Tuesday, October 28, 2008
Grafitti in Ho
The only piece of graffiti I've ever seen in Ghana. This is written on three walls of the building. I found it across the street from one of our small-to-medium enterprise (SME) client's establishment.
Negative Culture Shock
Four days before coming to
Here's what happened. Upon arriving in
I called Cingular and they're looking into why there was no block in place beforehand. I charged into the phone place (Gods and Sons on
To make matters even more comical, on the way home from this escapade I hail a taxi and sit in the back with another passenger. We're driving down main road when we see a fight in the street. Fights in
Travels - Wli Falls
First! This was the best trip so far! I thought Akosombo was beautiful but I've once again been becharmed by this county and forced to adjust my exceptions of just how beautiful a place can be, once again.
Here's another nice tourist shot of me with our tro-tro. I picked it based on it's price, seating and obviously colour.
During hiking you cross the river flowing from the waterfall a total of nine times on bridges at various levels of architectural soundness. You pass villages, children bathing, abandoned schoolhouses, cocoa trees, pineapple “shrubs,” etc. etc. There are these strange sloping mountain/hills surrounding you on all sides- it's almost like being in an incredibly green crater. Butterflies are everywhere and incredibly friendly! It's like being in a butterfly garden, but once again, it's for real.
After racing after Albert, a very fit and fast walker, we found the falls in about 40 minutes. They come upon you suddenly. You're rounding a corner thinking “Hmm... there is water vapor in the air,” and before you can vocalize the sentence, “We must be getting close,” you're there.
Yours truly feeling anxious because I want to go ahead and start swimming.
It gets better, when you look up from the base you can see hundreds of fruit bats flying around their nesting area. In the perfect noontime sunshine peeping over the mountain top they look more like tan colored birds than flying mammals and they are stunning. The whole effect had Marta and I hopping up and down in the wind and waves, looking up at the sky, laughing and whooping. Intoxicating. I've never felt that kind of release.
The rest of the trip went well. Our taxi driver was napping when we returned, I bought some gifts for friends, we lunched at a beautiful hotel restaurant with a view of the higher falls to kill. We quickly found a tro-tro back to Ho from Hohoe and were back in time for a big dinner. I have now, officially, made my own way in West Africa.
Thursday, October 23, 2008
Learning the Ropes
Finally after being here for almost 4 weeks I've got the work situation mostly under control. I have a few major areas of focus and I will hopefully be able to make real changes before heading home next month. The lack of leadership and dedication here is frightening, but I'm doing my best not to let it deter me. The idea of ownership here is much different than back home. There is an expectation that decisions will be made for you and you'll just be in charge of manifesting them but little else. There's a constant struggle with the foreigners that either work here or volunteer here as to how to handle it: you either think you need to rehaul the entire system and start from scratch or get disenfranchised by what really appears to be a lack of interest on the part of many of the Ghanaian employed here and stop trying. Either way, nothing gets done. I'm dangerously close to falling into the second camp, but luckily there are other expats here that are in the first and they keep me right.
For instance, myself, another volunteer and two fulltime staff members were supposed to meet this morning to discuss the five year business plan we're attempting to build. It's 1pm. The project officer in charge has spent all afternoon chatting with the other workers in the house and apparently doing little else. Not even reviewing the basic business plan template we gave him this morning. It's frustrating, to say the least. I miss Pechan!
Anyhow- enough complaints. There's plenty of good as well. I have two main projects under way at the MFI. The first is to help develop a basic business plan (they don't have one!!!) and use it to develop 5-year projections for the fund (also doesn't exist!!!). Luckily- Marta, another volunteer, has an extensive finance background and it tackling the lead role for this project. Dave and I are to provide support. The project that I have more leadership on is developing or finding software to manage our loan portfolio and accounting system. We have an Excel spreadsheet to track our cash flows now but it's rudimentary and given that $10,000 loan we've just received, it's time to upgrade. We've partnered with the University of Pennsylvania's Microfinance Club to help do some of the grunt work and will be sending out their first list of tasks this afternoon.
Aside from the work at the MFI I've also started working to complete the application process for membership in the Fair Trade Federation for the Lady Volta Beads operation. This project is closer to my heart and more of an extracirricular activity. I've worked with fair trade producers far longer and more intimately than microfinance and I'm really excited to work with them in county. I'll be managing the application process and will soon start developing wholesale connections, prices, procedures, etc. with the beads project officer- Julie.
All-in-all, plenty of work. I wanted to work part-time but I've ended up working 30+ hours a week and most Saturdays since I've been here because there's so much going on. In the end it's better, though- helps pass the time! Ho is a very small town after all.
