September is all a bit of a blur. Leaving became very real once my flight details were confirmed and I started making arrangements to be met at Heathrow and to see family and friends in the UK once I was back.
My leaving dates were arranged so that I had a few days to hand things over to Hazel in person so I spent time at the office before she arrived trying to ensure that what I was leaving in my desk and on the computer was relatively well organized. Cherith and I kept really busy by helping out with putting single spine salary information on to the computer and as soon as they arrived we started to do some initial analysis of the BECE exam results.
In the week before I left Zebilla I could feel a change in the weather as the rainy season started to draw to an end. Ayuba brought us round some maize as his family had started harvesting. The crops were tall and everything was lush and green as I remembered it being when I first arrived. Full circle. I was very aware that I was doing many things and going to many places for the last time.
And so many goodbyes. A small party at the house with friends from Zebilla. Strange without Ellie (still in Accra with her ‘sore waist’),Tony (in the UK on holiday) and Stephen (in Accra meeting the new volunteers) but very enjoyable. The pizza was a triumph and Cherith’s yam balls passed muster with Sophia! Then a sitting at work where there were speeches, minerals and kebabs, I was presented with some cloth and at the end Gilberta, Madame Ladi and Madame Cecilia sang lots of goodbye songs. And finally a party in Bolga, kindly hosted by Jillian and Jason, so that I could say farewell to fellow Upper East volunteers. In between the ‘events’ there were lots of goodbyes to individuals too. I found myself coping by taking it all one day at a time and being in denial about actually leaving.
I was very glad to have company on the journey from Bolga to Accra. Jillian and Satchin were travelling as far as Kumasi and Sophia was going all the way to Accra to meet Tony who was returning from the UK. There were a few nearly tearful goodbyes at the OA station and then I was on my way south for the last time. Just to see me off in style the bus broke down and we ended up passing a few hours sitting on the edge of the road (literally) in the dark while we waited for a replacement bus to arrive. We eventually got to Accra at about 7.30am.
In Accra Sophia and I had breakfast (real coffee and pastries – a different world from the Upper East as long as you have some money) and later on met up with Ellie for lunch. We spent the afternoon with Ellie, visiting her Accra house, and then I got a tro tro back to the hotel to meet Stephen for yet another goodbye. On the Monday I braved the Accra tro tros again and met Tony and Sophia for breakfast and said goodbye to them and Ellie as they all headed back north. Then it was back to the hotel to check out and off to the VSO office for my exit interview. More goodbyes, including to Cam, another volunteer, who was also leaving but going on to another placement.
Then everything that needed doing was done and once at the airport I really just wanted to get on the plane and get going. Everything went to time and the flight was smooth. A meal, a movie and a nap and we were on our way down to land at Heathrow. I was quite quickly through to Arrivals but couldn’t see Emma. Once we located each other she exclaimed that I was ‘’skinny’’. Then the drive home with a stop at a motorway station with an M&S to collect a sandwich for breakfast. Everything familiar but somehow unreal.
Lots of adjusting to do in the next few weeks.
Monday, October 25, 2010
Wednesday, August 4, 2010
So where did June and July go to?
May ended with puppy sitting and a rather sadder funeral than I had previously experienced here.
The funeral was for the senior sister of Sherifa, one of our young neighbours who does my washing for me. Her sister was 37 and died in a road accident on her way north for a visit from Accra where she lived and worked. The service was held outside and disrupted almost as soon as it started by a heavy rainstorm lasting over an hour. We all waited patiently, chairs were wiped and rearranged and then the service resumed. And continued for about 3 hours!
The puppy was rather more fun. Our friend Tony had adopted a disabled puppy, Okima, who was just 5 weeks old when he needed to travel for a week so we were called on. She was being syringe fed with powdered milk and the problem with her back legs meant that she was just dragging herself around. After a week with us she was running around (with a funny wobble to her rear end), eating great quantities of milky porridge and getting into everything. She has continued to do well and the little bundle of fluff is growing really big.
There has not been as much rain so far this rainy season as is normal and although the crops seem to be growing well there is talk of drought in some areas of West Africa. Niger seems to be especially badly affected and there is likely to be widespread starvation there. For the subsistence farmers here, of whom there are many, this is a difficult time of year. Although there is food available to buy in the market many people have not yet harvested any crops and have run out of stored food from last year’s harvest. So they have nothing to sell in order to buy food until they can harvest this year’s crops. It’s all very delicately balanced and very dependent on getting the right weather at the right time.
