Pictures, Pictures, Pictures

Since we have not been able to upload many pictures due to limited time and internet access, here are a few pictures from the trip so far. More to come later.

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Day 11 – Day 14: last day in Kumasi, Tamale update

Like Danielle said, it has certainly been a while since we’ve given an in-depth update as to what we’ve been doing; we aren’t neglecting you, internet has just been difficult to come by! I’m going to start up again from the day before we traveled to Tamale, which would be the 11th day of our trip, May 30th.

We met back up with the GIEU kids that morning, AND kids from the MRT program, a research team from U of M that Kofi is also helping. We were all to travel together for some sightseeing, which made for an incredible smooshed bus ride (on some less-than-paved roads). Luckily the sites’ more than made up for the uncomfort. We first visited the Palace of the King of the Asante region, where we were denied access to the King himself (no surprise) but did get the chance to see some interesting artifacts. We grabbed lunch at a local market, then drove to a particular part of the region where the locally produced Kente cloth is made (it’s specific to the Ashantis). Getting off the bus, we were absolutely mobbed by kids trying to sell us little goodies, but everyone made it out alive and into the weaving room, where most of us bought at least a small piece of the weaving. Spent some more time on the bus, then arrived at the largest natural lake in western Africa (it was formed by a meteorite) for lunch and a look-around. I took on some GIEU folks in pingpong (don’t worry, I came out victorious), then we ventured down a path and came upon 500 or so high-school age Ghanaians who were visiting the lake for an end-of-school get together. Dancing, swimming, eating..everyone looked like they were having a great time.

That night the four of us traveled to Osakwa, where Afia (our host mother in Kumasi) is from. Her mother prepared quite the feast for us, which we were unfortunately not able to consume to much of because we ate too much at lunch. After a nice meal and some good conversation, we said our goodbyes to Akosiah and Adua (the two older girls), who were spending the night there, and went back home to pack for the long journey we had the next day.

Our STC bus the next day left at ten, and after 7 hours or so we arrived in Tamale. It was an interesting trip…the first bathroom stop we made involved some au natural potty time, unfortunately for the girls. The next was not too much nicer, but at least there were toilets. Ah, the luxuries of African traveling! The road was relatively bumpy, but I think most of us were able to get at least a little sleep time in, which was nice. We had to wait a bit at the bus stop because of some poor planning, but Euchre helped to pass the time. I had contracted a bit of traveler’s sickness during the wait, and so became a frequent visitor to the paid washroom, so much so that I was granted a free visit! The Ghanaians are nothing if not friendly.

As Danielle mentioned, the four of us are staying at different homes; Joey and Nathan are with two brothers, a medical student and a business student, and Danielle and I are with a great big family. There’s a father, his two wives, their five children (five or six more are out of the house, one of whom, Maxwell, is a medical student at Tamale Teaching hospital, where we will be spending a lot of time in the upcoming weeks), a mother and her 9 month-old quadruplets who Veronika Junior (the second wife, who is a midwife) took in because they wouldn’t be properly cared for in their own community, and an array of goats, chickens, kitties, and dogs. Needless to say, there are plenty of people for us to get to know. Last night, Maxwell taught us how to “eat like a Ghanaian,” with our hands – the right hand, more specifically, because the left hand is a bit taboo. We had banku and okro stew, and it was much more tasty than the same dish that I had tried previously in Accra.

After dinner, we sat out back with the family and enjoyed some incredible stargazing (Tamale is a much less electric city than either Kumasi or Accra) before moving inside to enjoy a dance performance by Thomas, the youngest son (6 yrs). Danielle got a lesson in Fra-fra, one of the local languages, from Dad and Momma senior while I wrote in my journal and drew pictures with the kiddos. It was a great night, topped off by our second bucket shower (great for water conservation, and incredibly refreshing!) As a matter of fact, the only thing difficult about the lack of electricity and running water is the fact that we can’t use a fan to cool off at night. Besides that, we’re both doing just fine. It’s been great finding cross-cultural connections even with the language barrier; everyone’s looking to establish relationships, so we use whatever commonalities possible to do so.

