Well....the time has come. I leave tomorrow. My time in Ghana is pretty much at an end. It's so hard to believe, especially because these last couple of weeks have just flown by. March 30th has been hovering on the horizon this whole trip, as a kind of end goal; often times, knowing it signified going home is what kept me going during the tough parts. And now that it's tomorrow it feels surreal - I think a part of me won't realize I'm leaving until the plane takes off. But slowly its sinking in - especially as I've revisited so many of the places and people that have meant so much to me.
Friday I travelled to Kumasi to meet 3 of my groupmembers and to hang out, reconnect and get ourselves organized for the last part of our trip. Even though I'd seen Matt and Michelle during work placement, it was so great to see them and so great to see Rachel, who I hadn't seen since early January. In a way, being back at the same hostel where we'd parted ways, together with people I hadn't seen in so long, it was like nothing had changed - I had this eerie feeling like the past 10 weeks hadn't even happened and I had yet to go to Accra. Just like last time we were there, we were a little too excited about the tv channel that played American shows (some of the time). The Saturday movie was even Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets! Whoot! And again, it was nice to have some mindless entertainment before getting into the process of saying goodbye to everyone and dealing with the transition of coming home.
Monday we went to Nkawkaw - which felt even more like coming home than Kumasi did. Nkawkaw was where it all began. It's where we spent our first couple of weeks in Ghana (minus the couple of whirlwind days in Accra when we first got here). And it was a home base for us during the village stay, and during our first retreat. It brought back so many memories of those first couple of months and all the excitement and turmoil they'd brought. It felt like being back to 4 months ago...but it also made me realize just how far we've all come. We stayed a couple of days, visiting with the Fathers, and with Father Andy in particular, who really took us under his wing during language lessons, and into the village stay and even work placement. He's been so fantastic and has gone above and beyond to make sure we had a fantastic trip, and I'm going to miss him so much - we all will.
Wednesday the whole group met up for a short check in and then parted ways again, going back to our respective villages. I was so excited to see my host family - and they seemed pretty excited to see me! Which was really nice - because I never expected going back to the village to feel like going home. I'd had some pictures from November printed off for them, and it was really fun to look through them together - especially with my younger siblings. It was also great to be back to village food - this time I wasn't as worried about not eating enough; and my family didn't seem as worried about it either which was nice. I was a little sad that contombre isn't in season, so I didn't get any of my favourite stew :( But, I got over it, especially because now wild mushrooms are in season - I'd never had them before and they are amazing!! Most of all, it was nice to go to the village and feel comfortable right away. It took me so long to adapt to village life back in the fall; I was dealing with home sickness, and transitioning, and language and shyness and the loss of identity that comes from being totally removed from your usual surroundings. This time, I just felt more confident and comfortable in who I am; and with who I am in Ghana. This time around, I also felt a lot less pressure to learn whatever I thought I was "supposed" to be learning or being a "good" One Worlder" (whatever that is). Instead, I knew I just had to focus on being present; on enjoying my time in the village and with my family and to say goodbye. In a way, it was nice to come back and realize how different I am now than I was in November; to realize how much I've grown and changed and to make peace with my struggles in the village. It's always easier to look back on periods of growth and see the benefit than to live and struggle through it at the time. It's nice to be on this side of the process and to be able to appreciate everything I've been through - in village, travel time, work placement, all of it. I value this whole experience so much and I can honestly say that, no matter how difficult it's been I'm really, really glad that I chose to see Ghana this way.
It was tough to leave my family yesterday - I was sad to say goodbye. I was also ready to say goodbye. I'm ready to go home, even though I still have apprehension of what that will be like. An emotional rollercoaster ride, I'm sure. There will be TV shows to catch up, and movies to watch, friends to reconnect with, food to eat and lots and lots to think about. We have information that Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 1 is on the plane - so I know how I'm spending the first couple hours of the flight! It's exciting to have things to look forward to; whether Harry Potter, or seeing my family, or eating Pizza, or going back to school. And it's ok, I think, to be a little bit anxious; about how guilty I'll feel, whether people will understand my experience, or whether the whole going home experience will end up being anti-climactic. I am looking forward to 5 days of falling apart and letting myself enjoy everything I've been missing about home - regardless of whether or not it lives up to my expectations or how it makes me feel in the end. I know de-briefing will be a great way of figuring those things out and how to continue living in Canada with the perspectives and experiences I've gained in Ghana. For now, I'm going to enjoy my last 24 hours or so in Accra. The group is going out for a final dinner of wakye at the best wakye stand in Accra (according to me, Hannah, and Jennifer). So on that note, I guess I'm signing off on my last blog from Ghana. But fear not, faithful fans! I will blog again once home, because I suspect I'll have more to say and I consider coming home a huge - and hugely important - part of this program and this experience.
So, thank you all again for reading, and for supporting me during the past five and half months (!). I've really loved being able to blog and to share some of my experiences with you.
See you (I hope) in Canada!!!!
Love,
Jac
Tuesday, March 29, 2011
Thursday, March 17, 2011
Hello Blog,
I can't believe it, but work placement is done! It's my last day in Accra before heading back to the villages. It's been quite the final week; let me tell you all about it.
Monday:
On Monday AFAWI held one of its monthly meetings for community members living with HIV/AIDS, run through the "Hope Project". It was held at our office, and got to sit in - even though it was mostly in Twi so I didn't understand everything. We had a guest speaker come in and talk about healthy living and proper nutrition. She was a fantastic speaker, and even though I didn't understand a lot of it, I could tell that the audience was really engaged. She even gave a cooking demonstration on healthy food options such as omelets, homemade soy milk and Sorrel - a drink made of an herbal infusion, ginger and juice. I got to sample some and it was ammmaazzzinnngg! She focused on foods that were both nutritious, and affordable and told the members where they could buy the ingredients and for how much. It was so great to be a part of the meeting. The Hope Project participants were all so friendly, and it really felt like they had a great sense of community and support. I'm so glad I got to see a meeting before my time with AFAWI ended.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was my last day of work, which was weird. It wasn't a very busy day, since I'd finished my final report and didn't have anything else to work on. I don't think its really sunk in yet that I'm not going back. Going to work everyday; getting my breakfast, riding the trotro, walking to the office...being at the office....coming home....that's been my schedule for 2 months and its strange that all of a sudden its over. I'm so grateful though for the time that I got to spend there. It wasn't always the most exciting place in the world, and I wouldn't call it my dream job - but I've learned so much about how NGOs function day to day, how important funding is and how difficult it is to come by; I've seen different projects and how they come together and what changes have been made; and I've also seen the challenges and the struggles they face. I feel like I have a much better sense of what terms like 'advocacy work' and ' grassroots development' really look like, rather than just thinking of them in abstract, academic terms. My final report also gave me the chance to think really critically about my internship, and about AFAWI and to come up with recommendations. In some way that's a little scary, because I don't feel qualified to do things like that. But it also felt good, because - even if my recommendations are crap or unrealistic, I took a stance and wrote it out, and I feel like I do have a certain amount of knowledge about International Development - from school, from my internship, from talking to my group mates about their volunteer work. I did feel like I was able to grasp a lot of what's going on and to form opinions about it. It feels good to be able to do that; I think it makes me appreciate my degree a lot more. I think I've just kind of been unsure about what I actually learned in school, but being able to apply it has made me realize how much I do know, as well as how much more I want to learn. It also felt good because part of the report was a summary of the work I've done with AFAWI, and it was nice to see it in writing and be like, yeah! I accomplished things! I worked on projects! I find it so much easier to picture myself working in this sector; which is both encouraging and a little frightening! I'm also really grateful that my work placement introduced me to some of the challenges facing women and girls in Ghana. This was something I really wanted to learn more about and I feel like I've accomplished that goal. All in all, I'm really thankful for my work placement and everything that its given me, and taught me.
