It's Ghana Be Quite The Summer! - Part 3

Hello Again!

So here we are with part 3 of my adventures in Ghana! I can't say a lot has gone on here since my last post. Last week I worked in the field Friday and Saturday and so was unable to travel at all but it was definitely an interesting weekend!

On Friday I traveled to a town called Amasama to watch a troupe of our actors perform for a crowd of hundreds... it was a little tough because a)the people watching sat along the outside of a field that was as big as a soccer field, b) the sound system didn't work, and c) the assembly man cut us off 1/2 way through because it was time to watch African drumming/dancing. Not such a successful performance to say the very least but the head assembly man of the community - Honourable Agogo - decided he liked me very much and so gave me a pineapple! I thanked him for the nice piece of fruit and we headed back to the road to catch our tro-tro.
The next day I went to two other communities. Old Fadama and another whose name I cannot remember. In Old Fadama it was really neat as we performed in the middle of Accra's biggest yam market. With hundreds of people around, watching as they sold their yams and other goods, it was almost as if the performance was a piece of street-theatre. The performance itself was on family planning and it was great seeing the reaction from the audience and their willingness to participate. Tons of people felt comfortable enough to speak out on the issue which was awesome to see. Unfortunately at the end of that performance the assembly men who were in charge of the community felt it necessary to demand money from us because they didn't HAVE to come and it was a favour to us that we had their presence at the performance. When we explained to them that we had no money in the budget to be paying for something they should be willing to do as it was for their community's own development, they decided to come at me yelling "YOU ARE WHITE, YOU HAVE MONEY, PAY US NOW!!!". Not exactly the nicest environment... it's very challenging being not only white but a female in these male dominated societies. They believe that women are incompetent and that whatever the man says should go. Once this lovely gentlemen was finished yelling at me, my coworker (a Ghanaian woman) decided to slink off and leave me to deal with the men on my own. I then explained to them that I am a volunteer and that I give only my time, energy and heart to this organization and that they should respect that and leave me the hell alone (only I said it far more eloquently than that). Once we were free from the money minded middle-aged men we hopped back on another tro tro and headed to another community where we did a performance and taught the audience about proper condom usage. It went very very well with the exception of one thing: the fake penises we had were made of a light wood, thus causing an audience member to yell "Our penises are BLACK, not WHITE.... what do WE do? Is it the same putting a condom on a black penis as a white one?" .... for Western culture this seems like the most ridiculous question possible but I guess when you've never had any sort of experience with a sexual-health class, the question is quite valid!

Then it was Sunday... Ghana's first World Cup match against Serbia! Emilie (my roommate), Stacey (another volunteer) and I went to a bar with about 10 old Ghanaian men to watch the big game. A few drinks, a few curses and one penalty kick later Ghana won the first African point on African soil!!! Needless to say Ghana has been going crazy ever since. Right after the game and some celebratory dancing in the our neighbourhood, the three of us hopped on a trotro and headed to the main party/restaurant/shopping street in Accra. Upon arrival we realized the street was shut down and everywhere you looked were screaming fans dressed in yellow, red, black and green. There were motorcycles doing tricks in the streets with flames coming from their exhausts as they flew through the crowds, people dancing on the tops of cars as they tried to get out of the street and cheers all around. Only when it began to rain did the cheers die down and the people disperse. AND THIS WAS ONLY THE FIRST GAME!!! Game two is this Saturday at 2pm (Ghana time)... I suggest you all watch it and cheer for Ghana!

This week the power has been on and off constantly as the combination of every TV in Ghana being tuned into the World Cup and CRAZY thunderstorms every night have made the electrical system unreliable to say the least! I will be working again this weekend both on Friday and Sunday (no one works when there is a game on) and will hopefully get to travel - or at least get to the beach - the weekend after that!

So I'm going to finish of the email with a few things I've learned in Ghana... some are quite shocking but hopefully you'll find amusing.

Happy Birthday to my mother whose big day is this Friday and I hope everyone is having a great summer so far!

Fun Ghanaian Lessons:

1. The word "toilet" is a relative term. Using the side of the road or open gutter to perform one's... business... is not only accepted, but encouraged.

2. To eat with a fork and knife is deserving of a laugh and a exasperated sigh - hands were made in the shovel shape for a reason.

3. If a child hits another child, this calls for laughter. However.. if they blow bubbles in their juice, it deserves a strong beating.

4. Stuffed animals and dolls are possessed by demon spirits. Once these spirits are within the toy and a child plays with the toy, that child with then be possessed.

5. White people do not fart. Because of this, they love the noise they hear when Black people fart which in turn means said white person will give money (out of thanks) to the black person. **no wonder it always smells funny on trotros

6. White people do not lie, cheat, steal or become angry. EVER.

7. Calling someone fat, ugly or obese is a term of endearment. Calling someone crazy, silly or foolish are the WORST insults.

8. Rain, soccer and mosquitoes are the three things that will shut down Ghana for a day... or two... or ten.

9. Obruni means "white foreigner" in Twi. A widely accepted thing to SCREAM as LOUDLY as possible across a busy street, a marketplace, etc whenever one sees a white person. Furthermore, second hand clothes stores or consignment-stores as we like to call them, are called "Dead Obruni Clothing Stores". Yes, that translates to dead white people clothing stores.

10. All Ghanaians are born with rhythm in their bloodstreams and dance in their hearts... newborns to 100 year old men dance in the streets, while they urinate, while they cook and while they clean... dance is the REAL language in Ghana and I'm happy to say I'm catching on quick! :-)


** Many pictures are now posted to Facebook... I have been trying to upload as many as I can but Facebook seems to be having issues with my internet connection. For all those not on facebook, feel free to visit this link to see my pictures instead...
http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2068210&id=132701906&l=a0f9d90010