The Last Few Weeks... and Leaving

I knew my time in Ghana was coming to a close, so I tried to make what was remaining time that I had as full as possible. I had a week of the program remaining, and then a week to do whatever I wanted to do. I spent the first of the two weeks writing my essays for school, saying goodbye to everyone at my internships, and going about my daily routine.
I enjoyed doing the research for my essays, as it really capped off what I learned about this incredibly new place that is so different from anything that I had ever seen. I wrote about the culture, the people, the religion, and my overall experience. Perhaps I will post one or two of my essays in case anyone wants to read them.
Saying goodbye was more sad than I had imagined it would be. Even with people that I only had a couple real conversations with, it was so hard to leave knowing that I probably would never see them again. Basically everyone that I meet while I was in Ghana was incredibly friendly to me, it made me feel as at home as possible as I possibly could, which was truly incredible.
For the last month or so I was tired of having to put up with the new culture, the heat, the marriage proposals, etc. I was ready to leave, ready to be home, but I knew that after I left that I would miss it.
During the last week I went traveling with geens (Gina), mol (Molly), and phil (Emily). Ades (Ada) was off traveling with her new fiance so she couldn't join us. We were debating where to go and had all these ideas in mind, but ended up deciding the morning of depature just where we where going to go. We decided to make our trip small so we went up to the Shia Hills nature reserve and then down to the Keta Lagoon. It was a nice little trip, and like always it was nice to get out of the city.

At Shia Hills we ate really good fufu, hiked through the wilderness, and got to see lots of baboons.

When we were in Keta we spent a lot of time relaxing (traveling in Ghana can be quite exhausting so it's nice to take it easy). My favorite part of our trip was when we got up at 5AM to go for a long walk on the beach and watch the sunrise. It was an increadby beautiful beach with white sand and big waves. We were probably the only white people in the entire town so we were spectacles to the locals, but they did not hassle us at all. During our walk we made friends with school children playing on the beach, and fishermen coming back with their morrnings catch. On our way back one of the fishermen that we meet offered to take us out on his boat, and we accepted. He and his friend paddled us over all the big waves to the calm and beautiful ocean in his heavy old hand carved wooden boat. It was so cool to be out there in the little boat just out for a paddle. After awhile the fishermen decided that it was our turn to paddle so they handed the paddles to us girls and we went at it as hard as we could... which was at about a tenth of the speed they went! Traditional fishermen gotta be in REALLY good shape.

After we returned we got all packed up. Mol left first, so we went with her to the airport and said goodbye. The rest of us spent the next day at a beach a couple hours away that was totally beautiful. Emily and I both flew out that night (Geens left a few days later). William (my friend and internship supervisor) gave us a ride to the airport, our neighbor Stanley that we befriended also came along to say goodbye. I didn't feel sad at all until I was actually in the car, waving goodbye to my neighborhood friends. The people were so friendly and amazing to us and we really developed a sense of community during our four months there, it was really hard to leave it all. It wasn't until I was at the airport giving William and Stanley goodbye hugs that I cried. I wasn't expecting it, but I totally sobbed. I was happy to be going home, but at the same time so sad to be leaving it behind. I walked into the airport and knew that I would have to return again, someday.

The Clinic

At the clinic I am the assistant to one of the nurses. The hospital is very different than the hospitals in the US. Every morning the staff arrives at 7am and the clinic starts at 8. I work in the section of the hospital that deals with babies, new mothers, and pregnant women. This part of the hospital consists of a big main room filled with chairs facing the front of the room. Before anything medical related happens, scripture is read from the bible like it’s a church or something. Not everyone that goes to the hospital is christian, but they tolerate it anyway. After that, one of the nurses gives a lecture on family planning or something of that nature (I can’t understand anything up to this point because it is all in their native dialect, Twi). Then clinic will start. People wait their turn to receive standard injections and then babies will be weighed. Next they will come into a side room where I am. My duties are record keeping and figuring out if there are any problems with the babies or mothers that need further attention. I assigned these tasks before I really knew what was going on or how the system even worked. I have much more responsibility than I would be given in a hospital at home, considering my lack of training. Usually I don’t have many problems performing my duties, but sometimes I have trouble communicating with patients or I am unsure of how to handle a medical problem and all the nurses are too busy to ask, which is frustrating. I have noticed that the hospital lacks sanitation, organization and proper training. The wait times are long and the diagnosis and treatments of patients are often wrong. Unfortunately, I don't see things changing for the better until Ghana becomes more industrialized and the hospital has more resources, both financial and personnel-wise. I do what I can to help out when I am there and I hope that what I learn from my experience there will help advance me towards my goal of perusing a medical profession. All in all, I am happy to be working there and so far I have found it to be a very interesting experience.

