Appiah family gathering, hospital visit and varia

Wednesday, December 01, 2010

Happy December! It is so funny to see Christmas decorations in some places. I had forgotten it was the holiday season, with the arid desert landscape, 30+ heat, and not so much as a drop of rain for over a week. Fei doesn’t think the dry season has started yet, based on the somewhat cooler, humid air in the evenings, but the increasing heat during the day and this perpetual lack of rain (with unbelievable red earth dust kicked up constantly- my wash water at the end of day is red, even if the clothes looked clean). 

I never did finish reviewing the day on Saturday. I ended up leaving Kumasi High with Julianna and her gangly 15 year old son who attends there (Nana- grade 9). He has been suffering from malaria the past 2 weekends. We brought him to the hospital so he could get medication (he opted for an injection rather than daily pills as he has difficulty swallowing pills apparently). It was very much like going to emergency at one of our hospitals. It took a long time as there was only one doctor on (and, I assume, one on call) and, of course, more severe cases are treated first (as in the road accident victims who were brought or walked in about an hour after we arrived). Nana was seen after about 5 hours and given his injection shortly after that.  They do have private hospitals here as well, for those who want faster service, but it does sound like the public system is well equipped with qualified staff, in the larger urban centres. The issue here are the remote rural villages. I asked Fei about shamans (“witch doctors”) and it seems they are not common in the larger centres, as people here choose the conventional medicine (they do believe in herbal medicines as many of us in the western world do, but in moderation). In the more traditional, what Fei would call “fetish” religious communities, in the small, out-of-the-way villages, (those not converted to Christianity or Islam) they still function as the town doctor as well as, I assume, an overall advisor on spiritual matters. I gather these are the communities where witches are still beaten and banished based on the final flailings of sacrificed chickens (how they land determines the women’s innocence). To read about witch camps (I gather these are in the north), see: http://www.calgaryherald.com/health/African+witches+banished+into+isolated+camps/3749285/story.html

I met a young woman (34 I think she said she was) waiting for her friend at the hospital. She was anxious to talk to me it seemed. Her English was very good. She had befriended another white volunteer years ago (Dutch woman, working for an Aids Awareness organization) and had lost touch. She seemed hungry for the “outside world” connection and had the yearning to broaden her scope of awareness, is the only way I can think to put it (she had to quit school and support her siblings’ education after grade 9, yet, still wanted to learn. I told her, that she could continue to learn on her own anyway, not needing formal education, but by going to the library, reading about what she was interested in etc.. This seemed like a revelation to her).  We exchanged contact information. 

Sunday I went with Fei to his church, Ramseyer Presbyterian, which is another world to the local Adumasa canteen/church space at the school. I was, as per usual, on this visit, put in a place of honour, with the high officials of the church organization, right behind the pastor, up at the front. I was also part of the official group who shook the hands of the newly ordained pastor (and his wife), following his vows!  I have to say, it has been a while since I’ve been to church at home, but, man, can these ministers TALK! Fei (or Julianna) translate for me every once and a while and say in a few seconds what it has taken the pastor to say in 15 minutes!

We went from there to Fei’s home (the first time I’d been). His wife, Agnes, came back with us from church (she is in the choir) and then she promptly disappeared in the kitchen. It was strange. I was introduced to their daughter of 20-something years (in University studying Social Sciences and French) yet she and her mother made themselves scarce, and didn’t even eat with us. Charles, the past president of the rotary, told me that here women are powerless and are subordinate to the men in the household.  Even in this more progressive home it seemed to be the case. I also found it odd that I was not shown around the home or even invited in. I asked to go in to use the washroom and, only then, could look inside. It had a television, modern toilet facilities, and the like, but still gave the air of a household making ends meet to a certain degree. The only person who joined us at lunch was their daughter-in-law (again, twenty-something I think), who held an ear bud to her ear, listening to music from her radio the whole time (they are the rage here for most teens, as are listening to cell phones with a music memory card; just like Ipods are popular back home, also available here, but just not an option for any but the most wealthy).

I felt badly putting Agnes out like that, she prepared 3 common Ghanaian fare dishes for us: tomato rice with meat, salad, with egg and sardines and, fish (heads- lots of bones and a stretch for me) with tomato/pepper chutney.  Before we left I took some pictures of the family. One of their sons, Christian, aptly named as he is a minister, arrived and we snapped some photos. It turned out that Agnes’ sister was also there and a family friend.  His young 8 month-old daughter was the first Ghanaian baby I have been able to play with and not make cry! 

The link to these pictures is: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/Ghana20101128?feat=directlink

Ghana takes on the ICT issue

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

It has been a busy last few days since my last entry. I had a full weekend in which I was to attend 4 different ceremonies but ended up (I have to say, thankfully), attending only 2. It gets difficult to sit in for hours on end in the heat, listening to presenters, even if they are interesting. 

