Ghana Odyssey Day 14

This will be short and you can imagine why - last day to cram in final shopping and visiting.  Rhoda got all dolled up and joined me for a return shopping trip to Trashy Bags.  German Mom and daughters shopping there too, before their return to Dresden, Germany, after 2 years in Ghana.  Husband is Director of Goethe Institute, one of Noah's alma maters.


Earlier this morning Reggie walked me to the tailor's house because at the last moment Auntie Mary has decided to have a dress made for me from very valuable Kente cloth.  It will me done today!
I have also included a depressing picture of the Muslim slums directly across the street from a giant mosque being constructed by the Turkish government.  Dilara and Pinar will have a reaction to that news!
We are headed next to the AFS Office to drop offs small gifts for the 5 wonderful AFS ladies.
Took some pics this morning that I hope will fill in some of the blanks of this brief report.  I look forward to connecting with you all in the next days after my LONG trip home.
Thank you for your short notes that gave me so much encouragement to keep journaling about this amazing experience.
Love, Jackie
Pics: Auntie Mary and Pastor, tailor and wife, the men of the family, Rashid doing the laundry,   shopping ladies, slums, Rhoda's new bag, Tony the gatekeeper and his gift to me, me back home wearing my new dress made of Kente cloth

Ghana Odyssey Day 13

Despite the unlucky number of this post (piffle!).  Today has been full of good fortune.  I wake to the sound of waves crashing on a white sands beach.  At breakfast I meet a wonderful young couple from Holland, Annika and Fred.  Annika is celebrating finishing her PhD dissertation and Fred is a Ghanian who left for the Netherlands at age 13.  They come to Ghana often to visit Fred's grandma.  We have a fascinating conversation about all things Ghana, what is terribly wrong and what is wonderfully right.

I get a taxi for the bus station and have the good fortune to have Jonathan as my driver in a safe, newer taxi (with seat belts).  I ask Jonathan about his life, and just as Fred was telling me earlier, Jonathan is an example of something wrong, not only in Ghana, but in the US as well.  

He is a university graduate in hydraulic engineering.  He is the youngest of 10 and his Dad died when he was 9.  Since graduating from the Polytechnic University, Jonathan has been searching for work.  The government is not hiring, unless you know someone.  In desperation he tried to join the Navy, but he could not afford the $1000 cedi ($500) bribe required to get in.  He is driving a taxi to make ends meet and to try to save for some sort of venture.  I tell him about micro loans, which he has never heard of.  We exchange email addresses and I tell him I will send him some links online.

He delivers me to the bus station and I climb in a newish Ford van for the trip to Accra.  With one seat left, Fred and Annika appear looking for a bus.  We say we shoul have shared a taxi!  I quickly relinquish my seat to someone else and wait with Fred and Annika for the next van to start to fill.  It is worth a 15 minute wait to have their company. Annika and I spend the whole drive talking about the Netherlands, family, marriage, etc.  We arrive in Accra and Fred clears the way for us amid the rush of hungry-for-business taxi drivers.  He gets me a good taxi for a fair price.  We exchange air kisses (European style) and I am on my way.  I HAVE to go to Global Mamas again.  Addiction.

Tori from Kentucky is working at GM's today and she tells me all about living in Ghana for a young American woman.  She loves it.  I buy more products.  She tells me about another shop, Trashy Bags, which makes purses and lots of other bag styles from discarded vinyl signs.  They are terrific.  She also tells me I can get wifi AND a cappuccino around the corner.  Score!

I am there now - excellent  cappo and the wifi is not at a snail's pace.  To think I was around the corner from here a few days ago.  The only problem with my shopping and coffee break is the traffic will be even worse ,for my long ride home.  Oh we'll, more than worth it.  Rhoda just call - "Auntie Jackie!  Where ARE YOU??"  Time to head "home."

Tomorrow is the last day.  I depart at 10:10 pm. Wish me a continuance of today's good luck that Delta will get me back to JFK on time!

Lucky Jackie

Ghana Odyssey Day 12

Reggie leaves me in Cape Coast, but not without a guilt trip and a long face.  I call Auntie Mary this morning to apprise her of my plans, but she is very distracted.  She had a long meeting yesterday and the result is that the government is moving her to a new school for her final year of work.  Age 60 is mandatory retirement age.  I cannot help but worry that her mild stroke and illness is behind this move from her very responsible post as Headmistress of Odorgonno School.

