The Ghana Experience

(A blog of an Indian overseas volunteer)

- Sachin M. Patwardhan
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Table of Contents
Blog Starts............................................................................................................................................4
Reaching Ghana....................................................................................................................................5
Relatively Speaking!!!..........................................................................................................................7
In Country Training and First Experience of Accra.............................................................................9
Reaching Bongo.................................................................................................................................12
First Day in Bongo and Bolgatanga...................................................................................................14
Trying to settle myself in Bongo........................................................................................................16
Experiencing People...........................................................................................................................18
Getting to the Right Side....................................................................................................................19
No Hurry Please!!!.............................................................................................................................21
Silent No's...........................................................................................................................................22
Unexpected Indians............................................................................................................................24
Exploring Food...................................................................................................................................26
Beating Loneliness.............................................................................................................................28
Solemiya Zaare!..................................................................................................................................29
I'll go and come..................................................................................................................................31
Missing the Homeland........................................................................................................................33
Bongo Rocks......................................................................................................................................34
About Work........................................................................................................................................37
A Busy Day.........................................................................................................................................38
Southern Ghana Tour- Day I...............................................................................................................39
Southern Ghana Tour- Day II.............................................................................................................43
Southern Ghana Tour- Day III............................................................................................................47
Southern Ghana Tour- Day IV............................................................................................................49
Volunteer Conference- Day I..............................................................................................................51
Volunteer Conference- Day II & III...................................................................................................52
More exploration of Kumasi..............................................................................................................55
No Expectations..................................................................................................................................57
Exploring Food II...............................................................................................................................58
Glimpses of Bongo ............................................................................................................................60
Random and Miscellaneous................................................................................................................63
Random and Miscellaneous II ...........................................................................................................65
A Visit to Barber.................................................................................................................................67
Reaching Kumasi or Story of Privacy amongst the Strangers...........................................................69
Exploration in and around Kumasi I..................................................................................................71
Exploration in and around Kumasi II ................................................................................................73
Workshop on Inclusion ......................................................................................................................76
Tamale................................................................................................................................................78
Bird Market at Zebilla........................................................................................................................79
The Changes within Three and Half Months......................................................................................81
Spooky Knocks...................................................................................................................................83
Exploring Food (and Drink) III..........................................................................................................85
Tour Planning.....................................................................................................................................87
Mole and Around: Part I ....................................................................................................................89
Mole and Around Part II.....................................................................................................................91
Mole and Around Part III...................................................................................................................95
Paga....................................................................................................................................................98
Diwali at Bolgatanga........................................................................................................................101
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Colourful Sirigu................................................................................................................................105
Not Made in Ghana..........................................................................................................................107
NAFAC.............................................................................................................................................109
Accra Again I....................................................................................................................................112
Accra Again II...................................................................................................................................114
National Farmers' Day......................................................................................................................116
Azambene.........................................................................................................................................118
Indians in Ghana...............................................................................................................................120
My Cooking in Ghana......................................................................................................................122
Fun with the Titles............................................................................................................................125
Malaria Me Too................................................................................................................................126
Volunteers' Parties.............................................................................................................................128
The Unvisited Witches Camp of Gambaga......................................................................................130
Harmattan.........................................................................................................................................133
Guinea fowls.....................................................................................................................................135
Hunger..............................................................................................................................................138
Your Mummy Wants to Buy Tomatoes.............................................................................................140
Girls in Bongo .................................................................................................................................142
Exploring Food (and Drink) IV........................................................................................................144
Navrongo and Tongo........................................................................................................................146
Beating the Heat...............................................................................................................................149
Moving On........................................................................................................................................151
The Difference A Smile Can Make...................................................................................................152
Ghana Wildlife Tour I- Jirapa...........................................................................................................154
Ghana Wildlife Tour II- Hippos of Wechiau....................................................................................156
Ghana Wildlife Tour III- Elephants of Mole....................................................................................159
Ghana Wildlife Tour IV- Sacred Monkeys.......................................................................................161
Ghana Wildlife Tour V- Sacred Grove and the Journey Back..........................................................164
Story of Big 10.................................................................................................................................167
Not Black Not White .......................................................................................................................169
Coming Back I .................................................................................................................................171
Coming Back II................................................................................................................................173
Blog Ends!........................................................................................................................................174
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Blog Starts
3 July 2010
When I accepted the placement offered to me by Volunteer Service Overseas (VSO), there
was a flood of questions and concerns directed towards me. They were coming from my
family members, friends and relatives and also other people who came to know that I shall
be living in a remote location in a country like Ghana which is an underdeveloped country
with unknown culture on an another continent. I tried to answer many of those questions
and tried to give explanations about the concerns raised, but what I realised that it will be
the best thing to share the experiences instead of discussing them on the basis of
assumptions and speculations.
So here I am sharing my experience through my blog shared with you. It is meant for
keeping everybody updated about what I am doing, what do I feel about it and what is the
experience. Please do keep in mind while reading this blog, that it is not for proving
anything!
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Reaching Ghana
4 July 2010
I started my journey from home in Mumbai at 23:00 on 3rd July. My family and my friends
Mickey and Sujeet had came to drop me at the airport. With tearful eyes of my wife
Tejaswini and mother, I said bye to them and entered the first security gate of Chhatrapati
Shivaji International Airport of Mumbai.
I had taken and also received without asking a lot of suggestions from friends and relatives
who had some experience abroad. There was a bit of anxiety since I was going to set foot
on a foreign land for the first time. I was lucky that just immediately after passing through
the first security gate, I met my old classmate, Vallabh, who works in the airport. He guided
me about how to proceed through various checks and counters. There were very long
queues at almost all the counters. One security person told that it is always like that on
weekends, when majority of the people try make their travel.
The Kenya Airways flight taking me up to Nairobi first was bit delayed so I ended up
spending 2 hours at the airport. It was nice experience to explore this glossy place but
everything was very expensive. It was interesting to watch passengers of various
nationalities. At last the flight took off at 4:15 am. With last call from my Indian sim card I
said bye to my family members and switched the cell phone off.
After some time the journey became boring. There was nothing to see outside the window
since it was very dark and I started to feel heaviness in my head. I could not sleep properly
as I had to keep my bag near the seat and being economy class there was not enough of
space near the seat. The food they served on the plain was almost tasteless except the
pieces of fruits which were really very fresh. Most of the passengers were Indians, mostly
Gujaratis and to my surprise there was an option of Jain food available in the flight by prior
notice.
The plane reached Jomo Kenyatta airport at Nairobi at 10:30 am Indian Time (IST). I did
not change any time settings of my cell phone because I wanted to keep track of how
much time I was spending on the flight. The airport in Nairobi was nice experience even
though it was small and less glossy. The staff was very helpful and guided me correctly
towards the proper gates. The toilets were clean. Here everybody had a smiling face. The
shops were not very glossy but seemed customer friendly although I did not purchase
anything. I wanted to make a call home but they started security check for the next flight
for Accra which was to leave Nairobi at 12:00 (again IST) so I had to hurry towards the
queue. Kenya is 2.5 hours behind India.
The flight was delayed by an hour. Here I forgot to collect my cell phone which I had to put
in the tray as part of the security checking procedure. The security personnel had taken it
for checking and I did not see it while collecting my luggage. Fortunately the lady at the
counter came in the seating area and asked about the cell phone which nobody had
collected and I got it back. I met one Pakistani guy called Imran in the waiting area. After
seeing each other, we smiled at each other, I feeling that he will be Indian. He had all the
updates about India and asked me questions about Bal and Raj Thackeray. He seemed to
be more updated about Hindi films than I am. He was going to Freetown in Sierra Leone
where the next destination of the flight. This was smaller plain but this time despite the
feeling of spinning of insides of my head, the experience was good. The food they served
was great. I again purposefully made the option of non vegetarian food to make myself
used to it. I peeked in the neighbours dish to see what they had served in the vegetarian
option and to my surprise there was pulao and curry.
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The aeroplane reached Accra at 18:00 hours IST and 12:30 Ghana time. There was
nothing special in the airport except the welcoming messages for the returning World Cup
Football team of Ghana. I had no hassles clearing through the immigration and customs.
One lady just checked my passport and that was all. The drivers from the hotel Sun lodge
where we are going to stay for next week, were already there to receive us. There were in
all six volunteers who arrived at the same time. Four of them were in the same flight as
mine but of course we did not each other during the flight. There is one Indian volunteer
Raj who is from Jamshedpur and came via Delhi and Dubai. There is one Filipino lady and
two Kenyans and one Ugandan. It must be a big task to co-ordinate these travels of all
these volunteers coming from difference locations in the world. But somehow every thing
was nicely in place. At the airport, as one finds in India, many people came forward and
started to render unwanted help with the luggage. The driver who was receiving us had to
bark at them to tell to go away.
The hotel is good and the staff is also very helpful, but it is very difficult to understand their
accent and I have to ask repeatedly what they want to say. While in the restaurant, I did
not know what to order as everything on the menu seemed foreign to me. Seeing my
confused face, the waitress asked whether I shall like to have what my other friends have
ordered. I said yes and found a big heap of potato chips and big peace of chicken. I really
wanted some light snack, a Vada or an Idli would have been proper but that was the
moment of realisation that I am going to miss them for an year.
Rahul Chakraborty who was with me at my batch at the time of selection and PfC
(Preparing for Change) training had came to meet me. It was great to meet him in person
although we had been in touch via emails and online chats. I also spoke with Rose another
Indian volunteer from Patna who is based near the same place where I shall be based i.e.
Bongo in the Upper East Region. There is one couple Nandhini and Mani who are from
Tamilnadu and been in Ghana for last three years. They had also come to meet us. There
are many other volunteers who have come here to assist us new volunteers. There seems
to be very big and closely knit group of them and everybody is very friendly. I shall get to
know more about this community of volunteers, who number almost 80 in the whole of
Ghana and spread across different regions of the country, tomorrow when in-country
training starts.
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Relatively Speaking!!!
5 July 2010
The entire day went by openly or secretly comparing the conditions between Ghana (and
sometimes Africa) with India.
Today I met a nice person with whom I am sharing my room. His name is Samuel and he
is from Kenya. He is currently placed in the northern part of Ghana and has spent almost
18 months in the country. I learnt many things about volunteering, living at the remote
locations, managing the expenses etc. He has come as a volunteer representative and
shall be helping during the training. From each region they have invited some volunteers
who have spent considerable amount of time in the country. Through the day we got to
know about many intricacies of our lives as volunteers through them. There are two Dutch,
two British and one Filipino woman in this group of experienced volunteer representatives.
During the day I found that I could relate more to the experiences of African volunteers
than the European volunteers. Conditions through which most of the African volunteers are
coming from are poorer or middle class background. Similar to them, standards of living in
the Indian middle class are certainly nowhere near to the European middle class
standards.
Today when everybody was enjoying their meat at the time of lunch and dinner, I ate only
vegetarian things which were available on the menu. I just got fed up of seeing those big
pieces of meat after eating my breakfast today. Probably the real Indian vegetarian inside
me came out today. On the food front, one preparation which I liked a lot was Kelewele.
These are fried half ripe banana chips. They are just delicious and I am going to learn
some day how to make them.
Another striking thing to me was a subject about which I know very little and most of the
Africans and Europeans just loved to discuss it. This subject is Football. In India, Cricket
just dominates the entire sport scenario and football is just some fun to watch and nothing
to be seriously discussed. We are here at the time when Ghana had to leave the World
Cup in the quarter finals and every where, international volunteers not being the exception,
the subject of football is being hotly discussed. Sometimes I found out that I could not
understand parts of discussions many sentences just because of lack of knowledge about
the game.
After finishing the training part of the day, I and Raj went for a stroll. We walked for about
an hour and ended up in a large street market. I wanted to buy a shorts for the purpose of
swimming. Although being sold on the street, it was priced at 5 G. cedis (160 Rs.), which
should have costed only Rs.60 in the Indian streets, and thus feeling that I was being
cheated being a foreigner, I dropped my plan of buying it. Of course I may buy it tomorrow
as I desperately want to take a dip in the swimming pool in the hotel and I don't have any
shorts with me right now.
Most of the market was filled with all types of old things. Two wheelers, clothes, mobile
phones, furniture, TV sets, refrigerators etc. Strangely not much of buying was on and
although there were many people in the market, many of them seemed to be just stray.
Sellers were not busy dealing with the customers. We saw two quite young girls standing
at a side of the road and openly eyeing us. I had a feeling that they were prostitutes trying
to lure some customers. The overall market scene was surely depressing for the first day
out on the streets of Ghana.
An interesting incidence happened during our stroll. We were curiously looking towards
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things which were on sale on the sides of the street. One old lady was selling something
and we were looking at those items. The women started shouting "Obruni Obruni". We
could not understand it and told her "thanks, we don't want to buy anything." The youth,
who was passing by, told us that by Obruni she means White Man. So, that black woman
perceived our brown Indian colour as White. It was very funny and we had a good laugh
over it. Most of us after all do think in relative terms it seems.
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In Country Training and First Experience of Accra
6-9 July 2010
We went through an in country training training from 5-9 July. After arrival of the volunteers
VSO arranges an in country training to familiarise them with the VSO programmes in the
country and also the culture of the country. Generally they make it a point that volunteers
arrive in the country of their placements at a certain date so that the training can take
place in groups. Sometimes if a volunteer does not arrive in a country as per the schedule
he may miss that opportunity and will be put directly in the place of his placement. As I
came as per the scheduled date, I could attend the in country training and everything was
properly organised from arrival into the country up to the travel to the base of placement.
We were total seven volunteers in the batch. Speaking nationality wise there are 2 Indians,
1 British, 1 Filipino, 2 Kenyans and 1 Ugandan. Speaking gender wise there are 2 women
and 5 men. They had also invited volunteer representatives from various regions in which
the volunteers were going to be placed. This interaction with the volunteers helped to learn
a lot because of their first hand experiences.
The first day was sort of getting acclimatised to the conditions, which were actually good
because of the nice hotel. We were taken on a two hour city tour in which we moved
around the Accra city. Getting to know all these new people and VSO Ghana was the main
part of the day. Various sessions on VSO programme areas and approaches followed in
the remaining days. There were sessions on how to keep oneself healthy and avoid
diseases. A special session on HIV and AIDS and new VSO goal area called inclusion
where the issues with the disadvantaged sections of the society are mainly dealt. A
session on socio economic situation of Ghana was also taken. It helped a lot to learn a
lot about approaches in the programme areas and needs of development of the country.
VSO has given us loads of material to read. (which is also a large weight to carry ;)
Evenings were great part of this period. On 6
th
, on suggestion of some Dutch volunteers,
we went to a caf run by a Dutch person and their was this big screen on which they
played the football match between the Netherlands and Uruguay live. All the Dutch
community in Accra had gathered and the caf was full with them. Two Dutch volunteer
representatives Krista and Danielle had suggested this event to us. Although not interested
in football much, it was interesting to have a glimpse of life outside the hotel. On 7th we
went to Alliance Francaise where every Wednesday they have some musical programme.
It was a lively evening with some music from northern part of Ghana. Friday was the last
day of the training and we had a lunch organised at VSO office where we visited people
working at the office, collected our in country allowances and had a delicious lunch. They
served a dessert which was made from rice flour and milk which was really sweet part of
the lunch. I don't remember the name of the dessert. But the interesting part is recipe.
They soak the rice and then grind it to a paste to which they add sugar and milk and then
boil it to a gooey consistency.
We went for shopping afterwards. The market area of Osu is very near to the VSO office.
We visited a shopping mall and roamed around the area. A person selling hats on the
street came after us calling Bhai Bhai (brother brother) by recognising that we were
Indians. The area is touristy and there were many shops selling clothes with African
designs and beads. The beads were just ordinary similar to those which are commonly
seen in touristy areas of India. We came across two Indians and their was some waving of
hands towards each other. Back in India, Indians are very serious on streets with the
strangers but here all of them (including me) seem to have changed. There is a shop
called Sagar in Osu area which is run by a Sindhi person. It was full of Indian goods. Most
9
of them were food items such as spices, pickles, ready to cook vegetables, pulses etc. I
could also find Pohe (rice flakes) which are so loved by Maharashtrians. The prices of all
those things was just huge compared to India as most of these things were imported.
Later in the evening we also visited the biggest shopping mall in Accra called Accra Mall
Most of the goods were imported and prices were very high. Hearing my constant
comparison with Indian prices, Rahul suggested me strongly not to compare them with
what one has in India. I think I should stop thinking in terms of Indian rupees now and just
concentrate getting to know the pricing based on Ghanaian conditions.
To my surprise I found Kokum which is used as a souring agent by the Konkani people in
place of tamarind which is used in rest of India. They were imported and packed by an
enterprise in Ghana. I don't think there are so many Konkanis in Ghana so that an
enterprise can do this all importing, packing and selling it. The packing was simple and
from the information it was clear that it was not meant of Konkanis. But it was clear that it
is being used by some other communities abroad. While producing these in Konkan, very
few of the natives are aware that their Kokum is being exported.
Presenting radio jingle on HIV and AIDS
Sexy energisers in between the sessions ;-)
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At the VSO office
Our vibrant and international group of volunteers.
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11
Reaching Bongo
10-11 July 2010
On 10th we started for Bolgatanga. Cherith, a volunteer from the Upper East Region
accompanied us during the journey. She is based in Zebilla a district town near
Bolgatanga. Sometimes Bolgatanga is also called just Bolga. The journey from Accra to
Bolgatanga covers the entire span from South to North of the country, since Accra is on
the south on the coast and Bolgatanga is near the Northern boundary of Ghana with
Burkina Faso. Cherith had booked our tickets for the STC a state run transport company.
The bus was air conditioned but the seats were not at all comfortable. We started at 9:00
am. The bus took us through many small towns and bigger cities viz. Kumasi and Tamale.
The road was good in many locations but was also very bad for some long patches. In
each of the town there was traffic jam. The driver was driving it slow. It was raining. All of
these conditions lead to the result of us reaching Bolgatanga at 3:00 am on the next day.
The journey was uneventful and with the enormous delay, it was very boring.
I noticed that names of some of the shops were very funny. Somewhere I spotted the
board Battery Doctor for a shop which was engaged in repairing car batteries. There were
this Humble Lady Beauty Salon and Fresh Girl Beauty Salon. With the standards of
traditional Indian society, ladies going to beauty parlour are certainly not considered
humble. Can a Jain or devout Brahmin person digest the idea of Grace of Lord Meat Shop,
but it was here in Ghana. There was one Fair Play Construction company. Where this play
does come in the construction and I worry what will happen to the structures which they
are building if they are playing though fairly.
After reaching Bolgatanga, in the morning on 11th we went to an International Travellers
Inn. It sounds very high end but it is a small highly budget place serving omelets and tea
but it is international as it is frequented by tourists mostly backpackers. We could meet
many volunteers who are based in Bolgatanga. I don't remember names of all of them
frankly speaking, as the interaction was loose and more limited to hi and hello. It will take
some time to know them all. But I could meet Jillian and Jason Hess with whom I had done
some interaction via emails regarding the placement. Most importantly it was nice to meet
my friend Rose from India.
Today, first time after coming to Ghana, I came across some non Indian people, who know
the name Sachin. It was Anthony, a British volunteer, who likes Sachin Tendulkar and likes
Cricket more than football. Being not much into the sports, I am not much fan of cricket In
spite of these facts, it was comforting to hear all this admiration of cricket and Sachin
Tendulkar as it was something from my homeland. Anthony had visited Mumbai in the
December 2008 and lucky enough to escape the terrorist attacks as he left the city just two
days before that. He told me that he used to visit Leopold Caf which was one of the
targets of the terrorists.
Another surprise awaited me when I was getting dropped by the VSO vehicle to the place
of my placement Bongo. We were coming back by dropping Cherith and Douglas at Zebilla
and this wonderful driver Issa asked me about the actor Sachin from Bollywood. He had
watched one of his movie Geet Gata Chal. Both the actor and the film are somewhat lower
in the popularity ranks but are really good.
What followed were just intense discussions about Bollywood. He told me how he likes the
Indian culture displayed in the Hindi films and the values in Joint families and respect
towards the elders etc. He told me detailed stories of two old Hindi movies, recited a Hindi
poem from one of Amitabh Bachchan's film, knew many Hindi words and phrases, knew
12
names of most of the actors and actresses of old times and also their sons and daughters
who have entered into the film world. He told that they run a phone in radio programme in
Tamale, where people ask questions to the host, an Indian. The questions are about the
meanings of words and sentences used in the films; the parts of films which they could not
understand and about the social life and whose who in Bollywood. I felt that it took less
time from Zebilla to Bolgatanga than it had taken from Bolgatanga to Zebilla though the
distance was same.
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13
First Day in Bongo and Bolgatanga
12 July 2010
Because of the long journey from Accra to Bolgatanga, I could not get enough sleep and I
spent the whole of yesterday catching up my sleep. Today was my first day in the office.
Rose had came to see me. She introduced me to many people in the department where
she is working. Of course it was difficult to remember all those names. I met my boss Mr.
Damma Mumuni who is District Planning Officer. Mumuni was busy with many other things
so actually I did nothing at the office. In fact his assistant did the TV on for me and I saw
the re telecast of the football world cup final between the Netherlands and Spain. The
victory of Spain was being intensely discussed everywhere.
I went for the lunch with Rose and her friends. She has made many friends at this place. I
was not sure whether I shall like all those dishes they were serving. I asked whether they
had some eggs but they did not have. One of the Rose's friends told them to buy some
cooked eggs which were being sold by the street side vendor. The eggs were of Guinea
Fowl and tasted just like those chicken. I planned to mix those eggs and rice together but
by the time I asked them they had no rice left. Rose had ordered Banku with soup. Banku
is a ball of cooked fermented maize dough. It was served with some soup which was
supposed to be that of goat. But I found no meat in it and it was just the stock which was
heavily spiced with chillies and had some tomatoes crushed in it. I tasted it, felt that it was
not bad and also ordered it for me. Rose's friends were laughing at me the way I was
trying to eat it. Africans eat Banku by scooping the dough with all of their fingers and with
my Indian way I was scooping by using only three of the fingers. Then the scooped ball
was supposed to be dipped in the soup along with fingers and then taking some of the
soup along with it. There is not much of chewing is expected and one is supposed to gulp
it down. I ate with spoon afterwards.
Rose's friends had gathered a lot of information about India and were talking more about
the similarities in African and Indian culture and the dissimilarities between European and
African culture. Both of them were having lot of fun with my tries to use the local language
Gurune, some words of which have been picked by us during the local language lessons
in the in country training.
Many of the Ghanaian names sound very funny. They are named after some
characteristics or qualities in humans. Though in India, we have those types of names,
since most of them are in Sanskrit, they are just fine with the present day Indian
languages. But these Ghanaian names just make themselves funny with the use of
English. If somebody asks me, "Where can I find comfort?", I might answer "in VSO office
at Accra", as there is one girl named Comfort working there. One of the friend of Rose is
Better. Now when I meet her, I shall be saying, "How are you better?", asking the
questions and giving the answer as well. Another friend of her is Miranda.
I did not remember their names and asked her again. She asked me whether I could
remember the name. But then she instantly said loudly "Sweetie Pie" and then she told me
that her name is Miranda. I, having very less knowledge of Christian and western names
innocently told her that I had thought that her name is Sweetie Pie. I had thought that if the
other lady is Better then this lady can have this name. Actually she had called a passing
friend of hers and it is some way of affectionately calling a girl. Then she started laughing
loudly and told me that she would like it if I would call her by that name.
Since there was nothing to do in the office we went for shopping in Bolgatanga as I
needed to buy some things. It is a market day after every three days in Bolgatanga and the
14
main market in Bolgatanga is full of small shops selling dry fish, dried tomatoes, meat,
grains, vegetables etc. Most of the shops except those of meat are run by the women. The
market is dirty and smells of dry fish. Still it is exciting to watch the variety of produce
which was never seen before such as types of beans, rice, various utensils etc. Hope I
shall be able to try some of those ingredients in preparing my food.
Better and her brother Aidan took us around the market and we did buy many things. I
could also get incense sticks which I wanted to burn in the room for some refreshing
fragrance in the air and I could get those made in India and with the fragrance of
Sandalwood.
We had to stop at Better's home for some time as Aidan had gone to give his motorbike for
repairing. I greeted some people around in the local language and one woman instantly
asked me if she could have the broom which I was holding in my hand. This was
something which I certainly did not expect. I told her that if I gave the broom to her I would
not be able to clean my own house. But she openly told me that I could buy a new one and
give the one in my hand to her. I had to suppress my strong feelings of dislike of the whole
incidence and had to keep the face smiling.
I strongly felt that this is a type begging, which I try never to encourage, and I just refused.
I strongly feel that it is all due to charity programmes where African black poor people are
helped by the organisations in Europe and America. Majority of the help is of charity type
and does not promote self help. They must have started to associate white people with
money which they can easily ask any time. As these people consider that Indians are
whites, it was natural for the woman to ask for it but not natural for me to hear it. Even
though poor people tend to ask for such small things because they are really necessary
and they sometimes can not afford them, there was not a single hint of borrowing in it. I
still think that it was just plain begging which I just hate.
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15
Trying to settle myself in Bongo
13-15 July 2010
I have been given an accommodation in the staff quarters in the district assembly and
though not luxurious, it has all the basic amenities which are required for a person to live
comfortably. The water comes every alternate day and I have to stock it in the big water
storage bin. It is perfectly OK with me. Bongo is a very little town having population of
around 7000 and has little to offer. Although it is called as town, it is just a bigger village if
you measure with Indian standards. Fortunately there is very good connectivity with the
mobile phone services and one can also access internet using USB modem, though both
are expensive.
One more speciality of Bongo is its rocks. There are many granite rocks spread all across
the area of the village. There is a small hillock which has some special rock formations.
The colour of the rocks is pink. The scene is somewhat similar to the one which we find in
India near the border areas of Andhra Pradesh and Karnataka, which one can see while
travelling by train from Mumbai to Bangalore. The only difference is the colour. Here in
Bongo, it is pink and there in the Deccan, it is black. The soils are sandy and it is drought
prone area receiving rainfall ranging between 700-1000 mm of rainfall. There is only one
rainy season. The major crop which one can see everywhere nowadays is a millet similar
to Bajra (Pennisetum sp.). As the crop is in its flowering stage, there is huge number of
small plant hoppers which always struggle to come in the room. On the second day after
coming here, I made the mistake of keeping the door open and found myself surrounded
by these hoppers. Fortunately there are not many mosquitoes around as the place is
relatively free of stagnant water.
I have not yet started socialising in the village much as I know very few people and am not
really sure about the people who try to unnecessarily come around just by looking at my
foreign features. A major change has happened in my behaviour and that is with the way I
am approaching people. As opposed to India (especially Maharashtra,), where we don't
start speaking with anybody who just comes across and always very stingy on the
greetings, here in Ghana, no conversation starts without the greetings. Even if a person is
dissatisfied with another, conversation always starts with the usual Good Mornings,
Afternoons or Evenings. They have all the greetings in the local language but most of the
people around understand those in English as well. An old lady in the office smilingly
always makes me answer the greetings in the local Gurune language and she has become
a sort of my unofficial Gurune teacher.
My boss with whom I shall be working had to go to Accra and would not return at least till
tomorrow. I ended up having nothing to do. I read some old reports and manuals in the
office while seating on the comfortable sofa set in my boss's office and taking little snoozes
during the reading sessions.
I met one man named Peter who is an ex VSO volunteer. He is a teacher from Scotland
and has lived in Bongo for two years from 2006-2008. His wife was also a short term
volunteer for some time. Recently she died of cancer and made a wish to spend some of
her money as a charity in Bongo. He is organising to promote some water resource
development work in Bongo in addition to supporting a blind girl through education. From
him I heard a strange hilarious story of one person named Ian. He is a white person who
lived in Bongo a few years back as a volunteer for some NGO. He mixed with local people
so well that within a couple of months the chief (traditional village head) of Bongo made
him a sub chief. He was supposed to work as a sort of ambassador or leader for all the
whites coming to the village. The village had organised some ceremony to mark his
16
becoming a sub chief. Within six months he left the country and nobody has even heard
from him. Some say that he is somewhere in China.
I shall like to tell you one more change which has happened in me. I get up at 05:00 am in
the morning and sleep at 10:00 pm. The way Yoga expects a man to follow. It is not
because I want to change myself but because there is simply nothing which I can do about
it. No TV, no body to chat with, it is just me alone during the evenings. Thats the perfect
condition to try transcendental mediation!
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17
Experiencing People
16-17 July 2010
Yesterday on 16th I went to Bolgatanga for the sector meeting which basically involved
meeting of volunteers working in Secured Livelihood goal area and in the Upper East
Region. This meeting like majority of the meetings did not result into any great decision or
anything. But some of the things related to work, problems at the placement and the goal
area were discussed and it proved useful to some extent.
One man came near me when I was walking from my office at Bongo towards the circle
where one catches bus for Bolgatanga. He told me his name and started asking me
whether I want some lady to clean my house. The previous volunteer living at my place
had recruited one. He told that he was a teacher. He looked very ragged and certainly did
not look like a teacher. I told him that I can do the job myself and I did not want his help.
This is true because I have a lot of free time as they work five days a week, I don't have to
commute to the place and I don't mind doing that job. But the first thought was to just get
rid of that person as he had came offering some unwanted help without any reference.
While I was waiting for bus or some shared taxi at the circle, I asked one guy near me
about the timings of the bus and had some small discussion on the scene around us.
When bus arrived, there were not many people around, but they all started to stand in a
queue to enter into the bus. The conductor lady gave ticket to everybody. Very disciplined
for a rural area like Bongo! This guy offered me a place in queue before him. I accepted
his gesture. He sat besides me in the bus. He asked my name and then he wanted my
address and number etc. I was not sure about whether I should give him or not. I did not
give it though he kept on asking me about it and where could he meet me. I told him to
meet me at the district assembly office. Poor lad knew it will be difficult for him to catch me
there. I had to maintain that because I did not know whether I could trust him or not.
I spent the next day reading Ghana travel guides and deciding on places which can be
visited during the period I am going to be here. In the morning, two boys came to the
house and told me that they could clean the weeds near the house. I looked out side. All
the neighbours had clean yards. I thought why not to get it cleared. I told them to proceed.
Besides, it was good to have somebody around the house. They finished the job and
started to look at me. I gave them one cedi note. They took it happily. I asked them about
the school and their teacher and what will they do with the money. One of the boys told me
that they will buy some soap for the house. They added further that they could plant some
flowers around the house if I wanted it. Really smart boys! I thanked them and they ran
away laughing out loud. Surely they were not going to buy the soap.
While I was giving the note to the boys, my neighbours' small boy was watching it. He
came to the house and knocked on the door. I saw him standing with his eyes closed and
palms spread as if begging. The way, he was behaving, was just sickening . The same boy
had came the day before when his mother had sent him to tell me that the water supply
had started and I could fetch the water. I had liked his round eyes filled with innocence
then. I told him to go home but he came again. I told him that I can only give him a biscuit.
He looked happy and then went away with it. I heard his mother scolding him afterwards.
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18
Getting to the Right Side
18-19 July 2010
Being a British colony, Ghana used to drive from left side of the road in the past. Ghana
got it to the right approximately 10 years after independence because it is surrounded by
French speaking neighbours who run their traffic from the right side and it was difficult for
Ghanaian vehicles after going to those countries and vice a versa. It has been a problem
for me and for most of the volunteers who are from East Africa and UK to adjust to it. While
crossing the road, the automatic reflex is to see towards right when the vehicles are
actually coming from the left. I still have problem suppressing this automatic reflex as I
have to make conscious efforts to do the opposite. At every curve there is rush of fear that
the vehicle coming from the front might bump on your vehicle but it settles down when it
just takes the right side and your vehicle as well takes the right side. It happens while
walking as well sometimes. I am walking on the road and somebody walking from the
opposite direction comes in front of me. I get to the left to give that person a side and that
person goes to his right to give me side to go ahead and we end up in stand still for a
moment. It is my mistake of failure of remembering that I am in country that walks and
drives from the right side of the road.
In this post I shall go to the right side but not in the context of traffic. These are some of the
very positive aspects of Ghana in comparison to India.
I found most of the European and Americans complaining about the disobedience of traffic
rule. Compared to India, traffic sense of Ghanaians is better. Accra is a very small city
compared to Mumbai, Delhi or even to Pune for that matter but majority of Accra residents
have to spend a large time of their life in traffic jams and still I did not find unnecessary
honking, lane breaking and overtaking. The Ghanaian traffic police are better in showing
their signs and controlling traffic than Indian traffic police.
Ghana produces more electricity than it requires and sells the excess to the neighbouring
countries. That means there are less power cuts than the ones experienced in rural parts
of Maharashtra state. While many part of India, they have not yet been able to control
electricity theft and to introduce prepaid electric supply, they have made it possible in the
remotest part of Ghana.
We were told that north of Ghana is more traditional and women are deprived in that part
of the country. When I reached Bongo which is a small town in this conservative part of the
country, I found many women working in the offices and riding motorcycles. Certainly one
won't find this picture in the small towns and villages of conservative north and central
India.
Ghana could make to the quarter finals of the world cup football in spite of the fact that
most of their opponents had better resources than Ghana. Whereas India which has a
population 50 times that of Ghana have not been able to even qualify for any of the sports
which are played world wide. (By this I mean athletics, football, swimming etc. And not
Cricket and Hockey which are played by just handful of countries.)
One of the most striking thing, which I found here, is respect of the individual regardless of
the community from which one comes from and the position which is held by them. On my
first day when I was sitting in the office, the lady, who cleans the office, approached me,
greeted me, asked my whereabouts and what would I be doing. She then proudly
introduced her as well. Certainly this would not have happened in India where people are
evaluated commonly and mainly by their caste, occupation and positions. The society in
19
India is too hierarchical.
I am writing this post particularly for those who expressed their serious concerns about my
plan of living in a country of blacks. Brown coloured Indians were looked down upon by our
white rulers in the past. The relatively darker shade of the skin of Africans is still
sometimes looked down upon by the brown coloured Indians. I thought I should take the
side which is right, in this world of Relative Racism.
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20
No Hurry Please!!!
20-21 July 2010
Bongo is small place and like most of the places which are small, the pace of life here is
slow. People call it as a laid back attitude to life.
I was told that I shall be part of the the meeting which is going to be held at 10:00 am
today. Now while I am writing this it is 10:21 and still it is not clear where (or whether)
meeting is going to be held today. I have been able to just sit here in laid back Ghanaian
way and type this post on my laptop. Ghana lies on the time zone which is called
Greenwich Mean Time (GMT) which is same as United Kingdom but here they call it
jokingly that it is 'Ghana May be Time'.
The District Assembly office theoretically starts working at 8:00 am and closes at 5:00. I
see people roaming around and engaging in their lengthy process of greetings till 9:30 and
leaving for their homes by 4:15. Disappearing in between for long breaks for lunch. I am
not including the long chats on the subjects such as football, international relations, politics
etc. which occur frequently while sitting on the office desks. In restaurants they tell the dish
will be ready within 3 minutes when you have to assume that it is one zero added to that
figure and you don't become angry when it comes after 30 minutes.
Don't expect quick service or answers. Be prepared for long discussions leading to
nothing. Still life runs on and makes some progress as well. It seems it is more to do with
catching the pace of it than splitting hairs over it. Yes I have to tell you as I write now that
meeting was held at around 11:00 am as my efficient boss got everything in place while
managing everybody with his strong sense of humour and it was quite useful for making
some progress in my work plan.
They could not pronounce my name Sachin very well on the first day when I arrived in
Bongo and then they were asking me for my surname so that they could address me with
that. I was worried if I tell them that it is Patwardhan they will be just stuck up and won't be
able to call me at all. Therefore I told that they should call me by my first name only. After a
week I have started hearing my name pronounced in Ghanaian way as Saa-shin which is
very sweet to hear. The day before, a lady who works in the office, came to my boss
complaining that I don't greet her. My boss tried to explain her that he comes from a
different culture and it will take some time for him to get used to the things here. But I
heard some continued arguments over the issue. Of course I could not understand the
whole discussion as it was in Gurune. The next day she started to greet me and teach me
phrases in Gurune. It really takes time to get used to it.
They say Ghana lies on the verge of change, as economic development is pretty fast here.
European people can buy their treasured cheeses and Champaign made all the way in
Europe in the far off town of Bolgatanga. I get many Indian brands of commonly used
items in the small general shop in Bongo. There are Super Max shaving blades, match
boxes made in Sivakasi, incense sticks from Bangalore. Mobile phones have started
reaching distant corners of the country. Computers and internet is spreading fast. One can
be in touch with the distant corners of the world while sitting in the small village of Bongo.
These days people are talking about local entrepreneurship for a new era of proud Africa
instead of foreign investments and aid. But I think what Ghanaians will always say in
addition to it is, "No hurry please!".
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21
Silent No's
22-23 July 2010
These are some encounters with people in the last two days where I had to say no silently.
Last Sunday when I was standing near the Lorry Station of Bolgatanga waiting for Rose, a
bulky man came near me and asked me whether I was an Indian and started telling me a
story how he had met an Indian who had given him an Indian currency note and blah blah
blah. From his ragged clothes which surely had not been washed for many days and his
way of speaking, it was clear that this man had some mental problem. Fortunately I could
get away from him in a short time as Rose came.
Yesterday I had gone to Bolgatanga for accessing internet and searching information
relating to my assignment. I wanted to start for Bongo as early as possible because all the
public transport to Bongo just ends by 5:00 pm. It started raining heavily and I had to wait
till the rain receded. That meant I was most likely to miss the last shared taxi going to
Bongo. Heavy drizzle receded at about 5:00 and I walked to the Lorry Station. While I was
searching for the shared taxis, this man caught me again and started asking me where I
wanted to go. As I was desperately searching for taxi to Bongo, I just told him so. He took
me to the correct location and fortunately I got the last Tro Tro going to Bongo. Now Tro
Tro is the name for a small mini bus or Jeep like passenger carrier going. This was a
specially arranged one as the taxis could not go to Bongo due to muddy roads which had
become unsafe for small taxis.
This man opened the door of the drivers compartment and told me to sit there. I just sat.
Then again he started to tell me the stories of how he works hard and gets very little
money. Then he asked me if he could give me a cigarette to smoke. When I told him that I
don't smoke, he started the story of Rupee note again and whether I could exchange it
with him. When I told that I don't have any use of that note, he started asking me at least if
I could give him a one. I said I would give him that next time. After realising that I am not
giving in to his indirect pleas for giving something to him, he left.
Even though he had helped me and I had an urge to give him something, I did not give him
anything. Why? I shall be passing via Bolgatanga Lorry Station at least two times a day,
once a week, 52 weeks a year. That means I shall be making 104 visits to Lorry Station
and the probability of this man catching me is at least 50% as he is always hanging around
the place. Can you imagine poor me giving in to his pleas and repeatedly hearing his story
meeting an Indian man for 52 times?
Here is another encounter, though small, but again making me say no by remaining silent.
Today in the morning a lady came in the office and started speaking with my boss. She
was very loud and vocal and was wearing fashionable clothes and ornaments. My boss
went outside for some work and she kept on sitting on the sofa. She asked me what I was
doing there in the office. I tried to explain her about pro poor programmes and their
designs and management etc. She told me that she was poor and needed a loan badly for
the modernisation of her restaurant and further told me to give her a loan. I had to
suppress my laugh and explained her how helpless I was in doing so.
After a while I asked her if she uses Shea Butter. Now Shea Butter is an indigenous
product of Northern Ghana and is one of the intervention on which I shall be working. Shea
Butter is used as cosmetic and food. She started explaining me how she uses it by adding
some herbs to the butter and applying it daily to the skin. She repeatedly showed her
palms and arms and how smooth they were and how nicely they smell. She further wanted
me to go near her and smell her hand. I could perceive that it was all done innocently with
22
the natural boldness in her but I had my own limits. This was all happening when actually I
meant to ask her how she uses Shea Butter as a food ingredient. I had to remain silent
and just let the subject end their.
