A Stormy Week

After a restful, mostly, week in Accra I returned to a very busy schedule and spent the week traversing Upper East Region. All of the computers have now arrived and I have most of them working now. Training is the next step and that will involve even more travel. And the rains will affect my travel. I would have liked to have posted a picture of me looking like a drowned rat after riding in the rain (read on for the stories) but did not get a chance to take a photo.

The VSO Volunteer Conference was good. The sessions were meaningful, for the most part. The venue was relaxing. Being able to swim each night was wonderful. Being on the beach meant that the temperature was comfortably cool, though I am sure that when I first came I would have said that it was hot. The trip home was long and tiring, with a wait at the bus depot before leaving, some long stops on the way, and a flat tire on the taxi that I got when I arrived in Bolga. After leaving the hotel in Accra at 6:00 AM, I finally arrived at my house at 4:00 AM the next morning. I was tired to say the least, but still did not get to sleep a lot on Sunday.

Monday I went to Zebilla to work on their computers. They have not yet set up a computer room, so I just went through their computers to see which ones worked, what was installed, and which ones might give me problems later on. I worked non-stop that day, until I got a phone call about 2:30 in the afternoon. It was only then that I saw how dark the sky was. I shut things down and got ready to leave. I looked toward Bolga and the sky looked lighter there, so I thought I would beat the storm. I was wrong, though. I rode about 35 km in a downpour. A good thing about the storm was that there was no other traffic for me to worry about, and the animals were smart enough to seek shelter so I didn't have to watch for them much. But, I would prefer to not ride in the rain. I returned to Zebilla on Wednesday and worked on some other computers at one of the Secondary Schools. I ended up working until almost dark so had a bit of a ride later than I would normally be out. There was a bit of rain that night as well, though not enough to really get wet. The most concerning part about that trip was that I seemed to be almost out of fuel and rode almost the entire 45 km on reserve. That meant that if I ran out of fuel along the way, I would be walking into Bolga to get fuel. At least motorcycles are easier to push than cars. I made it without running out though.

Another day I went to Bongo to work on their computers. I left for Bolga later in the afternoon and got caught in the rain again. It rained so hard that Bolga experienced flooding. The drainage ditches are as clean, after that storm, as they ever will be I suppose. I am not sure where all the garbage and sewage ends up, but it smells a lot fresher than before the rains. And it is an indication that the serious rains have arrived, there could be rain every day, and when it comes it comes hard.

Friday I worked in the office all day, just to take a break from running all over Upper East Region. And then I celebrated my birthday with several of the volunteers in the area, including a friend visiting from Tamale and a colleague visiting from Wa. Susan even had a birthday cake made for the occasion. It was a nice treat, though maybe not quite as tasty as the ones that Aunt Myrna has made for special occasions in the past.

Saturday I went with Susan and her boyfriend to visit the volunteers in Sandema. We left a bit later than planned and I was looking at the sky ahead for the whole ride, wondering when we would get into the rain. As we came into Navrongo, there was an obvious line where the rain started, with one side completely dry and the other side a total downpour. We turned back a ways and took shelter while the storm passed. After about an hour it seemed to have slowed so we started on again. We got to through Navrongo before the rain started again. We had talked about going on even in the rain, but it was so hard that it would have been almost impossible to keep going. We found shelter with someone on the side of the road and spent about an hour in the entry to their house. We finally had to leave, even though the rain was not completely stopped. It had slowed enough that it wasn't impossible anymore. But it was getting dark so we had to go or our options would be to spend the night with our new friend in the shelter of his house, return home in the rain and dark, or continue to Sandema in the rain and dark. Anyway, we moved on to Sandema. It was chilly riding, but we arrived safely and were welcomed with open arms.

The volunteers in Sandema had prepared a lovely meal. And at the end they brought out a chocolate cake and a lemon meringue pie and sang Happy Birthday to me. They had even found a sparkler to celebrate with. It was an enjoyable night with good company. These two volunteers are leaving in August and I will miss having them nearby because they are always so positive and cheerful. Sunday I got up early to return to Bolga. It was pleasant to make the ride back with the sun coming up and no rain. It seemed like a different road almost. The drive into Sandema is quite beautiful when the weather is nice.

