Saturday, January 13, 2007
Blog for Christmas & New Year
Well, happy new year to you all from Tumu. Where has time gone eh? We’ve been here well over three months now! We trust you had a pleasant Christmas, and have recovered from the piles of rich food and drink that no doubt you all consumed.
Before I mention Christmas, Di celebrated her (47th) birthday the weekend before, and she had a wonderful day! A surprise present and a meal out! I got her a locally made chair and table. After a huge palaver which involved the chair falling off the back of the moto, I managed to get someone to sit on the back of the moto and carry the chair and then the table to our house – and avoid being stopped by the local constabulary (see last blog!) although Mrs Jolly’s dog did try to bite the fellow’s leg as we rode past. I kept them covered up until the actual day, so they were a genuine surprise. In the afternoon some of the other volunteers called round with some gifts, including a bottle of white wine! Then, in the evening we ‘dined’ out at the Peace and Love restaurant - see picture. Rice balls and goat stew / soup, very…. interesting.
Christmas in Tumu was different in many ways from the UK. The first thing that was most noticeable was the lack of commercialism. Not being bombarded with the media and all the stereotypical images of the festive period was a refreshing change. No shops had decorations and the like, in fact there was very little to buy in the way of gifts. As we’ve said before, Tumu is very much a working town. From a food perspective Di had paid into the ‘Daisy’ fund at her work, which was to purchase a cow for Christmas, and the cow would be shared among the group, but it looked less likely that this would materialise as Christmas got closer, so we’d somewhat resigned ourselves to either corned beef or tuna for our Christmas dinner, but we would have yam – mashed or roasted – with some turkey gravy to spice it up. Then low and behold, two children arrived on a moto with a bag (more like sack) full of beef! We’re talking the best parts of the cow here, good quality beef (sorry to all our vegetarian readers). We sorted it into nice bundles and froze most of it for the coming weeks. When we thanked the man who’d sent it, he was overwhelmed with our generosity in letting him have our share of what he called the best bits – offal, skin, bones and ears - so everyone was happy. So spread throughout the festive period we had different dishes: beef in beef and ale sauce, cottage pie, spaghetti bolognaise, and steak and yam chips. (packet sauces sent from home are brilliant). We also had our Christmas puddings with custard and a glass of white wine, very nice too – the Christmas puddings that is.
We went to the Catholic Church again on Christmas Eve, the morning service. It starts at 7.30am as opposed to 7.00am now because it’s colder in the mornings. We were outside this time, and unfortunately couldn’t hear the service because it was competing with a football match on the local pitch. But despite all the roars from the game, I didn’t start watching the football! The disappointing part of the service was the absence of carols. We really missed them. In the afternoon we visited the Danes (Health Volunteers). They celebrate Christmas on the 24th evidently. They gave us some warm mulled wine - just like on the ski slopes – just what you want when it was 35C in the shade! They also had some chocolates that had been brought over by their relatives – very tasty.
On Christmas morning we opened our pressies; Diane got a thermos flask from me, and I got a pair of flip flops and a bottle of tomato ketchup (Heinz) off Di, whilst listening to Christmas music played on the MP3 player. We were visited by lots of very smartly dressed children wishing us Merry Christmas, and we in turn gave them some sweets and much to their delight took their photos. We had a stroll into town in the afternoon and wished our bread boy all the best – he was delighted with the little pack of goodies we gave him even if he is a muslim! In the evening we nipped for a quick drink at Jolly Friends with a colleague of Di’s. So a very pleasant, but very quiet day was had, in the relatively mild temperature of 34C.
On Boxing Day, just when we were contemplating our new diet of corned beef, tuna and now real beef, we were given another surprise – vegetarians look away again – a gift arrived at the front door from my line manager. A guinea fowl… live! So for an evening we had this bird, if you’ll pardon the expression, sitting (its legs were tied) looking at us. Well we didn’t get too attached to it, refusing to give it a name, and fortunately a colleague of Di’s said they’d ‘prepare it’ for us, so we took it to him, and the rest as they say, is in our stomachs!
