Glynn in Ghana



New kids on the block Feb 2011



Kakra-kakra ;-)

Sunday 3rd April - Happy Mothers Day to all you Mothers out there. I hope you are all being especially appreciated today:-)
Slowly, slowly (Kakra,kakra in Twi) is how I am settling and adjusting to living in sub-Sahran Africa.  I have been in my new home on Mango Tree Avenue, Asylum Down, Accra for 3 weeks now and I have recovered from my  initial shock and distress at having an unreliable water and electricity supply along with a level of dirt and grime I have not had to live with since I left Walton St. Leicester!!!!. Slowly, slowly I am learning to adapt to the conditons and accept that life here poses many new experiences and challenges to test me. I can't control the physical sweating but I can learn not to sweat the other small, small stuff! 
This week I have finally managed to get hold of a Dongle and have been chatting to people on Skype and it really helps to reduce the isolation and pass the time. We don't have a TV or radio and I have worked my way through all 5 novels that I brought with me already.  I will have to go and raid other vols bookshelves very soon.  For those of you that haven't sorted out Skype please do as it isfab just to have a chat and catch up with what is going on at home. I feel that I am living in a little Ghana bubble.
I have been playing around with Picassa photo  software and e-mailed a link to photos of my house to some people so maybe you can let me know if you got them. I can upload them quicker through Picassa than on to this blog so it might be a better option, let me know what you think!!
Breaking news.... we have got some new Chinese neighbours!Tthey appear to be moving into an apartment of a house opposite. Maybe I will invite them over for a drink. There are a lot of Chinese people working here helping to build new roads, dams etc.  There is  some debate as to whether they will become the new colonial masters of Ghana in the future. Presently they appear to be supporting the development efforts in a very tangible way; time will tell what conditions may be attached and if this works in the best interests of Ghana. At the moment Ghana is happy to look beyond Europe and USA for development support. In fact they have just signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Chile, who have achieved great things in their health programmes, who have agreed to send some of their Doctors here to help Ghana improve its hospitals and public health. 
There has been a big outbreak of Cholera in parts of Accra and we are being warned to maintain high levels of hygiene - no shitting in ditches or shaking hands! 

The Ghaniaan handshake. This is one of the most fascintating and challenging greetings I have ever experienced. It is like a regular handshake but as you part hands your index fingers kind of slide and click. It's exraordinarily difficult to master and always creates hoots of laughter from your Ghaniaan friend.  I will enjoy trying to teach some of you this method of greeting when I return.

Wherever I lay my hat.....

1.  Sunday 19^th March 2011.

It's 1.30pm here in Accra and I am sat on the balcony of the place that is to be my 'home' for the duration of my stay here in Ghana. I moved here last weekend and, as some of you will be aware, it was not a fortuitous start – no water for four days and no electricity for two days made my move in a very traumatic time for me. In addition I experienced my first heat rash, all around my waist, and also managed to pick up a virus that gave me a hacking cough, sore throat and banging head. Each of these situations in themselves is challenging enough in the drenching heat and humidity but put together I did question whether I would have enough resilience to stay the distance here. However, Monday came, along with water and electricity, and I headed for work at the Ministry with renewed hope. I have quite a pleasant walk from the house to my workplace, passing a number of European Embassies set in beautiful grounds along the way. I can cut down backroads and therefore avoid the rush hour traffic which reminds me of the M60 around Manchester at peak times , so for obvious reasons it is best avoided. Already I am beginning to meet and greet the same people each morning, mostly security guards at prestigious houses and corporte headquarters. I stop at the 'banana lady's stall' to pick up GhC1 worth to bring in and share with my colleagues. Whenever someone brings food they say 'you are invited' which means that you are invited to share. I have to leave by 7.30am as it gets too hot if I leave any later but still I arrive like a proper 'sweaty betty' and gulp down at least 1l water!

My neighbourhood is called 'Asylum Down' and is a fairly affluent and leafy part of Accra. There are two other VSO houses within 15 min walk which is handy to find out where to shop, eat, drink etc. I tried to upload photos but it was taking forever so I have given up for now.. will try again later.

Now for the Rugby.... did you hear the news?

Yesterday I met a few Irish colleagues at Ryan's Irish Bar in Osu to watch the boys in green 'trounce' the English at the new 'Aviva' stadium in Dublin, it was glorious to stop them getting the Grand Slam! It's a shame that the Guiness was so wretched!

