Half way!

Hey y’all,

So I suppose we have a lot to catch up on. Still having a wonderful time, still learning every day and feeling excited and exhausted by life here in equal measure. I have had quite a relaxing couple of weeks, and am looking forward to some busy ones ahead.

There are so many strange things that happen to me on a daily basis that I almost forget how strange they are. I had to  laugh at myself this morning for being totally unfazed by a group of about seven young children sprinting up to me holding enormous rusty machetes and shouting “GOODMORNING OBRUUNIIII!!!” whilst flinging their arms (still holding said machetes) around my waist and giggling hysterically. Beaming smiles and huge machetes seem to cancel each other out, though. Aaah, another #standardlifeinGhana moment.

I took a few days off to follow a friend’s recommendation to check out a place called Green Turtle Lodge, which is about 3hrs west of Cape Coast. The journey there was certainly interesting – I was exposed to my first trotro ride. And my second. And my third.  

Don't worry, Mum. This wasn't the trotro that I was travelling in.

A trotro is essentially a vehicle that is normally driven with a spanner rather than a steering wheel, and should normally take about 8 passengers, but actually takes up to 25. Some are converted ford escort vans, made more comfortable with air con, and less comfortable by the volume at which Nollywood movies are blared out from an overhead TV screen. Others are the skeletal remains of old camper vans with rows of seats made from empty bottle crates, where you can literally taste your neighbours sweat because it is so overcrowded. The first trotro we took was of the more comfortable variety, although things quickly changed when the movie started playing. The same way that I would never choose to watch ‘Snakes on a Plane’ whilst flying (and not just because it is a shocking display of Samuel L’s slippery standards); I would never chose to watch a movie that could aptly be named ‘Armed Robbery and Rape on a TroTro’ whilst in a trotro. Anyway, I managed to avert my eyes by staring at my kneecaps, and Jenya kindly lent me her iPod so I wouldn’t need to listen to the screaming. As much as I love her and welcomed the gesture, an hour of Usher at top volume didn’t exactly cushion the blow.

It was all worth it when we eventually got there – around 6 miles of completely deserted beach lined with palm trees and the occasional fallen coconut. We stayed in a little mud hut which stayed surprisingly cool, and for the first time in a month I had RUNNING WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I mean, FROM A TAP. 

Unfortunately we weren’t lucky enough to see any leatherback turtles, which frequently come to the beach to lay their eggs. However, we had the most wonderful time falling asleep to the sound of crashing waves and crickets, and waking up to the sound of crashing waves and weaver birds singing. Ah, paradise. Thanks, Molly :)

Last weekend Jenya and I were supposed to be taking a 9hour trotro trek to the Volta Region in the east – amazing waterfalls – but she was called in to work at the last moment so we had to cancel. To make up for it Bianca and I decided to take ourselves off to a five-star hotel near Elmina (about 15kms away from Cape Coast) for a day trip to use the pool. When we got there we realised there was a stable on site so for the first time in six years I got back on a horse! I have to admit it was a seriously emotional experience, and if it wasn’t for being scared that Bianca would beat me up, I may have had a sudden episode of “Oh it’s nothing, just a fly in my eye”. The instructor, Hassan, seemed to be really excited to ride with someone who didn’t need a lead rein, because he said I should come back regularly and he would only charge me 7 Cedies an hour rather than 20 – an hour beach ride for £3 is pretty good value. I am going to start going a few times a week after work, so my ‘happy bar’ should be fully recharged by the time I get home!

Speaking of home, I have decided not to extend my stay beyond the 2 months that I originally planned. The main reason for this is that my parents leave on their road trip (Cape Town to Oxford) in April, and I really want to be able to spend some time with them before I don’t see them for a year. So you can all expect to see my silly mug when I get back on March 16. That is SO SOON!

Things at work are getting more dynamic and exciting. This week we are giving talks to five different junior high schools about sexual violence against children and how to break the silence. I am excited and nervous in equal measure – Titi will be giving the first two presentations and I will do the following three. The thought of having an audience of 300-500 teenagers scares the life out of me, but I have been told they will be paying 95% of their attention to my British accent, so that makes me feel a bit better. Maybe I should lay it on really thick, just to try and milk that extra 5%.