As well as being the rainy season this is also the season of hoards of small, very annoying flies and malaria. I have been really surprised how many volunteers have had malaria despite taking antimalarials. Some have had a mild case and others have been really unwell for quite some time despite treatment. It’s one Ghanaian experience that I am really hoping to avoid.
As the ground was prepared and crops planted the donkeys, cows, sheep and goats were all tethered and the pigs tethered or confined to sties to prevent them eating all the new shoots as they emerged. The maize is now taller than me so the hazards of moto riding have changed from free ranging animals to not being able to see anything else on the narrow dirt roads or where roads cross each other.
Football mania took over in June when the World Cup began. Ghanaians love football and Chelsea must have more fans here than in the UK. Watching the ball (no need for the prefix, no other sort is recognised as of any importance) is high up on the list of cultural activities. England’s performance was disappointing but Ghana did really well. Whenever they were playing you could hear a pin drop in Zebilla unless you were near a TV or radio. Nothing moved on the roads, no children about, no people shouting greetings. When Ghana scored there was a huge whole town roar! When they won there was the sound of drumming and music from various directions until well past my bedtime. Once Ghana were the only African team left in the tournament they were playing for the whole of Africa as well as themselves
I was at the airport in Accra to meet my friend when the Ghana team got back from South Africa and they got a great reception. It was incredibly noisy with drums and hooters as everyone jubilated.
I was at the airport in Accra to meet my friend when the Ghana team got back from South Africa and they got a great reception. It was incredibly noisy with drums and hooters as everyone jubilated.
During June Stephen, a VSO volunteer from Uganda, who is working on setting up Human Rights clubs in schools got some support from World Vision, an NGO working in the District, to organise a celebration for the International Day of the African Child. Six schools with HR clubs to met together to present drama, songs, dance and poems about children‘s rights. It was a big event with the Director of Education, the local MP, the local chief and Ghana TV in attendance. In true Ghanaian fashion that meant starting two hours after the stated time, prayers and lots of speeches before and after the children doing their stuff. So those of us who were pretty much on time ended up sitting under the trees for five hours. Numb bottoms! It was a really lovely day though as the children did so well and performed local dances with special enthusiasm and real joy.
I really like how friendly people are here and that they seem to have time to sit and socialise. Everyone greets everyone. People you meet immediately ask a series of questions - your name, marital status, number of children, age, where you live and which church you go to, and can they have your phone number. Perfectly usual here but I try to avoid giving out my number too freely because people do actually call just to say hello. Marriage proposals are also frequent here (random taxi drivers, someone at the hospital, the guy where we pay the water bill etc) and usually to be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to laugh and say I’ll think about it but have lots of other offers to consider too. Which is true! I am also amazed when in the market in Bolga I am greeted by people from Zebilla who recognise me and stop to find out what I’m doing or politely grill me on the tro tro and then say ‘you are welcome’.
I spent two weeks in July travelling with a friend who came to visit. We went to Cape Coast (the castle is where slaves were held before being shipped out of the country), Kakum National Park ( we wobbled along a treetop aerial walkway 40 metres above the ground!), Elmina (the annual festival was taking place and it was very lively!), Butre (a couple of very chilled days on the beach) and then Kumasi (great cocktails in Vic Baboo’s) before heading north to Zebilla for the last few days. It was good to show off the things I have come to love here, visit some new places and share some of the differences in daily life and culture. Many of the places we visited were ones that my son David went to while he was here.
As July ends my thoughts are having to turn to leaving Ghana and I am already having to start preparing to return to the UK. I’m being reminded that I have to contribute to my references, prepare handover notes and complete a final report. My leaving date, some time at the end of September, should be confirmed within the next week or so. Although I am looking forward various things back in the UK, especially seeing family and friends, I am already starting to feel how hard it will be to leave. I will really miss the volunteer community, local friends and people at work.
May ended with puppy sitting and a rather sadder funeral than I had previously experienced here.