Just for Phil and Steve -did I hear hear right that Ireland beat England at the Cricket too!!!!!!!!!

A number of VSO friends are watching a local football derby (Accra and Kumasi) at the stadium in Accra this afternoon, by all accounts it is similar to the rivalry between Man City and United so I am sure it would have been a great experience but I decided that it was just too hot to be in a crowded stadium with over exhuberant, fanaticial football supporters!! I am meeting up with them for a beer at a local 'spot' at 5pm.

… not forgetting the purpose of my trip!!

I am still squatting in the reception office as my light and air con is yet to be fixed. However, my delight at having the air con fixed in recpetion was quickly extinguished when I began to feel like I was sitting in a refrigerator, I wouldn't mind but it was set at 21 degrees! After a couple of days suffering quietly I asked if it would be possible to turn the air con up a bit. Thankfully it is now a very comfortable 25 degrees!

I am presently kept occupied by reviewing the 7 year strategic plan (funded and supported by UNDP) and designing an organisational capacity assessment framework. I am hoping that I will soon have a better understanding of what the Council is trying to achieve and the reality of how that is being achieved, from the perspective of the Board, staff and partners. As they say here in Ghana "small, small" or slowly, slowly.

3 very grown women and a cockroach in the shower

If the title of this blog sounds like the start of a bad joke, well you won't be far wrong! This weekend is a public holiday here in Ghana to celebrate Independence Day. But rather than stick around in the city swealtering, 18 VSO volunteers headed up to the coast to party, swim and enjoy a sea breeze.  The place we went to is in Krokobite on the coast - Big Milly's Backyard - if you google it you will find plenty of pictures and details of the place but it is even better than it looks on line! Every Saturday night there is a reggae party night and the place fills with a mixture of locals and NGOs making the great escape.  There is a live band and it is just so chilled out, some very stoned but harmless people. We danced under the palm trees, various huts and stars until late and then headed onto the beach with some local African Drummers who entertained us until 4am, right by the ocean. It was so idyllic.  Some of us stayed in a lovely place called the Italian Garden only a short stroll from Milly's.  The food was fantastic and the people that run it are really lovely people.  They have created a beautiful oasis of calm  and relaxation in a stunning location only an hour or two, depending on traffic, from Accra. 

The incident with the cockroach will haunt our future escapades for sure.  I think my friend Jacky, the official photographer managed to capture some of the antics so I will try and get hold of some that are not too revealing, to upload. I had just got into the shower when this rather large cockroach decided to make an appearance  in the shower. If you haven't had the displeasure of meeting with these insects, trust me they are revolting looking creatures that scuttle around looking like some historic trillobite. Unfortunately I screamed like a girl, grabbed my rather skimpy towel and ran out of the shower room. My 3 new friends with whom I was sharing the accommodation, came running in to see what had happened. Of course they thought it was all very amusing until they saw the size of the thing! Elizabeth through her shoe at it, but missed and then did a jig on the spot as the 'roach' started scuttling around in an even more erratic manner.  So in came Adele who rescued the shoe and  allowed Elizabeth to throw it again at the 'roach' this time managing a direct hit. However, none of us wanted to get close to it to check that it was dead ...just in case it wasn't. Meanwhile I am trying to hold on to my skimpy travel towel and not reveal all when I realised that I was baring all my rear assets to the compound, at which point enter Jacky the official photographer to find 3 grown women shrieking and a squashed roach about 3 inches long laying very dead on the shower room floor.  After some debate Elizabeth bravely grabbed some toilet paper and scooped up the very dead roach and threw it outside. Needless to say we were all more than a wee bit anxious stepping in to the shower afterwards. I am now back in my air conditoned hotel room in Accra, it's nearly 5pm and it's still too hot to sit outside. I have managed to burn my shins over the weekend which I am quite sure won't go unnoticed by my colleages at work tomorrow. But what a great weekend away. Enjoy the photos :-)

You'll Get Used To It......

