Administrative Business

---

AN - We wake up early, get picked up from our dormitories and head over to the Graduate School and Research Office. There we meet a woman, her name is Mrs. Kwaa, she is the assistant register to the Graduate Studies and Research Office. She asks us to explain who we are and why we are here. So we give our 5 minute ramble (which by now we memorized to heart). We’ve had to explain ourselves so many times, we can recite it in our sleep. Well… actually, I think some nights I awake from Chantel’s mumbles during her sleep, “… we plan to base our research out of Odumase-Krobo… yes we are aware that we are not graduate students… ZZZ.” Anyways, after our 5 minute speech, she looks at us in those, ‘I’m sorry but what does this have to do with me?’ kind of expressions. In which we reply with our 8 minute speech about our run around, how not one wants to register us, how no one has heard of us prior to Mr. Rueben Aggor’s request for accommodation for us, and how we didn’t fit into the international requirement because we were doing research. Mrs. Kwaa asks again for our names, just in case it sounded familiar, in case she had came across it in the past. We told her again our names and her reply, “Ummm…no.” Mrs. Kwaa started to ask us why we had not previously filled out the required papers and forms needed, she also explained how strange it was that student coming to the university had to do the leg work we were doing. It was clear through her descriptions that foreign students admitted into the university would have everything done and set up for them prior to arrival. Even though we had explained that SFU International had contacted the International Office here, it still seemed like Mrs. Kwaa thought we just choose to fly into Ghana and pick this university. Reuben didn’t say very much during the meeting, however, he was very supportive and having him there help prove our case valid; that we were not a bunch of crazies…

In the end, Mrs. Kwaa gave us the answer that everyone else gave us in the last week. “Sorry, but you cannot be registered under us.” Of course, everyone’s reason was different; hers was because we were not graduate students. However, Mrs. Kwaa did give us some hope, instead of sending us away; she told us what we needed to do next. We first needed to write a letter to the Deans of the international office and also to the graduate school and research office. We also had to make sure that we CC her, Reuben and the international office at home. Next we needed to request that a letter on behalf of Chantel and I be written to the offices here by the International office at home. The letter of introduction from Shaheen wasn’t going to be enough. Mrs. Kwaa also said she was going to contact Lydia from the UG International Office.

Exhausted, frustrated and ready for some booze (and I don’t even drink!), we left the Graduate School and Research Department. Rueben could see how upsets we were, so he drove us back to his office, and lent us his computer. Through his computer we looked for the e-mails that International Advisor sent to UG International Office. We also used Rueben’s computer to keep everyone updated on the situation, request a letter from Judith and write to the Deans.

Two Hours later of hogging Reuben’s office, Reuben came to let us know that he found an office that we could use in the Adult Education Building. God Bless Reuben! One of our biggest concerns with not being able to register was not having a regular access to a computer, the internet and a place for us to work. All of those concerns were abolished once Reuben gave us the good news. The office was completely ours to use, until we left Ghana. A nice office too! It was equipped with a large desk, a few chairs, a couple of comfy couches, a computer (in which we could type assignments and occasionally go online), and best of all air conditioning!!! Woot!!! Woot!!! Unfortunately, internet is a luxury in Ghana, especially on campus. The internet connection is reliable as the water in our dormitories, which is not very reliable. Let’s just say I have days where I smell more then usual.

CHANTEL - One down side of arriving at foreign campus after the start of the semester - nobody gives you a run down about campus life, any info about rules, regulations, safety concerns, which bathroom is men’s and which is women’s, when the regular scheduled power cuts are. Nothing. Everything An and I have learned in campus comes from doing it wrong for about a week until someone corrects us. Case in point using the men’s bathroom for at least a week until one night, An was finishing brushing her teeth while the very shy foreign student from down the hall walked in. As the story goes, he walked in, stopped, looked at An, walked back out, walked back in and proceeded to the bathroom stall. Now I saw him head towards the bathroom on the way back to our room and we had spent all week wondering if the bathrooms were co-ed or not because nothing was labeled so I sat on the bed and figured that this would settle it. An bolts back to the room and it turns out the bathrooms are not co-ed and in fact our bathroom is at the other end of the hall. So we spend our first week in Ghana being those crazy Canadians who use the guys bathroom. Ironically the water no longer works in the women’s bathroom on our floor so we’ve given up and returned to using the guys bathroom. Nobody says anything but we get some interesting looks - and now some of our female Ghanaian neighbors have been spotted using the men’s as well - see we’re the crazy Canadian trend-setters.

---

Comments

[marilyn]

luxury!
Air conditioning, plus regularly scheduled power and water outages. Here, in Mexico, we never know when the electricity and water gods are going to be angry. Though the water company does answer e-mail questions now re estimates of the duration etc!