Crazy Week!

So, a quick update on what the past week has consisted of for me!

Saturday: 8 hour hike up Wli Falls, the highest waterfall in West Africa.

Sunday: Rest and recovery from the long hike at a nearby lodge.

Monday - Wednesday: Working in Ho at one of our production sites. Myself and another intern had to teach them new patterns as well as new batik stamps.

Thursday - Friday: Timing exercises at a production site in Ashaiman. The first day I had to time how long it took a team of seamstresses to complete an order of eight skirts, but I had to stop timing any time they were distracted or not actually working. The next day I timed each step in the process of creating an Eli dress. They were long days.

So, despite my brief descriptions, it was certainly a tiring but informative week! I had to do a lot of traveling between production sites. I am glad I got to see so many places though, and spend several days observing the mamas. I have a better appreciation and understanding of the work they do now! Tonight I am back in Accra and tomorrow I head to Cape Coast where I will stay for the next month!

Viewing the falls from the mountain top

Celebrating the completion of the hike by taking a dip under the lower falls

Tro tro

I have been so busy lately and have so many experiences to post about! I would post more often but we haven't had internet. So for today I will tell you about my first experience leaving Accra and riding a tro tro to Hohoe.

A tro tro (aka tro) is essentially a modified van with extra seats added that functions as a taxi for 15 people. There is a tro station, but it is not what you would typically think of as a station. It is a dirty parking lot in the middle of the city with dozens of vans crammed in. It is crowded with people – some screaming out the destination of their tros and loading luggage, some looking for transport, many carrying items for sale, and others doing who knows what. When we got out of our taxi a man came up to us and took us to the tro we needed (for a 2 cedi fee of course) and we loaded on. We got the three seats in the back row. It cost us 11 cedi each. The tro has no certain leaving time – it leaves when it’s full. Thankfully ours was mostly full by the time we got there and we only had to wait about 20 minutes to leave. There was too much luggage to fit in the trunk, so they tied the door shut with some string. We drove the whole way there with a half open trunk, but thankfully nothing fell out. Clearly this was not an unusual problem. 

This was my first time getting out of Accra since I arrived in Ghana. The countryside is very interesting. Most of the time we were driving through green brushy areas. Occasionally we would pass through a small town, often with sales people who would run up and try to sell us items as we passed. Our driver stopped in one town and our entire tro became surrounded about 3 women deep, all trying to sell us food and drinks. They would pull open the windows and hold their products inside trying to entice us. We bought one water satchel to share. The farther we went the more the scenery became like the Africa I pictured. The areas looked poorer, and there were huts with straw roofs. The entire way we constantly saw goats and chickens along the road. We passed many schools, all with children wearing orange and brown uniforms. We also saw many beautiful mountains.

Another thing about tros is that you can feel every single bump in the road. And since this is Africa and the roads are not up kept, there are a lot of bumps and potholes. Tros also do not slow down for speed bumps. At one point I literally flew a foot up into the air out of my seat. The farther we got away from Accra, the worse the roads became. 

Overall the tro actually was not as bad as I was expecting. It seemed to go by pretty quickly! And all the scenery made for an interesting ride.

Project Complete

We finally finished the new layout of the store today! It looks so much better than before; two weeks of hard work really paid off! We built new shelves for the shea butter and soap so we could put it on the wall, then also built a new shelf for the quilting and fabric products, cut one shelf in half, got rid of one shelf, and rearranged many other displays. The new store layout is a lot more open and displays our products better. Everyone was really happy with how it turned out. Here are some pictures of the process!

Before:

During:

After:

Tomorrow two other interns and I are heading to Ho! We are staying there for half a week teaching color ways and batik designs to some of the mamas (our producers) there. Then we are going to Ashaiman for a few days. I am not sure if I will have internet access while traveling, but if not I will be sure to fill you in on my adventures in a week and a half when I arrive in Cape Coast!

Accra's Quirks

Being a developing country, life in Ghana is very different from the United States. So I am going to share with you a few things about life here in Accra!

Palm trees at night

Ghana does not currently have the capability to meet the electricity needs of the country. Therefore here in Accra every so often we get "lights out." This means suddenly and without warning the electricity will stop working because they have cut it to our area in an attempt to conserve power. Lights out can last anywhere from 20 minutes to 16 hours, or longer (though I have yet to experience a longer time personally). Unfortunately for us loss of electricity does not just mean a loss of lights. It also means a loss of internet and a loss of running water (sinks, toilets, showers, etc).

Having running water in your house is expensive here (and as part of an NGO we are always cost conscious) so the loss of running water doesn't change things too much. We have a standing "if its yellow let it mellow" policy in order to conserve. However, half the time the toilet wont flush anyways, so we also seem to have a "even if its not yellow let it mellow" policy. When showering we also try to conserve water. We will turn on the water just long enough to get wet, turn it off to suds up and shampoo, then turn it back on to rinse. We have a giant bucket of water next to the shower so if we do have a long lights out we can use that water to clean.

