It is my last official day here in Ghana and a day where I have had one of the most interesting experiences that I will be reflecting over for many years. Ashley and Brianne decided to go to Kumasi this morning to see a football match and pick up some last minute souvenirs. I decided to stay behind and confirm that we actually have a driver to take us to the airport tomorrow, and figure out how to pay for our accommodation.

Ashley had left me some money behind to go to the liquor store in order to purchase a bottle of something called TAKAI. TAKAI is an alcohol made from natural cocoa and coffee. She wanted a bottle to give to her parents when she returned to Canada. This alcohol is actually quite nice and works well as a baileys substitute.

So I went for a fifteen minute walk towards the town of Fiapre, in order to pick this bottle up for Ashley and in order to get some fresh air. As the hostel still reeked since there was no water after the congress party because it had all been used up by the many people.
I purchased the bottle for 13 Ghana Cedi’s and started to walk back.

On the way back I was approached by this guy, and thought nothing of it because you are often approached by people here, for no apparent reason, other than you stand out in a crowd!

He said to me that he had seen me before at the tro-tro station with my three sisters going to Kintampo. I did not remember seeing him, but the story was correct. “I want to be your friend he said to me”, and I was polite and nice, and he started saying how he needs my help to get to Accra, I said that I was unable to help him today and kept walking. He told me his name and what town he was from and explained that he cannot return home and that “I am a son of Abraham” and kept asking me if I understand what he was getting at.
I was clueless for the longest time as to what he meant, and then he explained that he is different and cannot return home because his family has beaten him and his village will kill him.

I was of course shocked and didn’t know how to respond and was not sure if his story was even true, or just a way to ask me for money.
He proceeded to tell me that he wanted me to hold his hand and help him get out of his town to Accra. He said he must escape and that he wanted to be my friend. He finally explained that he had made some noise at night with another male friend and that is why his family wanted to kill him. Obviously I understood what he was getting at by now!

Brianne and I had read a newspaper article about gay rights here in Ghana in a local newspaper and the most common punishment listed was 25 yrs in jail. The article said that homosexuality is an “imported foreign idea” that must be dealt with.

So naturally I was shocked and didn’t know whether or not to believe this guy who was following me I said “I’m sorry but I can’t help you out I must leave now goodbye”. He then continued to follow me and plead for assistance. I was not sure what more to say, as I had already been quite firm and he had followed me almost all the way to my room so I went to a Ghanaian friends room instead and walked in and asked for assistance to get rid of him. I stayed in my friends’ room for what felt like forty minutes and my friend even had a hard time convincing the guy to leave me alone. He was calling me from outside the room begging for help and I am still not sure if it was a ploy for financial gain or the truth.

It was a very awkward situation, and I am not sure exactly what his aims were but I will remember the situation quite vividly for some time.

My last few days in Ghana have been highly eventful indeed! Four days ago I was approached by the student hostel or residence that we are staying in informing us that we should leave. As it turns out according to them they had no record of us staying at the hostel for the last month and a half. They said to me that I must leave because there is a congress meeting happening and all the delegates must stay in one place.

I was confused to say the least; I told them that we won’t be leaving and that I will be calling the dean of the university if I have to. So I went up to the room and informed Ashley and Brianne what I was just told and then we left our room to go to town, again I was approached and I spoke very strongly with the front desk.

Apparently the person responsible for these arrangements was on holiday and that is why they all believed that “malaspina students have all gone!” I looked at him and said “malaspina students are standing right in front of you, so obviously we are not gone!” Ashley felt uncomfortable but if I didn’t make myself heard we would have been kicked out of our rooms. Fortunately I managed to secure our place and we did not have to leave.

A few days later the Congress people started to arrive, speakers arrived, along with tents, noise and a thousand mattresses. It was clear to me that one room at the hostel would not have made much of a difference anyways, and many people were sleeping on the ground outside.

This congress meeting from my understanding was a battle between the current leader of the NDC party (national democratic congress party) here in Ghana Atta Mills should stay the leader or if a woman named Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings who was the wife of the original leader of that party should take over and do what the party was originally meant to represent.

