Western Region: Butre & Busua

Sarah and I decided last minute to organize a trip to Western Region to visit Butre and Busua the Weekend of November 18th. Sarah was eager to try surfing and Busua is one place in Ghana where you can arrange to take surfing lessons at the Black Star Surf Shop. Our trip to Takoradi Friday evening was far from easy because of on-going construction at Mallam Junction which has been causing huge delays for people leaving and entering Accra from this direction. Our hotel in Takoradi was inexpensive but still felt slightly overpriced. 

Fort Batenstein. Butre

Saturday morning we set of for Butre, our first stop of the day. With a bit of effort, we managed to get on a tro tro to Agona where we would take another tro tro to Butre. I assumed that based on the information provided by the travel book, we would join a shared taxi to Butre however we got on the most dilapidated tro tro I’ve ever taken. The engine was visible and I could see ground beneath my feet. Thankfully the road was a winding dirt track so the tro tro never gained enough speed for me to feel unsafe. If you are ever in Western Region with a few hours to kill, Butre is well worth the trip, if nothing else to appreciate the beauty of this small settlement with beautiful hills and a stunning beach as a backdrop. A community-based tourism project was set up here a few years ago to ensure that the community benefits to tourists in the area and it seemed to be working well and was well organized.

View of Butre from Fort Batenstein

We elected to visit the fort located on the top of a hill. Restoration efforts were undertaken from December 2010 and January 2011 with funding from the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs however, Fort Batenstein remains in its natural state. Our guide accompanied us to the base of the hill and then left us to climb to the top (backbacks in tow), of the very steep path. I thoroughly enjoyed being able to take pictures at the Fort because it was picturesque and the weather was flawless. We also had the option of taking a tour through the village or taking a canoe trip around the lagoon however we needed to get going to Busia so we left after visiting the Fort.

Sitting on the steps of Fort Batenstein

Fort Batenstein was originally established as a trading post by the Dutch West Indian Company in 1598. The Company built the Fort between 1654 and 1656 after demolishing a lodge built by the Swedish African Company. The Fort was finally abandoned in 1872 has has remained a ruin ever since.

Fort Batenstein

Upper level of Fort Batenstein

Fort Batenstein Courtyard

Stunning lagoon in Butre

Getting to Busia was easy as we joined a shared taxi and got there quickly. With a bit of effort we found the hotel that Sarah had booked. Back home getting a hotel room for $60 is a good deal, this hotel cost a total of 20 cedi or $14. The beach was a wonderful break from the chaos of Accra and Sarah enjoyed her surf lesson. It was obvious that Busua was a hub for ex-pats and volunteers (similar to Kokrobite) and for good reason. The beach was very clean and free of hawkers (always a plus). The food at the surf shop was tasty and reasonably priced. The beach had a great vibe, thanks to the surf shop and the people who work there. Busua was well worth the trip.

Busua Beach

Surfing

Goodbye beach

Sand Winning & Property Damage in Elmina

The beach in Elmina

You don’t often think about sand as being a commodity worth stealing, however sand winning is a growing problem along the beaches of Ghana. Enterprising individuals are collecting sand to sell or to make into cement blocks. The impact of this activity is very pronounced on some of the beaches I have visited in Ghana. Some beaches are worse than others while some, particularly Bojo beach (which is inaccessible without taking a canoe from the coast), are pristine. A quick internet search provided several newspaper stories of reporters investigating situations of sand winning going unstopped by law enforcement and also by local communities who self-regulate many other economic activities like fishing. From my research and from talking to a hotel owner currently dealing with this problem, it seems the responsibility for stopping this activity lies with traditional leaders and also with individual property owners. A case study in Odumasi indicated that this formerly productive area of farm land is barren and can no longer be used for agriculture because much of the top soil has been ‘won’ or removed. The reporter visited the area and witnessed a truck being filled in the presence of a community leader which indicates that the leader was aware of their activities despite his insistence to the contrary. Similarly in James Town in Accra, fishermen went about their daily activities ignoring individuals removing sand from the beach or bringing supplies to the beach to make cement blocks with the sand.

