“What is that feeling when you’re driving away from people and they recede on the plain till you see their specks dispersing? – it’s the too-huge world vaulting us, and it’s good-bye. But we lean forward to the next crazy venture beneath the skies.”

The last month or so I was in Ghana I didn’t have much time to update this blog. I probably should have written something down before I got caught up in summer and life back home, at least some reflections on my overall experience while they were still fresh in my mind – not that they’ll ever leave me, but I find my writing is better and more interesting when the thoughts are fresh. Either way, I am here now trying to piece back all the interesting details for my few readers before I embark on my next adventure: graduate school in England. There will be more on that later though.

It would be just like my family to come visit me in the same month I would be coming home after a year abroad. Either way, I’m glad they did. It all happened very quickly. Exams schedules were posted and my friends and I were frantically trying to piece together who was free when to travel. Most people’s schedules overlapped and few were able to find long enough stretches to travel together. Somehow I had managed a two week break between exams. Not keen on traveling alone, I took a long shot and reached out to my mom and tried to convince her I’d show her a good time if she came to visit me in Ghana. With encouragement from friends and family to just GO, she decided within a few days that she’d be coming and I was already planning a rough itinerary. When Everett (my brother) saw the itinerary he decided he couldn’t possibly miss out and with that, he was finding a way to get his shifts covered at work and coming along too. Of course my mom wouldn’t be leaving Griffin (other brother) behind if Everett was coming and so it was decided: the Doningers are going to Ghana.

I couldn’t have been more pleased to see them at the airport. After all, it had been almost 10 months since I had last. I had them out on the town and riding in trotros within an hour of their arrival!! Not to brag or anything, but they probably got the best tour of Ghana that anyone can get in 10 days. First we went to the small village of Tafi Atome and stayed at the monkey sanctuary. It is about a 5 hour trotro ride up to the Volta region then a short mototaxi ride to the village. The following day we headed up to Ho Hoe to catch a trotro to Wli Falls where you can hike to the waterfall and go swimming.

 

Now, it was this same day that my mother and I seem to have quite different recollections of certain events. She likes to call it “the sit-down restaurant story.” I will provide MY recollection of this story here and let her post HER recollection in the blog comment section if she wants (she will) and then I’ll copy and paste it here for readers later on. But just to be clear, this is what REALLY happened:

While we were hiking to the Wli Falls it started raining on and off. We waited for a trotro to take us back to a bigger town, Ho Hoe, where we would be able to get a trotro back to Accra. At this point it was about 2ish in the afternoon and everyone was wet, dirty, and pretty tierd. When a trotro finally arrived, we were packed with probably twice the amount of people it was meant to hold and headed back to Ho Hoe. I had promised my exhausted family that we would find somewhere to sit down and eat in Ho Hoe and then we would head back to Accra. However, when I promised a sit down restaurant in Ho Hoe I had gotten the towns mixed up in my head and was remembering Ho Hoe to be Ho, a much larger town. Once we arrived I realized my mistake and that it might be much harder to find a sit down restaurant as it was a much smaller town. Once off the trotro, it felt like the demands were all coming at me at once (probably because they were) – “I’m hungry!,” “I wanna buy a duffle bag!,” “I have to pee!.” These types of needs are not as easily addressed in Ghana. Public bathrooms are rare and if they do exist, you have to pay for them and 9 out of 10 times they are just a urinal (for men and women) and not a toilet. Open defecation is common practice in Ghana and a problem many development organizations are targeting. Either way, I knew a few places public urinals are typically found and luckily we found one. We walked around a bit and I wasn’t seeing any sit down restaurants and didn’t think we’d find one easily so decided to just stop at a street-side stand. They hadn’t yet had the chance to taste all the different types of Ghanaian food so I got a bowl for myself and allowed them to taste it. Only my mom tried it and she didn’t want it. They were being awkward and I just ate fast and we looked for a different place. Then they decided they just wanted to get snacks like bread and cookies for the road. I know they were experiencing pretty intense culture shock. Yes, there were flies around the food, but all the food was covered so it wasn’t accessible to the flies. Somehow my mother has construed a story in which she has become traumatized by my version of a sit down restaurant. She conveniently forgets the part where I mentioned I didn’t think we’d be able to find one and we’d have to settle for some street side food instead. Either way, everyone survived and we made it back to Accra that night.

The next day we took a trek down the coast to Cape Coast and Elmina. We did the canopy walk at Kakum National Park, toured Elmina castle, and had an ocean side lunch in Cape Coast. Late in the afternoon we trotroed it over to Takoradi, and when everything was flowing just too smoothly for it to be Africa, shit hit the fan.  We were running a bit low on cash so I decided to run to an ATM with my mom’s AAA travel card (I have one too which I used once or twice, successfully, in Ghana when I first arrived). I tried the card at about 5 different ATMs and it wouldn’t work. I ran back to the hotel and got my card: no dice. We didn’t bring any other types of cards and no passports because I had never brought my passport (just a copy of one) when I am traveling within Ghana and there hadn’t been a problem yet (but a lack of passport means nobody can send us money through Western Union). We had money, but not enough for us to not have to worry about how we are spending.

     

I had been planning on bringing my family down to Butrie and Busua, two small beach villages about and hour and a half from Takoradi, but this money situation created a problem. Either we all went back and didn’t go through with our plan, or I go back to Accra by myself, get money, and return all in one day. It seemed to be the only option. I am completely comfortable traveling by myself. Ghanaians are incredibly hospitable and kind and I had done the trip a few times before. I had been to Butrie and Busua before so I wouldn’t be missing out if I went back to get money. So, I did what I had to do. I gave my family very detailed instructions on where to go and how to get there and I sat on the bus 7 hours to Accra and 7 hours back. It was a brutal day sitting on buses and uncomfortable trotros, but I survived and I arrived in Busua with the whole village awaiting my arrival because my mom was worried sick and asking everyone to keep an eye out for me. For some reason she had in her head that I would arrive at 6pm, but I didn’t get there until around 10pm. Either way, all’s well that ends well.

  

We spent a few relaxing days on the beach drinking mango juice, swimming, reading, and eating local foods and then moved on to Kumasi, the heartbeat of Ghana, for the final jaunt of the trip. It was about 5 hours to Kumasi from Takoradi and we just spent one night there. We visited the cultural center and the largest market in Western Africa, among other things. Then it was back to Accra for a day of rest, a bit of shopping in Accra and the trip home.

  

I really loved that my family could come and get a little taste of Ghana and the types of things I have been experiencing, especially because they can understand some of the references I make to things later on. I didn’t realize how much work it was going to be to watch out for everyone and make sure everyone was comfortable and having a good time, etc. I have had a lot of experience in developing countries and although all are very different, I have definitely become desensitized to the more primitive lifestyle, among other things, and often it doesn’t occur to me that my family might not be comfortable with certain environments, situations, or any variation of social or cultural differences we might run into.

I didn’t have much time left in Ghana after my family left, but I did have three exams. I ended up doing a lot of packing, hanging out with Ekua and Henry, studying, working my final few days at the GWASH project, and taking exams. My last exam was right before my flight so I had to race through my exam, run back to my room to get my stuff and race to the airport to make my flight.

