Wednesday, November 07, 2007
November 7th
Well, hello again and a warm…very literally…welcome back to Tumu. We’ve actually been back in Ghana now for just over six weeks - where does the time go? – and for one reason and another this is the first time we’ve had opportunity to resume our blog. So we’ll just give you a ‘small small’ taste of life here since we got back, the theme being ‘changes.’
A main reason for not posting a blog before now, is that the internet has been down for around 4 weeks. It’s like the song says, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone’, and we have to an extent been a bit frustrated by not having access to e-mails and the like. However, when you look around at everyone here and realise that about 99% of the population of Tumu have never seen a computer in the flesh, let alone received an e-mail, it puts it into perspective. This in many ways speaks volumes for the ‘progress’ that’s taken place here since we arrived. Whilst internet access is still confined to the local secondary school, communication devices like mobile phones are becoming quite common, and the communication masts springing up everywhere are evidence of this, (see the photograph of Tumu above). Indeed our mobile phone network, Areeba, was taken over by MTN whilst we were away, and this is a network now operating in several countries in West Africa.
Another area where there has been revolutionary developments is transport. Way back in October or November of 2006 we described our first experiences of travelling on ‘public’ transport. Travelling by ‘tro tro’ was the only way out of (and in to) Tumu. Up to 25 people crammed into what the locals call an ‘Ovan’ – i.e. it’s hot and it’s a van! Well the novelty of this very African mode of transport wore off after…well after the first time, actually. The discomfort, claustrophobic feeling and lack of health and safety regulations didn’t appeal to us and we became very reluctant to leave Tumu unless we had to. Anyway this October we had to travel twice. Firstly to Wa (westerly direction) for a Regional Meeting for VSOs, and secondly to Zebilla and Bolgatanga (easterly direction) for a ‘Peer Visit’ in Education. Well imagine our delight when we got back here and heard that buses (that is proper, full length, coach like buses) had come to Tumu. The only problem was establishing the timing of them. It turns out that there is a ‘Metro’ bus that goes from Wa to Bolgatanga, via Tumu, each day. And similarly one from Bolgatanga to Wa (via Tumu) each day. Now as we were going to Wa first we didn’t know what time the Bolgatanga bus would get into Tumu and indeed whether there would be any spaces, so we bit the bullet and got a ‘tro’ to Wa early morning. However on the return journey from Wa, we found the place where the bus parks up for the night and the driver instructed us as to when we should be there in the morning (4.00am). So this we did and got the bus back to Tumu with acres of leg room, miles of head room, and quite soft seats! We could also keep our bags with us at no extra cost, and not have to put them on the roof. The journey itself, using the dirt roads, was dreadfully bumpy but at least we could see where we were going and we both had a definite, ‘I feel safer on this’ sensation. So low and behold, we were back in Tumu at 8.45am on a Sunday morning after a great few days with lots of other volunteers, shaken but not stirred, and also not covered in red dust (sand) from head to toe.
We won’t go into as much detail about timings etc of the Bolgatanga trip, but we’ll just give you a couple of tales. At the much more civilised hour of 5.00am, we arrived for the bus back to Tumu. It almost had a carnival feel to the trip as we set off. Mrs Jolly (owner of Jolly Friends the drinking spot at the back of our house) and her sister were on board, as were several students from Tutco where Diane teaches. We even had a bus inspector board the bus to check everyone’s tickets before we left! As he finished checking all the tickets, he turned to the passengers and announced, and I quote: ‘Well done all of you, now keep tight hold of your tickets as you may need to show them to another inspector, and you must give them to the conductor as you alight.’ I can’t imagine a ticket inspector on a train in the UK turning to thank the whole of the carriage after he’s checked the tickets!
