The Road to Kumasi

We departed the VPWA office in Pokuase at 10:00 AM to begin the 150 mile journey to Kumasi, north of Accra. The plan was to do some sightseeing in the city, especially at the large market, before heading to the nearby Lake Bosumtwi for some relaxation on Saturday.

Since Jeremy and I didn’t have to work on Friday, we got on the road before some of the other volunteers who also planned to make the trip. The Internet told us that we could catch a tourist bus from Achimota, a neighborhood in Accra only a few tro-tro stops south of Pokuase, all the way to Kumasi. Unfortunately, just because a company keeps a schedule of buses on the Internet doesn’t mean they plan to abide by that schedule… So although we showed up exactly where we were supposed to show up, albeit by taxi instead of tro-tro, as we were running a bit late, there wasn’t a bus waiting to whisk us away to Kumasi.

They told us we had to go all the way into Accra to the VIP bus station if we wanted to catch a bus to Kumasi. We’d already driven about 20 minutes South of Pokuase in the opposite direction of Kumasi. The VIP Station was another 45 minutes South. And the taxi cab driver wanted to charge us 12 Cedis to take us there. We talked him down to 5 Cedis - although I still felt ripped off – and made it to a new bus stop and boarded a VIP Coach, where we would sit for the next six hours while traversing the 150 miles of SHIT for a ROAD between Accra and Kumasi. Yes, we drove one hour South to then go SIX hours North. And we only covered 150 miles, yes.

It hurts to even think about it, really. And it is difficult to be impressed with Ghana’s growing economy and “advanced” infrastructure when most of the road between Ghana’s two largest cities is only rock, mud, and grass. It should take two and a half hours to commute between these two towns, not six. One of our friends, who didn’t splurge for a 20 Cedi seat on a VIP bus and instead settled for a mode of transportation that most people in Ghana have no choice but to take, the tro-tro, literally had to get out and push the tro-tro through the mud at one point in his trip. On a highway! How absurd!

But we did make it to Kumasi. Finally. Just in time to hit up the extensive cocktail menu at Vic Baboo's for Happy Hour! After a drink or two, I definitely forgot all about the treacherous road and was focused on enjoying my last weekend in Africa!

Pokuase: Anywhere But Here

We cannot lie. Spending almost three weeks in the Greater Accra region of Ghana was tough for us. Jeremy once likened our living situation in Ghana to visiting America and instead of staying in a major city when you arrived, you stayed in a suburb like Newtown, PA where I grew up. But pretend it was Newtown, PA over thirty years ago when there wasn’t much there, just a lot of houses being built. Now take out sewage systems, trash removal, and private transportation to Philadelphia, the closest nearby place where you can find a store at which you can buy anything. Also take out hot water, paved roads, and vegetables. Add in air pollution. Yes, that about sums up living North of Accra in Pokuase… Close, just not quite there yet. And inconvenient to boot.

(Sidebar to Mom and Dad: I am not saying that Newtown is inconvenient or not quite there yet. It would have been in 1980, though. Especially if you didn’t have a car and had to take a VW bus that was about to break down 25 miles to closest store.)

I know my description of Pokuase sounds harsh, and in all honesty, it really wasn’t that bad. The local people we met were incredibly kind. Houses are being built everywhere, and people line the roads selling fruits, vegetables, baskets, even hot food. It was just hard to transition from Arusha, a mid-sized town with a lot of energy to a mid-sized village outside of a humongous city. Especially since the village includes a mixture of huts and new cement homes right next to one another. One of our neighbors drove a BMW, while the others slept outside of a small one room hut. Kind of hard to absorb let alone process…

So for our last weekend in Ghana, we decided to check out another part of the country. After a lot of debate over whether or not we wanted to climb another mountain or lie on another beach, we decided to soak in some of the Ashanti culture in the town of Kumasi. Kumasi’s market boasts 12,000+ individual merchants and I had yet to find some great cloth. Plus, just outside of town is a large freshwater lake. So to Kumasi we will go tomorrow. Just get us out of Pokuase!

Deworm.org

I know that I haven't been doing a great job keeping you all up to date on the happenings at Deworm Ghana. However, I have been busy tabulating the number of beneficiaries of the Deworm Ghana project and writing the daily blogs to promote our work at our website, www.demorm.org. You can read all the details about the schools we visited, as well as the children and parents we have met here: http://www.deworm.org/deworm-2011-blog.

