Before I forget, a couple quick additions: Go Black Stars! For those of you who are out of the football (soccer) loop, Ghana's national team the Black Stars beat the US on Thursday night to qualify for the second round in their first ever appearance at the World Cup. Everyone here is extremely excited, although our next match is against Brazil, which will be very difficult. To answer your question Jason, I was in a village about 45 minutes from Tamale, and we watched the game live on a black and white tv, so we knew right away!
Also, check out the EWB front page at www.ewb.ca for a pic of me at a bus stop... that's right, that's me with the short hair if you can recognize me!
I hope all is well with everyone back at home, and I'll write again soon!
Friday, June 23, 2006
“Ahh, you see there? Four people will ride that motorbike into town!”
“O!”
“It’s family car hey! Heh heh heh, a family car. Sometimes you’ll even see five.”
It is little moments like these, where Mr. Tahidu will make some obvious observation, that remind me of the differences between Canada and Ghana. Looking at what we would call a family car in Canada and a small motorbike is an interesting comparison. This particular example illustrates one of the most difficult questions I find myself constantly asking while living in Tamale. What defines actual inadequacy in terms of poverty, and what just appears to be so, based on the Western definition which assumes excess comfort? Functionally, the motorbike is a perfect means of transportation for the four people. It is much cheaper than a taxi or car, and much faster than walking however many kilometers to school. In this way the father can affordably make sure his children have made it to school. At the same time, only the father has a helmet, and the way some people drive motorbikes here makes me nervous when I’m driving in the truck. Certainly there will be some risk of accident, but such risks exist in Canada walking down the street as well. If the girls each had a helmet, would the motorbike then be an adequate means of transportation? The question applies to so many daily experiences, and it is never an easy one to answer.
It has been some time since I’ve written about any specific event, because life has been much less fantastical than it was for the first few days, so I’ll skip out of the first person narrative and give you a general description of my day to day life and experiences over the past few weeks living in Tamale. I was going to try to put everything in one post, but I think it makes more sense to post what I've written so far. Hope you enjoy!
Home Life
I’m getting to like home life more and more, and my family is both amazing and a lot of fun. A standard day goes like this:
~5:20 am: The mosque two lots down starts loudly blaring the morning call to prayers. I roll over and unsuccessfully try to block it out, while Mumin hauls himself out of bed to get ready to go for prayers. This is usually accompanied by a few loud calls from his mother ‘Mumin! Mumin!’
~5:45 am: The roosters are usually wide awake and letting everyone know at this point. Mumin is sleeping again, so I try to ignore the sun for a few more minutes
~5:45 am - ~ 6:30 am: Mix of being asleep and awake, the noises of the roosters and the people outside get louder and louder, and there may or may not be several people in my room talking already. At some point in here, I manage to commit to sitting up and starting the day.
6:30 am – 7:00 am: A bag of hot Koko (which I now thoroughly enjoy) and a piece of bread are already waiting for me on the desk. I eat quickly, and before I finish someone always comes in to tell me that my bath water is ready.
7:00 am – 7:25 am: Ahhhh, a bath (well, not really a bath, a shower like I described before) with cool water to wash away that shirt-stuck-to-you morning stickiness.
7:25 am – 7:50 am: If I’m lucky, it only takes me 25 minutes to iron my clothes.
7:50 am ~ 5:00 pm: Off to work.
5:00 pm – 6:30 pm: Free time to play guitar, football, read, hang out with Mumin and the guys from the neighbourhood etc. Relaxation time in general. This time has recently also turned into cooking time with the women, which is even better than relaxation time. More about this below.
6:30 pm – 7:30 pm: Dinner time! Usually TZ, but the odd day we’ll have rice (see food section below).
7:30 pm – 8:30 pm: Wait for everyone to finish dinner (those who go for prayers usually eat later than the younger kids and I) and then wash dishes with the girls while they teach me Dagbani.
8:30 pm – 9:30 pm: Catch up on the latest football match, Nigerian film, or Ghanaian TV show if I can manage to stay awake through the whole thing.
~9:30 pm: To bed early because it will be early to rise the next morning!
Despite my somewhat sarcastic remarks when it comes to the morning, I love having a family to live with. I’ve learned so much in terms of language, local food, Ghanaian family life and local customs.
The biggest obvious difference between family life here and in Canada is the amount of household chores done by women as compared to men. The women of the house (Mr. Tahidu’s wife and his wife’s sister) do a lot of the cooking and some of the cleaning, but it’s the girls (Rashida and Azara, they are not Mr. Tahidu’s daughters, but rather his sister’s, and are staying here to attend school) of the house that are the most amazing. They are always sweeping, cleaning, cooking, washing or something, but despite this are always smiling, laughing, joking and singing. Hanging around with them and washing clothes or dishes is one of my favourite things to do (even though I’m horrible at both, the girls can wash everything from their feet and bending over, while they always make sure I have a chair to sit in before we start, there’s no way I’d make it otherwise). I’ve also recently been helping cook the nightly TZ! I had a couple of pictures taken when Madam Adisa (I think I probably called her Madam Yakubu in earlier posts) was in town, so hopefully I’ll have a copy of one of them to post here. The girls’ energy is infectious, and they love helping me with my Dagbani, which is always fun because they’re still young and their English is not perfect yet either. One of the best parts of the day is coming home from work and walking into the house to one of the girls’ huge smiles, and a “Mr. Ben! Aninula!” (good evening).
