Email Number 3
Accra, Ghana
June 13, 2006
Dear All and Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!!
We wish we could tell you that the weather is cooling, but alas, we can only tell you that it seems to get hotter and hotter by the day. Even though we are in the rainy season, it is still pretty hot. And when it rains here, it pours; the streets flood, the power goes off, and it can be so loud that we have to shout at each other even though we may be lying in bed right next to each other. Our road to walk to work is a sea of mud.
We are getting along quite well here despite the heat and humidity. We live in the community rather than in an area with other “Obruni’s” – white people. Since we are nearly on the equator here in Accra, the days are pretty much split between 12 hours of light and 12 of dark, so we rise early and go to bed early. Now that we have lived and worked in East Africa and Southern Africa, we think that West Africa may be the friendliest, and the Ghanaians are particularly friendly – lots of smiles, help, courteous, and so on. We feel extremely safe here in Accra and Ghana, and very comfortable living where we do. It is basically a light industrial area with lots of factories and consequently lots of small shops and roadside stands. There are also some fancier residential areas around, but we live just off the main road with only a couple of other houses nearby. We can usually buy whatever we need from a roadside peddler or small shop, or someone walking by carrying something on their head. This is an interesting thing, Here, and elsewhere in Africa, it is women who carry most of the things on their head. However, we did see both men and women carrying sewing machines on their head which they use to mend things for people along the way. Street commerce is a great thing. Also, men sell some things which women don’t such as peddling ice cream from a wheeled cart, or pushing heavy loads on a large wagon. It is very nice here we are enjoying ourselves very much.
Peter just had some African shirts made from material he bought from a women’s AIDS group that is located just across the road from the office. Now he has shirts from Uganda, Thailand, India, and now Ghana. Hinda also had a couple of dresses made and we also had a table cloth made. It is good to support the local aid groups here and elsewhere. The 4 shirts, 2 dresses and a tablecloth including material and sewing cost $50.
We also had haircuts here the other day for about $8 each and they are really good, although there is not much hair to cut on Peter anymore.
At work we have developed a number of materials which we will be using for training beginning next week with a staff training here in the main office and then some trainings in 3 of the outlying offices. Also, we are doing a lot of mentoring regarding report writing and grant writing. We are proud to say that after many months of problems, in the 3 weeks or so we have been here, we were able to get Pro-Link’s web site revised by getting someone to teach the IT guy how to get to the right place on the internet to do whatever you do to update a web site. Not much in one sense, but a major accomplishment from another perspective.
If any of you are following the World Cup, you know that Ghana is one of the contenders, (and so is the USA – so we started a betting pool). Ghana and the US will actually be playing each other sometime next week. Of course no one here thinks we stand a chance. Let’s wait and see. Tonight Ghana is playing, and the government has promised not to cut any power (no rolling blackouts) during the game, so it is good that Ghana made the World Cup playoffs. (They lost 2-0, but we had power the whole time – after the World Cup ends, we are sure there will be more rolling blackouts).
In a bit we want to talk about some serious things, but for now let’s have some more fun.
Peter is continuing to learn Twi (pronounced “tree”) one of the local languages spoken around Accra. And as usual he speaks in 1 word sentences like our youngest grandchildren, but he can be understood most of the time. Each day he tries to learn a new word. Unfortunately, they don’t all go together in a way that make sense.
We usually take a tro tro to work. This morning, in a VW van, there were 25 of us, and we get out at the “Blue” Gate, which of course is red. It only costs the two of us the equivalent of 22 cents, so it’s worth it. We have finally learned all of the appropriate hand signals and fares, so we no longer get cheated out of 10 cents per ride as we did from time to time.
We live in a “guest house” of which we are the only guests, so it is quiet, and the best thing is being close to work. If we lived even a mile or two further, it would take us an hour or more each way. Besides the heat, traffic is the next worst problem we have.
We have a joke between ourselves when we take dishes out of the cupboard and ask if we want our plates with or without bugs. Can’t get away from them or the cockroaches. At least the bugs are so tiny, that you couldn’t taste them anyway.
