tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84591541108261534042024-03-20T01:30:06.862-07:00One geographer on the jobAnonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.comBlogger16125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-62509134867559222102012-08-14T08:15:00.003-07:002012-08-14T08:15:23.546-07:00Prayer Mountain and The Magazine (Week 10)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">Abesua Prayer Mountain</span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pVDp2CIPoTfbNR3uk5InTYU6ix_WZeRRxiEx9X2m2UtXHANH-dC4WZGV_iBXs6ruhZKkXauPVHWhkcqNouFzEo4OZFUjTQCjv_Nk78q0FN9bA0o9Q-wxCJ5trKt08MiVsYmSakhtFum2/s1600/DSC_0175.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1pVDp2CIPoTfbNR3uk5InTYU6ix_WZeRRxiEx9X2m2UtXHANH-dC4WZGV_iBXs6ruhZKkXauPVHWhkcqNouFzEo4OZFUjTQCjv_Nk78q0FN9bA0o9Q-wxCJ5trKt08MiVsYmSakhtFum2/s320/DSC_0175.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View on Abesua Mt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">I have earlier
presented bits of the lively and from the point of view of European Protestants
commercialized and rather aggressive religious life in Ghana. A deeper look on
religion in Ghana was provided by a trip to the Abesua Prayer Mountain, rising
from the village of Abesua about an hour north-east from Kumasi.</span><span lang="EN-US"> To get there you have to suffer a long and dusty journey that left most of
our companionship coughing, wiping our eyes and looking like the results of a
horrible spray-tanning accident. It was the first time I’ve cursed the fact
that most tro-tros in Kumasi are missing a window or two. In Abasi you will
have to pay the offensive fee of 20 cents to get access to the trail leading to
the top. Being a Ghanaian mountain, the hike up is actually very nice, done in
the shade of dense tropical forest and takes only about an hour.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzxQ-KwmWGhf5HobFRR1tlypYlqazRMdlYP2eAp2ylHInI8ijAkhsdXAIZ02s5Tpy-MiFVuVl-nM8XfD5B4fHg4OmuHwnIXuALtw7C5Y6o2oT6zCMH192jQJHTK3mtFBrGhyOXEnzUWLc/s1600/DSC_0226.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjDzxQ-KwmWGhf5HobFRR1tlypYlqazRMdlYP2eAp2ylHInI8ijAkhsdXAIZ02s5Tpy-MiFVuVl-nM8XfD5B4fHg4OmuHwnIXuALtw7C5Y6o2oT6zCMH192jQJHTK3mtFBrGhyOXEnzUWLc/s320/DSC_0226.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Village on Abesua Mt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">The Abesua Prayer Mountain is more an escarpment
than a mountain which makes it accessible and suitable for human activity. The
top of the mountain is actually a flat, rocky plateau that contains several small villages. The
inhabited area on the top can be divided into two distinct sacred sites. Both
of them offer<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>a
good view of the likewise green and flat, low-lying surroundings that
challenges the general understanding of this part of the world as being
notoriously densely populated. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One of the sites on the top includes a small church surrounded by some
supporting services, such as food stalls, bible salesmen and a mini-market, for
tourists and pilgrims alike. The second site is more interesting. It can best
be described as a camp for pious pilgrims that climb the mountain to pray in peace.
Here one can rent a mattress in small, simple cottages. Not other services can
be found. The area is dotted by individuals or groups connecting with higher
powers in various ways. Members of a group, apparently praying for a recently deceased
member, were praying, shouting, crying, rolling on the ground and shaking.
Others were of course (us being in the most musical of the worlds regions) singing
and dancing. I talked to a man who claimed he had spent already a week alone on
the top, fasting and praying and I don’t see a reason not to believe him.
According to him, god is definitely closer at the top, especially in the hours
before dawn. As we were talking, a lone woman kept on loudly reciting prayers
just a few meters from us, as if being in another world.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtX19y23kG5_4N077Otil3kUON-0ArqpQNdWmHRs0hV-Ip-gskRSSm3bKP2FdEqZHgQ1qUBjQh-vIWQGi08JTYZLZKnNuTpGLtGi6J6bugbeP9-pCVUtHAlacpgyw6JVsYmo6fHuXiAoo/s1600/DSC_0242.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhhtX19y23kG5_4N077Otil3kUON-0ArqpQNdWmHRs0hV-Ip-gskRSSm3bKP2FdEqZHgQ1qUBjQh-vIWQGi08JTYZLZKnNuTpGLtGi6J6bugbeP9-pCVUtHAlacpgyw6JVsYmo6fHuXiAoo/s320/DSC_0242.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View on Abesua Mt.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">It is curious that the sites at Abesua are not treated as in any way sacred
or mystical by the people actually living there. Apparently it is the relative inaccessibility
and the need for hiking a distance <i>for
strangers</i> that gives the mountain its religious touch.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">A blog post such as this will not do justice to
the intensity of the atmosphere and the religious life of these people. There is
something way more serious, more real and alien in African Christianity, as
seen at Abesua. However, at the same time reverends and other preachers are
treated as rock-stars in the cities and people keep contesting over me to join
the services of their specific church. I have yet not attended a single one and
probably won’t. But still, why does it matter in which church I would pray to
the same god? Discussions with T-Bone in his T-Mobile (A 30-year old, perfectly
kept, navy blue Mercedes-Benz 230CE) revealed that not everyone sees the
churches as anything but commercial and hypocritical entities. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">The Mag</span><span lang="EN-US">azine</span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pwXNBMkW3tIjBZ4uM-HCLnCYnwv4oZmMmMcXyQ4z-1pvwyYRMj4jUt_x93I55nJxekINzAyQClnKH3cB5a4ZUlF57UWl0u4eK0xyFGPtarwoNysCRl9YUkDd9jN1xyqQLx6CTgczHzyO/s1600/DSC_0305.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7pwXNBMkW3tIjBZ4uM-HCLnCYnwv4oZmMmMcXyQ4z-1pvwyYRMj4jUt_x93I55nJxekINzAyQClnKH3cB5a4ZUlF57UWl0u4eK0xyFGPtarwoNysCRl9YUkDd9jN1xyqQLx6CTgczHzyO/s320/DSC_0305.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">North of the city, close to
Suame (almost feels like asking the tro-tro to take me home), there's one of
the largest business agglomerations I’ve ever seen or heard of. Mr. T, our
guide for the day, picked us up at the GOIL (Ghana Oil Company Limited) station
at Suame Roundabout in a car with a Polo tag in the rear that definitely was
not a Volkswagen Polo (Why on earth would someone want to falsely define their
car as one?). Soon, the landscape turned to rust and fumes replacing everything
else. </span><span lang="EN-GB">So this is The Magazine</span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJb1ZRikBZL7Qso2XYOCpZoBRVLERaL2zXbc9jbmnjbsmvtwThpLZPCgD5cPvL9KDbtl9iy-ixhAjLowRwAAGyQuGrYUSUfk2g7HH4nal0_QHS73-jcIDuBP2f0xRtN4ZlSGtrbGmP3oL/s1600/DSC_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMJb1ZRikBZL7Qso2XYOCpZoBRVLERaL2zXbc9jbmnjbsmvtwThpLZPCgD5cPvL9KDbtl9iy-ixhAjLowRwAAGyQuGrYUSUfk2g7HH4nal0_QHS73-jcIDuBP2f0xRtN4ZlSGtrbGmP3oL/s320/DSC_0325.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waste management in The Magazine</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">The Kumasi Central Market is
said to be the largest of its kind in West-Africa. The Magazine is the Central
Market of car and metal workshops. This is where the thousands of tro-tros in
the city are born and come to die. The size of a decent central European town
and hosting thousands and thousands of workshops, this is where anything can be
rebuilt or taken apart. We walked for more than an hour in the maze of car-part
shops, tool workshops, welding workshops, painting workshops, metal workshops
and the like. The small current flowing through the area has to be the most
toxic in the world, with paint, oil and other waste flowing amongst millions of
plastic bags, cans and barrels. Still a whole family of pigs was happily
roaming in the mud. Also inhaling the air feels a bit suicidal with all the
fumes of oil, rust, welding gases and gasoline hanging in the air.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Stephen told me not to
underestimate the people in The Magazine. They might seem to be mere
blue-collar artisans with dirty hands and really resent anything approaching
theory, books or academic education, but many of them have made fortunes with
their business. This is the only place in the world where I've seen one of
those brand new Dodge Vipers driving by.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1_W-d5gSyy2ldgIgWTXNrzBejlpt2KU96Q4VAdDkJlJrn-Y5oljvHbm_yKHHcuhwD6y_sw2eakbeAqfzrRV1bg79uVVEBHDe8auDUXtDrXWSkKMWcFjUswvN10RJtw3eM9TvquWtENbs/s1600/DSC_0327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-1_W-d5gSyy2ldgIgWTXNrzBejlpt2KU96Q4VAdDkJlJrn-Y5oljvHbm_yKHHcuhwD6y_sw2eakbeAqfzrRV1bg79uVVEBHDe8auDUXtDrXWSkKMWcFjUswvN10RJtw3eM9TvquWtENbs/s320/DSC_0327.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Waiting to be recycled</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">The people at The Magazine can
be seen to make their fortunes thanks to global production patterns. Raw
materials are extracted in Africa, cars and other products are produced and
used elsewhere and shipped back to Africa when deemed useless. This could be
described as exporting pollution in addition to out-of-date technology, thereby
fine tuning the balance between carbon footprints to be just a bit less embarrassing
for industrialized countries. In places like The Magazine around Africa these
machines get repaired, reused and recycled over and over again. In the middle
of an alleyway there's an apartment-size ship cylinder waiting to be melted and
transformed to whatever you can imagine.</span><span lang="EN-US"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-42363894633199985022012-08-13T03:00:00.002-07:002012-08-13T03:00:22.020-07:00The Kidnapping and The shooting (Week 10)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The kidnapper struck after
sunset. We were riding a tro-tro back home from our workshop at KTI, when the
outlaw, probably lured by the sight of a dozen obrunis cramped in to a minibus,
decided to make a move. I was sitting on the front seat. Robert had spotted a
friend waiting for a car on the stop at Tech junction. Robert leant over me to
call the friend, and was crawling past me down from the car as the driver’s
door violently flew open, and there was a man in green hanging at the door and
by the drivers arm. The petrified driver naturally put the pedal through the
medal, leading the would-be assassin to half run, half be dragged along the car
for twenty meters or so. Once accelerated, we left the Mate (the tro-tro-conductor),
Robert and the Kidnapper standing, shouting, at the tro-tro-station. The driver
turned down to the right, towards Campus, passed under the great gate, drove
three quarters around the first roundabout and stopped, silent. A small
Japanese car did a small turn the wrong way around the roundabout and stopped
in front of us, headlights blinding me and our driver. A figure got out a
rapidly walked over to us.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">This is when I noticed the
signs on his uniform. The soldier walked up to the driver and immediately threw
a punch at him. Then another one. After
some and some more shouting, the army-guy walked over to my side. Calm as ice
as I was, I must have hidden it well since he right away told me to relax and
not panic. Then followed a show of military decisiveness: the soldier decided
to ride with us, only to hop back down before the driver touched the throttle.
Then he ordered everyone to get out until he realized that everyone were
foreigners. Whatever the reason of this entire lottery, an officer finally
emerged from the small car to break up the discussion and with a few chosen
words send the soldier back to the back-seat and us away.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">When everyone had calmed down,
I got to ask the driver what actually happened. Apparently all the drama was
that the soldier had gotten frustrated by us blocking traffic, and came over to
speak his mind. Because he failed to
show any warning of wanting to speak before ripping the door open, the first
thought in the drivers head was that he has a car full of foreigners and a nutcase
hanging by his arm, probably looking for some clandestine financial benefits,
so he ran. Overreaction, one could say in hindsight, but also the idiot soldier
could have dealt with the situation calmly, for instance knocking on the door
instead of resort to violence. Of course it is also understandable that the
soldier got so upset, dragged as he was along a moving car for a considerable
distance… So thoughtless stopping of traffic and thoughtless reacting (twice,
once by both sides) resulted in a short, Hollywood-style car chase, some
heartbeats and some dubious<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>evening entertainment.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US">The next day, our
evening meeting (What's wrong in The House, general suggestions and remarks
etc.) with chilled beers on the veranda was abruptly called to a halt when
Stephen stubbornly</span><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: FI;"> </span><span lang="EN-US">decided that the meeting should be moved to inside. </span><span lang="EN-US">Unhappy,<span style="color: red;"> </span>everyone
moved inside, mumbling about people always breaking things up and making
decisions without reason or explanation. Things got more serious tone when
Stephen quickly locked the front door and the kitchen door. When told that the
meeting could not go on without an explanation, Stephen told us that a gunshot
had ringed in the neighborhood and that someone has been taken to the hospital.
The planned and normal night at the bar was unanimously cancelled and we stayed
inside, drinking what a couple of the guys courageously went to buy and solving
riddles. Of course, Kwamo suffered one more blackout with a perfect timing.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">The following morning it
dawned to us that there had been a failed robbery in a house occupied by a rich
lone woman close by. As she refused to open the gate, the villains panicked and
took a shot at an assistant of hers. He was hit in the leg. Apparently it's one
of the guys playing football with us on Saturday mornings, but I never found
out which one.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">Even though this is something
that many in Finland might even expect to happen in Africa, it has to be said
that the locals were at least as shocked and confused as the rest of us. Both
Stephen and Sammy were quick to state that they have never heard of anything
like this in Kwamo. Also the picture I've gotten so far of Kumasi and my home
township is not exactly one of anarchy and warfare.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;">However rare, the incident is
serious because it obviously targeted someone known to be well endowed
moneywise, and we have a house full of westerners perceived to be fantastically rich
living just blocks away. There is clearly some anxiousness in the air and it is
not advisable to move around a lot alone until we've reached some more clearness
about what's going on. Most natural is though that the criminals will not
return to the scene of crime, as they were seen by numerous people.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: 150%;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span style="font-family: Times, Times New Roman, serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">These two cases, taken
place just a day apart are more than surprising to me, having heard of no such
things in the city before. On the other hand it is not unbelievable for these
things to happen in a city with more than a million inhabitants and
we will surely not gain anything by locking ourselves inside. </span><span lang="EN-GB" style="line-height: 115%;">He did target a house
last time also.</span></span><span lang="EN-GB" style="font-family: "Calibri","sans-serif"; font-size: 11.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-ascii-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-bidi-language: AR-SA; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: FI; mso-hansi-theme-font: minor-latin;"> </span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-5947540698233542902012-08-11T01:02:00.000-07:002012-08-11T01:14:47.170-07:00Oil, Energy, Aid, Education (Week 9)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The death
of President (Here even on national TV presented in the rap form: Prez) John
Atta Mills is not the only thing causing heated discussions over the future of
Ghana. In 2007<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>sizeable
amounts of oil was found of the coast. This has of course sparked a lot of
enthusiasm in all layers of society and it is not rare to hear someone assume
that oil exports are finally and sustainably going to lift Ghana to the group
of middle income countries. I’ve seen the high-end residential area rising in
Takoradi myself, without a doubt for people making their money from the oil
industry. It seems that especially the ruling class is obsessed with working on
oil issues and oil revenues on the expanse of other governmental tasks (Does it
sound familiar?). There are however just as much people disillusioned with the
oil hype.<s> </s>After all, in very few countries in the world have the benefits
from oil exports spread out even nearly across the society as a whole. In Sub-Saharan
Africa successful management of the oil industry is so far a mission not
accomplished. Not surprisingly, skeptics in Ghana quickly point to the example
of Nigeria, where oil production after decades of activity has produced little
more than upheaval, conflicts and tremendous profits for MNCs and a few
selected local individuals. Ghana is not Nigeria, though, and there are many
examples of Ghana doing better than Nigeria or any other West-African country
in many aspects.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">To get some
local views on oil I turned to Boris (name changed), a friend and now an expert
source on many issues in the country. He was quick to make it very clear that
the general public, the “people”, is yet, after five years, to see (apart from
newspapers) any positive effects generated by the black gold. Optimism is
generally balanced by rising doubt, not least by a horrible (the general public
perception) <a href="http://www.modernghana.com/news/381022/1/chinese-grabs-ghana-oil-for-15-years.html">deal</a> done by the government with Chinese investors (a firm
called UNIPEC Asia Company Limited). This deal sees all Ghanaian oil exports
for the next 15 years be handled by (in effect sold to) foreigners for the
outrageously low price of $3 billion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Ghana is
also unfortunate in that the oil, naturally, has drawn the attention of the <a href="http://afraf.oxfordjournals.org/content/107/428/313.short">US military and energy security policy makers</a></span><span lang="EN-US">, who see Ghana as a part of the ‘New Gulf’, the oil-wise well endowed
stretch of coast all the way from Morocco to Angola. One can only imagine the
discontent amongst these policymakers over the deal between Ghana and China
presented above! <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">So while
politicians from all parties and ranks are racing to claim credit for
discovering oil and fatten their wallets, there is a sober, rising skepticism
(as for development work, for that matter) amongst “the people” that are well
aware of the blessing/curse- dichotomy related to oil.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Suitably,
Joseph Stiglitz happened the other day to touch upon the subject in the
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/business/economics-blog/2012/aug/06/africa-natural-resources-economic-curse">Guardian</a><b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b></span><span lang="EN-US">(I recommended that
those interested read it!), asking whether natural resources will “<span style="background: white;">be a blessing that brings prosperity and hope, or a
political and economic curse, as has been the case in so many countries?</span>”
His </span><span lang="EN-US">conclusion is that
the countries in question, in this case Ghana, have all the time in the world
compared to the MNCs running after the resources. The simple advice is that of
patience, unfortunately not shown by Ghana in the deal done with the Chinese.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">What is a pity regarding the
strive to make the best of the oil in the ocean is the attention, (already
scarce) resources, activities and investment kept away from other classical
issues, such as infrastructure development, education and health. One such
issue is the universal wanting to develop renewable resources, of which one
Ghana definitely has no shortage of: the sun. As technology both in the west
and in China are rapidly developing and reduced in price, it would make sense
for African countries to start substantially planning and working for a future
where they would be very much self-sufficient when it comes to energy (There
are already examples of villages across West-Africa that have reached this
point). After all, oil is finite while sun, in Africa in an especially ironical
and even poetical way, is not.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The misuse of oil-driven
opportunities by affluent people is easy to see as parallel to the
grab-and-hide behavior of many Ghanaian politicians. Insufficient social
benefits and safety nets mean that people coming from humble backgrounds will
possibly not have their and their families' futures secured by one term in
office. Failing to being re-elected can lead to a plunge back into relative
poverty instead of good employment opportunities. This explains, if not
justifies, the reason why anyone in power will be hurried to make the best of
his limited time on the top. Without a doubt, this is exacerbated when it comes
to that one not renewable, high-value natural resource.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Politics, in turn, affect the
efficiency of aid, a defining aspect of development geography. Whereas
international aid obviously never is a sustainable solution and is often very
artificial,</span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: FI;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US">there are many aspects in Ghanaian politics and
society that make sure that aid is not going to reach its goal, irrelevance. A
lot of aid money disappears mysteriously in what unfortunately can be described
as natural in Africa. Boris (whose father used to work in aid and development
for the EEC) pointed out some roads leading north from our neighborhood, Jachie
junction, to the Airport Roundabout, for which plans and funding for paving
were provided years if not decades ago. A good road here would make driving
around the congested city a lot easier. Any sign of paving activities is yet to
be seen.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve also talked about the subject with M, a
European living in Ghana. She has been living in Ghana for two decades and ran
earlier a NGO. She put across a surprising view that a root cause to a lot of
problems met by development work in Ghana is that people are even more often
than in Europe driven by self-interest. This obviously causes distress to NGOs
trying to gain support for projects without having much benefits to offer to
the partners. This selfishness frustrated M to the degree that she had to let
go of the NGO. Of course we have to keep in mind the other side of the story.