The funeral was for the senior sister of Sherifa, one of our young neighbours who does my washing for me. Her sister was 37 and died in a road accident on her way north for a visit from Accra where she lived and worked. The service was held outside and disrupted almost as soon as it started by a heavy rainstorm lasting over an hour. We all waited patiently, chairs were wiped and rearranged and then the service resumed. And continued for about 3 hours!
The puppy was rather more fun. Our friend Tony had adopted a disabled puppy, Okima, who was just 5 weeks old when he needed to travel for a week so we were called on. She was being syringe fed with powdered milk and the problem with her back legs meant that she was just dragging herself around. After a week with us she was running around (with a funny wobble to her rear end), eating great quantities of milky porridge and getting into everything. She has continued to do well and the little bundle of fluff is growing really big.
There has not been as much rain so far this rainy season as is normal and although the crops seem to be growing well there is talk of drought in some areas of West Africa. Niger seems to be especially badly affected and there is likely to be widespread starvation there. For the subsistence farmers here, of whom there are many, this is a difficult time of year. Although there is food available to buy in the market many people have not yet harvested any crops and have run out of stored food from last year’s harvest. So they have nothing to sell in order to buy food until they can harvest this year’s crops. It’s all very delicately balanced and very dependent on getting the right weather at the right time.
As well as being the rainy season this is also the season of hoards of small, very annoying flies and malaria. I have been really surprised how many volunteers have had malaria despite taking antimalarials. Some have had a mild case and others have been really unwell for quite some time despite treatment. It’s one Ghanaian experience that I am really hoping to avoid.
As the ground was prepared and crops planted the donkeys, cows, sheep and goats were all tethered and the pigs tethered or confined to sties to prevent them eating all the new shoots as they emerged. The maize is now taller than me so the hazards of moto riding have changed from free ranging animals to not being able to see anything else on the narrow dirt roads or where roads cross each other.
Football mania took over in June when the World Cup began. Ghanaians love football and Chelsea must have more fans here than in the UK. Watching the ball (no need for the prefix, no other sort is recognised as of any importance) is high up on the list of cultural activities. England’s performance was disappointing but Ghana did really well. Whenever they were playing you could hear a pin drop in Zebilla unless you were near a TV or radio. Nothing moved on the roads, no children about, no people shouting greetings. When Ghana scored there was a huge whole town roar! When they won there was the sound of drumming and music from various directions until well past my bedtime. Once Ghana were the only African team left in the tournament they were playing for the whole of Africa as well as themselves
I was at the airport in Accra to meet my friend when the Ghana team got back from South Africa and they got a great reception. It was incredibly noisy with drums and hooters as everyone jubilated.
I was at the airport in Accra to meet my friend when the Ghana team got back from South Africa and they got a great reception. It was incredibly noisy with drums and hooters as everyone jubilated.
During June Stephen, a VSO volunteer from Uganda, who is working on setting up Human Rights clubs in schools got some support from World Vision, an NGO working in the District, to organise a celebration for the International Day of the African Child. Six schools with HR clubs to met together to present drama, songs, dance and poems about children‘s rights. It was a big event with the Director of Education, the local MP, the local chief and Ghana TV in attendance. In true Ghanaian fashion that meant starting two hours after the stated time, prayers and lots of speeches before and after the children doing their stuff. So those of us who were pretty much on time ended up sitting under the trees for five hours. Numb bottoms! It was a really lovely day though as the children did so well and performed local dances with special enthusiasm and real joy.
I really like how friendly people are here and that they seem to have time to sit and socialise. Everyone greets everyone. People you meet immediately ask a series of questions - your name, marital status, number of children, age, where you live and which church you go to, and can they have your phone number. Perfectly usual here but I try to avoid giving out my number too freely because people do actually call just to say hello. Marriage proposals are also frequent here (random taxi drivers, someone at the hospital, the guy where we pay the water bill etc) and usually to be taken with a pinch of salt. I tend to laugh and say I’ll think about it but have lots of other offers to consider too. Which is true! I am also amazed when in the market in Bolga I am greeted by people from Zebilla who recognise me and stop to find out what I’m doing or politely grill me on the tro tro and then say ‘you are welcome’.
