Kumasi, Ghana

Posted by pertorkelson | Filed under Ghana

This past week we have had lights out at least once a day because of a fault at the electrical company. If the lights out is scheduled and you know when it will happen, then I can live with it, but when the lights go off sporadically without any pattern, then it’s very annoying. We haven’t had lights for a full 24 hours for a week now.

Last Sunday I, Paul, Sadat and Elizabeth went to Rose’s Guesthouse to watch West Ham-Arsenal (1-0) and Tottenham-Chelsea (2-1). Lots of Ghanaians cheer for Chelsea because of Michael Essien (he is Ghanaian). I like Rose’s Guesthouse, it’s nice to watch football there, eat nice food and play some pool once in awhile.

Since my last diary post SYDD has had their monthly meeting with the orphans and vulnerable children and at the meeting we discussed various topics e.g. the importance of going to school and I asked if anybody wanted to have a separate meeting with me and it turned out that more than 50 orphans wrote their name on the list. This morning I started meeting a couple of the orphans, asking them about; how they get food, how they live, their education and future plans. I interviewed 7 orphans and they gave me very different answers. Most of them said that they get food by begging from neighbours, people in the area, but some are lucky enough to be fed by a grandmother, sister etc. The majority of them don’t have any parents at all. When they told me about their future plans one boy told me he’s good at football, but doesn’t have a team to play for, two told me that they want to become soldiers to help their home country, one told me he wants to study science in Australia and so on. I really enjoyed interviewing them, but there are still many to interview, at least 70 orphans. When I was finished 7-8 boys added their names to my list. They also told me what they’re in need of; school books, sandals, clothes, some even said that they need food (which means it’s a very serious case).

I have really enjoyed the evening classes (SYDD Non Formal Education) this week; we have English on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and maths on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The women, who I and Issah teach, improve all the time, but there are still several who can’t write the alphabet. Many women complain about that the pace of the lessons is to fast and on Wednesday I got annoyed and shouted: “Now listen! The ones who don’t know the alphabet are the ones who always come late, and the ones who know it are the ones who show up first”. I got irritated because we can’t recap the alphabet all the time, you have to move forward and discuss new topics. But at the Wednesday lesson several understood the meaning of a verb, “something you do”, so when I started namedropping; “you walk, you talk, you drive, you eat, you sleep” then some of the women said “slap”, “cook”, “beat” and I made them laugh by giving them examples like: “you slap your husband”, “you cook for your husband” and “you beat your husband”. The majority of the women are Muslims so you can imagine how much they laughed when I told them those examples. On Thursday and yesterday I was assisting Gouma teaching the men and they are very different to teach, because they are not as quick as the women are. We taught maths on Thursday and yesterday we taught English and I assisted in pronouncing some words which were difficult for Gouma to pronounce. I truly enjoy the evening classes.

During the past week we have visited Nuriya Islamic School in Sepe Tinpom (area in Kumasi), which was interesting to see and also hear how they try to finance their school and the needy children. They receive some funding from Saudi Arabian individuals, but like a lot of organisations they always need money and basic things like clothes, pens, pencils, school books, footballs etc.

Two days ago (Thursday) SYDD finally received a food delivery from OICI (organisation funded by USAID) and we stored it in a storage room which we lend from a friend of Mr Abu. Unfortunately the food delivery was quite small, less than expected, so it will not last long enough for the almost 200 orphans and street children who are associated with SYDD.

Snap me! Since several children in Adukrom saw my digital camera I hear the phrase “snap me!” everyday, because they want me to snap a picture of them all the time. Even when some children see my mobile phone they tell me: “snap us!”. My brother was just like the children in Adukrom when he was young, but unfortunately he doesn’t say “snap me!” anymore. I don’t know why?

I have bought some new music too; I bought three CDs with the artists Ofori Amponsah, Reggie Zippy and Dada K.D. I really like Ofori Amponsah’s music, and I get great summer vibes when I hear the songs “Puduo”, “Broken Heart” and “Celebrity”.

