We're Back

Well, as many of you already know, Amanda and I had the luxury of returning home for the month of June (and gorging ourselves on home cooked food) while we awaited the start of our new job in Ghana. Yes, we decided we were not quite ready to leave Africa, but a change of venue was needed. With that, an opportunity to fly home presented itself as it was either take advantage of the already booked return flight and buy a new ticket back or lose the return flight and buy a ticket back. The choice seemed fairly obvious.

Our stay with ASPI, although rocky at times, proved educational and eye-opening. The experience forced us to adjust to cultural differences in all facets of life, including personal and work, and taught us much about who we are. In the end, we left ASPI with what we believe to be some quality work, including a detailed operational manual for the microfinance program, a whole new brand and image for the organization, including a new logo, stationary, brochure and website (www.aidezsmallproject.org), and a proposal for a $1.3 million dollar grant that appears to be attracting considerable interest from USAID.

Our new job, which we start tomorrow, finds us doing very similar activities, although in a different location (Ho) and with a better run, more organized institution. Village Exchange Ghana (VEG) was started by a French mother and her son with the intentions of providing family planning services and jobs to teenage mothers. Having been here for five or six years, the mother and son are looking to transfer the organization to local ownership. This is where Amanda and I come in, as we are here to help that transition be as smooth as possible. Like I said earlier, we start tomorrow so there will plenty more time for talking shop. For now, I’m more interested in telling you (or showing you) how we spent the month of July.

With working starting in August, Amanda and I decided to spend a month traveling in Burkina Faso and Mali. Both French speaking countries, we were understandably a little nervous about getting around, but as in Ghana the people are warm and friendly, and always ready to help, even with the language barrier.

We started in Burkina Faso, where with the help of a guide who speaks passable English, we rented mopeds for three days. We saw hippos from a canoe no more than 20 yards away, swam in waterfalls, and hiked the Sindou Peaks, which are some crazy rock formations that seem to be a landscape out of Lord of the Rings. Originally, we viewed Burkina Faso as a country we had to get through just to get to Mali, but the country left a lasting impression on us. We will remember the red dirt roads, the village architecture (different from Ghana or Togo), the food (some of the best beef kabobs I’ve ever eaten) and the tree lined streets of Bobo-Dioulasso.

After a week in Burkina, we got on a bus for Mali. Our destination, no more than 300 miles away, ended up taking 20 hours on a very uncomfortable bus which included a six hour nap at the border. Of course, with the language barrier, it took Amanda and me about three hours to realize that the bus was stopped simply so the driver could sleep!

In Mali, our major focus was to get to a place called Dogon Country. A very peculiar place, Dogon people followed the inhabitants before them (the Tellum – a tribe of pygmy people) by building their homes in the wall of a giant escarpment. The dwellings date back to the 8th century but are still very much intact. We spent four days and three nights hiking from village to village and sleeping on the roofs of peoples’ homes. Unlike their ancestors, present day Dogon live on the valley floor closer to their water source and farm lands. We were even lucky enough to be invited to a traditional wedding in one of the villages, where we got to watch a millet pounding competition between friends and family of the first wife against the friends and family of the new wife. Yes, the groom was already married, so this was his second wife. We felt blessed to witness something so spontaneous and genuine.

Our last big leg of the trip was a three day boat ride up the Niger River heading towards Timbuktu. The boatride itself turned out to be more enjoyable then our stay in Timbuktu. We traveled on a public pinasse (a giant dugout canoe, essentially) loaded with passengers and cargo, including rice, coal, sheep, and goats. One had to scale the side of the boat just to get to the bathroom, which consisted of a hole leading to the river.

After three days, we arrived in Timbuktu - the elusive and mythical kingdom that used to symbolize the far reaches of the world and is now equipped with a modern airport. The place itself was somewhat of a disappointment, but our intentions were to get out of the city and into the Sahara. The next day we hired a guide and camels to take us out in the desert for the night. Due to time constraints and recent kidnappings of tourists in northern Mali, Amanda and I decided that one night in the desert was enough. Amanda had already done the camel trek into the Sahara when she was in Morocco, so I was the only one feeling giddy when I saw the camels we had hired. She warned me that they can be pretty uncomfortable, but I didn’t care, I didn’t want to believe it. Well, I can now say that I’ve ridden a camel and have no intentions of getting on another one. They are truly uncomfortable!

I was hoping the Sahara would be rolling sand dunes as far as the eye can see, but it turns out that it takes seven days of trekking from Timbuktu before the Sahel gives way to the Sahara. (The Sahel is the name for the strip of land that borders the Sahara. The flat terrain is covered with thorny low bushes and scrubs.) That night, we watched a huge wall of sand blow in on us, followed by torrential rain. Amanda and I had to battle a herd of goats trying to enter our tent to escape the storm. In the end, Timbuktu and the Sahara did not live up to my expectations but at least I can say I’ve been to both.

