louisd
Louis Dorval Joined: February 27th 2005
Logged in: December 18th 2005
Logged in: December 18th 2005
Dans un voyage qui devrait changer ma perception du monde, j'expere vous entretenir de quelques histoires interressantes.
Travel Blog Posts
Sight at Cape Coast Castle
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
Vue du Nord du Ghana
Bonjour chers amis! Je réalise que ça fait déjà un certain temps que vous avez eu de mes nouvelles! En voici donc une mosaïque peu ordonnée ! Je vous avais parlé de mon ambition de devenir un marathonien, et bien j’ai démarré mon club de course a pied ! Mon fidèle acolyte est Daniel, un jeune Ghanéen de 10 ans qui court un peu plus de la moitie de ma distance en sandales, 2 a 3 fois par semaine. Il fait aussi la promotion du club en criant à tous ses amis de venir nous joindre pendant notre course… (quoique en terme de visibilité, une échasse blanche de 6 pieds, c’est pas mal aussi) mais aucun d’entre eux n’arrive à faire la même distance que Daniel. J’entreverrais une belle carrière pour lui, si se n’était qu’il ... read more
Pump servicing #1
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
Wind Turbine at a rural school
So, for those of you who can't read the French part, well everything is going quite well, despite a bit of culture shock. I have made some great friends, in the names of Seth and Augustin, 2 co-workers and Gilbert, a room-mate who studies at the Ghana Polytechnique. So about this culture shock! Well the truth is that the 4 weeks before my arrival in Ghana (between the Philippines, Indonesia, Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal), I was living at about twice my normal rate, and that life in Ghana is about a fourth of my normal rate... so that was quite the drop! It was also quite the change from the Philippines in that first, it is a drop 40 positions down the Human Development Index and second, all of my usual references and resources where gone. ... read more
Mon bureau
Bonjour la maison! Tant de choses depuis que je suis arrive, je vais donc essaye de vous en donner les meilleurs moments! D'abord, IL FAIT CHAUD! Il fait vraiment chaud! Je suis habitue a travaille dans "les pays chauds", mais la, c'est imbattable... et je ne suis meme pas encore rendu dans le desert (je devrai sans doute passer une bonne partie de la prochaine annee). La bonne nouvelle, c'est que le matin, de meme que le midi, je fitre les 5 litres qu'il me faudra pour la demie-journee... (merci Etienne!) Ensuite, la nourriture. C'est vraiment bon, et diversifie. Je mange du magnoc, du riz, de la "cassava", des feves, avec un peu de tomates (cheres), des oeufs et beaucoup de bananes! Mais l'ingredient de choix, c'est l'huile! TOUT ce que l'on mange beigne dans cette ... read more