Spending time with the girls usually means that my youngest brother Rashid is also around, and he’s a bit of a goofball. He and the girls always get into friendly arguments, name calling and play fights, and I’m constantly told one thing by the girls, to which Rashid replies ‘Don’t mind them,’ and vice versa, so I’m always entertained.
I also enjoy just hanging around with my older brothers and their (well, mine now too I guess) friends from the neighbourhood. There is Mumin, who I talked about in the last blog and then Mohammed, who is in senior secondary school. We usually have a good time just sitting around chatting (they always want to hear about Canada), or playing football (soccer), and tossing the occasional Frisbee. I haven’t had a game of ultimate going yet but one of these weekends it’s going to happen; most people are pretty excited about the prospect of a new sport. Hopefully it’ll catch on and we’ll have a decent game by the time I leave!
Really spending time with the older women of the household has been difficult, since none of the speak English in any substantial amount, but they enjoy my attempts at greeting correctly (which are getting pretty good) and the simple questions that I can answer. It’s really tough to go from Canada where I can carry on a pretty good conversation with just about anyone, to here where I can’t even speak with my host mother, but more on language later. Helping with the cooking has been the best way to spend time with my host mother and have laughs with her (almost always directed at my cooking attempts), and has been a highlight for me recently.
The single most important item I packed (other than my malaria meds) is my guitar! I brought it out on the second day and since then I can’t go an afternoon without requests for “Breakfast at Tiffany’s” which is by far everyone’s favourite song. At any time in the day one of the girls will be humming it or singing made-up non-words along with the chorus, although they’re starting to sound more and more like English. I’ve even had requests from my host mother to teach her the words when I get the chance! I wrote the lyrics for some of the older boys who can read and so sometimes I have a pretty good chorus of voices behind me. A couple other favourites are “Brian Wilson” and “Wonderwall”, which are next on the list for me to write out.
I’ve also met a ton of people in my neighbourhood, and most people seem to know who I am and that I’m staying with Mr. Tahidu, despite me never having talked with them before. People are always eager to sit and chat and teach me a little more Dagbani, so the 5-minute trip to the Internet café usually gets drawn out to about 20 minutes each way. I’m still absolutely horrible with names, and usually can’t pronounce them on any of my first five tries, let alone remember them before I get to the end of the conversation.
Family life has easily been the most important and influential part of my stay here so far, especially if you count Mr. Tahidu under family instead or work (he gets his own section later). The initial break-off from the group living in Tamale was difficult, and my first few days were frustrating, but now it is so obvious the richness that the challenge has brought to my stay here. Even spending time with a few other EWBers in town on weekends makes me feel like such an outsider and out of place compared to my regular walk down the stretch in Lamashegue. Cultural integration just doesn’t happen by hanging out with other Westerners.
Food
Well, I’ve been experiencing a lot of local Ghanaian food since I’ve moved in with my family and started work, so it gets its own section! In general I’ve been doing alright with the food, but the constant barrage of maize-based dishes that I eat for almost every meal does tend to get a little monotonous. All in all I can’t complain however, as I enjoy the food for the most part, and after hearing the daily diet of some of the other folks that aren’t in town, I’m extremely thankful.
Breakfast is the same every day (koko and bread) so I’ll jump into lunch. I usually have one of about four choices for lunch, kenkey, banku, fufu, or rice, which makes it easily the most interesting meal of the day. Kenkey and banku are both maize-based, and although I’m not completely sure of the difference between them, it seems to me that kenkey is drier and a little less fermented than banku. I usually take my kenkey with a fish and some sort of soup to dip it in (I still have no idea what the different types of soup are), and the banku with soup and beef. Fufu is basically mashed potatoes made from yam that you then dip into whatever soup you happen to have selected. Rice is the same idea, and is extremely wet and sticky, so you can make proper little balls from it to dip you’re your soup. Despite not enjoying banku the first time I tried it in Accra, it’s becoming one of my favourites because it actually has taste! Once the outer layer of soup has come off in your mouth, the chunk of starch that you’re left with is actually still interesting, unlike the others, especially fufu I find, which becomes less like enjoying food and more like trying to swallow the leftover paste.
TZ is the dish we have pretty much every night with almost no exception. It’s a maize-based dish (of course), and is eaten like every other Ghanaian dish. It is not sour at all like banku, and is a lot less sticky. At least there’s usually some variety in the soup that we take with the TZ, but I’m definitely happy on the off night when I open my dish and find rice.
I’m still horrible when it comes to eating technique. I take a long time and can never manage to finish off my soup with the amount of TZ I’m given like everyone else. I’m also usually a complete mess by the end of the whole process, and very thankful for the near complete darkness that I’m eating in by the time dinner is served. I was trying to learn the proper technique for using my hand as a spoon so that I can finish all of my soup, but it seems that I always end up with soup on my face and a thumb in my instead.
Meat in general is always interesting too, and I’ve become a pro at sucking every last bit of whatever supposedly edible part of the animal that is floating in that meal’s soup. Beef skin is also very popular here, and that’s always interesting to get through. There’s no way to swallow an entire piece whole, so there’s always a good couple of minutes of chewing hunks off before you can get the entire thing down. Another one of those things that is usually best to get into your mouth before looking at it for too long. On a positive note I’ve recently been introduced to Guinea Fowl, which is extremely good, kind of like fried chicken but less fatty. I still have to find someplace close to my house to sneak away and grab some on those nights when TZ for the fifth time in a row just isn’t sitting right.