One thing I don’t think I have told you about before is the fact that on several occasions the Ghanaians won’t let you carry your own things. For example, one day when I was walking together with Mr Abu and his youngest brother Issah, he kept insisting on carrying my backpack, he kept on saying: “no problem, don’t worry”. Another day when I bought a box of water and left the SYDD office, then Sheimawu (one of the girls who saws at the office) took the box and placed it on her head, so instead of me carrying my box of water then she carried it for about 1 km to the place where we got into a car (a shared taxi). The same day the taxi driver insisted on helping me with the box of water from the taxi to my room in Dote. Yesterday when we left the SYDD office and were walking to a meeting, then Muniratu (another girl who saws at the SYDD office) carried my backpack on her back. She wouldn’t let me carry my own backpack. As you can see lots of Ghanaians treat you very well.

Speaking of water, I drink water all the time, which is necessary to stand the heat and especially two days ago (Thursday) I was sweating like a waterfall all day. It was +32 degrees Celsius during daytime and since I’m in a tropical climate zone the heat was pressuring my body in the evening too. At 23:00 when I checked the temperature it was still +27 degrees Celsius.

Let me tell you a little about sugar here in Ghana, because the amount of sugar some people eat everyday is crazy. They start off in the morning adding several scoops of sugar into their cup of tea and the bread or biscuits they eat also got lots of sugar in it. So, I have told several friends and people they should decrease their daily intake dose of sugar, otherwise they will definitely get diabetes.

I will end by saying that I know that I’m much appreciated here, because on several occasions Mr Abu has told me “oh, I will miss you very much when you leave for Sweden”. Also Sala and Saliya (another 21 year old girl living next door in Adukrom) were laughing their ass off when I was showing them how Ghanaians dry themselves after visiting the WC (they use newspaper) and they both said: “oh, we will miss you very much when you leave”. I told Mr Abu that I haven’t been here in Kumasi for more then three weeks and you are already thinking about my departure in April. I have a great family here.

Click here for photos

Permalink | November 11th, 2006

5 Responses to “Kumasi, Ghana”

  1. Anna Rob and Ella Says:
    November 13th, 2006 at 3:13 pm

    Dear Per,
    We are so very interested and proud of your adventures. I am sure you feel good and alive to the bottom of your toes. The people there look beautiful and friendly.
    Keep up the good work.
    Love A, Rob and Ella
    PS.. Ella thanks you for your postcard.

  2. Niclas Says:
    November 13th, 2006 at 11:07 pm

    Tjenare Mr Erik!
    Skönt att se andra kommentera dina upplevelser på svenska. För mig och min dåliga engelska tar ju detta en hel kväll att bara försöka förstå dina enormt långa och innehållsrika texter. Man skall ju definitivt inte klaga bara för att man är lite halvtaskig på engelskan, utan nog mer vara stolt över din grymma engelska både i skrift och säkerligen ditt tal. Jag menar ju, att här står lilla kusinen och lär Ghanabefolkningen engelska och matte, det är stort.
    Något som också är stort är att Elfsborg vann allsvenskan i fotboll förra söndagen i ett litet småkallt Borås. Där var man och frös när du sitter på Rosés Guesthouse och kollar på Allbäck o FCC - Man United. Livet kan vara bra orättvist. Jag och Thilda har även kikat på bilderna och jag berättar lite hur du har det, och både hon och jag blir väldigt berörda. Thilda skulle berätta om dig och din resa imorgon inför klassen. Bilden på flickan med apelsinen skrev hon ut.
    Vi ser fram emot att följa dina texter framöver. Vi tackar även för brevet som landade i postlådan. Mycket uppskattat må du tro. Lycka till i ditt fortsatta arbete och var rädd om Dig. Jag hakar på 2008 och ” Afrika Nations Cup “, bara så du vet.
    Kram och kämpa! Kusin Niclas

  3. mattis spansk Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 7:57 am

    hallooo perra

    riktigt kul att läsa om dina operationer i ghana!

    det låter som den perra jag är bekant med, ryter till och tar en konflikt här och där, när det behövs. totalt orädd och rak! - mycket härligt att höra!

    sköt om dig - mattis & erika

  4. Sofia Says:
    November 14th, 2006 at 1:06 pm

    Hej Per,
    Great to hear that you’ve found something out there then the cold sweden. Sounds really interesting, and very brave of you. Enjoy it and keep the stories coming. Little different to the life in LONDON.
    Take care.
    Kram sofia

  5. Dräng for president Says:
    February 27th, 2007 at 8:42 am

    Yoyoooo!
    Håll ut i hettan o fortsätt kicka sanningen till den unga ghetto-youthen.. Hörs snart, peace från tundran

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