Tuesday May 11th 2010
I’ve been in Accra for approximately 48 hours. In that small amount of time, I’ve said goodbye to 15 beautiful JFs heading to Tamale, had a crash course in the Ghanaian language Twi, visited the busy Madina Market on my own, and spent a day at the ACDI/VOCA ADVANCE office in Accra.
Ghana is very different from Canada. The air is dense and hot, and the pace of life is quite fast– taxis are zooming around, narrowly avoiding accidents, and using their horns quite liberally as a means of communication. There are tons of noises and smells wafting around me that I’m not used to, and I’m getting way more attention than I feel comfortable with. Thankfully, people are very friendly and willing to help me out when I have questions.
Navigating Madina Market on my first full day in country was no small challenge. In the spirit of pushing my comfort zone, I was dropped off at the entrance to the market by my coach, given a list of incidental items to look for, and was on my way. Some of the vendors I interacted with included a woman and her daughter at their vegetable stand, three women selling fabric, a family run shoe shop, and a small hybrid stand both offering haircuts and selling phone units. Along the way, I ran into quite a few people dancing and celebrating, heard a lot of people calling me obruni (white person), and was hissed at several times. Some of the most surprising sights included several bowls filled with tiny crabs crawling around, large chunks of meat/ animal hide being periodically doused with water, and the incredible amount of imported rice being sold everywhere. Most of the rice seems to be imported from Thailand, China, and the US. Overall the market was a positive experience and I’m looking forward to heading back sometime soon.
This week I am spending most of my days being introduced to the ADVANCE team in Accra, and working with my coach and her colleagues to learn more about market facilitation, knowledge management, and systems thinking. This is allowing for my thinking to become more sophisticated, and I’m really enjoying the challenge. Overall I think that what I’m learning for my in-country training will allow me to be a better detective during my placement. As a bonus, the ADVANCE office is beautiful, and is likewise filled with lots of lovely people!
My true placement begins on Thursday. I’ll be based out of Hohoe district in the Volta region working with ASRuD. ASRuD is currently involved in 5 value chains: rice, maize, soya, pineapple, and mango. On Thursday I’ll travel to Ho to visit the ASRuD regional office, and to meet a few of their managers. On Friday I’ll then head to Hohoe to meet my counterpart Benedictus and begin the 2nd stage of my placement. Over the weekend I’ll be setup with a place to stay and settle into life in Hohoe. Stay tuned for more posts on how things pan out for me in the Volta region!
Thanks for reading,
Erin
Note: I’m gradually updating my Flickr site with pictures, so be sure to check out the images at the bottom of this page!