Update on My Life in Ghana

I have too much that I'd like to write about for the amount of time I have, but I will try my best.
Time has passed very quickly. My fourth month here has already started. I love Ghana and the experience of being here is wonderful, but the different culture is still tiring and I miss the things from home that I had taken for granted my entire life. It is a little embarrassing to say this, but I miss the US.
There is no way that anyone will ever be able to experience Ghana without being here. I have been trying to explain my experience, but the truth is that I have failed. Everything is different here; there is no way to truly capture it all in words or even in pictures. The differences between here and the states are numerous: the manner in which people greet each other, the food and how it is eaten, the weather, gender roles, sewer systems, laws, politics, the way people drive, the way they talk, their clothing, beliefs, traditions... EVERYTHING.
I am sitting on the couch at the orphanage right now with a one year old boy named Issac sitting next to me. The poor little guy is going to have a rough start in life. His father ran out on him, and his mother is too poor to support him, which is why he is here. He is not adoptable so he will grow up here until he is kicked out at age 13 or 14. Because this is a nice orphanage he should be moderately well educated and healthy by that point, and hopefully he will be able to carve out a decent life for himself.
The glaring poverty here makes me so sad. Compared to other African countries, Ghana is actually pretty well off. There are lots of big houses and wealthy families; but unfortunately a large percent of the population is quite poor. It makes me want to give away everything I can, but I know that even that won't make much difference. It is not just here that the poverty is bad, it is all over Africa and so many other places. I can do everything I can to try to help people here, but would it really even make a difference? I will do what I can to help, but I know it will never be enough.
The main reason that I miss the states is that I just miss blending in. I am tired of being a spectacle and of being hassled because of the color of my skin. I love Ghana and I know that I will miss it when I return home, but right now I miss home. I think that my roommates are feeling the same as I do at this point. Luckily, we only have three weeks left here, which is just enough time to see all the things that I haven't seen yet.
Yesterday I went to Aburi with Molly Ada and Emily. It was refreshing to walk around the gardens and enjoy the different trees and plants from around the world. The weather up there is much cooler than in Accra and I enjoyed feeling a little chill for the first time in over three months. It was great that we could travel just 30 minutes out of the city and feel like we were in the jungle.
Walking through the gardens, we heard some singing and drumming and decided to follow the beat. We had to exit the gardens and then we came to a building where the music was. There were little kids waving at us from a window telling us to come. We were hesitant, but finally went to the entrance. A woman greeted us and welcomed us inside. It was a Sunday afternoon, so they were having church in the small building. I had not been to a Ghanaian church so it was an interesting experience. I am very glad to have seen a piece of Ghanaian culture that is so important and so prevalent in Ghanaian society.
After walking all around the gardens, pangs of hunger overcame us. Ada had already been to Aburi before and told us that we had to have lunch at Peter's Pizza, a small restaurant owned by a Rasta named Peter who used to be a chef on a military ship. He makes the most delicious spring rolls from scratch! Then we indulged in a delicious veggie pizza. After three months of living in Ghana we have had pizza a few times. It has been okay, but this pizza was different. There were so many delicious vegetables and so much melted cheese....this pizza was amazing. I don't know if it's just because I do not have access to very much pizza, but this was the best.


We enjoyed every last bite of our lunch and joked about ordering more. We decided to head home before the sun went down, as it's much more difficult to travel by trotro at night. It didn't take long to catch a ride for all four of us, so we were on our way back to the hustle, bustle and heat of Accra. I think I might have to head back to the peaceful sanctuary of the botanical gardens and the delicious treat of Peter's Pizza before the end of my Ghana journey.
We have all our spare time planned out for the remainder of our time here. Next weekend my friend will be taking me to the small village that he grew up in, which I am very excited about. Then on Sunday we will go to a loud christian gospel church which should be quite the experience, and then we'll head off to experience a soccer game, Ghana-style. The weekend after that, the NGO that I work for which is called FightAIDS Ghana will be having a large event on Saturday for the purpose of securing donations. Sunday I will attend a wedding. That will be the last week of class. After we are done with school we will do some traveling around. We plan on going to Togo, the country east of Ghana, and then taking a boat trip on the Volta River up north towards Tamale. I am super excited for all the things we will be doing!
I hope all is well with you, where ever you might be.
Love,
Lauren

