"Maktub"...and so it is written

Alot can be accomplished through teamwork

Yesterday was our final presentation to the client which was held at the College of Physicians and Surgeons in Accra.  Heading into the presentation I was a bit nervous knowing that some of our recommendations may not be met by the entire Board of Directors with enthusiasm but I was thrilled to hear the client's rave reviews on our project results and was pleasantly surprised to see not only our Country General Manager but the clients President and Board Chairman.  What a satisfying feeling knowing that our work made such a big difference that even the Big Guys came out the support the event. 

View from IBM offce in Accra (Statium, Independance Sq and client office in background)

The client treated our entire IBM team to dinner at a local restaurant and I had the pleasure of hosting Dr. Kwaku Osafo, the Chairman of the Board for our client at our table.  Dr. Osafo is an extremely down to earth and knowledgeable gentleman and runs an economic development consulting firm in Ghana.  He studied at Standford, speaks many languages and has visited 117 countries.  We had wonderful conversations about his travels, his school days in California, his economic development work in Africa and his traveling stories.  What a pleasure it was for me to have met his acquaintance and to have enjoyed such a fun evening with the client team.

Dr. Osafo and I at dinner.   Our IBM client group (minus Ranga)

IBM and Client team

But it's now Friday and my last day in Ghana.  Seven of our team spent the day in Accra shopping at a local market.  On the bus ride home, we enjoyed the dried plantains and coconut cookies from the street vendors whom we now feel comfortable buying from out of the van window.  I'm even getting good at haggling with the artisans.  It was a great relaxing day and exactly what I needed after such a hectic work week.

Artisan market

  When I arrived in Ghana one month ago, I had no idea just how fast the time would go.  I remember stepping down out of the plane 4 weeks ago Saturday in my jeans and roots hoodie wondering how the heck I was going to handle this heat....and it WAS HOT and sticky every single day.  I can't say I handled that part well at all.

But I've grown use to it here and could probably stay forever were it
not for my family at home who I miss so dearly.  Life is much less complicated here and I’m learning to love the simplicity of it all.  It's funny how at the beginning of this trip everything was such a shock and I constantly took pictures, asked questions and blogged.  But I've gotten use to the traffic, the street vendors, the honking horns, spicy food, the sandy sidewalks and red dust on my shoes.  There are fewer starring people now (or maybe I just don't notice), and I think I walk a lot slower than I did when I arrived.  I enjoy my meals more (don't rush) and look forward to a refreshing Star beer each night at dinner.  I know my hard bed and pillow are like heaven now at the end of each day, although I still can't manage to sleep much.

Some of the things I don't think I'd ever get use though and these include:

• the loud music, 
• the intermittent internet connectivity, 
• men urinating where ever and when ever they feel the urge (even if it's in front of you on sidewalk),
• only getting BBC/CNN and soccer on the TV.  
• Being man handled in the crowds
• The volume of food they tend to serve at meals
• Rough roads
• Power outages 
• And the poverty and the struggle of many   

I've had wonderful experiences here and can really only summarize it as saying it's been everything I imagined and nothing I imagined.  The people are friendlier, the environment safer, the countryside more beautiful.  I'm fortunate to have seen Cape Coast, Kakum National Forest, Mt. Gemi, Akzombo, Volta Region, the ocean, beach parties, Ghanaian home cooking, Tema, Accra, and the list goes on.  I met many people from all over the world including India, Nigeria, England, Switzerland, Russia, US, Brazil, Mexico, Japan, China, Germany, South Africa...and the list goes on.  My team teased me as I usually knew by name most of the other guests at the hotel.  It's amazing what conversations can be opened with a simple "Good morning".  But I learned early on in the trip that many local and foreign visitors seem to interpret "hi, how are you" as "let me give you my number"...we got a good chuckle out of the forwardness of some individuals on a few occasions....and no, I never did give out my number.

