The walk from the tro-tro station in Awutu to the guesthouse passes by a school with a large football field. It's quite picturesque, especially since on the other side of the field are some massive and beautiful trees. Yesterday when I walked by a bunch of boys were playing football. The ball rolled into the road in front of me and so I kicked it back to them. They returned it to me and I kicked it back. This back-and-forth only happened for about a minute but it was so much fun to be playing football with the Awutu boys. A man walking by with a baby, both of whom I almost hit in the head with the football, told me to change into gym clothes and come back. So I stopped in at the house, told Kyle and Linden what happened, and the three of us headed back to the school, accompanied by Stephen, our housekeeper, and a frisbee. While Kyle and Stephen started tossing the frisbee around, attracting some of the boys, Linden and I ran after the football. At first we just tried to get the ball from whoever had it, but eventually we realized they had been playing a game with rules, a soccer version of Monkey-in-the-middle, and so we started playing that. Eventually we got into conversation with them, which is how we learned about their local soccer star. We spent a while trying just to learn names. A boy with two large machetes came by, so Linden and I asked if they could teach us to cut the grass the way they do, with machetes. They said we wouldn't be able to, because our hands are too soft, but they showed us how and let us try anyway. We failed miserably, but it was fun to try anyway. Things got a bit uncomfortable when they briefly asked us for food and CDs and clothes. They really liked my gym shorts, for whatever reason. They quickly forgot about their demands, luckily, and started asking us some really hard questions. Such as, what do you think when you see a person with a dark complexion? I said I feel self-conscience, because my light skin makes me stand out a lot here. Linden added that we always try to make ourselves look darker but it doesn't work. They then asked us, where do twins come from, and an even more awkward question, Why does someone get pregnant? I'm not sure where all their questions came from or if they understood my answers but they were fun to talk to and to play ball with. We're probably going back this afternoon to play with them again.
Wednesday, June 27, 2007
bend it like essien
One of the football (soccer) players for the Chelsea team, Michael Essien, is from Awutu. Yesterday I got to play football with his younger brother and some other local boys.
The walk from the tro-tro station in Awutu to the guesthouse passes by a school with a large football field. It's quite picturesque, especially since on the other side of the field are some massive and beautiful trees. Yesterday when I walked by a bunch of boys were playing football. The ball rolled into the road in front of me and so I kicked it back to them. They returned it to me and I kicked it back. This back-and-forth only happened for about a minute but it was so much fun to be playing football with the Awutu boys. A man walking by with a baby, both of whom I almost hit in the head with the football, told me to change into gym clothes and come back. So I stopped in at the house, told Kyle and Linden what happened, and the three of us headed back to the school, accompanied by Stephen, our housekeeper, and a frisbee. While Kyle and Stephen started tossing the frisbee around, attracting some of the boys, Linden and I ran after the football. At first we just tried to get the ball from whoever had it, but eventually we realized they had been playing a game with rules, a soccer version of Monkey-in-the-middle, and so we started playing that. Eventually we got into conversation with them, which is how we learned about their local soccer star. We spent a while trying just to learn names. A boy with two large machetes came by, so Linden and I asked if they could teach us to cut the grass the way they do, with machetes. They said we wouldn't be able to, because our hands are too soft, but they showed us how and let us try anyway. We failed miserably, but it was fun to try anyway. Things got a bit uncomfortable when they briefly asked us for food and CDs and clothes. They really liked my gym shorts, for whatever reason. They quickly forgot about their demands, luckily, and started asking us some really hard questions. Such as, what do you think when you see a person with a dark complexion? I said I feel self-conscience, because my light skin makes me stand out a lot here. Linden added that we always try to make ourselves look darker but it doesn't work. They then asked us, where do twins come from, and an even more awkward question, Why does someone get pregnant? I'm not sure where all their questions came from or if they understood my answers but they were fun to talk to and to play ball with. We're probably going back this afternoon to play with them again.