This morning, we took an extensive tour of Tamale Teaching Hospital, where we’ll be spending a lot of time over the next two weeks. It’s less crowded than Komfo Anoyke in Kumasi, but obviously struggling for resources. I can’t wait for the container to get here..I can already see it’s going to be an incredible help. We grabbed a quick lunch of jollof and chicken/fish after the tour, and then headed over (with the GIEU group) to Hands of Mercy orphanage, a great facility funded by a Canadian couple. There were twenty kids there, and although they were obviously a bit overwhelmed by all the white kids at first, they opened up quickly when we brought out a few soccer balls. I’m excited to go back; I think we’ll be there relatively often. We stopped back at the hospital after the orphanage, met up with Maxwell, and went upstairs to visit the accountant to see about the payment for the shipment; we have another meeting set up tomorrow morning at 8:30, and hopefully afterwards we will have everything sorted out and the container will be here by the beginning of next week.

Tamale is definitely hotter than Kumasi, but we’re doing our best to keep hydrated and sunscreened. We’re all doing well and excited to see what surprises tomorrow will bring. One thing we’ve learned during our time in Ghana – you have to be flexible, because the culture here is a bit unpredictable.

More to come,

Jordan

In Tamale!

Hi all,

Sorry we have not blogged in a while, it has been tough to get internet access. We don’t have much time on the computer today, but we will give a quick update.

We are now in Tamale. It is much different here than it was in Accra and Kumasi. Kumasi and Accra were very busy, crowded with people. In Tamale it seems that there are less people and it is more relaxed.

Jordan and I are living with a very big family (a father, 2 wives, 15 children, along with children that they have taken in and a woman with quadruplets who are 9 months old). We do not have running water or electricity. Everything has been good, though, and the family is so nice and welcoming. Joey and Nathan have not yet met the family that they are staying with.

Anyway, we are now discussing our plans for the upcoming week.

More updates soon,

Danielle

Travel day to Kumasi

This morning we woke up at 5:30 to meet our bus driver Ben at 6 a.m. to make it to the STC bus station on time. We saw Ben at 5:45 and were all down stairs at 6. Then Ben disappeared for 45 minutes and we finally left at 6:30. Then we got stuck in traffic and the bus was supposed to leave at 7 a.m. At 7:30 a.m. the STC bus was passing us on the other side of the road. Ben flagged down the bus and actually got the bus driver to stop. Now this bus wasn’t just some little bus, it is about the size of a Greyhound. Imagine flagging down a Greyhound and getting it to stop in the middle of the road in the U.S.——-yeah right! We grabbed our 14 pieces of luggage and ran across the road (carefully of course, just in case our moms are reading this.) Needless to say, Ben made up for being downstairs late. We then loaded the bus and were on our way to Kumasi.

 

The trip to Kumasi was very relaxing. The bus was air conditioned and we each had our own seat! This is in comparison to the Tro-Tros we take everyday that pack 16-20 people in a van. We were able to get some sleep and read and plan for what we would be doing in Kumasi. We also stopped half way on the trip to use the washroom and grab some snacks. We each had to pay 10 peswa to use the washroom. We then grabbed some snacks. My snacks came to 2.1 Cedi and the lady tried to trick an Obruni (white person)! First she said it was 2.7 Cedi and I corrected her. She then gave me a Cedi short back in change. Don’t worry though, I called her our on it and said “I am Ghanaian too” and shook my head. After a few more hours we made our way to Kumasi.

 

Upon our arrival I called the Brenyahs and Mr. Brenyah came to pick us up at the station. We loaded all of our luggage into the back of his pick-up truck and then the 5 of us hopped into the cab and headed for Agrec-Nzima where he lives. We then unpacked and hung out with Afia, the mom, and baby Ama! Baby Ama is so cute and I got to hold her and I was so happy. Then the Adwoa, Akosua, and Kojo, who are 9,5, and 2 respectively arrived home and boy were they happy to see us. We gave them some gifts we had brought along and played with them for a while. We also had yam, rice, and meat stew for dinner which was delicious.

 

After dinner we headed down to the Brenyah’s cousins and watched the movie Just Add Water. They were very welcoming and took care of us well we were there. Their house is also very nice and it was interesting to think about the fact that a few days before that we were spending time in one of Ghana’s most notorious slums. Following the movie we headed home for the first night in which the boys would share a bed and the girls would share a bed.

Joey

Day 6: Cape Coast

Early start on Monday. It was a continent-wide holiday, African Union day, which meant we needed to head out by 6 in order to beat the traffic to Cape Coast, which is about two hours west of Accra. We spent the day with the GIEU kids, so the bus was a little tight. Breakfast was tuna and corned beef sandwiches along with an incredibly sweet mango/oj.