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23
Unexpected Indians
24-25 July 2010
After spending the Saturday cleaning the house I decided to spend Sunday by exploring
Bolgatanga on my own. Till date I always had somebody accompanying me while I went
around Bolgatanga or even while I was in Accra. Cherith (from UK) helped us as she
accompanied us from Accra to Bolgatanga. Jason (from Canada) accompanied me and
took me to the VSO office in Bolgatanga when I first decided to go there from Bongo. Rose
(from India) along with Aidan and Better (from Ghana) helped me to do shopping. Richard
(from Uganda) helped me to find a taxi back to Bongo when I got stuck up in Bolgatanga. I
mentioned their names because I am really grateful to all of them. Being a first timer in
another country and culture, they helped me a lot. I am mentioning the countries which
they come from, because it strikes to me and really touches me, that there is a
representation of four different continents here and they do it out of the same intention and
compassion of helping somebody.
In spite of all of the help, I thought I had started to feel that it was like becoming a small
child so that every time somebody was guiding me around. I strongly felt that it was high
time that I become an adolescent in this area and start doing my own exploration and start
developing the skill of getting through unknown area and people.
While I was walking on the road in Bolgatanga, a vehicle on the opposite side of the road
started honking trying to catch my attention. The people were showing some signs which I
could not understand. The two of the people in the vehicle were Indians. I did not expect to
find any Indian here as by that time I had made an assumption that there is nothing of
commercial or trade interest in Bolgatanga which can attract a typical Indian worker or
trader. (I have to mention here that there is a large number of Indians in most of the major
cities in Ghana. Most of them are either working as skilled personnel or managers in
Indian owned companies or own small businesses mainly shops and trading firms. Majority
of the Indians in Ghana, who are in business are Tamils, Sindhis and Gujaratis. Notably
some of the Indian run firms are being run in the country since last 100 years.)
I crossed the road and met them. These two guys, Mani and Pradeep, work for an Indian
company which is in the business of timber and scrap. Then there was brief introduction
and they asked me whether I was busy. I said "no." Then they asked me whether I could
come with them. I said "yes, I would like." I had an afterthought that this was not what I
had planned for today and that I wanted to do everything on my own. But I had to drive the
thought away as something was happening which I did not expect to happen and I had got
into this experience without anybody's introduction or help.
We went to an area on the fringe of forest few kilometres outside of the town. There were
many teak logs lying there on the ground. It was obvious that they were into logging
activity. Their company obtains logging permits from the local forest departments. The logs
are processed in a timber factory near port city of Tema and then exported to India. I was
told that company also operates in scrap metal especially lead. They import dead car
batteries from around the world in Tema, process the lead in it and export it to India.
Presently the company is exploring and has started exploiting forest reserves in the
Northern parts of the country.
Afterwards they took me to their house where I spent the day chatting with them on
various subjects and viewing three Hindi movies one after the other. They had found this
CD of the movie in Bolgatanga. All the movies were south Indian and were dubbed in
Hindi. All the movies had single pattern, a clean uncorrupted police officer fighting the
24
corrupt politicians by revolting against the system and then appraised by the court for
doing good work before being released. (I hope somebody in India will make a movie
sometime on changing the system and making it more transparent and people friendly.)
There was no way I could like the movies but what I liked was the food. They have this
maid servant Dora, who had prepared delicious Indian food. Mani has trained her. It was
simple affair but it was a surprise to get it cooked by a local person.
They came to drop me at Bongo. While driving back, Mani told some stories about the
chiefs which they have to manage. Here I shall first explain the system of rule of Chiefs
present in Ghana and which called as chieftaincy. There are chiefs (and in many areas sub
chiefs) who still have lot of control over the issues in the area. They control the ownership
of the land and the forests in the area which falls under their control. All the people are
permanent tenants of the chiefs. But interesting thing is the chiefs are selected from the
community and it is not passed down from one generation to the other.
So for obtaining logging permits in the forest, Mani's company has to obtain permissions
from chiefs in addition to the permissions from forest departments. Here comes the most
interesting parts of the story. It is the managing of the chiefs that is important. Most of the
chiefs first of all do not speak with foreigners directly and there is always a middle man in
between a foreigner and the chief. Then while interacting with the chief sometimes you
can't address the chief directly (these days at many places you can.) and you have to
follow some manners. These manners may include that you can't sit in front of the chief or
you have to gift them some Schnapps (an alcoholic drinks) and Kola nuts. After getting it
correctly done you can start your discussion i.e. the sum which one has to pay to the chief
for his signature on the letter giving the permission. So due to such powers, chiefs are able
to provide very big houses for all of their wives. In the areas where mining operations take
place, chiefs have become very rich due to such powers. But in many areas which are
poor in natural resources very few people bother about chiefs and the chiefs themselves
are poor living in traditional mud and thatch houses like the other people do. It seems
Ghana has not been able to get rid of this feudal system even if it is making progress on
many fronts especially political and economic reforms. In fact there is a central
government department which deals with the chieftaincy issues.
I remember my first day in the office when I was introduced to the chief who had to come
to the office for some work. I did not know how I should have behaved with the chief. But I
bowed down bit more as we do in India when we meet a person with higher authority or
age and then greeted him. It worked perfectly fine with him and in fact he had held my
hand in his hand for quite a long time from which I could sense that he had approved of my
greetings. But the main problem is I was introduced to so many people during the day.
After some point they started to look all the same to me as all the men had very little hair
on their heads and all were dark and wearing bright colourful clothes. Here one can't make
any difference about the people, there is so much of variety in the way people dress and
one can't identify a high official or a person of high traditional class or rank from the
general class. So today if anybody asks me if I would be able to recognise that chief my
answer would be "I am sorry but no."
Coming back to the happenings of the day, I have to say that I came back to Bongo
without achieving a single outcome from my original plan but making two friends on the
way. Or may be, I have achieved the outcome without following my plan fully, as had I
gone there with somebody, I would not have made those friends.
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25
Exploring Food
26 July 2010
Today I thought I should write some small description of the traditional Ghanaian foods
which I have tasted till date.
Generally what I have observed in the Upper East Region of Ghana that all the jobs in the
restaurants are done by women. Majority of the small restaurants in Bolgatanga offer only
meals and that too for a limited time. The restaurants are known by various names. They
are called as spots, bars and chop bars. Generally spots are the places where mainly
drinks are served. Bars are the places where drink and some times food is also served
and chop bars are the places where only food is served. But it is not a rule and usage of
these terms is not strictly followed. The snacks are mainly sold at some roadside stalls or
by moving vendors.
One is expected to wash the hands thoroughly before eating and they serve washing
bowls, water and soap before they serve the food. Another rule which is similar to the one
in India is that one is expected to use only his right hand for eating and use of left hands
for eating is considered bad manners.
I shall start with the meals. General Ghanaian affair for a typical meal is a ball of some
starchy substance served with a soup. One is expected to take small piece of the ball with
all of their fingers, dip into the gravy and take it into the mouth. No chewing is expected
and one is supposed to gulp them down. I found that if you keep on chewing it, it is so
sticky that you have a feeling of vomiting I am yet to acquire the skill of eating the way the
locals do. It seems that the principle of gulping those starchy and sticky substances is
actually logical as all these dishes are cooked in such a way that process of partial
breaking of starch which happens in mouth when we chew it is already completed during
the process of preparation of these dishes.
I have eaten following types of starch balls till date,
Fufu- It is made with cooked tubers such as yams, cassava or some times plantains.
Some oil is added and then it is pounded in big wooden mortar and pestle to make a thick
gooey ball. It is so sticky that we non Ghanaian VSO volunteers jokingly say here that if
one wants to kill a person then just choke him with Fufu.
Banku- It is a ball of partially cooked fermented maize dough. Some times they also add
some cassava flour in it. It is less sticky brother of Fufu.
Kenke- It is a ball of cooked maize dough and foreigners like me who are not used to
gulping those starchy balls find it better than Banku. It is commonly sold on the streets by
the women vendors. It is cooked in banana leaf and has longer shelf life.
(There are some other variants in this but since I have not tasted them personally, I shall
write about them some time later.)
Now information about the soups,
Okru soup- It is made from Okra (also known as ladies fingers). Since it is not fried and
just cooked in the gravy, the dish is very slimy. So if one eats Okru soup with Fufu, it
becomes a doubly difficult task because Fufu is sticky and okru is slimy. Actually if you try
okru with plain rice, it goes very well. But my Ghanaian friends disagree with it and they
are not even ready to try it.
Bito soup- This is made from leaves of Indian Hemp plant (||: ||) locally known as
Bito. Unlike India, the leaves are cut and soaked in water to remove sourness of the
26
leaves and cooked. They do not eat with rice but I do like it with rice.
Light soup- This is a spicy soup made from meat stock, onions and tomato paste.
Goat/ chicken/ fish soup- This is a gravy dish made from meat of these animals.
Groundnut soup- Light spicy soup made from groundnut paste and meat stock.
Two types of rice are served in the restaurants,
Fried rice- It is similar to Chinese style fried rice and I suspect that it is not an original
Ghanaian dish. It is fried rice added with some carrots, cabbage and eggs.
Jollof rice- It is a rice cooked with tomato paste with addition of shredded meat or mashed
fish. They praise it a lot as national dish of Ghana but I found it just okay.
These rice dishes are served with some plain cooked noodles (again non Ghanaian) and
two equivalents of chutneys. One is called Pepe and made by grinding tomato, chillies and
onions together. There is no cooking involved. It is very tasty. Second is darker in colour
and made by grinding together shrimp paste, fish sauce, fried onions etc. It is known as
Shito.
Red Red- This is an all oily dish served as a meal. These are fried chips of half ripe
plantains served with cow peas cooked in lot of red coloured unrefined palm oil, tomatoes,
meat or fish and spices. Tasty but too oily!
Now something about snacks,
Corn- It is the corn season and every where on the busy roads, ladies are selling corn
cobs roasted on charcoal fire as it is common in India. But these are not soft and some of
the grains have started to mature so there is a chance that you get popped corns on the
cobs. They don't even apply salt on it. But it is something which is safe to eat and one can
find easily on the street when one is hungry.
Gmebsa- Try pronouncing it first if you can. I have not been successful in doing it as
Gurunes do it. These are made from coarsely ground soaked cowpeas. Small elongated
balls of Gmebsa are steamed and then served with a dash of oil and a mixture of salt and
chilli. It is heavy to digest and one should not eat too many at once.
Kose- These are deep fried fritters of cowpea bean curd. Taste is just delicious and similar
to Udid Dal Vada (deep fried fermented Black gram flour balls made in Konkan region.)
They sale it on the street side but I have not found them being freshly prepared and sold
so I have avoided it buying them on the street till date. I have eaten them only twice in
restaurants.
Guinea fowl eggs- Cooked guinea fowl eggs are commonly sold on the streets. They taste
just like chicken eggs but the size is smaller and shell is harder. The membrane and white
of the egg keeps loosely attached to the egg shell. Eating it is time consuming, but they
say it is a healthy option as guinea fowls are free range animals and not fed on
commercially prepared poultry feed.
Kelewele- These are fried half ripe plantain chips. I have found them in Accra but yet to
see them in Bolgatanga. It is my most favourite of the Ghanaian food which I have tasted
till date.
More updates on my food exploration of Ghana after I taste some more things.
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27
Beating Loneliness
27 July 2010
I remember the first day when I was dropped in Bongo and Issa, the kind man who drove
me from Bolgatanga, cautioned me that, I shall feel lonely for first two-three days. He was
true as he must have had experience with so many VSO volunteers. In my case however
that feeling of loneliness came after a week instead of first 2-3 days. I, always being a
reserved person, don't socialise easily but simultaneously I have a big social network of
friends about whom I am very selective. This must have been reason for the feeling of
loneliness starting not immediately but after a few days.
In the first week everything was new. There was an excitement about it and a kind of
distrust on everything that was coming in front of me. It kept me busy thinking about all
those new things. In the last week however the feeling of that loneliness started to creep in
when I started to know some people better and was capable of finding my way out through
some of the things. I started to feel that I don't have any friends around here except Rose.
Back in India, one could call on a person very easily once we start to know them. Most of
the volunteers residing in Bolgatanga are Westerners (British, Dutch, Canadians etc.). I
thought that it was not easy to call on them any time as I had heard a lot about westerners
valuing their privacy etc.
I started to realise that I would be away from my homeland and my people for almost an
year. The way back was not easy and I have been getting some crazy experiences with
the local people. Simultaneously when I saw that there are many things to which I could
easily adjust being from a developing country like India and there was nothing to worry
about much. Some of the volunteers in spite of coming from the developed countries have
been able to adjust very well to the local situation and are doing fantastic work in the most
backward parts of the country. At a deeper level I think that this is a problem of typical
Indian middle class where one is raised in a very protected environment and always
surrounded by so strong a social fence that people just do not get mentally tough enough
even after attaining physical maturity and getting into adulthood. But I have been able to
get over with it to a large extent after some days. I shall share my ways of achieving it.
1. I have been doing regular exercise not missing a single day since I arrived in
Ghana. This has helped to always keep the energy levels high.
2. I pro-actively sought to meet or contact people. They include locals who helped me
with many small things and also westerners, about whom I had prejudices which
disappeared after meeting them or contacting them in person.
3. I made proper plans for some of the things which I wanted to do and wanted to
achieve during the day. It helped to move away the bits and pieces of anxiety that
may come in the way.
4. Listening to the music and reading helped me a lot.
5. Writing a regular diary which I am now publishing in the form a blog. It helps to
come out of the situation which I had been into and think about the circumstances
as a third person in an objective way.
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28
Solemiya Zaare!
28-31 July 2010
Since coming to Bongo one word I have been commonly hearing in reference to me is
Solemiya. In the local language of this region, Gurune, it means a white person, be it a
man or a woman. So any man or woman who has lighter skin than a typical Ghanaian and
has a straight hair is called Solemiya. There are different words for these in different
dialects of Ghana and the one most commonly used is Obruni. Though it denotes a racial
difference it is interesting that it is not used in a racist way. When I am walking on the road
many children greet me by saying "Solemiya Zaare (or sometimes using English word for
Zaare i.e. Welcome". It is used by older people as well because they do not know English.
But one thing for sure is the special attention given to the person while saying this.
The habit of greeting everybody whether you know him or not means that one may end up
in unwanted encounters. When a Solemiya walks on the road, then he or she needs to be
very careful with the people who are approaching or coming near. I have experienced
three kinds of unwanted people till date and I shall explain them one by one.
The first kind of people run after you and make a show of trying to help you and try to earn
something by the way of tips. One day when I was waiting for the shared taxi to get full, a
person greeted me and started telling me that he was very sorry that I was having to wait.
He told me that he will see if he can find some passengers so that taxi will get full as early
as possible and leave. I told him that I was not in hurry and I would wait. He started calling
loudly for passengers and when taxi became full started asking me some money as a tip. I
was so confused by this that when the real person who collects the fair in advance came I
could not trust him immediately and paid him only when I saw that other passengers were
also paying him.
The other kind is mentally disturbed people who keep on moving around the village but
know for sure that Solemiyas can have some pity on them very easily and give some
money to them in order to be just free of them. So when they come to know that some
Solemiya is walking on the road and sat with his friends at a restaurant then they will go
there and start making a show of themselves. One old man in Bongo when he sees a
Solemiya, follows them where ever they are going and at some time just stands on his
knees and start begging. When I first came across him, he persistently followed me
throughout my round of Bongo. When I entered a compound of a house he also entered
inside. I had to give him some money just in order to be free of him.
The third type is little children who might come towards you offering some help (of course
with an intention of getting something in return) and you by feeling pity on them just pay
them something or give them chocolate etc. I think that it is the most dangerous practice
because one is promoting them to become beggars even if they are not. There is a large
number of cases where foreigners have done sexual abuse of children in Africa just
because of the ease in getting them.
All of these three behavioural patterns are due to the deep rooted belief in the thought that
white people are rich and are a great nuisance while walking on the road. There are also
many positive welcomes however.
The one which I appreciate here more is the welcoming of a guest and it is more open
hearted. Many people greet and say "Zaare", while just passing by with no intentions to
become close to you but just in good faith.
I found that even if people know your name, while speaking about you to some other
29
person, they will speak about you as a Solemiya. I found this being frequently done in the
office. As I work with District Assembly, a large number of visitors keep on coming to the
office. The day before there was one football match organised between District Assembly
Staff and National Social Personnel (it is local government promoted young volunteers
organisation) and I was going there with my colleague. I heard him telling his boss that he
was taking the Solemiya to the football match. I found it strange but then it was obvious his
boss did not know my name (and didn't know how to pronounce it as well. Double
difficulty!) but knew that a foreigner is working with him so it was natural for them to use
the word "Solemiya".
But what I like the most is the way small children say loudly "Solemiya Zaare!!!". It is out of
pure curiosity and their natural tendency to attract attention. Once I was standing in the
Bolgatanga market and trying to search an address which my friend had texted me on my
mobile phone (here sending an SMS on mobile phone is texting), when a little girl came
near me and called loudly "Solemiya Zaare" trying to attract my attention. I looked at her
and she was really very sweet and cute with her curly hairs neatly braided and decorated
with ribbons. I said "oh, thank you, my little princess!". Her parents apologised as she
disturbed me but I told them that she was a really very beautiful child and I did not mind
that. The family walked away smiling proudly.
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30
I'll go and come
1-2 August 2010
Today I'll write something about Ghanaian English which I have heard till date. In India,
English is not a natural language for us as we grow up speaking our mother tongues and
the English language which we learn is the one taught in schools. When I first started
speaking and writing the language, it was an exercise of memorising grammar and words,.
There was no influence of English films or music on me as well so most of the cultural
background while speaking the language has always been a major part of learning for me.
English is a major language of trade and governance in India but a person can still live in
India without having to use it at all.
After coming to Ghana, I was surprised to see the spread of the language and the way
many illiterate people could use the language very well. After analysis of the situation it
seems that there are two major factors which have helped the spread of the language.
One, there are many languages spoken in the country so there has always been a need of
common language and two, none of the local language is developed enough so that it can
be used as a medium for learning and governance. In India, the local languages are strong
enough to handle both and also have developed literature since ancient times.
So this means there is local version of English in Ghana which is spoken all across the
country in addition to the local languages. The local version of English is only spoken one.
One advantage of English being so common is that it is spoken naturally by the people
and they speak it very fast that too with a local Ghanaian accent and number of
expressions which have been developed due to the influence of local languages.
Now coming to the practical, here are some samples of Ghanaian English which I have
experienced.
When one is travelling by a shared taxi or tro tro (small minibuses or jeeps), one has to
pay the fare in advance. The collector comes and asks, "Gimmi larufe". When I heard it
first time I thought he was speaking in the local language. I told him that I didn't
understand him. He was looking at me as if I was a weird white person who can't speak
English well. I asked the neighbour what does he mean. He told me to give the person my
money. I gave the fare. Here they meant to say "give me lorry fare".
When some body says, "I'll flash you", it means "I'll give you a missed call on mobile
phone".
"Indian women are so bee" is an adoption from Nigerian English and it means "Indian
women are so beautiful". This is because of popularity of Bollywood movies full of songs
and dance. By the way I have been asked by a number of Ghanaian men to find Indian
wives for them. They see in those films how the actresses are obedient towards their
husbands and can dance with sexy movements as well, a big plus :)!
"I am tired small" means "I am a bit tired". So one can use the word 'small' for anything
which is less. So when somebody starts talking with me in Gurune with the intention of
teaching me the language and uses complicated long sentences, I tell them, "teach me
small."
One day a man with whom I am working asked me, "Did you foot here?". I looked at him
expressing that I could not understand him. He asked the question repeatedly for three
times. He wanted to ask me whether I walked to his place.
If somebody is eating and you go there they will say "you're invited." This is the direct
31
translation of the phrase 'tidi' from the Gurune language. Most of the time it is said as a
customary greeting and you should not expect sharing of the food. Once a lady in the
office was eating something and after seeing me she said, "Youre invited". I had not seen
what she was eating, and as in India, the way we easily share our peanuts, I thought it
must be something like that and asked her loudly, "what is that? The lady was taken
aback as if I was going to go there and start eating from her plate. She was eating her rice
and fish. Then she told me explaining Ghanaian manners that I was supposed to reply,
"Thank you.". Yes but what I have observed is that they do share their peanuts easily and
like in India, if your relations are really friendly you can just go and start eating them from
other's plate without asking any permission.
One expression which most of the westerners here find strange but I don't is, "I'll go and
come." When anybody goes away and wants to say bye, they'll say this phrase
"Kengewana" which translates into English as "I'll go and come" and sometimes the
English translation is used as it is while speaking with the people who can't speak Gurune.
(One can believe that they are going but one can't trust that they will be returning again to
meet you.) It is logical to feel that it is strange because one is going but still saying that I'll
come as well. I think that it is a feeling of not separating permanently but meeting again
sometime in the future which is expressed through this phrase. In Marathi in fact we are
more advanced sometimes in the usage of such expression and one says directly ''I'll
come (| |)" when actually one wants to say is "I am going". In fact, due to influence of
English, when somebody says these days "I am going", the elders in the house will always
remind, "don't say I am going, say I'll come." On the day when I was going to depart for
Ghana, my two year old son (of course with the help of prompting from his mother) started
to tell me, "Daddy, don't go", I had replied, "I'll go and come."
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32
Missing the Homeland
03-05 August 2010
I had decided that I would adjust to the local conditions as fast as I could and start with the
routine. I have been successful to do it to a great extent. As I have passed through the
initial excitement of new people and new culture, I found that I am not successful in getting
over the feeling of "I am missing my country so much." And I have spent one complete
month in this country.
It starts with the smallest pleasure of having a small cup of tea at any time of the day at a
nearby street side tea stall. More important than tea are the informal discussions and
being friends with each other. Nobody offers tea or coffee to the guests over here and still
they continue with long talks (friendly or official.) I am still finding it very strange. The other
day it was raining heavily and air was very cool. In India, such situation leads to eating of
piping hot freshly fried onion fritters. I had no onions or chick pea flour to make them and
moreover I was alone in the house so there was no one with whom they could be shared
over a chat by sitting near the window and enjoying watching the rain.
I wanted to buy some thick sheet of cloth, which can be used for spreading on the floor at
the time of physical and yogic exercises. I have been struggling to find some thing similar
to it for two weeks but I have not been able to find it till date.
Daily newspapers, for which we eagerly wait early in the morning even in this age of
internet and television, do not reach this district place easily. In this country of 20 million
people, there are only 5-6 daily newspapers. All of them are printed in the small tabloid
size and the content and the printing both are not good in quality. International news
coverage is minimal.
These are all material things but there are some of the things which are emotional and
social as well.
I know it is a challenge, but what I found common here is if somebody says to you, "yes, I
shall meet you in the office tomorrow," one should be open for the situation where the next
day you might hear, "no he is not here, I can't say when he will be back," or what you find
is only the locked door and it is still the working hour of the working day. I miss the
professional working environment which I used to have earlier though it was bit stressful.
In India, the major plus point we have is the personal relations we develop easily. We keep
many things understated, unexpressed or implicit. We do not say thank you easily. We
know that we shall need to help somebody at some time and we want to keep those things
a fair exchange. Back home, I know that such behaviour creates tensions but we keep on
doing that. What I find here that there is a clutter of greetings and thank you but lack of
personal expressions which we do easily in India without any fuss over it.
There is one thing which I am missing the most from my homeland and that is my home.
The realisation of this fact occurred to me when yesterday everybody at my home
celebrated my son's second birthday and over the phone he was trying to explain me how
the balloon burst but was not unable to do it over the phone. Had I been present there he
could have explained it easily and directly to me.
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33
Bongo Rocks
7 August 2010
We climbed Bongo Rock last Saturday. It is one of the two hillocks in the Bongo village. As
the name suggests it is full of rocks and various formations of it. We were four people in
all. Two kids who were tending goats nearby joined us during the climb. The climb was
easy. The hillock must be approximately 100 m high. We enjoyed the climb and getting
down as well.
The hillock is considered as holy by the local Christians especially Catholics and they
make annual pilgrimage to the hill. There are 16 stages along the path that goes to summit
and they stop at each stage and pray. At each stage they have erected a cross. This is
very similar to many of the Hindu holy places in India where one climbs the hill by praying
God on the way and one reaches to the summit where there is some temple or shrine.
It is a small hillock after all and they are very scarce in this area of flat terrain. Something
is always better than nothing.
Rocky Landscape
A wild edible fruit
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Baobab on Rocks
Unusual Rock Formations
35
Crosses to mark the stages
This is a hillock which is called Bongo Rock
On the summit.
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36
About Work
10 August 2010
Many of the friends are interested to know what kind of work I am involved in here. After
coming to Bongo, I found that lot of the things on which I am supposed to work were not
very clear. My last four weeks had been spent in concretising of work plan, getting to know
the people and detailed planning for the visits. It involved calling and meeting people,
explaining them what I want to do and how it will help their departments and fixing some
dates for field visits. I did my first field visit yesterday and thought that it is now proper to
write about it.
Since it is volunteering and not a proper job one should not expect any crystal clear job
description. There was this placement description after reading which I had applied for this
placement and was selected as well for the same by my employer i.e. Bongo District
Assembly. But it does not mean that my skill sets match exactly with their requirements
and my interests match the kind of job which I am doing. But they are some where near to
each other. As it is very difficult to find the correct match in these cases because one is
supposed to work in remote areas where professionals are not willing to go and live there
for longer period and people who want the help are not clear about what they exactly want.
What I have found that if one is looking at the whole stint as a some job with an intention to
enhance his career then one is likely to get into problems. One should take the
volunteering as an experience and it will certainly help an individual qualitatively.
I am working here in the planning unit of district assembly. District here is something which
is equivalent to a taluka or block in India. There are many small communities in a district
which are divided in area councils (equivalent to Group Grampanchayats). Now my job is
to assist District Assembly to develop strategies and plans for the promotion of some
livelihood activities important to the majority of the population in the district. District
Planning Unit co-ordinates a committee called Local Economic Development Platform.
Now I am closely working with it. They have identified three major livelihood interventions
which can take the district ahead. These are Guinea fowl rearing, Shea butter production
and Basket weaving. I shall write something about them later.
The focus of my work is going to be small enterprise development though my education is
in Agriculture. My overall work plan involves studying those interventions, gaps in good
and locally followed common practices, study of value chains, developing strategies for
promoting those activities in the district. Further plan would be work with the district
assembly and other agencies in the district to integrate those activities in the existing plans
or development new plans for the same. I am working with a number of development
agencies in the district and I am reporting to District Planning Officer. Though there have
been some initial hiccups, I am getting along with most of the people finely and have found
many good, sincere and dedicated persons to work with. But I have to mention here that
the case is not same with all the volunteers and some are facing big problems with their
placements.
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37
A Busy Day
12 August 2010
Today I got two opportunities in one day.
First was related to the work. When my colleague asked for a help for photographing
various district assembly constructions for a report, I could have said no because it was
something which was not at all related to my job. But I said yes because I was getting the
opportunity of getting to see entire district within one day. We started late and finished late.
Agriculture in the district is poorly developed, there is little green cover on the land. There
is severe problem of soil erosion. Road network in the district is poorly developed. I can
say these things very confidently now because I have seen them with my eyes.
The second opportunity was for a task I had not done before alone and that was cooking
something for a group of people. The group of people was not those of Indians so I was
not sure whether they will like what ever I would cook for them. Actually it was Damien who
had invited us for dinner. I suggested him that I would cook something Indian at that time,
to which he had agreed. I prepared Pachadi, a Maharashtrian salad dish, to which I had to
give some local twists as per the availability of ingredients. I consulted my wife before
making it so half the credit of this successful preparation goes to her. Damien, a volunteer
from UK had prepared rice and stew with vegetables and goat meat. His style of
preparation was western and there was one distinctness in his cooking which I observed
and which is different from Indian. We Indians use spices a lot and they sometimes
suppress the original taste of the other ingredients. End result was good as everybody
liked the food which was prepared.
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38
Southern Ghana Tour- Day I
13-14 August 2010
All of us Indian VSO volunteers, decided to meet on the occasion of independence day. All
of us are located at different locations and I think that it was one of the reason we had a
great time meeting and spending time together. One more good thing was we knew each
other very well while we were in India as we were together for the trainings and we were of
same age group.
We three, Rose, Raj and me arrived in Accra early in the morning and almost at the same
time. I and Rose travelled together from Bolgatanga whereas Raj came from Tamale.
Journey was quite good as we had got seats of our choice by booked the tickets well in
advance. The only problem we had on the bus were three loudly played movies showed
on the television one after the other. Two were Ghanaian and one was Nigerian and all of
them had the similar plots. Some ghost or evil spirit taking the form of woman and
disturbing lives of some men by seducing them and then a pastor of some church solving
this problem by destroying these spirits or making them leave the earthly world. We
became free of these movies only when we reached Accra.
In Accra we stayed at the house of two Filipino volunteers, Rosario and Weng. These two
very hospitable ladies made our first day easy by providing us a big breakfast.
We had decided to visit some places in Accra city. We first went to National Centre for
Culture. Though its name includes the word Culture, it is actually a hub of small shops
selling clothes and handicrafts from all over Ghana. The goods in the shops are expensive
if one compares it with the prices at the source. e.g. Bolgatanga baskets which sell for
approximately GHc 20.00 at Bolgatanga were being sold at GHc 35.00. But the traders
were very friendly and very much open for bargaining. Of course we did not buy anything
as all of us had lot of time to spend in the country before we return to our homes but we
got a very good glimpse of traditional art and crafts of Ghana. We had a great fun while
moving around the market as we interacted with sellers who could immediately recognise
the Indian race in us. It was something which we enjoyed being identified correctly as at
our respective places we are called as whites. I am saying Indian race and not Indians
because people were calling us not only Indians but also as Pakistanis, Bangladeshis and
Malaysians. Following are some of the dialogues which I had with the sellers,
Dialogue 1
S: Hey India, Namaste, Bhai sahab.
Me: Namaste. Kaise hai?
S: Bahut achchha!
Dialogue 2
S: Are you from Malaysia?
Me: No I am from Sri Lanka.
S: Hey you have given me a shot.
Dialogue 3
S: Salaam Valekum
Me: Valekum Salaam
S: are you from Pakistan?
39
Me: No I am from India.
S: That is the same thing because India and Pakistan were one before British separated
them. Akwaaba, Welcome to Ghana.
Me: Midaase, (thank you in the Twi language spoken in Accra.)
Dialogue 4
S: Namaste, I come from Delhi.
Me: I come from Islamabad so let's have a fight.
Dialogue 5.
S: Are you an army person?
Me: Do I look like a one?
S: Yes.
Me: Why do you think so? Do I have a very strong physique?
S: Yes.
Me: Thanks, I am taking it as a complement. Now let me go and join my friends.
One seller came after me after seeing my copper bracelet and started showing his
collection of bracelets and explain me how Indians like copper and how wearing them is
good for health. I told him that the one I was wearing is not from India but from Togo as I
have been coming from that country as part of my Western Africa tour and I shall be
buying it again only after the bracelet gets corroded so it would take a lot of time to come
to him again. He got irritated because I certainly looked like anybody but a typical
backpacker. He had to go away from me.
We then visited Nkrumah Mausoleum. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah was the first president of
Ghana and a pan Africanist. His burial grounds are surrounded by a memorial structure
and a park. There is a small museum inside the park displaying his belongings and his
photographs. There is one photograph of his visit to India and he is with our first prime
minister Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru. When we visited the mausoleum, the queen of
Swaziland (it is small African country near South Africa) and her official delegation were
visiting the place and there were some folk dances performed for them.
Our next point of visit was Independence square and a stadium near it. There are two
stadiums opposite to each other at the independence square. One is actually used for the
sport and the another which is at the side of the beach is used for official programmes and
processions. It has one impressive arc from which leaders of the nation give their
speeches. I had a feeling of being in a communist country while moving around that
stadium. The entire ground is paved and it seems sometimes people who want to learn
driving enter into that ground by taking permission of the guard. The independence square
monument is also an impressive structure but I could not neglect a pile of rubbish in the
garden surrounding it.
Then we started for an Indian shop called Neha and had a hard time finding it as it is very
obscure. We bought some stuff which we needed. From that place we went to a famous
travel hub called Nkrumah Circle which is called as Circle for short and when you hear tro
tro mates shouting for it, one hears only Circ Circ Circ or see a sign made by them
showing a round. I could find the place where I could get the shorts and swimming trunk.
Afterwards we visited Nandhini and Mani's house. They come from Chennai and make a
40
VSO couple. Mani first volunteered with VSO and Nandhini was his accompanying partner.
Mani is a physiotherapist who now works with the local hospital. Nandhini is now
volunteering with VSO and working for an organisation of the disabled. Mani told some
hilarious stories about his experiences living in Rajasthan, Punjab and of course Ghana.
Nandhini had prepared delicious Batatavada and Chai (Tea- Indian style) and it was a nice
evening with lots of laughter.
In the evening we were returning to our place of stay in Adabraka area when one fat
woman sitting near a shop started calling us, "hey foreigners, show me your passports. I
am from police." It was dark and it was better not to wear the caps of spontaneity but those
of caution so we just smiled at her but I would have liked following dialogue where her
sentences are real but mine are the unexpressed ones.
W: Hey you look like foreigners, show me your passports.
M: If you are policewoman then you should also show us your ID card.
W: You are not Obruni. You look like Fulani. (Obruni is word used for white man in the
southern part of Ghana. Fulani is a comparatively fair skinned nomadic tribe in Western
Africa and their features have similarity with the Indian race. In Accra Fulani people are
infamous for begging, pick pocketing and petty thefts.)
M: You can consider us as English speaking Fulanis. As we are Fulanis, we do not need to
show you our passports because we are Ghanaians.
Stadium converted into parade ground near Independence square
41
National Centre for Culture or to be real Accra Handicraft shopping centre
Nkrumah Mausoleum
Independence Square
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42
Southern Ghana Tour- Day II
15 August 2010
The second day of the tour was special because it was the Independence Day of India and
we were celebrating it while away from the country.
Mani, an Indian VSO volunteer had found one good taxi driver for us for the second day of
the tour. He introduced himself as Mr. K. We had to ask him again and again what K
means because he was reluctant to tell it thinking that we shall not be able to pronounce it
properly. But Rahul knows a lot of Twi so he told us after getting assurance that we know
the language. In Ghana, they name a person with the day on he or she is born. So his
name was Koeko Richard. Here Koeko means Wednesday. I being born on Saturday, my
name will be Kwame, same as the first president of Ghana. Rahul is Yaw, which means
Thursday. The first name, of famous UN secretary general from Ghana, Kofi Annan means
Friday.
In the morning we went to the house of High Commissioner of India. Mrs. Ruchi
Ghanashyam is the current high commissioner. The programme for flag hoisting started as
per the schedule at 9:00 am. There were more than 200 people at the venue. They
distributed the Indian flags and a magazine published by Ministry of External Affairs. The
atmosphere was lively and they were playing Hindi patriotic songs. But somehow after
getting used to friendly and smiling atmosphere of Ghana, I was uneasy with so many
Indians putting their serious faces on. Most of them knew some people around and they
were chatting amongst each other. We interacted with very few people. After flag hoisting
and reading of very long message by the President of India, they served some snacks and
soft drinks. I met two Maharashtrian families from Pune who have been living in Accra for
about more than an year. But we could not remain at the venue for long as we had plans
for moving further to Kakum and Cape Coast.
We had some time before the flag hoisting ceremony which we utilised for roaming
around. The place of residence of Indian High commissioner is located just near the
presidential palace on the Jawaharlal Nehru Road. Jawaharlal Nehru and first President of
Ghana Dr. Kwame Nkrumah were quite close to each other. Nkrumah was pan Africanist
i.e. He wanted to bring together all the sub Saharan African nations whereas Nehru was
promoting Non Alliance Movement. The high rise building of presidential palace looks
more like a commercial building than a palace. Though president no longer lives there, it is
an impressive structure. Photography near the palace is not allowed so I had to take the
snap from far away. As our driver told us later on that the palace has been designed by an
Indian architect and built by an Indian company.
Our journey up to Kakum National Park did not take long time, as the road was very good
and there was not much of traffic on the road being Sunday. The scenery outside was also
very good and it was green every where. We sang songs on the way and journey of two
and half hours was spent without any feeling of getting bored.
Kakum was one of the great experience because of its canopy walk way. There are very
few such walk ways in the world. They say that the one at Kakum is the highest canopy
walk way in the world. These are the network of bridges constructed in the forest by taking
support of tall trees. The bridges are constructed of rope, metal wires and wooden slabs
and they swing a lot when a person walks on them. A person is hanging almost at the
height of 60-70 m at certain points. It is a thrilling experience. As there are lot of people
who are taken at a time for canopy walk way tour one can not stop for long and appreciate
the surrounding nature. But we could get a real feel of evergreen rain forest while on the
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canopy walk way. We could appreciate the real height of the trees. The forest full of tall
evergreen trees and the climbers growing on them had made the grounds very damp and
dark. Many people get scared on this walkway and start making lot of noise. It drives all
the birds and animals away and the purpose for appreciating the wildlife on the canopies is
not by being on that walkway is just not fulfilled. Nonetheless it is good and worth
replicating in Indian National Parks.
While coming back, we tasted Palm Wine which is similar to toddy in India. It is extracted
from a local palm which looks like an oil palm. While returning from the walk we came
across an other group of tourist there were some Indians families. Two families were
Maharashtrians from Mumbai. There was one old lady in the group. When we gave our
best wishes for the experience, she asked me "do we really need it". Seeing her condition I
had to answer, "Take them anyway, and recall them if you feel that they are needed". Then
they went hurriedly as they wanted to join their group. Due to constraint of time we could
not make the nature walk available in the forest. There is also availability of tents, so one
can stay in the forest during night.
We had to rush to Cape Coast castle in spite of feeling hungry, because we had to reach
there before its closure so that we could have enough time to see it. It was another great
experience. It is a fort constructed by British and it was used for exporting slaves from
Ghana to distant lands in the Americas. The history of slavery becomes alive in this fort
and the museum inside it. The sight of dungeons used for keeping slaves before exporting
them makes oneself sad about this dark part of the history of humans. The fort is far more
well kept than the forts in Maharashtra.
I have to make special mention here about the guided tours at both the places i.e. Kakum
and Cape Coast. They charged very high fees compared to those charged at such places
in India. As we were foreigners we were charged double fees than those applicable to
Ghanaians. The fees include guided tours and I have to say that it was worth it. At both the
places guides were very good and gave a lot of information. They were very
knowledgeable and very enthusiastic. I felt that they should raise the entry tickets to such
places in India as well and maintain them as clean as they are here in Ghana and provide
some good knowledgeable guides. I strongly felt that in India they instead of providing free
access to any hooligan on the street to such important sites of national heritage; they
should restrict the entry to the interested few by raising the entry fees.
Cape Coast, with its relaxed atmosphere, European styled buildings and gently sloping
terrain gives, one a feel of being in Goa. I liked the city very much. After seeing the castle
we were hungry since we had not taken any lunch. Our driver showed us a very good sea
side restaurant just outside the castle though not visible from the main road. The food was
as good as the atmosphere. It was located on high ground just near the beach so we could
view of the walls of the castle along with the sands, tides and expanse of the sea. I tried
squid Jollof rice there, which did not disappoint me at all.
After our lunch, which we finished almost at 17:00, we spent some time on the beach. One
small buy selling oranges came near us and greeted us, "Namaste" and requested to buy
some oranges. We did not want to buy it and we told him so. He did not insist but it
seemed he wanted to talk to us. He told that he liked to watch Hindi movies and his
favourite movie was Krish. He told the story of the film and how Krish fought etc. He was
very bold and it was enough to make us buy oranges from him and they were not highly
priced at all. He managed to take our photograph by balancing his big plate full of oranges
on his head.
We made a mistake of combining the two major sites i.e. Kakum and Cape Coast with the
44
celebrations of Independence Day where we lost on our majority of time which we could
have spent on the visit and we could have done nature walk and Elmina castle near Cape
Coast. But there was no way we could recover it as we had planned it that way.
Instead of returning to Accra, we stayed at Rahul's place at Agona Swedru. Agona Swedru
is a district place in Central Region of Ghana. The town is located on the banks of a river
and on the gently sloping hills surrounding it. Though a district place it is very big
compared to my place Bongo. He has a nice house there although sometimes he gets
irritated by the children of his landlord constantly coming to his house and disturbing him.
We made Khichadi which we had to eat for dinner as well as breakfast on the next day as
we cooked a lot of it.
Saying Jai Hind in Accra
Hanging Bridge, Scaring Heights. The Canopy Walk Way in Kakum National Park.
