Week 6: On the Road

This post is about travel, not work. The APP team was gone for most of the week which meant that we were “off-duty” and since our good friends Jo and Dick are visiting, we took off on a road trip. It was our first trip outside of Accra and it was wonderful.

Thursday morning we headed west to the Cape Coast Castle, a World Heritage site, and one of the primary slave embarkation points from West Africa. It was wonderful and awful, powerful and shocking. We all “know” about slavery – the capturing, the overland treks, the pre-sailing imprisonment, the crossing, and then the life once they got to the other side.

But we didn’t know. We didn’t know about 200 male captives living – those that didn’t die – for up to 3 months in an underground chamber about 40x60 with almost no light or ventilation, and absolutely no “facilities.” Literally, the waste simply piled up to a depth of roughly 3 feet (the marks were still visible on the walls) until the men were led out the “Door of No Return” to the canoes that would take them to the ships.

So our first horrible impression on seeing the small room – “There’s no space for people to lie down” – was replaced by the even more horrible realization that no one would even dream of laying down.

And one other thing we didn’t know: immediately above this underground hell, the British had erected their Anglican Chapel and as they sang praises to their God, they were forced to suffer the unspeakable indignity of the offensive cries and smells coming from below them.





Of course, there were other parts of our Cape Coast stay as well. The coast itself was rocky and dramatic, the way the fishing canoes raise small sails was ingenious, and things like the great sign for a woodworker, the lovely mural we found on a small house near a shrine, as well as the shrine itself restored our spirits a bit.





















On the way from Cape Coast to Kumasi in the center of the country, we made a stop at Kakum National Park and walked the canopy walk, a linked series of 7 tree-to-tree rope walkways, suspended about 200 feet above the forest floor. Let’s just say we put one foot in front of the other – right in the middle of the narrow walkway – and made it, though we didn’t intentionally bounce the walkway like the adolescents in front of us. Then again, we didn’t squeal like the school girls behind us.



On to Kumasi, the number two city in Ghana, which we really liked. It was greener and tree-ier than Accra. It had the feel of a city that hangs together (unlike Accra, which sprawls). And it had sidewalks, which we’d never realized can make such a difference.

A friend in Warwick had asked us to deliver an envelope to Frank, a doctor who’d been supported through secondary school, university, and medical school by the friend’s husband ever since the time he’d been a Peace Corps volunteer and met Frank. [There’s much more to this wonderful story, but it’s too much to tell here.]

How lucky we were to have met Frank and his wife Tina.

Tina took us to the market Saturday morning. This may not sound like a big deal, but it was a VERY BIG DEAL. This market is reputed to be the biggest in Africa. It’s impossible to describe the enormity of the space it occupies, every square inch filled with someone selling something.

We walked and walked and walked, attracting a bit of attention, following along behind Tina as if we were her ducklings. (We felt like a rock group, Tina and the Four Obrunis.) The vendors were overwhelmingly friendly and open and curious. We thought we’d seen markets but… And we never could have done it without Tina.

Then, Tina handed us off to Frank, who had just finished his morning shift at his maternity clinic. He took us to a wood-carving village, an adinkra-cloth village, and a kente-cloth-weaving village. Then he went for his second shift, this one at the hospital.



The next day we headed home, but stopped along the way at the village of Nkwatia (en-kwat-EE-a), way up on a cliff-top, where the air was deliciously cooler. We visited the school where Dick, back in 1961, had been part of the Crossroads Africa group that had started the construction of the first building, the one in the picture. And that school has sprouted into a beautiful and huge (and still growing) campus, reputed to be one of the best schools in Ghana. A thrill and a half for Dick, a nice experience for us too.

Back to Accra and a quick trip to La beach. A great ending to a great trip.

Week 5: The Home Stretch

Work first – for a change

Not much going on our day-to-day lives, so we’ll start with a quick work update.

We had a major meeting this week with what APP refers to as the Technical Team –the Acting Director and the 2 Program Heads – to review and make semi-final changes to the strategic plan. All went well, we input the changes, sitting by the pool, and will hand off the almost-final draft of the plan at our weekly Monday morning meeting.

For those who are interested, here are the “strategic priorities” APP has set for itself:

• Expand from the present 12 sites to 30 sites (seaters and roamers)
• Start a major new program aimed specifically at the harder-to-reach roamers
• Play a lead role in coordinating the work of the several NGO’s that are working in HIV/AIDS work with high-risk groups
• Secure stable, long-term funding
• Design and implement a better system for procuring and distributing 15-20 million condoms a year
• Gradually explore new program areas like skills- and literacy-training for sex workers who’d rather be something else

We – and more importantly they – feel these targets are both ambitious/achievable and worthwhile. If they get to early 2014 and each of those points has a check mark next to it, then APP will be on more solid ground and the overall HIV/AIDS outlook in Ghana will be much improved. Et voila.

