Back again.....

... stupidly my notebook with everything Ghana came to hospital with me therefore had to be stored with everything else that was radioactive.  3 months are now up and I've not got this back so back to blogging this week!

Day 4 - Teaching, cat-eating and meeting the Chief

I got up later this morning.  Not 'late' in home terms but 8 a.m. is a long lie in Ghana terms.  Fanny, Charli and I spend quite a bit of the morning sorting out art materials and school supplies and planning the lesson we're to give later on today to mid school children.  We've never done this before but we'll give it a go.

CATS ( NOT THE CHIEFS! ) MUCH SMALLER THAN OUR CATS

Before any of this, we went to try to meet the elusive Chief and give him his 'gift' which consists of a bottle of locally produced Schnapps. However when we get there, he's eating (or chopping as its known) so we let him continue his meal.  Apart from it being very disrespectful to interrupt someone who is eating, the Chief eats cats - though I don't know that he was eating cat at that point.  There were a few cats running around his fallen down house and I forced myself not to think of their potential fate.  As a veggie, I do feel if you can eat a cow, then why can't you eat a cat or dog?   The 'nice' part of it is that Chief views the cats as his friends and is seen allowing them to crawl over and lie on him.  When the time comes, he'll kill and eat them.  Probably not a common view to meat-eaters but I do believe this is a better way to eat meat than to eat factory farmed animal.  I digress yet again...

TYPICAL CLASSROOM

We spend early afternoon preparing the lesson so we were ready to go at 2 p.m.  School finishes at 2 p.m. and the children are asked if they want to participate in an English lesson with the 'aubrinis'.  Most children opt to stay behind.  Weird because in this country I suspect if any kid DID stay behind, their parents would be banging on the door imagining all kinds of things had happened to their kids because they weren't home at a certain time.  This doesn't happen in rural Ghana - the kids play safe.  We'll come to more about this in a future blog.

Our lesson today will be to do 'Word Bingo' which is a game we found in a book belonging to the charity.  We drew pictures and then did post-its with words on them matching the pictures and the children were to match them up.  We are quite resourceful in getting materials and paper together.  We take three large sheets of paper and three sets of words on post-its so we can each help a group of kids.  When we arrive in the classroom, we have maybe around 40 children present between the ages of 8 and 10 years. They're all very keen to spend time with us.  However they run rings round us and its a bit chaotic.  Its not helped by how classrooms are designed - breeze-block walls with a tin roof on top and no doors!

We soldier on and do our Word Bingo game which is actually great fun however we do see we could have done so much more with this.  We then do a variant of 'Simon Says' - except its now 'Mister Neil Says' after Neil who runs the charity and is well known to all the kids.  We then finish with some head, shoulders, knees and toes.  I don't suppose I'll ever make the grade (or ever have the inclination if I'm honest) to be a teacher but I really did enjoy it.

FANNY WITH SOME OF THE KIDS

After school, we take laundry along to a local woman called Sister Mousy who does laundry for us.  She's set up as a business so we really do want to support her.  As ever we have loads of kids in tow.  Everywhere we walk, whether it be to the well for water or to Janet's house, the kids are there with us trying to carry our things and hold our hands.  Its relatively embarrassing to struggle to carry a bucket of water to then have a 3 year old come along, take it from you, put it on their head and walk fast to wherever the end destination is.  I swear they have iron rods in their necks! 

GIDEON & HIS SISTERS

One of the children doesn't speak any English at all. He's around 3 or 4 and his older sister doesn't go to school and she frequently has a baby strapped to her back. I suspect her role is to look after baby while the Mother works in the fields but I really don't know what their story is.  They are beautiful kids and so lovely to speak to even although they don't speak English and I don't speak Tre.  The little boy is called Gideon and I have a huge soft spot for him.  He's also known as Crazy Eyes because he has gorgeous eyes and does all kind of cross eyed things with them.  Some 'helpful' Western twat obviously also felt the need to show this little boy how to stick his two fingers up so he does this frequently.  He, or anyone else, has no idea what this means however I do and am quite pissed off that someone felt the need to show him this.  The kids go everywhere with us asking to be carried or hold our hands.  One of the wee boys in the village cries when he sees us - he's frightened of white people.  The kids press our white skin to watch the red marks it gives us.  Tattoo's are another fascination - some kids try to rub them off.