Boxing Day also saw us run out of water! The taps eventually went dry, and our barrels were very, very low. So we decided that the next day we would go and see if the Fire Brigade would fill up our PolyTank – the Danes say they do it all the time! The Fire Brigade came round the next morning (6.00am) and replenished our PolyTank and barrels, for a fee of course, 200,000 cedis to be precise (around £12). A luxury maybe, but we were desperate. For all those Economics students out there, the opportunity cost of having water is a few nights on the beer, so take note! On the water front, there is still no sign that the towns water system will be up and running soon, despite all the right things being said.
Between Christmas and New Year we did a bit of exploring. I’d got the time off, so we decided to travel on the motos for a bit. We went up to the Burkina Faso border – about 19km from our house. That was really a good ride. There’s only one village between Tumu and BF, and just beyond that is some type of nature reserve. A low lying field appears to have been dammed and there was some really good bird life. So we’ll probably make a few more visits up there. It’s funny, as soon a you reach the border, the dirt road stops and a tarred road begins, and the road signs are clear and easy to follow, and this is supposed to be the second poorest country in the world! With a bit of luck we’ll get our passports back within the next couple of weeks and then we may get to venture further into BF.
We also visited a small town (Large village) called Gwollu about 35km from Tumu. This is famous for a ‘Defence Wall’ that was used to protect the Africans from the slave raiders, although there isn’t much of it left now. We had a couple of relaxing stops in the Ghanaian countryside, and even had a picnic. We felt like we were on holiday for a short time. When you travel out of Tumu, you really do see how remote this part of Ghana is. The terrain is quite undulating, and despite the harshness of the weather, is still quite green.
We decided to spend New Year’s Eve at the bar in TUTCO. We fancied getting away from the constant noise of Jolly Friends, where over the holiday period they have continued to play indefinable tracks so loud, that we can’t even hear the regular sounds of the Imam at the mosque on his tannoy or the preaching’s from the evangelical Fountain Gate Mission. Anyway, sods law, we go to TUTCO, and Jollies is having a rest, no music, no sign of life! It turns out Tanni’s was the venue for the party. We had a couple of beers at TUTCO and strolled back home by midnight, the streets were deserted, as was TUTCO’s bar by 11.00pm! So we were tucked up in bed by 12.15am after sending a few texts across the world… it was just like when we celebrated New Year in England.
So here’s 2007, and who knows what this year will bring. We’ll update you on how it starts at the end of January, but for now… Happy New Year to you all.
Monday, January 08, 2007
Blog for December
“N dia pinna”, Good morning.
Here’s our latest update as we get closer and closer to Christmas.
The end of November and December has continued to see us become like part of the furniture here in Tumu. It also saw the passing of a couple of really big events. Both actually took place on the same day – Friday 1st December. It was World Aids Day and National Farmers Day.
World Aids Day saw a range of different events taking place in an attempt to raise the profile of Aids an HIV. All the folies (i.e. all the white people) are involved either in Education or Health, therefore there was a big link into the day for us. Two main events that we supported were the ‘March’ around Tumu, and a ‘Debate’ at the local Secondary School.
The ‘March’ started at 6.00am from Tumu Community Hall and then did a circuit of the town. It turns out, that there were actually two marches, but one went in another direction! It consisted mainly of students and teachers, accompanied by a few drummers, walking around Tumu. Hundreds of condoms were liberally handed out and with all the students promptly blowing them up as balloons – well we were kids once as well! The sight was rather surreal, a few hundred people walking through an African town with lots of drumming and singing, waving inflated condoms in the air, all at 6.00am in the morning! The ‘March’ ended at the District Assembly, where the Director from the District Assembly addressed the crowd to a chorus of ‘Condom is the winner’ and ‘Aids is the loser’. What was really interesting was that all the different religions took part. The event did generate a lot of publicity, but it’s difficult to measure the real impact such events will have.
The ‘Debate’ took place on the Saturday, and involved all the local schools raising points with regard to issues ranging from testing for HIV to the use of condoms. It was a bit chaotic at times, and we had some difficulty understanding the students, but the principle was very worthwhile.