And, by the way, just in case any of you (Americans) are wondering how you can help with the ever-important condom-supply situation, you already are. APP just got a delivery of 100 boxes just like this one, totaling 300,000 condoms. Consider that you’ve been sent a big “Medassi” (to which you can reply, “Aw shucks, akwaaba.”)




The life front

Since nothing much has “happened” since our last entry, we thought we’d write a little bit about our observations, mostly about our neighborhood, but also the bigger picture.

Our end of the block, here in South La you-should-excuse-the-expression-Estates, is funkier than the other end. Just the way we like it.

When we leave “home” to go to work in the morning, there’s always a steady stream of kids going to school and they’re always wearing their freshly ironed school uniforms – meaning that they are washed and ironed every day. Down at our end of the block, the uniform colors are yellow/orange shirts and brown shorts or pinafores, but at the far end, it must be a different school, because the kids are in bright blue and white.

Like kids all over the world, younger ones are holding the older ones’ hands. They almost all have backpacks. (Exactly what is it about a little kid with a too-big backpack holding an older kid’s hand that causes instant melting??)

But it’s the fresh ironing, complete with creases, that’s so astounding, when you see the houses the kids come out of. The contrast is stunning. We’ve never been in one, but from the outside they’re small shacks and look like many of them may not have water or electricity. And yet … those crisp creases.

Here’s Margaret, the daughter-half of our favorite plantain-chip family, from whom we buy a bag or two every night on the way back from the internet café which is on the less funky end of the street.










Also all the way down at the other end of the street, past the internet café, funk begins again at Tawala, our Gulf-front, music-blasting, fish-grilling (with banku or rice) bar/restaurant. Not too shabby:



Finally, religion is big and small and everywhere here. You see – and hear – it all around. It’s next door to our apartment – a large unfinished building, The Apostolic Church of Ghana – that has exuberantly loud, lengthy services 7 nights a week.


But it’s also the awning-covered tabletops in the markets with a miked preacher, a few tracts and a huge set of speakers. And it’s all over the place on business signs, on cars and even on water tanks. Our personal taxi favorites (especially considering the way they drive here) are “Oh Christ” (pictured below, right) and “Forgive them.” As for business signs, you can see the two pictures below (Stay Blessed Real Estate and Thanks to the Holy Trinity Water), but we didn’t get a shot of the shack that’s the “Almighty Electric Company.”












Our good friend Dick arrives from the U.S. tomorrow, and then his wife Jo on Wednesday. We take off the day after that for our first Ghanaian road trip. We’ll tell you all about it next week.

Week 4: The Half-Way Point

The Obrunis Go Shopping:

Last weekend, feeling we just hadn’t done enough exploring (it’s not a great walking-around city and have we mentioned how hot it is?), we decided to go to the Kaneshie market at the western edge of town. We’d read in the guidebook that there was “a woman on the second floor” who was a great source of beads.

Now, we’re not market-novices. We’ve been around. We’ve seen a lot of African markets. So believe us when we say this market was VERY BIG. There was all the stuff you’d expect to find at an African market – vegetables, baskets, fabrics, meat, fish, and tennis-ball size snails, with the slimy part hanging out like a big dog’s tongue (yuck!) – plus lots of idiosyncratic kinds of stuff like tupperware, surge protectors, flip-flops, and Q-tips.

Needless to say, there wasn’t a “bead section,” but we looked around and found a few bead women. We settled on one, and Carole picked out a few nice necklaces and then …

the bargaining. The bead lady started at 85, Carole countered 30, then in small steps to 60 vs 40, until finally settling on 50 cedis (about $40) and both sides seemed fairly happy.

The necklaces were put in a bag and Geoffrey got out his wallet and started to hand over two 20’s and a 10. The woman took the 10, disappeared around the corner, and returned 30 seconds later with two 5’s. She gave one to us and kept the other, shook our hand and told us to come again soon.

It took us a second to realize what had just happened. Ghana recently re-denominated the cedi, basically dividing the currency by 10,000. But some people still use the old way of talking, so when she said “50,” she didn’t mean 50 cedis, she meant 50 thousand old cedis or 5 new ones.

Thank goodness “our” bead lady either didn’t realize what dopes we were or was too honest to take advantage. But she must have laughed up a storm when she told her friends about us.


A Nice Visit

On Friday, a delegation from AJWS – who had been here all week, visiting some of the organizations they fund – visited “APP,” and gave us the chance to wear our spiffy new team polo shirts.

It was a great opportunity for them to understand what the organization, and especially the peer-educators, actually do. These incredibly-poised, 20-something women , most either active or former sex workers themselves and several HIV +, spoke of various aspects of their work, including a kind of role play to show us how they use anatomical models to demonstrate the proper use of both male and female condoms. [PHOTO]

Then we accompanied the delegation on a visit to a seater community, a powerful and sobering look into a part of the world far removed from their reality. It’s hard to believe that it’s only been a few weeks since it was removed from ours too. The visit ended with a poignant moment as one of the FSWs thanked us for taking the time to visit them and care about them and respect them.



