Nothern Ghana - Tamale

I'm writing from Tamale, the only metropolis of Northern Ghana. Although still part of the same country, it strikingly differs from the other major towns of Ghana we've visited thus far - namely Accra and Kumasi. We drove 6 hours through a fierce thunderstorm yesterday and arrived at TICCS (Tamale Institute for Cross-Cultural Studies) last night. Although the rain made walking around Tamale quite squishy, muddy, and messy I'm thankful for the rain because it brings prosperity to the farmers. About 70% of the population in Northern Ghana rely on farming as their major source of income, most of which are rain-fed crops.

This morning we visited an Institute for research and training of agricultural practices. We had the opportunity to visit a local farming community and speak with farmers who grew maize, yam, cassava, and groundnuts (peanuts). The majority of farmers are small shareholder farmers, with the main priority of feeding their family, and then selling their excess on the market. Its important to note that in Northern Ghana they only have one major rainy season whereas the Southern regions experience major and minor rainy seasons. As a result, farmers in the Northern region are more vulnerable in the sense that the only have one chance each year to harvest crops, and correctly. Its amazing to think that it only rains four months per year from about April/May - September/October and their food supply runs out after about four months. The last four months, or the 'lean season', farmers must find other ways to feed their family and cope with the food shortage.

This afternoon we spoke with the Monitoring and Evaluation Regional Officer of the Ministry of Food & Agriculture of Northern Ghana. He explained to us that when families begin to sell guinea fowl or sheep on the street its a sign that farmers are food insecure and are searching for ways to gain extra cash to feed their family. Other methods of coping with food insecurity include migrating to the South or reducing the number of meals consumed per day from three to two, or even one meal per day.

Tomorrow we're going to the central mosque in Tamale and further exploring Islam practices in this community. It'll definitely be the first mosque for me.

I haven't had internet in the past few days so I haven't been able to blog or upload photos. But when I get back to the dorms in Accra I'll have to do a bit of backtracking and posting of old photos. I can't remember the last time I went an entire 7 days without access to internet, but I have to say - disconnecting yourself from the virtual world and immersing yourself in your surroundings has never felt so good.

Mangoes, Pineapples and Blue Skies Juice

Blue Skies is an extremely impressive success story for the people of Ghana. Their juices are extremely delicious and incomparable to any bottled freshly squeezed juice I've ever tasted. Too bad they aren't sold on the US market, because with flavors like pineapple-ginger, I'd be purchasing these yummy delights in New York all the time.

Not only did we get to speak with the Ghana Director of Blue Skies, but we lucky enough to tour their fresh fruit processing plant in Greater Accra. What was equally impressive was the facilities and services Blue Skies offers to their 2500 staff and farmers. They pride themselves as a sustainable business embracing a model valuing society, culture (of respect), and a goal (of profit). Perks for workers include subsidized meals, a library and internet cafe, free access to an on-site clinic, training for farmers, and subsidized fertilizer (compost from fruit waste) for their farmers.

Random pineapples from the trucks were sampled and tested for taste.

Their packaging was adorable. Modern, colorful and infographic-ish.

'From Ghana'. 48 hour shelf life.

Kaneshie Market. Mission: Cassava

At Kaneshie market we were on mission. Our mission was cassava. Part of our class is to map the commodity chain of one good, and ours is cassava. We spent about 2 hours speaking with various cassava vendors to better understand where value is added in the cassava value chain within Ghana. 

For example, we want to understand where cassavas are sourced, and how much was paid for the product. Where/from who do vendors purchase their cassava? Is it directly from the producer, and if not do they even know who the producer is and where they are located?

We're also interested in who the vendors' main customers are? Individuals? Restaurants? And then of course we're interested in profit of the vendor (versus the middleman versus the producer). 

I didn't feel too great this day. Actually, I felt like shit. We were on our feet for a few hours and I started to feel faint. Maybe it was due to the heat and dehydration, the orange I ate earlier that day that may have been rotten (but that's another story), or from staying out late dancing to reggae music at the beach the night before (and that is yet another story). Anyways I decided to sit down on a step leading to the second floor when a young girl got my attention and motioned for me to come sit in one chair in front of her hair braiding shop. I politely declined at first, but she even more politely insisted that I didn't sit on the ground because it was dirty. Her gorgeous smile drew me in. Although I wasn't a customer, I was relieved she let this 'obruni' take up the one chair in front of her business. Just one of endless examples I can think of demonstrating how Ghanaians are genuine, kind, and generous people. 

They noticed my camera and asked me to take a picture of them. Immediately after they asked if I had a Ghana cellphone number and wanted my contact information. Ghanaians are extremely friendly when it comes to exchanging contact info.

Woman cassava vendor outside Kaneshie market.

These two female cassava vendors are also the producers. They grow and sell the cassava at Kaneshie market as a family. I forget what the mother's name is, but I remember her child's name was Reina.

Fresh coconut break with some of the NYU Wagner kids.

Bucket Showers and Tour of Accra

This morning a group of us went for a morning jog, and came back only to find there was no running water. Oh yes, good 'ole bucket shower! Each bathroom has two trash can-sized buckets. We took them  to the side of the house and filled them from a pipe. Where this magical source of water came from, I'm not quite sure but the pipe seemed to be connected to a water source next door. After using only about 3 gallons of water to take my morning shower, its amazing to think how much water is wasted when taking a normal shower! Anyways, fun experience and first of many while in Ghana I'm sure.