Here the “hawkers” sell everything in between the lanes of cars and at stop signs. Some examples: bread, water, (about 3 cents for a plastic bag which you bite the end off of and then suck), plantain chips, sunglasses, shoes, toys, etc., etc. People are too busy and it there is too much traffic to get to a store, so the store comes to you.
On the way to work we often buy a nice sliced pineapple, and some mangoes, and other things to eat at home or in the office. There is a lot of street commerce, and it is pretty functional and cheap.
One of the interesting things about Ghanaian culture are that most funerals are held on Saturday so that the relatives and friends of the deceased can attend, so that on Saturdays you can see many many people walking who are dressed in black and you know that they are going to a funeral. People just can’t do during the week because of work and also because many of the funerals may be in villages and towns where the deceased person was raised, but the guests come from all over and transportation being what it is here – slow because of the poor roads, the funerals are thus held on a non work day when people can get to them. In the Accra area, there are some very ornate caskets shaped in the form of anything you want. For example, a sports car, or a chicken, or a whale or shark. And they are painted in very bright colors so when we first saw them we thought they were large toys for kids, or part of a carnival ride.
You know all of the spam you get? Well, we now know where much of it comes from: There are a lot of Nigerians here who inhabit the internet cafes all day long and send millions of these things, e.g., “My uncle the King died and left me a billion dollars, but in order to get it I need a bank account. Please send me your account number and password, and I will share my dead uncles billions with you”, etc., etc., etc.
We have been taking some weekend excursions to places close to Accra. One of them was to Senya Bereku, a small fishing village on the Atlantic. We spent several hours there walking on the beach and talking to the fisherman who are all having a hard time because the fish have been so depleted. We even helped pull in one of the fishing nets and boy is that hard work. (see photos)
As you may know, Ghana was one of the major places from where slaves were shipped to the “New World”. Either they came from here, or came from neighboring countries and came through here. Millions as you know, and probably millions died in the slave forts as they are called even before they were shipped out.
We have visited a couple of these already and will be seeing more. Suffice it to say that the conditions under which these people were kept were indescribable. Perhaps 150 men in a 10 x 10 foot space with water and food dropped in from a hole in the ceiling so that people had to lap it up from the floor, (along with all of their bodily excrement). These dungeons were so dark that many people became blinded from the sun when they were taken out and since a blind slave was of little use, they were weighted down and tossed into the sea. All of the slave forts were built on the seashore so that the slaves could be easily sent through “The door of no return” to the waiting ships to be brought across the ocean.
Needless to say it is pretty moving to visit these places, but it is important to see, and to understand that these slave forts were a part of our US history as ugly as it may seem to us now.
Most of the Ghanaians we talk to about that period of history feel that it is in the past and life should go on. Perhaps, but, we should always remember and say “never again”, although if not slavery, then genocide or something equally horrible comes along. It is always hard for us to understand how humans can be so inhumane to each other
For some reason, there are a lot of hermaphrodites here, and we have been trying to arrange help for a few of these children who are clients of Pro-Link. They need to have some lab tests performed which can be quite costly, and so we have been so lucky to have been befriended by a very nice Ghanaian who is the head of a department at the University of Ghana Medical school and he has agreed to try to help. If he can, then we think these children can get free operations to become one gender or the other. Imagine how embarrassing it is for a child, or anyone not be able to be seen in public in school because of this problem. Hopefully, they can be helped over the next few months. Of the 4 kids we are talking about, 3 come from one family.
Finally, we have come upon a very interesting project which we will share with you the next time we write and invite you to consider helping out. It would be a very modest support that will be needed but will go a very long way, and for all intents and purposes will last in perpetuity. More about that later.
Until then, stay well, and enjoy your weather whatever it is. We are sure that it is more comfortable than ours. The other day in a store visited by ex-pats we overhead a man tell some one that he ran out of deodorant because he has to shower at least 3 times per day. (and of course one can only do that if they have a shower!)
Hugs to all, and we miss you a lot.