This was an all out Ghanaian party event. Everyone appeared to be wearing the NDC colours of red green and white, and people of all ages where at the front of the student hostel dancing in the parking lot. Here in Ghana it seems anyone can dance with anyone there is much less judgement placed on freedom of dance and everything seems to be about fun.

Sunyani the sleepy city that we had come to love had turned into a chaotic festivity with cars backed up and noise everywhere we turned. The courtyard of our building was a cultural dance centre with older people dressed traditionally and dancing to drums…shaking what their “mamas gave them”!

This was a different side of Ghana’s’ culture we had not seen yet; politics in party form!

Needless to say we did not sleep properly for days there was always noise, the Ghanaian song “the Thing” was played about one thousand times, and horns and whistles were going all night long. There was literally a party on pretty much every street corner.

I was informed by my friends this morning, the day that the congress left, that about 97.9% of votes went to the current president, and that Ghana is just not ready for a female president (I’m not 100% on that percentage). I for obvious reasons know little about Ghanaian politics and somehow the topic changed to the fact that when I walk in the streets men always ask me if they can have one of my wives, or to talk with the western women I am with. I constantly have to remind men that the women I am with are not my possessions, and that they are able to decided whether they want to talk with someone or not all on their own. Of course this is just a question asked by a select few people in Ghana and I am aware that not everyone here feels women are possessions; it is only a select few. I am not sure that women here always have a lot of respect and it is something I see the western women here struggle with on a daily basis.

Nonetheless we fully enjoyed seeing a different side to Ghana’s’ culture, the political side, and will surely miss many facets of this country when we leave. Ghana has been an amazing place to visit, full of many friendly and kind people and some of the most honest people I have ever met.

So the girls and I left Fuller falls behind and decided to head towards the monkey sanctuary at baobeng fiema (I believe that is how it is spelled). We took a tro-tro from Kintampo to Nkrowanza, and then a taxi from Nkrowanza to the Monkey Sanctuary.

Along the way we experienced another torrential downpour of rain and discovered yet again that our driver did not know where he was going. He kept stopping and asking for directions. This time our driver was named Baba which I told him meant father, since my Moroccan friend always calls his father baba! He had a chuckle to himself, especially since all of us were calling him Papa now.

When we arrived at the sanctuary we had to stay inside the office until the rain left off a little-bit. We then ended up purchasing Ghanaian souvenirs and gifts for friends back home. There are some nice blankets and kente cloth (traditional woven fabric) bookmarks for sale there.

Eventually we decided to eat some food, and then were told by the office that we should stay the night at the sanctuary because monkeys don’t like the rain and we would not be able to see them that day. We did not want to stay the night because Ashley and I had to be back in Sunyani the following morning to continue some interviews for our internship. So we signed their book and paid for a tour and took a chance to try and see monkeys in the rain.

We met our guide named Edmund and he gave us a fable about the history of the connection of his people with the monkeys at the sanctuary. Apparently in the past a medicine man went into the forest one day to collect a “fetish” or item that is used in traditional ju-ju or medicinal practices. Fetishes can be anything from the foot of an animal or hair or so forth. The medicine man brought out a fetish but was unsure as to what it was.

The following day all the monkeys in the forest disappeared and the people of the village did not know why. Apparently the fetish turned out to be one of the monkeys children and they would not return back to the forest until it was returned to them. The medicine man did this and since then all the monkeys in the forest have been treated as the children of their people and are not to be harmed. This is how I remember the story being told; however, if you know another variation please feel free to share.

Edmund told us that they had stopped feeding the monkeys recently because they have started chasing local children in order to get food from them, but that today they will feed them because otherwise they will not come out in the rain.

We all wish that this would have been communicated to us before we left the office as we all don’t like supporting negative forms of tourism, unfortunately it was not more difficult to turn back and say no in order to get our money returned to us.

All of the blankets we had purchased at the office now came in handy as protection from the rain. We walked out in the mud, trying our best not to slip and we listening closely for any sound of a monkey. There are two types of monkey in this forest the Mona Monkeys and Colobus Monkeys.

Edmund walked us around explaining the flora and fauna of the area in a low voice and clicking his tongue trying to entice monkeys for a snack.