But as I wind down my day (still packing to do, dinner with the team and no doubt some sad farewells) I reflect on this experience as truly life changing..both personally and professionally.  I thoroughly enjoyed consulting with external clients and perhaps I need to look for opportunities in that area of the business.  Personally, I come away with an insight into the many cultural backgrounds of my IBM team mates who are each unique and wonderful in their own way.  I've learned a lot about my own tolerance levels and areas for further development. I never quite got use to Ghanaian time and the tardiness with which our team activities got under way. :-) Theo after all, taught me well of the importance of people's time.  But in hind sight, this experience has taught me each of us can and should contribute in what ever way we can to make this world a better place.  I also come away with a profound respect for Ghana, it’s culture and most importantly, it’s people.  Barbara, our CDS lead has been a godsend for us and Francis, well, he holds a very special place in my heart and I wish him well.    

So just to let you know, Joanne and I are off to Kenya tomorrow where we'll officially be "off the map".  I look forward to yet another African adventure.  I’ll be sure to blog about it when I arrive home in a week.  Until then....my Ghanaian adventure is official winding down…

Meda ase p Ghana!  Yεbεhyia!

Freakin' Insanity

As we rode home tonight from Accra back to Tema, with four of us crammed into a small cab going 100 km (which is very fast in Ghana) and swerving in and out of traffic, Joanne sat with her hand over her eyes asking, “are we still alive”?   I chuckled and joked with her that one week from now we’d been in absolute silence (except I’m sure for the sound of crickets) in our tent somewhere on a game reserve in Kenya…it’s something that is hard to imagine after the weekend we’ve had but something we are both looking forward to.

My day started rather slowly.  I’ve been battling with some sort of sickness with restless nights, gut wrenching pain off and on, a headache and half a dozen other nasty symptoms but at 3 am this morning my fever broke and I was able to get up this morning feeling somewhat normal.  I don’t have time to be sick this week as it’s my last week in Ghana so I double up on my malaria meds and start the antibiotics my Dr. from home sent with me.  That should get me through 7 days and then it won’t be long before I’m home.  But I slowly came to life this morning, dressed in my boubou (long shirt like dress) for church, managed to get a slice of toast and a black coffee into me and was ready to go by 7:30 a.m.

Tony, from TemaTech, one of our clients picked us up this morning in a van and drove us to his Charismatic church.  While not located in the safest area of Tema, we none-the-less were excited to see what Charismatic Christianity was all about and thankful we didn’t have to find our way there by ourselves.

What a blast!!!

Standing on church steps

I wasn’t able to partake in the dancing (not quite enough energy yet) like some others (Joanne can really boogie when she wants to Eric!) but we had such a wonderful time watching the congregation experience their Sunday morning rituals.  The Ghanaian culture is a very religious one and this particular branch of Christianity places a lot of emphasis on joy, faith and hope through singing and dancing.  Quite refreshing!  Our host, Tony was thrilled to have us there and the congregation greeted us with high fives, hand shakes and hugs during the meet and greet portion of the ceremony.  

Sunday school

The music was wonderful and the congregation really got into their celebration.  The minister spoke in English and welcomed each of us from our native countries which he had listed out and the interpreter translated everything into Twi (local language here).  The sermon this morning was about wastefulness and although the ceremony from end to end was 3 hours it seemed far shorter than that.   I figured I’d spent my time well this morning and thoroughly enjoyed the event. 

Our host at church..Tony

I skipped lunch to grab a nap so that I could get through the rest of the day.  Our next trip in the afternoon to Accra to see a football (soccer game) would be quite a different adventure.

Soccer in Ghana.  How do I describe it?  Utter insanity!