For instance, myself, another volunteer and two fulltime staff members were supposed to meet this morning to discuss the five year business plan we're attempting to build. It's 1pm. The project officer in charge has spent all afternoon chatting with the other workers in the house and apparently doing little else. Not even reviewing the basic business plan template we gave him this morning. It's frustrating, to say the least. I miss Pechan!
Anyhow- enough complaints. There's plenty of good as well. I have two main projects under way at the MFI. The first is to help develop a basic business plan (they don't have one!!!) and use it to develop 5-year projections for the fund (also doesn't exist!!!). Luckily- Marta, another volunteer, has an extensive finance background and it tackling the lead role for this project. Dave and I are to provide support. The project that I have more leadership on is developing or finding software to manage our loan portfolio and accounting system. We have an Excel spreadsheet to track our cash flows now but it's rudimentary and given that $10,000 loan we've just received, it's time to upgrade. We've partnered with the University of Pennsylvania's Microfinance Club to help do some of the grunt work and will be sending out their first list of tasks this afternoon.
Aside from the work at the MFI I've also started working to complete the application process for membership in the Fair Trade Federation for the Lady Volta Beads operation. This project is closer to my heart and more of an extracirricular activity. I've worked with fair trade producers far longer and more intimately than microfinance and I'm really excited to work with them in county. I'll be managing the application process and will soon start developing wholesale connections, prices, procedures, etc. with the beads project officer- Julie.
All-in-all, plenty of work. I wanted to work part-time but I've ended up working 30+ hours a week and most Saturdays since I've been here because there's so much going on. In the end it's better, though- helps pass the time! Ho is a very small town after all.
Travels - Akosombo
The internet is back for now as is the power! Things here are going extremely well. It's been almost a month and I feel completely at home in Ho. Not to say that I'm not counting the minutes until I'm back in Durham, but the homesickness has lifted.
Let us take a moment to catch up. First on travels and next I'll blog separately about how well work is going.
In an effort to get out and see more of Ghana and to pass the time more swiftly I've decided that I should be traveling every weekend that I'm here. This was weekend number 2, destination: Akosombo at Lake Volta.
Lake Volta is the largest manmade lake in the world. It was created by damming (sp?) the Volta River in the 1970s and the project of the first president of Ghana (see Accra post for details on him). The dam provides ALL of the electricity for ALL of Ghana and even exports to Benin and Togo. It was apparently built with the help of an American company hoping to use the tremendous power generated there to mine bauxite- but the company has since ceased operations and now the dam operates at only half capacity.
We hopped a tro-tro from the market at Ho towards Accra and were dropped about an hour later in Akosombo right after the huge and beautiful bridge that crosses Volta on the main road. We were dropped at night and the power was out for almost all of the region. Total darkness and stars like you've never seen before. It was exactly like being at the planetarium, but it was real. I'm pretty convinced I even glimpsed a bit of the Milky Way itself, but if you know about the Milky Way you know how easy it is to confuse it for a light cloud coverage.
We met a woman at the bridge crossing- she was selling some sort of produce- and she walked us down to the Akosombo Continental Hotel and was extremely friendly (as are all Ghanains). The hotel was luxurious to say the least and located right on the river. My travel companions right now are significantly higher budget than I am and the moderate hotels were all booked. Air conditioning, television, huge bed, lovely resturant with contintental menu, multiple bars (I counted at least 3), hot water in the shower, etc. etc.
The grounds were even more amazing. There is literally a ZOO at this hotel. A zoo! A sad, pathetic, unhappy zoo, but a zoo all the same. The zoo contains monkeys, crocodiles, an osterich, a chipmunk, ducks, three boas and some other small dog-like animal that slept all day. The hotel also had a lovely swimming pool that we spent much time lounging about.
After getting some good rest on Saturday night we got up and tanned/swam/read at the pool (wait until you see me in December, I have such an awesome tan). Then we hired a speedboat to take us out on the river and all the way up to the dam. The speedboat was ~$30, but between three people it was worth it. The trip was stunning. The lake lies in the middle of all of these valleys of the signature Volta Region hill-mountain-hybrids. Everything is green green green and lush. There are fishmen in large traditional rowed fishing boats spotted all over the lake. Villages dot the shores and you see children bathing, men getting read to go out fishing, traditional huts. Stunning, like I said. I've honestly never seen anything like it. Being out on the boat I had to step back and readjust the level of natural beauty I could accomodate. I will always remember Akosombo for being a moment where I realized how limited your view of the natural world is from home.
