Welcome to Accra - Week 1

Hi - I am really happy you decided to join me as I learn more about Abantu and Ghana; the country, the people, the culture and of course the food!

I will commit to keep you updated at least once a week or when the spirit moves me; I will not commit to perfect grammar and punctuation. I will try my best to share my experiences in a way that might hold your interest for a short while! Sorry, I have way too much to say to use Twitter as an option.

I have lots to share on this posting, so sit yourself down and get comfortable.

  

Why am I here? 

I am volunteering with ABANTU, as a strategic planning adviser in Accra Ghana.  ABANTU is one of the leading women's rights organizations in Ghana and in Africa and their mission is to strengthen women's capacities in decision making through movement-building to influence policies from a gender perspective. 

Their focus is in three thematic areas: Gender and Governance, Gender and Conflict/Peace Building and Gender and Climate Change. They focus on these areas by training and capacity building, advocacy and public awareness and networking; research and policy analysis. 

Link to ABANTU- www.abantu-rowa.org

The Work and the Office 

Accra is a very large city and the office is in a commercial/industrial area on Spintex Rd. If you go to You Tube you can actually get a view of the traffic and sights on Spintex. I am working with another volunteer from Canada, Jo-Ann and she is here for 5 months to conduct research and produce a research guide. 

We work in a meeting room, we each have laptops and thankfully we can access internet during the day. Hence, I will be able to keep you posted. There are nine staff with a variety of functions and several of them have been in Northern Ghana this week giving information sessions to women on the impacts of climate change and how to get involved in decision making in their communities.  

 The ABANTU OFFICE 

The office is in a low lying area so during the rainy season there is flooding. We have to walk along those blocks to get in and out of the office. 

Favourite Quote of the Week 

"Information is the oxygen of democracy"

On Friday morning we attended an information session organized by the Women's Manifesto Coalition to promote and increase awareness concerning impending legislation on Right to Information. A very impassioned youth activist spoke about the legislation, the issues and impacts. Unfortunately the legislation has been going through review since 2003 and has still not passed through parliament. 

Where I am staying?

On arrival we stayed at a hostel at the University of Legon, it was very simple, removed from everything and not many options available for food. I did have a great experience on Saturday evening I decided to walk to one of the street vendors to buy some fruit. I started chatting with my neighbour, a student from Nigeria. He invited me to join him and his girlfriend at the Healing Crusade being held on campus. 

We were busy chatting and walking to the crusade when all of a sudden I fell into a 3 ft gutter; several scrapes and a very sore leg later we head on to his girlfriend’s house.  Diana’s house is on the campus; her father is a professor and her mother Grace, a hairdresser.  After a treat of ground peanut soup and fufu we head over to the Healing Crusade.

The Healing Crusade is an annual Pentecostal event held at the University, and the preacher was a former student of the University. I was amazed at the number of young people in the crowd, probably more than a 1000 sitting on white plastic outdoor chairs lined up in neat, orderly rows. The stage was huge was three screens and a magnificent sound system. I have to say the preacher was an amazing speaker and storyteller, and used the concept of three key messages that you should not say to your soul. It really was a moving experience to listen to his stories, the music and watch young people go forward to give themselves to Jesus, it was peaceful and joyful. 

Back to accommodations, I am now staying at a guest house, Home Pride which is within walking distance to the office. It is very convenient to work but quite remote from any activities or sights in and around Accra. I feel safe and have access to a kitchen (with limited tools) to prepare my meals. I do have my own bathroom but my shower is a tap on the wall with cold water. Thank goodness the weather is always "hot" so I have adapted to cold tap showers. 

That same tap and a pail serves as my washing machine and the clothes line as my dryer. 

Transportation

There are cars everywhere, the streets are very crowded and it takes a long time to get anywhere. As I don't have a car I have three choices; walk, taxi or Tro Tro. Unless you are sharing a taxi it gets pretty costly so I with the help of Jo-Ann I am learning the Tro Tro system. The system and routes are unwritten, so you have no choice but to learn through experience. They are small vans that try to fit sometimes up to 20 people on the seats, of course not air-conditioned and often would not pass a Canadian safety inspection. But they are cheap, always available and the people are very friendly and helpful.

Check this out:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JwII9NYhiXE&feature=related

 What have I done so far?

