Goodbye Ghana

            My six weeks in Ghana have unfortunately come to an end.  However, my sixth week was one of my favorites in Kumasi.  It started with a trip to the public pool at the KNUST campus, known by all as “Poolside.” The other interns and I spent an entire afternoon there.  The pool was quite big, but nearly all of the people in it stayed in the shallow end.  I learned that this is because most Ghanaians do not know how to swim.   There were diving platforms at the deep end, and I worked my way up from the 1-meter platform all the way to the 10-meter jump at the very top.  We stayed at the Poolside to watch two World Cup matches on a large projector screen.

            Tuesday, July 1^st, was Republic Day, a national holiday celebrating the day Ghana gained complete control over its government a few years after it declared independence.  Since I had the day off from school, I decided to go into the center of Kumasi on my own.  I wandered through the Kejetia market, which, as I mentioned in my first post, is the largest open air market in West Africa.  My eyes were overwhelmed by the vibrant colors of the fabrics, foods, art crafts and other objects being sold.  My ears were overwhelmed shopkeepers yelling out the names and prices of their products, and often asking me to take a look at their shop.  I had to constantly be aware of my body and where I was walking, or I might have gotten pushed or hit in the head by the large bowls many women carried on their heads.  I embraced all these overwhelming elements, and let myself get lost in the narrow winding allies of the market.  I bartered with vendors as I bought some gifts and souvenirs to bring home.  Somehow I was able to successfully navigate my way out of the market, and I decided to keep exploring the town. 

I made two discoveries.  The first one came shortly after I left Kejetia.  I saw a bell tower at the top of a hill, so I decided to go see what it was.  It was a large and beautiful cathedral that seemed to be perched on top of Kumasi.   The guard told me I could enter, so I went in and enjoyed the large interior of the cathedral, which had beautiful stained glass with some Ghanaian symbols that I recognized.  Walking out of the church, I looked at the top of the tower and thought to myself “I bet there’s a great view from up there.” And so I asked the guard if it was possible to go up, but unfortunately he said no.  And so I walked down the hill and kept exploring.  Walking across and overpass with a great view of some of Kumasi’s main streets, I saw a small market that I had never seen before.  I knew I wanted to be inside it, but I had no idea where the entrance was. So I walked around the area I had seen from above, looking for some sign or entrance to the market.  It turned out that the entrance was a tiny little ally where only one or two people could pass at a time.  I only noticed it because I saw people walking out of it and wondered where they were coming from.  In this market, which I called the secret market, vendors were selling a wide range of products including vegetables, fruits, traditional medicines, jewelry, and books. After buying some cooking ingredients from this market, I took a Tro-tro back the LC house, satisfied with my exploration of Kumasi. 

This week was also my last week of teaching at the Adako Jachie Junior High School.  I taught 9 different classes, each for one period per week, so every day this week I had to said goodbye to one of two of my classes. During these last classes, I allowed the students to spend the last 10 minutes of class to ask me any questions they wanted and to take pictures.  All of the students were very excited during these questioning periods.  Most classes asked me the same entertaining questions: are your parents’ names, do you have brothers and sisters, are you married, do you have children, what is your favorite Ghanaian food, what is your favorite sport.  Every class asked my age, and in every class cries of disbelief followed when I told them I was 19.  They told me they thought I was 25 or 30! When we took group pictures at the end of each class, the students rushed to the front of the class and surrounded me completely, each one fighting to stand next to me or at grab on to my arm. After my very last class on my last day at the school, I went to say goodbye to the headmistress of the school.  I was shocked when she interrupted all classes and called an assembly.  The students rushed out of their classes and stood in lines with their classes in the schoolyard.  The principle informed them that I was leaving, and said that I had done a great service to the school, and that they were grateful for having me and hope I return in the future.  When the students were dismissed, they all waved and yelled goodbye.  Safe to say, I walked home from school with a big smile on my face that day.

At the end of my week, Alina from AIESEC Yale arrived in Kumasi.  Unfortunately our internship dates only overlapped by a couple days, but it was really fun to see each other in Kumasi.  During my last week, all the interns that were in the house when I first arrived in Kumasi had left, and so the other interns jokingly called me the “senior intern.” This was incredibly odd for me.  I still remembered clearly what it felt like to be the new kid.  During my first weeks in Kumasi, when I was learning my way around, I was very dependent on the other interns.  They showed me all around Kwamo, KNUST campus and Kumasi.  They showed me where to buy food and other supplies, and they explained to me which Tro-tros to take.  I realized that I had come full circle when I showed Alina around the shops and markets of Kwamo, following the same exact path that the German intern had used to show me around on my first day.  On my very last day in Kumasi, we went back into the center of town one more time, and I led Alina and the other interns all through the Kejetia market and other areas in town.  It was very rewarding to be able to navigate my way around streets that had once seemed like a giant maze to me.  I am sure that Alina and the other interns will also have this same experience at the end of their internships. 

