Greetings to all!
There's so much to write this week. I'm back from the site visit and this post is a rough sketch, an opening, or at least a stab at describing a really big week in the life of a pc trainee and what will be my home for the next two years.
Before leaving for Kakum and Cape Coast last week, I discovered that another trainee from the ecotourism/biz group was going to work with the same NGO that operates the park. Sara's site is only 20 miles as the crow flies from my site, but by road it's more like 2 hours. She's at least 1 hour by bush road from me (there are only two kinds of roads here--bush roads aren't paved, paved roads are only slightly better). So, Sara is from Alaska and lived in Indy for 2 years, even worked at Chelsea's in B'ripple for awhile--so rather sweet connection there and no doubt she'll be my new best friend. We travelled with our three male counterparts--Michael, Francis and Bismark (the boys) to Cape Coast last Thursday. The trip via a Mercedes Benz 16-seater bus (called tro-tros here) took 8 1/2 hours and that's lot of joustling, dirt, dust and fumes. In Ghana there is no such thing as Air Quality Controls, EPA, or really many rules, besides the almighty dollar. So when I think of travelling, or much of anything here, I think of odors--sewage and exhaust. The absence of either is notable!
Back to Cape Coast, the "boys" provided lodging at the NGO's guest house. It was perfectly comfortable with clean beds and running water from 9 am to 2 pm. On Friday we visited Kakum and walked the famous walkways--7 in all, strung between 9 trees and stretching up and over the rainforest for 350 meters (oh, yeah now I'm thinking in meters and centimers, but not centigrade!). After quick introductions and lunch in the park's cafe we wisked away to Sara's village, which does not have electricity. I felt really bad looking at her kerosene lamp.... Her job is to assist the community's traditional bamboo orchestra--cool, but "orchestra" might be stretching it a bit. Africa is all about hyperbole.
Sat and Sun I spent at the park, 8-5ish. Mostly I observed people--some employees, but really the visitors--schools groups, ghanains and non-ghanains tourists. The park is a one-trick pony and part of my "job" is to expand that horizon, hmmmm???
The park is in the rainforest and the humidity is intense, in fact it reminds me of August in Indpls, where I always wanted to escape. Of course due to the rain, the forest is a verdant, impenetrable tangel of bromeliads, orchids, bamboos and trees (teak and ebony). The biodiversity is overwhelming--butterflies, birds, plants, etc. I have much to learn.
Already, I see 100 things in the park that need attention--lots of little things, like trash cans, broken picnic tables, etc., but I'm there to operate more like a consultant than a do-girl. I'm to focus on building human capacity in and around the park, including my "home" community.
Ok, now as per usual, I'm in the internet cafe with another hour of thoughts and the clock is ticking. For the record this cafe charges 12000.00 per hour, which is about $1.20 per hour/US. $ is not the issue, I seem to have plenty, but the frustration of bad keyboards and molasses slow speeds is tiring. In addition, the hour ride here and back means that I must allow for enough time to get home by dark. Trainees have a curfew here, really it is for our own safety--women aren't safe here at night. No problem, I got it!!
Again, back to the story at hand, my house looks great. It is 1 kilometer south of the park in Abrafo, which is a community of about 100 people and many of those work at the park as guides, etc. My house is a rectangle, roughly 40 x 20, masonary bungalow. I have 3 bedrooms, a "hall," there equivalent to a living room, a kitchen , a shower room and a toilet room. I couldn't stay at the house because the toilet wasn't installed, but it should be done when I return in December. The house appears to have electricity, although it wasn't working. The house doesn't have running water, but a good borehole pump is about 100 meters away from the house and I'll probably hire young children to carry water on their heads to my house (that is how it is done here, I'm not kidding!!). The house is painted mostly light yellow with some very, very hot pink hallways. It really is OK.
Besides working in the park, the villagers also farm, which means subsistence farming here. There raise enough food to feed themselves and sell the excess in town. The rainforest has been the biggest casuality of farming demands here; it is being cleared not only for farming, but also for the lumber. Clearcutting should be an international crime!! But, I digress.... Kakum and my little village is only about 39 kilometers from the big touristy town of Cape Coast, which boasts several universities, a slave castle, fabulous remnant european architecture and really fast internet cafes. While there I also found a neat women's coop that serves great food and sells great batiks, textiles and clothing (www.globalmomas.org). So, Cape Coast will be my sanity.