Reggie accompanies me to Global Mamas, and departs to the bus station.  Patience welcomes me and the young ladies in the workroom greet me warmly.  We are surrounded by stacks of beautiful hand-printed batik fabric.  I sit with Patience and tell her about our Humankind store and how we promote education and sales of fair trade products.  

I meet Laura from Minnesota (a graduate of University of Minnesota like our daughter-in-law, Libby).  Laura is a fashion designer who works on pattern and product development for Global Mamas.  She says GL gets lots of conflicting input from customers so it is often not very illuminating.  I also meet Jenna from Iowa who is a design intern.  I try on a dress Jenna has designed - it is size Small so hard to tell, but it is a nice shirtwaist design.  They are aware that longer lengths are preferable - some of their past models have too short for many customers.

Patience calls me to walk 1/4 mile to my batik class with Sister Mary.  Mary is an attractive 30-something.   Her workshop is a wooden shed housing her work tables, dyes, braziers for melting wax and heating water, and stacks of foam and wood design blocks.  Because of time, I may only work in one color.  I select a vibrant orange and two design blocks, both designed by Mary.  We get to work.

My sister has replied to one of my recent reports that our Mom, Mary Ellen, would have enjoyed being on this trip with me.  Her comment goes straight to my heart because it is precisely why, when given a choice of countries by AFS, I selected Ghana.  Mom dreamed of visiting Africa.  When we were young we remember her inviting these tall African young men, students at Oklahoma State University, to our rural home in Oklahoma for some holiday meal.  How exotic they were in still-segregated Oklahoma and how shy we all were!  Mom traveled a lot - especially to visit her far-flung family -but she never had the opportunity to go abroad.  This trip is for her.

Mary patiently walks me through the process of stamping my 2 yards of white muslin.  On a typical day, Mary prints and dyes 120 yards of fabric.  Once my fabric is printed, she mixes dye - it does not appear orange, it is a dark, dull green.  She assures me it will change!   Sure enough, as it processes, is rinsed and dried, it turns vibrant orange.

The neighbors have stopped in to gawk at me and visit.  Soon I return to GM's and choose some fabrics to buy ($3 per yd).  I buy 36 yds.  Though GM's is busy, they allow me to interview several people and I hope these interviews will inspire our volunteers and customers at Humankind.

My death trap taxi driver, Isaac, is waiting and hard bargaining ensues for the 30-minute trip to Brenu Beach Resort. He starts at 50 cedis and I hold out for 20 ( $10) with threats to call another taxi.  I pray all the way to Brenu because the taxi is full of fumes.  One of the windshield wipers flies off in mid -wipe. At Brenu I am shown to an ocean view casita, clean and comfortable.  $60 for the night and a favorite on Tripadvisor, though not fancy.   22-year-old Grace comes to prepare my room and asks me about my stunning stack of GM's fabrics.  Soon I am showing her my photos and videos of the day.  She is impressed.  Blessed iPad.

 Waiting for my late lunch of red-red (red stew of black-eyed peas), fried plantains and fish and eying a hammock on the beach.

Jackie, beached

PS (Reggie called to check upon me this evening.  His Mom was not at all upset with him for returning without me!)

Pics: batiking, Global Mamas, beach resort, hammock time, lunch of red-red, locals

Ghana Odyssey Day 11

This morning, after Reggie negotiated for a taxi driver for the day ($35 for 7 hours of driving and waiting), we head up to Kakumi National Park for the amazing canopy walk. 

There are only 4 canopy walks in the world, per our guide, Sister Doris (remember, they are not nuns, it is just a term of respect or affection).  Our canopy walk comprised of 7 long, narrow swinging bridges that linked from high tree to high tree.  Sister Doris told  us that we were 750 feet over the rainforest floor.  The particular among you can fact check on Wikipedia. I am just sayin'...

We become pals with Michael and Simon, two very tall Chinese guys.  Reggie tells them they were tall for Chinese, but they insist there are lots of tall people in China.  They are in Ghana working on solar.  We get on the topic of politics and Michael expresses satisfaction with the one party system in China.  He is surprised that I think China suppresses media and dissent, though he agrees they stifle the Internet and that he has enjoyed reading free press on the Internet while in Ghana.  Guess we have different ideas about free press!  Anyway, he says China is changing.  