What is quickly seen by Europeans as selfishness might simply stem from the
general lack of resources and opportunities. Without proper safety nets people
will always grasp every possible rope to stay high, a phenomenon above also
connected to African politics.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Through M I have been put in touch with T-Bone
(This is actually what he introduces himself as!). I went with Sander (one of
two relatively new Belgians on the YES Project) to visit his company. A guy in
a tank-top and dreadlocks with a machete the size of a young crocodile in his
hand opened the looming, black, huge iron gate. Before we knew it the same guy had
turned to be T-Bone himself and was rambling on about how vocational education
is not taken seriously by anyone (Authorities, parents, students…) in Ghana.
Technical and vocational education is, according to him, neglected and
theoretical education overemphasized and glorified (Because of western
influences?). This has quickly lead to a very real problem. As a lot of
important technology in Ghana is either second-hand (in the west deemed useless)
or cheap and Chinese, there is a large lack of maintenance in everything and
everywhere, due to a lack of skilled hands-on professionals. A very
illustrative example of this is that KNUST, which has departments for both
industrial and art design has had to outsource<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>the production of nice, brand new
handrails in the main auditorium to none else than T-Bones company.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One more story, about a recurring theme in this
blog: the security in Ghana. The other night I climbed with Robert and Bookie,
a new Nigerian girl in The House, to central Kwamo to meet a new intern. Him
being from India, we were looking forward to hearing that iconic Indian accent
for a few weeks. When he arrived, it dawned to us that he is not from India but
from Sri Lanka. Moreover he has lived all his life in London and speaks a
disappointingly perfect Queen's English. Anyway, on the night-time Kwamo
roadside we found a truck driver with his assistant blissfully sleeping on
the sidewalk next to their tool. Bookie was shocked and explained, in a clear,
naive tone of the 18-year-old she is, that in Nigeria the cute couple would
swiftly have been chopped to pieces and had their limbs, heads and other parts
used for witchcraft</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12.0pt; line-height: 115%; mso-ansi-language: EN-US; mso-fareast-font-family: "Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-language: FI;">.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-51021160158764404632012-07-26T06:45:00.003-07:002012-07-26T06:45:54.390-07:00The President is dead (In Accra again) (Week 8)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US">Prologue (July 20th)<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Having
spent just one short and wild night in the capital the last time, we are
heading to Accra again, only nine days after returning from our all-covering
trip around Ghana.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The reasons
for us to go to Accra again are multiple. First of all, there’s kind of a
change of “generation” going on in The House. A lot of the people that arrived
during the beginning of my stay are <s>already</s> leaving. They obviously want
to experience the biggest city in the country and have some fresh experiences
before returning, in most cases, to the first world. And I want to join them in
it. There is a bunch of new guys, all seemingly nice in our group, but I’ll
have time to hang-out with them. Five more weeks of it. Secondly, there’s a
friend of a friend I want to meet in Accra, mostly for fun and maybe some
insights on the YES Project, since he works for a big development agency at the
department of sustainable economic development. Turns out he’s in the
Philippines for the next couple of weeks, but that’s no reason to call the trip
off. Also we are going to try to make some use of the bus fares by trying to
meet up with some other potential sponsors in Accra. The third thing is that it
seems impossible to get your visa right here. In Europe, we applied for a
three-month visa and got a one-month visa, for reasons that were never made
clear to us. After two weeks in Kumasi, we sent our passports, with cash, to
the immigration service in Accra for an extension. We applied to have our allowed
time of stay extended until the 2<sup>nd</sup> of September, and the visas
returned extended until only the 2<sup>nd</sup> of August. The plan now is to
go to the immigration service in person first thing Monday morning to sort it
all out once and for all. An ambitious plan, considering my experience in
sorting anything out quickly here…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span lang="EN-US">The President is dead<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On Tuesday
the 24<sup>th</sup> of July the president of Ghana, John “Prof” Atta Mills,
passed away. The vice president, John Dramani Mahama, was sworn in immediately.
This is the first time in the short history of Ghana that the sitting president
has died. Therefore there is no predicting of outcomes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The perceived
immediate seriousness of the blow to everyday life from the death of a
relatively strong and affluent leader seemed immediately clear to me. I was in
the company of Henry and Lim from the YES Project when I heard the news outside
Mr. Jonathan Annan’s office. We had to wait for an appointment with the big
force driving our project for half an hour, a blink of an eye in Ghana. We
could hear him going on in heated discussions with his assistants and the
office being flooded by short, intensive phone calls. Apparently, the demise of
the president has lead to a pressing need for an emergency meeting. Mr. Annan
only told us there is a need to quickly decide how to handle the situation, how
to assess the future. The future of whom? Does the change in powers instantly affect
the university <i>that</i> much? Is there
going to be some movement amongst the students, already being fairly active
politically? Are there some political goals to be found<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>amongst the university authorities?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When
returning to Ghana, we walked with Belinda straight into our corner bar where
we met Joe. There were definitely more people at the bar than on a regular
Tuesday night. The TV was broadcasting the national news, very loud. Joe
pointed out that even if the death of “Prof” Atta Mills really doesn’t affect
everyday life that much, there is definitely some tension in the air since the
presidential election, in which Atta Mills was running for another term, are
coming up in five months, in December. According to Joe, there is a habit, well
documented all over Africa, to vote along ethnic divisions. It is not hard to
imagine this being even more the case after Atta Mills leaving something of a
vacuum among the choices<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>of<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>candidates. The urgency of decisions and changes
was emphasized by a big black car, apparently the regional minister, racing by
The Bar with alarm-lights, sounds and all, towards the capital. What was fun to
notice is that the locals, especially Joe, use without hesitation the term <i>tribes</i> for ethnic groups, something that
is strictly seen as colonialist and racist in the northern development
discussion.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Some unrest
is not impossible, and there are genuine concerns that instability caused by Mills’
death together with the upcoming elections will have a negative impact on
progress. You can read more in<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/global-development/2012/jul/25/ghana-success-john-atta-mills"> this article</a> by the Guardian, both assessing
the situation now and giving a good comprehensive picture of developments in “the
success story of Africa.” For anyone
interested in what happened during the last elections, there’s apparently (I’m
still to see it) a very good documentary done on it, called “<a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oAvLrQ-_HOk">An AfricanElection.</a>”.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m just
hoping the upheavals won’t affect my application for a visa extension, still
under revision in Accra…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<h2>
<span lang="EN-US">Epilogue<o:p></o:p></span></h2>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv8Djcpv0ZVawQwVR4PhVm1s3iqKLQJu-Gb0_cSQuLy9dhJYQzxUa3gHU6SnMmEtCWKEsDSsKaICeGYhsh4u0iay2hxoh16PCoVe8hM6wSL2zH073xiHProrj1dThmLElnEMRDJxTITTT/s1600/DSC_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAv8Djcpv0ZVawQwVR4PhVm1s3iqKLQJu-Gb0_cSQuLy9dhJYQzxUa3gHU6SnMmEtCWKEsDSsKaICeGYhsh4u0iay2hxoh16PCoVe8hM6wSL2zH073xiHProrj1dThmLElnEMRDJxTITTT/s320/DSC_0073.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cozy beach life in Accra</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Accra is a
big city. We spent three whole days there without really seeing anything new.
As the meetings I was supposed to have during the weekend didn’t work out the
trip was pretty much turned into a weekend on the beach. Obviously, this was
something everyone needed after some hectic times around Ghana, mostly away
from the sea. Because of some miscommunication when trying to find our way to a
National Park north of Accra, Belinda, Guy and me ended up in Tema on Sunday.
Tema is a small town east of Accra. The largest<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>harbor in Ghana, and the largest
manmade harbor in Africa, is there, and that’s it. The city itself can well be
described as a classical port town as it does not offer much more to see.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;">Our visit to the immigration service can best be
described as a complete disaster. The annoyed official in a stylish, dark green
suite seemed to know one sentence of English: “Fill in this form.” Note the
absence of the word please, here representing the general feeling of us not
being welcome. There was no chance of getting to see the paperwork, for
instance the forms we sent in earlier, on our case. There was no chance of
getting an explanation to only having gotten a one-month-extension instead of
one for two months. Also we were informed of the need for a letter from the
organization we are working for, AIESEC, to move the matter forward. This
effectively moved the matter out of our hands, so it all comes down to the one
personal trait you definitely need when working with authorities in Ghana:
patience. I’m sure we will be told to provide another $20 or so for whatever
operational expenses. <s>Did someone say institutional corruption?</s></span></span></div>
Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-90291939961825056072012-07-24T05:30:00.001-07:002012-07-24T05:30:45.927-07:00Religion, homosexuality, lottery (Week 8)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">Religion is always one of the (if
not <i>the</i>) basic aspects that shapes a society and therefore guiding any
development. This is among the things that are often emphasized in young,
developing nations. In Ghana the Christian community is very active and almost
ever-present. The churches do without doubt a lot of good on the grass-roots
and community levels and have also helped out on some projects driven by AIESEC
KNUST (at least the <a href="http://aiesecghanaprojects.wordpress.com/category/ask/">ASK Projec</a>t</span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-weight: normal;">, combating the spread of
HIV/AIDS).</span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuNx1o4Ny29Mu8cQ2AK2RQhyJWGyDVip_e-YurZz_aKyY-cUncjs04_Is4Hw5FIiJ7kVmWrtdJx3EtH__yLGVc6UoM28DE4EtNWZeMzvDIBU-K4PixCfXr-M7J02xrvGfEzuEosV2D4PL/s1600/DSC_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpuNx1o4Ny29Mu8cQ2AK2RQhyJWGyDVip_e-YurZz_aKyY-cUncjs04_Is4Hw5FIiJ7kVmWrtdJx3EtH__yLGVc6UoM28DE4EtNWZeMzvDIBU-K4PixCfXr-M7J02xrvGfEzuEosV2D4PL/s320/DSC_0205.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">St. Paul's Cathedral, Amakom, Kumasi</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif; font-size: 11pt; font-weight: normal;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">There’s no
question of the Ghanaians as a lot being very religious. Contrary to what I had
expected, even most of the younger, educated generation has no problems expressing
and discussing their faith. A lot of them go to church early every Sunday
morning, which involves playing some loud religious music around The House to
get also the less religious of us up and going. A question heard almost as
often as “You are from Germany, right?” is “What church do you attend?”
Tro-tro’s and other vehicles are equipped with religious tags and decorations
more often than anything else.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">It is
tempting to conclude, however, that the wide public presence of the churches is
a result of intense competition over followers. Differences between churches
(Pentecostal, protestant, catholic etc.) are made very clear. The aggressive
marketing of seminars, group fasting, “prophetic encounters” and other events
featuring star speakers from all over the world gives religion in Ghana a much
commercialized touch. It does not stop here. Quite often you run into even
oppressive discussions over personal religious views. Active marketing is also
done when any opportunity appears. I spent the first hour of a bus ride from
Accra to Kumasi listening to a Methodist preacher going very loudly on in Twi
(or some other local language) about at least America, Barack Obama, promises
and future plans for what I could understand. To target a group that has no
possibility of ignoring the preacher was treated as something normal by our
fellow passengers. All this marketing and attrirtion is a bit of a shock from
the point of view of a not so pious, quiet Lutheran.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">I can’t avoid
thinking that the active and charismatic presence of various Christian churches
is in part done to target a relatively poor and uneducated people in need of
strong leadership and guidance for not only faith-related reasons. Surely this
can, from a cynical stance, be seen as a form of business, selling services and
solutions to people in need. Another explanation I’ve heard by a foreigner in
the country is the general paranoia exported from America concerning the
expansion of Islam (around 16% of the population in Ghana) spreading in West
Africa. It is not hard to find American youngsters probably supported by
communities or even the government back home spending some time “spreading
their faith” in Kumasi. Again I want to point to the remarkable peaceful
symbiosis<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>between
religions in Ghana. It would be a shame to see tensions rise because of issues
completely outside the country.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">The theme of
religion brings us to one stark contrast in attitudes between here and home
clearly motivated by religion. If there’s a lively debate going on in Europe
regarding gay rights, there is no discussion in Ghana: It is not accepted. This
conservatism is a bit surprising in a society where fairly liberal attitudes
prevail when discussing for instance alcohol, business life or sex (Again it
has to be remembered that I spend most of my time with university students).
Then again it could be seen as simply the general view on the whole continent.
Nevertheless, coming from Finland, where gay rights are relatively well established
and there is some high-quality, high-level debate over them, it is odd to hear
university students studying human rights, microbiology or economics describe
homosexuality as simply evil. The reasoning seldom go beyond it being
“forbidden by the bible” and “disgusting.”</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Like I said,
the harsh attitudes do not confine to Ghana alone. Same-sex sexual activity is
<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/LGBT_rights_in_Africa">illegal</a> virtually everywhere in Africa (With South Africa being the main, not
surprising, exception), somewhere even by threat of death penalty. Debates in
<a href="http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/may/18/malawi-president-vows-legalise-homosexuality">Malawi</a> and <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dMfQsC-dwzg&oref=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fresults%3Fsearch_query%3Dhomosexuality%2Bin%2Buganda%26oq%3Dhomosexuality%2Bin%2Buganda%26gs_l%3Dyoutube.3..0l2j0i5.11633.17054.0.17190.17.16.0.1.1.0.467.1922.5j1j4j0j1.11.0...0.0...1ac.eosuxsYaet0&has_verified=1">Uganda</a>,
over LGBT (</span><span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;">Lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender) rights,
for and against respectively, have gotten attention all over the world. In
Sierra Leone the rumor has it a university student was beaten up by colleagues
during a presentation not connected to the issue.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="background-color: white; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial;"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Of course,
every country has its right to set and oversee<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>laws based on the public opinion,
which clearly is the case here. This turning into violent persecution (not a
big issue in Ghana, by the way) is a bigger problem since it surely does not
set a good example of how to handle not-very-well accepted minorities around
the continent. The issue got a whole lot bigger when David Cameron in October
2011 <a href="http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2047254/David-Cameron-Foreign-aid-cut-anti-gay-countries.html">announced</a> that his country will cut off all aid from countries that do not make
homosexuality illegal. A respectable, very European, attempt<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>to
influence human rights issues via development aid.<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>Or is this one more example of
western powers trying to control African society and development? Obviously,
this has not been met with expressions of joy anywhere in Africa. John Atta
Mills of Ghana decidedly <a href="http://www.ghanatoghana.com/Ghanahomepage/president-mills-david-cameron-ghana-legalise-homosexuality">refused</a>.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">I have
referred a few times to the honesty and the remarkable degree to which a lot of
things work based simply on trust and respect amongst men (the tro-tro system,
sending passports to Accra for visa extension, paying the "correct"
price and getting change as well as many more unspoken rules), which also might
be an expression of the role of religious authorities. A great expression of
the universal trust is the National Lottery system, the Ghanaian version of a
global phenomenon. I have shared some bottles with a man I call Joe (because he
told me to). He works as a lottery official. This involves sitting days on end
in a small, green, yellow and red, booth in Kwamo, our home township just east
of Kumasi. There he registers the combination of numbers anyone wants to bet
their money on. His life gets interesting when one of his customers wins
actually wins something. Instead of the winner, possibly even unaware of the
result, claiming his/hers profit at a central office, Joe gets going, fetches
the prize, in cash, and delivers. Naturally this involves knowing, acknowledging
that one of Joe's customers has won in the first place (documentation might be
lacking...), being trusted by supervisors with big amounts of cash and not
keeping any amount of money for himself<b><i>.</i></b> I doubt a system
like this would work in some parts of Europe.</span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">By the way, for anyone interested, here’s the official but edited
overview of what is planned to happen during the second phase of the YES
Project:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: left;">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Overview:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The second phase of the YES Project will consist
primarily in establishing entrepreneurship ventures for young Ghanaian
vocational students. This will be done through establishing workshops at the
Kumasi Elite College for the students. During these workshops, YES Project team
members will work in small groups with interested students to develop their
business plans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The business
plans developed during the workshops will be placed under review by a board
consisting of academics, finance directors and appropriate professionals. From
this review process, the best business plans will be selected to receive
sponsorships from a number of companies to provide working capital. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">This part of
the project will also consist of contact with a number of companies, NGOs and
micro-financing organizations to examine the way in which the scope of the
project can be broadened to ensure maximum effectiveness.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Schools:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Schools will be contacted at this stage of the project
to examine whether any students would be willing to establish their own
enterprises and attend workshops for entrepreneurial support.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">A number of students from KTI have already expressed
interest in having further information provided to them with regard to
entrepreneurship and how they should proceed to establish their own businesses.
<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Companies: <o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The primary
purpose of approaching professional financial and commercial institutions in
this phase of the project is to secure starting capital for prospective
entrepreneurs. The young students who wish to begin their entrepreneurial
ventures will obviously be provided a certain amount of capital overlay to
begin their operations. By approaching a number of specialists in
micro-financing, the team should be able to secure a reasonable amount of
working capital, at minimal cost, to be invested in the new ventures. For
example: the companies can consider this sponsorship as an initial investment,
with the money to be paid back to the companies once the new business ventures
become profitable. Essentially, the initial investment will act as an
interest-free loan to the young entrepreneurs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Also an
external review board, consisting of a number of financial officers from the
target companies, as well as academics, will be established. The duty of this
board will be to review the proposals, business plans and organization of the startup
enterprises.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The potential
ways in which the companies provide sponsorships will have to be determined
through negotiation. However one potential option would be to bundle the
business plans in a portfolio to make them more attractive to prospective
sponsors. This would limit the risks that the sponsors are exposed to by
providing capital for these entrepreneurs.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Business Professionals:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">A number of
business professionals must be contacted to form part of the business plan
review board. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Professor
Annan has already been contacted and has agreed to participate as a member of
the board. However other businesses need to be contacted to secure executives
from their finance and marketing departments to review all aspects of the
student business plans.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Workshops:<o:p></o:p></span></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The primary
aim of the workshops is to have a developed, reviewed and financed business
plan within <b>6 weeks</b>. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">The workshops
will provide a platform for the students to work together to develop their
business ideas and plans. These workshops will be conducted in small groups,
with one to two interns working with these student teams. These workshops will
take place at Kumasi Elite College, and will be attended by students from KTI,
Kumasi Elite College, and St Paul’s.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<b><i><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Project Goals and
Objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></i></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 54pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">A. </span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Short-Term Objectives (6 week time frame):<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 90pt; text-indent: -90pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">
i.