45
Squid Jollof Rice
At Cape Coast Castle
The Orange Seller boy who took our picture while balancing his orange plate on head.
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46
Southern Ghana Tour- Day III
16 August 2010
We were tired a bit and started bit late i.e. 9:00 am from Rahul's house in Agona Swedru
and caught a bus for Accra. We got down at the Kokrobite junction which is on the
outskirts of the Accra city. Kokrobite is a famous beach town near Accra and unfortunately
it is becoming infamous for the robberies. No, we did not go to Kokrobite but instead we
went to Bojo beach resort. It is a tip of the Kokrobite where a small river separates beach
and the mainland. There is an entry fee to enter this part of the beach made secure by the
Bojo Beach Resort. One has to cross the river first by the small boat and then enter on the
beach. The beach is safe for swimming and one can keep his belongings safely near the
bar and just chill out without any worries. We did just that.
While going to Cape Coast, we had noticed one Hindu temple before getting out of Accra
city. We decided to stop at the temple before going back to our place of stay to see how
Hindu temples in Accra are. But we were in for a surprise because it was not a traditional
Indian Hindu temple but it was an African Hindu temple. It was all started when Swami
Ghananand who is a native Ghanaian got something to read on Hinduism. He made his
way to India and spent some time in Rishikesh where he found his spiritual master Swami
Krishnanand. He returned to Ghana by determination to spread the message of Hinduism
to Ghana and started the first ever African Hindu Monastery. Today it has five branches in
West Africa in Tema, Kumasi, Takoradi, Lom (Togo) in addition to the one which we had
visited in Accra.
When we reached there was one religious discourse going on. The swami was explaining
some stories from Mahabharata (Ashwatthama to be specific) to his disciples. We had
close interaction with one of the disciples named Vichara. His mother was the follower of
Swami so he was brought up with Hindu way of life. After finishing his college, he decided
to dedicate his life for the spread of the Hindu thought and there were very few people
around to take up the responsibilities in Ashram. He is a Brahmacharin (i.e. Leading
ascetic way of life).
We attended evening Aarati at the Ashram. I am not a religious person but still I liked the
spiritual atmosphere and their disciplined way making prayers. They sang some Hindi
bhajans and Sanskrit chants. Their distinct Ghanaian accent, the disciplined way of
making rituals such as lighting the lamp and moving it around the idols and taking it to the
devotees, the way they bowed to each other, everything was just amazing. They were
using Harmonium and an African instrument during Aarati. Unlike the Indian Hindu
temples, one woman was leading the group while singing the prayers and the others, all
men included, were following it.
Many Indians in Accra visit this temple during some festivities. Ghana is a very tolerant
country when it comes to the matter of religion but the major hurdle which the people of
monastery face is when it comes to explanation of idol worship in Hinduism and the two
major religions of Ghana, Christianity and Islam do not allow idol worship. Still many of the
worshippers who come to the monastery live with more than one religions being practised
in their families. e.g. Husband is a Christian, Wife is a Muslim but the son is following
Hinduism. We met some children in the monastery and boys were named Ram, Krishna,
Hari and the girl was named Sundar (beautiful).
We took a tro tro back to Accra and got down at Circle. From there we had decided to walk
up to Adabraka where we were staying. It was already dark as the street lights were dim.
While we were getting down a tro tro, a man on the bicycle came near to us from the
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wrong side. As Rose was closing the door of the tro tro he came near and lost his balance
and bumped on a standing car. He was lucky enough not to get himself or his bicycle hurt.
But then there was lot of distance between us and him and after that scene many people
came on the scene. We decided to walk our way back when he came running after Rose
and started to demand an apology from her as if having intention of quarrelling with her.
She apologised for whatever happened and said sorry to him but he was talking loudly. We
were lucky enough as people gathered around us and told us to go and told us that they
will see what is to be done with him. We felt relieved and I felt as if I was in Mumbai where
people just come for help when such instances happen on the street.
When we started walking, we found that the overall scene around circle was not as friendly
as we had observed during the evenings. Some people were drunk, there were some
quarrels between some people on the street, some people were running stray. We had to
rush our way through to our place of stay. But still we managed to stop at one street side
stall and take packs of omelets with bread and had a hot refreshing cup of Milo. Milo is a
health drink made with malt and chocolate and it is similar to Bournvita sold in India.
At Bojo Beach
With Brahmacharin Vichara at African Hindu Monastery
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48
Southern Ghana Tour- Day IV
17 August 2010
The fourth day of our tour was spent moving around the city of Kumasi, ancient capital of
Asante Kingdom. It is the centre of Ghana's culture and also transportation. The city is
spread on the gently sloping terrain and the atmosphere is cool and lively. I liked the city
and found it to be better than Accra. We had came to the city because it was the place
where our national volunteer conference was going to take place for the remaining three
days. The venue of the conference was at Hotel Miklin which had very good facilities for
accommodation, food and of course conference. We arrived in Kumasi in the afternoon
and started for roaming around the city immediately after lunch.
Our first stop was Armed Forces Museum at Kumasi Fort. In the early 1800's Asante King
decided to build a fort at the current location after seeing the Cape Coast castle. The
Asantes did not have technical know how to build the fort but they sent men to see the
castle at Cape Coast and brought all the construction material on head loads from the
coastal town. British attacked Asantes after coming to know about the construction of the
fort. The Asantes had very little artillery and fought with primitive weapons with the British
for quite a long time but had to loose the fort to British. The queen mother of the Asantes
after hearing the defeat took charge of the Asante army and again fought with the British.
As they did not have any advanced technique with which they could fight British they used
the strategy, "let the thousand die, thousand new will come." They used this strategy to
fight with the British for continuous 7 months. Of course it did not prove successful and
they lost the battle to the British but it did prove the spirit of freedom in the Asantes. So no
wonder Ghana was the first country in colonial Africa to gain freedom from colonial
powers.
Nowadays the fort houses Armed Forces Museum and they gave an excellent guided tour
of this small museum. The guide was again a very knowledgeable person and even took
great efforts to customise the experience as per the nationality of the tourists. The
museum has collection of weapons used for warfare since ancient times. There are
weapons which were used in the World War I and II; those used by the guerrillas in various
civil war stricken countries like Liberia, Congo and Rwanda. Ghanaian army is a major
peace keeping army in some of the countries and they are collaborating with Indian army
in those countries. They have a small navy and air force commands. Ghana's first air force
chief was an Indian with surname Singh. During 1960's when country became
independent there was no knowledge about air force in the country. The Indian military
helped Ghana to build their air force
After visit to the museum we went to the small cathedral which is near the Prempreh Circle
in the city. This is a small but beautiful structure in the city centre. The city centre has a
statue of King of Asantes King Prempreh II where he is standing on the lion. The next
small walk took us to the Central Market of Kumasi. This is very exciting place and its
spread is huge. One can get a variety of clothing, food stuffs, jewellery and almost all the
things of daily and special needs. Everybody bought something at this place.
This was the official end of our planned tour as we are not sure about how much we shall
get to explore afterwards because tomorrow onwards our volunteer conference starts. It
will not be possible to get out of the hotel easily as we shall be busy. After conference we
have planned for return to our respective places and start with work. We did not like the
idea of ending the tour but we are equally excited about the volunteer conference and
meeting all the VSO volunteers working in Ghana at once.
49
Prempreh Circle, Kumasi
Inside Cathedral
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50
Volunteer Conference- Day I
18 August 2010
The plan of volunteer conference included actual conference for one and half day and one
and half day of sector meetings of the volunteers. The first day consisted of sector
meetings. The VSO volunteers are working in a number of thematic goal areas. In Ghana,
VSO volunteers are working on thematic areas of Education, Secured Livelihoods,
Participation and Governance. There are some cross cutting themes such as Inclusion
(Gender and Disability) and HIV/ AIDS which are to be covered as part of the each of goal
area but there are some volunteers working exclusively in this theme as well. The
volunteers were divided as per their thematic area and individual review meetings were
conducted for each sector. I am a part of the secured livelihood group.
The sector meetings proved useful for cross learning and for discussion of issues related
to placements. There were some discussion on Programme Area Planning and Country
Strategic Planning for VSO as well. It helped to understand the overall working of VSO and
relation between work of an individual volunteer and organisational level thematic area
planning of VSO.
The food was very good and the menu had high continental influence as majority of the
volunteers were Europeans. But they always served some Ghanaian dishes as well.
The night consisted of cultural programmes by the volunteers. Our Indian group presented
the song "We shall overcome" in three different languages i.e. Hindi, Bengali and English. I
individually sung a Marathi song "Hee Chal Turuturu". Though none of the audience
understood any word of it, they could clap on the rhythm and many people gave feedback
to me that they liked the song. There was representation of various countries such as
Dutch style TV comedy show, Ugandan dance, small skits by the Australian and Filipino
groups. There were some individual performances as well. It was more to do with the fun
and less to do with the talent. Everybody enjoyed the show.
Then there was this trivia quiz where people were grouped and they were asked about
some funny questions. Most of them had origins in the volunteer gossips. My friend Jillian
had done the best job of identifying the questions and designing quiz. I was also part of the
question. The question was, Which tool did Sachin use to break open a coconut? The
answer is Pick axe. Once I was at Jillian's house and she had bought a coconut. But
nobody knew how to break it open. I told them that I shall do it. The only thing very hard
thing with which I could break it open without wasting the water inside it was a pick axe. I
broke open the coconut with it. I don't know how did it look but it must have been a great
comical show where I held coconut in my one hand and hit it with a pick axe in the another
hand. So now the whole incidence has become a part of the gossip of Bolgatanga VSO
volunteers.
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51
Volunteer Conference- Day II & III
19-20 August 2010
I did the full use of swimming pool while I was in the hotel. Being based at Bongo,
opportunities for swimming for me are very less and I had to make use of this opportunity
to its fullest. I always went to the pool very early in the morning so that there was nobody
in the pool and it was entirely for me. On the second day, the sector meetings continued
up to the first half of the day and then volunteer conference started. There were
explanation about the sessions planned and then there was speed dating where one was
supposed to get introduced to the people of as many nationalities as they could in an hour.
In the VSO community there are people of following nationalities; Ghana, UK, Netherlands,
Ireland, Portugal, Gibraltar, India, Philippines, Japan, Australia, Canada, US, Uganda, and
Kenya.
The theme of the conference was uniting for change. The first day involved session on
working in a multicultural environment and volunteers were grouped in such a way that
each group would have members of various nationalities. They were given task to present
a theme involving background of various cultures and people presented dances, festivals,
games of various cultures. Our group presented four small acts presenting educational
issues in four countries viz. UK, India, Uganda and Philippines. As in India, we have
always been taught the concept of Unity in Diversity in schools so it was not difficult to
understand the multi cultural concept but still it was fun because here the canvas was that
of the world and not of the country.
At this point I shall like to write about our discussions on racial differences and
discrimination. It is a very delicate issue to discuss but this was being done at a number of
times. I have to mention here that the volunteers here are from two different worlds, one is
developed and the other is not very developed or so called developing. Developed
countries of course include those of Europe, Australia and Canada and majority of the
volunteers from these countries are white skinned. Remaining nationalities i.e. Africans,
Indians and Filipinos are not whites and come from developing countries. Personally
speaking I did not find any racial discrimination in the whole conference and logically
speaking most of the volunteers have come here to get experience and contribute to the
process of development so ideally any kind of discrimination on the base of race should
not be there.
But yes, one major difference between volunteers from developing world and developed
world was there in terms of articulation and initiative. Most of the volunteers from
developing world were falling behind on those fronts. I think this has more to do with the
education and the inferiority complex which is the result of remnants of memories of
colonial era which we are still carrying within us. There is also another factor of money. As
the developmental funds are coming from these nations it is natural for them for being
proud and vocal for putting it to the right use.
Personally I felt that it has also relation with the cultural differences. Majority of the
volunteers were from European culture so in a group when so few non European people
are sitting, a non European can feel left out. I experience that as I came from a non
western culture and further I have to take some efforts to understand the accents which
are so different from Indian English, I am bound to remain silent and just hear the things till
the time I understand the context properly and get used to it. It will take certain amount of
time to start expressing myself. The important thing is being very much proactive on this
front rather than complaining about it as being discriminated on the basis of race. I have to
52
make special mention here that many of the volunteers from developed world were very
sensitive and made special efforts that everybody gets to contribute to the conference
equally. But some were not so sensitive about it and just pushed themselves. I think I have
written about this issue in detail but I had to do it as I heard about it and engaged myself
on this issue during the conference for great length of time.
The third day involved the sessions conducted with Open Space Technology. The
volunteers were told to work on issues or problems which they felt important and anybody
could join anybody to discuss on those problems and issues. They were supposed to
come up with the solutions and recommendations for them as well. It was an interesting
methodology of learning and working together voluntarily with responsibility and respect for
freedom is its essence.
The night was again fun with the programme of Ashanti Dance Troupe. They presented a
number of folk dances from Ashanti and Volta region of Ghana. The dances were really
graceful. They also gave some lessons in dancing but there were too many people on the
floor and only four people teaching so I felt that there was just chaos and nobody could
really learn the dance steps. The steps of the dance are very complex and the movements
of the hands also have some meanings. The drum beats were so powerful that I think
nobody in the whole of hall would have left without at least moving his feet in their rhythms.
After the dance troupe was gone, it was our turn. We tried some Ugandan dance and then
we taught the game Indian game of Phugadi to some people. But after seeing the
condition of some people after playing it very few people came forward for it.
After their performance there was musical night of the volunteers. Anthony had brought his
guitar with him and they sung many English songs. Of course all the songs and the way of
singing them was new for me as I had never heard neither the songs nor the way they
were sung. On the public demand I had to sing my Marathi song again and everybody
enjoyed it. Some people went to the night club late in the night after finishing this musical
gathering. I wanted to go with them to see what does night club has and some were
inviting me to join them. As I had woke up very early in the morning and with exercises,
swimming and all the activities through out day and dancing and singing in the tail end of
the day had made me very tired. I had to say no to them and just went to bed.
Opening Ceremony of the Volunteer Conference
53
Group Discussion, besides the pool. Really Cool!
Graceful Asante Dance
Indian Phugadi dance on Ghanaian Land with Australian Player. It's truly global.
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54
More exploration of Kumasi
21 August 2010
After the end of the volunteer conference we had some more time in the next day as we
had booked our return tickets for the bus departing in the evening. We visited Manhiya
Palace. It is the former palace of the Asante King and it has been now converted into a
museum. Again like our previous good experiences with the museums in Ghana, this was
not an exception. Near the entry of the museum there is a shop. A guide at the museum
told us to wait for some time as a very big group of school children had started their tour.
We were mistaken feeling that he was just some person trying to lure us because he came
forward for help uninvited and smiling too much. But we realised afterwards that he was
really an authorised person.
The museum is small and charges very high fees to the foreigners but thanks to our
volunteer identity cards and we have been getting some discounts on the tickets though
paying more than the Ghanaians. I can now understand how the foreign tourists to India
must be feeling when they are visiting places in India and paying higher fees than Indians
for visiting the same place. The museum has collection of artefacts from various periods of
Asante Kingdom.
After finishing the visit as we came out, some vendors came near us. One was preparing
some custom made wrist bands. He had a very good skill of preparing it. He made it with
the threads of different colours which were wrapped around a plastic band and created
letter on the band with the threads. When we were busy getting this done many vendors
most of them youths approached us trying to sell a number of things such as paintings,
hats, bags etc. Most of them identified us as Indians and we had fun interacting with them.
When asked about nationality, I answered one of them that I was a Pakistani. He was
insistent on going to Pakistan with me. I told him that the country is not safe these days
and it is always attacked by terrorists, but he was telling me that he was ready to go there
and fight out his way with the terrorists. The bunch of vendors was very friendly and
though we did not buy anything from them, they taught us the Asante way of hand shake.
Today twice in the day we came across prisoners walking on the road. Once it was on the
road and the second time it was in the palace grounds. They were walking freely and the
policeman was just present observing them at a distance. After seeing us they approached
us and begged for money which we did not give it to them while the policeman did little to
control them. I wonder how the whole system operates. They must be having very good
time living in the Ghanaian prison it seems.
In Kumasi, being the centre of Asante culture, unlike any other cities in the south, one can
find many people in the traditional Asante clothes. Men wear a cloth which is draped
around their body and the style of wearing is like Buddhist monks. The colours of their
cloths are very bright. As it started raining heavily we had to drop our plans to visit national
centre for culture in Kumasi and visit a museum over there. We had to return to the hotel
where we had kept our luggage and said bye to the members of our group sadly. Then we
made our way to the bus station for the return journey to Bolgatanga while making
ourselves mentally prepared for the late arrival of the bus and watching of Ghanaian and
Nigerian witchcraft movies for the entire journey.
55
Manhiya Palace, Residence of Asante King
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56
No Expectations
22 August 1 September 2010
I want to be philosophical while writing this but when I say this I am expecting something
about myself and as I get drifted with the process I might not be what I expected me to be.
I wanted to write something but I could not because I just kept on postponing it as I felt that
there was nothing happening worthwhile. Writing on a blog also starts with a purpose and
then one gets addicted to fulfil the purpose. The thing, that is meant to be. Sometimes I felt
"am I bound by that purpose but then it occurred to me that I am the one who decides on
the purpose." Then more introspection leads to the thought, "Am I the slave of I?" or "is it
something different which drives me along". No I don't want to say that it is "God" because
I am not religious person but I don't want to be atheist as well because I have not came to
the realisation that the thing the people call as God does not exist.
It all started after returning from long trip to Accra and Kumasi when very few things worth
mentioning in the blog happened and I started to feel bored with life in Bongo. It started to
feel like my usual life in India as I attended some village meetings, prepared reports and
they all started to look same to me. Not anything different than the ones which I was doing
in India. Then I was invited to attend one marriage on Saturday and I was excited not
because I was going to attend a local ceremony but because it was going to be something
different than what I was used to in India and it was something worthwhile to write on the
blog.
After attending the marriage I was disappointed to a great extent. The thing which they
were calling as marriage later turned out to be an engagement. It was conducted in a
rented hall. The catholic priest told that it was going to be traditional ceremony but there
were some prayers and blessings etc. The only thing traditional was the ritual where bride
was given by her family to the groom's family and grooms family then gave the bride to the
groom. It was holding of hands of bride and moving her from one person to the other. Food
was good and they served wine and drinks.
Actually there was nothing to get disappointed about this whole event but I was because I
expected something. I expected that it will be a very traditional northern Ghanaian affair
with lot of dancing, lot of people and traditional African religious rituals. I was expecting it
to be something on the basis of a mental picture which I had drawn and in turn which was
based on my vague thoughts about African people and not real knowledge. There were
very few people, the ceremony was conducted with Christian customs, and there was not
much of dancing because bride did not like it. Still everybody was happy about it and I was
disappointed to some extent. My disappointment got developed because I expected it to
be something which it was not.
While I was getting disappointed I had failed to understand that day that when the way
they celebrated it was completely new to me. I failed to appreciate the things as they were.
I realise now that many times expectations about reality not the actual reality dominates
our thoughts. Is that the cause of suffering? A new philosophical question for sure!
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57
Exploring Food II
02-03 September 2010
Dawadawa- It is used as a flavouring agent in the food. It is a fruit pulp which is dried and
used by adding it in small quantities to the food preparations such as rice, soups, beans
etc. The smell of Dawadawa is awfully strong. The central market of Bolgatanga has a lot
of stalls where Dawadawa balls are sold and the smell is everywhere in the air along with
that of dry fish. So one can imagine how smelly affair is it to visit Bolgatanga market. I
once ate Dawadawa Jollof rice which had good taste. They say it has some medicinal
properties and the taste and smell depends on how Dawadawa is processed.
Guinea fowl meat- It is one of the tastiest meat as per the claim of the people in the
northern part of Ghana. People who have migrated from northern Ghana to the south
always make it a point to eat Guinea fowl meat when they come to the northern part of the
country. I liked the guinea fowl meat which was served to me twice. Though I don't have
much knowledge about meat, I can confidently say that the meat which they had served
tasted better than any other meat which I have ever eaten till date.
Khebabs- Here Kebabs are spelled as Khebabs. They are served almost everywhere in
the country but one can't say for sure that you'll get good kebabs everywhere. I had never
eaten Kebabs back in India. Especially after seeing the way they make them near Bandra
Railway station in Mumbai, I had made my mind that I am never going to eat them in life.
On a request of a friend I took kebabs in Bongo and it was very bad experience for me. It
was not cooked properly and I had good exercise of my teeth chewing the meat. I decided
at that point I'll never ever eat Kebab in Ghana. The next day I went to a spot in
Bolgatanga with my friend Rose and the kebabs made near that spot came highly
recommended. The smell in the air was inviting so I decided to give it a try. They were
juicy, lightly spiced and cooked on low charcoal fire for longer time and had really great
taste. I found that the place is worth going there again just for eating Kebabs.
Sausages- They are sold on the stalls where they also sell Kebabs. These are prepared by
smoking them on charcoal fire like Khebabs. Before smoking it they brush it with mixture of
salt and spices. Taste is just great.
Omelets- Taste wise it is nothing special. One can find them at many street side stalls and
is a cheap, safe food having easy of access when one is hungry.
Fried Plantain chips- These are thinly sliced raw plantain chips. These are similar to those
available in southern India. Ghanaian chips are sliced finely and along the length of
plantain and not across it so the chips are very long. These are served in lightly salted
form and I found them to be tastier than the ones found in India. These are commonly sold
everywhere in southern part of Ghana and not easily found in the Northern part of the
country.
Palava sauce- These are made from leaves of a local leafy vegetable called Efan. The
leaves are cooked by adding some fish or finely shredded meat and some other spices.
They are generally eaten with some starchy substance such as cooked plantains or yams
and has good taste.
Octopus and Squid- There is nothing great about the taste of these sea creatures but they
can blend well with other food items in a preparation. The taste is bland and texture is
rubbery. I ate squid Jollof rice in a beautiful sea side restaurant near Cape Coast castle.
The squid pieces were cooked with rice. They had served once stir fried Octopus pieces at
the dinner during our volunteer conference in Kumasi.
58
Waakye (pronounced as Wachye)- These are beans and rice cooked together. Taste is
good but depends largely on what type of relishes added to it.
Yam Chips- These are fried chips sold at almost every street corner and by the moving
vendors. The chips are thick in size and taste is not so great but not bad either. It is like
French fries.
Beans- This is a cowpea cooked with some spices. There is something smelly added to it.
Probably it is Dawadawa and some fish extract. After ordering it, as per your choice they
add some relishes to it. The choice of seasoning includes Pepe (tomato, onion, garlic and
ginger crushed together with sheer human force) and Shito (hot chilli pepper, fried onions
and fish sauce), a red coloured palm oil with some seasoning added to it and gari (dried
coarsely ground cassava). Generally it is eaten with yam chips. The whole thing is surely
an acquired taste and I am acquiring it day by day as I buy it once or twice a week from
the eatery opposite to my office.
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59
Glimpses of Bongo
Inside a typical rural house compound
The beautiful flowers are those of an obnoxious parasite called Striga. It grows on
Sorghum crop.
Under the Baobab tree
60
Traditional storage system for grains.
Home scale processing of Shea butter, a type of vegetable cooking oil.
It is my house. It is pink in colour.
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View from my house two months back, now the crops have grown very tall.
It is not the weed between rows of millet, it is the crop of Bambara beans.
If you look closely, the woman is carrying a baby on her back while riding a motorbike
behind this giant truck. It is common.
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62
Random and Miscellaneous
4-12 September 2010
When I was writing my first blog post, I was in dilemma whether I should give titles to the
posts. Because a title represents some central idea expressed throughout the text and
whether it will be there always when I write it. After I wrote my first two posts, I found that
both the posts could have a title of their own, I gave them and then finding appropriate
titles for the posts became a part of the fun of writing.
For 9 consecutive days before writing this post, I was feeling the life has slowed down and
nothing interesting was happening. This is partly because I got used to the life here so the
initial excitement through which I was going is over. I realize it now while writing it that it
might not be very exciting but things are happening anyway and they have significance. It
is worth writing about them though they are random and miscellaneous.
There is a big tree on the main road in Bolgatanga opposite the site of three petrol stations
which is a big nesting site for vultures. One can see many vultures in Bongo as well on a
tree near lorry station. In India, majority of the people do not like them since they associate
them with bad spirits. Back home they are on the verge of extinction due to a disease
caused as an effect of chemical residues entering their bodies after feeding on animal
carcasses and also due to the loss their habitats. Here in Ghana it seems they are having
very good time however. People are not vegetarian here and butchers are welcome to
open their shops anywhere. Meat waste is easily available for the vultures. Most of the
meat is free from those deadly chemical residues. People do not associate them with any
bad spirits but I suspect they might be liking these creatures because they are cleaning the
wastes from the meat shops, which otherwise would have caused health hazards .
These days when I walk on the streets of Bongo, very few people approach me with pleas
for help. Perhaps the news has spread that I am a stingy Solemiya (white man). I have
learned the techniques of avoiding these types of people to some extent. I have set myself
a limit on the money which should be given to beggars and the people who come across
with the pleas for help. Actually after visiting the villages here, I realized that the situation is
really distressed and it is really not bad to give some money to needy especially women
and disabled who are likely to spend it on some food but certainly not to able bodied men
because they are most likely to go immediately to nearest Pito (local alcoholic brew made
from millets) bar and drain it off.
The initial joy of getting greeted by the children playing on the streets by their calls,
"Solemiya welcome!" is now really fading away. There is a bunch of children who are
always playing near the corner of the street of my house and they say this phrase daily
after seeing me. It seems this is the only thing which they can say to me. Once on an
evening one of the relatively brighter kid greeted me saying Good Morning!". I liked that
because it was something different than their usual words. I tried to correct them by telling
that it was evening but they all kept on looking at me as if I was talking some alien tongue.
It seems with every family having 4-5 children there is explosion of population here and
young kids are everywhere on the street. For a non black like me, getting out on the street
means getting prepared for hearing this phrase for so many times that you just lose its
importance.
I did not expect that there will be good Community Based Organization (CBO) here after
seeing the way promotional approaches are adopted by the governmental and non
governmental organization in the name of participation. As part of my work I have been
engaged with a very good CBO with very active, self driven and dedicated body of its
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members. It is the Guinea fowl Farmers Federation of Bongo District. I think they have
great potential and they can really spearhead the intervention of Guinea fowl rearing in the
district and also in the region. When I expected to do some field observations on the
Guinea fowl farmers with the help of Agriculture department personnel, the federation
people themselves came forward and took me to the field in the villages.
I had gone to Bolgatanga to access internet and I stayed at Rose's place for the night. My
VSO friend Jemimah from Uganda did not know that I shall be visiting Rose. She had
brought Chapati and vegetable cooked in Indian style. She said there are so many Indians
in Uganda and due to them Chapati and vegetable are popular with Ugandans as well.
She rolls Chapati with an empty beer bottle. I realized that I ate roti after two and half
months. I told her that there is a proverb in Hindi which says if you are getting the food
then your name must have been written on that food (by the God, | | H| ,
||H | |) and though she had not made it for me, my name was written on it and I
got to eat it. She told me that there is some similar proverb in her Ugandan dialect too.
As I am writing about my favourite subject of food, Gani, son of my neighbour peeked in
the house and I talked with him for a while. This is not any miscellaneous thing but
something which I am writing incidentally. They are going to shift to Brong Ahafo region
which is far from here and culturally and geographically falls in the southern part. His
father was telling me two days before how unhappy he was for his transfer since he had
been living in the town for 15 years. Though he comes from Upper West Region, he has
been quite attached to this place. They had planted some crops around and are now
distributing some of the premature harvests to their neighbours and as a result I got some
corn.
He and his wife were always very helpful to me and always watchful about the house when
I was not around. I shall be losing a very good neighbour. Now I don't know if I would get
any new neighbour and if I get would he be as good natured as him. I was asking the boy
what did he eat throughout the day. They ate millet porridge for the breakfast and rice with
fish stew for lunch. Will you be having Fufu for the dinner? I asked the boy as I heard the
sound of pounding. Yes, with groundnut soup, the boy answered promptly. After two days
I shall no longer hear this sound of pounding Fufu and Gani will not come to peek in the
house.
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64
Random and Miscellaneous II
13-19 September 2010
I sometimes stay at the house of my volunteers friends, Jillian and Jason. They make a
nice and hospitable couple. The road to their house is a dirt road which gets muddy when
it rains, or really saying it has been always like that when rainy season started. There are
always some guinea fowls that are grazing there near the road in the grasses which have
grown alongside the road. When we walk on that road by getting our feet dirty as we walk
in the mud trying to jump over the small puddles, guinea fowls start quacking loudly. I
always feel that these creatures are laughing at us.
I never liked fruits much while in India. After coming here however I have started to eat
them and have started to like them. The taste of fruits in India is just not good. It is
because their lack of freshness and use of large amounts of chemicals. By freshness I
mean the time the fruit has taken from reaching from the farm to the consumer. There are
lot of processes involved in India so that the fruits are in right stage of ripening when they
reach consumers. On the taste front, they loose a lot.
While speaking about the fruits, it occurs to me that one can not rely on the sellers here for
anything. At the time of lunch, I preferred for two consecutive days to buy some bananas
from the lady who operates a small stand near my office. On third day when I went there at
the same time she was not there at all. I asked the neighbouring lady about her. She said
that she did not know anything about her. The same is the case with the Gmebsa seller.
Once I went there, there were hot freshly steamed Gmebsa available, next day when I
went there same time, she was preparing fire. On the third day, she had decided not to
prepare them at all and on the fourth day she had some cold ones available with her.
Whatever you are getting on the shops and street stands is a matter of pure luck or may
be it is just some coincidence that they are there when you want to buy them, I tell myself
these days.
I have found out that I can mix very well with the western volunteers and have interest in
the game of scrabble though right now I am faring very poor in it. One major thing I find in
their culture and thinking is the distinct and strong sense of individuality. The differences in
Western and Indian culture start from that point. By being in company of them I have been
frequently hearing and learned about some abusive words like shit, crap, scum bag,
jackass and f**k though I don't use them. The frequent use of these words in the friendly
manner separates them from their real meaning. It is the same story with such words in
India and I think in that respect Indians and Westerners are similar.
Life of local people in Ghana revolves around their tribal beliefs and customs. Back in
India, we read many stories about tribal warfare and disputes. There is some inter-tribal
rivalry existent in Ghana as well but it is mainly in a small part of the country. I came to
know about some inter-tribal friendship as well. Dagare people from Upper West Region
are considered as playmates of Frafra people of Upper East Region. If person of one tribe
uses abusive language against person of the other tribe, the second person is not likely to
be offended because they are by tradition considered as playmates. Dog meat is
considered as a delicacy in both the Upper East and Upper West regions of Ghana. If a
Frafra person cooks a dog and a Dagare person comes to know about it, he can just go
there and take the head of the dog away. Head of the dog is considered as the most prized
part of this most prized animal. It also happens vice a versa.
Since we are talking about dog meat, here is a story of a VSO volunteer in Bolgatanga and
her pet dog. Whenever this volunteer took the dog on the street for the walk, people eyed
65
the dog and always complemented her about the health of the dog and asked if she was
thinking of giving it away or killing it. Once the dog was mistakenly kept lose and it went
away on the street. It was hit by a large truck running speedily on the road and somebody
noticed the event and ran to her to report it. By the time she went to the road, there were
only some blood remains on the street. I wish all of those dog meat loving people from
Upper East Region of Ghana were in Mumbai.
My neighbours had told me that they would be shifting to their new place on Wednesday. I
greeted the woman on Tuesday and asked them by what time they were planning to leave
and told her that I was feeling sad about their leaving this place. She told, No, I don't
know when we are leaving. We might be leaving on Friday and may be after that. When it
was Friday, I did not see any movement in the house related to packing or preparation for
the departure. Yes, I know you are following 'Ghana May be Time'. I know your favourite
slogan which you people like to display everywhere, 'Who knows tomorrow', thought I.
When I returned on Sunday after my stay at Bolgatanga for two days, the woman was still
there doing her daily chores. I greeted her but did not ask her about her scheduled
departure.
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66
A Visit to Barber
20-23 September 2010
I thought I should feel like the way I did when I was in school while writing on this subject.
They would give us some subjects like 'an hour at a bus stop' or 'a visit to zoo'. The
language classes were the most boring those days. Now I don't feel getting bored while
writing it because there are no rigid and serious faced teachers to evaluate them and give
the marks. The actual experience was more exciting than writing about it. It is a visit to a
barber in a small town from Africa after all and not the one from India.
After I arrived here I had not decided when I would get a haircut. I had got my hairs cut
short so that I would not require cutting them immediately after arrival to Ghana. Like most
of the men in India, I am used to a typical hairstyle. I used to live in Pune before coming to
Ghana and though I don't like the city much, I shall definitely say that the barbers there are
really good. The workers from the barber shop near to my house in Pune knew me and my
hair cut so well that except for the first time, I never felt any need to tell them about how do
I want my hair cut. I always rested assured on the chair and they took the control of my
head for some time and did their job without any special instruction.
After arrival to Ghana however it seemed there is only one hairstyle everywhere. Every
man has his head shaved and when some substantial stubble is seen on their heads, they
simply head to the barbershop to clear that stubble. There is very little skill in the job and
any man in the town seems to be able to do it. It is just the question of setting the shop
with a chair, a mirror, electricity connection and the most essential shaving machine. That
means there are barbershops on every street in the town. Unlike India where barber shops
will have pictures of some Bollywood stars painted on their signboards, barbershop sign
boards in Ghana has only one type of picture. You'll always find a picture of a man with
short curly hairs and a small French styled beard. At the side of the face of this man there
is always a picture of a shaving machine.
I think due to stiff competition in the business most of the barbers in the town seem to be
either idling or operating two businesses at a time. Barbers here along with barbering
(cutting of hair is called as barbering in the local English) may sell grocery, mobile phone
recharge cards, fruits, vegetables etc. The barber to whom I went operates an internet
caf and barber shop at the same place. It makes a bit of sense in browsing the internet if
you have to wait long for your turn for getting barbered ;).
During my first month in Ghana I did not require any haircut but in the second as the hair
started to grow I started to become uneasy as I seldom allow them to grow much but I did
let them grow for a while. In the third month however they grew so much that I got used to
them. I once looked in the mirror and realized that I shall start looking like a Hippie in the
next month. I decided to cut them but did not cut them for almost a month because I was
not sure about the skills of the barbers in the town. I asked some other straight haired
male volunteers for the best place. They answered that there is no such thing as a best
place. They do it in the same way as others. I asked my Indian friend when I visited him in
Kumasi, the second largest city in Ghana. He answered that he gets it done in Accra, the
national capital and is five hours journey from Kumasi. Accra is the only place where one
can find some skilled person to get it done and they charge very high for that. When I
heard these responses to my question, I decided to find my own solution to the problem.
I frequent the internet caf attached to which is this barbershop. The barber there always
looked clean and with smiling face. I asked the guy if he could cut my straight hair. He
confidently said yes. When I entered his barber section, I saw that there is nothing
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special in the shop. There was a simple stool on which I sat and looked in the mirror. He
started to run his electrical shaving machine and I could not think of any instruction with
regard to the way I wanted my hair cut. I just told him to keep the hair short. He did the job
with his machine by cutting hairs from side and back of the head. When it came to cutting
of hairs on the upper part of the head, he was trying his best to do keep some hairs so that
it will look like my earlier hairstyle. It was all being done by the same machine. The whole
thing was looking very bad. I instructed him to just go ahead and cut the hair completely
the way he had done at the side and back of the head.
After finishing the job I asked him whether he is capable of cutting hairs with scissors. It
was a new knowledge for him that in India hairs are cut by using a scissors. I should say
that he did his best though it did not turn out the way I wanted it.
Now don't tell my wife and I am not sure whether they were really genuine, but on the next
day, I received complements from many women in my office for my new hair cut.
Before
After
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Reaching Kumasi or Story of Privacy amongst the Strangers
24-26 September 2010
This was one of my not so properly planned tour. It was something which was done
because my organization was going to bear my to and fro journey expenses. I and my
boss, District Planning Officer, Bongo District Assembly were chosen by VSO for the
workshop on inclusion. I shall explain this vague sounding term in a later post. Our
workshop was going to start on 27
th
September but they had made arrangements for the
people in the hotel from the earlier day so we decided to take advantage of this
arrangement and decided to reach one more day earlier and explore in and around this
beautiful city of Kumasi.
From Bolgatanga the two of us Jillian and I started for Kumasi. Two more friends
accompanied us on the bus. One was Pat, an ex-volunteer now. She finished her
placement of two years successfully in the small district place called Zebilla, 45 km away
from Bolgatanga. She can bake delicious cakes and breads. There was a farewell party
organized for her on the evening before our departure. She went to Accra on the same bus
as ours and flew to her home in Sheffield, UK on 26
th
September. Another friend travelling
in the bus with us was Sophia, a Ghanaian. She knows to cook many Indian dishes. She
was asking me more information about Indian Kenke. Kenke is a Ghanaian food and
consists of ball of cooked fermented maize dough. Later through more enquiries, I could
make out that by Indian Kenke she meant Idli.
This time, during the bus journey, I could sleep in spite of the loud Nigerian witchcraft
movies played in the bus. It seems I am now getting used to them. Unfortunately our bus
had a break down on the road. Most of the passengers were worried about the robberies
on the road. Somebody knew the area very well and suggested that we should walk with
our hand luggage to the nearest village. As everybody was doing that, we followed them
and after a walk of 300 m we reached a house near the road. It was a farm house and
fortunately there were some people who had stayed there for the night. It was very dark
when we reached and there was no electricity but after sometime there was moonrise up
in the sky and we could see around. Somebody from that house brought some water
sachets for selling. People kept on discussing about the low quality of Chinese buses
which companies purchase and passengers have to suffer. After hearing that discussion
for long time, I also started to think seriously that low quality Chinese goods flooding the
local markets is a serious global issue these days.
Approximately 4 hours after break down, the replacement for the bus came and we shifted
ourselves to the new bus. Along with the luggage were also shifted live goats and guinea
fowl, which were travelling with us, but fortunately in the luggage compartment. When the
driver started the bus, the owner of the guinea fowls came asking loudly, "who has stolen
my guinea fowls?" As per his claim, one of his guinea fowls had gone missing. He started
searching if any of the passengers had hidden any bird under the seat. It took some time
to calm that person down and the bus finally started on its way to Kumasi. That was my
first experience of bus breaking down after arriving in Ghana. The bus reached to Kumasi
3 hours late. That meant the new bus driven by the new driver could cover 1 hour in spite
of the bad road and they surprised us by showing a good Nigerian comedy movie. I had
heard many stories about such experiences from people and now I had got my own story
to tell to the people.
We reached Kumasi at 3:00 am and said bye to Pat and Sophia who went ahead to Accra.
We had not planned properly for the day except the booking for a dormitory room of a
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hotel and deciding on the place where we could go. We decided to go the lodge where
Jillian had booked the dormitory beds over the telephone. We requested them to allow us
in the room at half the charge for half day as check in time was 12:30 pm. The reception
clerk suggested us to wait till 6:00 am so that we would be allowed to check in the room
and then could use the room till 6:00 am in the next morning. We snoozed in the lobby for
some time and then checked in the hotel dormitory. First she told us that six bedded
dormitory was full and we would be checked into the 8 bedded dormitory which was empty.
The attendant lady however took us to a 6 bedded dormitory. When we were taken to the
room there was already somebody in the room. The man inside told to wait for a while.
Then after long time of waiting, door was opened. We went inside. There were two
persons, a man and a woman sleeping on two separate beds. The man was a white with
darker complexion and the woman was a black. Man was hurriedly shifting his belongings
to his own beds from the woman's bed. There were three two tiered beds. It was obvious
that the reception clerk wanted to keep this a secret but the attendant lady had messed up
with that secret. We took two of the remaining beds and slept.
I woke up at 7:10 so that I could be first to use the toilet and take a bath before others. I
saw that woman was not on her bed. On the man's bed under the covers I could see the
shape of the body and the colour of the skin of the feet which had came out of the cover
and could easily guess that it was that woman. When I was getting out of my bed, the man
came from outside and then took some bed sheets from the woman's bed and spread all
along the length of the two tier bed thus creating a complete enclosure and then went
inside their newly created hideout. I could hear some sounds afterwards.