I spent two weeks in July travelling with a friend who came to visit. We went to Cape Coast (the castle is where slaves were held before being shipped out of the country), Kakum National Park ( we wobbled along a treetop aerial walkway 40 metres above the ground!), Elmina (the annual festival was taking place and it was very lively!), Butre (a couple of very chilled days on the beach) and then Kumasi (great cocktails in Vic Baboo’s) before heading north to Zebilla for the last few days. It was good to show off the things I have come to love here, visit some new places and share some of the differences in daily life and culture. Many of the places we visited were ones that my son David went to while he was here.
As July ends my thoughts are having to turn to leaving Ghana and I am already having to start preparing to return to the UK. I’m being reminded that I have to contribute to my references, prepare handover notes and complete a final report. My leaving date, some time at the end of September, should be confirmed within the next week or so. Although I am looking forward various things back in the UK, especially seeing family and friends, I am already starting to feel how hard it will be to leave. I will really miss the volunteer community, local friends and people at work.
Thursday, June 17, 2010
During May we have had the first real rain since before Christmas as the weather changes from the dry hot season to the rainy season. The middle two weeks of April were almost unbearably hot with temperatures around 43 and it was almost a full time occupation to drink enough water. But now every so often the storm clouds gather and we have high winds and spectacular thunder, lightening and rain. The temperature then drops for a day or so but has been climbing again before the next downpour, though not to its previous heights.
Each time it rains things get a little greener. The green fuzz that appeared initially is now turning to proper grass and the animals are all finding something to graze on again after months of scratching around in the dust. People are starting to work on the land, preparing it for planting. It is hard back breaking work as most people work bent double using small hand hoes. In one or two places you can see oxen pulling a plough and work progressing much faster.
The other advantage to the rain is that my room is not getting nearly so dusty. When it does rain it often lasts for several hours and is so heavy that all also mean that you may get stuck at work or elsewhere and not be able to shift for a while. I try to always be prepared and carry a good book with me.
My usual route to work on the moto changes after rain, suddenly presenting new challenges of huge puddles all along it so I have to find a way along the edges or go along a different track. I have now ridden to Bolga (about an hour away) and back a few times. All fairly uneventful - well, as uneventful as a ride on roads with potholes, free range animals etc is ever going to be. I was quite conscious that I was being stared at, especially as I passed through the two townships along the way. As soon as you get away from the bigger towns white skin is still a bit of a novelty and causes considerable interest and curiosity. I got stopped by the police one day but just for a chat rather than because there was a problem!
At the beginning of May I went with one of my housemates to Paga where we visited a slave camp which acted as a holding camp on the forced march south for slaves from Mali, Niger and Bukina Faso who were heading for export. It’s a grim and sad tale all round with local chiefs and other tribal leaders benefiting from the trade. Slavery was already practiced internally within many of the tribal systems so the idea of selling people was not entirely foreign. We also visited the sacred crocodile ponds where, according to local custom based on an old story, the crocodiles are protected and the guides assure you that they are friendly and safe. Well we did come back alive!
I’m getting quite fond of the many pigs around Zebilla. They are entirely free range here and as April/May is the breeding season there are lots of tiny piglets at the moment. I rather like the squeals and snuffles that can be heard as they wander around outside the house. They also do a great job at hoovering up any peelings etc we put outside. I am also getting more used to riding just inches past dozing pigs that wallow in any available water.
May was also notable as I attended my first Ghanaian funeral. Funerals here are traditionally big events, often held ages after the person dies and is buried. There is music, dancing, drinking and eating and they often turn into noisy all night parties. As this one was for the areas ex PM’s mother it was a big do. We purchased specially printed funeral cloth a week before the funeral and took it to a seamstress to have it made up. Saturday’s mainly black dress will definitely come home with me to be worn on various future occasions. In this area funerals are mainly held in the dry season, when people are not busy with farming, so we are now right at the end of the funeral season and many are taking place. On Sunday we swapped to our white with a black print outfits. Having greeted family members we had seats under a canopy at the front of the house where musicians and dancers performed right in front of us. They kicked up a fair amount of dust, made a lot of noise and dripped with sweat. They are extremely fit to be leaping around in such heat. The atmosphere was lovely with lots of woman coming forward to perform traditional dance and chants. There was lots of laughter, especially when one of our friends tried to join in and emulate the dancers, and I got some great photos.