The snacking food here is really excellent. I love my fried yams, and definitely give in the temptation of the various forms of ‘junk food’ whenever I’m in the market. Deep fried balls of dough almost like donuts go for about 1000 cedis (<15>
I don’t get to eat fruit as often as I probably should, or would like to, but when I do it tends to be excellent. Some days I’ll bring home a pineapple and split it with Mumin, or pick up mangoes, although there seems to be a certain correlation between me eating a large amount of mangoes, and me being sick, so I’ve held off on that a little bit lately.
I think that’s about it in terms of food, overall I haven’t been disappointed, and I’m generally satisfied despite the odd cravings for Western food. So far I haven’t given in and spent the ridiculous amount of money that the one place that serves pizza here charges, but we’ll see how much longer I last.
Football
Ah, one of my biggest frustrations and challenges that I’ve faced so far is my complete and utter lack of football skills! Every Sunday, our neighbourhood team heads out to play a match against some other team, so I’ve got to participate in a couple of games now. I have no field sense, ball control, passing ability or defensive skills, and I generally feel completely useless on the field. My usual objectives during the game are to try and avoid being completely embarrassed by the other team on defense (which happens frequently, and results in the home crowd erupting in laughter), and if the ball happens to bounce somewhere near me on offense I pass it away (hopefully to someone on my team) as quickly as possible.
Despite reassurances from team members that I’m doing well and that they’re impressed, I’ve got a long, long way to go before I’ll be a help to the team as opposed to a hinder. It has been way more of struggle than I had ever imagined to go from being competent and even a leader on ultimate teams I have played for, to the worst player on the field.
Monday, June 12, 2006
Ask a Ghanaian!
I’ve just had a rare good thought. One of my goals for this summer was to try to find some way to bring back the ‘overseas experience’ to Canada as effectively as possible. It always bugged me that I felt like the people who had been overseas knew something that I didn’t, but that as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t figured out what it is. Thus, it became one of my goals this summer to figure out exactly what that ‘something’ is, and how to bring it back. During a subsequent conversation with Louis, EWB’s West African wealth of knowledge and insight, he challenged me to think of the goal in terms of what change comes about after someone goes through the ‘overseas experience’ and to try to find away to create that same behaviour change in people.
Well, I haven’t yet come up with all of my specific impacts, but I was thinking of ways that a person overseas gets to experience development that a person in Canada doesn’t, that might lead to this eventual ‘overseas experience’. One of the most obvious things is just talking to Ghanaians! Every day I get the chance to talk to Ghanaians, development champions, regular kids, people walking down the street, etc. Thus, I would like to propose a new section of the blog entitled (drum roll please…) Ask a Ghanaian!
Post any questions you might have that I can ask a Ghanaian about as a comment to this post and I’ll do my best to ask someone in my neighbourhood, at work, or in a village what they think. I’ll compile the answers every so often, and try to post them as soon as I get around to connecting to the internet again. At the same time, know that I’m totally using you for interesting, probing development questions that will make my time in Ghana just that much better. Thanks in advance!
I’ve just had a rare good thought. One of my goals for this summer was to try to find some way to bring back the ‘overseas experience’ to Canada as effectively as possible. It always bugged me that I felt like the people who had been overseas knew something that I didn’t, but that as hard as I’ve tried, I haven’t figured out what it is. Thus, it became one of my goals this summer to figure out exactly what that ‘something’ is, and how to bring it back. During a subsequent conversation with Louis, EWB’s West African wealth of knowledge and insight, he challenged me to think of the goal in terms of what change comes about after someone goes through the ‘overseas experience’ and to try to find away to create that same behaviour change in people.
Well, I haven’t yet come up with all of my specific impacts, but I was thinking of ways that a person overseas gets to experience development that a person in Canada doesn’t, that might lead to this eventual ‘overseas experience’. One of the most obvious things is just talking to Ghanaians! Every day I get the chance to talk to Ghanaians, development champions, regular kids, people walking down the street, etc. Thus, I would like to propose a new section of the blog entitled (drum roll please…) Ask a Ghanaian!
Post any questions you might have that I can ask a Ghanaian about as a comment to this post and I’ll do my best to ask someone in my neighbourhood, at work, or in a village what they think. I’ll compile the answers every so often, and try to post them as soon as I get around to connecting to the internet again. At the same time, know that I’m totally using you for interesting, probing development questions that will make my time in Ghana just that much better. Thanks in advance!
This is a really old post that I started writing a while ago but couldn’t finish, because I haven’t been in the office for some time. It refers to my first Friday in Tamale, which was just about three weeks ago now.
It is Friday morning, and time for everyone to meet their respective directors. Four of those of us who are left at the hotel willing be working with Oxfam, or various organizations associated with Oxfam, 2 will be working with OIC, and one will be with Luke at the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA). I will be working at an NGO name Africa 2000 Network (A2N), more specifically in a section of it known as the Integrated Poverty Reduction Programme (IPRP). I do not yet have a meeting set up as I had been unable to get in contact with them.
OIC and Oxfam are situated in roughly the same area, so we head off in taxis to the relative outskirts of Tamale. It is getting to be very hot, and my long sleeved dress shirt and black pants are much too warm. Oxfam’s office is easy enough to find, but we get lost and misdirected on the way to OIC, so it takes some time for us to get there. When we arrive, we learn that we have missed the director, who had to leave for another meeting. The two volunteers with OIC meet briefly with another person from the office instead and set up a time to return later that day for a tour of the office.
