Delayed Post - Week in Review Oct 9th

What an eventful week!

I will start by saying that the death of visionary leader Steve Jobs was felt around the world including Ghana. The newspaper ran a wonderful article about Steve and his contribution to technology and computers. Learning about his death on October 6th did make my day sadder. Apple has made a lasting impression on the world, and their products have made my life so much better. One profound comment that stood out in the article said that the best tribute to Steve is everyone sharing stories about him on the products he helped create (pretty sure it was Mark Zuckerberg of Facebook that said that). Very true.

In other tech news... those of us who bought BlackBerrys were cut off from BlackBerry services for most of the week. Problems that began in Europe quickly spread to the Middle East and Africa on Tuesday and eventually spread to Asia and Canada on Wednesday and Thursday. Luckily service has returned to normal and people can once again message and e-mail to their hearts content. The news ran a story yesterday saying that people were demanding to be compensated for the lack of coverage for a few days. Come on people! Ok yes maybe your e-mails were not delivered in a timely manner but I know for a fact that the overwhelming majority of people, especially in Europe and Canada could have found a computer (remember those?) to check their e-mails if it was critical. Sometimes these things happen and the network goes down. I should know, sometimes the mobile network here goes loopy for a few hours and drops calls constantly but in a few hours it goes back to normal.

News closer to Ghana this week includes the election in Liberia of which we are currently awaiting results while the votes are tallied. In the second democratic election the country has seen, Liberian voters turned out on Tuesday to cast their votes. One Ghanian newspaper said that over a million Liberians were registered to vote. Incumbent president Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was one of the women awarded the coveted Nobel Peace Prize last week. Opposing candidates expressed outrage over the award saying that Sirleaf was not deserving of the prize due to her support of the previous regime led by Charles Taylor which contributed to the loss of 250,000 lives in the 14 years of civil war that has plagued Liberia. It is unfortunate that people are unwilling to celebrate the achievements of Sirleaf winning the Nobel prize along with two others . The timing of the announcement of the prize isn’t helping matters. Despite the annual announcement of the prize, some feel that it is conveniently timed with the election. While early polls suggest that Sirleaf will not be able to achieve the 50% of votes to avoid a runoff with the second closest candidate, Sirleaf is maintaining a marginal lead over other candidates.

Walking to work on Tuesday was a unique experience (to say the least). I could tell that something was different than usual because at the university junction, there was 5 police officers instead of one or two. I made it across the intersection before I heard many police sirens coming towards me along Madina Road. In hindsight, I should have known that something was different because there was no on-coming traffic. At least 5 police officers on motorcycles went blasting past me followed by a motorcade of about 15-20 Ford Explorers driving very very quickly. Some were police vehicles, but most were full of important looking people. There was quiet for a few minutes then more police officers came hurtling by followed by at least 10 school busses full of people singing and waving, most dressed in traditional dress. I stopped and waved at them but I decided taking a picture, besides being quite difficult because of the speed they were traveling, might not be a good idea considering there was pretty heavy security. I asked people at work what was going on and apparently I saw the President of Ghana and his entourage going to Madina to look at some of the projects they are working on in that area. In typical African fashion, there was a representative of each of the regions in Ghana and each brings along their personal entourage complete with their own MC (of course!). If I’ve learned one thing so far, it’s that Ghanians love to talk - especially when there is a microphone involved!. Exciting stuff

Other than this, things have been pretty calm and quiet here in Ghana this week. I’ve been taking it easy this week as a result of the network being wonky (yep the newly repaired wireless has been acting up - I’ve been using my personal modem at work all week). I hope that as I continue to get to know people at my office that I will be given more tasks to do. As much as I enjoy reading stuff I would like to be more involved. I know things happen quite slowly here so I am trying my best to be patient! It seems to be a lot of waiting followed by rushing when you have something to do and then waiting again.

Have a great weekend

Get Used to it

Traveling to Africa, you know that you are not going to have all of the comforts of home. Beyond not having your friends and family around, there are some major lifestyle changes I’ve had to make. It’s not all bad - some things have actually enhanced my life and my well-being. Other things less so.

