I have said this to everybody that has asked: “Ghana is
different than America.” I expected it to be different, but I could have never
imagined how it really is.
Because of a badly timed nap, I missed getting on the same
flight as the rest of the crew. I paid more for my ticket, but I only had one
layover; they had three. The trip from JFK to Accra was about ten hours long,
but it felt twice as long because my travel buddy stole my window seat and the
guy in front of me leaned back in his seat. I didn’t catch my first glimpse of
Africa until we were starting to descend: it was cloudy, and one could only get
periodic glances between billows.
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| Outside Abomosu |
You could feel the humidity right as you got off the plane.
Immigration and customs were incredibly less official than they were when I
traveled to Chile and Peru: my bags didn’t even get opened! But they did take
everybody’s fingerprints. We were picked up by Master Fufu, the adoptive son of
Stephen Abu, Sr., who we are staying with. Master Fufu (I don’t actually
remember his real name) works for Stephen Abu, Jr., who owns a tour company in
Ghana. Fufu drove us to Jr.’s office, where we spent several days before we
travelled inland.
Accra was what I had prepared myself for. It reminded me of
Peru: there were street vendors down every street in town, taxis honked every
time they drove by, and the shops and restaurants were informal except if you
went to the nicer places and paid more. We originally were only going to spend
one day in Accra before we left, but because Stephen, Sr. was speaking at a
mission conference near Accra, we stayed for three nights so we could meet
Stephen and bring him back with us.
I went crazy in Accra. We slept much to catch up with our
lack of sleep on the plane and to adjust to the time change. Otherwise, we
stayed in Stephen, Jr.’s office, which Allan pointed out was more like a
compound. We were walled in on every side, and razor wire lined the tops of the
walls. A security guard was present every day and every night as well, and, at
night, the office was boarded shut. We did not have much to do, so we just
chilled in the office most of the day. We had Wi-Fi, which was heaven sent, but
to stay sane, we would go out to eat and occasionally stroll to the mall.
We met Douglas at the office, who is the main coordinator
for the SEED program. He lives in Akwadum, a small village outside of Abomosu,
where we are working. He trekked out to Accra to meet us and to do some
business. Beverly and I went with Douglas to purchase a printer, which actually
took most of one day, and we got to see other parts of Accra from a taxi
window. We discovered that the office is in a nicer part of Accra; everywhere
we went, the city seemed to get dirtier and poorer. Seeing the difference made
me grateful to be where we were.
We landed on Tuesday, and Friday we left for Abomosu. One of
Stephen, Jr.’s drivers took us. We picked up Stephen, Sr. along the way and
traveled the long, bumpy road to our destination.
Bumpy is an understatement. The road had more potholes than
people in Ghana, and it would switch from paved to dirt, paved to dirt. There
are no lines painted on the road; nobody would follow them. Cars and buses
weaved in and out of traffic, passing each other and avoiding the especially
deep holes. I was crammed into the back seat next to the luggage, so I tried to
sleep for most of the journey. When I wasn’t sleeping, I played with my new
camera to figure out all the settings. I couldn’t hear much of the
conversation, so I watched the palms and ivy pass by covered with the dust of
each passing vehicle.
I am grateful for those things now, but I was not ready for
life in Abomosu. Walking around the city and being an eyewitness to the
lifestyle was eye opening. I share a bedroom with Allan, who left his wife in
the States. Our bedroom only had two beds and a small desk, and I definitely
was expecting at least a closet rod to hand my white shirts. My was so
uncomfortable, causing me back pains and lost sleep, but how do you say that to
somebody who is just happy to have a mattress?
Luckily, I had a quick adjustment to the culture, and I
found that if I flipped my mattress, it was much more supportive and
comfortable. We did not start working right away. We had Saturday all to our
selves, and Sunday we attended the branch here. The chapel is a 30-minute walk
away, but the missionary couple that lives a few doors down from Stephen gave
us a ride that morning. Stephen is the branch president for Abomosu, so he
asked us to introduce ourselves and, because he found out we were all musically
inclined, to perform a musical number (they never have musical numbers). I
played the organ, meaning I played the keyboard with the organ setting as long
as the electricity stayed on. Most of the time, the people spoke in Twi, the
native tongue, so we couldn’t catch what points were made, although we did know
the jist.