It was a long long drive to Kakum National Park, but a beautiful one. Once we got out of the city the land was lush and green. When we got to the park, there was a little hiking to be done to get to the top of the canopy walk platform, and my choice of shoes (flipflops) was unfortunate. Still, not a dealbreaker, and we all got to the top fine. Each of us had the chance to walk the narrow wooden plank, erected by two Canadians and one Ghanaian, from tree to tree to tree, 130 feet off the ground; some of us even caught a glimpse of a few monkeys. On the walk down there were two men selling coconuts; Danielle, Joey, Nathan and I each bought one, and the man chopped the top of them off with a machete so we could drink the cool water. So yummy! He then chopped them open for us so we could scoop out the meat inside. So fresh and incredibly refreshing.

From Kakum we drove to Elmina Castle,a massive white stone structure erected in the 1500s by Portuguese settlers who came first to exchange goods with the Africans. Soon it became one of the largest and most notorious slave castles in all of Ghana. Right on the coast, it was used to house the Africans after they were taken from their homes until the ships arrived to bring them to the Americas. We saw the dungeons where men and women were taken, the Governor’s room, and the “door of no return,” where the slaved Africans were taken
out of a door into the open air to meet their fates on the long trip across the ocean. More than half of them died during their stay, and all were exposed to horrid treatment. Whenever the governor had the urge for some companionship, all the women were brought out from their dungeons into an open square, where he looked out from his balcony and chose the woman he would rape. Needless to say, the visit was pretty powerful. Learning about
slavery in the States, we rarely look at it from the African perspective.

Outside, I fell victim to one of the men trying to get money for his “middle school soccer team jerseys.” The little form he had looked legit, and he had given me a seashell with my name on it, so I felt obligated to give 5 cedi…not until I got on the bus did I realize there was no middle school soccer team. Ah well, you live, you learn. And it’s a nice seashell.

We had lunch at Kofi’s brother’s house. Much bigger and more comfortable than the majority of homes we’ve seen. The spread was delicious; coco (fried plantains), cooked veggies, baked beans, yams, fried chicken and fish, spaghetti, meat & veggie stew…tasty, and as we’ve seen over and over again, the family was incredibly welcoming. Sue Ann, one of the GIEU leaders, learned how to carry her four year old on her back like a true Ghanaian, wrapping little Meredith with a 2 yard piece of fabric to keep her in place. Super cute! It was raining all through lunch, the first real storm we’ve had since being here, and it’s so nice the way the rain cools everything off.

On the drive back home we stopped at Cape Coast Castle for pictures, but didn’t go in. Over the years it and Elmina were in use by the Portuguese, Dutch, and British, each of them furthering the slave trade, as African tribes continues warring among themselves and capturing more prisoners who then were handed over to the British as slaves.

The drive home was even longer…traffic here is horrible if you catch it at the right time. Grabbed some dinner and then the four of us began packing up for our trip to Kumasi in the morning. We said goodbye to our GIEU friends, who we’ll see again on Saturday in Kumasi, and settled down for
a good five or six hours of sleep (Joey and Danielle have learned to function on less of it, but Nathan and I were struggling with the abbreviated sleep schedules. Luckily we’d be able to sleep on the bus the next day.) before our 5:30 wakeup time the next morning.

Overall a fantastically full day..loving it here!

More to come,
Jordan

Day 5: Church, Slum, & Football

Hi all,

We have not had internet access for a few days, so we will be giving you many updates today (with each of us writing about a designated day per post).

So, last (Saturday) night we all (including the 14 students from the UofM GIEU trip, Prince (a student from the University of Ghana), and Frank (one of our drivers) went to “Next Door”, an outdoor restaurant/bar. There was awesome live music in front of the dance floor. It was pretty hot, but the place was just off of the beach, so we felt a nice breeze (and great scenery). We were also able to take a break at the inside dance area, complete with air conditioning, techno/American music, and strobe lights.

Sunday morning, we went to breakfast with GIEU and Kofi at Legon Hall, a campus restaurant. After breakfast Joey, Jordan, Nathan, and I (along with some members of GIEU and Sika, a UofGhana student) went to a church service in the city at ICGC (International Central Gospel Church). The church was very big and pretty crowded. There was singing, and the music was beautiful.

