Email Number 7
Email Number 7
Accra, Ghana
August 5, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, it is hard to believe that in just one month from today we will back amongst you. Time seems to have gone by pretty quickly for us here, never the less we have missed each of you and are anxious to see you all again.
We have just returned from a 4 day training in Aflao on the Ghana – Togo border, the busiest border crossing in Ghana. Aflao is a real border town, like Tijuana, Mexico. It is a hubbub of activity. People are coming and going to Togo, Nigeria, Benin, and even Mali. There is also quite a bit of smuggling going on and it is pretty open. It doesn’t take much to bribe the people at the border, at least on the Ghanaian side and probably on the Togo side, as well. In fact, on our way back to Accra on Friday afternoon in a van, at each of the stops for Customs, Immigration, and Police, several of the passengers who didn’t have the proper ID paid bribes, and some of them paid at each of those places, and they weren’t very discreet about it, we saw them putting the money in the officials hands.
We had a very good training and were particularly pleased that there were a lot of questions and discussions. This time we did some role playing and it went pretty well. One of the training sessions was to help think through some income generating activities for the Aflao project so that they might earn some additional funds to enhance their programs. When we asked for suggestions about what business would be the best, the first suggestion was “smuggling”. Of course it was a joke, or was it? The Aflao office does in fact have a small IGA going for PLWHA’s (People Living with HIV/AIDS). It is a small kiosk where people can make phone calls. The money earned is for the PLWHWA group, but the kiosk just has the Prolink name on it and no other identifying markings, otherwise, no one would patronize it because they would not want to come in any contact whatsoever with a PLWHA. So, as you can see, there is still quite a stigma associated with this terrible disease, and that is why education is such an important thing here and elsewhere where there is AIDS.
We stayed at the Thanks Hotel in Aflao (this was the best hotel in town), when you check in there is a jar of condoms at the counter, and on the outside of every room door, a small cartoon sign reminding people to use condoms. In the dining room (a very liberal definition), Elizabeth the waitress served us each morning in her pajamas and a shower cap on her head. But, most importantly, Elizabeth was very friendly and helpful as is everyone here. It is really nice to be in such an environment and we shall miss that part of Ghana when we leave.
Here are a couple of expressions that we find amusing: The Ghanaian use of English is slightly different than ours, and usually a little more proper because of the British influence. Our office driver was complaining to us about a seller of phone cards because she “misbehaved” – she was rude, and a few days ago, the taxi we were riding in just stopped in the middle of the road because it had a “fault”, as did the TV for the 4 days we were in the hotel in Aflao.
Here in Ghana there is in fact a National Health Insurance “scheme”, (plan). Unfortunately, a lot of Ghanaians don’t have it. Some are just procrastinators, like many of us, but most perhaps just can’t afford it, even though by our standards the cost is quite cheap – 75,000 cedi’s, about $8.20 at the current exchange rate. By the way, that is a one time fee, and not a monthly or annual premium. So, when we discovered that Janet, our cook/cleaner and her 7 year old son who has had a very bad cough were not covered, we decided to pay for the insurance. Because of the beaurocracy here, it may take several months for it to come through, but in time it will and we are happy that we were able to help this small family. We usually don’t like to “just pay for things for people”, but we really wanted to help her and Kojo out.
Also there is a lot of sharing here. People are always sharing their lunch and snacks with everyone in the office, and many people who have servants pay for them to get an education, etc. Speaking of sharing, where we live there is also a form of sharing. The iron gets passed around from family to family as needed, as does the only DVD player, so we are never sure when we come home from work what will be, or not be in our house. So, we have learned to share also, and of course are happy to.
On Monday, August 7, we are going to the north for a week with a couple that we like very much and are our best friends here – a Ghanaian man and his Seattle girlfriend – Isaac and Eleanor, and we are looking forward to a good time. We will be going to Mole, Ghana’s largest national park that has a lot of game including elephants. Of the four of us, three have seen lots of game in Africa – the only one who hasn’t is Isaac - the only African among us. Ghanaians don’t travel a lot. We have been told this over and over, so our friend Isaac is quite excited.
We usually go to a particular internet café to send and receive emails, etc.., and this particular place is frequented by many Nigerians. (There are a lot of Nigerians involved in internet scams. One of them is called a “419” referring to the anti scamming law in Nigeria.. Here in Ghana, at least in our internet café, the restrictions are more lax.) So, the other day, as were there working, we happened to glance at the computer next to us and we saw a man creating a fake certificate from a presumably fictitious bank which eventually will be sent to some of you perhaps, and us as well asking for our bank account and credit card information in order to share in the estate of a rich uncle, etc., etc. Sitting on the other side of us was a young man who was surfing the net looking for information about colleges in the US that he could apply to.
One more interesting thing to tell you. Most of the large stores and businesses here in Ghana are owned by Lebanese who came here after Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon. And we know that many Lebanese here and elsewhere in foreign countries support the Hezbollah. So, here we are worried about our friends and family in Israel who are being bombed by the Katusha rockets and who may be called up in the reserves to go fight, and our money being spent here in the Lebanese businesses is probably being used to support that.
We will let you know more after we return from the north. Until then, peace and love to you all.