The hotel is taking steps to protect their property
 however it is unlikely to resolve the issue

The restaurant building at the hotel in danger of being
damaged from the erosion

I stayed at a hotel in Elmina over the holidays and the erosion from the sand winning that continues on this beach was extreme. The hotel is no doubt going to lose their restaurant as the foundation is being eroded due to the lack of beach sand protecting it. They were busy constructing some barriers however their efforts are going to be in vain.  I have never before seen a beach with such a significant lack of slope. It was very obvious where the dump trucks had been backed up to collect sand. The hotel said they had been battling with local government officials to take action against the sand winners because of the property damage it was causing and also the environmental costs of destroying the shoreline. Sand winning contributes to coastal erosion. It took three years to get government to take their concerns seriously and even after they had blocked the paths the dump trucks had taken, the trucks had simply gone around the barriers to reach the beach. The hotel is new and is still under construction however the damage to the beach will severely impact their property. They are quite limited in their options to remedy the situation. Short of having armed guards patrolling the beach and running the risk of the sand winners bribing the guards, not much can be done. 

You can see the efforts of the hotel to try to protect their property. Hi Mom!

Illegal ‘entrepreneurs’ is a very common problem in Ghana which I have previously written about in the case of illegal miners. People are willing to take drastic and even deadly measures to keep people off their land. This response is hardly unusual and sadly, government seems to lack the capacity and will to take action against illegal entrepreneurs. On the other hand, it seems grossly unjust to prohibit people from earning an income (albeit illegally), when there are no other jobs available in the area. There seems to be a lack of education about protecting the environment and indeed alternative materials in construction. Poverty plays a major role in encouraging people to engage in illegal activities because there are few alternative employment opportunities. Perhaps if there was increased investment in creating jobs for people they would be less inclined to engage in illegal enterprises.

Malaria

As most people already know, I contracted malaria during the last couple weeks. Based on my symptoms, I have been exhibiting symptoms of malaria for the last three weeks without seeking treatment. In keeping with my uncanny ability to contract illnesses in a very unconventional way, I did not have a fever or vomiting, two of the most common symptoms of malaria. I was however, very exhausted and had a constant headache. Neither of these symptoms were alarming for me because I had been traveling for a month for my Christmas holidays. So I thought I had a cold and rested as much as possible and didn’t think much of it. 

My second week back at work after my holidays I really struggled to get out of bed in the mornings. Instead of arriving at work shortly after 9am, I was now arriving after 10am and truly failing at accomplishing anything because I couldn’t keep a thought in my head for more than a few seconds. My doctor in Canada gave me a course of antibiotics to take in case I suspected I had an infection or something so I decided to take them and see if it improved my symptoms. I also resumed taking my iron supplements as I suspected that I was once again anemic because I know I am not getting enough iron from diet alone. The antibiotics seemed to help somewhat and I felt a bit more energetic for a few days.

Last Wednesday night, I was once again feeling worse and my wonderful American friends convinced me that it was time to go see a doctor. From a suggestion from a fellow Canadian volunteer, I went to the small clinic at the A&C Mall in East Legon. I was surprised at how clean and quiet the clinic was. It was comparable to any other clinic I’ve been to in Canada. The biggest difference was that I didn’t have to provide any identification or health insurance. I simply filled out a small form and waited to see the doctor. The doctor recommended a blood test for malaria which was done in the clinic by a nurse. It did freak me out that the nurse didn’t wear gloves while pricking my finger. Apparently this isn’t uncommon in Ghana but it was certainly uncommon for me! The results came back that I did have malaria so I was prescribed a three day course of anti-malarials and told to go home and rest. In total, the doctor and blood test cost me 26 cedi ($17), and the pills cost me 10 cedi ($6.60). 

It freaked me out that the pills made all my symptoms worse instead of better. By Sunday, when I had completed the medication, I was feeling pretty awful. I knew beforehand that taking my daily doxycycline would suppress my symptoms if I contracted malaria but I wasn’t expecting to be as uncomfortable as I was while taking the medication. I was unable to regulate my body temperature so I would be freezing cold but sweating profusely. My appetite wasn’t great and I felt weak and sore. I finally got the fever however I wasn't vomiting as I was expecting. I am grateful to have good friends who checked in on me to make sure I was alright. 

I decided to go back to the doctor on Tuesday because I was still feeling unwell and wasn’t convinced that the malaria was gone. To me, a three day course of antibiotics isn’t enough to cure the ailment however that seems to be the magic number here. I had another malaria test which came back negative (yay!) and my iron levels were only slightly low. Basically I just needed to rest and start trying to resume a normal schedule. I am still having pretty low energy levels however I am hopeful that I will be feeling my normal self by next week. The heat is absolutely contributing to my slow recovery. 

