Jan. 18: Beginnings

LIFE

We’re happily installed in Paradise. That’s the La-Paradise Inn. (“La” doesn’t mean “the,” as in French, it’s the name of the neighborhood, as in “We live in La.” The neighborhood used to be called Labadi but had a bad reputation; as it’s improved, they shed the last two syllables to shed the rep.)

The place is a small apartment/hotel complex (self-catering hotel is what it’s called): there are presently four small units of an eventual eight around a landscaped courtyard with a POOL! Since it’s very very hot here, the pool instantly became our favorite amenity, more than making up for the lack of internet – especially since there’s a 24/7 internet café down the block.

And we’re near the ocean, though it’s definitely not a swimming beach. The “ocean” is technically the Gulf of Guinea, not the Atlantic, which means the weather is hot and steamy. (We know we shouldn’t complain with the frigid weather some of you are having, but still …)

The photo (look hard for the sunset) gives you some sense of our neighborhood. It’s mostly the lower end of middle-class, but there are also pockets of poverty – shacks, people getting their water from a water truck that comes around, lots of on-the-street mini-businesses selling the most basic stuff.


Interestingly, there’s a “liquor store” – think “closet” – that sells mostly off-brand local stuff like Mandingo (a version of Campari, we’ve been told), but they also have a tiny selection of cheap wines, including a $3.50 Argentine red that we call “Chateau Only.”

Moving to a wider-angle lens: Accra is a big, sprawling city. Not much in the way of a high-rise downtown but pockets of mid-rise modern buildings, especially banks, ministries, National Theatre, etc. Between the pockets lies the sprawl. Lots of cars, although traffic isn’t as bad as we’d been led to expect.


One of our most positive impressions has been the Ghanaian people – friendly, open, and talkative, especially when we wear our Obama baseball caps! (It’s so nice to be in an English-speaking country, although the accent/patois can get fairly heavy.) A couple of cab drivers even have American flags hanging on their rear-view mirror.




WORK

Our assignment this time is with a local non-profit, though we can’t use its name, according to AJWS protocol, as there are some sensitive aspects to their work, so let’s just say it’s called APP, as in the AIDS Prevention Project.

Its focus is AIDS and STIs (sexually-transmitted infections) among FSWs (female sex workers), their clients, their non-PPs (non-paying partners) and other MARPs (Most At-Risk Populations). It is absolutely fascinating. We’ve learned acronyms galore and a whole lot more.

When we arrived, the Executive Director called the team together so all of us could meet each other, then gave a PowerPoint presentation on APP, its history, its activities, etc. It was extremely well-organized and put together, much more so than at any of our other assignments, and as you can see, the offices are very attractive and well maintained.

APP’s particular expertise is in recruiting, training, and motivating PEs (Peer Educators) from the ranks of the FSWs to educate others as to the benefits of condom use, as well as distributing the condoms themselves. They also encourage the FSWs to visit the STI health clinics that APP has been instrumental in setting up.

They’ve done a remarkably good job and the incidence of STIs among FSWs is dropping, which also means they’re not a vector for spreading the diseases.

This past week we met with every member of the team (5 in total) individually, to see how the pieces of the puzzle fit together.

ON TO THE FUTURE

The first week is always the hardest. We start out pretty clueless at work and at “home,” but between the friendliness and the competence of Ghanaians, we’re starting to get the lay of the land.

This week we’re going to start the Strategic Planning Process with APP. (We’ll talk more about the work in the next posting.) Plus we found a place to watch the inauguration – at the W.E.B. DuBois Center. Can’t wait!

Just to whet your appetites for the fascinating world we’re now immersed in, the sex workers are either Seaters (who work out of their homes, usually in a community of other seaters) and Roamers (who hang out at bars, etc, looking for clients). Seaters are usually older and have been in the business longer than roamers, so they have a higher STI rate. But they’re easier to reach because….. they’re not roaming.