Oh crap... it's that time again where I'm supposed to write something insightful and deep. Well I'm not feeling particularly deep right now... more tired than anything. Last night I had to sleep in an OK hotel/motel but I knew it would be a bit sketch so I brought an extra bed net. Problem was that the net was treated with something kinda nasty and was supposed to be aired out for 24 hours prior to its first use. I started airing it out at 11pm and decided that it was time to risk the fumes at 4am as it didn't stink as bad then and I was too tired to care.
I'll have a blog post about malaria next week as a number of my friends have already had the clocks cleaned by the parasite already. The part that sketches me out the most is that last weekend I spent the night sleeping next to a friend (who was on my left) that came down hard with malaria the following morning. The room didn't appear to have any skeeters so we just went to bed in our briefs. Let's just hope that any blood suckers in the room got their fill from him and didn't decided to sample me too! Hahaha... it almost seems in vain as I have been bitten maybe 10 times for sure other times and my other friend that slept on my right side that night just got treated for malaria...
Early in the week I was pissed off to find out that mosquitoes were biting thru my light (so I don't sweat to death) long sleeve shirt. Here I trying hard and it barely even matters... I was told that they couldn't do that... oh well, maybe the malaria carrying mosquitos can't bite thru my light shirts... I haven't fallen ill yet... let's just hope my doxy and army of vitamins can hold them at bay! If not, I'll be fine, it will just suck hard for a few days... I'm thinking like a nasty stomach flu experience.
Well... I'm shutting down the internet cafe again, so I will have to head out without saying anything insightful! I won't leave you with nothing though. There are two videos... one explaining my what I'm actually doing in Ghana and the other showing Ghana from the side of a bus (this video was supposed to go earlier but it would not upload so here it is now).
World Vision? Good Development in Ghana?
I've had some very interesting conversations with my coworkers regarding the work of development organizations (government and non) in Ghana. In fact, I promised my coworkers that I would share some of what my friends thought about organizations such as World Vision. Specifically, they wanted to know:
1) What people thought of World Vision
2) What people thougth of the effectiveness of our aid money.
As always, there is no correct answer and all opinions are WANTED!!! We are constantly "extracting" information from "Africans" and there really isn't as much of chance for Africans to get some info from us. If you don't want to share your opinion on the blog as a comment, send me an email adamfraserkruck@ewb.ca I promise to keep your opinion in full confidentiality.
Next week, I'll share their thoughts and responses with you!
Adam :)
Sunday, May 31, 2009
Sunday, May 24, 2009
A day in the life of Adam & UBF Syndrome…
Wow... youtube and Ghana are NOT friends! Many failed upload attempts. I'll have to switch up my approach. It is a lot of work to upload videos (5 hours travel and a stay overnight, fighting with power outages, ...), but you're worth it so I'm going to keep on doing it!
Before I get to my self diagnosed UBF Syndrome, I want to share a few experiences with you.
After arriving in Tamale, all Ghana JFs (short term volunteers like me) were sent out on a scavenger hunt to get some basics (cellphone, hat, medicine…) and some fun stuff (a house warming gift, season #4 of Lost…). Two specific interactions stand out as a stark contrast; one from a girl selling “pure water” sachets and another from a salesman hawking DVDs. When we approached the DVD stall in the market, the salesman eyed us up as an easy target and set his price “25 cedis… any DVD you want… 25 cedis.” Now in Canada $25 isn’t bad for a whole season, but what we were buying appeared to be some kind of pirated copy so I countered with “ah! That is too much… I think it is only worth 5 cedis.” The salesman agreed and I felt good having bartered down by a factor of 5 only to find out that DVDs go for 3 cedis. Meh… under 200% was my goal for the first day and I’m getting better. That’s a classic example of someone trying to take advantage of a foreigner. Compare that with the following girl selling water.
Later that night I went out to buy some “pure water” and found a girl no older than 14 selling them from a cooler near the guest house we were staying. I wanted to buy 0.45 cedis worth of water and only had a 0.50 cedis coin. The girl did not have exact change and so I told her that it would be ok if kept the extra 0.05 cedis, but to my surprise she politely refused and hesitated about what to do. Eventually she decided to give me a 0.10 coin effectively GIVING ME 0.05. Now this girl is out late at night and probably has to go to school in the morning and this is likely what is helping to pay for her way… and she would rather give me the extra rather than take it. The polite pride in her eyes took me a back so we stood there in silence for a few moments as I sure as heck wasn’t taking her 0.05 extra coin! Eventually we came to the conclusion that if I bought an additional small snack then we could make the exact change and both parties would have received their fair goods.