We eventually found a group of Mona Monkeys and they were harmless. They were timid of people and only came so close which was a good sign that they hadn’t had too much contact with people.
Unfortunately it didn’t matter how cute the monkeys were we had enough of the cold and wanted to get inside. We all returned back thanked Edmund for guiding us in the rain and hopped in our taxi.
The taxi started driving and we went for a good fifteen minutes nice and slow down the road until we got stuck in the red mud. I got out of the car and the driver asked me to push until the taxi could correct its wheels. Unfortunately Ashley, Brianne and I pushed the cab further into the ditch.

Suddenly I realised that my sandals were stuck in the mud so I decided to take them off and continued trying to push the taxi back out of the ditch.

About ten strong Ghanaian men came running out of the forest screaming and laughing at the white “Obrunis” for being stuck in the mud and would not help us unless we paid them. I didn’t bother humouring this behaviour and just started pushing on my own with the taxi driver and we actually got it moving, finally the men felt sorry for us and began to help, and everyone was roaring with laughter watching all of us push this tiny Asian-made taxi down the street. The guys turned out to be from a nearby school and took us somewhere to wash off our shoes and clean our hands. At the end of this I had red mud smeared on my face and all over my legs…It was an awesome experience and a wonderful day.

Somehow I don’t think everyone would feel as happy to be covered in mud in the rain. We ended up giving the guys 2 Ghana Cedi’s for their efforts! Fortunately the taxi made it safely all the way back to Nkrowanza having slipped-and slided all over the place, and we ended up tipping him for having caused so much trouble.

One weekend my “sisters” and I decided to take a tro-tro to two tourist attractions three hours away. Here in Ghana any female friend is referred to as your sister and a tro-tro is a mini bus-like vehicle jam-packed until the door can barely close. When we arrived in the town of Kintampo we left our belongings in the Toronto Guesthouse and then took a taxi to the famous Kintampo Waterfall. The entrance cost five Cedi’s/person. We entered accidentally through the exit, making ourselves look like the typical dumb tourist, and then proceeded towards the falls. There were many stairs down towards the waterfall and when we arrived we could do nothing but stand in awe!

We were not stunned by the beauty of the waterfall though, we were stuck trying to absorb the fact that there was music blasting, and many people having a giant Ghanaian dance party at the bottom of a waterfall. People were wearing all sorts of swimsuits, and “busting-moves” all over the place. It was loud colourful and just far too much for the senses.

The four of us sat on a rock just watching for the better part of 45 minutes. Finally I worked up the courage to strip down to my swimsuit and join in on the fun, believe me it’s much more intimidating than it sounds to join in on an African dance party in the daylight in your swimsuit. Only Ashley and I had the gusto to join in. We were also the only two white people, which made wearing a bathing-suit kind of awkward. Funny enough, I don’t own a decent bathing-suit only a small European thing I got from a vending-machine in France, so needless to say: I stood out!

We spent most of the 45 minutes watching trying to understand this concept of enjoying nature. For myself this location would have been a spiritual place of natural beauty, but at this point in time it was being appreciated in the most unique way. All of us I feel struggled to grasp this way of connecting to the natural environment.

AS it turns out; this was a special event, the kind of Ghanaian version of a spring break party and Kintampo falls is not always like this. Partiers everywhere, garbage under foot and music bursting your ear-drums is not a common occurrence at the waterfall, so we were told.
The following day we decided to hit another waterfall called fuller falls, we bartered with a taxi driver and ended up paying 15 Ghana Cedi’s for a round journey to fuller falls and then back to Kintampo. Once we arrived at the entrance, we realized that our driver had never been before and had no idea where he was going.

We finally reached the falls and I invited him to join us because I felt it would be a shame that he did not. Ghanaians rarely have the opportunity to enjoy leisure or even discover what their country has to offer so I invited him down to see the falls.

This place was stunning, much more beautiful than Kintampo and it was really a spiritual place. There were plants all around and places to sit made out of stone, even deep areas for swimming. It was stunning.

