Ma Dwo (mah-JO) - Good Evening,
Well friends, I don't even know where to start. Me pe Ghana! I LOVE it. I may be seeing the wold through the rose-tinted specs of the "honeymoon stage" of culture shock, but I am really positively wowed by this place.
Because my time is limited I want to fit in the really important things: the misconceptions I (and I'm sure many of us Canadians held before I arrived here.
-I was under the impression that HIV/AIDS was rampant in Ghana. I had heard people through around "statistics" saying up to 70% of the population lived with HIV/AIDS. In fact only 3.4% of the population has HIV/AIDS.
-I have seen far fewer mosquitoes here than back home.
-I have only come across one beggar.
-English is surprisingly scarce. Although many people do speak it, the level of fluency is similar to an anglo-Canadian's "mastery" of French.
-The level of respect is much higher here. Especially in terms of age.
-Most everyone I meet is EXTREMELY friendly compaired to Canadians. As I walk down the street people will call out asking how you are, and will genuinely get to know you a bit. Even street vendors that I have met once have remembered me by name, and where I'm from down to the city. If I try to speak Twi (chwee), a language that I have already come to love, they laugh and clap and help me along.
-They DON'T use their left hand for the toilet, it is merely the hand that most Ghanaians use to hold the toilet paper.
-I prefer bucket showers to "regular" showers.
-I have not (yet) used one "non-western" toilet - and that's not for lack of trying!
-I have honestly not had one meal (yet) that I haven't enjoyed more than average (and usually effusively).
-Chocolate (for which Ghana is known) is actually relatively expensive and somewhat hard to come by (but "pebbles" like peanut m&m's, but bigger and with better chocolate) are wonderful and cheap.
-The produce is mind-blowing. Even by B.C. standards. The fruit (all kinds are available, but most commonly pine-apple, coconuts, papaya) is naturally sweet and mouth-wateringly refreshing and D-lish.
-The colours of Ghana's flag (green=forests, yellow=mineral wealth, black=overcoming slavery) are shared by Jamaica's flag. This is suspiciously coincidental as the vast majority of Ghanaians adore reggae, and Bob Marley is something of a cultural idol. Reggae is played in shops (rather than "easy listening") which is really refreshing and at a Reggae night I attended last night at La Badi Beach I met a few full-blown Rastafarians ("Ja Bless!")
There we go.
I am a little hesitant to just write everything I am doing and experiencing here because many things will require additional explanation or background info, which I haven't the time to write here. I will, however, fill you in by saying that it is with mixed emotions that I near the end of my orientation week with the other volunteers here in La Badi, Accra. On the one hand I am excited to get to my placement (with the homestay family and at the clinic) in Swedro (two hours east of Accra) and take in a new community that is even more "traditional" than Accra. At the same time though, I have really bonded with the ten other volunteers (mostly from Canada, one from Australia, one from Sweden), and have come to love our neighborhood, and the local neighbors. We have spent the week learning about and immersing ourselves in the culture of Accra. We have had lessons in cultural do's and don'ts (I've had a definite don't by yelling "testicle" (eneshwee) in a restaurant, while trying to say "no problem" (eneshway). There are four phrases that are just "don'ts" waiting to happen: "me bow" (I'll beat you), "m'abo" (I'm drunk), "me buwo (I respect you), "me boa" (I'm lying). I suppose falling in an uncovered sewer (don't worry not hurt, not even my pride as it provided great entertainment for the children I was making paper aeroplanes with) could be considered a "cultural don't". But I think that's more of a global "don't".
That has sort of been the point of this past week of orientation, and also, sort of, this post. We have been breaking down our western stereotypes and ideologies and realizing that the majority of the world does not do things the way we do in Victoria. I ave also learned that although our cultures are very different, music, common sense and a sense of humour cross all boundaries.
Thanks for "tuning in." I do not know how accessible Internet will be in the smaller (7000 person) town of Swedro. And, with absolutely no effrontery intended, it's very nice not being on the computer. That said, I will make a strong effort to send an update within the next two weeks.
Byebye!
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, January 27, 2009
Akwaaba - Welcome!
Hello Friends,
I have never kept a blog before; in fact, I have only rarely ventured onto them when I have tried to "back-up" other people's music on to my computer. If I could hand-write a letter and mail it to you all, I would. I don't hate technology, it's just that I prefer the tangible to the digital.
Anyway, now that I have gotten off to a hilariously deep and pretentious start (befitting a blog I think) I'll let you know what's going on.
I'm volunteering in a small medical clinic (the Nsaba Health Clinic) in Swedru, Ghana. If Africa is an "Allen key" then Ghana is just to the left of the "Allen" of the key. If, instead, Africa is a Tricerotops head (looking eastward), then Ghana is at the base of the frill. It's three to left of Nigeria, and on a standard world map, it's almost right in the middle. I'm just letting you know so that you have some idea of where I'm going. About two months ago I hadn't a clue either. My doctor thought it was in South America - that's Guyana.