The buildings around this area seem to be mostly NGOs (and NGO executives’ residences) and are much nicer than anything else that I have seen in Tamale. Proof that the development sector really is a business, and people can make a decent livelihood in it. We walk back to where we were to meet after those from Oxfam had finished, and decide to give my boss a call again. There is no answer at the office, but I get through to someone on the cell number. Just before Luke’s phone cuts out, I manage to tell whom ever I am speaking too that I am near the Oxfam office, and they reply that they are headed that way now and would like to pick me up! This is a pretty big surprise to me, as I wasn’t expecting to meet with anyone so soon, but it is exciting all the same.
I walk back to the Oxfam office, and the security guard there greets me. I let him know that I am waiting for someone to pick me up, and he promptly replies that he will find me some place to sit then. He grabs a chair and places it in the shade next to his guard hut and we start chatting. We talk for a while about his past, Ghana, Tamale, and the World Cup, as Ghana’s Black Stars have qualified this year for the first time ever. I am so new to all of these things, and it is interesting to get his perspective on some of the issues the country is having.
His name is Prosper, and he used to work as a police officer in the south, but has now been in Tamale for 13 years. He also is married and has five children back at home – four girls and one boy. He said he would’ve stopped at two if he had a boy earlier, but had to wait until the fifth to get one. His favourite food is Fufu (mashed yams or cassava), and says that his favourite place in Ghana is here in Tamale.
I ask him how he thinks the country is doing, and his biggest complaint is that people are just not working hard enough. He says there are people who just sit all day and play cards and do not even try to make a living. He says that he himself both works as a security guard, and sends money to him home to invest in farming. He grows his own yams, cassava and maize for his family to eat. I wonder if the people he is complaining about have the education or opportunity to work, and if they even own land, but I don’t think its worth asking him about those types or problems at this point. At the same time, he also feels that people are not helping out their families enough. He explains that when one person is well off, he should help out his brothers and sisters who are maybe not doing so well, and this is no longer happening. People should support their families, as he is doing (he is the only of nine siblings that is working) so that everyone in the country can live a decent life.
He also has complaints about the government and how it is run. He points to the gravel road that the Oxfam office is on, and asks me whether or not I have seen roads like this in Canada, and I reply that of course I have. He doesn’t seem to believe me that in a country like Canada there would be dirt roads, but I assure him it is so. But this is the Northern Region’s capital he exclaims, and here he has a point. I concede that in the major cities nearly all of the roads are paved, and he seems satisfied that his point has been made.
At some point an SUV drives up and someone comes up to the gate. The guard gestures at me, and I get up. I ask “Ma’am Yakubu?” and she replies “Yes!” She is a very friendly and warm woman (though I haven’t met many Ghanaians who aren’t) and seems almost grandmotherly. I introduce myself, and she smiles, shake my hand and says that another truck will be along in a few minutes to get me and take me out into the field. First day and I’m already headed out to a community! I am a little surprised, a little bit anxious, but definitely excited. I say goodbye and sit down with the guard again. We chat for a little while longer, and after a considerable wait, I finally get picked up. I hop into the back of the SUV, which is looking pretty new and is well air-conditioned. I’m a little surprised, and almost disappointed given what I had heard about A2N, but I greet Lawrence and Francis, who are sitting in the front, and we take off.
Soon we are off the main paved road of Tamale and driving on the red gravel road that begins. I look out the window at sparse vegetation, round mud huts with thatched roofs and a few concrete buildings here and there. Children wave from the side of the road as always, and I do my best to wave back as often as possible. Eventually, after a few turns on to progressively narrower roads, we arrive at the community. I step back into the heat and follow Francis and Lawrence to where Ma’am Yakubu and several others are sitting on benches. We do some quick introductions, and I learn that Francis and Lawrence and a couple others there are from the UNDP, hence the nice SUV.
People are speaking English for the most part, but I still have trouble understanding the accent at times. The community is apparently running a tree nursery for both profit as well as aforrestation purposes. They have been grafting different varieties of mangoes, some local and some from Burkina Faso, in order to create trees that produce large mangoes that are also drought resistant. I don’t completely understand what’s going on, but I try to absorb as much as possible. One of the men, Paul, is also talking about other problems that they have such as electricity and water problems, as well as the problem of their young girls leaving their community to move to Accra.
I of course have forgotten everyone’s names by the end of the discussion, but it was good to pick up on bits and pieces. It is these visits and conversations that I’m sure will best help me understand both A2N and the people’s perspective on the development that is happening, and where I might have any small impact on the ground while I am overseas.
On the way back I jump into an old green pickup with no air, and no seatbelts. The speedometer never wavers from 0 and it doesn’t look like the odometer has moved very recently either. This is more what I was expecting, and we bounce along back to a restaurant for lunch.
At lunch I eat with Ma’am Yakubu (who is now starting to refer to me as her son) and one of the girls from the UNDP. Although she looks young, she has been doing development work for quite a few years already, and is planning on staying in Ghana for at least another couple of years. We order, and I’m not sure exactly what I should have, and try to order the same thing as the girl before me. Ma’am Yakubu decides that I should get something different, so each person has a different dish, and orders Red-Red for me, which she explains is fried plantains with a bean sauce. Sounds good to me.
We chat idly for a while, and then the food finally arrives. Ma’am Yakubu has a sort of rice dish with a fish (yes, a fish, not pieces of fish, you just get an entire fish that’s been cooked with most of the meals here), the UNDP girl has TZ (another maize-based dish) with some sort of a sauce with a fish in it, and my Red-Red arrives – of course with a fish on the side. We dig in (eating with our hands as per usual) and I get to try some of everyone else’s food. The TZ is good, not sour like the Banku from Accra. It is rather plain, but is pretty decent with the sauce. The rice dish is also good, but not so different than rice/bean dishes I’ve had at home. My dish is good, and I am hungry. I realize that it’s the same as the plantains and sauce I had outside of the bank in Accra, and now I know the name.
