Happy New Year!

Happy New Year everybody!! Let's hope 2012 is just as random and exciting!!

Christmas/New Year were certainly different this year. As mentioned, I spent 9 days at the beach - heaven! There's not much to tell to be honest - the time consisted of laying on the beach, reading, eating and sleeping (or trying to) - that's about it!! Although we did venture out to the nearby town of Elmina one day and paid a quick visit to the castle to hear about the slave trade. The week started with 3 of us and this increased to 14 by New Year's Eve. It was good to catch up with some of the northern volunteers whom we haven't seen since our arrival in September. I'm now back in Accra and it feels like I've never been away - athough despite the lack of sleep, I seem to have quite a bit of energy so the break obviously did some good :-)

I mentioned in my last post that I managed to convinced my office to go out for a Christmas lunch on the last working day. Hmm..... After a lot of faffing, the 7 of us piled into the truck (complete with santa hats) and headed to the restaurant. This took a while as Accra was literally jam packed with traffic - I've never seen anything like it! Anyway, we got to the restaurant and had a quick staff meeting before everybody ordered their lunch - in take out boxes!!! They then thanked me for organising lunch, and disappeared!!!! Think the point may have been missed a little.... However this gives me a baseline to start from to see if we can build up to a sit-down meal next Christmas!

We also celebrated Ronald's 30th birthday just before Christmas by heading out for an Indian meal, complete with Santa hats!! Good times.

Not much else to report at the moment. I've been spending Christmas money (thanks to those who provided cash and presents). I may have overdone it slightly on the fabric side of things, but it's all good - once I can afford a tailor I'll have a nice wee selection of Ghanaian outfits! Next on the list is to figure out how to get to a ceilidh this month, and to organise our first proper Adabraka party to celebrate New Year, birthdays, people leaving....exciting!!

I hope everybody has had a relaxing break and the UK winds haven't done too much damage!!!

Take care
Rachel x

After many failed attempts, this is the best Office picture we could get!

 Heading out for Ronald's 30th

Ko-Sa Beach Resort - our home over Christmas/New Year

Elmina Castle - horrifying stories about the slave trade.

Christmas Dinner - Red Red (friend plantain and beans) followed by Apple Crumble

 I may have gone overboard with the fabric related purchases... new bag.. 

 ... from left to right, fabric will be turned into - sarong, long summer dress, shift dress and long skirt 

 And another new dress...

Christmas Week

Well this Christmas is certainly turning out to be a different one. It starts last Tuesday when I get a text message at 6.00am asking me to organise a 1 day OD training course the following Tuesday. Panic sets in, although I'm not sure why because 1 week's notice is unheard of in Ghana (I know of one volunteer who was told during the meeting that she had a slot on that day's agenda to deliver training!)

So I start working up an agenda for the 1 day, which turns in to me organising the entire staff retreat! A staff retreat is pretty much away days for staff at the end of the year to review performance and to plan ahead. I worked up a pretty good agenda, sat with people to discuss accommodation, travel etc (and had to leave the office at one point due to serious frustration at the disorganisation, and then remind myself that this is how things work here and it will all come together at the last minute – which it did).

I then received a text message at 5.15am on Monday morning, the day we were due to travel, to tell me the whole thing had been cancelled. Gutted!!! After working until after 11pm every night the previous week (no mean feat when you consider the heat) and preparing things like my santa talking stick, and arranging santa hats/chocolates for everybody, I was seriously disappointed that I wouldn't get to use it.

However, after some thought, it probably works out for the best – I'm hoping we can reschedule in January when everybody is feeling a bit more refreshed, and when the boss is back from London.

In the meantime, I have managed to convince my office (with great difficulty) that we should go out for a team lunch tomorrow. So the hats/chocolates hopefully won't be wasted! Although whether they understand the humour I'm not sure – they're not fully understanding the Christmas decorations that I've put up in the office, or the Christmas earrings I'm wearing this week. I can sympathise with this though – it is far too hot to be thinking about Christmas!!!

