Ghana Project Update: Day 3

This is the first chance I've had to get into an internet cafe since arriving in Ghana.

Everyone has arrived safely in Tamale, and we have gotten to work on our project. Yesterday, the honor students got all dirty knocking down an adobe chicken coop behind the kitchen. Meanwhile, Heather, Nicole, Katrina, Dr. Eason, and I went shopping to get supplies to get our project underway. Shopping is quite an experience. We visited one hardware shop that from the side we saw was maybe the size of a smallish two car garage. Every spare space was crammed with tools, plumbing supplies, nails, and bits of randomness to the point that there was just a narrow walkway to move through the store. There was even a huge gate valve that looked like it belonged in a NY sewer. Yet despite being so small, the store had most of what we needed. Workers would go into the back, and come out with 20 ft sections of copper and PVC pipe, or hammers and other tools since some of the ones hanging were only for display. It was a bit like Mary Poppins bag.


Today, Heather, Prit, Cody and I built the forms for the new hearth for the kitchen. Nicole and Cesar dug out the location of the concrete pad for the pump. An electrician came in and prepared the wiring for the pump as well. It doesn't sound like much until you realize we've been using a hand saw to cut the forms. (Side note: Wet wood is much harder to cut than really old dry wood). We also swept the kitchen floors and walls. The women here use small hand brooms made from dried plant matter tied with a string. I needed a long broom to reach the cobwebs near the ceiling, so I found a long stick and some duct tape and Viola! we have a really long handled broom.

Ghana is hot. I should maybe reiterate, when we arrived in Tamale the pilot said the outside temperature was 39°C. Everyone was trying to do math in their heads. A quick check on a scientific calculator (never leave home with out one) told us the outside temperature was 102.2°F. But despite being hot, it is also an amazing colorful and vibrant place. Everywhere you look there are shops, and stalls, and women with large bowls on their heads, and people everywhere. In the states, people are all inside hiding in the A/C, but in Ghana they are all outside going about the business of living. The streets are packed with taxi's, and motorcycles, mopeds, and bicycles, and even pedestrians, and the occasional bus like ours. But there is no orderly flow to the traffic.. It moves more like crowds of people at a theme park. They always seem to move or stop just before they get hit, and they squeeze into the most amazingly tight little spaces.

There is so much more to tell you, but I'm going to wrap it up there,. Just know that we are safe, that everyone is having a good time, or if not, at least a once in a lifetime experience. I'm definitely enjoying it.

Hopefully the next time I get to an internet cafe I can post pictures too.

Maria