Our exploring usually takes place on the weekend, as it gets dark around 5:30 and it takes too long to go anywhere in the evening. The evenings can get quite long since I am used to working all day, taking care of a house and a social life.I have already read four books and we made a plan to meet once a week for supper at the Accra Mall.  Tonight is going out night, yeah! 

Last Saturday we decided to visit the Makalo Market in central Accra and then try to find our way to Jamestown. We took two Tro-Tro's, a taxi and two hours later  we arrived at the market. Honestly, it was overwhelming with sights, smells, texture, people and noise. I am sure you know that visiting markets is one of my favourite pass times but I have never experienced one like this before. 

We are standing on the second floor of a building to take this picture, the vendors and patrons did not like cameras at all. We were told it is a superstitious culture and some belief the camera could steal their soul.

The vendors were lovely, friendly and everyone wanted to meet us. This picture is just a small corner of the market, it covers several streets and buildings and there are thousand of small stands. Most of the vendors are women, some are farmers themselves and some sell for Market Queens. Almost like a pyramid system where the everyone pays a share to the Queen, so she makes the most money. 




After the market we wound our way through very crowded streets looking to find our way to Jamestown. I am constantly on the outlook for gutters, they are everywhere and I don't want to fall in another one! Most of them are full of dirty water, sewage and garbage.

We found our way to Ussher Fort, previously a place for holding and trading slaves and then a prison. The front door was open so we wandered in to find an older gentleman sitting on a plastic chair, mild mannered security guard:))


He offered us a tour and we negotiated a fee of 5 cedi each. The building is set on the west coast shore of Accra, which I guess made it a very convenient location for slave trading. There were remains of the cells, a kitchen, chapel, Mosque and an upholstery shop. He took us into the room where they tied the slaves, conducted the auctions and then kept them in the cells until they were moved to the ships. 
The fort changed hands between the British and the Dutch several times, it has also been a prison and served as a refugee camp at one time. The fellow showed us the cell where the first elected President of Ghana was kept for a year prior to his election. It was very eery and uncomfortable to be walking through this place. 

Prison Cells












Auction and holding room

Well the little adventure took us most of Saturday so we agreed to meet on Sunday and try to find a beach.
We had a late start and took three Tro-Tro's but we found our way to the shore; but not a beach that we could access. After a very long walk along the side of the road with extremely hot sunshine we finally found the entrance to a hotel. Diana ( another  volunteer) strutted her way through the place like she owned it. I meekly followed behind her until we eventually found our way, unchallenged to the pool and bar area. We sat ourselves down, ordered a cold beer and enjoyed a welcome reprieve from the heat. I happened to bring my bathing suit that day so as we continued to be treated as guests I slipped off to the washroom, changed and went for a wonderful swim in the pool. 

Last but not least: The Food 


Food has been an interesting challenge and since I have just arrived caution is the word. There are vendors on every street corner, down every street, on the side of the road and they even carry food on their heads at traffic circles and lights. However, any of vendors that prepare food at the side of the road don't have access to refrigeration or clean water so that is not an option. 


The staff at Abantu pointed us to a nice food stand close by that sells rice, grilled or fried chicken, grilled Tilapia, ground nut soup and banku along with a few other local specialties. The food is good, reasonable and the staff are very nice. If we don't take our lunch then we wander over there for some rice and maybe fish on a good day. We are trying to live on our allowance of 17 dollars a day so always looking for way to access local food at a better price. I have found two ladies where I buy my fruit and vegetables on a daily basis. I am very limited as to what food I can store and so far I have cooked everything in one pot. 

The one lady, Bernice is quite close to where I live, she has a few kids running around. Everyday after work when I stop to buy something the kids just can't stop laughing at me. A white woman in the neighborhood is quite a spectacle! I hope that she will grant me permission to take her picture, she has such a beautiful smile and I love that she says always has a friendly greeting for me.


We have tried two different restaurants, both times we had grilled chicken and rice. Accra has several international restaurants and hotels that offer meals at prices that are way above our modest allowance. 

The food in the grocery store is very expensive, even by Canadian standards. There is a strong tendency to processed and packaged food in the grocery store and certainly not the diversity that I have grown accustomed too. If I am to stay with the goal of a modest lifestyle for the next two months then I will have to adapt to meals that may lack variety but will be simple, affordable and hopefully somewhat healthy. 


Well if you are still with me, then I am surprised but pleased. I know there was a lot of information to share today, I expect the next postings will not be as lengthy. 


Please take care, stay healthy and you are in my thoughts.