Wednesday:
Yesterday I had a couple of appointments at two NGOs, just to talk about different issues. First, I went to the Third World Network, which I'd visited a couple of weeks ago, but the gender officer wasn't in, so I made an arrangement to come back. TWN does a lot of research and advocacy work on things like the World Trade Organization and Economic Partnership Agreements between the developed and the developing world. I talked to the gender officer, a woman named Pauline, about how economic agreements, and specifically free trade agreements hurt Ghanaians, and specifically Ghanaian women. Right now Ghana is in the midst of negotiating EPAs with the European Union, and looks like they are going to sign. The problems TWN sees with these agreements is that they are being negotiated from unequal positions. Ghana is not as economically or politically strong as the EU countries, so it cannot negotiate from a place of strength. This means that often agreements are disproportionately beneficial to the more powerful country. TWN also encourages countries to negotiate as part of a regional block - meaning Ghana should negotiate as part of the African Union, rather than as an individual. There's been a trend towards individual negotiations because of a kind of 'divide and conquer' strategy among developed countries, as it is easier to get what they want when only dealing with a single government. One of the major outcomes of WTO and EPA agreements has been that they opened Ghana up to foreign imports, before its local economies were in a position to compete. For instance, small scale Ghanaian farmers cannot compete with mass producing, heavily subsidized American and European farms, who flood the market with cheaper goods and put small scale producers out of business. Women are particularly vulnerable, as many of the industries effected have been those in which women tend to dominate. for example, Ghana used to have a very strong textile industry. However, it's been damaged by the huge influx of imported, used clothing from the west. When we give our used clothing to charity shops, those items that aren't sold on the floor are usually packed off, and sold in bulk to exporting companies, which in turn sell them to dealers in the developing world. Everywhere you go in Ghana there are used clothes for sale - super cheap, for the most part. I bought a used skirt for work because it was the cheaper option, and felt more in solidarity with the poor (and its also just super easy to do). Hannah and I went to a used clothes market on the weekend to check it out and it was insane how big it was, and how many clothing stalls there were, just chalk full of used western clothing. It was like a maze - I felt like I could easily get lost in there. It's hard to imagine that there's a big enough market to support that many used clothing stalls all in one place. The upshot though, is that with all this super cheap clothing, the local textile industry has really suffered; it just cannot compete. The same goes for tailors and dressmakers, who have lost a lot of business because its so much cheaper to buy clothes than have them made (even though having clothes made is also really cheap compared to in Canada). Both these sectors have traditionally been dominated by women; women are also more likely to be small scale agricultural producers. So these economic agreements have had really dire consequences, often taking away women's livelihoods.
TWN also does work on extractive industries, especially in gold, and so Pauline and I talked a bit about that as well. They focus on helping mining communities negotiate with companies (most of which are foreign, and many of which are Canadian), to try and ensure more of the profits from mining get reinvested into the community. The organization hasn't done too much work on oil, but we talked about that as well and it was really interesting to hear her perspective. Since being here, I've heard and read a lot about the discovery of oil in Ghana, which they've now started drilling. For the most part, its been heralded as a magic pill; it will save Ghana, it will help development etc. I've been skeptical, because oil has often actually been detrimental to development. Pauline is also skeptical, and believes that the growing industry will help only certain Ghanaians, possibly leading to inflation without raising the incomes of the majority. She does not believe that Ghana has the resources and capacity for monitoring, which will allow for a lot of corruption to develop in the oil sector (as is often the case). She made a really good point too, in saying that for a long time, gold was supposed to be the key to Ghana's development; Ghana was, during colonial times, known as the "Gold Coast". But that hasn't been the case, because gold is merely extracted, and the profits invested elsewhere. There's a need for downward linkages in these extractive industries - for Ghana to be involved in the processing and manufacturing, in order for real economic growth to come from natural resource industries. If foreign companies come in and extract the natural resources, the money doesn't get reinvested, it gets taken out of the economy, depleting stocks without adding much in the way of economic development. This could definitely be the case in the oil industry, even though there's been a lot of talk about ensuring that profits stay in Ghana. But when dealing with international oil companies, can Ghana really ensure that? I'm doubtful. We touched briefly on economic concerns as well - again, discussion how Ghana doesn't really have the capacity to ensure environmental protection. Anyway, it was a really interesting conversation. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on how Ghana's oil industry does develop, and what the consequences are, good and/or bad.
When I had first emailed Pauline to set up an interview, she also recommended (based on my interests) that I contact an organization called Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights. I hadn't been able to, but then on Monday, at the Hope Project meeting, I was chatting to one of the resource people who - amazingly - it turns out works for ARHR. Emily (the American volunteer at AFAWI) visited ARHR on Wednesday afternoon, and talked to a woman named Henrietta about the organization's work. ARHR does work on HIV/AIDs, as well as on maternal health and family planning. They focus on research and advocacy, as well as monitoring of government projects. Henrietta's focus is on maternal health, and so we talked about some of the issues facing maternal health in Ghana. Mainly, there's a problem with access to health care, especially in rural areas. Many women are unable to get pre-natal care, because there are not enough doctors, nurses, midwives nor are there enough medical facilities or equipment. A lot of their advocacy work focuses on trying to get the government to improve services; especially emergency obstetrics equipment and blood - as hemorrhaging is currently the leading cause of death during childbirth in Ghana. They also focus on education; emphasizing to parents that they have a duty to seek medical care, even if that means temporarily moving closer to a health facility as their due date approaches.