I had been counting down the days to go home because I missed Elliott so much and I hadn’t seen my dad yet because he wasn’t able to visit me in Ghana like my mom and brothers. But, in those last few days I became really sentimental and sad about leaving Ghana. I bike around my usual routes, took trotros downtown myself for a little last minute shopping in the market and it hit me how much I would miss this place, these people, and don’t laugh, but roasted plantains. Despite all of the frustrations that came with living in a developing country like Ghana, it found a way to steal my heart in a way that Botswana did not. Haiti was a much different experience as I was there helping and assisting in the earthquake recovery effort, whereas here in Ghana I was living, working, and learning side by side with Ghanaians. I could probably go on and on about the things and people I will miss in Ghana, but it might be easier just to say: I’ll be back.

——————————–

I accepted a long time ago, when I first returned home from Haiti, that people wouldn’t see things the way I did. My experiences had changed me; my perspectives, my priorities, the way I lived, my goals and aspirations. The first question I got asked by almost every person I saw when I returned home from Africa was, “Is it weird being home? Is it hard adjusting?” – Not anymore. I remember how drastically I had changed after Haiti. From the little things like taking quick showers (in appreciation for the daily bucket showers I had taken as well as the scarcity of potable water there) to my stance on international humanitarian aid, development, and global poverty. Little things just didn’t seem to matter anymore because I was able to think of a million worse things in life and appreciate what I had like a roof over my head, endless opportunity, an education, and my loved ones to name a few. In addition, Haiti provided me with firsthand experience to the successes and failures in disaster response, poverty, and development as well as interactions with professionals and experts in the field. This sprouted interest, further reading, and development of opinions. I learned in AmeriCorps I wanted to work within the social and community services sector, but my first experience in Haiti refined those interests to international development and disaster relief.

Following questions of my adjustment to life back home were almost always additional questions looking to confirm common stereotypes about Africa; “Was it REALLY hot?”, “Were there big animals walking around everywhere?”, “Were you living in the jungle?”, “Did you see a lot of starving kids and poor people?”. Most of these questions can’t be answered by a simple yes or no. I traveled all over southern and western Africa – the diversity was tremendous; after all, Africa is made up of 55 very unique, countries and spans over both the northern and southern hemisphere. The first few times I was asked these questions I attempted to provide a full explanation. It didn’t take long for me to learn I had been allocated approximately 1 minute or so for their full attention and interest in my response before it was all lost. At that point, the conversation shifts to the horribly long line they had to wait in at the DMV or the new shop that opened up in Avon center, you know, topics of interest. Not to say there weren’t family and friends genuinely interested in my experiences because there were, but for the most part, this is how the conversations went. But i

       

I can’t believe how fast this summer has flown by. In less than a month I will be flying out to England to start my graduate program at Oxford Brookes University. I am getting a MA in Development and Emergency Practice. I have secured housing in Cowley, Oxford with five other Brookes graduate students, all whom seem really great. I’ll miss friends and family, but I’ll be home for Christmas and hopefully my mom, brothers, and Elliott will come visit in May or over the summer. Although summer is coming to an end I feel like I have gotten to do most of the things on my summer to-do list or will be doing them in the next week or so. Hopefully I’ll get to spend a few nights at the new Cape house before I leave, but that is all dependent on people getting their asses in gear and stop messing up things for my mom. I don’t know what else to say. I had a wonderful experience in Africa, have loved being home with my friends and family, and am very excited for my next adventure in the UK – what could be better?

More this fall —

Avery

Title quote: Jack Kerouac

“with maps, a mountain range, a piggy bank, a vision”

Togo & Benin
4/20-23/12

Kelly, Katie, Emma, and I finally found a weekend to go to Togo and Benin. We traveled from Accra to the Togo border, which should only take about 3 hours, perhaps 4, but our trotro driver took a longer route through Keta so it took FOREVER. But it was ok because it was really beautiful. The border was very easy, but Katie and Emma forgot their yellow fever cards. We were worried at first, but then realized a bribe of about 2 cedi would cover it no problem. Lome, the capital of Togo is just on the other side of the border and our hotel was within walking distance, but we decided to take motos.

our hotel

hotel room

There is not too much to do in Lome. We arrived late in the afternoon so we just dropped our things at the hotel, walked along the beach, went to the market, and got some dinner. The beaches in Lome were really gross. The city sewage flowed right onto the sandy beach and just made a pool of sewage – it was gross. The worst part was that children were swimming in part of it. You have to be very careful walking along the beaches because there is human shit scattered around like landmines. We didn’t spend long at the beach.

beach in Lome

gross

sunset on the beach

Togo is a French speaking country and luckily for us, Emma and Kelly both speak French very well. Although I know Haitian Kreyol, which derives from French and has many similar words, I wasn’t expecting to understand much. I was very surprised at how much I understood. Many words are the same or very similar. Kreyol uses different tenses and is more simplified.

I think my favorite part of Togo and Benin was the french baguettes. Women walk around with big bowls on their heads filled with fresh french bread. The also brought along a stool and when you wanted a sandwich they’d take down the bowl, set it on the stool and make you a sandwich. They had egg, avocado, onion, tomatoes, AND IT WAS SO DELICIOUS. I think I probably had six or more throughout the three days we were there. We literally ate them for every single meal except for one.

enjoying our french baguette sandwiches!

Anyway, Saturday morning we took a trotro from Lome to Cotonou, Benin. Once we got outside Lome the beaches were absolutely beautiful. It only took about 30-45 minutes to reach the Benin border from Lome – that is how small Togo is. The Benin border was pretty easy to get through too – no issues. When we arrived on Contonou we got French baguette sandwiches and headed to our hotel to put our stuff down. From there we took motos to the market where we checked out the fetish and voodoo sections – pretty interesting..and gross. That evening we had a delicious dinner at a little café across the street from our hotel.

Benin

motos are everywhere in togo and benin. cheapest way to get around too.

Sunday morning we woke up early and took motos to Hotel du Lac where we went on a boat tour of a stilt village. The boat took us up the river that went through Cotonou and into the lake where a community was built on the water on stilts. It was really cool to see. There was a market, but people had all of their foods and goods on boats and were selling from the water. There were really small kids in boats alone padding and fishing with small nets. There was even a gigantic mosque on stilts. It was really cool to see, but I felt weird about it. I know a lot of tourists come there, but I can’t imagine what it must be like to be going about my daily chores and having people come up and take pictures of me.

at the stilt village

the market

the mosque on stilts (still under construction)

stilt village

The plan was to head back to Lome after the tour, spend the night there, then go back to Accra on Monday morning. We decided on the way back to Lome that there wasn’t much more to see there so we were better off just heading all the way back to Accra that night instead of spending the money on another night in a hotel. We ended up getting back to Accra in pretty good time – around 8:30 – 9. It was probably good we came back Sunday night because I had two classes on Monday morning I would have missed and they were the last classes of the semester.