You'll get used to it.... this advice has been passed on to me by colleagues that have been in Ghana for some time. Apparently I will get used to the heat, the humidity, the spicy food, fish with heads, mosquitoes, competing with locals for a seat on a tro-tro (photo to follow) at rush hour.. the list grows every day. Usually this daily mantra is followed with a big smile and an outburst of good humoured laughter. But no one can tell me quite how long it takes to get used to some of these things and frankly when it comes to eating fish heads I don't think I will get used to it.  There is just something about the way fish eyes seem to follow you which ever way you try to approach them on your plate, I can't bring myself to tackle them.  I have discovered fried Yam as a very palatable alternative to chips but Ghanaian food is very spicy and I am struggling to find anything substantial, vegetarian and that doesn't cause me to reach for the fire bucket. I am still staying at Hotel Byblos in Osu, Accra awaiting room in a house which is likely to be an area called Asylum Down. Just to get in before some of you skype or e-mail me with a witty retort yes Irene is taking over the asylum (is it okay to use the term 'lunatic anymore??) Until then I have access to all sorts of food at European prices, in Osu. Tonight we have been invited to a Caledonian evening at the British High Commission where I am hoping we will get fed and watered; there's no harm hoping now is there...

Feeling hot hot hot

It's day 11 of my Ghana experience and I have just looked at the picture of sister's garden covered in snow wishing that I could romp around in it and cool off .. just for a little minute!  Don't get me wrong I love the heat and generally I prefer it to cold and most definitely I prefer it to Lancashire's cold and wet! But, give me a wee break I am sweating like I have never sweated.  Thankfully, as some of you will have heard from my e-mails, we had our first tropical rainstorm here the other evening and it was awesome, truly awesome and the humidity levels have dropped at least for now.  I am not used to warm rain in bucket loads. My friend Jacky had to be evacuated from her room as it flooded and soaked her clothes and even damaged some electrical equipment. I was only next door but managed to miss all the crazy shenanigans of the rescue as I was fast asleep :-)  We were watching several men trying to mend the roof in the middle of the heat of the day - using a blow torch, it was quite unbelievable.  I have taken my first journey on the tro tro (photos to come) which was a bit of a baptism of fire, literally. It took me an hour to pick up the courage to engage in the scramble to get on one of these vehicles - an Aussie scrum is lightweight in comparison. Once squeezed in you share your sweat with all those around you, it just pours down your face, legs arms .. it really isn't a pleasant feeling.  People tell me I will get used to it .. watch this space. I will try and upload a photo of my colleagues that started work here with me - a real mixed and lovely bunch of people from every continent.  I know its pretty mis back in the UK right now and I am not missing that but as a friend here says.. I wish I could just turn the sun down a little bit.  Keep in touch 

Akwaaba!

Well I arrived here in Ghana on Sunday 13th February after a very pleasant BA flight from London Heathrow to Accra. We landed at about 10pm and I was compleely unprepared for the sauna like heat that I was met with as I walked off the aeroplane. By the time we got through customs, collected our bags etc it was after 11pm and we then had a one hour bus journey to our hotel.  How delighted we were when we stepped into an air conditioned hotel lobby; how ecstatic we were to discover that our room had air conditioning too! Waking up to intense heat at 6am on Monday morning felt so good; 24 hours previously I had been shivering with the cold at Standstead Airport.  We had breakfast of the most juicy fresh fruits (mango, melon, paw paw and pineapple) followed by toast ( yes there is bread in Ghana) with a choice of jam, honey,  peanut butter and vegemite. I shouldn't forget the ubiquitous Cornflakes and a Ghaanian version of porridge that did not stand up to my friend Paula's (I think they may use maize rather than oats and add some wierd concoction of spices  ... for breakfast???  I don.t think so. Usually we have some kind of fried fish as an option at lunchtime but it has its head on so as many of you know that is a no go area for me. So I am eating lots of rice and vegetables at the moment. I have tried bakuu, which is a bit like a very spicy stodgy dumpling, fried plantain is one of my favourite discoveries and we had pancakes with fruit today which was divine. The VSO programme staff all seem really friendly and keen to make sure that we enjoy our stay in Ghana (most people seem to want to exend their time here ..) there is also more pressure from internatinal donors for VSO and other development agencies to demonstrate how their work impacts on development goals so I think I may be kept busy by engaging in some new OD projects with VSO as well as with my partner organisation.  I think my work rate may suffer with the heat somehow.  It's now after 11pm and way past my bedtime. DayO (Goodnight in Twi)