We arrived late at the soccer game as we’d stopped by Accra Mall for lunch (I managed to eat a few kernels of popcorn but couldn’t stomach anything else).  As we walked closer to the stadium, it was evident that there were still crowds lined up for tickets to the Accra vs. Kotoko game.  Francis (our CFO) went in search for tickets as the group of 7 of us stood waiting.  I’m quite use to being started at by now but still a bit shocked when men reach out to grab your arm or make a comment directly to you…for the most part I ignore it.  But today was unique…we had a gentleman approach us asking if we wanted tickets so after standing waiting to find tickets for half an hour “heck, yes” we wanted tickets….it was going to cost us double however but the 10 Ghana cedi’s (about $7 Cdn) was a very small price to pay.  So off Frances and the gentleman in the army jumpsuit and the chains (not decorative chains but heavier gauge steel chains) around his neck went.   We all wondered what the chains were for and if we’d actually get our tickets.   Twenty minutes later (we were almost ready to give up and leave), they came with the tickets and we proceeded to go to the gate to enter the stadium. 

Our Accra fans

At the stadium entrance, utter pandemonium started with shoving and pushing by the crowd of people swarming us trying to get into the stadium gate with us.  Our group of seven were hanging on to each other and we could feel people pushing up against us, almost knocking us over.  At one point Joanne asked if those were Kerstin’s hands on her neck ….that’s a negative Joanne.  She broke her gold chain in a struggling match with the man behind her who was trying to pull it off her…Denis’s side pocket of his leg of his shorts was undone and someone was grabbing at his wallet and I could feel hands searching up and down my legs for things in my pockets….freakin’ insanity!  Jorge got a bit intense yelling at people to leave us girls alone.  Suddenly the crowd started pushing us backwards away from the gate almost knocking us down the steps.  While we didn’t realize it at the time, we soon learned what the guy in the army jump suit did with his chains…he was having no luck clearing the crowd for us to pass, so he started swinging the chains at the crowd around to clear a small enough path for us to get through.  We were literally pulled through the steel gates one by one by the security teams and once on the other side, were sent on our merry way by GI Joe.  But we all paused briefly on the other side, in shock wondering what the hell just happened.  The little extra we had to pay to GI Joe was well worth it!

Crowd watching soccer

Inside the stadium, we found some 2^nd row seats.  I was amazed to find such good seats given that we were an hour late for the game but I soon realized it was much easier to see the game if you were higher up on the rows as the parades of singers and dancers down at the lower level blocked your view of the game.

Parade at soccer field

June, who is our Chinese delegate, was…..well…… how do I say it?.....given some what of a ….hmmmm, presentation of sorts.  She was sitting quietly with us taking in all the sites when suddenly a young man jumped up two rows from the front aisle and almost landed in her lap.  He proceeded to kiss at her (often interpreted here in Ghana as a way to get attention…not like we interpret it in Canada).  He scared the crap out of her and proceeded to lean in with his face not 6 inches from her and dance rather suggestively in front of her.  Our entire team watched with open mouths and Francis said later he was ready to step in at any time to stop the shenanigans but he too was in too much shock.  The young man…with nothing on but his pants…which barely covered the poor lad, continued to entertain June for a few moments dancing and shaking before he bounced down out of the stands and ran off to entertain his next victim.  Needless to say, when we arrived at the pub after the game for some dinner, June ordered a Cosmo AND a dry martini…poor girl will never be the same!

June after eventful evening

I had all kinds of questions for Denis (Brasil), Jorge (Mexico) and Kerstin (Germany) about soccer in their respective countries but none of them could equate the experience we saw today to what they see at home.  Freakin’ insanity is what comes to my mind!

But after some yam chips and a couple of STAR beer after the game, we headed back to Tema.  The moon was full tonight and I wondered if that contributed to the craziness of today’s events.  I feel as though between being sick, church this morning and soccer tonight I’ve been to heaven and to hell and back all in one day! 

Post soccer smile on Akiba

But I’m feeling much better now between the antibiotics and the beer (of course I could keep the beer down!) something’s working.  As I settle in for the night, I’m comforted to know my girls are back from skiing in BC with Daddy and June is fast asleep after her eventful evening.  Tomorrow I start my last remaining week in Ghana.  I have such mixed feelings about going home but I’m so grateful for ALL my experiences here (even the days I feel like crap help me appreciate the days I feel great). 