Volta Region

This last weekend our program took the Fab Five (my roommates and myself) on an excursion to the Volta Region. It was a three or four hour comfortable drive east from Accra. I didn’t know what to expect the Volta Region to be like, but I instantly liked what I saw. It has lots of “mountains” (known to Pacific Northwesters as large hills) and is draped in greenery. It was breathtaking! We arrived early in the afternoon in Wli where we hiked down a path to a big waterfall. It was wonderful to hike around in the forest for the first time since I arrived in Africa, I had missed hiking a lot.
The hike was beautiful. Our guide pointed out pineapple, cocoa, and coffee plants to us, none of which look like I had expected them to. There were some shacks with really cool carvings on the way. It was so peaceful walking through the tropical forest, listening to all the exotic birds and insects make their noises. When we arrived at the waterfall it was pouring down the cliff at full force. It was so powerful that we could feel the mist from really far away. I went swimming with Emily and Molly and though we got really close to the waterfall, it was too powerful to go under it. It was lots of fun and a nice get away from city life.
On our way back to the bus we bought some things from the villagers and observed their pet ostriches which are possibly the strangest looking animals that I have ever come across.

Our next stop was a small village that is home to a monkey sanctuary. A local took us into the forest and called the monkeys. They jumped over to the tree we were standing near and climbed down so that we could feed them bananas. I held out my banana and they ate it right out of my hand! One little monkey jumped onto Gina’s arm to get her banana. As we where standing around listening to our guide, Molly got the pleasure of having the monkey sitting in the tree directly above her start peeing. It was truly hilarious.

As the sun began to set we realized how tired we were, so we made our way back to the hotel. After a long dinner at the hotel we finally went to sleep. It was a really nice hotel and I wish that I could have taken my bed back with me.
On Sunday we relaxed all morning and afternoon at the hotel’s pool, it was wonderful. We then got into the bus and made our way home. It was a great weekend, and I only wish that we could have spent a little more time there.

