Conflict

I've been feeling a sense of unrest, of conflict lately and was having a hard time pinpointing the source.  This piece came to me today and I think it articulates the larger human conflict that Africa so poignantly highlights to us all....

Africa

Teeming with life, flooded with death.

Human ability to face adversity with grace, faith, wisdom, strength and joy, a battle ground of the worst atrocities humans can impart on one another.

Old, wise sages bringing forth the wisdom of the ages, the utter incredulousness of babies being plucked from life for lack of basic resources.

Overflowing with riches, buried in poverty.

The intensity and complexities of human life shown to us all in Technicolor.

It's HOT and I'm White

  As part of my work, I frequently travel to the Upper East Region of Ghana. It’s the northernmost part of the country, just on the Burkina Faso border. It's also the poorest region and the furthest away from Accra. I like going up to the North - it's what I think of as the "real" Africa. Accra is Africa "light" - decent restaurants, generators around when electricity fails, supermarkets where Cheerios are $12 a box. But, the North is mud huts, extreme poverty, baobab trees with wise old men hanging out underneath, skinny cows, pregnant goats and donkeys straying into the road. And, extreme heat.

We are just at the beginning of the hot season. On my trip up to the North this week, it was about 110 degrees and the electricity was out much of the time. As I sat in a small, overcrowded office at 2:00 in the afternoon without electricity (no A/C, no fans), I watched as the Ghanaians in the room rigorously debated antenatal and post natal care procedures while I sat slumped in my chair, drinking a liter of water with electrolyte mix and STILL feeling like I was about to pass out from heat exhaustion, my delirium momentarily parted and something became really, really clear: I am white. Not only that, my forefathers (and mothers) were mostly from Sweden and Germany. Places where bodies have not been fine tuned by nature to easily adapt to extreme heat for long periods of time. While my Ghanaian colleagues sip a bit of water here and there, look all fresh in their beautiful head-to-toe custom tailored outfits and gracefully dab the sweat on their brows with a cloth, I am drinking as much water as I can take and am practically panting like a dog with sweat seeping through my clothes and running down my legs - from simply sitting there!

So, I've had to come to terms with the fact that for the next several months - at least until the weather drops to under 100 degrees - I will just have to get used to being the sweaty, delicate “obruni” (white person) who's just not from ‘round here.

Photo below of one of the village clinics I visited.  Yes, the man is wearing a ski cap.  Yes, it was over 100 degrees when I took this photo. 

Pupdate (puppy update)

We're working on getting pup #1 - Zig Zag - all trained before pup #2 - Rosie (as in the Riveter) arrives in late March.  Zig is an animated, smart little thing who seems to think Xavier is just another puppy.  Xavier is learning to be the "AB" (alpha bitch) and also learning that it's best to wear clothing when there's a small puppy who jumps up and nips at anything that's.....dangling.  We're taking Zig to a dog trainer.  Ends up this guy is the ultimate AB.  He trains guard dogs and, as he puts it, "knows everything there is to know about dogs".  Sophie decided that was an invitation to find something that would "baffle" him. She probably will.  The guy is a total character - missing a few teeth, sipping whiskey, over 6 feet tall - all bark and no bite - makes it clear he likes dogs and not people.  But, he's a good dog trainer and our little pup will be ship shape in no time (I hope). 

We took Zig to the beach last weekend.  It was a bit overwhelming for him, as you can see in the photo below.  But, we figured that any dog of ours has to be able to hang at the beach and take in a bit of adventure......

Article About MoTeCH

This article on MoTeCH, the project I'm managing in Ghana (i.e. the reason we're here!), was relased yesterday and gives a great summary of the work. 