After finishing my bath I was standing in the main balcony enjoying the view of Kumasi city,
when the man came there. He offered me a cigarette which I declined. Then he asked me
whether I was an Indian and which religion I belonged to. He told me that he was from
Dubai and living in the city for last 10 years. From his accent and skin colour, I could guess
that he was an Arab. He was in the business of providing some kind logistics support to
the telecommunication companies. After hearing my profession of developmental work and
volunteering, he could not understand what I actually did and did not seem to be very
much interested in it as well. He was worried for me as I was living in the drier North
instead of humid south. Then he gave me some advise which I had not asked for. It was
about the best places for shopping and how I could save money by buying ready-made
sachets of coffee and getting a hot water from the hotel staff instead of buying it from the
restaurant. After a while he went away.
After some time I returned to the room the hideout was cleared and there was no man or
the woman as well. They had made me wonder how could they act like that in presence of
strangers like us and still the man could chat with me for a long time. There is a minimal
probability that I shall be seeing that man or the woman again. I think it was the privacy
amongst the strangers which they had taken it for granted.
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70
Exploration in and around Kumasi I
26 September 2010
It was Sunday and we had decided to roam around the Kumasi city. We had decided to
wait for Rahul who was coming from Accra and he was to reach Kumasi by 9:30 am. We
had to do breakfast and we went on the road to find something. After walking for two
blocks, we came across a square where there were number of street side stalls selling
various things. Most convenient and known to us was the stall selling fried eggs. The
person could not speak English well and just knew the basic minimum by telling the prices
of limited items on offer. We tried to ask him which part of Ghana he was from when
another man sitting beside him told us that he was an immigrant from Mali and knows little
English. Jillian spoke with him in French and he could talk with her. She is very skilled at
striking discussions and speaking with unknown people. An omelet with two eggs, a large
piece of bread and a hot cup of Milo (chocolate malt drink) made us full and we were all
ready to start our exploration. Rahul came on time and we started for our first destination,
Ntonso.
Ntonso is a small village, 10 km away from Kumasi and it is known for weaving of Adinkra
and Kente cloth. These are traditional types of cloths worn by the people of Akan ethnic
group. When we reached the village, the atmosphere was very relaxed as it was Sunday
and most of the villagers were busy attending Church or funerals. Most of the people
attending the funerals could be identified as they were wearing black clothes.
The shop where we went first had many types of cloths hung around but the mood in the
shop was pretty relaxed as sellers were not telling anything about it. When a youth came
from somewhere and started talking with us. Adams, as we found later, was a local
volunteer in a community run project in the village which was started with an assistance of
an American Peace Corps Volunteer. They have developed a small museum which gives
information on this traditional art of weaving. As it was Sunday, museum was closed but he
found the key for us and showed us around.
There is a story associated with this art of weaving. The Asante Kingdom defeated
Gyaame Kings and enslaved these people. These people were known for their art of
weaving cloth. These people were brought near Kumasi, the capital of Asante, and were
settled in the villages around it. The art of these people were then adopted by the Asante
and was made official. There are two types of cloths. One of them is Adinkra which is black
and white and has numerous symbols which are made by using stamps. Other type, Kente
cloth, is very thick and worn especially by people with royal heritage in earlier days. These
days anybody can wear it. It is made by sewing number of pieces of cloth into a pattern.
There were no fees for the museum and he did not even try to persuade us to purchase
anything. He seemed to have a true volunteer spirit. We then sat near a shop and had soft
drink with him afterwards while hearing about his activities on HIV and AIDS.
Since we were really not sure about our next stop, we kept on asking each other. Finally
we decided to go to the village which specializes in woodcarving. The Bradt guide book
came in handy when the tro tro mate was not able to understand our pronunciation of the
name of our destination. After a short tro ride, we got down at Ahwiyaa just near the shops
selling wooden items. Heat was intense but by this time, relaxed atmosphere of the
morning had changed into a busy one. There were many vehicles on the road.
We entered in a shop and then quickly found ourselves engulfed in the game of
bargaining. Nobody knew the right price of the items. Some of the items were really good
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and beautiful. There were wooden masks, fertility dolls, sculptures showing human figures,
various souvenir type of items showing Ghanaian flag colours, drums etc. The variety of
items was huge and the sellers were very aggressive. Jillian and Rahul both bought some
items by bargaining them down to 50-60% of the price and the guy gave each of us
(including me because I helped them to strike a deal though I did not buy anything) a small
leather bracelet as a dash. Dash means anything which comes free, over and above than
the agreed. "Give me a dash," is a phrase commonly heard in Ghanaian markets. After
seeing that we purchased in one shop, all the other shop owners started to aggressively
persuade us to come to their shop and see the items they had. It was fun for sometime but
afterwards it was too much to bear and then we left from the scene. Still it was worth
recommending anybody to go over there and have a look at least as the village is really a
centre of wood carving industry and at many places one can find the artists engaged in the
work.
A police officer gave us a lift up to Kumasi, thanks to the skill of Jillian in begging lifts. After
knowing that we were Indians, he told us that he used to work with Indian police forces in
Cambodia for some time as part of the UN peace keeping force. He took us all the way up
to our hotel.
Colourful Kente cloths
Wooden masks at Ahwiyaa
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72
Exploration in and around Kumasi II
27 September 2010
We had decided to spend our second day in Kumasi by visiting Lake Bosumtwi and then
visiting some more places in Kumasi city if time permitted. As decided our group of three,
which included I, Rahul and Damien, headed for the lake. It was a journey by a tro tro to
Kuntanase, a small town 35 km away from Kumasi and then a short ride by shared taxi to
the village of Abono on the shores of the lake. We had taken guidance from the travel
guide book to plan this journey and it was helpful. But one has to be aware about the
information provided in the guide books as it gets outdated as the time passes.
We read in the book that on the way to Kuntanase to Abono sometimes there is an
unofficial entry fees charged to foreigner tourists by some village youths. We had a lot of
argument with the guy at the entry check post. The guy was giving us an official receipt
and it turned out that it really was an official post set up by the district assembly and we
had to pay the charges. Due to our arguments however, the guy seemed to be very
reluctant to give any concessions after showing our volunteer identity cards and we had to
pay the full Obruni (foreigner) fare.
There were not many tourists around since it was Monday. The lake has become a popular
spot for tourists as well people from Kumasi city and it gets crowded on weekends. The
Abono village has two privately run information centres. We entered one information
centre as a person hanging around it told us that it was an official set up promoted by the
government. After hearing that we entered in it and it had really good information displayed
on its walls but then they started asking for some donations and it all started to look like a
tourist trap.
We came out of the office. Then the man in the office came near us and started asking for
the boat ride. We agreed for the boat ride but we were not very lucky as after completion
of the half of the agreed time we started to see the rain falling in the opposite shore and
the boatmen started to row back towards Abono shore. The lake is all surrounded by small
hillocks and it has very beautiful and serene atmosphere. The lake has been created by an
impact of falling of a huge meteorite and is the largest naturally formed fresh water body in
the whole of west Africa. Due to rains our plans to walk around the shores of the lake and
to take a dip in its waters had to be cancelled and we started back for Kumasi. After the
tiresome, bumpy and noisy journey of tro tro we came back to Kumasi and found our way
through the crowded central market area to the Cultural Centre.
This Cultural Centre is very well planned and better than its counterpart in Accra. It was
first found by Asante King Prempreh II as Asante Cultural Centre in 1958 but then later
converted into National Culture Centre by the first president of Ghana Dr. Kwame
Nkrumah. The centre has a small museum which displays history of Asante Kingdom, an
auditorium and a craft centre where there are numerous shops and also some training
facilities. The museum was very good with well informed guides. Outside the museum we
found a large calabash bush. The Calabash is a type of gourd with hard rind. The fruits of
calabash are harvested and dried after fully grown. The fruit pulp is removed and the rind
is carved into utensils for serving and storing food. Generally most of the gourds grow on
vines which are annual in nature but the one which we saw there was a perennial woody
climber and had almost grown into a bush.
An unusual thing which I came across in the centre was absence of toilets in its majority of
buildings. They told me that it is there in the administrative building. I asked the lady at the
reception about it and she handed me the key to the toilet. The female section of the toilet
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was open but the male section of the toilet was locked.
We headed for Zoo afterwards. On our way to zoo we came across huge trees with very
big colonies of bats on it. Near those trees at the roadside, there were people selling
numerous things. We bought roasted plantains and some tiga nuts. Tiga nuts are actually
an underground tubers of a plant which grows in water. These are like water chestnuts.
The taste of Tiga nuts is similar to coconut and it has become my favourite pastime
munch. The next stall had some animals which looked like rodents and were being roasted
on charcoal fire. They were placed on a stick and the woman was yelling something. The
whole scene was very disgusting. We passed ahead of it but our curiosity could not keep
us walking further. I went back to the stall and asked the woman what was she selling. She
and and all the others around could not speak English and were not able to understand
what was I asking them. Then a man could guess my question and showed the bats
hanging on the tree. The woman started to tell us the price of it but we walked away from
the scene. As I have always been keen on tasting new food items in Ghana, Rahul and
Damien started asking me whether I wanted to taste the bats. I answered them that it
could become my new limit after reaching the limit of eating dog meat which I have not
reached yet.
Our experience of the zoo was not as uninspiring as the guide book had mentioned. The
zoo was really very disorganized and not very well kept but the animals in the zoo were
well fed. There were many animals which we had not seen before in India such as
ostriches, grey coloured parakeets, baboons, large lizards, tortoises, warthogs and
chimpanzees. We had fun time tossing Susubaras to the chimpanzees and seeing the
expressions on their faces. Chimpanzees have lot of similarities with the human body and
face as well.
After finishing our visit to the zoo, me and Rahul waited in the central tro tro station for the
arrival of Rahul's employer. He is an old aged blind person. Rahul works for the Ghana
Federation of the Disabled. We had a very hard time finding Rahul's boss in the crowded
central market area. It was doubly difficult as Rahul's boss also has some loss of hearing
ability due to old age. But we could at last find the location where he was standing.
One noticeable thing which I have to mention here is the discipline which the Ghana Police
is trying to implement on the roads of Kumasi. Walking on the road by leaving footpaths
can attract fines here. We did not know that and as per our Indian habits started walking
on the road after seeing that footpaths were very crowded when a policeman caught our
attention and told us to walk on the footpath. We found that the rule was being strictly
followed. People are really disciplined in Kumasi than India for sure. Even in the evening
hours where people are rushing back to their homes, in the crowded tro tro station, people
were following queues to get into the trotros. India always tries to take the leadership of
the developing nations. There are certain things which India should also learn from the
nations which it is trying to lead. The discipline at the public places and roads, which even
our national capital Delhi lacks, can be found in the remotest interiors of Ghana.
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View of Kumasi city
Rain in the Lake Bosumtwi
Giant Lizard in Kumasi Zoo
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75
Workshop on Inclusion
28-30 September 2010
This blog post can be better understood by the people who are working in the
development sector. The terminology becomes more vague when one starts talking the
language of development sector. "What the hell this development and inclusion means?",
will ask a non development person. This is all about an interesting workshop which I
attended in the last week of September. It was more related to my job as a volunteer and
helped me to increase some of my personal knowledge as a development worker.
The workshop was held in a nice comfortable Miklin Hotel in the beautiful city of Kumasi. It
was meant for bringing awareness about the concepts of inclusion amongst the volunteers
and their employer organizations. VSO works through volunteers with various government
and non government organizations in the sectors of secured livelihoods, education,
participation and governance. There are certain thematic areas which cut across all the
sectors such as HIV-AIDS and inclusion, so a volunteer working in any of the areas is
expected to work on these themes and integrate them in his (or her) work.
Now coming to the real meaning of the words, development in the context of development
field means the process of equitable growth of a society through fulfilment of human rights.
Inclusion means process of promotion of equal rights, access and opportunities for
everyone. The workshop revolved around those concepts. Various subjects related to
development and inclusion were covered through teaching methods such as group
discussions, role plays and picturisation. These subjects include, dimensions of inclusion,
barriers to inclusion, ways of achieving inclusion, inclusion audit and rights based
approaches to inclusion. In the process of development, many sections of the society get
excluded due to various reasons. There are discriminations based on gender, race,
religion, caste, disabilities etc. Some get left out because of economic poverty and
geographical reasons. Identifying these sections of the society and working towards their
inclusion in the process of development is the main job of any development worker.
There were many limitations to the workshop however because of the way VSO works.
Since VSO places the volunteers with the organizations and there is very little control over
the individual work plans of the volunteers and the organizational/ project work plans of the
employer organizations. There is no assurance about the incorporation or implementation
of the concepts learned in these workshops or training programs in the actual work of the
volunteers and the organizations.
For me particularly it was very useful because I am working at the strategic and planning
level where I have a scope to discuss those ideas and persuade people to incorporate
those ideas. It surely is a difficult task to integrate them in any of the on-going projects
without an organizational level initiative. I doubt about many people from the partner
organizations, who had attended the workshop, whether they would be able to really take
the concepts forwards with self motivation and by convincing their respective bosses in the
organizations.
Something about TnT now. Ghana is a hot spot for international NGOs and funding
agencies, as it is located in the ecologically vulnerable sub Saharan Western Africa. It also
has advantage of having the most stable democracy and active government in the whole
of West Africa. This flood of help from international agencies mean that people from local
NGOs and government keep on attending workshops every now and then. The people
who are arranging those workshops want them to be successful in terms of their
attendance and they give every participant with some allowance which usually covers
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more than what they spend on food, transportation and accommodation. This system is
called TnT- Time and Travel and even if some people not spend a single pesewa while
attending those workshops, will expect something to be paid in return for the attendance.
Many people sit in those workshops boringly waiting for the last day for their TnT to be
paid. I heard an interesting story about workshop where people were sitting there for two
consecutive days without taking any notes during the sessions and on the final day when
one of the facilitator started giving references from the bible, everybody started to note
them down.
VSO was not exception this time as it had to follow the culture of TnT though it could not
promote it. Otherwise I think there would be problems with the organizations where
volunteers are working as they might not receive very good co-operation from their
colleagues with no TnT paid to them. As VSO also needs their partner organizations to
participate in their workshops and receive good co-operation from them in the future, it
can't just stop giving out TnT. I think VSO did not want to give TnT to the people but still
could not let them go without TnT as well. A solution to this problem was worked out by
paying them an amount equivalent to the spending on the dinner in the classy Miklin Hotel
instead of giving them dinner. This served people with the amount which could be saved
by eating some food on the street or some cheap eatery and could be considered as TnT.
I think this TnT system will stop only when some big donor agency or the government itself
says a firm no to it.
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Tamale
01-03 October 2010
I left Kumasi to reach Tamale. It was my VSO Indian friend Raj who had been after me for
visiting his place. I was planning to combine visiting Raj with some of the work which I was
planning to do there. I felt really good that I have been placed in Ghana where there are
many volunteers spread across many parts of the country and they are really welcoming to
each other. This holds true for all the nationalities. Especially the four Indians, me, Raj,
Rahul and Rose after touring in South Ghana together have become good friends.
The kind man Raj had come to receive me at Tamale bus station at the odd hour of 2:00
am. My morning was allotted for meeting an entrepreneur who specializes in processing of
Guinea fowl. My interview with him however was disappointing as I had found information
about him through internet. Raj traced his contact for me. I was really excited to meet him
and make important discussion about helping farmers of the Upper East Region where I
am working.
He was really very co-operative and knew lot of things about India. The man had earlier
worked in the United States and returned to his home country with dreams of establishing
big business. When I met him however he was talking about returning to the US to make
some more money by doing some job over there. He was complaining about tough
competition from the imported processed meat, lack of facilities provided by the
government etc. There was also certainly some factors which had contributed to his
failure, such as lack of proper assessment of market and mismanagement.
I found out that Tamale is a very traveller friendly city to get around. It is small compared
Accra and Kumasi. There is not much of tourist interest in and around Tamale thought it is
a major transportation hub for the Northern part of Ghana. The city is bustling. Majority of
the population in the city is Muslim. It is called as NGO capital of Ghana as most of the
international development agencies operating in Ghana have their offices here. NGOs are
there on almost every street and there is flood of signboards of them on the sides of the
roads.
The next two days were spent visiting the market, meeting some Indian shop owners and
Raj's friends, meeting newly came VSO volunteers and experiencing high speed internet
caf of Vodafone. The speed was really high and it was never experienced by me before
even in India. There is some direct satellite link at this Vodafone cyber caf. I found out
that I felt that I had many things to do and very less time available with me. In reality, I had
completed almost all of the planned tasks on the internet and seeing large number of new
to do task list in front of me. "Making life faster and more stressed, that was the job of high
speed internet," was my second thought.
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Bird Market at Zebilla
13 October 2010
As part of my work on development of local value chain of Guinea fowl, I have been able
to see not only various facets of rearing of this indigenous bird but also the rural life in the
northern part of Ghana. There are lots of similarities in rural life of India and this part of
Africa. This region has been primarily an agriculturist cum pastoralist type of society as it is
evident from the dominance of large variety of seasonal agricultural crops and small
ruminants in the livelihoods of these people.
Guinea fowl, an indigenous semi domesticated bird from this area fits well in their lifestyle
here. Though with the changing time there are challenges in this rearing of this bird as it is
nowadays more seen as a source of income. With the good co-operation of Bongo District
Guinea Fowl Farmers' Association and district office of Ministry of Food and Agriculture
(MoFA), I have been able to track down most of the links of the local value chain and
coming up with the strategies to promote this sector in the district. Now the challenge lies
in convincing the government officials about results of study and developing projects
around it, which may be a very tough task.
When I was explaining Mr. Henry, the livestock officer at MoFA, my completed study, he
suggested me that we should visit bird market at Zebilla which is a small town
approximately 50 km away from Bongo as the area has got a different breed of Guinea
fowls that grows very large in size within shorter period and there we could also see if we
would be able to source guinea keets for distribution to the farmers. (young chicks of
Guinea fowl.)
We reached there by 9:30 am to find that we were late. There was large crowd of people
holding various types of birds in their hands, guinea fowls, chicken, ducks, turkeys,
pigeons and trying to find the customers. Some people were traders who were buying the
birds in large numbers. Birds were being brought in various numbers and in various ways.
If the number of birds was very less in 4-5, the people were carrying them with their hands
or on bicycles. Some were being carried in Kusogs of various sizes. Kusogs are cages
made from local straw. Kusogs were being loaded on bicycles, motorcycles, on the top of
the buses and trotros or were carried on the heads. Majority of the sellers were small
holders who had brought only a few number of birds (ranging from 1-10 numbers).
There was no weighing of birds with the scale, poor birds with their tied legs were moved
from the hands of seller to the buyer and then given jerk to get a feel of their weight and
then there were negotiations over the price of the birds. Most of the people who were
buying the birds saw the symptoms for the diseases, age and weight. The size of the birds
were really larger than those in Bongo. One interesting thing was that people were giving
higher price to the birds having higher age and lesser weight because the birds lose their
fat as their age increases and people in this area prefer tougher and less fattier meat.
There was one buyer who was buying 4 months old birds in order to keep them for 2.5
months and fatten them for the Christmas when the price of the birds would be very high.
By the time we reached there major sale was over and most of the low quality type of birds
had remained. There was strong smell of Pito (local alcoholic brew) in the air which was
coming from a thatched hut in the middle of the market ground. It was full with people, men
as well as women. Most of them were sellers who after getting some money were going in
for a small booze, the most common way of celebration of income.
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Zebilla Bird Market scene- disabled not excluded
Negotiations over a Guinea Fowl
Kusogs full of birds on top of the tro
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80
The Changes within Three and Half Months
14-22 October 2010
There are always periods of high and low in almost every aspect of life. This is true for
one's mood, health, work and so many other things. One of my friend was complaining two
months back about feeling low. I had not properly understood at that time what she was
telling about.
In the last week however I could realize that I was also feeling low. They were not very big
problems but they were not allowing me to feel very healthy and energetic. I had a strong
feeling of inertia. There was this pain in the muscle of one of the arm which was recurring
and made me stop my daily exercise routine. It was followed by cold which continued for
one week and then low fevers which caught me for three consecutive days. There was a
feeling of loneliness and feeling of having nobody around who could understand me
whenever I wanted to express something. Sometimes there were thoughts which flashed
in the mind and questioned me whether my decision about coming to this part of the world
and spending an year in my life was right.
Such period of feeling low is what makes one really introspective. I realized that I had been
very much extrospective right from the moment I set my foot inside Mumbai International
Airport. I was taking on the experiences with different kinds of feelings. It was eagerness,
enthusiasm, enjoyment, learning, movement and also impatience, fear and hatred, which
were driving me to go ahead. I had little time and interest to do real introspection about the
things happening to me and my surroundings. These very moments of inertia made me lie
down on bed doing nothing sometimes, not even sleeping. It was like having a relook at
the personal accounts, what have I gained and what have I lost.
I laughed at myself because first thing which came to my mind that I had lost 6.5 kg of
weight within three and half months. That was not my objective of coming here as I was
not overweight while in India. But nonetheless I feel that I am more healthy and energetic
than I was at home. I had an interesting discussion with my friend Jason once. Till that
moment I had spent almost a month in Bongo and he was asking me whether I felt weak
or whether I had lost weight. I had not believed him at that time but now I realize that his
question was relevant. He was telling about his observation that most of the men after
coming here lose weight and most of the women remain unchanged. It has proved true in
my case. All of my trousers are now fitting loosely and I have to fasten my belt tight these
days.
My next question to myself was, "have I became really strong and adventurous enough to
tackle the unknown situations in this part of the world which is still little known to me?'.
Then came the answer from inside, "This is the process of learning. The first step of taking
the decision to travel outside the country was new for me. My situation can't be compared
with other volunteers with the same or lesser age as mine and having already travelled in
many parts of the world. I don't have any strong support from the government back in my
home country. They made me suffer even while issuing basic document like passport.
There is no social security system except the informal bonds in the family and circle of
friends. Is not that a big enough challenge which I have taken?" "Yes, I have changed and
more adventurous than I was in India. I am seriously thinking of visiting a French speaking
neighbouring countries like Togo and Benin while I don't know French at all." answered I.
Almost everywhere people around me are really friendly and they also expect me to be
always smiling and to greet them as and when I see them. I do not do that regularly but I
do it more often than I was doing it in India. I was not at all serious about keeping my face
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smiling and greeting people back at home. Only the people whom I knew well could get
that privilege from me. Nowadays sometimes anybody on the street can get that smile and
greeting from me. I think that is the very big change though I have not been able to do that
in my own town of placement, Bongo. This is because of bad experiences of people I have
been getting here. I have come across people seeing hungrily at the pack of food I am
carrying, children and old women asking for money, insane people on the street, drunken
people wandering on the road behind my house. I know that I am really living in an area
which is distressed by its economic poverty but I can't keep that smile on my face while
looking at such people almost every day.
I have discovered that I had a real interest in cooking and tasting food. I did not seriously
think about it before, as living in a typically traditional Indian family where women are
supposed to cook and do all the household chores and men are just supposed to sit and
eat. Fortunately my mother was strict enough to make us take part in all the household
work so that we won't face any problem anywhere. I was just ignorant about it as being
traditional Indian women my wife and my mother have always done those jobs for me.
Now reading through the recipe book which I have brought with me, experimenting with
various recipes has become my favourite pastime. I could make a dinner for six people
once. People who have tasted food cooked by me say that I am a good cook. Yes that's a
big change. I am sure I am going to carry this hobby of mine back in India and it is going to
permanently remain with me.
I truly miss my family back. I have been missing them since coming here but the feeling
was never very strong. Now I realize that for my remaining period of placement in Ghana, I
would have missed my very good moments with them. My son has started talking a lot but
I can't talk with him for long because I am always on the expensive long distance
international call and he is not the only one to talk to when I call home. I have lost those
moments and have been very unhappy about it.
Liquor was one of the things from which I had always kept some distance. I had tasted
only red wine once before coming here. I have now tasted some alcohol and can say for
sure that self control is the best solution to not to become alcoholic. I have seem some
people, who are not alcoholic but are in the habit of taking it once in a while, expressing
the need to get a small booze because they are feeling unhappy. Getting a first hand
experience in how alcohol works has now strengthened the premise of self control in me.
That is a big change.
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Spooky Knocks
23-25 October 2010
I am going to write about some spooky experiences which I have been getting since
coming to Bongo. I might have got very scared of them but I did not and therefore did not
see anything worthwhile in them until they stopped for sometime.
The house which has been given to me is one of the District Assembly staff quarters. The
house has three rooms, all of which open into a very large outer space closed by a wall
and an iron gate. One of the larger room is to be used as a living room and has another
door which opens at the backside of the house directly on the main road. There is a small
room, toilet, a sink and a passage connecting to all these. The design of these houses was
not understood by me until recently when it was explained to me by Gilbert Akologo, my
program officer at VSO. It has been designed on the basis of a traditional African house
compound. The outer space in other houses is extensively used by the people. They sit on
the wooden benches. There is always a big earthen pot kept in the shade to store water.
Most of the cooking and eating of the meals is also done outside. So one can always see
or smell what is being cooked in the neighbours houses. The rooms are generally used for
sleeping and as living rooms where they keep their sofa sets, TVs, cupboards and safes.
In my case however the house has been arranged differently as all the volunteers coming
to the house will not use the house as it is meant to be but in the typical way as it is used
in big cities. The living room has been used as a bedroom and other small room which is
to be used as bedroom has been converted into a kitchen. The small room which is
supposed to be used as store room for kitchen is completely disused and it has been filled
with spiders and cobwebs. There was no point in cleaning that room because I was not
going to use that room anyway so I have just closed the room. One of the room was earlier
being used by a Kenyan volunteer who became sick after spending two months in the
placement and went back to his home country. I could not find the keys to his room for
almost three months. My bedroom which is actually supposed to be a living room has a
door which opens outside. I have never opened this door and used that door. It seems that
the door has not been opened since the volunteers started to live in this house.
When I started live in the house, I started to feel that it is too large for one single person to
live and there were two rooms which were closed. Unlike common Ghanaians one of my
neighbours never seemed to smile and always looked at me with a blank look and my
immediate neighbours were away for sometime. The whole atmosphere always gave a
haunted feel.
On one of the Sundays in the first month when I knew nobody and did not know what to
do, I had immersed myself into reading a boring book. Most of the area seemed to be
exceptionally silent and no sound was heard. It might because it was afternoon time and
with the scorching sun everybody had taking their noon naps like me. I had fallen asleep
sometime during the day while reading and suddenly woke up when I heard some knocks
on the door. I did not expect anybody at that time. I opened the door but there was nobody
over there. I was confused and started to think that I might have got some dream in which I
could have heard those knocks. The knocks were heard again but this time I was awake
completely and they were on the back door. I asked loudly, "who is that?". I heard nothing
but then there were some knocks again. I opened the window panes to see who was there
on that side of the house. I saw nobody but there was smell of dung of goat. I saw down
and found that there was one goat sitting there near the door as it gave him the shade
from the burning sun and occasionally banging its horns on the door. I felt relieved.
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In the next week, my immediate neighbours returned. On the Saturday late in the morning,
I was typing a blog post while again I heard the knock on the back door. Thinking that it
must be that goat again, I did not pay any attention to it. But the sound of the knock was
different this time. It was as if made deliberately and lightly. I opened the window pane
again to see if there is somebody I saw some movement but could not see who it was. I
thought that it might have been some lizard. But then next time again when I checked after
hearing knock, I saw small child trying to hide from my sight by bending down and sitting
close to the door. It was my neighbours son. I told him to come at the front door. He came.
I gave him a biscuit and told him not to do it again. Next weekend he was again there,
playing the same knocking game. This time I had to scold him and tell him that if he does
that again, he should forget about the biscuit forever. Then he stopped doing that after
wards.
It was once in the night, while I was trying to sleep, I heard some knocks. But this time it
was not on any door and but it was on the roof. I was really scared this time as the sounds
were really mysterious. Some times it was like a big knock and some times it was as if
some stone was rolling away on the roof top. I could not sleep properly.
Early in the morning when I heard the knocks again, but on the front door, I suddenly woke
up after hearing them. It was Malik, who washed my clothes, had came to give the washed
clothes back. He asked me why was I late to wake up that day. I had not been able to
sleep properly due to those sound. I asked him about them, he kept on looking at me
blankly. "I am not able to know the answer. Only he knows the answer." He was pointing
his hand towards sky. "You should do some prayers. Do you do that?", he added. I did not
prolong the discussion. Then I asked my neighbour about those sounds. She laughed loud
and said these are mice. They are many these days as they have started harvesting early
millet.
It seemed that these knocks were not leaving me at all. It was again in the night while I
was preparing to sleep, I heard them again on the back door. I opened window to check it
and there I could get a strong smell of alcohol spread in the air. I asked loudly, "Who is
that?", then came the answer in a husky voice. "I am looking for my brother. He is here." It
was a woman. I told her, "go to your house and ask somebody to find him for you. He does
not live here. Go home." Then she got up and started walking away.
The knocks were there again after some days. This time it was very late in the night. I
checked in the mobile phone. It was 12:00 in the midnight. I switched on the light and
checked through the windows again. It was the same woman. I told her strongly, "Madam,
please go from here. I have told you that your brother does not live here. If you want I shall
take you to Frank in the morning (Frank is a policeman who lives in a house nearby) and
he will help you to find your brother."
Since I suggested her to go to the police, the drunken woman seems to have stopped
knocking the back door in the night. Since my neighbours have moved away to a distant
place, there is no question of their son coming to the house. I have got used to the goat
sitting at the back door and the mice moving on the roof. The knocks are not spooky these
days.
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Exploring Food (and Drink) III
26 October 2010
Tuo Zafi: In short called as TZ, is a ball of cooked millet flour. The millet can be Sorghum
or Nara (similar to Pearl Millet). It is eaten with soups made from vegetables, meat or fish.
It is the staple in the diet of northern Ghanaians.
Susubara: They call it as Tiga Nuts in Ghanaian English and Atchatwi in the southern part.
These are small berry sized tubers having nutty taste similar to coconuts. These are said
to be growing on some aquatic plant. I like them a lot and buy them frequently. Once some
of the friends told me that I should not eat them much because I am living away from my
wife (my woman, in the local language) and the nuts have aphrodisiac properties. I
should say frankly that I have not experienced its said properties however.
Fruits: Bananas, oranges, pine apples, guavas and custard apple (latter two are rarely
seen here but I once found them and bought them as well in Bongo) are also found in
India but I have to mention specially here that the fruits found here in Ghana are more
tasty. This is most probably due to less or no use of chemical fertilizers.
Smoked/ Roasted meat: It is commonly found all over Ghana on streets. There are street
vendors selling pieces of meat which are roasted or smoked on the charcoal fire. The meat
is generally of sheep, goat and pig. I have tasted sheep meat and it had good taste and
smoky flavour. One needs to be careful and should only eat where they are roasting it
properly. It is always better to consult some knowledgeable locals first before buying it.
Soya Kebab: Although named Kebabs, these are vegetarian. These consist of fried pieces
of soybean curd and pieces of onion, both placed on a stick and then smeared with spicy
Pepe sauce which consists of ground chillies, tomatoes and some other ingredients.
Boiled Sweet Potatoes: These are seasonal and sold by some vendors in Bongo and
Bolgatanga. The sweet potatoes here have far better taste than the ones found in India.
Some sweet potatoes have white skin and also have a white flesh. Some have brown skin
and a very attractive golden coloured flesh.
Fried sweet potato chips: These have good taste but not commonly sold. It was sold by the
eatery opposite to my office when it suddenly ran out of yams and everybody had started
demanding for the yam chips. The taste was better than yam chips but might not be a
common item liked by the locals after all.
Pito: It is a local brew made from millets mostly Sorghum. It is first sprouted and then
boiled to prepare a mash which is known as malt. A liquid is extracted from the mash
which is then fermented by adding yeast. Pito bars are almost everywhere and can be
easily found around the corner. Every evening and also during the day on the market days,
they get flooded with the people, men and women both. A small booze every evening is
the norm here. Not different from the rest of the world. No, I have not tasted fermented
drink yet. But on special demand unfermented Pito is also available and is really a very
tasty and healthy drink, which I could taste once.
Palm Wine: It almost equals to toddy in India. Only difference is the palm from which it is
extracted is a wild type. I found that the taste and smell to be both stronger than toddy
found in India.
Chewing Sticks: These are sticks cut from branches of a tree. It is slightly bitter in taste.
These are commonly chewed by the people everywhere.
Frafra Potatoes: These are commonly grown in the Upper East Region of Ghana. These
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are small black coloured tubers with yellowish flesh. A vendor in Bongo sales boiled Frafra
potatoes seasoned with Yazi (groundnut powder, red chilli powder and salt mixture) and
dressed in Shea oil. The taste is very similar to potatoes and commonly sold in the market
raw or cooked. They are available in the market after their harvest in the month of October.
Bambara beans: These beans have a reddish colour when they are not mature and hard.
There is only one big seed in a pod. They are boiled along with their pods and sold in the
market. It looks like Ber from outside so I was mistaken by its appearance and ate the
outer pod which was slightly sour and bitter in taste. Afterwards I came to know that it is
the seed which needs to be eaten. The seed tastes like Peas.
Ground nuts: Ground nut is a major crop in the Upper East Region. The ground nut pods
and de-husked ground nuts are sold commonly on the street. They are also available
salted and dry roasted form on the streets and shops. There is another popular packaged
snack with the brand name "snappy" available in the market. These are coated with some
flour mixture and fried. The "snappy" is not very spicy but slightly sweet and salty in taste.
It is not very oily either unlike its counterpart in India. One most commonly found
processed product from Ground nut is Ground nut paste. Its process includes roasting the
ground nuts, removing the skin, soaking the nuts and grinding them into a paste. This
paste is used for making ground nut soup. It is also used for many other preparations in
the Ghanaian cuisine. I use it however as a bread spread and sometimes add it to the
vegetables. It is very healthy and tasty.
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Tour Planning
27-31 October 2010
Volunteering in Ghana has provided me with lot of opportunities and opportunity to explore
a new country and its people is one of them. After our successful tour in the southern part
of Ghana, our group of Indian volunteers decided to tour the northern part of the country.
As I have been working in this part, I had taken for granted that I shall be visiting many
places in this part any time but that any time did not come till the time our friend Rahul
declared his wish to celebrate Diwali together and his plan to visit the North in the first
week of November.
At most of the places of tourist interests, Solemiyas (foreigners) like us have to pay higher
entry fees, so for me it was once for all tour, as I would not be going to these places again
after visiting once, though they are very near and easily accessible to me. It is also easier
to move in group as one can hire taxis as per convenience and the fares can be divided
amongst the group. Like the last tour, with my interest in knowing more about the places
and selecting the places to see, I was a self proclaimed tour planner for the group. I
planned the itinerary and calculated the budget in advance.
For doing this I took help of the guidebooks like Bradt Guide for Ghana, Lonely Planet
West Africa and some of the blogs written by the travellers and international volunteers. It
was interesting to know about the perceptions of the people about the places they had
visited. All of these resources proved excellent in terms of knowing the things in advance
and planning the tour in detail but however I have to mention that views expressed in the
guide books and actual experiences differed a lot for me as the authors of these resources
come from the developed countries with Western culture whereas I and my friends who
were travelling with me come from developing country like India which has a different
culture. The western tourists especially back packers for whom these guidebooks are
aimed at, take a very relaxed approach to touring around. This requires some good
amount of cash as one stays at many places and requires more number of days and
spends a lot on hotels and food. Having volunteered in Ghana, knowing the culture of the
country and absorbing the atmosphere was not on our tour agenda at all. We like to do
that on the go. As being not very crazy about drinks and having very less amounts of cash,
spending on hotels and chilling out was also out of question. Most of the tours which we
have been doing is centred on seeing places on fast track. The guidebooks for sure have
helped for it with the necessary information but approach we had taken for the touring was
was not the one suggested in the guidebooks. They are guides and not the prescriptions,
though they sound like ones when one is reading them.
For us VSO volunteers, one major advantages is that there is widespread network of
volunteers spread almost across this country. Most of the volunteers are welcoming and
allow other volunteers visiting their respective towns to stay at their houses. After finalizing
the itinerary, it was the task of asking people whether one could stay at their houses for
one or two nights. I got all the positive answers and the problem was solved.
Then came the task of sharing the itinerary with the group. It was passed without any
comments by just having faith in me. Plain faith with no thinking is something which I do
not like at all but then I thought that the plan is also serving me and if something goes
wrong then along with me all the others will also be responsible as they have lost chance
to seriously think about the plan itself. It will also test the flexibility and the ability to face
unknown challenges.
The plan for the tour included Mole National Park, Larabanga village, Bolgatanga town,
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Paga and Tongo Hills. It was to cover these places in the period of one week. It took
considerable amount of time to go through the guidebooks and select the places and
itinerary though they were very near to the place where I am based. After spending about
one hours per day for the one and half week, the plan was finalized and passed. We were
all set to start the journey.
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Mole and Around: Part I
01 November 2010
Our first destination, as per our northern Ghana tour plan, was Mole National Park. It was
our group of four this time, Rahul, Raj, Ketan and me. As per the latest information which I
had received, the government run public bus service Metro Mass going to Mole National
Park was suspended due to bad condition of the road. But somebody told us that the bus
service might have been resumed as the rainy season was over. The information available
was vague and the guidebook which we were referring was printed in 2008.
On the earlier day, we went to the Metro Mass Bus Station to get the information in the
evening. There was nobody at the counter and most of the buses seemed to have already
gone. We asked a person in uniform about the bus service, he told us to come next day by
5:00 am to get the ticket with the seat number. I reached there next day before 5:00 am
and the man at the counter who seemed to be very rude (very un-Ghanaian but very
bureaucratic) told me to wait till 6:00 am till they start selling the tickets for the bus. I went
at the counter by 6:00 am, the same man barked that the tickets will be sold at the counter
somewhere at the backside of the office. I went there to find a lady in the uniform who was
speaking with a white man. He was also asking for the information like me. I joined him
and started my queries as well. She told us that sale of tickets will be started after 11:30,
as they are never sure whether the bus will leave for Mole on that day. Theoretically bus
should leave Tamale by 1:30 pm. Rob, the white man whom I met there, had came there in
a taxi, and gave me a lift up to Raj's house and during that time we exchanged our
numbers to keep each other updated about the availability of the tickets.
We decided to go to the bus station very early by 10:00 am as we were not sure about the
information which the lady had given us and for sure we did not want to miss our bus.
When we were preparing to start for the bus station, Rob called me that he was also
starting for the bus station, feeling insecure about the tickets like the way we were. We
decided that whoever reaches the bus station early would book the tickets for both the
groups. By the time we reached bus station, Rob had already booked the tickets. I always
recall the famous two phrases which are repeatedly used in Ghana, who knows
tomorrow? and God willing, it will be,. So true when one is in Ghana.
After getting the tickets, it was now the job of sitting in the dusty bus station and waiting for
the bus. It was 11:30 and the scheduled departure was at 13:30. We had a nice time
exchanging experiences of travel with Rob and his partner. They were from UK and very
friendly. As the time for departure of the bus came close we became uneasy as there was
no sign of the bus. We kept ourselves busy by eating fruits, drinking water and eating
omelet thereby keeping ourselves not hungry. Then came near us one girl selling chewing
sticks, I had never chewed them before. There was enough time for doing that experiment,
it seemed. I bought some chewing sticks and started chewing them like the locals. When I
started to move around in the bus station with a chewing stick in mouth it must have been
quite an interesting scene for the locals seeing a foreigner with a chewing stick in his
mouth and every body was staring at me.
They announced one bus which we thought was going to Mole and we rushed there, but it
turned out that the bus was going to Bole. At about 2:30 pm the bus was announced. The
bus was fully booked by that time and everybody was rushing in to enter into the bus. It
was very exceptional, as in Ghana I had always seen people queuing up to enter into the
bus. The bus left Tamale by 15:15 though it was ready to leave by 15:00 because one
passenger was caught without a valid ticket and there were some arguments. Some of the
passengers were standing including some women who were carrying little children on their
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backs. I was really worried about them as I had heard that road was not good.