Next weekend all of us girls will be heading to Accra to stay with Nana’s family. Her step-father is a government official, so I have been told to expect air conditioning and running water at their house. I CAN’T WAIT. Nana and Bianca are both getting really excited about hair-weave shopping, so I might take some time to myself to find some dairy. There has to be some somewhere.

Big love x

Life so far

Hey my people,

I thought it was about time that I updated again. Everything is still going well here, I feel more and more settled by the day. I can’t believe I have only been here three weeks, it feels like two months already. I am having more new experiences in one day here than I would in one month at home, so time seems to go really slowly.

The first weekend I was here (21^st January) Jenya, Bianca and I ventured North by 40km to Kakum National Park. It holds around about 400km2 of protected rainforest, and there is a long walkway built 40metres above ground in the tree canopy. The walkway is made up of around 500metres of suspended bridges and tree platforms. It feels very high up from there, and the views are unbelievable. At first I was so nervous to set foot on the rickety rope walkways that just had thin wooden plinths to keep your feet from falling through the gaps, but it was sturdier than it looked. Still, I was unimpressed with the outrageously annoying American tourist who thought it would be hilarious to start jumping up and down to shake the ropes whilst shouting “Whoooaah, it would totally suck if these ropes snapped!”

The park provides protection for around 40 large mammal species including monkeys, leopards and antelope. Apparently there are a few herds of pygmy elephant that roam around in the park – a much smaller species than the savannah elephants you find further North in Mole National Park. Unfortunately we didn’t see any, but we still had a great time climbing amongst the trees.

Unfortunately there was a massive power cut on Friday 20^th, when I was supposed to have my first radio interview, but I have had four since then! I get so incredibly nervous, but luckily they have all gone relatively smoothly (helped by the fact that the studios are air conditioned, so I am always generally in the best mood possible!) I have two weekly slots – Yes FM on Friday mornings and ATL FM on Friday afternoons. They are the two most popular stations between Takoradi (to the West) and Accra (to the East), and because television sets are owned only by the wealthy, everyone in Ghana listens to the radio (on top bloody volume, I might add). The presenter initially tried to put me at ease by testing me on my knowledge of Fante - this did not put me at ease, as he fell about laughing at everything I said! The radio interviews are part of the outreach and public education programmes that CHRAJ runs. Every week there is a different topic related to the functions of CHRAJ, and then the presenter asks me about the same situation into the UK. The first week, for example, was a piece on how public officials in Ghana can be held to account for maladministration through CHRAJ, and I spoke a little about the MP expenses scandal in the UK. We have also done pieces on women and children’s rights and sexual autonomy. I am not sure yet what next week’s topic will be – I only find out the day before – but Titi told me that we will start taking live unscreened questions from callers. I am filled with dread. Wish me luck!

Yesterday Jenya and I took a trip to a little fishing town called Elmina, about 11km West of Cape Coast. It is another perfect example of Ghana’s coastal fortifications. There are two World Heritage sites here – St George’s Castle (the oldest major stone structure to be erected by the Europeans in the tropics), and Fort St Jago, which started out around 1490 as the first Christian church in Ghana, and the second in all of Africa. 

We decided to give a walk around St George’s Castle a miss, since the second we stepped inside the courtyard leading up to it we were absolutely bloody MOBBED by touts grabbing our arms and being really pushy. We looked at each other and immediately turned on our heels, walking straight back out towards the town. We opted instead to hike up the hill to an abandoned and hassle-free St Jago and chill out for an hour or so whilst soaking up the gorgeous view over Elmina. Apparently the Fort became a leprosy hospital after the Dutch left in the late 1800s, and then a prison, until it was declared a World Heritage site in the 1980s.

                                

Another week of studying for my research paper lies ahead, and next week Jenya and I are heading for a couple of days of quiet at an eco beach hut called Green Turtle Lodge (thanks for the recommendation, Molly!) near Takoradi. Still loving life in Cape Coast, but it’s time for a break from beeping cars and blaring gospel music. Ahhh, silence. I can’t even imagine...

Peace x

Finding my feet

Hello everyone!

