Coping with the heat

After returning home from the beach last weekend, the second school week commenced. This last week was our first ‘real’ week of school, with classes and internships/ volunteer work being more officially in place.

Before that, though, I got to see Miss Emily Buehler, a good friend from GMS last summer who is studying abroad at the University of Ghana, which is very close to me in Lebone. It was great to see her, and she brought me desperately needed refills of my malaria medications (and Jiff peanut butter! Thanks mom!)

Tuesday night was a movie night, where we watched the documentaries made by NYU Accra students from previous semesters. One was about HIV/AIDs in Ghana, which affects approximately 1.9% of Ghanaians- fairly small for an African country, but larger than in the US. The second was my favorite, and it was about being black- various black NYU women talked about their lives and what being black has meant to them. Some knew their heritage (one girl was Ghanaian), but most of them did not and came to Ghana looking for a sort of home-coming experience. The overall artistic quality of the production was astounding. The next film was about homosexual culture in Ghana which is fairly controversial as homosexuality is illegal here. Then there was a film on Kwame Nkrumah, the first Ghanaian president who helped bring independence to this country (another controversial figure- he is painted as a sort of saint, but also tried to give himself a life-long reign…) and lastly… we watched a film about FanIce! FanIce is an ice-cream product sold on the streets. It costs about 50 peswes, and comes in Chocolate, Vanilla, Strawberry, or Yogurt flavors. They come in little pouches and you have to bite off the corner to eat it. I had my first FanIce after watching the film, and it was fantastic.

Thursday I visited the City of Refuge, where I will be spending Thursdays and Fridays this semester. This is an NGO dedicated to the rehabilitation of trafficked children, generally from a nearby fishing village. Kids as young as two are either orphaned, abandoned, or sold, and then forced to work at the fisheries. This organization takes the children in out of slavery, and provides them with a home and schooling. The children were very sweet- they currently house seven girls and six boys (plus a few babies), and the couple who began this ministry is eager to continue serving the needs of these people. You can read more about this program online at:

http://www.cityofrefugeoutreach.com/

It is also possible to donate at this website using Paypal. I urge you to consider making a contribution to this worthy program. They are currently working on expanding in order to provide more opportunities and house more people. I will be posting pictures and such, and anyone with questions can feel free to contact me.

Something that the couple running the place told me, which I really appreciated, was that they “don’t want to put a sad face forward.”- there are a lot of orphanages in Ghana (and around the world, I am sure) that exploit the children for money. At this house, the children are WELL taken care of, and well loved, and it shows.

I will be working on helping the children communicate their story through the form of drama- they will each be doing a piece on either their unresolved pasts, or their life at City of Refuge, which will be presented to their community. Additionally, I will be doing some basic drama therapy and play therapy excercizes with the children, as many of them are in need of psychological healing. Other than that, I am around to help in any capacity- teaching, playing, and generally loving.

This place is about an hour and a half away from my residence, so I will have to take the Trotro- basically a really crowded van. Because it was our introduction to the site, NYU drove us out and toured us around (there are four volunteers total). On the way home, we saw a baboon strolling down the street! We see plenty of lizards and stray dogs and bugs and bats, but no cool animals until that moment. It made me feel like I was really in Africa (even though all of Africa is definitely not covered with elephants and lions and tigers… but still, I am a child of The Lion King generation, no matter how hard I fight it).

Today I made the trek to Shai Hills national reserve- about 8 of us went in all. There wasn’t a ton of information available in my guidebook or online, but I had passed it by when I had gone out to City of Refuge, and it looked like a great place to see some cool animals.

Off we went, expecting to take a leisurely walk through the wilderness and photograph moneys and antelopes, when we arrived to find a guide waiting to take us on a full-fledged hike.  In 90 degree weather. I had brought a 1.5 liter water bottle, but many of the people in my group didn’t have any water at all (1.5 liters was definitely not adequate, by the way), none of us had brought any food. It was beautiful, and we did get to see some amazing wildlife (baby baboons!), but pretty strenuous. We all regretted not having the foresight to bring more water and food… that is the understatement of the century. But the view at the top was worth the struggle, and we all lived.

After our hike, we were having difficulty catching a taxi (we actually needed two due to the size of our group), and we were all eager to get home. We ended up taking a trotro- the local ‘bus’ system, which basically consists of a 16-person van stuffed with as many people as will fit. All 8 of us piled in, I am pretty sure that  there were around 35 people total- it was kind of hard to count. Yet we ended up paying 2.5 cedi each for the ride, roughly a third the cost of a cab, and we were all pleased to have taken our fist trotro ride. I will have to become more familiar with the trotro system for my volunteer work.