It was strange to leave the LC house and say goodbye to the other interns and Ghanaians.  By the time I left, I was so adjusted to my daily routine, and the general lifestyle in Ghana.  There is no doubt in my mind that I will return to Ghana in the future.

A Tour of Ghana

    I have had so many amazing experiences in the last two weeks that I don’t even know where to start.  A couple days ago the other interns and I got back to Kumasi after a 10-day trip all around Ghana.  Just a few days before we started our trip, the World Cup started.  I watched the opening Brazil match at our neighbor’s house with some Ghanaian AIESECers, the other interns, and a Brazilian girl who was an intern here last year and came back to visit the Local Committee President of AIESEC KNUST, who is now her boyfriend (AIESEC, oh AIESEC).  Since then I have watched dozens of World Cup matches in many different settings, and have had to miss some matches due to power outages and other obstacles.  The German intern and I went to an outdoor viewing of Netherlands vs Spain during a blackout and, after waiting 20 minutes for the generator to be fixed, the TV turned on just in time to watch Spain score a penalty shot. Thirty seconds later, the TV broke, and we had no choice but to walk home in the dark.  The interns and some locals also squeezed into a small room in our neighbor’s house to watch Ghana vs USA, and I have to admit that I was rooting for Ghana. 

            The first part of our trip was a three-day excursion to Mole National Park, about five hours north of Kumasi. We hired a driver and got a van that we affectionately called our private tro-tro.  Mole is a giant national park is home to many wild animals such as monkeys, elephants, and antelopes.  We were very lucky to spot three elephants as soon as we arrived, and we quickly arranged for a park ranger to bring us closer. We ended up following the elephants through the forest, getting within about thirty feet from them.  

That night, I had to bribe the bartender to keep the bar open past its normal hours so that we could watch the Italy vs England match.  A group of about fifteen British girls showed up just before the match, so there was some tension in the room (which didn’t go away after Italy won).  The following morning we went on a 7am safari, sitting on top of a jeep and driving along bumpy roads through the national park.  We were again able to see monkeys, antelopes and elephants from up close.  The views of the park and its water holes and vegetation were also beautiful.

            Our next destination was the Volta region to the east, home of the second largest man-made lake and other attractions.  We were supposed to get there in half a day…but it ended up taking us two whole days.  One of the Ghanaian AIESECers helped us find a rental car and offered to drive us around. The plan was for us to meet him in Koforidua, about three hours by bus from Kumasi. Due to a really bad tro-tro accident on our road, our bus was delayed and ended up taking five hours.  Kweku, our friend and driver, was also caught in traffic, and we had to wait in the bus station in Koforidua for three more hours for him to arrive with the car (luckily a shopkeeper invited me to the back of his small clothing shop to watch a soccer match while we waited).  By the time we got on the road in our rental car it was dark, and the roads we were unpaved dirt roads with potholes everywhere. After driving over one of the holes, our back bumper fell off, with only one corner still attached to the car.  After a few failed attempts to reattach it, we came up with the idea of ripping the traditional cloth that one of the interns had bought in Kumasi into long strands, and using it to tie the bumper to the car. It worked perfectly, but we had lost so much time that we had to stop a nearby guesthouse for the night, not even halfway to our destination.

            After getting the car fixed in the morning (for a cost of about $10usd), we got back on the road towards Amedzofe, the highest settlement in Ghana. Driving up a skinny bumpy road, we got an amazing view of the town and the mountain. Continuing our streak of bad luck, it started pouring rain as soon as we parked our car in Amedzofe.  We tried to wait for it to pass, but we had to leave in order to get to our final destination before it got too late. I was upset that we were not able to hike to the top of the mountain and enjoy the view from above, but I hope I will get a chance to go back in the future. We left Amedzofe and headed towards Wli. I made a slight mistake in navigating us with the GPS, and we ended up on small dirt roads rather than on the main road.  I tried directing us back towards the main road, but the dirt roads were really bumpy and wet from the rain, and our car got stuck in the mud just a couple miles from the main road.  A bunch of boys from the nearby village immediately ran over and tried to help us push the car forward, but we soon realized how useless it was.  We worked at it for hours, even after the sun went down. Several teenagers and a few men came and tried to help us put wood under the tires and push the car, but we were seriously stuck.  We were fairly sure we would have to just leave the car overnight and come back and try again in the morning, so a man with a motorcycle drove me to a nearby guesthouse to check if they had any open rooms.  However, when I got back the other interns had come up with the idea of lifting the car up using a carjack, shoveling out some of the mud, and placing planks of wood under the tired before lowering it back down. And so, after three long hours, we were finally able to push the car out.  Enthusiastic cries and celebrations followed. We gave our helpers some money, and got back on the road.  It was 10pm when we got to our hotel, and we were all exhausted and covered and mud. Despite the struggles of the day, we had a fun night watching some World Cup soccer and dancing AIESEC Ghana roll calls.  A new intern from Singapore joined us that night.