We also talked about family planning, as this is something I'm becoming really interested in. I was really shocked to hear that only 17% of women use contraception in Ghana; and that number has declined in recent years. Their studies have shown that price and access are minimal barriers - both condoms and oral contraceptives are cheap, and you don't need a prescription to get them (which is an issue in and of itself). The biggest barriers are misconceptions about side effects - which I'm thinking are probably not helped my the whole not needing a prescription thing. There's something to be said for having to have your doctor explain it all to you; both for confidence, and for the real health concerns. There's also this perception in Ghana that if a woman wants to be on birth control, or use condoms its because she's sexually promiscuous. In some marriages and partnerships, the man in particular will object to their use for this reason. Women often hide the fact that they're using birth control, meaning that instead of going to a doctor or health facility, they get their information and possibly the drugs through friends, or other unofficial means - not exactly ideal. We came back to the issues of women's education and financial empowerment. Henrietta explained that an illiterate woman in particular is not seen as being in a position to argue with her husband, or take part in discussions about family planning. Just one more argument for women's education. Being educated allows a woman to contribute to discussions and decisions, increases her knowledge about family planning or how to find more information about family planning (eg. being computer literate allows her to search for information online), allows her to better care for her children and improves both child and maternal health. Ghana is also still a pro-natal country; people really value having children, although there is less of an emphasis on large families, mostly for economic reasons. As women work outside the home, they tend to want smaller families, in particular if their paying for child care. Fewer children is also just cheaper in general - so there is a trend in that sense. Still, the fertility rate is quite high (my host family has 10 children, so there's one example). Anyway, it was all very interesting, and she gave us quite a few resources which I hope to go over when I have more time. I feel very strongly about access to birth control; access also meaning that its socially and culturally accessible to women, not just that its in the shops or that its reasonably affordable. I talked about this in a previous blog about marital rape; but I'll say some of it again. I think it's really important that family units be able to plan the number of children they have, so they can invest more in these children - send them to school, feed them nutritious food etc. This is also true on a national level - and for that matter, a global level. We cannot support an infinitely growing population, especially if we want to eliminate poverty and allow everyone to live at a reasonable standard of living. It's also particularly important for women to be able to control family size as they continue to be primary care givers - which I think also needs to change, but there's kind of a chicken and egg phenomena. Ideally, either parents would share the responsibility equally; or the parent who cares for the child would still be an equal member of the partnership. However, it seems to still be the case that the breadwinner makes most of the decisions; and so not only does each new child mean more work for the mother, but it seems that it can also mean that she has fewer opportunities to work outside the home; meaning her position in the husband/wife relationship can be reduced - further hindering her ability to control her fertility and make decisions about family planning. Which sucks. And it's not like the pill is a magical solution - there are clearly deeper issues here that need to be addressed. But I do think that if women have more control over their fertility, it can have larger repercussions as far as their economic empowerment; which in turn can make them better equipped to make family planning decisions. It's allll interconnected. Anyway; like I said, it's something I've become very interested in, and I'm thinking of looking more into attitudes towards, perceptions of and access to contraception as part of my masters next year - though I change my mind on that every other day so we'll see. It was such an interesting visit though. A lot of what we talked about were things I thought, or had noticed, but it was so informative to have them explained and confirmed and elaborated on. Anyway, here's their website if anyone is interested!
http://arhr.org.gh/
Ok, so that was my week. Now it's Thursday, and it's been mostly laundry and packing and preparing myself to leave. I've had such an amazing two months in Accra, and I can't believe its over. This city is so complicated, and its given me so many opportunities to learn. It's given me the opportunity to compare rural and urban living in Ghana, and a glimpse at some of the economic disparity that exists in this country. It's also an interesting time to be here - lately there's been a crackdown on people selling (illegally) in the street. There's this whole chunk of sidewalk around circle where there used to be clothes sellers hawking their wares....one day though there was a raid while I was walking home and lately there have been patrols. That whole area now just has a couple of stands; its strange how much its changed. Ghana has such a huge informal economy, and transitioning from informal to formal will be difficult; I'm not even sure if I really support it. Right now, all I can think is, how will those people make money if they can't sell things in the street? There clearly aren't enough formal sector jobs for them. I don't know what will happen. I'm sure it will be a while before there's a huge transition - the informal economy is just too big, I think. But its interesting to see the process starting. I wonder, if I came back in a few years, what other areas will have changed? And what will that have meant....that the economy is stronger? That people have more opportunities in the formal sector? Or that their ability to earn a living has decreased, that they are no longer as visible but still there? So many questions....I don't know. 'Development' can such a crazy process, and not one I'm always a fan of. Ironic, given my career choice. Anyway. I do think that I'll come back here one day - I want to. For now, I'm focusing on being grateful for my time, for everything I've learned and experienced. I'm also focusing on saying goodbye, and letting go. And being excited to come home. Which I AM excited for - I know I may not have sounded like it in my last blog. But I'm finding as it gets closer, I do feel ready, and eager and excited. Not just to enjoy home, and the luxuries and food and all that (but there is that part of it - I'm only human). I'm also excited to start looking at Canada from a new perspective and to figure out things like living simply and advocating for women's rights at home. It's going to be tough. And awesomely fantastic. And it's only 2 weeks away!!!
Well, thanks for reading! I don't know what blogging will be like the next two weeks, but I'm sure I'll be back at least once more before I leave.
Peace,
Jac
I can't believe it, but work placement is done! It's my last day in Accra before heading back to the villages. It's been quite the final week; let me tell you all about it.
Monday:
On Monday AFAWI held one of its monthly meetings for community members living with HIV/AIDS, run through the "Hope Project". It was held at our office, and got to sit in - even though it was mostly in Twi so I didn't understand everything. We had a guest speaker come in and talk about healthy living and proper nutrition. She was a fantastic speaker, and even though I didn't understand a lot of it, I could tell that the audience was really engaged. She even gave a cooking demonstration on healthy food options such as omelets, homemade soy milk and Sorrel - a drink made of an herbal infusion, ginger and juice. I got to sample some and it was ammmaazzzinnngg! She focused on foods that were both nutritious, and affordable and told the members where they could buy the ingredients and for how much. It was so great to be a part of the meeting. The Hope Project participants were all so friendly, and it really felt like they had a great sense of community and support. I'm so glad I got to see a meeting before my time with AFAWI ended.
Tuesday:
Tuesday was my last day of work, which was weird. It wasn't a very busy day, since I'd finished my final report and didn't have anything else to work on. I don't think its really sunk in yet that I'm not going back. Going to work everyday; getting my breakfast, riding the trotro, walking to the office...being at the office....coming home....that's been my schedule for 2 months and its strange that all of a sudden its over. I'm so grateful though for the time that I got to spend there. It wasn't always the most exciting place in the world, and I wouldn't call it my dream job - but I've learned so much about how NGOs function day to day, how important funding is and how difficult it is to come by; I've seen different projects and how they come together and what changes have been made; and I've also seen the challenges and the struggles they face. I feel like I have a much better sense of what terms like 'advocacy work' and ' grassroots development' really look like, rather than just thinking of them in abstract, academic terms. My final report also gave me the chance to think really critically about my internship, and about AFAWI and to come up with recommendations. In some way that's a little scary, because I don't feel qualified to do things like that. But it also felt good, because - even if my recommendations are crap or unrealistic, I took a stance and wrote it out, and I feel like I do have a certain amount of knowledge about International Development - from school, from my internship, from talking to my group mates about their volunteer work. I did feel like I was able to grasp a lot of what's going on and to form opinions about it. It feels good to be able to do that; I think it makes me appreciate my degree a lot more. I think I've just kind of been unsure about what I actually learned in school, but being able to apply it has made me realize how much I do know, as well as how much more I want to learn. It also felt good because part of the report was a summary of the work I've done with AFAWI, and it was nice to see it in writing and be like, yeah! I accomplished things! I worked on projects! I find it so much easier to picture myself working in this sector; which is both encouraging and a little frightening! I'm also really grateful that my work placement introduced me to some of the challenges facing women and girls in Ghana. This was something I really wanted to learn more about and I feel like I've accomplished that goal. All in all, I'm really thankful for my work placement and everything that its given me, and taught me.