GIDEON (CRAZY EYES)

We return to the village and Fanny, Charli and I attempt to go and meet the Chief - I'm not supposed to walk around the village until I've met him so I'm anxious to meet him on behalf of the Scots so that we can follow the tradition and show him that we respect him.  The idea around formally meeting the Chief is that if he accepts us, he'll give a complex handshake which ends with him clicking his fingers.  If he does this, it means he is guaranteeing our safety and we are welcome in the village. I dont' ask what happens if he doesn't like us.  Success this time and we're formally introduced and I'm very relieved that the Chief clicks his fingers as he shakes my hand. I'm there representing Davy and Kevan too and hand over our 'gift'.  I've no idea what the Chiefs name is - its just really Chief.  The Chief asks where we are from. I say Scotland and he asks lots of questions - I'm guessing he's seen Braveheart too.  Mel Gibson will haunt us Scots forever.

ME, THE CHIEF, HIS SISTER AND 'VILLAGE MOTHER, JANET AND HER DAUGHTER THE LOVELY BEA

My swelling problems are ongoing.  I spend the day having to lie with my feet above my head when things get too bad.  Its now spreading and my hands are now swollen too.  I manage to get my ring off and put it in a safe place. To add insult to injury I've also got a stye on my eye.   I lie in the hammock with my feet up and Manuela comes along and we chat. She writes names and family names in my diary.  Manuela makes me laugh - she's 6 and she is bossy!  She's very beautiful and has a huge personality!

MANUELA AND I - MANUELA IS JANET'S DAUGHTER

Anna, Neil's wife, arrives back from Accra around 4 p.m.  Its good to have her here since we only met briefly.  She has a thick Irish accent and I'm interested in how she got here but will try to resist asking a million questions for now.  Neil is fantastic - he's really funny.  Kevan and Davy are down to earth and very sound and dependable guys.  I do see them however usually just at breakfast, after dark and on/off as I'm passing land rovers through the day.  Fanny is really sweet and absolutely gorgeous.  She's quieter than the rest of us and I have to keep reminding myself that English isn't her first language because her English is so good. She enjoys her own company and is fantastic with the children.  Charli and I have become firm friends.  Its pretty weird because Charli is only a year older than my daughter Finleigh which makes me feel old but then we never really feel the age gap at all.  We natter about everything and anything. I am so glad that I feel so comfortable with the people here.  I want to keep in touch with them all - especially Charli and Fanny.

FANNY, CHARLI AND I

I'm now free to move around the village.  We go to the village well to collect some water for our showers.  The crickets are out and that's a sign that we need to get our DEET spray on to avoid the mosquito bites.  However we then get dark clouds and for the first time in my life I get really excited thinking its going to rain.  It doesn't and I'm so disappointed. Anna points out that there will be plenty rain when I get home. I contemplate this and agree!  I hate rain at home because it makes my hair curly but I've long given up on the idea of straight hair here - who cares what I look like?

WALKING SOMEWHERE WITH OUR ENTOURAGE

We can smoke outside in the evening once its dark if the kids aren't around - we can't risk the kids seeing us smoke and trying to copy us because smoking is not a common thing in Ghana.  Cigarettes are dirt cheap but you hardly see anyone smoke.  It would be nice if it stays that way.  Through the day we can only really smoke inside the volunteer centre. 

This evening we go to Janet's house for dinner and she makes us African Stew.  There is no meat in the village so its easy enough for us veggies. I've no idea what is in the African stew but its lovely and we eat it in Janet's yard as it gets dark with chickens and goats running around our feet.  We return back to the volunteer area and I get stuck into some beer then vodka.  I stay up late - around 2.30 a.m. which is apparently possibly the record stay-up-time for any volunteer!

Day 3 - Fat Feet and loads of kids

Its Monday 31st January and my first morning in the village.  I was woken at 7 a.m. by a cockerel who would not shut up.  I slept okay but was woken a few times through the night by weird noises.  I  took my bag into my bunk with me and had my feet raised most of the night to try to bring this swelling down.  Initally this worked but by 9 a.m. my ankles were fat again.  My hands are also swelling and I've had to take my ring off.

