See How My Garden Grows

Here are two pictures along the west side of the house that I share. In the foreground of the first picture you see groundnuts, with corn in the background. In the second picture, you see more corn in the back of the house as well as more of Susan’s side of the house. The tree in the background is a mango tree, which produced some lovely fruit eaten back in April and May. As you can see, the house is quite nice and the garden is growing well, thanks to Akolgo our night watchman.



The past week was pretty slow again. The big excitement in Ghana has been the success of the Black Stars in the World Cup 2006. This is the first appearance for Ghana in this prestigious football championship, and they have so far made it through the first round robin portion of the tournament, against some tough teams including the USA, and are now in the Round of 16. The next match is this coming Tuesday, and I imagine that everyone who is able will be glued to a television somewhere for the two hours or so of the match.

Ghana won two of three games in the first round, against the Czech Republic and the USA. I happened to be riding through town shortly after the first victory and so was confronted by a massive celebration that had traffic almost at a standstill. I have to admit that I was a little nervous in my exposed position on the motorcycle when I had to come to a complete stop for a minute or so. The crowd was pretty rambunctious, but well behaved. After the second victory, I had a couple more hours before leaving work so the celebrating had died to almost nothing by then and it was no problem getting through. Since Canada has not yet qualified to participate in the World Cup and I am currently living in Ghana, I feel honoured to be able to support the Black Stars, and hope that they will continue to win. They have played very well in every game so far.

On Thursday my housemate left for Accra. She has been suffering from malaria and a dodgy stomach for more than two weeks prior to the decision to travel. She was going soon to meet people coming to visit her, and decided that she would go early to take advantage of better medical facilities there. So, I currently have all the house to myself for the next three weeks. It isn’t really any different as the halves are totally separated. But we have enjoyed the opportunities to sit and chat often in the evenings, so her absence is noticed.

Thursday night I ate some “western” food that I wasn’t used to and went to bed feeling ill. When I woke on Friday morning, I was really sick. Luckily a rainstorm came about the time for leaving for work and so I was able to stay in bed for an extra hour or so. I finally went into the office out of obligation. I am still acting as the office admin person, and I knew that Celina, the cleaning person, would be there waiting to be let in despite the rain. Sure enough, when she the rain was coming she hurried in to work to be there before the rain started. I thought of the same thing, but wasn’t feeling well enough to rush about.

I actually spent the day in the office sleeping on the office couch fighting stomach problems. I ate nothing that day and came home a little early that night. I went straight to bed and slept almost constantly from then through the morning. Saturday I was feeling some better and went to town for breakfast. But I decided when I got home, that the best thing for me to do was to rest. So I spent the day on the couch sleeping, reading, and watching videos. Sounds pretty luxurious, doesn’t it. I am glad that it hasn’t been quite so hot, so the day under the fan was bearable.

And I am glad to report that the problem seems to have been related to the food that I ate and not to some mysterious parasite or bug. I am on the mend and eating my normal “Ghanaian” food again and feeling stronger by the minute.

I continue to do a little work with the local education office on the computers they have, both from VSO and their own. I am ready to start training so have decided that I will use this team as my guinea pigs and will finish setting up their computers and start their training this week or next. So next week I hope to provide an update on training, as well as other activities.

19 June - Pikworo Slave Camp, Paga, Upper East Region

This past weekend my friend from Tamale stayed over. He was in Bolgatanga to conduct some workshops for his employer on Friday and Saturday. Because our time was limited, we were only able to visit the Pikworo Slave Camp in Paga after he finished on Saturday afternoon. Though I had been there before, I enjoyed the second visit and seeing it through the eyes of someone from India who has a different perspective even from my own.

This is the music rock. The men bang on the rock with different size stones and sing along. It turns out to be quite melodious. We were told that he song that they sang was telling the slaves to be happy because they were going somewhere that would provide them with new jobs. The slaves were held in a field below this musical rock and were forced to dance and sing along, whether they wanted to or not.

This was a little further along in the tour. As you can imagine, the slaves often tried to escape, but the slave traders were very watchful and did not lose many slaves to running away. When a slave was captured, the slave would be bound to this rock where our guide, Simon, is sitting. A chain would fasten their legs to their arms and they would lie on this rock face up from dawn until death, in most cases. They would be beaten and would not receive any comfort, food or water while the sun beat down on them. The base of the rock is worn from the movement of the chained prisoners. When I first saw this, the temperature was above 40C and I couldn't imagine surviving long. This weekend the temperature was a more enjoyable 33C or so, but I still cannot imagine that very many slaves lived through the ordeal.