Oxford Street in Accra

I have perfect vision, but have taken to always wearing glasses here. There is a lot of sand and dirt in the streets so dust tends to get everywhere and it was starting to irritate my eyes. There are also many other interesting things in the streets, such as stray goats and chickens. I personally think the little goats are adorable, though I haven't managed to snap a photo of one yet! You also have to be careful when walking on the streets. It is a delicate balance of not getting hit by a car while at the same time not falling into one of the gutters that line every street. These gutters are several feet deep and contain a mixture of street run off, garbage, and things you don't want to know about! The cars and pedestrians here have a kind of synchrony that somehow seems to work though.

One last thing I have noticed here that was really interesting was the tag "export quality" on many of the food items at the grocery store. Ghana exports all of its top quality products, so here saying that something is "export quality" means that it is good quality. It is the same in the Global Mamas store in Accra. While the items there are good quality, many of them are for sale there because they did not meet the standards for export into the U.S.

Me in front of the Global Mamas store!

Well that is all for now! Tomorrow I will try to post photos of the store once we finalize the new shelves! We had several long days of construction and rearranging but the store is looking really great!

Life in Accra

Wow, I can’t believe I have been here a week already! Time has flown by! 

Accra!

I started my internship on Monday and I have been keeping busy. I have been working with two other interns on a couple of projects. We have been redesigning the layout of the Global Mamas store. So far we have created new shelves to hang on the wall and display our shea butter. We have also rearranged the jewelry display, so it will now be more appealing to customers and make it easier for them to shop. Currently we are working on creating a new design for the packaging of our shea soap. We want to go with a simple look that emphasizes the simplicity of our product. All natural shea soap with only four ingredients!

The current shea display in the store. Stay tuned for a picture of the new display we create!

Accra is a very interesting place. If I had to describe it in three words I would use Busy, Colorful, and Loud. (If I could add a fourth word I would use Hot.) Since it is a third world country, there are not any sky scrapers or fancy modern buildings you would expect from a capital city. Instead there are streets lined with little brightly painted shops whose owners try to sell to any pedestrian or car passing by. I have seen everything at these roadside shops from cleaning supplies to home furniture! Also in a crowded city prone to traffic congestion there are many mobile sales people. They will come right up to the windows of stopped cars to sell water bottles, snacks, toilet paper, or anything you can think of! I am very impressed by some of these sales women. They will carry heavy packages or bowls on their heads – no hands needed! I think they must have very good balance. The streets are filled with the sounds of traffic, people, and music playing from shops. It is a very lively and friendly environment. Many people will greet you on the street, either to try and sell you something or just to be friendly.   

Some street vendors. Can you spot the sign for Global Mamas?

 Next week I will be traveling to Ho which is north of Accra. I am looking forward to getting out of the city and seeing more of Ghana! 

Me at the beach last weekend! It was so beautiful!

Ghana: Day 1

I arrived at the international airport in Accra this morning at approximately 5am after a flight in which the man next to me decided I would be a good pillow for the 6 hour ride from London. So I have already gotten a taste of the Ghanaian idea of personal space, something close to nonexistent in this culture. They say that Ghanaians are “The friendliest people in the world”, and this closeness is just how their culture is.  

When arriving at the airport you can already tell the difference between Ghana and developed nations like the U.S. The plane cannot pull up to a gate, instead you have to deboard to the ground and ride a bus to the airport. Inside you collect your luggage from a very old-looking, squeaky, and loud metal conveyor belt. Despite being the main international airport it is small, run down, and has few signs. I found my luggage and made it through customs with no problems though, where I was greeted by a Global Mamas worker who came to pick me up.

Then I got introduced some more aspects of Ghanaian culture very quickly. I learned that 1. You have to barter with the taxi driver for a price before getting in the cab (this may mean walking with all your luggage for five minutes and asking 10 different cab drivers) 2. Being an American means they expect you to pay more and 3. Driving in Ghana is very different than in the U.S. Honking your horn means “Hello” in Ghana, so there is a lot of horn blasting. The driver also has to navigate through people walking in the street, as well as other drivers in a hurry who decide to create their own lane between the two actual lanes. Our drive yelled and waved his arms animatedly out the window when someone did this near us, almost side-swiping the taxi. 

Walls around the Global Mamas house and office. It is a safe area, but these are here as an extra precaution.

Fortunately we made it safely to the Global Mamas house where I got to meet the other interns, employees, and the two large dogs who call the office home. I promptly took a nap and woke up around noon feeling refreshed. Since I arrived on a Friday I was told to take the weekend to get adjusted before I start work on Monday. Sara, one of the other interns, took me to exchange some money and then we got lunch. Afterwards I returned to the house to just relax.

One of the two dogs who live in our office. They are big dogs but they are sweethearts. I love animals so I am glad to have them here! It will make me miss my pets at home less, and makes the office environment more fun!

Later tonight we are going to a pizza place which is supposed to be the best in Ghana. Then tomorrow I am going with the other interns to Kokrobite where there is a great beach (on the Atlantic ocean). I am really looking forward to it and whatever other adventures come my way on this trip! 

My room at the house.