The first thing is showers. A lot of places do not have running hot water or if they do, it is more expensive or doesn’t work regularly. For someone who enjoys showers so hot that my skin turns red, I’m impressed with how little a cold shower at the end of every day bothers me. You learn to shower very quickly and not to waste water. I am lucky that my building is equipped with showers that actually work - some people have no choice but to use buckets to shower. If you are capable of having a bucket shower (I have yet to attempt this feat), you can have hot water if you boil some in advance. Another bothersome thing is when the water in the building gets shut off. Going to bed dirty and sweaty when I have to work the next morning just plain sucks. When there are well over 250 people living in your building with communal bathrooms, you can imagine the state of things when the water isn’t running. Did I mention I live on the University of Ghana campus?

Staying clean once you get clean is a challenge. Even if you get a shower and put on clean clothes, you are going to be sweaty and dirty within 10 minutes of going outside. Unlike the locals who wear suits or jeans, I am still getting used to the heat and wearing pants to work is very hot. To be fair, 9 times out of 10 I really don’t care how I look when I go out; it’s hot, I want to be comfortable, and doing my hair or makeup is futile because it won’t look good in an hour.

The second biggest thing is laundry. The overwhelming majority of the population still does their laundry by hand in buckets. I could take my laundry to another residence on campus and pay for my clothes to be laundered however I have come to enjoy doing laundry by hand. I love doing laundry at home as it is an easy and relaxing task so I have added doing laundry to my daily routine here. Because of the heat and dust, I’m washing my clothes very regularly. Another incentive to do laundry frequently is that ants love dirty clothes and seeing as leaving any food lying around will prompt an ant invasion, its best for me to wash my clothes often. It’s amazing how well the laundry powder works! I’m pretty good at using both the laundry soap bar and the powder to get my clothes as clean as possible.

Another big difference between Ghana and Canada is that it is impolite not to greet people that you meet on the street. While it’s just about impossible to greet every single person on the street, I make sure to greet the people I see regularly. It does take longer to get anywhere but it really makes my day when people take the time to stop and speak to me.

The internet. What we know to be the internet in Canada is NOT what the internet is here in Ghana. I’m very lucky because I bought a BlackBerry and it has fantastic internet. Frequently it’s quicker and more reliable than wireless or my modem. But generally, I’m getting used to infrequent and slower internet. At work (where the internet is pretty darn good), I will look things up while reading the newspaper because it does take longer. It doesn’t bother me, I just work slower.

The final thing is getting used to buying food on the street. Normally, I wouldn’t be so quick to purchase food from people on the street but in Ghana, restaurants are very slow and expensive. Most people instead will purchase food in the market or from a stand by the side of the road. Sometimes you get some not so good food, even the same stall will have great food one day and bad food the next. It is impressive that I get dinner for less than a dollar. I couldn’t cook for myself for a dollar. 

This is just a few things that I thought of off the top of my head about life in Ghana. Depending on the day, I am much better equipped to deal with the potential problems (like lack of water, getting hassled by taxis on the street, finding something to eat etc.), that I face. A positive attitude and no expectations makes it easier to deal with.

Day Trip to Aburi

If you ever have the opportunity to come to Ghana, a trip to Aburi is a must! Located about an hour north-east of Accra, Aburi is a small town with charm and beautiful Botanical Gardens. Getting to Aburi from Accra is not at all difficult, once you find the correct tro-tro station at the Madina market. It always amazes me how helpful people are in Ghana. Being white and having the “I have no idea where I’m going” look on your face helps. Once we got off the first tro-tro into Madina every ‘mate’ from the tro-tros lined up waiting to return to town stopped us and asked “Obruni, where are you going?” We continued on until we spotted a sign which said “Aburi”. Problem was that between us and the sign was a massive ditch where workers were installing drainage pipes. We had to backtrack a little bit (and get hassled by vendors and taxis in the process) but eventually made it to the station. Having been here a month (as of today), I am starting to get used to just saying “No” or shaking my head or using hand gestures to signal no instead of the typical Canadian “No thank you” with a smile. This having been said, I do ensure that I thank anyone who helps me even in a small way as it amazes me how people will take the time to help me even if they get nothing out of it. 