On a separate note, thank you to everybody who has sent me presents – it is very generous of you, and there's something so exciting about receiving a parcel from home! Quote of the week has to go to Mari though: “you might not want to take it somewhere its overly hot like out in the sun cos a couple of things are kind of meltable” (Sorry Mari, just had to share!!!) Mum also included a wee present for Ronald which went down very well! We're trying to get into the Christmas spirit here in Accra – we have decorations up as well as an advent calendar! That explanation, along with the Santa one, made for an interesting discussion... :-D

As for the rest of the week, one of my neighbours is dog-sitting at an ex-pat house. As my Mum said, my life is clearly changing when I'm over-excited about using a washing machine/tumble dryer, as well as chips, sausages and scrambled egg for dinner. For one night only, I had fluffy sheets – awesome!

I then experienced tro crash number 2 the other night, when a tro ran into the back of ours. Thankfully not serious but it did give me a little fright and reminded me that I need to pick my seats a bit more carefully. Sorted by Filipino corn (garlic flavour), beer and Bad Santa!

I also attended a leaving do for a couple of volunteers at the weekend, one of whom works in my organisation's compound and who I'm really going to miss – she's been a great support to me in my first few months and has offered a very good ear when the frustration of work threatens to take over. She supports an organisation that works with street kids (http://jayniistreetwise.weebly.com/index.html), so we all went there for a while before heading out for food/dancing on a rooftop bar (love the breeze!).

As for Christmas, I will be heading to the beach at the end of this week for 9 days. I will be treating it as a summer holiday as it's the only way I'll get through this. It is far too weird to think about being away from home and missing out on, amongst many things, chipolatas and garlic bread!!! I never ever thought I would say this, especially after last year, but I'm missing the cold dark nights, rain and occasional snow flurries! I'm all about the heat, but at this time of year it's just wrong....

So on that note, I'd like to wish everybody a very Merry Christmas and a fantastic New Year – I hope you all have a great time whatever you do, wherever you are.

Rachel x

Decorations!!

My Santa talking stick that I didn't get to use...

Surrounded by kids at the Jaynii Organisation

Kathryn will be sorely missed...

Kathryn and Aidan, the Daddy of the group.

Travelling

I was given the opportunity to go travelling with work which I jumped at – an excuse to get out of Accra? Yes please!

International Day of the Disabled events were being held in Wa (Upper West) on 6^th December. We travelled up on Sunday 4^th December. The day began at 2.30am when my alarm went off (!!!). Up at 3.30am, due to be picked up at 4am. Timing wasn't too bad actually – car arrived at 4.15am, although standing outside in the early hours of the morning with the guard dog woofing his head off, drawing attention to the Obruni lurking around in the dark isn't ideal.... I was so relieved when the car arrived! Headed to pick up a colleague who lived 10 minutes away. We didn't leave his house until 5.30am!!!! (He slept in apparently). This would have been fine if I wasn't completely on edge because I was a white person sitting in a dark street in a car with the doors open – sitting target perhaps? When my colleague finally arrived I thought I'd be able to get some sleep – I should be so lucky. He decided to start testing me on my knowledge of Twi at this point. I think he took the hint when I started grunting back as opposed to answering... :-)

The trip was a long one – we arrived in Wa around 5pm which was relatively good timing apparently. Some key highlights:

• Many of the roads are dreadful. Apparently there is a project supported by the Chinese to develop a lot of the roads. This means that many of them have been dug up and are now just random tracks of red mud – the potholes are crazy, the dust is crazy and the driving is crazy!!!
• I managed to dose for a large part of the journey which was fine. Although the scenery that I did see was gorgeous! It was quite like Scotland but on a really really hot day – lots of green/mountains. There were also lots of mud huts, people getting water from wells, drying clothes by the side of the road etc – the stereotypical Africa. This made me realise just how different Accra is to the rest of the country. Unfortunately I didn't get any pictures of this as there's no way I could have taken a steady one on those roads!
• We picked up another passenger in Kumasi (after touring around completing various errands, including dropping in at a local boys' school to sign a form for the son of my colleague). At this point I got my food of the day – popcorn! And a small bar of Ghanaian chocolate – somehow I managed to melt this, which everybody seriously thought was impossible!
• Further on in the journey I had a girly moment... I spotted a spider in the car. This was a zebra spider, relatively small but fast. I kept my eye on it and was pretty calm – until it jumped!!! That's right, spiders can jump in Ghana!!! Here's me in the car with 3 Ghanaian men who have no idea what I'm freaking out about, but bless them, they let me have my moment and one of them even squished it for me and threw it out the window – and let the moment pass without saying a word! Hehe...
• This was around the time that somebody pointed at us to pull over. The driver got out, had a look at the front of the car and then reached out to pull a bird out of the grill. He looked at the bird, and then handed it to a small child – who then handed it to his older brother, who took it round the back of his house. Dinner!! Pure comedy genius. (Could have been worse, our colleagues' bus hit a goat...)

