So, after my last post I realized that most of what I've written about Ghana has been sunny and shiny and pretty. While this country really is beautiful and sunny, there is definitely a huge amount of despair and poverty running throughout. And of course I have to comment....
Spending this past weekend in Akosombo(oops....spelled it wrong in my last post) was incredible. The River Volta is spectacular and having the opportunity to go out on multiple boats was excellent. On Sunday we DID take the ferry ride to Dodi Island complete with a live band on the ferry and catered food, but of course....the destination Island houses its own community of people who show up when the boat comes in and send in their army of children to make friends (and hopefully money) from the obruni(white people). In the 20 minutes we spent on the island we did a little walk and from my healthcare standpoint I saw two girls that definitely needed medical attention - one's eyes were so swollen she couldn't open them and the other had an unidentified rash covering most of her head....as is typical for here, there were no parental figures to be found and both girls were participating in some music making in hopes of garnering a few cedis from us tourists. Really sad in my opinion....and strange to spend some time with other tourists because I've been so removed from the culture while I've been here. I thank my family and my life experience for seasoning me to experience the culture from within rather than observing it from the outside.
Hmm.....oh wait....but there's more. On our way back from Akosombo we encountered a couple towns that had flooded due to heavy rains. Whole crops of corn buried under meters of water, vending stands overturned, people dislocated from their homes. And then what? They rebuild and wait for the next flood. According to the fellow bus-goers the government does little until there's already been a disaster (hmmm....sound familiar?)
Here on the coast the poverty seems much more apparent than it did up in the Volta region. Children are often half clothed (or not clothed)....no diapers, open sewers, animals everywhere, clothes washed in water from stagnant tanks, kids and adults sleeping on the streets....on and on it goes. This is the life here. Public bath-houses, shared shower areas....everything is so public - which has also been interesting for my only child American standpoint. You have to pay to take a crap....
I'm told that the schools are public, but I only see a small percentage of kids who actually attend. The obstacles of school uniforms, books, papers, pencils and the like are often more than a family can handle so the kids just don't attend. And when they DO attend, the educational techniques are often beyond the means of the students they're teaching. Queen's English and big words for the wee ones which leaves most people functionally illiterate in the end. While in Akosombo we took a canoe ride in the morning from this young boy named Kwame (Saturday born -- everyone has a "day" name here - mine is Esi since I was born on a Sunday (correct me if that's wrong Mom!). As we glided along the beautiful river Kwame quietly sang songs of praise from the back of the boat and midway through the ride he turned to us and said "I want education from you." Just the way he said it surprised myself and Kenya - most people have just come out and asked for money, but this boy asked for education. He's 15, attends high school and (just like every Ghanaian) wants to be a footballer. Not only does he want to continue his education, he wants to attend the football academy in Accra. He plays keeper. And something about him really struck both Kenya and I -- in the end I sponsored him a new pair of football boots and gloves and shin guards for his goal-keeping. May not have been the most logical form of sponsorship in a country full of disparity, but like I said, something about this boy struck us both and helping him out seemed to be the right thing to do. The boots are yellow :) I'll load a picture up eventually.
But on a grander scale, my friend Nana is creating a new political party here in Ghana (The New Jerusalem Party) to hopefully bring about some change to this country. Apparently there's money coming in, but the government has a problem with correct appropriation...no big surprise there. It's time for the people to lead the people and I look forward to creating benefit concerts in America to sponsor school kids in Ghana, sending containers worth of donated clothes and toys, helping create solar energy projects here, better farming equipment for the farmers, and on and on and on.....
Ok....so, I'll leave it at that. This is a beautiful and friendly country, but poverty and despair are parts of daily life that people here accept as their reality. Worldwide this is the case....let's change it!
