Work and travel= fantastic!

Hello!

I’ve had an exciting week of work, travel, and celebrations. From Monday to Wednesday I went to the Jomoro district of Western Ghana to sit in on some open public meetings on the development of fishing communities. FoN in collaboration with KITE (where Heather and Robin are interning) is going to two communities in each of the ten zonal regions in the District to hold these meetings. Some are held at the municipal government level. I am learning a lot about the process of development at the grassroot community level. I will be returning to two or three zones to evaluate and research on consensus building and community participation and communication, as well the role of the NGO in civil society and government.

I am also preparing questionnaires about water usage in Ngyeresia, and starting to climb on board with some other interns on surveying ecological impacts in the Esei Lagoon, where we’re (hopefully) planting mangrove trees soon. While I was in Jomoro this week I stayed in Half Assini. I was able to spend some time exploring the beaches, which were beautiful with palm trees, fishing boats, sea shells, and crabs. I met some fishermen and was able to see close up the types of boats, netting, and techniques used in fishing I’ve been learning about.

Friday July 1^st was not only Canada Day but also Ghana Republic Day which is a national holiday here, so there was much celebrating to be had. Sara and I left for Accra on Thursday, after I returned from Half Assini. Davina met us at the hustle and bustle of Kaneshi market, one of the larger markets in Accra, which also serves as a tro tro station. We stayed with Davina over the weekend, who has an apartment in Haatcho. We loved becoming familiar with her neighbourhood, cooking for ourselves, and taking tro tros around the city. On Thursday evening, the Canadian Embassy in Accra was hosting all Canadians in Ghana for a barbeque. It was very strange to see so many “obrunis” (white people) in one place! They served burgers, poutine, local beer, and even gave out Tim Hortons coffee as door prizes. I met many Canadians doing interesting things in Ghana- from volunteering, to working, to dancing.

On Friday we rose early  and boarded a trotro to Boti falls, which are famous for being the tallest waterfalls in West Africa. It is also the site of umbrella rock and the three headed palm tree, as well as a very very large Ghana Republic Day celebration. To say it was crowded is an understatement. TWe went on a challenging hike to see umbrella work and the three headed palm tree. The landscape was challenging enough, but the real difficulty was that thousands of other Ghanaians were trying to do it as well. We were more pushing than climbing, and it was easily the most chaotic situation I’ve ever been in. That said, the landscapes and views were beautiful, amongst hills and mountains, lush and green. To heighten to challenge, Team Ghana and myself were the only obrunis there, and for the first time, we dealt with significant racism. I’m glad we went to Boti Falls, because we experienced the festivities of Republic Day, but we faced many of the difficulties of being a minority, and learned some important lessons about our own tolerance. In the end, we were unable to see the falls, it was too busy and we were feeling overwhelmed from our hike.

On Saturday, we spent our morning buying fruits down the street and making our selves a delicious birthday brunch. Davina’s roommate made us her famous delicious French toast which we topped with fruit and syrup. We then met up with Robin, Heather, and our new friend from France, Chloe, to go to Aburi, a town about an hour from Accra. On a side note, one of my favourite things about tros tros, and driving in general, is the array of products available for sale from women selling things in the station and on the road. They walk right up to the vehicle, products on a tray, basket, or crate on their head, and pass them through the windows. I commonly purchase water, plantain chips, gum, and snacks this way, though you can easily get minutes to top up a phone, toothbrushes, soap, razors, toys, bread, fruit- anything really! Sara was very amused by the inflatable beach toys being sold one day. Once in Aburi we went to a bicycle rental place and made went on a guided tour to a waterfall- we were thrilled that was an option and that we got to see one waterfall on our weekend. I enjoyed the mountain biking the best, but we also had some easier sections through fields and villages. We then parked our bikes and hiked the rest of the way to the falls. Once at the waterfall, we jumped right in and went swimming! We spent an hour or two taking photos, swimming, chatting, and relaxing in the beautiful area. A bike and trotro ride later, we were back in Accra finding the ingredients for Davina’s delicious avocado alfredo at the vendors in Haatcho and celebrated my birthday with cake. I am so thankful to Davina and the rest of the team for preparing it for me!

I have some photos I would like to share, but my internet connection is poor, so I will add them to this post as soon as I can! 

Hope all my Canadian friends had a fantastic Canada Day!

Caro (as the Ghanaians call me!)