For the record, the common symptoms of malaria are:

• fever
• headache
• nausea
• vomiting diarea 
• sweating/chills
• muscle aches and pains

The best ways to prevent malaria are to take prophylaxis medication, sleep with a bed net, wearing bus spray and most importantly wearing long pants when the mosquitos are out (dusk-early evening). If in doubt, go see a doctor. I hate going to doctors as a general rule however having a friend take me for moral support was helpful.

Finally, take the advice available on the internet with a grain of salt, I found some useful information but mostly I got increasingly freaked out by the horror stories of people with severe malaria.

The Toronto Zoo

Most Canadians will remember when the Toronto Zoo decided to separate the much loved gay endangered African penguins last November. Buddy and Pedro were paired with females as part of a breeding program to help the endangered species of penguin to survive. Some people believed that the penguins should have been left together because they were a pair while others recognized the necessity of ensuring the survival of the species. In the end, Buddy was paired with Farai and Pedro was paired with Thandiwey. Reports over the last few months have indicated that the penguins are adapting to their new pairings and are doing well.

Eggs were laid last week in the penguin house at the Toronto Zoo and the question now is who do the eggs belong to. The Zoo has yet to provide further details about the eggs however in the coming weeks I am sure we will know more about the parents of the eggs.

As a Canadian overseas, it has been really wonderful being able to follow the news back home. Last time Buddy and Pedro were in the news, a study was published in the newspaper about the value Canadians put on our polar bears. The study findings indicate that Canadians are willing to spend $6.3 billion per year to make sure that the bears do not disappear. This amount is about the equivalent of an iPad per household per year. Each bear is 'worth' $420,000 which is more than a house. The polar bear is an iconic and very Canadian symbol and it would be a huge loss if the bears became extinct. I had a good laugh on this particular day because one of the staff members at my placement came downstairs and asked me what was making headline news back home. I told him about our polar bears that are worth more than a house and the fact that Canadians were quite upset about the separation of our gay African penguins. I love my country.

Apple Disaster Averted

It is no secret that I am extremely tough on electronics. I have managed to break most electronics that I own to some extent. It is also no secret that I adore my MacBook but I have also broken pretty much everything on it at least once, some people might remember the time I drowned my laptop but Apple durability won and my laptop worked perfectly fine within 24 hours. Or the time the fan broke or the time I managed to break the harddrive or the time the power cable had to be replaced (among other things).

Being unable to repair my beloved MacBook when the inevitable happened was of concern to me while on placement. The dust and heat have not been kind to my laptop despite my best efforts. I found it really exciting that an Apple store opened at the Accra Mall which would make ordering new parts easier than having them shipped from the UK or North America.

The real story began yesterday morning when I yanked on my power cable while packing my bag to go to work. I didn’t think much of it until I went to plug my laptop in to the wall and the battery wasn’t charging. As my laptop was dead and thus I couldn’t do any more work that day, I went home to try and fix it. This isn’t the first time I’ve had trouble getting the cable to work but this time, none of the usual tricks could get it to work again. Time for Plan B.

I went in search of one of my new ISH friends because I didn’t want to deal with this problem alone. Luckily Collin was around and he offered to go with me to try and track down a new charger. There was two options; either the store at the Mall had one or we could go to a store at Circle that carries Apple accessories. I was expecting to have some difficulty trying to find this because it has been my experience in Ghana that things are easy to find until you really need to find something specific. Ghana took pity on me this particular day. The sales associate at the Apple store said that yes, they had a new charger in stock and within five minutes I had it in my hand. I was really really surprised at how easy that was! I was really expecting to have a bit of a tough time finding one, assuming the Apple store didn’t have one in stock. The fly in the ointment was that it was quite pricey costing 250 cedi or approx 170 USD. In theory we could have gone to Circle to see if it was possible to get the cable for less but I decided to spend the money and avoid the possibility of not being able to get one at all. 

So thank you Ghana, I really appreciate your kindness on this occasion.

Why Empower Only Women

During my Christmas holidays I have been able to have some great conversations with Ghanaians about the future of their country and the issues that they feel need to be addressed in order for their country to continue developing. On my travels I met a  Canadian volunteer working with a women’s group whose efforts are focused on providing support for teen girls who are victims of sexual assault and teen pregnancy, something I am not familiar with in Ghana. I was assured that teenage pregnancy occurs more frequently than I am aware. Despite abortion being legal in Ghana, illegal abortions remain very common in rural areas which has disastrous effects on the physical and mental health of the affected women. Ghana is fortunately not a hotbed of HIV however the prevalence of HIV/AIDS in Ghana is accepted to be higher than reported figures. 