Full moon in Ghana

So as I watched the full moon rise high in the sky on my way home to Tema I remembered a phrase I say often to Em and Liv and I hope they’re thinking of me too…”I love you to the moon and back girls”…and the African beat of the music thumps away in my chest from the woofers in the back seat of the taxi…do they ever play music softly here?.....EVER?

All work and no play

This week is crunch week.  We have some huge deliverables for our client this week in terms of completing workshops, wrapping up loose ends and preparing documentation.  Next week will be a few days of presentations to the clients followed by a media day next Friday with the IBM West African Executive and the IBM Ghana Country General Manager.  Thus, my blogging will be minimal until the weekend.  But I thought I'd share with you a picture of one of my peaceful moments I steal each morning from this crazy schedule, albeit I can find a quiet moment only at 6 a.m. before everyone arrives for breakfast. 

A peaceful moment before the hectic day starts

At this time in the morning the sun is just coming up and is peaking over the roof line by the pool.  I generally take some notes for the day, write in my journal or close my eyes and enjoy the sounds of the birds and the wind blowing in the palms.  Around 6:30 a.m. I start to hear the traffic (car horns are constant here), the hotel staff are talking and laughing in their local language and I can hear the children on the street and sometimes playing in the school yard close by (they start early in the mornings here).  The solitude is brief but it is the one piece of my schedule I'm holding sacred while I'm here in Ghana.

Volta Dam in the distance at Akosombo

Wow!  What a fabulous weekend!  Saturday was spent in mountainous Volta region on the east side of Ghana.  It was a 3 hour drive from Tema along the coast and then north.  The Volta region is home to Ghana’s hydro-electric energy source and coincidentally is linked to the client we’re working on so it’s great to see the source of energy for the country.  Akosombo is a town that hosts the 50 yard dam built by Italians which resembles the Hoover dam in Nevada but to a smaller scale.  It’s beautiful in this area with the hills and lakes and the temperature seems cooler.

Mt Gemi

We then traveled through a number of villages before climbing high on a very, very, very rough road to the highest human settlement in Ghana known as Amedzofe (A-med-zo-fe).  There we walked up Mount Gemi to the summit where the German’s built a cross in 1939 and which sits, still untouched by time.  Actually, the village itself would have looked much the same 100 years ago except for the school and hotel which are additions in the last 50 years.  

At the top of Mt. Gemi

We were fortunate to get out and walk through the village (the first time we’ve been allowed to venture out of the tour bus on our own) and take some pictures of locals in the market and sample some palm wine (kinda sour but served over ice it would have been superb).  Palm wine is tapped from palm trees and the alcohol content in the juice is natural without fermentation and increases in strength from early morning to mid day when it can climb to 20% alcohol content.  Our palm wine was about 15-20% but it tasted like fruit juice to me. 

Mona monkeys

After a lunch overlooking the valley, we ventured down to Tafi Atome to visit the monkey sanctuary where the monkeys climb down from the branches in the forest to eat bananas (or grab them if you’re not holding tight) from your hand.  It was great fun for us to get so close to these Mona monkeys.  It was actually a Canadian who helped establish the sanctuary some time ago.

Lots of ant hills that stand 6ft +

On the trip home from Volta region we came across rain and I wondered how the villages here where most homes are built of mud bricks and thatched roofs with stand the strong winds and rain.  I’m sure the dirt floors were slippery. 

Tables and chairs clutter the beach

Sunday….the most fun I’ve had in Ghana yet.   

I worked a bit in the afternoon before heading to the beach with the team.  I was not as interested in the beach as others as I’m not much of a sun worshiper but little did I know that beach parties in Ghana are like spring break in Fort Lauderdale.   