World Aids Day coincided with Farmers Day, a national holiday in Ghana. There is big show celebrating the achievements of different farmers. They all travel into Tumu, display their wares, and then are awarded prizes. The prizes are laid out in the middle of the arena, and the farmers are called up one by one. There were dozens of bicycles, pairs of Wellington boots, ghetto blasters, boxes of matches and scythes given away (all things seen as important to a farmer). The top prize was a ‘moto’. This went to someone who had 5 wives, umpteen children and a big farm, much to the delight of the crowd. The show began with the customary speeches, addresses, drumming and dancing – all very traditional. However, it was very, very hot, and by 1.30pm we were on our last legs – so we made an early exit. Di was getting her haircut in the afternoon anyway, but that’s another story!
Work, which is after all why we’re here I suppose, has got busier. Di is still doing her Chemistry. They have just sat their end of term exams. The students really appear to be enjoying her lessons. She’s introduced lots of practical work for them (seems to have bought lots of tomatoes), and this definitely is different from what they have been doing. However, the students lack the ability to apply skills acquired to their knowledge, and when it comes to exams still have to learn things parrot fashion. We had an end of term drink with the members of the Science Department the other evening, they are really pleasant characters, and Di appears really settled at TUTCO. Pleasingly, work at GES has picked up. I feel there is far more structure to what I’m trying to do now. I’ve done a lot of background research in the form of interviews with some GES staff, and in the New Year will embark on a programme of visits to schools. I’ve even managed to establish a regular weekly meeting with my line manager. ‘Small, small’ is the saying here, little by little it means. You get there eventually.
The motos have made life a lot easier for Di getting to work – certainly for the 6.30am assemblies, but to her credit she walks in a couple of times as well. As I work very close, I only take the moto if I know I’ll be going out somewhere, so we’re not totally lazy yet. As we’ve told some of you already, the motos are also fantastic when it comes to getting to the internet. It’s only 5 minutes on the moto, 25 – 30 minutes walking. The standard of driving is still pretty rough however, but we’re getting used to the motos.
I don’t think we told you about the delivery of Di’s moto. It came a week after mine, and arrived on top of a tro / bus from Bolga. When we went to get it from the tro station, the driver wanted 50,000 cedis (around £3) to get it off! A stand off ensued – very jovial and friendly I might add – and I said that they could take it back to Bolga because we weren’t paying, although Di wasn’t keen on that idea! In the end after some phone calls to VSO, and a break for prayers (the driver was a Muslim), one huge bloke and his friend got the bike down. The driver paid them, as he’d already had the money from VSO! All good fun. Of course then we couldn’t get it started. So lots of people gathered round each vying for a go at starting the bike. One of them eventually succeeding, to everyone’s approval and delight. Apart from the hand break being broken, it was in good shape! I drove the two of us out of the station (without stalling) to waves from the locals and the tro driver. It wouldn’t pay to be shy here! Oh the break cost 5000 cedis (30p) to fix, and took 2 minutes to fix, UK mechanics take note!
We visited the bar at the back of our house the other day – Jolly Friends Restaurant – and had a beer and a bite to eat. Food was very good, and Mrs Jolly was really pleased to see us. We let on to her every day, but hadn’t got round to visiting her place for one reason and another. It’s great watching her and her staff sit outside each day, either drinking or preparing food. When they are preparing food, they have an audience of pigs and vultures! On the way to work the other morning, I passed a vulture picking off the last bits from a rams skull! But the food is very tasty, honest!
‘Christmas is coming and the Guinea Fowl are getting fat, please put a cedi in the policeman’s hat’ – a variation on the old saying my mum taught us as children. Well, it links us to witnessing our first example of African corruption the other day. Whilst in work, there was a bit of a commotion outside the office. The police had arrived in numbers and were remonstrating with a member of GES staff. They then proceeded to wheel his moto away. It turns out that his wife had been riding the bike without her helmet. Now normally this doesn’t make a blind bit of difference, but it was market day and its coming up to Christmas and the police need a few cedis, so they target some people. The outcome is that you have to pay a few thousand cedis to get your bike back, or go to court and pay even more before you get your bike back. The chap ended up paying 30,000 cedis the next day (nearly £2). And in a very relaxed and resigned way commented to me ‘ah well this is Africa’.