Saturday morning was spent at Kumasi High School at their 6^th annual Speech and Prize Giving Day where student and staff awards are given as well as presentations from government officials and even royal family (Ashanti Chief, his Majesty Otumfuo Osei Tutu II).  Kumasi High is a public all boys boarding and day high (senior) school in the heart (of which there are several) of the city of Kumasi. It is doing very well with private donations and boasts over 2000 students, a computer and science lab, as well as music and arts programs. The demonstrations from their school band and cadets were spectacular. I have tried to download a video of this to no avail unfortunately, but there are a few pictures on the web album.  

http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/KumasiHighSchoolPresentations?feat=directlink 

The Regional Director of Education and the Director General of Education both spoke eloquently and effectively to the theme of the day: the role of information and communication technology in quality education.  I was so impressed and thought about our own North American schools where ICT has come in with less structure than it has no choice but to enter here, with the concerted effort and cost it requires. I presume that this, hopefully, will allow for computers to be used here as respected tools with their students and not as a rightful toys of our youth. They spoke about the potential opportunity of having access to internet in classes and for teachers but also the increased issue of discipline (I can’t imagine a teacher with 50-120 students, having to ensure everyone is doing their work and not on facebook or MSN…) . I did come away with the idea that for the Adumasa school, the computer lab is a priority to get up and running (refurbished computer equipment is so cheap here; it would cost less than $1000 from my rough calculations to equip them with 20 computers and Broadband internet for the year) as well as a laptop and projector for each of the schools (primary, junior and senior) for the teachers to show educational videos, documentaries, power points and even for tests, so that, unlike me yesterday, having to draw diagrams and write out an entire test on the board for the students to copy down and then complete (it takes so long and is so difficult to manage cheating etc..). I had hoped to figure out a way to show my grade 5 and 6 science classes a Magic School bus DVD on the Body Systems to show to the science class on my laptop (to give them the a captivating, entertaining visual of all the abstract theory we’d discussed) but how can you do this with 65 students to all see? I gave up the idea and may just offer the video at the guest house, with treats, as a positive reinforcement for work effort to those students who achieved the highest marks on the test (kind of defeats the purpose however, of an educational aid to those who need it).

On the note of technology, my parents have offered to purchase a multifunctional printer for the school here (yeah Mom and Ron!). Julianna, Prince and the IT teacher are so pleased as this makes life so much easier administratively as documents can be faxed and printed from the school computers.  Unfortunately, even the high end stores we went to yesterday did not accept credit cards. I am scrambling to figure out how money is transferred for their projects (specifically Rotary Sunrise in Cornwall) usually so I can buy and set up the machine before I leave. We did consider having it ordered and shipped from Canada, but Fei is concerned about getting taxed upon entry here, an unknown amount and an issue to avoid. 

The costs, with the currency exchange, for ICT equipment here are remarkably low and brand new projectors and laptops are less here than at home. I am still hoping to set up Appiah (Samual) and Julianna with a laptop each and Fei’s has to be more than 10 years old, so I am considering buying one for myself here and giving mine to, say, Fei, and then his can go to Appiah or Julianna and then my old one can be sent from home… I am going to do some research online and see what I can manage. I have to go to class, will finish this later…

 

Rasta Hair

 Friday, November 26, 2010

 For someone who rarely goes to the hairdresser, today was a long and unusual day. I spent over 6 hours sitting on a low wooden in a market stall (hairdressing “salon”) at Bebu, the village just down the road from Adumasa. There was much laughter and discussion and many women with their children coming in and out. Julianna insisted on bringing me and then, thinking she’d have time to get back to her school office work this afternoon, she stayed. It took much longer than she had anticipated and she never made it back. She assured me it was fine, and, when I was done at about 4pm (started just before 10am), she had hair pieces put on (I don’t know the lingo for this; very common among the women to just use wigs or hair pieces (see the pictures in the web album to illustrate the process). My hair will take getting used to, after all the hours spent on it. They did an incredible job and never even stopped for a break! 

Julianna getting her hair pieces sewn on

While I waited for Julianna to have her hair done later this afternoon, I was escorted through part of Bebu's side streets, looking for fruit and bread, by a young lady from Adumasa, Lydia, who has her own market stall on the road, selling hair pieces (where we bought mine; she then came with us to Bebu for the day to help out) and accessories among other things to raise money to complete her senior high school.  The people seemed a little less friendly and the children a little rougher and pushier.  I even witnessed a young boy bullying 2 younger children and the hairdressers younger sister, having just walked home from senior high school, intervened (not as forcefully as I would have liked however), then turned to me, and being one of the few who spoke English today, said “that is a wicked boy”. I was asked for money by several and felt a general sense of unease walking around there.  I found I went through emotional roller coasters today, not being included in the conversation yet feeling, often, as though I was being discussed, hearing the word “abruni” every so often. I have to say that, although they mean no disrespect by it (most don’t anyway), I kind of see it as a white Canadian continuing to call a black African visitor, ”the black one” rather than by her name. I even notice that Julianna does it and it is beginning to bother me. 