I realize I said a lot, so if you made it this far, thanks for sticking with me. I will let the pictures do the rest of the talking. As for future postings, I will try to make them shorter and more often. More to come soon…

Mind The GAP

Gaping Atomic Pit (GAP)

There’s an ongoing joke about who will be the first to fall in one of the open sewers that line the streets of Accra. Now, to be fair, not all the sewers look like they’re a dumping ground for nuclear waste, but there are a few that would undoubtedly corrode flesh upon contact. Neither of us has taken the plunge yet, but stories circulate about expats who were not so fortunate. We’ve been using the acronym as a warning to each other, because ultimately I don’t want to see anyone fall in the GAP.

Amanda and I just returned home from a two-week vacation/business trip in the Volta region of Ghana. A desirable place to visit for hikers and bikers, as it’s the greener more mountainous area of Ghana. In fact, we stood at the base of the largest peak in Ghana (a towering 890 meters high) contemplating a hike to the top but instead opted for the waterfall hike, which in 90+ degree heat is much more enticing.

In the end, we biked and hiked through small villages, swam in pools beneath towering waterfalls and ran through an intense tropical storm to cross a rickety foot bridge just before it washed away. But the highlight of the trip was camping beneath a grove of cocoa trees, outside of the Ewe village, Leklebi Agbesia. After another beautiful waterfall hike, we ate local grub with the village elder – Fufu in goat light soup with fresh wild mushrooms and garden eggs– and then enjoyed a campfire before turning in. The next day we embarked on a sort of Ghanaian pub crawl, hiking from one village to the next and tasting locally brewed beer (Pito) and moonshine (Apeteshie). The crawl culminated in Leglebi Douga, where we hung out with some old guys playing checkers under a palm cover, and drank calabashes of palm wine. Not a bad day.

Amanda and I will be starting French classes today in preparation for potential travels to Mali and Burkina Faso. I think we were feeling a bit ambitious when we signed up because the initial excitement about learning a new language has passed and instead the reality of having three two-hour classes a week plus homework has set in.

Work continues… as I mentioned before a portion of our travels were work related as we spent time visiting similar organizations and learning about their internal processes. Amanda and I are currently in the process of finishing ASPI’s website along with an operational manual detailing the steps of their micro finance program - please try and hold your excitement.

Anyways, I hope all is well with everyone and as always I look forward to hearing from all of you.

The great bat migration

There are few things in our life right now that resemble routine/consistency with some exceptions -- one being the daily migration of thousands of fruit bats through Accra. Every night, around 5:30pm the bats move across the sky to an unknown destination, but somehow manage return before dawn. It's one of the more impressive sights I've seen and then I think...they're bats - it's fantastically creepy.

Just some updates -

Our USAID proposal was accepted - a week past the deadline, but nonetheless accepted. First and last time I use DHL.

Ghana placed third in the African Cup Tournament. Would have been nice to see them in the final; we were curious to see the country's reaction to a tournament victory. We did manage to get to one game although a bittersweet experience because my wallet was pick pocketed right before we entered.

I ran into a man in Lome, Togo - mind you in the super busy market called the Grand Marche - who got a little more personal with me than I would have liked several months earlier in a city 400 km away. He had pulled his pants down to show me how badly he needed some cash to treat a "growing" medical problem. ugh. I didn't expect to be seeing him again, but go figure.

Just got back from a beautiful, isolated palm-lined beach where we spent five days relaxing, swimming, hiking through rain forest and exploring abandoned overgrown forts. We stayed a couple extra days, cuz it was just too beautiful to leave.

Now it's back to reality. Work is moving slowly but still progressing. We're just finishing up ASPI's brochure; for those interested in viewing let me know and I can forward it.

That's it for now, I'm attaching some new photos below.

Well blog site...

it’s been a long time since my last confession and a lot has transpired since. The past month and half has been roller coaster of utter relaxation or hair pulling stress as Amanda and I were not only trying to finish up a $1.3 million proposal to USAID but also entertain friends and family.

Fortunately for us, Amanda’s mother and sister came to visit for the holidays to provide a much needed reprieve from the daily stresses we found ourselves in. Prior to their arrival, Amanda and I had begun compiling all the information we could find about ASPI’s malaria program while making sure we had all the necessary information required by USAID.

Let me set the scenario up first for those who don’t know what we’re doing here, a little background about ASPI –

Aidez Small Project International is locally run NGO focusing on integrated financial and health services. They currently have contracts with the local government to finance their heath initiatives (malaria and TB education/resource distribution) although the time and amount of money delivered tends to change based on the fluctuation of government spending/attitude. Meaning if they want to delay the release of money or change the amount, there is nothing you can really do about it, which if I may add seems a little ridiculous but this coming from a relatively stable and secure African economy.

Their Micro Finance services are funded by small personal/business loans taken out at incredibly high interest rates with half expected as collateral and still…more delays. Clearly ASPI is struggling to secure a consistent and reliable source of funding, which is where we hope to fill the gap.