The past few days have been incredibly busy for us, as we have now administered deworming medication to 3047 students throughout Ghana's Akuapim South Municipal District. We have only two more days of work to go, and we're hoping to reach five thousand students. Although we likely won't reach this number by the end of the week, we are so proud of the work we have been doing. In fact, our work has caught the attention of some investors with a lot of money who want to donate to treating neglected disease throughout all of West Africa, including worms.

So maybe next summer I'll travel back this way to coordinate Deworm West Africa as my summer internship?  I wonder if I could base my work out of Morocco...

Obamaland

At various points in our traveling past, Jeremy and I have discussed pretending to be Canadian instead of American. Normally, we were in Europe during the presidency of George W. Bush. It just sometimes didn't feel very *cool* to be Americans...

Well, traveling throughout Africa this summer is an entirely different story. Wherever we go, people ask us where we are from; and the second we start to say, "United States..." everyone with whom we are speaking shouts in unison, "Obamaland!"

We received this response most often throughout Tanzania, where we were also reminded of Obama's roots in Kenya, Tanzania's neighbor to the north. I must say that with regard to most topics, Tanzanians often spoke of Kenya as if they had a bit of an inferiority complex. Not so with Obama - they love that he has ancestry to another East African, Swahili speaking nation. In addition to seeing Obama shirts for sale by many street vendors, we saw people wearing Obama hats and selling Obama brand pens.

However, Ghana has really taken the Obama fascination up a few notches. In addition to selling all that is also for sale in Tanzania, Ghana has billboards with Obama's picture. Small food stores also sell Obama brand biscuits (cookies) with Obama's face on the wrapper. And cookie. Finally, our favorite, even the children's copy books at schools are covered with Obama's picture, like the one below. I hear that some of the schools even use a picture of him from his vacation when he is wearing swimming trunks. Thankfully, he is wearing a shirt and tie in this one!

We must admit, we are starting to count down the days until we return to Obamaland... Less than a week!

Pictures working and hiking in Darmang, a village where VPWA spends a lot of time...

2011-07-19 - Darmang Hike

Kakum National Park & the Cape Coast Castle

Today, the team took a well-deserved vacation day west of Accra to visit Kakum National Park and the town of Cape Coast, both approximately three and a half hours tro-tro ride from Accra. It was nice to get out of the big city and see another part of the country, although I have to admit that few national parks will ever impress me now that I have been to Serengeti and Ngorongoro Crater...

Kakum National Park is known for its Canopy Walkway, a series of bridges hovering over the trees that gives a great view of... trees. We didn't get to see any animals at Kakum National Park, as most of the animals live in the more remote regions away from tourists. We thought the walkway would have been amazing if it enabled us to see elephants from above, but like I said, we pretty much just saw trees. And for 15 Cedi, we would have liked to see more than just trees!

However, for 5 Cedi, we gained entrance to the Cape Coast Castle in the town of Cape Coast. It is more of a fort than a castle, having been erected and occupied by the gamut of European explorers and merchants back when the fort served as the final African stop in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. For that reason, it was kind of hard to be excited about touring the fort. The architecture is impressive (for Ghana) and the location on the sea is beautiful; however knowing how many people were split up from their families and sent to a far away land as a slave is incredibly depressing.

What is inspiring, though, is seeing how Ghana has transformed since these times. Today, the IMF has flagged Ghana as the world's fastest growing economy, growing at a rate of 20% per year. Good things are yet to happen in Ghana, that is for sure!

2011-07-16 - Kakum NP & Cape Coast

Deworm Ghana Week One Pics

Pictures from the VPWA Deworm Ghana activities in Darman, Nsawam, and Adoagyiri, villages outside of Accra in the Akuapim South Municipal District of Ghana. Akwaaba!

2011-07-12 - Deworm Ghana

The School-based Deworming Continues

Yesterday and today, the VPWA Deworm Ghana Team continued its mission to deworm children throughout Ghana by traveling to the villages of Nsawam on Wenesday and Adoagyiri on Thursday. Within each village, we conducted deworming exercises at local primary schools.

Why is VPWA visiting schools for the deworming campaign? Because research from leading institutions including the World Health Organization classify school-based deworming as one of the most efficient and cost-effective solutions to the global challenges facing developing countries. Children are at the greatest risk of experiencing worm infections, and since most children are in school, it is simple to round them up and administer medication. Schools also provide an excellent setting to follow-up on deworming activities with additional health education and monitoring of students' individual health improvements.