After travelling for about an hour on the smooth highway, the bus took a turn and took a
dirt road. It was quite a big bumpy journey but it made us more excited about the great
experience which we were expecting. The population on this route was sparse and
throughout the journey, on both the sides there was good vegetation. At about 18:00, we
reached Damongo, a bigger town and a district place. It stopped for sometime and majority
of the passengers got down here. Some more passengers got in here and one man was
drunk. He put quite a good show for us. After about half an hour we reached Larabanga,
the famous village with the claim of oldest mosque in Ghana. Here again bus stopped for a
while. There were three foreigner groups in the bus. One was a German family, other was
Rob and his partner and remaining were us. All of these groups were approached by some
youths who entered into the bus and started to lure the customers for their services as
guides for the visit to village and offering the accommodation. Fortunately we had already
booked the room at the Mole Motel and were sure about the accommodation and were not
sure about the visit to the village.
As we came near the entrance of the park, we were asked to pay big sum of 10.00 GHc
(nearly 330 Rs.) per person as the entry fees, with no concessions for volunteers. Our
guidebook was mentioning it to be only 5.00 GHc. The guy did not have any receipt book
with him, as we complained about it, he assured us that it could be given on the next day
and nobody will ask for the receipt once we enter. The whole claim of his seemed genuine
and we paid without any further argument.
When the bus came near parking lot near Mole Motel, it was all dark with the only lights
visible at the distance were from the buildings . In the head light of the bus we had our first
glimpse of the wildlife in the national park. There were some warthogs (wild boars) and
kobs (a type of deer) grazing on the grass near the building of the information centre
With this initial exciting glimpse of the park, we checked in the rooms of the Mole Motel
with the help of friendly staff at the reception and happily ate the only thing available by the
time we reached there, a tasteless and costly vegetable spaghetti topped with the insects
fallen from the nearby light bulb.
Chewing Stick Ghanaian Way
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Mole and Around Part II
02 November 2010
It was not a good start of the day. But my start of the first day in Mole National Park, about
which we all were so excited, started with diarrhoea I lost hope of venturing into the park,
as I started to think, that I shall have to see a doctor, if available nearby and take rest for
the entire day and may be the next day. Fortunately a call to Mani, our VSO friend in Accra
who is knowledgeable about medicines, and availability of those required medicines with
Raj saved me and I got well within a few hours.
We took the available complementary breakfast and spent some time at the observation
deck. Mole Motel is located on top of a hillock which provides an overlook of vast expanse
of forest. There is a big water storage pond near the motel. In the dry season, many
animals crowd near this pond since it is one of the major water storage which retains water
in the summer season. Since rainy season was just receding, there was abundance of
water in the park and it seemed animals did not need to come to the pond near the motel.
Still we could see some herds of warthogs and deer near the pond. Near the pond there is
a riverine wetland and plenty of birds could be seen there in the early morning. There were
many colonies of egrets but most of the other birds were difficult to identify as they were
far away and we did not have binoculars. When I was sitting at the observation deck, a
baboon came very near to me. It had came to scavenge the garbage can nearby. It was
my first experience to get near to a primate of such big size. They are not very friendly at
all and quite scary.
Mole Motel
View from Observation Deck
We then visited a small museum in the information centre The museum displays a
collection of the specimens found in the park and those seized from the poachers. There
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were skins of elephants, crocodiles, snakes, python, leopards and lion. There was also an
unborn baby elephant preserved in formalin. It was obtained from a dead pregnant female
which was shot down by the poachers. Amongst other specimens there were horns,
bones, skins and tales of some animals. There were some equipment used by the
poachers, such as traps and guns. Fetish and witchcrafts are very strong in most of Africa
and there is always a high demand for such items. Due to these, poaching of wild life is a
major threat to the wild life parks in Ghana.
There was one interesting specimen of Puffer Fish in the museum. It was found in a river
in the national park. When in danger the fish takes in lot of water and makes itself very
hard. The fish has some glands which makes it deadly poisonous. In the traditional fetish
cures for some bad lucks, meat of puffer fish is eaten along with some plant extract which
neutralises poison in it and believed to make man very strong, making him survive through
the worst periods in his life. The guide also reported that there have been many sightings
of lion and one dead lion has been captured from the poachers in the village of Larabanga.
Lions are very rare and are not found in those parts of the park where tourists generally
visit.
Preserved specimen of an unborn baby elephant
Our guide, Osman, was very enthusiastic and had a lot of knowledge about the animal life
in the jungle. Since I was feeling well, having survived through the travellers' diarrhoea, I
decided to go for the guided walk safari in the evening. We were lucky to get in Osman's
group. We were group of 7 people. There was a French family of five and two of us from
our group, me and Rahul. During the guided walk we could see Kobs, Bush Bucks (both
are types of deer), Hornbills (a large bird), green monkeys and warthogs. There were
marks of the feet of elephant which indicated that they had just recently passed from the
path but certainly we had missed them. We saw a natural salt lick. It was a natural deposit
of salts found underground. The animals had dug around the deposit to lick the salt found
there. In India, most of the monkeys are believed to be very mischievous and not fearful of
humans, but we came across for the first time a species of monkeys which is fearful of
humans. Green monkeys look like red faced monkeys found in India and are of the same
size. Their face is black but colour of their scrotum is green, hence the name.
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Kob (A type of deer)
Natural Salt Lick dug by the animals
Osman was keeping in touch with other guides of other groups over his mobile phone
about sightings of the elephants. The German family, which had travelled with us on the
bus, had taken a car safari and had sighted a group of elephants. But it was far away.
Osman, was suggesting us to take the vehicle which French family had brought with them
to go there but they declined and it was very expensive for two of us to hire the car and go
to see the elephants. Osman was impressed by my questions on plants. Since there are
many similarities in the plants found in India and this part of Ghana. He showed us many
plants as a result of this. I found that there is a quite a big range of Terminalia spp. (genus
of plants consisting of Haritaki, False Almonds, Bellerica, Ain etc.) in Ghana as well. Sadly
he did not know much about their usage. It will be interesting some time to tour around
with the local people for knowing more about the plants in Ghana.
In the evening when I was returning to our room, I saw many warthogs and kobs grazing
on the grass near the room. Being shy Kobs ran away quickly as I approached them, but
warthogs continued as if nothing had happened.
Warthogs grazing near the Mole Hotel
I have always been intrigued by the extremes which I have been seeing in the people
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coming from the West. Volunteering here has provided me with an opportunity to mix with
them a lot and getting to know the way westerners behave and think. I am giving here
some of my experiences about some European people whom I met during the visit to Mole
and some comparison with the Indian culture.
Rob, the guy who travelled with us in the bus to Mole and helped us secure the ticket, was
very friendly. I always had the impression that British people are very reserved and do not
get close very easily. This was based on some of the previous experiences but it proved
wrong. He was travelling with a partner, a woman. I was under impression that she must
have been his girlfriend but it turned out that she was his just friend. He in fact they offered
us to share their room with one of us as there were three beds and they would be using
only two of the beds. It was an eye opener, as in India it is difficult to imagine a girl
travelling alone with a boy who is just a friend and also sharing a room with him as well.
In the French family who was with us during the walking safari had two boys who must
have been around 15 years of age and were in the high school. While we were walking,
they started smoking. Smoking at this age is certainly not common in India and that too not
in front of their parents. Boys and their parents as well did not seem to mind it. The family
was friendly but did not seem much interested in actually knowing about the wild life as
nobody asked any question and kept on chatting amongst themselves while following the
tour. They had hired a tro tro (small minibus) which they were using to go to various
places. It seemed an adventurous affair as only the man and one of the boys could speak
English and they had plans to travel like that in three countries of West Africa, Togo,
Ghana and Burkina Faso. We don't see such adventurous tourist families in India.
The German family whom we met during the bus travel from Tamale to Mole was very
interesting. I tried to speak some German with the old man but then gave up after some
time as I could not continue with it. The old couple was visiting their son who was doing
some kind of internship in Ghana. They were there with their son and his Ghanaian friend.
The old man always asked us whether we had seen his son Johannes whenever he went
out of their sight. Johannes seemed to like to roam around with his friend, a typical
behaviour of youth. He seemed to be very caring and obedient towards his parents
however. He was like his father it seemed. The old man told me to close the window while
in the bus so that the small baby and her mother sitting in the seat front of me would not
have to face wind coming from outside. When he heard that we had planned to go to
Larabanga, he warned us as the guidebook suggested that there is a lot of cheating and
one can completely avoid that place. It was like a fatherly advice. He told me a story of
interaction with an Indian he had had forty years ago when he was in his late twenties. He
was telling me that the Indian ate his rice by pouring a yellow substance on it (it must have
been Dal). Whenever they called Johannes, it showed their pride and love for their son.
The whole affair was very similar to a typical Indian family.
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Mole and Around Part III
03 November 2010
I was very much impressed by the location of the Mole Motel and access to free wild life it
offers. It also has a swimming pool. But the cost is something which is prohibitive for the
volunteer allowances we are getting. We had to leave this beautiful place on the second
day. As I had missed the morning walking safari on the previous day, I decided to do it
before leaving. I was not very keen on seeing Larabanga Mosque because of the bad
reviews and experiences which I read in the guidebook and heard from the people around
but our group members wanted to see it so we decided to give it a go.
In the morning walk safari, our group included a group of 4 Dutch women, a Japanese girl,
a Belgian girl and me. We were very lucky to see kobs and bush bucks from very near. We
saw so many of them that we got bored of seeing them after some time. On the way back
we could see a big colony of baboons. Babies of baboons, unlike other monkey babies,
instead of holding their mother's bellies from downside, sit on their back. It was very funny
to watch them. Near the staff quarters, we came across a big pile of rubbish and we saw
many warthogs happily scavenging there. Warthogs are from the family of pigs so I think it
was natural for them to be there but I lost interest in that creature after seeing the scene.
In the morning as well we could see the browsing done by the elephants and heaps of
their dungs but there was no sighting of them anywhere. We were told that it was their
season of mating and they do not like to remain near human beings during that time. Like
us they also like to maintain their privacy it seems. For the first time after coming to
Ghana, I got the bites of Tse Tse flies and Oncho flies. Tse Tse flies are infamous for their
ability to spread sleeping sickness and Oncho flies are infamous for spreading
Onchocerciasis. Apart from the small swellings, nothing serious happened after the bites.
We were told that one needs to bitten by a large number of flies and that too repetitively for
some consecutive days, to get the disease.
Colony of Baboons
The walk became boring after some time and I chatted with the Japanese girl for
sometime. She was doing her field research in Tamale and was studying in a University in
the Netherlands. She had lived in Delhi for two- three months as part of some exchange
programme and had liked the Indian food. I asked whether she knew about Masanobu
Fukuoka, and to my disappointment she had never heard his name. Fukuoka is Japanese
farmer and considered as the pioneer in the development of concepts of natural farming.
The name is very popular in the organic and natural farming movement in India.
Osman gave us information about the bus that leaves Damongo for Tamale at 14:00
hours, so we decided to go there by stopping for a while at Larabanga. We chartered a
vehicle and went to Larabanga. While in the hotel we were approached by a guide from
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Larabanga and he told us about the history of the village and community based tourism
project which they were having. I personally felt and also realised later that the whole thing
is based on not providing proper information and just cashing in on the tourists coming to
the Mole Park.
One guide just joined us in the vehicle without taking any formal permission and started to
claim that he was a volunteer in the village tourism committee. They help to build the
village infrastructure and schools in the village which they are getting through tourist fees.
They charged us a viewing fee for the mosque. Being non Muslim, we were not allowed to
enter the mosque but saw it from the outside. Had we been Muslims, he was ready to
have some discussions on religion and allow us the entry into the mosque. He was telling
us that the mosque was built by people who came from Medina but my reading on history
of the country had told me that Islam was introduced in Ghana by the Sudanese
missionaries. Wherever they went in the western part of the Sub Saharan Africa they
promoted building this Mud and Stick type of structures for the mosques, which is very
peculiar to them. Then they told us about the viewing fees of 4.00 GHc per person which
we told them that we were told that it is only 2.00 GHc for which they later agreed. All this
approach was so hypocritical that I had a feeling that it is nothing but just a tourist trap. I
have to say that we saw the mud and stick type of Mosque in Africa which I might not get
the chance to see during the rest of the period I would be in Ghana.
Mud and Stick Mosque at Larabanga
Later we went to Damongo and waited for the Metro Mass Bus for Tamale which was
supposed to come there by 13:00. While we were waiting, we sat near one shop for some
time. Unlike other parts of Ghana where we would have got a lot of attention from locals,
we got plain blank looks from the villagers. Was this due to predominantly Muslim
population in this town? Does Islam make people so serious and cautious about the
strangers? These were the questions which came to my mind. While waiting for the bus,
Ketan tried to take a picture of the women who were pounding some dough. There were 4
women who had a very good co-ordination amongst themselves. But as one of the woman
saw the camera directed towards them, the younger of the lot came near us and told him
that he should take permission before taking picture. I think they were right. The woman
did not stop after saying that however and checked Ketan's camera to see if the picture
was really taken. It was not there. Poor Ketan ended up taking a photograph of a dirty
duckling on the street.
We waited for the bus from 11:00 to 14:00 and eating oranges, munching groundnuts,
drinking water from the sachets, when one private bus started taking in passengers. While
on the road, Metro Mass Bus from Damongo passed in the direction of Damongo. Our bus
stopped at many places collecting and dropping passengers. The metro mass bus which
started from Damongo very late, overtook our bus when we were near Tamale. As it did
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not have many passengers on the way to take or drop, it came very fast.
After getting down at Tamale, we went to Mike's, a Lebanese restaurant and I fulfilled my
wish to eat Lebanese food in a Lebanese run restaurant. I ate delicious Babaganoosh with
Lebanese Bread. Babaganoosh is a lightly spiced mixture of chickpeas and egg plants
mashed and mixed together with a dressing of Olive Oil. Lebanese bread is just like
roasted Chapati except that it was very fluffy. It was the end of the first leg of our Northern
Ghana tour.
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Paga
04 November 2010
After seeing plenty of kobs, warthogs and baboons, it was the turn of the scaly crocodiles
to give a sighting to us. The town of Paga is famous all over Ghana for its crocodile ponds
and as an important exit point from Ghana. (Or entry point to Ghana, it depends on the
place from where you are looking at it.) It is a major tourist attraction in the Upper East
Region. I was really eager to see this place for a long time after coming here but
somehow, the occasion to visit this place did not come till our northern Ghana tour. This
small town lies on the northern boundary of Ghana with Burkina Faso.
Our first destination was Pikworo slave camp. Pikworo is the name of the place where
slave traders camped during their trail from Mali and Burkina to the ports in the southern
part of Ghana. This particular place was selected as a camping site because of a presence
of a perennial spring in the rocks. Apart from the spring, camp has some bowls carved in
the stone to be used by the slaves, an entertainment area for the slaves where a big rock
is used as a drum and some stones are stroked on it. It creates some sounds (which were
certainly not pleasant to our ears). There is also a high rock used for keeping watch on
slaves and the surrounding areas. There is also a punishment rock. The place was in use
from 1700s to 1845 till slave trade was officially stopped by the British.
Entertainment rock at the slave camp
Southern part of Burkina Faso and northern part of Ghana was the main part where slave
raiders captured people and sold them to the Arab lands in the North and European
traders based at the ports in the south. This area has poor agriculture and lacks other
natural resources. The area has always been poor. The people in this area could not fight
with the Kingdoms from the North like Mali Kingdom and southern Kingdoms of Asante
and Dagomba. There were people who were ready to buy live human beings in exchange
of salts, grains and gun powder, latter to catch more people as slaves. The visit to this
place gives an insight into the slave trade which was carried for many centuries and
created a larger picture of slave trade, which we had got after visiting Cape Coast Castle.
The picture these days is somewhat changed for these areas. The slavery no longer exists
but the people of the region are still very poor. Youths from this area migrate to the
southern cities and end up working on meagre or no payments at all. Some try to go to the
oil rich northern lands of Libya and Algeria and many of them end up being looted by the
people in the Sahara Desert or end up as bonded labour after reaching. Hunger which can
come in their lives any time compels them to take those risks.
After getting a feel of this slave trade, we moved on to the next place. It was a pond full of
crocodiles. They were not visible there anywhere when we reached there. There was a hut
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where some people were sitting. After paying the fees and paying for the chicken, we were
ready for the crocodile show. The people at the pond told us that there are almost 200
crocodiles in the pond. It was difficult to believe this fact as the pond seemed to be very
small and if it had so many crocodiles at once then certainly there would be a survival
crisis for them as it should have that much of aquatic life for them.
What these people do with the crocodiles and tourists is as follows. They take a live
chicken in hand and go near the pond. They make the chicken scream and hearing that
sound crocodiles come on the bank. They stand in front of the largest of the crocodiles and
drive other smaller bunch away by beating them with sticks. The crocodile which remains
keeps on looking at the lure of the chicken which is in the hand of the man and remains
steady. Till that time people can go behind that crocodile and hold its tale. Sometimes one
can also sit on their backs. After the photo sessions and touching activity, chicken is
thrown near the mouth of the crocodile which it catches and swallows in a flash. The game
gets over.
Holding the tale of Crocodile
It is really an exciting experience if you do not believe in cruelty towards animals. My
emotions were mixed when all this was happening. I was excited by seeing and getting so
close to the animal which we fear so much and at the some time there was a kind of
disgust because of the death cry of the chicken used for creating a live show for human
entertainment.
Then we moved on to the border. I had a fixed image of land borders in mind. Having seen
on television the land borders between India and Pakistan, I always thought that land
borders are tightly protected with presence of military forces. What we actually saw here
was something which gave us a feel of custom check post or simple toll gate. There were
offices of customs and the immigration services on the border and the road was closed by
putting a gate on the border and fence on the sides. Huge cargo trucks stopped at the gate
and then after getting clearance, passed further. There was a structures erected at the
gate but with its faded blue colour and dust accumulated on its wall, it gave an impression
of a toll gate somehow. (I got reminded of the dusty toll structures in Mumbai after seeing
this one). Across the gate there is a no man's land for about 800 m and then there is an
entry point for Burkina Faso. Since we had not brought our passports with us we did not try
to venture beyond this exit point. But local people were just crossing it as if it was a
general check post. For people, who were walking or going on motorbikes, there was no
check at all.
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Border Post at Paga
While walking on the streets, we were attracting attention of the people in the street, as we
all were wearing IVO (I Volunteer Overseas, the VSO-MITRA venture in India) T- shirts.
But I think the people in Paga are accustomed to foreigners so much that very few people
came forward to speak to us. Along with English, many people were also speaking in
French. On the street, there was a big group of Fulani herdsmen who were dressed in
beautiful bright clothes. They greeted us "Bon Jour" which means "good day" in French.
While we were taking photographs of the border gate, one man came towards us talking
loudly in French. As we did not understand anything, he went away laughing. Walking in
the scorching heat of the afternoon made us tired and we started our journey back.
Before ending this post some words on the business of cashing in on the tourists at Paga.
There are three tourist attraction in this town and all of them charge very high fees to the
foreigners. It is all in the name of keeping history and traditions alive. Slave camp did not
have any official rate card with them. They started to tell us that there is separate camera
fee after starting the tour and we need to pay some tip to the people who played on the
entertainment stone of the slaves when we reached that point. At the Crocodile Pond they
tried to sale us a chicken for 8.00 cedis which in the market could have been only 4.00
cedis. Fortunately our Indian skills of bargaining helped us to get through and instead of
paying a big sum, we could manage within a lesser sum, which was still very costly. The
people at the pond were complaining to us that larger crocodiles did not come out because
we did not give them enough money. I also have to mention here that these crocodiles are
considered as sacred by the local people but it is a thriving tourist business using this
sacred animals. As we personally do not believe in the sacredness of the crocodiles it was
okay for us to hold their tales and getting photographed.
The taxi driver whom we requested to take us for the detour to slave camp also tried to
gain some extra cash from us by taking us to crocodile pond without asking us. As the
place is not organized properly in the form a tourist circuit people are after fast cash. There
is not much of maintenance and structural improvement at the crocodile pond and 500 m
of road to the pond is still poor. They must be getting good sum of the money from the
tourists which is not going into the development of the place for sure. Due to these
reasons we dropped our plan to visit chief's palace as apart from the entrance fees and
they might have started asking for some donations.
Having said these words, I now end this post.
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100
Diwali at Bolgatanga
05 November 2010
Diwali in India means a lot. It is not just a festival of lights. It is the change of season from
receding rains in the October heat to the cool winters of November. It is the start of the
agricultural harvests and forthcoming prosperity. It is the gathering of family members. In
different regions of India there are different festivals which are considered as major
festivals. In Konkan it is Ganeshotsava, in Gujarat and West Bengal, it is Navratri and in
the southern parts, it is Pongal which take first place but what is common is Diwali has an
important place in the people's hearts all across India. "India is not just a country but it is a
sub continent", I remind people when they want to know more about India from me. There
is diversity in cultures, languages, food, clothes and there are lot of commonalities as well.
Diwali is one of them.
Our dear friend Rahul has always been wonderful when it comes to bringing Indian VSO
guys together. He always comes up with some ideas and infects us, of course in positive
way. He suggested to get together again at the time of Diwali for touring the northern part
of Ghana and also celebrating the festival. There was no question of disagreeing to this
infectious but enjoyable proposal. But this time we decided that we should not keep this
limited within our small Indian gang but also include all the other VSO friends in our
celebrations.
Normally in India, giving a party means, one has to arrange all the food and drinks for all
the guests coming for it. It was not possible to prepare food for all the guests we wanted
see on the occasion because of the the limited resources we were having here. We
decided to take the typical western approach to the celebrations this time. Everybody was
supposed to bring something of his own and then share it with others. It is also called as
Pot-luck.
Here again I was a self proclaimed event manager. I sent invitations to all the VSO people,
conducted meetings with our team members about the activities to be done, contribution
amount to be taken from the members, menu for the evening and activities to be done.
Then came the collection of contributions from the team members and shopping for
necessary items. It was celebrated at the house of our Indian friend Rose. She shares her
house with two other girls from UK, Vic and Rachel. Both readily agreed for using their
house for the celebrations. Rahul did the hard work of finding fire crackers in Accra but did
not find them. We were disappointed with it as Diwali without fire crackers is something
unheard of these days in India. I have always wondered how and when this Chinese
custom of burning fire crackers was fused with this Indian festival but till date I have not
found any answer to it.
Having done the preparatory steps, it was now the job of starting the actual work for the
celebrations. On the day we divided ourselves in teams. Ketan and Rose formed the
kitchen sub group and I and Rahul formed the cleaning and decoration sub group. As Raj
had fallen ill he retired to take rest for the day but later took the job of photographer in the
evening. We changed the sitting arrangement by keeping some mattresses on the floor
and getting our shoes out. The guests who had come did not mind to get their shoes off
and sit on the floor. In fact some of them with their training in Yoga could also sit in the
Indian style, which we do not see commonly in people of other nationalities.
Rahul with his skill in drawing, drew beautiful Rangoli, but not with sand as we do in India
but with the chalks. It was still very good. When Rahul was drawing it, Rose and Ketan
stopped working in kitchen due to their curiosity and joined us. They lagged behind on
101
work in kitchen. Vic and Rachel also helped us with blowing balloons and helping us in the
kitchen. To our surprise Vic could also roll the Pooris. But still we were working behind
schedule. People started arriving as per given time of 18:30 and started asking about the
time we were going to start. I had to smile sheepishly and tell them that, as we were
celebrating Indian festival we are following Indian Standard Time which is always about an
hour behind the schedule. Our last minute idea of serving drink made from fruit juice
powder came to our rescue as people were engaged with drinking and conversations.
When we were ready, we started waiting for our Ghanaian friends to come. It was the
combination of Indian Standard Time with Ghana May be Time. Luckily some of them were
living near Rose's houses and Rose just went there and brought them. I hope she did not
drag them out.
Rahuls beautiful Rangoli drawing
Then we lighted the lamps. Not oil lamps like India but candles which we had placed near
Rangoli. In order to involve everybody in the activity, everybody was told to light one
candle. Luckily there was not much of wind outside and candles burnt steadily making the
outdoors very beautiful.
Lighted Outdoors
Everybody was requested to take their food afterwards. We had requested people not to
bring any alcoholic drink and not to bring anything with beef in order to follow Indian
traditions. To our surprise some people had brought food which was made using Indian
spice mixtures like Madras Curry Powder and Garam Masala. That was a realization of
how Indian style of food has made its presence at the global level. The taste of all these
dishes was really good. We could really see the fusion of Indian cuisine with western and
African cuisine. With Pot luck we could taste Indian, western and African cuisine at one
place. Our group had made Poori (deep fried flat bread made from unfermented dough of
wheat flour), Rassa Bhaji (vegetable stew with Potatoes, tomatoes and onions) and Kheer
(dessert made from rice and milk). After some debate amongst ourselves, Rassa Bhaji
was done less spicy and Kheer was made less sweet to suite the western palette. Kheer
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was very much liked by all the guests. All of them were calling it Rice pudding. One special
mention about the Tablets. Rachel, Roses house mate is Scottish and she had made
them. These are extremely sweet quadrangle shaped solid pieces made from milk and
sugar. I recalled the Sakhari Pedha which is sold in villages of Maharashtra after eating
them. She told that it is uniquely Scottish preparation. It made me wonder how the taste
could be so similar when there is no official or unofficial connection between the Indian
state of Maharashtra and British country of Scotland.
The Pot-luck
After eating food, it was the turn for the next activity. We had discussed a lot about
arranging some dance but nobody from our group was good at it. We first tried to take
some practice sessions amongst ourselves but did not agree on what to do. Finally Rose
and me decided to give it a go at once but still we were not sure about how to dance. She
told me to lead the dance and teach others to which I agreed even when I was not really
sure how was I going to do it. We started to play the famous song Nimbooda and called
everybody to join. Somehow when it started I recalled some dance steps which we had
practised in my native village in Konkan and I taught them to the people who had joined.
Finally it resulted into a heady mixture with a Gujarati song from a Hindi film with Konkani
dance steps. It was a kind of Indian national integration at the party of international
volunteers.
Dance Full On
When the party was getting over, I should mention here that guests also helped us with
cleaning the house and washing the dishes which rarely happens in India. The crux of the
whole event was that we had fun in an Indian way.
Two days afterwards, our Indian group was climbing Bongo hill (popularly called as Bongo
Rock). It was the day of Bhaubeej (Hindi- Bhaiduj), when everybody in my family had
gathered at my aunts place. They called me to wish me for Diwali. They were asking me
whether I missed Diwali in India. I answered that I missed it. But a second thought came to
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my mind, which I did not convey it to them. Will I miss this international Diwali next year
when I shall be back home? The answer might be yes.
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104
Colourful Sirigu
06 November 2010
Sirigu is a small village in a corner of the Upper East Region of Ghana. This corner of
Ghana formed by two districts Bongo and Kassena Nankana is famous for the traditional
arts and crafts. Villages in Bongo are famous for their leather work and weaved products
from straw whereas villages near Sirigu are famous for pottery. The village of Sirigu has
also one more specialty and that is painted houses.
We visited one NGO called Sirigu Women's Pottery Association (SWOPA). Unlike India,
where pottery is a male dominated business, women are engaged in pottery here. This
NGO, started by a local teacher to promote local art and support the artisans, has done
very good work here. We were received by the campus manager Madam Francesca. This
humble lady introduced us to the local art and also the activities of the organization.
SWOPA has a beautiful campus and guest house for tourists. The campus and the guest
house are designed like a traditional homestead found in this part of Ghana. All the walls in
their campus are painted with traditional designs and bright colours. One can stay here
and also learn the local painting and pottery. The place is promoted these days by the
Ghana Tourist Board. UN Secretary general Kofi Annan has also visited this place once.
Colourful Campus of SWOPA
The shop at SWOPA has very good collection of fine traditional pottery and paintings found
in the area. There are pots used for storing grains and spices. Some pots are used for
keeping bad spirits away and called as Juju pots. Women are trained here in new designs
as well and some of them are producing fine pottery and clay sculptures. Some of the
women work in groups by maintaining their fire kilns in groups. The shop is one of the
selling outlet for them though many of them also sell their pottery in the local markets.

Traditional Painting
105
Sculptures and Pottery in Clay
Sirigu has houses which are painted using traditional designs and paints. The structure of
the traditional houses is also unique to this area. After coming to know about this
uniqueness, people started to come to this place and started taking pictures of the houses
and the people. They also tried to enter into the houses of the people. This created a
tension between the tourists and the villagers. SWOPA has tried to organize the tourist
circuit in the village by providing guided tours. These also help in supporting the house
owners who have kept these traditions alive.
We visited one traditional house in the village. The structure of these traditional house
came into existence when the villages in this part of the country were raided by the
neighboring Kingdoms for capturing slaves. The houses are built using mud but the
structure is like cave. There is very small entrance to the house where only one person
can enter into the house at a time. The entrance could be protected from inside and the
people could attack the invaders trying to enter into the house from inside using spears.
There are two rooms constructed in the house and the inner room is connected to the
main room by only one entrance which is similar to the main entrance. The whole structure
has only one opening for the ventilation and light near the roof and in the time of
emergencies it could also be closed.

The Traditional House
Visit to Sirigu was very informative and completely free of hassles and haggles, compared
to our previous visit to Paga. We were really happy to visit the place and it is worth
recommending to anybody who is visiting this part of Ghana.
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106
Not Made in Ghana
07- 17 November 2010
If you go to a bigger grocery shop to find biscuits, one can find those made in Germany,
Turkey, Czech Republic, China and India. There are only a few local Ghanaian brands. I
like a local Ghanaian brand of biscuits called Milk and Malt because it is available
everywhere and less costly. I prefer these biscuits because they are locally prepared so
there is more guarantee of control over its quality. It is also to patronize the local product.
Once I went to a grocery shop in Bongo where I frequently go to buy them in larger
numbers so that I could keep them in store at the house and have them as and when
needed. Then the lady in the shop without telling me anything gave me a pack of biscuits
which was manufactured in India but imported in Ghana by a Singaporean company. The
name and packaging was different but in small letters there was written Milk and Malt
Biscuits.
This same shop, which is only of its kind in the small town of Bongo, stocks up rice from
Thailand and Vietnam, palm oil produced in Indonesia, vermicelli made in Italy, ready to
eat noodles manufactured in Nigeria, wines brewed in Spain, mosquito coils from China
and match sticks made in India. I feel amazed many times by the number of countries from
which the products are coming here. Visit to the only supermarket in Bolgatanga, which is
frequented only by local rich and Solemiya (foreigners) like us, can give sightings of more
international range of products not commonly used by general class of locals. There is
Cheese from Morocco, beef from Brazil, Green Peas packed in Italy, luxury soaps from
various European countries, perfumes from France, and Whiskey from India. For sure
variety of products and possibility of getting them as and when needed is greater in India.
But I have never seen common grocery shops in India to be full of products made in such
exotic locations across the world.
Visit any supermarket in Ghana and you will come to know about how this process of
globalisation affecting the local economies. Ghana is one of world's most important
producer of Cocoa. I heard about one local brand of chocolate and asked the staff of the
shop for it. He took me to the shelf where chocolates of various brands were kept. The
brand which I was searching for was not there but there were other chocolates which were
made in places like UAE and Germany. I don't know whether these chocolate makers
procure their cocoa from Ghana. I purchased one pack of dried grated coconut from the
shop so that I could use it in my cooking. The pack said that it was produced in UK from
the high quality coconuts purchased in Cote d'Ivoire. The coconuts from this neighbouring
country of Ghana were being shipped to UK and after getting processed they were coming
back to this same part of the world. Pine apples are produced locally in Ghana but I still
can not figure out why the only pine apple jam available in that shop was the one produced
in the Netherlands. I sometimes feel like still I am in that age of colonization, where Indian
cotton was getting processed into yarn in the mills of Manchester to be sold back in India
as cloth and in the age where American states and Great Britain were fighting amongst
themselves over the fate of Indian tea.
Chinese products are almost everywhere and in every sector. Nobody can give guarantee
for the life of these products. People just look at the lower price of these products are
available and purchase it. Tube lights, torches, toys, toffees, the list of words rhymes well
but try to buy any of these products in the markets of Ghana and you will find them always
Chinese. Nobody seems to know how long will it last and whether it can be used at least
once after purchase. In the northern part of Ghana, where people as well as their public
transportation system is very poor, motorbikes are becoming very popular and I found
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Chinese motorbikes being sold here at such a low cost that I could not have imagined in
India. People buy them even if they complain about its unsuitability to the dirt roads and
need for frequent repairs shortly after purchase. Once while travelling to Kumasi from
Accra, our bus broke down and people started complaining about the bus being of
Chinese make.
I feel that surely it is newer age of colonization. The players with some exception are the
same but the rules of the game have changed. The countries are independent and there is
no slavery or bonded labor existent these days but still deprivation of the people and their
rights is being continued but this time with the consent of the people who are in power in
those deprived countries. The African countries are trapped in the cycle of aid. There are
distressed conditions due to anarchy, natural disasters or droughts. To recover from these
conditions comes the aid from the developed countries which induces corruption and
mentality of begging for more money. In return they give rights over trade and natural
resources and lose their control over their own economy. Most of the local industries which
have been based on use of local resources and traditional older concepts of living life, are
losing with the advent of western influence on the culture. To large extent this is also true
for India but we have been able to adapt ourselves very well to these new changes. I
started thinking that trade has been in our traditions. This does not holds true for majority
of the Sub Saharan African countries.
There are some countries like Ghana who are performing better in terms of good
governance and stable democratic systems compared to other African countries. There
are some countries which have improved in terms of economic conditions and reduction of
poverty. Still unlike India, overall picture of the continent, including Ghana, does not really
give a sense of prosperity coming to the local people through the local resources and the
local industries.
In Ghanaian economy it seems that "Not Made in Ghana" rules.
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NAFAC
18-21 November 2010
NAFAC means National Festival for Arts and Culture. It is an event organized by the
Ministry of Chieftaincy and Culture, Government of Ghana at one of regional capital every
year. This seven day event was conducted this year in the city of Tamale. Tamale is the
third largest city in Ghana and is a major centre of business, culture and transport in the
northern part of Ghana. It is also the capital of Northern Region. The event spread over the
period of 8 days was packed with various kinds of programs throughout the day. It was a
great opportunity to have a glance at the cultural kaleidoscope of the entire country at
once. I visited the event on the weekend and was lucky enough to be there at the time of
opening ceremony.
Officially it started on Friday 17
th
November with the prayers at the mosque which I could
not attend but grand opening was on the next day Saturday, 18
th
November. The opening
was with the durbar of chiefs. Paramount chiefs from various regions had congregated at
the venue. All chiefs seemed to be making as best a show of their power and grandeur as
they could. Asante and Fante chiefs from the southern parts of Ghana had come with their
lavish cars and bright displays of Gold. The chiefs from the Northern regions were all
dressed up in their finest of the smocks. After the arrival of the chiefs and after they settled
on their respective places, they went in for greeting each other ceremonially. The most
grand greeting ceremony was between a paramount chief from Ashanti region and a
paramount chief from Northern region.
Asante chief greeting a chief from Northern Region
A chief from Northern part of Ghana
After this settling of the chiefs, what followed were long speeches by the ministers and
officials while the general crowd was standing under the hot sun. Waiting for one and half
hour proved productive because what followed was the parade of dances and drummers
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from various cultural groups from Ghana. One group of men from Builsa tribe wearing
buffalo horns came parading the ground with their war dance. After them a group of young
girls, clad in the shortest of the clothes and white coloured circular marks, came dancing.
Though with minimal clothes, with their dancing and drumming it looked very natural and
was certainly not looking provocative. What followed them was a church choir groups and
then a dance party of Muslim women with their heads properly covered. It was a beautiful
mosaic representing Ghana's ethnic and cultural diversity.
Builsa War Dancers
The evening program was a competition of various choir groups. It became boring after
some time as some of the groups were really very discordant and it made us leave very
early.
The next day was exciting because of the football match between Tamale Youth Club and
a team called Berekum Arsenal which had come from southern part of Ghana. In Ghana,
the game of football is taken as seriously as the game of Cricket in India. When we
reached the stadium, we were late and Tamale team was on the verge of loosing on its
home ground. The crowd was angry and very loud. It was no use after all as the Tamale
team lost. When the the players were leaving the ground, the people threw the water
sachets at them expressing their angers and some were thrown also at the police. The
police did not do anything however and nothing serious happened afterwards. It signified
to me again that Ghana is really a peaceful country.
What I liked the most, more than the football match was the stadium in Tamale. It has been
built with the assistance of the Chinese. It has been well maintained and has a football
ground surrounded by a very good athletics track. It also had a big digital display board. All
this in the city of just 300,000 residents. I wonder how many cities in India with that
population have such facilities. Mumbai which boasts a population of 9,000,000 people,
has only one such stadium. I am envious of Tamale for this reason.
Football match at Tamale Stadium
110
The evening of the day was full of high life dance and music. First some information about
High Life. High Life is a form of music which was evolved by the musicians from Ghana. It
is a hybrid of western popular music and the traditional West African dancing and
drumming. It evolved in the late 50 70 when the Ghanaian musicians were exposed to
the western popular music. As this genre of music has its root in Ghana, the people here
are very proud about it. These days it has turned itself into a new genre called Hiplife,
which also mixes in rap, rock and hip hop dancing.
It was an interregional competition and as they were waiting for the teams from the various
regions to register themselves for the competition, it started late. It was fun to watch these
dances. Each team consisted of a couple, man and woman. All the teams were wearing
the traditional clothes of their respective regions. At the time of elimination for the final
round, it was found that the Northern region, the host region was the fourth. The decision
of their elimination was reversed and they were given the chance to dance in the final
round and they were ranked on third position in the final round. The couple from the Brong
Ahafo region who lost their position were very angry and were arguing with the program
anchors. Suddenly they started the music and every couple was told to start the dance
again in the celebration of the results. The angry couple had to again put on their smiling
face and start dancing. As a spectator, it was very funny to watch them, but I think they
were dancing better than the couple who took their position and the decision was biased.
The first two positions were certainly beyond all these and performed superbly.
It was 10:30 in the night and all of my friends had left early for the house as they felt tired.
While in Ghana, we have always been advised of not venturing out in the towns alone in
the night. I have been following this advise strictly except this time. I walked alone to my
friends' Raj's house. Unlike the southern cities of south ie Accra and Kumasi, Tamale is
such a city that I have never felt unsafe here. I walked on the road as if I was walking in
my home suburb of Vileparle (Mumbai). There were not many people around but I did not
feel scared about it at all. While I was walking it occurred to me that I never ventured into
walking at this time on the road near to my house in Pune because I never felt secure
("Pune is considered to be the cultural capital and a very peaceful city in the state of
Maharashtra").
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Accra Again I
26
th
November to 2
nd
December 2010
Volunteers like me, who live in the rural areas in the northern corner of Ghana, always like
to grab the opportunity to go to the southern part of Ghana and especially if it is the big city
like Kumasi or Accra, it is the chance not to be missed out.
It was the workshop on GSAP (Guided Self Assessment Process) for the organizations
with which VSO is working. The volunteers are expected to facilitate this process at their
respective placements. It was a great learning opportunity for me because I have not had
any exposure to the field of organization development before.
Before I write anything about the exploration of the city, something about the workshop
which I attended. First time, the workshop was conducted entirely by the volunteers and
program staff of VSO were not on the role of resource persons. Aidan Cantwell, a
volunteer with good experience in the organizational development process facilitated it
with the help of some other volunteers. It was a really good learning experience with
proper combination of group works, PowerPoint presentations and discussions which
involved experience sharing. I was not very much sure before whether I am the right
person to be doing organizational development work. But this workshop made us realize
that it is everybody's cup of tea and if you are working in an organization, then one has to
be part of its development.
Having an opportunity to go to Accra or anywhere in the south means one more thing to
me and that is utilizing all the weekends for touring. We always want to save both time and
money as it involves travelling over a long distance through the tiring journey on the road.
Along with having fun, I also tried to use the days to explore some more aspects of my
study on Shea butter and Guinea fowl and it also lead to an exciting and memorable
experience. It took me to the rich and famous shopping malls of Accra and Makola, the
craziest street market in whole of Ghana.
There are two famous shopping malls, where most of the rich and famous of Accra
frequent. The first one I visited was Accra Shopping Mall. Compared to the shopping malls
visited in Mumbai, it is small. Yes but these days I am living in the small town of Bongo in
the northern corner of Ghana and not in Mumbai. After seeing the shiny displays in the
shops, I started to have the same feeling, which a villager who comes to the city for the
first time or at least after a long time. The glossy and rich displays with highly priced and
beautifully packaged products, which I had been seeing after about 4 months started to
make me envious of the volunteers living in Accra.