Generally, young people in Ghana receive little to no sexual health education (from what I have been told), opening the door for NGO groups to intervene and offer education programs to try to stem the prevalence of disease and pregnancy. I spent a few days at Kokrobite beach near Accra, a place is very popular with volunteers and the locals. My boyfriend and I befriended one of the young men selling artwork on the beach. After telling him what I am doing in Ghana, he said the community living in Kokrobite was in need of workshops to teach women about contraceptives and to empower women to take charge of their bodies. He said that women were keen to learn about how to protect themselves and that previous workshops in the area were well received. I found it refreshing how adamant he was about women being empowered and the vital role that plays in reducing transmission of disease. He said that on public holidays when people flock to the beaches, organizations sometimes distribute condoms to people in an effort to reduce disease transmission and reduce unwanted pregnancies. For the sake of interest, my travel friend and I have kept an eye out to see how easy it is to find condoms for sale. Condoms are substantially more expensive than in Canada and the U.S., and more difficult to find than I was expecting it to be. We have only been able to find them in formal shops and at the Mall. It would be great if they were more accessible to people and more affordable to people who might not have much money to spend on condoms or other methods of contraception. Perhaps combined with increased education, accessibility and affordability would lead to more frequent condom use.

I do think that education efforts shouldn’t be exclusively focused on women. There seems to be such a responsibility placed on women to manage reproductive issues with little responsibility placed on men. Empowering men to protect themselves and their partners should be part of sexual health education because men are equally as responsible for protecting themselves as women. The culture here doesn’t promote gender equality and men are the heads of the household making it more important that men are educated and empowered to use protection. Education programs through schools is difficult because of the number of children who do not continue attending school after completing primary education. The other glaring barrier to improving sexual health in Ghana is the fear and shame-style campaigns for HIV claiming that there is no life after being diagnosed with HIV. It is unfortunate that this is the nature of the campaign but it doesn’t surprise me.

Living in Ghana makes me appreciate gender equality in Canada and the fact that women are empowered to make decisions for themselves. It is obvious that interactions between men and women here are a little different. I also think that NGOs that focus on improving sexual health education and women’s empowerment is critically important to help families overcome the cycle of poverty. In an ideal world, condoms would be easily accessible and inexpensive, reducing some of the barriers to encourage their use. Hopefully in the future this will happen.

Welcome to 2012

Having a full month break at the holidays was exactly what I needed to feel refreshed and excited to go back to work. I don’t think anyone would dispute the fact that being a tourist in a country is far easier than trying to set up a life and work. Only once you are immersed in a place you begin to appreciate and understand it. Being in a country for two weeks or even a few months isn’t enough time to really understand what is going on in the particular country. Traveling to tourist areas in the country also means that you are likely interacting with people who are accustomed to hosting tourists.

Traveling with my parents and with my boyfriend made me appreciate how much I have learned about Ghana in such a short period of time and I don’t assume for one second that I know all that there is to know. I was really proud of myself that I was able to navigate without getting lost or needing to ask for directions. I was also really proud of myself for being able to bargain for taxis and get a good price with confidence I didn’t know I had. I had some serious concerns that this experience was not bringing out the best in me, however I know I will be going home a more confident person and that I need to worry less and enjoy the remainder of this experience more.

I am excited to make new friends in the coming weeks as all of my friends on campus have returned home. I wasn’t expecting to make such great friends and they really made this experience a lot of fun. Whether we were celebrating small victories or getting over our problems by eating ice cream in the parking lot, there was never a dull moment. 

I really hope to spend more time at work and also working on my blog for the remainder of my placement. I think my body has had enough of traveling for the time being and I am not opposed to saving some money by staying close to Accra.

I have also compiled a brief list of the things I want to accomplish by the time I leave Ghana. I am quite amazed at how much I have accomplished in only a few months. Hopefully I will continue to grow and learn in the coming months.

The Ghana List:

• Fall asleep on every beach I visit
• Learn a bit of the local language (Twi) (done)
• Take a tro tro by myself (done)
• See a hippo in the wild
• Take a safari through Mole National Park (done)
• See an elephant in the wild (done)
• Ride on a motorcycle (done)
• Ride on a tractor (done)
• Visit a witches camp in the north (done) 
• See one of the historic mosques in the North (done)
• Visit Kejetia market in Kumasi (done)
• Tour at least 10 forts/castles
• See monkeys (done)
• Climb a mountain (done)
• Learn how to negotiate for a taxi (done)
• Do some African dance (done)
• Master cooking one Ghanaian dish
• Make a charitable contribution in some capacity