Just a disclaimer: You may notice there aren't many photos of local Ghanaians. From day one during orientation we learned its quite rude in the Ghanaian culture to take photos of someone without asking. If you think about it, I guess it is pretty rude in any culture. I'd be a bit annoyed if someone stuck a camera phone in my face and snapped a photo of me. As part of the photo etiquette in Ghana, it is also not allowed to take photos of government, military buildings, and/or police stations.

We were lucky enough to have former mayor and architect Uncle Nat Amartefio speak to us and give us a tour of Accra. Uncle Amartefio entertained us all morning with his impressive knowledge of Accra's trading history, witty jokes, and descriptive storytelling.

Below is the arch honoring Ghana's independence in 1957, located in what is called Black Star Square or as Uncle Amartefio would say, "the epicenter of Ghanaian political culture". 

Below are photos of James Town, one of the oldest districts in now called Old Accra. In the 1850's it was the marketplace hub for trade and today still remains a fishing community. I can only imagine the hustle and bustle of this township during the pre-colonization period at the peak of its trading activity with the English.What I love about this photo is that you can see the shanty towns of James Town peeking out from around the corner. In a few weeks we'll be visiting JayNii Streetwise Project (JSO), a nonprofit located on this beach in James Town that aims to improve the lives of its local children and youth through academic and cultural education. Not only will we be learning about JSO, but we'll get to interact with the youth by learning drum beats and choreography to be performed with the children.

I was intrigued by the names painted on the sides of the boats - 'God is King' and 'Black Power'

Bracelets I bought from Elvis and his friend on the streets outside of the Koala market in Osu.

Dinner at Tainte Marie in Accra - fried plantains, rice jollof. Not sure what the green sauce is made of, but it is SO good. Super spicy and tasty. Its my favorite sauce thus far.

I Skyped with my Grandpa today since I forgot to mail his Father's Day card this past Sunday. (I also forgot to mail my Father's Day card to my Daddy - sorry!) Sky suggested I take a photo of his card and post it online so she could read it to him, but I ended up reading it to him over Skype instead. Anyways, this was after I already posted his card online. At least its proof that I did intend to mail him a Father's Day card!

Akwaaba!

Tip #1: Avoid flying out of JFK if at all possible. Getting to JFK airport was such a nightmare. Although I had been warned several times, I had no idea what a headache it was just to get to JFK. Luckily my flight had been delayed by almost 2 hours, so I stood in line patiently for 45 minutes to check in, and another 45 minutes to pass through security.

Tip #2: I highly recommend flying Turkish Airlines if possible. I can't remember the last time I flew on a plane that provided me with so many free goodies. Toothbrush, socks, earplugs, lip balm, eye mask, and red wine. During my layover in Istanbul I picked up a free newspaper, but options were slim pickings. I picked up the only newspaper available in English - Star. 

After flying a total of 16 hours, I was finally greeted by Akwaaba!, or welcome!, at the airport. It was dark, but luckily a classmate of mine was on the same flight so we wandered around the airport like obrunis, or foreigners, together. Getting off at an unknown airport and being swarmed by taxi drivers who are all competing for your business is always a bit overwhelming. Luckily I've exited enough airports to know just to stay calm, hold tightly to my bags, and scope the scene before I hope I trekked alone Travella Lodge where I met another classmate of mine, Priscilla. 

Sheila, the owner of Travella Lodge welcomed me by holding my hand and showing me to my room. The next morning Sheila made us breakfast and was wearing an extravagant yellow and blue two-pieced dress. After taking a stroll around the neighborhood you notice many women are similarly beautifully dressed in flattering dresses made from colorful fabrics of lively colors and patterns.

My roommate Priscilla.

We met up with the rest of our class and headed to the NYU Academic Center located in Labone. Our home for the next three weeks, Soloman's Lodge, is equipped with mostly reliable wi-fi, 24-hour generators, and hot water which I've come to learn are definite luxuries in Ghana. Soloman's Lodge accommodates about 30 students, has 2 common areas, and huge kitchen, and laundry room on site. Considering the price of NYU tuition, I'm not complaining!

Our room. Can't remember the last time I slept in bunkbeds.

Hanging out in the common space.

      

First Things First

Hello and welcome! I initially intended to maintain a blog as a thank you to my family and friends who supported my traveling endeavors. Before I left for this trip I reached out to my Hawaii family and selected professional contacts I've made throughout my career to update them on where I'll be going this summer and what I'll be doing. 

Thanks to those who responded, you have no idea how much I appreciate knowing you've got my back :). Special thanks to my Hawaii family (Daddy and Aunty Tammy, Granmom and Grandpa, Aunty Sheri and Uncle Lance), former TPL boss Michael, and former professor Jeffrey Haydu!

For the next eleven weeks I'll be in Ghana, (hopefully Togo), and Cape Town exploring issues of global hunger, food security, and Fair Trade. From now until the end of July I'll be traveling to throughout Ghana - Accra, Kumasi, Cape Coast, Tamale - with NYU studying food security issues and global commodity chains. I hope to also visit the Buduburam refugee camp and Lome, the capital of Togo. 

At the end of July I head to Cape Town until the end of August. While in Cape Town I'll be conducting impact assessment of a variety of fair trade certified organizations - wineries, rooibos tea estates, and citrus estates. Everything in between is still up in the air, and will pan itself out. By now, I've traveled enough to know not to have any expectations and just go with the flow. My goal this trip is simply to maintain a state of awareness, acceptance, an open mind, and an open heart.