We arrived in Wa around 5pm and I was soooo hungry it was unreal! Finally got fed and curled up with a film on my huge double bed (luxury!!) I had the best night's sleep I've had since arriving in Ghana - heaven!

The next day I attended a meeting with the Regional House of Chiefs. I'm still a little unsure as to how this works, but each Region has a Chief and a Queen Mother who essentially control the community. If you want to make changes in the community, you approach them. Our meeting was about the acceptance of people with disabilities – very interesting discussion, followed by a dance by the Wa School of the Deaf. Long day however – did not get fed until 4pm. Big lunch, headed back to my room to chill – only to get a knock on my door 20 minutes later to tell me we're going for dinner!! Big dinner – and I felt obligated to eat it all after being told by somebody at my table about the eating culture in Ghana, how many people eat what is put in front of them because they don't know when their next meal will appear from. I felt so guilty when I couldn't finish my meal....

Next day saw the International Day of the Disabled celebrations. This started with a range of people with disabilities, friends, relatives and some other VSO volunteers coming together at the Wa School of the Blind. The 'float' followed – this turned out to be a 3 hour walk around the town armed with a band and placards. If I'd known it would be 3 hours I'd have left the rucksack complete with laptop in the hotel.... It was really good though – the temperature was perfect to the point that we didn't even sweat! (Again, luxury!!) The atmosphere was once again amazing – the band played continuously for 3 hours, people were dancing and singing, it was just great. The walk ended with a public forum where various key players in Ghana made speeches; there was also a donation of wheelchairs by an American company. (Apparently the company specialises in expensive wine and every time a bottle is sold, they donate a wheelchair to somewhere in the world).

We were pretty exhausted after all this excitement, but still up for fun. We headed back out for dinner and this time I got to try pito, the local wine. Very nice and very lethal! It was at this point that we discovered that we would be leaving at 3.30am the next morning to travel back to Accra. My fellow volunteer and I had a little panic because we're not allowed to travel during the night. After checking with VSO, it was agreed that we could travel as long as there was a police escort until dawn. Turns out the organisations were planning to arrange this anyway.

So 3.30am arrives, we're all bundled into our respective vehicles and we head to the police station to meet the escort. Naieve me thinks police escort/convoy means there will be the bus and 3 cars headed/followed by police cars with flashing lights. How wrong was I. Police escort means a police man with a huge machine gun joining us in the car! I still managed to sleep though... :-D

I was a bit disappointed to arrive back in Accra because I had had such good fun on the trip. However, I was excited by the fact that I only had one night back in Accra before travelling again on the Thursday to Takoradi with my organisation for 2 big meetings. However, that night turned out to be pretty poor – no water, broken fan followed by no electricity, and a loud church service resulting in no sleep. I was so glad to be heading to another hotel the next morning – the first hotel was fantastic, it was bound to be as good second time round right?

Wrong! The hotel was awful!!! It was a school and the only disability friendly accommodation in Takoradi apparently. I had to move rooms 3 times – the first 2 rooms had toilet paper stuck in the holes in the window mosquito nets.... One had a tap falling off, sewage problems and the dustiest bed I've ever seen. The third room was an internal room therefore mosquitoes weren't as much of a problem. I was sharing with a colleague and we had to share a toilet down the hall, but that was fine (even when the water went off and we had to lug buckets of water down the hall to flush it).

It got to the point where everybody thought the hotel was so bad that it just got funny! Thankfully the food was great, and we ended up having a really good time (despite the lack of sleep).

I'm limited in what I can say about my work meetings, but let's just say they were long, there was lots of energy/passion and so lots of shouting, lots of interruptions due to mobile phones, people, sleeping, snacks etc etc – typical Ghanaian meetings. But really productive and I'm quite proud to be working with this organisation. The people were all so welcoming and friendly and open to the idea of organisational development.