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Establish work shops for young entrepreneurs at Kumasi Elite College<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 90pt; text-indent: -90pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">
ii.
<!--[endif]-->Receive sponsorship from organizations<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 90pt; text-indent: -90pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">
iii.
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Place respective business plans under review <o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-indent: -90pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><b><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span>iv.<span style="font-weight: normal;">
</span></span></b><!--[endif]--><b><span lang="EN-US">Have business plans reviewed, developed and financed
by sponsor organizations<o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 54pt; text-indent: -18pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">B.
<!--[endif]-->Long-Term
Objectives<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-indent: -90pt;">
<!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US">
i.
</span><!--[endif]--><span lang="EN-US">Create a
consistent program for the AIESEC interns, to provide a solid framework which
they can use to establish the above mentioned workshops and provide support for
students<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Times, 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: x-small;">Improve reporting and
structure of YES Project</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-68282143738111370712012-07-19T05:53:00.002-07:002012-07-19T05:54:12.650-07:00A disordered report of an epic tour, Part II (Week 5-6)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 12pt;">
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko1Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY 5</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Akosombo
- Asougyaman - Atimapoku</span></span></h3>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbl_puLj_F3dz8x7QDN19QS8FMt66iSiGUBUDqJY9Jr-xiC_2-yE8miqF2-mmjmP7p5If6ptLf_ayZmbemf16HTZ01oeoD9S3oXT1gIlqHkUSRElIOUyCkeqgL4FeZ05dOx3DVFgNtESI_/s1600/DSC_0657.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbl_puLj_F3dz8x7QDN19QS8FMt66iSiGUBUDqJY9Jr-xiC_2-yE8miqF2-mmjmP7p5If6ptLf_ayZmbemf16HTZ01oeoD9S3oXT1gIlqHkUSRElIOUyCkeqgL4FeZ05dOx3DVFgNtESI_/s320/DSC_0657.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Banana farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The fruit I
definitely consume the most of at home is and has always been the banana. I am
sure this also applies to many of my friends. I want to see myself as a
relatively conscious consumer (no fundamentalist though, even a bit failed),
but I have to plead guilty to not always giving too much thought to the flows,
structures and processes responsible for providing to me this particular after-work-out
snack that is fun to eat, costs virtually nothing and tastes delicious. In Asougyaman,
we got to get to know the grass-roots level production of some everyday
products of ours. Honestly, a banana farm offers few surprises for a visitor.
Bananas grow in banana trees and are collected at a predetermined point in
time. They are washed in big pools of water, stored in a cool space, packaged
and exported.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Exported</span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">… A striking 99% of the production
on the farm we visited is exported, mainly to Europe. The remaining<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>per
cent is what is deemed below standards. This is sold locally to be consumed as
it is instead of processed in any way (A lot of fruit juice is imported to
Ghana). The obvious reason for the perverse ratio<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>is the huge differences in prices
that will be paid for the bananas in Europe compared to in Atimpoku or
elsewhere in Ghana. This is an embodiment<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>of the neocolonial relationships based on near-complete
extraction of raw material to be processed elsewhere that is so often the
object of complaint in development discussion. Surprisingly and a bit disappointingly,
I heard no criticism of those relations either from the guides or workers on
the farm or the smart and educated locals I’m travelling with (who often like
to criticize the west, France, Sarkozy of just that:<strike> trying to</strike> controlling progress and development in Africa).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJK8QVpXgGTkaTcYRF0IZ2i_6XrmCB_RG1sbdyj9whh_13qyaeP6VEijkhDP025NwATXcofsjkcwjYi-P4Sf65aUizAGhz_GPCbmTuIQq4kcbOadVdaDT-QkgYkeEkJFPInDMhiiEpBjzA/s1600/DSC_0670.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJK8QVpXgGTkaTcYRF0IZ2i_6XrmCB_RG1sbdyj9whh_13qyaeP6VEijkhDP025NwATXcofsjkcwjYi-P4Sf65aUizAGhz_GPCbmTuIQq4kcbOadVdaDT-QkgYkeEkJFPInDMhiiEpBjzA/s320/DSC_0670.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mango farm</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our visit to
the banana farm (Which, yes, was in sphere of the fair trade program and where,
no, the workers did not <i>seem</i> to work
under subhuman conditions or be particularly unhappy) was followed by,
naturally, a visit to a mango farm. What was notable<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>here<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>was the impressive level of
organization, a feature<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>not often heard in descriptions of African
agricultural activity. The owner and director of the farm very much emphasized
the importance of applying for and receiving certificates of appropriate
conduct. He further maintained that the whole system is very much characterized
by transparency and accountability, concepts usually met only in plans and
advice concerning Africa. In short, I got the impression of the mango farming community
in Asougyaman as being very professional and well organized. Be this an
exception in the big picture or not, it seems to be a more genuine way of
developing the agricultural sector than the top-down structures of, for
instance, the fair-trade movement.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibUjDht-luHk2rzEjIaWJA82Y8OFKb26Mfa4Bh4MGvRYrLnyoC1SMH5MgGI0HGe9YqLVwcRNMF_jQ0nQi6M7YmGIlufDTR-rsYl2DZrEGHegpBscbgf40o8BW4ArKMugmdopwdeRPGVkS3/s1600/DSC_0740.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibUjDht-luHk2rzEjIaWJA82Y8OFKb26Mfa4Bh4MGvRYrLnyoC1SMH5MgGI0HGe9YqLVwcRNMF_jQ0nQi6M7YmGIlufDTR-rsYl2DZrEGHegpBscbgf40o8BW4ArKMugmdopwdeRPGVkS3/s320/DSC_0740.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Party Boat</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The day was
rounded up by a boat ride on the Volta. In Finland, the only word to describe
the experience would be yuppie. The boat ride was organized on shiny new boats
by a shiny, expensive high-class beach resort owned and led by the prototype of
a Dutch businessman (Which was very evident in everything in the resort).
Ironically, those most excited about the boat ride were the Africans, who
insisted that everybody dance and shake it to the R&B playing of big
loudspeakers on board, just like on MTV… I guess this is one of the places
where rich Europeans <i>could</i> come to
behave like rich Europeans in a non-European climate and environment. The
resort, like all in the region, was virtually deserted apart from the staff and
the Dutchman working hard to make us stay and enjoy for some more time. Some
did, some didn’t.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko1Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY
6</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Asougyaman
- Mt. Afadjato - Wli Agumatsa</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-size: 13pt;"> </span></h3>
<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ip7r2rWh-brPvk06VqzcFtVxagqqOJgw-SWXfNMKRGVWZwtKYpjqGdYbBqjuYynnS6JRmsxQNycdvkHZfwfRTFCREpUOnpWUJ0pZ-DdXVj3injUgEb7f6ESAfvWH77WE7-6Iiqk4teil/s1600/DSC_0775.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2ip7r2rWh-brPvk06VqzcFtVxagqqOJgw-SWXfNMKRGVWZwtKYpjqGdYbBqjuYynnS6JRmsxQNycdvkHZfwfRTFCREpUOnpWUJ0pZ-DdXVj3injUgEb7f6ESAfvWH77WE7-6Iiqk4teil/s320/DSC_0775.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Mt. Afadjato
</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
</div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzIzpeUm_Yyp8RQDBvY9hzkH7r3rnHvDTM2GyspKCqQCSMcvcJimLCnjsNXIg9FM6CyeZjOG9NbDQEz6cLIvPYHK9eD5KPzjDXS3w6riV8XAhtsFEIp9dnD6CNz0lrsEQhaNxc4gbigUH/s1600/DSC_0791.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhmzIzpeUm_Yyp8RQDBvY9hzkH7r3rnHvDTM2GyspKCqQCSMcvcJimLCnjsNXIg9FM6CyeZjOG9NbDQEz6cLIvPYHK9eD5KPzjDXS3w6riV8XAhtsFEIp9dnD6CNz0lrsEQhaNxc4gbigUH/s320/DSC_0791.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from Mt. Afadjato</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The day was dedicated to
hiking. Naturally, this was in addition to the normal hours spent on the bus.
The plan was to climb the highest mountain in Ghana, Mt. Afadjato. A staggering
885 meters high, we had to prepare to an exhausting half-hour climb. The hike
represented nothing of what is generally perceived to be climbing a mountain.
The climb doesn’t offer breathtaking views or steep cliffs to fall off. The
path is all the way more like a tunnel in the impenetrable forest, and you will
have more use of a torch rather than sunglasses, regardless of the time of the
day. Reaching the top of the mountain is actually a nice experience, though.
After all, the climb is fairly rough and you will be sweaty and out of breath
when emerging from the bush on a small deforested flat area. The view is
dominated by the deep green, flat plateau on one side, dotted by nameless small
villages that look like brown and red islands in a green ocean. On one side,
there are a few more mountains and you can spot a rare birds-eye view of a high
waterfall to the east. The top is pretty crowded, and you will be left longing
for some silence. You will be a bit disappointed by one of the neighboring
summits, which may or may not actually within the borders of Ghana, being
clearly higher than the one you’re standing on. Beyond that is Togo.<o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBf7SyuzLI-1KZMp5pL5uZy_LRoaEvrHFBEUEh74fq_97AoOwluYvTh-OWoYF1sCKiHEgP75MnU_blhl7yFMOnQSxQo1eoVmvlsoBKjf9aeY1OYBjikFqp3zxuVKIqoXWrqjo2ueEcVrw/s1600/DSC_0825.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhuBf7SyuzLI-1KZMp5pL5uZy_LRoaEvrHFBEUEh74fq_97AoOwluYvTh-OWoYF1sCKiHEgP75MnU_blhl7yFMOnQSxQo1eoVmvlsoBKjf9aeY1OYBjikFqp3zxuVKIqoXWrqjo2ueEcVrw/s320/DSC_0825.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wli Agumatsa</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQcqFVJd0jHS6sQg9WyjYc8TaGw0yp9J1_6fUWAUZeo1F-bR1E9DbrXaDczVmTiyHvJQIXAwBXVnx1AFPZ5sfvLl1R49TE1Q6_fs1hmwH3L0MP6HXFxDDwMy2ZAEpEaI5yQD847-x80uw/s1600/DSC_0813.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgbQcqFVJd0jHS6sQg9WyjYc8TaGw0yp9J1_6fUWAUZeo1F-bR1E9DbrXaDczVmTiyHvJQIXAwBXVnx1AFPZ5sfvLl1R49TE1Q6_fs1hmwH3L0MP6HXFxDDwMy2ZAEpEaI5yQD847-x80uw/s320/DSC_0813.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The next walk was a
half-hour one through more forest, this time on a flat path criss-crossing with
a minimal river and leading to a truly spectacular place. It starts raining. It
gets cold. It gets noisy. After bending one more corner, you find yourself at
the feet of an 80-meter pillar of white roar, the lower one of the Wli Agumatsa
twin waterfalls, the highest in West Africa. It is the first place in
Sub-Saharan Africa where I’ve honestly felt cold. For one reason or another,
the water in the small pool created by the waterfall and hanging in the air is
very cold. Getting into the water is a breathtaking, refreshing and in the long
run not a very pleasant experience. The closer you get to the waterfall, the
more the air feels like being full of invisible, flying, cold needles. I almost
expected to be ripped into microscopic pieces and simply disappearing. You have
to approach the waterfall backwards, not for any traditional or religious
reason. Turn your look at it and I assume you will go blind. Turn your look
upwards and you will find thousands of huge fruit bats circling high above you,
adding to the supernatural and a bit scary experience. Take out the flocking
tourists and stands serving everything to them and the place would have been
somewhere to stay for a while. </span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko1Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY
7</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Atimpoku
- Kumasi - Tamale – Paga</span></span></h3>
<br />
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<br /></div>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The following day consisted of the longest bus ride of our trip, taking
us all the way from the southern end of the Volta Lake past Kumasi and Tamale
to the northernmost region of Ghana. Analogous of the general north-south
division of all of West Africa, the ride saw the vegetation gradually change
from tropical forest to savannah; the mosques get more common and the simple
brick houses be substituted by the iconic mud huts depicted in older books I’ve
read. Beyond here is Sahel and the notorious <a href="http://www.oxfam.org/en/sahel">famine</a></span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, the closets I’ve gotten so far to the miserable Africa covered with
some exaggeration by our media. This transition parallels very much the
dichotomy between a moist, Christian and developed south on the one hand and a
dry, Islamic and developing north on the other, often presented in simplified
(geography) literature discussing West Africa, from Senegal to Sudan, as a
singular region.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxhzX8g5BPVRqThaTC-LD8UdUodDgLsY_mF0LOaAyoP4XOZsuybb_lZG1eyZNXuOwPUeX1M6MglgtdigAbsTdesuN5j646oQTt7L6fBIkH2eLwc9UvHyBlsNk1eN3PIlTJWs1sPySheDL/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhOxhzX8g5BPVRqThaTC-LD8UdUodDgLsY_mF0LOaAyoP4XOZsuybb_lZG1eyZNXuOwPUeX1M6MglgtdigAbsTdesuN5j646oQTt7L6fBIkH2eLwc9UvHyBlsNk1eN3PIlTJWs1sPySheDL/s320/DSC_0011.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<br />
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">On the road,
more specifically somewhere on the main road between Accra and Kumasi, I got a
taste of the Ghanaian version of fast food. Similarly to McDonalds, you have a
queue, at the end of which you get to make your order (out of one or two
options, in this case jollof rice with fried chicken or fish or <i>banku</i> with fried chicken or fish) and
pay. But in this case, you won’t get your meal yet. Instead, you get a coupon
indicating what you have ordered and paid for. You continue to another queue
(one for rice, one for <i>banku</i>), where
you present your coupon in exchange of the food. A third queue will take you to
the counter where drinks are served. I had a weird, short (ending to a) conversation
with the man (Let’s call him Jarkko) at the end of the first of these queues:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54kcNKQj5Zz3AmVqiYzAmfbv4ZCaA40SplY-r290CyKmBNtHfes-DCUSiQ8yWR3FrBUIT28SaoQhWih8z2rDV9mPmMz89y5Mk_rXA4q3yYXpesQwlRcgBXPtzCNPBklSpVNlSm9wpAzQX/s1600/DSC_0010.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh54kcNKQj5Zz3AmVqiYzAmfbv4ZCaA40SplY-r290CyKmBNtHfes-DCUSiQ8yWR3FrBUIT28SaoQhWih8z2rDV9mPmMz89y5Mk_rXA4q3yYXpesQwlRcgBXPtzCNPBklSpVNlSm9wpAzQX/s320/DSC_0010.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Me</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Some
jollof rice </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">[rice with a touch of tomato, chili etc)]<i>, please.<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Jarkko</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: With
chicken?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">M</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Yeah…
Actually, what are the options?<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">J</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Chicken or
tilapia </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">[a local
fish].<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">M</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Ok, with
tilapia.<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">J</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Sir, that
will be seven cedis instead of three…<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">M</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Oh, then
let’s go with chicken, I’m not that rich </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">[as if it was really that
expensive]…<i><o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">J</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: </span></i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">[Laughter]<i> I hear you… You’re a very handsome man!<o:p></o:p></i></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">-<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman'; font-size: 7pt;">
</span></span><b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">M</span></i></b><i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">: Thank you,
you too!<o:p></o:p></span></i></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<i><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></i></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">It only
struck me right after the conversation that this might be a very odd exchange
of words in a country (and a continent for that matter) where homosexuality is
illegal. Or is this just a way where Ghanaians are a bit more confident than
Finns in expressing their thoughts and opinions about other people, without too
much thought on what you’re saying to whom?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqygzlvUpxmZfZhc8xOBjuJ3D4zzadNRspDBoEnxX-Es5j_HkUocNueCJZ5WB_c7xLQrdEPg8GocywMKcjIzVkyvMJhIdQKIFtmDmQXEn6T3FGH4KJCqfnHF4PET6UBrujyQpcWSSCtfsS/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqygzlvUpxmZfZhc8xOBjuJ3D4zzadNRspDBoEnxX-Es5j_HkUocNueCJZ5WB_c7xLQrdEPg8GocywMKcjIzVkyvMJhIdQKIFtmDmQXEn6T3FGH4KJCqfnHF4PET6UBrujyQpcWSSCtfsS/s320/DSC_0023.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tamale</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tamale">Tamale</a> is the main city of the Northern Region of Ghana. It is evident everywhere that
you are getting closer to the Sahel and the Sahara. The city (Population 350 000)<span style="color: red;"><b> </b></span>can
concisely (and based on an extremely short time spent there) be described as
dry, flat and dusty, populated more visibly by goats than human beings. It can’t
be said to be especially beautiful. As was already noted, you will cross upon
mosques (which can be found anywhere in Ghana) a lot more frequently than in
Kumasi or the coast, so Islam must be prevailing to a relatively large extent
in Tamale. What I can’t find an obvious explanation (Bad roads? Shortage of
money? Less rain?) to, however, is the popularity of motorbikes in this part of
the country. Those are almost non-existent in the south.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">After some
time spent lost in the next town (Maybe name Bolgatanga...) and finally finding the hostel, we
celebrated the birthday of Claire, a French lady in our company and some of us
tried to get some sleep before an early morning of heading further up north,
towards Burkina Faso.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko1Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY
8</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Paga
- Dakoma – Mole</span></span></h3>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
<br /></div>
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlEq_UqDmUqSPQcwOky8feT9i9vDTKLJoI-YsApBE3VcZs7zBXBVTH3e-fDg8rWG6_jGV_p2ZQtfNGzILg8WT8Vps31NUKvATu4NbWQ5FRs__XKH60piVxpyGFw0P_4Hx2NSunwcynNVs/s1600/DSC_0084.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwlEq_UqDmUqSPQcwOky8feT9i9vDTKLJoI-YsApBE3VcZs7zBXBVTH3e-fDg8rWG6_jGV_p2ZQtfNGzILg8WT8Vps31NUKvATu4NbWQ5FRs__XKH60piVxpyGFw0P_4Hx2NSunwcynNVs/s320/DSC_0084.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ryszard </span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kapuściński</span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> writes in <i>Imprium </i>about the
impact of borders on human beings. Borders between land and water are where
human populations have always thrived, but otherwise borderlands seem to have a
negative impact on man. Like </span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Kapuściński </span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">says, borderlands (especially those decided and imposed by man himself!)
make men restless, anxious and paranoid. They are places characterized by
weaponry, fences, walls, barbed wire… They are often the reason and result of
conflict and misery. This applies also to some natural borders, a good example
being Sahel, the borderland between lush tropical forest and savannah on the
one hand and forbidding desert on the other. People seem to be very much on the
edge at borders. Even crossing borders in the Schengen area, where borders are being
made more or less irrelevant, there is always some excitement in the air. It is
easy to presume that the problems and conflicts are intensified when borders
are imposed somewhere from above without much consideration of local physical
features, ethnic composition or the perceptions of the people affected by the
border. That has certainly in many cases in African history been very true.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">With the
above in mind, the crossing place between Paga and Dakoma, between Ghana and Burkina
Faso, is a controversial place. On the one hand the restlessness, anxiety and
paranoia are evident. There are weapons, fence and barbed wire. Pull out your
camera, and someone will pull out a gun, almost. We stopped and got out of the
bus. After just minutes of the normal waiting and standing around, a security
guard called me over to question</span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> me about our reasons for being there. Smiles get fewer or less genuine
and the need for explaining yourself grows.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKykaSF7tyJhSbLvvlECn5VTuGQz0h9ng43UuGgLLNyI1VD5TlS5XPuuRWovwR0FpwfbCPXBXDOaWebqmo4jy0RzNDRNLtWOiDYA-33Qbt1KknzGA71QC8TQWSw5tiPpWnUmABEDnd3CTw/s1600/DSC_0095.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhKykaSF7tyJhSbLvvlECn5VTuGQz0h9ng43UuGgLLNyI1VD5TlS5XPuuRWovwR0FpwfbCPXBXDOaWebqmo4jy0RzNDRNLtWOiDYA-33Qbt1KknzGA71QC8TQWSw5tiPpWnUmABEDnd3CTw/s320/DSC_0095.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">On
the other hand, there is a remarkable strive to live as if there is no border.