Our patient taxi driver, Majeed, was waiting to take us next to Elmina Castle, one of the two infamous slave castles on the Cape Coast.  Elmina castle was built by the Portuguese in 1400 something for gold and spice trade.  The Dutch waged war on the Portuguese here in 1600 something and won.  The enterprising Dutch introduced the slave trade in a diversification strategy and were aided by African tribal kings who were glad to make extra cash and dump some enemies off the continent.  

This was a stunningly cruel institution, involving lots of rape, torture, in-humane conditions and murder.  The Dutch governor liked to select pretty women for his own horny pleasure and those that refused were severely punished.  Ironically, if the women got pregnant, they released them and welcomed the offspring back to the castle for education.  Do you hear my shudder?

  I was the only white person on the castle tour.  Our other tour members were all black Americans, one family from Sacramento.  They have a son who attended Cal-poly for a year.  Small world when you are in a dungeon.  Reggie wanted to go on to the Cape Castle, which is even larger. I said, "no, one slave castle is enough for me for a lifetime."

We took a little driving tour through the town of Cape Coast, and as usual this involved harrowing close calls with pedestrians and other taxis.  The towns here are just mini-versions of Accra, with congestion, crowding, litter and poverty.  There are lots of interesting things to see such as the women, young and old, wearing so many diverse and colorful dresses.  I love how you see a woman walking towards you with two little feet sticking out along each side of her waist.  As she passes by you see the baby tightly bundled against her back (can he even breathe?) in the fabric wrap she has expertly wrapped around herself.

Back at our University hostel (catering to visiting professors and students, seemingly all American or Austrailian) I confirm plans to take a batiking workshop tomorrow from Global Mamas and I book a room at a beach resort.  Reggie is very reluctantly leaving me tomorrow am, but he thinks his Mom is going to be very unhappy about it.  I look at it as a succession of taxi or bus rides which I know I can manage.  Wait for tommow's report to see how I make out!

Jackie on the loose

Ghana Odyssey Day 10

The church service Sunday morning was 3 hours as promised.  Ghanaians are very expressive and devoted Christians (unless they are Muslims).  Most taxis have Christian sayings painted on the back windows such as "Jesus is my Savior".  the service was mega-loud, very joyous and lots of dancing.  t.hey took a collection 3 times!  It was mostly in Twi and  Reggie translated into my ear. 

I had fun swaying to the music with an infant in my arms for a while.  I used the iPad to record some of the songs, much to their delight. Lots of people wanted me to take pictures of them in their Sunday clothes.

After church, we piled in a taxi for the bumpy ride home and by 2 pm we were headed for the bus station in yet another taxi.  We  ended up selecting a tro-tro that had air conditioning and a TV screen playing a loud Ghanaian soap opera.  Cost was 8 cedi or $4 each.  It was such a relief to finally pull free of the massive traffic congestion in Accra. 

 After an hour, the landscape began to become lush with plantain trees, palms, and corn planted among the rampant greenery.  The overcast skies opened up with showers.  It took about 3 hours to get to Cape Coast and I got just a glimpse of the ocean.  We are staying in a university guest house (converted dorms) recommended by AFS.  so far it is not what I had hoped for, but it will do.

Plan tomorrow is to visit the slave castles and go to Kakumi National Park.  Reggie, as my chaperone (no one here approves of me traveling solo), wants to cram as much as we can into two days, as he wants to get back to Accra.  If I feel comfortable staying another night on my own, I am going to stay longer and he can return without me.  I expect he will really try to talk me out of it!

Indie Jackie

Ghana Odyssey Days 8 and 9

Thursday's  5:30 am devotional was on the beheading of John the Baptist.  Great way to start the day.

 I have called my shopping pal Essie and we will shop at the Crafts Market today.  In the meantime, I decide to wash out a few clothing items and hang them on the line.  This is apparently some sort of cosmic challenge, because within 20 minutes a torrential downpour begins.

The shopping expedition is like so many bazaars around the world - multiple  high pressure salesmen vie for my attention, so much so that I cannot concentrate on the wares at all.  If it were not for Essie I would have bought nothing.  As it is, I did not buy much as the environment had me sweating, and it was cool there!  I want go back to Global Mamas where I can  shop in peace!  I have not learned how to tune it all out as the Ghanaians do.

Last night I could hardly sleep, even with earplugs.  A nearby church has service lasting 5 hours and ending at 4:30 am.  My host family went to a similar service at their church and then returned and men spoke loudly out in the living room.  I now understand culture shock!