Wednesday:
Yesterday I had a couple of appointments at two NGOs, just to talk about different issues. First, I went to the Third World Network, which I'd visited a couple of weeks ago, but the gender officer wasn't in, so I made an arrangement to come back. TWN does a lot of research and advocacy work on things like the World Trade Organization and Economic Partnership Agreements between the developed and the developing world. I talked to the gender officer, a woman named Pauline, about how economic agreements, and specifically free trade agreements hurt Ghanaians, and specifically Ghanaian women. Right now Ghana is in the midst of negotiating EPAs with the European Union, and looks like they are going to sign. The problems TWN sees with these agreements is that they are being negotiated from unequal positions. Ghana is not as economically or politically strong as the EU countries, so it cannot negotiate from a place of strength. This means that often agreements are disproportionately beneficial to the more powerful country. TWN also encourages countries to negotiate as part of a regional block - meaning Ghana should negotiate as part of the African Union, rather than as an individual. There's been a trend towards individual negotiations because of a kind of 'divide and conquer' strategy among developed countries, as it is easier to get what they want when only dealing with a single government. One of the major outcomes of WTO and EPA agreements has been that they opened Ghana up to foreign imports, before its local economies were in a position to compete. For instance, small scale Ghanaian farmers cannot compete with mass producing, heavily subsidized American and European farms, who flood the market with cheaper goods and put small scale producers out of business. Women are particularly vulnerable, as many of the industries effected have been those in which women tend to dominate. for example, Ghana used to have a very strong textile industry. However, it's been damaged by the huge influx of imported, used clothing from the west. When we give our used clothing to charity shops, those items that aren't sold on the floor are usually packed off, and sold in bulk to exporting companies, which in turn sell them to dealers in the developing world. Everywhere you go in Ghana there are used clothes for sale - super cheap, for the most part. I bought a used skirt for work because it was the cheaper option, and felt more in solidarity with the poor (and its also just super easy to do). Hannah and I went to a used clothes market on the weekend to check it out and it was insane how big it was, and how many clothing stalls there were, just chalk full of used western clothing. It was like a maze - I felt like I could easily get lost in there. It's hard to imagine that there's a big enough market to support that many used clothing stalls all in one place. The upshot though, is that with all this super cheap clothing, the local textile industry has really suffered; it just cannot compete. The same goes for tailors and dressmakers, who have lost a lot of business because its so much cheaper to buy clothes than have them made (even though having clothes made is also really cheap compared to in Canada). Both these sectors have traditionally been dominated by women; women are also more likely to be small scale agricultural producers. So these economic agreements have had really dire consequences, often taking away women's livelihoods.
TWN also does work on extractive industries, especially in gold, and so Pauline and I talked a bit about that as well. They focus on helping mining communities negotiate with companies (most of which are foreign, and many of which are Canadian), to try and ensure more of the profits from mining get reinvested into the community. The organization hasn't done too much work on oil, but we talked about that as well and it was really interesting to hear her perspective. Since being here, I've heard and read a lot about the discovery of oil in Ghana, which they've now started drilling. For the most part, its been heralded as a magic pill; it will save Ghana, it will help development etc. I've been skeptical, because oil has often actually been detrimental to development. Pauline is also skeptical, and believes that the growing industry will help only certain Ghanaians, possibly leading to inflation without raising the incomes of the majority. She does not believe that Ghana has the resources and capacity for monitoring, which will allow for a lot of corruption to develop in the oil sector (as is often the case). She made a really good point too, in saying that for a long time, gold was supposed to be the key to Ghana's development; Ghana was, during colonial times, known as the "Gold Coast". But that hasn't been the case, because gold is merely extracted, and the profits invested elsewhere. There's a need for downward linkages in these extractive industries - for Ghana to be involved in the processing and manufacturing, in order for real economic growth to come from natural resource industries. If foreign companies come in and extract the natural resources, the money doesn't get reinvested, it gets taken out of the economy, depleting stocks without adding much in the way of economic development. This could definitely be the case in the oil industry, even though there's been a lot of talk about ensuring that profits stay in Ghana. But when dealing with international oil companies, can Ghana really ensure that? I'm doubtful. We touched briefly on economic concerns as well - again, discussion how Ghana doesn't really have the capacity to ensure environmental protection. Anyway, it was a really interesting conversation. I'm definitely going to keep an eye on how Ghana's oil industry does develop, and what the consequences are, good and/or bad.
When I had first emailed Pauline to set up an interview, she also recommended (based on my interests) that I contact an organization called Alliance for Reproductive Health Rights. I hadn't been able to, but then on Monday, at the Hope Project meeting, I was chatting to one of the resource people who - amazingly - it turns out works for ARHR. Emily (the American volunteer at AFAWI) visited ARHR on Wednesday afternoon, and talked to a woman named Henrietta about the organization's work. ARHR does work on HIV/AIDs, as well as on maternal health and family planning. They focus on research and advocacy, as well as monitoring of government projects. Henrietta's focus is on maternal health, and so we talked about some of the issues facing maternal health in Ghana. Mainly, there's a problem with access to health care, especially in rural areas. Many women are unable to get pre-natal care, because there are not enough doctors, nurses, midwives nor are there enough medical facilities or equipment. A lot of their advocacy work focuses on trying to get the government to improve services; especially emergency obstetrics equipment and blood - as hemorrhaging is currently the leading cause of death during childbirth in Ghana. They also focus on education; emphasizing to parents that they have a duty to seek medical care, even if that means temporarily moving closer to a health facility as their due date approaches.
We also talked about family planning, as this is something I'm becoming really interested in. I was really shocked to hear that only 17% of women use contraception in Ghana; and that number has declined in recent years. Their studies have shown that price and access are minimal barriers - both condoms and oral contraceptives are cheap, and you don't need a prescription to get them (which is an issue in and of itself). The biggest barriers are misconceptions about side effects - which I'm thinking are probably not helped my the whole not needing a prescription thing. There's something to be said for having to have your doctor explain it all to you; both for confidence, and for the real health concerns. There's also this perception in Ghana that if a woman wants to be on birth control, or use condoms its because she's sexually promiscuous. In some marriages and partnerships, the man in particular will object to their use for this reason. Women often hide the fact that they're using birth control, meaning that instead of going to a doctor or health facility, they get their information and possibly the drugs through friends, or other unofficial means - not exactly ideal. We came back to the issues of women's education and financial empowerment. Henrietta explained that an illiterate woman in particular is not seen as being in a position to argue with her husband, or take part in discussions about family planning. Just one more argument for women's education. Being educated allows a woman to contribute to discussions and decisions, increases her knowledge about family planning or how to find more information about family planning (eg. being computer literate allows her to search for information online), allows her to better care for her children and improves both child and maternal health. Ghana is also still a pro-natal country; people really value having children, although there is less of an emphasis on large families, mostly for economic reasons. As women work outside the home, they tend to want smaller families, in particular if their paying for child care. Fewer children is also just cheaper in general - so there is a trend in that sense. Still, the fertility rate is quite high (my host family has 10 children, so there's one example). Anyway, it was all very interesting, and she gave us quite a few resources which I hope to go over when I have more time. I feel very strongly about access to birth control; access also meaning that its socially and culturally accessible to women, not just that its in the shops or that its reasonably affordable. I talked about this in a previous blog about marital rape; but I'll say some of it again. I think it's really important that family units be able to plan the number of children they have, so they can invest more in these children - send them to school, feed them nutritious food etc. This is also true on a national level - and for that matter, a global level. We cannot support an infinitely growing population, especially if we want to eliminate poverty and allow everyone to live at a reasonable standard of living. It's also particularly important for women to be able to control family size as they continue to be primary care givers - which I think also needs to change, but there's kind of a chicken and egg phenomena. Ideally, either parents would share the responsibility equally; or the parent who cares for the child would still be an equal member of the partnership. However, it seems to still be the case that the breadwinner makes most of the decisions; and so not only does each new child mean more work for the mother, but it seems that it can also mean that she has fewer opportunities to work outside the home; meaning her position in the husband/wife relationship can be reduced - further hindering her ability to control her fertility and make decisions about family planning. Which sucks. And it's not like the pill is a magical solution - there are clearly deeper issues here that need to be addressed. But I do think that if women have more control over their fertility, it can have larger repercussions as far as their economic empowerment; which in turn can make them better equipped to make family planning decisions. It's allll interconnected. Anyway; like I said, it's something I've become very interested in, and I'm thinking of looking more into attitudes towards, perceptions of and access to contraception as part of my masters next year - though I change my mind on that every other day so we'll see. It was such an interesting visit though. A lot of what we talked about were things I thought, or had noticed, but it was so informative to have them explained and confirmed and elaborated on. Anyway, here's their website if anyone is interested!