On the Burkina Faso- side, a normal village of</span></span><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"> mud
huts is virtually leaning on the wall marking the beginning of a narrow slice
of no-man’s land. The small towns of Paga and Dakoma have basically grown
together. I can imagine the people (known to be generally mobile in these regions)
crossing the border several times a day. As in many other national borders in
Africa imposed by colonial rule, not much changes (besides the European
language spoken) when crossing the border. After all the formal rigidity and
rules, I had (with the help of Kwakye’s negotiation skills) not much problems
crossing the border even though my passport was still in Accra waiting for a
visa extension.</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaHKy_AEC_yr7QMDmFjgg2GtpS2VbPbz-EdUQM8e2Nz11ATvF7QhDdO3FRW4DQHOs36hdCnYdKrORXXLXoeKxK_-qqT0RMX371ThxuBCm-YyGPZDFNigAziV7iurpeyiVzO-HbHud0JKl/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEheaHKy_AEC_yr7QMDmFjgg2GtpS2VbPbz-EdUQM8e2Nz11ATvF7QhDdO3FRW4DQHOs36hdCnYdKrORXXLXoeKxK_-qqT0RMX371ThxuBCm-YyGPZDFNigAziV7iurpeyiVzO-HbHud0JKl/s320/DSC_0044.JPG" width="320" /></a><span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Earlier
that day we had visited the Crocodile Park in Paga. It is a remnant of an old,
traditional community that basically lived (lives?) in symbiosis with the
crocodiles. They believe that the crocs are reincarnations of the forefathers
and should and will therefore not be harmed for they are a vital part of the
community. Also the legend goes that the crocodiles will not attack fishers or
children from that particular community in and around the water. Today this has
been tuned to be a tourism attraction. The crocodiles (in a fenced area) are
actually pretty tame and even phlegmatic. You can photograph them, sit on them
and lift their tail without a reason to be afraid. There is a beautiful history
but a sad present. Of course this is necessitated by the need for incomes and the
limited presence of tourists.</span></span><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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</div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko1Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY
9</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Mole
National Park - Monkey Sanctuary – Kumasi</span></span></h3>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIGNxcMhonOfU0LQ1Gy-D_3aA0vIUhrovkPf47dGAbvjzl95IG0bAK7JiwzJJmd9P8Rlo5ls1m8lTR7T_JNzHl1RnJj9H8iHOE4b9T-5TakDUu1lVGKQYp8YHVmxKgQgcSjlBdpD0dWMF/s1600/DSC_0072.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigIGNxcMhonOfU0LQ1Gy-D_3aA0vIUhrovkPf47dGAbvjzl95IG0bAK7JiwzJJmd9P8Rlo5ls1m8lTR7T_JNzHl1RnJj9H8iHOE4b9T-5TakDUu1lVGKQYp8YHVmxKgQgcSjlBdpD0dWMF/s320/DSC_0072.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Pumba</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">In Mole National Park, the
guide asked us a simple question: From where did democracy come? Greece. No!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeFtyhwzBwYSojkgjjQPd0-Yjwb_XtLwqf3lTPjXorlP_leGSgizy62noL_xLgzDPyNRpc9MGuJTsNPrQ73M865KbVugfQUUpo7qHq9wQnEmSiTZ53qZjarSQMIAFAHaEkLWsYkiU5_Nr/s1600/DSC_0086+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVeFtyhwzBwYSojkgjjQPd0-Yjwb_XtLwqf3lTPjXorlP_leGSgizy62noL_xLgzDPyNRpc9MGuJTsNPrQ73M865KbVugfQUUpo7qHq9wQnEmSiTZ53qZjarSQMIAFAHaEkLWsYkiU5_Nr/s320/DSC_0086+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Father of democracy?</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">One of the most common animals
in the park, the baboon, has according to the local wisdom in many ways set an
example for humans. Humans learned to carry their infants on the back from baboons.
More importantly, we learned democracy from then. When there is a big argument within
a baboon community (Just imagine the sticks and stones flying, the jumping and
screaming…), they resolve it as follows: The leaders of the two (or more) sides
of the argument settle in two different big trees. Thereafter all individuals
in the group choose their side by choosing which tree to climb up in. When done,
I would expect the groups to go their different ways. But no, the smaller
group(s) will follow the bigger one whatever it chooses to do. Does this sound
like the western voting system? Does this sound like western democracy?</span></span></div>
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-zQ8jngp6O4wbtUJJwDOSABT18yR_TjdG1mcO2Wz1K_FG4KcBASx9taj_1qy-84zT2FaM4OmL2EUURMIzJ8B8yOjbGRcoom6LxPJNinJMK82DpyMMFtOg3kcslRtDllLvyGFDJIfY0ay/s1600/DSC_0102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="211" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgA-zQ8jngp6O4wbtUJJwDOSABT18yR_TjdG1mcO2Wz1K_FG4KcBASx9taj_1qy-84zT2FaM4OmL2EUURMIzJ8B8yOjbGRcoom6LxPJNinJMK82DpyMMFtOg3kcslRtDllLvyGFDJIfY0ay/s320/DSC_0102.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">As a travel destination, Mole
National Park is definitely worth a visit or even a stay of a couple of days,
regardless of being pretty remote and not well accessible (The road itself can
be classified as an experience). It is a classical African national park with
great surroundings and views where you can easily spot lots of elephants,
baboons, warthogs and a species of antelope. You can choose between walking
safaris or jeep safaris with smart, informative and armed guides. A stay both
educating and refreshing!<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ25Vp-DC_DlifELBqJht46KdoT4qWglUai5AHuQNR4noknddQeiIul_R-gDKogC0MWR0OG9mJQEzE5EXeQDgTRldDeFX5FRl3HKquuckq015gxuEehP0sxDFz8pMbAIVMbEHUujjpzMEw/s1600/DSC_0023+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiZ25Vp-DC_DlifELBqJht46KdoT4qWglUai5AHuQNR4noknddQeiIul_R-gDKogC0MWR0OG9mJQEzE5EXeQDgTRldDeFX5FRl3HKquuckq015gxuEehP0sxDFz8pMbAIVMbEHUujjpzMEw/s320/DSC_0023+%25282%2529.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
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<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></span></div>
<span class="Otsikko2Char"><span lang="EN-US" style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;">After an in African standards short stop in a monkey
sanctuary (Village in symbiosis with, this time around, cute monkeys eating
from your hand, photos, monkey graveyard…) on the way, we finally returned to
Kwamo and to routine.</span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-9106705845613723512012-07-16T12:04:00.003-07:002012-07-16T12:04:25.224-07:00Half-way through, project assessment and catch-up (Week 7)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Having spent six out
of my twelve weeks in Kumasi, I feel that I now need to dedicate some time to a
deeper description of the <strike>excuse </strike>reason I am here for, the YES
Project. Also we managed conveniently to finalize the first phase of the
project last Friday. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The <a href="http://aiesecghanaprojects.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/yes-project/">YES</a> (A pretty clumsy abbreviation of <u>Y</u>oung <u>E</u>ntrepreneur<u>S</u>)
Project is a Global Community Development Program run by AIESEC in all its
African Member Countries which has the most basic idea of through promoting
entrepreneurship creating employment and bringing more life to the economy.
Youth unemployment (ranging in <a href="http://cepa.org.gh/researchpapers/Youth73.pdf">Ghana</a> from 11,5% in rural areas to 30,8% in Accra with the average standing at 25,6%) is obviously an issue that needs no introduction in
development discussion. Given the highly towards the
young biased demographic structure and a relatively limited job market as
provided by both the private and the public sector, the thought of employing
oneself seems like the obvious thing to foster in developing African countries.
Here’s an edited version of the official brief overview of the project:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">The YES (Young
Entrepreneurs Seminar) Project strives to promote entrepreneurship amongst the
African youth. Entrepreneurship is a vital tool in fighting unemployment, in
this context especially youth unemployment. In addition, the benefits will
spread more widely as new enterprises eventually grow to make an impact in the
community.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-left: 65.2pt; text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">AIESEC KNUST is
through the YES project organizing an entrepreneurial seminar for selected
vocational and technical institutions in Kumasi. The project in large and the
seminar particularly will go a long way in inculcating entrepreneurial skills
in the students and thereby help curb the unemployment situation in the
country.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
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<b><span style="font-size: x-small;">Objectives:<o:p></o:p></span></b></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US">Organize a
well-prepared seminar for the students of selected technical and vocational
schools in the main auditorium of the Kumasi Technical Institute on July 13<sup>th</sup>.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US">The
presentation will touch on the various aspects on entrepreneurship and
start-ups, including the following topics:<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US">The need to
become an entrepreneur<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span><span lang="EN-US">Come out with
a good business plan<o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Founding/funding your business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Legal aspects<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Partnership in business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Sustaining your business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Marketing your products and business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Cooperate social responsibilities<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Segmenting your market<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 90pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span style="font-family: 'Courier New';">o<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span>Advertising your business<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0.0001pt 54pt; text-align: justify; text-indent: -18pt;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><span lang="EN-US" style="font-family: Symbol;">·<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman';">
</span></span></span><span lang="EN-US"><span style="font-size: x-small;">After each
presentation, all students should have a more concrete picture after their
graduation on future plans with an expanded network and deeper understanding of
the local industry through partnerships.</span><o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">The effort and drama that goes into
the background work of just one such seminar could make a good book. It took
six weeks of running around town to meet with school officials, company
managers and potential speakers, trying to persuade people to take part in the
seminar, cooperate in the project and support it. This all in addition to the
fact that there were only three of us working on the project for a considerable
part of the time (The ever-important beginning of the project.) and we were all
thrown into a new city without any possibility of using a map as well as to a
very different culture of time-keeping, personal interaction and so on…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">It is easy to point out three things
that most frustrates anyone with a western background working in Ghana. The
first one is the African notion of time. You can book appointments and settle
on time-schedules, but they will virtually never be realized. Like I’ve
mentioned before, waiting is a considerable aspect of any activities here.
Getting used to this has, however been easier than expected, probably because
there simply is no choice if you want to get anything done. The second thing is
keeping contacts after actually initiating them. Because of wider developmental
problems, electronic communication is neither appreciated nor recommended.
Having found out a phone number (a task to consider by its own) does not mean
the call will reach the person you’re hoping to reach. When you do have the
right number, you will get an answer about one time out if four, if the phone
is even on. And if someone promises to call you back, they will most certainly
not. This adds to the need of actually harassing people with numerous calls a
day whenever you need any information about anything.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">The third thing is indecision and
uncertainty, which is well illustrated by an (just one) example. From the very
beginning, we managed to establish contact with a professor at the National
Vocational Training Institute, the main authority in technical education and
therefore a vital backbone of our project. All along, Professor Jerome seemed
very solid and determined to do the most of the lecturing at the seminar. He
was one of the few to answer all calls and show considerable cooperation. For
the first six weeks, that is. Two days before the seminar, he kindly informed
us that he has to go to Accra and thus cannot be present at the seminar. In
panic, we ran to the office of the Business School at KNUST, using a
shotgun-shooting-tactic to find anyone with even basic understanding of
entrepreneurship to replace Professor Jerome. This is how we found Mr. Jonathan
Annan, who turned out to be a godsend as he agreed<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>to work with us despite the
extremely short notice. So we got him to replace Professor Jerome. All the time
we had also been in contact with a local farmer to provide the inspirational
part of the seminar, a young entrepreneur himself that the audience could
easily relate to. The day before the event Professor Jerome contacted us again,
this time to tell us that he is coming to the seminar anyway, and wants his
part of the lecturing back! Reluctant to shut Mr. Annan down after the trouble
he went through for us, we allowed<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>Jerome to touch upon just some of the topics and
placing him as the second speaker instead of the first, a surprisingly big deal
in itself. He wasn’t too happy about it, but was forced to understand. So, in
two days, we went from having one speaker to no speakers to one speaker to two
speakers to finally three speakers (The last night before the seminar the
farmer also agreed).<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepyvzQyhPcDVRdEfiB-zQOkb4ZAcjhBhCiNQLbqP6mystilM-dnWhG_AwboMcINGKY19a0Uwx039G9bqGyAJ1RTcj4u_C9ni-NoxsglhyphenhyphenqjSyw519a4rbbaOcdS4kBoXXVyZJCnaosBUX/s1600/DSC_0025.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjepyvzQyhPcDVRdEfiB-zQOkb4ZAcjhBhCiNQLbqP6mystilM-dnWhG_AwboMcINGKY19a0Uwx039G9bqGyAJ1RTcj4u_C9ni-NoxsglhyphenhyphenqjSyw519a4rbbaOcdS4kBoXXVyZJCnaosBUX/s320/DSC_0025.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Jonathan Annan</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">In addition to being a lecturer at
the West African Institute for supply Chain Leadership (<a href="http://www.waiscl.org/pages/">WAISCL</a>) at <a href="http://www.knust.edu.gh/pages/">KNUST</a>,
Jonathan Annan is also the director and owner of a private, highly rated
college (Proudly named Elite College) of about 3000 students as well as an
enterprise dealing in stationary. All in all, he was in the end the perfect man
to start our seminar by bridging the divide between formal considerations and
the practices of business life. Our last speaker, Mr. Ekow Paul Awuah, is a
young firecracker of a farmer producing and exporting dairy-products and
different crops. He is a very intensive man that can go on about his businesses
for days if given a chance. Honestly I did not understand a whole lot of what
he was saying, but judged from an excited<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>audience he did a good job in presenting
entrepreneurship on the grass-roots level, starting from little or nothing.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">What has added some excitement and public value to our work is a surprising media coverage that the project has received. Robert managed to get us an interview at <a href="https://focusfmknust.wordpress.com/">Focus FM</a>, a radio station based at the KNUST Campus and obviously targeting the youth. Also there was a reported presence a journalist from the same station as of other representatives of the press in the seminar.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFGUnXZML0OH0VMfJehpLeJQU3di6nehG_yFD1l8qb-HQmrC-JMUvme0vFfk-WnM-MdiCsCxViLIQ65ilfUvO2R599SxbHGxBfHdUZM8TMzinOvqj2nD8J-erwJVKYh2qz_w-lBtIbP1o/s1600/DSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgsFGUnXZML0OH0VMfJehpLeJQU3di6nehG_yFD1l8qb-HQmrC-JMUvme0vFfk-WnM-MdiCsCxViLIQ65ilfUvO2R599SxbHGxBfHdUZM8TMzinOvqj2nD8J-erwJVKYh2qz_w-lBtIbP1o/s320/DSC_0027.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<span lang="EN-US">Despite all the hardships and
stress, the seminar turned out to be a relative success with all the speakers
and four out of five schools showing up, adding to an audience of 500. What was
most encouraging is that we had students coming up to us after the seminar
looking for the contact information of Mr. Annan, in order to contact him for
more information and support. So maybe someone did catch the idea…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">I have no illusions of the project
instantly changing the lives of the attendants, though. First of all it is
clear that education is a prerequisite before considering successful
entrepreneurship. Although the level of education is in Ghana high in
comparison within West Africa, the quality of that education and in this case
of the technical education in particular will really be tested when the
students try out their skills on the job market and in everyday business-life.
I am still looking for ways to follow up on the results of the YES Project, to
in the future know whether what we did has an impact at all.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">A bigger issue, and one that
unfortunately was not touched upon too much in the presentations, is funding.
Talking to local university students, it seems that most of them are very
frustrated with the economic situation. Ghana was not the country that was to
be hit the hardest by the global economic turmoil, but still there’s no excess
money (and has never been) lying around. Robert pointed out that whereas banks
a few years back had door-to-door salesmen offering loans to student near
graduations, it is today virtually impossible to land a substantial loan for
start-ups. The speakers at the seminar presented sources of funding such as
“personal savings” and “friends and family.” I doubt the widespread existence
of those resources amongst youth in a secondary, crowded city in Africa. So
however skilled the students are and however enthusiastic and full of ideas
about entrepreneurship they are, there is a need for stronger institutional
support for entrepreneurship in Ghana. Those forces are of course very much out
of the influence of the YES Project, run as it is by a non-profit student
organization. Frustrating.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="text-align: justify; text-justify: inter-ideograph;">
<span lang="EN-US">Today is a day full of enthusiasm,
the day to start drawing up the next phase of the project, whatever that is. Most
probably, we will try to do some following up on our audience by organizing a
workshop or a competition for the business ideas of young people. This would
require the involvement of, in addition to already established partnerships,
larger sponsors and financial institutions. Updates will follow! But first, up
to the most pleasant task so far: Distributing Thank You- letters and presents
to the most important actors in organizing the seminar.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-38618499992670211812012-07-11T10:03:00.005-07:002012-07-16T12:05:01.148-07:00A disordered report of an epic tour, Part I (Week 5-6)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY 1</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Kumasi - Cape Coast - Beku</span></span></h3>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">Bouncing</span><b style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </b><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;">in
a pitch dark bus, I must have dosed of for a moment since there suddenly was
light. Then again, that's just one more feature that characterizes tropical
regions more than is generally noted. The day arrives, as well as leaves, in a
hurry. The time between is one of impenetrable darkness of a much more intense
kind than the Scandinavian night, thanks to the absence of an exaggerated
electricity supply that is replaced by a widespread presence of dark, dense
vegetation that seems to swallow all light.</span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"> </span></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; text-align: justify;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I woke up to the sunrise about an
hour into an eight-hour bumpy bus ride southward that was to begin our tour
around the country. The route took us through rarely changing views of dense
tropical forest dotted by small townships and villages, one being very similar
to the next (As probably is the case with small rural settlements anywhere in
the world). Here the houses consist of walls made of big mud bricks, grey or
rusty roofs of corrugated iron and an occasional Mama pottering around outside.
