hyenas, and cheetahs, but they aren't present in the area of the park that we were in. However, this was probably a good thing as our time in the park was spent on a walking tour - not the ideal introduction to a pride of lions!

Because I had been away from the internet for so long, I didn't really know any of the details of all this ahead of time, so I had assumed that we were going on a driving tour of the park, as I didn't know that a walking tour was a possibility. As a result, I hadn't packed close-toed shoes and was forced to wear 6-sizes too large rubber boots provided by the park... yum! There is quite the attractive picture of me sporting these before the walk, but it was taken by Kim, one of the other JFs, so I'll have to post the picture once we can share all of our pictures during our debrief in the middle of August. Anyways, we departed on our walking tour after all of the sandal-wearers embraced the stinky rubber boots and split into two groups. Our guide carried a rifle slung over his back, "just in case", but he informed us that in 20 years he had never had to make use of it. We were all hoping that would still be the case at the end of the day. Not too far into our walk we spotted a bushback, one of the 3 or 4 species of antelopes we would encounter (my memory is particularly bad today!). We soon encountered a few more and then heard a loud grunting sound in the bushes to our right as we were walking, followed by some crashing in the bush - perhaps some noises you don't want to hear on your safari walk! No worries though, it was simply a family of warthogs rooting around in the dirt, perhaps scouting out the best location for a dirt bath, which is ironically the way in which they 'clean' themselves:) Though warthogs can be quite aggressive, our guide informed us this was mostly dependent on your behaviour towards them, so we stood quietly and waited for their crowd to pass, not more than 15 feet in front of us. As our walk progressed, we came upon a group of old buildings from before the park had been constructed, as well as newer building which we learned was the school for the children of the guides who reside in the park. It was while standing in the midst of these buildings that we realized we had company - elephants!!! We stood in awe as a group of 7 slowly lumbered through the overgrown buildings and stared right back at us. It is truly a surreal feeling to see such a storybook animal right in front of you, no more than 20 or 30 feet away. It is so hard to believe that animals can grow that large! Now, I had heard somewhere that elephants don't have knees and I have to say that I certainly looked as if they did, so a spirited debate took place between all of the volunteers about whether or not this was true, similar to the debate that took place during pre-departure training in regards to their being tigers in Africa... this actually isn't as easily settled as you might think! Nelson Mandela even devotes some time in his biography about the topic... and doesn't come to a conclusion. I have actually heard from some locals that there are tigers in the Upper East Region, but that has yet to be confirmed:)

Anyways, following the amazing walking tour that also included a view of a far-off crocodile sunning itself with it's mouth locked open, we returned to the hotel located within the park to frolick in the pool. It was great just to have some truly relaxing and fun time with the Ghana team - outside of it being a break from having to always consider communication with those around you here in Ghana, I really enjoy the company of our JF group and was excited to spend some time with them.

The next day was followed by more great discussion and self-reflection and the creation of some plans for the remainder of our placements - now we are almost done week eight! My return to work has been great as I feel that I have formulated some good plans for the rest of my time here and have already managed to accomplish one of them today - planning a village stay! So the week after next, which makes it July 14th - 18th I am heading to the Makango area of East Gonja to stay with a family in a village - mud hut and all. As my placement doesn't involve a large volume of field work, I am really excited to be able to really engage and involve myself with the rural lifestyle here and to learn more about the livelihoods that the majority of people of Ghana are involved in - farming, fishing, and agricultural processing. I hope to have some great thoughts, insights, and of course pictures once I return.

Well I suppose this is enough for now cause I seem to go much farther beyond what is necessary in all of these posts, but there is just so much to share and not enough time or space! I have included a group shot of the JFs when we arrived at the park, taken at the edge of a cliff over which we could see the elephants bathing themselves in the lake. Later we saw a group of 3 wade in the lake and then flop over on their sides, completely submerging themselves with only their trunks above the water for air - this was an awesome sight. Again, I'm pretty sure others have pictures of this so they'll have to wait until August. I've also included a picture of myself and the herd we encountered as well as a picture of Steph and myself engaged in some great conversation overlooking the most amazing landscape.... one of my most serene memories so far of Ghana.


Ok, I promise that's it for now,

lots of love,


glynnis