Additionally, ASPI has still not yet reached the digital world. Everything is still manually inputted into your “classic third grade black and white composition books”. Computers are here and they use them, heck they even have MS Office 2007 but they just choose to do things they way they’ve always done them. So, trying to gather concise and accurate information is difficult. On top of that, because ASPI and so many other local NGO’s struggle to secure money, they lie and make things up in their financial reports and proposals to try and portray an organization doing better than they really are. At one point, Moses (ASPI founder) looked at Amanda and I and said “you always expect the numbers to be consistent”. Amanda and I looked at him and said “YES, that’s how it works”; at least have an idea of where you stand even if want to lie to every potential investor. Unfortunately, because of the lack of resources, it’s difficult for a small time African not-for-profit organization to run efficiently and effectively.

Now don’t get me wrong here. Deep down, based on what I’ve seen so far, Moses has a big heart and big dreams and as an organization ASPI is doing a lot of positive things; the problem really comes down to “can you maintain corporate/organizational integrity in a broken system where everyone is cutting corners to get to the top”. Perhaps this is true wherever you go.

In any event, I kind of went off a little but I wanted to try and paint a small picture. After about two weeks of initial information gathering (which half the time we are making up as we go) and proposal writing are heads are spinning and we welcome the arrival of Amanda’s family for a little break. Amanda’s mother and sister were flying in from Kenya (a day late because the original flight they booked was canceled due to an insufficient amount of passengers – clearly, waiting for transportation to fill up is not restricted to just land) luckily just in the nick of time because of the massive riots that ensued in Nairobi following the recent election. If anyone was paying attention, Kenya is going through tremendous political unrest where hundreds of people were killed and thousands displaced….but that’s a whole other story.

We spent the next 10 days lounging at some of Ghana’s more lavish establishments; enjoying the luxury we knew we wouldn’t see again. We visited Kakum National Park, a rainforest where they’ve constructed 7 tree-top bridges about 350m long that allow you look down over the canopy of the forest. A little Indiana Jones-esque…

In addition to the national park, we visited some of the colonial slave forts in Elmina and Cape Coast that obviously have a solemn history. Cape Coast was the site of the largest slave fort in all of West Africa and possibly the continent, yet when you look at it (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cape_Coast_Castle) it’s hard to imagine the things that went on during that time. It’s a tough place to visit; especially walking through the dungeons and seeing scrape marks all over the wall and floor made by people using their nails and trying to truly grasp the conditions that slaves were forced to endure.

In spite of these harsh reality checks, which are always important to understand and experience, are time with Amanda’s family was really enjoyable and as always way too fast. The time came when we had to say goodbye to Mackenzie, so we packed her up with as many Japanese pirated movies, souvenirs and extra clothes that she could take with her so we can avoid traveling with them later and sent her off. Amanda’s mother was staying behind for a few weeks to help with the organization.

Now it’s back to reality and the proposal. To make a long story slightly shorter, we managed to finish this 100-page proposal and send it out via DHL on Thursday January 17th, with enough time, according to DHL, to meet our Wednesday January 23rd 10AM deadline in Washington DC. Of course, the package gets delayed in Heathrow because of the British Airways crash, which means we lose three days from the start. Now we begin to sweat a little, because it’s Tuesday morning and we don’t have the resources to submit it online and the package is just leaving London. Mind you, it arrived on Thursday of last week. So we track the package as it goes from London to New York to Ohio to wait wait wait…OHIO. WHY OHIO at 3:47AM? At this point, all hope is lost. There is no way that DHL can get that package into DC by 10AM Wednesday.

Come Wednesday 10AM, the package has not arrived at its destination. Just to humor ourselves we continue to track the shipment over the course of the day to see how far its come and what do we see but that the courier attempted delivery at 11:40AM only to have it refused by the recipient. 1 hour 40 minutes late and USAID won’t even touch it…or so we thought. After several days of emails and phone calls to USAID with no reply, we think all is lost, until we find out that DHL sent the package to the Securities and Exchange Commission and said it was “refused by recipient” because they were they were not allowing the package through security.

Now it’s Monday January 28th and the deadline is five days past. DHL has agreed to deliver the package to USAID today with a note stating that they messed up the delivery and the package should have arrived before the 10AM deadline last Wednesday. USAID has agreed to receive the package, although we’re still not sure if it will be considered. We’ll find out later today. In any event, it has been an up and down ride, from thinking that two months of hard work was tossed out the window for being 1hour 40 minutes late to DHL telling us that it was their fault to having the possibility to still be in the running for a grant from USAID. Anyways, I’ll keep you updated as to what happens.

In other news, and I’m almost done here, Amanda and I are going to see Ghana vs. Morocco tonight in soccer. Ghana is hosting the African Cup of Nations (soccer) tournament. 16 teams battling it out, dun dun dunnnnn…..so its soccer mania around here, which is a pretty cool vibe to be a part of.

Well, I think that’s it for now. I’m doing my best to write back to everyone so please don’t get upset if it takes me a while.

Dave

We have contact

So, we finally have a phone number. For those interested in calling here it is...

sike, gonna have to email folks

Additionally, to those people who have written emails and haven't gotten a response in a while I apologize. I'm doing my best to get back to everyone as quickly as possible, but please keep writing. It's nice to hear updates and get reminders of home.

In any event, here are some more pics...Enjoy!