Mid-Semester Break

On Saturday Dorothy and Joe arrived. Dorothy is my roommate Molly’s good friend and Joe is Emily’s boyfriend. My first impression of Dorothy led me to think that she would have a great time traveling around Ghana with us. Joe, on the other hand, brought more luggage with him for the two weeks that he was going to be here than I brought for the entire semester. He seemed nervous and out of his element. That just goes to show that first impressions aren’t always right. We spent the weekend at home with them just hanging out and showed them around town a little. We took them to Madina Market which may have been a little overwhelming for them. That night we went to a great restaurant and club in town called Chez A Frique. The dinner was exceptional and we all enjoyed dancing. The trip that we had planned for so long was finally about to happen. It wasn’t planned very well, but the goal was to go to Mole National Park. We had a delayed start on Monday so we were only able to make it up to Kumasi. It was a long bumpy ride and the trotro was hot and filled to the brim with people. Dorothy and Joe did not enjoy it one bit. In fact, Dorthy decided that she did not want to travel any more. Apparently Africa is not for everyone. When coming to Africa you have to have an open mind and be prepared to be a little uncomfortable at times; it is always rewarded with great experiences. I was disappointed that Molly and Dorothy weren’t going to continue the journey with us.
Tuesday morning we took a taxi up to Techiman to meet Ada and Allen. It was a beautiful drive and we had a nice lunch there before parting ways with Molly and Dorothy. The two of them spent a day at the monkey sanctuary and returned to Accra. The new Fad Five headed up to Kintampo in a couple hour long trotro ride. Kintampo is a small but lovely town that has a waterfall that we were all excited to see. We splurged and spent the night at an “expensive” hotel that was recommended in my guide book which cost a whole US$10 per person. We all had comfortable beds, high water pressure and cable TV :)
In the morning we had a relaxed start and headed out to the waterfall. This waterfall was surprisingly my favorite part of the trip. The stream was beautiful, carving it’s way through the slabs of rock that got in it’s way. After we saw the smaller series of waterfalls, we climbed down the steepest set of stairs that I have ever seen and arrived at the bottom of the large waterfall. We felt it’s mist from far away and when we stood closer it drenched us with the mist, which was a great feeling. We all got into our bathing suits and stood and laid under the waterfall. It is so powerful and amazing, I want to go see all the waterfalls in Ghana now! After a couple hours of having fun at the waterfall we trekked up the stairs and continued our journey northward.
Our trotro got to Tamale at about 5pm. The main bus to Mole had already left so we had to find alternate means of getting there because we did not want to spend the night in Tamale. We ended up finding some English girls that were also trying to get to Mole, so we grouped together and got a decent price on having a pickup truck take us. The English girls rode in the cab and we rode in the truck bed. Riding in the back of the truck was a little uncomfortable and we got a thick "dirt tan", but it was fun! As we were driving many children from the little villages yelled out greetings to us and we waved to them as if we were celebrities. It was wonderful watching the sunset while talking to each other in the back of the pickup. As soon as we drove into the park we were greeted by warthogs roaming the street. They are gross looking fellers, but it was exciting to see them! We got dropped off at the motel and got a room. As we entered the room we were greeted by three cockroaches! I was thankful to not have my usual job as the cockroach killer. Allan had his hiking boots and happily took on the duty.
We enjoyed some normal American food for dinner, which was a nice change. After dinner we sat around the swimming pool and chatted. I was amazed by the enormous numbers of bugs in the park, they were evvverryywhere! On my way back to the room I came across a herd of antelope in the field, along with warthogs, and an anteater. I was so mesmerized that I just stood and watched them for a long time, and then called my family to tell them about it. It was during my time standing outside, under the stars watching the exotic animals, that I had one of those incredible reality checks that I am in AFRICA and it is AMAZING!
After a full night's sleep in our crappy hotel room Ada and I woke up early to go on a walking tour. It was wonderful to be up early enough to avoid the heat and bugs for at least a while. As we were leaving the hotel to go to the tour center we came across a big baboon and decided to ditch the tour idea and follow the baboon instead. The baboon ran off pretty quickly but we kept walking down the road until we came across some children going to school. One of the little boys really wanted us to go to his school so we went with him down the little path that led to the school. The school children were darling and so happy that we walked with them, and the scenery was breathtaking. Ada and I are a little jealous that they get to go to school in a national park! The path was surrounded with soft grasses heavily covered in morning mist and the occasional tropical shrub or tree. It was a peaceful and beautiful walk. We saw warthogs and an older male antelope with big horns. After our walk we went back to the hotel only to find that our room had been raided by baboons in search of food. In Mole National Park baboons are the equivalent of raccoons, although I like them much more. They aren’t really afraid of humans, and they will do anything for food. We went on a couple guided tours as well during the days we spent there. During our walk and tours we abserved baboons, green monkeys, an elephant, three different types of antelope, some really cool looking birds, warthogs, anteaters, and every type of insect imaginable. When the sun was up it got way too hot to do anything but go swimming, and when the sun went down the horrible heat was replaced with masses of bugs. I wore bug repellent but by the time we left the park I counted over thirty bug bites on my arms alone! The scenery was amazing and I loved seeing all the animals but I was happy when it was time to leave.
We got a van going back to Tamale and went to a cheap hotel that was close to the bus station. It was the worst hotel that I have ever been to; it really shouldn’t have been in the guidebook! The paint was peeling off all the walls, it was dirty, there weren’t sheets on the beds, the ventilation in the room was poor which made it unbearably hot during the day, and it had a gross communal bathroom. Luckily, we only had to spend one night there and I had brought my own sheet!
We left the hotel promptly that night and went out to a little club for a drink and got some yummy street food. It was a fun night apart from the walk home. An annoying boy with horrible breath refused to let me walk back without him. During the walk when I stepped over a miniature wall between parking lots I found that the ground wasn’t where I anticipated but there was a sewer there instead. I fell into the sewer! My entire foot was covered in grime and I had a few scrapes. I got back to the hotel, sent the annoying boy away, and got Emily to go to the communal bathroom with me so I could wash the sewer grime off my legs.
After a not-so-good night's sleep, I was awakened by Emily and Joe. We had overslept and had to get ready in record time to go to the bus station. I jumped out of bed and speed walked over to the bus station to get our tickets, only to find that the bus was already full. We made the best of our day by hanging out at a restaurant and going shopping at the art market. Tamale has some amazing art work and it was fun shopping there because we weren’t hassled at all like we would be in Accra or any village in one of the southern regions.
Finally we got a nice bus that took us the entire twelve hour drive back to Accra. The traveling wasn’t bad because I managed to sleep most the way. I was happy to be back. The trip had its wonderful parts and its not so wonderful parts, but all in all it was a great trip full of wonderful experiences!

Tidbit on Water

The water systems here have been the most difficult changes for me. Ghana has an open sewer system and the tap water is unfit for drinking. These things have taken a lot of getting used to, but I suppose they are just part of living in a developing country.