The bus-truck on the Aburi road

We waited for an empty tro-tro to arrive, and got on and were immediately swarmed with women selling things like plantain chips and candy. They were very persistent and if you made eye contact they would tell you the price of their goods. Eventually we got underway. Instead of connecting to the main road out of town, the tro-tro began weaving through the maze of alleys around Madina. As you can imagine, it was very bumpy and slow. The heat was starting to get unbearable as was the dust. After about 20 minutes we finally made it to the main surfaced road to Aburi. Once we made it onto the road, it was a much smoother ride. It is always nice to escape the city and Aburi was a wonderful oasis well worth the trip. Even the tro-tro ride itself is a wonderful trip (minus being crammed into a tro-tro like a sardine). As the road climbs up the mountain, the views are beautiful and you get a birds-eye view of Accra and the surroundings. The air is cooler and fresher, and the noise dies down. There was some magnificent properties along the road (wish we had been able to take some pictures), in addition to the usual sights along Ghanian roads. One sight we did not photograph was the girls school located on the outskirts of Aburi. Apparently this is one of the top secondary schools in the country (fun fact). Once we got to Aburi, it was a little difficult to know when to get off the tro-tro. Fortunately a nice man was also on the tro-tro and rightly assumed we were headed for the Aburi Botanical Gardens. We followed the gentleman up the steep road towards the Gardens. We saw a funny sight of a bus and a truck touching one another (we thought they had collided) however the bus was trying to get past the truck and reach the Botanical Gardens.

Travellers Palm

Entrance to the Aburi Botanical Gardens

Some of the trees at the Gardens

The entrance to the Gardens is pretty spectacular. The main roadway is lined with Royal Palms that dwarf most other plants in the Gardens. It was really neat to see the area where special guests commemorate their visit to the Gardens by planting a tree. Visitors included Queen Elizabeth, the infamous Romanian leader Nicolae Cheusescu (1977), and the Prince of Wales. Some of the trees were truly epic like the Travellers Palm which, according to the sign, travellers can drink the water that accumulates at the base of the large leaves. The other very impressive tree was a very old Silk Cotton tree which was HUGE! Without explaining every small detail about the Gardens, I was delighted that my friend Sarah suggested we go visit as it was truly worth the effort! 

Our next stop was some lunch. After walking around for a while, we developed quite an appetite! Our book suggested a place called Peter’s Pizza as it has the best pizza in Ghana and it was right near the Gardens so we decided to try it. As soon as Peter opened up the package of real cheese, we both got excited and asked him where it came from. Apparently all the foreigners get very excited about the real cheese. 

Our final stop of the day was to see the first Cocoa Farm in Ghana, a short taxi ride away in the town of Mampong. The Tetteh Quarshie Cocoa farm was planted in 1879. It is a tiny little farm (0.38 hectares to be precise), tucked away at the end of a lane. We arrived and saw a group of young men with machettes cracking open the cocoa pods and emptying the seeds to be fermented. One of them gave us a bit of a tour around the farm although there wasn’t much to see. I must admit that I was a little disappointed with the farm. I was hoping that there would be more to see. It was neat to see the original cocoa trees brought to Ghana from Equatorial Guinea by Tetteh Quarshie, an illiterate blacksmith (by trade). The farm is now owned by the Government but it is still producing cocoa. An average tree is harvested three times a year and yields around 10-15 kilograms of cocoa a year. The harvesting is still done by hand so cocoa production is pretty labour intensive. The big green pods are ripe once they turn orange and then they are harvested. The beans are fermented and dried before they are ground up to make chocolate and other cocoa products. Chocolate produced with Ghanian cocoa beans is truly yummy and well worth buying! Unlike the chocolate bars we buy at the convenience store, this chocolate is less sweet but richer in taste.

Our tour guide nest to one of the original cocoa
trees from Equatorial Guinea in the 1870s

Once the cocoa pods are opened, the seeds inside are fermented
for several days. The sweet white layer is removed leaving
the cocoa to be dried

Dried cocoa seeds. Once they've been completely dried,
they will then be ground up once the shell is removed.
At this stage it does taste like chocolate!

A Word About Garbage...