Tuesday, June 22, 2010
Saturday, June 19, 2010
From Elmina to Akusombo
2010 FIFA World Cup fever has stricken the country of Ghana. Beginning last week, the World Cup is being held in South Africa and it is Football MaDDNESS over here! Representing from Africa are Cameroon, Nigeria, Algeria, GHANA, South Africa, Coute de Ivoir....and maybe another team too, but I think that's it. So far Ghana is the only African team to win their first match and today they play their second match against Austrailia (who already got their assess KICKED by Germany 3-0) So, yeah, I've been paying attention. If Ghana wins today they'll be the first team in the entire competition to qualify for the second round of matches right away....it's a big deal. Everywhere you go there are Ghanaian flags, banners, horns, whistles, team jerseys, you name it....red, green, and gold everything. On TV people have composed and recorded songs to cheer on their Black Star team and when it comes to game time.....people are holing up everywhere to watch the matches. Four per day for this past week and you can see people huddled around TVs inside and outside to watch. Makeshift theaters are set up throughout the towns and if it's not on TV you can hear the matches on the radio.
This past weekend I traveld to Accra and stayed right on the beachside with the sounds of the ocean wafting through the windows. On Friday night there were reggae DJs playing outdoors until the wee hours of the morning. Around 1am or so they brought on about 7 different live acts who rotated through the mic and over various riddims. Pure hotness....it's a shame that it's difficult to bring people over because about 5 of the 7 acts were infinitely better than many of the people we end up seeing over and over again back home....and they were pretty much freestyling! Nice vibes. Even had a couple women up there with them. Ghanaian dancehall I would probably liken to the Jamaican dancehall rather than what we have in the US. Good vibes, nice flow, quality mic-man talkin' up the place. It was great.
Accra the city was a little intense. We did marketing where you can get EVERYTHING. (and here we have the live chiken section....oh, and around this cornere you can buy clothes....and here's the plastic container street....and fish, and fabric, and more clothes, and shoes, and big silver bowles for the head, and soap, and vegetables.....on and on and on) I guess the market in Kumasi is even bigger! We flowed around and met family and cooked in lunch in the military compound (yeah, strange at first to me, but just another place that people live). Visited people in the shanty sections of Accra...cooked more food...watched some close-up fufu preparations....and more reggae music.
One of the mornings in Accra we sat on the beachside and wathced the intricate dance of fishermen and net as they pulled in their morning catch. 4-10 men working for over an hour to pull in their net from the ocean. It was beautiful.
Crap....running out of time here.... :)
This past week I linked up with the public health nurses and helped them with their H1N1 vaccination clinic. Pregnant women, healthcare workers, security people, and other high risk populations (but mostly those three). The public health nurses are a pretty funny and entertaining bunch. They seem to like me a lot and at this point I'm doing all the injections and helping them with their paperwork too. Of course, I'm much too efficient for Ghana so I'm learning how to slow down my pace of work to match their stride. Mid way through the day we usually retire to thier "office" and watch the World Cup match of the moment....hahahah!!! Nursing Ghana style.
This past Thursay (after a DELICIOUS meal of groundnut soup and ken-key) Kenya and I headed back to Accra to link with our resident King Nana. We hit up yet another wonderful outdoor music spot and had a GREAT time dancing to live high-life and reggae music till the wee hours. I loved it! And of course everyone thinks it's the greatest that I get out there and dance, and of course...me being me....I put in my 20 cents (peswas here) and had the band play what we wanted to hear. So much fun!!!
Yesterday we traveled from Accra up to the River Volta to the town of Akusombo where it is just BEAUTIFULLLLLL here. Totally tropical and lush. We're staying right pon the riverside and even got to got out in one of the wodden canoes the local peeps use to travel the river. That one was for my Dad....canoeing in Ghana! So blessed. We tried to take this amazing ferry ride today further up the river, but becasue of Ghana's World Cup match today the ferry's not going!! Hahaha.....we wanted to watch the match anyways....Ghana's gonna KICK Austrailia and qualify for round 2!!!
Love you and miss you all.....Ghana is amazing....we should all come back here together! Bless.
This past weekend I traveld to Accra and stayed right on the beachside with the sounds of the ocean wafting through the windows. On Friday night there were reggae DJs playing outdoors until the wee hours of the morning. Around 1am or so they brought on about 7 different live acts who rotated through the mic and over various riddims. Pure hotness....it's a shame that it's difficult to bring people over because about 5 of the 7 acts were infinitely better than many of the people we end up seeing over and over again back home....and they were pretty much freestyling! Nice vibes. Even had a couple women up there with them. Ghanaian dancehall I would probably liken to the Jamaican dancehall rather than what we have in the US. Good vibes, nice flow, quality mic-man talkin' up the place. It was great.
