A journey into the unknown

So the day dawned when i would be setting forth on my own... granted Dela would be accompanying me but i would really be responsible for myself in a very new way... i must confess there had been some anxiety about it when i first dreamed up the idea ... but as the time approached i was actually ready to test my new mettle!

When i woke up around 5 it was into pitch blackness and a silence... the electricity was off ... this has become so commonplace now that i just grabbed my flashlight and started finishing my packing with its light... it gave the whole endeavour one of mystery and stealing away!!

I could have my breakfast as the stove was gas... brewed my last yummy coffee.. chopped a banana into my cereal ...

Soon i was ready to set off... putting on my backpack; which is the one i used on all the hikes through Europe, brought wonderful memories of all the other times of setting forth on a brand new day into a brand new world.... there just isn't a feeling like it!! I sent up thanks for those wonderful memories and looked forward to the new ones i was going to create today!!

Dela was at the tro tro station and like old hands we got into our tro tro... which was already half way full... We were off shortly after that..

The first leg of the journey to Koforidua was now so familiar.

Nature here has this eternal hopefulness... I had thought about it when i went to bed the night before: the frogs were making a cacaphony and then this morning i woke up to 'silence' that was filled with the happy chatter of a million birds...

And the flowers here are frilly and flamboyant and colourful ... they all have that same nature as lilies or orchids... There is a tree with not a leaf on it but it is covered in pink orchid like flowers...

There is a feeling that Nature is biding her time and smiling at the frantic nature of the human who tries to tame her... people hack down plants, burn whole swatches of fields... all in a frantic mission to claim the land as their own. The area that they manage to hack out is all dusty orange earth with dilapidated buildlings and shacks placed haphazardly around.

Yet right next door is Nature. In all her glory and majesty. Huge trees, lush green vegetation, delicate flowers, birds, lizards, chickens and their chicks, goats and their cavorting babies, herds of puzzled sheep!!! You have the feeling she is just biding her time and waiting....

And puny man with his stands of fruit and vegetables all beautifully organized ... with the area around the stand pristine and swept clean... pretending they are in control...

There is a no man's land between the human world and Nature which is all the endless trash which is mainly black plastic bags and the small plastic bags water is sold in. ( i will try and take a photo of these bags ...)

Never are you so aware of this dichotomy as when travelling distances ... in between the villages is Nature, lushly green and gorgeous looking more mysterious than anything in the thick dusty air...

Then you start to have the garbage and you know a village is looming ... Now that my eye is acclimatized i see the care and organization these villages have... The red dirt around the houses are all swept clean... There is order in the area around the pump where people are filling up basins with water.. washing is laid out to dry... the firewood in organized piles ... the stands by the side of the road always a colourful feast of bananas, papaya, mangos, okra, tomatoes ... Now as we approach Kumasi there are also clay pots piled impossibly high .. in darker oranges and blacks.. People make baskets here out of grasses as well ... they are out for sale as well... But despite all the grueling work the villages look dusty and folorn ...

That contradiction i find so prevalent here is shown up in this constant dance of Nature and the Human being, beauty and ugliness, strength and fragility, permanence and change .. here the people are the visitors.....

We are in a tro tro that is well kept... since it is used for long distances ... our trip will be about 4 hours..

I have come to think tro tro drivers must be the best drivers in the world!! As we careened down the highway i was praying... we passed 3 major accidents involving small vehicles and these impossibly big trucks ... i kept my eyes averted and continued my mantra!!

And all the while the radio is on and the Ghanaian radio announcer shouts like the most fervent evangelist you can ever imagine! oh, my!

To top it all off i was starting a cold.. at first i thought it was the dust ... my throat really hurt and i was sneezing all the time... but slowly it started to be apparent this was a real cold. There had been a cold going through the office, starting with the babies and then moved on to Bernice ... Pricilla was coming down with it as i left..

The other thing is the tro tro... this is a mini van with 4 rows of seats placed into it ... so far i had been lucky to have always sat next to a slight woman... well.. this time on my longest journey yet.. i was sandwiched between this enormous man and the window!! And there is no such thing as personal space in a tro tro!! I am convinced the tro tro is a conspiracy to tame the masses ... for four hours 15 people were wedged in together in a hot tincan that was hurtling down a highway! There was not one word of complaint or angry word... it was a study of utter patience and resiliance. I keep saying to Dela that this is where Ghana's beauty lies: in her people who have grace under such difficult cicumstances. God! back in Canada there would have been Mutiny on the Bounty in about 5 minutes flat... This Canadian tried to start a rebellion by asking her neighbor if he liked the person screaming on tthe radio? 'Yes, he is very good.' he said to me and then nodded back off!!! Defeated, i sat in my tiny corner and practiced patience!!

