Shakedown

Not too much new.  I’ve continued to be busy with the stuff I wrote about in my previous update.  I also visited a monkey sanctuary, finally found the cocoa trees, and traveled to Sunyani, the regional capital.

For those of you who don’t read my Facebook posts, I learned first hand that if you don’t pay your water bill, the water company comes by and cuts the pipe to your house; no advance notice- nothing.  Anyway, it was not our responsibility to pay the bill; this was supposed to be taken care of by the people who manage the house we live in.  Nonetheless, we decided to just go ahead and make the payment to expedite getting hooked back up.  Funny thing though, no one was able to produce said unpaid bill and/or tell us the amount due.  So, we just proposed a figure …yeah, so that fiasco was on the up and up.

Speaking of shakedowns.  When we were in Accra, we got in a taxi and the driver took us to a couple of different spots (the first stop was going to be quick, so he wanted to wait for us to drive us to our next stop – he even left the cab to “escort” us).  When we were getting out of the cab at the second destination, he was insistent on giving us his number so we could call him the next time we needed a taxi.  This was fine, but I thought it was a bit weird that it didn’t occur to him that we’d just grab one of the half dozen cabs outside of our hotel. Anyway, we discovered later on that we were both missing our phones.  So, thank God for the remarkable luck that we had the cab driver’s number to see if we left them in the cab!  Before the words were even uttered, he said he picked some people up right after us and took them to the airport, so they must have taken our phones.  About 20 minutes later, he called to say that he was going to go to the airport to track down the passengers and search them.  Then he called to tell us he had “seized” the phones, but, stressed that he had to travel very, very far to get them, so he wanted to be sure we were going to pay him for his time.  He proceeded to call no less than a half dozen times to let us know he was traveling very, very far.  Anyway, he finally meets us, produces the phones, which were obviously in his possession the entire time, and tells us he wants $200.00.  Other than somehow getting our phones, he really gets bad grades for execution.  First, the airport was ten minutes away and exactly how legit does walking into the airport, finding taxi passengers from earlier in the day and “searching” them sound?  Not that he cared that much about how legit his story sounded; he had something we wanted.  His biggest mistake though was that he handed over the phones before requesting $200.00 (mine was a $30.00 dumb phone from Ghana and Steve’s was an old iphone he was using only for the camera  -not worth $200.00).  Needless to say, I wasn’t expecting that figure.  Anyway, after a whole lot of commotion, he got an appropriate “reward” and went on his way.

Okay, so stay tuned for pictures next month.  I’ll try to upload a bunch with the free wifi in Cape Town. 

More Critters

12 " African millipede outside the house.

Big bug inside the house.

Update

All has been well back Kintampo.  It felt good to get “home” after the week in Accra.  Though, the time I spent there around some of the Americans who have a lot of experience working in international public health was really helpful.  Obviously, I understood that it will take years/decades to effect big changes; but I think I came away with better appreciation for how much inching along actually does matter. 

Things have been busy in Kintampo.  At the junior high, I’m essentially teaching one section of English/Language Arts.  Originally, I was hoping to collaborate with the teacher to find ways to break kids into groups since it’s such a large class; but the teacher pretty much never shows up, so I’m just doing what I can.  At the Psychosocial Center, there is a great group of motivated, compassionate people who are, quite admirably, trying to take on some new initiatives to support mental health in the community; it’s pretty cool to be able to work with them.  Also, I started lecturing at the College of Health.  The director of the two mental health certificate tracks is very much interested in what I do as a school psychologist and is eager for me to present on anything and everything ..multi-disciplinary evals, ADHD, LDs, FBAs, etc.  Who knows, maybe they’ll start a school psych program someday!

Weather-wise, we are going to be entering the dry season and I already feel the change.  It definitely rains less; there are fewer clouds and the sun feels like it sits about twenty feet above my head.  I get a lot of conflicting reports regarding the dry season, so I’m not entirely sure what to expect.  Intuitively, seems that dry season=hotter, but, maybe not if it’s less humid.  I also heard it’s often windy, which originally I had been pretty pumped about; who wouldn’t like a nice breeze on a 100+ degree-day?  But, I’ve since been told that this results in a constant haze of red dust.  So, given that I wear contact lenses, I’m thinking this might actually suck a little. TBD I suppose.

Okay, onto yet another completely different topic.  I’ve been asked a lot about the food.  While there are many fruits and vegetables available, the tricky part is that they are not always available.  This is true for many things actually.  My first few weeks here I spent a lot of time trying to figure out where to get what.  I discovered which shops sold lettuce, wheat bread, nuts, diet coke (well coke light  –not the same thing), shampoo, etc.  But, then I found out that that doesn’t mean that they will have it again anytime soon, as in ever;-).  As the Ghanaians say when something is sold out, “it’s finished”!  So you really have to grab it when you see it.  Also, the fruits and vegetables can be a bit of a mirage; for example, at the market there will be barrels overflowing with tomatoes, but often when you get up close you’ll find they are all rotted.  Protein is what I miss most.  I want cheese, nuts, chicken breast, good fish and more.  But, on a positive note, there is no shortage of eggs and Ghanaian eggs are the best I’ve ever had!  All in all though, I’ve got it figured out and the food situation is under control.

Kumasi Tamale Highway

More pics on the Kumasi Tamale Highway

Our African Crib

Our house in Kintampo

Our street in Kintampo

More house pics

House pics

Our bedroom.  The mosquito netting comes down at night.

Spare room that has become the workout room.

Third bedroom that has become the laundry drying room.

A few of our housemates.

Very big moth.

Cool twig bug.

Yes, the lizard is on the inside of the screen.

African millipede.

Random

Another reason to avoid falling into the roadside ditches.

Shopping for a light bulb at the electric supply store; but they were out of stock.

Typical spot to grab lunch.

Kids

Love the Chuck Taylors.

School

Kids at the school.  Teachers correcting.

Neighborhood Animals

Above, cows in our front yard.  Below, male goats fighting.

Accra

Hey there!  I'm in Accra for the week (Steve is at the African Emergency Medicine Conference).  I had my first hot shower in two months, not to mention one that I could actually stand upright in; it's been tremendous!  It's going to be tough going back to Kintampo.

So, update on Kintampo:  I started working at the psychosocial center at the college and, of all things, they are trying to start a clinic for kids who are struggling with their learning and/or present with other concerns at school.  So, since I'm a school psychologist, I sort of hit the jackpot there insofar as professional relevance.  And, I'm also still volunteering at the local public school.

It's probably a good thing that I haven't posted for a while because I go through incredibly discouraged periods and who really wants to hear that.  Case in point, as excited as I was to finally connect with the college/clinic and to learn about the program they want to develop, I'm not sure what exactly they can do in the absence of any resources whatsoever (we're talking the kids/schools have no books and the town library is comprised of about twelve).  Anyway, I'm learning to take a big step back and think in terms of baby steps; otherwise, the sadness and the overwhelmingness of it all can leave you paralyzed.  So, on a positive note, I do have a few ideas and will keep you posted regarding how that goes!

And, I've had requests for more pictures so will try to take advantage of the free wifi in Acrra and get some posted.  Uploading from my home in Kintampo is incredibly slow and uses too much of my data (we have a cellular data plan of sorts).