Kumasi, Cape Coast; Ghana
Posted by pertorkelson | Filed under Ghana
Last Friday I and Issah were in a drop-in on our way between Dote and Adukrom, and there was another car coming against us driving in our lane (right hand side) in Tinpom. The reason why were 15-20 cows walking in the road, but when he passed us the man in the other car got really angry at our taxi driver and started shouting at him. I told our taxi driver, who was a boy around 20-21 years old; “don’t mind him, he’s wrong, in Ghana you are supposed to drive on the right hand side of the road”. When we reached Sawaba about 3-4 minutes later, the angry man had turned around his car and he came back and pulled to the side just in front of our taxi, walked out of his car and punched our taxi driver right in the face through the window. There were several men gathering around trying to calm people down, I walked out of the car and told the man and a couple of the others standing around that; “this man is all wrong, in Ghana we drive on the right hand side”. The angry man didn’t say anything, he just left in a hurry after the punch. What an idiot! I told our taxi driver, who was hurt on his cheek and started to cry a little; “don’t care about him, he’s an idiot, he’s all wrong”. I wish I had this on video.
The same day as the taxi fight incident, I booked a room at Guestline Lodge in Adum (Kumasi), because I was leaving for Cape Coast the following day and the Guestline Lodge is located next to the STC bus station. The room I stayed in was fine, but I had a problem, I couldn’t sleep for more than maybe 30 minutes that night. I had sprayed the room with insect killer too much so I could hardly breathe; not very smart of me (I know some of you will laugh when you read this). The STC bus left for Cape Coast very early, around 04:00, last Saturday morning. I was invited by some other volunteers (from Germany, USA and Switzerland) I know to come along with them, so we were six including me that travelled to Cape Coast that morning. I tried to sleep on the bus, but it was really hard to get some sleep. The bus took less than 4 hours and we arrived before 08:00 to Cape Coast. We checked in at a place called Samoo’s Guesthouse. The place was fine and I shared room with the same German volunteer I shared room with in Accra when I arrived to Ghana. That day we visited the Cape Coast Castle (a former slave castle) and we had very nice tour guide who showed us around and guided us. I learned that where the Cape Coast Castle stands is on the site of the Swedish Fort Carolusbourg, which was built from wood in 1653. It was really interesting to visit the castle and I enjoyed the tour very much. We left the castle before noon and headed towards a place called Elmina Beach Resort and there we spent almost the whole day; we had lunch, socialized, relaxed and swam in the pools. I truly appreciated the beach resort and the lovely breeze coming from the ocean, it really felt like we where on vacation, which was much needed when you usually work 6 days a week. That evening we had to wait for 1 h 30 min before we received our dinner and when we finally got it, then it was cold. Frustrating? Yes!
The following day, Sunday (26 Nov), four of the volunteers including myself went to Kakum National Park which is a rainforest roughly 33 km from Cape Coast. After arriving to Kakum NP, then we started off by having a guided tour just the four of us for about an hour, which was real nice and quiet. We didn’t see many animals, but I didn’t care about that, I just enjoyed the rainforest. The humidity in the rainforest made me sweat like a waterfall. When the hiking tour was over, then we continued on to the canopy walk, and that was a great and special feeling to stand between trees looking out into the rainforest. The canopy walk was approximately 350 meters long and about 45 meters above the ground. We left Kakum NP and took a drop-in to Elmina Beach Resort, where the other two volunteers already were. I loved it that we came back to the Beach Resort that day, because of the relaxed mood and the nice breeze from the ocean. It was something very different from my hometown Kumasi and the daily life I have there, so that’s why I appreciated it very much. In the evening we all had a real nice time with dinner on the roof of our guesthouse and I taught the others some Swedish.
On Monday morning I and an American volunteer went to the Elmina Castle, the others decided to skip it, but I definitely wanted to see it because I don’t know if I will be back in the Cape Coast area again. Although Elmina Castle was nice to see, the Cape Coast Castle was definitely a more interesting and nicer place to visit. I and the American volunteer walked around Elmina Castle for about 20 minutes before we got in a drop-in to enjoy the breakfast buffet at the Elmina Beach Resort. After breakfast and getting back to Cape Coast, then we all headed towards the STC bus station to buy tickets, but the buses back to Kumasi were already full. Instead we had to go to the tro-tro station and after awhile we got tickets in a Mercedes-Benz tro-tro, which was quite nice. I was quick and chose the front seat next to the driver, because I didn’t want to sit tight with 15 other people in the back. The drive took less than 4 hours and I talked to a real nice man from Kumasi during the ride. The landscape between Cape Coast and Kumasi was very nice. When I got back to Kumasi I really felt like I had been on a vacation and I missed it, because I was experiencing a truly great time in Cape Coast.
Work this week; I had Monday off because of my Cape Coast trip, but other then that it has been very busy days with various assignments. I and Mr Abu have realized that we need to be with the orphans (boys and girls) more and interview them more frequently to engage ourselves in their lives. So, this week I haven’t had time to teach the men or women in the evening down in Aboabo, instead I have met boys and girls (orphans). Tuesday evening we had a meeting with the orphan boys next to the mosque and they are all great. I stood up and asked: “what is my name?” and 50 orphans answered simultaneously: “Mr Erik!”. The day after, Wednesday, Mr Abu and I visited Nuriya Islamic School (where most of the orphans I know go to school) and we met the head there and discussed the needy students’ problems. The head, Malam, was very thankful for the food that some of the children receive through SYDD (food delivery from OICI). He just got back from travelling to Saudi Arabia, and it’s a country I have been thinking of travelling to some day and I will absolutely try to get there. Two days ago we were also visiting Edwenase Rehabilitation Centre (a center for youths with physical disabilities) where Sarah, the girl I have talked about before, is schooling. It was amazing to see how happy she was when Mr Abu and I arrived, she ran towards us and shouted: “both my parents are here!”. It was really nice to see how happy she was just by our visit. It’s hard to imagine myself in her shoes with both her parents being dead since long time and her grandmother, the only sole caretaker, who died last year, so she is all alone and no one ever visits her. There were also two other girls at the centre, Lydia and Felicia, which also have tough situations with either no parents or parents who just don’t care about their children because of their physical disabilities. It’s very sad, but as I have told before, Ghanaians in general don’t care at all about people with physical disabilities. Today we held our SYDD monthly meeting with the orphans in Adukrom and we mainly discussed the importance of not being ignorant. As you can see, it’s been a great week at work.
Two days ago, when we got home to Adukrom after work, then Mr Abu and I ran into Baki, which is a neighbouring boy at the age of 6. He had an open nasty cut just above his right eyebrow which he had received during the day. I told Mr Abu that “it’s not good letting the cut be like this in this heat and with all the dust and dirt that the children are exposed to all the time”. So Mr Abu and I brought Baki with us to Mr Abu’s place and there we treated the cut. Mr Abu told me that the father has run away and the mother is not taking care of Baki. There are so many parents who aren’t concerned at all about their children’s health and hygiene. Everyday I meet so many children with dirty hands and I tell them: “you have to wash your hands before greeting”.
Yesterday, 1 December, it was Farmers’ Day (national holiday) and it was instituted in 1984 to thank the hardworking and often un-rewarding farmers for their efforts. There are lots of mixed feelings about this holiday, because some farmers say that they lose money because they can’t go to the market and sell their goods. I, myself, relaxed in the morning, but then I went to the office to work on the computer. As I have told before, there is always work.
Voltic water; I drink it all the time (1½ litre costs less than 4 SEK).