Fianally it was apparent we were getting closer to Kumasi ... the villages were closer and closer together and there were a lot of larger buildings (all mostly unfinished, of course)

And then we were there!

The tro tro station is very close to the market... and it was Saturday! We were caught in a traffic jam so i was treated to a close up view of a teaming mass of humanity the likes of which i had never seen before! My jaw literally dropped open! .. i know it was open because i caught my neighbour smiling at my increduality...i quickly closed my mouth :0 ... :)

Then we were out in amongst it all... it was chaotic, frenetic and disorientating... i kept my eye on Dela's quickly receding back and hustled my way through the crowd feeling a bit nonplussed..

Very soon though, it came through that though there were more of them, these were the same people i have come to know and respect...

I will try and describe a moment that sums it up for me.... After orientating ourselves with everyone's help we jumped into a shared taxi ... a person jumped in just a little bit later to share our taxi and then left before we did giving the driver a 5 ghana bill... The driver didn't have change but even though he was on a traffic roundabout surrounded by a bewildering array of cars he managed to reach out his hand with the bill , gave it to a nearby conductor of a passing trotro who then passed back the change ... all in the matter of seconds!!!...

this is Ghana...

Belinda

I think Belinda deserves a post all of her own. She is the one who looks after the babies all day long... on a good day there are 6 of them! They are all under a year old ... with all the ailments and grievances of that age: teething, afraid of strangers, cranky if they don't get the breast when They want it, needing constant attention and surveillance... some can stagger around, others are crawling and others are still immobile ... often much to their frustration!!

Belinda sings to them, bounces them on her back (sometimes she is jiggling around three at once!!) and plays with them .... and she is always smiling and loving them!!!

my hat goes off to her...

and a few more Birthday Guests!!!

More Birthday Guests...

Everyone except Kofi and Felix showed up..

Maggie and Kafui (the amazing cook!) came in from the house..

Luki, Precious and Lucie and her baby, the Batikers were there almost unrecognizable out of their workclothes that are usually spotted with wax and colourful dye..

The seamstresses and their babies were all there ... i didn't manage to really get to know them all very personally as they need to concentrate while sewing ... But we always exchanged greetings and smiles... And i saw them working... they chatted, laughed, sang and listened to the radio all the while their hands were busy...

Shoko, the designer from Japan, who has a desk just outside the seamstresses room... she is always working with them coming up with new ideas ... the latest one is a patchwork ipad holder that is just exquisite... the patchwork is miniature ...

There was Rita and Yayra and her baby, who are the Beaders with whom i sat for many peaceful hours making necklaces..

There is Belinda, who with patience and love looks after the babies like they are her own!!

Cecilia who is the manager of the Beads and Batik.. She is bustling everywhere making sure the orders are being fulfilled.. Her baby was born prematurely but has lungs that can break glass!!

There is Sika and her baby, Kofi and Felix who between them manage the other side of organization, the Village Exchange which is Micro-financing and Life skills and Reproduction Teaching.. Unfortunately there just wasn't time to get as familiar with this side of the organization ...

And Albert is at the head and oversees everything when Christianne is not there.

Lastly but not leastly there were the volunteers, Cathy: an accountant from England, Clarisse: a marketing/business student from France and Shoko (who you already know!!)

It was a great way to end my weeks of volunteering ... at a party where everyone was together in one place ... I was pleased everyone was focussed on this happy event and not really aware that it was my last day...

I had made no secret about leaving this weekend and the people i had really gotten close to showed me how sad they would be not to see me again ... but they all brightened when i said i would be coming back..

Even if it is just for the afternoon next Thursday to pick up my order..

Anyways who knows what this world will bring... i am continuously surprised!!

All that to say in the excitement of the moment everyone just wished me a good weekend ...

i liked that... goodbyes really suck.

A Birthday Party

On Friday, my last day at VEG, Albert had organized cake and juice for everyone in celebration of Christianne's birthday ... (her birthday is today, Sunday!)

Around 4 pm everyone starting cleaning up and closing shop... Christianne was mystified but placated when she was told Shoko was giving a workshop upstairs...

Then Bernice asked her to come up and see the workshop and... 'Surprise!' 16 women's voice and on man shouted out happily! ... and burst into a lovely rendition of that oh! so familiar song 'Happy birthday, to you!...

You could see the affection these women and Albert (Kofi and Felix were writing a big exam at school and could not attend) have for Christianne. She has created not only jobs for these people but a whole possibility of bettering themselves and in an environment that is supportive as well as creative and fun.