About half way through I start slowing down, the plantains are really heavy and I’m starting to fill up. I’m also working my way through my fish, pulling the meat off the bones, although I’ve learned that eating the bones is no problem at all, and is actually a good way to get your calcium. At this point Ma’am Yakubu takes half of her fish and tosses it onto my plate, remarking that it’s a mother’s duty to make sure that her son doesn’t starve. I laugh, but wonder how I’m going to stuff it all in. Eventually (some time after everyone else), I finish triumphantly.
Ma’am Yakubu explains to me that we’ll be visiting a women’s center in the afternoon, and that I should wait for the green pickup to return, while she heads out with the UNDP folks. I wait in the heat with Francis and another guy from the UNDP office. They explain that they’re both on what is called “National Service”, which is a mandatory year of community/social work that every Ghanaian who completes Tertiary education must serve before moving on. We talk a little bit about school, and their plans for the future (Francis is hoping to do his master’s in international development) until the pickup arrives. The driver apologizes for being late, and we pack ourselves into the back and immediately roll down the windows.
We have barely gone a kilometer off of the paved roads of Tamale and we arrive at the center. The rest of the crew is already sitting inside, so we quietly find places in a circle of benches around which thirty or so women of all ages are sitting listening to Ma’am Yakubu. She is speaking in Dagbani, so I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Shortly after sitting down, us latecomers are introduced and I hear my name and ‘Engineers Without Borders’ amidst a bunch of Dagbani. One of the women responds in Dagbani, and Ma’am Yakubu explains to me that they are excited to have me and that they hope I will return every day. I say that I’m very happy to be there and appreciate their warm welcome. Ma’am Yakubu goes on the explain that the women produce a lot of shea butter in the center, as well as weaving and textiles work as well, some of which she passes around.
After a few more words of Dagbani, we head out back behind the center to see where the women process the shea butter. There are solar driers, a room full of shea nuts at various stages of processing, a small shelter that also holds a few gas heated cauldrons, and behind the shelter there are a few fire pits. One of the men explains to me that the ministry of energy brought in the gas cauldrons, but the fuel is too expensive for the women, so they have gone back to the traditional wood burning ways. This is the first (but I’m sure not the last) example I’ve seen of well-intentioned development money that has been spent on equipment that is no longer in use. It is a very real reminder of how easy it is to overlook something, or many things, when it comes to development work.
We wave goodbye, and start back towards the IPRP office to talk briefly about my work. I get introduced to everyone at the office, and get a quick review of what’s happening. Apparently the project that I was supposed to be focused on has been delayed due to a problem with the UN’s financial system and the release of the funds. The project should have already been underway, but instead will not start for at least another couple of weeks or longer. This means that for now I’m just to focus on learning about IPRP and A2N, and helping out wherever I can.
Ma’am Yakubu must head back to Accra in the morning with the UNDP people, so I’ll be left under the care of Mr. Tahidu, who I’ll be living with. She insists that I move out of the hotel immediately and move into his place, and keeps asking me why they’d keep in a place like the Maacos. She was even expecting me to call her when I landed in Accra to stay at her place while I was there instead of in the hotel with everyone else! I’m both excited about moving into a house, and a little bit nervous about breaking off from the rest of the group, but I’m glad that I have a place to stay, unlike some of the others who still have to look for host families.
At the Maacos we pick up my things, but I’ll be heading out later with everyone else to a goodbye party for Tom as he is soon heading out on his Niger River trip (see www….) so it’s not goodbye yet. As I pack everything up, Ma’am Yakubu goes to greet the rest of the EWBers, and I’m sure does a very good job of keeping them entertained and interested. I grab the last of my things, give Ian some money for our room and then haul everything to the car.
A short ride later through the streets of Tamale (which seem to twist every which way in order to completely disorientate me) we pull in behind a couple of storefronts. As I grab some of my stuff and get my first glimpse of my residence for the next couple of months. The house is set up almost like a motel, with two sides of the complex being walls, and the other two being rows of rooms with porches. These four walls enclose a courtyard with two large mango trees, a water tank, and what looks like a large wooden crate (which I later learn is also a big pit for holding water).
I’m shown the way into my room and I drop off my stuff in one of the corners. The room itself is about the size of a single dorm room, and has a desk, a double bed and a few other things. Not bad I’m thinking to myself, more space than the hotel room for sure. At this point Mr. Tahidu introduces me to his son, who has been helping carry things. “This is Mumin, your roommate!” he says. I piece things together and realize that I’ll be sharing a room and a bed with him for the next couple of months.
I head back outside and get some quick introductions to people in the house. There is Mr. Tahidu’s wife, his mother, and his mother’s sister, all living in the house. None of them speak English however, so I just smile and wave and talk with Ma’am Yakubu and Mr. Tahidu quickly, before Mumin and I decide to head off for a quick tour around the neighbourhood, which is called Lameshegu.
We get to know each other as we walk around, and I find out that he is also in University. He’s in his third and final year at Tamale Polytechnic taking statistics, and should be finished before the end of the summer. His family also has four boys, he’s second in line however, and has an older brother who is doing his national service, a brother in senior secondary school and a brother still in primary school as well. I talk a bit about my school and my family in Canada as well.
Eventually we reach a football (soccer for you folks at home) pitch, where a match is going on. I can see that everyone playing is really good, and being a complete non-footballer, I know that I’ve got a lot to learn. I tell Mumin as much and he says that we’ll have to get out training sometime soon. I’m hoping I’ll be a quick learner, as I’ve got a long ways to go before anyone will even think of letting me near a football.