We took photos and eventually went in. Our driver approached me and asked me something but I didn’t quite understand: “are you bathe” he said, and I responded “yes”, presuming he was asking if I was going swimming. He then turned around and disappeared. So I went in the water and then realised that the taxi driver had joined us in his swimsuit. I supposed he was trying to ask us if he could join. I was of course pleased that he felt comfortable enough to join in and not just sit in his taxi waiting for us to be finished: besides it was a hot day.
Two hours went by very fast, and we could have all rested on the rocks for many hours but we decided we wanted to visit a Monkey sanctuary the same day. If you come to Kintampo try to visit Fuller falls as well as Kintampo falls, and bring a picnic because you will want to stay all day!

I ended the field school with news of malaria. I had not been feeling myself for the previous 10 days. I had random symptoms when I was in Larabanga but blamed it on the heat. The first morning of Cape Coast Brianne forced me to go to the Anomabo community clinic since the night before I had intense body sweats. I don’t blame her; I wouldn’t want to continue sleeping beside a nasty sweaty body either. The clinic was run by the Italian Red Cross; lucky for me it had a cute Italian doctor! He asked me my symptoms and I replied; headaches, cold sweats, chest pains, and fatigue. I was taken into a small room where I got my thumb pricked and my blood tested for malaria. Once the test was done, I asked if I had malaria and the nurses just looked at me and told me to take my piece of paper (lab test) to the pharmacy. When I walked into the little pharmacy room they made me pay 4 Ghana Cedis for the lab test and sent me on my way. Since I got no medications, I assumed I was okay and told everyone who was waiting for me that I didn’t have malaria. When I was telling everyone this with a smile on my face like ‘I told you so!’, the doctor addressed me to go sit in his office. I guess I didn’t get the memo that I had to take my lab test to him and not actually the pharmacy. I then get told that I DO have malaria. Brianne then threw the ‘I told you so!’ right back at me. I was given a three day treatment that required me to stop taking my anti malaria drug (malarone). The doctor told me that my symptoms were not as severe since my malarone was helping my body fight off the virus. I was quite shocked that I got malaria since I was adamant in taking my malarone every morning at breakfast! I guess it doesn’t always work, especially if you’re the human bug lamp like me! I do thank Brianne for taking me to the clinic!  

 Once the field school was over and we said our sad goodbyes, the four of us remaining set off to a new coast line and a lodge called Green Turtle where we met some of our friends from Sunyani. We asked a taxi driver that we met previously in Cape Coast to drive us up; his name was Star Boy. If anyone finds themselves in the Cape Coast area, ask for a taxi driver named Star Boy, he is the man! The drive up was an adventure, especially since my malaria was getting worse. We travelled up a road with the largest pot holes I have ever seen. It didn’t help that it just down poured either.  We had to keep getting in and out of the taxi so it didn’t submerge in the massive pot hole lakes. At one point we had some local ladies help us push the car up a hill; it amazed me that they were still carrying their baskets on their heads! Once arrived, I was happy to see that I would be fighting off my malaria at a nice beach resort with palm trees and a mosquito net!

The past month has been one of the most valuable personal learning experiences I have encountered. This field school has taught me that conducting research in a rural setting such as northern Ghana requires patients, flexibility and perseverance. All the skills I’ve learned at VIU (especially in Advanced Research Methods and Community Development) were put to good use; I had to learn to take that knowledge and alter it into a Ghanaian context. Working cross-culturally presents its share of challenges but adds to the learning you reflect on in the end of the experience. Due to the traditional hierarchical systems in the North there are a few extra steps involved before undertaking research. Our research team quickly learned the importance of addressing the necessary people in the communities (chiefs, assembly men, etc.) and the significance in building relationships; allowing us to successfully complete our research.

I believe the field school will impact my life for years to come. I have learned how to be adaptable to culturally sensitive situations with the people I am working with. I have spent over 30 consecutive days with five of my classmates and have learned from their strengths. Our different capacities have influenced us to grow as individuals and discover a few hidden strengths of our own. As I scrolled through my Ghana photos the other day I realized I have made some amazing memories with both my Canadian and new Ghanaian friends.  A field school is a great experience for anyone who is looking to diversify their skill set, learn a lot about themselves and their classmates, and have an experience they will never forget!