There were two young men who came in and were speaking to me in their junior high level English (neither had attempted senior high due to the cost) which I much appreciated, talking about politics etc.. and the women seemingly just hanging out there, were telling them to stop speaking English. The young men were incensed, saying that it was because the women never finished school and couldn’t speak English themselves…obviously them speaking English to me made the women uncomfortable. This reminded me of the signs I have seen on several schools “Speak English all the time”.. it seems to be the government policy. One of the Rotarians (the outgoing president who started the 3H development community campaign- Health, Humanity, Hunger)  told me that his church is for the “elites” and they, of course, only speak English there, not the local vernacular (as though that was “beneath them” somewhat). I gather there is a bit of classism associated with the language, separating the educated from the uneducated (or less so). There is also a push at the schools to award a student-of-the-week, which is the one who speaks English the most regularly (I know, I watched Julianna address the junior school last week, with a crown and satchel).

Martha and Elisabeth (one of the junior student who played my hostess at the Athletics day yesterday, who has asked if she could write me; she is sharp, an obviously a respected student leader, which she seems to handle with tremendous maturity and grace; she wants to become a doctor and I believe she has it in her to make it happen) along with a friend stopped by this morning on their way to the bus to the Athletics field. None of them had eaten so I fed them the rice Juianna had made me last night. Tonight Martha came by on her way home and I shared my little bit of supper I had with her. I will have to ensure I have a full fridge from now on if this Aunty Kym Trend continues. I don’t know Elisabeth’s situation, but I do know that Martha’s father is away all week and her aunt has a roadside table from which she sells a few food items (smoked fish, meat and tomatoes). This is a very common job with the majority of the lower income, less educated individuals in Ghana, much to the chagrin of people like Fei, who complain that there are more people selling than buying and that this doesn’t strengthen the Ghanaian economy). From the looks of these villages (often simply a spattering of decrepit or half-finished houses along a road) and all the tables set up selling pineapples, fish, oranges, biscuits etc.., this concern seems warranted.

Now, to figure out how to sleep with this hair!!

Links to pictures: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/AtTheTheHairdresser?feat=directlink

Athletics Day; Girls Rule

November 25, 2010

Today was a great day. It was athletics day for all the school’s in the area, so there were masses of students in their school uniform, cheering on (and I mean “cheering”, running around the field chanting school chants, running onto the field in a frenzy when their team scored) their teams. The sports were netball (similar to basketball, but no dribbling, as, I assume, it is played on a dirt court where dribbling is impossible), football and table tennis (this surprised me).

Today was all about “girl power”. The two teams that won for our school were the junior girls’ netball and football. I was also taken good care of by a group of older junior girls (ages 14-15) and followed around, and amused by, a group of some of my grade 5 and 6 class girls. They were all so caring about me, wanting to carry my backpack, put their handkerchiefs down for me when I sat, asking if the sun was too hot, if I was tired etc.. it was such a treat. The music was blaring over the loudspeaker so we danced quite a lot as well and the announcer even mentioned the white woman dancing in the crowd! The girls can really move, especially one young thing, I do hope she continues, she has a gorgeous natural ability. It is so wonderful to see how girls here are raised, to be conscientious and responsible. You can tell they are just by how aware they are of little things, holding something for you when your hands are full, getting water and food for each other etc..

 I realized today just how cheap to eat here if you stick to the traditional fare like rice and ken key or fried plantain and yams (with hot pepper sauce!),  a meal for 2 of us was about 50 cents from a vendor! These and rice and sauce, ken key , or even salad, are the main fare, all served in bags (non biodegradable unfortunately at this point) and eaten with the right hand (thank goodness for hand sanitizer wipes I brought). I was able to buy some quick snacks (their version of meat pies, kind of like samosas) for some of the other children who didn’t have any food. The athletes’ food was supplied by the school.  Water and frozen yoghurt and ice cream in closed rectangular packs are popular refreshments with this heat; you suck out of the cut end (sold in 1/4s or ½) or a corner if whole.

Tonight Abigail (grade 5 pen pal) and Martha came by for a visit. Martha came first, on her own. She is such a sweet kid. She confided in me that she lives with her aunt who does not love her as much as she tries to be good and does not know where her mother is… oh God… today we were so filthy, walking around in the dusty red packed school yard. When I asked if the girls had running water, only ¼ of them did, while the other 3/4s have to buy their water, lug it home in buckets and wash their clothes, themselves etc… from the buckets. Reality check as I came home to my shower and then was visited by girls for who even a glass of water is a treat from the tap.