We had a good weekend and enjoyed doing something different. The weekend ended with rain on Sunday morning that cooled things to a cool 26C in the house, and some of us wore fleece jackets to keep warm (not me, by the way). It was cool, for sure. At church, the Ghanaians closed the windows against the breeze because they were chilled. And I found it quite comfortable, which shows how much I have adapted to the higher temperatures here.

Work is still slow as the districts are struggling to bring their new computers from Accra to their own offices. I contacted most of them and they promised to have the computers by the end of this month, so I hope to be busy in July. I also know that I have said that more than once. Eventually it will come true. I know the project teams are anxious to get started with the training as well.

16 June 2006 Update

I came home last night a little bit late and thought the electricity had been taken. The whole area seemed darker than normal, and when I got to my house the outside lights were not on. But other lights were. We had a huge rainstorm in the morning and I think that affected the outside light switches and Akolgo was not able to get the lights to work. I fiddled with it for a minute and the lights came on and I went in the house. I have had bugs accumulating on my bedroom window at night and I think it was because of the lights there. I showed Akolgo that without the lights there were no bugs.

A little later I went into my bedroom and heard something at the window. I looked out and saw that the screen was covered with these insects. I went outside to have a closer look and saw perhaps a thousand of these fluttering around on the wall, in the light, on the screen – just everywhere. I called Akolgo over to have a look and his first comment was that he would “chop” these. Sure enough, he came back with a bucket of water and started sweeping all of these bugs up and into the bucket. A neighbour came over later and said that these were edible. So Akolgo had a feast.

We left the lights out for a while and Akolgo said that the bugs would not return until the next time that it rained. The neighbour said that these were termites. They flew in, and then shed their wings and started crawling on the ground in pairs and triplets. It was very strange and interesting. This morning, when I left for work, I found two guinea fowl in the compound having a feast on whatever Akolgo had not collected the previous night. I am sure they will find their way out when the food is gone.
I asked the cleaning lady at work how to prepare these termites for eating and I will provide the recipe, in case any of you are interested in trying them. First you fry them without any oil because they have their own oil. Then you remove any of the remaining wings. Then you fry them again to dry them out. And now they are ready to eat, just like groundnuts (peanuts). I am not sure that I will try this, but might if Akolgo was to offer me some so that I would not offend him.

This is Akolgo. After the rain yesterday morning, the temperature was quite cool, by Ghanaian standards. I met people wearing their quilted jackets to go about town. People were wearing jeans and flannel shirts. I could sense coolness in the air, but I could also feel the humidity that kept me from actually feeling cold. This morning, the temperature in my bedroom was 27.4C, and that is probably the coolest temperature since I have been here.

Not much else has happened of interest. I planned to travel to Sandema this past weekend and Susan was going to go along for the experience. She had been diagnosed with malaria, though, and had some accompanying stomach problems so we decided that travel was not the best idea at that time. Her problems have continued through all of this week, and even today I will bring her to the doctor to check for any serious bugs that might be causing her stomach problems. She has not been able to eat hardly anything for more than a week now. That has been good for me, since she often offers me her leftovers. But it has lasted long enough to be a bit of a concern.
I am still waiting on the arrival of the computers. I have spent quite some time with one office and he is pressing me to start training his team. I have no reason not to go ahead, other than my thought that I would keep all of the offices in sync throughout the training. But it would be good to get started with the work that I came to do. Another office now has a couple that are here to support the Ghana Education Service, do some teacher and management training, etc. They will be an integral part of the interview portion of my project and they are ready to get started. One drawback is that the school year is about to finish so that might delay the collection of relevant information for the finishing school year. 

Tumu, Upper West Region, Ghana

On this past weekend, Susan and I made a motorcycle trip to Tumu in the Upper West Region. Susan had planned to go and thought about going by motorcycle but didn't want to make the trip alone. I remembered that my plan was to do a bit more travelling while in Ghana so that I wouldn't leave and wonder what I had seen. So, I decided to go along.