Very busy even at 5 pm

 People everywhere and most wear clothes (jeans, shirts, and dresses), not bathing suits.  The music was blaring and there were a ton of tables, chairs and umbrellas for people to use.  We were attending a birthday party for a friend of Samantha’s (Francis’ girlfriend).  Drinks, food and entertainment were provided and we greatly enjoyed the hospitality.   

Lots of wave riders

As the sun set, however, a whole different Ghanaian culture emerged…one much less conservative than what we see during the day.  The dancing was a blast although Akiba and I stuck very close together (literally hanging on each other) while locals surrounded us.   We laughed and danced for a bit before heading home early.  It was the best time I’ve had dancing since I was 20!

Samantha and Akiba

We girls went swimming in the ocean in the evening.   The waves were reasonably gentle compared to what I’ve seen along the Jersey Shore in the summer and the water was so warm, it could have been a bath.  It was peaceful as most people were up dancing on the sand and the moon was out.    The music in the background has a distinctly African-reggae beat to it which makes it perfect for dancing.  Little did we know there's a Ghanaian version of Lady Gaga...right Denis?

Needless to say, the beach was a blast and we plan to head back again next weekend to join in the wave riding and the dancing.

Cape Coast and Elmina Castle

Coconut Grove Resort

Coconut Grove Beach

Located 165 km west of Accra, Cape Coast is a beautiful location within Ghana.  There are lovely long beaches with coarse white sand, mahogany coloured rocks along the shore and tall palm trees along the coast line.  We saw many contrasts in the Ghanaian culture in this region…from the wealth of foreign vacationers at the Coconut Grove Resort, complete with its pool and pool side bar, chalets, and beautiful beaches to the underdeveloped poor areas of the region with its chaotic sprawl of homes, shacks and lean-to’s.  

Beach at Coconut Grove Resort

Elmina - a fishing town

One of the towns we visited was a little community called Elmina (about 20,000 people), a fishing village where we saw boats being made and a massive sprawl of boats and fisherman in the little bay off the coast.  The name Elmina is derived from the Portuguese who first started trading in this area in the late 1470’s.  They traded spices and various products with the Ghanaian people in exchange for gold.  The Portugese thought gold to be in abundance here so named the settlement “the mine” which was interpreted as “El Mina” and thus, the name has existed for the last few hundred years as “Elmina”.

Exterior wall of Castle

Inside walls of castle

In 1482, The Portuguese build a castle as the West African headquarters
for their trading but in 1600’s as the Portuguese continued to exploit the African people, it was used to channel slaves and was the largest sub-Saharan slave trading depot in Africa. 

Dungeon doorway

 Elmina Castle sits on the tip of a bay and the beauty from the top of the castle looking out in all directions is breath taking.  But, the castle, despite its beauty leaves you feeling quite haunted and the dungeons and holding sells are dark and musty.  

Holding cell

 One particular dungeon left me nauseous.  I could smell gun powder (I remember my grandfather making shotgun shells when I was little and to the smell of the powder in the holding cell brought back the childhood memories quickly).  The armory for the castle was located in the next room to the cell and the gun powder smell still lingered.   I could also smell human waste and what I imagined to be death.  But only in this cell…I’m still puzzled by this.  Perhaps these smells would remain forever in memory of the souls that died there.  A few people in our tour group stepped outside quickly after entering.  Perhaps the smell got to them as well.   The female slaves were held in this wing of the castle and were segregated from men (their husbands) for fear of spreading disease, but that didn’t prevent the Portuguese soldiers, captains and commanding officers from regularly committing rape on these women or tying them to balls and chains as punishment for rebellious behaviour.  Many children were born at the castle out of these atrocities and were given Christian names, educated and treated well by the Portuguese, unlike their mothers who would be shipped off to be slaves in a far off locations (Brazil, Caribbean, southern US states).

Chains used on the slaves from point of capture until on the ship

After being housed in the dungeons for long periods of time (months in most cases), the slaves would crawl through the portals in the walls and climb down ladders or slides into holding areas before they went through the “door of no return” where they were taken by small boats out to waiting ships before heading over seas.  