After making it out to the dam we rode back and docked at another hotel Afrikiko and ate lunch at a lakeside resturant that had a buffet and fresh fruit. The grounds there were also beautiful, but we didn't stay long. We headed back to the continental for more sun and then to the bridge to flag down a tro-tro. Given that it was Sunday evening, we weren't able to flag that tro-tro and ended up spending too much money to take a taxi all the way back to Ho. Next time we travel on Sunday we'll leave earlier.
But being stuck at the bridge was wonderful in it's own right. There are maybe 30 women that work at the bridge selling various snacks, produce, breads, etc. It's set up so that tro-tros and cars can enter from one side, ride through this crowd of women, shout out the window what they'd like and purchase it without having to stop for long. It's a comedy to an outsider. Everytime a tro-tro pulls up the women RUN. They run fullspeed while balanacing whatever they're selling on the tops of their heads to greet the tro-tro. I've stopped here before in a car, but never had the chance to spend much time there. The women were amazing. By the end of our wait Julia had at least 15 of them yelling "Ho? Ho? Ho?" at every passing tro-tro.
Now for the photos:
Cheesy tourist shot at Afrikiko in front of Lake Volta!
View from Akosombo Continental Hotel, next time I want to rent a paddle boat and paddle around the lake.
Picture from the same area, but this one has the speedboat we took to the dam and the beautiful bridge that crosses the lake at the main road. It's right by this bridge that we tried to catch our tro-tro.
Picture of the dam. It's HUGE. Impossible to catch in a photo, but I did my best.
Let us take a moment to catch up. First on travels and next I'll blog separately about how well work is going.
In an effort to get out and see more of Ghana and to pass the time more swiftly I've decided that I should be traveling every weekend that I'm here. This was weekend number 2, destination: Akosombo at Lake Volta.
Lake Volta is the largest manmade lake in the world. It was created by damming (sp?) the Volta River in the 1970s and the project of the first president of Ghana (see Accra post for details on him). The dam provides ALL of the electricity for ALL of Ghana and even exports to Benin and Togo. It was apparently built with the help of an American company hoping to use the tremendous power generated there to mine bauxite- but the company has since ceased operations and now the dam operates at only half capacity.
We hopped a tro-tro from the market at Ho towards Accra and were dropped about an hour later in Akosombo right after the huge and beautiful bridge that crosses Volta on the main road. We were dropped at night and the power was out for almost all of the region. Total darkness and stars like you've never seen before. It was exactly like being at the planetarium, but it was real. I'm pretty convinced I even glimpsed a bit of the Milky Way itself, but if you know about the Milky Way you know how easy it is to confuse it for a light cloud coverage.
We met a woman at the bridge crossing- she was selling some sort of produce- and she walked us down to the Akosombo Continental Hotel and was extremely friendly (as are all Ghanains). The hotel was luxurious to say the least and located right on the river. My travel companions right now are significantly higher budget than I am and the moderate hotels were all booked. Air conditioning, television, huge bed, lovely resturant with contintental menu, multiple bars (I counted at least 3), hot water in the shower, etc. etc.
The grounds were even more amazing. There is literally a ZOO at this hotel. A zoo! A sad, pathetic, unhappy zoo, but a zoo all the same. The zoo contains monkeys, crocodiles, an osterich, a chipmunk, ducks, three boas and some other small dog-like animal that slept all day. The hotel also had a lovely swimming pool that we spent much time lounging about.
After getting some good rest on Saturday night we got up and tanned/swam/read at the pool (wait until you see me in December, I have such an awesome tan). Then we hired a speedboat to take us out on the river and all the way up to the dam. The speedboat was ~$30, but between three people it was worth it. The trip was stunning. The lake lies in the middle of all of these valleys of the signature Volta Region hill-mountain-hybrids. Everything is green green green and lush. There are fishmen in large traditional rowed fishing boats spotted all over the lake. Villages dot the shores and you see children bathing, men getting read to go out fishing, traditional huts. Stunning, like I said. I've honestly never seen anything like it. Being out on the boat I had to step back and readjust the level of natural beauty I could accomodate. I will always remember Akosombo for being a moment where I realized how limited your view of the natural world is from home.
After making it out to the dam we rode back and docked at another hotel Afrikiko and ate lunch at a lakeside resturant that had a buffet and fresh fruit. The grounds there were also beautiful, but we didn't stay long. We headed back to the continental for more sun and then to the bridge to flag down a tro-tro. Given that it was Sunday evening, we weren't able to flag that tro-tro and ended up spending too much money to take a taxi all the way back to Ho. Next time we travel on Sunday we'll leave earlier.