We left home about 6:00 on Saturday morning. I had been warned that the road was very bad, with potholes big enough to swallow a motorcycle. Susan had made the trip once before by tro-tro (mini-bus) and said that it took over three hours, assuming no breakdowns. Travelling on our own, we expected to make better time.

However, travelling on our own meant that we could stop when we wanted for as long as we wanted. About 70 km of the 140 km was dirt track. It wasn't as bad as I had been warned it would be, but we did have to slow down a bit to make the ride comfortable. We passed a couple of places that were filled with the flowers that you see above. They were just growing wild. We finally stopped at one field. The farmer came up and dug up a couple of the bulbs for us to take to Tumu to the volunteers there. It was good that we stopped here because it was the last field that we saw like this, and we didn't even notice the flowers when we returned on Monday.

If any of the horticulturists out there can tell what kind of flower this is from the picture, please let me know (david.perry.ghana@gmail.com). They were very pretty. We were able to pick up another bulb on the way home for our own house, so I hope that it survived the trip.

We stopped for a few pictures on the way home on Monday, even though we were more focused on getting back to Bolgatanga. This is a bridge over some small river before we reached the paved roads. It was really picturesque and the trip was enjoyable. The roads were not nearly as bad as I had been warned. I would not want to make the trip in the rain, though.

I would have posted a picture of Susan but did not feel right about putting someone else's photo on my blog. Susan followed me all the way, both going and coming. As a result, she got pretty dirty. From the picture you can't see much dirt on me, but my legs were looking pretty red from road dust by the time I got home. Susan's face was covered with dirt and her clothes were red from the dust she had picked up on the way. When we got back to the Bolga office, she had to take a picture of herself because she couldn't believe how much dirt was on her face.

So that was the weekend. As far as work is concerned, I am still waiting to get calls to work on the computers. I have spent too much time working on the three that I know are here. It has been a challenge because of their age, memory, speed, technical level, etc. One computer has now got a bad hard drive so is not of any use at all. It is hard to start training when I have to spend so much time just getting the computers to run. But, we are managing.

So, that is it for another week. I hope that everyone is enjoying summer, wherever they are. 

29 May 2006

Again I am posting an older picture, just to have something to put on the website. This is shortly after getting my motorcycle and is taken outside the compound of a friend. As you can see, the kids are quite excited - I am not sure whether it is by me standing there or by the bike. But I am enjoying my mobility.

This past week I started working on the VSO computers. I was a little saddened by what I saw when I first saw the first three computers to arrive in Bolgatanga. They are computers that were donated by schools in the UK. You can probably guess that if primary schools can't use the computers, they can't be very good. They are older models. Many will not have CD drives. They are slow with little memory and small hard drives. The challenge initially might be to get them up and running and stable enough to start training.

I also went to a Teacher's College in Navrongo to work in their computer lab. Someone in Accra had donated 16 computers, brought them, plugged them in and left. Eight of the computers would not boot. They were all Pentium machines. None had CD drives. The best part about them was the monitors. The instructor told me that some of his classes are as large as 60+ students. Sharing 16 computers would make instructing difficult. Doing it with 8 means little hands-on time for anyone. I did suggest that he remove the non-working PCs from the desktops so that students wouldn't be frustrated or distracted by them. That will also free some space on the desktops for the 8 or so people gathered around each computer.

There is corn, beans, green pepper, tomato and groundnuts planted in the compound now. The groundnuts have already started to come up. I have never seen them grow so will be interested to see what they look like, both as a plant and as a crop. There won't be a lot of anything, but it will be nice to have something growing there. I meant to take some photos of the compound this past week but was not feeling so well and didn't take the time. It will be more interesting when the plants have started to grow anyway.

It is hard to believe that May is already over and I am almost here for four months. It doesn't seem that it has been that long. At the same time, it is hard to remember when I wasn't here too. The temperatures are much cooler and it is comfortable for sleeping at night now. I have finally put up my mosquito net. I have not had malaria, that I know of, but I have plenty of insect bites. The mosquito here are not so large and noisy as Canadian ones, so I don't even know when I have been bitten until I start itching.

Take care, all. Have a good week.

David 

Rainy Season Is Here

This is an older picture that I took on one of the first rains since I arrived in February. I think this was sometime in the middle of April. It was interesting to watch people scramble to bring in washing and cooking and to get out of the rain. Then, after a few minutes, the kids got back out and played around. Here they are making a game out of cleaning a sleeping mat or rug, and the rain has almost stopped.