Peter and Hinda
Accra, Ghana
June 13, 2006
Dear All and Happy Father’s Day to all the Dads!!
We wish we could tell you that the weather is cooling, but alas, we can only tell you that it seems to get hotter and hotter by the day. Even though we are in the rainy season, it is still pretty hot. And when it rains here, it pours; the streets flood, the power goes off, and it can be so loud that we have to shout at each other even though we may be lying in bed right next to each other. Our road to walk to work is a sea of mud.
We are getting along quite well here despite the heat and humidity. We live in the community rather than in an area with other “Obruni’s” – white people. Since we are nearly on the equator here in Accra, the days are pretty much split between 12 hours of light and 12 of dark, so we rise early and go to bed early. Now that we have lived and worked in East Africa and Southern Africa, we think that West Africa may be the friendliest, and the Ghanaians are particularly friendly – lots of smiles, help, courteous, and so on. We feel extremely safe here in Accra and Ghana, and very comfortable living where we do. It is basically a light industrial area with lots of factories and consequently lots of small shops and roadside stands. There are also some fancier residential areas around, but we live just off the main road with only a couple of other houses nearby. We can usually buy whatever we need from a roadside peddler or small shop, or someone walking by carrying something on their head. This is an interesting thing, Here, and elsewhere in Africa, it is women who carry most of the things on their head. However, we did see both men and women carrying sewing machines on their head which they use to mend things for people along the way. Street commerce is a great thing. Also, men sell some things which women don’t such as peddling ice cream from a wheeled cart, or pushing heavy loads on a large wagon. It is very nice here we are enjoying ourselves very much.
Peter just had some African shirts made from material he bought from a women’s AIDS group that is located just across the road from the office. Now he has shirts from Uganda, Thailand, India, and now Ghana. Hinda also had a couple of dresses made and we also had a table cloth made. It is good to support the local aid groups here and elsewhere. The 4 shirts, 2 dresses and a tablecloth including material and sewing cost $50.
We also had haircuts here the other day for about $8 each and they are really good, although there is not much hair to cut on Peter anymore.
At work we have developed a number of materials which we will be using for training beginning next week with a staff training here in the main office and then some trainings in 3 of the outlying offices. Also, we are doing a lot of mentoring regarding report writing and grant writing. We are proud to say that after many months of problems, in the 3 weeks or so we have been here, we were able to get Pro-Link’s web site revised by getting someone to teach the IT guy how to get to the right place on the internet to do whatever you do to update a web site. Not much in one sense, but a major accomplishment from another perspective.
If any of you are following the World Cup, you know that Ghana is one of the contenders, (and so is the USA – so we started a betting pool). Ghana and the US will actually be playing each other sometime next week. Of course no one here thinks we stand a chance. Let’s wait and see. Tonight Ghana is playing, and the government has promised not to cut any power (no rolling blackouts) during the game, so it is good that Ghana made the World Cup playoffs. (They lost 2-0, but we had power the whole time – after the World Cup ends, we are sure there will be more rolling blackouts).
In a bit we want to talk about some serious things, but for now let’s have some more fun.
Peter is continuing to learn Twi (pronounced “tree”) one of the local languages spoken around Accra. And as usual he speaks in 1 word sentences like our youngest grandchildren, but he can be understood most of the time. Each day he tries to learn a new word. Unfortunately, they don’t all go together in a way that make sense.
We usually take a tro tro to work. This morning, in a VW van, there were 25 of us, and we get out at the “Blue” Gate, which of course is red. It only costs the two of us the equivalent of 22 cents, so it’s worth it. We have finally learned all of the appropriate hand signals and fares, so we no longer get cheated out of 10 cents per ride as we did from time to time.
We live in a “guest house” of which we are the only guests, so it is quiet, and the best thing is being close to work. If we lived even a mile or two further, it would take us an hour or more each way. Besides the heat, traffic is the next worst problem we have.
We have a joke between ourselves when we take dishes out of the cupboard and ask if we want our plates with or without bugs. Can’t get away from them or the cockroaches. At least the bugs are so tiny, that you couldn’t taste them anyway.