Waste management is becoming an increasingly important issue that needs to be addressed across the developing world. Ghana is no exception. Black plastic bags are found everywhere in the capital city, Accra. They clog up sewers, get blown about on the street, and generally pile up everywhere which is not a pretty sight. If you go and buy anything from plantain chips to sugar to sandwiches, you are almost guaranteed to have your food wrapped in plastic and have it put in a plastic bag. As someone who tries to reduce the amount of plastic bags I use at home (I am a faithful reusable grocery bag user), I try to reduce the amount of garbage I accumulate where possible. For example, I will frequently (who am I kidding, I go every other day), walk down the street to purchase egg sandwiches. I am usually very hungry so I buy two sandwiches and at first I wouldn’t question that each sandwich had to be put in its individual plastic bag. Now I ask that both sandwiches be put in the same bag. This seems to puzzle them and they always ask me if I’m sure. Sometimes despite my request, I get two bags anyways.  Each item is supposed to go in a separate bag. 

Another huge source of waste plastic is the water sachets that almost everyone uses for drinking water. They remind me of saline implants (if I’m honest), however they are very cheap and a week’s worth of drinking water will cost me the same as a water bottle which only lasts me a day. Everyone - locals included - will drink from these water sachets. Once they are finished, people will just drop them wherever they are. The end of the street near my office is a prime example. There is a shaded area under a tree where a lot of the street vendors keep their bags in the mornings when they are getting ready to start selling their goods. The area is covered in sachets and the requisite black plastic bags and no one is responsible for picking them up.

There is a systemic issue with Ghanians who don’t feel responsible for the waste they drop on the road because someone else will be there to clean it up. Historically things like food (which also comes wrapped in plastic at some restaurants), were wrapped in leaves which, once dropped on the ground, would become part of the Earth as it decomposed. This was not a problem as the leaves were biodegradable. The problem is that plastic never decomposes and it builds up in the environment and it creates an unsightly mess. Plastic bags and sachets also clog up drains and sewers which prevents water from flowing after it rains. The government implemented a system to have people cleaning the streets regularly which further reinforced the practice of dropping garbage as someone else will pick it up and dispose of it. People who do not have their garbage collected, opt to burn it in their backyards to dispose of it. If you’ve never smelled burning plastic before - be grateful, it really is an awful smell that gives you an instant headache. I was surprised to know that some areas do receive regular garbage pick-up. I was surprised because I was told in advance of my trip that garbage pick-up was exceedingly rare in Ghana. Solid waste that is collected is taken to the dump outside of Accra where it is also burned. It is rumored that when they burn the garbage heap, it’ll burn for upwards of two weeks without going out. Whether this is true or not, I don’t know. I do know the Twi word for dump - ‘bola’

So what are we left with? Basically no one takes responsibility for their personal garbage, everyone drops garbage where they feel like it, everyone puts everything in a black plastic bag. For now, I will continue to buy the sachet water because I am not yet ready to start boiling my own water and I will also continue to try to reduce my plastic waste wherever possible. 

To Work I Go!

Ghana is known for its hospitality and friendly, peaceful nature. I find it really improves my day when people take the time to greet me and ask me how I am doing or telling me to enjoy my day. On any given morning when I am going to the office, I greet the maid, the person at the front desk, the security guard, the campus police officer, several women selling food by the side of the road, and any other people who I meet along the way. It helps me start my day off with a positive attitude. I find the walk to work is never the same two days in a row. 

What is consistent from day to day is the traffic chaos and heavy congestion along Madina Road (one of the main roads). I still have not quite figured out how traffic lights work here. Sometimes the traffic will flow in both directions at the same time, sometimes only one direction of traffic has the right of way. I would also argue that traffic signals are frequently merely a suggestion at best - motorcycles will proceed through an intersection even if the signal is red. Almost every morning there is at least one, sometimes three, police officers directing traffic at the entrance to the university (Akpongolo Junction). They do improve the flow of traffic and have helped me a few times cross the road safely. Even though there are pedestrian signal boxes, they don’t work. Ever. So crossing the road can frequently take a while. The black cloud of fumes that rises from the road when the cars start moving is unreal. I would be shocked if any of the cars could pass a Canadian emissions test. I do find it difficult to breathe at times because of the car fumes (and the dust and burning garbage). 