Some key points from this meeting:

• Quote of the week: “Rachel, you gave a very good presentation there. But you missed out some important information. You told us your name and where you are from, but you did not tell us your marital status” !!!
• Lots of politics surrounding the election of the Board, resulting in the police sitting outside. I can't go into detail about this – if you're interested, email me.
• There is a tradition in Ghana that after an election, the newly appointed leaders are covered in talcom powder...
• Fish heads! I keep getting laughed at because I cannot bring myself to eat a fish head. They have teeth and eyes and brains!! Apparently this is the best bit of a fish though, and people cannot understand why I won't eat it. There are actually market stalls specialising in fish heads....
• There were only 2 plug sockets in the whole place – that's a new one! The queue for the socket for charging mobile phones was pretty big... :-)
• Few drinks had at a local harbour bar, good fun. Usual night out with loads of people trying their luck, including colleagues (awkward!) But nice to get out after a hard week's work. Headed back to hotel to discover that T&T (time and travel) had not been paid to attendees therefore I worked with a colleague until 2.30am trying to figure this out, waking people up to pay them, etc, etc. This is something we'll be looking at....!
• Had to laugh at one point when I was sitting in the main foyer and one of the guys who works in the hotel comes up to me and asks if I'd been on TV. Turns out I've been on TV quite a lot now, and that's me being recognised in neighbouring regions – respect! Between being recognised for being on telly, waving to kids from car windows and being mobbed from the moment I step out the door, I'm starting to feel like a minor celebrity!
• I get up at 7am on the last morning and start to pack. At that point my colleague comes running in to the room: Rachel, Rachel, hurry, hurry, the car is leaving – pack pack pack. Oh wait, no it isn't – it doesn't leave until after 10am!! Grr...

Back to Accra, tired but happy :-)

Rachel x

IDD Events

Our newly elected Board (covered in talc):

Fish Head!!!

Ghanaian Funeral

I was asked to attend a funeral last Saturday with a work colleague, to support another colleague whose stepmother recently passed. My office were very sweet and arranged, at short notice, a funeral outfit for me (this involved buying cloth and encouraging a tailor to do something with it in just 2 days). They arranged it all in Twi so I had no say in cloth or outfit design, and in fact had no idea what it would look like until I received it! They also wouldn't let me pay, so I bought my colleagues and the tailor huge bars of chocolate as a thank you.

Saturday morning started with my alarm going off at 4am, and me finally rising at 5am (for those who know me well, they will understand how hard this was for me – and not the worst early start I faced this week!!). I was due to meet my colleague at 5.30am, but of course 'Ghana Time' came into play and it was after 6am before she appeared. We took a Tro to the village – the route took us through the hills (mountains??) which meant there was some stunning scenery to occupy me during the 2 hour trip.

On arrival we were taken to the church hall where the body was lying in state. I had been pre-warned that this would happen, and so prepared myself as best I could but it was still a shock to me. I also felt very obvious as the only white person in attendance, and felt as though I was intruding in people's grief which was displayed very clearly and dramatically.

The service started maybe an hour or so after we arrived, and lasted for 3-4 hours. This was very difficult for me as the majority of the service was in Twi with sign language interpretation. Ghanaian funerals are also very loud – the speakers they use at such events are enormous, and there is a lot of passion on display by both the religious leader and the congregation.

After another hour or so of waiting for food to appear, my stomach declared “enough” and sent me in search of food (in fairness I hadn't eaten all day and it was now around 2pm). All I could rustle up were 2 bags of plantain chips (equivalent of crisps). As I wandered back to the church grounds, I heard a commotion and soon came across a family dispute. Before long, the religious leader and the entire congregation were involved in the shouting. As it was all in Twi I had no idea what the fight was over. When things calmed down, I asked my work colleague what had happened. It turned out the fight was over a table... Very emotional/passionate day.

As we were leaving, we were invited to the home of one of the guests and members of our organisation. What I didn't know is that being invited to see a house actually means 'come and eat'. I was handed a huge plate of red red (beans and fried plantain). Bearing in mind that I had just scoffed down 2 big bags of plantain chips and was frightfully aware of a 2 hour tro trip back to Accra as well as a 12 hour trip to Wa the following day, I had to decline as I couldn't risk having a dodgy stomach. This didn't go down well – 'thankfully' the food was too spicy for me and I couldn't eat it anyway, so the other guests had it.