Peter and Hinda
Accra, Ghana
August 5, 2006
Dear Friends and Family,
Well, it is hard to believe that in just one month from today we will back amongst you. Time seems to have gone by pretty quickly for us here, never the less we have missed each of you and are anxious to see you all again.
We have just returned from a 4 day training in Aflao on the Ghana – Togo border, the busiest border crossing in Ghana. Aflao is a real border town, like Tijuana, Mexico. It is a hubbub of activity. People are coming and going to Togo, Nigeria, Benin, and even Mali. There is also quite a bit of smuggling going on and it is pretty open. It doesn’t take much to bribe the people at the border, at least on the Ghanaian side and probably on the Togo side, as well. In fact, on our way back to Accra on Friday afternoon in a van, at each of the stops for Customs, Immigration, and Police, several of the passengers who didn’t have the proper ID paid bribes, and some of them paid at each of those places, and they weren’t very discreet about it, we saw them putting the money in the officials hands.
We had a very good training and were particularly pleased that there were a lot of questions and discussions. This time we did some role playing and it went pretty well. One of the training sessions was to help think through some income generating activities for the Aflao project so that they might earn some additional funds to enhance their programs. When we asked for suggestions about what business would be the best, the first suggestion was “smuggling”. Of course it was a joke, or was it? The Aflao office does in fact have a small IGA going for PLWHA’s (People Living with HIV/AIDS). It is a small kiosk where people can make phone calls. The money earned is for the PLWHWA group, but the kiosk just has the Prolink name on it and no other identifying markings, otherwise, no one would patronize it because they would not want to come in any contact whatsoever with a PLWHA. So, as you can see, there is still quite a stigma associated with this terrible disease, and that is why education is such an important thing here and elsewhere where there is AIDS.
We stayed at the Thanks Hotel in Aflao (this was the best hotel in town), when you check in there is a jar of condoms at the counter, and on the outside of every room door, a small cartoon sign reminding people to use condoms. In the dining room (a very liberal definition), Elizabeth the waitress served us each morning in her pajamas and a shower cap on her head. But, most importantly, Elizabeth was very friendly and helpful as is everyone here. It is really nice to be in such an environment and we shall miss that part of Ghana when we leave.
Here are a couple of expressions that we find amusing: The Ghanaian use of English is slightly different than ours, and usually a little more proper because of the British influence. Our office driver was complaining to us about a seller of phone cards because she “misbehaved” – she was rude, and a few days ago, the taxi we were riding in just stopped in the middle of the road because it had a “fault”, as did the TV for the 4 days we were in the hotel in Aflao.
Here in Ghana there is in fact a National Health Insurance “scheme”, (plan). Unfortunately, a lot of Ghanaians don’t have it. Some are just procrastinators, like many of us, but most perhaps just can’t afford it, even though by our standards the cost is quite cheap – 75,000 cedi’s, about $8.20 at the current exchange rate. By the way, that is a one time fee, and not a monthly or annual premium. So, when we discovered that Janet, our cook/cleaner and her 7 year old son who has had a very bad cough were not covered, we decided to pay for the insurance. Because of the beaurocracy here, it may take several months for it to come through, but in time it will and we are happy that we were able to help this small family. We usually don’t like to “just pay for things for people”, but we really wanted to help her and Kojo out.
Also there is a lot of sharing here. People are always sharing their lunch and snacks with everyone in the office, and many people who have servants pay for them to get an education, etc. Speaking of sharing, where we live there is also a form of sharing. The iron gets passed around from family to family as needed, as does the only DVD player, so we are never sure when we come home from work what will be, or not be in our house. So, we have learned to share also, and of course are happy to.
On Monday, August 7, we are going to the north for a week with a couple that we like very much and are our best friends here – a Ghanaian man and his Seattle girlfriend – Isaac and Eleanor, and we are looking forward to a good time. We will be going to Mole, Ghana’s largest national park that has a lot of game including elephants. Of the four of us, three have seen lots of game in Africa – the only one who hasn’t is Isaac - the only African among us. Ghanaians don’t travel a lot. We have been told this over and over, so our friend Isaac is quite excited.
We usually go to a particular internet café to send and receive emails, etc.., and this particular place is frequented by many Nigerians. (There are a lot of Nigerians involved in internet scams. One of them is called a “419” referring to the anti scamming law in Nigeria.. Here in Ghana, at least in our internet café, the restrictions are more lax.) So, the other day, as were there working, we happened to glance at the computer next to us and we saw a man creating a fake certificate from a presumably fictitious bank which eventually will be sent to some of you perhaps, and us as well asking for our bank account and credit card information in order to share in the estate of a rich uncle, etc., etc. Sitting on the other side of us was a young man who was surfing the net looking for information about colleges in the US that he could apply to.
One more interesting thing to tell you. Most of the large stores and businesses here in Ghana are owned by Lebanese who came here after Israel’s first invasion of Lebanon. And we know that many Lebanese here and elsewhere in foreign countries support the Hezbollah. So, here we are worried about our friends and family in Israel who are being bombed by the Katusha rockets and who may be called up in the reserves to go fight, and our money being spent here in the Lebanese businesses is probably being used to support that.
We will let you know more after we return from the north. Until then, peace and love to you all.
Peter and Hinda
posted by Peter and Hinda Schnurman at 3:56 AM
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