After church, our COA team plus Joe (a GIEU student), met up with Archie (from the Echoing Hills center that we had visited earlier in the week). We traveled with Archie in the tro-tro (public transportation van) to a slum. From the tro-tro, we could see huge, nice houses that would have been multi-million dollar houses in the US, while Archie said they probably cost around $200,000 Ghanaian Cedis (the USdollar to Ghanaian Cedi conversion being 1:1.43).

We went from seeing those expensive houses to Sodom and Gomorrah, the actual nickname of the slum we visited (due to its breadth and notoriety). We walked through the slum, past small stands/shacks with people selling a variety of items, cooking on mini stoves (we saw our beloved Banku being made), and just sitting around.

We arrived at our destination, a small school room where Pastor William was holding Sunday School class. There were 86 children piled on long wooden benches, arranged by size/age (ranging from 1year to around 12 years old). Archie’s organization, which we briefly discussed earlier (which aims to decrease child labor and increase education) received donations of clothes, toys, and school supplies from a US organization called Samaritan’s Purse. We were there to help hand out the supplies.

The children were very excited to see us Obrunis. They welcomed us (saying Akwaaba) and sang songs for us, then we handed out the “gifts”.

Some other staff from Echoing Hills also came to help at the slum, including Enoch, one of the Deaf people who works at Echoing Hills. I was happy to see him and to talk to him again in ASL.

There was also a cute 1 year old crawling around who I was very excited to play with. When the children left, a child who could not have been older than 6 tied the baby to her back, to carry her out. (Here, babies are always tied to/carried on the carrier’s back with 2 yards of fabric). I have seen even younger children carrying babies around. Babies taking care of babies.

Archie told us about one child who was sent to Accra from Tamale to live with an aunt. The aunt would not let the girl go to school, but the girl, at a very young age, knew she wanted/needed to learn, so she ran away. She now lives on her own (most likely on the streets), and works in the streets to raise money to pay for her school uniform and supplies. The drive that some of these kids have (when that is all they have) is amazing. We really have seen how important it is to help these people, given the proper paths to do it.

When we were done in the slum, we took taxis to the football (soccer) stadium. We got in to the upper deck for 3 Cedis apiece. We were late, but got to see the last 40 minutes of the game. Phobia, the hometeam, beat Tema Youth 2-1. It seemed that every other minute a player was carried off the field by a golfcart because of an “injury”. We later learned that most of them were acting in order to draw attention to the play. The stands were not full, but everyone was still very excited. A (sort of) drum-line was playing, dancing, and yelling a couple rows in front of us. They were very enthusiastic.

After the game we took the tro-tro back to UofGhana. We were going to go eat at the Central Cafeteria, but it was closed (because it was Sunday). We were going to go use the internet cafe, but that was closed, too.

The rest of GIEU had been at the beach during the day, so we waited for them to come back and then we went to dinner with them at a pizza place called Mamma Mia. The restaurant was full of obrunis (as are many of the non-native places that we go (especially in Accra).

The mosquitos were out, and I got quite a few bites, as I have been every night (though no one else is really getting bitten up). I guess I’m just too sweet (as my grandmothers would tell me).

Anyway, after dinner we went back to ISH (International Student Housing – where we sleep in Accra), and went to bed for an early morning the next day.

Talk to you soon,

Danielle

Click to see more pictures:

Day 4

Hello Everybody! : )

Today, we spent most of the day touring the University of Ghana and Accra. Jemima, our guide, showed us the campus, pointing out the various department buildings, etc. From there, we went to the National Museum of Ghana, where we learned about some of the nation’s cultural history. As we drove through Accra, Jemima pointed out several governmental buildings, including the “white house” of Ghana, Jubilee Hall.

We also got a chance to tour another museum, where we learned about the history of the slave trade. We were led into a dark room which was meant to recreate, at least minimally, the conditions within a slave castle. Outside of the museum, there was a beautiful coastline, and we took pictures together.

Also in Accra, we went to a restaurant called Frankie’s, and we were able to order American food. The slogan of the restaurant was a quote: “Seeing is deceiving, it’s eating that’s believing.”

Before we returned to the university, we had a little time to test our bargaining skills in the market on the street.

Back at the university, we sort of stumbled upon a Ghanaian wedding while looking for internet access at the ICT center.

Another good day. : )

Pictures coming soon.