Wli Waterfall

            The next day we did a six hour hike to the Wli Waterfall, the tallest waterfall in West Africa. We climbed to the very top of the mountain, and then along the side of the mountain to the waterfall itself. The view as we climbed up was incredible, and when we stood on the peak it felt like we were on top of the world (or of West Africa, at least). It was one of the most amazing experiences of my life.  The waterfall itself was incredibly strong. We all entered the water and stepped slowly backwards towards the falling water, and we felt water spray against our back. When I put my arms out to the side, I felt like I was skydiving. 

Ada

         The next day, we drove six hours south to Ada, a beautiful town right on the coast. Our “beach resort” (essentially a series of straw huts on the beach) was on the thin strip of sand where the Volta River meets the ocean. We had a fun and relaxing day on the beach, followed by a fun night of dancing to Ghanaian music with some other foreigners at the resort.  After we left Ada, we stopped in Accra, the capital city, to watch the Ghana vs Germany match in an outdoor bar. Watching the match in this crowded, noisy setting was so much fun.  Shouts and celebrations came with every single offensive chance that Ghana had during the match (the German intern swallowed his pride).

Our last two days were spent on the beaches of Busua, in the Western Region.  We walked several miles along the beach and then up a hill to find the ruins of Fort Batenstein, an old Dutch fort.  We had the entire place to ourselves, and we explored and climbed all over the ruins.  On our very last day of the trip, we tried to drive to from Busua to Cape Three Points, the southernmost point in Ghana. However, the roads were very bad and muddy, and at a certain point we decided not to risk getting stuck again, and so we turned back towards Busua. On the drive back to Kumasi the following day, we stopped in a small town and watched the Italy vs Uruguay match with some locals.  Eventually we made it back to Kumasi, and our trip was finished. I have to say that, despite the endless delays and complications, it was an amazing ten days that I am sure I will never forget.  I have now seen seven out of the ten regions of Ghana, and I have so many stories to tell.    

        













    It feels nice to be back in the Kumasi, and going back to teaching.  When I went back to school yesterday I was greeted with my students shouting “We missed you!” and “Thank god you made it back safely!” I only have about 10 days left here, and I am going to try to make the most of it.  I am disappointed that Ghana has been eliminated from the World Cup, because I would have loved to be able to watch more Ghana matches while I’m here.

Kumasi, Ghana

My name is Bijan Makarechi and I’m a rising sophomore in TD.  I am currently in Kumasi, Ghana doing a public health internship organized by the AIESEC Chapter at Kwame Nkrumah University of Science & Technology (KNUST) and teaching French in a local school. 

When I arrived exhausted at the Accra airport two weeks ago, I thought that Tony, a VP from AIESEC KNUST, would take me straight to his house where I could get some sleep before leaving for Kumasi the following morning.  Instead, Tony had brought along another AIESECer, as well as two interns, and told me we were going to go have dinner at the mall.  The other interns, one German and one Canadian, were eager to give me a “Ghanaian experience” right away, and convinced Tony that we should get to the mall by Tro-tro. Tro-tros are the main form of public transportation in Ghana, and they are essentially vans with benched seats and a “mate” who constantly yells the final destination of the particular route out of the window.  The rides are incredibly cheap, but incredibly crowded as well.  In that first night, our first Tro-tro scraped against another one, and the drivers got into such a big argument that we decided to get off and take the next one.  Our next Tro-tro got pulled over for speeding, and we all had to get off again and wait in the dark for another one. While it was quite a hectic night, I felt comfortable and safe traveling with the two locals and two interns.  We ended up spending the following day in Accra and going to the beach, which provided me with some much needed refreshment from the heat and humidity. 