Each time it rains things get a little greener. The green fuzz that appeared initially is now turning to proper grass and the animals are all finding something to graze on again after months of scratching around in the dust. People are starting to work on the land, preparing it for planting. It is hard back breaking work as most people work bent double using small hand hoes. In one or two places you can see oxen pulling a plough and work progressing much faster.
The other advantage to the rain is that my room is not getting nearly so dusty. When it does rain it often lasts for several hours and is so heavy that all also mean that you may get stuck at work or elsewhere and not be able to shift for a while. I try to always be prepared and carry a good book with me.
My usual route to work on the moto changes after rain, suddenly presenting new challenges of huge puddles all along it so I have to find a way along the edges or go along a different track. I have now ridden to Bolga (about an hour away) and back a few times. All fairly uneventful - well, as uneventful as a ride on roads with potholes, free range animals etc is ever going to be. I was quite conscious that I was being stared at, especially as I passed through the two townships along the way. As soon as you get away from the bigger towns white skin is still a bit of a novelty and causes considerable interest and curiosity. I got stopped by the police one day but just for a chat rather than because there was a problem!
At the beginning of May I went with one of my housemates to Paga where we visited a slave camp which acted as a holding camp on the forced march south for slaves from Mali, Niger and Bukina Faso who were heading for export. It’s a grim and sad tale all round with local chiefs and other tribal leaders benefiting from the trade. Slavery was already practiced internally within many of the tribal systems so the idea of selling people was not entirely foreign. We also visited the sacred crocodile ponds where, according to local custom based on an old story, the crocodiles are protected and the guides assure you that they are friendly and safe. Well we did come back alive!
I’m getting quite fond of the many pigs around Zebilla. They are entirely free range here and as April/May is the breeding season there are lots of tiny piglets at the moment. I rather like the squeals and snuffles that can be heard as they wander around outside the house. They also do a great job at hoovering up any peelings etc we put outside. I am also getting more used to riding just inches past dozing pigs that wallow in any available water.
May was also notable as I attended my first Ghanaian funeral. Funerals here are traditionally big events, often held ages after the person dies and is buried. There is music, dancing, drinking and eating and they often turn into noisy all night parties. As this one was for the areas ex PM’s mother it was a big do. We purchased specially printed funeral cloth a week before the funeral and took it to a seamstress to have it made up. Saturday’s mainly black dress will definitely come home with me to be worn on various future occasions. In this area funerals are mainly held in the dry season, when people are not busy with farming, so we are now right at the end of the funeral season and many are taking place. On Sunday we swapped to our white with a black print outfits. Having greeted family members we had seats under a canopy at the front of the house where musicians and dancers performed right in front of us. They kicked up a fair amount of dust, made a lot of noise and dripped with sweat. They are extremely fit to be leaping around in such heat. The atmosphere was lovely with lots of woman coming forward to perform traditional dance and chants. There was lots of laughter, especially when one of our friends tried to join in and emulate the dancers, and I got some great photos.
Monday, May 24, 2010
We are racing through April at an alarming rate.
Even the local Ghanaians are complaining of the heat. ‘We are suffering‘ is the usual turn of phrase. Inside at the house and at work it is often in the 40s and I dare not put the thermometer in the full sun. I haven’t looked to see what the temperature is today but I am longing for the rains to start and for it to get a bit cooler. I think we have a few more weeks of this heat to get through first though we did have a are sometimes a sign of rain to come and coat everything with a thick layer of dirt. They inevitably happen the day after I have swept and mopped my room!
Every so often we run out of water and have to arrange for buckets to be filled at the borehole and carried to the house. We then hope the water will flow soon to fill our polytank so we can have , and flush the toilet.
Our real dread however is lights off during the night. It is unbearably hot trying to sleep without a ceiling fan at the moment. However, every cloud has a silver lining and having no power does mean that the endless and highly amplified singing with keyboard and drums accompanying that booms out from the local church is muted or even silenced.
Over the Easter weekend a group of us went to Mole National Park to see the elephants. We also saw warthogs, monkeys, baboons, several different types of antelope, crocodiles and lots of birds. The dry season is best for seeing elephants as the only water is in watering holes close to the hotel so that’s where they go on a regular basis. The swimming pool was a great attraction too and we spent lots of time cooling off in there. We also passed through Larabanga where there is a very old mud mosque.
