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.