http://mobileactive.org/motech-new-approach-health-care

The Many Layers of Settling In

Every couple of weeks I hit another layer of feeling like "we're finally settled". Then, another couple of weeks pass and I realize that we're settled again - at another level. I've discovered that being settled is a process a bit like peeling an onion. There is layer after layer and sometimes the act of peeling can make you cry! It's definitely been 6 months that have stretched our minds, challenged my sanity and wreaked havoc on our stomachs – especially Sophie’s But, all in all, we are settling into yet another layer of living in our new little homeland. Some of the things we've come to learn during our time here: The kids have learned that when they order food, they need to have plan a, b and c because there's a good chance what they want is "finished". They've learned not to be too tied to any particular expectation of what their food will actually be when it arrives (e.g. my chicken fajita today was a piece of fried chicken with spices and a side of fries), Xavier figured out that playing football barefoot makes your feet raw when you make 13 goals in a row. I've learned that it's more effective to use a horn than brakes or a turn signal - especially for dodging chickens and goats. I've also learned that the puppy needs to be dewormed every 2 weeks, the kids every 2 months.  We all know that at any given time, the electricity may go out, the water may stop running and the internet and/or mobile phone network will go down. The kids know all sorts of facts about Britain - from the meaning of "chamber pot" to the British involvement in WWII to referring to the mark at the end of a sentence as a "full stop" (I honestly don't think Xavier knows what a period is). Sophie has learned that she has a delicate stomach and can't eat the food at school or it will reappear during during class. I have learned to be very, very fluid and not hold too tightly to any particular thing happening at any particular day or time. I've also learned that it takes a village - not just to raise children but to simply live a life! And, we've all learned from the Ghanaians around us that people can be very happy and have hearts filled with joy even without video games, tvs, fancy cars and fancy clothes. Perhaps that is the most important layer of this particular onion…..

Hope

In a country where names like "Patience" and "Blessing" are common, I shouldn't be surprised to find Hope everywhere. A couple of weeks ago when we brought our puppy home, we asked our security guard, a 60+ year old man who seems very wise, what we should name the dog - without hesitation, he said "Hope". It somehow felt much deeper than a suggested name for a dog.

Tonight, Ghana played Egypt in the final for the Africa Cup of Nations. Going into the tournament a couple of weeks ago, Ghana's chances weren't looking so great. At least 5 of their top players were out with injuries. On the day of the first round game, I asked my driver how he thought the team would do. I was expecting some sort of smart remark about the injuries, but instead he said simply "they will do their best". As Ghana kept advancing, Ghanaian pride became more and more obvious - cars with flags, people wearing Black Star shirts, everyone talking about "the game". I, of course, was not going to miss this. I dropped the kids off at a Pirate Birthday party that was strategically timed for the duration of the game and I headed to the Guinness outdoor screen and stage that had been setup for the Africa Cup. I'm sure there were other Obrunis (white people) there, but I didn't see any. I just enjoyed being in the middle of true Ghanaian spirit. Everything I observed reinforced the feeling of hope....people being interviewed prior to the game said things like "no matter the consequence, Ghana is the winner". "Ghana will do its best, who wins does not matter." Easy enough to say before the game, but what about afterwards, when Ghana lost 1-0, Egypt making the only score of the game in the last five minutes? People were still proud. The announcer on the radio kept trying to make Ghana out to be the sad loser, making comments about "poor Ghana" and how "devastated" Ghana must be. But when fans were interviewed, they remained upbeat and the most typically Ghanaian comment I heard was "Hope is not lost.....we lost to a very good team and we played well. There is hope."
Yes, there is hope. And, yes, Ghana IS the winner.......

Puppy Love

 think the heat is getting to my brain. I have never been a "dog person" yet somehow I found myself thinking that getting a dog here would be a good idea. My rationale was roughly this: I have all tile floors - making doggy "accidents" less of a big deal, I have a housekeeper & yard keeper around during the day to help out, I have a large, fully gated yard, dog trainers and vets are well trained and relatively inexpensive here and the kids seem like they're at an age where they can actually take responsibility for a pup. Somehow that logic went from getting a puppy to deciding we needed a Goldendoodle (golden retriever/poodle mix) since they don't shed and are low-allergen, to falling in love with #6 female - a pup from a breeder in Canada, having the pup shipped to NYC, where I'll be in March, me bringing the pup back to Ghana and us living happily ever after with our new little family member. Of course, we would have first read up on dog behavior, have a dog trainer picked out and have everything all ready for our new arrival. Next thing I know, we're walking down the street in the main commercial center of Accra and see a guy standing on the corner selling a pup that looks a lot like a Goldendoodle. We've NEVER seen a dog like that here. Turns out it is a poodle/Chihuahua mix. Much begging, pleading, planning and cajoling ensued. By the time we had finished dinner, we were scouring the streets, looking for the puppy seller. That night, we came home with Zig Zag, a little boy pup who is waiting to be joined in March by #6 female, his sister from Canada. He is very sweet and is already a part of the family. We’re working on getting a dog trainer, I’m trying to read the last couple chapters of the dog behavior book and I’m remembering what it was like getting up every couple of hours at night with a baby. Peeing seems to be a sport for him - I've nicknamed him the "little big piddler" and I'm just grateful I have tile floors…..

Female #6 - arriving in March

Zig Zag - 11 weeks