http://arhr.org.gh/
Ok, so that was my week. Now it's Thursday, and it's been mostly laundry and packing and preparing myself to leave. I've had such an amazing two months in Accra, and I can't believe its over. This city is so complicated, and its given me so many opportunities to learn. It's given me the opportunity to compare rural and urban living in Ghana, and a glimpse at some of the economic disparity that exists in this country. It's also an interesting time to be here - lately there's been a crackdown on people selling (illegally) in the street. There's this whole chunk of sidewalk around circle where there used to be clothes sellers hawking their wares....one day though there was a raid while I was walking home and lately there have been patrols. That whole area now just has a couple of stands; its strange how much its changed. Ghana has such a huge informal economy, and transitioning from informal to formal will be difficult; I'm not even sure if I really support it. Right now, all I can think is, how will those people make money if they can't sell things in the street? There clearly aren't enough formal sector jobs for them. I don't know what will happen. I'm sure it will be a while before there's a huge transition - the informal economy is just too big, I think. But its interesting to see the process starting. I wonder, if I came back in a few years, what other areas will have changed? And what will that have meant....that the economy is stronger? That people have more opportunities in the formal sector? Or that their ability to earn a living has decreased, that they are no longer as visible but still there? So many questions....I don't know. 'Development' can such a crazy process, and not one I'm always a fan of. Ironic, given my career choice. Anyway. I do think that I'll come back here one day - I want to. For now, I'm focusing on being grateful for my time, for everything I've learned and experienced. I'm also focusing on saying goodbye, and letting go. And being excited to come home. Which I AM excited for - I know I may not have sounded like it in my last blog. But I'm finding as it gets closer, I do feel ready, and eager and excited. Not just to enjoy home, and the luxuries and food and all that (but there is that part of it - I'm only human). I'm also excited to start looking at Canada from a new perspective and to figure out things like living simply and advocating for women's rights at home. It's going to be tough. And awesomely fantastic. And it's only 2 weeks away!!!
Well, thanks for reading! I don't know what blogging will be like the next two weeks, but I'm sure I'll be back at least once more before I leave.
Peace,
Jac
Saturday, March 12, 2011
"Waisted Years"
The title of this blog comes from the window stickers on the back of a certain trotro that I've seen several times on my way to work. Pretty much all trotros and taxis here have stickers spelling out some kind of cryptic message - many times religious, often time hilarious, and quite a fair few - this one for example - probably demonstrating less than stellar spelling skills. The first time I saw it I snickered to myself, without giving it much though. But the other day I saw it and I found myself thinking about what it could actually mean....I mean, it's kind of a interesting (if accidental) comment on this obsession we (the west?) have on waist size, and perhaps the amount of time and energy that is wasted on this particular compulsion (I also just love puns). These thoughts were probably influenced by a reminder from our program coordinator to start thinking about body image in preparation for coming home. It's apparently very common for participants to struggle with weight and body image when they come home, and I'm really starting to understand why. There's this expectation that if you go to Africa to live as the poor do, you'll come back all thin and emaciated. But, poor doesn't always equal starving, and we certainly have not been in such extreme conditions. Instead let's consider Bennett's law: that as income rises, reliance on starchy staples for caloric intake decreases. IE when you're on a limited income, you eat a lot of starch because its cheap, and gives you lots of energy....not the most nutritious diet though, and also not one you should partake in if you're trying to lose weight. So many of the staple foods here are balls of some kind of dough; the banku, fufu, and kenke; other popular dishes are white rice (mmmm, empty calories!) and rice and beans (slightly more nutritional content), both served usually with tomato stew. Yams are also a hot number. And Ghanaians do eat a lot, especially in one sitting (whereas I think North Americans eat a lot, but over longer stretches of time through constant snacking). Our host families are also extremely hospitable and generous and eager to see us well fed. More than well fed. I struggled a lot in the village with portion sizes - I felt constantly full but fought to eat as much of my meals as I could because I was afraid of offending my family. This fear was well founded because even though I LOVE fufu and soup, my family thought I hated it and kept trying to buy me eggs or bread or something because they thought I wasn't eating enough on fufu nights - and trust me, I was eating A LOT. I did end up gaining a bit of a "fufu gut" (well, a lot of a fufu gut actually) and I can't say I was very happy about it. I'm not hugely self-conscious about my weight normally, but I do usually wish I was just a little thinner, with a little less muffin top. It can also be tough because Ghanaians are very frank about weight issues - and telling someone they are fat can be a compliment. Thank you? Not that that really helps, because when you're being told you've gotten "nice and big"; it's hard to shake the North American connotations. It's also just not fun to constantly feel like you've eaten too much when you're body's still adjusting to the change in diet anyway. Anyway, that was the village, and at some point I just did the best I could, ate as much I was comfortable with and tried to explain to my family that I loved the food I just wanted to make it home without exploding first. And as for weight, I let it go and accepted that I would have to relinquish control over my body for a short period of time and I'd deal with it when I got home.
It was a relief though to get to Accra, and to be able to control my portion sizes, as well as what I eat. We are on a budget of 2 cedis a day - with a goal close to 1.80. This is totally enough food for me, even though it sometimes means limited options. Having the budget has also forced me to think a lot about food - in a different way than I thought about it at home. Yes, I've been on a student budget, I've had to shop carefully, and I have sometimes even exemplified Bennet's Law....lots of pasta, and pretty much vegetarian -but not to the same extent. Everyday I weigh my options for each meal - do I get milk in my rice porridge, or do I save those 20 peswas for a snack later? Is it better to get the calcium and have a more filling breakfast, or to get a bofruit (delicious ball of dough fried in coconut oil) on the way home from work. Should I get salad in my wakye for 10 peswas, or a bigger portion of rice? Would I rather feel more full, or get a few vitamins and fill my craving for veggies? Just as with shopping, my attitude is no longer - do I want it and can I afford it with the money I have now? Rather it's, do I need this, and what am I giving up if I do buy it. I also find that I'm usually pretty hungry when I eat, and so my meals are really satisfying - yet I'm satisfied with what I eat instead of totally binging out (which I can't afford to do). Not that I'm never hungry at home, but usually I'm not too hungry before I just eat something. Sometimes I'm not even hungry, I just feel like eating because food is delicious. And it's delicious here too and often I wish I could just eat more, and sometimes I splurge and get closer to the 2 cedi maximum than other days. But its made me slow down and think through each purchase and to be content with enough.