While searching for the range of Shea products available there, I found out that there were
only two primarily synthetic products with some Shea butter added to it and there was only
one locally made product which had its major ingredient Shea butter. In the country which
is a major producer of Shea butter, one of the most important shopping malls, out of its 40
plus body and hair products had only one Shea based product. In the other shopping malls
which I visited, the picture was not different.
One intriguing incidence happened while we were returning from Accra Shopping Mall to
Rishi's house. (Rishi is an Indian volunteer friend of us who lives in Accra). We were
returning by a tro to his house. It was late evening and there was lot of rush on the bus
stop as everybody was rushing towards their homes. While I was getting in a tro tro, I
found myself stuck at the small entrance as one person did not get down even after all the
people in the tro tro got down, while we had started getting in. I could not give him way by
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getting down as another tro came at the side of the one in which we were getting in. While
I was stuck up in this situation, I sensed that one hand had entered into my back pocket.
All the cash, which I had brought, was in that pocket. I managed to take my hand back and
to insert it into my back pocket. I held the fingers of the person who was trying to take the
money out. The person started to call loudly that he wanted to get down and as if I was the
one who was holding him to get down. I forcibly took the fingers out from my pocket and
he escaped. Afterwards I could go inside properly and one person also made some space
for me to sit. He told me that the person who was trying to get me stuck at the entrance
was a pickpocket. He suggested me to check the pocket, which of course I did not, as I did
not want to take all of my cash out in the public while in the tro. I could sense from the feel
of the bunch of the notes in my pocket that the pickpocket was not successful in his job at
all. It was a lesson for me however, so that I would keep my cash more safely, while
travelling in the tro tro during the rush hours.
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113
Accra Again II
26
th
November to 2
nd
December 2010
Some more interesting things were in store for me during this visit to Accra. One was my
visit to Labadi beach. It is a public beach in Accra but the entry to the beach is regulated
and they have put an entry fee. The beach is nothing special but it was an opportunity to
chill out and enjoy the sea. As it was Sunday, it was bit crowded. First time I was entering
on a public beach in a foreign country and the scene in front of me was the one never
seen before on public beaches in India. It was the huge number of girls and women clad in
minis and swimming suits, showing their bare skins. After some time however the eyes got
used to it.
Most of the crowd was local youths with some Europeans, Chinese and Arabs (commonly
stamped as Lebanese as majority of them are). They could be prominently spotted even
from the distance amongst the majority black coloured crowd because of their very fair
coloured skins.
Majority of the people were busy sitting at the beach side bars and enjoying their beers
and kebabs. A part of the crowd had ventured in the waters and was enjoying the waves.
Some were having surfing boards. Three of us went into the sea and enjoyed the waves
while the remaining who were not enthusiastic enough to enter into the water had to take
care of our clothes. When we came out of the water, we had a hard time finding a
bathroom for shower but we did after some time. They were offering a bucket of water and
bathrooms having no doors. Two people were going in one bathroom at a time and most of
the people were bathing completely naked. I was feeling very awkward but then I entered
one bathroom after the guys in that bathroom finished their bath, I started showering by
keeping my underwear on. While I was showering, one person came in and stripped
himself naked and started bathing, while doing that he was speaking with me very
naturally and was asking me which country I was from etc. After a while, I think I got used
to it and did not feel much awkward but still I can't imagine stripping myself naked in the
public bathroom and having bath in presence of a complete stranger.
The evening was starting to set in and the sunlight started disappearing. We had beer and
popcorns while they started to play loud music at one of the bars and it seemed that there
was an open and wild party with all the drunk youth around. Some cheap looking heavy
sized women came near us and tried to strike a conversation and pull some of us for the
dancing. Many couples were engaged in the kissing and fondling in the open. While all this
was happening, a family was still seating there. The husband and wife were engaged in
the kissing while the two kids were seating there and eating their popcorns watching the
wild dancing party. I have a no way of approving the behaviour of that couple taking their
kids at a wild beach party and engaging themselves in sexually provocative acts in front of
their very young kids. I felt frustrated that I had no way of expressing my concerns to them
as it was none of my business to tell them how they should behave.
I had liked the way I have found Ghanaians were behaving publicly. The attitude towards
sex is certainly far more open here compared to India and people easily engage in
premarital sex. Advances towards opposite sex are also easily made and women are
certainly not shy. In spite of all these, one thing which I always appreciate here, even in
city like Accra, is that people never make a public display of their love. Rarely have I seen
here couples walking together with even their hands clasped together. I like the fact that
these people know what is to be done in private is not to be displayed publicly. It was a
great disappointment after seeing this all. But I think now while writing about it, that it was
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surely an exception and it proves the rule.
Another such delirious place, which I visited during this visit to Accra, was Makola market. I
was suggested by a number of people being an Obruni (white man in twi language), I
should not venture much in the market and especially narrow lanes. I could not follow
those advises, once I reached this frantic, crowded and exciting place. Makola is the
biggest market place in Accra and it is the place where most of the local people go
shopping for their daily needs. After reaching there, I saw many Chinese and Arab faces. I
also spotted a south Indian couple with a small kid walking around the market doing
window shopping and bargaining with the vegetable vendors. I could not laugh out loud in
the public on those advises.
I had gone there in search of Guinea fowl traders in cities. (Guineafowl is a local poultry
bird found in this region.) It was a very exciting experience to find the person which I had
never met before in that crowded place. It was easy for him however, as I realized later, to
identify a Solemiya (white man in Gurune language) like me to spot out from the crowd.
The trader was a native of Bongo district and I had contacted him in advance through a
farmer. The trader was happy to receive me and hear the greetings in his own native
Gurune language. They enthusiastically provided me with the information I needed. I was
also happy to see the end of the value chain of the guinea fowl trade and these sturdy and
noisy birds from Bongo having made their way in cramped cages on the top of the tro to
the shops in narrow those lanes of this part of Makola market. I shall write about this
interesting journey of Guinea fowls and its value chains later sometime.
After finishing his interview, I roamed on the streets of the market. I felt as if I was in the
central market areas of Pune (Mandai) or of Mumbai (Masjid Bandar) but the scene here
was far different from the one which we see in India. Here the market was dominated by
women. They were selling, moving around carrying heavy loads on their heads, and of
course buying and bargaining. The goods that were available ranged from grocery items,
plastic goods, clothes, vegetables etc. At one section there were all kinds of weird food
items ranging from pig feet to snails and to a very horrible looking smoke dried fish. (We
think of them as weird, but it is an important cheap protein source for the locals.) Since I
no longer get put off by the smells of these things (many thanks to Bolgatanga market), I
could move around easily without any feeling of disgust. The advise,which I think, I should
not have followed but followed, was about not bringing the camera. I missed it very much.
Though the visits to these places in Accra were very enjoyable, I started to feel tired. It was
partly because of the heat and humid air. I think it might also be partly because of the
constant company of our group of Indian friends with whom I was moving around. It made
me think that I should also remain alone for a while. Have I started to like my own
company because of living alone in Bongo for a long time so? May be? But the underlining
factor was that I felt tired of Accra this time and decided to cut my trip short. I had planned
for many other excursions this time and it included the trip to the largest artificially created
body of fresh water in the world, the Lake Volta. I just did not feel like moving somehow
and came back to Bongo.
I have to specially mention here that they played a good Nigerian movie in the bus this
time and it did not have any witchcraft nonsense in it. Have my taste about the films
changed or am I just adjusting myself to the local situation? a serious question to think
about.
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National Farmers' Day
3
rd
December 2010
It is a national holiday in Ghana but this is the day on which Ministry of Food and
Agriculture (MoFA) is supposed to work with their whole heart and minds. I can say that
the staff of district directorate of MoFA in Bongo district did work with their whole heart and
minds on that day. It is the day when the best performing farmers are awarded.
The program in Bongo district went on quite well on that day. Saadat, my friend at MoFA,
took me and my VSO friend Rose to the event, which was to take place in a distant village.
As I work with many people of MoFA, my presence on the day was welcomed by them and
they gave me a seat in the dignitaries section, which might be a Solemiya effect (special
privilege being a foreigner). The program started with prayers like most of the programs
here do. Then followed the speech of the District Chief Executive, the highest political
authority for the district and the Bonaaba, the traditional paramount chief of Bongo.
What followed afterwards was drumming and dancing which was not very pleasant to my
ears at least. What irritated me the most during that drummers dance was the way money
was offered to them as a tip. The drummers came in front of the guests and played their
drums while some of the guests thumped the notes on the foreheads of the drummers.
They did not seem to mind it at all about it because I think it was money after all. Because
of their constant movement, the notes that were being thumped on their foreheads were
falling on the ground before they could catch up. Seeing this, one of the guest tried to stick
the note on the drops of the sweat of one of the drummers forehead, which I thought was
the insult to the basic dignity of the person but nobody seemed to mind it.
After this drummers dance, came a dancing and singing party of local women which was
little more bearable and as they were not professional, I think the group did not go much
for the tips. In spite of these I should say at least I could get a proper idea about the style
of traditional dance and music of Bongo District. Most of the dances involve a lot of
jumping and bending in knees. Then there was competition of eating bread and tug of war.
They had also arranged for women's tug of war but not many women from other
communities were present to form an opponent team so it ended up with local women's
team getting the prize without having to fight.
Bread eating competition
Various farmers in the district were given prizes. The crop farmer's prize included fertilizer
bags, pesticides; livestock farmers' prize included various veterinary medicines and
fisherman's prize included fishing nets. The Best Farmer of the district was given a
motorcycle. I was told that if one wins the prize of the Best Farmer at the regional level
then one gets a tractor.
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Samples from Prize winning farmers crops
Prize Distribution
The program ended with some more speeches and food which was given to some few
guests. I heard the girls distributing coupons discussing with their boss whether that white
man (they were talking about me) is eligible for the lunch coupon. I further heard her boss
telling that he is (I was). Having eligible for plain rice with stew, a big piece of fried chicken
and bottle of beer, I took the lunch pack and came back with Sadat, who further negotiated
with the chop bar owner to exchange my beer bottle with that of Fanta as afternoon was
just turning up and I did not feel like drinking the beer. Chop bar lady must have been very
happy to do that. We had a nice chat over lunch and properly ended our Farmers' Day.
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Azambene
12-16 December 2010
It is December and it is the month of the festivals. There is a common factor in majority of
the traditional festivals around the world. Many of these festivals follow harvest season.
The people celebrate the incoming of food and cash with festivals. The major festivals of
Bongo are harvest festivals and Azambene, the fire festival. Harvest festival is celebrated
in some parts of the district and fire festival is celebrated in Bongo town and some other
nearby small villages. I did not have any opportunity of seeing harvest festival but fire
festival which ended today was the one which I could witness as it was in Bongo town.
Fire Festival or Azambene marks the victory of the local Frafra tribes people over some
other tribe who had tried to invade these people. The Frafra people of Bongo defended
themselves using fire. They created fire torches by making bundles of wood sticks and
straw to keep the enemies away. This festival is celebrated in memory of this victory on
some particular day as per the local lunar calendar after the harvest is over.
The activities of the festival included various competitions such singing competition for
womens groups and dancing and drumming competition. As they were competition, most
of the groups performed very well as per the local standards. The singing of the women
was not at all pleasant to my urban Indian ears however. One interesting thing about the
singing competition is the meaning of the songs. One group with relatively more number of
older ladies sang a song which was about older times when women did not expose their
bodies much, behaved properly and had plenty of children. The next group was having
relatively more number of younger ladies and the instantly prepared a song which
conveyed how the times have changed and how women also have to change with it. How
it is good to have few children so that one could better feed them and take care of their
education. This group of course got the biggest of the applauses and also won the
competition.
I missed the major action as I was strongly suggested to keep away from the chaos that
exists on the main road of Bongo. This is how it happens as per the information given to
me. First some gun shots are fired at around 7:00 pm from the chief's place announcing
the official start of the fire festival. People light the torches by firing them and start whirling
them around themselves first and run after the people who are around them in order to
scare them away. It goes wild as many people get drunk and then play this game.
Remaining at my house I could here the noise of the crowd on the main road but I could
get an idea about it must have been as I saw the small kids playing near my house running
after each other with fire. Some kids also came towards me while I was standing in the
verandah watching the kids playing the dangerous game. As I shouted at them, they
mischievously smiled and said that they were not really going to burn me.
Next day of the event was the grand closing ceremony of the festival with the Chief's
Durbar. Here Durbar does not mean the gathering of ministry of the Kings but the open
ceremony where Chief or King meets general public from his territory. The program
consisted of various speeches which became very boring after some time Since local
assembly elections would be held in this month, the speeches sounded political. Though it
was a Chief's Durbar, it was sponsored by the cell phone service MTN and in between the
speeches and interludes there were MTN advert slogans. It gave the whole event more of
a feel of a commercial program than a royal one.
In the interludes between speeches, there were dances and music, most of which were
good. The sub-chiefs and other dignitaries were lavishly throwing money on the dancers
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and music groups as if it was part of their display of power and wealth. The amount which
they were throwing on the dancers was very big at least in view of the volunteer living
allowances we are getting here. I wondered how they have earned this money which they
were extravagantly throwing away. Some of the dancers made their performances lively
only when baksheesh money started coming in.
In the evening while returning to the home, I saw that suddenly the main road had became
full of street side Kebab stalls and the air was full of smell of roasted meat. Having bad
experience of meat in Bongo, I made my way straight to my house and cooked Alefu
leaves (a type of Amaranth), while everybody else in the village was enjoying feast.
Traditional dance party on the road
Drummers
Bongo Paramount Chief with queen mother and his servants
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Indians in Ghana
4 -11 December 2010
I don't live here in Ghana amongst Indians and have not come here with an intention to do
so. Volunteering is not about living amongst your own countrymen but experiencing the
real life of the host country, which you are living in. Still luckily I have got opportunity to
meet so many Indians and have Indian volunteer friends that I can make some general
statements about Indians in Ghana.
The impression which majority Ghanaians carry about Indians here is that they are good
traders and businessmen. Compared to businesses run by Ghanaians, certainly they are
doing well. Indians are running shops, trading companies, manufacturing units, import and
export firms and many types of businesses. Some Indian run business firms have been
operating here since 100 years or more. Most of the Indians are concentrated in major
business hubs like Accra, Kumasi, Tema and Takoradi. The population of Indians here in
Ghana is approximately 3,000 as per a Government of India website on Non Resident
Indians. Since it must be based on the number of people who have registered themselves
at the Indian High Commission office and does not include those who have not registered
themselves, actual number must be far higher than the official figure. In city like Accra,
sighting of Indians is so common that if one Indian sees another Indian on the road, many
times people don't even bother to smile.
Like you observe everywhere in India, there are certain communities engaged in their
traditional occupations. Majority of the shop and trading firm owners are Sindhi and
Gujaratis. There is a large number of Tamils engaged in the businesses like timber,
borehole digging etc. Most of the skilled workers and executive class employees of the
companies here are Bengalis, Telugus, Maharashtrians and north Indians.
Most of the Ghanaians, with whom I have met, have been very respectful of Indians. Some
even said that they are doing a great service to their nation by helping to develop their
economy. India and Ghana have had very good ties since Ghana became independent.
The presidential palace of Ghana has been built with help from India. First president of
Ghana, Dr. Kwame Nkrumah and first prime minister of India, Jawaharlal Nehru were good
friends and both tried to take the Non Aligned Movement further. The road opposite to
presidential palace is called Jawaharlal Nehru Road. Many Ghanaians know about
Gandhi, at least his name and he came from India.
Indians here live peacefully and seem to be mostly concentrating on their businesses
rather than other political issues. I think, country like Ghana is so peaceful that there are
very little other issues to look into. With majority Ghanaians, living their happy go lucky life
and not taking much of stress to achieve the big money dream, Indians have found their
niche here and doing very well as there is little business competition here. Many Indian
companies like Tata Motors and Airtel are prominent here.
There some negative points or moreover points of concern about Indians in Ghana. Ghana
is considered as the friendliest country in whole of Africa. As I do not have much of
experience about rest of Africa, I can surely say that people here are much friendlier than
Indians. They like to smile and keep their conversations polite and lively. Talks always start
here with greetings. Ghanaian society is not hierarchical as Indian society is and people
cleaning the toilets can also proudly greet the super bosses in the office.
I have not seen many Indians taking into consideration all these points and interacting with
their Ghanaian employees or customers. When in an Indian shop, local helper was very
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polite and helpful in finding the right items, I found the shop owner unnecessarily barking
at him. When I was invited in one house of an Indian, I found him speaking loudly and
impolitely with his maid when she was not able to attend to him immediately because of
being busy in the kitchen, while the person did not even care to move from his couch to
take the water which he seemed to urgently need. I have seen some Indian customers
getting very bitter and crude during bargaining, while the shop keepers and taxi drivers
though initially try to maintain their coolness; do not do so after a while.
Once I met an Indian executive who made some purely racist and bad remarks about
black African people and was wondering how I have been able to live amongst them
unprotected so long and moreover friends with them. When he was expressing that he
also mentioned that he has been living in this country for last 4 years. He did not have any
shame blundering this while he was earning his bread and butter by living here. Majority of
the executives working for big corporations here live in protected bungalows with
watchmen and chauffeur driven cars. They know little about the way common Ghanaians
live. I wonder whether they at least care to know that.
As against these examples, I found that some Indians have really mixed well with the local
people. One shop manager whom I met has learned the local language well and has many
local friends. His behaviour with his staff in the shop was very good and most of the people
seemed to admire him a lot. I met one person whose son has been brought up in Ghana.
His son has been given a Ghanaian name and it is their in all of his documents. I was told
a story about Vic Baboos Caf, a 70 year old establishment run by an Indian. Seeing the
way its founder Vic Baboo got mixed with the local people, the local chief helped him to
establish his business and encouraged him to develop it further.
Bringing an end to this subject, I shall like to write here that being from the typical Indian
middle class and having little sources of my own to go to a distant country, volunteering
has proved to be a great opportunity to experience a new culture and environment. What
makes me sad though is that majority of my fellow countrymen living here and some
wishing to fulfil their money making dream (which is not wrong at all,) do not even try to
experience it. This is something Indians coming here should remain aware of and be
respectful about the local culture. Only then we can really say that Indians and Ghanaians
are friends of each other.
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My Cooking in Ghana
17 December 2010
It started when I arrived in Bongo. I was not very experienced in cooking but liked to try my
hand in the kitchen once in a while. My mother and wife, being the typically Indian women,
have always been taking care to make the men in the house not to work much in the
kitchen. Due to this reason, I did not feel it necessary to spend much time in the kitchen.
Back in India, I had always liked cooking, because it reminded me of my chemistry classes
and because I liked to know how various ingredients reacted in different media to give the
final taste to the end product. I have always been criticized at home for watching too much
of cookery shows. During our preparatory training in India, I heard story of one vegetarian
Indian volunteer who survived his entire volunteer tenure of two years in some remote part
of Africa on peanut butter sandwiches and bananas. I dont know whether this can be true
but I can't imagine myself doing that because I have realized over the time that one should
have interest in the subject of food, only then one can develop interest in cooking.
My cooking took off on a full speed after coming here in Ghana as it was a do or die
situation. In the first month, I could not digest the fishy smell of food which was available at
the chop bars and vendors in Bongo town. I tried my best to make myself used to eating
Banku and Kenke but still I don't like their taste and texture. I shall eat them only if there is
no other choice. I have started liking certain local foods but certainly I won't prefer the
same food at the lunch as well as dinner. I don't have any option but to cook to keep
myself not remaining hungry but healthy instead and that too with supply of all the proper
nutrients required by the body.
I still remember my first day in Bongo when I was dropped in Bongo by the VSO vehicle.
VSO driver Issa, had shown me around the house and provided some really kind words of
caution but then immediately drove away. I had not had any lunch and did not dare to go
out as I had never eaten any food in the chop bar and street side till that time. Fortunately
my house was equipped with gas, stove and a refrigerator. There were two volunteers who
had lived in the house before for a shorter duration and had left some utensils in the
house. I had given serious thought to the advise of my VSO friend Rose and I had come
with ready to eat noodle packets, chivda and ladoos (both of the later are traditional Indian
snacks) for my first few days of the placement. I looked at those packets and I felt that they
were going to be a highly prized commodity then.
I did not venture much into the market in the initial days, as I tried to survive by miserly use
of pulses, spices and ready to eat type of products brought from home. Once I had a look
at them and thought that these are not going to do me any good and I have to get free
from this attachment. Indian shops in Accra were 850 km away and there was no way I
was going to Accra again for some months. I decided to finish those products as fast as I
could so that I would be left with no option but to look for the local ingredients and start
using them. Once came the day when I had no option but to go to the market and do some
real shopping for the kitchen.
As I explored the narrow lanes of Bolgatanga market, I saw a variety of produce, some of it
was familiar and some of it was not. After entering vegetable section, the first stall was
having tomatoes, onions and ginger. Hurray!, I cheered in mind and afterwards by adding
tomatoes and onions I could bring some life to my boring Khichadi (rice and pulses cooked
together). In the next week entered in my kitchen eggs, cabbage and okra. Cooking eggs
was a simple job which I had overlooked till that date. I started getting complete proteins. I
had never cooked cabbage and okra before, but after a couple of consultations over the
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phone with my wife and VSO friend Rose, I was successful in cooking them. My decision
of bringing along the cookery book proved useful in this regard. The book is titled Cooking
Made Easy for Men, it is written in Marathi and gives recipes for various simple Indian
preparations. I was invited to house of other VSO volunteers for the meals and I tried for
the first time cooking for others. They liked whatever I had cooked and it triggered me to
explore some more skills in the kitchen.
Each month I explored more of the market and realized that Indian cooking is possible
here without having any need to go to distant city of Accra. Though for bringing real Indian
taste, some spices which are not available at all here in Bolgatanga have to be purchased
from Indian shops in Accra but I found that these days I can live without them. It is an
important learning, which overseas volunteering imparts. It makes one innovative. My
friend Jason, who is an American, has been a great inspiration to me when it comes to
cooking. Being from a developed country he was not much used to the raw ingredients
that are available here in the local market before. Most of the cooking in America is highly
dependant not on the use of fresh produce but on the packaged goods. It becomes just a
job of heating and boiling the things in the packets. But he has adjusted himself to the local
produce so well that I think if somebody gives him some random ingredients, he will be
able to make some delicious and healthy preparation.
There are some ingredients which are also available in India and I could make the
traditional Maharashtrian recipes using them. The local fresh raw chillies are dark red in
colour and very hot. They are certainly better in taste than the ones which we get in India.
Most of the vegetables which we get these days in the Indian markets are cultivated with
very high use of fertilizers and pesticides. While getting the high yields, Indian vegetables
have lost their unique tastes and keeping quality, which new age farmers in India should
seriously consider. And yes, there are spring onions available sometimes seasonally but
commonly. Ambadi (Indian hemp), locally called as Bito, is a very popular vegetable here.
The local Bito soup can not beat the Maharashtrian style Ambadichi Bhaji (vegetable) as
far as my Indian taste goes. I downloaded its recipe from internet and could make the
vegetable the way it is made at my home. It had a great taste but I felt sad because I was
alone in the house and there was nobody with whom I could share the vegetable and the
joy of success in making it.
I have been able to work with some other ingredients which are similar to Indian ones but
not exactly the same. One is Alefu, a leafy vegetable in the family of Amaranth. It is green
in color and available very cheap. It can be cooked in the same style as the local
Amaranths in India. There is a gourd which is similar to bottle gourd and it is locally known
as Wala. It has similar taste to the one in India. Garden eggs are not the real eggs but egg
shaped orange coloured vegetable in the family of brinjal. These are bitter in taste and I
don't like them at all but still have tried to cook them by removing their bitter taste by
soaking in salt water, boiling in water etc. Fresh milk and milk products is not available
here easily. Some Fulani herdsmen (herds-women actually) sell it in the market but looking
at the way it is handled, I have avoided it till date. Milk powder and condensed milk are
available commonly and many Indian sweets like Kheer, Sheera etc. are possible by use
of milk made from them.
Some ingredients are not indigenous to Ghana but are important in the Indian cooking and
available here in Bolgatanga, though at the higher price. These are imported from
neighboring countries like Burkina Faso. Can you imagine buying 5 potatoes for Rs 66 or
one bulb of garlic for Rs.33, but that is the cost we have to pay here. Speaking the subject
of garlic, I recall one funny incidence that happened in the market. I was purchasing garlic
when one man asked me, why you white people like garlic so much?, I answered
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jokingly, because garlic brings out the real man in you. The person could not get that it
was joke and actually purchased garlic from the vendor. He told me further that he was
going to give it to his wife so that she could add it to the soup that evening. Now coming
back to the subject, as against the imported vegetables, which are not commonly eaten by
the locals, the locally produced 1 kg of Sweet Potatoes can be purchased for Rs 3 and 0.3
kg of ginger for Rs.17.
Once we all Indian male volunteers were chatting together and started talking about these
prices and what could be found where at the cheaper rates. It all started to sound like the
talks of typical Indian housewives and we had a big laugh over the fact. Thinking of it
afterwards, I can now empathize with my wife, mother and other house makers back in
India about how they must be feeling and thinking when they go for shopping for the home
kitchen. I think that more than improving my skills in cooking this is one more major
change brought about in me by overseas volunteering.
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Fun with the Titles
18 December 2010
It was day of Azambene (local fire festival) and I was asking the lady who cleans the office
about when the functions were going to start. She was busy and did not hear me. But the
person who had came into the room heard it and called her loudly, Cleaning, white man is
asking you about Azambene. He got her attention. She did not know the answer but in
turn said to him, Registry, you should know it, you are from Bongo as well. I don't know
because I never get to attend that. He did not know it. He called out loudly the person who
was passing by, Local Government, answer the Solemiya's (white mans) question. I got
the assurance from 'Local Government' that he would inform me as soon as he got the
'Information'. This is how it gets here in the district assembly of Bongo. By information, he
meant the officer from the Department of Information. Though it is government set up,
people here are quite lively when it comes to interacting each other but somehow instead
of calling the persons name, they like to call by the titles.
Many times when I am seating in the office alone with my boss not around, somebody
pops in and asks me, where is planning, I have come to understand that the question
means where is planning officer and I answer, Planning is not there.
Once I imagined a situation where following happened. 'Planning' is gone. There is no
'Budget'. 'Finance' is not coming. 'Registry' is stuck on the road. No 'Information' around.
'Accounts' might close. 'Stores' is out of stock. 'Chief' has not been seen for long. 'Local
Government' does not know what to do. How the hell 'Community Development' is
supposed to work and the 'Local Industries' are likely to get proposals?
Add officer or executive after each title please!
That is the District Assembly. But it works somehow. And also gets going 'small small'. It is
Ghana. Take it with a pinch of salt.
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Malaria Me Too
19-27 December 2010
When I read several blogs some of the VSO volunteers working in Africa, almost all of
them had mentioned of Malaria. In our In Country (Orientation) Training, the talk of malaria
was too much. I got bored of hearing it. After starting my volunteer life here, I have been
hearing many volunteers and lots of natives complaining about getting malaria and
remaining sick for days. If you say to somebody, hey where have you been? I did not see
for many days, the most frequently heard response would be Oh, I had got malaria!.
After spending some months I had got used to see somebody who always looked lively
would suddenly start seem to be all exhausted and I would hear that person complaining
that he might get malaria. Then that person would not be seen for some days in the office.
I had decided before starting for Ghana, that I would not get this disease at any cost. I was
confident that I would not catch the disease, having prior experience of malaria in India,
coming from a tropical and developing country, having plenty of experience of living in rural
parts of India. I tried to keep mosquitoes away. I applied mosquito repellent regularly. The
famous Indian mosquito repellent Odomos is very commonly available here. I brought with
me large packs of them by unnecessarily adding weight to my luggage. I tried to use
protective nets while sleeping. I tried to remain healthy by eating well and exercising. I was
taking anti malarial tablets regularly. I did not get the disease for 5 and half months.
It was working well when it was wet season and mosquitoes were common. When dry
season started temperatures dropped down, mosquitoes stopped being seen in the air and
I became relaxed. In the last month I stopped taking anti-malarial drugs after hearing their
side effects especially on liver. I had already stopped using net and mosquito repellent. I
did a long and tiring journey of south. I started to feel exhausted. I stopped my exercise. I
had started to feel low. It caught me at the right stage when I was not physically and
mentally able to fight it.
It was Christmas time and offices were not in the mood of working. I had not decided what
I would do at that time. I was not feeling to travel anywhere when every other fellow
volunteer friends were travelling to distant places. I had decided to travel to south just
because there was nothing I could think of doing in that period. They had decided on big
gathering of volunteers and party. It was going to be new experience all together, the
Christmas celebrated by Western volunteers and to watch the street parties and Christmas
parades by the local people in the city of Koforidua. I was having a gut feeling somehow
that I would not be able to make it.
I started to get fever with headaches every night for two consecutive days. It became
obvious that even though I did not wish to get it, It became obvious the malaria had got
me. Third day I went to the clinic in Bolgatanga by collecting all of the energy which I was
retaining. As my case paper book was being searched in the records room, I had to spend
some time seating in the waiting room after which I got the entry to the doctor's room. The
young lady doctor, after hearing about my symptoms, suggested me to get the test done.
Fortunately it was available in the next room, and within half an hour the result was out. It
was the moment of truth, the assistant in the laboratory came out with his natural smile
(not vicious one) and declared that I had got malarial parasites in my blood.
Again I had to see the doctor, who gave prescriptions of drugs and some long list of
advises which included plenty of rest (when you are having fever, you can't sleep), eating
properly (I did not have any appetite for food) and taking medicines regularly (the anti-
malarial drugs are known to make you dizzy throughout the day). It was going to be
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difficult. I collected the medicines from the counter. The ever smiling cashier lady helped
me by facilitating the processes which is generally very lengthy for the locals. (the white
man privilege). When I departed from the clinic, she smiled and said, so next time. I said
to her, but not with malaria for sure. She laughed and I started walking towards the road.
Since I had came to Bolgatanga by organizing all of the energy left in the body I decided to
do some other work. I went to bank, checked emails and cancelled my journey ticket.
When I returned to Bongo, on my way to the house I met Madam Christy who works in my
neighbouring office. She greeted me and said, your T shirt looks nice on you but you
don't. Why? Having now confirmed at the clinic, I eagerly answered, after you, it is my
turn. I have got malaria. She smiled and gave her elderly advice, Eat plenty. Take rest.
Remember God. You'll be fine in two days.
By the time I returned to house, I was completely exhausted. The evening progressed and
I knew it was going to be nightmare. I cooked some food and realized that my grocery
stock had finished. No vegetables, no rice, no bread. I had forgotten to do shopping for the
necessary food stuff when I was out. I lay on bed. After a while, the temperature of the
body shot up and I started to shiver. I kept on shivering for almost three hours. I thought I
would then die of shivering. It stopped somewhere in the night and I slept. In the morning
when I woke up, I found myself relieved that I was still alive.
I did not have much energy to do anything. I called, Joshua, my colleague in the office and
requested him to bring some food and grocery items from the market. He helped me with it
and wished me fast recovery. My boss, came to visit me after hearing about Malaria and
wished me the same. I tried to eat as much as I could as per the advises given to me.
There was not much of fever that day. All around the town, every where they were playing
gospel songs loudly and I remained in the bed hearing them.
On the fifth day of Malaria, I had to get up and start the chores because my clothes
needed a wash. There was no water running from the tap today. I managed to wash the
clothes using my stored water and spent rest of the day taking rest. There was no fever
and headache and I was on my way of recovery.
There was little water left in the store in the next day and I found that somebody had
locked my main water connection valve, due to which water could not flow through the
taps in the house. It was quite frustrating to learn all that when I was not still able and
willing to move outside the house. My neighbour helped me by contacting the person, who
unlocked it in the evening but by that time the main water supply was turned off and I had
to wait till the morning to flush my toilet and had to use the water sparingly for my bath and
washing dishes.
How was your Christmas? asked me everybody when I started going out from the house.
I answered them, Well, I did not experience Ghanaian Christmas but, I did experience
Ghanaian Malaria
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Volunteers' Parties
28 December 2010- 1 January 2011
I had never celebrated Christmas or New Year before in India. I, not being Christian, not
following the Gregorian Calendar religiously and my country India being predominantly
Hindu, these events have never been major for me. Having found myself amongst a big
group of volunteers from Western culture, i.e. UK, America and Europe, I could enjoy
these occasions with them and know a lot about these festivals.
As the area in which I am living, majority of its population follows Christianity, I was very
much curious about how Christmas is being celebrated here. It turned out that traditional
beliefs are still strong here and Christmas takes a second place because most of the
traditional festivals also fall during the same period.
Most of the volunteers having a long vacation for the Christmas, had plans to celebrate the
Christmas either in their respective home countries or go for some touring around in
Ghana or some other countries. The volunteers here in Bolgatanga decided to celebrate
Christmas together before time and there were two parties celebrated.
First party was celebrated as St. Nicholas Day. It is a festival from northern Europe and not
much celebrated in UK or North America. Sharing and exchange of gifts and family
gatherings are the main features of the day. The volunteers in Bolgatanga gathered in one
of the volunteers house. Everybody, as it always happens in the parties of the people with
western culture, was expected to bring their food and drinks. There was sharing of food.
The hosts of the party, Hannah and Olke, had prepared Mould Wine and Dutch Soup
respectively. Hannah is British, and Mould Wine she had made, consists of wine boiled
with pieces of fruits. Olke is Dutch and she had prepared the traditional Dutch soup which
was made from various unidentifiable spices (as most of them were not Indian), spinach
and sausage. Both of these specialities were completely new to me and were very
delicious.
What followed was the Christmas trivia game, where there was a quiz consisting questions
about Christmas, Jesus and his birth etc. I was the only non Christian person in the whole
group, but it turned out that many people, not following the Christian beliefs, knew little
about those things. There was a gift exchange game as well. Each was supposed to bring
a small gift with proper wrappings so that they could not be identified at the first sight. St.
Nicholas is supposed to bring the gifts to the children (similar to Santa Claus). There were
no children around but all the volunteers ready with gifts. Hannah performed the role of St.
Nicholas and brought the bag full of gifts. Each one chose a gift, I ending up with a pine
apple.
Major fun started afterwards, however, as the exchange started. A story was selected and
read out loudly. Each one was given a particular word from the story. The rule was that as
the particular given word appeared in the story, the person who was given that word had a
chance to snatch the gift from any other person and exchange his gift with that person. I
exchanged my pineapples with a small children's play keyboard and I could retain it with
me through the entire game and irritate other people by playing it discordantly. I had
contributed with the gift of Shea butter pomade and the person who ended with that gift
was not particularly happy about it and I could not help that.
The another party was arranged on the next weekend and it was not exactly Christmas
party but was celebrated with that mood. We had barbecue and hat day on that day. Rose,
Louise and Rachel did the hard work of organizing the things as this time, no food was to
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be brought but everybody was supposed to contribute money. I tried my hand at the
barbecue this time and gained some experience in roasting meat and vegetables using
charcoal fire. There was again a large gathering of people and some people came with
really funny hats.
The last party was on the new year's evening i.e. 31
st
December. We were only 5 people
there as most of them had travelled. I was tired because of the weakness which I carried
because of my recent illness with malaria and lot of movements in the town but somehow I
could manage myself to remain awake up to 12:00 in the midnight. Everybody (except me)
took a sip of whiskey and new year was welcomed with some people going online and
wishing new year to others on Facebook.
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The Unvisited Witches Camp of Gambaga
2-14 January 2011
It was the second day of the year 2011 and also a day off being the weekend. We decided
to spend the day by going somewhere out. Gambaga, about which I have read in the travel
guide book, seemed to be a convenient option as it was likely to be a day trip from
Bolgatanga. We were four people who gathered for the trip, me, Jason, Jillian and Olke.
We started early in the morning and made our way to Walewale, the junction town in
between Bolgatanga and Gambaga, where we got off the tro tro and found another tro tro
for Gambaga. There were a number of buses and tro standing at the junction. One man
asked us by shouting loudly, where?, I had to answer him in the same volume level,
Gambaga. The man smiled and directed towards the right bus. We gave money to the
ticket seller and in return we were given one wooden chip each which was taken back
when the bus was about to start. It took about 30 minutes to get the bus full.
The real painful part of the journey started from Walewale onwards. It was dirt road all the
way up to Gambaga and the bus ride was dusty and bumpy. The bus stopped at a number
of places where the passengers were alighting and boarding. Suddenly and unexpectedly
a tar road started when I thought at last the dirt road had ended but Jillian showed me on
the book that it was going to be only short. Exactly as the book showed, it ended abruptly
and we were back on the dirt road. There was no way anybody could be asked why is it
so?. I thought that I should stop thinking about the questions starting with why till I am
here in Ghana but it is impossible, otherwise there is no point in volunteering. But still I did
not go in for the enquiry of it.
When we alighted in Gambaga, the town seemed to be totally inactive. It was obvious that
there were very few people on the road because it was 12:30 in the afternoon and it was
Sunday. One person who looked unclean and insane approached us and started following
by telling us that he could help by taking us to whatever our destination was. Nobody had
any idea about how to approach the Witches Camp, which we wished to see. As we
wanted to get rid of that person, we decided to have some cold drink before we started for
our destination. But the man won, as we did not find any convenient place to sit near the
lorry station.
We just followed him as he took us to a small open hut where few people were sitting. A
woman was busy preparing the yam chips nearby and she by washing them in the dirtiest
of water I had ever seen being used for food preparation. The person told us that we shall
have to wait till the youth who was seating there under the hut would go the chief and get
his permission for allowing us in the Witches Camp. The youth returned and another man
who was seating there took over the scene. He introduced himself as the prince and
grandson of the Chief. He told us that as per the African tradition, being a foreigner in the
Chief's land, we were supposed to greet him and give him a small gift of Kola nuts and or
some money. The arguments started thereafter.
Olke: But why we have to pay the chief? I have been living in Bolgatanga for last one and
half year. I have met so many chiefs like those of Zuarungu, Vea and Tongo. I have never
given them any money.
Prince: Madam, you have to respect our African tradition. It is not like that we want to
cheat you or ask for your money after seeing your white skin.
Sachin: But you know that happens with us at many places. Our experience has always
been like that.
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Jillian: Some of our friends have visited here before. They never told us about giving any
money to anybody.
Then she called one of our friends to check whether it was right to give money to the
Chief.
Prince: You don't know Gambaga chief. He is superior to all the chiefs in this area. He is
even superior to the one in Yendi. (Yendi is major traditional Chieftaincy area and infamous
for the conflicts resulting into killings.) and I am the prince. I work in Tamale and I know
what I am talking about. (talking to Jillian who was busy talking with the friend on the
phone) Do you understand?
Jason: Brother, she understands English.
Jillian finished talking on the phone.
Prince: Have you finished talking on the phone? What does your friend say? Am I right?
Jillian: Well you can see the book which we are having. Nothing is mentioned here that we
should pay something to the chief. But still we are now ready to pay.
Prince: So you don't believe me. You know chief is taking rest now. He is sleeping. You'll
have to come some other time. It is not possible to visit the Witches camp now.
There were some further discussions but there was no point in arguing the prince and
certainly we did not want to lose our pride by begging him to allow us to the witches camp
and we left the scene. We found a spot and took some cold drinks and headed to lorry
station. We found that buses on their way to Walewale get full by the time they reach
Gambaga so we had to go to Nalerigu, a town further up on the road from where tro tros
start. We found that there was a small attraction of ancient wall built by a local King, which
we thought we would explore but the taxi driver cautioned us that we might lose the bus
and since it was Sunday, we might end up without having any transport to get back to
Walewale afterwards. We had to drop the plan to visit the wall and we took the bus back to
Walewale and then returned to Bolgatanga.
After returning we again went through the Bradt guide book to check whether it was
mentioned about giving money to the chief. It was there and we had completely
overlooked it. The first line in the paragraph about Gambaga said, it is the trail for
exploring a part of the country, that is least visited by the tourists. We laughed over the
fact that though we did not visit the camp we had done that.