The guys are off to see an axle again and thankfully I don't have to go with them.  I had a shower.  When I say shower I mean this loosely.  Its a pail of water with a cup which we pour over ourselves.  We use the village well water for washing and for boiling.  When the Polytank has filled with rainwater, we use this for bathing.  We drink bags of water - quite weird at first but actually easy to drink.

BAGS OF DRINKING WATER

Fanny and Charli finish off painting the container and I help.  My feet begin to get fatter so we sit in the shade for a while. The kids are all at school.  The school is a stone-throw away so we can still hear them and see them at intervals.  Anna is still in Accra.  Its so humid today.  I still can't go for a wander around the village as the Chief is still at the funeral and until I formally meet him, I can't go to his village so I'm stuck with my fat feet in the volunteer area.  The guys say they'll be an hour and a half but its Africa-time so it could really be any time before they come back. I try to call home but the phone signal here is awful and it breaks up even when you start the call with a full signal. 

WASHING DISHES

I learn how to wash dishes when you don't have basic 'essentials' such as running water.  There are four bowls - bowl 1 has washing up liquid and water. Bowl 2 has water to rinse, bowl 3 has milton sterilising fluid in water so we can sterilise everything and bowl 4 is the one where the dishes are stacked with the other bowls over the top.

THE ENGLISH POST OFFICE, MANGOASE

Before I forget, some of the names here are causing me to raise my eyebrows.  There is Dodgy the mechanic, Gifty the bar owner, Hilarious and a lady who calls herself PrimeNumber.  The kids frequently have names such as Mavis, Beatrice, Esther, Dorothy - old-fashioned English names.  However this was once an English colony and you only need to go to the nearest town, Mangoase to see the English remnants. Everyone refers to us as "Obruni" - loosely translated, it means white person and it is very much a term of endearment.

Today is so humid.  Its not even the hottest time of day and the temperature is around 92 degrees but the humidity is the killer and that is high.  We are in sub-tropical rainforest.  I climb into the hammock upside down with my feet higher than my head to see if the swelling will reduce any.  Am already fed up and hoping my body acclimatises to the heat soon or this will be ruined.  My peace doesn't last long.  I begin to doze off and am woken with the hammock being swung - the kids are out of school! 

The kids go to school between 8 a.m. and finish at 2 p.m.  They then run home to change then come to see us.  Although they materially have very little, they are happy children and I'm already into the swing of things.  They physically fight however none of them cry and go running home.  The village has around 3 teddy bears - they are communal teddies and the kids all share them between them.

We spend the rest of the afternoon with the kids all wanting to know who the new Obruni is.  They all, especially the boys, take turn of touching and pleating my hair which can get sore on occasion.  After each time I play with the kids I have to ensure that I use anti-bacterial hand lotion on my hands.  They are adorable but they do carry germs which my Westernised body could react to.

One incident today left us all a little upset when we first heard. One of the kids stole a bag of water.  Because of the serious effect and potential if its not dealt with, Neil took the boy to the Chief.  In cases like this, the Chief usually opts for a public whipping.  However the boy and his mother pleaded for clemency and the Chief decided not to whip him on this occasion.  We were so relieved.  The boy has received a years ban from the Village by Village area.  I do hope today was a lesson for him.

At 6 p.m. it suddenly gets dark. The crickets come out around 5 p.m. and that is the time to change into long sleeved/leg clothing and get the DEET spray on.  We head off in the land rovers and go to Gifty's bar in Mangoase where there is electricity and cold beer.  Gifty is larger than life and very friendly.  We all order beers - my favourite is Star beer. 

ME, CHARLI AND FANNY AT GIFTY'S BAR

Charli and I ask to use the toilet.  We are taken round the back of the bar down a long dark (and probably unsafe) path by torchlight until we are shown the 'toilet'.  There is a baby gecko on the wall and Charli points this out. Our guide asks if we want it. We politely refuse.   Neil goes off into the town to find a local girl, Joyce, who will cook us egg omelette on bread.  We order two lots, have a couple of beers.  Gifty is charging my mobile for me.  I go in to get it just as we're leaving and a man asks where I'm from. I say Scotland. The man immediately says "Ahhh - Braveman". I assume he means Braveheart and I swear everyone in Africa has seen this. 