Today, our RAs hosted a cooking workshop, to teach us how to make some Ghanaian dishes. I worked on Jollof rice and chicken— it’s a long process but really worth it. I might try and post the recipe later. Other dishes were redred (fried plantains paired with a bean dishes), spicy plantains, and tiger nut pudding.

Later today I am going to make banana pancakes- I realized that I have the necessary ingredients and got super excited. I am going to give some to the RAs, because they have never had American style pancakes before. It'll be nice to have some American food :)

 

Where is the chocolate???

Unless you want to drink instant coffee (I just can’t), there is hardly any coffee at all to be found in Ghana. Same goes with chocolate- you can buy pricey imported chocolate at the international market, but other than that there is one type of chocolate that is locally produced and available for purchase here (and it too is very expensive.)

THIS MAKES NO SENSE, seeing as Africa in general and West Africa in particular produces massive amounts of coffee beans and cocoa beans. We are RIGHT HERE, and yet it is unavailable!

This is because most of the coffee/ cocoa is sold to other countries, mainly in the west. Many of my professors have talked about how this is contributing to the economic disparity of Ghana and other African nations- they don’t benefit from their own products.

So… I implore you to buy fair trade coffee (and teas). It is usually not that much more expensive than normal coffee anyway, and it is more ethically purchased, allowing farmers to make living wages. The system isn’t perfect, but it’s a start. You can read more here:

http://www.fairtrade.org.uk/products/retail_products/default.aspx

One important note: STARBUCKS COFFEE IS NOT FAIR TRADE. While they claim to have ‘ethically purchased’ 60% of their coffee beans (which isn’t even that great) they only purchase 3% of their coffee fair trade. There are a lot of great (and local!) coffee shops that serve fair trade coffee and often at even lower prices than at Starbucks.

And if you attend a church where coffee is served, or if coffee is provided for you at school/ work, discuss purchasing only fair trade with the person in charge- it makes a huge difference. (Especially at churches- it is sad to me that we drink coffee every Sunday that is enjoyed at the expense of poorer nations.)

I realize that there are a lot of ‘popular’ causes to support, and in this economy something as simple as coffee seems to be an easy place to save money. I assure you, this problem is real and it is important. If you really can’t afford the switch, cut out the coffee altogether! It’d be better for you anyway ;)

Akwaaba

This post is long overdue… the internet has been a bit spotty, so I have had to be patient ☺

Apparently the size of Africa is misrepresented on maps. In actuality, Europe, North America, and China can all fit into this massive continent. I am trying to make the point that Africa is vast and diverse- I don’t know any other continent that is referred to as definitively (referring to 'Africa' instead of Ghana or Kenya or South Africa etc.) I am hoping to do a documentary project on the American perception of Africa, as many of the Ghanaians have been offended by the misconceptions that are so prevalent about their lovely country.

    This past weekend was devoted to taking in some fun sites with our RAs. All four of our RAs (actually called “CRAs- community residence assistants or something like that) have graduated from various universities around Ghana and are now doing their year of national service. Because the Ghanaian government subsidizes university, students are expected to work for the government for one year upon graduation. Our RAs are AMAZING. Very sweet, and incredibly helpful. Not to mention that they are impossibly beautiful.
    We went to the market on Saturday, which was quite the endeavor. It was crowded with women carrying baskets on their heads and stalls with vendors attempting to entice us. The girls in our group (our group is 44 people total and 40 of them are women) were on a mission to buy fabric in order to get dresses made. I ended up getting three different prints. The fabric ‘culture’ is fairly significant here- there are different types that are popular, some are dyed, and the most expensive are hand-woven. Most of my fabrics were called “woodin” which is a specific brand and somewhat more expensive than other prints (about 6 cedi/ yard [which translates to about $4.00 per yard)).
    Pretty much anything you need to buy, you can get from the market- cosmetics, household appliances, jewelry… and of course food. There was a ton of fresh produce, as well as buckets of snails and other meats. The snails were pretty huge and freaked me out a bit, but they are considered a delicacy and I am trying to be open-minded about their culture. I would try them if necessary... I think...
    After the first market, we went to a craft fair. I should’ve known that it would be hazardous when the RAs didn’t get off the bus with us and said, “Remember your bartering skills!” Um, yeah. The craft fair was chalk full of the most aggressive sales people I have ever encountered. Their prices were ten times that of the market, and they would NOT take no for an answer. I felt that I held my own bartering- I got two paintings for 30 cedi when they told me 55- but it was an intimidating process. People literally pulled you into their stalls! It is a great exercise in learning how to say NO. way. Once we were finished and entering the bus, salespeople swarmed around the bus and continued trying to sell us stuff. By then they had learned our names, so it was awkward. Thankfully our RAs and bus driver are much better at handling such situations, and shooed the people away.