Accra the city was a little intense. We did marketing where you can get EVERYTHING. (and here we have the live chiken section....oh, and around this cornere you can buy clothes....and here's the plastic container street....and fish, and fabric, and more clothes, and shoes, and big silver bowles for the head, and soap, and vegetables.....on and on and on) I guess the market in Kumasi is even bigger! We flowed around and met family and cooked in lunch in the military compound (yeah, strange at first to me, but just another place that people live). Visited people in the shanty sections of Accra...cooked more food...watched some close-up fufu preparations....and more reggae music.
One of the mornings in Accra we sat on the beachside and wathced the intricate dance of fishermen and net as they pulled in their morning catch. 4-10 men working for over an hour to pull in their net from the ocean. It was beautiful.
Crap....running out of time here.... :)
This past week I linked up with the public health nurses and helped them with their H1N1 vaccination clinic. Pregnant women, healthcare workers, security people, and other high risk populations (but mostly those three). The public health nurses are a pretty funny and entertaining bunch. They seem to like me a lot and at this point I'm doing all the injections and helping them with their paperwork too. Of course, I'm much too efficient for Ghana so I'm learning how to slow down my pace of work to match their stride. Mid way through the day we usually retire to thier "office" and watch the World Cup match of the moment....hahahah!!! Nursing Ghana style.
This past Thursay (after a DELICIOUS meal of groundnut soup and ken-key) Kenya and I headed back to Accra to link with our resident King Nana. We hit up yet another wonderful outdoor music spot and had a GREAT time dancing to live high-life and reggae music till the wee hours. I loved it! And of course everyone thinks it's the greatest that I get out there and dance, and of course...me being me....I put in my 20 cents (peswas here) and had the band play what we wanted to hear. So much fun!!!
Yesterday we traveled from Accra up to the River Volta to the town of Akusombo where it is just BEAUTIFULLLLLL here. Totally tropical and lush. We're staying right pon the riverside and even got to got out in one of the wodden canoes the local peeps use to travel the river. That one was for my Dad....canoeing in Ghana! So blessed. We tried to take this amazing ferry ride today further up the river, but becasue of Ghana's World Cup match today the ferry's not going!! Hahaha.....we wanted to watch the match anyways....Ghana's gonna KICK Austrailia and qualify for round 2!!!
Love you and miss you all.....Ghana is amazing....we should all come back here together! Bless.
Thursday, June 10, 2010
Mama Africa
Ok folks.....two weeks in and this is my first time I'm jumping on a computer for an extended amount of time. Where to begin? Um, yeah....I'm LOVING it here!!! Slow paced life, beautiful scenery, beautiful people....nice vibes.
I arrived here on Tuesday the 3rd and (as my intuitive self told myself) there wasn't actually anyone there to meet me at the airport. In all the hubbub of my visa fiasco before I left there was a breakdown of communication between myself and the organization. No worries though...one of the airport security people helped me out and I was retrieved by the organization's secretary and put straight on a bus to the town of Cape Coast where I was then met by our fabulous house hostess, Lucy, and taken to Elmina. Elmina is a colonial fishing town that boasts one of largest slave castles right on the waterfront. The town itself is pretty rough around the edges and the residents are surprisingly fascinated by us walking through town even though this is one of the major tourist destinations in Ghana. So, that being said, Elmina so far isn't my favorite spot to cruise around in and instead I've been spending more time in the neighboring town of Cape Coast. For some reason the energy over here in Cape Coast seems a little more friendly and I don't feel quite as much as a source of facination as in Elmina.
Ghana is definitely a poor country, but the people are overwhelmingly friendly and seemingly happy. Common sights when walking around include goats, pigs, chickens, sheep, and children roaming the streets freely (true "free-range"). Women carrying their babies on their ba ck strapped tight with intricately patterned cloth. Women and children carrying immense loads in silver tubs on top of their heads.