You will also find the standard hawkers, vendors and stands selling
agricultural produce, pastries and other small meals as well as pre-paid credit
for cell phone subscriptions.</span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAz50lmWcSSjOzdghQLbmUhm3im0a5c2CdSPVtGqeueJYjudY9g54OlyBr_okRlQJsqpwod_gB_UkXwdQvnzBV6MLblkvL7xNVOlnooz3gzjG7hrRNHN4sXqWbR2km9_iE1znQ7CCocv3/s1600/DAY+1+Nzulezu+Beach+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhNAz50lmWcSSjOzdghQLbmUhm3im0a5c2CdSPVtGqeueJYjudY9g54OlyBr_okRlQJsqpwod_gB_UkXwdQvnzBV6MLblkvL7xNVOlnooz3gzjG7hrRNHN4sXqWbR2km9_iE1znQ7CCocv3/s320/DAY+1+Nzulezu+Beach+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beyin Beach</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br />
Several weeks of time spent in the inland city of Kumasi had had an effect on
all of us. When we finally reached the ocean on the outskirts of Cape Coast at
9.30 am, the bus exploded in applauds, exclamations and other displays of joy.
Suddenly everyone seemed awake and very much alive. Regardless of cultural
background, it seems to be an almost universal aspect of human nature to
appreciate the proximity of the sea and other bodies of water. The beaches on
the Ghanaian coast will, when it comes to natural beauty, stand comparison to
most places in the world. They stretch as far as one can see and are bordered
just some steps in, by a towering forest of coconut palms. In Beyin, our target
and final stop for the day, they are also in a relatively pristine condition,
not ravaged by western, "modern" facilities such as restrooms and
showers. Tearing down on the perfect image of a tropical-beach-experience was
also the fact of the rainy season which provided us with that ever-important
cloud cover and in fact probably saved us from a lot of sunburns. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Beyin does however have the most
basic tourism-related infrastructure in place. In addition to the actual beach,
there are western style hotels offering western-style food, pool tables,
swimming pools etc. Also the basic plan of the township follows that of some
more established beach resorts I've visited. This includes a road (a potential
boulevard) parallel to the beach, supported by several narrow roads or mere
alleys leading to the beach. All in all Beyin has some notable potential
for developing at least a small scale tourism industry. I will not here touch
upon whether that's a good or a bad idea because everyone can surely make up
her/his own mind about exclusive tourism development in the third world. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GULR9XJo20jgNvtjce_J14TrOXAjf54IMMSACeUMvYqoLzqXZwNjh56t9Wdr1fHSQoPxzrRY2zK46-RXSokudEpTAXKNq4-NP_Lzq6IeuGvCCMrCwTI0po7-PorFVIxhr2JUPWW1zO4y/s1600/DAY+1+Nzulezu+Beach+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi5GULR9XJo20jgNvtjce_J14TrOXAjf54IMMSACeUMvYqoLzqXZwNjh56t9Wdr1fHSQoPxzrRY2zK46-RXSokudEpTAXKNq4-NP_Lzq6IeuGvCCMrCwTI0po7-PorFVIxhr2JUPWW1zO4y/s320/DAY+1+Nzulezu+Beach+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beyin</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<br /></div>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">This is the point where Joan joined
our fellowship. He is from Barcelona, the uncontested Mecca of the contemporary
football-world and arrived the day after Spain ravaged Italy in the Euro 2012
final. He doesn’t follow football.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;"><br /></span></span></h2>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY 2</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Beku - Nzulezo - Takoradi - Cape
Coast</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span></h3>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwYqY9X9mMU03l7KcykAWYUa6pMeAVdugHFcatZrdIVHIvxR-sJkfLNn0GDosrdgYqUUKA1I3UfJwWb4EAknEErOpzBuLYWeN1904l1tJNL_5rpd-Tv-DWR0uhpJ4BRyURAQt1GKFAXI6/s1600/DAY+2+Nzulezu+Village+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="background-color: white; clear: right; display: inline !important; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgSwYqY9X9mMU03l7KcykAWYUa6pMeAVdugHFcatZrdIVHIvxR-sJkfLNn0GDosrdgYqUUKA1I3UfJwWb4EAknEErOpzBuLYWeN1904l1tJNL_5rpd-Tv-DWR0uhpJ4BRyURAQt1GKFAXI6/s320/DAY+2+Nzulezu+Village+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></h3>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">None of the above is an actual
reason to bother coming to Beyin particularly. The following morning, we
again got up at sunrise, ready for an hour-long paddle along a short canal and
on Lake Amansuri. On the way we came upon a weird embodiment of the interplay
between local culture and the colonial experience in the form of local
schoolgirls canoeing to school in traditional canoes but wearing perfectly European,
identical school uniforms. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nh2VQStMy_lbVzjPgTVr4XNIGz05M_vvCgzwySITur2dWnKOAVLnlMakdoz43KKRN63H337jmdO7ea-jQs2QlMg0Z-bgkc40OUKEC7r8QAICwbZgasMuWaDPlQ0DzClarxbjpmA1JA-r/s1600/DAY+2+Nzulezu+Village+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0nh2VQStMy_lbVzjPgTVr4XNIGz05M_vvCgzwySITur2dWnKOAVLnlMakdoz43KKRN63H337jmdO7ea-jQs2QlMg0Z-bgkc40OUKEC7r8QAICwbZgasMuWaDPlQ0DzClarxbjpmA1JA-r/s320/DAY+2+Nzulezu+Village+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nzulezo</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Our goal was
to reach <a href="http://whc.unesco.org/en/tentativelists/1394/">Nzulezo</a> </span><span lang="FI" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">(meaning
"surface of water")</span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">, the village on stilts, constructed entirely on water
by Malian immigrants in the 14th and 15th centuries. These were people escaping
conflict and violence over scarce resources back home, a classical example of
migration caused by population pressure. When they reached the coast of the Gulf
of Guinea, they again ran into conflict with locals. This is when the wondrous
human creativity, evident in Ghana in many minor and major examples, kicked in.
The immigrants decided that if there was no land for them, they need to live on
the water. According to the legend this order was given to them by one of their
gods, a snail. Today the population of the village lies around 500, and contains shops,
small joints, a community house and an elementary school. No teachers have yet
agreed to teach at the school, though.<br />
<br />
</span></div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 14pt;">DAY 3</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading2Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 13pt;">Elmina - Cape Coast - Accra</span></span><span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> </span><span style="background-color: white;"> </span></h3>
<div>
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipERpSzMXPDELggM_H6BlJCDh80rLt06yeth8F3M7M23ruCW4XIFqCIVt9ESOZMyf86aV-4hzRzzR8r7Z9Y4hcmRgDPmBVr9rIRw11_nl5PzZ_UA2lfWEJDgDCJJof7Isocf0egAh2ZCY1/s1600/DAY+3+Elmina+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEipERpSzMXPDELggM_H6BlJCDh80rLt06yeth8F3M7M23ruCW4XIFqCIVt9ESOZMyf86aV-4hzRzzR8r7Z9Y4hcmRgDPmBVr9rIRw11_nl5PzZ_UA2lfWEJDgDCJJof7Isocf0egAh2ZCY1/s320/DAY+3+Elmina+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elmina</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">I have to admit I was secretly
embarrassed for how much I felt at home in and enjoyed the cities of Elmina and
Cape Coast. Naturally, a big reason to come to Ghana is to see something
different from Europe and appreciate all things African. But honestly, what
makes Elmina and Cape Coast so pleasant is that they were mostly
designed and built by Europeans, more specifically the Portuguese who seem to
have been the first to arrive everywhere. Both cities are characterized by
narrow streets and in the Ghanaian context relatively high-rise and clear architecture.
Most dominating buildings are painted in white. This gives the old central
spaces a sense of unity. There are certain spots where you can almost imagine
being in Lissabon, Mindelo or some other city with a Portuguese past. Both
cities also supply a number of western-style beach resorts which is one more
reason why you will find a lot of westerners here. Maybe me enjoying myself
there is an expression of some home-sickness… <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtFGmFe5odcjz7P4gF3f8GAPDMRiogmstoM2RYPHT9WS9qCdsVekoTBlcA7H5bZqJnElNrc8ULJv6MwJtjHVO0PaGOdphQbXq1ZWDTywdy7OoE3L_1dJsHHmUuAZ4P0j0KlmvQyFOeucn/s1600/DAY+3+Cape+Coast+2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwtFGmFe5odcjz7P4gF3f8GAPDMRiogmstoM2RYPHT9WS9qCdsVekoTBlcA7H5bZqJnElNrc8ULJv6MwJtjHVO0PaGOdphQbXq1ZWDTywdy7OoE3L_1dJsHHmUuAZ4P0j0KlmvQyFOeucn/s320/DAY+3+Cape+Coast+2.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cape Coast</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Of course, both Elmina and Cape
Coast have a strong African touch regardless of the architecture. This touch is
provided by the population. Physical treats of the people aside, both cities
are cramped with hawkers, vendors, tro-tros and other distinct parts of African
culture. In short, Elmina and Cape Coast are today two of the places in the
world where connections between different cultures have created something out
of the ordinary (apart from both of these cultures), something worth a visit.</span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7ggCoVAMK3uBDGkOIj0mmTNWOn1x76jOU_1GnoNNCjQWtLFoUuwAeHHToz5QqfUJ07Ng-qjTV9WTUCx-AaxUli8fq9lsniwjxcoA3cmRBF5sFZSAszh6hNkk_xTUzyEcTso_BimyNr13/s1600/DAY+3+Elmina+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhH7ggCoVAMK3uBDGkOIj0mmTNWOn1x76jOU_1GnoNNCjQWtLFoUuwAeHHToz5QqfUJ07Ng-qjTV9WTUCx-AaxUli8fq9lsniwjxcoA3cmRBF5sFZSAszh6hNkk_xTUzyEcTso_BimyNr13/s320/DAY+3+Elmina+1.JPG" width="212" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elmina Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The vibrant atmosphere of today is
however shadowed by a darker history of the very same connections. The Elmina
castle and the Cape Coast castle were built by the Portuguese and the British
respectively. Elmina was first used mainly for trade in other products, but
both forts soon became important centers of slave trade. Both had a door of no
return. Today the castles are sites of reflection of the darker side of
humanity. Similar sites can be found anywhere in the world, and the message
seems to be the same in Elmina, Ile de Gorée, Tarrafal, Treblinka,
Sachsenhausen, </span><span lang="FI" style="background-color: white; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Ravensbrück<b>,</b></span><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"> Auschwitz-Birkenau and so on: Never
again. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Knowing I would have an interest in
it, Robert mentioned that whereas the British built the Cape Coast castle as we
now know it, there was a fort at the site even earlier. That one was built by a
not well known colonial power: the Swedes. It turns out that quite a part of
the little known Swedish colonial history took place in Ghana, back then obviously
called the <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Swedish_Gold_Coast">Swedish Gold Coast</a>. The fort was called Fort Carlsborg and was
just one out of six Swedish forts on the Gold Coast.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The Swedish theme continued in
Accra, where we used our small window of time for gathering first impressions
on the capital at a reggae party on something called, very suspiciously,
Pleasure Beach. There I met Jermaine, a Ghanaian who got abnormally excited
when I told him where I'm from. It turns out he visited Helsinki when he was
studying in Sweden. Where in Sweden? Lund? Stockholm? Uppsala? No, Blekinge. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<br /></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Stw-K04dySWwHE8l5PJECz3rzXUC-SI1bgBPHB2VWTh7cyt20cFtHavBpMYGrCoo7sAgzw7JYm7izMwUUU6wKKSUiUTKqw06ypaHYBrxsqmKJLMzNDU9HJsVS4iUQKTKSHgkf2KzW8sD/s1600/DAY+3+Cape+Coast+1.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg3Stw-K04dySWwHE8l5PJECz3rzXUC-SI1bgBPHB2VWTh7cyt20cFtHavBpMYGrCoo7sAgzw7JYm7izMwUUU6wKKSUiUTKqw06ypaHYBrxsqmKJLMzNDU9HJsVS4iUQKTKSHgkf2KzW8sD/s320/DAY+3+Cape+Coast+1.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cape Coast Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Where the effects of an infant tourism
industry are most pronounced, in a negative sense, would be the cultural center
in Accra. The name promises a lot, such as a possibility to get to know Ghanaian
cultural handicrafts and traditional products. First, you will notice that
there's no quietly getting to know. You are violently pulled in to a whirlwind
of shopkeepers that force you into one shop after the other in the narrow paths
criss-crossing the area. Most of them sell the same wooden masks and
decorations, t-shirts, jewelry and so on. Everyone knows you're from England or
Germany. Everyone has a cousin or a good friend in Finland, the country of
Nokia. The forbidding aggressive marketing of the vendors is
understandable in that westerners without a doubt possess the money to make
purchases (nothing there can be described as expensive) and the competition is
intense. This, I think is the main problem of the cultural center and other
corresponding places. I swear there were more vendors than customers in the
place. Moreover, they sell a surprisingly narrow range of standard souvenir
products. This drives the vendors to vicious competition over the few foreign
customers, which in fact works to repel the customers. Even our dinner, in a
closed restaurant area, was disturbed by hawkers constantly sneaking in and
hanging over the law stone wall, forcing products upon us in the middle of
eating. Credit has to be given to the waiter who persistently kept the
bloodthirsty salesmen away. Behavior forced upon them by circumstances or
not, it is probable that the activities of the vendors in the cultural center
work to harm more than benefit the wider selling community. </span><span style="font-size: 12pt;"><o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcbfJuLde5s-Bsixz7FHvMTfLa23ut_dJu6Z3fpNr9bZ6jT8R8jJ8ZoNXBdM4aM2GGeS42EwVVjpdeIF3bY3csseBI_wB2M8U1QRpxBuVdMesyTPg5ImSMeGUcwWwQQ3AONqHdOmptZwn/s1600/DAY+3+Elmina+3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgZcbfJuLde5s-Bsixz7FHvMTfLa23ut_dJu6Z3fpNr9bZ6jT8R8jJ8ZoNXBdM4aM2GGeS42EwVVjpdeIF3bY3csseBI_wB2M8U1QRpxBuVdMesyTPg5ImSMeGUcwWwQQ3AONqHdOmptZwn/s400/DAY+3+Elmina+3.JPG" width="400" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt;">
</div>
<h2 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading1Char"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">DAY 4</span></span></h2>
<h3 style="text-align: left;">
<span class="Heading2Char" style="background-color: white;"><span style="color: windowtext; font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Accra - Akosombo</span></span></h3>
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The first thing we did when arriving
at the Volta Lake was to visit the Akosombo dam. A bit worn down from the
previous night's Reggea Nite gone late, everyone was happy to get off the
bus, air conditioned or not. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The dam was built under the rule of
Kwame Nkrumah in only (!) four years and finished in 1965 mostly by the
means of foreign aid. Supplying none less than 60% of the nation's electricity,
and given the problematic international structures and relationships of trade
in energy, it is today of immense importance for the general development of
Ghana. This is very much evident in the rigorously regimented, jealous and even
paranoid prohibition of taking any photographs anywhere near the dam, were they
to present the dam or the nature around it. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The all-important relative
energy-independence did not come without costs. Damming up the river Volta
created, in a very quick manner, this largest artificial lake in the world.
This forced some 80 000 people inhibiting around 700 villages to move to higher
ground. This fact is not being covered up by the authorities and claims
are made that the evacuates received substantial compensation. Some
personal energy will be required to make deeper investigations into these
issues, but I'm skeptical about the amount of real compensation that an African
government in the 1960’s have had the resources to meet. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The main thought that comes to mind
when talking about the Akosombo dam is however that huge scale infrastructure
projects like this always come with costs and sacrifices. Regardless of how big
a supporter of human rights and rights to choose residence one is, you have to
admit that in the long run at least this particular project has been of
immeasurable value to Ghana as a whole in the long run. Beyond doubt,
this includes the communities that initially suffered from the undertaking. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE0aHZ9zzTiC_ftNTa1FonQ0SS2DpXCMSUFKqPEbkYvO_2eoQJsRjUSQxZDJz2BTslMUMCV6UrJ1ujoyvnFu0eIHYjiGM-8RSU0W6BgOO5ZBUcItw-kFCph0rxUv87OJEFIySLYABrJl4/s1600/DAY+4+Volta.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgeE0aHZ9zzTiC_ftNTa1FonQ0SS2DpXCMSUFKqPEbkYvO_2eoQJsRjUSQxZDJz2BTslMUMCV6UrJ1ujoyvnFu0eIHYjiGM-8RSU0W6BgOO5ZBUcItw-kFCph0rxUv87OJEFIySLYABrJl4/s320/DAY+4+Volta.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">River Volta</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">Aside from, economical, social and
other aspects of the lake, the river, the dam and the energy they produce, the
Volta region is astoundingly beautiful. The area seems to be relatively densely
populated, which is evident in the high number of small wooden canoes calmly
gliding on the lake and the river. This adds an important human touch to the
environment of calm waters surrounded in every direction by dark green hills.
The lake itself is a maze of small, narrow inlets and spits, which gives it a
wide presence in the region similar to that of the Saimaa Lake back in Finland.
<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">The natural beauty has not avoided
being picked up by the radar of the tourism industry. The riverside around
Atimpoku is dotted by beach resorts small and big, one claiming to be more
luxurious that the other. They offer swimming pools, sports facilities and
activities both on land and in water, bars, restaurants etc. In the beginning
of July, all of them seemed to be virtually empty, save for the staff.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0.0001pt; text-align: justify;">
<span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt;">What is a bit amusing is that the
locals seemed to be very suspicious about swimming in the river or the lake.
One of my local friends, a smart university student, commented that it is not
safe to swim because the water is too deep. A security guard told us that
swimming was not culturally accepted and would offend the local population,
which later turned out to be nothing more than a white lie. Part of this surely
is a result of the fact that most people here, quite surprisingly, simply
cannot swim and therefore fear immersing themselves in water.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-80308870698063259082012-06-30T07:39:00.000-07:002012-06-30T07:39:28.756-07:00Lakeside Paradise, Epidemy, Hospital (Week 4)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">You find
your way to Tech junction or Anloga junction. There, you ask your way into a
tro-tro headed for Atonsu, from where you may or may not stay in the same car
to get to Kuntanase.<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>From here, a six cedi taxi ride (divided among
six passengers: four in the back and two in the front) will take you there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArx-yUGqbGQvDGDKrLWD_Nlgsj-iVcm3aJHB4spmVjN_4W9AQApqq1iBxSKsTXmbpVy4N03PcBmP05t75X8I0hyphenhyphengdM6A2OVjr0k0EdnSUolJdEkRBywBoFsunmQGVwAdMO9OQWgZfscnw/s1600/DSC_0217.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgArx-yUGqbGQvDGDKrLWD_Nlgsj-iVcm3aJHB4spmVjN_4W9AQApqq1iBxSKsTXmbpVy4N03PcBmP05t75X8I0hyphenhyphengdM6A2OVjr0k0EdnSUolJdEkRBywBoFsunmQGVwAdMO9OQWgZfscnw/s320/DSC_0217.JPG" width="212" /></a><span lang="EN-US">Lake
Bosomtwe is a crater lake created by a meteor quite some time ago. It is an
almost perfectly round, 49 km</span><span lang="EN-US">²</span><span lang="EN-US">, pool of muddy water situated about
30 km or one hour southeast of Kumasi. In short, it is a naturally beautiful
and different place in the region. The lake is surrounded by steep, 600 m high,
forested walls in every direction and when I first visited the place, there was
a cloud cover that even accentuated the weird light in the place. All this gives
it a very isolated atmosphere, which probably explains why the Ashanti consider
the place, not surprisingly, sacred. According to Wikipedia, from where all
accurate information presented here is acquired (Yes I’m feeling lazy and know
I’m being very lame), there are 70 000 people living in 30 villages around the
lake. This seems a very high estimate since the shores, when inspected from one
point, seem like one dense tropical forest dotted by buildings every here and
there.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On a spot
on the western shore of the lake, a cluster of activities targeted for tourism has
emerged. You can find accommodation of different levels, bars, restaurants, an
information centre etc… When arriving to the lake you will be asked to register
(write your name in the guestbook) and pay a voluntary (compulsory) nominal fee
(One or two cedis) to support activities for conserving the unique surrounding.