Two hours later (around 6pm) we arrived back in Accra. As we headed towards the tro to take us back to Circle, I received the message that I would be picked up at 4am the following morning to travel to Wa. Thankfully I had been warned that this could be the case, but it didn't make the news any easier!!!

More on that trip to follow…

Salsa, Ghanaian Style!

A couple of weeks ago we welcomed 5 new volunteers to Ghana. They stayed in Accra for a few days for orientation before travelling to their new homes throughout the country. We decided to take them to Salsa for their last night in Accra. This is something I'd been talking about going to since I arrived in Ghana as I had heard it was amazing, but hadn't quite managed to make it along.

It was amazing!! Ghanaians are generally amazing dancers anyway (putting us “obrunis” to shame), but add salsa dancing around a swimming pool to the mix, and it makes fascinating viewing. Although we got distracted by chatting/drinking, we did manage to make out that there was some sort of dance contest – again, a salsa dance off Ghanaian style is something to be seen. Of course it did end up with one couple jumping into the pool as their finale...!

And on a completely random note, I can't remember if I mentioned the towel drama I've been having. Quick summary - I managed to disintegrate my towel in the wash (turns out it's not suitable for life in a hot country - more suited to a short camping trip in UK). Due to post drama, it took around 6 weeks for new towels to arrive from home. Now that they have arrived (thanks Mum!!) I feel I can share a picture of the infamous towel... see below.

Some pics for your viewing pleasure....

Our new arrivals plus Accra volunteer rep, Samina

Me with neighbours Peggy and Jacky

(My arms and legs look like they belong to different people due to colour!)

Salsa dancing round the pool

Me and Katrina (new volunteer)

The Gang!

My first Ghanaian dress!

Me and Ronald

The infamous towel!!

"You're a Catcher"

Quote of the week has to have been 'You're a Catcher'. Let me explain.... on a recent trip to the market I saw a small child staring at me, looking a bit scared. I didn't think much of it because quite often kids don't know what to make of white people, many having never seen a white person before. So all was fine, until the mother pointed and me and said to the child that I'm a catcher. I asked what she meant; she said 'you're a catcher'. I asked what she meant by 'catcher', only to be told that I'm like the police and will take the children away. At this point, the kid starts screaming hysterically, to the laughter of random women nearby! I was horrified and tried to calm him down, but clearly just made things worse as he thought I was going to take him away!! Interesting to note that parents teach their children either to fear the white person, or to ask them for money... food for thought.

Moving on, a small work update - I actually have some to do! I have been asked to give a presentation to the Delegates Assembly in December on Organisational Development. The Delegates Assembly is the highest decision making authority within my organisation, and their meeting will last 3 days I think (still to be confirmed). Now that I have some work to do, I'm actually finding it quite difficult to re-engage my brain! Knowing me, I will leave it until the last minute and then panic - but quite often, that's how I do my best work! ;-) I'm waiting to find out details, but hopefully I'll be travelling across Ghana to various work events in December - quite excited at the thought as it will let me see some of the country, but also give me an opportunity to meet staff/members across Ghana. I will, however, have to buy a rucksack because muppet here forgot to pack one - and there's no way I can carry a suitcase on a tro! :-)

Staying on the subject of work, the drama of the washroom continues. I can't actually remember if I mentioned this, but my organisation doesn't have a washroom. They have been building one since I arrived (which I was told would be finished 2 weeks after my arrival). At this point in time, it's still a concrete shell although I do believe tiles are starting to go up. What I'm curious to know is a) when it will be finished; and b) what on earth the boss is going to do when he returns from London shortly because his office is a dumping ground of dust, concrete and stuff! We also appear to go from extremes in terms of building work - we go from nobody working for days at a time, to hordes of people traipsing through the office (which is tiny!) with ladders that don't fit through the door. Quite entertaining really...

