3:55PM, on a Tuesday

11/7/09:
I arrived in Accra somewhat dazed and confused after 14+ hours of travel. Thankfully, Brianna (the site director) and her boyfriend Muhammad were there to rescue me. Muhammad, a self-employed travel agent, drove us to his house/business where I underwent a brief but informative orientation with Brianna. Muhammad and his brother moved here from Lebanon several years ago; apparently there is a pretty significant Lebanese population in Accra. Anyway, the house was interesting and, more importantly, air conditioned. In separate quarters lived one or more “house girls” – basically servants. This is quite common among those who can afford it. And outside in a doggy house lived a 6-week-old lab puppy named Shya, with whom I played at great length.

After orientation, Brianna and I were dropped off at the mall so I could buy a swimsuit, which proved to be much more difficult than you might think. As Brianna explained to me, Ghanaians are not big fans of the water. The mall was built little over a year ago and looked quite Western in style and content. Muhammad picked us up again and after a couple of pit stops and a quick lunch (a “traditional” Ghanaian chicken-and-fries dish), we began our trek to Cape Coast. Traffic was pretty bad from my standpoint, but Brianna and Muhammad insisted that it was nothing compared to rush hour. Driving through the city and its outskirts was an experience to say the least. If you would care to sum up Accra in one word, I think it would have to be commerce. For miles and miles and miles, all we saw was stores and stands and literally hundreds if not thousands people walking through traffic, selling everything from toilet paper and crazy glue to plantain chips and woven baskets. Muhammad purchased several of these items for pennies apiece as we sat in traffic, then proudly announced his shopping for the week was done. Seems pretty efficient if you ask me!

I tried to stay awake for most of the way to Cape Coast but jet lag got the better of me towards the end. What I did see was huge expanses of green, dotted with houses (sometimes fantastic, often humble, and many unfinished) and people walking on the shoulders with baskets of goods on their heads. People seem to walk everywhere here despite the relatively low cost of transportation, such as the tro-tro. I believe the name is an abbreviated version of trolley, but the vehicle itself is a small bus with 4 rows of seats including the driver, all packed with riders. Also, if anyone has complained while riding with me behind the wheel, I dare you to be a passenger in Accra. You will wet your pants from fear.

We arrived at Cape Coast shortly after 5, unfortunately too late for me to get a cell phone. That will be tomorrow’s first task when Lawrence, a Ghanaian volunteer with the ProGhana office, picks me up at 10am for a walking tour of the city. After lunch with him and an American volunteer, I am to call Brianna to join up with her and some others for a day at the beach. Sand, waves, fun, and PLENTY of sunscreen! But I am getting ahead of myself.

Back at the ProGhana office, my host family came to pick me up. Fred and Peggy Sam are parents to a very cute but very fussy 10-month-old boy named JD. The drive to their house was short and not unpleasant. The house is…different. I don’t know how else to describe it. Of course there is no air conditioning; they rely on ceiling fans and open windows. The floor coverings vary drastically from room to room, and the doors are all painted a bright aquamarine/turquoise. My room is small and cluttered, but clean and comfortable, and they have provided me with a bednet. There is an eating area, a living area, another bedroom, a bathroom, and a kitchen. Everything is small and very mismatched but not in a bad way – just different. Memorabilia from their wedding 5 years ago covers most of the available wall space, along with many decorations lauding God, Christ, and church. Ghanaians are quite religious, or at least, they make a good show of it. Dinner was a spicy red bean paste with rice, a very old hardboiled egg, and salad I could not eat (no raw vegetables allowed if I want to avoid sickness). I have a feeling that the food will probably not be my favorite thing about Ghana. The Sams gave me plenty of purified water sachets, showed me their wedding album, and let me go to bed a little after 8 to write this entry. They are very nice and friendly, and I think we will get on just fine. Despite being close to the road, my room is relatively quiet so I shouldn’t have a problem getting to sleep, which I will attempt now. More soon…


11/9/09:
My first day of work at Sympathy International was today. The office is just one big room with about 20 computers in it, of which only one has internet access. We do, however, have air conditioning – yay! This is the first place I have been to in Cape Coast that has AC. My boss Sally is a wonderful lady who started this NGO when she was 16 as she saw her peers getting pregnant and contracting STDs. She focuses on health issues that have a socioeconomic component, like HIV/AIDS, as well as creating economic opportunities for women. She is articulate, intelligent, dedicated, and very ambitious. For more information on Sympathy International, you can visit her website at www.sympathyinternational.org. Another volunteer from ProWorld, Steve, is also volunteering here. He is a mid-aged pediatrician working on getting credit for his time here in order to complete his degree in public health at University of Alabama in Birmingham. Luckily for me, he is enthusiastic about helping me on my project before he leaves next month.