But being stuck at the bridge was wonderful in it's own right. There are maybe 30 women that work at the bridge selling various snacks, produce, breads, etc. It's set up so that tro-tros and cars can enter from one side, ride through this crowd of women, shout out the window what they'd like and purchase it without having to stop for long. It's a comedy to an outsider. Everytime a tro-tro pulls up the women RUN. They run fullspeed while balanacing whatever they're selling on the tops of their heads to greet the tro-tro. I've stopped here before in a car, but never had the chance to spend much time there. The women were amazing. By the end of our wait Julia had at least 15 of them yelling "Ho? Ho? Ho?" at every passing tro-tro.
Now for the photos:
Cheesy tourist shot at Afrikiko in front of Lake Volta!
View from Akosombo Continental Hotel, next time I want to rent a paddle boat and paddle around the lake.
Picture from the same area, but this one has the speedboat we took to the dam and the beautiful bridge that crosses the lake at the main road. It's right by this bridge that we tried to catch our tro-tro.
Picture of the dam. It's HUGE. Impossible to catch in a photo, but I did my best.
Tuesday, October 21, 2008
Checking In
I know I've been horrible at updating/answer email. The internet's been down in Ho for the last four days and I'm not sure when it'll be back up. There are shortages of power and water throughout Ho so those are both also unreliable, but the internet is the worst. Apparently this is very normal for the end of the year, so please don't worry. We have plenty of other sources of light and water as to not be uncomfortable.
I'll write more soon. I had an amazing weekend and the microfinance work is taking off.
I'll write more soon. I had an amazing weekend and the microfinance work is taking off.
Friday, October 17, 2008
Jewelry Making
Yesterday we all went down to the center to learn to make some simple beaded necklaces. Tomorrow we'll have visitors from the UN coming to town to learn about our beadmaking process, meet the girls and make and buy their own necklaces. Here are a couple of action shots from the practice session yesterday as I've realized how bad I am at posting photos of myself here instead of just the sights.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Photos, Part 4
Another small installment of misc. photos.
You can see this hill/mountain from our house (as in, I'm looking out the window at it at this very moment), but on Friday I went to a village right at the base- Helekpe (hel-ek-pay). The trip was to go over business assessments with THIRTY prospective loan clients and help them fill in other paperwork. We'll only be giving out 10 loans to the village just yet due to our process, but it looks good that the others will benefit if the first 10 loans are repayed according to plan. We met in an open-air church, this is the view right after walking out the front doors. I'm not a religious person, but damn fine planning on someone's part. I found myself walking out of the church and being stunned.
You can see this hill/mountain from our house (as in, I'm looking out the window at it at this very moment), but on Friday I went to a village right at the base- Helekpe (hel-ek-pay). The trip was to go over business assessments with THIRTY prospective loan clients and help them fill in other paperwork. We'll only be giving out 10 loans to the village just yet due to our process, but it looks good that the others will benefit if the first 10 loans are repayed according to plan. We met in an open-air church, this is the view right after walking out the front doors. I'm not a religious person, but damn fine planning on someone's part. I found myself walking out of the church and being stunned.
Weekend in Accra and the Clinic in Ho
Sorry for the slight delay, but after I finished up my oh-so-fun and oh-so-cosmopolitan weekend in Accra I promptly came down with a bad case of food poisoning and have spend the last four days either at the clinic or asleep in my netted bed. Figures, I live out in rural Ghana and eat everything with no problem- I weekend in the big city where they are supposed to be accustomed to dealing with the fragile Western stomach and I'm poisoned.
That being said, the clinic in Ho (Healthy Life, it's called) is superb. Very clean, amazingly helpful and friendly staff, cheap as all hell and professional. I paid $4.50 for my appointment and another $4.00 to get tested for malaria and typhoid (just in case). Finally, an additional $20 for two injections, a regiment of pills and nutrient syrup designed to build up strength. The wait wasn't bad either- about three hours from start to finish. Not bad given there's no way to make an appointment before hand and Mondays are very busy days for the clinic, which is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Moving along.. Accra!
Accra was refreshing, but I'm glad I life in Ho. Accra is so much like any other large international city that you forget you're in Africa within the first 20 minutes of arriving. There are tons of Westerners and Asians about, fancy AIR CONDITIONED restaurants, stop lights, grocery stores, etc. I appreciate living in Ho where it's undoubtedly Africa 24/7, but also completely comfortable almost always.
The trip there was my first tro-tro ride. A tro-tro is like a minivan and is a big part of public transport in Ghana. They get you around larger cities like Accra and between all the other cities in the country. To catch one you go to the station in the center of town and following the men yelling "ACCRA!" Then you pay them $4.50 for a seat in the tro-tro- a small seat. You know when you see travel shows about Africa on National Geographic and there are forever those vans packed too full of people flying by in the background? That's a tro-tro.
