Arrived yesterday evening in Mopti after a 10 hour bus ride from Bamako. Currently in an internet cafe struggling with a French keyboard. The Q and the A are reversed so there may be some additional qs.
The town is a major port on the River Niger and comes one week into our travels. At present we are on schedule and everything is running reasonably smoothly but there is no guarantee that this will continue to be the case. We have spent many hours on buses but eaten well in between in Ouagadougou; Bobo and Bamako. We got really worried in Ouaga when our luggage was put on a different bus but we all arrived safely. Highlights have been the hotels. The bed in Bamako was very comfortable; the lamb in Bobo was delicious and the post office attendant in Mopti went out of his way to be helpful to us.
The landscape is only gradually changing despite the distance travelled. It is the rainy season and the countryside is lush. The architectual styles are changing and the mosques are very impressive.
I am composing this as I write and do not feel I am really doing it justice. I will stop now and try and do better when I return to Ghana.
Wednesday 20 August 2008
Monday 4 August 2008
New Departures
I am currently performing a public service by helping the Ghanaian government to introduce more coinage into general circulation. When I withdrew money from the bank this week, part of it came as a heavy bag containing one hundred shiny new 50 Ghana pesewa coins. Each morning I put ten in my wallet and make most of my purchases for the day using them. Dan’s last withdrawal was slightly more manageable, including fifty 1 Ghana cedi coins. These are very uncommon as there is an equivalent note, so he occasionally has difficulty convincing people they are even legal tender.
It is just over a year since the new currency was introduced. Market traders still refer to prices in the old values but the new ones are becoming more commonly used. The transition has been smooth and with an injection of more coins there should be fewer problems making up change.
It’s the end of the school year, so I will not be woken by the children at the neighbouring school singing the national anthem and reciting the Lord’s Prayer for a few weeks. It is also the last week for many of the Assembly’s National Service personnel. Every October, the Assembly receives about thirty volunteers. Many of the current contingent are graduates from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. Some will stay on and work in Koforidua, but it will be a lot quieter around the place without them. I will certainly miss them and the conversations we had.
At the end of this week I will travel. (In Ghanaian English the verb ‘to travel’ is used much more broadly. It explains any absence without any need for further elaboration. You might say, “The Director has travelled”. She could be at a conference, on holiday, or just down the shops.) I will be making the most of the opportunity to see a little of West Africa beyond the now cosy and familiar Eastern Region of Ghana. Last week, Dan and I visited the Togolese Embassy in Accra and collected very useful visas which will allow us into Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo. We have been lured by the prospect of mud mosques, bats the size of small dogs and a throne made of skulls. We have a rough itinerary but it is the rainy season and we know we will have to be pretty flexible. I will be back, fingers crossed, at the beginning of September.
Finally it is approaching a year since I arrived here with VSO Ghana’s September intake, always the biggest of the year. If you are reading this and you are one of the volunteers preparing to come out this September, let me be the first to say Akwaaba! I also pass on the tips that I was given by a volunteer who had already started work here. He suggested bringing the following:
· a head torch
· a cutlery set (penknife, with additional fork and spoon)
· lap top (can be carried on flights in addition to hand luggage)
· silk sleeping bag lining
I didn’t bring the head torch, but do stumble around a lot in the dark. Fortunately in Koforidua the power supply is fairly constant now. The other items I use very regularly.
It is just over a year since the new currency was introduced. Market traders still refer to prices in the old values but the new ones are becoming more commonly used. The transition has been smooth and with an injection of more coins there should be fewer problems making up change.
It’s the end of the school year, so I will not be woken by the children at the neighbouring school singing the national anthem and reciting the Lord’s Prayer for a few weeks. It is also the last week for many of the Assembly’s National Service personnel. Every October, the Assembly receives about thirty volunteers. Many of the current contingent are graduates from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) in Kumasi. Some will stay on and work in Koforidua, but it will be a lot quieter around the place without them. I will certainly miss them and the conversations we had.
At the end of this week I will travel. (In Ghanaian English the verb ‘to travel’ is used much more broadly. It explains any absence without any need for further elaboration. You might say, “The Director has travelled”. She could be at a conference, on holiday, or just down the shops.) I will be making the most of the opportunity to see a little of West Africa beyond the now cosy and familiar Eastern Region of Ghana. Last week, Dan and I visited the Togolese Embassy in Accra and collected very useful visas which will allow us into Burkina Faso, Niger, Benin and Togo. We have been lured by the prospect of mud mosques, bats the size of small dogs and a throne made of skulls. We have a rough itinerary but it is the rainy season and we know we will have to be pretty flexible. I will be back, fingers crossed, at the beginning of September.
Finally it is approaching a year since I arrived here with VSO Ghana’s September intake, always the biggest of the year. If you are reading this and you are one of the volunteers preparing to come out this September, let me be the first to say Akwaaba! I also pass on the tips that I was given by a volunteer who had already started work here. He suggested bringing the following:
· a head torch
· a cutlery set (penknife, with additional fork and spoon)
· lap top (can be carried on flights in addition to hand luggage)
· silk sleeping bag lining
I didn’t bring the head torch, but do stumble around a lot in the dark. Fortunately in Koforidua the power supply is fairly constant now. The other items I use very regularly.
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