The walk from the tro-tro station in Awutu to the guesthouse passes by a school with a large football field. It's quite picturesque, especially since on the other side of the field are some massive and beautiful trees. Yesterday when I walked by a bunch of boys were playing football. The ball rolled into the road in front of me and so I kicked it back to them. They returned it to me and I kicked it back. This back-and-forth only happened for about a minute but it was so much fun to be playing football with the Awutu boys. A man walking by with a baby, both of whom I almost hit in the head with the football, told me to change into gym clothes and come back. So I stopped in at the house, told Kyle and Linden what happened, and the three of us headed back to the school, accompanied by Stephen, our housekeeper, and a frisbee. While Kyle and Stephen started tossing the frisbee around, attracting some of the boys, Linden and I ran after the football. At first we just tried to get the ball from whoever had it, but eventually we realized they had been playing a game with rules, a soccer version of Monkey-in-the-middle, and so we started playing that. Eventually we got into conversation with them, which is how we learned about their local soccer star. We spent a while trying just to learn names. A boy with two large machetes came by, so Linden and I asked if they could teach us to cut the grass the way they do, with machetes. They said we wouldn't be able to, because our hands are too soft, but they showed us how and let us try anyway. We failed miserably, but it was fun to try anyway. Things got a bit uncomfortable when they briefly asked us for food and CDs and clothes. They really liked my gym shorts, for whatever reason. They quickly forgot about their demands, luckily, and started asking us some really hard questions. Such as, what do you think when you see a person with a dark complexion? I said I feel self-conscience, because my light skin makes me stand out a lot here. Linden added that we always try to make ourselves look darker but it doesn't work. They then asked us, where do twins come from, and an even more awkward question, Why does someone get pregnant? I'm not sure where all their questions came from or if they understood my answers but they were fun to talk to and to play ball with. We're probably going back this afternoon to play with them again.
Monday, June 25, 2007
independence and protection on the river volta
Now that I've been in Ghana for over a week, I finally felt like I earned my weekend. Jeong, Linden, Josie and I headed northeast of Accra to Atimpoku, just south of Akosombo where the dam that created Lake Volta and provides all the energy for the region is. The river itself is quite wide and calm. We rented a canoe for an hour or so from one of the waterside hotels and paddled around, enjoying the beautiful valley and the nicest weather I've experienced so far in Ghana. We were accompanied by Georgie, a former child soldier whom Jeong is pretty good friends with. There were certainly many benefits of having Georgie with us. He understands some Twi, one of the most popular languages in Ghana, which helped with communication. He was able to explain to us many of the food dishes that we were unfamiliar with. When we first got on the bus to Akosombo in Accra, hot and tired, he bought us all oranges and taught us the local way to eat them. He is also a strong canoer, which allowed the rest of us more time to relax on the river. Perhaps the greatest benefit of his presence, however, was that it saved us four white girls from a good amount of the comments we regularly receive from young African men. That alone made me feel a lot safer walking around.But his presence also had its downsides. He is very charming and gentlemanly but it became too much after a while. He looked out for us and tried to help us a bit too much, thinking that as an African who has been in this country much longer than any of us and as a man, he knew better, he could and should lead us. Truth is, however, he wasn't very good at haggling and often ended up making communication with Ghanaians, who he did not trust, confrontational when such a response was unnecessary. And considering that to be a woman volunteering here you have to be strong and independent, we found him to be a bit smothering and chauvanistic. But then again, based on previous discussions we had had with him, we already knew he had a pretty twisted view on women, but that's a problem with this culture that will take more than the laws that make spousal abuse illegal to change. What I, at least, did get out of his somewhat overbearing presence was the sense that I don't need a guy to safely travel somewhere in Ghana, which is liberating to feel. I wouldn't feel safe traveling more than the distance between camp and Awutu, maybe Awutu and Accra, alone, but I don't need to have a man among my fellow travelers. It's a convenient feeling, considering only one of the other volunteers right now is male. However, we might be getting some more volunteers at the end of the week, which would be great.
Today Linden, Kyle, and I led a workshop for the Peace Cell leaders. I felt kind of awkward, telling them how things should work when I haven't even worked a full week here myself. Although not everyone showed up and most of those who did were late, the workshop went surprisingly well. I think our approach to how to run a workshop, at least the first day, was new and creative and actually worked. We simulated a peace cell meeting, changing the faciliation style a bit, and put the leaders as participants. As a peace cell meeting it went very well and the discussion we had in the second part of the workshop, about what they thought of the meeting, was very constructive. The three of us, at least, remain idealistic about peace cells, despite the cynicism voiced by volunteers who have been here longer and thus are more burnt out and bitter. The workshop will continue Tuesday and Wednesday with a more traditional lecture format, but we're going to try to break it up with some activities to actualize the concepts we'll be discussing. Although there are records kept of past workshops by international volunteers, those records are in a pile somewhere so we can only hope that what we teach is not too redundant of what has been done before.
