Count Your Blessings

Yesterday morning I went into one of the worst slums in Accra/(Ghana as a whole).  My friend was invited by his pastor to go along and attend church, as there is a man who has set up a ministry there.  He asked my friend to join so that he might see how he can help the people in the area (and I tagged along).  As we were driving there, they warned me about how bad the area was and asked whether I was sure I wanted to join.  I said yes.  I wanted to see it because while I have been living pretty comfortably in Accra, I am also well aware that there are plenty of people who are not.  I felt it important for me to see the conditions that the people in this slum were forced to endure and I wanted to see if I could do anything myself to help.  As we were pulling in, my friend asked his pastor, "Oh... this place?  I thought we were going further up... This is the worst place you could think of..."  At this point, I knew I was going to be in for a shock...

The slum itself stretched for miles... I bet if you walked around for three hours you still couldn't cover the entire area.  It was massive.  It was at the edge of a landfill... the people were living on top of a heap of trash.  The smell was overpowering.  There was trash everywhere, standing water, feces... the place was filled with flies.  I saw children naked... people living in small shacks, if they even had anywhere to live at all.  It was heart-wrenching.  As we walked around a man asked my friend if we had come to arrest them.  My friend asked why he would think so and the man responded that's the only time when people (outsiders) come there.  Amongst all this you still saw children laughing and smiling.  It was all you could do not to cry...

As we walked around, I tried to think of how I could help.  I thought maybe this.. or maybe that.. but in reality, the place is so big and the people are so many that it would surely be nearly impossible to do anything.  Further, my friend informed me that the slum was originally built by squatters, so the government has been threatening to move all the people out.  But they haven't taken any action, so the people are basically in limbo.  An NGO would not be allowed to come in and help or build anything because the place is just viewed as "temporary" and the government would not allow it.  Before we got there and they told me that the government was threatening to shut the entire place down, I was horrified.  I thought it was a cruel thing to do.  But after visiting for myself, I think it is the better option.  To clean the place up or revive it from its current state is not feasible.  I think its better to move the people into different areas and allow them to start fresh.  I think this would also help to reduce the criminal activity within the community.  As it is now, the environment is a hard one to break out of and people are resorting to crime as a means of survival.  No one should have to live as the people of this area are living now.

When I get home, I will try to help somehow.  The people need medical equipment and medication alike.  Vitamins would be great.  I could even try to raise money to sponsor some of the childrens' education.  If any of you have any ideas, please share.  Even the smallest gesture could help someone who has virtually nothing.  I cannot walk away from this without action.

Roadtrips in Africa... Quite the experience

Last weekend (like not the one that just passed, but the last one), my friends and I decided to go on safari.  There is a national park called Mole (pronounced Moh-lay) in the north of the country.  So we arranged for some drivers to take us.  On Thursday morning we all piled into our big white van and set off.

Our first stop was Kumasi which is located in Ghana's Ashanti region.  I believe Kumasi is the second largest city in Ghana after Accra.  However, its a little more laid back.  Doesn't seem to be as much hustle and bustle as Accra.  It was very green and quite beautiful.  When we were headed there, people told us, "the people in Kumasi love funerals."  Um... what??  Well, within about 2 hours of getting there I think we saw about 3 funerals taking place.  Everybody wears red and black clothing and we saw one where there was dancing and drumming.  I don't think its so much that they love funerals (I mean, who loves funerals?) but its just that they really celebrate the person's life.  And they do it big.  One of my friends told me that people actually take out loans to finance funerals (sometimes of people they don't even know)... they even hire professional mourners... hmmm... Well, anyways, enough about funerals.  Except, I have one more story.  As we were driving, there was an ambulance in front of us with its sirens on.  I asked our driver why no one was letting it pass.  He said, "oh, the person is already dead.  Look..."  When I looked, there was people in the back with the dead body wailing and mourning.  Um... oh.  So yeah... interesting, right?

Anyhoo, once we arrived, our friend Bill (he's a member of parliament) arranged a lunch for all of us.  There was something which looked like a grilled cheese sandwich that you make in one of those at-home sandwich makers.  But when I bit in, there was nothing inside.  It was just fried/(grilled?) pieces of warm, doughey bread.  Um, yummmm.  The moral of the story, I ate like three of them.  Yes that might make me a fatty, but they were delicious and worth every calorie.  (*Sidenote: Bill's party's campaign slogan is "So far, so good."  Clearly the best campaign slogan of all time).

Okay, so after lunch, Bill brought us the the place where they make Kente.  Kente is a cloth native to the Akan people of Ghana.  It was originally worn only by very important people at sacred and important times.  Now, it has become more mainstream.  However, it is still considered a symbol of status.  All the designs and colors have different meanings and if you see a guy wearing a certain style or a certain amount (i.e. head to toe) you know that he must be a very important man.  It is made by a master weaver using a loom.  Traditionally, only men were allowed to make it as there was a myth that it made women infertile.  And in fact, the "factory" we were at, was all men (though they say that it is now recognized that the myth was indeed just a myth).  So anyways, the men took us through the process of how they make it (which is very intricate) and then you could walk around and purchase things as well (this mostly consists of people asking you very persistently to buy from them).  All in all it was very interesting and there were some very beautiful pieces (most of us got at least a little something.. kente is also very expensive).  After our outing, we went to our hotel... the Golden Tulip.  Very fancy and nice.  And the best part... they had hot water without having to switch on a hot water heater or anything... it was amazing!!  My friends and I settled in, had dinner, had a few cocktails and headed to bed.  The next morning, we were off again.  Next stop Mole National Park!  (Okay guys, I'm going to make Mole a separate post because this has become quite long and I want to include pics with that one... so, coming soon, ok?)