Furthermore, people living in villages like Nsawam and Adoagyiri receive immediate, as well as long-term benefits from a school-based deworming program. A few of these benefits are listed, below:

1) School absenteeism is reduced by 25%
2) Large cognitive improvements equivalent to a half year of schooling are produced
3) Literacy rates for dewormed children are increased
4) Higher income for dewormed children are earned as they grow to adults, averaging an increase in wages by 20%
5) Better health for the siblings, family members, and nearby friends of dewormed children is also experienced

For more information, see this link. http://www.who.int/wormcontrol/documents/en/at_a_glance.pdf

In order to make these benefits a reality for the people of Nsawam and Adoaguiri, VPWA administered deworming medication to 340 students in Nsawam and 184 students in Adoagyiri. The students, who ranged in age from five to sixteen years old, reported no side effects from taking the medication. In fact, in Nsawam, after all 340 students had taken their deworming medication, they sang several songs to the VPWA volunteers to express their appreciation for including St. John in the Deworm Ghana program. They put on an adorable concert for us!

To date, our team has dewormed 896 children throughout three different villages in the Akuapim South Municipal District of Ghana. We are aiming to reach the 1000 student milestone tomorrow, so wish us luck that we see great attendance from our next school!

Location:Pokuase, Ghana

Two Deworm Ghana Volunteers

OK, Let's Deworm Ghana!

I remember learning about worms in science class in seventh grade, when we learned all about the organization of living things. Since then, however, I haven't heard much about worms, especially the parasitic kinds. But as I begin to ramp up on public health issues plaguing the developing world, I have learned that two billion people world-wide are affected by parasitic worms, formally known as Soil Transmitted Helminths (STH) and Schistosomes. Although most worm infections are not life-threatening, the symptoms of worms cause health problems such as stomach pain, coughing, fever, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, swollen belly, blood in stools or urine, and fatigue. 

Children living in developing countries are at the highest risk of contracting worms, and given the symptoms listed above, it follows that children with worms have poor attendance and performance at school. Poor attendance at school clearly leads to learning gaps, including general illiteracy and speaking English, two subjects that are very important in a developing country. Furthermore, worms can cause impaired physical and mental development in children, which further position the children to face additional challenges as adults.

Through the Deworm Ghana project, VPWA aims to confront these challenges, aiming to deworm as many children as possible through the provision of a common deworming medication, albendazole. A single-dose of albendazole safely treats worms in infected children. Side-effects are rare. As a result of deworming efforts, childrens’ overall health improves such that attendance at schools can increase by as much as 25%. That's a pretty good statistic! However, what's even more exciting is just how cost-effective it is to deworm. The medication we are dispensing costs up to 2 Cedis in Ghana, which is about $1.50 USD. Although this cost can be a challenge for many impoverished families, it is certainly doable for many aid organizations, as the medication can be purchased for even less directly from the manufacturers. 

So today we finally got started with Deworm Ghana, and seven of us volunteers traveled to the village of Darman, about two hours north of Accra. After meeting with the village chief, the group headed to Darman Presbyterian School, where the children greeted us with cheers. The day’s programming began with a VPWA volunteer - ME - giving a brief educational speech to the children, explaining worms and how the children would be treated. As soon as I said, "Good morning!" the children erupted in giggles. However, I think I was able to adequately explain the details to them. 

Just what were those details? Well, we were dispensing a single dose of an antibiotic called albendazole, which works by depriving the worms of glucose within its host's body. After taking just one 400 mg dose of albendazole, a parasitic worm will die because it can no  longer feed off of the host. As a result, the dead worm will be passed in a bowel movement. In addition, I explained how always wearing shoes outside, avoiding non-potable water, and washing fruits and vegetables before eating, and always washing hands can help prevent worm infections in the future. 

After my speech, we got to work! The children lined up by our desks, and for the next two hours, our team administered albendazole to 372 children, ranging in age from five to sixteen years of age. 179 of the students were girls, and 193 of the students were boys. We remained on site for one hour after administering medication to ensure the children experienced no problematic side-effects from albendazole. During this time, I spoke with parents about treating and preventing worms while the other volunteers played with the school children. 

In summary, the first day of Deworm Ghana was a success! 10 more schools to go before July 21, and pictures coming soon...

Pokusase and Accra, Ghana Pictures

Safe in Ghana, here are some pictures of our home-base in the town of Pokuase, as well as some pictures from our tour of Accra.

Akwaaba, Ghana!

Welcome to Ghana! We've arrived. And we are here, more or less. And we are experiencing culture shock, again. Ghana is simultaneously very similar and yet entirely different from Tanzania. Or perhaps, Accra is very similar and yet entirely different from Arusha. At any rate, we are feeling rather out of place and a tad homesick, both for Arusha as well as San Francisco.