Friday, June 22, 2007
people i meet, or machete stories and political rants
Most of mobilizing for peace cell meetings involves telling people what's happening and them nodding and saying they might come. However, about once a day so far, someone will respond to us with their own story. Tuesday in Zone 10 (the camp is divided into 12 zones and each day we have a peace cell forum in a different zone) when Michael, the peace cell leader, was explaining the purpose of the meeting to discuss ethnic tensions and how to rebuild trust between tribal groups this old woman interjected. She was a big old woman, with gray hair, a scar running across her face, and a very swollen knee. "Do you really think love will bring an end to the fighting?" she asked. "The problem is really, more than anything, poverty," she continued, and started crying. She pointed to her scars, her knee, her hair. She is in huge need of food and medical treatment, neither of which she can afford. So if someone gave her the money she needed, she would do anything he said, even kill her own brother. Michael said, "If I trusted you, if I loved you, even though you are from a different tribe, I would give you money when you needed it." But honestly, no one here, no matter how much love they have, can afford to help all the people who need it.
Yesterday we were in Zone 11. We were talking to this woman about the need to build peace and trust "for when we go back to Liberia." "I can't go back to Liberia," she said, showing us the machete scars all over her body. "The man who did this to me is still there." She has photos of herself bandaged up as well as the medical report from the hospital. The man, who attacked her over something as simple as borrowing a cell phone, from what I could understand of her story, chased her to the hospital but once she was treated she managed to escape to Guinea and then to Buduburam. The man managed to find her in Buduburam, attacking her again and leaving a threat letter at her house, saying that if she did not surrender the pictures and medical report he would kill her and her family. If she survived he would chase her until he killed her. She went to the local police with the letter and the man when back to Liberia. She showed us the photos, the medical report, the letter, and the police report. She is never alone at her house, always with either her husband or brother, and she is afraid to sleep there. They sleep in the house at night, while she sleeps somewhere outside, feeling safer there than in her house where she may be found by the man. Back in Liberia, this man is a police officer.
Today (at least so far) had no horror stories. However, we ended up spending at least a half hour talking to one man. A teacher in Texas, he came here looking for his daughter and is waiting to clear some things up with his papers. As a former student activist and then politician in Liberia, he had his own opinion to share with us. "Tribalism is not the problem," he said. "The minority Americo-Liberians holding the power is what is wrong. Tribalism may be the effect/symptom of all that, but you cannot solve the problem by just addressing the symptoms. You will still be sick. You must address the root, which is the Americo-Liberian power stronghold, which has been re-established in Liberia in Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government." Rather than just listening this time (especially since I knew he could actually understand me), I got into a bit of a discussion, pointing out that the symptoms in and of themselves are killing people and must be addressed. Plus this is just one of the many issues we talk about. The true source of the problem may not be tribalism, but that does not mean it is not a worthwhile discussion, especially considering even he could not propose a solution to the root problem he identified. Still, I think he was completely right that the issue of Americo-Liberian power should not just be swept under the carpet as it is but addressed and changed. He then started explaining things more in detail to Michael, who was learning a lot, but at another point I would like to discuss with him the institutional problems that will not and did not change with indigenous Liberians in power, especially considering the degree to which he glorified the Doe regime. He may be right about the all good things Doe did to improve the country and empower the ordinary people, but that does not change other atrocities and violence that happened under him.
So far it's been a pretty interesting week. Now that I'm not sick I'm enjoying everything a lot more. I'm starting to build relationships, on camp and with my fellow volunteers. This weekend I'm going to Akosombo on Lake Volta with some other volunteers. I don't really know anything about it but it should be interesting and pretty. But before that I've got some more mobilizing and a peace cell meeting to attend.
P.S. Leave comments! I like to see who's reading and hear what you have to say!
Yesterday we were in Zone 11. We were talking to this woman about the need to build peace and trust "for when we go back to Liberia." "I can't go back to Liberia," she said, showing us the machete scars all over her body. "The man who did this to me is still there." She has photos of herself bandaged up as well as the medical report from the hospital. The man, who attacked her over something as simple as borrowing a cell phone, from what I could understand of her story, chased her to the hospital but once she was treated she managed to escape to Guinea and then to Buduburam. The man managed to find her in Buduburam, attacking her again and leaving a threat letter at her house, saying that if she did not surrender the pictures and medical report he would kill her and her family. If she survived he would chase her until he killed her. She went to the local police with the letter and the man when back to Liberia. She showed us the photos, the medical report, the letter, and the police report. She is never alone at her house, always with either her husband or brother, and she is afraid to sleep there. They sleep in the house at night, while she sleeps somewhere outside, feeling safer there than in her house where she may be found by the man. Back in Liberia, this man is a police officer.