It’s Di’s birthday this weekend, and there’s a bit of a tale to tell on that, but I can’t tell it yet, as Di doesn’t know it! So you’ll have to wait for the next edition of the blog to find out, suffice to say the police nearly had a few cedis to add to their coffers.
We would like to wish one and all a very Happy Christmas, we will be celebrating with yam and corn-beef, unless the ‘cow’ Di bought, or at least part of a cow Di paid for in college arrives, and is edible!!! We will raise our water glass to you all and think of you drinking a nice glass, or two, of dry white wine and eating turkey and roast potatoes covered in gravy. Making our mouths water just at the thought.
Thank you so much those who have sent out cards and parcels for Christmas, we will reply to you all in the New Year. The house looks rather festive with all your snow and robins hanging on the walls, and paper chains hung across the ceiling. But no tree and baubles, and no Father Christmas, he doesn’t seem to exist in this culture. So from a very hot and dusty Tumu, seasonal good wishes and we hope you are looking forward to 2007 as much as we are.
“N dia pinna”, Good morning.
Here’s our latest update as we get closer and closer to Christmas.
The end of November and December has continued to see us become like part of the furniture here in Tumu. It also saw the passing of a couple of really big events. Both actually took place on the same day – Friday 1st December. It was World Aids Day and National Farmers Day.
World Aids Day saw a range of different events taking place in an attempt to raise the profile of Aids an HIV. All the folies (i.e. all the white people) are involved either in Education or Health, therefore there was a big link into the day for us. Two main events that we supported were the ‘March’ around Tumu, and a ‘Debate’ at the local Secondary School.
The ‘March’ started at 6.00am from Tumu Community Hall and then did a circuit of the town. It turns out, that there were actually two marches, but one went in another direction! It consisted mainly of students and teachers, accompanied by a few drummers, walking around Tumu. Hundreds of condoms were liberally handed out and with all the students promptly blowing them up as balloons – well we were kids once as well! The sight was rather surreal, a few hundred people walking through an African town with lots of drumming and singing, waving inflated condoms in the air, all at 6.00am in the morning! The ‘March’ ended at the District Assembly, where the Director from the District Assembly addressed the crowd to a chorus of ‘Condom is the winner’ and ‘Aids is the loser’. What was really interesting was that all the different religions took part. The event did generate a lot of publicity, but it’s difficult to measure the real impact such events will have.
The ‘Debate’ took place on the Saturday, and involved all the local schools raising points with regard to issues ranging from testing for HIV to the use of condoms. It was a bit chaotic at times, and we had some difficulty understanding the students, but the principle was very worthwhile.
World Aids Day coincided with Farmers Day, a national holiday in Ghana. There is big show celebrating the achievements of different farmers. They all travel into Tumu, display their wares, and then are awarded prizes. The prizes are laid out in the middle of the arena, and the farmers are called up one by one. There were dozens of bicycles, pairs of Wellington boots, ghetto blasters, boxes of matches and scythes given away (all things seen as important to a farmer). The top prize was a ‘moto’. This went to someone who had 5 wives, umpteen children and a big farm, much to the delight of the crowd. The show began with the customary speeches, addresses, drumming and dancing – all very traditional. However, it was very, very hot, and by 1.30pm we were on our last legs – so we made an early exit. Di was getting her haircut in the afternoon anyway, but that’s another story!
Work, which is after all why we’re here I suppose, has got busier. Di is still doing her Chemistry. They have just sat their end of term exams. The students really appear to be enjoying her lessons. She’s introduced lots of practical work for them (seems to have bought lots of tomatoes), and this definitely is different from what they have been doing. However, the students lack the ability to apply skills acquired to their knowledge, and when it comes to exams still have to learn things parrot fashion. We had an end of term drink with the members of the Science Department the other evening, they are really pleasant characters, and Di appears really settled at TUTCO. Pleasingly, work at GES has picked up. I feel there is far more structure to what I’m trying to do now. I’ve done a lot of background research in the form of interviews with some GES staff, and in the New Year will embark on a programme of visits to schools. I’ve even managed to establish a regular weekly meeting with my line manager. ‘Small, small’ is the saying here, little by little it means. You get there eventually.