A typical tro tro - broken down by the side of the road

Ghana also has arguably the highest proportion of taxis on the road anywhere. Because I am a female “Obruni”, every taxi driver is convinced I need a ride and always honk or yell in my general direction. I’ve heard conflicting reasons for this. I’ve been told that it is because they assume that Obrunis don’t know the exchange rate and that they can get higher fares. Alternatively I’ve been told that it is because Obrunis generally don’t know what the price of a cab ride is so they can take advantage of our lack of knowledge. As with many things in Ghana, there is the local price and then the foreigner price. Frequently when negotiating for a taxi ride they will propose 15 or even 20 cedis for a ride that should cost less than 8 cedis. What is certain is that constantly having to say no to them becomes tiresome. Frequently I just ignore them unless they are being very persistent. Another fun feature of taxis in Accra is that the drivers never know where they are going despite telling you that yes they know where they are going. It is rare when I take a taxi to a location other than the University or the Mall that they know exactly where I am going. Because of the lack of road signs (among other factors including a lack of house numbers and street names), navigating is mostly done with landmarks or junctions leading to mass confusion about where you are trying to go. Frequently taxi drivers will stop and ask for directions or expect you to know where you are going. This can be frustrating when you don’t know where you are going and neither do they!

The children who I see every morning on my way to the office are very cute. They will wave or yell Obruni or come and say hello to me. One of them even took a picture of me the other day (not really sure why). They are frequently out in the street playing soccer or watching the world go by.

It takes me about an hour a day to walk to and from the office so it gives me time to observe things and interact with people. I even had one of the vendors tell me I was late yesterday (which I was), which I found funny but sweet. I hope I will get more confident in crossing the road and perhaps figure out some of the rules of the road by the time I leave. I really want to improve my Twi so I am able to greet people in the morning in the local language. I’m surprised how difficult it is to get the sounds right. Apparently I have the North American “light tongue” and need to adopt a heavier tongue  to improve my Twi. 

Off to Ghana

The first few days of my adventure was pretty eventful and not what I expected. The 7 hour layover at Heathrow Airport was brutal to say the least. Our plane landed at 2am Toronto time and it is extremely tough to take a nap in Terminal 5 which is extremely busy. I managed to find some sandwiches I liked so I bought two keeping in mind I didn’t know when I would get another non-plane meal. The 7 hours dragged by and despite not having access to free wi-fi, I managed to keep myself entertained by writing in my journal and sitting near the departures board near the Transit elevators and watching people running for their gate as their flights are announced.

I couldn’t believe the high-class shops that were in Heathrow. If you wanted high-end designer items then Heathrow is the place for you! The plane from Heathrow to Accra was pretty empty in the more expensive seats however the economy class was packed (not too surprising). It was really beautiful seeing the Sahara desert from the plane as we flew over during daylight hours. The sand dunes were very clear and there wasn’t a cloud in the sky. We arrived in Accra after the sun had set so all you could see was the city lights. As soon as they opened the door of the plane, you instantly knew you were in a tropical country as the air was thick and warm. Despite a warning that collecting your baggage at the Accra airport is a bit challenging, we were able to collect our bags and make our way through the airport. After meeting up with our WUSC driver we got our first taste of driving mayhem in Ghana. Cars were everywhere honking and trying to get out of the parking lot any which way. The roads in Ghana are not very good and potholes are abundant as well as speedbumps being part of every surfaced road to slow traffic down. Within 10 minutes of leaving the airport, we had our first taste of Ghana traffic. The cross-street was gridlock with cars not moving and honking their horns. It is true that people will refuse to give way to one another causing cars to be jammed together and bringing traffic to a grinding halt. Fortunately we were able to slip between some cars and carry on our way. The other main feature of driving in Ghana is a lack of street lamps. In some places there will be street lamps lit, others will have street lamps that are not turned on but mostly streets are not equipped with street lamps forcing drivers to use their high beams in order to see where they are going. We eventually arrived at our hotel, exhausted and ready to sleep. We said goodbye to our driver and got settled in our rooms.

Front of the Suma Court Hotel

Suma Court Hotel was wonderful with clean rooms, big comfortable beds, and private bathrooms with hot water. The following day our little group decided to find the internet to let our parents and loved ones know we arrived safely and to look into buying cellphones. After arriving at the mall, hours after we left the hotel, we found some internet and were directed to go to Circle to find used cellphones. Another long cab ride later, we arrived at Circle. Circle can be summed up in one word - busy. There are people everywhere selling something. We quickly found a vendor that had the phone I was looking for and after Billy kindly negotiated a fair price, I purchased a used phone from him. By the side of the road (something I have never done before). Eventually we made it back to the hotel after dark. It became very clear that geography is not the strong suit of Ghanaians (at least the cab drivers), and that they don’t know all parts of the city, only the area where they typically work. 