I've also discovered this week that there must be something sweet ingrained in my desk, because the ants are all over it at the moment. Cleaning the desk didn't help... any thoughts on this one? :-)

From a VSO perspective, I have taken on the position of deputy volunteer representative for Greater Accra, working with Samina who is our new volunteer rep. This roles involves acting as the key link between Programme Office and volunteers, attending meetings and helping new volunteers to settle in as well as (hopefully) having a big role to play in February's ICT (In Country Training aka Induction). I've already had the opportunity to put my knowledge and experience to the test by helping a new volunteer to settle in at the weekend. It was good fun, and helped me to realise just how much I have learned about the city and culture already. What was also very nice is that, because she is here on a short term contract and is working directly with the Programme Office, she has been put in a nice apartment with air conditioning, laundry service etc - and was kind enough to give me the use of her spare bedroom for a while, to enjoy the air con. It was a little taste of heaven!! :-)

This weekend also saw a few of us attending the opening ceremony of the African Nations Amputee Soccer contest. This is quite a big event and was opened by the Vice President of Ghana and other important folks in the world of sport/football. As I'm not a very big fan of football, I wasn't particularly excited about the trip but felt it was important to attend, especially due to the work I'm doing. But I have to say, I absolutely loved it! The atmosphere in the grounds was amazing! The people are so happy, they dance/sing/play music in the stands, they entertain everybody else - as well as somehow watching the game. It was seriously the best atmosphere I have ever come across at a football game - and it could convert me to African football!!

This week's electricity/water supply hasn't been great. We're putting it down to the mass digging that is going on across the city at the moment. We asked somebody who is digging up the pavements outside our flat what is happening - we thought they were going to say something like they're installing new drainage systems (i.e. underground drains), but no - they are installing MTN phone lines...everywhere!! I would love to know who sets the priorities around here...

Rachel's embarrassing moment of the week has to have been the drunken attempt at gate climbing. Our landlord locks the gate to the compound at 10pm every night. If you are going to be late, you text him to let him know and he'll leave the gate open. One night last week I text to say I'd be late, however he didn't get my message. I arrived back at 11pm to find the gate locked up - and panicked! There was nobody else in our apartments that night and I knew the landlord would be asleep. So I decided to attempt the gate climb (as recommended by one of my neighbours). Thankfully Ronald wasn't around because his bedroom window gives the perfect picture-taking position. I managed to straddle the top of this gate, looked down and freaked out as I realised I was too drunk for this (I should point out that I'd only had a couple of beers, but you all know I'm a lightweight and the heat just adds to that). So I bottled it and went back to the start (to the amusement of the 'Adabraka boys' who sit in the street every night chatting - loudly). Anyway, amongst all this drama, the guard dog had been barking and woke up the landlord, who kindly came out and opened the gate for me - and wasn't angry!!! I felt so bad - but then I had sent him a message, so am not completely at fault!! :-)

I've been doing my bit for the Ghanaian culture this week. I've watched a Ghanaian movie - which was actually really good - very funny, although not sure if it was supposed to be. And I was sent a Ghanaian joke which just made me laugh - it really sums things up, and I love that Ghanaians can laugh at themselves. I've included a copy of it at the end of this posting.

My final point, the highlight of the week, is that I visited a Girl Guide Unit today. Most of you probably know that I used to run my own Unit in the UK. I was curious to find out how African Guiding compared, and after a few emails with senior people here, they agreed to take me. Interestingly, Guiding takes place in school hours as opposed to outwith, because it can be very difficult to encourage children to come along otherwise. I absolutely loved it. The energy amongst the group was fantastic, they were so smart in their uniforms, so happy, so polite and just lovely. The older girls came and introduced themselves to me and welcomed me. The Unit then sang me a few songs, some of which I knew and could sing along with. One just made me laugh - for anybody reading this who's in Guiding, think of the song 'A Pizza Hut' and change the words to 'A fat girl guide, a fat girl guide, a skinny little brownie and a fat girl guide'. I was in hysterics - we'd be done by the PC brigade if we even thought of that back home! I was then asked to do something with the group - as they were into singing, I taught them a song with actions - starts off slow and gets faster and faster. They found it hilarious because I caught them off guard, but they joined in and managed to do it pretty well. I had to write down the words before I left so they can practice. We're trying to arrange a visit to another Unit on Friday, fingers crossed. I have also been invited to a tree-planting ceremony on Saturday to celebrate their centenary - I'm undecided if I'll go along yet, but it's nice to be asked. I've been buzzing all day since my visit and am starting to hope that there is some way I could become involved in Guiding during my time in Ghana - to be considered.

I'll leave you with the Ghanaian joke and a selection of pictures - enjoy!

Rachel x

Ghanaian joke:

A man dies and goes to hell. Once there, he finds that there is a different hell for each country and he can choose which one he prefers. He asks what happens in the German hell and is told: "First you are put in an electric chair for an hour, then they lay you on a bed of nails for an hour, then the German devil whips you for the rest of the day".