But all in all, things are good. We arrived on Thursday at noon after a long trip from Zanzibar via Addis Ababa, Ethioia. Our new home is in the town of Pokuase, on the outskirts of Accra. Downtow Accrs is home to two million people, and the entire metropolitan area boasts over four million people. Our new neighborhood seems to be full of middle class Ghanaians. Immediately upon arrival, Jeremy and I commented on the abundance of *newer* looking cars and homes. We also laughed that throughout the city, roads are paved and even have paint lines to indicate lanes! However, our neighborhood streets are more or less dirt paths, our shower water is cold, and we've lost electricty a couple of times. Some things are consistent in Africa on both sides of the continent!

For the next two weeks, we will be working for a local NGO, Volunteer Partnerships for West Africa, or VPWA. There are currently 20 other volunteers here, as well, all working on various different projects. Five of us are here for the Deworm Ghana project, on which we will begin working tomorrow. So it is great - albeit very different - to be surrounded by other volunteers, some as young as 18 and others who are even more *mature* than Jeremy and me!

Most volunteers live at The Compound, a collection of homes owned by VPWA's founder. They sleep three people to a room, and rooms are very small. It is pretty much the college dorm scene all over again! With so many volunteers, though, The Compound is full, so Team Deworm is camping out about a half mile away in the VPWA offices. Two large rooms have been converted to bedrooms for us; and although Jeremy and I do have a room to ourselves, we are shacking in bunk beds. Hilarious!

We'll eat dinner at The Compound every night, feasting on Ghanaian dishes prepared by Chef Lizzie. For our first night, we had Fufu with Chicken and Peanut Sauce. It was spicy and oily and not good for my stomach, although Jeremy loved it. On Friday, we had a plainer spicy rice dish. It definitely blows Chagga Banana Stew out of the water, but I'm not yet a huge fan. Tomorrow we are heading into Accra for a tour of the city... Nanti ye (good-bye in Twi, pronounced, Chwee) for now!

Zanzibar Pics

2011-07-05 - Zanzibar

Zantabulous

Earlier this summer, Jeremy and I spent a lovely week in Hawaii. Well, Hawaii, we regret to inform you that Zanzibar just kicked your ass. Please allow us to explain…

1. Beach-front Cottage. That’s right, our room was literally on the beach. At high-tide, we could almost dive into the water from our front porch.
2. Sunrise and sunset over the turquoise Indian Ocean. I know sunrise and sunset in Hawaii is pretty great, but since it was cloudy throughout our entire trip, Zanzibar wins.
3. Locals farming seaweed. The sandbar near our hotel extended 3KM out to sea and was spotted with small seaweed farms that ladies in kangas tended throughout the morning. Fascinating!
4. Zanzibar Pizza. Overpriced and luau food just doesn’t hold a candle to pastry dough wrapped around meat, veggies, an egg, and mayonnaise fried to a crisp for less than 2 USD. 
5. Stone Town. Honestly, I’m not a huge fan of the city as a whole, but the evening food market – a smaller version of the Marrakesh souks – was amazing.

Once we have a better Internet connection, we'll post pictures from this leg of the trip. However, I cannot believe our time in Tanzania is over. Asante sana, Zanzibar for helping us easily go out with a bang!

Zanzibar or Bust

Well, it's definitely true. Jeremy and I are really freaking lucky sometimes. Take this classic near misadventure turned great story.

Our taxi picked us up from our hotel on Monday morning to drive us to the airport. Not only was the taxi early, but traffic in Arusha was incredibly light, and we made it to the airport in only about 15 minutes. (We were definitely prepared for a 45 minute crawl through traffic.)

Upon arrival at the airport, we attempt to check-in for our flight; however, we are told we will have to wait, as they won't begin checking us in until 1:00 PM. At that time, it was only 12 Noon, and our flight wasn't until 2:00 PM. So we lugged our luggage (we are still carrying all of our gear for the Kili Climb, so we do a lot of lugging of the luggage) to a little cafe in the Arusha airport and order some food. Surprisingly, it is not too overpriced, and it tastes pretty good, as well.

Within two minutes of our food arriving, a man comes by and taps Jeremy on the shoulder to tell us that it is time to check-in and drop off our luggage. I swear barely 15 minutes had passed since we had just attempted to check-in. So much for waiting until 1:00 PM. As it turns out, "they" decided our flight could leave early. I'm not sure who "they" are, but I like these people. Jeremy and I had previously tried to get on an earlier flight but were unable to do so, since it was full. How amazing! And people say the Tanzanians are lazy?!

