Wednesday the 21st

Monday to Wednesday nothing much has happened. I'll give you a run down of the blandness and then I'll comment on some social/cultural revelations that I've had recently.


Monday was VERY boring. I had to call various companies to organise meetings for our partnership proposal. I freaking hate cold calling, though it does help that everybody is super friendly and polite albeit a little inefficient. On Monday I also hand washed all of my clothes. It was about time, but also since I'll be travelling next week it' good to start off with clean clothes. I had to hand wash my clothes b/c there are no washing machines in the area. You can pay local women to hand wash your clothes for you but that's a whole new hassle of finding them and then picking it up. Ultimately it's better to hand wash yourself with buckets in the backyard. No hot water unless you boil it in a kettle b/c there's no hot water systems here either. It was quite a relaxing experience. Generally I enjoy housework, particularly when I have the view of a Ghanaian forest while I do it. But it's exhausting work and today my hands still hurt. The muscles in my hands hurt. Who even knew there were muscles there to hurt!?


On Monday night I watched 'almost famous' and 'perfume' with the boys. There aren't really cinemas in Kumasi (in Accra there is) and the internet is way too slow to download movies so the boys are always hungry for more films. I'd love to buy a Ghanaian film/TV series if I can, even though they all seem super tacky/trashy. I'll see what I can do.


Tuesday was a pretty good day. Three meetings and they all happened. Most importantly for me, they all happened on time - yay! Furthermore they were all quite positive. The managers we spoke to seemed enthusiastic about the project and sponsorship which is nice to hear. Ultimately however, it's getting close to the Christmas holidays so whatever follow-up is necessary will have to be pushed off until January 2012. Tuesday afternoon/evening I did some grocery shopping, washed my whites and cooked a stew with Sammy. Unfortunately the electricity dropped out in the afternoon and again in the evening so the net was down and my battery died. But it was cute sitting in the dark with my boys watching 'Johnny English' on Sammy's laptop. Also, Steven brought me kontomri which is a green and leafy vegetable stew - yay for vitamins and iron! So so so exciting!


Also we lit Chanukah candles. It was cute but I can tell that boys are very concerned that I don't accept Jesus as the son of God and the saviour of humanity. Oh well.


As for today, I should have a meeting with a newspaper in town. Which is good for the following reasons - 1) I found a vegetarian restaurant in town (seriously exciting news - they have tofu kebabs!) I didn't get a chance to eat there yesterday but I'll give it a go today. 2) I want to buy these beautiful woven fabrics from royal family designs that they have around here. They are the Ashanti fabrics. Seriously gorgeous. I'm going to buy some and have it made into a skirt. 3) I need to mail a letter.


Tomorrow I'm set to go swimming with Steven. He doesn't know how to swim so I'm going to teach him. Yeah, another thing I've noticed. People here don't know how to swim.


Now on to cultural observations.


1) Everybody kills their own meat. Which is interesting because it means all the boys in the house have killed animals. They kill them with kitchen knives. It can sometimes take a long time sawing away at the throat until the animal actually dies. They kill goats and chickens. But not cows. People here don't really have cows. I find this interesting on two fronts. One of my concerns about this system is that everybody becomes used to killing. That perhaps this might devalue life, desensitise people to killing and encourages violence in society. However, it seems to me that Ghanaians are very peaceful and non-violent. Indeed they don't have wars or a high crime rate. It also totally changes the way I view meat. It's no longer a gross industry that produces neatly packaged meals in the cooler section of your local supermarket. People understand what they are eating and where it comes from. I like and respect that.


2) When I told the boys that I was going to Sefwi Wiawso to visit the Jews they were concerned. Not because of the Jews but because apparently in that area there are head hunters. Witch doctors who kill people and take their heads then dry them out to be used in black magic ceremonies. Apparently the area is quite dangerous and you shouldn't go walking about at night. Now this surprises me on two fronts. Firstly that this wasn't mentioned in any of my guide books or anything online. Secondly, WHAT THE FUCK!?! You can't kill people for rituals! You can't take their heads! What is going on Ghana? You are meant to be a beacon of development in West Africa. But in your rural areas there's still this weird-ass tribal shit going on? Anyways, the boys called the community in Sefwi and spoke to the head and he has promised to take good care of me and not let me out at night. They explained that they don't break into people's houses but rather that it's people who are out late at night alone. Which I will not be doing anyway. Furthermore that isn't not really so common anyways, so don't worry about it too much. Lastly, they don't really want white heads because that brings more trouble than it's worth because suddenly the whole police force is in town searching for the murderers. So if you are my parents or people who love me very much, don't worry too much about this. But still, be perturbed.

3) Which brings me to my final point. Ghana is meant to be one of the best developed countries in Africa. Certainly the best in west Africa. Low crime rate, free health care and education. No wars. Strong economy. Furthermore, I'm in the second largest city, working with companies and university students. I'm seeing and meeting the most developed sections of Ghanaian society. And yet, this place is so backwards. Kitchens are outside with small fires on the dirt. Electricity cuts out at least once a day. Supermarkets are few and far between. Even the one's that exist frequently have shortages and a limited range of products. Restaurants are limited and even those that exist are not infrequently roadside shacks with an outdoor kitchen. Children are selling goods on the side of the road. But not begging which is good to see. Speaking of which - roads! You don't know what you've got till it's gone. The main highways are paved and the city centre is paved but the majority of the 1 million person city is unpaved. There's no fresh milk because a) they don't have enough cows and b) many/most people don't have fridges. Nobody has a washing machine. There's limited garbage collection in the city centre by private companies but the majority of people have to burn their rubbish to dispose of it. Which means that there are constantly small fires producing toxic gas all over the city. If this is the best Africa can produce I hate to think about what the rest of the continent has to contend with. Sadly, when I speak to the boys in the house about it, they know how abandoned Africa is. How the world doesn't really care. But then again, granted the colonisers fucked up the continent - but when will Africa take responsibility for itself? Stop expecting aid or foreign investment to save yourselves. Africa is blessed with so many natural resources, many more than Europe or Asia and yet they are not being utilised for the betterment of Africa. Where are the African businessmen? The inventors, the moguls and the entrepreneurs to stimulate the economy. If there is so much labour here why aren't there factories? Well, we know why. Because Africa is risky. It's politically unstable and therefore it's a high risk investment. So Africans - get your shit together! Stop killing each other. Governments - stop embezzling the taxes. People, get it together!