Sophie's Choice

On the right of the blog, there are new links to photo albums.  There are photos of the monkey sanctuary trip described in yesterday's post, Ghana landscape pics and, my favorite, the Sophie's Picks pics.  We always knew she was artistic, but when my friend, Tom, put a really nice camera in her hands, her artistic side really flourished.  She has used her camera as a way to process all she's seeing, as a way to connect with other kids (who are fascinated by her camera and beg her to take pictures) and as a way to occupy herself during long car trips.  Many of the Ghana landscape pictures & several of the Sophie's Picks were taken from the back seat of the Pajero.  I especially like one one of my feet on the dash board :)  Enjoy the world through Sophie's eyes......

A Very Happy Monkey Boy

When I first announced to the kids that we were moving to Ghana, the initial reaction was pure excitement.  One of the first things out of Xavier's mouth was that he wanted a monkey.  I explained that we couldn't really have a monkey as a pet, but that we would find some monkeys to visit.  As the initial excitement turned into the reality that we were leaving Grandma, our favorite island and so many friends, I had to pull out the "big guns".  I promised Xavier I would take him to the Boabeng-Fiema monkey sanctuary for his birthday.  His 7th birthday is next week and I had to ante up.  The kids had two days off school following mid-terms, so we hopped into the Pajero and headed North.  After a very bumpy and dusty 5 hour drive, we arrived in Kumasi, the center of the Ashanti culture and 2nd largest city in Ghana.  I had found a tolerable looking hotel on the internet - the Amis Wonderland - and we checked in to find that it did, indeed, make us wonder......how could so many bizarre, tacky items be placed in one place?  Everything from the 4-foot tall, neon orange & yellow fake sunflowers to the too-small-for-the-bed pink satin heart-shaped bed cover to the rule sheet which stipulated that "no two males can share the same room" had us wondering where on earth we were.

The next day, we headed off for a 2 hour drive further north and a small village near the monkey sanctuary.  It's a fairly remote area & there aren't a lot of places to stay.  I found an orphange on the internet that had very quaint sounding guest bungalows & was only about 15 minutes from the monkeys.  We checked in to find that it was an orphange for mentally ill children, which added a whole other dimension to the stay.  Our bungalow was sparse, donkeys, chickens and guinea fowl roamed freely and it gave the kids a good idea about what village life is like.  Sophie & Xavier played with some of the kids from the orphanage and overall it was just another fascinating and educational aspect of our whole adventure here.  The best part was hanging out behind our bungalow, watching the lightning bugs & stars that somehow just seem to shine brighter in the rural African sky. 

From the orphanage, we drove to the monkey sancutary and it was amazing!  The monkeys live in the rainforest at the edge of a village.  Due to a long-standing belief originating from a village elder & a fettish, the villagers believe that the monkeys are like humans and hurting or killing them will bring evil spirits to the village.  So, the monkeys are treated like people and wander amongst the villagers like little, long-tailed humans.  Whenever a monkey dies, the villagers bury them & hold a funeral, compete with music & grieving.  We were able to feed them bananas and nuts straight out of our hands and watched them swinging through the tree tops.  Butterflies, bugs and beautiful, old-growth trees were everywhere - Xavier was in heaven.  I think we could have left him there & he would have been very happy! 

We wrapped up our trip with another night in Kumasi (NOT at the Wonderland) & a tour of the cultural center where I got a beautiful drum with Ashanti symbols carved on the outside and some other great things to bring home.  Xavier had one last request and we visited the Armed Forces Museum (after the 2nd or 3rd room filled with weapons, I had had enough of the guns and went to chat with some old man on a bench outside which was far more fascinating).  On the way home, Xavier declared that this birthday was the best ever and made up for last year - when I had to have surgery on his birthday.  It made me realize how life can change so quickly & in such unimaginable ways.  We never know what the next moment will bring.....I think I'm starting to like that :)

God Bless Our Homeland, Ghana!

I cannot believe we've only been here 2 months and this is my 2nd blog about football!  I've truly been swept by the football fever.  It is somehow amazing to be a part of watching a sport that is all about country unity, perserverence and hope rather than marketing and mega-priced ads.  In every corner of the country, young boys play football in the dirt, teenagers spend their weekends in agressive matches on the beach and football is an escape from the realities of life here.  Tonight, Ghana's U-20 team played Brazil in the World Cup Final.  All over the city, people have been buzzing about the game for days.  Little stands and shops on the side of the road suddenly donned Ghanaian flags and TV sets.  We went to Osu, the "heartbeat" of Accra - a busy place filled with stores, people and traffic.  There was an enormous TV set up at the end of the main street, the traffic was blocked off and people were out in droves to watch the homeland.  We watched in a nearby restaurant as our new little country showed huge strength.  Ghana played with 10 players most of the game but it didn't deter them in the least.  The game went into 2 overtimes and a hair-raising set of 5 shoot-out kicks.  Finally, in sudden death, Brazil missed their first kick and Ghana made theirs!  Dancing, chanting and singing erupted all over the city.  This is the first time EVER an African  team has won the U-20 World Cup.  I was amazed at how much I loved watching and even more so by how much allegiance I hold already for Ghana.  It is a beautiful country with beautiful people filled with enthusiasm and soul. 

The first week of school, Xavier learned the first part of the Ghanaian national anthem - the phrase we heard over and over tonight - God Bless Our Homeland, Ghana".....indeed, we are proud. 

(PS if you have any hook-ups for World Cup S. Africa tickets - let me know - the Ghana Black Star team will no doubt have a strong showing there!! :) )

Back from the Bush

I just spent 4 days at our project site in the Upper East Region (UER) of Ghana, very near the Burkina Faso border. The area is beautiful - a mostly flat, green landscape dotted with huge baobab trees and amazing rock formations. It is also very raw - a large majority live in mud huts without electricity or running water and are in extreme poverty. Every moment was a fascinating adventure that brought back memories of my Peace Corps days. We were doing some very early testing of the basic concept of using mobile phones to disseminate information on prenatal and newborn health. We were interested in whether people had phones, how willing they were to ask questions and what types of questions they needed answered. We had 3 teams going out to various villages over 3 days with phones. Once a group of women (and some men) gathered around, our teams called into a basic "hotline" we had setup with local health workers taking the calls. It was great - people were enthusiastic about using the phones and definitely hungry for knowledge. The day I was out in the field, it had rained all night the night prior. The networks were down & I ended up drawing on my public health/child welfare and being a mom knowledge to answer many of the questions women were asking. It was so amazing to me how the most basic of information was lacking and so sorely needed.

The logistics of getting around the area was also an adventure. I flew an early morning 1-hour flight to Tamale and took a 2-hour taxi ride up to Bolgotanga. The ride was harrowing - bombing down the road at who-knows-what speed (all the dashboard indicators were broken) in a beat-up tin can of a taxi, dodging potholes the size of an entire lane, goats, cows, children, bikes and chickens. Our project driver took us back to Tamale in the project car, but the alternator belt broke just as we were leaving Bolgatanga. It was getting dark and we pulled into a junk yard where, before I knew it, about 10-12 guys had their heads under the hood of the Pajero, a guy on a motorcycle is driving in and out with belt after belt, trying to find the right size, we had to borrow a small lamp from a local restaurant so they could see and about 10 feet away, a guy is going about the business of slaughtering chickens (don't ask me how you do this in the dark). But, the sky was amazing - stars shooting and bright with heat lightening off in the distance. Reminded me of why I love getting out of the city. About 2 hours later, were were finally off for a night in Tamale and our flight back to Accra the next morning. Never a dull moment.