April seems to be the time for piglets to be born and they are everywhere at the moment. I’m worried that I may squash one with my moto but they seem to quickly learn to keep out of the way. The tiny ones are really hard to see if they are lying down in the sand.
Time to head to the local spot for a drink!
Even the local Ghanaians are complaining of the heat. ‘We are suffering‘ is the usual turn of phrase. Inside at the house and at work it is often in the 40s and I dare not put the thermometer in the full sun. I haven’t looked to see what the temperature is today but I am longing for the rains to start and for it to get a bit cooler. I think we have a few more weeks of this heat to get through first though we did have a are sometimes a sign of rain to come and coat everything with a thick layer of dirt. They inevitably happen the day after I have swept and mopped my room!
Every so often we run out of water and have to arrange for buckets to be filled at the borehole and carried to the house. We then hope the water will flow soon to fill our polytank so we can have , and flush the toilet.
Our real dread however is lights off during the night. It is unbearably hot trying to sleep without a ceiling fan at the moment. However, every cloud has a silver lining and having no power does mean that the endless and highly amplified singing with keyboard and drums accompanying that booms out from the local church is muted or even silenced.
Over the Easter weekend a group of us went to Mole National Park to see the elephants. We also saw warthogs, monkeys, baboons, several different types of antelope, crocodiles and lots of birds. The dry season is best for seeing elephants as the only water is in watering holes close to the hotel so that’s where they go on a regular basis. The swimming pool was a great attraction too and we spent lots of time cooling off in there. We also passed through Larabanga where there is a very old mud mosque.
April seems to be the time for piglets to be born and they are everywhere at the moment. I’m worried that I may squash one with my moto but they seem to quickly learn to keep out of the way. The tiny ones are really hard to see if they are lying down in the sand.
Time to head to the local spot for a drink!
Time is flying by and I am having a bit of a blitz this weekend on catching up with the blog as I have got rather behind.
Feb 14th was Valentine’s Day, Maths Day and National Chocolate Day all in one. By then I had no chocolate left from the various parcels I was sent at Christmas.
When I got back from my travels after the New Year other European volunteers said I looked well. Ghanaian colleagues at work said that Africa wasn’t suiting me - I was thinner and browner. Different perceptions! I have lost a few kilos but not a lot and am certainly not in any danger of fading away.
It was a bit daunting getting back on the moto after a break. If I am going far afield I usually go with someone else as there are no maps and I don’t know where any of the schools are. However if you set off in the right general direction you can usually ask someone for directions. People are really helpful and I never feel at all unsafe. I have now found out that I can pick the moto up from the ground even though it’s really heavy - I managed to drop it when I ground to a halt in deep sand. You need to keep your revs up in sand but the back wheel tends to wobble around and I chickened out and got stuck. I constantly have a few impressive bruises on my right leg as every so often I hit my shin on the pegs as I move the moto in and out of the house but am otherwise still in one piece as yet.
In March I braved the 16 hr bus journey south and visited Accra for a few days, travelling with a couple of other Upper East volunteers to attend some VSO workshops. Socially it was good to catch up with other volunteers who were in Accra for various reasons or live there and to eat out. Like any other capital city Accra has lots of expats living there and other high earners so there is a good choice of international cuisine available at a price. So for a few days we paid almost UK type prices and enjoyed real mozzarella and parmesan on pizza, South African wine, butter, ice-cream, chips and bacon. I also bought some chocolate and a few other goodies to bring north. I couldn’t afford to be there for long! It was a bit cooler in Accra and I got some really good sleep in the hotel as there was air con. It was lovely to have cool air in the room and snuggle under a cover.
It was time to say farewell to both my housemates, firstly Iona and then Andrea, in February & March as they reached the end of their placements and returned home. So there were several parties and ‘sittings’ to say goodbye and then it was hello to new faces as replacement volunteers arrived. It was strange to suddenly be senior volunteer in Zebilla!
Feb 14th was Valentine’s Day, Maths Day and National Chocolate Day all in one. By then I had no chocolate left from the various parcels I was sent at Christmas.
When I got back from my travels after the New Year other European volunteers said I looked well. Ghanaian colleagues at work said that Africa wasn’t suiting me - I was thinner and browner. Different perceptions! I have lost a few kilos but not a lot and am certainly not in any danger of fading away.