Walking down the street I can look at the water, or whatever it is, mixed in with pieces of trash and debris floating down the sewer. I can see and smell it's contents, although I try not to. The most common way of crashing a car is driving it straight into the roadside sewer, which usually doesn’t damage the car too badly but can in some cases. Every now and then I will notice someone using the roadside sewer as their bathroom. I will also notice chickens, dogs and goats drinking and eating out of the sewer, the same animals that are used for eggs and meat. This almost make me want to become a vegan despite my love for meat, but that would be almost impossible because almost every meal has meat in it around here. The sewer has bad drainage in many areas. This is for many reasons including it has been clogged by trash in some areas, and Accra is a pretty flat city so it has been difficult for the city to prevent stagnation of many sections of the sewer. Speaking of stagnation, the sewer has accumulated into a lake near a highly populated slum on the outskirts of Accra. This lake is a big health concern. The city has tried numerous tactics to get the water flowing but nothing has worked. Hopefully sometime in the future Accra will have the finical means to tackle the drainage problems and cover the sewer.

Drinking out of a bag... it was not something that I was expecting to do during my time in Africa or ever for that matter, but it is what we do here. The tap water has been treated but still isn’t good enough for drinking. We go to the closest store to buy a bag full of bags of water to keep in our house. The water is cleaned and bagged by various factories in the city. I have come across some many unknown and sketchy brands of water but have stuck to the strategy of drinking what taste okay and dumping what doesn’t, which I like to think has saved me from sickness. The water bags are cheap (aprox. 3 cents each) and are sold everywhere individually or in bulk. There are also many other things that can be bought in individual bags for cheap prices such as toothpaste, shots of alcohol, chocolate drink mixes, etc. They are typically trashed anywhere (including straight into the sewer) after use and cause some environmental problems, but the environment isn’t the biggest concern around here. I sure hope that in the future Accra will have drinkable tap water like it once did. It sure will be nice to come home to that drinkable and delicious Oregon tap water!

Kumasi

Learning how to make kente cloth.
The bead molds.

The adinkra we made.

This weekend our program took us to Kumasi, which is one of Ghana's largest cites. It is located in the southern part of the Asante region, a 140 mile drive from Accra. About half of the drive was on dirt roads and it took a long time to get there, but on the way we bought some tasty new foods from people selling them on their heads. We bought the African equivalent of a tamale which was a steamed corn husk containing corn kernels and peanuts. We also bought a loaf of sweet white bread, which may have been the best bread that I have had in my entire life!
When we arrived at the hotel we got settled in and then went to the hotel restaurant where they prepared a great lunch buffet for us. It was truly fabulous Ghanian food.
After we were done eating we hopped back onto the bus and went to the king’s palace museum. The king of the Asante region has the most power of any of the Ghanian kings, although the kings don't have much power now that Ghana has a democracy. We had a hilarious tour guide and it was a lot of fun.
We then went to the Kumasi market, which is the largest market in west africa. We stayed there for less than an hour so we didn't see very much of it, but what we did see was really cool. The market sells every thing that you could possibly imagine. The venders mainly sell clothing, household supplies, food, and various other things. Some venders sell a lot of things, some only have one thing to sell. There are huge metal bowls in some of the little store huts that contain anything from homemade peanut butter to rice to giant snails.
We briefly walked through the leather section of the market. It was interesting to watch all the men cutting and sewing the leather into sandals, belts, and other commodities. Later we walked through the market's meat section, which was quite the experience. The smell of the fish and the various types of meat stagnated in the air so I tried to breath through my mouth. We quickly walked through the open building full of tables covered in a medley of animal parts. Ghanians eat pretty much every part of the animals, and to eat the head of any animal is a delicacy. It was a cool experience but I was very happy when it was done!
In Ghana it is expected that almost every price is bargained down. It is fun to bargain but can be difficult sometimes, I am getting better at it though.
On Sunday we went to the kente fabric market. It was really cool to see how kente is made and how much work goes into each piece made. Each of us got to try to make a portion of kente ourselves. I'm sure that it takes a LOT of time and practice to master the art. I bought one big piece of the beautiful fabric which I plan on either hanging on a wall or using as a tablecloth.
Next we went to a adinkra building. We got a history lesson on adinkra and how it is made. Adinkra is a traditional paste made from the bark of a certain tree that grows in the northern region, which is stamped or painted onto cloth. All the stamps have different meanings such as love, ambition, friendship, etc. We then got to stamp some onto cloths to take home with us. As we were making our pieces a huge thunder storm rolled in. Every time the thunder struck it was so loud that it made us all jump.
Our last stop before we journeyed home was the bead making factory. One of the owners of the family business showed us how they make the beads and the different ways that they can put designs in them. I never knew that bead making was such an art!
The bus ride was at night time so I happily sleep through paved road portions and the bus ride went quickly.