This past weekend I linked with Paapa Wasik's crew (my reggae family in Ghana) and I spent time butted up against the Kakum national forest. Totally beautiful and lush out there. Felt like a rain forest. We hiked some of the trail behind Paapa's Mommi's house (where we stayed), ate fresh picked sugarcane and amazingly yummy ital food prepared by my personal chef and escort Kenya, visited the water treatment facility that happened to be close, and generally enjoyed the scenery. I'm definitely blessed to have some friendly connection here because I'm being treated to some "off the beaten path" types of locations and vibes. Definitely not getting harrassed as a white woman roaming around with two rasta escorts. :)
And now onto clinic work -- right now there are three of us volunteers visiting, but I will be staying the longest. One volunteer is an MD completing his residency in Manhattan and the other is a first year medical student who is Ghanaian born, but raised in the US (and very shy to his own country and to life in general it seems - he's young, but still.....gotta get out and experience life!) So...of course my intention was all about the pregnancy and babies, but so far that's actually not been the most exciting work there at the clinic. I've been sitting in on a bunch of antenatal (prenatal) exams, but since I don't speak Fante or Twi there's only so much that I'm getting out of it. Interestingly enough woking with this visiting MD has been great and I've already learned a lot from him since he is currently the only licensed MD that the clinic has right now (and he's leaving in a week!). We've seen LOTS of cases of malaria in childeren, some typhois, dehydration, upper respiratory infections...pretty much anything you can think of. On Monday we did "home visits" into the town of Elmina and spotted some kids that were in a really bad way...we had them come into the clinic and despite my personal thoughts on paying for treatment in a country where people just can't afford it, the MD and the medical assistant actually paid for the entire course of treatment to save the child's life. I personally was skeptical that the child would actually make it, but in the end we pumped him full of fluids, shipped him off to the Cape Coast Hospital and went to visit him the next day after he had received some blood, quinine, more fluids....and he acutally made it. So, I learned some lessons there about what people are able to recover from given treatment, but I'm still torn about the circumstance of this MD and medical student paying for the treatment. We definitely have big differences in opinon and in being sensitive to what people are acutally capable of as far as paying for treatments in this country (yep...Modeling and Role Modeling in Africa), but these guys are only here for a few weeks and it was their choice to proceed as they did. Of course...as I predicted...more kids came in today that needed treatement beyond the means of the parents and of course...the parents left without receiving the treatment the MD wanted to give them. He can't understand it and even put a lot of blame on these parents as being bad parents, but I just cannot accept that view - every parent wants what's best for their child, but in this country you have to pay up front or you're not getting crap from medical land.
Ok....a little more on the clinic work. On Wed. I went with the public health nurses and did community outreach. It consisted of weighing and immunizing kids and I was impressed and pleased to see that they have this program in place and that so many mothers were so on top of bringing thier kids in to be checked. I'm definitely planning to head back out with them again this coming week.
So, that's the first update I can give. I'm really enjoying myself. All apprehension went out the window and I'm feeling full and welcome and loved by Ghana. More love, more stregth, more positivity! Bless.
I arrived here on Tuesday the 3rd and (as my intuitive self told myself) there wasn't actually anyone there to meet me at the airport. In all the hubbub of my visa fiasco before I left there was a breakdown of communication between myself and the organization. No worries though...one of the airport security people helped me out and I was retrieved by the organization's secretary and put straight on a bus to the town of Cape Coast where I was then met by our fabulous house hostess, Lucy, and taken to Elmina. Elmina is a colonial fishing town that boasts one of largest slave castles right on the waterfront. The town itself is pretty rough around the edges and the residents are surprisingly fascinated by us walking through town even though this is one of the major tourist destinations in Ghana. So, that being said, Elmina so far isn't my favorite spot to cruise around in and instead I've been spending more time in the neighboring town of Cape Coast. For some reason the energy over here in Cape Coast seems a little more friendly and I don't feel quite as much as a source of facination as in Elmina.
Ghana is definitely a poor country, but the people are overwhelmingly friendly and seemingly happy. Common sights when walking around include goats, pigs, chickens, sheep, and children roaming the streets freely (true "free-range"). Women carrying their babies on their ba ck strapped tight with intricately patterned cloth. Women and children carrying immense loads in silver tubs on top of their heads.