Located on a rocky cliff overlooking a beach filled with hundreds of people and fishing boats, the Cape Coast castle is a daunting figure with high white intimidating walls. As you enter the gates, you are assigned a guide who takes you through the castle and provides interpretation. The history of the castle is tragic; you really get a sense of what it must have felt like to be one of the hundreds of Africans detained in the dark with nothing more than a little stream of light pushing its way through a small hole near the ceiling, and cramped into underground rooms months at a time. The tour guide gave vivid descriptions of how these people were treated; 500 or more men in a room, their food being dumped into the dungeons through a small hole in the wall, and having to use the bathroom in the area they were crammed in. I learnt during my time here that most of the slaves were captured from northern Ghana. Africans would go hunting for other Africans; capturing their own people in exchange for items such as rum, gun powder, mirrors and tobacco. I was unaware that the slave trade here in Ghana was not just Europeans capturing people but also people of the country capturing their own people.

I discussed the slave trade topic with my Ghanaian friend and he told me some interesting points. He expressed that it was mainly the Ashanti people of Ghana who were involved in capturing and exchanging slaves. The Ashanti people were warriors who were fighting for resources and conquering territorial lands. These people already had slaves working for them. When the Europeans came over, their main mission was spreading religion and doing business. The Europeans realized that the African people were very strong and resistant to disease and could work hard in farms. Slavery then became a huge business when the Europeans saw the possibility for demand overseas. Once the exchange for slaves became a demand, people started to capture and exchange other people. A few things he mentioned I was sceptical about, one thing in particular which shocked me was that; people would be trading 200 people in exchange for one gun or a bottle of rum .

There were not just male slaves. Women were captured and held for procreation once shipped off to a new country. I felt so uncomfortable standing in the room they once all stood, listening to the guide talk about rape and beatings from the awful slave masters. It hurt me to hear that the most common way to regain freedom was to be raped and impregnated with a European baby.

Although the castle illustrates a dark part of history, it plays an important part in the modern culture of Africa as well as the rest of the world. At the end of our tour we all stood around and sang amazing graze; I couldn’t help but feel my heart sink and the few tears that I let fall down my cheek.

When I was on the coast near Anomabo in Ghana, I was walking along the beach and arrived at a location that could be a stunning estuary; however, it was full of plastic waste. I have travelled a fair bit and am quite accustomed to looking through the garbage to see the beauty and sometimes don’t even see the mess at all. That being said, this case was different. I was rummaging, being the curious person that I am, and discovered that the majority of the waste was from somewhere else. The current obviously brought it here. I found margarine tubs in Spanish from Spain, products from China with the word Shanghai on them, and products from many other regions of the world. I was apparent that this waste was created elsewhere and pollutes Ghanaian and many West African beaches. I started thinking how could this problem be dealt with, is it possible to create a competition where locals are asked to be innovative and use waste in a way to produce a product, and the fee(being very minor) to enter this competition becomes the prize money for the best business idea. Would this help reduce waste on the beaches and improve the environment I thought to myself? Would this even work in Ghana, or is this just my naïve way of thinking?

So later on, I was talking with a friend here asking for reading material, and he suggested that I pick up the African Report Magazine, and so I did. I found this magazine to be about the economics, general African world relations, politics and livelihoods of Africans in general. I was highly impressed by some of the articles I read and would recommend to anyone coming to Ghana to pick one up!

Anyways in the back of this magazine I found an article about a Man from Senegal who had lived in Canada for a while and returned back to his homeland. He returned to clean out ditches after the rainy season as they become clogged with waste/sediments and drains back-up. He then decided to open a business in a beach community in Senegal that collects waste from the beach and melts it down with sand and gravel to create building materials. He says that plastic recycling is not a new concept but it is a new and unique business venture, and most of the materials are free. This both helps the environment earns money and promotes tourism to that beach, because it is cleaner. I was amazed by this article and would like you to read it if you have the time. The article is called Senegal An Empire Build on Rubbish by Rose Skelton. I hope you are all able to find it.