The rain has cooled things quite a lot. I have found that in the mornings I need to get under my sheet and turn off my fan or my feet feel too cold. The temperature has been as low as 26C, which I would have called too hot if I was still in Ontario. But it is enough cooler than what we have been experiencing that it feels pretty cool. Some mornings I have almost wished for a jacket or long-sleeved shirt as I ride into town.

The night watchman has been pretty excited and active lately around the compound. He has his own farm where he grows millet, corn and guinea corn. But he sees our open compound and says that he will plant tomato, green pepper, corn, beans and groundnuts. So, we will have a garden surrounding us, without having to do any work. It is nice to see him excited about it.

Most of the district offices have now paid for their computers, so the delay is transporting them from Accra to their offices. Different ones have started that process so I expect to be busy with computer stuff very soon. I have said that so often now that I am even getting tired of it myself. I did get a call from one of the schools today asking me to come to help them with some hardware problems, so I will travel to Navrongo tomorrow to work with them for a few hours.

Last week the office assistant broke his leg in a motorcycle accident. He was transported to Accra to be cared for by a specialist. In his absence I have been put in the position of doing some of his tasks around the office. His accident was a reminder to me to be extra careful when I am riding. From what I have heard, a car stopped immediately in front of him and he clipped the bumper with his leg as he tried to avoid crashing into the back of the vehicle. People here don't seem to always care what is happening around them, but will stop or turn whenever and wherever they want.

Not much exciting happened since the last update. We had no internet for over a week so I did not get to say anything last week. But with the internet unavailable, it seemed like there wasn't much that I did either.

I hope to have a picture of the green fields next week and hope to be able to report exciting developments and/or activities. But until then, everyone stay safe. 

8 May 2006 - Widnaba

The first picture is the base of the baobab tree that I talk about a little later. The opening would have been a bit larger when it was being used to store slaves. As it is now, I would not even try to go through it. It would not have been a pretty sight. The guide said that some tourists do give it a try.

The top of the tree is open, so there was a flow of air so they would not suffocate. However you look at it, though, it would not have been a very humane way to treat people. In fact, I would not think that we would even treat our livestock in such a manner.






The second picture is the outside of the Widnaba Welcome Centre. In front of it are my bike and Susan's bike. We were glad to get there, after travelling down a very tricky dirt road/track for 11 km.

Following is what I hope will be my weekly update. For those that receive the email from Yahoo!, this will be a repeat but with pictures attached.

01 May was a holiday here in Ghana, as it seems to be in many places in the world other than North America. It was Workers Day and was celebrated here in Ghana with various marches and speeches, including one from President Kufuor saying that there would be changes in pay structures and retirement plans. Overall it was pretty low key.

I took advantage of the morning to go for a motorbike ride between Bolgatanga and Bongo. There is a dam there that people had talked about as a place to go for relaxation and a picnic and I thought I should see it since it is close. Rather than going the direct route, I decided that I would explore. I did eventually find the dam and it does create a nice lake. The water level is pretty low right now, as it is very near the end of the dry season and hasn't rained any significant amount for several months. I was glad to see it. I continued cross-country from there to Bongo and got further and further into the country. I thought I was going in a big circle, but I don't think that was what happened. And then I started to run out of fuel. I switched to reserve and finally started asking for directions and for petrol. The directions I got but there was no petrol that far out. The last time I stopped for directions I was told I was still 5 miles from Bolgatanga and I had no idea how much fuel I had left. So, I skipped going to Bongo and headed straight back to town, fully prepared to walk if I had to. I made it to the station and filled up without walking, which was a relief.

Later in the day, my housemate and I rode up to Widnaba, about 60 km east of Bolga. That included 14 km on a dirt road that soon became a track and was a bit of a challenge, even on motorcycles. Widnaba is another ecotourism site. I don't know how successful it will be because it is a little difficult to get to. I enjoyed the trip and enjoyed the tour. We were taken to the Hidden Place. The story is that the villagers all gathered in this open field when the slave raiders came looking for them. From the surrounding hills the raiders could see the villagers, but when they got to the field where they were hiding they somehow became invisible. So that has become a local shrine that the community still uses for making various decisions and for celebrations. We then went to the slave market. There is the remains of a British fort on a hill overlooking an old, large baobab tree. The tree is hollow and has a small entry in one side. We were told that the slaves, up to 40 at a time, were held inside this tree while waiting to be taken to their next destination. If you go to my blog (http://ghanadavid.blogspot.com/) I plan to post a picture of that tree there so you can get an idea of what I am talking about. What I get from these tours is a reminder, if I need one, of how cruel people can be to each other.