After the quick tour of where the Internet café is, and where the taxis make it to, we head back home quickly to let Mr. Tahidu know that we’re heading back to the Maacos to meet up before Tom’s party. I thank Mr. Tahidu for the room and Mumin and I head out into the night.
... And there's another one on the way about general life in Ghana, I'm in the office this week so hopefully it'll be up before I head out into the field again.
It is Friday morning, and time for everyone to meet their respective directors. Four of those of us who are left at the hotel willing be working with Oxfam, or various organizations associated with Oxfam, 2 will be working with OIC, and one will be with Luke at the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA). I will be working at an NGO name Africa 2000 Network (A2N), more specifically in a section of it known as the Integrated Poverty Reduction Programme (IPRP). I do not yet have a meeting set up as I had been unable to get in contact with them.
OIC and Oxfam are situated in roughly the same area, so we head off in taxis to the relative outskirts of Tamale. It is getting to be very hot, and my long sleeved dress shirt and black pants are much too warm. Oxfam’s office is easy enough to find, but we get lost and misdirected on the way to OIC, so it takes some time for us to get there. When we arrive, we learn that we have missed the director, who had to leave for another meeting. The two volunteers with OIC meet briefly with another person from the office instead and set up a time to return later that day for a tour of the office.
The buildings around this area seem to be mostly NGOs (and NGO executives’ residences) and are much nicer than anything else that I have seen in Tamale. Proof that the development sector really is a business, and people can make a decent livelihood in it. We walk back to where we were to meet after those from Oxfam had finished, and decide to give my boss a call again. There is no answer at the office, but I get through to someone on the cell number. Just before Luke’s phone cuts out, I manage to tell whom ever I am speaking too that I am near the Oxfam office, and they reply that they are headed that way now and would like to pick me up! This is a pretty big surprise to me, as I wasn’t expecting to meet with anyone so soon, but it is exciting all the same.
I walk back to the Oxfam office, and the security guard there greets me. I let him know that I am waiting for someone to pick me up, and he promptly replies that he will find me some place to sit then. He grabs a chair and places it in the shade next to his guard hut and we start chatting. We talk for a while about his past, Ghana, Tamale, and the World Cup, as Ghana’s Black Stars have qualified this year for the first time ever. I am so new to all of these things, and it is interesting to get his perspective on some of the issues the country is having.
His name is Prosper, and he used to work as a police officer in the south, but has now been in Tamale for 13 years. He also is married and has five children back at home – four girls and one boy. He said he would’ve stopped at two if he had a boy earlier, but had to wait until the fifth to get one. His favourite food is Fufu (mashed yams or cassava), and says that his favourite place in Ghana is here in Tamale.
I ask him how he thinks the country is doing, and his biggest complaint is that people are just not working hard enough. He says there are people who just sit all day and play cards and do not even try to make a living. He says that he himself both works as a security guard, and sends money to him home to invest in farming. He grows his own yams, cassava and maize for his family to eat. I wonder if the people he is complaining about have the education or opportunity to work, and if they even own land, but I don’t think its worth asking him about those types or problems at this point. At the same time, he also feels that people are not helping out their families enough. He explains that when one person is well off, he should help out his brothers and sisters who are maybe not doing so well, and this is no longer happening. People should support their families, as he is doing (he is the only of nine siblings that is working) so that everyone in the country can live a decent life.
He also has complaints about the government and how it is run. He points to the gravel road that the Oxfam office is on, and asks me whether or not I have seen roads like this in Canada, and I reply that of course I have. He doesn’t seem to believe me that in a country like Canada there would be dirt roads, but I assure him it is so. But this is the Northern Region’s capital he exclaims, and here he has a point. I concede that in the major cities nearly all of the roads are paved, and he seems satisfied that his point has been made.
At some point an SUV drives up and someone comes up to the gate. The guard gestures at me, and I get up. I ask “Ma’am Yakubu?” and she replies “Yes!” She is a very friendly and warm woman (though I haven’t met many Ghanaians who aren’t) and seems almost grandmotherly. I introduce myself, and she smiles, shake my hand and says that another truck will be along in a few minutes to get me and take me out into the field. First day and I’m already headed out to a community! I am a little surprised, a little bit anxious, but definitely excited. I say goodbye and sit down with the guard again. We chat for a little while longer, and after a considerable wait, I finally get picked up. I hop into the back of the SUV, which is looking pretty new and is well air-conditioned. I’m a little surprised, and almost disappointed given what I had heard about A2N, but I greet Lawrence and Francis, who are sitting in the front, and we take off.
Soon we are off the main paved road of Tamale and driving on the red gravel road that begins. I look out the window at sparse vegetation, round mud huts with thatched roofs and a few concrete buildings here and there. Children wave from the side of the road as always, and I do my best to wave back as often as possible. Eventually, after a few turns on to progressively narrower roads, we arrive at the community. I step back into the heat and follow Francis and Lawrence to where Ma’am Yakubu and several others are sitting on benches. We do some quick introductions, and I learn that Francis and Lawrence and a couple others there are from the UNDP, hence the nice SUV.
People are speaking English for the most part, but I still have trouble understanding the accent at times. The community is apparently running a tree nursery for both profit as well as aforrestation purposes. They have been grafting different varieties of mangoes, some local and some from Burkina Faso, in order to create trees that produce large mangoes that are also drought resistant. I don’t completely understand what’s going on, but I try to absorb as much as possible. One of the men, Paul, is also talking about other problems that they have such as electricity and water problems, as well as the problem of their young girls leaving their community to move to Accra.