So we set off and just after we got out of Bolgatanga, there was an incredible bang. The cause of which, (and I actually saw it because I was looking ahead and could see what was coming), was what at first looked like a piece of plastic being blown into the windscreen, but that would not have caused such a bang nor the damage. We realised it was a big bird, actually a bird of prey that had been eating carrion off the road. The bus stopped and the driver, conductors (there’s three of them), and quite a few passengers got off to survey the cause, that is the dead bird – which incidentally Diane identified as a Yellow Billed Kite, (the bird book comes in handy at times like this), and the damage a very broken windscreen. So for a good 20 minutes the small posse stood someway behind the vehicle looking at this bird in the middle of the road. Eventually, one of the conductors was told to pick up the bird and bring it onto the bus. The official reason was to provide evidence to the bus company for the damage caused, but we reckon it was going to be chop for when they got to Wa. The journey continued. We picked up lots of passengers at Navrongo, so the bus resembled a ‘tro’ in the quantities of people, but still it was fino. Until another incident roughly half way home, when we passed the Wa - Bolgatanga bus coming the other way. As they drew level, on the incredibly narrow road, they both stopped. The drivers and conductors and even some passengers got out and greeted each other, like it had been years since they’d seen each other. I’m pretty sure that this happens every day. We thought it was highly amusing, but after about 10 minutes some passengers got irate and chastised the driver and conductors, and with cries of ‘drive on’, they reluctantly returned to the bus and we carried on our way. One passenger in particular delivered a monologue as to the terrible attitude and behaviour they were displaying. After travelling for a year on ‘tros’, we felt this was a tad over the top! Anyway, apart from the difficult task of squeezing past everyone to ‘alight’ at the Tumu police barrier. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful.
One thing we must mention however is that the roads haven’t changed. In fact they are dire. Following the well-documented rains, they are in a terrible state; very, very bumpy. So we must pass our compliments on to the driver from Bolgatanga, because he really took care when encountering the incredibly uneven surface. Cynics might say it was because his vision through the smashed windscreen was virtually nil, but we think he cared greatly for his bus.
In our last blog, we mentioned the ‘Project’ at Egala Primary, where funds raised from people at home are helping to rebuild / renovate a classroom. Well, this is going very well. The building is looking like a building now. We’ll report on this at a later date, suffice to say that the change here has been tremendous.
To finish, some other changes. Tumu has acquired a lot more shops, well kiosks, (all selling the same few things of course!). There has been an explosion in 4 wheel drive vehicles as the NGOs in the area accumulate more money. The design of our much loved, and drunk Star beer bottle has changed, but not the contents (still warm and fizzy), nor the price 85 peswa or 8500 old cedis or in English 45pence …yet! And last but not least, Brenda – ‘our goat’ – alas appears to be no more. We haven’t seen her for almost two weeks, and we can therefore only conclude she has gone to the great chop shop in the sky. We think she would have taken a lot of chewing, being the old goat that she was.
So until next time, we’ll say goodbye and dedicate this blog to Brenda!
Well, hello again and a warm…very literally…welcome back to Tumu. We’ve actually been back in Ghana now for just over six weeks - where does the time go? – and for one reason and another this is the first time we’ve had opportunity to resume our blog. So we’ll just give you a ‘small small’ taste of life here since we got back, the theme being ‘changes.’
A main reason for not posting a blog before now, is that the internet has been down for around 4 weeks. It’s like the song says, ‘you don’t know what you’ve got till its gone’, and we have to an extent been a bit frustrated by not having access to e-mails and the like. However, when you look around at everyone here and realise that about 99% of the population of Tumu have never seen a computer in the flesh, let alone received an e-mail, it puts it into perspective. This in many ways speaks volumes for the ‘progress’ that’s taken place here since we arrived. Whilst internet access is still confined to the local secondary school, communication devices like mobile phones are becoming quite common, and the communication masts springing up everywhere are evidence of this, (see the photograph of Tumu above). Indeed our mobile phone network, Areeba, was taken over by MTN whilst we were away, and this is a network now operating in several countries in West Africa.
Another area where there has been revolutionary developments is transport. Way back in October or November of 2006 we described our first experiences of travelling on ‘public’ transport. Travelling by ‘tro tro’ was the only way out of (and in to) Tumu. Up to 25 people crammed into what the locals call an ‘Ovan’ – i.e. it’s hot and it’s a van! Well the novelty of this very African mode of transport wore off after…well after the first time, actually. The discomfort, claustrophobic feeling and lack of health and safety regulations didn’t appeal to us and we became very reluctant to leave Tumu unless we had to. Anyway this October we had to travel twice. Firstly to Wa (westerly direction) for a Regional Meeting for VSOs, and secondly to Zebilla and Bolgatanga (easterly direction) for a ‘Peer Visit’ in Education. Well imagine our delight when we got back here and heard that buses (that is proper, full length, coach like buses) had come to Tumu. The only problem was establishing the timing of them. It turns out that there is a ‘Metro’ bus that goes from Wa to Bolgatanga, via Tumu, each day. And similarly one from Bolgatanga to Wa (via Tumu) each day. Now as we were going to Wa first we didn’t know what time the Bolgatanga bus would get into Tumu and indeed whether there would be any spaces, so we bit the bullet and got a ‘tro’ to Wa early morning. However on the return journey from Wa, we found the place where the bus parks up for the night and the driver instructed us as to when we should be there in the morning (4.00am). So this we did and got the bus back to Tumu with acres of leg room, miles of head room, and quite soft seats! We could also keep our bags with us at no extra cost, and not have to put them on the roof. The journey itself, using the dirt roads, was dreadfully bumpy but at least we could see where we were going and we both had a definite, ‘I feel safer on this’ sensation. So low and behold, we were back in Tumu at 8.45am on a Sunday morning after a great few days with lots of other volunteers, shaken but not stirred, and also not covered in red dust (sand) from head to toe.