This week some of the district offices have made contact in order to get their computers. So I anticipate starting the installation and training portion of my assignment within the next couple of weeks. It will be good to start doing what I came to do. It might be challenging to fit in all of the other things that I have been doing instead, some of which were quite beneficial to the Bolga office. But I will manage somehow.

I will conclude with a couple of interesting things that I have seen or experienced this week.

Thursday night a storm came in through the night. It was awesome. The thunder rolled almost continuously throughout the storm that lasted from 2:00 AM to 6:00 AM. There was one lightning bolt that seemed to burst just outside my window, followed almost immediately with a loud clap of thunder. It looked and felt like an explosion. The rain came down so heavily that it was not possible to sleep once it started. The temperature dropped more then 10C during the storm, and it actually felt cool in the morning, though it was still about 24C. And it is possible to see green in the fields already, after only the few storms that we have had in the last month.

Friday I finally got a wardrobe for hanging my clothes. Saturday I finally unpacked my suitcase, which had been lying open on the floor. As I was taking clothes out I saw something moving among my clothes. I finally recognized it as a tarantula. As I decided what to do, it kept rearing it's head towards me and looking for a dark place among the remaining clothes. I suppose that I should have killed it, but instead I trapped it in a pot that I had and released it outside of the compound. It reminded me that I need to look inside my clothes and shoes before putting them on.

The final story is about lizards. I was waiting to go out last night so stood and chatted with the night watchman for a bit. He pointed to the security light over my bedroom window. There were probably up to 30 geckos and lizards around that light. They were having a feeding frenzy on all the bugs that were attracted by the light. I had never seen so many lizards at a time, or watched them eating insects like that. It was like going to a stocked pond and throwing food to the fish. It was funny to watch.

I think that I have written enough for this week. I hope that you find it somewhat interesting and entertaining. Feel free to write to me - DavidPerryGhana@gmail.com or livingbyplan@bellnet.ca are the two best addresses to use.

Finally an Update

I am going to try this blog thing again. I have not been able to access the site recently and still don't know if it will work.

This is a picture taken this past Sunday, 30 April 2006. My housemate hosted a party to thank those that had helped her to settle into Bolgatanga. Because I was also preaching in a village church that morning, I had decided to wear my traditional dress and just kept it on the whole day.

Even from the first time that I wore this, those that saw me were pleased to see me wearing this outfit. The first person that saw me in it, though, immediately said that it was a Nigerian design. So, though it is similar to what is worn by some here, it is still recognizably different. But it will do for now.

Things are good in Bolgatanga. We have had a few rains, enough to make the green start to show. But the real rains are still a couple of weeks away. And then there will be a frenzy of activity on the farms. And the weather will be substantially cooler (down to 25C at night instead of 34C). Some people say that I will feel cold, but I am not sure it will be that cool.

I am now mobile. I finally received my motorcycle training and get around on a Yamaha 125 cc Motocross. It is a good bike for here, as the travel varies from pavement to dirt roads, to dirt tracks, and sometimes even to dirt/rock paths. After a bit of a hesitant start from not riding a motorcycle for many years, I am feeling more confident daily. However, there are lots of other vehicles of all shapes and sizes sharing the road with pedestrians and animals. For vehicles, the largest vehicle takes the right of way. The humans and animals are not always that predictable. So, it requires a constantly watchful eye in all directions when riding.

Work is another story. I will update that at another time, after I see how this works. 

David Going To Ghana

David In Accra, Ghana

I am safely in Ghana after good help in getting to the airport in Toronto, where I had to repack my bags in the middle of the airport to meet weight limitations, good flights to London and then to Accra and VSO at the airport in Accra to meet the entire group. It was a long day and I was glad to get to the hotel and to bed.

