A Little Slice of Life

I've had a couple of quintessentially Ghana experiences lately and they're the type of things that define life in a developing country. 

Vodafone is the main phone and internet provider here.  Despite the fact that they are a major global corporation, they can't seem to get basic, reliable service in place in Ghana.  For example, I don't receive a bill for my monthly internet service at my house.  I have to remember when I paid it the prior month and get it paid the following month or, without warning, they shut off my internet.  This happened last week while I was out of town.  I went to the main Vodafone office to pay my bill and was told that I couldn't pay because the link was down and I should try another of their offices.  I laughed at the fact that the internet company couldn't take my money to restore my internet service because the internet was down.  I drove across town to another of their stores and tried to pay.  Again, I was told the "link" was down.  So, no payment therefore no internet (thankfully, I have a modem to use as backup). 

Today, I needed to get confirmation from KLM that the dogs can fly with me next week.  All morning, their phone lines were down - service provided by Vodafone, of course.  So, I decided it would be best to just go to the KLM office and sort out the dog issue in person, rather than wait for the phone lines to come back up.  I checked the internet (which was working)  and found the location of the KLM office.  I went there only to find an empty building.  No signs, nothing.  Someone on the street told me they had moved to an office tower near the airport.  I drove back across town to one of the new, shiny office towers in Accra (there are many that are partially built, but few completed and inhabited).  I got on the elevator and realized this is only the 2nd elevator I've been on in Accra.  Once to the floor of he KLM offices, I was told this was their administrative offices and I should go to the airport to the ticketing office.  The elevator felt......questionable to me on the way up, so I took the stairs down.  I noticed on each floor a good-sized metal hammer with a sign "In Case of Fire Break Glass" next to it.  I thought it was encouraging, as fire safety is not something you see often around here.  I've seen smaller hammers and signs in the US, but usually the hammer and sign is next to a small glass box containing a fire alarm to be pulled in case of fire.  There was no box - just a large hammer and a sign.  I realized that the instructions meant to break the glass of the glass exit doors in the stairwell in case of fire!!!!  I supposed you could hack the hell out of the glass door, hope you don't injure yourself with the broken glass and then head for a speedy exit in case of fire.  I guess it's the next best thing if there is no alarm to pull to alert the fire department.

I then headed to the airport where the airline offices are.  A guard directed me down the hall and to the left to get to the KLM office. I never found the office but did find an employee of another airline wandering around.  He informed me that KLM had their own building outside and I should just go out and look that way (he points).  So, I did that and finally found KLM's shiny new ticketing office.  Complete with an orderly "take a number" system and friendly agents sitting behind functioning computers with nice flat screen monitors.  But of course, the phone lines were still out!  I guess development is one step at a time........

Across the World and Back Again

In the past 2 weeks, I've found myself feeling grateful to catch a glimpse of Orca whales playing near the Vashon ferry, experienced SNOW on Vashon in Spring, gotten up on skis for the first time in over 20 years, took in the beauty of winter turning to spring in Montana and spent several glorious days wondering around New York City in 75 degree weather with cherry trees popping.  My first trip back to the US in 7 months was prompted by work meetings and extended to spend time with mom and friends.  It's been a whirlwind and has taken me some time to let all if it settle.  My first impressions of the US were:  I forgot how cold toilet seats can get and I forgot how amazing crisp, cool spring air can feel (as long as you're not sitting on a cold toilet seat). 

After a few days in the US I also started to realize how much more introverted people tend to be in the US and how much we tend to wear dark blues, grays and black.  Ghana somehow feels like it's overflowing with color and expression and being in the Northwest just as people were stumbling out of winter hibernation was a sharp contrast to the hot, steamy weather, loud music and general pulsing energy of Accra. 

I also brought Rosie, our new puppy, back with me.  She met me in New York where I had her fluffy coat shaved down in anticipation of the heat and we flew to Accra on the same flights.  She did great - adjusted quickly and spends her days romping and playing with her little big brother, Zig Zag.  The kids adore her and she's become a quick member of our little family. 

Rosie & Kirsten in NYC

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.

Fun in the Rain

Every day is filled with gazillions of new things. Today, we had the first "real" rain. When the sky opens up here, it opens! The kids were at the main market (traditional African market with 100s of stalls and 1000s of people) with Patience, the housekeeper. We discovered that Sophie is claustrophobic. She had a bit of a panic attack when everyone huddled under cover. I was trying to get a taxi and noticed a swarm of birds above the trees. The closer I looked, I realized it was actually a swarm of bats! Never seen so many bats and certainly haven't seen so many in the middle of the day!

There's just too much to try and convey. Here's some random info. about our lives here:
- Sophie had to get French, German and English dictionaries for school
- Sometimes phone numbers work, sometimes they just don't
- Minimum wage is 2.653 Ghana Cedi a day, less than $2 (I know this because I am having to brush op on Ghanaian employment law to be sure we're following the law with hiring)
- A couple of the main "western" superstores are South African chains - the electronics they sell have plugs that work in S. Africa, but not in Ghana - you have to ask to have the plugs changed to make your appliance work
- When it rains - it POURS and in some places it's not raining at all
- When airplanes fly over, they're so low you can't even talk to someone right next to you (our neighborhood is in the flight path - luckily it's not a busy airport)
- The opening of a major oil field has made prices skyricket - my house is just over $3,000/month - it's nice, but not a palace. Anything "western" or imported is really expensive. Anything made locally or labor intensive is pretty inexpensive - a housekeeper 5 days/week from 8-5:00 makes about $200/month.
- Overall, people are really nice, patient and kind.

We're starting to feel more and more settled. More soon.