What raised most excitement in our fellowship was, however, the existence of
one Hotel Paradise (What a name, huh?) that serves also European style meals.
This being our first chance in three weeks to be touristic and avoid local flavors,
we took it regardless of the high price.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The lake is
supposed to be free of danger, which makes a swim in it an appealing way of
refreshing yourself. A bit disappointingly, however, the lake is very warm
regardless of its respectable maximum depth of over 80 meters. What I find most
interesting would be to visit to the surrounding villages instead of the
tourism center. They seem very isolated and surely exhibit a relatively
traditional way of life, including fishing activities which are limited by a
range of superstitions.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzjqacDMp6WndsnjKSQfzEw3MOsMDvwubiZYRPCQy0si2iwAtRy89ArrS4lb7BJqH7Uk-2ldUbDKrXjTHSxVbpA-NL5XV9X7nbBGMSihx0JlYGmCNsXolljU1BecbPT3imaaU4b2xnU4M/s1600/DSC_0225.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjXzjqacDMp6WndsnjKSQfzEw3MOsMDvwubiZYRPCQy0si2iwAtRy89ArrS4lb7BJqH7Uk-2ldUbDKrXjTHSxVbpA-NL5XV9X7nbBGMSihx0JlYGmCNsXolljU1BecbPT3imaaU4b2xnU4M/s320/DSC_0225.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’m sure to
return there and write more on the place, but in short Lake Bosomtwe (Or is it
Lake Bosumtwi?) is the first place here that you really don’t want to not visit
when travelling in the Ashanti region.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve also
come by another peculiar place. If you get out of a tro-tro at the Amakom
roundabout and walk north, you will find a curious cluster of funeral
industries and businesses. Here, the sidewalks are on a stretch of hundreds of
meters covered with coffins, one more prestigious than the other, almost as
inviting you to test-drive them. Amidst them, there is the normal cocktail of
fruit and vegetable vendors, small pubs (called spots) and other small
enterprises. I don’t think there is a better (or crueler?) way of showcasing
the fact that death is a part of everyday life. <o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Robert, our
new project manager, is proving to be quite the engine for the project. The
other day, he decided that the fee we were about to pay for using the
auditorium at KTI (200 cedis, equivalent to about 87 €) was way too much. So,
he brought me, Alima and Daniel along with him as he marched to the principal
of KTI for a bargaining session. Luckily, Mr. Apree appeared pretty stressed
and was running from one emergency meeting to another and in about 90 seconds
caved in not only to give us a considerable discount but provide the venue for
free! In Europe, I don’t think a man in his position would even have agreed to
see us… Next on his agenda is getting the KNUST Press to print out certificates
for everyone attending the seminar. For free, of course. Also, he wants to use
his contacts to get us on air on the local radio. In addition to speed, he’s
brought to the project a fair amount of dynamism, drive and enthusiasm. Through
a great part of this, his been suffering from ”light” malaria. Naturally.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDSGGYW94crUIRIsK4-I0_R4fT4T0i9QDyMx2UERBxyZeDZjag39EzE6gv1G6-kOQrzRHvUR0t2sutlYgBQTSnb0txHfKZZV0vLFh4nJoCndWUDnO9ibNwk6U5gMbBsDkRjyKXgl6vHE_/s1600/DSC_0193.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjHDSGGYW94crUIRIsK4-I0_R4fT4T0i9QDyMx2UERBxyZeDZjag39EzE6gv1G6-kOQrzRHvUR0t2sutlYgBQTSnb0txHfKZZV0vLFh4nJoCndWUDnO9ibNwk6U5gMbBsDkRjyKXgl6vHE_/s320/DSC_0193.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">Robert’s
case of malaria provided an amusing (If anything involving malaria can be amusing)
look on differences in Saturday-night culture. Last Saturday night, we had a
house party. After the party Robert was too tired to go home. This is
understandable, since tro-tros aren’t really reliable in night time and
everyone is advised to avoid moving alone late in the night. So he slept in our
big hall of a living room. Now, in summer-time Europe (certainly Finland), this
would involve getting bit by a lot of mosquitoes and probably having a hangover
in the morning. Here, it involves getting bit by a lot of mosquitoes and most
certainly having malaria by morning. There’s some motivation to find your way
home every night.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">This post
is getting a bit melancholic… There seems to be a quite rough epidemic going on
in The House. It involves diarrhea, noxiousness, fever and so on. For some
reason I got off by throwing up instead of sleeping for one night, but quite a
lot of the non-Africans here have had to visit the hospital. None of them has
been right away diagnosed with malaria, and even though it is here quite
expensive, the Local Committee has taken steps to disinfect The House of any
transmittable germs.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Because
Belinda was one of the people in need of a brief trip to the hospital, also I
got to know<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>to
the Ghanaian hospital life. The Ejisu Government Hospital was, from a western
point of view, an experience. The interior is not as well lit as you might
expect and the combination of light bulbs and fans in the ceiling result in a
scary blinking of everything and gives the place an atmosphere representing
that of horror movies or video games from the 90’s. When entering the hospital,
everything seems a bit closed. There’s a small opening in the wall through
which you get to register yourself. The next checkpoint is a table in the
opposite end of the hall, surrounded by three or four nurses that always
measure your temperature, weight and blood pressure. The laboratory is another
booth in the same hall. The doctor will talk to you by a table set in another
hall, next to the dormitories. In short the place is, as Jasmine put it, “kind
of sketchy.”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">On the
other hand, the staff of the hospital is quite friendly, as almost anyone in
Kumasi (Save for speaking an incomprehensible language and either laughing or
shaking their head when taking the tests or getting your results). In a way not
representing other places here, they are also sufficiently efficient and
possess a routine that enables them to take care of their task so that the
visit doesn’t take any longer than in Finland. After an initial shock, you will
notice that people are even here, where I suppose you would see more suffering
due to malaria and HIV/AIDS than in any hospital in Europe, quite cheerful!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Some
additional notions about basic services in Ghana follow. First of all, there
are hospitals, as well as schools, everywhere. Having a very young population,
the widespread existence of these institutions would according to most development
theories promise a bright future for Ghana. An educated and healthy population
is after all, the basis for almost any general progress in a society. This also
hints that all government or aid spending is not lost due to corruption and
that the government in general has an interest in developing the people after
all. Also, medicines are in Ghana outrageously cheap. Belinda was provided with
a set of three or four different drugs filling a small plastic bag, and the
total price was 7 cedis, which translates to about three Euros. These facts of
course have to be seen in the local context. For instance, in addition to drugs
being cheap the general level of income isn’t that high either. When it comes
to the high supply of schools, one has to keep in mind that a considerable
share of them does not offer free education.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Friday
morning, I had one more entertaining discussion. My laptop is giving me a hard
time. Most of time, instead of starting properly, it turns into a fire alarm.
Every now and then, as when trying to demonstrate the problem to anyone who
knows anything about computers, it works properly. So I decided to have an
efficient Friday to earn my weekend and started it by getting up really early
and going to campus to find a computer shop to repair the laptop. I found two,
neither of which were of course open. So I found my way to a small booth
displaying eggs and decided to have the sweet lady inside make me a nice omelet
sandwich for a real mans breakfast. While I was waiting for the sandwich, the
lady got into a clear dispute with a well dressed man on the same errand as me.
Having good manners, the man soon explained the issue to me in a shared
language:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7gkfYdUG2po-QwB4HdhdGjVIcQ-9ecDV8wmhcNUlYqkdvZXAMuuizMx8yDmIeDXy5DYLfJ0DIVvSlK9CTzPNCXCrKY9PGGFL9FmPvDj8oK_kV5SnHD0TlL7MHxaUN6u3WJSVoNn9-3UoD/s1600/DSC_0197.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7gkfYdUG2po-QwB4HdhdGjVIcQ-9ecDV8wmhcNUlYqkdvZXAMuuizMx8yDmIeDXy5DYLfJ0DIVvSlK9CTzPNCXCrKY9PGGFL9FmPvDj8oK_kV5SnHD0TlL7MHxaUN6u3WJSVoNn9-3UoD/s320/DSC_0197.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">“Let’s say
you pass here every day, and every morning you great a man who’s keeping a shop.
But he never greets you back. What do you do? Do you stop greeting him or do you
keep greeting him?”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Not the most
important issue in one’s life, but apparently it was connected to a wider
debate about Christian behavior (In this case never lowering yourself to the
opponents level.), religion and without doubt state of the society. After
answering that I would stop greeting the rude man, the lady got quite upset and
maintained that I am “not a mature Christian” and need to grow up. I tried to
explain that in my culture we avoid greeting anyone anywhere, in vain I
understood quickly. The encounter taught me once again that no matter how upset
or mad the Ghanaians seem, they most probably are not. When paying for my
breakfast (not more than 40 cents), the lady showed off her Christianity. When
trying to pay in coins (a price half of that in Tech, as I also told her), she
insisted on giving exchange for a five-cedi note she saw in my hand, telling me
that: “If you give this to someone else, they might tell you that they do not
have change and cheat you!”<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaoaZatBr7nKqZ8ZPUoSUl5A2_CfUI7CRyrhA0oSTb90HJrmXoNjPX_3di3zsIvxcvQDnwJjunJdeBPOgNsc7rf8dSG7hm6kNIheU8do-7l7yGFYzVrdtu5oiyN_LV_Xgbfk4RpmfyWXn/s1600/DSC_0209.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEilaoaZatBr7nKqZ8ZPUoSUl5A2_CfUI7CRyrhA0oSTb90HJrmXoNjPX_3di3zsIvxcvQDnwJjunJdeBPOgNsc7rf8dSG7hm6kNIheU8do-7l7yGFYzVrdtu5oiyN_LV_Xgbfk4RpmfyWXn/s320/DSC_0209.JPG" width="320" /></a><br />
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<span lang="EN-US">Ten days,
ten regions, two neighboring countries. That’s pretty much our itinerary for
the All-Ghana tour we will start on Monday at the break of dawn. According to
Stephen, the trip will be long, tiring and adventurous (He later told me that
he didn’t want to use the word “dangerous”). A hell of a ride, in other words. Most
probably, this means that my posts during the next couple of weeks will be
short and sporadic, if any. I’m sure there will be al lot to write about after our
safe return to Kumasi…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-25748459321932249152012-06-25T06:31:00.000-07:002012-06-30T07:13:29.923-07:00Conductors and Cadets (Week 3)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I would
like to take some time to present a remarkable profession that I have gotten to
follow closely, even a bit more than I would’ve liked: the tro-tro conductors
(By the way, I managed to enter the one named “I’m Hustler”). Every car’s
personnel consist of two men: the driver and the conductor (Actually, right
after writing the previous sentence I got into a tro-tro with the first female
conductor I’ve seen). The driver drives, whereas the conductor, usually a
youngster, takes care of all other imaginable tasks. On the chaotic “stations”
(randomly chosen roadside stretches, it seems to an outsider), they get out and
start shouting out the direction of that particular tro-tro. When a lost
westerner appears, looking for the car that will bring one safely home, these
are the ones to, with 100 per cent accuracy, direct you to the right one. When
on the road, the conductor charges you, according to the distance you will be
riding. I have not seen a document stating any fixed rates, but the conductors
always know the price and I have not heard of them charging foreigners higher
prices. Often, you won’t get your change right away. The conductors prefer to
charge all the passenger present in the car and later provide change, again out
of memory and without mistakes.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; margin-left: 1em; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZnrc760nTB1RDnYPpi-rDo9vaGRWAicU3HABBgA37ivU_kQJLtetnGRtMTpeJ5GULHbKerbRWAdBoTah1ERFssogJ8Oi-wQ2PXGqVF9s0p2s3f4kHiZTC1Am060bSipYYbTpLopnN7ZX/s1600/DSC_0184.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNZnrc760nTB1RDnYPpi-rDo9vaGRWAicU3HABBgA37ivU_kQJLtetnGRtMTpeJ5GULHbKerbRWAdBoTah1ERFssogJ8Oi-wQ2PXGqVF9s0p2s3f4kHiZTC1Am060bSipYYbTpLopnN7ZX/s320/DSC_0184.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Before the rain</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">The fact
that westerners and locals most often pay the same price in tro-tros and for other
services (which reportedly isn’t the case elsewhere in Africa) reflects the
overall Ghanaian mentality, hospitality, honesty and sense of just. I think Guy
wrapped out our feelings very well when he, after a couple of beers at the
Hotel Paradise at Lake Bosomtwe, again astounded<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>by the cheap taxi ride back, stated
that “we like it here because these people don’t know how to exploit tourists.”
There are exceptions, of course. One of the museums that we did not enter at
Kumasi Cultural Center charges with no shame substantially higher prices for
non-Ghanaians compared to natives of Ghana. I don’t want to make too big a deal
of it, though, before I hear some kind of an explanation.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">What
potentially can make living here as a European more expensive that the Ghanaian
lifestyle is that imported products are hard to come by and generally cost a
lot. European beer costs about double the price of local beer, which by the way
is very good. A liter of soy milk (not that good) will cost you about as much
as a liter of dairy milk in Finland, which is a lot in this setting. A package
of Nutella costs around seven Ghana cedis, over three times the price of my
average lunch meal (I rarely eat Nutella in Finland but have a craving for it
here. Why?). I am yet to even try buying European cheese but have already found
out where to get it. To get these products you also need to take at least two
tro-tro rides to get to Adom which can take over an hour to one direction and
of course cost more money.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The tro-tro
conductors also take care of spotting<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>new customers when moving at a fairly high speed
in relation to the condition of the roads and cars. This practically involves
dangling out of the side door of the minibus, waving and shouting your heart
out and eventually banging your fist on the outside of the hull of the vehicle
to make the driver aware of the need to stop. The same will take place whenever
a passenger wants to disembark. At this point, you simply loudly call out something
like “mate” and gesture as clearly as possible that you want out. When imported
to Ghana, the minibuses are rearranged and stuffed with more seats for the
obvious economic reason of fitting as many paying customers as possible. This
often means that if I, seated on the row of seats furthest back, need to get
out, four or five people seated in between me and my relief from fear of
crashing to my death also need to get out. Again, what would in Finland be seen
as a shameful inconvenience and bad for the business (and what I like to call
first world problem) is here simply an everyday necessity that really doesn’t
do much harm to anyone.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">It almost
goes without saying that the conductors also take care of technical problems. A
tro-tro I entered at Tech junction refused to start and the problem was quickly
localized in the battery, which was to be found under my seat, between my legs.
The conductor insisted that there was no need for me to get up and took care of
the operation in what looked like a very uncomfortable position. I have to add
that also the battery itself didn’t appear very reliable or secure. This time around
the problem could not be solved without professional help and an electrician
was called upon and arrived in about 40 seconds. He is called, believe it or
not, Sparky. Another tro-tro died when picking up passengers. I swear to god,
the conductor got out and single handedly pushed, in a very slight downhill,
the minibus, full of customers, to a rolling speed high enough to kick-start
the engine, after this catching the moving car and jumping in.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwhFOMkVaUOvgZM-nw_6uZLJ0RIW8lqDwCoY5IpjG_XA9PylQ4FOz5RfQnRYNuAUD96qsLljqMVtN7Kz21MemH1A1Wbu4SsXNk28btZhdKRpclxIkgV0On87lRjKPE0TzFxFlR3fhQAlhv/s1600/DSC_0198.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjwhFOMkVaUOvgZM-nw_6uZLJ0RIW8lqDwCoY5IpjG_XA9PylQ4FOz5RfQnRYNuAUD96qsLljqMVtN7Kz21MemH1A1Wbu4SsXNk28btZhdKRpclxIkgV0On87lRjKPE0TzFxFlR3fhQAlhv/s320/DSC_0198.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The rain<br /></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US">As for the
YES Project, we have now gotten a local project manager, Robert, halfway
through the planned first phase of the project. He seems very dynamic and
resourceful and I’m confident that he will help us a lot in maintaining
contacts to local enterprises and schools as well as simply in knowing his way
around the town. We are now struggling, for many reasons which include national
holidays, summer vacations, and our upcoming tour around Ghana, to find a
convenient date for the seminar. I have to say the project is a bit stuck,
which is frustrating since two of my longest lasting teammates, Jasmine and
Carter, will be leaving Ghana in virtually no time.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">When again
visiting the Methodist Vocational Institute (many schools here carry religious
names) in Kwadaso, I came upon an interesting habit. A bunch of what seemed to
be older students, wearing uniforms, were practicing marching to the beat of a
drum on the central plaza of the campus. Actually this reminded me of my
service time in the Finnish Defense Force. My local guide, Cosmas, informed me
that these people are called cadets and are found in every school. If I have
understood correctly, all students have to do an amount of time serving as a
cadet. They are responsible for the order and security in the school. What I
find great about this practice is that, according to Cosmas, being trained as a
cadet gives one good chances of employing herself/himself as a security guard
later in life.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
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<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">I am sorry
to inform you that I have suffered my first loss in betting for games in the
Euro 2012. I did make it through the group stage with a clean record though… My
demise was a consciously risky, one-to-two-ratio, bet with a Portuguese girl,
Joanna, for the Czech Republic to beat the Lusitanian in the quarter-final.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-62842201203952950852012-06-21T07:44:00.002-07:002012-06-21T07:46:46.485-07:00Chinese presence, being European and a security guard (Week 3)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">The Chinese presence
in The House is beginning to show. Now, I count eight of them. And they’re
noisy. All of them are basically nice guys, at least when talked to in a small
group. But the thing is that they like to empower their cultural identity a
lot. This means that they will stick a lot together and communicate in a
language that no-one else understands. They also spend a large portion of their
time searching for good enough Chinese food. So they come here and they do a
lot of stuff their way. I guess all this parallels the general situation in
Kumasi, Ghana and Africa, where the Chinese are overtaking many roles formerly
kept by westerners. These include aid and trade, as is already well
acknowledged in most development discussion. In Kumasi, for example, it is a
lot easier to find a Chinese restaurant or supermarket than a European one.
Also the Chinese are known for doing whatever they do cheaply, effectively, in
their own way and without asking many questions. In short, they are easier to
deal with than westerners and don’t intervene in local dynamics precisely
because they like to keep to themselves.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzJqw0DyyO4gEHDM7_cl4MCB9N_TcROscXe0s_ExYh24bucDUg7VjUmjeLK3niGrNtpQVSn4L0BflFuud9JDPSFWgGsQL-0PqQxtoFMrBYIEP-Z9owo7-hhZp7UCXhO_J2PMU52QWw3hl/s1600/DSC_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgrzJqw0DyyO4gEHDM7_cl4MCB9N_TcROscXe0s_ExYh24bucDUg7VjUmjeLK3niGrNtpQVSn4L0BflFuud9JDPSFWgGsQL-0PqQxtoFMrBYIEP-Z9owo7-hhZp7UCXhO_J2PMU52QWw3hl/s320/DSC_0145.JPG" width="320" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">On something like the
same topic, it’s fun to notice how well I identify myself as a European here.