It was a bit daunting getting back on the moto after a break. If I am going far afield I usually go with someone else as there are no maps and I don’t know where any of the schools are. However if you set off in the right general direction you can usually ask someone for directions. People are really helpful and I never feel at all unsafe. I have now found out that I can pick the moto up from the ground even though it’s really heavy - I managed to drop it when I ground to a halt in deep sand. You need to keep your revs up in sand but the back wheel tends to wobble around and I chickened out and got stuck. I constantly have a few impressive bruises on my right leg as every so often I hit my shin on the pegs as I move the moto in and out of the house but am otherwise still in one piece as yet.
In March I braved the 16 hr bus journey south and visited Accra for a few days, travelling with a couple of other Upper East volunteers to attend some VSO workshops. Socially it was good to catch up with other volunteers who were in Accra for various reasons or live there and to eat out. Like any other capital city Accra has lots of expats living there and other high earners so there is a good choice of international cuisine available at a price. So for a few days we paid almost UK type prices and enjoyed real mozzarella and parmesan on pizza, South African wine, butter, ice-cream, chips and bacon. I also bought some chocolate and a few other goodies to bring north. I couldn’t afford to be there for long! It was a bit cooler in Accra and I got some really good sleep in the hotel as there was air con. It was lovely to have cool air in the room and snuggle under a cover.
It was time to say farewell to both my housemates, firstly Iona and then Andrea, in February & March as they reached the end of their placements and returned home. So there were several parties and ‘sittings’ to say goodbye and then it was hello to new faces as replacement volunteers arrived. It was strange to suddenly be senior volunteer in Zebilla!
Thursday, March 4, 2010
At Christmas I travelled with 4 other volunteers from this area via Kumasi to Koforidua to join other volunteers for the holiday. A volunteer who lives in Koforidua and has a large house offered to host us and the group grew and grew! There were 19 of us, working in different areas all over Ghana, gathered together for Christmas lunch. The men grabbed the barbeque tools and looked after the chicken, beef kebabs and sausages. Others of us chopped up vegetables and fruit so there was rice, lots of salad & jacket potatoes too. And fruit salad for dessert. A real feast. We played a Secret Santa game and all ended up with a gift, some more desirable than others!
In Kumasi on the way to Koforidua I visited the cultural centre there and looked down on the market, supposedly the largest in West Africa, but left exploring that for another time.
A couple of days after Christmas 11 of us set off travelling, heading firstly to Benin. We had some fluent French speakers amongst us which made arranging transport, haggling over prices and getting hotel rooms very much easier. In Benin we visited Ouidah, once the capital of the slave trade and now the centre of voodoo worship, and Abomey, where the Kings of Dahomey had their palace. We then went to the capital, Porto Novo, for New Year and visited a stilt village on New Year‘s Day. After that it was back to Togo. We stayed in a seminary in Togoville on Lake Togo (the hotel was too expensive and there was little else on offer) and then went to Kpalime in the hills. It was lovely to walk in the forest and see hundreds of brightly coloured butterflies and we also visited some waterfalls where you could cool off under the cascade. Back across the border in Ghana we went to Hohoe in the Volta region. While there we visited the Wli Falls where you can swim and there are about half a million bats, climbed Mount Afadjato, Ghana’s highest mountain, and then visited the Akosombo Dam and Lake Volta.
People left the main group at various stages of the trip so there were eventually just four of us who needed to travel back northwards from the Akosombo. We heard that the long distance buses were all booked up and so embarked on a tro tro marathon to get back. Seven tro tros, lots of Fan Yogos (strawberry iced yoghurt) and an overnight stay in Techiman later I reached Zebilla!
So it’s been an interesting, very different and very warm Christmas and New Year.
Problems with my password have meant that there's been a bit of a gap between writing this and posting it!
In Kumasi on the way to Koforidua I visited the cultural centre there and looked down on the market, supposedly the largest in West Africa, but left exploring that for another time.