Here the “hawkers” sell everything in between the lanes of cars and at stop signs. Some examples: bread, water, (about 3 cents for a plastic bag which you bite the end off of and then suck), plantain chips, sunglasses, shoes, toys, etc., etc. People are too busy and it there is too much traffic to get to a store, so the store comes to you.
On the way to work we often buy a nice sliced pineapple, and some mangoes, and other things to eat at home or in the office. There is a lot of street commerce, and it is pretty functional and cheap.
One of the interesting things about Ghanaian culture are that most funerals are held on Saturday so that the relatives and friends of the deceased can attend, so that on Saturdays you can see many many people walking who are dressed in black and you know that they are going to a funeral. People just can’t do during the week because of work and also because many of the funerals may be in villages and towns where the deceased person was raised, but the guests come from all over and transportation being what it is here – slow because of the poor roads, the funerals are thus held on a non work day when people can get to them. In the Accra area, there are some very ornate caskets shaped in the form of anything you want. For example, a sports car, or a chicken, or a whale or shark. And they are painted in very bright colors so when we first saw them we thought they were large toys for kids, or part of a carnival ride.
You know all of the spam you get? Well, we now know where much of it comes from: There are a lot of Nigerians here who inhabit the internet cafes all day long and send millions of these things, e.g., “My uncle the King died and left me a billion dollars, but in order to get it I need a bank account. Please send me your account number and password, and I will share my dead uncles billions with you”, etc., etc., etc.
We have been taking some weekend excursions to places close to Accra. One of them was to Senya Bereku, a small fishing village on the Atlantic. We spent several hours there walking on the beach and talking to the fisherman who are all having a hard time because the fish have been so depleted. We even helped pull in one of the fishing nets and boy is that hard work. (see photos)
As you may know, Ghana was one of the major places from where slaves were shipped to the “New World”. Either they came from here, or came from neighboring countries and came through here. Millions as you know, and probably millions died in the slave forts as they are called even before they were shipped out.
We have visited a couple of these already and will be seeing more. Suffice it to say that the conditions under which these people were kept were indescribable. Perhaps 150 men in a 10 x 10 foot space with water and food dropped in from a hole in the ceiling so that people had to lap it up from the floor, (along with all of their bodily excrement). These dungeons were so dark that many people became blinded from the sun when they were taken out and since a blind slave was of little use, they were weighted down and tossed into the sea. All of the slave forts were built on the seashore so that the slaves could be easily sent through “The door of no return” to the waiting ships to be brought across the ocean.
Needless to say it is pretty moving to visit these places, but it is important to see, and to understand that these slave forts were a part of our US history as ugly as it may seem to us now.
Most of the Ghanaians we talk to about that period of history feel that it is in the past and life should go on. Perhaps, but, we should always remember and say “never again”, although if not slavery, then genocide or something equally horrible comes along. It is always hard for us to understand how humans can be so inhumane to each other
For some reason, there are a lot of hermaphrodites here, and we have been trying to arrange help for a few of these children who are clients of Pro-Link. They need to have some lab tests performed which can be quite costly, and so we have been so lucky to have been befriended by a very nice Ghanaian who is the head of a department at the University of Ghana Medical school and he has agreed to try to help. If he can, then we think these children can get free operations to become one gender or the other. Imagine how embarrassing it is for a child, or anyone not be able to be seen in public in school because of this problem. Hopefully, they can be helped over the next few months. Of the 4 kids we are talking about, 3 come from one family.
Finally, we have come upon a very interesting project which we will share with you the next time we write and invite you to consider helping out. It would be a very modest support that will be needed but will go a very long way, and for all intents and purposes will last in perpetuity. More about that later.
Until then, stay well, and enjoy your weather whatever it is. We are sure that it is more comfortable than ours. The other day in a store visited by ex-pats we overhead a man tell some one that he ran out of deodorant because he has to shower at least 3 times per day. (and of course one can only do that if they have a shower!)
Hugs to all, and we miss you a lot.
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 10:03 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home