Our first stop after dropping in Accra was a coffee shop to get a real cup of coffee (all coffee in Ho is instant) and fancy pastries. Then we checked in at the Salvation Army where we'd be staying all weekend. The accommodations were good- $6 a night gets you a room to share with 6 others and access to the bathroom, which includes a shower. The water was out the entire weekend so we could only take bucket showers and had to carry around bottled water for brushing teeth and washing hands, but bucket showers have a certain romantic woodsy appeal if you ask me.
Later we went out for drinks at a place called Venus and ran into some friends Julia has in Accra. We ended up tagging along with them to a spot to have some more drinks. This is when I realized that the expats that live in Accra see the expats that live in Ho as folk heroes. They want to hear about what happens when we run out of water at the house and how we handle not having access to fresh veggies and fruit (which is a myth- we have plenty of both). And, oh really? Almost no one in Ho has their own car!? You've been to a real-life village? I will admit a certain sense of pride during these exchanges. No, I may not live in a village, but at least I don't live in Accra.
Following that set of drinks we headed to an expat Karaoke bar and actually watched some Yevus sing "Don't Stop Believin'" in the middle of Ghana. Then we played pool with a bunch of cellphone workers from South Africa. All of it- bizarre.
The following day was the best. We went to the memorial for the first president of Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah (pronounced kroo-mah). The memorial includes some great architecture (see photos below), the mausoleum for both Nkrumah and his wife, a museum in his honor and a large garden. There are two things that make Nkrumah and this memorial so significant (Julia and I both got goosebumps during the tour). First, Ghana was the first independent Africa country. So the first president of Ghana is by definition the first president of any African country, EVER. Second, the memorial is built AT THE VERY SAME SITE used by Nkrumah to declare Ghana's independence. Meaning? Yes, I've stood at the exact location where the first independent Africa county to ever exist gained its independence. Now the photos.
Statue of Nkrumah pointing "always forward, never backward," at the location of his speech. Behind him is the mausoleum memorial. It is modeled to look like a tree that has started growing, but has yet to finish and grow into a full tree. This represents the need for further progress in Ghana, and Africa as a whole, after Nkrumah's initial help.
The gardens in the background and some more statues that represent traditional Africans supporting independence. There are 7 of these in the pool surrounding Nkrumah. Each represents a day used by God during creation.
His museum in the background and an older statue of him in the foreground. This statue stood at a different location in Accra until the 1970s when it was looted and broken during a military coup!
Finally, that night we made a trip to the casino. My first casino trip ever, but I have to document that we won big! We each put in $5 and Julie walked away with $10 while I managed $9. Almost double our profits and we made it entirely by betting on 3 and 33 at the roulette table. If you know me at all, you know much happy anything dealing with luck and the number 3 makes me.
That being said, the clinic in Ho (Healthy Life, it's called) is superb. Very clean, amazingly helpful and friendly staff, cheap as all hell and professional. I paid $4.50 for my appointment and another $4.00 to get tested for malaria and typhoid (just in case). Finally, an additional $20 for two injections, a regiment of pills and nutrient syrup designed to build up strength. The wait wasn't bad either- about three hours from start to finish. Not bad given there's no way to make an appointment before hand and Mondays are very busy days for the clinic, which is closed on Saturday and Sunday.
Moving along.. Accra!
Accra was refreshing, but I'm glad I life in Ho. Accra is so much like any other large international city that you forget you're in Africa within the first 20 minutes of arriving. There are tons of Westerners and Asians about, fancy AIR CONDITIONED restaurants, stop lights, grocery stores, etc. I appreciate living in Ho where it's undoubtedly Africa 24/7, but also completely comfortable almost always.
The trip there was my first tro-tro ride. A tro-tro is like a minivan and is a big part of public transport in Ghana. They get you around larger cities like Accra and between all the other cities in the country. To catch one you go to the station in the center of town and following the men yelling "ACCRA!" Then you pay them $4.50 for a seat in the tro-tro- a small seat. You know when you see travel shows about Africa on National Geographic and there are forever those vans packed too full of people flying by in the background? That's a tro-tro.
Our first stop after dropping in Accra was a coffee shop to get a real cup of coffee (all coffee in Ho is instant) and fancy pastries. Then we checked in at the Salvation Army where we'd be staying all weekend. The accommodations were good- $6 a night gets you a room to share with 6 others and access to the bathroom, which includes a shower. The water was out the entire weekend so we could only take bucket showers and had to carry around bottled water for brushing teeth and washing hands, but bucket showers have a certain romantic woodsy appeal if you ask me.