When travelling in Europe, I feel there is a strong feeling of differences
between nations, people and different groupings sticking together. But in a
pretty global setting like The House (the only continents not represented so
far are South America, Australia and Antarctica), it actually feels like you’ve
known every new European that arrives for a long time. It makes me see stuff in
a new perspective. Being a European also attracts a fair amount of interest and
even respect, but it seems that this is nothing compared to looking Asian. For
instance, Guy, my roommate, likes to bring anyone Chinese along to any important
meeting because “it gives him some credit.”</span></div>
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<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; font-family: inherit; text-align: center;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCogDIrJ31Jzs4rZYImPN2ApXgosxvFk2eGIrCjmBlfb2X_nFWxoIdXSeqhLiFThDjs6FYNZj0i0OO9wU0EGG-4A2__iKRGcDarFrIWG5THdRblW60MlmTJTUB1CV31UiOkN8AChZrQgaR/s1600/DSC_0163.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiCogDIrJ31Jzs4rZYImPN2ApXgosxvFk2eGIrCjmBlfb2X_nFWxoIdXSeqhLiFThDjs6FYNZj0i0OO9wU0EGG-4A2__iKRGcDarFrIWG5THdRblW60MlmTJTUB1CV31UiOkN8AChZrQgaR/s320/DSC_0163.JPG" width="320" /></a></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">I think in the last
post I wrote something about local politics and the power of the local
Asantehene (the Ashanti king) Osei Tutu II versus that of the national, modern
style government. Interestingly enough, I found a blog post online <span style="color: black;">(http://www.oxfamblogs.org/fp2p/?p=10555)</span> about
the following day, stating that overlapping traditional and “modern” governance
systems often seem to lead to urban violence. The comments are based on a new, wide research project conducted around the third world. This, obviously, is not the case
in Kumasi, however. Why? I still need to get some locals to talk about this and
will try to follow up on the issue (if no-one opposes). Is the Asantehene an
exception who is especially willing to co-operate with the government (they
still strongly maintain that he has a lot of power and does use it)? Or is this
one more example of how Ghanaians seem to be able to avoid violence and
conflict better than most nations in West Africa? This stability has, in fact,
lasted through the reign of several Asantehenes.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4v7XwREj7ojvUFPm3j2XBttLubLWaKyOmnC2eqPJZpXVo_Tu_ff_W-n3g47Qrq8192GmTEFOs6igtr3a0AnLk1dEcSNXSqwM_a_Hq1SI4wytJVNLSOKRKK3SgAUWRuAUKAWzqk0UVxbjl/s1600/DSC_0196.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4v7XwREj7ojvUFPm3j2XBttLubLWaKyOmnC2eqPJZpXVo_Tu_ff_W-n3g47Qrq8192GmTEFOs6igtr3a0AnLk1dEcSNXSqwM_a_Hq1SI4wytJVNLSOKRKK3SgAUWRuAUKAWzqk0UVxbjl/s320/DSC_0196.JPG" width="212" /></a></span><span style="font-size: small;">The YES Project is
growing in personnel. It now consists of me, Carter from China, Jasmine from
NYC and to new, silent Ivorians, Daniel and Alima, of which the former one is a
new roommate of mine and a tremendous footballer. The new guys are very active
and eager to participate. The two last mornings, they’ve been up hours before
me and sat on the veranda waiting for the faintest possibility to follow one of
us (“The veterans”, a respectable two weeks into the project…) to any meeting
or other activity. I have great expectations of them! As for the project
itself, we are closing in on a date and a venue for the Big Thing. On Tuesday,
I visited Kumasi Technical Institute (KTI) with Daniel. KTI is a huge technical
school with education lines for almost every imaginable hands-on profession.
Without hesitating, the headmaster first introduced us to a vast emptiness
called the main auditorium that would easily seat a thousand persons (which we
will never be able to lure<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>there) and then immediately called in a meeting
including all the heads of the different departments in the school, just to
present us and our project! I have to say I felt very embarrased<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>but
also flattered by the attention. The result was that KTI will basically do half
of the organizing work for us through their capabilities and facilities.</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">Overall it has been
reassuring to see how easily people are to be gotten behind the project;
fortunately, they recognize youth unemployment as a key issue in Ghana just as
well as any of us. If only this would translate to provision of hard funding in
addition to equipment, human resources etc. for the project…</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;">A comment for anyone
thinking about travelling to Ghana: you might find extensive photographing a
bit uncomfortable. Whenever I produce a camera (an inconveniently large one,
I’ve now understood), I’m surrounded by either by kids wanting to get in the
picture (which is ok and even fun by me) or people asking for me to pay for the
pictures. I’ve managed to ignore (which is the advice given to me) or escape
all but one of them. Anyway, not much taking pictures in peace when in
populated environments!</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal" style="font-family: inherit;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><br /></span></div>
<div style="font-family: inherit; text-align: left;">
<span style="font-size: small;"><span style="line-height: 115%;">The character of the week has to be security
guard at the CAL Bank office at the KNUST Campus, which you find right at one
of the entrances to the campus. Initially I found him as a strict and dull
looking man, even dangerous and a bit scary. A security guard, in other words.
One recent Sunday I tried to get out quite a lot of cash from the adjacent ATM,
of which the machine failed to deliver a single pesewa. The machine from hell was
however successful in diminishing the amount of money on my account and even
gave me a receipt on the supposed transaction. Embarrassingly, I may have lost
my temper a bit, which caught the guards’ attention. After politely offering
help, he directed me to the bank office, from where they directed me to my own,
Finnish bank, who told me I cannot deal with the problem online but instead
have to send a bunch of signed papers back to Finland by mail… It is weird how
much work some banks do in order for you to not get your money when you need it
and/or something goes wrong. Anyway, now, whenever I enter the campus and walk
past the guard and his office, he wants, to an moving<b><span style="color: red;"></span></b> extent, to know whether I
have gotten my money back yet. So I’m providing him with updates on the
situation almost every day. If anyone knows a good way of letting him know that
I appreciate his concern (over a problem that actually has nothing to do with
him), let me know!</span></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-74956020307828053612012-06-19T03:19:00.001-07:002012-06-21T07:32:19.420-07:00Politics, Ivory Coast, France, Sarkozy, Haircuts... (Week 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQX-OOescs-VbUphtM1fsdTMfOslrsn95Nd1I42xjiYapzMvRLqJUcMORW_3rypSmQEn8zFKXRsF3fV_eeT85TXisECYPX8AqwBCiB0VrAwnvShbzC4JCM55dIu_YXth46luysI_sib-U/s1600/DSC_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhdQX-OOescs-VbUphtM1fsdTMfOslrsn95Nd1I42xjiYapzMvRLqJUcMORW_3rypSmQEn8zFKXRsF3fV_eeT85TXisECYPX8AqwBCiB0VrAwnvShbzC4JCM55dIu_YXth46luysI_sib-U/s320/DSC_0199.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">When asked about local
politics, most Ghanaians seem to be set on fire. Parties and their popularity
are here more based on ethnicity than on ideology. This is because “you rarely
can trust someone from that other group to think of your best.” This builds up
to a simple vicious circle: People vote for their own ethnicity and politicians
prioritize their own ethnic group to secure future votes. In contrast to many
other African countries, however, there is a striking atmosphere of unity in
Ghana (e.g. the people I live with refer to themselves rather as Ghanaian than
Ashanti or anything else). As was pointed out to me, this kind of
ethnic-political dynamics easily result in violence, except for in Ghana!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">One example of that is
neighboring Ivory Coast, from where a bunch of my new friends have come to
Kumasi. Even in Europe, few will have been able to avoid hearing about the
violent power struggle between Alassane Ouattara and Laurent Gbagbo that took
place pretty recently<b>. </b>It is
striking how differently the events have been perceived in Europe (with great
help from our “objective” media) compared to West Africa. In Finland, Gbagbo
was depicted as more or less a classical, corrupt depot, clinching to his power
by the means of corruption, civil unrest and ultimately near civil war. On the
other side of the dichotomy was Ouattara, fresh champion of democracy, open to
development and western modernization.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Talking to Ivorians
turns the situation upside down. According to them, Gbagbo is a strong leader
who successfully resisted neocolonialism and had his interests more in
developing the Ivory Coast instead of maintaining good relations to the west.
Ouattara, on the other hand, is merely a Muppet controlled mainly from Paris
and put into office with French military support. In the big picture, the
Ivorians are very frustrated of the way in which their country is still
controlled by the former colonial power, compared to for instance Ghana. They do strongly believe that things are
improving, though. I regret that I wasn’t here in time for the French
presidential election which, I’ve been told, resulted in a big party at The
House…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBl37rJwb-8OVHBqS106aKH7zNmbU6fW6AyRoggBRB-SI3a2hoisQfYhSstk89iI7ZUAB0gkL6DWcKyqgusgoXGQ2ubGJucLwDkFpnUN__1fELiuzfOfNY3eshOtFTESwPDtG96NxkTaC/s1600/DSC_0030.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlBl37rJwb-8OVHBqS106aKH7zNmbU6fW6AyRoggBRB-SI3a2hoisQfYhSstk89iI7ZUAB0gkL6DWcKyqgusgoXGQ2ubGJucLwDkFpnUN__1fELiuzfOfNY3eshOtFTESwPDtG96NxkTaC/s320/DSC_0030.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">What has most
surprised me in the political life of Ghana is that the Ashanti Kingdom is
still, as an institution, alive and well, although it in Finland is mentioned mostly
in history books. Last Saturday, we visited the King’s Palace in Kumasi (The
capital of Ashanti region). According to the locals, nothing big takes place in
Kumasi or the Ashanti region (Population ) without the knowledge and blessing
of Otumfuo Osei Tutu II. The first thing president John Atta Mills does when
visiting Kumasi is pay homage to the king. He rides around town in a British
Racing Green, brand new Jaguar without plates and is still highly respected. Would
this be a good example of combining western-style democracy and traditional
governing systems for a balanced political life in developing countries? After
all, Europeans are here frequently told that Africans, for cultural reasons,
need strong, benevolent leaders (even something we would call dictators) rather
than complete democracy. That’s the like of Gaddafi and Castro.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrw04KfCwzLnm65rb4M31EqiEtlESWC50tVeoj0wuJKhs9S35hyBQaYYmTYs633rkXbsZwsztee0iZ_l_oKxkTF837BySQgU9Vdnj9d-ivqJgmHrKztxssLffsI0GTdNNk3dxJ6BQfN2r3/s1600/DSC_0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhrw04KfCwzLnm65rb4M31EqiEtlESWC50tVeoj0wuJKhs9S35hyBQaYYmTYs633rkXbsZwsztee0iZ_l_oKxkTF837BySQgU9Vdnj9d-ivqJgmHrKztxssLffsI0GTdNNk3dxJ6BQfN2r3/s320/DSC_0024.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US">And now to completely
different matters… Finally, I had my hear cut! My former hairstyle represented
more a helmet and carried in this climate a constant chance of a heatstroke.
The operation cost me 1,5 Ghanaian cedis, about 65 European cents. Keep in mind
that a large beer here costs 2,5 cedis. When using the same ratio, a beer
should in Helsinki cost over 40 €! The comments regarding my new style range
from something unprintable via prisoner of war and skinhead to the genuine
Ghanaian look and I wouldn’t post a picture in this blog if my life depended on
it!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The rains are getting
harder. I’m told it means that it’s going to keep raining long into July. I
don’t really mind: I’m taking the same stance as, Guy, the British guy in my
room (By the way, I provide a link to his blog on our shared stay here below.
In particular, he talks more about the discussions regarding local politics
we’ve had). Ginger and vulnerable in the sun as he is, he maintains that clouds
here mean nothing less than life itself. But this Sunday, the rain was
something quite different. It’s not just the violent rain that drowns
everything. The ground will actually become alive. If you’ve ever had problems
understanding the concept of water erosion, this is the place to educate
yourself. In these conditions, we had a bloody, muddy, life-or-death-deciding
football game. Great fun!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY17KY8EWuUX48ri35fDHDPgOleN6-VOOqE0BlGMhwKICE7Sda0PISxPl2Xl6ZE_Lx4_OOX77EM4mkDnvnhA0qlDKZtDEko3XujmdJvvMNmtN7V3kP93LX4q-pBVX5gZbTGZjcN2v7XYB/s1600/DSC_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXY17KY8EWuUX48ri35fDHDPgOleN6-VOOqE0BlGMhwKICE7Sda0PISxPl2Xl6ZE_Lx4_OOX77EM4mkDnvnhA0qlDKZtDEko3XujmdJvvMNmtN7V3kP93LX4q-pBVX5gZbTGZjcN2v7XYB/s320/DSC_0022.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My initial contact in
Ghana, Sampson, also came down with and recovered from malaria. It is stopping
to see how the locals handle a deadly and at least back home much demonized
disease as if it was just the flu:<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> - </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Hi man, haven’t seen you around!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> - </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Yeah, I’ve been home a couple of days… I got malaria
in Côte d’Ivoire, you know…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> - </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Wow, are you ok?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US">-<span style="font-size: 7pt;"> - </span></span><span lang="EN-US">Yes yes, I just had to get some rest…<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">And
everyone here has got it at least once or twice!<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Because
you are surely getting tired of me going on and on, here’s some other stuff
written by other foreigners spending periods in Kumasi (one in English and one
in Swedish). Both happen to be living in the same house as me, but will provide
different ideas and points of view for anyone interested:</span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span style="background-color: white; font-size: 7pt; text-indent: -18pt;"> </span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<span lang="EN-US"> </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://praktikghana.blogspot.com/">http://praktikghana.blogspot.com/</a></span></div>
<div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="text-indent: -18pt;">
<a href="http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/guy.everton/4/tpod.html">http://blog.travelpod.com/travel-blog/guy.everton/4/tpod.html</a>
<br />
<br />
And by the way... I've been asked for more pictures on the blog. I will keep adding some to the old posts, but that can only be done when I'm bothered to go to the super-fast Vodafone-sponsored internet café at campus. Patience, you'll g´have to check out the posts later for imagery.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-5915680849047540222012-06-18T01:14:00.002-07:002012-06-21T07:25:27.749-07:00Tro-tros and other findings (Week 2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve been
here for two weeks now and would say that I’m starting to learn how to live in
Kumasi. I manage to feed myself on fried rice, a dish of which anyone will get
tired of half-way through the first portion </span><span lang="EN-US">and that really isn’t
the most convenient for a sensitive stomach. I know
where I can see the football games I want to see. I can find my way to the most
basic services in the town. More importantly, I’m learning to behave like the
locals when things happen slowly; I’m learning to wait! I can proudly say that
I do not instantly start snapping at people and behaving badly once something
takes a longer time than planned. In addition, I’m adjusting to the heat:
yesterday, for the first time, I sat myself by free will in the sun without any
fear of dying on the spot! Of great help in adjusting to the local lifestyle is
the basic set of stuff one should always carry with himself: a camera, water,
sunscreen and a good book.<o:p></o:p></span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">Our small
development project is starting to take shape. I’ve been running around town
talking to headmasters of vocational and technical schools in order to make
sure that someone will actually attend the seminar we’re organizing. What is
different from organizing an event like this in for example Finland is that here,
things are still very much done by the means of face-to-face interaction. For
me, that means a lot of sitting in tro-tros. That’s one way of seeing a new
city, isn’t it?<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_YF9_x1nvJsei82Nmq35avsk-6TwUSGWA9o8VBMdXXaDtjGUMUGb4rc1P2wAQ3fqWxxlEVgMZYCXGNWsXgTkVe4Pkr5KSorhrU5SVASymhRXjuiU9iDdotHD68IEoI1nq4zSKx01Yt6/s1600/DSC_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiWl_YF9_x1nvJsei82Nmq35avsk-6TwUSGWA9o8VBMdXXaDtjGUMUGb4rc1P2wAQ3fqWxxlEVgMZYCXGNWsXgTkVe4Pkr5KSorhrU5SVASymhRXjuiU9iDdotHD68IEoI1nq4zSKx01Yt6/s320/DSC_0201.JPG" width="212" /></a><span lang="EN-US">Standing
still in traffic has made me realize a couple of pieces of </span><span lang="EN-US">ingenuity of the tro-tro system. When in a traffic jam, you actually
find yourself at a small supermarket. As soon as the car slows down to about
walking speed, there will be a line of vendors wandering<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>around
the car. They sell water, spring rolls, doughnuts, fried bananas, Menthos,
soap… You name it! I’ve had some satisfying lunches just sitting on my behind,
shopping through the window. You can also get more credit for your prepaid
calling card. There also seems
to be an informal system for a kind of buss lane<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>on the roads. At rush hour, it is perfectly ok for the
tro-tros to use the roadside for getting forward. What is beautiful is that,
despite the absence of much control by authorities, no other cars use this
method! It’s one of those unspoken rules. Basically, that’s the notorious, inefficient
informal sector for you! <b><span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></b></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">The banking sector, on the other hand, seems to have gone nuts in Ghana.
Due to some unfortunate events, I’ve had to be in some contact with them. There
is a spot in the KNUST campus where I counted the offices of five different
banks (Barclay’s, Standard Chartered, Ghana Commercial Bank, HFC Bank and
EcoBank) within a few steps from each other. Just around the corner, I found
two more (CAL Bank and United Bank of Africa). Amongst poor university
students! I don’t know much about the rest of the world, but coming from
Finland this seems like a bit of exaggeration</span><b><span lang="EN-US" style="color: red;"> </span></b><span lang="EN-US">(or lack of regulation?). And I was worried about getting cash here… <span style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-ufKJLf1EydgB3v_QgsfCG-pit_nIhqRUT3TutzTNnjS2iU8d53iOpSwcm49npFkQvbHpAvBoo806bDrI1U40Q4IbI-lp1o29LWW9N0PVG0UhhnRiaidZyzfcebhV1zg7vLqwUg_H6oO/s1600/DSC_0021.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiC-ufKJLf1EydgB3v_QgsfCG-pit_nIhqRUT3TutzTNnjS2iU8d53iOpSwcm49npFkQvbHpAvBoo806bDrI1U40Q4IbI-lp1o29LWW9N0PVG0UhhnRiaidZyzfcebhV1zg7vLqwUg_H6oO/s320/DSC_0021.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">My good deed of the week was to help out in the ASK Project, another
project driven by AIESEC that targets local youth for raising awareness about
HIV/AIDS. The project is lacking personnel, so I jumped in to give a lecture at
a junior high school in Ejisu. This is one of those small, iconic development
projects that don’t seem to bring much new substance to the community
development arena, but obviously addresses a very important issue. Moreover, it
was actually great fun to go talk with local teenagers about… well, sex.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<span lang="EN-US">I’ve had one more
interesting encounter. Outside PPAG, a NGO that provided us with some HIV/AIDS
schooling, there is a tiny booth. In the tiny booth, there’s a small man
selling water and a sweet, non-alcoholic malt beverage called Schweppes Malt (I
respect Ghanaians for not calling it non-alcoholic beer, which happens in
Finland). I wasn’t able to catch his name, so I will call him Ron for now. Ron
has built himself a high throne of stacked plastic garden chairs. So he sits
there on his throne all day, feet dangling in the air, selling the two products
he has. Having a bottle of water here, I experienced my first tropical rain.
