As a goodbye to Africa I would like to publish our "African Counting Game"
10- the number of shops with the words "Jesus Saves" in the title. For example "Jesus Saves Rice and Chicken" or "Jesus Saves Stop and Shop"
9- the number of times we genuinely thought we would crash and die in a speeding taxi with no seatbelts
8- the number of meals Jess secretly slipped Beth some of the meat from her plate
7- the number of times Beth slipped Jess a gnawed on bone to pretend Jess had eaten the meat
6- the number of times Beth saved us tons of money with her patented bargaining skills
5- the number of other white people we saw in Kumasi and Burkina Faso combined
4- the number of women we saw wearing the full burka
3- the number of pigs we saw (as opposed to 1,000 chickens, accompanying roosters, 500 goats and just as many cows)
2- the number of working seatbelts in all of West Africa (both worn by taxi drivers bent on mass destruction)
1- marching band (this one is for you, Dad!!!!)
Sunday, July 18, 2010
time to come home
Our dear readers, this is our final farewell. Tomorrow morning we will head to Accra, and the following morning we will fly home. This expedition has exceeded all of our expectations of learning, adventuring and having fun. We are so grateful for this experience, and at the same time, we are really looking forward to coming home. Here are the top five things we are most looking forward to when we return home:
5. Salads.
In order to avoid getting sick, we had a diet of only VERY well-cooked vegetables and peeled fruit. Mmmm, the lettuce is calling us now!
4. Washing machines.
We have been washing our clothes by hand every night ini the sink. Not that it is that much work, but we're not very good at it, and we have been getting progressively more and more skanky as the trip goes on.
3. American driving rules.
The West African style seems to be just step on the gas and the horn at the same time no matter what happens. we have had to muffle quite a few yelps from the backseat of taxis.
2. Chocolate, sweets, and dessert.
Given the thrust of our research, there have been very few actual treats in our lives the last few weeks! Divine Chocolate here we come!!
1. Our friends and family.
Dear ones, we have missed you, talked about you, and deeply appreciate all you have done to support our amazing adventure in Africa. Thank you for the help with childcare, gifts, emails, and just sharing the excitement with us. We can't wait to see you all and show you our pictures!
5. Salads.
In order to avoid getting sick, we had a diet of only VERY well-cooked vegetables and peeled fruit. Mmmm, the lettuce is calling us now!
4. Washing machines.
We have been washing our clothes by hand every night ini the sink. Not that it is that much work, but we're not very good at it, and we have been getting progressively more and more skanky as the trip goes on.
3. American driving rules.
The West African style seems to be just step on the gas and the horn at the same time no matter what happens. we have had to muffle quite a few yelps from the backseat of taxis.
2. Chocolate, sweets, and dessert.
Given the thrust of our research, there have been very few actual treats in our lives the last few weeks! Divine Chocolate here we come!!
1. Our friends and family.
Dear ones, we have missed you, talked about you, and deeply appreciate all you have done to support our amazing adventure in Africa. Thank you for the help with childcare, gifts, emails, and just sharing the excitement with us. We can't wait to see you all and show you our pictures!
Gender Markers
Just before leaving on this trip I was out buying flip flops. My daughter chose a little pink pair with Tinkerbell on them and, of course, so did my son. An interesting moment for a mother who professes not to play into the gender distinctions culturally imposed. I had to admit a twinge of discomfort with his choice. I am happy to report there are NO SUCH ISSUES HERE!!
West Africa is teeming with burly men standing tall and proud in dashikis made entirely from pink eyelet. Teenage boys proudly sport backpacks of teal and purple and small boys are perfectly happy wearing pink camouflage. There is an undeniable layer that involves money, the affluence to choose the color of ones shirt, that is true but gender markers here are undeniably different even taking preference into account. Girls and young women sport many different hairstyles but the most common in Ghana is closely cropped and without decoration. Thus earrings are the mark of a female child (often) because boys and girls have the same haircut. All in all, a wonderful education into another culture and as soon as I get home Emmett is getting those Tinkerbell flip flops!!
West Africa is teeming with burly men standing tall and proud in dashikis made entirely from pink eyelet. Teenage boys proudly sport backpacks of teal and purple and small boys are perfectly happy wearing pink camouflage. There is an undeniable layer that involves money, the affluence to choose the color of ones shirt, that is true but gender markers here are undeniably different even taking preference into account. Girls and young women sport many different hairstyles but the most common in Ghana is closely cropped and without decoration. Thus earrings are the mark of a female child (often) because boys and girls have the same haircut. All in all, a wonderful education into another culture and as soon as I get home Emmett is getting those Tinkerbell flip flops!!
Cape Coast Castle
Cape Coast Castle dominates this city. Facing the ocean, the castle is enormous and covered in peeling white paint. Piles of rusty cannonballs line the entrance and inner courtyard as cannons line the outer walls. The museum is thought provoking, informative and extremely well balanced. Our tour guide was well spoken, knowledgeable, and captivating. We learned a lot about the terrible history of this slave fort and the people who were held, tortured, raped, and killed there. We were taken to places where unspeakable things were done to human beings. We struggled to remain present with the waves of information and resulting emotion. Like so many parts of this trip our visit to Cape Coast castle was not for the faint of heart. Words fail to describe the experience of being there.