Later we went out for drinks at a place called Venus and ran into some friends Julia has in Accra. We ended up tagging along with them to a spot to have some more drinks. This is when I realized that the expats that live in Accra see the expats that live in Ho as folk heroes. They want to hear about what happens when we run out of water at the house and how we handle not having access to fresh veggies and fruit (which is a myth- we have plenty of both). And, oh really? Almost no one in Ho has their own car!? You've been to a real-life village? I will admit a certain sense of pride during these exchanges. No, I may not live in a village, but at least I don't live in Accra.
Following that set of drinks we headed to an expat Karaoke bar and actually watched some Yevus sing "Don't Stop Believin'" in the middle of Ghana. Then we played pool with a bunch of cellphone workers from South Africa. All of it- bizarre.
The following day was the best. We went to the memorial for the first president of Ghana: Kwame Nkrumah (pronounced kroo-mah). The memorial includes some great architecture (see photos below), the mausoleum for both Nkrumah and his wife, a museum in his honor and a large garden. There are two things that make Nkrumah and this memorial so significant (Julia and I both got goosebumps during the tour). First, Ghana was the first independent Africa country. So the first president of Ghana is by definition the first president of any African country, EVER. Second, the memorial is built AT THE VERY SAME SITE used by Nkrumah to declare Ghana's independence. Meaning? Yes, I've stood at the exact location where the first independent Africa county to ever exist gained its independence. Now the photos.
Statue of Nkrumah pointing "always forward, never backward," at the location of his speech. Behind him is the mausoleum memorial. It is modeled to look like a tree that has started growing, but has yet to finish and grow into a full tree. This represents the need for further progress in Ghana, and Africa as a whole, after Nkrumah's initial help.
The gardens in the background and some more statues that represent traditional Africans supporting independence. There are 7 of these in the pool surrounding Nkrumah. Each represents a day used by God during creation.
His museum in the background and an older statue of him in the foreground. This statue stood at a different location in Accra until the 1970s when it was looted and broken during a military coup!
Finally, that night we made a trip to the casino. My first casino trip ever, but I have to document that we won big! We each put in $5 and Julie walked away with $10 while I managed $9. Almost double our profits and we made it entirely by betting on 3 and 33 at the roulette table. If you know me at all, you know much happy anything dealing with luck and the number 3 makes me.
Thursday, October 9, 2008
Photos, Part 3
For my mother: the house dogs. Mango is at left and Yevu (because he's pale, like me) is at right.
Funeral in Ghana from the Resource Center. I know, it's a little odd that I took a photo of a funeral procession, but it's such a big deal in Ghana. They happen each Friday and take the form of a giant parade: marching band, color guard-esque rifle twirling, groups of singers, signs and everywhere people smiling and enjoying themselves.
Funeral in Ghana from the Resource Center. I know, it's a little odd that I took a photo of a funeral procession, but it's such a big deal in Ghana. They happen each Friday and take the form of a giant parade: marching band, color guard-esque rifle twirling, groups of singers, signs and everywhere people smiling and enjoying themselves.
Starting Work
I honestly didn't get much work done my first week here, but this week has been far more productive. I've been working with the microfinance project officers to QC the existing loan portfolio. It was a good exercise and we finally discovered why the loan portfolio balance wasn't matching the bank statements. From here I'll be working to redevelop the loan portfolio software and prepare information for end-of-the-year financial reports. The existing portfolio is well-developed, but difficult to manipulate has almost no built-in QC which made for some interesting discoveries when I went through all of the pre-existing entries.
Today we finally received the $10,000 loan promised by a supporter in the US. Given that our average loan is ~$150, image how much we can get out of $10,000, especially if we manage to secure the high margin of paybacks that we have now. Even conservatively that's a positive impact on at least 25 women and families.
Tomorrow Seth and I will head to a nearby village to make contact with a group of 10 women interested in securing loans. We'll go over screening forms, business assessments and a pre-loan standard of living assessment to measure the impact of our work. Seth will go through the process with 5 of the women and myself and a translator will go through it was the remaining 5. It should be an interesting, though frustrating, morning. Discussing business through a translator with a woman who has very little exposure to formal business. Seth is confident that we'll get it done in 30 minutes per participant, but I'm likewise confident that he'll end up finishing long before I do.
Oh well, we have to be done by noon to get the VEG car back to Ho for a trip to Accra. I'll spend the weekend there with friends from the organization. Accra is the capital of Ghana and I was only there for a few minutes when my flight arrived and still far too wide-eyed and shocked to see anything but the mass of people in the streets. This time I'll still be overwhelmed, but at least better prepared. I'll take pictures!