Visiting Jen!
4/27-28/12
This weekend I went to visit my friend Jen in the Central Region. I’m sure I’ve told this story before, but for those who haven’t heard it: I met Jen volunteering in Haiti these past two summers. Last summer she told me she was applying to the Peace Corps. A few months later, she told me she was placed in Ghana, where I was planning to study abroad. Turns out she was assigned to do Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) and the organization I am interning with here in Ghana (the Ghana WASH Project) was going to be getting 6 Peace Corps Volunteers. Jen ended up getting assigned to my organization. Small world! She has been placed in Opembo, which is the Awutu Senya District of the Central Region. It is not very far from Accra – only about an hour and a half. She has been going through the three months training and has just arrived in her village a few weeks ago.

I finally got a chance to go visit her this weekend. I left Accra late in the afternoon on Friday, not expecting for it to be a long trip there. It wasn’t a long trip, but there was a VERY long line for a trotro to Kasoa at Nkrumah Circle. I had to wait for about an hour until I finally got on a trotro. When I arrived in Kasoa I immediately was able to get a trotro to Bawljiase, but I was supposed to get off at Opembo, the stop right before it the last stop. Opembo is a small community and by the time I got there it was around 7:30 and dark. However, as soon as I stepped off the trotro and started walking down the road I was greeted by about 25 kids running toward me laughing and yelling and greeting me. They practically mauled me – hugging me, grabbing my bags to help and hold on my hands and practically dragging me to Jen’s house. Jen had been retrieved by another mob of children and dragged from her house to meet me. I think it was probably the best greeting I have ever received.

It was great getting to catch up with Jen. We had planned to go to the market the next morning, but Jen’s Local NGO counterpart showed up to take her around to communities she would be working in. I ended up going along and I was able to answer a lot of questions Jen had about GWASH so it was probably good her counterpart came by. She has been learning Twi, but her community speaks Fanti (but everyone speaks Twi too). Most of the children speak English, but not too many adults speak it. That is why it is very helpful for Jen’s LNGO counterpart to assist her. We ended up going to the market in the afternoon and then I had to leave around 2:30 to make it back to Accra before dark. I was really great to catch up with her and I’m definitely going to find a way to get back there before I leave Ghana.

These next two weeks I don’t have a lot going on. I am working and will probably be doing a little traveling for work. I have also started training a Peace Corps Volunteer (PCV) who will be taking my place when I leave. There was recently a military coups in Mali so all of the PCVs were evacuated to Ghana. Some ended up going home and some got reassigned to new projects. GWASH decided to take one of the Mali PCVs, Monica, into the Accra office to replace me so that is who I have been training.

I have two exams coming up at the end of this coming week and then another week (my last day of work at GWASH is May 10th) AND THEN MY MOM AND BROTHERS COME TO VISIT!! Very excited. Then I only have three more exams and I’ll be home May 27th!

That’s all for now -
Avery

Title quote: Iron & Wine

“nothing ever goes exactly how you planned it, i guess i’ve been here long enough to see, that time can be your dearest friend or time can be a bandit, when tomorrow turns into history”

Sorry for the delay in posting this! Here are a few more adventures to read about. Just livin the Ghana life over here – hope all is well in the rest of the world. I should also let you all know that I have booked my flight and I will be home in the US on May 27th – just in time to meet my new baby cousin MALLOY ANN WHITE!

LAST WEEKEND: 4.7-9.12
The plan was to leave for Togo and Benin on Wednesday, but on Tuesday night we found out that Katie wouldn’t be able to get her passport back from immigration (she sent it in for a visa extension) until 2pm on Wednesday. We agreed we would leave Wednesday afternoon, no problem. However, Katie didn’t end up getting her passport until around 4:30 that afternoon. Mildly disappointed, we shifted around the plan to leave early Thursday morning. BUT, both Katie and Kelly ended up getting sick Wednesday night and we didn’t end up leaving Thursday either. By Friday Katie and Kelly both weren’t feeling better and didn’t want to go so I decided to go with the group of Canadian nurses to the Volta Region Saturday through Monday, as I hadn’t been yet.

Early Saturday morning got a trotro to Medina and from Medina to Ho Hoe. It was a really beautiful drive there. The Volta Region is incredibly tropical with thick, lush green forests. It ended up taking us much longer to get to Ho Hoe than it should have because our trotro broke down. Even after it was up and running again, it couldn’t go all that fast so it was a long trip. When we got to Ho Hoe we were delighted to find out the hotel reservations we made had been given away. This actually happens pretty frequently here because sometimes people make reservations and then don’t show up, so the hotels prefer to take the money where it is guaranteed rather than hoping for the people who made reservations to show up. Because of this, all thirteen of us trudged around town going from hotel to hotel to find a place to stay. We went to four hotels, all of which were full.

broken down trotro! our trotro is behind the REALLY sad looking one.

crossing the river

We had planned to stay at the monkey sanctuary in Tafi Atome (45 minutes from Ho Hoe) Sunday night so we decided to call them to see if they had space for us that night. We were grateful that they did, but the reason we didn’t want to stay there the first night is because it is expensive to get to and from (because it is very rural) and we would have to come all the way back to Ho Hoe the next morning to get transport to Wli Falls, another 45 minutes away. Either way, we stayed at the monkey sanctuary and in the morning they brought us to see the monkeys (they are most active in the morning and evenings). The monkeys were SO COOL. We held out bananas and they jumped onto our arms and then sat there and ate the bananas. They were really light and really cute.

MONKEYS

the best photo. BRENDAN.

After we saw the monkeys we headed back to Ho Hoe and from there headed to the waterfall. There are two waterfalls – the lower falls and the upper falls. Most people just go to the lower falls because it is a short, easy walk. The upper falls is a 45 minute hike up a mountain. We decided to go to the upper falls. A guide took us and we plowed up it (well, George, John, Collin, and I did anyway). It was a gorgeous hike and when we finally go to the falls we all just stripped off our cloths and jumped in. It was seriously incredible – when we walked across the river we were illegally in Togo. It was very secluded and there were few people there besides us. We stayed for maybe an hour/hour and a half then headed back down the mountain to see the lower falls. The guide told us that most people just go to the lower falls and many people who try to go to the upper falls end up turning back half way because it is too difficult (it wasn’t very difficult, just hot which made jumping in the water all that more satisfying)

trotro ride to Wli Falls

hiking to the upper falls

on the hike up

Wli Falls (upper)

awesomeness

george, me and collin

When we got to the lower falls I was really happy we had gone to the upper falls. Although they looked pretty much the same, the lower falls wasn’t as nice. There were a LOT of people, trash, and wasn’t so secluded or beautiful. It was really anti-climactic after seeing the upper falls.

We headed back to the monkey sanctuary and stayed another night, then headed back to Accra in the morning. I was disappointed I didn’t get to go to Togo and Benin, but really happy that I was able to hop in on the Volta trip with the Canadians, Collin, and Brendan. I think we are going to go to Togo and Benin next weekend.

THIS WEEKEND (4.14.12)
One of the coordinators for my study abroad program (ISEP) invited us all to her wedding this weekend. It was held in a Catholic Church and was very similar to an American wedding, I’d say. I really enjoyed all of the ridiculous Ghanaian humor (I didn’t understand it when I first got here, but now I constantly use it and think it is the most hilarious thing ever). I’d write about some of the hilarious things the pastor said, but I feel that you may of had to be there. BUT I will say the pastor repeatedly said at awkward moments (such as during the kiss) “wow, this is so powerful!”

