You know, it's funny. A few days after I first arrived in Ghana, I already felt as though I had been there for years. Now, after being back in the USA for only about a week, it feels as though I never left. About a week after Zach, Timo, Jess, and Candice decided to leave Ghana prematurely due to malaria, robbery, violence, or a combination of the three, I decided that the time had come for me to return to Western civilization as well. At the time, I felt ready to come home. I had acquired all the footage that I [View Full Entry]

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The past three days have opened my eyes to the real Africa...those countries that are conveniently bypassed by international organizations and governments when they speak of the African 'miracle.' Ghana and South Africa might be the poster children of the UN and IMF but in no way do they represent the African continent as a whole. My interest in Togo began last fall when, during an "International Human Rights Documentary" course, a man from Togo (Dagbevi) came to speak to our class about the violent Eyadema regime. He said that he was looking for students who might be interested in startin [View Full Entry]

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Before I left for Ghana, one of my professors at Stanford told me that I HAD to visit the canopy walk at Kakum National Park (near Cape Coast) while I was here. So, with just a little over a week left and without any other Obrunis to go with (Zach left last week after getting malaria), I packed my bags and went to Cape Coast on Friday night with Davis, the guard from CDD. The trip there was relatively uneventful but, just as we were nearing Cape Coast, Davis turned to me for some money and I realized that he expected [View Full Entry]

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Thankfully (or not?) there's not too much to report right now. Last week I interviewed a few of the staff members at the CDD for the documentary I'm making for them and yesterday I nearly risked my life videotaping random people on the street (they did NOT seem to like that!). BUT, starting this Friday, I will be traveling almost every day until the day I leave. This weekend I will spend one night in Cape Coast and will do all of the 'touristy' stuff there...traversing the canopy walk in Kakum and touring the numerous slave forts/castles along the coast. After [View Full Entry]

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All of my blogs thus far have made Ghana seem like a vacationer's paradise, complete with waterfalls, isolated fishing villages, and well-kept refugee camps. But I don't want to mislead anybody...Ghana definitely has its fair share of problems. Violence, poverty, disease, corruption -- they're all here. And while part of me wants to paint an image of Ghana that is luxurious and lavish, part of me also just wants to be honest. Last week, while walking home from a bar, four of the obrunis were held up at knife-point and robbed (thankfully, I had already gone back to the Obruni House [View Full Entry]

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It doesn't beat Ada Foah, but Botti Falls might just be the second most beautiful place I've ever visited. Right outside the town of Koforidua, about one hour north of Accra, is a secluded waterfall in the middle of the rainforest that a group of us -- Jessica, Chris, Chris, Timo, Zack, Davis (the guard at CDD), and I -- went to on Sunday. It might not be as famous as Niagara or as tall as Victoria but Botti Falls definitely has its own special charm, especially if you are there alone (or in a small group, like we were). For [View Full Entry]

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I'm not quite sure what I expected to see at a Liberian refugee camp...but whatever it was, I didn't see it. About 45 minutes outside of Accra there is a camp for displaced Liberians that, over the past few years, has slowly evolved into a small village....and if I had the choice between living in the refugee camp or the slums of Accra, I would pick the refugee camp any day. Over the course of a 13-year civil war in Liberia (a country founded by freed American slaves) about 340,000 Liberians have fled their country and settled in nearby West African [View Full Entry]

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Things I learned today about the National Film & Television Institute (NAFTI): * most filmmakers in Ghana are trained at the National Film & Television Institute (NAFTI) * NAFTI was established in 1978 by the Government of Ghana as an institute of higher education in film and television * in 1982, the Friedrich Ebert Foundation in Germany provided NAFTI with video equipment * NAFTI was the first film and television training institution in sub-Saharan Africa * students at NAFTI stay for four years and receive a Bachelors in Film Directing, Television Production, Motion Pictu [View Full Entry]

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If you've ever imagined what it would be like to visit an African fishing village in pre-colonial times, go to Ada Foah. Although they may not have electricity or running water, this village is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful places I've ever visited. I went to Ada Foah with six other friends who I met either at work or at the Obruni House -- Jessica, Timo, Candice, Carolyn, Chris, and Christian. We first took a 2 hour tro-tro (a Euro-van converted into a crowded group taxi) from Accra to Ada Foah and then a 20 minute boat ride from the [View Full Entry]

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Hello friends, The past week or so has been ridiculously hectic but, for the first time, I think I'm starting to become accustomed to the lifestyle here in Ghana. I think I was a little too excited to eat native Ghanaian food, though, because after two days of fufu for lunch (a yam and bean paste) my body hates me and I don't think I'll be eating anything but bread for the next day or so :/ I had planned on taking this past weekend off to catch up on sleep and travel around the city a bit but it turns [View Full Entry]

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