Tue. May 5, 2015
Today Austin and I got up a little late so the bus was waiting for us when we arrived at the telecentre. We had to stop and buy fruit on the way though. We have heard so much about it and I know that fruit is just better in hotter climates. We bought 3 pineapples and a huge mango for 13 Cedi’s. Cedi’s is the currency they have here. I tried to barter but I didn’t know what a good price was for fruit so I just payed what she asked for. Found out later that she had likely doubled the price. I should have payed 6-7 Cedi’s. One cedi is about $3.80 US dollars. So 13 is still really cheap but you still want to get a good deal. The fruit was great though! The pineapple was so sweet! Not acidic at all! The core was so soft that you could eat almost all of it as well. The mango was delicious as well. Makes for a great breakfast. A lot better than the toast and coffee/tea they provide for us in the mornings. We went to the bank the other day to withdraw money from the ATM and we all pulled out 1600 Cedi’s which is about $420 US. That will more than last me while I am here.
Today we went to a Liberian refugee camp about 45 minutes away. In Ghana there are tons of people that walk the street carrying things on their heads to sell to cars as they wait in traffic. Anything from water to ice cream to data for your phone plans. Its funny because you just stick you hand out your window and wave one of them over. They come running with 50 pounds of stuff on their heads and sometimes have to keep running with the car to make the exchange haha. I don't know how they do it. But they do, and they do it all day. The refugee camp was just like you see in the movies. Scrap wood and metal as walls and roofs. We had to do a bit of off roading to get to the church in the camp. I was amazed with how many children there were in the camp. They would wave to us and some would shout “Obruni!” which means white person, then get the occasional smack over the head by their nearby mother haha. It really isn’t considered an insult at all so we don’t take offence.
There were only about 120 people there today. A lot of muslims actually which was surprising until I remembered they were mostly from Liberia, a very muslim country. Not too many children today and I forgot my frisbee but there was no room to throw it around anyways. I was on the little 8 inch laptop that the clinic uses to record patient records in an excel spreadsheet. So because I spent all of my time starring at a very dimly lit computer screen (to conserve energy) I didn’t get that much human interaction today. I wasn’t to upset though the people there were not as open or talkative as the Ga people. It took me a little bit to get a hang of using the laptop but after I figured out the fastest keys to use things went much smoother. I also helped out with dispensing glasses and medications. They have to purchase them at a discounted rate.
Mary Ellen and John dispensing glasses and medications
The refugee camp we went to
This was the school that they had there. The teachers said that we should come back and teach there sometime. It was very sad to see the conditions that they lived in but humbling as well.
So Ghana is going through a power crisis (as in electrical power). The country receives all of its power from one huge damn a little further inland. When the country became independent 10 or 15 years ago (I cant really remember). They were fine and distributing power was not an issue but they never set up a solid transition plan to account for the increase in population and economy or the pulling out of other countries providing energy. So just this year they dont have enough power for the country with no way of fixing it! There are periods of time, sometimes all day, where the power wont work so everyone has to turn on a generator if they need light and things. Luckily we are gone all day and when we come back the power is usually on. But there have been times where the power has been off and so the AC doesn’t work haha. Those are the worst times. You are just praying for the power to come back on or for them to turn on the generator. The country though is in an uproar about the issue and it doesn’t make for a very happy people.
I am loving it here. The people make me so happy because they are just so nice and accepting. They will do anything for you usually and they always greet you with a smile on their face. When you shake hands you do a similar hand shake to what “bro’s” do in north america but when your hands start to come apart you use each others fingers to snap your own. It’s hard to explain in words, I will have to demonstrate when I get home but its really cool and everyone does it, moms, dads, grandmas and kids!
I hope I don’t curse myself by saying this but I don’t think I have gotten one mosquito bite since I have been here. Its great! Don’t worry I still take my malaria meds, I’m not stupid. I wont take my chances.
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