So one night we congregated in our kitchen with three Ghanaian friends and I brought my magazine and we opened a bottle of Amarula. So conversation started I introduced the article and asked them: what do you think, do you think this idea could work in Ghana? The reponses were varied, as my friends were all very well informed uni-students.

I will start by explaining various key points of view on the matter that were expressed.

One person started by explaining that for waste management and recycling to begin to occur on a broad scale in Ghana, it must be viewed as a resources that generates revenue. So communities must see that by throwing waste in a garbage bin, or recycling it, that they are directly benefiting economically. Waste collection will not just occur, it will occur becomes it has become a source of revenue.
Another section of the conversation brought up that religion, class and governance vary for instance religion and cultural practices differ in opinions about the environment. The poor are the majority in Ghana and in order for the poor to want such a product that is produced using recycled waste it had to first be marketed to the upper classes, before it will become appealing to the lower classes and be used on a wide scale. The poor want what they see the wealthy have. The last argument that was brought up was that governance must support the cause, or nothing will occur. So the political system whether that be a tribe, town, or state must condone the practice for it to be widely encouraged. I was not sure about these views as they were somewhat new to me at the time and one contrary opinion was brought up. This opinion was that grassroots movements of the people can enforce change within governance to take action on a issue, such as waste management and recycling.

I personally believe that children are the answer, children should receive more education about environmental issues as those children will grow up and change will gradually happen with time, again Im not sure if it’s just a naïve hope that I cling to or not. So I said: “I don’t know what the current situation is here in Ghana, but do they have a critical thinking element to the curriculum for youths?” It seems like environmental education does occur but on a small scale, and would like to see a teacher bring in a piece of waste maybe once a week and ask: what is this made of, what can we make from it? I personally believe that teaching innovative thinking will help change the situation at a faster rate.

So I am not sure what the answer was to my question: do you think something like this could work in Ghana? I believe that I was better able to understand the situation and learned greatly from this conversation, and was amazed at how passionate my friends were about waste management and making change In Ghana. I believe a little bit of Amarula in coffee helped make the conversation that much more enlightening for all!

Now that my field-school is over, I feel that I am finally able to enjoy my time with my internship. The field-school was a great set-up to help me understand the protocols within certain Ghanaian customs. My internship is aimed at looking at the past impacts that the project or relationship between Ghana and Canada or Sunyani Polytechnic and Vancouver Island university has had in the lives of students and faculty at both universities. This internship also looks at the impact of past projects conducted by these two institutions. Ashley Coulter and I are looking at the impact of past projects on the lives of locals in four communities around Sunyani in the Brong-Ahafo region of Ghana. Past projects have been focused on improved health i.e less Malaria and HIV/Aids, Environmental education such as the reduction of bush fires, and the general reduction of poverty in those four communities.

All past projects were knowledge transfer projects where discussion were held with the communities to share knowledge from them to members of the project and then vice versa. Ashley and I have spend hours collecting video footage of interviews with students and faculty here in Ghana, and member of these four communities. Some days we really get amazed by what we are learning. Videos can be highly atmospheric which chiefs and tribesmen, loud children, women cooking ground nut soup in the backdrop, and many very cultural sights, which help to make footage just that much better.

All of this is highly exciting for Ashley and I as we are now working as a team with our Ghanaian counterparts here in Ghana. We feel we are able to function and are able to finally perform research in a way that everyday provides a new experience and learning opportunity that is initiated through our own personal interaction with the locals.

One day after visiting one particular community, I found myself feeling emotionally touched by the reponses of the one particular community member. He simply responded to a question about the impact of the Ghana Canada relationship over the past five years and explained the changes that have occurred. They seemed minimal behavioural changes but when someone looks you in the eyes and said thanks to this project my family are getting sick less often, there are less teenage pregnancies in the community, and our environment has improved: you can’t help but really hear or fixate on what they are telling you.

I would like to now try to contrast two of the communities that have been a part of past projects and discuss the differences of impact and why. This is by no means an attack on anyone.