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| Sunset from Stephen's house |
The foods here are not various. We have already had every
meal at least twice, and it hasn’t been a week. For breakfast, it is porridge,
eggs, and toast or Milo (a chocolate energy drink) and toast. Otherwise, it is
red red (plantains and beans), curry and rice, ramen casserole, or jeloff (rice
stuff). We had peanut soup with rice balls and chicken once (meat is a rarity),
and we hardly have veggies. Fruit is abundant, though. Pawpaws (papayas) are in
season, and oranges are starting to be. The oranges have a thick rind, and are
actually green. We have had blood oranges too, but they weren’t sweet yet.
Stephen says the oranges will just get sweeter as the season develops, and we
will have a taste of pineapple before we leave.
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| Mosque in Asunafo |
We walked back to Abomosu, which took about an hour. After
lunch, we walked to Asunafo to meet more recipients. The recipients all report
to the loan collector, and the collectors have introduced us to the recipients.
Douglas and the collectors have been our connection to the ways of Ghana,
taking us through the culture and helping us communicate with the people. The
collector in Asunafo is the branch president for the city, so we also have a
religious connection with some of the people.
Monday was a long day, but Tuesday was even longer. We
taxied to Nkurakan (pronounced N-cra-kain) to have a meeting with the people
there. We met in a shack-like Pentecostal church, where we sat in front of the
residents and answered any questions they have. The program is familiar to most
people, because the project started two years ago. Beverly and Allan will teach
the classes there, but Garrett and I have to travel through Nkurakan to get to
the village where we will teach, Amonom.
After our meeting there, we rushed to Amonom for another
meeting. We met with the Elders of the village, who were slightly skeptical of
our program at first, but soon welcomed us. The meeting here felt more formal
than the previous meeting, but it was run similarly. After we introduced
ourselves, the Elders introduced themselves, and Douglas spoke to the
congregation, in Twi, about our program. After, the floor was opened for
questions, and we arranged class times. The meeting was adjourned, and we
trekked farther down the road to Akokom for more collections and to meet more
people.
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| Asunafo |
Most of the people we met in Akokom had already paid off
their loan and will be attending the second time funding class. Beverly and
Alan will run those classes, and Garrett and I will host another city for
second time funding. The people were especially nice here, and the collector,
Issac, gave us some sugar cane to try. It was so delicious! He shaved the cane
right in front of us, hacked off a piece with his machete, and gave it to us to
suck on. You don’t eat sugar cane; you just chew and savor the sweet juice that
comes out, then spit out the rest. After the juice is sucked out, it feels like
you are chewing on wood, but it never has a bad flavor. He gave us the shaft of
sugar cane so we can finish it later.
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| Ama, a loan recipient from Akakom |
We were late for lunch (when we are late, the food just sits
on our little table until we arrive to eat). Our break time was cut short when
David, the collector for Sankubenase (pronounced San-cu-ben-a-si) knocked on
our door to have us go with him. We taxied to the closest town to Abomosu to
meet the Sankubenase recipients. Most of them were new, because they just had
classes this last summer. Also, Sankubenase has a chapel, but those are the only
three in the area (Abomosu, Asunafo, and Sankubenase).
There are only a few things I really don’t like so far.
First, everywhere we go, we hear, “Obroni, Obroni,” which means white man. The
children call out to us because white men mean free things. We cannot go
outside with out hearing it over and over and over. We are here, partly, to
change that mindset of free things. We want to encourage work and
self-sufficiency, not handouts and reliance on foreigners. The other thing I
hate is the shower. The water is freaking cold, there is no pressure, and it is
not relaxing one bit. The shower is a hand-held fixture, so I quickly get wet,
turn off the water, wash up, quickly rinse off, and I am finished with in three
minutes. At home, the shower is a sanctuary, but now, its just a dreaded
ritual. I will admit, the times when I am hot and sweaty make the cold shower
fine.
I am starting to love it though. It is coming slowly, but
the more that I work, the more I get excited and feel dedicated to the program.
I keep thinking of the end: it will be snowy and freezing when I get back! And
it seems so far away! But I will put my head down and keep trucking!
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| Issac (middle) and children from Akokom |
1 comment:
They had Milo in Peru too!
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