Ok, I'm running out of steam, so here are some of my random tidbits. Ghana doesnt' have Walmarts, or other dept stores, but they have endless open air markets where everyone sells mostly the same goods--cheap crap from China, besides the farm goods. Well-mde goods do not exist here and everything has a million uses or reuseses--nothing is wasted. I laughed out loud this week when I zealously snatched a used hacksaw blade from the road--one never knows, but I do wonder what weird things I'll collect in the next two years.
Yes, everyone carries everything on their heads here, or at least the women and small children carry buckets of h20, grain, etc. Fruit is unbelievable here--fresh bananas and oranges, sweeter than anythere.
And finally, Ghanains can not pronoun Xs, so I'm now called Dizzy, better yet, Sister Dizzy. What can I do but laugh??
Well, that's my story this week. Know that I carry all your lovely hearts with me and in all the faces I find, I search for your sweet smiles. Miss you!!
Always healing energy to Grandma B and Jen.
Sweet packages and cards. Sorry I'm so slow to respond, not because I don't care. M & B thank you for the lovely refrigerator art and goodies; M & J, likewise, but x-mas in the bush?? And Mom and Pop, thanks for all. If anyone is within listening distance of Amy Beckart, please tell her that nothing she could say would ever bore me, ever!!
xoxoxo...d
ps. bird stories soon, I've up to about 100
There's so much to write this week. I'm back from the site visit and this post is a rough sketch, an opening, or at least a stab at describing a really big week in the life of a pc trainee and what will be my home for the next two years.
Before leaving for Kakum and Cape Coast last week, I discovered that another trainee from the ecotourism/biz group was going to work with the same NGO that operates the park. Sara's site is only 20 miles as the crow flies from my site, but by road it's more like 2 hours. She's at least 1 hour by bush road from me (there are only two kinds of roads here--bush roads aren't paved, paved roads are only slightly better). So, Sara is from Alaska and lived in Indy for 2 years, even worked at Chelsea's in B'ripple for awhile--so rather sweet connection there and no doubt she'll be my new best friend. We travelled with our three male counterparts--Michael, Francis and Bismark (the boys) to Cape Coast last Thursday. The trip via a Mercedes Benz 16-seater bus (called tro-tros here) took 8 1/2 hours and that's lot of joustling, dirt, dust and fumes. In Ghana there is no such thing as Air Quality Controls, EPA, or really many rules, besides the almighty dollar. So when I think of travelling, or much of anything here, I think of odors--sewage and exhaust. The absence of either is notable!
Back to Cape Coast, the "boys" provided lodging at the NGO's guest house. It was perfectly comfortable with clean beds and running water from 9 am to 2 pm. On Friday we visited Kakum and walked the famous walkways--7 in all, strung between 9 trees and stretching up and over the rainforest for 350 meters (oh, yeah now I'm thinking in meters and centimers, but not centigrade!). After quick introductions and lunch in the park's cafe we wisked away to Sara's village, which does not have electricity. I felt really bad looking at her kerosene lamp.... Her job is to assist the community's traditional bamboo orchestra--cool, but "orchestra" might be stretching it a bit. Africa is all about hyperbole.
Sat and Sun I spent at the park, 8-5ish. Mostly I observed people--some employees, but really the visitors--schools groups, ghanains and non-ghanains tourists. The park is a one-trick pony and part of my "job" is to expand that horizon, hmmmm???
The park is in the rainforest and the humidity is intense, in fact it reminds me of August in Indpls, where I always wanted to escape. Of course due to the rain, the forest is a verdant, impenetrable tangel of bromeliads, orchids, bamboos and trees (teak and ebony). The biodiversity is overwhelming--butterflies, birds, plants, etc. I have much to learn.
Already, I see 100 things in the park that need attention--lots of little things, like trash cans, broken picnic tables, etc., but I'm there to operate more like a consultant than a do-girl. I'm to focus on building human capacity in and around the park, including my "home" community.
