Started work this week. First day wasn't what I expected it to be. Three out of the six staff were heading to the field to educate on HIV prevention and I had to issue about 10 cheques to fund their various trips. Not sure why I was issuing cheques but I was happy to be of any help. The NGO I'm working for, Theatre for a Change (http://www.tfacafrica.com/), requires that I implement and train a new recruit on their new financial system. I'm very busy and barely had a lunch break the first two days.
On day three I was very pleased to get half an hour for lunch and I headed down the beach which is only a 5 minute walk from the office. An Aussie surfer would love the waves. However, a strong undercurrent in the Gulf of Guinea claims about 13 lives a year. Combined with the amount of rubbish on the rocky foreshore of the beach, I'm not sure how quickly I'll rush in for a dive.
I really love my new office set up. I'll put up photos soon to best capture the surroundings. Despite the 30 degree heat, there's no aircon. Instead all the windows and doors on the second floor of a large villa are open. A couple of ceiling fans circulate the warm air in the room and my paperwork keeps flying around the place. I finally recognised the logic behind paperweights. In terms of trips to the toilet, I never know how long they may take... I timed my first one perfectly with a water shortage which happens every now and then when taps in Accra run dry. After the toilet wouldn't flush and the basin tap spat a few drops of water, I stood there for a few minutes scratching my head. I decided it was ok to consult my supervisor, Johnson, who smiled and advised I fetch a bucket of water from a large tank (every house has a reservoir) at the back of the building. He must just think I'm totally hopeless!
The villa is situated in a residential zone and the background noise is a medley of children's laughter, babies crying and roosters croaking. The first few days, I couldn't control my giggles whenever a rooster croaked and my supervisor would look over at me and make comments like “was the last chicken you saw frozen and sitting on a supermarket shelf?”. Just as I recovered from my giggles, I get a text from one of the Aussie volunteers who's out in the field this week sharing her latest experience – she'd just witnessed 3 goats being expertly loaded on to an already full tro tro. Tro tros are a form of public transport or really cheap private mini vans packed full of passengers. They are typically about 20 years old and totally beaten up as the tro tro drivers' mission is to abuse the car through as many bumps and pot holes as possible. But they are cheap and plentiful. I wonder how much a goat's fare is?
Accra traffic is horrendous. The worst I've ever seen. In the mornings, another volunteer, Carmen, and I treat ourselves to a taxi which takes one hour to get to work and on the way back home I do it on the cheap in tro tros. It takes me about two to two and a half hours to get back to our hotel! Luckily, we'll be moving to a closer hotel next week whilst we wait for our permanent accommodation to become available. We found a simple two bedroom home with Carmen in a rather poor but lively area of the city. It shares a spacious courtyard with another building which houses a lovely Ghanaian family. Apparently, the mother (otherwise known as "Mama") has a food stall about 20 meters away which should be very convenient :) A Canadian girl was living in the house when we viewed the place and Mama would come in to make sure she was fed and ok. Sounds like home away from home :)
Abena
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