Andy & Susan!

The whole ceremony was in English, not Twi, which was nice for us. There were a few differences in the ceremony, but nothing all that significant. Well, actually I would say that it was more of a church service than a wedding. With a focus on marriage and the family. There was a lot of preaching on man and wife. You know, how the man is the head of the house and that although the woman is not at his feet it is her job to assist him in any way he needs. Yep. Also, throughout the entire ceremony there were at least 6-12 men blocking the view of the bride and groom because there were surrounding them taking photos. After the ceremony everyone took photos with the bride and groom and then enjoyed the reception. It was really nice and I am glad I got the opportunity to see a Ghanaian wedding! I am sure a traditional wedding, as opposed to a Christian one like this, would be much different though.

ISEP

Avery

Title quote: Matt Hires

PS. DID I MENTION MY MOM AND BROTHERS ARE COMING TO GHANA TO VISIT IN MAY?! To quote my professor: “I should be the happiest [wo]man in all of Ghana! HALLELUJAH, PRAISE THE LORD!” ….. ahahah..yeahhh.. #ghanalife

“A journey is a person in itself; no two are alike. And all plans, safeguards, policing, and coercion are fruitless. We find that after years of struggle that we do not take a trip; a trip takes us.”

BASCO
3.24-25.12
Kelly and Katie were told about an orphanage in the Eastern Region that is always looking for volunteers. They decided to go this weekend and at first, I didn’t want to go – not because I didn’t think it would be fun or interesting, but because when it comes to working with kids I think it is important to commit to volunteering long term, which is not something I could do in this situation. BUT I decided to go anyway because I didn’t have anything else going on that weekend and I wanted to check out the bead market in Koforidua (the district capital which we were going through to get to the orphanage).

We got a late start because Kelly was asked to play in a field hockey game with Ghana’s national women’s field hockey team. She was playing with the university men’s team a few days before when they asked her – so cool! We left when she got back around noon and took a trotro from Medina to Koforidua. From there we took a taxi to the bead market. The bead market is big on Thursday, which we knew, but had heard there might be a few vendors on a Saturday. There was only about five or so and they didn’t bring many beads. We want to go back on a Thursday. A woman from the orphanage met us at the bead market and took us to the orphanage (called BASCO)

It was a lot farther away from Koforidua than we expected; they made it sound like it was basically in town. We took a trotro from the Koforidua station to a junction about a half hour away and from there a taxi down a dirt road to BASCO. It was really beautiful; thick greenery everywhere you look – like a jungle. The BASCO complex was a nice piece of property too. We didn’t know what to expect. They showed us where we would be staying then gave us a short tour and told us a little about the orphanage.

Baptist School Complex and Orphanage (BASCO) was started in 1996 and has about 200 kids. Not all the kids are orphans though; some kids are boarders and pay and some live in the surrounding area and just attend the school. I think about half are orphans. The youngest kid is 6 and there are a lot of teenagers. They said they have only gotten a few new kids since it opened. They are so low on funding that once a student completes school there they teach for a few years until BASCO can help them (hopefully) attend college or some kind of higher level of education. I am not going to go into any more detail, but if you want to find out more about BASCO, visit their website: http://basco-ghana.org/

We stayed in the volunteer house where two Germans have been staying. They have been at BASCO volunteering for almost a year now. One is teaching and the other is the nurse. We got to BASCO pretty late in the afternoon so we just settled in and then played football with some of the boys. They brought us dinner and we relaxed a bit then some kids showed up at the volunteer house. We ended up hanging out with a bunch of kids on the porch for a few hours – it was really great. We just joked around, talked, and played some games they taught us until the power went out.

The next morning we just hung out with kids. I ended up playing cards with a group of young boys for probably four hours or so. It was fun, but the games we played were limited because they had barely half a deck and all the cards were really tattered. I didn’t understand why BASCO was so grateful that we came until that afternoon. They kept thanking us and feeding us and making sure we were comfortable and taken care of, but I didn’t understand what we were actually doing to contribute. All we were doing was coming for a few hours, playing with some kids and leaving. After a few hours of being with the kids I realized what a big deal it was that we were there. We were really in the middle of nowhere and these kids couldn’t go anywhere but the BASCO compound. And within the BASCO compound there wasn’t much entertainment. Having us come and hang out was like a treat for the kids it seemed. When we left that afternoon (it was a long way back to Accra and we needed to get back before dark) they thanked us and thanked us for coming. I still didn’t feel like I had done much of anything, but I’m glad we were able to help in any small way they thought we did.

Western Region
3.30.12 – 4.1.12
Kelly, Katie, Emma, Lisa and I got a late start to our trip to the Western Region of Ghana. We didn’t end up leaving Accra until about 3:30, but it all worked out. We arrived in Takoradi at like 8:30/9, checked into our hotel room, grabbed some food, and called it a night. We were up bright and early Saturday morning to get a trotro to Agona Junction and from there to Butrie, a small coastal village.

Takoradi

Butrie is absolutely stunning. It is this little gem of a community, seemingly untouched by the outside world. The beaches are pristine and people warm and welcoming. The castle stood atop a mountain overlooking the community. We each paid 5 cedi for two guides to take us up to the castle. The money goes into a community fund so although the guides weren’t exactly necessary, we were happy to spend the money.

Kelly, Me, Lisa, Emma, Katie in the castle at Butrie

From there we hiked to the next community over (about 3km) to Busua. The first part of the hike was over a small mountain through the forest and when we got to the bottom we were met with another beautiful sandy coastline which we walked along until we got to Busua. We had lunch there and then hiked to the next town, Dixcove (2km?). Dixcove was much bigger than Butrie and Busua, more like a town than a village. It had a castle as well, but we couldn’t go in for some reason. We just walked around, chatted with some people and then decided to head to Awidaa.

hiking to Busua

Busua!

freshly squeezed juice

Busua

Dixcove

Dixcove

Awidaa is where Green Turtle Lodge is located and where we had planned to stay the night. If we did it again, I wouldn’t stay there just because it was really expensive to get to. Green Turtle Lodge is about 10km from Dixcove, but it takes forever to get to because the roads are so bad. The only way to get a trotro there was from Agona Junction (we didn’t want to go all the way back to Agona Junction just to get a trotro back to Awidaa) so we had to pay for a cab from Dixcove, which was very expensive.

It took about 30 minutes or more to get to Green Turtle Lodge, which ended up being a nice place. The beaches were beautiful and facilities nice. We stayed in the dorms, which were fine for 10 cedi a night except there was no fan or electricity and it got pretty hot. The other problem with being all the way out in Awidaa is that the only place to get food is at Green Turtle Lodge so obviously, the prices were absurd. Despite all that, we enjoyed ourselves. The next morning we took a canoe ride in the lagoon (the 10 cedi it cost us each went into the Awidaa community fund) for about two hours – it was pretty cool. When we got back we took a taxi back to Agona Junction and from there a trotro to Takoradi. It was a Sunday so there wasn’t much going on around town. We ended up just waiting at the bus station for a few hours until out bus came because we didn’t want to schlep around in the crazy heat when there would be nothing to do anyway. The whole trip went smoothly and we all had a great time. Now we are thinking about an Ivory Coast trip during exams…

Green Turtle Lodge beach

where we slept at green turtle lodge

Up Next
4.4.12
Today we were supposed to leave for Togo and Benin BUT Katie gave her passport to the ISEP program coordinators to get her visa extended and she still hasn’t gotten it back yet. They promised her she would get it by 2 today, but it’s almost 5 now. We are hoping they get it to her tonight and we can leave in the morning. Fingers crossed.

