Pictures from the Eastern Region

Hi Everyone,

Hope all is well. Today I am entering data while trying to download Norton and Windows. My computer problems have been multiple, but they should all be fixed soon (if only the downloading process hurries up!)  I have blog posts completed, but I cannot post them until the downloads are complete. So this is a check-in entry

I work for a very small non-profit. I do not have an office, but I have access to the resources of our biggest funder Ashesi University. Currently, I have no pictures of my work, mostly because I'm quantifying past surveys to create a baseline of how my nonprofit affects its beneficiaries and I'm researching policy. I have more to say on that in one of the posts I'll paste later.

 I do have some pictures of Ghana. This weekend I visited the Eastern Region. I have made friends with some Peace Corps people, who are great travel companions! I love getting out of Accra as the people are far friendlier, and lifestyles more interesting. So here is a study of a small bit of Ghanaian Life.

This is one of the market streets of Kofaridua, a major city in the Eastern Region of Ghana. The large white bucket on the table is holding large fried fish. They are gross to look at the first time, but over time you get used to them. The pigs' feet take a little longer to get used to!

This is one of my favorite sources of street food. The women walk with this tray of boiled eggs on their heads. In Accra, it cost me about 50 pewas (cents) for one boiled egg. The egg will be deshelled in front of your eyes, cut in half, placed on a small plastic square and one tablespoon of the spicy salsa is placed a the center. Yum!

Here is a picture of the tro-tros. This is at the Medina Station, one of the major stations to grab a tro before one sets to go off to another part of Ghana. My trip was only 2 hours long, so I traveled by tro instead of the nice STC buses that are used for the 15-hour rides across the country.

This is what the inside of a tro-tro looks like. Garbed in black signals the women to the left are going/returning from a funeral, any traditional garb in black and red cloth is also only worn for funerals. 

Kofuridua (I'm sure to be spelling it wrong) is famous for its bead-making factory and bead market. This stand displays beads from all over western Africa, new and old styles. On arrival in Ghana, I kept looking for wooden carvings, stone statues, or paintings to be sold by the road like they were in Zimbabwe and Burkina in my childhood. They were absent. When I asked my Ghanaian boss about it she said "Natalie, in Ghana we do waste our time with impractical art. We have art that is useful. Look at our fabrics, look at our beads, this is Ghana art". I think this economizing of beauty says something about Ghana and how they value their time.  If something is done, it is done with a purpose. I like to think of this statement when I get frustrated with the turtle-paced speed of Ghana. 

The traditional houses in Ghana are very different between different peoples and regions. This is a traditional village mud house in Eastern Region's wet forest. I stayed the night with a peace corp couple who are serving this small village. Apparently, these houses provide good ventilation, which is extremely useful considering Ghana's extreme heat and lack of electricity.

This is before the USA vs. Ghana game, but right after Ghana vs. Germany game. Despite Ghana's loss, we made it to the next round. All across Ghana people proclaimed Ghana's Victory saying "Ghana is Advancing". In both Accra and the Eastern Region vuvuzela's randomly trumpeted, celebrating the success. As Africa's last home in the first African-hosted world cup, Ghana is proud to be the star of Africa! Despite this, I did cheer for the US in the last game, though I was not too heartbroken when we lost. Go Ghana!