Since then I have met countless farmers in Sawla that upon hearing that I’m involved with Agriculture become very excited and ask for me to come visit their farm. The pride that they have and the will to improve their livelihoods is very touching and drives me to work hard everyday.
Next blog post will profile and exceptional female farmer I met last week, but the internet café is closing and I am being kicked out… till next time!
Adam
Ooopps almost forgot. UBF = Ukrainian Baba Feeding Syndrome… my host family is feeding me a small mountain of yams and green leaf stew every night for supper and it is delicious, but WAY too much. I have tried saying I’m full many ways, but they prepare it especially for me so I feel obliged. They are very kind, so I’ve since given up eating lunches so that I don’t explode at supper :)
Before I get to my self diagnosed UBF Syndrome, I want to share a few experiences with you.
After arriving in Tamale, all Ghana JFs (short term volunteers like me) were sent out on a scavenger hunt to get some basics (cellphone, hat, medicine…) and some fun stuff (a house warming gift, season #4 of Lost…). Two specific interactions stand out as a stark contrast; one from a girl selling “pure water” sachets and another from a salesman hawking DVDs. When we approached the DVD stall in the market, the salesman eyed us up as an easy target and set his price “25 cedis… any DVD you want… 25 cedis.” Now in Canada $25 isn’t bad for a whole season, but what we were buying appeared to be some kind of pirated copy so I countered with “ah! That is too much… I think it is only worth 5 cedis.” The salesman agreed and I felt good having bartered down by a factor of 5 only to find out that DVDs go for 3 cedis. Meh… under 200% was my goal for the first day and I’m getting better. That’s a classic example of someone trying to take advantage of a foreigner. Compare that with the following girl selling water.
Later that night I went out to buy some “pure water” and found a girl no older than 14 selling them from a cooler near the guest house we were staying. I wanted to buy 0.45 cedis worth of water and only had a 0.50 cedis coin. The girl did not have exact change and so I told her that it would be ok if kept the extra 0.05 cedis, but to my surprise she politely refused and hesitated about what to do. Eventually she decided to give me a 0.10 coin effectively GIVING ME 0.05. Now this girl is out late at night and probably has to go to school in the morning and this is likely what is helping to pay for her way… and she would rather give me the extra rather than take it. The polite pride in her eyes took me a back so we stood there in silence for a few moments as I sure as heck wasn’t taking her 0.05 extra coin! Eventually we came to the conclusion that if I bought an additional small snack then we could make the exact change and both parties would have received their fair goods.
Since then I have met countless farmers in Sawla that upon hearing that I’m involved with Agriculture become very excited and ask for me to come visit their farm. The pride that they have and the will to improve their livelihoods is very touching and drives me to work hard everyday.
Next blog post will profile and exceptional female farmer I met last week, but the internet café is closing and I am being kicked out… till next time!
Adam
Ooopps almost forgot. UBF = Ukrainian Baba Feeding Syndrome… my host family is feeding me a small mountain of yams and green leaf stew every night for supper and it is delicious, but WAY too much. I have tried saying I’m full many ways, but they prepare it especially for me so I feel obliged. They are very kind, so I’ve since given up eating lunches so that I don’t explode at supper :)
Saturday, May 16, 2009
Sunday, May 10, 2009
I'm here!
Hey everyone!
I am in day 1 of in country training in Ghana and it is AWESOME! I love Ghanaians! When you make an effort to learn some of the local language (Dagbani when you are in Tamale), it makes a world of difference! Everyone laughs, you learn some more phrases and it is a good time.
That's all I have time for now. Internet slowed down to 1kbps for a while there... but I am safe and sound and happy in Tamale. In two days I will make the trek to Sawla.
Hope you are all doing well!
Adam :)
I am in day 1 of in country training in Ghana and it is AWESOME! I love Ghanaians! When you make an effort to learn some of the local language (Dagbani when you are in Tamale), it makes a world of difference! Everyone laughs, you learn some more phrases and it is a good time.
That's all I have time for now. Internet slowed down to 1kbps for a while there... but I am safe and sound and happy in Tamale. In two days I will make the trek to Sawla.
Hope you are all doing well!
Adam :)
Thursday, May 7, 2009
NEW VIDEOS!
Hey all!
I have almost zero time before hopping on a flight, but check www.youtube.com/ehdam to see my newest 2 videos.
All the best from Italy!
Adam
on the way to Nigeria, then Ghana!
I have almost zero time before hopping on a flight, but check www.youtube.com/ehdam to see my newest 2 videos.
All the best from Italy!
Adam
on the way to Nigeria, then Ghana!
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