- Avery

Title quote: John Steinbeck

“April come she will, when streams are ripe and swelled with rain; May, she will stay, resting in my arms again”

3.18.12

Another week has come and gone. School is the same. At work I am making a short video to put on YouTube about how we train local artisans to build household latrines.

If anyone is interested in learning more about the Ghana WASH Project, here are a few of the project’s success stories:

*links will be added on Wednesday*

3.16.12
There is rumor that professors are on strike because they haven’t been paid. My professor showed up this morning, but my roommate’s didn’t. So I guess we will see how that turns out.

On Friday night a bunch of us went to see Patrick in a play. The University of Ghana is pretty well known for its theatre productions. The play Patrick was in was called The Father and it was pretty good. It was funny at parts, though got boring at parts too. All the actors and actresses were great. I think my favorite part though was the Ghanaian audience. Ghanaian’s love to make these noises “YIE!” “EHH!” “OH!” “AHH!” etc, etc. So, the audience was very animated – whenever anything exciting or funny happened the whole audience would make the same noise. All of us Obrunis (foriegners) were dying, it was so funny. After the play a bunch of us went out to Jerry’s to grab a quick drink and celebrate Kate’s birthday at midnight.

me, patrick, and katie at Jerry's

3.17.12
A BIG group of us went to Kokrobite beach Saturday night. We rented out a house that sleeps 12 and fit about 18 people. It was such a fun time. We did a little beach shopping, swimming, lounging, snacking, hanging, and dancing (it was reggae night and the music was great). The next day was much of the same – hanging out, relaxing, enjoying. It is funny though, it was a very fun and relaxing weekend, but as soon as you get on a trotro to head back to Accra, every ounce or relaxation is drained out of you – traveling via trotro is uncomfortable, unpleasant, and…cheap. The first trotro we got on fit 36 people, 7 rows of 5 people and one guy hanging outside the door, hold onto the window. Brilliant.

the gang's all here.

artsy power ranger shot, directed my moses

me and moses

some of us

kokrobite beach!

"STOP"

"IT'S HAMMER TIME"

loading up the trotro

Not much more to say and I’m not sure what is going on next weekend. Perhaps another trip to Kumasi, but I’m not sure.

Cheers,
Avery

Title quote: Simon & Garfunkel

“I’m a listing boat, for the thing carries every hope.”

3.10.12
I was up early on Saturday with Kelly, Katie, and Lisa to go to Trashy Bags. It is an organization here in Accra that turns trash into products like bags, hats, laptop cases, etc. They mainly use water sachets and the pastic wrapping from FanIce, FanYogo, FanChoco, and FanDango – types of ice cream things that they sell here. Because it was the weekend, there weren’t people there working, but we got to see where they sew it all. I bought a nice laptop case, which just barely fits my laptop – I’m not sure if I am going to keep it because the next laptop I have probably won’t be as big, or return it for a larger size. Either way, I love it. It is made out of water sachet baggies and is padded on the inside. I also got a little pencil cases because they were half off. If anyone wants anything from there that is cheap (pencil case, etc) I will get it for you, but if you want something expensive (duffle bag, laptop case, kindle case, etc) I’ll get it for you, but you’ll have to reimburse me cause I’m a poor ol’ student. This is their website: http://www.trashybags.org/

laptop case from trashy bags

pencil case thing from trashy bags

We got back around 11, chilled for a bit, and then a bus came to pick us and the other ISEP students up for a bead workshop. We learned how beads were made and the significance of them here in Ghana. We also strung our own necklaces. It was pretty fun and now I have a cool necklace and some beads to make more stuff.

necklace i made at the bead workshop

In the late afternoon, Kelly, Katie and I went to the Art Centre. I have a list of things I want to get before I leave Ghana (for myself and for others) and I have been slowly chipping away at the list. For myself, I got a cute little wallet thing, but what I was really looking for was a stringed instrument for Elliott. The only one I have found here is called a Cora. At first, I wanted to get the smaller one because it was decorated nice and had pretty fabric wrapped on parts of it, but it didn’t make a nice sound. Of course, after talking to a bunch of people I found out that those are just for decoration, and they showed me the larger ones which are for playing. The first guy I talked to wanted me to pay 120 cedis. I got him down to 70 cedi, but didn’t want to purchase from the first person I talked to because for all I know it could be worth no more than 15cedi. So I told him I would be back and I found the same one for 50. Although a much better price, I kept looking and ended up getting one for 40 cedi. I met up with Kelly and Katie who were talking to some Ghanaian guys. When they saw the Cora they said they had one and wished I had bought from them. Then they asked how much I got it for, but I wanted to know what a fair price they thought it would be (because I had already bought one, they had no reason to lie) and they said 50 cedi. When I told them I got it for 40 they were very impressed. SUCCESS!

wallet from the art centre

other side of the wallet

Kora

Kora for Elliott

kora

3.11.12
Today (Sunday), Kelly, Katie, and I wanted to go downtown to Mokola Market (the central market in Accra) to buy some fabrics. We knew that it would be pretty dead because everyone is on church on Sunday morning, but we went anyway. We thought it might be easy to get around with less people, but we ended up not buying anything. Even though we found some fabrics for sale, there weren’t that many vendors and we would rather have more options and more room to bargain.

As we were walking a trotro screeched to a stop and hit something. We saw a guy go flying. The trotro hit a person – he got up pretty quickly, probably from adrenaline, but then fell down again. What we didn’t realize was the guy was on a moto when he was hit. It was so scary. Everyone poured out of the trotro and people filled the street trying to help. We aren’t sure what happened to the guy or if he is okay, but the three of us were pretty shaken up by it. The traffic here is really crazy and you have to be alert and careful, but in this circumstance, there wasn’t any traffic and there were very few people. I don’t think it was the trotros fault, to be honest, they didn’t have a stop sign or anything the moto just came flying out of a T intersection in front of the trotro. At least that is what I think happened – can’t be sure.

SCHOOL
Classes have been going okay. I am taking five, three credit courses, so there should be three hours of classes a week. Here at the University of Ghana, they have one, two hour class and a one hour tutorial. The way it was explained to me was that most courses have the one hour tutorial, but most 400 level courses don’t because they expect that at that level, you do extra work on your own time. All my courses are 400 level, but it seems that most of the other international students who are 300 level only have tutorials for one or two classes.