   On Sunday, we had a New York-style brunch with the NYU Ghana staff, which was much needed at that point. The coffee wasn’t instant (finally!) and tasted like heaven. After brunch, we went to the beach. It was different from the beach I’d visited earlier in the week, which was more of a private restaurant/ lounge type beach-front. This beach was happening, and tons of people were surfing and swimming. I body surfed for a good long while, and it was great. The rip tide is pretty strong in these waters, though, so we had to pay careful attention to the lifeguards on duty as they directed us to where the safe zones were. At the beach we met a group of students from UC schools, who are also on a study abroad program. We’ve seen them around some.
   
    Monday was the first day of classes. I had African Women Speak, a class about the empowerment of women that focuses on female African writers. We began the class by discussing gender and its role in American society, and everyone had a lot to say! This class is going to be great. Apparently our professor is famous in Ghana, so she said we might have the opportunity to accompany her to a press conference. Next, I had Twi, which is the local language of the Ghanaians- Wo din de sen? I am excited to learn some Twi, I feel like it’s something I can carry back with me after my stay in Ghana is complete. 
    Tuesday I had Documenting the African City, in which I am going to make my documentary. It is a popular class and I am definitely looking forward to filming. My Community Psychology class today was cancelled due to the fact that my prof is in the hospital.

    I visited a local orphanage with a friend from the program who had some things he needed to drop off for the children. It was small, maybe 12  children total, and many of them are going to be adopted soon! One of the adoptive families was there visiting (they still have four months of paperwork to get through before they can take their son home), and it was great to see. The children were incredibly sweet. One in particular stole my heart, his name is Noah and his grandmother abandoned him at the orphanage about 4 days ago. He is around 4 or 5 years old, but he would not speak to anyone. Eventually he cuddled with me, thank goodness- I was dying to comfort him. We are planning on visiting this orphanage again soon. Meanwhile, if anyone is looking to adopt, I have some children for you!

Tomorrow I am meeting with the Special Educational Needs, Counseling and Drama Therapy Center (SENCDRAC). The title is pretty self-explanatory, I will be doing drama therapy and counseling with special needs children as a volunteer. The other place where I want to volunteer, City of Refuge, is about an hour outside of Ghana and helps to rehabilitate trafficked children. I will likely be doing drama and play therapy with those children as well.

    I am excited to get started!


1/23/2011

    Yesterday we left for a beach called Kokrobite, about an hour or so away from where we live in Accra. It is in a more rural area of Ghana, but the specific beach we visited had a resort called Big Millie’s. It was amazing! We ended up deciding to stay the night- it was around 9 cedi each (about $6), in one of the smaller cabins. The beaches are so warm here, swimming and trying (operative word being trying) to body surf is awesome. There were tons of souvineers to buy and fruit shakes to drink, we all felt like we were in paradise. Saturday night is Reggae Night at the resort, so once again I got to see a live reggae band and do some dancing. This morning most of us chose to leave right away, and due to cab complications (ideally price-wise we should fit 4 people into each cab, but everyone was already heading out in groups) Kelsey and I fended for ourselves. It is much more difficult to catch a cab in a rural setting, as we found out, and after walking down the street for a while with no luck a local man warned us that we would be robbed if we continued walking towards the next town. He said we could wait at his shop for a cab, and then he flagged down a man for us who was heading to the airport. Kels and I hitched a ride with him back to Accra, and then took a taxi to our dorm in Lebone. What should have cost us 20 cedi, maybe more, took 3! We were lucky, that was literally all the cash we had between the two of us.
    Before anyone gets worried about the fact that Kelsey and I were hitchhiking in Ghana with no money. let me remind you that the culture here is vastly different from the US. I would never hitchhike in America, but violent crimes here are very uncommon- petty theft is it. Additionally, people generally have a very helpful attitude.
  
   Hopefully I'll be able to get some homework done for this next week...