Idum and Some Tro-tros

 Now that I’ve been living in the Local Chapter (LC) House for two weeks, I have settled into the routine and I know my way around. We have quite an international family living here: two Americans, one German, one Canadian, three Ivorians and a few of the Ghanaian AIESECers.  I know my way around Kwamo, the area of the LC house, which has some small shops and food vendors of different kinds.  I have been able to adapt fairly easily to elements of the Ghanaian daily routine that are quite different from what I’m used to back at home, such as showering and flushing the toilet with nothing but a bucket of water (though I’m still struggling with hand-washing clothes).  We have electricity in the house, but the power goes out very frequently, and usually stays off for 12 to 24 hours at a time.  I have tried a lot of Ghanaian foods from vendors and small restaurants (which is almost always spicy), but the other interns and I also like to cook together for dinner.  We even made dumplings with the help of the Canadian intern who is of Chinese origin.  Some of the Ghanaians brought us to a go-cart place last week, which was a ton of fun. We often take trips together to Idum, the center of Kumasi, which is filled with markets and shops and thousands of people and Tro-tros in the street.  Last weekend we went to the Kejetia market in Idum, which is said to be the largest market in West Africa.  It was incredibly crowded and quite overwhelming, though we were told it wasn’t as busy as usual because it was Sunday and many vendors were closed.

The project I am supposed to be working on is called Embrace HIV+. It is a project organized by AIESEC KNUST that aims to prevent the spread of HIV and also reduce the stigma against its victims.  They do this by organizing testing days in rural districts, during which they give free HIV testing.  Due to the stigma against HIV positive people in Ghana, we know that no one would show up if we were only providing HIV testing, so we market and offer free Malaria and Hepatitis B testing as well.  Last week I traveled with Tony and another intern to one of the districts we were hoping to work with. We talked to the District Director, and he was very supportive our efforts and agreed to help out by providing some materials as well as marketing.  After that successful visit, we unfortunately heard that the health director of the district canceled the testing day because he did not think it was necessary.  In my preparation booklet from AIESEC KNUST, I remember the phrase “patience is certainly a virtue in Ghana.” And I now understand how true that is.  As I have seen and heard from other interns, it is very hard to accomplish things that require approval or support of public officials or even headmasters of schools.  Bureaucracy slows the pace of all our efforts.  Despite this, we are trying to organize more testing days.  

Cape Coast Castle With My Fellow EPs

In the meantime, because my Embrace HIV+ internship does not require that much of my time, I have started teaching French at a local public Junior High School.  I teach two to four classes a day, five days a week.  This is a far more challenging job than I had expected, and I am sure that I am learning more from my students every day than they are learning from me.  From what I have seen, in my school at least, the teachers in Ghana rely very heavily on the government textbooks.  My students are used to very simple teaching methods and simple tasks. They are so used to repeating what their teach says, that sometimes they repeat after me even when I don’t ask them to.  I think that the French teacher at the school pushed through the textbook material even when the students did not understand or absorb the material, because some of my students that are in their second year of French still cannot conjugate basic verbs, understand simple sentences or remember common words such as girl, boy and house.  Most of the students are respectful and attentive, and enjoy talking to me before and after class, but there are definitely some troublemakers as well.  I am trying to change the structure of the class to make it more interactive and engaging, but I can tell that many of my students would rather copy down a list of words and complete written exercises than participate orally in class or do partner exercises.  The younger students (11-12 years old) seem enjoy and benefit from some class games and competitions.  So far, teaching has been a positive challenge for me, and it has been interesting for me to learn about the school environment in Ghana.

Canopy Walk at Kakum National Park

This weekend five of us interns went on a weekend trip to Cape Coast, a fairly touristy town on the coast, where colonists built many forts and slave castles.  After seeing very few foreigners in Kumasi during my first two weeks, it was surprising to see so many Americans and Europeans in Cape Coast, but fun as well. Our hostel was right on the beach and it was full of young volunteers such as us.  We visited and toured the Cape Cost Castle, which used to be a British slave castle during the slave trade.  We had a very good tour guide, who described with brutal details the conditions of the slaves in the castle, waiting to be shipped off to the Americas. This initial phase of slavery is one we do not often consider or discuss in the US, and I found the tour powerful and educational.  We also visited Kakum National park, where we did the Canopy Walks (40 meters above ground), and had amazing views of the forest.  We spent our last hours in Cape Coast on the beautiful beach right outside our room, with the biggest waves I have ever seen.

The interns and I are starting planning a weeklong trip around Ghana, hoping to go to every single region before we come back.  I look forward to exploring more of Ghana, and I am very excited for the World Cup to start in just a couple days (USA plays Ghana in the first round!).  

Cape Coast! (and new shorts)