And as a sidebar, has anyone ever had a flight depart EARLY? Can you imagine how much easier it would have been to travel to and from O'Hare airport for work if the flights departed ON TIME let alone EARLY?

Anyway, we had one more hurdle to clear before departing, which of course, is the luggage. So without getting to eat much of his food, Jeremy insisted on lugging the luggage back to the check-in counter. Upon weighing our bags, we are told that we owe $50 (US) because we are over the weight limit. We were expecting this surcharge, but we were told we could pay with a credit card. So with only 50,000 TShs in our pocket when we left our hotel, we opted to head straight to the airport instead of stopping at the ATM. Bad plan, Nic and Jeremy... Bad plan.

Of course, the Arusha airport (which really is just a landing strip, some seats, a metal detector, and a gift shop) does not accept credit cards. Of course they don't! No where in Tanzania accepts credit cards. Have we not been living here for the past six weeks? How could we believe this person? So, we need $50 or its equivalent in TShs, which is 80,000. And since we have now just paid for our lunch, we are down to 39,000 TShs. Not good. The official at the counter was of course, not helpful. He wants us to leave one of our bags at the airport, but since we are not coming back to Arusha, and are heading directly to Ghana from Zanzibar, that will not work. I'm frustrated and pissed, clearly; but Jeremy is calm. (Clearly.)

Then, I'm not quite sure how this happened, but the official asks us how much money we do have. We show him our 39,000 Tshs and coins. No, we do not have any Euros. No, we do not have any US Dollars. I yell, "We've been living in Arusha for six weeks!" He looks at us, takes our 39,000 TShs, and tells us we can get on the plane. Amazing, really. I couldn't believe it. I'm sure he'll take the money for himself, but I don't care. I was so grateful he let us on the plane!

So we gave them our bags, zipped through a metal detector, and walked out onto the tarmac. We climbed the steps into our small prop plane with loveseats on the right side that sat two, traditional seats on the left. Jeremy and I had a loveseat, and my seat belt didn't really work, but here we are in Zanzibar and it's pretty spectacular. Our hotel is "shabby chic" with reasonably priced, good food and drinks. Our room is steps from the ocean. We will have a great couple of days here before we start heading back West...

Photos of the Northern Circuit Safari in Tanzania

It was a crazy five days of game drives and wildlife viewing. We did our best to cut these down to about 100 of our favorites... A few more will trickle in tomorrow, as well. Asante sana, Serengeti!

2011.06.29 - Safari Favorites

Chips Mayai

We've spent most of our time on this blog complaining about various Tanzanian meals, mainly Chaga Banana Stew and meat that is cooked to the point that rivals that of a piece of gum you stuck under your desk in high school... and had to eat right now. Well done doesn't even begin to describe how overcooked this meat is.

Anyway, we actually did enjoy quite a lot of the food in Tanzania. One of our favorite foods is Chips Mayai, or French Fries and Eggs. There are a few awesome aspects of this dish, which I will outline, below:

1. It is meat free. In a land where non-meat eaters are shunned, one doesn't get an odd look from a waiter (or house girl / host family) when requesting Chips Mayai.
2. It includes REAL chips. The non-soggy, actually fried kind. This feat is made possible by cooking the chips twice, which makes them actual CRISPY chips.
3. It is cheap! On most menus throughout Arusha - the menus for tourists and the menus for locals - Chips Mayai is 3000 TShs or less. Yes, less than $2!

Not surpirsingly, this simple dish is a favorite for tourists and locals. So for our last day with the St. Lucia family, we cooked it for everyone for lunch. We purchased all the ingredients at the local market (which involved haggling and enduring lots Mzungu comments) and balanced the eggs (which were cast into a plastic bag without the protection of a crate) throughout a bumpy dala dala ride all the way to Moshono. Not a single egg broke along the way. That's how good at riding the dala dala I am now!

After lunch, the kids sang us songs and gave us cards they made themselves that said, "We love you so much we don't want you to live." Clearly, they meant to write "leave" instead of "live" which is one of the best things about the cards. The thought of leaving all of our friends in Arusha makes us not want to live, either. I mean LEAVE. Check out the pictures below and you'll see why...

2011-06-25 - Good-bye St Lucia Party

Jeremy and I already cannot wait to send a care package to everyone, and we are also already scheming how we can come back next summer to visit again...