Being in Accra and having smaller portions has also meant that my fufu gut has shrunk somewhat - though it's still with me. And I'm sure it will come back in full force once I return to village portions int he next couple of weeks. I visited Michelle last weekend in the town of Assessewa (not spelt right, sorry), where she lives with her host mother, and it was a shock to be fed by a family again. I'm still recovering from the biggest bowl of oatmeal I've seen in my life...well, since I was last in my own village, actually. Yet I've also gotten used to not carring as much about my weight. I'm surrounded by people who just really don't seem to care as much about it, and really, caring about weight usually means caring that other people are judging me. The girls here don't seem to obsess, and even actors in movies, models on billboards are so...normal looking? What is normal, right? But they arn't stick thin and its been refreshing. I also partly realize that people are far more concerned with my skin colour than with my waist size; or for that matter how frizzy my hair gets in this heat and away from my arsenal of conditioners and gels; though the skin breakout from the heat and sunscreen use have caused some concern about how much the mosquitoes bite me...sigh. Anyway, the point is, it's been refreshing not to always look in the mirror and immediatly mentally note how fat or thin I look and what that will mean for my day. I'm ok with my weight right now. But I'm worried I won't be when I get home. I'm worried that it will all come back to me and my clothes won't fit, and I'll feel that everyone will be judging me especially because I just came back from Africa. And it doens't help that despite the fact that I LOVE Ghanaian food, I often feel like I'm in the cast of Oliver!, dreaming and fantaszing about that wonderful array of food that awaits us in Canada - land of plenty, thanks to food imports. There were chocolate covered pretzels in my care package from home and I nearly passed out from tastebud overload. My point is, I'm worried a) that I'll lose this new attitude towards food, in which I eat primarily out of need, not want and b) that I'm not exactly going on a diet when I get home so it'll be hard to shed these extra pounds. I want to emphasize that it's not that I'm happy I'm eating less. I think I'm just more aware of what I do eat and things like nutrition, and whether I'm full or hungry or just eating because I want to. I don't want it to sound like I'm on a poverty-diet or anything. Because I eat plenty! It just feel like a healthy attitude; unlike the constant pulling between satisfying my every cravings or denying myself to lose weight.
Another thing I love about the food here is how much of it is local - at least, how much of what is available to me is local. I know that there are all kind of crazy processed foods available in the supermarkets, and I've bought biscuits as a treat, or crackers when I was sick - which are not local. But so much of what I do eat is farmed nearby, and brought to market and sold without going through the various steps of transport and processing. In WisiWisi, most of what I ate was grown on the farm, dug up before my very eyes. I'm torn because there are tons of foods I love at home that are only available to me because they have come from far off...orrr beacause they've been insanely processed. And I don't think I'll give them up completely. I just want to make more of an effort to know where my food comes from. I've never been one for farmers markets because hardly anything will get me to wake up that early on a weekend...but I see the appeal now, of knowing the person who grows your food, of knowing what went into it. And just, feeling more connected to it somehow. I probably sound like a bit of a hippie. That's ok. It's just something else to think about and figure out when I get home. Who knows how it will go. Perhaps I will revert to my old ways.....probably I will, at least sometimes. But maybe I will also start being more aware of what I eat - not in a calorie counting way but in a what exactly am I putting in my body kind of way. And hopefully I will think a bit more in terms of needs instead of wants and I will probably be healthier for it. And hopefully I will also be able to eat healthily and keep a healthy weight without obsessing over it or feeling like I have to conform to the North American stick insect ideal. More than ever I really know how artificial that is.
Side note on health issues - I do get enough to eat, as should be demonstrated by the fact that I have gained not lost weight. And it may not be the healthiest diet as far as nutrients are concerned, but I do take vitamins every day, brought from home. It's one of the many ways that this program is artificial and I am not really going through what "the poor" go through. Anyway, there's that. So, don't worry about my health. But...if you see me when I first get home and I'm looking rather well fed please don't think that it means I wasn't really living in solidarity with the poor. I've been pretty honest I think, about the ways in which I haven't been, but I have really kept to this food budget and the weight stuff has more to do with the type of food, I think, than the amount. It goes to show also, that poverty isn't always what you think it is. And of course, it doesn't mean that poor people everywhere are well fed. But food security is a complicated issues, and my experience has been based on my family, in my region, in this country. Also, the program is not ever going to force us into such extreme poverty that we are literarlly starving. Food security is one of the most complicated issues I've ever studied so I'll just leave it at that. What I'm taking out of this experience is better understanding of the difference between rural and urban food security, and an awareness that it isn't just about calories and starvation, but also about nutrition. For myself, I am also more aware of how indulgent we are in the West and am perhaps better prepared to struggle through that. And to navigate the complex relationship I think women especially, struggle with in the west - between giving into our cravings and desires, and also struggling to stay thin. Like anything else, it's a work in progress. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I'm going to continue enjoying the amazing foods that I know I'll miss once I'm home. I'll continue to be excited about the foods I miss now, which I get to eat in 3 weeks. And I'll try to focus on being healthy and well fed and having enough, without concerning myself too much about my waist size.
It was a relief though to get to Accra, and to be able to control my portion sizes, as well as what I eat. We are on a budget of 2 cedis a day - with a goal close to 1.80. This is totally enough food for me, even though it sometimes means limited options. Having the budget has also forced me to think a lot about food - in a different way than I thought about it at home. Yes, I've been on a student budget, I've had to shop carefully, and I have sometimes even exemplified Bennet's Law....lots of pasta, and pretty much vegetarian -but not to the same extent. Everyday I weigh my options for each meal - do I get milk in my rice porridge, or do I save those 20 peswas for a snack later? Is it better to get the calcium and have a more filling breakfast, or to get a bofruit (delicious ball of dough fried in coconut oil) on the way home from work. Should I get salad in my wakye for 10 peswas, or a bigger portion of rice? Would I rather feel more full, or get a few vitamins and fill my craving for veggies? Just as with shopping, my attitude is no longer - do I want it and can I afford it with the money I have now? Rather it's, do I need this, and what am I giving up if I do buy it. I also find that I'm usually pretty hungry when I eat, and so my meals are really satisfying - yet I'm satisfied with what I eat instead of totally binging out (which I can't afford to do). Not that I'm never hungry at home, but usually I'm not too hungry before I just eat something. Sometimes I'm not even hungry, I just feel like eating because food is delicious. And it's delicious here too and often I wish I could just eat more, and sometimes I splurge and get closer to the 2 cedi maximum than other days. But its made me slow down and think through each purchase and to be content with enough.