- Nathan

Day 3 – Meeting w/Head Biomedical Officer from Ministry of Health

Today we woke up a little earlier than yesterday and had a delicious breakfast. Breakfast consisted of watermelon, oranges, bread, eggs, more bread, Milo and coffee. We then went to the campus library to finalize surveys for different meetings we have setup for the rest of the trip.
Following this, we took quick showers and put on dress clothes for a meeting that was scheduled to be at 2 p.m. in Korlebu Teaching Hospital. Next task was to get a taxi for the four of us to the hospital. The first taxi told us 20 Ghana Cedi and we laughed (a few different people said it should be about 7 or 8 Cedi). We then found another one and were able to barter the price down to 10 Cedi. After all of this we were on our way.
Once we left, we called the Biomedical Engineering Officer in the Ghana Ministry of Health to let him know we were on our way. He told us he had left the hospital to take care of an oxygen shortage at one of the other hospitals. We then turned around to head back to our housing and he told us he would meet us at our housing.
After all of this we were able to meet up with him and it was an absolutely fabulous meeting. We learned many ways that we can improve upon the great work that is already being done. We are very excited to share this with all of you upon our return.
We just had dinner and are about to head back to our housing to play a quick hand of Euchre. Sadly the girls are up 3-1 for the trip.
Hopefully we will be heading to bed a little earlier tonight in preparation for a jam packed and fun filled day tomorrow.

Much love,

Joey

Day 2

Hi all!

So, I’m sending this from an internet cafe at the University of Ghana,
which is located in Accra (the country’s capital). I’m here with three
other students from U of M, and this is our second day here. It’s hard
to believe we arrived yesterday morning at 8 am (after 15 long hours
of travelling); the days have been so full that it feels as though
we’ve been here for a week.

Today we drove into downtown for the first time. It’s lively, to say
the least, but everyone was happy to pause in their goings-on to spare
a glance for the “obrunis,” or white people. The crowded streets are
lined with shops selling everything from women’s dresses to mangoes to
old refridgerators. There has obviously been a very influential
Christian missionary impact on many Ghanains; I’ve seen “Living thru
Prayer Sandals” and “God is Great (G.i.G.) Clothing” All the signs are
in English, but the Ghanains have a funny way of naming all their
business enterprises. There are advertisements for “Genius College”
nailed to the trees, and I bought a sashay of water from a woman today
with “Trust Me Water” Stamped across the front (we have to be very
wary of the local water, for fear of travelers’ diarrhea. Yum!).

On streets with four or more lanes, vendors walk up and down between
the cars, the women balancing their goods on their heads, men
screaming about the Mentos and packs of gum they’re trying to sell.
When they see you’re an obruni, they are even more forward, tapping on
the glass and pointing at their goods. I got a marriage proposal
through the window of our van today from a traveling windshield
washer, which doesn’t happen every day.

Our travels through downtown Accra lead eventually to Echoing Hills
Village, a wonderful facility which provides schooling and residence
for Ghanains with developmental disabilities and sight and hearing
impairments. Joey, one of the boys that I’m travelling with, knew one
of its facilitators from his visit to Ghana last year and he invited
us to see it. When we walked up, about ten of the students were
sitting in a circle under a roofed pavillion with Tom, a volunteer
from the U.K., singing songs. We joined the circle, and each of the
students got up and walked around the circle and introduced themselves
to us. I couldn’t keep the smile off of my face…before we arrived, I
was worried and a bit afraid that the conditions would be bad and the
students a bit frightening (as horrible as that is to say, but we’re
all a little afraid of the unknown sometimes), but my worries were
completely unfounded; the students were happy and the atmosphere
wonderful and peaceful. We received numerous hugs upon our departure
and when we whipped out our cameras everyone was happy to pose for a
few (more than a few, actually) pictures. The ride home involved a
tro-tro, which is a van used as a multi-passenger taxi, and that was
quite an experience – bumpy, crowded and a bit rickety, but fun
nonetheless.

Everyone we’ve met so far has been incredibly friendly and happy to
have us. “You’re welcome” in Ghana isn’t a response to “thank you” but
a stated fact: you are welcome here. The cleaning women at the
International Student’s Hostel that we’re currently staying at attempt
every morning to teach us greetings in the local language, and smile
when we mispronounce them in our repetition; the U of Ghana students
have been excited to speak to us about our lives and in turn tell us
about theirs. It’s only the second day but I’ve seen so much, and
loved every minute of it. The shipment of medical supplies is
scheduled to arrive on Saturday, and until then we will continue
exploring the University and the city of Accra!

From Jordan!