Now we’ve been on African soil for a week, we thought we should start to record first impressions before they’re replaced by others. We were prepared to experience sensory overload and haven’t been disappointed. We arrived in Accra on schedule and experienced the “steam oven”. The heat, approx.35c., evidently began just before our arrival and will continue through March and April. We were very warmly greeted by our driver Frank, distributing litre bottles of water, so our priorities were immediately set!
Luggage was duly attached to the roof of our vehicle and we were driven through busy but poorly lit streets to our destination. Everything was immediately new. All possessions appear to be carried on the head and we seemed to have a surfeit of them.
The first night was spent in a slightly seedy hotel, ours having “too many people”.
We woke to the sound of roosters and budgies and found ourselves in a concrete block in a kind of shanty town. The place was quietly buzzing at 6am and we felt as if we’d already missed some of the action.
The VSO office is itself an old, rambling and rather ramshackle building tucked away from a main highway under mango and avocado trees. Its certainly not designed to impress and is so busy that it’s a miracle any work is ever done. The staff gave us a lengthy welcome and made us feel very special. It was humbling and inspiring at the same time.
We were lucky to meet Father Giancarlo, our employer from St.Theresa’s who was in Accra on business. He was sporting a faded Hawaiian shirt and didn’t at all fit the image we’d created in our imaginations. He’s coming to Accra to collect us on Monday morning. Exciting!
The V.S.O. Country Director is an impressive man named Tanko who wears national dress and charms all the new volunteers. He gave us an insightful talk on the direction V.S.O. is taking and the new programmatic strategies it has chosen to adopt. Fascinating delivery style – we all felt we had made good decisions to work in Ghana.
Since then we’ve had an afternoon to venture to a market/beach area - desperately poor people were making a living from scavenging on a land- fill area behind the dunes. It was difficult to visit the market stalls and not feel very privileged and affluent.
Experienced volunteers set up a”Challenge Anneka” type exercise to raise our awareness of the local people and to introduce us to shopping and bargaining. My group, the Guinea Fowl, had to find/purchase a number of items including plasters, candles, a peanut burger and a fruit with an unrepeatable name. One of the party – me - had to have hair braids. We paid three times the going rate but still returned with change from a Ghana cede approx. 50p. Dave’s group had to purchase condoms and a coil! Of the mosquito variety! It was great fun but made us appreciate some the reality of living in this community. There’s a pharmacy with bare shelves and the drains are open and yet the people appear very positive. They’re incredibly proud and friendly, taking you to the shops of their rivals if they couldn’t serve you. The fellow with the bike stall did get a bit suspicious when asked by the third obruni(white) for the price of a bicycle repair kit!
We’ve also attracted attention when out jogging but again polite thumbs up or encouragement. Not sure that we’ll repeat the experience though as the 6am smog is red and sears the throat. On our second run we inadvertently met up with the local mixed football team, jogging to their ground. They were very amused by our presence.
We’ve now had three sessions with our language tutor and can make some basic conversation in Eve. Our tutor is a chilli and okra farmer from the Volta region whose farm is in an area we want to visit in the future. He’s insistent that he meets us to show us some paths so we’ve been to the National survey office to purchase extraordinary detailed maps of the East Volta Region. Dusty sheets emerged with surprising alacrity from shelves.
Our fellow volunteers are a great bunch of people. Two Kenyan, two Dutch a Phillipino and eight from the UK. We’ve been addressed by embassy officials and warned of all the dangers and delights of our year ahead. Ex volunteers have regaled us with tales of broken necks, lost possessions etc etc. Overall though, our impression is that this is a safe place to be, perhaps safer than home. John told us today that whilst there are words for danger and caution in his language one can’t ask “is it safe to be here?” The local people apparently don’t have a need for the word”safe”.
This is a little difficult to accept in relation to the roads, where the driving is completely anarchic. Dual carriageways where oil tankers do “U” turns over the central reservation, street children weaving in between fast moving traffic selling water bags and cyclists driving the wrong way. The mini bus or tro-tro journeys are hair-raising, involving sardining as many as possible into vehicles which shouldn’t be going any where.
Our medical briefing was a combination of pep talk and practicality. “Abstain and then you’ll live to boogie”! I won’t go into detail about the flies which invade the skin and pop out once covered in Vaseline but some of the complaints aren’t pleasant and I suppose we have to be careful. A few of the younger volunteers are learning the hard way. One, Richard overindulged at the Karaoke bar and missed his footing when entering his Taxi. He found himself in one of the drains and then had to pay the driver extra to drive fast as the smell was so bad!
Its now Sunday and we’ve said farewell to most of the volunteers, who have disappeared in the land-rovers to their remote placements in the far north east and west. The youngsters were putting on a brave face but its quite an adventure for them. We’re left with one other couple, Gloria and Dave who are due to take up placements at Cape Coast. They’re to work as Disability Fund Manager and Capacity Building Officer. To date they have no accommodation and no sign of any progress. They’re very stoical and we’re joining them for a pizza this evening to say farewell and good luck.
This will be the last time we’ll write for some days or even weeks as we don’t know what we’ll find at our centre in terms of technology. Keep your fingers crossed that our placement works out. We already know that the accommodation is not what we expected, more anon. Further news may have to wait until we find a town with an internet café. We have been thinking of all our friends and family and send you all our love. Belated birthday greetings to Alan, Liz, Helen and Jan!