Being in Accra and having smaller portions has also meant that my fufu gut has shrunk somewhat - though it's still with me. And I'm sure it will come back in full force once I return to village portions int he next couple of weeks. I visited Michelle last weekend in the town of Assessewa (not spelt right, sorry), where she lives with her host mother, and it was a shock to be fed by a family again. I'm still recovering from the biggest bowl of oatmeal I've seen in my life...well, since I was last in my own village, actually. Yet I've also gotten used to not carring as much about my weight. I'm surrounded by people who just really don't seem to care as much about it, and really, caring about weight usually means caring that other people are judging me. The girls here don't seem to obsess, and even actors in movies, models on billboards are so...normal looking? What is normal, right? But they arn't stick thin and its been refreshing. I also partly realize that people are far more concerned with my skin colour than with my waist size; or for that matter how frizzy my hair gets in this heat and away from my arsenal of conditioners and gels; though the skin breakout from the heat and sunscreen use have caused some concern about how much the mosquitoes bite me...sigh. Anyway, the point is, it's been refreshing not to always look in the mirror and immediatly mentally note how fat or thin I look and what that will mean for my day. I'm ok with my weight right now. But I'm worried I won't be when I get home. I'm worried that it will all come back to me and my clothes won't fit, and I'll feel that everyone will be judging me especially because I just came back from Africa. And it doens't help that despite the fact that I LOVE Ghanaian food, I often feel like I'm in the cast of Oliver!, dreaming and fantaszing about that wonderful array of food that awaits us in Canada - land of plenty, thanks to food imports. There were chocolate covered pretzels in my care package from home and I nearly passed out from tastebud overload. My point is, I'm worried a) that I'll lose this new attitude towards food, in which I eat primarily out of need, not want and b) that I'm not exactly going on a diet when I get home so it'll be hard to shed these extra pounds. I want to emphasize that it's not that I'm happy I'm eating less. I think I'm just more aware of what I do eat and things like nutrition, and whether I'm full or hungry or just eating because I want to. I don't want it to sound like I'm on a poverty-diet or anything. Because I eat plenty! It just feel like a healthy attitude; unlike the constant pulling between satisfying my every cravings or denying myself to lose weight.
Another thing I love about the food here is how much of it is local - at least, how much of what is available to me is local. I know that there are all kind of crazy processed foods available in the supermarkets, and I've bought biscuits as a treat, or crackers when I was sick - which are not local. But so much of what I do eat is farmed nearby, and brought to market and sold without going through the various steps of transport and processing. In WisiWisi, most of what I ate was grown on the farm, dug up before my very eyes. I'm torn because there are tons of foods I love at home that are only available to me because they have come from far off...orrr beacause they've been insanely processed. And I don't think I'll give them up completely. I just want to make more of an effort to know where my food comes from. I've never been one for farmers markets because hardly anything will get me to wake up that early on a weekend...but I see the appeal now, of knowing the person who grows your food, of knowing what went into it. And just, feeling more connected to it somehow. I probably sound like a bit of a hippie. That's ok. It's just something else to think about and figure out when I get home. Who knows how it will go. Perhaps I will revert to my old ways.....probably I will, at least sometimes. But maybe I will also start being more aware of what I eat - not in a calorie counting way but in a what exactly am I putting in my body kind of way. And hopefully I will think a bit more in terms of needs instead of wants and I will probably be healthier for it. And hopefully I will also be able to eat healthily and keep a healthy weight without obsessing over it or feeling like I have to conform to the North American stick insect ideal. More than ever I really know how artificial that is.
Side note on health issues - I do get enough to eat, as should be demonstrated by the fact that I have gained not lost weight. And it may not be the healthiest diet as far as nutrients are concerned, but I do take vitamins every day, brought from home. It's one of the many ways that this program is artificial and I am not really going through what "the poor" go through. Anyway, there's that. So, don't worry about my health. But...if you see me when I first get home and I'm looking rather well fed please don't think that it means I wasn't really living in solidarity with the poor. I've been pretty honest I think, about the ways in which I haven't been, but I have really kept to this food budget and the weight stuff has more to do with the type of food, I think, than the amount. It goes to show also, that poverty isn't always what you think it is. And of course, it doesn't mean that poor people everywhere are well fed. But food security is a complicated issues, and my experience has been based on my family, in my region, in this country. Also, the program is not ever going to force us into such extreme poverty that we are literarlly starving. Food security is one of the most complicated issues I've ever studied so I'll just leave it at that. What I'm taking out of this experience is better understanding of the difference between rural and urban food security, and an awareness that it isn't just about calories and starvation, but also about nutrition. For myself, I am also more aware of how indulgent we are in the West and am perhaps better prepared to struggle through that. And to navigate the complex relationship I think women especially, struggle with in the west - between giving into our cravings and desires, and also struggling to stay thin. Like anything else, it's a work in progress. We'll see how it goes. In the meantime, I'm going to continue enjoying the amazing foods that I know I'll miss once I'm home. I'll continue to be excited about the foods I miss now, which I get to eat in 3 weeks. And I'll try to focus on being healthy and well fed and having enough, without concerning myself too much about my waist size.
Friday, March 4, 2011
Let's Go to the Mall?
So, the past week has been a busy one. I'm going to focus on one little episode though, for the sake of time. First, I want to explain a little bit about One World to give some context to the story. Our program is focused not just on experiential learning and volunteering in Ghana, but also on living in solidarity with the economic poor while we're here. We live on a budget that, for the most part, reflects the economic conditions of many of Ghana's lower class. We are also trained to think about whether or not something is a "want" or a need" and to strive to only spend money on needs and try to do without those wants for a while. This has been an amazing experience, and I know from talking to other volunteers and tourists that's it's really shaped my experience here, my perception of the country, and it has really changed my understanding of poverty in general. It's been tough though, and like I've talked about before, it becomes really tough when you realize how artificial it is. Still worthwhile, but it can be frustrating. And it's been really hard in Accra where I feel like I've had access to so many more options than I did in the village, and where sometimes I've been tempted...and given into the temptation...to buy treats which I know technically aren't part of living in solidarity. It's a struggle to figure out what is a want and what is a need, and to identify the ways I make excuses for myself and justify certain actions. It's been like a practice run for going home, and figuring out what level of lifestyle I can sustain while still striving to "live simply", focusing on needs, not wants, and not allowing wants to dictate my actions without consideration of the impacts of my choices. So, that's the context.
Now for the adventure. It may not sound exciting, but it was huge for me. On Thursday I had the day off work, so I decided to run some errands. I visited an NGO, and then decided to go the mall to get some pictures developed.
-ok - no one is probably reading these anymore, but I just realized that a big chunk of this blog got cut out. What was here was me explaining that I went to the mall, and that it was a huge shock to the system, especially when compared to the informal economy that is running its course right outside the doors. It felt like stepping through a protal back to North America and it was extremely overwhelming. I had to walk around for a bit with my sunglasses on because I got a little teary and panicky - it was just too much seeing all the expensive shops and knowing how many people in Ghana do not have access to the products I was seeing. Many people shopping there were clearly western tourists, though there were also quite a few rich Ghanaiains. It was an experience that really emphasized the extent of Ghana's economic disparity. Anyway, this cuts to a weird spot but heres the rest of what I wrote at the time:
as well as rich Ghanaians. Maybe I never would have known that the same notebook on sale for 10 cedis is available at any street shop for 3.50. Or that I can get a beautiful dress made for 10 cedis, instead of spending 30 on a t-shirt. In Canada, its far easier for me to ignore the disparity between rich and poor because even being a "poor student" I've never really altered my lifestyle. Become more sale-savvy maybe; ate a lot more mac and cheese. But I never really had to explore the question of how differently I live than the economic poor in my own country. One of my goals for going home is to try to become more aware of my country's economic gaps and to start identifying some of the things I have access to which other don't. I know it won't look the same as in Ghana, because the informal economy here is completely different. Maybe the mall is more accessible - the Cataraqui Town Centre chain stores are certainly cheaper than the downtown boutiques. This doesn't mean I'll give up everything that I identify as a privilege (necessarily). But like I talked about in my last blog, it will allow me to think about them differently.