I am giving some information about the Witches Camp now. Belief in witchcraft is huge
here. Many times women are the victims of accusation of being witch for some bad things
happening in the family or surroundings. Such women are outcast and they have to live
their villages and go somewhere else. Chief of Gambaga is supposed to have some
magical powers due which these women are not able to practice their witchcraft. Some two
hundred women from various parts of the country have taken refuge in this village and
there is now a small hamlet where these women live. They earn their livelihoods by selling
firewood and some other petty businesses and some are living their with their children as
well.
It was claimed that some women were cured and lost their witch power completely. When
they went back to their home villages, they were beaten and again sent away. Due to this
reason, women feel that they are safe in Gambaga and do not want to return to their
homes. A Christian organization with the help of Gambaga chief is trying to support these
women. If one strikes conversation with other Ghanaians, including the educated lot, they
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say that they are real witches with magical powers and in interest of all the people it is best
that they remain in Gambaga.
Why only women? Why Gambaga is the only refuge for them? How were they started to
be termed as witches? We won't be able to find answers to any of those questions
because we could not make it to Gambaga and don't have the energy to go back there on
that long dusty and bumpy ride.
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Harmattan
15-16 January 2010
Harmattan is a characteristic season of the Sahelian West Africa. Starting late in
November and continuing up to late February, it is the most talked about season here in
this part of the world.
Sahel is that part of the West Africa which lies between Sahara desert and the tropical
forest regions near the coast. It is a hot and dry region with grassland and also sometimes
called as West African Savannah. As the rainy season ends in the first half of November,
cool temperatures start to take over the hot weather. This cooling is not part of the regular
winter taking over the summer however. The region is not close enough to equator to be
completely free from its unchanging hot climate and not far enough from it to have the sub
tropical changing weather patterns. Vast expanse of Sahara desert to the north of the
region, however, makes a large impact on the climate of the region.
As winter starts in Sahara, its sandy plains cool down and the wind blows from the desert
to the southern Savannah region. It brings along with it cool air and dust from the desert.
The wind and the season both are called as Harmattan. The Northern part of Ghana is
highly influenced by Harmattan. Effects of Harmattan are these days seen all the way up
to southern tropical forest region and the coast as well, as desertification process is rapidly
spreading. It reaches its peak in the month of January.
Dryness in the air also dries the skin. People here apply Shea butter as a skin moisturizer.
Shea butter is a vegetable oil extracted from nuts collected from Shea tree. It remains solid
at the room temperature and hence called Shea butter. It has some skin rejuvenating
properties and also used for hairs. The drying of ground takes place and as a result there
is reduction in the number of mosquitoes. Many of the trees lose their leaves. The giant
leafless baobab trees dominate the landscape. The same trees full of leaves are also
dominant in the rainy season however.
Leafless Baobab tree
The temperature becomes lower and coolness of the air is a pleasant relief from the
hotness of the air in the summer and rainy season. There is no need to put on the fan but
one needs to sleep under the thick blanket. Clothes, which one feels to take them off in the
summer, are again badly needed in this season. The local people can sometimes be seen
wearing sweaters throughout the day, which I find it bit too much. The day temperatures
are also pleasantly warm so that there is no sweating at all and one can easily wander in
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the streets during mid day.
The dust is another part of the Harmattan season. The wind brings it all the way from
Sahara and it is always in the air. It finds its way in the rooms regardless of ones efforts to
keep it away by closing windows. Every day as the morning sun rays enter the room, one
gets a view of fresh layer of dust on the floor, tables and every flat surface on which light
falls. The mornings are almost always foggy and it remains like that throughout the day
sometimes. The fog is of course due to the suspended dust particles in the air. The
outdoor day light photographs captured are almost always hazy. On some of the days
because of the winds and the dust, the visibility is less than 500 m and vehicles have to
put their lights on during the day as well.
Hazy Days Throughout
The season is not actually as bad as one may feel after reading it, however. That is
Harmattan.
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Guinea fowls
17 January 2011
My work here in Bongo District Assembly involves study of some interventions identified by
the district assembly of Bongo and developing strategies to promote those interventions in
the district. One of the interventions identified is Guineafowl rearing. In this post I am
writing about the scene of Guineafowl rearing and marketing, as observed by me here in
Bongo. This post is the based on my article in Marathi, which I recently wrote for a
Agrowon newspaper.
Guineafowl is a semi domesticated bird indigenous to savannah region of West Africa. It is
in the family of Chicken. Though it is semi domesticated, it is an important livelihood
source for the rural population in this part of Ghana. Almost all the rural households are
engaged in rearing of this bird and approximately of 25% of the average family income is
derived from poultry. Amongst all the poultry birds, number of guinea fowls is always the
largest because of ease in their rearing. Number of guinea fowls reared by the farmers
ranges from 10 to 300. One peculiarity of the economic arrangements in the households
is that women and men in the house rear their birds separately. Even children who have
attained 10 years of age are encouraged by their parents to rear their own guinea fowls
and they are trained in this skill very early. The farmers having very less number of birds
do it for meeting their consumption needs as well as meeting the expenses at the time of
emergencies. The farmers who have more number of birds see it as a major source of
income.
Guinea fowls can not be reared in complete confinement because they have a natural
tendency for scavenging. The best way to attain maximum benefits from Guinea fowl is by
keeping them in the semi confined state. Farmers keep the birds in the shelters in the night
and provide them with some feeding and water. During the day, the birds keep roaming
outside within the radius of about 500 m from their shelter. Due to this habit of the birds,
they also lay their eggs outside in the open and there is huge loss of eggs amounting to
almost 90%. Farmers generally collect the eggs and get them incubated under female
chicken. One interesting fact about egg laying of guinea fowls is unlike chicken, these
birds do not go into brooding state. Thus they keep on laying every day. However the egg
laying season is generally from April to November.
Some farmers have improved their rearing techniques. They provide their birds with
balanced feeding and they train them to lay eggs in the designated places. These days
some farmers use locally fabricated incubators and provide hatching services to others.
Some farmers have been able to increase the laying season by better management of the
birds.
The birds are not all free from problems however. As they roam freely and lay their eggs in
the open, there is always danger from predators and thieves. Some attention on the birds
when they are moving is always helpful. Some farmers mark their birds with a unique
marking system in which they cut parts of their toes in some specific designs, so that they
do not get mixed with birds of other farmers. Some diseases which are commonly found in
Chicken are also seen attacking Guinea fowls. These diseases include Gumboro,
Paralysis, New Castle, Coccidiosis etc. There is also common occurrence of worms and
mineral deficiencies. An important aspect with the control of these problems is that
because of their scavenging habit, it is always difficult to notice the symptoms of the
diseases in the birds.
The birds get ready for sale in the market in 6-8 months. Under better management and
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with the use of fast growing breeds, one can sale the birds in 4-6 months. Some farmers
buy the birds from other farmers before they are mature for sale and fatten them for 2-3
months until they are ready for sale. Generally there is a very high demand for the birds
during the local traditional festivals which come mostly in the months of November and
December. There is also demand during the time of Christmas, Easter and Ramadan. The
marketing of birds is not a big problem though lack of standards in the market is. The price
is always determined by negotiation between buyers and sellers. Farmers with very less
number of birds sell it locally whereas farmers with large number of birds sell it in larger
town level markets. Some traders move from one market to the other and aggregate the
birds for the larger city markets. Restaurants and Kebab corners are one of the major
buyers of Guinea fowl.
Most of the buyers and consumers in the towns prefer buying the live birds. The
consumers in the cities however prefer processed or properly dressed birds and do not like
to spend time in the culling and cleaning, which is obvious because of the busy lifestyle in
the cities. There are some entrepreneurs who are in the business of processing of Guinea
fowl meat for long term preservation. The processing is done either by smoke drying
method or by freezing. Smoke dried Guinea fowl is more popular in the traditional markets
whereas frozen meat is more being explored in the bigger cities like Accra since it requires
refrigerated storage and transport. The meat of Guinea fowl is considered as tastier than
that of chicken and has less fat and almost free from chemical residues. Due to these
reasons, it enjoys a niche market and does not compete with other meats in the market.
Eggs of Guinea fowl are available in plenty in the small towns during the peak season of
egg laying,. Some women do petty businesses by selling cooked eggs. They are also
commonly used for the witchcraft. In the period of scarcity of eggs, people pay very high
prices.
Though Guinea fowl rearing is not as developed as commercial chicken poultry sector, it is
a major enterprise in this region. The farmers prefer rearing Guinea fowl as it needs very
low investment and the risks involved are very less. It surely has big potential to change
the economy of this region. When out in the field, guinea fowls make a lot of noise, but
when they arrive on the plate all well cooked, they are very delicious.
Guinea fowl birds
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Traditional housing for the birds
Indigenous technical know how- Guinea fowl eggs stored in earthen pots on dawadawa
seeds remain fertile for longer duration
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Hunger
18-25 January 2010
While working in the development sector, one keeps on hearing words such as poverty,
livelihoods, food security and hunger so frequently that it all starts sounding like a rhetoric.
This blog post is not based on any UN Millennium Development Goal or agenda of some
development agency but whatever I have experienced here in Bongo and the thoughts I
have on the issue.
I have heard stories about poverty and lack of availability of food from many old people.
Though many Indians dream of their country becoming superpower, still in many parts of
India, people do face hunger. The issue of hunger struck me greatly two years back, when
we were conducting participatory situation analysis in tribal areas of southern Gujarat.
People had classified the households in various wealth ranks and one of the criteria for
determining the wealth rank was the availability of food.
I conducted the same exercise after coming over here in Bongo in some villages and the
result was strikingly similar and the situation reported seems to be worse than the one
reported in the southern Gujarat. The percentage of people facing food insecurity is double
than that of India. The causes that were reported by the people were of course related with
low agricultural production.
I think that it is a myriad maze of interrelated causes that are leading to this food insecurity.
There seems to be a huge population explosion here with the families having 5-6 kids. The
concept of family planning is virtually non existent. With low agricultural production, little
opportunities for income generation in the area, feeding the families with enough food is a
major problem in the area. In spite of that, as it was revealed in the discussion with the
villagers, spending on social functions such as marriages and funerals and also the
spending on alcohol is huge and together they eat up almost 50% of the income earned.
Interestingly, total spending on social functions equalled to total expenditure on food.
Sight of food and people buying it is always an attraction here. A Solemiya (white person)
like me, while in the market or open public eateries, always finds himself with some
children as well as adults hanging around and asking for food. Walking on the road with
some food in hand will result in open confrontation with some people asking for that
particular food item in your hand. Of course it is impossible to give them free food;
otherwise one will end up in swarms of people following you everyday.
Going hungry for a long time is something always heard here. A discussion which I had
some school children about what and how they eat revealed that many of them go to
school hungry with very little to eat in the morning. Most of them eat from previous day's
leftovers and go to school. These days primary schools have a school feeding programme
but there is no such programme for high schools. It will certainly be not right to expect
these children going to the school hungry and still able to concentrate on their studies.
Generally, people from most of the food secure parts of India eat at least three meals a
day i.e. breakfast, lunch and dinner. Here most of the people eat only two meals a day
(breakfast and dinner) with third meal being mostly uncertain. This is the common scene
even with the people who are food secure. It seems that most of the people here have
adjusted to the hunger in some ways. When they eat, they eat in very large quantities and
can go without food for a very long period in the day. The people who are very thin can be
seen with eating huge bowls of food which I can not even imagine finishing in one go. I
remember reading somewhere that due to frequent droughts faced by the people from sub
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Saharan Africa, they have developed some genetic ability to sustain periods of hunger for
longer duration. Whether they have genetic ability or not, hunger can not be sustained
beyond certain limit where it starts affecting functions of the body.
With all of these problems and results associated hunger discussed, it needs to be seen
how well these issues are tackled in the grass roots. Compared to India, very little efforts
can be seen in the rural parts of Northern Ghana. The impacts these programmes are
having on the improvement in the situation is very little. There is good network of
agricultural extension system but there is not much of improvement in the production and
productivity of food crops. There is large number of NGOs working in this rural parts but
they still have a very long way to go when it comes to poverty alleviation and reduction of
hunger.
This is all happening when Ghana is considered as the most desired recipient of
development aid amongst all the West African countries. I think that there is an important
loophole in this thinking for development aid for mitigating hunger. When India became self
sufficient in the food grain production and acute hunger problem was solved, they were
talking of green revolution and adequate food supply. It might sound harsh but looking at
hunger as some mean to seek aid will never solve the problem because if the problem is
solved then one would lose the mean as well.
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Your Mummy Wants to Buy Tomatoes
26-30 January 2011
Aago! I heard this loud call once late in the evening while I was in the kitchen. They use
this word to attract attention of a person. She was a girl. I looked at her and asked, Yes?
She remained silent for a while; probably she did not know expect a Solemiya (white
person) and could not think of what to say. She said afterwards, I am looking for
somebody. My English has become more Ghanaian these days. I again asked her, Who
somebody? She said, My father. I looked at her and waited for more explanation.
Probably she was confused. She again asked me, Does he live here? I don't remember
his name.
Had I been in India, I would have immediately come to the conclusion that it was some
case of loss of memory and/ or some lost child, who needs immediate reporting to the
police. But I have lived in Ghana for the last six months and I did not find myself shocked
after hearing that question. He lives somewhere here. Yes, his name is Franko. Then I
guided her to the appropriate house and the girl left. My neighbour Franko is a very
popular person in the town and he can be always seen on his motorbike heading
somewhere. It can be anything ranging from helping women's singing groups or running
errands at the Chief's house. It was obvious that he has helped the girl at some point of
the time and girl has started calling him as her father.
Family relations here are somewhat complex in nature. Families are almost always
extended with the polygamous nature of the man-woman relationships being common.
Children grow up in the families with many types of elders around. When somebody calls
somebody as father, he can be a real father, a step father, an uncle, an external benefactor
to the family or just some big fatherly figure in the persons life.
During my first month in Bongo, a friend called Aidan once introduced his brother Malik,
who washes his clothes and was also going to wash my clothes henceforth. I started to
use my logic and found out some discrepancies in the information which he had just
provided to me. Aidan is a Christian name and Malik is a Muslim name. It seemed to mean
that their parents must be following different religions and had given those names deriving
from their religions. Aidan had told me that he was not native of Bongo. Malik looked old
enough not to depend on Aidan and further he was also not going to any school. It seemed
to mean that Malik had no business living with Aidan but he should have been living with
his parents and caring for them instead. Giving a big knock to my logical mental linkages I
had established, I was told that Aidan and Malik are good friends and neighbours. It was
the brotherly relation and not the blood relation between them.
People sometimes stress while introducing their siblings that they are from same mother
and father, so that their blood relationship gets underlined. When I am in office premises
and somebody asks me, where is your father? instead of answering that he is in India, I
answer them that he is in office or Bolgatanga. In the office premises, they are referring to
my reporting officer as father and not my real father. It is the context that makes the
interpretation of the reference easy. I have started to give my usual analytical skills a rest
when it comes to the people referring somebody as their immediate relatives.
It was my fourth month here in Ghana and I had got used to these loose terminologies in
the human relationships. It was well past the regular working hours, when I had closed for
the day and heading for the house. I was passing through the neighbouring office, where
one elderly respectable lady, whom I greet regularly, was still working in her office. I
greeted her. She looked exhausted. She told me, Your mother is sick. I had heard plenty
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of stories about witchcraft and magic. I started to think, Is she a clairvoyant? I need to call
home now. She said further, Oh, my son, I am hot. It was another shock. But things
started to fall in proper place when I heard her next sentence. I have forgotten to bring my
purse and I need to buy some small things so that I can make some soup today. So the
equation was as given below,
Your mother is sick. Oh, my son. = I am like your mother and I am not feeling well.
I am hot. = I don't have enough money.
Looking at her condition and feverish look, I gave her some money. She said in motherly
way to me, God bless you. I felt nice by helping an elderly woman who was in trouble.
So that is how these loose relationships work. I think I understand them small small. I
thought to myself.
Once in the Bolgatanga lorry station, I was buying eggs at one shop near Bongo station.
There were some discussion about the prices and freshness of eggs. She looked
impressed by the fact that a foreigner like me is living in Bongo and knows about the
prices and qualities of eggs. We had a friendly talk afterwards about what I do here in
Ghana and how frequently I come to Bolgatanga. I told her about my volunteering and my
friends in Bolgatanga. While taking her leave, she smiled and told me, Now you can
always buy the eggs from me. Do come next time. She added further, I am also now one
of your friends in Bolgatanga. Without thinking much about my criteria for calling
somebody a friend, I just smiled and confirmed, Oh, yes you are.
A few days ago, the elderly lady who calls me as her son these days, once stopped me
when I was passing by. There were some ladies carrying polythene bags full of tomatoes.
Some vendor had came near their office and selling tomatoes very cheap. The discussion
about tomatoes was in full force. The lady looking at me expectedly, my son, I did not
have any time to go to Bolgatanga this week and I can't make soup without using
tomatoes. Your mummy wants to buy some tomatoes. I did some logical thinking, which I
later realized that it was not necessary, except for the fact that I did not want to offend her,
but give her some correct response. She looked well. She did not tell me that she had
forgotten her purse or lost all of her money. I could relate to the talk of the women who
were talking intensely about the freshness and cheapness of tomatoes. I said to her, Let
me think about it. I shall go to the office and see if I can manage to buy the tomatoes
today. Okay, she answered. At last, I had escaped from my so called mother.
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Girls in Bongo
31 January to 11 February 2011
On one of the rock on one of the ways that climb up the Bongo Rock, a small hillock in
Bongo, there is written in bold letters, Bongo Girls are Dangerous. We had laughed a lot
when we had read that for the first time. I asked one of the local boys accompanying us
during the hike, whether whatever that was written on the rock was true. The boy had
smiled and said, I don't know. It was as if he wanted not to say that it was true to a
foreigner like me. As a man living alone in a place like Bongo, I have come across many
encounters where I had to interact with girls or women. I am telling some of them.
Most of the female volunteers who are working here are almost always approached by
men. It is so common and sometimes so foolish that men many times in the first meeting
end up proposing marriage. In the first months many times these volunteers end up getting
one marriage proposal a day. The female volunteers learn it eventually that it is not to be
taken very seriously. Since Bongo falls in the relatively conservative northern part of the
country, I had thought that here women might not be that bold. But there were some
incidences where I received some marriage or relationship proposals.
A woman came once to the office to meet my boss. He had gone somewhere away, she
started talking to me while seating on the comfortable couch. When she came to know that
I am married, she started to ask me how I could stay away from my wife so long. You
must be feeling very lonely, she said and added further, You know my husband has gone
to US and I am also very lonely like you. Therefore we can get along with each other very
well Then she told me that she would like to come with me to India. I did not know how to
answer her appropriately and get rid of her, but fortunately my boss arrived in the office
and the matter ended there.
A girl once entered into the office. She knew that he would be out for almost half hour, she
kept on sitting in the office looking at me, while I was busy working on the computer. I
thought it was the natural curiosity about the foreigners which most of the local people
have, which will subside after a while. I thought that I should talk with her little bit so that
she would stop staring at me. She started to talk a lot and I got bored. As my boss came
into the office, the problem seemed to have solved. But I realized that it was not, when the
girl boldly mentioned to my boss that she would like to marry me. I told her that I am happy
having only one wife. I could not help but I had to put her off by saying that I didn't want
trouble in life. Though I was smiling while saying this, she was clearly disappointed and
went away in a very un-Ghanaian way without saying any good bye.
Once a lady came to my house very late in the evening when it was getting dark and
introduced herself saying that she had worked before for other volunteers living in the
house. In the first meeting she wanted my phone number. I did not give her my number
and told her that I shall send her a message through somebody if I needed anything or a
service since she lived near to my house. She then kept on coming to the house always
late in the evenings when it got dark and then I had to rudely just tell her that she should
not come. She stopped coming to the house afterwards.
I used to buy fruits from two small girls. The poor girls moved around the town with their
worn out slippers in the scorching heat. The girls almost always moved together. They
helped each other, but when it came to selling, they used to fight with each other. I told
them that they should not to fight and I would buy from both of them. It was fun. I think
news of Solemiya buying fruits from small girls spread rapidly and I was approached
almost everyday by some small girls selling fruits. I started regularly buying fruits from the
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two small girls. They were bit curious about me as most of the children are. They used ask
me about my wife and children etc. I had travelled for some days and after coming back,
on one evening, suddenly two different grown up girls showed up at the house. I was very
much confused after seeing them. How these girls can grow so much within a span of just
15 days, I asked myself. Though, after realizing that these were two different girls, I
bought fruits from them. While handing over the fruits and taking money, they tried touched
me. They were not deterred seeing my stern face and reaction and kept on hanging near
the gate of the house after I went back in the room. I heard one of the girls singing and
then I came out and told her to go away, she went away still looking at me expectedly.
After driving those two girls away for good, one small looking but grown up girl kept on
coming to the house in the late evening when it was near to getting dark, in spite of me
telling her that I did not want to buy fruits from her. She was very persistent in her efforts. I
really felt sorry for her as I could see her attraction towards me but same time I could also
see her innocence being small girl changing into a different phase of life. I have stopped
buying fruits from these moving children now.
With most of the girls living in a not so much controlled social environment with poverty
common everywhere, getting into puberty is a start of a problem here. It is not very
uncommon to see young school going girls getting pregnant and bearing children in this
part of the world. Are Bongo girls dangerous or the uncontrolled social environment which
leads to this situation? Latter is of course true.
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Exploring Food (and Drink) IV
12 February to 2 March 2011
If one is really open to various types of foods, then Ghana offers a wide variety of foods.
Many of this variety of foods is available on the streets and restaurants. In rural parts of
India variety of food items available on streets or restaurants is limited. E.g. in rural areas
of Maharashtra one has to limit himself to the usual affair of Misal and Wada Pav and
usual Thali meals at the lunch and supper times. The comparative cheapness of street
food and almost no excessive use of spices and artificial colours in the street food makes
any average person to engage in eating out very easily. An interesting fact which I found
here was that the cost which I am incurring on preparing my own food is more than what I
would have spent by depending on the local food available outside at the vendors. Of
course there are various factors involved in it e.g. my cooking involves use of various
exotic ingredients and relatively expensive vegetables like carrots and cabbage.
In this post I am including some more local food preparations I tasted between my last
post on foods and drinks and this one.
Fried balls of Mashed Plantains with Ginger: This was once randomly on sale on the
eatery opposite to my office. These were ripe plantains mashed with ginger and then fried.
The taste was really good.
Rice Balls in Groundnut Soup: This is something very commonly available and suits to my
Indian taste buds. They prepare very soft and sticky rice, which is then formed into big
balls by pressing with hands. While serving, it is put in a big bowl of groundnut soup. This
soup is made by using groundnut paste, meat stock and various spices.
Tubaani: These are steamed cakes made from of soy bean flour. While serving, it is
dressed with Shea oil, red chilli powder and salt.
Flour Water: It is not available on streets but it is the regular diet of the poor people in the
northern part of Ghana. It has similarity with Ambil (Ambalee in the southern parts of
India). It is made by adding Shea butter, red chilli powder and salt to the millet flour. This
mixture is kneaded well and then water is added to it. It is stirred thoroughly and the
mixture is served in bowls made from Calabash fruit rinds.
Dog Meat: It is considered as a delicacy in the Northern part of Ghana. Certainly majority
of Indians will frown upon the fact that dog is eaten here and a person like me who has
been born in Brahmin caste has eaten it. The meat is generally served in the steamed
form and it is eaten with red chili powder and salt mixture. It has less fat and the taste is
bland. The people here keep two types of dogs, one is a pet dog which has less chances
of getting chopped and the other is meat dog which has more chances of getting chopped.
However both the types of dogs have some chances of getting chopped.
Ice creams: Fan Ice is a local brand of ice creams which is sold by vendors moving on
cycles provided to them by the company. It comes in sachets and you can eat really when
it has melted to some extent so that you can suck it out from them. There are a number of
flavours including one with yogurt.
Now some information about the drinks available here,
Malt: It is a non alcoholic drink made from beer mash. It is slightly bitter in taste and smells
of beer. Many people take it as a health drink since it contains malt extracts and also has
some vitamins in it.
Alvaro: It is also a malt based drink but it is clear, carbonated, sweetened and flavoured. It
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does not smells of any fermentation.
Beer: I tasted it first time in my life after coming to Ghana. All my knowledge about beers
comes from the two local brands of beer found here. Star brand of beer has 7% alcohol
and has slightly bitter taste. The another brand of beer called Shandy has lesser alcohol
content i.e. only 2% and it is mixed with lemonade and has slightly sweeter taste. Since I
have taken it only a number of times, the only thing that I can tell about these alcoholic
drinks is that they loosen you a bit and you can enjoy that looseness only if you drink
slowly.
Quinine: It is local brand of soda mixed with a bitter substance called quinine and lemon
flavor. Since quinine is a drug for curing malaria, people claim that drinking quinine can
cure your malaria. The taste is bitter and not so great at all.
Fresh Taste: This is common name for frozen, flavoured, coloured and sweetened water
that is sold in plastic sachets. It is similar to the so called Pepsi in India. The name Fresh
Taste is derived from a brand so ordering a Fresh Taste can end you in getting a frozen
liquid of any other brand or sometimes even without a brand. The taste is sometimes really
bad if the chemicals added to the water are not in the right proportion.
Other Soft drinks: Numerous local brands of soft drinks,with a variety of flavours, are
available in the market. Their presence in the market and the fact that people are buying
them means that they are popular. Many of them do not taste good to me. Coca Cola has
dominant presence here over Pepsi. Their soft drinks like Coke, Fanta, and Sprite are
commonly available in glass as well as plastic bottles.
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Navrongo and Tongo
3 March 2011
Here in the Upper East Region of Ghana, there many villages which end with the letters
go, e.g. Bongo, Kongo, Tongo, Navrongo, Gorogo, Yorogo and so on. In the last month
we visited two places on two different weekends. First was Navrongo and the other was
Tongo.
I went to Navrongo with one of my new friend, Rogier, whom I had met in one of the
gatherings of the volunteers. Rogier works in one NGO in Bolgatanga and is from the
Netherlands. This was my first time finding some non Indian travel buddy, about whom I
had not known much before. In my first meeting with Rogier, I found him to be cool and
much down to earth, so I thought that I might ask him if he was interested in joining me for
the trip. He said that he was very much interested in it. It turned out that he was a really
laid back person and we got along with each other very well.
Navrongo is a town in the Upper East Region of Ghana and situated about 20 km from
Bolgatanga, the regional capital. Navrongo is the head quarters for the district called
Kassena Nankana West. Once Government of Ghana had planned to make it the regional
capital but then it was dropped after a while. One of the advantages of that plan however,
is that the town has some nice tree lined streets which is a rarity in this part of the world.
Navrongo is also the headquarters for the catholic diocese and first Christian mission in
northern part of Ghana was started here in the year 1906, when British had newly
occupied this territory. It was lead by a Canadian missionary called Oscar Morin.
There is a cathedral is known as Cathedral of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows. It is built by
using elements of traditional and western architecture. There is also a small museum in
the area, where various traditional artefacts and models of traditional houses and paintings
are displayed.
It was a completely hassle free trip and nothing exciting happened. We had a good time,
which I think, is the most important.
My other tour was to a place called Tengzug. I had been planning for this tour for a long
time. Tengzug is a small community near a district town called Tongo and there is no public
transport that goes all the way to Tengzug and one has to walk from Tongo to Tengzug.
There are only two options to reach Tengzug, either hire a taxi from Bolgatanga or walk
from Tongo. I had preferred first option and that required the taxi to get full so that it would
cost less per person. There were always some and other problems in getting four people
willing to go to Tengzug at one time. One weekend when Tom and Nicki, a VSO volunteer
couple based in Accra travelled up in the North and showed there interest in going to
Tongo. It was a lucky day as I found Sadat, who works at Agriculture Department office in
Bongo and drives taxi on the weekends. He took us to Tengzug while entertaining us with
his wits and impressing us with the information he had about various places he had been
in Ghana.
Tongo and Tenzug are important places for the people of Talensi tribe who inhabit the
area. Talensi is one of few tribe in the northern part of Ghana, who offered some
resistance to the British acquisition. Tengzug is developed as a community led tourism site
with the help of Peace Corps. They have developed a conducted tour of the community
which includes various sites such as the first school in the area, chief's palace, and its
compound, various shrines, tombs of the chiefs, sacrificial caves and the most important
shrine called Baar Tonnab Ya shrine. The sites are very near to each other and it took us
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about two hours to visit all these in the conducted tour of the place. There was a visitor
centre, where we entered our names and paid our fees. The heavily built guide was trying
to hurry up the things and was not allowing us enough time to really appreciate the things
and take snaps of the places that were being showed to us.
For a person like me who has seen plenty of villages and slums in India, the first site of
chief's compound was nothing remarkable as it was only a big area closed by a wall and
inside the compound were very small houses built close to each other. There was one
multi-storied structure which was called chief's palace. The area was not connected to the
main electricity grid. The information about the whole community was something which
made the site very interesting. The chief has 18 wives and 110 children. Each wife has a
separate house within the compound and many of the sons have built their own houses
within the compound. So it is a small village. Of course there are not much of resources in
the area to live by and many of his sons have migrated.
The community of Tengzug is famous as an important site for people who follow local
beliefs. The people go there to seek solutions to their problems, which range from medical
to financial. Sacrifices are offered and various rituals are performed almost every day. The
community is full of so called shrines which are nothing but the sacrificial alters. The site is
also popular in the people from southern part of Ghana. We were told that many pastors in
the local churches, who claim to have powers to drive evil spirits, also visit the place to
seek power.
There was one cave which was full of donkey skulls offered by the devotees. By the way,
the donkeys are not wasted here when they become old. They are eaten and it is
considered as a good meat. Here they believe that donkeys work very hard and if one eats
donkey meat, one can become as tough and hard working as donkey. We visited the main
shrine called Baar Tonnab Ya shrine. It was nothing more than a small cave with a pile of
feathers of chicken and smears of Shea butter on the rock. It is famous with the tourists as
topless shrine as people of both the sexes have to visit the shrine by keeping their body
naked above waist and below knees. We boys went to shrine whereas the girls chose to
remain behind.
After finishing our visit to Tengzug, on our way back we stopped in Tongo for soft drinks at
a place called Super Natural Drinking Spot. The name sounded very funny but it was in
line with the local beliefs in the place for which it is famous.

Cathedral of Our Lady of Seven Sorrows
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Chiefs Palace

Chiefs compound
A shrine or Sacrificial Alter
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Beating the Heat
4 -19 March 2011
It is the peak hot season and today I took a ride on the back of an open truck. It gave me a
kind of adrenaline rush, as I was standing on the back of a speeding truck seeing the
passing slow moving pedestrians, overtaking cars and taking the hot air blowing straight
on the face. I don't know how I long would have been able to stand that but I had a feeling
that I was really enjoying that adventure in the peak hot season of northern Ghana. That's
when I thought that I should write something about the hot season.
Wait till the hot season comes. You'll have a real experience of the northern part of
Ghana. I have been hearing this from various people who range from VSO staff,
volunteers and locals who have spent some considerable time here in this part of the
world. For me, the seasonal change seemed very natural and similar to India. When I
arrived in the month of July, it was raining here. I had escaped from the four and half
month torrential Mumbai monsoon to the mild but erratic six month West African monsoon.
The monsoonal rains stopped somewhere in the month of November. Somewhere in the
month of December started Harmattan which brought coolness and lots of dust in the air.
Similar to the rains, Harmattan winds were erratic. Sometimes they blew and sometimes
they did not. In the mid of February the weather suddenly changed and while everybody
back in India, was still enjoying the cool winter, it started to become hot.
I did not realize that weather has changed till one day, when I found myself buying two
more water sachets than my usual one water sachet during the day. After about a week, I
started to hear people discussing the weather. Oh, my goodness, it is too hot these days,
isn't it?, I heard volunteers from UK saying in their typical British accent. Whenever I
asked any local person, hello, how are you? I found him wiping sweat on his head and
answering, I am hot. Suddenly there was an outbreak of Facebook status updates by the
volunteers in the northern part of Ghana, in which the daily temperatures and the
uneasiness brought to the people by the heat was being fervently discussed.
One afternoon, I was returning back to Bongo from Bolgatanga in an open passenger
carrier vehicle and when tro left Bolgatanga town and hot air started to blow directly on my
face. My eyes became dry suddenly and I felt for the first time that the heat is for real.
Back in India, I am used to the hot and humid weather during summers which gets to a
maximum of 35
0
Celsius
.
I have not yet seen the temperatures measured by the
thermometers but they say that they are always above 42
0
Celsius during the day these
days. Internet search about temperatures in Bolgatanga shows such varied figures that it
is best not to believe any of them. Unlike India, there are no weather reports anywhere on
television and radio and no authentic figure is announced for the public use.
My typical day in March starts here at around 6:00 am with relative coolness in the air (it is
relative) making it possible to do exercise or other physical activities like sweeping,
washing clothes etc. I usually see women doing their threshing and pounding outside their
houses during this time of the day. There are also some old men hanging out outside their
houses and doing nothing. After having a bath, I make breakfast and eat it till about 8:30.
By the time I finish my breakfast, I find myself wiping the sweat off the body. When I look
outside during this time, the women doing their work are no longer there. The old men are
vanished. The tree which I can see from my house is completely defoliated at this time of
the year and it is full with beautiful white coloured inflorescence. But that means that there
are no children there playing under its shade these days. The open fields in front of my
house are now completely vacant with no people around.
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When I reach the office by 9:30 am, the scene is as usual and people are seen carrying
their usual businesses and moving around, since most of them are working inside their
offices and not labouring like those threshing women. One can see more number of people
hanging out under the mango tree, which really provides cool shade than the concrete
ceilings of the buildings. When it turns to 12:00 in the noon, it gets really very hot. I am
lucky to get myself placed in the office of the District Planning Unit which has an air
conditioner. There have been number of days with either power failures or problems with
the air conditioner and I have found myself sitting in the office, wiping sweat off my face
and trying my best to concentrate on my work.
In the noon when the temperatures are at their peak, people find their brains becoming
slow. Many people place their heads on the desks and take rest. Instead of sitting under
the fans which can circulate only hot air, it is better to go outside in the balcony and see if
one can get some sporadic breeze. When I had gone for my meeting with the Shea Butter
Processing Centre in this month, the women had arranged their meeting in the veranda
instead of their main hall as they wanted to take advantage of the breeze.
By the time I finish my day and return to the house in the evening, I find my bedroom in the
preheated condition, because two of the walls of my bedroom receive the direct heat from
the sun on its northerly move. It remains hot and it is impossible to get uninterrupted sleep
until 3:00 am, when it really cools down and I find myself getting into real sleep. It is just
three hours more and my alarm buzzes at 6:00 am. I feel a bit tired for a while because of
lack of proper sleep but as I see morning light, the women threshing and small girls
fetching water, I find myself ready for the day.
Overcoming the problems of hot weather was not as difficult for me as I observed how
local people have been managing it and trying to find really localized solutions. I heard that
people sleep outside during hot season and I started keeping all the windows open. This
helped to cool down the bedroom rapidly. I was told that Shea butter helps to avoid skin
problems arising in the summer due to excess heat, sweating and lack of water for
cleaning oneself frequently. I used it on my skin and it has helped to clear and check skin
rashes.
I remembered vaguely reading somewhere while back in India that sherbet made from
Ambadi (Hibiscus cannabinus) flowers is taken in some parts of India during the summers.
I found that local Bito is nothing but the same plant and its dried flowers are sold in the
market. Local people boil those petals in the water so that sourness of the petals goes
away and the boiled cooked petals can be used as a vegetable. I use the extract instead
and throw the petals away to make my Ambadi flower sherbet. After coming from outside,
all tired and sweating, there is nothing more refreshing than a glass of cool Ambadi flower
sherbet. My local friends have also liked the taste of it and they have spread the word
around about it.
The one important effect of this heat is that I have become darker in complexion. This
added with with my short machine cut hair and shirts made from local cloths make me look
more African. That's what was told to me by many people. One important lesson I have
learned in this hot season is that nature requires us not to adopt but to adapt to the
situation.
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Moving On
20 March 2011
Today is the day when my actual stay here is mostly over by 75%. It is also the day, where
I realize that many of the fellow VSO volunteers in the country with whom I have become
friends, would be gone home in the coming one and half months. I shall be following them
in approximately 3 months from today.
The period of three months is short for a long term volunteer placement but equals to a
short term volunteer placement. I am very much looking forward to the remaining period
which I am going to spend here. There are many things in terms of work to be completed,
some more capacities of myself to be developed, some more places around to be visited
and some events to be experienced. It is the time to move on. I am also very much looking
forward to the start of life back in India. Finding a suitable job, a small tour with the family
and spending quality time with them is my high priority agenda after going back.
It was very tough for me to taking the decision to go for volunteering and actually come
here in Ghana. It was a great challenge for me getting through the hurdles of getting
passport, leaving the country for the first time and going through the experience of living in
a remote corner of a country. More than whatever it can add to my career, I think that it is
the social skills, new friends and a highly broadened outlook that has changed me and I
am sure after going back to India, I shall not be the same person again.
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The Difference A Smile Can Make
21 March 2011
I was conducting a meeting with a women's co-operative in Bongo district. The co-
operative is engaged in processing of Shea butter. The discussions were centered on
hardships associated with collection and processing of Shea nuts. The discussions were
lively and what I liked the most, while interacting with the women, was that the usual tone
for asking some funds for helping them was not there at all. These hard working women
expressed their need for capital however. Since I am not engaged in any kind of project
but conducting the value chain study, I could not promise them anything. When I asked for
a group picture they happily agreed and immediately organized themselves for it. That was
real cohesive Asungtaaba. Asungtaaba means let's work together. It is a traditional
association of women where they come together in a group and help each other in various
tasks which include farming, collection of firewood, Shea nut collection and processing etc.
After seeing them organized for the snap, I just clicked it. One of the women told me
afterwards that they were ready then. I told them that I have already clicked the photo. She
argued, But you did not tell us to smile. How can that be a good picture? I said, Okay.
Let me take one more snap again. I said this thinking that it was going to cost me nothing
to take that extra picture on my digital camera and there was no point in argument. This
time before clicking the picture, I said loudly, all smile please! and everybody became
ready in their best smiles.
Afterwards while looking at both the pictures; I realized how much difference does a smile
makes. In the first picture, all the hardships in the life can be seen on those serious faces.
The second picture with all smiling shows that these hardships can be overcome and very
small moments can be really enjoyed to bring the happiness in life.
Serious
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Smiling
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Ghana Wildlife Tour I- Jirapa
21 March -23 April 2011
It has been more than a month and I have not written anything on the blog. In spite of the
fact that I did not write anything, life has been very interesting and enjoyable here. After
touring around and seeing some more of Ghana, I thought that it was enough of the rest
for the blog and I should start writing again.
This was my first time where I did not do complete planning for the travel in advance and
kept it very lose. Surprisingly it was very good in spite of not having much of expectations
about the travel. It was Easter and most of the volunteers had already travelled to various
destinations. We, me and Rahul, decided to take a cooler approach and went to the
locations when there was least possibility of finding the places crowded.
Our first destination was Jirapa in the Upper West Region and main objective of visiting
that place was meeting Rose, Aaron, Noriko and Cath, who live there. They are all VSO
volunteers and good friends. Since it was difficult to catch the early morning bus to Wa, the
capital of the upper west region, I had to come to Bolgatanga a night in advance. My very
kind friend Alice provided me shelter for that night and in spite of having malarial infection,
cooked for us and we had a nice evening with film show on her projector, where we
watched Da Vinci Code.
Next day even before the crack of the dawn at 4:00 am, I started for lorry station where I
waited for 2 hours for the start of selling of tickets for the only one bus available from
Bolgatanga to Wa. At last the famous orange coloured Metro Mass bus was parked in the
lorry station and they started issuing the tickets. My plan of starting on the second day of
easter had gone well and I ended up having to stand not for long in the queue and getting
a seat in the first half of the bus. A catholic nun was sitting besides me and I found it funny
that she was more impatient than me about bus not starting. The bus at last started at 7:00
am, when the driver realised that they did not have enough fuel and they headed for the
filling station. The journey lasted for 8 hours on the dusty and bumpy un-tarred road that
passed through forests and very small villages. It was tiring and boring. After reaching Wa,
the sister sitting besides me helped me by finding one lady who was also going to the town
near to Jirapa. The lady accompanied me during the 10 minutes walk from Metro Mass
bus station to the central lorry station and also showed me the location of the trotros to
Jirapa. I highly appreciate the kindness of the people here in Ghana and will always
remember it.