THE OUTSIDE SEATING AREA

We head back to the village where there is no electricity.  We sit at the table area and have a vodka or two then bed.  We still haven't met the Chief...

DAY 2 - Land rovers and Accra then arriving in Gboloo Kofi

Its Sunday 30th January and I woke at 8 a.m at which point the Norwegian girls had been up and about for ages.  Our shower/bathroom wasn't working so I went off for a shower in the room opposite. As I'm showering I became aware of hellfire and brimstone's ranting out the window.  I wonder what is going on but continue showering and get dressed.  I knocked on Kevan and Davy's room door and they're getting up and also off for showers.  Neil is picking us up around 10.30 or so but its Africa and I'm well aware of "Africa-time" so I guess it could be any time after 10.30.

We all go downstairs for breakfast however all that's left is cornflakes and not-so-fresh-looking bread so I have coffee.  After a while I decide I need to smoke and am aware there is a garage beside the Paloma Hotel so I go for a walk.  I'm met with some pretty weird sights including religiously named fast food stalls and dogs sleeping under cars.  I get to the main street, survive crossing the road and being beeped by taxi drivers.  I buy my fags and light one up as I wander back to the Pink Hostel.  At that point I didn't realise that the only women in Ghana who smoke are prostitutes...  I try to take a photo of dogs sleeping under the car but am accosted by a young man who asks if I want to go back to his place for coffee.  I decline but he walks alongside me on the way back to the Hostel.  I thank him for his 'friendliness' and go back inside.

Meantime I suss that the hellfire and brimstone Billy Graham style is actually a church service very close to the Hostel.  The guy is screaming and shouting and ranting but everyone seems to enjoy it. I do worry about that mans throat though - it must be sore given he's been at it for two hours.

After we got our cases outside, Neil arrives around an hour late to pick us up in the Land Rover.  Billy-Graham-sound alike is still at it and its now been way over 3 hours.  First stop was this English guy's house who professed to know about Land Rovers and he, Davy, Kev and Neil all sit there discussing Land Rovers and trailers while I become fascinated by his caged parrot who was doing odd things with his head.    We finally leave and drive through Accra to an American-style shopping mall.  One thing that's very obvious about Accra is that your car suspension can be knackered, bits missing or hanging off but if you dont' have a horn, you cannot drive.  EVERYONE beeps constantly.

We stop off at a supermarket and I buy Lebanese bread, cheese and salad cream and we make sandwiches in the back.  We get to the shopping mall and we go shop - I go get a Ghana Sim Card for my phone - they go look at men's stuff - welders etc.  We also go to the supermarket and buy things we may like while we're in the village - things we won't be able to buy.

We head out of Accra and towards the hills passing the Presidential Palace and a police checkpoint.  On the way we stop at Che Thierry to see Thierry about a trailer.  We'd already stopped at places on the way out of Accra to look at axles.  By this point I'm playing with my new Ghana sim phone.  We didn't stay long at Thierry's and shortly afterwards, we're on our way to the village again.  We stop off at the last town where we will find 'civilisation' of sorts,  Adawso, and have a cold Stone beer.  Then we go off-road on the dirt track to the village.  People wave to us the whole way along.

CHARLI & FANNY

We arrive at the village and there are loads of kids around waving to us.  I get out the land rover and notice a huge green container.  There are two girls there painting it.  I am introduced to Fanny from Sweden and Charli from Epsom.  I'm introduced to the children as 'Madam' Amanda.  Not sure how I feel about this but the volunteers are all called either 'Madam' or 'Mister'.  I somehow ended up carrying a little girl who doesn't speak much English but is called Vida-Rose. She has the most gorgeous face.