There are 10 volunteers in our group - 1 Canadian (me), 1 Scottish lady, 1 Kenyan lady, 2 Indian men, 1 Filipino lady, 3 British ladies and 1 British man. The British guy and I will be doing the same work, only he will be in Wa, Upper West Region and I will be in Bolgatanga, Upper East Region. We are already looking forward to collaborating on the project, once we find out exactly what the project is.

We met with the VSO programme officers the other night and have a better feel for what we will be doing. But we both realize that the reality might be different from the expectation.

All is well here. The hotel is very nice with AC, hot water, satellite TV, good meals, and quiet. It has been a very gentle introduction to Ghana so far. Sunday we leave for our placements, and that will be the real introduction to Ghana.

I might not be able to post often as Internet access will be non-existent or limited in Bolgatanga. I will have to think of a good way to keep in touch with everyone.

Bye for now.

David Going To Ghana

I received confirmation last week that my visa for Ghana has been approved and VSO is just waiting to receive it so they can send it to me.

Today I received an email telling me that my passport, including visa and travel arrangements, has been overnighted to me and so everything is a go.

I have spent the last few days getting things that I know I will need, things that I think I will need, and even some things that I hope I will not need or will ever have to use. In the meantime, I am sure that there are some techical tools that would be useful to have when I get there but I won't really have any idea what they are until I need them. Some of my technical friends back in Canada and the US might get personal emails asking for long-distance assistance once I have a better idea of what I will be doing.

It seems that the time is really flying by now. It wasn't that long ago that I had two months to get ready. And now I have only a few days. I am organizing my bedroom for storage and so that it is not a nasty mess while I am gone. I am selecting clothes that I want to take with me. I am looking at the size of my bag, and that will mean reorganizing my gear. And then I expect that after I try to get it all in the bag there will be yet another attempt at reorganizing. I am sure that the final load will be determined when my ride to the airport gets here and I have to seal my bag for the trip.

The good part is from my past experience in Nigeria, I know that I can get by with what I take with me. I might miss a few things but in the long run, I will manage. In fact, that was a motto for Nigeria - we'll manage. I expect that it will be similar in Nigeria.

My next entry will be from Ghana. Perhaps I will have the chance to add some interesting photos, or at least some interesting information about the country.

The End of January (Almost)

Here it is the end of January. The last that I heard I am leaving on February 11 and will fly for a couple of days from Toronto to Accra in Ghana. I should be quite tired by the time I get there.

I am putting off packing. One reason is that I still have to wear many of the clothes that I will take with me. Another reason is that I have not yet decided what to take. It is hard to know since there is still much up in the air.

It won't be as severe a transition as I experienced when I went to Nigeria, unless the weather changes in the next few days. January has been one of the warmest on record. It is still colder than what I will find in Ghana, but not as cold as expected for this time of year.

Sunday I went to church in Toronto and met a couple of Ghanaian men. They talked with my parents and assured them of my safety in Ghana. They also mentioned family and friends that I will be able to contact when I get there. One thing they both said is that it is going to be very hot in Bolgatanga. Other than that they were very positive about what I will experience. Both are planning trips there next year and said they would look me up when and if they come.

Less than two weeks to go and there is a lot that I could be doing. But I still feel a bit in limbo as I wait for the final approval and arrival of my tickets. Patience!!!!

Getting Closer to Leaving

January is passing quickly. I just received the word that my anticipated departure is February 11. I have been telling folks that I was leaving in a month. Now that I have a date to target, it seems so much closer. That means that I really need to start getting things organized - deciding on clothes, hardware, software, miscellaneous stuff, etc. I can remember some of the things that I wish I had taken to Nigeria with me when I went there, but I learned to live with what I had. I have some of those things, but not others. And I know that I will remember something when it is too late to do anything about it. But I know that it will be okay and I will manage with whatever I have when I get there.

I think that my previous experience will make this transition easier. However, I do have to continue to remind myself that it is not going to be the same experience as Nigeria. There will be different people, different cultures, different living conditions - both from Canada and from Nigeria. I am looking forward to getting started, while concerned about what I am leaving behind.

Training in Ottawa

This has been a big weekend. Lots of training. Met several new people and enjoyed getting to know them. Tiring because there is so much to learn and to try to apply to my placement in Ghana.

Just trying out this blog site on the recommendation of a new friend from the course and might use it as a way to keep in touch with folks while I am in Ghana.