I will be working on the issue of kwashiorkor, which is a protein deficiency among children (most noticeably characterized by a distended belly). First, I will go around to markets in the area and ask mothers about their children’s nutrition: what they feed them, how often, if they are healthy, how they get sources of protein (which is relatively expensive here), etc. Then I will visit a children’s clinic and speak with some practitioners about their observations of the condition among the Cape Coast population, and maybe even see some cases firsthand. After I compile the research, I will develop a low-cost intervention to help deal with kwashiorkor in Cape Coast and (if I have enough time) try to secure funding. By then I am sure my three months will be up, and I will hand the reins over to the next volunteer to continue.

After work, I went to the hospital with my host family to visit one of their relatives who recently suffered a stroke. She is now completely paralyzed on the right half of her body. She is 40 years old and a seamstress, but obviously she will not be able to work anymore. Anyway, the hospital has a main building in the front but then all the wings are in separate buildings. We went to the women’s medical ward. After passing through the waiting room/reception area, we entered the first room which contained 6 beds. However, my family’s relative was the only patient; the other beds were empty. There were about 25 people in the room, all relatives that had come to encourage and support this lady. They stood around chatting for awhile (mostly in Fante, the native language). Then it got a little quiet. One person began singing. After only a few notes, everyone else in the room joined in – in perfect four-part harmony. They all closed their eyes, and the stroke victim closed hers and laid back and just listened, letting the music wash over her crippled body. It was like they were trying to cure her with pure love. It was so beautiful, I was almost moved to tears. Then they said individual prayers, quietly at first, then swelling to a cacophony, then dying down again. After that was a unison prayer that sounded like the Fante version of the Lord’s Prayer (all I could understand was the word “Jesus”). It was a truly amazing experience.

Now I will note some observations I have made so far.

Automotive: While there are some nicer cars, most of the ones around are rusty, dilapidated piles of metal on wheels. Taxis are usually missing at least one of the following: a seat belt, functioning window controls, and/or side mirrors. Furthermore, I am positive that not one would come close to passing a US emissions inspection. I feel myself growing light-headed after a couple minutes of breathing in noxious fumes, and sticking my face out the window (no air conditioning) is actually worse. The attitude toward lane usage seems to be “If you can find a space, use it – legality be damned!” And they use their horns all the time, but not in an angry way. It can mean a number of things from “Coming through” to “I am a taxi and I have an available seat for you” to “Hello,” but never “Screw you!” I have yet to see any Ghanaians break their calm behind the wheel, even when an oncoming car in our lane decided to pass us on our shoulder. Taxis are super cheap, if you know what you are doing. They are “share taxis” which means that they function like buses on a set route and are constantly stopping to drop off and pick up riders. I can get to work 10-12 minutes away for about 65 cents total.

Commerce: Yes, they do actually carry baskets and parcels on their heads. Also the store names are reflective of their devotion to Christianity: “God Knows Hair Salon” and “My Redeemer Liveth Furniture” and “The Blood of Jesus Sewing Shop.” These are all actual store names I have seen. There are absolutely no Western chains, not even a McDonalds. Haggling is often part of the purchasing process. Sellers will sometimes try to cheat foreigners out of a few extra pesawahs or cedis (cents or dollars) so I have to be careful. Many items come from China, India, or former Soviet nations. It seems that Ghana (or at least this part) serves as a dumping ground for reject and second-hand goods, which means that 1. many local manufacturers are going out of business, and 2. the goods people get are often low-quality and break quickly, costing them more in the end.

That’s all for now; I have to be up early for work tomorrow and it will be a long day. Hopefully I will get to post this by the end.