I suddenly have great empathy for our arriving exchange students who are confronted with vastly different foods,  routines and customs.  The family members here rarely sleep 8 hours.  They get by on short naps and then they go back to their hard work with so many fewer appliances and without hot running water.  Rhoda uses an electric skillet to cook and yet sweeps the floor with a short broom made of tied twigs.

Friday:  Plans change. I had been invited to do fabric printing at the workshop at Kwame's home (AFS Director) but got a text message that the power is out.  Reginald raises his eyebrows and says "He's a Ghanaian, right?" Meaning maybe, maybe, not.  Scouting around for something to do, Rhoda mentions she is going to the market for food.  I join her gladly and as we walk through the compound to the front gate, we stroll through the big kitchen patio and I am warmly greeted by the sister cooks.  They show me each of the dishes they are preparing, including a mountain of bread dough.  They will feed 740 today.  They are such cheerful, friendly sisters, I no longer care about the earlier plan.

I get my first tro-tro ride to the market (trow-trow) - remember the vans I described earlier as death-trap..  Maybe that was dramatic effect - this tro- tro is fine.    While we wait for it to arrive, a parade of a sign waving, folks come marching toward us with their musicians leading the singing.  They are a church revival group and I get a little video shot of the procession.  Everyone enjoys my filming and a few stop for still photos.

Almost everyone here enjoys seeing their pictures, so the iPad mini is really a great tool and conversation starter.  People often ask me to take their pictures.  On to the market, which is better described in the photos below.  I buy some live blue crabs which Rhoda later makes into my first fou-fou, an essential Ghanaian dish.

 Fou-fou is a slightly fermented, rubbery paste made of cassava root and . It is served in an oval shape about the size do a bread bun.  The soup you dip it into with your fingers can be made of many different ingredients.  The one I am served is a soup of ground palm nuts and has the whole crabs ( you eat them shell and all) and a small smoked salmon.  It feels so weird for this left-hander to dip right hand fingers in the soup to feed myself.  A bowl of clean water stands nearby.  It is bad form to use the left hand for eating, waving, etc. in Ghana.

I stave off afternoon boredom by paying another visit to the kitchen cooks.  The welcome me vivaciously and I while away an hour watching them light the big oven for bread baking, wash millet for tomorrow's breakfast and talking about life in the US.  I am always assuring people we are not all rich.  They are flabbergasted to hear we have people who live under bridges or who don't have enough to eat.

Tomorrow I join the family for their 3 hour Sunday service.  Depart for Cape Coast with my chaperone, Reginald tomorrow afternoon.

Right hand novice, Jackie
Pics: Rhoda, rice dish cooking, revival parade, mom/ baby @ mkt, blue crabs, fou-fou, millet washing

Ghana Odyssey Day 7

I walk Giftie to school and hear the hundreds of younger students recite the national pledge of Allegiance and visit Giftie's first grade class.  With the teacher present, the kids are shy (the fact that some teachers carry canes and are very stern may explain this).   An unattended class nearly riots when I stop in and say hello.  I peer around guiltily to see if a teacher is going to show up unhappy and waving her cane.

 Rosie from the AFS office arrives by taxi to take me into central Accra for the day.  Actually, I have no idea where anything is in Accra, a most jumbled up and chaotic city if you are in a moving vehicle.  Taxis play a constant game of "chicken" in an effort to make forward progress.  They take detours that only make sense because the goal is to avoid gridlock, even if it means driving you twice as far.

The AFS Office was a beehive of activity, with newly arrived students being tutored in basic Twi (a Ghanian language) and local young volunteers manning all the computer and smart phones, enjoying the wifi.  I join the group for lunch at a nearby restaurant that caters to AFS  and have a delicious lunch of a small whole fish, rice and veggies. 

 Essie, a young returnee from a year in Vancouver, Washington,  graciously agrees to accompany me on a shopping expedition and I finally got to visit Global Mama's flagship store.  It was nice but there was no leadership person to speak with.  Essie and I were impressed by the various bags and products made out of reused water bags.  These water bags are a scourge to the planet.  It is an uber-cheap way to package 12 ounces of water in a flimsy plastic bag, but then they are tossed aside and clog up the waterways, streets, etc.  The  litter problem here is appalling.  I consider taking some pics of it, but honestly, I don't have heart to send  home evidence of it.  Such aspects of Accra would turn off most everyone, but then they would miss the amazing hospitality and friendliness of the Ghanaian people.  

