Blogs from Ghana, Africa - page 184

So I’ve been here for just about 2 weeks now and I’m really starting to get settled in. Here’s some info about what I’ve been up to: Tamale Tamale is a neat city, I wasn’t in Accra long, but I think I like Tamale better. There’s a big market, which we explored around last weekend, it was fun. They sell everything there from carpets to light bulbs to clothes to vegetables and meat. There’s a billion Taxis which is good because I live towards the outskirts of town. There’s goats and sheep everywhere! It somehow seems slightly less disorganized then Accra, but maybe that’s just because I now know it better. Bicycles are everywhere as well. Navid has bought one because he lives far from work and uses it to get there. I think I might ... read more

Following Moses the Snail Last Friday, my roommate Sarah and I took off towards the West Coast to visit Nzulezo, the stilt village in the Amansuri Wetlands. Meeting very helpful and kind people along the way, we were able to trek across unmarked dirt roads to a tiny footbridge where we set off on a canoe trip to Nzulezo. This village is odd, considering the people are not actually fishermen, but rather farmers, so most men have to take leave during the week and live on land anyway! Talk about inefficient! But when asked what the point of living on water was if they were all farmers, our guide told us that these people escaped enemies from Mali and followed a snail to escape. How they managed to escape enemies while following a slow snail all ... read more

Hello Everybody! So given limited access to the internet and email and the amount of odd adventures I’ve had in Ghana, I figured a travel blog would be my best bet to keep in touch with you all. For those of you that didn’t know, I am now in Ghana working for an NGO that promotes sustainable business for women. I will be here for the next 2 months, and will head on elsewhere until the end of July to get ready for graduate school. I thought when I backpacked in France and stayed in hostels I was really living a rough life, but in hindsight, that was like luxury accommodation compared to what life is like here! The first day I arrived, we had no running water, no electricity, and I think humidity was about ... read more

Hello my friends! I hope this finds you well. I hope you got the chance to glance at my special McGill update! Because it was pretty technical, and because the idea I specifically wanted to share with you in this issue is not very exciting, I will first try and entertain you with some fun thoughts about my life here. If you want more fun stories or details about my work, which has not changed very much since last time, refer to the French section! First, on Easter weekend, I had the opportunity of visiting the castle of Cape Coast. It used to be one of the most important English fortresses during the slave trade with the Americas. Tens -if not hundreds- of thousands of Africans have gone through this fort, in the worst conditions possible. ... read more

Hello McGill EWB Team! I hope this finds you well and rested from the Easter Holiday, and not too burned-out from the end-of-semester assignments and fundraising efforts! I have decided to write-up this special post on my blog such that you have a better idea of my work here, as well as a better idea of the development realities I am facing at the time. Hope you will find the read enjoyable and thought provoking! Quick overview: So as some of you might know, the small-scale irrigation project the McGill team and I were tied to ran out of funds last December. This means that since then, there is no one in the EnterpriseWorks (our partner NGO) office working on it, and no office resources (vehicles, promotion expenses, travel expenses) can be allocated to it. This ... read more