Hole and slide which the slaves slid down to go through the door of no return

In the book “The Book of Negroes” (or “Someone Knows My Name” where is titled in US, New Zealand and Australia) is written by Lawrence Hill and he talks about the main character Aminata Diallo and her life in captivity and slavery.  The book had a profound impact on me when I read it well over a year ago and last week, standing and peering out the “door of no return” I could recall Aminata's persistent longing throughout her entire life to go home to Africa.  

The view from the “door of no return” is beautiful…white sandy beaches, blue water and waves that lightly brush the shore line.  This is in stark contrast to what the castle stood for and was used as for hundreds of years.  But I’m learning that Ghana’s history and its present day life are so full of contrasts. 

Door of no return

With Such Flair!

Our Ghana 6 sub-team working in the city was invited for lunch today at home in Accra.  The invitation was by way of a Canadian colleague, Amesika who’s father is Ghanaian and lives now north east of Toronto with his wife Judy and their family.  Amesika was insistent to connect me with her Aunt once again when I arrived in Ghana and I gladly took her up on her offer.

"Auntie Barbara" as Amesika calls her, is Mrs. Amesika Barbara Rose Baeta, a successful Ghanaian business women who runs a Catering business called Flair which provides premiere catering services to local government and businesses and hospitality training and schooling for young girls.  Ms. Barbara has been in business now for over 38 years and is well known in Accra...she catered Obama's visit last year. (Ms. Barbara is in the center in the picture below which was taken in Ms. Barbara's flat)

Upon arrival Ms. Barbara and her brother Dr. Basil Baeta and his wife Judy from Canada greeted us.  Ms. Barbara was so excited and hugged each of us.  She pulled out all the stops with fine china, crystal and cutlery.   Ms. Barbara also invited her siblings and a few family friends to meet us as well. We had a delightful afternoon and enjoyed shanty, potato salad (which tasted just like my mom's!), garlic bread, rolls, grilled fish and chicken, rice and peas, vegetable pie, beef with ground nut sauce, tomato gravy, pickles and garnishes, wine, coffee brought by Basil and Judy from South Africa, lemon grass tea, fresh fruit with cakes (chocolate and banana bread) and custard, creme caramel, and chocolates.  It was an absolutely superb meal and we were blessed to have been part of the occasion.

The luncheon conversation was great fun.  We learned about life in Ghana over the last 50 years (the family is originally from Volta region and a town called Keta which is on the coast), family weddings, reunions, their experiences abroad (Robert was the Ghanaian Ambassador to Serbia and Basil studied at McGill), politics, development in Ghana and many funny stories about family dynamics.  

It was absolutely delightful afternoon and I want thank Ms. Barbara and Amesika for the hospitality to our team.  

The Canopy

Saturday was a very early morning for the team...and earlier even still for those that were out til 4:30 am.  The clubs in Accra are open all night and all local people don't head out on the town until about 11:00 pm...well past my bedtime.  The club here at Kaysen's is open til 5:30 am and is conveniently located just outside the window of my hotel room.  Fortunately for the hum of the air conditioner and some ear plugs, I slept for a solid 6 hrs and was just getting up at 4:45 am when the club was winding down. 

We headed to Kakum National Park which is located west of Accra about 3 hours drive.  The road conditions for most of the way across the north end of the city were pretty bad due to construction but once we got out of city limits, there was no traffic.  The landscape in western Ghana is fairly flat with palm trees (pom trees) and thick vegetation although it's does not grow very high. 

Arriving in Kakum about 9:30 am, we had a short wait before entering the park up to the Canopy Walk.  A beautiful forest with about a 1 km hike up hill through dense forest.  No animals with the exception of some lizards but lots of bird sounds.  Below is a picture of a lizard/gecko.

