I woke up at 7:45, packed my computer up along with the usual contents of my bag: my malayria pills, my ghanian money, bug spray, sunscreen, house key, cliff bar, passport copy, book to read, hand sanitizer and face wipes.
Joyce called me to come down around 8:45 and we took a shared taxi into town. For some reason, it is cheaper to take a taxi to the center of town, and then walk two blocks, to catch another taxi from the main road to get to the office. Each part of the journey costs about 1 pesewas or about 75 cents. The NGO does not pay for her transportation so she is happy to share the costs.
We alighted on the side of a main road, waiting patiently for a break in the traffic of zooming cars, motorcycles and bicycles. We then walked up a reddish brown dirt road, avoiding the pond sized puddles from the previous nights rainy season downpour. We walked for about 10 minutes, around several buildings, one of them I was excited to notice is the millenium development goal center. A driveway lead to two separate lots, one labeled "Youth Empowerment for Life" and the other "School for Life". I found it amusing how similar their names were, and wondered how similar their work is as well. One of the major questions I've had about the world of development, is why more NGOs don't combine forces and work together, reducing the overhead costs and streamlining the programs.
We approached a white, one story building, greeting the men lounging outside with a "good morning or, "Desaba?" and nodding at the response "Naaah". A smiling woman came out dressed in a denim skirt and jacket, she was introduced as one of the directors of School for Life, the sister or, mother organization of Futures For Kids. Joy showed me into the building, which was sparsely decorated, made up of 3 large rooms with several small offices around them. Motorcycles and bikes lined the entryway, and a bulletin board featured outdated greetings cards, one I noticed was a Christmas card from FedEx. On the doors of some of the offices was a sticker that said "school for life". A large conference table took up most of one of the rooms, with a TV set on one end, linked by a tangle of wires to the wall, antennas splayed in different directions from the top. Several girls sat at the table reading the local newspaper, they greeted us when we entered but I've still not figured out what their actual role is. The third room had a couch and two desks with computers set up, they are old tan colored desktops. A woman smiled at us from the couch where she breastfed her baby. After greeting them we began to set up the empty room which would become the Futures For Kids office within the School for Life building. The room had a wooden desk in it, and we brought in the file cabinet and office chair we had recently purchased. We unpacked the files from the NGO, put up a curtain, and made ourselves at home. I was frustrated to realize that I cannot connect to the internet here because my computer does not have a place to connect ethernet cables, and there is no wireless available.
I'll have to continue using my USB device which is expensive and cannot upload or download well.
We spent the day working on our computers, her on compiling a report for last weeks distributions and me editing photos from the trip. I also outlined a survey form and suggested a calendar for visiting the communities. At lunchtime we asked a boy working there to fetch us some rice and beans with some noodles and a hard boiled egg with some type of sauce without much flavor. The food came in plastic bags which we dumped onto plates. When I couldn't finish mine I offered it to the boy who had picked it up and he said something which I understood to be "yea Cavrat will eat it" which I assumed was one of the men outside. He put a plate over the food and left it on the table. I returned to the office and several hours later the boy came in and asked if I was going to finish my food. As I dumped it into the trash in the kitchen I was surprised and confused about the miscommunication, and also don't understand why they would not suggest to put food in the refrigerator which they have in the kitchen area.
This is a similar mystery to me as what happens to the food I don't finish at my homestay. I told Anita that I could eat the pasta from last night for lunch one day, because I had barely eaten half of what she served me, and seen her eat local Ghanian food for dinner. She did not seem to understand what I was suggesting and just said "I'm glad you liked it". I bought plastic tupperware and explained that I could bring what I don't eat at dinner, for lunch to work the next day. She smiled and said yes, and put the plastic up on a shelf where it has not moved.
Back to work, well we continued sitting at our computers, waiting for any response from the board members about our proposed dates for the trip into the field. I can't proceed any further with the research project until I get an answer so I just edited photos the rest of the day.
We caught a taxi to the downtown area and split up to run errands. I headed to the internet company Expresso to "top up" or add credit to my USB internet stick or "dongle". I explained that it has not been working consistently, that it works for awhile then crashes and I have to restart it reinstall it and wait around. The guy plugged it in and assured me that it works. I tried to explain again that yes it might work right now but it still is not working correctly, and he nodded. He then explained that I could not add credit to the device until it was completely used up. I argued that was inconvenient because then I could be at work or home and all of a sudden not have any access. He said I could give him the money now, get his phone number, and call him when it ran out. I reluctantly agreed, but then could not do it because they did not have their receipt book and so to come back the next day.
I headed to the central lot known as Taxi Rank, and asked around through the chaos of porter girls, vegetable sellers and goats until I found the line of taxis headed to my area, SNITT. It works like taxi dispensers, the cars pull up until they are at the front of the line, load up with passengers and head off to the designated area. People can be dropped off anywhere along the way. I made it home, ate a dinner of potatoes and vegetables with tasty spices, and went to sleep.
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