ME & VIDA-ROSE

We settle into the village and I hit it off with Charli straight away.  We talk at a hundred miles an hour. We settle down and start making a dent in the duty-free vodka and coke.  Charli is here for a month and Fanny is here for four months.  I immediately take to both of them.  I'm stuck around the volunteer complex because I can't go into the village until I've met the Chief and the Chief is at a funeral - funerals are three days long here and from the sound of it, they are a huge celebration. I find out that this is an area which practices voodoo though the funeral is 'normal' for Ghana.  We have some pasta as Neil goes through some ground rules.  It gets dark around 6 p.m. and we all put on DEET spray and long trousers and tops to help prevent mosquito bites.

THE VOLUNTEER CENTRE

I should mention the ethos of the charity.  The charity puts much emphasis put upon 'giving'.  The biggest problem the Western World created in Africa is by providing 'aid'.  'Giving' creates expectation and creates a begging culture.  Basically this culture doesn't help people in poverty.  If you've ever heard the quote "Give a man a fish and he'll eat for a day, teach a man to fish and he'll eat for a lifetime" then thats pretty much sums up how Village by Village work.  Although it can sound harsh, it works - it empowers people to help themselves.  All you need to do is look at our welfare state system and you'll see the damage a society creates by 'giving'.  I once witnessed a load of pencils being thrown to children in poverty and the scrum and fights that broke out was humiliating and degrading.  So the basic rule is this - you do not give.  If you want to give, then you can speak with Neil and find a way for the person to earn whatever it is you want to donate.  That way you don't create a dependant society.   Anyway I'll come back to this again later.

THE JUNGLE SHOWERS

OUR TOILET

My feet and ankles are swollen and I'm exhausted so off to bed under the mosquito net by 9.30 p.m.

Day 1 - Arriving in Accra

Its Saturday 29th January and I'm up at 5.30 a.m and we leave around 7. We arrive at Edinburgh airport at 7.45 to check in for our flights.  I say 'we' as Davie and Kalya are there to wave me off.  I'm not doing sad goodbyes though.  Davy and Kevan arrive around the same time as I do.  Flight leaves at 9.45 and we're in Amsterdam an hour and a half later. We then transfer to the Accra flight.  All pretty uneventful - apart from the call for a Doctor on board like you see in the movies. I get the veggie meal option ages before everyone else does and it was actually ok.

Arrived in Accra at 7.50 p.m.  Same timezone in Accra as it is in Edinburgh.  First thing that hits is the heat - its bloody hot!  77 degrees and its night!  Long queues and we produced our passports more times than I can remember and finally we get through customs and Neil and Anna who run the charity Village by Village are there to greet us.  We walk out to the Land Rover and several young males are trying to carry our bags for us.  I'm not quite looking where I'm going and I fall down a storm drain - great start but completely uninjured.  I pick myself up, cringe loads, we get to the Land Rover and we're off.

First stop is Ryan's Bar - yep an Irish Bar.  We have a cool beer and I end up having a cigarette.  Can always stop smoking again tomorrow.  Have a chat with Neil and Anna. Neil is English and Anna is from Dublin.  They spend around 6 months a year in Ghana.  We're all hungry so we head off to the Pink Hostel where we are staying the night then we're off to the village in the morning. 

THE PINK HOSTEL

We arrive at the Pink Hostel and I'm in a dorm room with 8 beds.  There are 3 Norwegian girls there who I chat to while I'm waiting on Davy and Kev getting ready - we're going to go out and get some food now even though its late.  Problem is that we cannot find the receptionist and we can't get out.  Finally after knocking on some doors, some sleepy young male appears and lets us out and grunts when we ask if the door will be open when we get back. Since we're really hungry, we'll take that as a yes. If its not, we've now sussed which window is his so we'll knock on it if the door isn't open when we get back.

THE PINK HOSTEL DORM ROOM

We go over to the Paloma Hotel and round the back to "Champs" however its all you can drink for 20 Cedis (£10) and all we want is food - I still cannot believe I walked away from that!  We sit next door in the grill bar and have a chip roll and Star beer.  We walk back to the Pink Hostel and the door is open. I get back to the dorm and the room is in darkness so I sneak into bed as the girls are obviously sleeping. I lie awake for a while thinking whats to come.