This past weekend I linked with Paapa Wasik's crew (my reggae family in Ghana) and I spent time butted up against the Kakum national forest. Totally beautiful and lush out there. Felt like a rain forest. We hiked some of the trail behind Paapa's Mommi's house (where we stayed), ate fresh picked sugarcane and amazingly yummy ital food prepared by my personal chef and escort Kenya, visited the water treatment facility that happened to be close, and generally enjoyed the scenery. I'm definitely blessed to have some friendly connection here because I'm being treated to some "off the beaten path" types of locations and vibes. Definitely not getting harrassed as a white woman roaming around with two rasta escorts. :)
And now onto clinic work -- right now there are three of us volunteers visiting, but I will be staying the longest. One volunteer is an MD completing his residency in Manhattan and the other is a first year medical student who is Ghanaian born, but raised in the US (and very shy to his own country and to life in general it seems - he's young, but still.....gotta get out and experience life!) So...of course my intention was all about the pregnancy and babies, but so far that's actually not been the most exciting work there at the clinic. I've been sitting in on a bunch of antenatal (prenatal) exams, but since I don't speak Fante or Twi there's only so much that I'm getting out of it. Interestingly enough woking with this visiting MD has been great and I've already learned a lot from him since he is currently the only licensed MD that the clinic has right now (and he's leaving in a week!). We've seen LOTS of cases of malaria in childeren, some typhois, dehydration, upper respiratory infections...pretty much anything you can think of. On Monday we did "home visits" into the town of Elmina and spotted some kids that were in a really bad way...we had them come into the clinic and despite my personal thoughts on paying for treatment in a country where people just can't afford it, the MD and the medical assistant actually paid for the entire course of treatment to save the child's life. I personally was skeptical that the child would actually make it, but in the end we pumped him full of fluids, shipped him off to the Cape Coast Hospital and went to visit him the next day after he had received some blood, quinine, more fluids....and he acutally made it. So, I learned some lessons there about what people are able to recover from given treatment, but I'm still torn about the circumstance of this MD and medical student paying for the treatment. We definitely have big differences in opinon and in being sensitive to what people are acutally capable of as far as paying for treatments in this country (yep...Modeling and Role Modeling in Africa), but these guys are only here for a few weeks and it was their choice to proceed as they did. Of course...as I predicted...more kids came in today that needed treatement beyond the means of the parents and of course...the parents left without receiving the treatment the MD wanted to give them. He can't understand it and even put a lot of blame on these parents as being bad parents, but I just cannot accept that view - every parent wants what's best for their child, but in this country you have to pay up front or you're not getting crap from medical land.
Ok....a little more on the clinic work. On Wed. I went with the public health nurses and did community outreach. It consisted of weighing and immunizing kids and I was impressed and pleased to see that they have this program in place and that so many mothers were so on top of bringing thier kids in to be checked. I'm definitely planning to head back out with them again this coming week.
So, that's the first update I can give. I'm really enjoying myself. All apprehension went out the window and I'm feeling full and welcome and loved by Ghana. More love, more stregth, more positivity! Bless.
Tuesday, June 1, 2010
Dubai-erific
After 15 hours in the air I made it safely to Dubai (which for those who don't know is just north of Saudi Arabia in the United Arab Emirates). At first it seemed really odd to overshoot my destination and come here, but the route they took went up and over Greenland and then descended south towards Dubai. What can I say? The flight was fairly uneventful. Years of traveling to Israel has seasoned me to long flights so 15 hours seemed to go by pretty quickly. I watched The Informant (it was ok) and The Blind Side (tear-jerker good), ate some, slept some, admired all the women's head scarves, slept some more....and here I am. Emirates Air scored pointed by putting me up in a hotel for my 12 hr layover AND feeding me too. Definitely helps to break up the trip and now I have another 8 hour flight tomorrow before I hit Accra!
I'm definitely feeling apprehensive about the nursing side of this trip. Everyone keeps telling me the I'll be fine, but in reality I'm super nervous!!!! Three semesters deep in to nursing school and I'm still questioning my skills. I guess that's why I'm going to Ghana though....
Love you all and will update more when I can!
I'm definitely feeling apprehensive about the nursing side of this trip. Everyone keeps telling me the I'll be fine, but in reality I'm super nervous!!!! Three semesters deep in to nursing school and I'm still questioning my skills. I guess that's why I'm going to Ghana though....
Love you all and will update more when I can!
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