We won’t go into as much detail about timings etc of the Bolgatanga trip, but we’ll just give you a couple of tales. At the much more civilised hour of 5.00am, we arrived for the bus back to Tumu. It almost had a carnival feel to the trip as we set off. Mrs Jolly (owner of Jolly Friends the drinking spot at the back of our house) and her sister were on board, as were several students from Tutco where Diane teaches. We even had a bus inspector board the bus to check everyone’s tickets before we left! As he finished checking all the tickets, he turned to the passengers and announced, and I quote: ‘Well done all of you, now keep tight hold of your tickets as you may need to show them to another inspector, and you must give them to the conductor as you alight.’ I can’t imagine a ticket inspector on a train in the UK turning to thank the whole of the carriage after he’s checked the tickets!
So we set off and just after we got out of Bolgatanga, there was an incredible bang. The cause of which, (and I actually saw it because I was looking ahead and could see what was coming), was what at first looked like a piece of plastic being blown into the windscreen, but that would not have caused such a bang nor the damage. We realised it was a big bird, actually a bird of prey that had been eating carrion off the road. The bus stopped and the driver, conductors (there’s three of them), and quite a few passengers got off to survey the cause, that is the dead bird – which incidentally Diane identified as a Yellow Billed Kite, (the bird book comes in handy at times like this), and the damage a very broken windscreen. So for a good 20 minutes the small posse stood someway behind the vehicle looking at this bird in the middle of the road. Eventually, one of the conductors was told to pick up the bird and bring it onto the bus. The official reason was to provide evidence to the bus company for the damage caused, but we reckon it was going to be chop for when they got to Wa. The journey continued. We picked up lots of passengers at Navrongo, so the bus resembled a ‘tro’ in the quantities of people, but still it was fino. Until another incident roughly half way home, when we passed the Wa - Bolgatanga bus coming the other way. As they drew level, on the incredibly narrow road, they both stopped. The drivers and conductors and even some passengers got out and greeted each other, like it had been years since they’d seen each other. I’m pretty sure that this happens every day. We thought it was highly amusing, but after about 10 minutes some passengers got irate and chastised the driver and conductors, and with cries of ‘drive on’, they reluctantly returned to the bus and we carried on our way. One passenger in particular delivered a monologue as to the terrible attitude and behaviour they were displaying. After travelling for a year on ‘tros’, we felt this was a tad over the top! Anyway, apart from the difficult task of squeezing past everyone to ‘alight’ at the Tumu police barrier. The rest of the journey was pretty uneventful.
One thing we must mention however is that the roads haven’t changed. In fact they are dire. Following the well-documented rains, they are in a terrible state; very, very bumpy. So we must pass our compliments on to the driver from Bolgatanga, because he really took care when encountering the incredibly uneven surface. Cynics might say it was because his vision through the smashed windscreen was virtually nil, but we think he cared greatly for his bus.
In our last blog, we mentioned the ‘Project’ at Egala Primary, where funds raised from people at home are helping to rebuild / renovate a classroom. Well, this is going very well. The building is looking like a building now. We’ll report on this at a later date, suffice to say that the change here has been tremendous.
To finish, some other changes. Tumu has acquired a lot more shops, well kiosks, (all selling the same few things of course!). There has been an explosion in 4 wheel drive vehicles as the NGOs in the area accumulate more money. The design of our much loved, and drunk Star beer bottle has changed, but not the contents (still warm and fizzy), nor the price 85 peswa or 8500 old cedis or in English 45pence …yet! And last but not least, Brenda – ‘our goat’ – alas appears to be no more. We haven’t seen her for almost two weeks, and we can therefore only conclude she has gone to the great chop shop in the sky. We think she would have taken a lot of chewing, being the old goat that she was.
So until next time, we’ll say goodbye and dedicate this blog to Brenda!