Ok, now as per usual, I'm in the internet cafe with another hour of thoughts and the clock is ticking. For the record this cafe charges 12000.00 per hour, which is about $1.20 per hour/US. $ is not the issue, I seem to have plenty, but the frustration of bad keyboards and molasses slow speeds is tiring. In addition, the hour ride here and back means that I must allow for enough time to get home by dark. Trainees have a curfew here, really it is for our own safety--women aren't safe here at night. No problem, I got it!!
Again, back to the story at hand, my house looks great. It is 1 kilometer south of the park in Abrafo, which is a community of about 100 people and many of those work at the park as guides, etc. My house is a rectangle, roughly 40 x 20, masonary bungalow. I have 3 bedrooms, a "hall," there equivalent to a living room, a kitchen , a shower room and a toilet room. I couldn't stay at the house because the toilet wasn't installed, but it should be done when I return in December. The house appears to have electricity, although it wasn't working. The house doesn't have running water, but a good borehole pump is about 100 meters away from the house and I'll probably hire young children to carry water on their heads to my house (that is how it is done here, I'm not kidding!!). The house is painted mostly light yellow with some very, very hot pink hallways. It really is OK.
Besides working in the park, the villagers also farm, which means subsistence farming here. There raise enough food to feed themselves and sell the excess in town. The rainforest has been the biggest casuality of farming demands here; it is being cleared not only for farming, but also for the lumber. Clearcutting should be an international crime!! But, I digress.... Kakum and my little village is only about 39 kilometers from the big touristy town of Cape Coast, which boasts several universities, a slave castle, fabulous remnant european architecture and really fast internet cafes. While there I also found a neat women's coop that serves great food and sells great batiks, textiles and clothing (www.globalmomas.org). So, Cape Coast will be my sanity.
Ok, I'm running out of steam, so here are some of my random tidbits. Ghana doesnt' have Walmarts, or other dept stores, but they have endless open air markets where everyone sells mostly the same goods--cheap crap from China, besides the farm goods. Well-mde goods do not exist here and everything has a million uses or reuseses--nothing is wasted. I laughed out loud this week when I zealously snatched a used hacksaw blade from the road--one never knows, but I do wonder what weird things I'll collect in the next two years.
Yes, everyone carries everything on their heads here, or at least the women and small children carry buckets of h20, grain, etc. Fruit is unbelievable here--fresh bananas and oranges, sweeter than anythere.
And finally, Ghanains can not pronoun Xs, so I'm now called Dizzy, better yet, Sister Dizzy. What can I do but laugh??
Well, that's my story this week. Know that I carry all your lovely hearts with me and in all the faces I find, I search for your sweet smiles. Miss you!!
Always healing energy to Grandma B and Jen.
Sweet packages and cards. Sorry I'm so slow to respond, not because I don't care. M & B thank you for the lovely refrigerator art and goodies; M & J, likewise, but x-mas in the bush?? And Mom and Pop, thanks for all. If anyone is within listening distance of Amy Beckart, please tell her that nothing she could say would ever bore me, ever!!
xoxoxo...d
ps. bird stories soon, I've up to about 100
posted by Dixie | 8:00 AM
2 Comments:
Dix: Amy is hearing you loud and clear, and bugs me to pieces to check this blog every day and print out the latest posts for her. She (and I) miss you soooo much and are so proud of you and can't believe you're sooo far away. This past weekend we watched the PBS "Global Treker" who did a one hour documentary on Ghana so we can begin to understand your surroundings, and amy's gotten all these ghanian books to read to live vicariously thru your experiences. We love and Miss you
Cindy & Amy
Sister Dizzy!! That's hilarious! Don't remember if I told you but I got my assignment: Uganda, leaving early March and doign Water Treatment. I'm excited and i've already met through Yahoo Groups some who will be going there w/ me. Grandma B was sick and in the hospital a month ago. She doesn't look the same. She is very distant and hard to understand. The doctor believes she has +/- 6 mos left w/ us. She will be visited by hospice from now on 2x a week. It's sad but it is a relief as well. I think Grandpa is anxious to be with her again :)
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