Now that the rains are settling in, the garden is growing quickly. The temperature is considerably cooler than it was, and I have even sat in my living room reading without the fan on. But it also makes travelling more of a challenge, as I can honestly say that I don't particularly enjoy riding in the rain. For getting around, dry season is so much better. But I know that the farmers need the rain or there would be no food. I mentioned the garden above. The corn is about 2 metres high and the cobs are starting to fill out. The tomatoes are producing well. I can see the peppers on the pepper plants. I thought they were sweet peppers, but now that I see them they look like they might be pretty spicy. I would say that the groundnuts are progressing nicely, but I have no idea what they are supposed to look like. I can only take Akolgo's word that things are progressing well. He said that after he harvests the groundnuts, he will plant corn in their place so we will have a second crop of that. We will share the produce with him, since he has done all the work. All that Susan and I did was provide the money to buy the seeds and the land to plant the seeds in. Susan said that she has seen mangos in our tree, and even a pineapple growing in the yard. These seem to disappear, though. When I first arrived, the tree was full of mangos. I finally had to pick what remained while quite green or they would have all disappeared to the neighbouring children as they take advantage of us both being away from home at work.

Cape Coast, Elmina, Accra and back to Bolgatanga

Last week I was able to do a little tourism stuff. All of the volunteers in Ghana were invited to a conference in (or I should say near) Accra. So I took advantage of being in the south to do a little exploring, along with two Indian volunteers.

We arrived in Cape Coast on Sunday afternoon and went to Elmina Castle. This castle had passed through Portuguese, Dutch and English hands before becoming a Ghanaian heritage site. I am not sure whether any of the Europeans were better or worse than the others. We had the chance to experience being closed into a slave punishment cell, and it would not have taken me very long to have panicked if it was a real occurence.

Monday we went to Kakum National Park. It is known for its canopy walk, which is a series of 7 suspended walkways as high as 40 metres from the forest floor. It gives the tourist a chance to see the forest from the top. The walkway was built by Canadians from Vancouver. It was a bit scary while still feeling pretty safe. There were no animals to be seen or birds either, probably because we went later in the day and after other groups had been through making all their noise, etc. It was enjoyable and a worthwhile experience.

That afternoon we returned to Elmina and went for a swim in the ocean. I wasn't sure we would get a chance so was glad that we did it after we got there. The water was quite warm. The waves were pretty wild. After about an hour in the water I was ready to get out and relax a bit.


Following the weekend we returned to Accra for the conference. This is the swimming pool at the hotel we were at. It was right on the beach as well, but the rocks made the beach unusable for play. The swimming pool was a nice alternative and was used by most of the volunteers each afternoon.

The conference was very positive. The planners arranged for topics that dealt with Ghanaian culture, corruption, first aid, etc. and was structured so there wasn't so much time for complaints. That was saved until the last day, and by then most people were more relaxed and their complaints were no longer foremost in their minds. Overall, it was a wonderful experience.

The trip home was another story. I left the hotel, along with three others, at 6:30 in the morning to report to the bus station at 7:00 for an 8:00 departure. Our bus finally arrived about 9:30. Then there was a crush to get luggage loaded. as there is nothing like a queue at this point. Then people got on the bus that were stopping in Tamale, rather than Bolga, and were taking seats from people that had legitimate tickets for the entire journey. We finally left Accra about 10:00.

Stops were scheduled every couple of hours. While travelling, Nigerian movies were on constantly. The Ghanaians would rather see a Nigerian movie than an American one, and they would often be laughing at something that I either didn't get or couldn't understand what had been said. It was okay. But after a while, even that can get too old to enjoy at all. We finally reached Bolgatanga at 3:00 AM. There were only a couple of taxis at the station so I started walking home. I found a driver watching television along the way and we agreed on a price, though he didn't seem to remember that when we finally got to my house. Before that, we had just pulled away when the car made a terrible racket. He had a flat. He continued on a couple of kilometres to a 24-hour tire place and had it repaired, but that added more time to an already too long trip. I finally got home at 4:00 AM. My housemate, who had chosen to travel on another carrier starting sometime after lunch, arrived at 6:30. It was pretty tiring.

So far this week I have been to district offices each day. In Zebilla two of five computers started without a problem. A third one is almost working after a lot of effort on my part. And I left Zebilla about 2:30 with a storm coming. I thought I could outrun it but I was mistaken. I rode about 35 kilometres in a downpour and have to say that it was not much fun. Today (18 July) I was in Navrongo and accomplished most of what I wanted to do there. I will have to go back to finish up on one computer and do some corrections on another installation that I started there.

In the meantime, I have contacted the five offices and all the computers are now here or will soon be here. That is good news, but also bad news as I see how truly awful the computers are. It is definitely a challenge. I hope to get them stable enough that they don't require repairs every time they are started. I am not overly confident that it will be possible to achieve that goal.

Anyway, I am busy working now and I am feeling a bit tired because of the travel. But it is a good feeling too.