Finally, we – all 6 AJWS volunteers in Accra – were invited to Shabbat dinner with the visiting AJWS delegation at a very fancy hotel. It was quite a treat and Carole marked the occasion by dressing a l’Africaine (in a dress she bought about 35 years ago in the Ivory Coast!).

From the left: Geoffrey, Bruce, Susan, Aseye (the AJWS in-country rep), Lisa, Maurice, Carole.


A lovely Saturday

We tried a different beach – Kokrobite Beach, about an hour (though only 20 miles, in heavy traffic) out of town. It was low key and untouristy with a heavy dose of rasta and it had all the right ingredients: sand, water, food, fishing boats.
At the end of the day, we went to the African Dance performance arranged by AJWS at their hotel. (Jason, the video at the end of this post is for you! It may take a few seconds to get going.)

Work

As for our work, things are definitely happening. Think popcorn.

We’ve made a lot of progress on the 5-Year Strategic Plan and it’s shaping up nicely. The major task right now is to get everyone’s feedback and make requested their changes. But since all the ideas it contains came from the team in the first place, it’s definitely THEIR plan, not ours, and we’re pretty sure they will feel the kind of ownership of it to keep the plan “alive” after we decamp.

Interestingly, it is looking like one of those situations where the minute the APP team chose to directly address their challenges, positive things started happening. Even for their biggest challenge – how are they going to get funding on a reasonably long-term basis – answers in the form of some really promising opportunities are starting to emerge. We didn’t exactly solve the problem for them, but somehow the planning process, their collective focusing on the issue, may have.

Week 3: A Little More On....

The Life We're Living

Here’s what our typical day looks like: after having the coffee or tea we’ve made with the filtered-water-in-a-bag which one reader said she couldn’t visualize, we usually get to work somewhere between 7:30 and 8. We get there by taxi, which always costs 3 cedis (about $2.50) for the 15-minute ride, although often there is some brief haggling until the driver realizes that we do this every day.

There are various routes taken by our taxi drivers, but the sights along the way can be a study in contrasts -- from a typical street scene to the National Theatre .

















We normally work in “our” office, which we share with the Program Officer at APP. Actually, the office is pretty cushy because it used to be the office of the Executive Director but at the moment, there isn’t an ED. The cushiness is the good news; the bad news is that each office is its own world, cut off from the others (with closed doors because of the air conditioning) and there’s no open common area where people mill around and interact informally.

As you can see, the office is decorated with great AIDS-related posters, or, as we now say, Behavior Change Communication (BCC), that APP has created.


We work until the neighborhood of 4:00, except on Friday, which is both a half day and African-dress day, not only at APP but at many workplaces here. Even we obrunis – the Twi word for people of the pale persuasion – are encouraged to join in.













Then we go “home” and have a swim, a daily delight that is an important part of our wind-down and cool-off process. Afterwards, it’s down to the internet café on our street, open 24/7. Connection time is reasonable, prices are great, but the constant loud rap music (oh, the language they use!) keeps our stays shorter than they might otherwise be. Dinner, reading and/or dvd, bed.

To return briefly to Twi (pronounced chwee, with the ch being hard like in chair), the most common of the many languages in Ghana, here’s a very short lesson, short because, so far, these (plus obruni which you already know) are the only words we’ve learned/remembered:

Akwaaaba: Welcome
Medassi: Thank you


… The Work We’re Doing

You know that APP works on preventing and treating both HIV and STI among MARPs (Most At-Risk-Populations), consisting primarily of FSWs (female sex workers), their clients, their Non-Paying Partners (NPPs), and men who have sex with men (MSMs). (This is definitely an acronym-rich environment!) Here are some facts and figures:

• In Ghana, a country of about 22 million, the HIV infection rate is 1.9%, down from 3.6% not so very long ago. For an African country, this represents a real success. We’re not sure what Zimbabwe’s rate is, but it’s probably at least 10-20 times as great.

• There are about 3,000 seaters in the country and perhaps 20,000 roamers. The HIV rate among seaters is over 50% and it’s about half that among roamers. (The higher rate among seaters is because they’re older and have been in the business longer.) But the important fact is that both these numbers are down dramatically from where they were 5-6 years ago, largely due to APP.

• APP’s Peer Educators sell more than 5,000,000 condoms a year. It appears that once educated by the PEs, FSWs use condoms almost all the time (about 98% with clients, though lower with NPPs). In fact, condom use is so high that having access to a continuing supply of condoms is getting to be a problem.

• Every one of those condoms used is a potential transmission of HIV/STI averted.

Our job here is to help APP develop and write its 5-year strategic plan, which we’ve started to do. We will be presenting the draft of about half of that plan this coming week. Part of the draft is this great – our assessment – schematic of the what and how of APP’s approach. You probably won’t be able to read it, but we hope you’re suitably impressed.



Stay tuned.