First Week in Africa

I have managed to survive my first week in Africa. The internet at the lodge we are staying out is slow and unreliable, I finally found an area in the garden courtyard where can get wireless 80% of the time. The first few days were so overwhelming and new I couldn't get my mind in a place to be able to sit and process what was going on let alone attempt to blog about it. What a difference a week makes, I feel like I've lived here forever.

It has been an amazing week and each day has been full of new experiences beyond anything I could have imagined. I have met so many wonderful people, everyone I've met has been so welcoming and friendly. We are staying in a village outside of the capital Accra called Pokuase. I am pretty sure we are the only "obronis" (white person) for miles. All of the kids run after us shouting "obroni obroni" and laugh when we talk to them. The Village Net works out of Ofankor, the neighboring village. It's just a short tro-tro ride away....if you've never been on a tro-tro it is quite the experience. Tro-tros are the main public transportation, they are large vans with 4 rows of seats plus the front seats. Good way to get to know your neighbors.....we've counted as many as 23 people on a tro-tro into the city. There is a driver and a "maid", the guy who lets people in and out and collects the fare. He hangs out the window at each junction to call out the destination.......the line we take goes to Accra, Circle (a market area in Accra) and Achimota. He calls them out very fast and with hand gestures; I've gotten it down pat and my goal is to be a tro-tro caller at least once before I go, I've been assured all I have to do is ask.

We have nearly finished interviewing the women in the 2 different groups, I am sitting in an internet cafe near our office waiting for a group to come in for our final interviews. These women are absolutely amazing. They work from very early in the morning until 9 or 10 at night, going home during the day to cook dinner for their family. Most of the women sell wares on the road or in sheds along the roads. They sell yams, plantains, water bags, 2nd hand clothes, and a variety of other goods. All of the women we've interviewed have said that the loans they've received from The Village Net have helped them start their businesses and pay for food and expenses for their children (clothes, school fees, medical needs) but that they aren't big enough to really expand their businesses the way they would like to. They have almost all expressed a strong desire to learn how to read, write, and calculate. We are designing a program to meet this demand and hope to begin implementing it very soon and offering it to all of the clients. We have selected a group to do a more advanced entrepreneurship coaching program and will begin the 3rd week of August. We will go through each of their businesses and brainstorm ideas on how to expand and increase profits, and to think about the future plans: set goals and design actions plans on how to achieve them. We will also be helping them create a business plan. The women are unbelievably friendly, we've been to their homes for meals and they've taught us to make fufu and wrap headdresses. The pace of life is very relaxed and I am worried about getting used to the fast pace of life back home!!!!

I met with Paul Amponsah, the founder of the Valued Girls Project. He was with Rebeccah, their goalkeeper. We discussed the plans for bringing the computers from Seattle to the camp next summer and I'm so excited for the project. There is so much good to be done and Paul is amazing. In Ghana, it costs around $500-1000 a year for one child to go to secondary school, depending on whether or not they are day students or require boarding. The Ghana government passed a law that requires all students in junior high and secondary school to pass an ICT (computer) exam each year in order to advance to the next grade. Many of the girls in the villages don't have access to computers or know how to use them and therefore many can't go to secondary school or advance to the next grade. The Valued Girls Project is helping to train the girls on IT while they are at the camp for soccer for the 2 months. Camp starts next week and I am looking forward to going to meet with the girls (and boys very recently). There is a big tournament in Accra this Sunday, we will be playing the Starlight Ladies, a club in Accra that has been around a long time. These girls are ready though!! We will be riding with them to the game and cheering them on, should be a great time!

On Sunday we went to dinner in Osu, the expat area of the Greater Accra region. After feeling so disoriented for nearly a week and not seeing any other white people, I had the strangest experience. When we walked into the Italian restaurant I was overwhelmed to see so many obronis, it was almost too much to handle and was almost uncomfortable. I've gone Ghanaian!!!!

I'm finally feeling acclimated and settled in, we went into Accra on our own yesterday, without Joyce who has been our guide. We were very proud of ourselves for getting off at the right tro-tro stop and knowing exactly where we needed to go to do the errands we set off for. Managed to buy speakers for an ipod, sandals, jewelry, paintings, new phone card and got the number registered....not bad for 3 obronis!

Ghana is very safe, we've had no problems day or night, you just have to be smart about where you go and what you do. I am loving it here so much, I can't believe it's only been a little over a week. Now that I have my bearings I will try and be more frequent in my updates!