A couple of days after Christmas 11 of us set off travelling, heading firstly to Benin. We had some fluent French speakers amongst us which made arranging transport, haggling over prices and getting hotel rooms very much easier. In Benin we visited Ouidah, once the capital of the slave trade and now the centre of voodoo worship, and Abomey, where the Kings of Dahomey had their palace. We then went to the capital, Porto Novo, for New Year and visited a stilt village on New Year‘s Day. After that it was back to Togo. We stayed in a seminary in Togoville on Lake Togo (the hotel was too expensive and there was little else on offer) and then went to Kpalime in the hills. It was lovely to walk in the forest and see hundreds of brightly coloured butterflies and we also visited some waterfalls where you could cool off under the cascade. Back across the border in Ghana we went to Hohoe in the Volta region. While there we visited the Wli Falls where you can swim and there are about half a million bats, climbed Mount Afadjato, Ghana’s highest mountain, and then visited the Akosombo Dam and Lake Volta.
People left the main group at various stages of the trip so there were eventually just four of us who needed to travel back northwards from the Akosombo. We heard that the long distance buses were all booked up and so embarked on a tro tro marathon to get back. Seven tro tros, lots of Fan Yogos (strawberry iced yoghurt) and an overnight stay in Techiman later I reached Zebilla!
So it’s been an interesting, very different and very warm Christmas and New Year.
Problems with my password have meant that there's been a bit of a gap between writing this and posting it!
Monday, December 21, 2009
Christmas here is celebrated by Christians in church but is otherwise quite low key. There are a few signs of a more commercialised, westernised sort of celebration creeping in but most people in the north of Ghana can’t afford to do parties, cards, presents etc. Not hearing Jingle Bells from Bonfire Night onwards has been really great! Just last week there started to be a few carols played at times on the TV when other Christian music would usually be played and on Monday Vodaphone were doing a promotion in the nearest big town and had someone dressed up as Santa on their float.
At the weekend volunteers in this area got together for an early Christmas dinner. 15of us gathered at one house in Bolgatanga and all contributed to the meal. Our Secret Santa limit was the equivalent of just over a pound and the gifts were a real mix of edible, practical and plain silly. The distribution and opening of them involved a story and the option of ‘stealing’ a present that you liked better than the one you had opened, resulting in much hilarity as some things were clearly favoured over others, especially anything chocolate! We then had a UK v the rest of the world quiz which the UK won by a whisker. Anthony who is in a band, Bolgatanga, then bought in his guitar and the band’s drums and we played and sang carols and Christmas songs. Then we noticed it was 1.30am so a good time had been had by all!
The Christmas break is now approaching. Schools finished on Friday (18th) for 3 weeks but the office doesn’t close til lunchtime on Christmas Eve. It will be closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day then open again until New Years Day which is also a holiday. Iona, who I share a house with, and I are taking some extra leave days and travelling via Kumasi to Koforidua in the south east to spend Christmas with some other volunteers. There should be about 15 of us. There is a big bead market in Koforidua that we plan to visit on Christmas Eve. On Boxing Day the plan is to visit some nearby waterfalls and do a bit of a hike.
After Christmas a smaller group of us are going to travel for a few days in Togo and Benin which should be a bit of an adventure to start off the New Year.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
At the weekend volunteers in this area got together for an early Christmas dinner. 15of us gathered at one house in Bolgatanga and all contributed to the meal. Our Secret Santa limit was the equivalent of just over a pound and the gifts were a real mix of edible, practical and plain silly. The distribution and opening of them involved a story and the option of ‘stealing’ a present that you liked better than the one you had opened, resulting in much hilarity as some things were clearly favoured over others, especially anything chocolate! We then had a UK v the rest of the world quiz which the UK won by a whisker. Anthony who is in a band, Bolgatanga, then bought in his guitar and the band’s drums and we played and sang carols and Christmas songs. Then we noticed it was 1.30am so a good time had been had by all!
The Christmas break is now approaching. Schools finished on Friday (18th) for 3 weeks but the office doesn’t close til lunchtime on Christmas Eve. It will be closed Christmas Day and Boxing Day then open again until New Years Day which is also a holiday. Iona, who I share a house with, and I are taking some extra leave days and travelling via Kumasi to Koforidua in the south east to spend Christmas with some other volunteers. There should be about 15 of us. There is a big bead market in Koforidua that we plan to visit on Christmas Eve. On Boxing Day the plan is to visit some nearby waterfalls and do a bit of a hike.
After Christmas a smaller group of us are going to travel for a few days in Togo and Benin which should be a bit of an adventure to start off the New Year.
A very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to all.
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