Today (at least so far) had no horror stories. However, we ended up spending at least a half hour talking to one man. A teacher in Texas, he came here looking for his daughter and is waiting to clear some things up with his papers. As a former student activist and then politician in Liberia, he had his own opinion to share with us. "Tribalism is not the problem," he said. "The minority Americo-Liberians holding the power is what is wrong. Tribalism may be the effect/symptom of all that, but you cannot solve the problem by just addressing the symptoms. You will still be sick. You must address the root, which is the Americo-Liberian power stronghold, which has been re-established in Liberia in Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf's government." Rather than just listening this time (especially since I knew he could actually understand me), I got into a bit of a discussion, pointing out that the symptoms in and of themselves are killing people and must be addressed. Plus this is just one of the many issues we talk about. The true source of the problem may not be tribalism, but that does not mean it is not a worthwhile discussion, especially considering even he could not propose a solution to the root problem he identified. Still, I think he was completely right that the issue of Americo-Liberian power should not just be swept under the carpet as it is but addressed and changed. He then started explaining things more in detail to Michael, who was learning a lot, but at another point I would like to discuss with him the institutional problems that will not and did not change with indigenous Liberians in power, especially considering the degree to which he glorified the Doe regime. He may be right about the all good things Doe did to improve the country and empower the ordinary people, but that does not change other atrocities and violence that happened under him.
So far it's been a pretty interesting week. Now that I'm not sick I'm enjoying everything a lot more. I'm starting to build relationships, on camp and with my fellow volunteers. This weekend I'm going to Akosombo on Lake Volta with some other volunteers. I don't really know anything about it but it should be interesting and pretty. But before that I've got some more mobilizing and a peace cell meeting to attend.
P.S. Leave comments! I like to see who's reading and hear what you have to say!
Thursday, June 21, 2007
World Refugee Day
For those of you who didn't know, yesterday was World Refugee Day, a day of celebration and solidarity started by the UN in order to bring attention to the plight of refugees. It's especially interesting to see observed in a refugee camp. The theme of the day was "Humanizing Refugees," a phrase apparently coined by Bill Gates. The theme may make sense from an international perspective but inside the camp is rather problematic, or at least all the white NGO volunteers seemed to think so. The day's celebrations included a parade of all the school children in the morning, an indoor program of speeches, songs, and skits in the afternoon, and afterword sports games outside. I attended the indoor program and was very glad I was there to see it all. There were A LOT of political tensions in the air, especially between the refugees and the representatives of the UNHCR and the Ghana Refugee Board. The Ghanaian, in his speech, tried very hard to make Ghana's role as host look good, emphasizing that they have limitations but are doing all they can. He STRONGRLY encouraged repatriation as soon as possible (by the June 30, 2007 UN voluntary repatriation deadline); in other words, "go home." The Liberians, for their part, were not afraid to be critical of the UNHCR or Ghana. They said, explicitly, that they did not really feel like they were being humanized and that the June 30th date was not at all reasonable or realistic. However, the highlight of the program came before any of these speeches. One of the skits was by a children's group. 
It was about Mr. & Mrs. Liberia and their 17 children, each representing a different tribe. A stranger, "War," came to visit the family and all the children starting fighting with each other. Their parents were trying to get them to make up. One kid said, "So we are supposed to forgive and forget, let bygones be bygones?" And Mr. Liberia said "No. You must remember the past so that you can learn from the mistakes that you have made. You cannot go back to the way things were before, but must recognize and take responsibility for your mistakes so that we can live peacefully together in the future." Etc. Now, it may just be rhetoric, like much on camp is, but it's the first time I've heard rhetoric I've agreed with completely. And everyone in the audience loved them. It was just really inspiring and gave me more hope than I've had since I've been here.