Saturday, July 17, 2010
Local School Burkina Faso
Local Schools
Unfortunately our visit to a local school in the village of Ponga was short due to students being on vacation. We were shown around by a very friendly teacher who lived next door to the school. Classrooms were large with blackboards on two walls and two large walls of windows facing inward. One classroom (there were four total) had desks and another did not, students sit on the mud floors to study. Class sizes averaged about 65 students and one teacher in a room. The teacher we met described some difficulties with teachers not being invested in the school, coming late to work, leaving for a few days at a time and not coming in at all. He had found success in his own classroom and was duly proud of having turned out top scholars this past year.
Unfortunately our visit to a local school in the village of Ponga was short due to students being on vacation. We were shown around by a very friendly teacher who lived next door to the school. Classrooms were large with blackboards on two walls and two large walls of windows facing inward. One classroom (there were four total) had desks and another did not, students sit on the mud floors to study. Class sizes averaged about 65 students and one teacher in a room. The teacher we met described some difficulties with teachers not being invested in the school, coming late to work, leaving for a few days at a time and not coming in at all. He had found success in his own classroom and was duly proud of having turned out top scholars this past year.
rice
Hamidou was immensely proud of his rice. As we drove through the village we passed piles upon piles of humungous bags of rice, 60 kilos in each bag. Rice was drying on the ground everywhere on main street, and was hulled by a Chinese-made machine that one could pay to use. He showed us his rice farm, where the harvest was just ending and only a few workers remained cutting the very last of the stalks. During the height of the harvest, everyone in the village had come to help, women, men and children. Hamidou explained he was so busy that he had slept right in his field for three weeks-- he spread a mat on the ground and propped up a mosquito net with sticks stuck in the ground. He didn't have time to go home to go to bed.
The United States had donated rice to Burkina Faso for several decades before abruptly stopping about five years ago. At that point, the government of Burkina asked the Chinese to come and assist them to build a dam that would simulaneously create hydro electric power and also provide water to make rice farming possible. The Chinese did create the dam, and electricity is coming to villages for the first time. Electricity still has not reached Hamidou's village, but is probably not more than a couple years away. Now there are many rice farms where before farming rice was impossible in the dry climate. rice gives much bigger yields than any other crop traditionally farmed here, such as corn, millet, and cassava. With the extra money from selling their corn, the villages can afford less flammable building materials for their homes. Before, fire from the kitchen would often overtakes the thatched roofs. Now many villagers can afford concrete walls and tin roofs, much sturdier, longer-lasting and less flammable than before.
The United States had donated rice to Burkina Faso for several decades before abruptly stopping about five years ago. At that point, the government of Burkina asked the Chinese to come and assist them to build a dam that would simulaneously create hydro electric power and also provide water to make rice farming possible. The Chinese did create the dam, and electricity is coming to villages for the first time. Electricity still has not reached Hamidou's village, but is probably not more than a couple years away. Now there are many rice farms where before farming rice was impossible in the dry climate. rice gives much bigger yields than any other crop traditionally farmed here, such as corn, millet, and cassava. With the extra money from selling their corn, the villages can afford less flammable building materials for their homes. Before, fire from the kitchen would often overtakes the thatched roofs. Now many villagers can afford concrete walls and tin roofs, much sturdier, longer-lasting and less flammable than before.
shea butter cooperative
While staying in Hamidou's village, we spent a day driving to a local shea butter cooperative. Creating shea butter is strictly women's work. All women know how to make it: it starts with a small green fruit that grows from local trees. The fruit is delicious, like a cross between an avocado and a peach. The pit of the fruit is roasted and then pounded until the oil is pressed out. It is a great deal of work to pound it and then separate out pure oil from the bits of pit. But a group of women in a nearby village managed to buy several machines to make the process less labor intensive with a cleaner product that would have a longer shelf life. When we arrived we were greeted warmly and Hamidou explained that we were teachers and would like to learn more about the process of making shea butter. The women were very happy to show us each step of the process, and explained at the end that they were having trouble selling the shea butter at a fair price. They wanted 4000 CFAs per kilo (about $8) in order to pay everyone well but customers were only offering 2000, only half of their price. They may be forced to close the factory if they can't find customers who will pay better, since they can't cover their costs well. Ia sked about shipping to the US, but they are a landlocked country, and this would involve driving all the way through Ghana to a ship, which is prohibitively expensive. The women were hopeful about our interest, although we couldn't figure out how we could help aside from buyiing large jars at the moment. The women thanked us over and over and even broke into spontaneous song at the end of our visit. Hamidou translated the song: "we have been suffering for too long but now our suffering is ending." We left with their names and address, and a faith that our visit there will make some difference in their lives in a way we cannot foresee now.
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