The link to the pictures is: http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/AthleticsDay?feat=directlink

Rotary Club Wednesdays

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

I borrowed this quote from a friend's (Beth Barber) email, as it is so fitting.

“Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful committed citizens can change the world.  Indeed it’s the only thing that ever has.” – Margaret Mead

I went to a Kumasi East Rotary Club meeting today at THE posh hotel in Kumasi (outdoor upper level pool with a bar, fountains, the works. It felt like I had stepped into a different world. It reminded me of when I was a teenager in India, just before their monsoon season, so high heat and humidity, sneaking into hotels (and pools) to get into the air conditioning and to enjoy the quiet and cleanliness of the place that the outdoor environment did not afford.  The best was the Taj Mahal hotel in Dehli, what a treat! Anyway, this felt kind of like that, getting out of the heat, the dust, the pollution and the hustle and bustle of so many people and their stares (the hotel obviously has their share of international clientele). 

I was so impressed by the visitors at the meeting today: a couple from Washington; the woman (a rotary president herself) had been in Ghana 5 years ago and came back with her husband, who is a doctor. They had started their visit in the north and used their rotary contacts to visit the ongoing projects to see how they might become involved. It sounded like they were planning on volunteering at a remote village clinic in the north; amazing.  

Another individual was a young Kumasi teen who has been maimed by Buruli Ulcer, a condition, afflicting poor children, I had never heard of before. He has begun his own foundation to raise awareness and support for the illness and has just returned from a University speaking tour in the States. Another was a Ghanaian who is now living in Edmonton! 

Another was a doctor, Dr. Anne, as she is known, who is from Guatemala I think, who seems to be heading up the maternal and infant health clinic at the Kumasi hospital; she has been soliciting for funds to develop the clinic and treatment capabilities, especially dealing with issues such as malnutrition, and HIV/Aids. She has come with a friend who is Dutch, living in the area for 5 years now, working with small communities to develop their educational programs. 

Another visitor was the architect of one of the community projects, checking in on their progress on a clinic being built (I was just told that Rotary does not finance buildings but does furnish equipment and renovate, so not sure how this project was set up). 

And lastly, a group of 3 young men (maybe in their early twenties) had come from their community, further North, to ask for the rotary’s support to complete the building of their community clinic, having been started by an NGO which had to, unfortunately, pull out. The community experiences many deaths from childbirth and snake bites, among other easily preventable deaths, due to its remote location. 

Anyway, it was amazing meeting all these people doing humanitarian work! Now, if only we could get something started to change the litter-as-you-go mentality here, get a recycling program going and clean up their waterways! 

A quick aside, something that made me shake my head, the District Governor of the Rotary Club (the man overseeing the large district to which Kumasi East and many other Rotary Clubs belong) is flying in next week by way of his own private plane! This makes me think of the shanty town we passed in downtown Kumasi today and the children at school who share pencils between siblings because they can’t each afford one. I can’t help but think that improved infrastructure (i. e improved roads, educational funding…) would alleviate many of the issues and needs organizations like the rotary club are dealing with and addressing today. If a Rotary Governor can fly in on his private plane, there is obviously wealth in this country, just where is it and how it is being distributed, is the question.

I learned from Julianna (when given maîs I boiled for 2 hrs to no avail) that that most people here still cook on outdoor fires, especially in the rural areas.  The ones in the city are more likely to having a gas stove in the home (unless, of course, they live in a “shanty town”).  I past one today, however, right in the heart of Kumasi, just off the sidewalk between stores, basically someone’s tiny packed earth front yard (the house, no more than an aluminum/wood shack), a traditionally wrapped (basically one piece of fabric around the body) woman bending over her pot on the fire, a young child playing in the red dirt beside her. Juxtaposition from the Golden Tulip hotel, I tell you.

Tomorrow is sports’ day for the primary and junior schools and I have stuck my foot in it alright. I wanted to be involved so asked how I might help; they want me to be a referee for football (soccer)! I have to go now review the rules online. I still can’t figure out off-side for crying out loud, after all these years. THIS should be hilarious! I do hope the Abruni doesn’t get tarred and feathered (where does this saying come from anyway?) for a bad call tomorrow. Julianna told me that they have referees where we are going and not to worry; I hope she’s right.

I am going to get my hair done Friday, rasta-style as they call it here. I have always wanted to and now is my chance! Besides, it will make life easier in this humidity and one less thing to do in the morning.

Oh, one of the teachers has invited me to her wedding! I am so excited! Weddings and funerals (I’ll be going to one of those on Sunday) give such a powerful insight into a culture. I was honoured to be asked and will have to buy fabric to have a dress made now for certain (as the tradition goes..). 

 The link to the few photos this time around is :http://picasaweb.google.com/kpedicelli/20101124?feat=directlink