Sunday we decided to go to the beach and take a break from the city. The cab ride to Labadi Beach was far less eventful than the adventures of the previous day as the driver knew exactly where we wanted to go. The closer we got to the beach, the cooler and fresher the air was noticeable. In fact, the breeze at the beach made it almost cool! The beach was clean and the only garbage was a few floating black plastic bags in the ocean (apparently the day we were there was surprising clean). The beach was quite an event. There was acrobats and musicians performing along the beach for tips from the audience. Vendors were selling their wares to people sitting on the beach. I really enjoyed the local drumming music and it really enhanced the atmosphere. We didn’t go swimming however it was nice to be somewhere relaxing for the afternoon after the activities of the previous day. One thing that became obvious was that food orders take a very long time to arrive. If your food arrives within an hour you are doing well. Luckily we were in no rush that day. Hopefully I will get to go back to Labadi Beach again. 

Gasland & Hydraulic Fracturing or Fracking

As countries around the world begin to explore alternative energy sources than petroleum, natural gas is of growing interest. I must admit I knew virtually nothing about how natural gas comes to be in tanks and canisters. I knew that companies are conducting exploration drilling in the Canadian Arctic to explore natural gas reserves. While mineral and energy extraction in the Arctic is an important issue unto itself, the main focus of my current interest is natural gas extraction in the United States and the implications of this for the rest of the world. This brings me to the documentary by Josh Fox called Gasland. This Oscar nominated documentary discusses the hazards of fracking in the United States and the politics behind this booming industry. The main focus of this film was water and the impact the fracking process and natural gas extraction has on the water supply. If you have read Bottlemania, or if you are interested in issues surrounding safe drinking water, you would probably enjoy this film.

Trailer to Gasland

What is fracking?
Fracking is a method used in deep well natural gas extraction. A combination of over 596 chemicals (80-300 tonnes each time), sand, and 1-8 millions of gallons of water is pumped into a well to break up the shale and ease the extraction of the natural gas. The water used becomes contaminated and of the water that is pumped out of the well, all of it is contaminated and must be cleaned and disposed of. During the lifetime of a natural gas well, it can be fracked multiple times (up to or beyond 10 times). These gas wells are drilled to 8000ft and most water aquifers are around 1000ft below the ground. The big concern is when the well casings leak or when water supplies are contaminated. This brief explanation is very over-simplified and there are great resources available on YouTube if you want to learn more about it.

What frightened me about this whole process beyond the safety issues of the wells and the potential for explosions was how the companies doing the drilling are not required by law to declare what chemicals they use for this process. Natural gas drilling companies are exempt from the Safe Drinking Water Act (1974), which is in place to ensure that drinking water is kept clean from contamination. This exemption is commonly referred to as the Halliburton Loophole which was part of the Energy Bill passed in 2005 by the Bush administration. The Safe Drinking Water Act is in place to ensure that water resources are protected and not destroyed by industry or natural processes. While in some cases, citizens have been able to sue the gas companies and have them provide alternate water supplies (the gas companies will build a large tank and fill it up with water trucked in from elsewhere), however countless other families are left to fend for themselves.

Global Implications
How does this problem in the United States relate to international development? While current attention is focused on the fallout from fracking in the United States, other countries (including Europe and Northern Africa) are exploring fracking as a means to access natural gas reserves. If the United States is the model on which other natural gas drilling enterprises are mimicking, there is the potential for some serious problems. Clearly, there are health and safety issues surrounding natural gas extraction that have yet to be addressed and those with a vested interest in the operation of these drill sites are unwilling to take a critical look at the operation of these facilities. Hopefully before this technology is used in other parts of the world there will at least be independent study of some of these issues. Am I opposed to natural gas extraction? No. If natural gas companies were held to environmental standards and were able to prevent much of the water contamination that is currently happening, I don't see a problem in making use of this natural resource. However, while citizens of the United States can continue to set their water on fire, natural gas drilling is cause for concern.

Another great YouTube clip about Gasland

For more information about Josh Fox or Gasland please visit
website: http://www.gaslandthemovie.com
Facebook information: http://www.facebook.com/gaslandmovie