You don’t want to be outside then, so Ron invited me over to his booth. Nice
gesture of him, but he refused to give me a chair from his pile of about
fifteen but rather made me sit on the floor. He doesn’t speak a lot of English
but has two huge books on his fridge: one on chemistry and one on microbiology.
I have yet to find out whether he has read them. Curious character, anyway.<o:p></o:p></span></div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-34035906257529833112012-06-11T02:20:00.000-07:002012-06-18T01:15:50.459-07:00More impressions / Getting started (Week 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
<br />
<span lang="EN-US">Ok, so there’s
a swimming pool at the KNUST Campus. Actually, there’s an Olympic-size swimming
center and a pool bar serving pizza. And beers and cocktails. If only these
people knew under what conditions we have to study in Finland! Seriously, with
its locally measured very high price level and security guards, it’s quite a striking
contrast to the life outside. Apparently, it was build with money from the sponsors
of the university. This raises a question: Really, didn’t they find anything
smarter to do with the money targeted for higher education in Kumasi and Ghana?</span><br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TD_fwYzi-q4Xi0W3j3hnFVzhdxTW844E25FZvpR-7EoNh32lCMwgoJ2XZJTxIKEXI5RJHt1IdNSZ-j14QLTg8BLLWi_7yodWIMS9ZIwWhIFw0pQA5XyHAlgy-7N6DVw6Tszz7ILrWrs_/s1600/DSC_0138.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9TD_fwYzi-q4Xi0W3j3hnFVzhdxTW844E25FZvpR-7EoNh32lCMwgoJ2XZJTxIKEXI5RJHt1IdNSZ-j14QLTg8BLLWi_7yodWIMS9ZIwWhIFw0pQA5XyHAlgy-7N6DVw6Tszz7ILrWrs_/s320/DSC_0138.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The House</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">Regardless
of whether such a poolside setting at a university campus is a form of
corruption (by attracting students and prestige with completely
extra-curricular features), the people I’ve talked to seem to a very large
extent recognize corruption as the greatest obstacle to wider development in
Ghana, which amusingly resonates from stories heard from e.g. Greece. This is
best illustrated by a story one of the guys (let’s call him Gunnar) told me.
Gunnar happened to be visiting a friend at the foreign ministry. In a waiting
room, he met some high level western decision-makers in aid and got into
discussion. Gunnar asked the big shots what they think the development aid they
are providing is doing for Ghana. Both of them (naturally) replied with the
standard “bullshit bingo”- statements of benefiting the poor, generating
sustainable growth, promoting education, empowering women etc. Gunnar had one
question to ask them: “In what car did they pick you up from the airport?” And
one of them answered, after hesitation: “A convoy of eight Jaguars.”</span><br />
<span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US">The project
I’m working on, called the YES (Young african EntrepreneurS) Project, is slowly
starting to take shape. Most basically it strives to promote young
entrepreneurship and start-up companies, thereby diminishing youth unemployment
in the city and the surrounding region. We are going to organize a set of
seminars where company representatives, NGO members etc. give presentations on
various aspects of entrepreneurship for students in vocational and technical
colleges in Kumasi. The idea is that this should inspire the future graduates
to set up new their new companies. Of course, as of now we’ve only just started
contacting schools and companies we would like to be a part of the project. I
will try to give updates on how we are doing later in the blog. More
information about the YES and other projects AIESEC KNUST is working on can be
found here: </span><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://aiesecghanaprojects.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/yes-project/">http://aiesecghanaprojects.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/yes-project/</a></span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YHdQZRs-eiGA5tltaOgc6jXUrqavDTrAIjiDetVgSCd5GSWhFsFqvUrQ74_AljjSQyJj_Lxs3o2B99umd04VSEIEB4aw-erTZqJ0vYZ_CqmkN4nnnQ2hv_-7ebLbf59e4IQZj36pH370/s1600/DSC_0089.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi8YHdQZRs-eiGA5tltaOgc6jXUrqavDTrAIjiDetVgSCd5GSWhFsFqvUrQ74_AljjSQyJj_Lxs3o2B99umd04VSEIEB4aw-erTZqJ0vYZ_CqmkN4nnnQ2hv_-7ebLbf59e4IQZj36pH370/s320/DSC_0089.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><a href="http://aiesecghanaprojects.wordpress.com/2011/03/01/yes-project/"><br /></a></span><span lang="EN-US">On the
lighter side (and of interest to geographers) I am starting to get a grip of
the physical structure of the city. This is no simple task: Once I actually did
ask for a map and everyone laughed at me! The way I’ve understood it, the city
consists of junctions, such as Agriculture junction, Bebre junction, Tech
junction and Kwamo junction. The latter one is where I live. It is interesting
how, in the absence of nearly any city planning, urban life gathers around
traffic nods. This includes bus stops, petty retailers and the actual geography
of place names. The knowledge one has of these junctions is crucial in getting
one around; since the minibuses that are the backbone of anything called a
transit system use them as reference of where you want to go. These minibuses,
probably seen everywhere in Sub-Saharan Africa (and here called Tros-tros) are
everywhere and work without any plan or system, you simply have to know where
you’re going and ask your way through. The tro-tros have an interesting way of
distinguishing themselves: Almost all of them have a large tag on the rear
window. One says “The lord is great” or “God is the provider” and has a picture
of Jesus on it. The next one simply says “Jimmy’s” and the next one “I’m
hustler”. I’m considering making a list.</span><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocWkxoLBbPQjhqoPC5uOLUV6g-jg_zCaR1wZtrMeCDKPgaIs3ttYufpsKWnMEgP7ez3jsNCZns3hLt8OxQX-hHXpX9MsBr0ydavbkpQ29motEq7r81rA-kC5ocDpXXj_tF2OeoMcWn99E/s1600/DSC_0129.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhocWkxoLBbPQjhqoPC5uOLUV6g-jg_zCaR1wZtrMeCDKPgaIs3ttYufpsKWnMEgP7ez3jsNCZns3hLt8OxQX-hHXpX9MsBr0ydavbkpQ29motEq7r81rA-kC5ocDpXXj_tF2OeoMcWn99E/s320/DSC_0129.JPG" width="320" /></a><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US">Saturday
was a day filled with a delighting set of culture. At 6.30 a.m., when ”the air
was still cool and fresh” (everything is relative), we got up to play a game of
football. At 2 p.m. there was the African Qualifying game for the World up 2014
between Zambia and Ghana (1-0 to everyone’s disappointment after Ghana just a
week earlier beet Lesotho 7-0) and the day was crowned by the Euro 2012 group
stage game between Germany and Portugal (Which earned me a free beer!)</span> </span><br />
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</div>
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><span lang="EN-US"><br /></span><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 115%;">My abnormally quiet and phlegmatic room-mate
from Burkina Faso is cheering up. Actually, I found out that he’s recovering
from malaria, which also encourages me since I’m wasting time worrying about
catching the disease when he’s already up and running like everyone else. Also
it turns out that he’s doing a PhD in philosophy and carries in his head a very
clear picture of everything (development issues, the welfare states of northern
Europe, literature, personal development, life in general…). I’ve already had
some very interesting discussions at night and I am looking forward for some
more. The most striking comment he provided was that “charity doesn’t work in
aid”. Think about the context, where I’m coming from, where he’s coming from…
Not something you often hear from a guy living, working and studying in one of
the poorest countries on the planet. </span></span></div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-62778634048477420162012-06-06T04:10:00.001-07:002012-06-18T01:16:27.199-07:00Getting there / First impressions (Week 1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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Coming from rainy,
dark and cold Helsinki to rainy, dark and hot Accra, getting out of the plane
feels like walking into a wall. The heat and humidity is overwhelming you in a
very different way to say, the Finnish summer “heat”. You almost start looking
for a big knife to cut your way through. This is in addition to the shock of having
some nice, cold pints on Heathrow and, later on, in a few minutes moving from a
luxurious BA flight filled with drunken Britons and happy Ghanaians to a long,
static and sweaty queue of drunken Britons and not so happy Ghanaians. The
first thing I hear is that just moments earlier, a cargo plane has crashed into
a bus and some homes close to the same airport, killing ten people. Just in
case I send some signs of life back to Europe.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5J3BIgCx3JdLf9gc9PXcn0KFFhbV0d9lHNJVfKd5dj7jm2NNil2PIYD5kWxbpX80ZNmcAH5FisiwOlkqtwhF5YPQq_I1eVvpwz9iDyjb0ho5Z7sOxzcFmIwIbTtpad_U_onEkvPJOuno/s1600/DSC_0018.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEin5J3BIgCx3JdLf9gc9PXcn0KFFhbV0d9lHNJVfKd5dj7jm2NNil2PIYD5kWxbpX80ZNmcAH5FisiwOlkqtwhF5YPQq_I1eVvpwz9iDyjb0ho5Z7sOxzcFmIwIbTtpad_U_onEkvPJOuno/s320/DSC_0018.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
After surprisingly
easily finding our contact person and getting to a bus-station (Don’t ask
which, it’s dark and I feel ignorant as a newborn), I have my first lesson on
differences between African and European everyday culture. As has been written
by probably every possible foreign commentator of Africa, the African concept
of time differs greatly from the European one. A bus set to leave at a certain
time does not have to actually do so, because there might still be things to be
taken care of. This, it seems, has made the Ghanaians masters of waiting. No
anxiety, no swearing, no walking nervously around. Mostly, not even reading a
magazine. Just sitting and waiting. I admire this local form of patience and
intend (and have to) learn it myself! Getting used to waiting and forgetting
about time might very well make the difference between insanity and personal
stability here. As for the bus ride, make no mistake: the bus is better than
those long range buses I’ve been using in Europe. It’s air conditioned and the
seats are at least half wider than in Finland (Usually, I’m never able to catch
any sleep on them; here, I slept like a baby almost the whole trip.)</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Y0G2aNWW1YmhN_TCgFTTJ3DSk4r5_DnLEsAYEv3mpExKEoFZfBV38B2zcWgX6uvMqUqtG6sCJ1lNIYdSFLLxWLErx-PKjVqpcI_0gjX2jW2KVUuO_JhIhE1HZ5lNldo7cdxMaoBxXgpK/s1600/DSC_0017.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0Y0G2aNWW1YmhN_TCgFTTJ3DSk4r5_DnLEsAYEv3mpExKEoFZfBV38B2zcWgX6uvMqUqtG6sCJ1lNIYdSFLLxWLErx-PKjVqpcI_0gjX2jW2KVUuO_JhIhE1HZ5lNldo7cdxMaoBxXgpK/s320/DSC_0017.JPG" width="320" /></a></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
When finally in
Kumasi, we stumble down a dark alley surrounded by low houses and enter a
single-storey house. The neighborhood, possibly the whole city, is having a
blackout. The house seems ascetic but more than enough right now since it
contains a free bed.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
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<div class="MsoNormal">
My morning is filled
with new faces and names I forget in a minute. I take a walk with a local
around the neighborhood and feel like a little child, asking questions like:
“Where can I get water and food?”, “How do I use a toilet?” or “How does stuff
in the kitchen work?” There’s not really anything here representing something
from back home (Like a supermarket or a grocery store…). Luckily, my sense of
being lost and handicapped is eased by joining a small, short and very sweaty
football game on the backyard. I’m reminded of the heat once again.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10BUzJDXfqhB9__6mU4NwvDXK9dzcNWxX5_Q7YoSDGotROme9jnWEXBlViwhvxqCp9RJb6_Dmctjlxjf9FKa3IhCpWh68PZ1lMIRwdFJQBy88T9YsIqLD_pqkfymqoxynD9xfgBYQ9y8U/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="212" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi10BUzJDXfqhB9__6mU4NwvDXK9dzcNWxX5_Q7YoSDGotROme9jnWEXBlViwhvxqCp9RJb6_Dmctjlxjf9FKa3IhCpWh68PZ1lMIRwdFJQBy88T9YsIqLD_pqkfymqoxynD9xfgBYQ9y8U/s320/DSC_0019.JPG" width="320" /></a>Later we visit the
campus of the local university, KNUST (Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and
Technology). It is nothing like my home campus in Helsinki. You enter the
campus through a gate resembling a traditional Ashanti throne under the gentle
stare of two handsomely uniformed guards. Inside, the campus looks more like a
wide, deeply green garden than a university complex. Wild parks, dense with
trees are everywhere, buildings are scarce. I don’t even try to
estimate how large the whole campus is. What these guys don’t spend time on is
letting new people settle down. After a couple of hours of sleep, I’m already
busy planning the big picture of the development project we’re supposed to
manage. Back in The House I have to move to a new room and learn that I’m
sharing it with two men from the Ivory Coast and one from Burkina Faso. That’s
one multicultural encounter from my point of view, not least because I don’t
speak much French… Before going to sleep I get to taste my first Ghanaian dish,
which (to the disgust of the Chinese interns) is eaten completely by hand, from
one big shared plate. A bar has appeared just around the corner, and nothing is
going to hold me back from a large, cold beer.</div>
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<br /></div>
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In the end, what has helped me the most in
getting over the huge, initial shock of coming here has been the fact that I
have found it astoundingly easy to talk to and come along with the people in
The House and at AIESEC KNUST. We laugh to the same jokes and have the same
problems, both small and big. This is in addition to the (quite obviuos)<b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b><span style="color: black;">immense</span><b><span style="color: red;"> </span></b>helpfulness and hospitality
everyone here has so far shown. The atmosphere is best described by a quote
from our manager: “Africans are communists by heart.” This leads to sharing
everything, most importantly food and water, especially with new, ignorant and
helpless Europeans. These people have kept me alive for the first couple of
days! But then again, that’s just one more aspect of the culture I will gladly
learn and get used to.</div>
</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8459154110826153404.post-79899603743036666592012-06-06T04:01:00.000-07:002012-06-18T01:17:03.338-07:00Introduction / Before leaving (Week -1)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kQMSPMAicMiGk8BCg4jWtj5d4K7iSgdScvg0tv1rEvrcTeac916dEWaWaf6w3B1tWxcRCeYfbWAnhm7jS-857lUB7eXJq26Qtg9uctdstqm_JdoUmDhyphenhyphenPvv-oDJC6Oxe2daJuhqlxRpt/s1600/IMAG0691.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8kQMSPMAicMiGk8BCg4jWtj5d4K7iSgdScvg0tv1rEvrcTeac916dEWaWaf6w3B1tWxcRCeYfbWAnhm7jS-857lUB7eXJq26Qtg9uctdstqm_JdoUmDhyphenhyphenPvv-oDJC6Oxe2daJuhqlxRpt/s320/IMAG0691.jpg" width="190" /></a><m:smallfrac m:val="off"><m:dispdef><m:lmargin m:val="0"><m:rmargin m:val="0"><m:defjc m:val="centerGroup">This blog is written and updated by me, a Finnish fourth-year-student in
development geography, fresh BSc (You just have to put it everywhere when it’s
a new thing!) and football fan. I am spending the summer in Kumasi, Ghana doing
an internship that also is my first “real” job in that it actually has
something to do with what I have been studying for quite some time.</m:defjc></m:rmargin></m:lmargin></m:dispdef></m:smallfrac><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20l20Yt8sgQrfPwUiG57BWHReAxdbhcPA4PEd1iO8hrOqHZvE4OlvPOilbnK3-oTMPjDKq71KhmKRlXnHjWkShjDRve0q0TUvPbG3x95WLdH89sb4O3IVO9VW3qIExFqj0VtLiQIPRJU4/s1600/DSC_0008.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="422" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh20l20Yt8sgQrfPwUiG57BWHReAxdbhcPA4PEd1iO8hrOqHZvE4OlvPOilbnK3-oTMPjDKq71KhmKRlXnHjWkShjDRve0q0TUvPbG3x95WLdH89sb4O3IVO9VW3qIExFqj0VtLiQIPRJU4/s640/DSC_0008.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
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In the blog I will, over the following three months or so, try to present
and comment on life in Ghana, football, maybe some community development
practice, and anything else I can think of from the point of view of a young
guy from a northern welfare state without much experience of life in what back
home is called the third world (My only earlier trip to Africa consisted of
what I now realize was a very protective cruise in Gambia, Senegal and Cape
Verde a few years back).</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
<br /></div>
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About Ghana and Kumasi, I know practically nothing. A leading star of Sub-Saharan
Africa, a remarkably stable and secure country in its region, the home of
Michael Essien, Asamoah Gyan, John Paintsil and many more great footballers. The
country is also a big exporter also of cocoa and coffee. But the few people
that I’ve heard of that have actually been there tell only of beauty, nice
people, security and all god things, so I am expecting much! Oh yeah, Kofi
Annan is from the place where I am going! Has to be a good place to grow up…
Regarding the whole region, my main source of actual understanding is some
literature (not academic!) by the kinds of Ryszard Kapuscinski and Juha Vakkuri.</div>
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<br /></div>
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The posts in this
blog will also be published in the AIESEC HY Exchange blog (<span lang="FI"><a href="http://aiesechyexchange.blogspot.com/"><span lang="EN-US">http://aiesechyexchange.blogspot.com/</span></a></span>), where you may or may not read posts also by
other relatively young people doing other stuff somewhere else in the world.
This is also why I am writing in English (Not my native language, excuse me…):
Someone not Swedish or Finnish might actually read this!</div>
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<br /></div>
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Finally: If anyone
out there is reading my blog, please do comment. Especially if the stuff I am
writing is unbelievably uninteresting, I would like to know in order to make
changes. Of course, I can draw some conclusions if no-one is reading or
commenting…</div>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRGWHAG8SzOm9kY3WSpAG79hncFH8f1toFk21Ep1aBvYPhttvIyalU2UyNzXrBhxDTSvFldeuPfcPUX7M6fAtZVLNuA1r8GN4wF7G1FtKr_qQ39PTv8zRdFZ2ILKGdi29qUIwRDI_Qws1/s1600/DSC_0013.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="420" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgRGWHAG8SzOm9kY3WSpAG79hncFH8f1toFk21Ep1aBvYPhttvIyalU2UyNzXrBhxDTSvFldeuPfcPUX7M6fAtZVLNuA1r8GN4wF7G1FtKr_qQ39PTv8zRdFZ2ILKGdi29qUIwRDI_Qws1/s640/DSC_0013.JPG" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /></div>
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So that is just
something I felt I had to write down in order to provide a background for what
I should be writing this summer. I promise to try to make my future posts more
interesting and shorter.</div>
<div class="MsoNormal">
All in all, this
should be a fun ride. Before I left Finland, I asked my contact in Ghana if
there’s anything special I should pack with me. He didn’t tell me anything but
to bring a football.<a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8459154110826153404" name="OLE_LINK2"></a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=8459154110826153404" name="OLE_LINK1"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman', serif; font-size: 12pt; line-height: 115%;"></span></a></div>
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</div>Anonymoushttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06774490386495719245noreply@blogger.com0