I reward Essie with a stop for frozen yogurt at an upscale mini mall.  Frozen yogurt is definitely not the food of most Ghanaians.  This girl has friends wherever we go.  I see why her Vancouver high school elected her Prom Queen.

Towards dusk Rosie attempts to introduce me to a ride on a tro-tro, which is the Ghana form of local transportation.  All are packed. These privately owned death traps are various types of vans which cram in as many riders as allowed and are cheap and somewhat effective.  It is form of mass transit but does not seem to make a dent in the severe congestion problem.  We walk instead to the central station and I take a LONG bumpy taxi ride home.

I want to see more than Accra and I am working on a plan to go to Cape Coast.  The limiting factor is that everyone insists I must have an escort and so my natural tendency to pack up and go must be restrained.  

Litter-hating Jackie

(Pics: kid riot, lunch w AFS Students, shopping w Essie, water bags bag, dress shopping)

Ghana Odyssey Day 6

Travel stress, cold and an uneasy relationship with my first Ghanian foods seem to conspire against me and I slept until noon today feeling really under the weather.

Drugs from home (thank you, Ben, for making sure they were packed) restored me more or less.  I spend a long time conversing with Rhoda and sipping tea.  Little Gifty skips in from school and is soon on my lap exploring the pictures in the IPad.  Older brother Reginald takes on the task of getting a SIM card for my iPhone,  but it won't work without spending $100 and a long trip.  He offers me the use of one of his phones and then drills me repeatedly to make sure I have memorized the number.  0241979798.  He does surprise inspections to make sure I really have it down.  This seems consistent with the Ghanian value of education and hard work.  No excuses.

Gifty is persuaded to give a tour of the large school grounds which surround my new home.  Reginald comes along and points out the dormitories and many buildings.  As we walk along we hear the voices of kids loudly chanting or singing and Reginald explains they are praying (more on prayer later).  Wow, never heard kids pray like that!  We visit the Administration building looking for Auntie Mary, but she is not there.  Gifty and I meet Sister Beatrice and she is a beautiful young woman with stylishly braided hair, each braid ending with a bead.

Reginald and Gifty show me the huge dining hall that can seat 2000 children.  The cooks have already prepared the evening meal.  Big heavy pots of the hot rice dish are lined up on a wall of shelves, waiting to be served family style.  We walk into the open kitchen area, a large patio with outdoor cooking stoves/grills.  There is a bin of masa filled corn husks - like tamales without a meat filling - and an iron pot is stewing herbs for medicine (malaria treatment).  The women cooks are embroiled in a noisy argument that reaches a crescendo while we are there.  Reginald takes my iPad and snaps some pictures and that completely breaks up the fight.  I then become an object of interest.

Auntie Mary has spent most of the day in consultation with doctors because a few days ago she had a mild stroke.  It is apparent in her slurred speech and affect and so of course everyone is very, very concerned.  The ailments of our society, like diabetes, are also a big problem in Ghana.  It does not help that the typical Ghanian diet is heavy on oil, meat and starches.  Late this evening, Auntie Mary's friend, Sister Irene, takes me grocery shopping with her and Rhoda because she is determined to convince my family here to adopt a healthy diet.  I am getting my story out of order here but I want to tell you that the price of fresh fruit and many veggies is shocking.  A basket of strawberries is $12!  Lemons are pricy and look like they have leprosy.  Local produce like watermelons are very cheap, but a bunch of celery is $4!

During her  2 hour visit with Auntie Mary, Sister Irene decides that diet alone is not enough so she and Auntie Mary begin to sing some songs, which Reginald tells me are prayers.  Then Sister Irene begins to pray forcefully over Auntie Mary, telling the devil to get out and submit to the power of Jesus Christ.  Reginald and Rhoda add in "Amens".  I am listening closely and I think Sister Irene is making a fairly good theological argument with Satan.   Auntie Mary's husband is a Pastor of the African Pentecost Church,so this family takes prayer very seriously.

I am invited to join the family devotions tomorrow at 5 am and daily thereafter.     

This is going to be an experience!

My final remarks will be on the topic of titles.  Since I have arrived I have become Auntie Jackie, Sister Jackie and Mommy Jackie. No person younger than me will refer to me any other way.  I am learning to call everyone I meet Sister or Brother, or I wait and see what others say.  Trust me, you cannot help  but be charmed when a handsome young man calls you Mommy!

Auntie Sister Mommy Jackie

(Pics: me & Gifty, medicine pot, school kids, cook & me, masa to be cooked, pots of hot food)