Today we finally received the $10,000 loan promised by a supporter in the US. Given that our average loan is ~$150, image how much we can get out of $10,000, especially if we manage to secure the high margin of paybacks that we have now. Even conservatively that's a positive impact on at least 25 women and families.
Tomorrow Seth and I will head to a nearby village to make contact with a group of 10 women interested in securing loans. We'll go over screening forms, business assessments and a pre-loan standard of living assessment to measure the impact of our work. Seth will go through the process with 5 of the women and myself and a translator will go through it was the remaining 5. It should be an interesting, though frustrating, morning. Discussing business through a translator with a woman who has very little exposure to formal business. Seth is confident that we'll get it done in 30 minutes per participant, but I'm likewise confident that he'll end up finishing long before I do.
Oh well, we have to be done by noon to get the VEG car back to Ho for a trip to Accra. I'll spend the weekend there with friends from the organization. Accra is the capital of Ghana and I was only there for a few minutes when my flight arrived and still far too wide-eyed and shocked to see anything but the mass of people in the streets. This time I'll still be overwhelmed, but at least better prepared. I'll take pictures!
A Dash of Reality
I met a man on the street outside the house a few days ago. I greeted him, as you always do in Ghana, and he promptly fell to the ground in front of me and started praying. Not in any remotely humorous way, but in a way that made it obvious that he was mentally unstable.
He was carrying a bowlful of cooked rice, covered in scars, missing most of his teeth but clearly in no immediate danger. Once he'd finished praying he got up and started talking to me in Ewe. I told him I didn't understand and he started just repeating "Help me. If you don't help me I die." I went back to telling him I couldn't understand him and making confused hand gestures- to which he responded with more of "Help me." Apparently my response wasn't good enough so he dropped again to his knees, this time putting his head on ground and crawling after me as I backed away. Then I apologized to him and went back to the house and he left.
Mind you, I didn't feel unsafe at any point. The man was clearly not dangerous. He never even tried to touch me except for near my ankles. There were tons of people about that would have intervened had he made me really uncomfortable. These same tons of people speak his language and had he really been in danger he would likely have gone to them for help.
It was just a moment of realizing that even though I'm here, and even though I'm completely comfortable in Ho and understand the standard of living it's still far removed from the standard for so many other people here- very close. It's better than locking myself in Accra and pretending to have an "authentic Ghanaian experience" and I'll see far more as I spend more time in the villages, but I'm still, undeniably, sheltered.
Speaking of villages- I did visit a village called Takla yesterday to sit in on English classes. Takla itself is a good village, nothing particularly different from my lovely safe Ho, but the road to Takla is marked by many smaller, less developed villages full of poorly clothed children and even more goats and chickens than here. Here it's much more fascinating to be a Yevu, even just taking the taxi through the villages with no stops the children would call to me in the car. I wave back but I can't help but feel at odds with the whole situation. I travel through the villages like a celebrity, and I keep telling myself I'm here to help. But who am I helping? The incredibly self-sufficient and capable residents of Ho, not these kids chasing my taxi through a village. Luckily, I didn't come into this with any sort of intention to be much of a valuable resource beyond being Excel savvy and having the ability to take 2 months off to be here. More than anything I want to learn about things I'd normally overlook from the US, and beleive me there is no shortage of learning even in my sheltered Ho!
He was carrying a bowlful of cooked rice, covered in scars, missing most of his teeth but clearly in no immediate danger. Once he'd finished praying he got up and started talking to me in Ewe. I told him I didn't understand and he started just repeating "Help me. If you don't help me I die." I went back to telling him I couldn't understand him and making confused hand gestures- to which he responded with more of "Help me." Apparently my response wasn't good enough so he dropped again to his knees, this time putting his head on ground and crawling after me as I backed away. Then I apologized to him and went back to the house and he left.
Mind you, I didn't feel unsafe at any point. The man was clearly not dangerous. He never even tried to touch me except for near my ankles. There were tons of people about that would have intervened had he made me really uncomfortable. These same tons of people speak his language and had he really been in danger he would likely have gone to them for help.
It was just a moment of realizing that even though I'm here, and even though I'm completely comfortable in Ho and understand the standard of living it's still far removed from the standard for so many other people here- very close. It's better than locking myself in Accra and pretending to have an "authentic Ghanaian experience" and I'll see far more as I spend more time in the villages, but I'm still, undeniably, sheltered.