I was having a discussion with some of my Ghanaian collegues here in Sunyani about the level of impacts between these communities trying to understand why, and one of them who was a Christian and is very good friends with a Muslim said in the most neutral way possible that: Islamic communities believe in not displaying their wealth on the outside of their homes, the inside of their houses are very nice and tidy but they do not “sweep in-front of their doors” as do other communities. He then tried to very politely say that they tend to toss their garbage outside their houses with little care for the environment, partially due to not being informed. I cannot comment on this to be true or not but It was an interesting perspective, and out of observation I have noticed that other communities that are not Muslim seem to have cleaner environments or communities, then again I have not been exposed to many communities to fairly give any contrast, but am merely reflecting on the comments of a friend.

Ashley and I have been very well received in all the communities we have visited so far, everyone is very kind and informative and just plain pleased to receive us.

Before leaving for Ghana our field-school professor invited us to a night at Vancouver Island University where we watched a film about Wangarri Mathaii (I hope I spelt that correctly). She is a Kenyan woman who was able to approach communities in Kenya and ask them what their issues were, she would draw together conclusions about those issues for example: you have no fire wood or clean water, so why no plant trees again to retain water and harvest them as needed. It seems simple but it worked. (Hopefully that was not too of an: in a nutshell description!)

Anyways I am glad that I watched this video before I came here as I am now able to look around the communities and ask why can’t they draw similar conclusions here? It really does baffle me some days that the reason why there is a lot of issues with clean water is because streams are littered with waste such as plastic, cow feces etc and this waste then clogs up the stream and created stagnant water which becomes a “breading-ground” for mosquitos who carry Malaria, and then families get sick and more poor because they are spending what little money they have on medicine, so poverty continues. I can see that many locals are understanding this, but the change in behaviour of farming next to a stream and throwing waste into garbage bins can be slow at times.

Through our interviews it has become apparent that the knowledge transfer is being effective, and it would be nice to see this project continued with Vancouver Island University and Sunyani Polytechnic into the future. Students faculty and communities in both Ghana and Canada are benefitting greatly from knowledge mobalization, in my opinion, and change is occurring.

It makes you wonder though that economic progress here in Ghana has brought more waste such as pastics which have clogged up streams, as recycling rarely occurs here. Has progress brought progress or has is created more instances of malaria?

Again I would like to say that everyone in our research has been very kind and helpful, we are enjoying the experience, and there are comical moments too where we are finishing up and interview and a kind older woman hands us a brochure of her church expressing that it is to save our eternal souls for the day that the world comes to an end.

Leaving the towns and driving through Ghana’s countryside, virtually everywhere children will appear at the roadside to greet us, vigorously waving and running after us shouting ‘Obrouni Obrouni’! (Meaning white person). The children in Larabanga are exceptionally cute; sharing their huge smiles with us and holding our hands everywhere we go. ‘Brouni give me your bottle’ is a readily occurring saying we hear. This saying has become a habitual habit because tourists have been giving kids their empty water bottles thinking it’s a nice thing to do. At first you wouldn’t think that giving your bottle away to a child is a bad thing, but then you take a step back and look at the bigger picture. Giving an empty bottle to one child and not another leads to fighting or ends with disappointment because a bigger child has taken it from them. It can also encourage begging. It is only a short step away to ask for money and then to expect something for nothing. The advice is that if you want to give something, give it to the whole community, not the individual.

Larabanga is the hottest place I have ever been! My sweat rag has become my new best friend. The group was constantly running from shady spot to shady spot to escape the sun. Luckily we had this large tree by our house that provided us with shade and a cool breeze. Anyone in town that wanted to talk to us knew we would be under our tree!

We had no toilets in our house so we were told to use the communal latrines that were a few yards away. There were about 6 stalls all in a row; no washing stations and some without doors.  I question the thinking of whoever designed these latrines. There are two holes inside each stall; I have no idea why? There is barely enough room to place your feet on both sides and squat without falling in the second hole or touching the gross walls. Despite this awkward stance, there is corn on the cob all over the floor along with other various garbage items. I found this strangely interesting. Ladies, we would all like to agree that our bathrooms are much cleaner than men’s. Not in Larabanga’s case. It was funny because every time us girls tried to sneak over to the men’s stalls we would get yelled at. I can tell you that my experience in Larabanga’s latrines was a one and only occurrence. Good thing we had a field beside our house; free ranging never gets old for our group!