I of course have forgotten everyone’s names by the end of the discussion, but it was good to pick up on bits and pieces. It is these visits and conversations that I’m sure will best help me understand both A2N and the people’s perspective on the development that is happening, and where I might have any small impact on the ground while I am overseas.
On the way back I jump into an old green pickup with no air, and no seatbelts. The speedometer never wavers from 0 and it doesn’t look like the odometer has moved very recently either. This is more what I was expecting, and we bounce along back to a restaurant for lunch.
At lunch I eat with Ma’am Yakubu (who is now starting to refer to me as her son) and one of the girls from the UNDP. Although she looks young, she has been doing development work for quite a few years already, and is planning on staying in Ghana for at least another couple of years. We order, and I’m not sure exactly what I should have, and try to order the same thing as the girl before me. Ma’am Yakubu decides that I should get something different, so each person has a different dish, and orders Red-Red for me, which she explains is fried plantains with a bean sauce. Sounds good to me.
We chat idly for a while, and then the food finally arrives. Ma’am Yakubu has a sort of rice dish with a fish (yes, a fish, not pieces of fish, you just get an entire fish that’s been cooked with most of the meals here), the UNDP girl has TZ (another maize-based dish) with some sort of a sauce with a fish in it, and my Red-Red arrives – of course with a fish on the side. We dig in (eating with our hands as per usual) and I get to try some of everyone else’s food. The TZ is good, not sour like the Banku from Accra. It is rather plain, but is pretty decent with the sauce. The rice dish is also good, but not so different than rice/bean dishes I’ve had at home. My dish is good, and I am hungry. I realize that it’s the same as the plantains and sauce I had outside of the bank in Accra, and now I know the name.
About half way through I start slowing down, the plantains are really heavy and I’m starting to fill up. I’m also working my way through my fish, pulling the meat off the bones, although I’ve learned that eating the bones is no problem at all, and is actually a good way to get your calcium. At this point Ma’am Yakubu takes half of her fish and tosses it onto my plate, remarking that it’s a mother’s duty to make sure that her son doesn’t starve. I laugh, but wonder how I’m going to stuff it all in. Eventually (some time after everyone else), I finish triumphantly.
Ma’am Yakubu explains to me that we’ll be visiting a women’s center in the afternoon, and that I should wait for the green pickup to return, while she heads out with the UNDP folks. I wait in the heat with Francis and another guy from the UNDP office. They explain that they’re both on what is called “National Service”, which is a mandatory year of community/social work that every Ghanaian who completes Tertiary education must serve before moving on. We talk a little bit about school, and their plans for the future (Francis is hoping to do his master’s in international development) until the pickup arrives. The driver apologizes for being late, and we pack ourselves into the back and immediately roll down the windows.
We have barely gone a kilometer off of the paved roads of Tamale and we arrive at the center. The rest of the crew is already sitting inside, so we quietly find places in a circle of benches around which thirty or so women of all ages are sitting listening to Ma’am Yakubu. She is speaking in Dagbani, so I have absolutely no idea what is going on. Shortly after sitting down, us latecomers are introduced and I hear my name and ‘Engineers Without Borders’ amidst a bunch of Dagbani. One of the women responds in Dagbani, and Ma’am Yakubu explains to me that they are excited to have me and that they hope I will return every day. I say that I’m very happy to be there and appreciate their warm welcome. Ma’am Yakubu goes on the explain that the women produce a lot of shea butter in the center, as well as weaving and textiles work as well, some of which she passes around.
After a few more words of Dagbani, we head out back behind the center to see where the women process the shea butter. There are solar driers, a room full of shea nuts at various stages of processing, a small shelter that also holds a few gas heated cauldrons, and behind the shelter there are a few fire pits. One of the men explains to me that the ministry of energy brought in the gas cauldrons, but the fuel is too expensive for the women, so they have gone back to the traditional wood burning ways. This is the first (but I’m sure not the last) example I’ve seen of well-intentioned development money that has been spent on equipment that is no longer in use. It is a very real reminder of how easy it is to overlook something, or many things, when it comes to development work.
We wave goodbye, and start back towards the IPRP office to talk briefly about my work. I get introduced to everyone at the office, and get a quick review of what’s happening. Apparently the project that I was supposed to be focused on has been delayed due to a problem with the UN’s financial system and the release of the funds. The project should have already been underway, but instead will not start for at least another couple of weeks or longer. This means that for now I’m just to focus on learning about IPRP and A2N, and helping out wherever I can.
Ma’am Yakubu must head back to Accra in the morning with the UNDP people, so I’ll be left under the care of Mr. Tahidu, who I’ll be living with. She insists that I move out of the hotel immediately and move into his place, and keeps asking me why they’d keep in a place like the Maacos. She was even expecting me to call her when I landed in Accra to stay at her place while I was there instead of in the hotel with everyone else! I’m both excited about moving into a house, and a little bit nervous about breaking off from the rest of the group, but I’m glad that I have a place to stay, unlike some of the others who still have to look for host families.
At the Maacos we pick up my things, but I’ll be heading out later with everyone else to a goodbye party for Tom as he is soon heading out on his Niger River trip (see www….) so it’s not goodbye yet. As I pack everything up, Ma’am Yakubu goes to greet the rest of the EWBers, and I’m sure does a very good job of keeping them entertained and interested. I grab the last of my things, give Ian some money for our room and then haul everything to the car.