Speaking of villages- I did visit a village called Takla yesterday to sit in on English classes. Takla itself is a good village, nothing particularly different from my lovely safe Ho, but the road to Takla is marked by many smaller, less developed villages full of poorly clothed children and even more goats and chickens than here. Here it's much more fascinating to be a Yevu, even just taking the taxi through the villages with no stops the children would call to me in the car. I wave back but I can't help but feel at odds with the whole situation. I travel through the villages like a celebrity, and I keep telling myself I'm here to help. But who am I helping? The incredibly self-sufficient and capable residents of Ho, not these kids chasing my taxi through a village. Luckily, I didn't come into this with any sort of intention to be much of a valuable resource beyond being Excel savvy and having the ability to take 2 months off to be here. More than anything I want to learn about things I'd normally overlook from the US, and beleive me there is no shortage of learning even in my sheltered Ho!
Friday, October 3, 2008
Photos, Part 2
Somebody (name beginning with a and ending with labama) once told me that she had no faith in my keeping my camera charged and empty of pictures. In response here is my SECOND post of photos- and my camera has plenty of space.
These are from the Lady Volta Resource Center- a community center run by VEG. As far as I can tell so far the focus is providing a place for pre-teens and teens to come with questions about sexual awareness, use computers, read books and play games. It also provides outreach focused on life skills and sexual health to women in the community at large- particularly young single mothers. Once I get a better handle on my work here I hope to use the center to host classes for the Youth Business Start-Up Competion.
I spend most afternoons here because the internet connection at the house doesn't work with Windows Vista but it works fine here and because I'm going to be working with some of the skills classes starting next week. Just so happens they are learning English next week. Right now I'm sitting in the welcome area greeting students as they arrive.
Here's the view from the front room:
And, one of our posters to better explain our mission. STIs are sexually transmitted infections- same as STD in the US.
These are from the Lady Volta Resource Center- a community center run by VEG. As far as I can tell so far the focus is providing a place for pre-teens and teens to come with questions about sexual awareness, use computers, read books and play games. It also provides outreach focused on life skills and sexual health to women in the community at large- particularly young single mothers. Once I get a better handle on my work here I hope to use the center to host classes for the Youth Business Start-Up Competion.
I spend most afternoons here because the internet connection at the house doesn't work with Windows Vista but it works fine here and because I'm going to be working with some of the skills classes starting next week. Just so happens they are learning English next week. Right now I'm sitting in the welcome area greeting students as they arrive.
Here's the view from the front room:
And, one of our posters to better explain our mission. STIs are sexually transmitted infections- same as STD in the US.
Thursday, October 2, 2008
The Bar vs. The Spot
In the US we go to the bar. In Ghana we go to the spot. I've visited two spots as of yet (good to know I've fallen in with a group with similar interests).
Other differences:
Like everything else, spots are outdoors.
There are not shots, but tots instead.
There are not cocktails but tots next to bottles of club soda and sprite instead.
There are not restrooms but uncovered, outdoor gravel pits (i.e. human litterboxes) instead. Particularly pleasant when raining. It made me decide very firmly to never be drunk in Ho. At least never drunk enough to fall backwards into the pit of rocks.
There ARE animals. Last night we spent an hour battling an overly-friendly baby chicken/duck. It yelped around our table jumping into our chairs and pecking at our feet until finally a local came and took him elsewhere. Not that he wasn't adorable...
Cigarettes are cheap- about $0.95/pack. PallMall too, nothing off the beaten path.
Drinks are cheap- less than $5 for three 21oz beers (I did not drink them all myself!).
Beer comes in large 2l oz bottles. There are five regional varieties- all of which apparently taste like BudLight which is a-okay by me. You can also order Guinness.
In order to get the attention of the waiter you hiss.
Don't get me wrong, I'm positively loving every second of it.
Other differences:
Like everything else, spots are outdoors.
There are not shots, but tots instead.
There are not cocktails but tots next to bottles of club soda and sprite instead.
There are not restrooms but uncovered, outdoor gravel pits (i.e. human litterboxes) instead. Particularly pleasant when raining. It made me decide very firmly to never be drunk in Ho. At least never drunk enough to fall backwards into the pit of rocks.
There ARE animals. Last night we spent an hour battling an overly-friendly baby chicken/duck. It yelped around our table jumping into our chairs and pecking at our feet until finally a local came and took him elsewhere. Not that he wasn't adorable...
Cigarettes are cheap- about $0.95/pack. PallMall too, nothing off the beaten path.
Drinks are cheap- less than $5 for three 21oz beers (I did not drink them all myself!).
Beer comes in large 2l oz bottles. There are five regional varieties- all of which apparently taste like BudLight which is a-okay by me. You can also order Guinness.
In order to get the attention of the waiter you hiss.
Don't get me wrong, I'm positively loving every second of it.
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