Sunday, June 17, 2007
band-aids for bleeding hearts
I've been here for three intense days. By intense I mean I spent Friday and Saturday at a tropical beach resort, swimming in the warm ocean water, getting some sun, and enjoying a real shower before I've even gotten tired of bucket showers. But even that wasn't all fun and games. When swimming I cut open my foot on a rock. Luckily I had brought a few band-aids and some of the Ghanaian boys on the beach helped me clean it up and bandage it. I've been keeping it clean and I should be fine. The culture shock and the poverty and problems around me are much harder to heal. A lot of the other volunteers who have been here for a while have gotten disillusioned. But they are still finding meaningful work to do. But I need to get used to saying no to adorable little children begging for food or money. And I need to realize I can't fix everything but I can make a difference. I hope.I arrived safely Thursday night, and met most of my fellow volunteers. Friday was orientation day at the camp for me and Kyle, the other volunteer who just arrived. We had a very formal overview of PCO (pronouced Pee-Co) and its different projects. Then we had a tour of the school and the mother's center. It was a lot to take in. I was excited to have a little girl run up to me and grab my hand, to make a little friend, but it has since happened more times than I can count. Everything, it
seems, becomes mundane. The poverty, the kids, the bucket showers, drinking water from a plastic bag. The living conditions I'm having the easiest time adjusting to, actually, for I have plenty of experience with bucket-flushing and living surrounded by bugs. There are also chameleons everywhere. And chickens. I've never seen so many chickens in my life.After our tour and lunch, Kyle and I had program orientations. We both spoke with the Peace Cells leader and I spoke to the Tribal Leaders Forum coordinator. I'll work with them both tomorrow and see what I think. They both involve a lot of mobilization work, which should be interesting. After the visit to the camp and meeting the rest of the volunteers, we went to the beach, as I said before. Today we're in Accra. We're going to the expat grocery and an expat restaurant. Then Monday, work begins...
Thursday, June 14, 2007
in transit
I've got 4 minutes to update from the Milan airport. For such a world hub - flights going to North America, South America, Africa, Europe, and Asia - it's rather small. I've still got 5 hours to kill. Not enough time to go to town, if I knew how to get out of here, but long enough to make me really really bored. Which I already am. Hopefully I'll be able to get some sleep, as I got very little on the flight here. My seat did not recline, nor was it a window seat so I couldn't lean against the side of the cabin. My eyes hurt to be open, but my body won't sleep. I'll try to sleep on the next leg of my flight - there certainly won't be anything worth staying up for. The movies are bad, the food is the worst I've had on an airplane, maybe ever, and the drink options are water, coke, OJ, or red or white wine. Alitalia, I expected a little more of you. Oh well. THey get me where I need to be, and that's what really matters. I'm running out of time so I'm signing off, but I'll update as soon as I get a chance in Ghana.
Saturday, June 09, 2007
Here and now
This time next week I'll be in Ghana, volunteering at Buduburam Refugee Settlement, attempting reconciliation work among Liberian refugees, who despite repatriation by the UN have stayed put, not wanting to return to a country lacking infrastructure and still rather fragile.
Right now, Liberia for me is the subject of 30-page research papers. I try to understand the situation and with limited knowledge suggest solutions, like any Ivory Tower liberal, intellectualizing everything. Here I am, 21-years-old, a privileged student at an expensive and selective liberal arts college, privileged enough to spend a semester in Denmark and travel around Europe, privileged enough to spend a summer not working but "helping the less fortunate." But really, I'm going for me. It's like a pilgrimage really, only the destination is almost inconsequential, I think. I'm looking for change and inspiration, direction and passion, centering and meaning. The things people get from pilgrimages, I think. Hopefully I'll be able to make a difference to the Liberian refugees too, but the more I learn, the more overwhelmed I feel about the extent of the challenge and the more important I realize the work I'll be doing is. This is tragedy. And as an American, I feel a little guilty. Though if I went about studying it, I could probably find more things to feel guilty about than I could handle. So I've picked my poison, for now at least. For my sake, and our sake, and their sake. And we shall see what good may come, but at least I'm sticking to my philosophy:
Now bring me that horizon.
Right now, Liberia for me is the subject of 30-page research papers. I try to understand the situation and with limited knowledge suggest solutions, like any Ivory Tower liberal, intellectualizing everything. Here I am, 21-years-old, a privileged student at an expensive and selective liberal arts college, privileged enough to spend a semester in Denmark and travel around Europe, privileged enough to spend a summer not working but "helping the less fortunate." But really, I'm going for me. It's like a pilgrimage really, only the destination is almost inconsequential, I think. I'm looking for change and inspiration, direction and passion, centering and meaning. The things people get from pilgrimages, I think. Hopefully I'll be able to make a difference to the Liberian refugees too, but the more I learn, the more overwhelmed I feel about the extent of the challenge and the more important I realize the work I'll be doing is. This is tragedy. And as an American, I feel a little guilty. Though if I went about studying it, I could probably find more things to feel guilty about than I could handle. So I've picked my poison, for now at least. For my sake, and our sake, and their sake. And we shall see what good may come, but at least I'm sticking to my philosophy:
And so I am off, to build connections, because when it comes down to it, that may be the only thing we really can do.There is no general doctrine which is not capable of eating out our morality if unchecked by the deep-seated habit of direct fellow-feeling with individual fellow-men.
~George Eliot, Middlemarch
Now bring me that horizon.
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