I have three classes on Monday and two classes on Tuesday. In my first class, Industrialization in the Developing World, the professor is always on time, always lectures the entire two hours, and is always incredibly boring. The second class, Cities in Economic Development and Problems of Urban Management, the professor is consistently late, but has a lot more interesting and engaging lectures. My third class on Monday, Disaster Risk Reduction Policies & Strategies, is with the same professor. This professor went traveling somewhere for two weeks so we didn’t have class.

For Cities, he assigned a group paper worth 20 percent of our grade. The entire class of about 25 was split into two groups to write a paper. Ridiculous. I wrote it while my group sat and talked, occasionally throwing me ideas. For Disaster, we were supposed to have a guest lecturer come during the weeks he was gone, but he didn’t come the first week. Instead, he scheduled another time for the lecturer to happen that was more convenient for him. I could only stay for the first hour because I had another class. The guest lecturer said he would be there next week as well, but never showed. Here in Ghana it is appropriate to wait a good 30 minutes to a hour for a professor to show up. This is done frequently. Last week when my Disaster professor was finally back (I knew he was back because he gave a lecture to my Cities class that morning, didn’t show up after an hour so we all left. Then, later that week he posted a bulletin saying class would be held Friday at 3:30. If I hadn’t texted a classmate Thursday night I never would have known about it. This type of thing happens all the time. Bulletins are constantly posted and if you don’t see them, you can get screwed over pretty hard and nobody has any sympathy.

On Tuesday, my first class is Population and Development. The professor is a woman and she seems very smart, but her lectures get a bit boring. Then again, we have only met three times and it is halfway through the semester. One week she was traveling and this past week it was a holiday (Ghana’s Independence Day). My last class is Twi. The professor is really great and I am learning a lot. We only have about 6 people in the class, which is nice. On Wednesday and Thursday I always go to work (the Ghana WASH Project) and most Fridays I go in, but not always.

Here is an article the Ghana WASH Project published for International Women’s Day: http://www.ri.org/files/uploads/GWASH_Success_Story_Women_and_WASH_FINAL.pdf
I wrote the second story called Creating Forums for Women to Participate Equally in Management & Decision Making (edited by my boss, who wrote the other articles).

Another week ahead should be much of the same: classes, work, rice, plantains, heat, trotros, biking, etc. Saturday morning a group of us are off to Krokrobite Beach for the night to celebrate Katie and Becca’s birthday – should be fun!

Love from Ghana,
Avery

Title quote: The Shins

“put on sunday shoes, and dance round the room to accordion keys, with the needle that sings in your heart, catching signals that sound in the dark”

3.2.12
On Friday, the entire ISEP group took a trip up to Kumasi. Kumasi is about six hours north of Accra and host to the largest market and West Africa. I have traveled outside of Accra on many occasions and have had the opportunity to see how beautiful rural Ghana is, especially compared to how scummy much of Accra is, but I have yet to see anything quite like Kumasi. It is, in my opinion, much nicer than Accra. I liked the architecture of the buildings, the roads were not nearly as bad, the traffic wasn’t horrific (although perhaps that was caused by the time of day), and there were less shacks and rundown buildings. Overall, it was just nicer than Accra. We stayed at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) Engineering Guest House, which was really nice (AC too, YAY!). ISEP paid for our dinner and we just hung out the first night playing cards and talking.

road to Kumasi

3.3.12
The next morning we had breakfast and then headed to Bonwire, a village that produces Kinte cloth. We got to see how it is made and check out some designs. They use to use silk to make them, but now they use something different. You can still buy the silk cloths, but they are all very old and pretty expensive.

kinte cloth in Bonwire

kinte cloth

The next place we went to was Ntonso, a community that produces Adinka cloth and designs. They are all hand woven and then they stamp print and screen print designs on the cloth with ink they make from Baobab tree bark. They showed us how they pound the bark and then boil it until it gets super thick. I wasn’t in love with any of the designs they had so I picked out the patterns I wanted and a guy made me what I wanted and delivered it to the hotel a few hours later. I really like it, but I was rushed to pick the designs I wanted because our group was leaving for the next place. All of the symbols on it mean something different. You can see what the different symbols mean here: http://www.adinkra.org/htmls/adinkra/nkyi.htm

one of the guys who makes the prints

pounding the bark to make ink

pots where they boil the bark and juices to make ink

cloth i picked out the prints for

The last village we went to was Ahwsaa where they make wood carvings. I like a lot of the stuff, but I didn’t buy anything. I am considering going back to get this cool painted mask thing though. After, we went to lunch and then the market. I wanted to spend a lot of time at the market, but they only gave us about a half hour which was disappointing. It was late in the day and we had one more stop, the cultural center. We got to the cultural center at about 5 so a lot of the shops had closed up, but I got a few things from some that were open. I got an AWESOME painting and some jewelry. Everyone was really exhausted by the time we got back to the hotel and just ate dinner, hung out, and went to bed pretty early.

painting i bought

wood carver guy

3.4.12
On the way home I asked if we could stop at the pottery stands on the side of the road. I bought a big bowl that is traditionally used for grinding food like pepper or eating fufu out of. I also wanted to buy a ceramic bowl (cereal bowl sized) and decided I couldn’t just buy one, I had to get a set – so I got 4, haha. I love them though, they are really awesome. As I was buying them I couldn’t stop thinking about how much my mom and grandma would love them….so I bought each of them a big bowl.

buying pottery on the side of the road

the bowl used for grinding food and eating fufu in

one of the bowls i bought. more pictures on are facebook.

We got back to the hostel around 3 – exhausted. Good weekend though. Next weekend we are going to some kind of bead workshop with the ISEP group and I’ll probably go to the Art Center, Mokola Market, and Trashy Bags (a company the makes stuff out of trash).

Tomorrow is Ghana’s Independence Day so there are no classes and there will probably be some kind of event downtown. Yeah, that’s about it.

Avery

Title quote: Neutral Milk Hotel

“I’m mining for gold, I’m pulling the pieces a part”

So I ran into a bit of trouble with my passport. I got issued a 5 year, multiple entry visa before coming to Ghana. Upon arrival, I confirmed with the woman stamping my passport that it was indeed good for 5 years and I would not have to worry about my visa for the remainder of my stay. She then stamped my passport, and I was on my way. I took a look at the little green stamp, noticed the writing on it wasn’t all that clear, but paid no mind. About a month and a half later, my passport got wet when I put my pants in the wash without realizing my passport was it in. I got it out, dried the pages, and all was good. Then, after almost three months of being in Ghana, some other international students were discussing going to immigration to get extensions on their passports. I looked at their visa and stamps and realized it was the same as mine. When I went back to look at my stamp to see if it too said 60 days, I found that all of my stamps were still intact since getting wet EXCEPT my Ghana stamp. All that remains of the Ghana stamp is a green blur and an initial in pen. This was a problem. I had been in Ghana over 60 days meaning I would likely have to pay some obscene fee for being late in extending my stay.