Anyway, that was the mall. Not so Robyn Sparkles. That same day I was walking down the street, past Makola market and it hit me - I feel way more at home in this crowded, smelly, market, being shoved alongside buckets of snails and cow hoofs than I did in that pristine air conditioned building. That was another thing I noticed about the mall, though it took me a while - no one was hissing or calling or grabbing or shoving things in my face to buy. It was half nice to blend it but also kind of felt like I was among the living dead. If I am forced to return to a retail job, I'm going to really focus on friendly customer services. I've found such a community here with my food people, and my book guy and feel like I have a relationship with them - something which I didn't feel would come easily with the bored customer service drones at the mall (of which I have been one). It's strange to associate that disinterestedness with upper class, North American style shopping malls but there it is. Though I do remember that at Teaopia, we did have a lot of regulars and there was a certain amount of community around that store so it is possible. Anyway, at least at the market people seemed alive - passionate about selling me their wares. Maybe they were just more invested in it, due to their reliance on making sales. On the street though, it feels like people are living, not just shopping. I don't know how to explain it, and it doesn't make sense because I used to hate the market. And I don't know how I feel about feeling at "home" here, especially when I am excited to go to my other home - I do love Canada and I am excited to be there again. I love Ghana too., and I'm super happy to have spent the past 5 months here There are other places I love, and I guess home doesn't have be exclusive to one place. That's nice to know.
So, to finish the day, I finally got a package that my Mum sent me like a month ago. I'd felt kind of guilty when it was sent, and thought maybe I still would after the mall experience, but I have to say it was really, really nice to get some stuff from home; a bra that hasn't been destroyed by overuse and my horrible hand washing skills; a cross word book to help distract my brain before bed; a new shirt which is perfect for work and also (temporarily) free of the destruction that come from my laundry skills (ok, things get REALLY dirty here, and hand washing isn't so easy!); some candy; a valentine. It reminded me that getting wants can be really nice. And compared to how I usually live, this package is not hugely excessive. It's helped me be ok with having wants, but being satisfied with those extras and not perceiving them as needs. It's a balancing act and one I'm sure I'll be figuring out for years to come. Like I said, I didn't really think I would change so much from this experience. Part of me is also scared that I'll come home and be judgemental and bitter, so I guess a big part of writing this blog is as to help prepare all you zillions of people reading it for some of the things I've been thinking about. I may seem like a crazy hippy when I get home, but I will try to be understanding while still standing firm in my convictions and keeping in mind all I've been through here in Ghana. Please also try to be understanding of me :)
Thank you also for all the comments and emails I'm getting! It's so nice to know that people read and care and are interested in the things I write about. Your support means so much to me and its part of the reason I keep bothering to spew these things out!
Now for the adventure. It may not sound exciting, but it was huge for me. On Thursday I had the day off work, so I decided to run some errands. I visited an NGO, and then decided to go the mall to get some pictures developed.
-ok - no one is probably reading these anymore, but I just realized that a big chunk of this blog got cut out. What was here was me explaining that I went to the mall, and that it was a huge shock to the system, especially when compared to the informal economy that is running its course right outside the doors. It felt like stepping through a protal back to North America and it was extremely overwhelming. I had to walk around for a bit with my sunglasses on because I got a little teary and panicky - it was just too much seeing all the expensive shops and knowing how many people in Ghana do not have access to the products I was seeing. Many people shopping there were clearly western tourists, though there were also quite a few rich Ghanaiains. It was an experience that really emphasized the extent of Ghana's economic disparity. Anyway, this cuts to a weird spot but heres the rest of what I wrote at the time:
as well as rich Ghanaians. Maybe I never would have known that the same notebook on sale for 10 cedis is available at any street shop for 3.50. Or that I can get a beautiful dress made for 10 cedis, instead of spending 30 on a t-shirt. In Canada, its far easier for me to ignore the disparity between rich and poor because even being a "poor student" I've never really altered my lifestyle. Become more sale-savvy maybe; ate a lot more mac and cheese. But I never really had to explore the question of how differently I live than the economic poor in my own country. One of my goals for going home is to try to become more aware of my country's economic gaps and to start identifying some of the things I have access to which other don't. I know it won't look the same as in Ghana, because the informal economy here is completely different. Maybe the mall is more accessible - the Cataraqui Town Centre chain stores are certainly cheaper than the downtown boutiques. This doesn't mean I'll give up everything that I identify as a privilege (necessarily). But like I talked about in my last blog, it will allow me to think about them differently.
Anyway, that was the mall. Not so Robyn Sparkles. That same day I was walking down the street, past Makola market and it hit me - I feel way more at home in this crowded, smelly, market, being shoved alongside buckets of snails and cow hoofs than I did in that pristine air conditioned building. That was another thing I noticed about the mall, though it took me a while - no one was hissing or calling or grabbing or shoving things in my face to buy. It was half nice to blend it but also kind of felt like I was among the living dead. If I am forced to return to a retail job, I'm going to really focus on friendly customer services. I've found such a community here with my food people, and my book guy and feel like I have a relationship with them - something which I didn't feel would come easily with the bored customer service drones at the mall (of which I have been one). It's strange to associate that disinterestedness with upper class, North American style shopping malls but there it is. Though I do remember that at Teaopia, we did have a lot of regulars and there was a certain amount of community around that store so it is possible. Anyway, at least at the market people seemed alive - passionate about selling me their wares. Maybe they were just more invested in it, due to their reliance on making sales. On the street though, it feels like people are living, not just shopping. I don't know how to explain it, and it doesn't make sense because I used to hate the market. And I don't know how I feel about feeling at "home" here, especially when I am excited to go to my other home - I do love Canada and I am excited to be there again. I love Ghana too., and I'm super happy to have spent the past 5 months here There are other places I love, and I guess home doesn't have be exclusive to one place. That's nice to know.
So, to finish the day, I finally got a package that my Mum sent me like a month ago. I'd felt kind of guilty when it was sent, and thought maybe I still would after the mall experience, but I have to say it was really, really nice to get some stuff from home; a bra that hasn't been destroyed by overuse and my horrible hand washing skills; a cross word book to help distract my brain before bed; a new shirt which is perfect for work and also (temporarily) free of the destruction that come from my laundry skills (ok, things get REALLY dirty here, and hand washing isn't so easy!); some candy; a valentine. It reminded me that getting wants can be really nice. And compared to how I usually live, this package is not hugely excessive. It's helped me be ok with having wants, but being satisfied with those extras and not perceiving them as needs. It's a balancing act and one I'm sure I'll be figuring out for years to come. Like I said, I didn't really think I would change so much from this experience. Part of me is also scared that I'll come home and be judgemental and bitter, so I guess a big part of writing this blog is as to help prepare all you zillions of people reading it for some of the things I've been thinking about. I may seem like a crazy hippy when I get home, but I will try to be understanding while still standing firm in my convictions and keeping in mind all I've been through here in Ghana. Please also try to be understanding of me :)
Thank you also for all the comments and emails I'm getting! It's so nice to know that people read and care and are interested in the things I write about. Your support means so much to me and its part of the reason I keep bothering to spew these things out!
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