back in the us

I'm back safe and sound. It's so nice to be home. It was truly an amazing experience and I feel so privileged to have been a part of it.

thurs 3/26 - kakum nat'l park and canopy walk

On Thursday morning we set out for Kakum National Park. Along the way we stopped at a watch cassava processing and wander through a fishing village. Cassava is made from yams that are pulverized and pressed. They are sold for less than 1 cedi (1.30 cedi = $1.oo US). You eat cassava like grits. It's a student staple. A wise crop with University of Cape Coast nearby. Just a side note, there is no such thing as babysitting in Africa. The children are always with their parents. There were two adorable children sitting with the women as the made the cassava. When the community members showed up to clean the orphanage, several women had babies strapped to their backs. And at least one teacher at the school we visited had her baby strapped to her back. The children are quiet and stay pretty close. If they wander too far, mom usually gives them an earful. There are more pictures on flickr (link under "for more...").

Kakum National Park is a preserve for plant and animal species and rainforest-type conditions. Home to monkeys, elephants, butterflies, all sorts of lizards and insects. We didn't see one animal. The guide suggested we come back and stay overnight to increase our chances of seeing something. The reason is that Kakum was a hunting reserve at one time, so the animals have learned to stay away from the visitors. Also, groups of tourists make a lot of noise. Rats. I really wanted to see an elephant.

The highlight of Kakum is its canopy walk, 100 meters (330 feet) above ground. That's the other reason I didn't see any of the animals. I was too busy trying not to look down while walking across the rope bridges. There were seven total. I was thankful for the boards underfoot, but the "bridges" swayed and bounced when people stepped on. Even with the netting one either side I was still uneasy. Heights are not my favorite thing and the adrenaline was definitely flowing, but I was glad I did it.

After Kakum, we lunched at a local restaurant over a crocodile pond. The Aussies said these were very small crocs compared to Australia. Three of us headed back to Accra to catch an early morning flight on Friday. I tried to catch a picture of the road side stands that dotted the coastal route back to Accra. They sold oranges, pineapple and grilled grass cutter. A grass cutter is a rodent that looks like a plump beaver with a rats tail. A few enterprising gentlemen even provided a before and after view for prospective customers. The grass cutters feed on sugar cane, so they're supposed to have deliciously sweet meat. The driver offered many times to stop so we could sample a grass cutter. I found these images on the internet:
http://growabrain.typepad.com/photos/uncategorized/2007/04/02/grass_cutter.jpg
http://respectrefugees.org/ezine/images/grasscutter.jpg

cape coast - elmina castle

We left Kumasi on Wednesday morning and headed 3 hours south to Cape Coast. It was nice to be one step closer to home, but it was a little sad to leave Kumasi. We'd be leaving the community, the artisans and Betty, our Habitat for Humanity liaison / project manager. She was awesome. With all its quirks (my safe was still in pieces when we left), the had become our home away from home with a very nice swimming pool.

In Elmina , we stayed on the ocean at the Coconut Grove Hotel. Elmina is the African mispronunciation of the Portugese word "la mina", meaning "the mines". The setting was beautiful, but the humidity was fierce! You sweat as soon as you walked out of your hotel room b/c of the 90% humidity. The hotel itself may have been grand at one time, but has seen better days. Two people found lizards in their showers and someone even found lizard poop in their bed.

Elmina is a fishing community. The main route in/out of town separates the Atlantic Ocean from the fishing villages. The men are responsible for fishing, the women are responsible for prepping the fish, smoking them and selling them at the market. The fish are smoked on open ovens. They sell both smoked and fresh fish. The huts you see along the road use palm leaves for the roofs and are more temporary. These are their "workshops". The fisherman live in houses farther inland.

The Portugese built Elmina Castle in 1482 as a trade center for ivory, gold and later slaves. It was captured by the Dutch in 1637 and later sold to the English in 1872. The English used it as a training facility. Slavery existed in Africa, but it was different from what we've learned in our history books. The losing side of feuding tribes became the slaves of the victors. However, slaves could marry, own land and vote. If a slave married in to the opposing tribe he or she was considered free as were his/her offspring. Thus, many African royalty today can trace their lineage back to slaves.

Needless to say it was a sad place. The slave dungeons (men and women separated), the cells for and the church were all on the first level. Officer quarters were on the 2nd and 3rd level and the Governor was on the 4th level. There are two cells - one for slaves who tried to rebel and the other for European soldiers who were being disciplined. There is a marked difference. The European cell is small but with adequate ventilation. The other cell, adorned with a skull and crossbones, was dark, small and with minimal ventilation.

It was stifling hot and any open windows with bars were actually doors. The quarters were cramped, claustrophobic. The doorway to the awaiting ships was just wide enough for one person my size to fit thru and I even turned to the side. It's amazing anyone survived.

The guide explained that it is now our responsibility to remember what happened at Elmina Castle and be an active participant in preventing such injustice against humanity in the future.

school visit

The boxes from the US arrived early this morning. Turns out the rest of the boxes from Australia are also around, but still in customs. So glad they didn't "fall of the truck". Makes me feel better. We sorted the items for our school visit and saw the community/Aussie team off to clean the orphanage. We made our way to the school around noon and visited with a couple of classrooms before we started setting up our boxes.