I went and spoke with the director of my program and we decided that I might be able to just go to Togo for the weekend and return. By going to Togo, I would get re-stamped upon coming back into Ghana, giving me another sixty days. Since the other stamp wasn’t visible, they wouldn’t know that my dates were up. It was kind of a risky plan, but I was going to go ahead with it because the director thought it was my best option to avoid a fine. The day before I was to leave for Togo, I ended up talking to my boss at work about it. He was very concerned and told me he thought it was a bad idea. He worried I might get into Togo, but have difficulties coming back into Ghana. That, or I might have to pay some crazy fine when I finally left Ghana. He told me that the project would help me and to bring all my passport information and letters to the Ghana WASH Project human resource person and she would bring it to immigration and take care of it. So, I’ll be bringing it to her Monday and hopefully it all works out.

2.22-23.12
On Wednesday and Thursday I traveled with the Ghana WASH Project’s Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS) Leader (for the Eastern Region) and the local NGO partner field staff, to the triggering activities they held in 2 communities. Triggering is the process of discussing, educating, and problem solving with a community so that they may realize their own water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) problems and become motivated to participate in solutions. This is accomplished by holding a community meeting. Following formalities such as greetings, prayers, and introductions, the CLTS Leader and local NGO staff lead a discussion about hygiene issues. Open defecation, the most prevalent sanitation problem in many communities, is specifically discussed, at which time community members are asked to come forward and identify locations of open defecation in a drawing of the community in the dirt. These activities encourage discussion and WASH education by the facilitators which leads to the ‘trigger moment,’ when the community realizes how their activities are impacting their health. Action plans to stop open defecation and other unhygienic practices are created, followed by a presentation about the facilities the Ghana WASH Project works with communities to build.

triggering activities in Asafo Pechi

showing community members the different latrine models

My role in all of this was to document it (video/photos) these triggering activities. I videoed each step of the process and I will probably make a short video on what triggering is. I also interviewed women who participated in the triggering because we are going to write an article for International Women’s Day that is coming up which will have short little profiles of women making a difference in their communities. I will probably write one up on a woman I met in the first community, Asafo Pechi. Her name was Lucy and she is the Queen Mother, which is kind of like the woman chief. She is a strong advocate for positive WASH behaviors in her community. Once a week she rings the community bell to get everyone to go clean up the trash all around the community.

me filming

The second community we went to, Akuuku, was much bigger than Asafo Pechi. We went to the palace (one of the three anyway) and met the chief. There are rules about standing as he comes in, then sitting, then going to shake his hand (with both hands) and bowing a little, returning to your seat, not crossing your legs when you are sitting in front of the chief, etc. I think I did okay – just followed everyone else. Then we went and greeted all of the community elders and the mayor, and last the community members participating in the activities.

triggering in Akuuku

shit mapping in Akuuku

2.24.12
At work, the Relief International security officer guy came to our office for a security workshop. I thought it was going to be boring, but it ended up being incredibly interesting. He is ex-military and now travels all over ensuring the security of all Relief International projects around the world. We saw a list of the security levels of all the countries (one being the best, 4 being almost the worst, and 5 being full out war). The US was a 1, Ghana was a 2, Haiti was a 3. A lot of the stuff he discussed didn’t really apply to Ghana, but it was fascinating to listen to.

He showed videos of being in Pakistan, Iraq, Afghanistan, and all over. He would show a video and ask how we thought the people in the video reacted and dealt with the situation. In one video they were just driving along and then a car blew up in front of them. In another video something blew up nearby and then guns started going off. It was crazy! After, he told us that he was in those cars. Oh, and another video someone tells a security officer they thing there is a bomb in a box. So the officer goes over to the box and EVERYONE wants to go see if it really is a bomb.. it really was a bomb. He played the video until right before it went off and everyone died. Moral of the story? If someone says they think there might be a bomb in a box nearby, don’t go over to see if it really is. Just run away.

A lot of the stuff he talked about wasn’t relevant to Ghana; car bombs aren’t going off everywhere, people aren’t hijacking cars, and anthrax isn’t being sent in the mail. However, he did talk about a lot of other stuff that was relevant, such as general stuff like petty theft, not taking the same route to work every day at the same time, etc. Anyway, he was an interesting guy and I enjoyed his presentation.

2.25.12
After a lazy Saturday morning, a group of us went out to Osu (an area in downtown Accra). We got some lunch, checked out this fair trade clothing shop called Global Mamas, and met some other people at the movies. After the movies I headed back home to grab a shower before I went to babysit my bosses’ kids.

Back to class tomorrow.

Keep on Keepin’ on,
Avery

Title quote: Elliott Woolworth of The Raven & The Wool (www.facebook.com/theravenandthewool)

“I dreamt a trail up to the sky and my brothers built propellers, just to see how far they’d fly”

I had such a great time Saturday night. Michael (old housemate) took me out with his friends and we ended up going to a few different places. The first place we went to was the Hush Bar & Lounge in Osu where they were having an event called Love Out Loud. They had local artists performing the spoken word, rapping, and doing acoustic sets; it was really great. The bar itself was very nice, chill, and had cool art all over the walls. Before we left we had a little photo shoot in the parking lot – not really sure why. Then we headed to a place called Epo’s, still in Osu – it was basically this huge outdoor/indoor bar with a projector that showed football matches, cheap drinks, and a lot of food stands outside. It was a cool place and I’ll definitely go back, but it wasn’t hoppin so we headed to Vienna City, which was like a bar/night club by Nkrumah Circle. We didn’t end up going inside because the cover charge for guys was something like 10 cedi and it was 2am already – not worth it. We just kinda hung about outside for a bit and chatted then headed back.

me and michael

Lunca (sp?) was driving (sober – hadn’t been drinking all night) and as we were heading back we had to pull over because the car was overheating. While we were asking a guy who lived around there for some water, Jerry and Ebenezer wandered off to go chat with some prostitutes. The streets of Accra are littered with prostitutes, especially on the weekends. There are some on EVERY street corner and at least six at a roundabout. Once we got the car fixed we realized Jerry and Ebenezer were nowhere to be found, though they couldn’t be far. We went looking for them and found them talking to another group of prostitutes. We ended up all getting out and chatting with them for quite some time. They were very nice, very interesting, and very open about talking about their work. They spoke about how they deal with cops too, which was interesting to hear about. I got back to my room at 4am – it was a solid night!

2.14.12
Tuesday night I was bumming around talking to some people when Jameson invited me to go with him and some people to his friend Moses’ house. Moses is Israeli and connected with Evelyn (another international student) because apparently, Jewish people find each other wherever they may be in the world. He is staying (and working) with a friend here in Accra, very close to the university (in a big, beautiful home). He had dinner waiting for the five of us when we arrived – it was delicious and probably would have been more delicious had I not already eaten. I had the best time at his house. We just talked and talked, mostly about love because it was Valentine’s Day and Moses was determined to keep us on topic. It was nice to have an interesting conversation with interesting people. Especially nice to have a conversation that did not revolve around where everyone is from, the school they go to, what they are studying, and what food they miss the most from home. I am really tired of those conversations. After dinner we went upstairs and did a little ballroom dancing and salsa. Becca was teaching us – it was fun, but I have absolutely no rhythm, whatsoever. Ah, well.

2.18.12
BEACH DAY! Accra beaches, as I mentioned in previous posts, are nice but littered with garbage, which is pretty unpleasant. Today, a group of about 9 of us went to Kokrobite, a town west of Accra that has beautiful beaches. We took a trotro from Apongo Junction to Nkrumah Circle, from Circle to Keneshie, and from Keneshie to Kokrobite. Travel time was about 1.5-2 hours, but it wasn’t too bad. We parked it on the beach for a few hours and went swimming, read, and chatted.