I have some very exciting news! As I told you in my last post, I have been asked to write a research paper on a topic of my choice, as long what I cover comes under the mandate of the CHRAJ. I have been speaking to a few people here to get some insight into what they hold to be pertinent human rights issues in Ghana, and ones that I could feasibly do some research on. Initially I thought about doing something along the lines of access to legal aid for remand prisoners, but from what I have gathered the amount of red tape involved would mean I would spend more time writing letters and being denied access than I actually would be visiting prisons or doing anything close to useful.

I was just speaking to a gentleman at the office called Michael, and I told him all about my involvement over the past few years with the Refugee Council in Leeds. He told me that there is a Liberian refugee camp called Buduburam about 60km from Accra which he would be happy to escort me to if I can arrange a meeting with the regional UNHCR (UN High Commissioner for Refugees) office, which is based at the camp. He said he would also be happy to accompany me to Accra if I was able to arrange a meeting with the Ghanaian director there. There are also several Ivorian refugee camps in the Western Region of Ghana (Cape Coast is in the Central Region), which I may be able to get accompanied access to if I can butter up the UNHCR and establish a contact there. I am so excited about the latter part, being that my main interest throughout my degree was transitional justice, and being that the Ivorian civil war is very fresh history it would be amazing to catch a glimpse of things whilst the situation is essentially still transitioning. I’ll keep you posted!

Things are generally quiet at the office. The mandate of the Commission is broad but the outreach is difficult due to an enormous lack of funding. So aside from the packed and daunting schedule that I told you about in the last email, I have a lot of time to do desk based research for this paper I am to submit before I leave. My working day is between 0830-1600, but I only really spend about fifteen minutes of that time being told what to do. The rest of the time I am reading reports that I have requested or chatting to other staff members about their experiences working here. People are incredibly friendly and will just walk into my office and shout ‘Araba Jessica! How are you?’ That translates to ‘Tuesday-born Jessica’ – one is allocated a different name in Fante depending on your gender and day you were born.

I can hear seagulls (well, they’re not really seagulls, but I s’pose Ghanaian cousins of the seagulls I have met before), gospel music, crashing waves and beeping cars from my office window. The colours are bright and the smells are a mixture of the fresh pineapples and mangos that are sold by street vendors, pollution from cars, fish just caught and the raw sewage that runs in open gullies down the side of the road. The gullies are about half a metre deep and covered with flimsy planks of wood that act as makeshift bridges when you have to jump out of the way from a beeping car that is driving on the wrong side of the road. I am so scared I am going to fall in one day, as apparently Obrunis like me frequently do. I get an hour for lunch and have so far frequented the same street vendor, Janet, who cooks up gut-busting portions of cabbage and spring onion omelettes wedged between slices of fried brioche for just less than 55pence. Don’t knock it, it’s AWESOME.

I have made a friend at work called Solomey (it takes me every bit of conscious effort to not call her Salami by accident). She is doing her 12 months of national service at the Commission and is my age. She is taking me for ‘red red’ on our lunch today (rice, beans in a spicy sauce and fried plantain). She asked me how old I was yesterday, and when I replied she gasped “But you are so fat for 22!”. Thanks, Salami. It was later explained to me that your weight is a good measure for age in Ghana – the older you are, the more successful you are assumed to be, the fatter you become. I guess that is almost a compliment then.

After my radio interview tomorrow (bricking it) there is a post-Christmas party at work that I will be attending. Titi, the man I am reporting to, asked me what type of alcohol I like. Assuming that the party would take place after work, I asked him if I could still get a tro-tro in the evening (the type of taxi that has a spanner as a steering wheel), to which he replied “there is no need. The party is at 10am.” Should be a fun day schwitzing out local brews then.

I guess I have bored you enough with my news, so bore me with some of yours. It makes me so happy to get your emails, and I will try to reply to some individually as well as sending these group ones.

Lots and lots of love,

Jess xxx

In at the deep end

Hello everyone!

Just thought I would write a quick update. Even though I have only been here 48hrs I feel like I have so much to tell you all! 