The motos have made life a lot easier for Di getting to work – certainly for the 6.30am assemblies, but to her credit she walks in a couple of times as well. As I work very close, I only take the moto if I know I’ll be going out somewhere, so we’re not totally lazy yet. As we’ve told some of you already, the motos are also fantastic when it comes to getting to the internet. It’s only 5 minutes on the moto, 25 – 30 minutes walking. The standard of driving is still pretty rough however, but we’re getting used to the motos.
I don’t think we told you about the delivery of Di’s moto. It came a week after mine, and arrived on top of a tro / bus from Bolga. When we went to get it from the tro station, the driver wanted 50,000 cedis (around £3) to get it off! A stand off ensued – very jovial and friendly I might add – and I said that they could take it back to Bolga because we weren’t paying, although Di wasn’t keen on that idea! In the end after some phone calls to VSO, and a break for prayers (the driver was a Muslim), one huge bloke and his friend got the bike down. The driver paid them, as he’d already had the money from VSO! All good fun. Of course then we couldn’t get it started. So lots of people gathered round each vying for a go at starting the bike. One of them eventually succeeding, to everyone’s approval and delight. Apart from the hand break being broken, it was in good shape! I drove the two of us out of the station (without stalling) to waves from the locals and the tro driver. It wouldn’t pay to be shy here! Oh the break cost 5000 cedis (30p) to fix, and took 2 minutes to fix, UK mechanics take note!
We visited the bar at the back of our house the other day – Jolly Friends Restaurant – and had a beer and a bite to eat. Food was very good, and Mrs Jolly was really pleased to see us. We let on to her every day, but hadn’t got round to visiting her place for one reason and another. It’s great watching her and her staff sit outside each day, either drinking or preparing food. When they are preparing food, they have an audience of pigs and vultures! On the way to work the other morning, I passed a vulture picking off the last bits from a rams skull! But the food is very tasty, honest!
‘Christmas is coming and the Guinea Fowl are getting fat, please put a cedi in the policeman’s hat’ – a variation on the old saying my mum taught us as children. Well, it links us to witnessing our first example of African corruption the other day. Whilst in work, there was a bit of a commotion outside the office. The police had arrived in numbers and were remonstrating with a member of GES staff. They then proceeded to wheel his moto away. It turns out that his wife had been riding the bike without her helmet. Now normally this doesn’t make a blind bit of difference, but it was market day and its coming up to Christmas and the police need a few cedis, so they target some people. The outcome is that you have to pay a few thousand cedis to get your bike back, or go to court and pay even more before you get your bike back. The chap ended up paying 30,000 cedis the next day (nearly £2). And in a very relaxed and resigned way commented to me ‘ah well this is Africa’.
It’s Di’s birthday this weekend, and there’s a bit of a tale to tell on that, but I can’t tell it yet, as Di doesn’t know it! So you’ll have to wait for the next edition of the blog to find out, suffice to say the police nearly had a few cedis to add to their coffers.
We would like to wish one and all a very Happy Christmas, we will be celebrating with yam and corn-beef, unless the ‘cow’ Di bought, or at least part of a cow Di paid for in college arrives, and is edible!!! We will raise our water glass to you all and think of you drinking a nice glass, or two, of dry white wine and eating turkey and roast potatoes covered in gravy. Making our mouths water just at the thought.
Thank you so much those who have sent out cards and parcels for Christmas, we will reply to you all in the New Year. The house looks rather festive with all your snow and robins hanging on the walls, and paper chains hung across the ceiling. But no tree and baubles, and no Father Christmas, he doesn’t seem to exist in this culture. So from a very hot and dusty Tumu, seasonal good wishes and we hope you are looking forward to 2007 as much as we are.