Ghana, properly (and more sensationally), The Republic of Gaana, is pretty neat. It means "Warrior King" in reference to the many warring kingdoms from which it was comprised in medieval times. Fortunately the militaristic tone is now only titular, as the country itself is among the most peaceful and IS the most democratic in all of Africa. It was one of the first African countries to be taken from the Portuguese by the British in 1874 - a mere seven years after Canada's somewhat similar fate, though it was the French who were done out. Not wanting to be outdone, Ghana was then the very first African country to gain independence. First in, first out. In December a man named John Mills was voted in as President (America isn't the only country with a black President). While, apparently, he's a pretty swell leader, he has the most comparatively uninspired name.
My homestay family is comprised of: grandma Queen Elizabeth (who goes by Mrs. Elizabeth), mother Philomena Fynn, brother Kofi (19) and his sixteen year old cousin Blessing. Other common Ghanaian names are: Godswill, Godstime and Precious. "Ryan Say" might make me stand out, but I think my skin colour will take care of that.
Last summer was the first time in my life that I had ever managed to tan (and only slightly at that). Prior to that I'd transition from white to second degree burns (with the intermediate "lobster-red" stage). Just as we lump the African peoples' great cultural (and indeed geographic) diversity together with the label "black people" to them we are all white. My new friend Navi (who is of Indian heritage) worked in an orphanage in Ghana. When she was with the blond child of another volunteer the Ghanaian children assumed that she was the child's mother. But, Navi told me, although we may seem to stand out, Ghana has a sense of community that even the Gulf Islands could aspire to. People run on "Ghana time" meaning that they may be late for work because they bumped into someone they knew (or didn't!) and had them over for a fine chat!
Anyway, thanks for reading even this far. I just wanted to give you a bit of an outsider's (soon-to-be insider) introduction to the country that I will be living in for the next three months. Just to manage all expectations, when I arrive in Ghana the nearest internet connection will be a good half hour away (at least) so I will aspire to no more than bi-monthly blogging. Feel free to e-mail me at rsay@uvic.ca or send me a facebook. While I will take pleasure in reading the messages I receive, I can pretty much guarantee that individual responses will be unlikely. That is the glory of the ubiquitous blog.
I have never kept a blog before; in fact, I have only rarely ventured onto them when I have tried to "back-up" other people's music on to my computer. If I could hand-write a letter and mail it to you all, I would. I don't hate technology, it's just that I prefer the tangible to the digital.
Anyway, now that I have gotten off to a hilariously deep and pretentious start (befitting a blog I think) I'll let you know what's going on.
I'm volunteering in a small medical clinic (the Nsaba Health Clinic) in Swedru, Ghana. If Africa is an "Allen key" then Ghana is just to the left of the "Allen" of the key. If, instead, Africa is a Tricerotops head (looking eastward), then Ghana is at the base of the frill. It's three to left of Nigeria, and on a standard world map, it's almost right in the middle. I'm just letting you know so that you have some idea of where I'm going. About two months ago I hadn't a clue either. My doctor thought it was in South America - that's Guyana.
Ghana, properly (and more sensationally), The Republic of Gaana, is pretty neat. It means "Warrior King" in reference to the many warring kingdoms from which it was comprised in medieval times. Fortunately the militaristic tone is now only titular, as the country itself is among the most peaceful and IS the most democratic in all of Africa. It was one of the first African countries to be taken from the Portuguese by the British in 1874 - a mere seven years after Canada's somewhat similar fate, though it was the French who were done out. Not wanting to be outdone, Ghana was then the very first African country to gain independence. First in, first out. In December a man named John Mills was voted in as President (America isn't the only country with a black President). While, apparently, he's a pretty swell leader, he has the most comparatively uninspired name.
My homestay family is comprised of: grandma Queen Elizabeth (who goes by Mrs. Elizabeth), mother Philomena Fynn, brother Kofi (19) and his sixteen year old cousin Blessing. Other common Ghanaian names are: Godswill, Godstime and Precious. "Ryan Say" might make me stand out, but I think my skin colour will take care of that.
Last summer was the first time in my life that I had ever managed to tan (and only slightly at that). Prior to that I'd transition from white to second degree burns (with the intermediate "lobster-red" stage). Just as we lump the African peoples' great cultural (and indeed geographic) diversity together with the label "black people" to them we are all white. My new friend Navi (who is of Indian heritage) worked in an orphanage in Ghana. When she was with the blond child of another volunteer the Ghanaian children assumed that she was the child's mother. But, Navi told me, although we may seem to stand out, Ghana has a sense of community that even the Gulf Islands could aspire to. People run on "Ghana time" meaning that they may be late for work because they bumped into someone they knew (or didn't!) and had them over for a fine chat!
Anyway, thanks for reading even this far. I just wanted to give you a bit of an outsider's (soon-to-be insider) introduction to the country that I will be living in for the next three months. Just to manage all expectations, when I arrive in Ghana the nearest internet connection will be a good half hour away (at least) so I will aspire to no more than bi-monthly blogging. Feel free to e-mail me at rsay@uvic.ca or send me a facebook. While I will take pleasure in reading the messages I receive, I can pretty much guarantee that individual responses will be unlikely. That is the glory of the ubiquitous blog.
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