So I arrived at 0530 on Monday morning to a 28*C Accra. The flight was fine - managed to sleep most of the way. I was really nervous to meet Emmanuel, my contact, and I had no idea how I would be getting to the house 4 hours away in the Cape Coast. There was a big sign at passport checks that read: "All paedophiles, rapists and homosexuals, please turn back now, you are not welcome". It was a lot to take in before breakfast (Virgin Atlantic ran out of meals, bastards), but I realised that I am on this trip to tolerate intolerances, so I put my best foot forward. When I got through arrivals I saw a smiley faced Emmanuel holding a sign with my name on it - I felt like a rockstar. He gave me a big hug which instantly relaxed me and we made our way to his car. How do I explain the driving in Ghana? Hmmm.... Put it this way, I stayed awake.

Accra is like any other capital city in a developing country - loud, busy, dirty, hot, overwhelming, dusty, under construction. I was glad to eventually get out of the traffic and drive into loud, relaxed (but still busy), tropical, green, humid, hot and overwhelming Cape Coast. The house that I am living in is massive. It is is a small village called Kwaprow, just off the UCC (University of Cape Coast) campus. There are goats, chickens and little Ghanaian children running about everywhere, all shouting Obruni (white girl) at me and giggling. The children that is, I'm not that jet-lagged! The house has 8 bedrooms with bunkbeds, so myself and the other three interns are lucky enough to have our own rooms. One of the girls is an American called Jen who has been here since October and is pretty much an honourary Ghanaian. She has been showing me the ropes and has been really generous answering all of my millions of questions! She is doing an internship with an organisation that focuses on public health. The other girl is Russian, half Burundian and is called Jenya. She is doing a placement at an orphanage just out of town. The third girl, Bianca, is half Jamaican and half Guyanan and is doing sexual and reproductive health placement. It's nice that we all do different placements so that we are not in each others hair all day and in the evening too, and there is an enormous degree of independence involved at our placements. There is a lady called Fati who is the housekeeper, she lives in the house and spends the evenings chilling with us which is nice. There is no running water, the house uses the 'if it's yellow' method to conserve water and all washing needs to be done out of buckets. There is electricity though which is great, and I have bought myself a USB internet modem thingy for fairly cheap which is how I can post this now.

To get to my placement in the mornings I have to walk or take a shared taxi (like a public bus, but smaller) to the UCC campus, and then take another shared taxi into town. The building in which my office is located is right next door (and I mean RIGHT next door) so one of Ghana's most famous landmarks - the Cape Coast castle. This is the one of the oldest and biggest slave forts in West Africa. This castle was the main holding pen and pick up point for African slaves to be taken across the Atlantic by the Dutch, British and Portuguese. My orientation included a tour of the castle which was harrowing. It is somewhat of a pilgrimage for many African American's and Caribbean's to come and visit the castle, and I got several unfriendly glares from some Rastas on the tour when I asked a question with an English accent. On the whole, though, people are unbelievably friendly and welcoming. The town is also incredibly safe, everyone I speak to says I shouldn't worry at all about even walking around alone at night. I get the impression that the culture is incredibly proud and protective - if someone were to attempt to hurt the lone Obruni in public, they would get mobbed by disapproving onlookers. 

What else can I tell you? Ah yes, my placement. Well, I have been thrown in at the deep end! I have my own desk, but am sharing an office with a gentleman named Titi. He is who I will be reporting to during my stay here. He gave me a schedule of tasks today, which covers me up until I leave. It reads:

• Take part in at least 15 mediation sessions
• Take part in local radio programme discussions at 'Yes FM' and 'ATL FM' every Friday morning
• Take part in public education programme at schools and colleges
• Take part in basic human rights course for health professionals at Ankaful and Cape Coast colleges
• Present a research paper on any topic of your interest relating to human rights and administrative justice in Ghana
• Exit interview with the executive director in Accra

I almost fell over when he said I would have a radio interview this Friday, where I will have to discuss for around 20 minutes my opinion of administrative justice in the UK (public officials being held to account, etc). Suppose I better start research NOW. Tips/ideas welcome.

It would be lovely to hear from you all. I am overwhelmed by this place and hope I will settle in - I am feeling homesick at the moment but am enjoying myself.

Lots of love,

Jess