Learning about Accra

One of the main reasons I chose to study abroad was that I desired to learn from a culture that was different from my own. As the directors of the program keep saying, “The American way of doing things is not the only way of doing things, and it is not necessarily the best.” With that in mind, I am trying to see the benefits of this culture, as well as some of the short-comings of my own. I am not looking to criticize America, but to diversify my way of looking at things.

This week is dedicated to orientation, and our schedules have been extremely full. I am exhausted beyond all belief. Day one of orientation we had lectures about security, cultural customs, and general rules. Afterwards we had a welcome lunch reception at a nice local hotel. They served local dishes, including jilaff, foufou, LOTS of rice (they serve rice WITH rice here!), curried chicken, stewed spinach, fried plantains (which taste a bit like jojos only spicier on the outside and sweeter on the inside) and much more. For dessert, fresh watermelon, pineapple, and lychee. I am getting addicted to the fresh fruits and fruit juices available here, they are incredible!

Speaking of which, Accra has left quite the impression thus far. It is known in Africa to be a very modern city- there is a mall, a movie theatre, and most of the convieniences I would enjoy at home (aka the internet is incredibly slow…) However, these are luxuries- there are certainly poor areas. Additionally, running water, electricity, and garbage pickup are not common in rural areas. I think, though, that it is good to get out of the habit of relying solely on technology to run my life- the associate dean of the program (who is American) stated that living here, she has learned to appreciate candles and moonlight. I thought that was pretty profound. I am eager to put down the ipod and cell phone and really be present in the world surrounding me.

We  have been made very aware that such things as electricity (and a generator on top of that!), internet, garbage pickup, and security (we have 24-hour security gaurds, and our dorms/ school buildings are literally walled in with 900 volt barbed wire on top) are privledges. Because of this, we are expected to take extra care in using our resources responsibly. This puts things into perspective; in America (particularly in NYU dorms) it is easy to be wasteful because there is little accountability. Unless you are the person paying the bills, there is no need to pay attention. It is a pet peeve of mine when people don’t turn off lights or recycle- such simple ways of taking care of our earth and being good stewards of our resources.

The former mayor of Ghana gave us a brief lecture today about the history of colonialism in Accra. We then went on a bus tour to view the various governmental buildings and monuments, as well as a ghetto where we experienced what some might find to be the more “stereotypical” Africa. The people here have all been very welcoming- they stare and smile and wave. We exited the bus to walk around a former slave compound, and several impoverished people had taken shelter there. The kids were mostly very excited to see us, they followed us around staring- the babies here are so cute! They learn to walk at a really young age, my guess is that it’s from being tied to their mothers backs with their feet sticking out (maybe it builds the posture?) I felt obnoxiously American in our bright green tour bus, which was far too large for the streets, but since we had the former mayor with us I felt better about things. He’s teaching one of our classes.

We also heard from the various NGO’s and foundations that we have the opportunity to volunteer for. I am considering a couple, both dedicated to rehabilitating and educating children and young women who have been trafficked. I would be able to use drama therapy and play therapy techniques, as well as potentially teach the kids the fundamentals of drama. Many of the organizations do amazing things that interest me, but I really want to pick one and dedicate myself to it. 

Much much more has happened than this so far, and there is much much more to come. For now, I am exhausted (we are scheduled from 7am until 8:45pm every day this week), so I am going to skip reggae night at a local beach (it sounds awesome but it happens every week, so it will have to wait.) Time to rest up.

Part 1: The arrival

Hello everyone! The temperature is a warm 92 degrees Fahrenheit, and Accra is indoors for the Sabbath day.

The flight to Accra was fairly smooth- I arrived in Washington DC to find my roommate Kelsey (we had planned to travel together), and several other NYU students. After ten hours, 2 movies, and several naps, we touched down. Seeing the city from above was completely surreal. We made it through customs with no luggage mishaps, and were met by our NYU Accra RA’s and a bus. Our accommodations are amazing- there are two NYU dorms here and both are enormous. We went to lunch as a group in Accra… where I found…

Ice cream! Mission accomplished.

In all seriousness, I am very excited to be here. Sleepy, but excited. It looks as though NYU is going to treat us well. The rest of the group will arrive later tonight, 43 students total. Everyone I’ve met so far has been great, I’m told that the Ghana students become like a family.

Time to get some sleep (it’s almost 6pm here, but I think it’s around 8am in Seattle…)

A warning: The internet is rather slow. It is going to take some getting used to.

Hello World

Leaving tomorrow am from Seatac to DC, then straight to Ghana. Can't wait to see it all...