We were lucky to have a wonderful woman cook for us during our time in the community. We got the chance to try a variety of Ghanaian dishes! We had TZ with green green which is made of mashed cassava leaves; Banku made of maze with ground nut soup; Omo Tuo, rice balls in soup; Wache; rice, beans and tomoto sauce; and lots of yam! It’s a different type of yam than we have in Canada; almost like a potato. Our group has been very open to eating local food as it is all part of our experience here in Ghana. FuFu is still my favourite and I am going to deeply miss eating it once I am back in Canada! We had many laughs during meal time; Ghanaians find it exceptionally funny when a white man eats Omo Tuo rice balls without soup! Gareth didn’t understand why this caused our friends to laugh hysterically  for over 20 minutes.

Our research in Larabanga focused on the potential for tourism development as a means to reduce poverty. Six Canadians and 2 Ghanaians split up into three main research teams; all focusing on a different aspect of the research. My team researched the cost and benefits of tourism in the community as well as the human wildlife conflict between L arabanga and Mole National Park. The other two teams researched community conflict, and the current and potential tourism products in Larabanga. The three teams conducted a series of interviews with a variety of people living within the community of Larabanga as well as some staff from Mole National Park.  I learnt so much about community dynamics and the influences of power on community development.  It is difficult to write about the some of the outcomes as they are very deep and delicate to the community. Larabanga has high potential for tourism and can offer a unique cultural experience for all travellers.

Larabanga has the oldest mosque in West Africa offering stunning views on ancient architecture and interesting historical stories. Some of us got the chance to participate in a shea butter processing tour. We all loved it since we actually got to contribute to the process. We were able to knead the ground shea nuts in a bin of warm water; separating the fat from the water. After about 40 minutes the fat from the shea nuts would float to the top, creating a grey substance that resembled light fluffy chocolate mousse! The whole time we were licking our lips wishing we could eat it. It’s not that often that a tour allows the participants to dive in and get their hands dirty! This tour was set up especially for our group. Larabanga has the potential to generate tourism revenue if this product is marketed to outside tourists. This tour offers a unique difference compared to other shea butter products as it allows tourists to participate rather than watch.

At the end of our research we reported out our findings to the community. I thought it was amazing how many community members showed up; ranging from dignitary chiefs and leaders to small children. It turned out to be a great success and contributed greatly to building a relationship between Vancouver Island University and Larabanga!

My 10 days in Larabanga was an interesting experience. Even though I witnessed so many of the issues that deter people from visiting Larabanga; the community grew on me and I found myself sad when leaving the people we grew so close with. I have an opportunity to travel back to Larabanga in early July and I am very much looking forward to it!

In Ghana, there are many wonderful vibrant fabrics and fantastic tailors. Here everyone goes fabric shopping and gets clothes made. Good quality traditional clothes are not cheap for locals but they are readily available on every corner and prices can be negotiated. I found it funny when I was in France and the men would talk passionately about cooking and food, now I find it humorous that the men here talk excitedly about what fabrics to buy and what specific shirts and clothes they want to get made for them at the tailor. The definition of masculine varies significantly from culture to culture and is sometimes overlooked, but always allows for some good laughs when you get around a table an converse with the locals, whether they are reflecting on your masculinity or on their own it makes for a funny conversation.

Here in Ghana it turns out, men are most cautious about protecting their “potency” by avoiding smoking, sweets and sugar, and many other things that can make their manhood smaller.

Back to fabrics! Fabrics are sold by the yard and are usually about 4-6 Ghana Cidi’s per yard. It is important to ask before starting to browse the shop which fabrics are from Ghana, and which can be cut and sold by the yard. Many times whilst shopping with friends here, they have become excited by a particular fabric and unable to purchase it because it cannot be cut, and what are they going to do with 12 yards of fabric! If this is not what the problem is then the problem is that they pick a fabric that is produced in the Netherlands instead or China and don’t purchase it because it is not truly Ghanaian, that being said the ones from China are cheaper and more often used by Ghanaians in rural Ghana because they are cheaper. So which one really represents Ghana?

Its fun to go fabric shopping here, and everyone should embrace the experience when they come here.