Our gift distribution went really smoothly. The children were so good. We recognized a couple of the kids from the build site. They lined up by classroom and came thru the gift line receiving paper, a jump rope, a pencil case or glue stick, crayons or pens or pencils and a book. A lot of them said thank you or madase and curtsied as they received the gifts. Needless to say they were very excited about the gifts, jumping rope and reading with Douglas.

Many of them speak some English, but b/c it's a more rural area they probably don't get as much of a chance to practice English as in the capital city of Accra. They use all of the same workbooks as children in Accra. When Douglas (US team) and Regina (Aussie) went around talking about the US and Australia, one of the teachers had to translate much of what they were saying to the children. I didn't get a chance to see the older kids, so their English could be better. I know one of the girls that I played Ludo with was at school and her English is quite good. I only saw the older kids as they filed through the gift line. On each pillar in the courtyard was guidance on proper hygiene. Very encouraging, but some funny translation indeed.

Today is our last day in Kumasi. We leave for the coast tomorrow morning for a little R&R. As much as I'd like the time to relax and take in more of this beautiful country, I really would just like to go home. Miss my family and my peeps.

church + BBQ + soccer

We went to church this morning in the community. It was a great experience. A lot more singing and dancing then the Presbyterian services I've attended before (not that I've attended on a regular basis). The community was very warm and welcoming. The children had Sunday school in a tent outside of the church. The preacher gave the sermon in English followed by a word to the congregation that was later translated for us as "you guys are with me day-to-day so I'll just break it down for you and you can ask questions later." Ken said a few words, thanking them for letting us join them. The kids, as always, were adorable. The babies were fast asleep strapped to their moms backs despite all the singing and dancing.

A little later in the afternoon, we paid a visit to the chief of the village. We brought Schnapps as an offering. He offered a glass up to God and then spilled some on the ground to communicate with his ancestors. We then all had to take a sip (Carrie don't read this part... it was from the same glass). His ancient looking advisor, who wore sunglasses inside, finished the glass and then we were off to play soccer.

It was definitely intimidating to arrive and see most of the artisans and community members wearing soccer jerseys. I don't know a thing about soccer and I initially didn't want to play, but I ended up subbing for Kym in the 2nd period. It was so much fun. I even blocked a ball.

I took lots of pictures of the kids on the sidelines before I started playing. One little girl even grabbed on to my leg before she realized it was an obroni (white person) to whom she was hanging on. We then moved on to the BBQ and played some board games with members of the community. I played Ludo (?) with Kym, Douglas (one of the workers) and two girls from the village. It was a lot like the game Sorry, but with pictures of Jesus and a couple of other rules that I didn't quite understand. The BBQ ended in a bit of chaos as darkness descended and the food was "distributed". Despite the chaos, it was one of my favorite days of the trip so far.

last build day

Today was our last build day. It was a 1/2-day. Lots of rendering. We were hoping to finish the 1st and 2nd house, but we got the 1st house pretty much complete with all the doors in (w/ locks, which I found curious b/c everything is so open). The 2nd house was almost all rendered on the outside.

Nothing is wasted and it's all done by hand. The dirt from the whole for the outhouse is used to even out the floors. Nails are reused. Mortar dropped on the ground is scraped and reused. The doors are cut to the size of the doorways with a hand saw used with both hands. The locks are installed by cutting in to the doors with a wedge and blade.

More kids were on site today b/c there wasn't any school today. They went wild for the candy that we had. Adorable all of them, but they swarm until every little piece is gone.

In the afternoon we went to the market to pick up cleaning supplies for the orphanage. There's been much discussion about how to spend the money raised by the Aussies for the orphanage. They've decided to try to clean the orphanage thoroughly. We bought out some of the cleaning supplies from the supermarket, bought mops, buckets... some of skipped the last dash in to the store to get masks. The bus was swarmed by guys trying to sell us maps, beads, bags, bananas, and paintings. They persisted despite drawing the curtains. Debbie even hid at one point.

day 7&8

Extreme heat + exertion = upset stomach. Lucky me. I overdid it on Thursday, but was fine today. It's so frustrating when your body betrays your will.

Thursday we made tremendous progress. The roof was framed on the 2nd house and most of the walls on the 1st house are rendered. On Friday, we had a 1/2-day build b/c boxes finally arrived with donations for the kids. The 3rd house is now ready for its roof, but the roofers were still working on cutting the roofing sheets (w/ a machete) and nailing them on to the 2x4's. Jordan (Aussie) and Kristen (US from CA) definitely get the hardworker awards. They are qualified roofers and masons. Mitch (Aussie) has battled blisters on his feet and hands.

Last night, we went to another hotel for a cultural discussion and choral performance. So interesting and so much fun. The Ghanians are 60% Christian, but probably still believe in their tribal religions. We learned that if someone curses you, you could get very sick or die until placations are made. The choir was definitely the highlight. Unfortunately, there is video out there as the group got us out of our chairs and dancing. I think there are more pics on the Nestle USA blog (link on the right under "for more...")



Not all of the boxes arrived from Australia. The boxes from the US are supposed to arrive on Monday. They're in Africa, they just haven't made their way to us. Pretty sure a few boxes "fell of the truck" in customs. Definitely understand the cultural difference in the sense of timing and definitely a learning experience for the group.

Tomorrow is could be a 1/2-day or full day build. TBD. It's really late and 5:30am comes very quickly, so I'd better get to bed.