Not fancying that, he asks about the American, Chinese, British and French hells and finds out that they all offer the same treatment. He then notices a long line of people waiting to get into the Ghanaian hell and asks what happens in there.

He is told "First you are put in an electric chair for an hour, then they lay you on a bed of nails for an hour, then the Ghanaian devil whips you for the rest of the day".
"But that's the same as all the others" he says. "Why are so many people waiting to get in?"

"Because there is never any electricity, so the electric chair doesn't work. The nails were paid for but never delivered, so the bed is comfortable. And on top of it all, the Ghanaian devil used to be a civil servant, so he just comes in signs his time sheet, then goes back out on private business for the rest of the day"

Pics:

Cultural event at Amputee Soccer ceremony. The wee guy on the drum was amazing!

The competing teams. If I remember rightly we had Liberia, Nigeria, Niger, Sierra Leone, Angola and Ghana. Ghana lost 2-1 in the first game with Sierra Leone, but that didn't change the happy mood!

Proof that I attended a soccer game!

Apparently this guy in the white shirt is famous. According to the guy sitting next to us, he's famous but the guy didn't know his name..... Turns out the Ghana Video Music awards were happening in Accra that night so he was probably in town for that.

Our first Christmas decoration, courtesy of Ronald. It lights up and everything!! :-D

My first visit to a Girl Guide unit in Africa!

There were actions to go with the song about the 'fat girl guide'... :-)

My attempt at teaching a song/actions...

The group was huge! Should have asked how many kids belonged to the Unit actually.

I love this pic! This is the part where things sped up in the song, and the girls found it hilarious.

Forgot about this one. Was in the office one day when a group from the Freemasons came in, with an offering of high visibility vests for the organisation. They had almost run over a person in a wheelchair at night because they didn't see him, and so decided to do something positive to help. I was asked to receive the offering 'on behalf of my people'!!! :-D

Broken toilets, creepy incidents....and malaria!!!

What a crazy couple of weeks it's been (nothing new there then).

First of all, I've won the award for the first September volunteer to contract malaria! Thankfully it wasn't serious and I was given the all clear today (yippee!!). But it was a strange coincidence that one of my neighbours contracted it at the same time. We've had some helpful advice about further precautions to take in the flat, so we'll try those.

So I've been off work for a week unwell. As well as having malaria I had a cold and sore throat. As if that's not bad enough, we've had an unreliable electricity supply which we think is due to the recent floods - as such, we've been without fans during the night and during the day some days - torture! (To put it into perspective, it is now 5.30pm and 29 degrees!!) However, fingers crossed things seem to be back to normal and I start back at work tomorrow.

While all of this was going on, our toilet decided to break down. Following the plumber's visit to check a simple problem, the toilet decided to spring a leak. The first time resulted in poor Ronald's bedroom being completely flooded (and destroying various electrical equipment/chargers in the proccess); the second and third times were confined to the bathroom. But cleaning up flood water is not what's needed when recovering from malaria. Thankfully we have very kind neighbours...

In terms of creepy incidents, I've had 2 in the last two days. The first was yesterday - I was walking by the main roundabout (Circle) with 2 volunteers, when a disabled guy sitting on the ground grabbed hold of my hand and refused to let go. He started squeezing tighter and tighter, giving me a real fright and I started to panic. A guy walking past stopped to help and I got away. As we were walking, the guy asked if my hand was broken - I said no. He said, wow you're very strong - which makes me think, was the guy trying to break my hand??? The second creepy incident was today - I was sitting in a taxi when a guy reaches in the window and strokes my face - what a fright!!! I know kids like to stroke white skin because it's unusual to some of them, but for a grown man to do it, especially to my face when I'm sitting in a taxi is just frightening. Lessons - occupy my hands when walking; and wind up windows in taxis!! (Also polish up on my krav techniques just in case...) :-D

Now for some positive news:

I got word last week that I have achieved the ‘University Foundation Certificate in Professional Skills in International Development’. All that hard work in the run up to leaving the UK was worth it...

We were on Ghana TV re. the Princess Anne visit! http://gbcghana.com/index.php?id=1.358639.1.630701

No pics this week as haven't really been anywhere....! :-)

R x