1. forest, 2. market, 3. chillaxing on root, 4. lost cause
Wednesday, February 14, 2007
Pay Day scenes
So we gathered my wad of local currency and headed north; these are some of the scenes we saw through the bus window.
Tuesday, February 13, 2007
The Ugly, the Good, the Luminous and the Rest
The ugly:
Another weekend not feeling quite right. Fever up to 37.7C, headache and oh-man-diarrhea. Sundays the lab is closed so after my 3 hour church service and before our dinner with friends, I lay my head on my pillow. This morning off to the clinic with my stinky poo sample in hand. Poo is tested and blood tested for both typhoid and malaria.
Before the lab results are even in, the doctor knows it's malaria. "How do you know?" I ask. He smiles knowingly. "I've been here 20 years," he says.
He was right. I do have malaria.
The good:
1- The doctor at the clinic was excellent. A great guy with lots of experience - 15 yrs in Germany and 20 in Ghana, including teaching at the med school.
2- There are meds! Hooray for medicine! I am told that in five days I should already be much better.
3- Since we went to the local clinic, they were local prices. 40,000 cedis for a consult ($4.80), 100,000 cedis for the lab work ($10.20) and 75,000 cedis for the meds ($9) that included pain killers, vitamins and the malaria treatment.
The luminous:
Last week, Chris and I met the friend of a friend of a friend. She's a Canadian working at the UNDP in human rights and governance. After our first talk, we agreed that I'd swing by her office and see if I can't lay my hand to some of the work she's doing. It seems that they are just starting a 4-yr project on human rights education for prison staff and potentially piloting literacy and basic education for prisoners. With my experience in El Salvador and some studies on prison issues, I will be volunteering in the first stages. There may even be some possibilities of funding for my work. So, I am absolutely beside myself with the opportunity to learn, to participate in a policy initiative with real positive long-term benefits for a marginalized population.
The rest:
Aside from the illness, we are doing quite well. Our new digs are suiting us quite well, we are both liking our work, last week I got to travel to another region of Ghana with the NGO I've been doing the program audit for, and just in general things that are interesting, fun and good.
On the weekend, we went to a party at the home of one of Chris' coworkers and on Sunday we had dinner with our new Ghanaian friend Edward who is married to a Russian woman Elena and they have two excellent kids. Their 10-yr-old son Elvis even did a hiphop dance for us and Ilona, 4, shared her extensive plastic horse collection. They all speak Russian at home and we even had a Russian dinner with beet and pickle salad. Elena makes the pickles herself.
Another weekend not feeling quite right. Fever up to 37.7C, headache and oh-man-diarrhea. Sundays the lab is closed so after my 3 hour church service and before our dinner with friends, I lay my head on my pillow. This morning off to the clinic with my stinky poo sample in hand. Poo is tested and blood tested for both typhoid and malaria.
Before the lab results are even in, the doctor knows it's malaria. "How do you know?" I ask. He smiles knowingly. "I've been here 20 years," he says.
He was right. I do have malaria.
The good:
1- The doctor at the clinic was excellent. A great guy with lots of experience - 15 yrs in Germany and 20 in Ghana, including teaching at the med school.
2- There are meds! Hooray for medicine! I am told that in five days I should already be much better.
3- Since we went to the local clinic, they were local prices. 40,000 cedis for a consult ($4.80), 100,000 cedis for the lab work ($10.20) and 75,000 cedis for the meds ($9) that included pain killers, vitamins and the malaria treatment.
The luminous:
Last week, Chris and I met the friend of a friend of a friend. She's a Canadian working at the UNDP in human rights and governance. After our first talk, we agreed that I'd swing by her office and see if I can't lay my hand to some of the work she's doing. It seems that they are just starting a 4-yr project on human rights education for prison staff and potentially piloting literacy and basic education for prisoners. With my experience in El Salvador and some studies on prison issues, I will be volunteering in the first stages. There may even be some possibilities of funding for my work. So, I am absolutely beside myself with the opportunity to learn, to participate in a policy initiative with real positive long-term benefits for a marginalized population.
The rest:
Aside from the illness, we are doing quite well. Our new digs are suiting us quite well, we are both liking our work, last week I got to travel to another region of Ghana with the NGO I've been doing the program audit for, and just in general things that are interesting, fun and good.
On the weekend, we went to a party at the home of one of Chris' coworkers and on Sunday we had dinner with our new Ghanaian friend Edward who is married to a Russian woman Elena and they have two excellent kids. Their 10-yr-old son Elvis even did a hiphop dance for us and Ilona, 4, shared her extensive plastic horse collection. They all speak Russian at home and we even had a Russian dinner with beet and pickle salad. Elena makes the pickles herself.
The Arrogance of Ignorance
They forgot to include my name on the web site for this one:
The Arrogance of Ignorance: a review of The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Chris Benjamin
The Arrogance of Ignorance: a review of The Two Hearts of Kwasi Boachi by Chris Benjamin
on paper time
Working at a daily paper messes with your sense of time because you are always planning tomorrow's headlines in reference to yesterday's news; I find myself living simultaneously in tomorrow, today, and yesterday, as uncertain of the date as when I lived in the woods.
Monday, February 12, 2007
lunchbox
This cute little kittie nearly died of a hacking fit right after I petted him. "I'll be going to wash my hands now, " told him as he nodded coyly.
the skies
Since the harmattan lifted a couple weeks ago I've discovered that Accra has a sky, and it's beautiful when not obscured by sandstorms! I find myself walking along cloud-watching. It changes the whole city, suddenly it has...macro-beauty.
-Chris
-Chris
the skies
Since the harmattan lifted a couple weeks ago I've discovered that Accra has a sky, and it's beautiful when not obscured by sandstorms! I find myself walking along cloud-watching. It changes the whole city, suddenly it has...macro-beauty.
-Chris
-Chris
Friday, February 09, 2007
So close
The bus-ride to Tamale was internet cafe slow, but of course we had to be at the station at 5 so we could get in on the egg sandwiches before our 5 hour 1 cancellation wait. The cancellation was the air-conditioned bus we ordered, so we sat instead 5 to a row and I lost my battle with sleep after a near all-nighter writing a virtual thesis on Ghanaian economics that was chopped in three with the lion's share landing on the dusty floor. The other passengers were impressed with oboruni's sleeping skill as the over-sized shockless van bounced over 300 kilometres of potholed dirt road roads and occasional patches of ashphalt, my head snapping back like elastic all the way. As predicted, we arrived at 10 pm. Theresa and her husband George (who last year was named Ghana's second best teacher, for which honour he received a new car which was then rear-ended by a bus and joined most of my economics article in the abyss) had been waiting for us about an hour. They were gracious and drove us straight to the Catholic Guest House with its broken air-conditioner, where we free fell into sleep amidst fleeting thoughts of how close we come to greatness.
Inside the Forbidden City
1. This is a giant vat that was filled with water and hoisted in case of fire. It was coated in gold but the commies scraped it off to hawk for rifles and such. 2. Tourists! 3. funky architecture, 4. branches of a hybrid tree, nice to look at but essentially useless.
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