One sleep to go...

Ok. I stuck to my promise about going to my work night out and getting home at a reasonable time.  Um.  I broke the other rules.  I've had a few drinks and I wore five inch heels.  But hey - they are very nice shoes!  Went to dinner then met up with eldest daughter Finleigh who has started doing promotions for unsigned bands in Edinburgh.  She was having one of her events so I went up there.  I'm trying not to do emotional goodbyes....  Kalya, my youngest, wants to come to the airport in the morning so she's had an evening with Davie and they both picked me up and brought me home.  Kal says I stink of alcohol.  Me???  Nah!

I finished work later than promised today but was home by 1 p.m and did Tesco, finished packing then went to the Post Office to change my Scottish notes for English ones.  Still think its farcical that our country's notes aren't accepted elsewhere - even in England, our notes are frequently rejected. Its frustrating. Anyway the lady at the Post Office keeps aside notes for this very reason.  I also loaded my travel money card. I've been using one of these since I went to Moldova a few years back - Moldova is one of the most corrupt nations in Europe and I didn't want to risk using my own bank card there.  Two years ago I decided to just use my bank card when we went to the wonderful Hel in Poland, My bank stopped my card as a suspect transaction so I've gone back to using the money card.  Anyway - foreign currency can be a bit of an obsession with me so I'll move on

Its now nearly 11.30 and I'm up at 6 so am not going to ramble on. Davie has my password and since I'm getting a Ghana sim card, I'll text him and he'll update as he gets the texts.  Only problem is that Neil who runs Village by Village is already in Ghana and apparently the mobile reception isn't good there at the moment so there may not be as much communcation as we'd hoped.  I have a blank notebook and will write up all events as they happen. Will update with pics when I get home.

Did I mention that I stop smoking for the third time in a year tomorrow morning?

See you in two weeks!

Two Sleeps and One Anti-Malarial

Just two sleeps to go. In 48 hours, I'll be sitting in an Irish bar having a beer in Accra.  The temperature will be about 77 degrees.  Through the day, it will be around 86 so it doesn't cool down much at night. 

Update on the chaos here. Very interesting conversation with the Royal Infirmary today.  My biopsy will probably take place the first working day I get home.  I say probably because the consultant hasn't even read the referral yet to assess if its urgent. He's only had it a week. Um. Yes.  We still have no heat - the fan in the boiler has packed in so they've had to order a new one and I'm hoping it will all be fixed tomorrow afternoon.  I'm working tomorrow morning but only for a few hours then I have the afternoon to spend with Kalya and the hounds - and probably the heating engineer.

I brought all my things I want to take downstairs tonight. I took out around 3/4 of the clothes I was planning to take and packed everything - food, art supplies and landrover parts.  Some of the landrover 'thingies' look like bullets so I will be amazed if my case gets through security without being opened!  I somehow managed to break my luggage scales so stood on the scales with my case and it only weighs 20kgs. There is some room in there so am going to pack some more clothes to make it up to the 23kgs - I hate wasting some of my baggage allowance!

I've just taken my first anti-malarial.  I learned in Tanzania that they can make me a wee bit queasy so I take mine at night.  Am excited though I had a little panic this afternoon - one of those moments where you say to yourself 'What the hell am I doing?'  I also got a little tearful - the days leading up to Tanzania, I was tearful constantly so I guess this time its no surprise.

I already mentioned about how I'd gone past my personal target of £500 and raised £650.  Kevan, Davy and I also set up our own Just Giving page. I should at this point mention the fourth member of our group.  Tilley is a lovely lady who works within the webteam at the Council.  Tilley was signed up to go with us and would have been working alongside me however due to her health, she has been unable to come. I am aware that Tilley is very upset that she can't come so she has helped us in other ways.  All this week, Tilley has ensured our joint JustGiving page has been prominent on the Intranet.  Every time a Council employee logs into their PC, they get a photo of Kevan and a link to our JustGiving page.  So far we've raised around £250 which means at least another two kids will go to school.  We've also featured again in our local weekly paper along with a link. Am always so overwhelmed by peoples generosity when it comes to fundraising.

Have still got so much to do but we'll get there!