After another monotonous journey for one and half hour, I reached Jirapa. Rose picked me
up from the road on her motorbike and took me to her house. I met Rahul in her house,
who had already arrived there in the morning. After taking nice lunch of Khichdi prepared
by Rose and taking a refreshing bucket bath followed by rest, I was all ready for the next
action. We had a pleasurable evening with chat and card games with Aaron and Noriko.
Aaron is a volunteer from Australia and Noriko is his girlfriend. After a while it was time for
Church. It was Easter and Rose, being a devout Christian wanted to go to church. I and
Rahul also accompanied her to the church since it was an opportunity to see something
new. I had never attended any big church service before and it was a special mass for the
Easter night, so a great opportunity to experience some Christian and African culture.
When we reached, the service was already begun and it was full with people. Some of the
nuns after seeing us made some space for us on the benches. The church service was all
in the local Dagaare language. There were lots of songs and dancing. The music, which
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was played using the traditional instruments, xylophone being one of them, was really
enchanting. Somewhere in between there was a small skit presented by school children
about resurrection of Christ. The church priest baptized to some people and they were
announced to have become Christians. Afterwards there was sprinkling of holy water.
Rose told us that there would be some candle light march but since it started raining, they
might had cancelled it. It was already past midnight and we were feeling sleepy by that
time. It seemed that the function did not have an end. As the rainfall started to recede, we
left the church.
Rose's house does not have water supply connection and she has to buy water. There
was not much water left in the house. Aaron's house however has water supply connection
and he kindly allowed us to go there and take bath. After some more early morning
chatting over Japanese green tea, we left Jirapa for Wechiau. With some catching up of
sleep and refreshed bodies as well as minds we were excited and very much looking
forward for seeing Hippos in wild, which we had seen only in zoos and on television
before.
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Ghana Wildlife Tour II- Hippos of Wechiau
24- 25 April 2011
In the Upper West Region, we came across a new word for white man. After getting used
to being called Obruni (Twi word used in the southern part of Ghana) and Solemiya
(Gurune word used in the Upper East Region), it was the time for getting used to being
called as Nasala. It is used in Wala and other languages in the Upper West region. We
had to wait for almost three hours in Wa to get our tro tro for Wechiau getting filled with
people and at last we started for Wechiau. Though Wechiau is a comparatively bigger
town and a district place, it is very remote and one has to go on a dirt road for almost 40
km which took almost two hours to reach Wechiau. In contrast to the Upper East, we found
that not many people could speak or understand English here and we had to ask the same
questions to many number of people to get them answered.
Wechiau has an old mosque which is similar to the one seen in Larabanga. We could see
it just on the road and not really see it from close as there was some cultural program
happening near it and we were in a hurry to reach camp site as early as possible. After
reaching visitor centre, we were introduced to the facilities of ecotourism developed in
Wechiau by our guide Bom Rashid. It is a large region consisting of about 20 communities
which are under Wechiau traditional area. The chief of Wechiau called Wechiau Na heads
the ecotourism committee. The committee has protected the forests and wildlife in their
area. There are guards for patrolling and trained guides to take the tourists around. The
area is known as Wechiau Community Hippo Sanctuary. I think it is one of the finest
examples of how a forest over a large area can be protected through community efforts.
The income received through ecotourism activities is used for various community
development activities. The venture has received support from Peace Corps and Calgary
Zoo in Canada.
We opted for canoe safari for seeing hippos and a birding safari. After paying the fees, we
were taken to the camp site, which is about 19 km from Wechiau and near the river bank.
It was a costly affair, because we were just two of us and we had to charter a tro tro. The
village at the camp site does not have any electricity supply or mobile connectivity. The
village is not served by any public transport as well. Of course there are many such
villages in Ghana but it was my first time going to such a location. It gives you a feeling of
complete remoteness. It meant that the canoe rowers could not be informed in advance
and we had to wait a long time till our guide located him. He then refused to take us on the
Safari as he had complaints against the ecotourism committee for inadequate payments to
him. The other canoe rowers had gone out somewhere and not available. Later somehow
he agreed and we went for the canoe safari.
At last we could see them, the hippos. They were swimming in the river water. They keep
wallowing in the river water throughout the day and become active during the evening
when they start grazing and come on the ground during the night. There are around 20
hippos in Wechiau. First we saw their ears poking out of the water and then we waited
there patiently, when we could see their movements. They were total four of them. We
could not go near them, but maintained a distance of about 50 m from them. They are
known to attack the people if they go near them. The interesting fact about them is they
are completely vegetarian. Apart from seeing hippos, the beautiful scenery on the river
was also enjoyable. The Black Volta River, in which we were canoeing, had greenery all
across its banks. We could see some birds around. The blackish green water in the river
was flowing slowly. On the other side of the river is Burkina Faso. It was funny feeling of
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getting in waters of another country to see hippos. At last I had crossed the border and
entered in Burkina Faso in some way. People were fishing in the river and crossing the
river in their canoes without any control. What a peaceful cross border life they are
enjoying. I don't think if I can do that on any of the borders of India.

Hippo Yawning!
We returned to the camp site all hot, tired and sweating and it was most enjoyable to have
bath with cool water in a bathroom with no roof. One has to buy ones own food while
going to Wechiau and there is no food service available. We had bought some bread and
boiled eggs which we found on the street of Wa. It would have been really nice to take
something which we could have cooked there since there were facilities available for
cooking such as a coal stove and utensils. Apart from Rahul and me, there were two Dutch
girls, with whom we talked and passed our time by eating the pineapple which they had
brought and shared with us. After a while it was night and it was the time to go to sleep.
Bom, our guide, arranged the beds on the roof tops. With proper arrangement of beds and
mosquito nets and blankets, we were all ready to sleep but I could not since I was seeing
the open sky, clouds, stars and the rising moon. I had never felt so close to nature before.
After midnight it became very cool and we had to get our blankets on. It was too cold for a
summer night in this northern part of Ghana. Somewhere in the night, I climbed down the
ladder of the roof to urinate. For the first time I have been here in Ghana, I shivered in the
summer. Somewhere in the midnight Rahul heard some animals and woke me up saying
that hippos have come near the camp site. I broke out laughing after hearing those
sounds. They were goats making some funny sounds. I have heard them making those
sounds many times before in Bongo. I could say then that I was more experienced than
him in such matters.
It was morning and time to use the latrine. It was still somewhat dark and I could not see
properly in the toilet room. After sitting on the toilet seat for some time, I sensed some
insects walking on my legs and after some time I got bitten by them on the crotch. They
were red ants. So I had now another experience of being more close to the nature. It was
nothing serious and the pain receded after sometime. We ventured out for the birding
safari. We did not have any food left but fortunately there was a shop in the village and we
could find some biscuits. The Chinese biscuits had made their way in this remote corner of
Ghana. I hate the sight of Chinese food items since I have read a number of stories about
the adulteration and use of synthetic materials which they use in their food stuffs. But I
should say that we did not go to the safari with hungry stomachs, because of their
availability there at that shop.
We saw many birds, some of them were really beautiful but certainly could not be captured
in the old clapped out camera of mine. The names of the birds were also not easy to
remember. The most memorable part of the birding safari was having a dip in the black
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Volta. Feeling of swimming in the slowly moving water of the river and sight of the cool,
green river bank was really surreal. Our guide Bom had told us about the presence of
crocodiles, so there was a small piece of fear lingering in the mind. But that made the dip
in the river more enjoyable and memorable as it gave a feeling of doing something
adventurous.

Human life on the Black Volta
After that dip we started for returning to Wechiau and further to Wa. The Dutch girls had
came all the way from Wa to the campsite in a hired taxi which had gone back. They had
not done any arrangement for return to Wechiau. We had to wait for them to return from
their canoe safari. After they returned we made them hurry up since we had to reach Wa in
time and catch the bus going near Mole National Park. The girls did not take much time to
get prepared and we were on our way to Wechiau. In Wechiau, we could eat some
breakfast and as the tro tro become ready to move, we were also ready to move to Wa.
We helped the Dutch girls by taking them to the bus station as they wanted to head back
to Accra. They were in the profession of journalism, which makes it clear why they could
get prepared in such a short period of time and why they could make a 9 hour crazy
journey from Kumasi to Wechiau the day before and again heading back to Accra the next
day by making a 14 hour journey. All for the two hour canoe trip to see hippos. We thought
we were crazy to spend more time in moving from one place to another than actually
spending the time at the locations. But here it turned out that we were just crazy small.
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Ghana Wildlife Tour III- Elephants of Mole
25- 27 March 2011
After hippos, it was the turn of elephants to give us a sighting, for which we were heading
to Mole National Park. We took the Metro Mass bus going to Damongo and got down in
the village of Larabanga. We saw the mosque, which is claimed to be the oldest in Ghana,
just on the road. Last time when we had visited the village, we had paid 2 cedis each just
to see the mosque. I started joking with Rahul and asked to give me 2 cedis since I
showed him the mosque on the road. As we got down the bus, two guys came and greeted
us and then started the haggling for taking us to Mole on their motorbikes. We tried to
reduce the prices in vain. The guy who was taking me on his motorbike was riding very
fast and seemed to have no proper control over his bike. I had to tell him a number of
times to reduce the speed. At last we reached there safely and since we had escaped the
Easter weekend rush, we got the accommodation in the dormitory.
Rahul was in touch with Osman, who works as a ranger guide in the park, and he has
become friend with us during our last visit to Mole. He had told Rahul that the sightings of
elephants were very common and the time for going to Mole was just right. We were very
excited hearing about this from him. After reaching there, we met Bas and Jeanin, a VSO
volunteer couple from the Netherlands. It was evening and the time for the animals to
come to the water reservoir near Mole Motel where we were staying. There were many
bush bucks, kobs (both are in the family of deer) and a variety of birds but no elephants
near the reservoir. When Rahul went for the the observation deck, I could not resist the
swimming pool and spent my time relaxing in the pool. These are some of the pleasures
which are not easily accessible to me even in India.
Next morning, we met Osman at the information centre. Osman was very happy to see us
and he kindly offered some porridge which he was drinking. We went for the morning safari
with him and some other tourists. He took us on walk to the water reservoir and they were
just standing there as if they were waiting for us, three giant elephants with their huge
tusks. All the three were fully grown males. They wanted to get into the reservoir but stood
still after they saw us. The other groups of the tourist were also brought at the same spot
from different trails. They were being photographed from all the angles. From the way they
kept standing there without reacting to the movements of the tourists, it seemed as if they
were domesticated, but of course they were not. After a while they seemed to become
eased and started moving their ears as if they were fans for the body. Each was standing
by keeping its body in different direction and keeping close watch on the movements of the
people around them. After some time they might have realized that there was no harm
from the people who were watching them from the distance. They moved into the water
and started wallowing in it. The lone crocodile on the bank of the reservoir ran away after
seeing the elephants coming towards it. It would not have done so if it had seen us
entering into the water. Poor humans!
We spent some more time walking around and came again to the opposite side of the
reservoir when the elephants had came out of the water and their bodies were now looking
black after becoming wet. They had started munching on the leaves which they were
plucking from the huge branches they had cut from the trees. We returned back to the
Mole Motel all satisfied with the sighting of the elephants. As against the last time, we did
not see many bush bucks and deer. I was told by Osman that since it was dry season they
had moved to other grazing areas where more grass was available. Seeing elephants in
wild from such close distance was the most memorable part of this trip.
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African Elephants in Wild
In the afternoon we went for the vehicle safari. This safari did not give us any sightings of
the elephants but we could visit some far off wildlife trails and came across a violent fight
between two bush buck males over the territory and sightings of some larger birds of prey.
All in all, it was a good trip.
In the evening, Osman invited us for the dinner and he had cooked very tasty Jollof rice
especially for us. I don't know when I shall be able to meet him again and don't know what
to say about such hospitality and friendship at such unexpected places.
The day had finished and so was our trip to Mole. We started for Tamale in the next
morning and it was Raj's house which gave us shelter and the hospitality for the day. It
was the day for rest, laundry and make oneself prepared for the next leg of our journey.
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Ghana Wildlife Tour IV- Sacred Monkeys
28- 30 March 2011
We had not given proper thought to the next leg of the journey. We were sure about
spending some more days touring but were not sure about where to go after seeing hippos
and elephants. The guide book came handy about planning our tour further. We zeroed in
on Techiman, since it was the town with access to some forest based ecotourism ventures
and also connected to the northern as well as southern part of Ghana by public transport
system. It was convenient for Rahul to go to his place in the south as well as me to start
my journey northwards to Bongo.
We started for Buipe, a town on the bank of White Volta and infamous for getting flooded
every year. This is the place where our fellow VSO friend Cush lived. We enjoyed her
hospitality and were fed with local Ghanaian cuisine by her. We also got an opportunity to
see her workplace where they produce sachet water and process Shea butter in highly
mechanized plant. Next day we headed to Kintampo very early in the morning.
Kintampo is a major town after Tamale and an important transportation hub. The major
attraction at Kintampo is the waterfalls. There are two waterfalls there, of which we visited
the one near to the town and also considered as major. They have created a picnic place
near waterfalls. It is a system of three waterfalls where a small river falls off the cliffs at
three places, which are very near to each other. The first waterfall had height of
approximately 3 meters but it had an interesting features. The water had created a hole in
the rock cliff and the water was falling off the cliff and then it was getting disappeared in
rock crevices, before re-emerging after about 20 meters. The so called second waterfall
was nothing but water falling from some small rocky surface and I did not understand why
was that called a waterfall. The third waterfall was the biggest. The water was falling off the
granite rocks having an interesting layered structure which I had never seen before near
any waterfall. Generally at the waterfalls due to force of water falling down, rock surfaces
tend to be very much smoothed. I enjoyed bathing under the waterfall.
Kintampo Waterfalls
After Kintampo waterfalls, our next goal was to reach Boabeng Fiema, the place famous
for sacred Monkeys. We got to know from the book that one has to go there via Techiman
and a town called Nkoranza. We found that there were direct trotros to Nkoranza available
from Kintampo and we were lucky to get a one immediately after we reached Kintampo.
The road to Nkoranza was a completely dirt road and passed through gently sloping hills
covered with lush green vegetation. We were passing through forests and farmlands. I
realized that Kintampo is a town that lies on the boundary of Ghana's North and South.
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The flat dry brown savannah plains in the north of Kintampo had given way to gently rolling
forested hills of the south. And So had the culture and language. Dominance of Islam had
given way to Christianity and northern languages had given way to Twi, the language of
Akan ethnic groups from the south. Interestingly we learned from the guide book, that
Kintampo is also the site for geographical centre for British colonial Gold coast, known
today as Ghana.
While keeping ourselves busy changing trotros and to move as fast as possible, we had
not taken any proper lunch and we had to keep our hunger out by eating Bofroot and
boiled eggs sold by women on the streets. We arrived at Boabeng village at last and the
driver of our shared taxi guided us to a spot and rushed further to Fiema where these taxis
end their journey. We were introduced to a guide who claimed to be an official guide but
then he asked if we would like to visit the office to which we answered yes. He took us in
the forest and we came across large groups of monkeys, which were really beautiful. He
called an official guide from the office, showed us a way to follow and went away. The
forest had plenty of huge trees and it was very easy to get lost if we had gone on some
trails which were starting off the main road. To our relief, we came across an old man on a
bicycle who introduced himself as the official guide and took us to the office. We were
surprised to find really helpful desk clerk, clean accommodation and a beautiful campus
with Mango and Magnolia trees. The accommodation was not expensive at all and we
immediately decided to stay there instead of heading back to Nkoranza or Techiman for
the night.
The walk in the forest took almost two hours. Our guide, Edmund, an old retired tro tro
driver, was a thorough gentleman who gave us a very informative tour of the forest. The
monkey sanctuary is a community effort to preserve the forests and wildlife in this area.
The belief in this area is that the local Bono people who first settled there were turned into
monkeys to protect themselves from the war and they are considered as ancestors of the
people in that area. There are ancestor worship rituals and monkeys are considered
sacred. They have also created a cemetery for the monkey which they find dead. The
monkey fetish priests, after their death, have also been buried in the same cemetery. The
monkeys and their forest habitat are protected by the communities of Boabeng and Fiema,
and the area has been converted into a sight for ecotourism.
The brown Mona monkeys live in a big groups of 20 with one or two male patriarchs with
their number of wives. They are considered as male monkeys and they are really
aggressive and easily visit the surrounding villages and steal food from the kitchens. Since
they are protected and worshipped nobody harms them. The other species, called Colobus
monkeys, is beautifully coloured in black and white. These are shy and considered as
female. The species is. These monkeys do not leave their wild habitat and do not like to go
near the humans and could not be captured in cameras easily.
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Mona Monkey
Apart of monkeys this small area of 4.5 square kilometres protects huge diversity of birds
and plants. We could see some beautiful birds there. A sacred river passes through the
forest but only fetish priests are allowed to visit that part of the river in the forests. We
could here the running water from the river at some places. We came across a huge Ficus
tree which had spread over a large area. There was also an interesting formation of woody
Ficus climbers where they had entangled one large tree which eventually became dead
and was rotten away leaving behind the Ficus tree cage. Many of the trees in the forests
were 400 years old and had huge diameters ranging from 1-2 meters.
Inside the Ficus cage
After the tour, we checked a souvenir shop in the village where they were selling wood
carvings and I could not resist buying two beautiful wooden masks. We strolled on the
main road near visitor centre where we were staying. The main objective of stroll was to
find cashew apples. I had seen many cashew trees while on the way to the village from
Nkoranza. Then I had realized that I had not eaten them this year and I would be missing
them badly. We found some really sweet cashew apples and mangoes directly off the
trees. It pleased our taste buds as well as spirits. Afterwards the cook in the centre served
us nourishing and delicious spaghetti with tomato sauce and more mangoes, but this time
beautifully cut and arranged on a plate. It was already very dark and time to go to bed and
have a nice sleep in comfortable bed.
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Ghana Wildlife Tour V- Sacred Grove and the Journey Back
30 March 2011
We decided that it was going to be the last day of our tour. We had been on the move for
more than 8 days. We had not really decided whether we shall head back to our respective
bases or spend one more day in Techiman. It all depended on the time which we had with
us to spend to reach Techiman. Our flexibility was the advantage in this tour, as we moved
from one place to the other with our backpacks in public transport. My bag was getting torn
and the opening was becoming bigger and bigger every day. I took that as an omen to
stop the tour and go back to Bongo. Also there were restrictions of the budget and
pressure to start on work again, since my day to go back to India was coming near as the
time passed.
We started early in the morning from Boabeng, when we were told that we would be able
to get a tro tro to Nkoranza. We waited at the main bus stop for some time when the
vehicle from the monkey sanctuary came to that place. The kind driver gave us a lift to one
other bigger town nearby from where there was more possibility of getting some shared
means to Nkoranza. We got a one immediately after reaching that place and the taxi driver
continued all the way to Techiman. We had saved on time and we had some time in hand
before heading back to our base destinations in the afternoon.
The likely tourist spot which we had identified for the morning, if we saved on time, was
Tano Sacred Grove. It is situated just 9 km north of Techiman on the main highway to
Tamale. When we reached there and asked about the visitor centre, we we were told to sit
in a hut for some time till the guide arrived. We were not sure how much time it would take
and whether that guide would arrive there in the first place. We flipped through the visitor
book to find out that we were some very rare Indians to visit to this site. We found only one
Indian whose name was entered in 2009. It is such a shame since there is huge Indian
expat population in Ghana and they can be found in majority of the big cities here including
Techiman.
The guide arrived at last and we started our walk towards the sacred grove. The sacred
grove is a forest protected by local communities. It is believed to be an abode for the
spirits of the ancestors. Like Boabeng Fiema, it also protects very old huge trees and good
wildlife. After entering into the forest, we came across huge colonies of bats. The guide
made some sounds and suddenly bats started to fly around. I also got hit by some bat shit.
They were every where in the sky. Then he took us to a cave which is very sacred sight of
worship for local Bono people. The Tano River which flows through the sacred grove is
considered holy and only traditional priests are allowed to go their.
Bat Colony
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The legend goes that people from so called Akan ethnic group came from the north and
settled first in the area near Tano river and started farming around. As the population grew
there were waves of migration southwards from Tanoboase village. First group settled near
the coast and became known as Fante. The next group went towards south east and
became known as Achims. The third group settled in the neighbouring forests to the south
and became known as Asante. The people who remained in the region are known as
Brong or Bono people. All these tribes form the ethnic group called Akan and they speak
different dialects of the common language called Twi. Though they share common
ancestry, there have been wars in different tribes of Akans over the control of the territory.
The sight of the current sacred grove came into existence after the successful defeat of
Asante who had attacked Bono territory of Tanoboase. At the centre of the grove is high
ground with huge but beautiful granite rocks. Local Bono king took the shelter in this
hillocks and caves in the rocks and used the base to protect and eventually defeat Asante
attackers. After their successful victory, the area around Tano River was declared as a
community protected area. It is spread over 2000 ha. There is a protection committee
which patrols the area for encroachers and hunters. There is a huge diversity of plants with
some having important uses in the traditional herbal medicine. Only traditional healers are
allowed to take these medicinal herbs from the forests.
In the rock formation, there is a beautiful sight where they hold rock climbing competition
and in the old times it was used for winning wives, where the winner would be married to
some selected girls. After seeing those granite rocks we were bit scared about how could
we climb them, but it seemed very easy once we started on it because it was possible to
have a proper grip while climbing or descending these rocks. There are a number of caves
in the rocks. One cave in the upper part of the hillock was used as a prison. One cave in
the lower part has been used as a shrine and it is also a sight for determining the time of
start of rainfall. There is a spot in the cave where water is supposed to come out of the
ground just before the rainy season. We saw an earthen pot with its bottom cut out, placed
at that spot. The belief goes that if that pot gets filled with water and overflows with the
water coming from the ground then there would be rainfall. We found that the pot was dry
as the wet season was nowhere nearby.
Tano Rocks
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We were informed about possible village tour but we had declined the offer since we did
not have much of time and we did not find appealing since we have been living in the
village. While returning from the grove we could get peek of a local industry however. It is
mostly run by women. They were making Gari. It is made from cassava. Cassava was first
cut into small pieces and by putting through a press, water is removed from it. Then these
pieces being were roasted on an iron sheet and finally ground in coarse granular form.
Cassava tubers after harvesting can not be kept for long, but we were told that Gari can be
stored in dry conditions even for 20 years.
After finishing tour we hurriedly settled our expenses and rushed back to Techiman. It was
12:15 in the afternoon when I got down at the Tamale station. The tro tro for Tamale had
already left and the hole in my bag had widened. That was the sign that I had to rush back
without spending much time here and there. I found the shared taxis to Kintampo. After an
hour I was in Kintampo. I was not sure where and when was I going to reach, since I was
not able to do any forecasting about time. Fortunately I had places to stay in Tamale and
Bolgatanga if I would have reached these places very late in the evening. I got the ticket
for tro tro to Tamale and waited there for about half an hour and started for Tamale. With all
rushing here and there in the morning and walking in the forest, I was tired. The seat in the
tro tro was not comfortable and my back had started paining. I wished desperately for the
end of the journey. But after Tamale there was still three hours journey to Bolgatanga. I
safely arrived in Bolgatanga but with a widened hole on my bag at around 8:45 pm. I
thought I would have to stay somewhere in Bolgatanga that day but just thought of
checking at the Bongo taxi station.
I found one taxi parked there but the taxi driver was not around. There was a group of 10
people with their luggage already waiting for the taxi. After a while taxi driver came back.
Abdul, the taxi driver knew me and gave me a seat. But the group started to argue with the
taxi driver since they had been there waiting for the taxi before I arrived at the scene.
Abdul requested me, Doctor, can you adjust these people in the taxi. Yes, sometimes I
am called as Doctor, since they think that I look like those Cuban doctors in the
government hospitals. I said yes, because I was not going to charter it anyway. Thus Abdul
skillfully adjusted 10 people in that small Peugeot taxi. Two people in the front seat at the
side of the driver, 4 adults and 1 child in the back seat and 4 people in the back carrier.
Their luggage was tied on the top. Then started my journey for the last leg of 15 km of dirt
road to Bongo.
After arriving in Bongo safely, I called Rahul to ask his whereabouts. He is theoretically
near to his place from Techiman than me but his tro tro had got broken down in Kumasi
and he had to return to Kumasi so when I reached my house he had not even reached
halfway. I was lucky. I had reached back safely with a torn bag through 4 tro tro hops in 9
hours.
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Story of Big 10
1-20 May 2010
Yesterday, I went to Bolgatanga to meet some friends. I had some spare time and so went
to an internet caf after finishing all of my work. I frequent this internet caf a lot. The
owner of the caf knows me. A solemiya (white man) in the land of Black people, where
there are not many non-black people, cannot go unnoticed for long. The reasons for which
I frequent that internet caf are: 1. it is handled professionally. 2. It is air conditioned. 3.
People who are managing it do not have a habit of overcharging to the strangers (They
call the non-natives who are not living in the area for long time as strangers.) 4. It has
relatively high speed connectivity.
Most of the people call the owner of the place as Big 10 or Biggy. It is the same name as
that of the internet caf. I dont know his real name yet. When I first met him, I could guess
that his accent was not Ghanaian,. One day, while sitting in the caf, I heard some
conversations between the people and came to know that he is from Nigeria.
So yesterday, when I reached the caf, the attendant told me, Boss! Lights went off, just 3
minutes ago. I was disappointed but I liked the way the boy who managers said it. Boss!
thats an expression used in Mumbai lingo and something to feel at home about. Then the
way he said it 3 minutes ago, thats something very precise to say, very rare in this part of
the world. The boy offered me a chair to sit, since I decided to wait for some time and see
if lights come back again in short time. I was sitting outside in the yard in the cool air and
did not know how to kill time. I played some games on the mobile phone, but since lights
had gone off, it was not a wise thing to do, since these games consume a lot of power in
the battery. I stopped. An insane person came near me and started to talk with me. That
was not a good way to kill the time, but somehow, he went away himself without bothering
me a lot.
Then Big 10 arrived on the scene. He never talks like average Ghanaians. He says
directly, whatever he wants to say and that is period for him. He is not a great
conversationalist. After usual greetings, I thought he would engage himself in something,
but since lights were out, he had nothing to do and he took a chair and sat beside me. I
started talking with him. I had to do it, because just sitting there with empty mind amongst
the people was not possible for me since I am not a Yogi. I asked him straightforwardly, I
heard that you are from Nigeria. What brought you here in this northern corner of Ghana?
He started to tell me his story.
I wanted to earn big money and make my old man proud of me. I had planned to go to
Italy. We were in a group, all who had set off from Nigeria. We first went to Togo and then
entered Burkina Faso and went further to Mali. There was some train which went from Mali
to Senegal. In Senegal, there were many routes to go further to either, Libya, Algeria,
Tunisia or Morocco. We had decided to go to Tunisia and then further we were to be taken
to Italy. But on the Algerian border, they checked us. Many of us did not have right papers
and we were just not allowed to go further. I did not want to return home like many people
from the group had decided. We spent some time in Bamako, the capital of Mali on
deciding what to do further. I could not come to any conclusion. My cash was getting
depleted day by day. With nothing to do, I just went back to Lom, Togo with the group.
They went further home to Nigeria.
I was determined not to go back home till I got big money. I came to Accra and started to
do barbering. After working there for an year, I could not earn much and was frustrated.
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That is when I met a man from Bolgatanga, who offered me to give a place for setting up a
shop. That was year 1996, when I came to Bolgatanga. Mine was the first barber shop in
Bolgatanga, which used electrical razor machine. It was an attraction. Then my shop was
at the same place as it is located now. The people visiting the office of the Member of
Parliament upstairs started to come to the shop and they kept on coming back. Apart from
barbering, I tried to do lots of other small petty businesses in the free time. I had
understood the importance of Information Technology and the way it was going to change
the world. I tried to learn computers and bought one computer and started first internet
caf in Bolgatanga. Initially, I though not many people would come to the caf but there
was constant flow of customers, so I bought some more computers and then renovated
the place and got it air conditioned. It is doing well these days in spite of the competition
from other internet cafs in the town.
He was speaking in his way in small sentences and non-continuously. I was asking him
questions and he was answering them. I further asked him about his family. Now these
days I go home and visit my father once in a year. I have a family here. I have two
children. I was not getting well with my first woman. I have one son from my first woman
and other from my current woman. Do you want to go back to Nigeria or do you want to
settle here in Ghana? I asked him. You know, we have a belief that you always have to
be near your forefathers. So though my woman is from here, I shall take her back to
Nigeria. She has to come back with me; she cannot remain back here. I shall marry her
one day.
Many people were passing by and greeting him while we were chatting. He stopped one
orange seller and offered me an orange. While eating the orange, he said, Do you have
more questions. Ask them. It was as if he wanted to talk more but could not do it without
my questions.
Why have you named your shop Big 10 I asked him. I always get intrigued by this name.
It is an exception to all the Ghanaian shop names I have ever seen. Most of the names of
the Ghanaian shops are funny and always have something to do with God. (e.g. Allah The
Merciful Fashion Shop Or, Who Can Say No When God Says Yes Electrical Shop.) You
know that in Nigeria, we always think of becoming big. If you are poor, you are nobody in
Nigeria. So I have always thought Big and I always wanted to be number one in whatever I
have been doing. So I thought of naming it Big 1 but then thought that addition of a zero to
one makes its value 10 times bigger. Thats how it became Big 10.
He was in full mood for talking. The lights had not returned yet. I had started thinking about
what more questions I could ask him, but one of my friends called me as we had decided
to meet in Bolgatanga and it was time to go. I had to take his leave and go off. I think that I
shall never forget this story.
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Not Black Not White
21 May 2010
In the country of black people, a person like me, who does not belong to that race, is an
attraction. I am some body to be curious about. Leaving the country for the first time and
being in the land of people who look entirely different from the race in which I am born, it
was very difficult to digest the idea of being an object of curiosity in the initial days. When I
arrived here in Bongo, small kids, men and women used to come near to the house trying
to have a peek and see how I looked. Majority of the local people have seen white people
in their lives. It is not a novelty for them but when some person comes and lives in the
town of the size of Bongo, it surely is a big attraction.
Initially I was always irritated being called as a White Man. When they say, Solemiya, the
Gurune equivalent, for the term White Man, it does not sound strange, as it always sounds
as if they are calling me a foreigner or non-native. I resent being called as White Man. I am
proud that I am an Indian and in India, we call white skinned people of European race, as
whites. I always want to tell people loudly that I am not one of them, I am an Indian. I dont
hate Whites but it is out of my pride being an Indian. Eventually I learned seeing Indian
and the Indians in the global perspective and I am no longer too proud about my
nationality but I will still like if they call me an Indian rather than white.
Here in this Northern part of Ghana, there are not many Indians around and not many
people have seen Indians. After seeing me, many times I realize that people know that I
dont belong to European race and dont belong to African race either. I always have fun
with the people when they try to guess my nationality (or race).
Once in Bongo, near lorry station a group of youths was hanging around chatting and
looking at people passing by. After looking at me, one of them started to call me, Hey
Chinese!. I stopped and said to them, I am not Chinese. They looked puzzled. Then
you are Korean. No. I said to them. It seemed that they wanted to poke fun at me, but
with my answers, they got confused. Their guesses further included Japanese, Cuban and
Lebanese. I think those were the only non-white non blacks, they had seen in their life.
There are Japanese, Korean and Chinese companies doing their businesses in Ghana.
Chinese can be seen these days commonly on the road construction sites, since many
Chinese companies have got contracts for road construction. There is a huge Lebanese
expat community in Ghana and majority of them run shops and trading businesses and
have their existence in almost all the towns with substantial size and potential for
businesses. Cuban doctors have found their way in the Ghanas health systems and they
can be found in smallest of the district places doing service in the government hospitals.
The group of youths was very much surprised to hear that I was an Indian. We had a hand
shake and I went away afterwards.
Cubans and Lebanese people look very similar to Indians since most of them have darker
shades which are similar to Brown colour of average Indians. What I dont understand is
how people can call me Chinese. Chinese action movies full of martial arts are very much
popular here. Once on the road one man came across and started making some hand
movements in front of me. I laughed and told him that he is better at Kung Fu than me. We
greeted each other and he went away. Twice I have been asked wwhether I know Karate
and whether I could teach it to people. I think that they have this vague idea that I am not a
European white and of course not a black African by race and I am coming somewhere
from the East. Majority of the people here are very poor in Geography
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Once I was passing on the road and I heard a loud call, Hey Fulani. Then I heard the call
of other man, Hey, India. I turned back and looked at them. The two men were debating
amongst themselves whether I was a Fulani or an Indian. They were laughing and told me
about their guess game. I congratulated the person who won. I always appreciate Ghana
for friendly and jovial people. However, being called as a Fulani in Ghana is not considered
good. Fulani is a Sub Saharan nomadic tribe which is engaged in cattle herding. Farmers
dont like Fulanis passing through the village. They say that Fulanis with their huge herds
of cattle strip the land of vegetation,. People are also suspicious about them for robberies
and petty thefts. Fulanis are somewhat fair and with short stature. Except for their curly
hairs, they look very much like Indians.
Once in Bongo, I was buying some food at a stall with my friend Joshua. An adolescent
school girl and her mother were talking with each other in Gurune and then they suddenly
started laughing. I heard the word Solemiya, being used in their conversation a number of
times. I asked the girl what they were talking about me. I was sure she could speak
English seeing her school uniform. She just kept giggling and did not say anything.
Afterwards Joshua translated their conversation to me. The mother was telling her
daughter that since my skin colour was very much like her daughters, she should think of
proposing marriage to me. The girl was very much fair coloured which was almost like the
skin colour of the average Indians. I told her laughing that first she should complete her
education properly and then I would help her find a good husband for her since she was
too young to marry me and I did not want a second wife. With the black African race, we in
India, tend to think that they are very black in colour but there are many shades in their
colour.
It has been really very much interesting to know how people try to stereotype the
nationalities by the skin colour and how misleading that can be in this world coming closer
day by day.
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Coming Back I
22 May- 19 June 2011
I have always observed that when something comes to an end, there is always a surge in
the activities. Same thing happened to me when my time in Ghana was coming to an end
and it was the last month. I had to be part of a week long training cum workshop, organize
for two workshops, complete all of my reports and say bye to the people around properly
within four weeks.
The malaria caught me again in mid-way draining my energy. I had gone to Tamale to do
my last month shopping of African batik cloths when it attacked me in a serious way. I was
lucky enough to get sick in Tamale and not at some odd place. It was good to have a friend
like Raj at Tamale who took good care of me and also to have good medical facilities in the
city. Of course it was not good to be sick near the end of my time in Ghana and its after
effects continued for next week as well. I could complete my important tasks somehow in
time, thanks to all the good people around me.
So soon?, I was asked by the people around me, whenever I told them date of my
departure. One year had passed very fast for me and also for the people around. Oh!
Well miss you, was one more common remark by the people. I dont know whether every
remark was genuine or it was said in a customary way. Wont you come again? said
some people. I answered genuinely, I would like to come again sometime but Ill have to
come on my own and VSO will not pay for my coming to Ghana again, so I dont know as
of now, when Ill be able to come back. Many people asked whether I could extend by one
more year.
I had mixed feeling while leaving Bongo and Bolgatanga as I started packing and giving
out my things which I could not take back home to people. I was feeling sad to leave
behind so many good friends and this friendly country which had been so good to me. I
was happy to be back with my family and start with my career again. Many of the
neighbours came to the house and took my address and phone numbers as if they were
really going to remain in touch with me afterwards. One youth came to me and took my
email id because he wanted to come to India and he wanted my help in the form of
invitation letter.
As the tradition in the group of VSO volunteers in the Upper East, we had a fare well party.
In the typical western tradition, it was BYOB (Bring Your Own Bottle) type, where every
person coming to the party brings his/her own drink and food. It is not heavy on pocket
because of this and very affordable to a volunteer. It was really good to see all the
volunteer friends before leaving Bolgatanga for good. It was good of them to come for the
occasion especially when the host is not paying for the hospitality.
Finally my last day in Bongo came and my friends Joshua, Zarena and Seidu had come to
say good bye to me. When VSO vehicle arrived at the house to pick me up and take me to
the office along with some other stuff in the house which they wanted to shift to some other
house, I was told to go to the office and meet the District super bosses in whose offices I
was working. In the last week most of them had been very busy and I had not been able to
meet them and say proper good bye. There was an attempt to give me a send-off on the
last day. After a brief exit interview at the VSO office in Bolgatanga, I was dropped to the
bus station. My friends Rogier and Miranda had come there to see me off.
The bus started. I was not going to come to this place again. In the evening, while bus had
taken a stop at, Joshua, my friend from Bongo called me and told that there is full moon
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eclipse. I was lucky to see the reddish coloured moon though it was a rainy season.
Somewhere in the morning I reached Accra, where I had three and half days to spend.
I spent these days by going to the police headquarters to complete the criminal records
check, completing VSO formalities, getting paid my expense claims, working on some
VSO reports, meeting friends in Accra, changing my money to US Dollars, doing going to
Aburi Botanical Garden, doing some last shopping and seeing off my VSO friend, Romeo
at the airport. While roaming around doing all those tasks, I first time came across a very
androgynous looking man on the street. While in Mumbai, where sight of eunuchs is very
common, it was not at all common to see such type of people in Ghana. Overall, my time
in Accra was good but with all the eagerness to finish those days as early as possible and
get on the plane.
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Coming Back II
19 June- 4 July 2011
My friends Rahul and Ranjit had come to see me off at the airport. After passing through
the customs check and checking in my luggage, I spent some time with them. After saying
them bye I had a last minute run for the search of Forex bureau at the airport since I
refused to change my money with a man hanging out at a closed bureau office. I had to go
back to the same man since the other office they told me to go was simply did not exist at
that place. The man laughed at me but the transactions afterwards were very friendly in
the Ghanaian way and important thing to remember is that I did not get cheated in the
process. At immigration, the officer asked me whether I had something for him. I had to tell
him that since I was a volunteer there, I have little left of my own. He just laughed and let
me go.
The moment came at last when I boarded the plane and really left Ghana for good. Since
we were going towards East where the sunset had already happened, we went quickly in
the darkness. The Emirates flight staff pampered us well with delicious food and drinks.
Since the flight was starting from Accra, the menu had typical Ghanaian cuisine for meals
and snacks. I tried to do number of things with the interactive screen in front of me. It
ranged from watching the scenes outside, watching the movement of flight in the map,
playing games, hearing music and watching a Chinese movie with English subtitles.
I got down at the Dubai airport and then realised my mistake of booking the flight which
was later in the day instead of the one which was just 2 hours after I reached. I had to
spend 7 hours in the airport. In the early hours, airport was crowded. I did not have to
change the terminal so I did not have to walk long distances. The free internet was not
working. One long walk across the glossy airport was enough and most of the things on
sale at the airport were of the sort which either I did not want to buy or could not afford to
buy. I wanted to buy a digital camera; I could buy it at far lesser price than India but at a
huge disappointment, as the variety which I expected to see at the Dubai airport shop was
not there at all. The salesman at the counter was an Indian who seemed to want to just
rush me into buying something and go away (Read: get lost).
I arrived two hours later at Mumbai to find that little had changed in India. That little change
included the officer at the desk, who appreciated the fact that I had done volunteering in
Africa; and my son who had grown up by a year. The things which I wish to see changed
but had not, included an able senior citizen trying to break a queue at the customs and
getting before me; and the vehicles on the crowded streets speedily overtaking other
vehicles.
Welcome Back! said I to myself.
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Blog Ends!
05 July 2011
This is the last post of my blog. It is to tell the readers (and especially the regular readers)
that it has come to an end, my stay in Ghana and so is this blog. It was an year with many
new eye opening experiences and friendships spanning different corners of the world. It
was not an easy journey but once I crossed the Indian Ocean, I found that it was not so
difficult as well. It was just crossing that mattered.
I thank all the readers who buzzed me with their questions and also showered me with
their appreciation. It kept me motivated to keep on writing. I thank Google for providing the
free space for my blog. I thank all of my family members and especially my wife who were
a great support when I decided to go away from them for one complete year. And special
thanks to VSO and the friendly people of Ghana for making this whole journey of one year
a great experience.
Bye Bye Ghana Blog!
It is time to move on (may be to next blog)!
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