I went for a long walk which was nice; I passed men pulling in fish and children playing on fishing boats on the shore. As I was walking I strolled right into a dumping area on the beach, a place where people dump their trash…and go poop. It was really gross – there was little piles of shit everywhere and as I approached there was a woman finishing up her business – yuck. It’s unfortunate that people have to resort to this because either they don’t have the facilities, they can’t afford to pay to use facilities if they do exist, or they aren’t educated enough to know health implications of not using proper sanitation facilities. One of my professors called the open defecation here in Ghana “democratic shitting” – haha.

awesome view

beach!

When I came back from my walk other people had gone off on walks or swimming and Brendan was the only one behind watching our stuff. A group of four little girls approached us, the oldest of which must have been no older than six or seven. Their names were Harriet, Jessica, Ana, and Manuella. They were absolutely adorable. I chatted with them and we played; they buried my feet and legs and we made monkey and fish faces. Manuella was the absolute cutest – we were making faces at each other and she put her forehead against mine – it was the sweetest thing! Brendan exclaimed how cute it was and got out his camera, but in Ghana, when you break out a camera everyone wants to be in it and pose for it..so all the other girls jumped in the way and then we ended up having a pile on Avery (or Ama, as they called me) for the camera, haha. When everyone got back we did a little dancing, spinning, and laughing, then we had to leave them and go get lunch.

the girls :) the one on the far right is Manuella, back is Jess, front is Harriet, and left is Ana

playin in the sand

For lunch, everyone went to this nice Italian restaurant that had pizza, pasta, and other similar dishes. I went and looked, but decided against paying 18 cedi for one meal and instead went and got a three cedi Ghanaian dish and ate with some other international students we met at the beach who live in the other international dorm, ISH 2. That afternoon, the girls and I went and bought some cloths and I got these SWEET pants for 4 cedi – I’m very excited about them.

We sat on the beach a bit longer after shopping then decided to call it a day because the sun had really drained us. I was the only one who didn’t get a sunburn. Overall, great day. I was falling asleep on the last trotro because I was so wiped. I had stayed up until two AM to hear Elliott and his band The Raven & The Wool (www.facebook.com/theravenandthewool) play live on the radio – they were great!

2.19.12
Today I went to work to use the internet all day. I am trying to finish up my grad school applications. So far I have been accepted to two schools, Coventry University and Northumbria University. I will find out next month if I got into NOHA – Masters in Humanitarian Action. Right now, I am trying to finish up my applications to Oxford Brookes University, Fordham University, and Copenhagen University. I am hoping to have them in by the end of the week – I just want to be done with them already!

Here are some pictures of what my room looks like now – my roommate and I changed it around and I like it much better this way:

Ekua's side of the room.

Ekua's side and the door the our porch

my deskkk

on my side looking to ekua's side

That’s all for now –
Avery

Title quote: Blind Pilot

“i threw stones at the stars, but the whole sky fell”

This is going to be a brief update because: A. I am tired and B. No blog worthy excitement has happened since my last post, but I figure I am due for an update.

1.28-29.12
The ISEP group all went to Cape Coast. We toured Cape Coast Castle and learned about the slave trade that went on there. That night we watched Ghana beat Mali in an Africa Cup of Nations match at the hotel. The next day we headed to Kakum National Park, took a brief tour, and got to go on the canopy walk which was 7 bridges over 40 meters high going through the rainforest from tree to tree. It was amazing. Then we just did a driving tour of Cape Coast and headed back to Accra. It was a fun trip, but there is definitely a lot more to see in Cape Coast so I’ll have to go back on a weekend trip with some people.

1.30.12-2.3.12
Classes were supposed to start this week, but when I went to my first class on Monday I found out that my department would be changing all the class times they had posted, asking people to finish registering this week, and classes would start next week. I ended up just working all week at the Ghana WASH Project (my internship).

For work, on Wednesday and Friday I went into the field with a co-worker to distribute t-shirts and hats to schools. The t-shirts and hats were for the School Health Education Program (SHEP) Club students to encourage them to keep up the good work they are doing in keeping their schools and communities healthy. This is a part of the Behavior Change Communication (BCC) initiative implemented by the Ghana WASH Project in schools that receive latrines. The garb had phrases like “Don’t use the bush as your toilet” and ‘I am working to keep my school clean. What about you?” My job was to go along and take photos of the t-shirts and hats being presented to the students. I also ended up in a few photos:

2.4-5.12
Saturday, Emma, Katie, Kelly, and I got brunch and then just chilled out all afternoon. That night the University held a Welcome dinner for all the international students. There was delicious food, music, dancing, and traditional drumming and other performances – it was a fun time, but VERY loud..too loud. After a group of us went out to Jerry’s Bar in East Legon to celebrate Renee’s birthday.

Sunday morning my roommate came and we rearranged our room. My roommate’s name is Ekua and she is lovely – I really like her. Her brother helped us move our room around and it looks so much better now. That afternoon I biked to work and used the internet (had to use the stronger internet there to download stuff from carbonite) while Ekua unpacked. She has a fridge. I have a hotplate (that I’m borrowing from my boss). Win.

2.6-7.12
Classes have begun and they have been surprisingly great. After some disappointments with courses I took in Botswana, I didn’t exactly have high hopes for the courses I registered for here, dispite how wonderful they sounded.

Monday:
GEO 424 Industrialization in the Developing World – it was okay, but kind of boring. I was going to take it just so I had classes only one Monday and Tuesday, but then my friend Harrison convinced me to take a class on Thursday that is WAY better (read about it below)
GEO 414 Cities in Economic Development and Problems of Urban Management – the professor seems great and I think it is going to be a very interesting class. The majority of professors just lecture and are not very interactive with the class, but this professor encourages discussion, which is nice.

GEO 446 Disaster Risk Reduction Policies & Strategies – This is the same professor as GEO 414 and this class is going to be AMAZING. I am really excited about it, it is exactly what I was hoping it would be.

Tuesday:
GEO 408 Population & Development – Seems like it is going to be a good class. The professor is a woman and I can tell she is really, really smart.

GHLS 112 Twi – This is a introduction twi language course for ISEP students, but only about 5 of us are taking it. The professor is wonderful and I think I am going to really learn the language.

Thursday:
GEO 406 Rural Development Experience – I haven’t actually gone to the class yet because I wasn’t going to take it, but my friend Harrison told me it was great and I saw the syllabus. We get to go into the field and evaluate communities – should be awesome.

Friday:
Friday night a bunch of us went out to and Indian Resturant in Osu. It was very, very delicious and very, very expensive.

This blog has been a bit boring because I waited too long to update it which killed any motivation I may have had to include more detail and interesting stories.

A few more culture fun facts:
“I’m coming” = “I’m coming back.” or “I’ll be right back.”
“It is finished.” = “It is empty/gone/sold out.”
“How is it?” = “How are you?”

That’s all for now,
Avery

Title quote: Gregory Alan Isakov