A short ride later through the streets of Tamale (which seem to twist every which way in order to completely disorientate me) we pull in behind a couple of storefronts. As I grab some of my stuff and get my first glimpse of my residence for the next couple of months. The house is set up almost like a motel, with two sides of the complex being walls, and the other two being rows of rooms with porches. These four walls enclose a courtyard with two large mango trees, a water tank, and what looks like a large wooden crate (which I later learn is also a big pit for holding water).
I’m shown the way into my room and I drop off my stuff in one of the corners. The room itself is about the size of a single dorm room, and has a desk, a double bed and a few other things. Not bad I’m thinking to myself, more space than the hotel room for sure. At this point Mr. Tahidu introduces me to his son, who has been helping carry things. “This is Mumin, your roommate!” he says. I piece things together and realize that I’ll be sharing a room and a bed with him for the next couple of months.
I head back outside and get some quick introductions to people in the house. There is Mr. Tahidu’s wife, his mother, and his mother’s sister, all living in the house. None of them speak English however, so I just smile and wave and talk with Ma’am Yakubu and Mr. Tahidu quickly, before Mumin and I decide to head off for a quick tour around the neighbourhood, which is called Lameshegu.
We get to know each other as we walk around, and I find out that he is also in University. He’s in his third and final year at Tamale Polytechnic taking statistics, and should be finished before the end of the summer. His family also has four boys, he’s second in line however, and has an older brother who is doing his national service, a brother in senior secondary school and a brother still in primary school as well. I talk a bit about my school and my family in Canada as well.
Eventually we reach a football (soccer for you folks at home) pitch, where a match is going on. I can see that everyone playing is really good, and being a complete non-footballer, I know that I’ve got a lot to learn. I tell Mumin as much and he says that we’ll have to get out training sometime soon. I’m hoping I’ll be a quick learner, as I’ve got a long ways to go before anyone will even think of letting me near a football.
After the quick tour of where the Internet café is, and where the taxis make it to, we head back home quickly to let Mr. Tahidu know that we’re heading back to the Maacos to meet up before Tom’s party. I thank Mr. Tahidu for the room and Mumin and I head out into the night.
... And there's another one on the way about general life in Ghana, I'm in the office this week so hopefully it'll be up before I head out into the field again.
Monday, June 05, 2006
Time for a quick update post!
I haven't let you in on any recent details at all, so I thought I'd do a quick summary, sorry for the teaser, its been awhile since I've had time to type anything up in the office.
Things have been going really well over the past few weeks, I've moved in with a family (my director's place actually) and they're amazing. Way too much to write about now, but its been the single most important thing that's happened so far. Breaking away from the rest of the group was a little frightening at first, but I can't imagine what it would be like trying to dive into the culture with even a couple other EWBers around all of the time. I'm defintely getting to be well known in the neighbourhood, and the half block walk to the internet cafe usually takes about 20 minutes! I also get to play football (soccer) with the local kids my age, which is great despite my complete ineptitude.
Work has been a little bit slow as the project I was supposed to be working on was delayed, but it starts this week which is really exciting! In the meantime I've been learning about what my NGO (Integrated Poverty Reduction Program or IPRP, I might also say Africa 2000 Network or A2N, they're kind of two NGOs that work as one) is doing in terms of projects and approach, and things look really good. When I have time I'll do a way more detailed overview of what my work involves (especially after my project starts!), but over the last little while I've been helping out with a project where women are being trained to make shea butter into international market quality soap, which has been interesting, although I don't exactly have much to offer in terms of expertise in that area!
I spent the last weekend in Mole National Park, which is the biggest National park in West Africa, and hung out with elephants, monkeys, and one of the JFs from the upper west region (Bryn Ferris) who I hadn't seen since pre-dep training, so that was great. I leave for 5 days of field traingin on Wednesday, and will be spending a week in a bit more of a rural town after that to improve my Dagbani and get out of the big city for a bit.
That's about all I can get in right now, but I'll try to write again soon!
I haven't let you in on any recent details at all, so I thought I'd do a quick summary, sorry for the teaser, its been awhile since I've had time to type anything up in the office.
Things have been going really well over the past few weeks, I've moved in with a family (my director's place actually) and they're amazing. Way too much to write about now, but its been the single most important thing that's happened so far. Breaking away from the rest of the group was a little frightening at first, but I can't imagine what it would be like trying to dive into the culture with even a couple other EWBers around all of the time. I'm defintely getting to be well known in the neighbourhood, and the half block walk to the internet cafe usually takes about 20 minutes! I also get to play football (soccer) with the local kids my age, which is great despite my complete ineptitude.
Work has been a little bit slow as the project I was supposed to be working on was delayed, but it starts this week which is really exciting! In the meantime I've been learning about what my NGO (Integrated Poverty Reduction Program or IPRP, I might also say Africa 2000 Network or A2N, they're kind of two NGOs that work as one) is doing in terms of projects and approach, and things look really good. When I have time I'll do a way more detailed overview of what my work involves (especially after my project starts!), but over the last little while I've been helping out with a project where women are being trained to make shea butter into international market quality soap, which has been interesting, although I don't exactly have much to offer in terms of expertise in that area!
I spent the last weekend in Mole National Park, which is the biggest National park in West Africa, and hung out with elephants, monkeys, and one of the JFs from the upper west region (Bryn Ferris) who I hadn't seen since pre-dep training, so that was great. I leave for 5 days of field traingin on Wednesday, and will be spending a week in a bit more of a rural town after that to improve my Dagbani and get out of the big city for a bit.
That's about all I can get in right now, but I'll try to write again soon!
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