The Canopy Walk is a series of 7 suspension bridges over the tops of the rain forest...thus you can see the canopy of the jungle.  It's quite beautiful to be on top of the world...even if I was hanging on for dear life!  The bridge was actually built by Canadians back in the 90's and took 6 months to complete.  It's inspected daily for safety and maintenance work done every 6 months...I of coursed, checked it all out before I went. 

 The picture to the right is looking up through the canopy from the ground.  Being very nervous with heights, I was terrified to go on the walk but all other 10 team members were excited about going so I gathered the courage to make the trip...it's good to scare yourself out of your comfort zone once in a while. 

I can't tell you how high we were off the ground but I'm guessing 40+ meters. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The platforms between bridges were built around trees (like Robinson Caruso) and I can honestly say I really only enjoyed the experience once I was back on the ground.

My team

We have a team of 6 IBMers working on this client project.  That's half of our larger group.  Usually the projects are assigned 2-3 persons, however our client has requested two specific deliverables which required a larger team to be formed.  Having a larger team poses some challenges (coordination and alignment of scopes, assignment and tracking of tasks and consensus on deliverables). Joanne is a project manager and is skilled at driving clarification to some of our more ambiguous discussions.  I’m sure she feels as though she’s herding cats some days.  But we’re managing amazingly well given that our 6 team members are from 5 different countries (see list below), all have different roles within IBM and we’re a mixture of ages and stages in our lives.  But we’ve become friends and have quickly learned in the course of a week the strengths of each team member in a way that maximizes our productivity.

If I was to characterize each person on our team I would describe them as follows but mind you we openly talked about the cultural stereotypes one day and quickly made the assessment that none of us actually fits into any of the molds.

•  June is from China and is very precise and organized.  June has been assigned the team accountant role (divides our dinner bills amongst the team as she’s the only one with a calculator with her) and is also our team photographer.  You’ll see many of her pictures posted on facebook and her blog.
• Kerstin is from Germany and is the quiet and undoubtedly the most polite on our team.  She is great at defining and documenting processes and has great technical knowledge too as her background is in IT project management. Kerstin and I seem to agree on almost everything and we think a lot alike.
• Ranga is from India, operates at a constant speed of 120 kms per hour and hasn’t always got his filter on (right Ranga :-)) but he definitely provides a lot of comic relief for the team and has excellent technical knowledge.
• Denis is from Brazil and he is the strong silent type.  Denis is very focused on what ever task he’s working on (lately it’s been incident and asset tracking tools analysis), he’s methodical in his approach to everything and is always reasonable.  His technical knowledge is also very good.
• Joanne is from Canada and is our unofficial shepherd.  She’s very process driven and has a current status of all work activities at any given point of time.  She keeps us on track....yes, even Ranga.

I'm not quite sure how the team would summarize me...perhaps I don’t want to know. 

Today we received our kaba and slits (tops and skirts) from the seamstress who managed to pull together 4 sets for Joanne, Kerstin, June and myself in less than a week.  At a cost of 30 cedi ($20) plus fabric, it was great value.  The dresses are lovely and we’re planning to wear them to the office and to lunch tomorrow at Flair.  Friday is traditional dress day in Ghana.  Picture below of Watson's Angels.

The process of buying the dresses was quite fun and Joanne documented it well in her blog but I’ll try to summarize.  We first visited Wooden which is a fabric shop.  The fabrics come pre-cut in 4 meter lengths which is just enough for a kaba and slit.  Once you pick your fabric, the seamstress measures you and you pick the dress style from a set of posters that display the front and back of various styles.  The guys at the office got quite a kick out of watching the whole process (we didn’t allow them in the room for the measurement taking however).  I had narrowed my dress style down to 2 styles and Denis leaned over my shoulder and picked the one he liked best, I trust his tastes and he was right, my dress turned out lovely.  Denis also purchased a shirt in a bright purple geometric pattern.  The guys shirts here are quite colourful (like our version of the Hawaiian shirt).  

Thanks for following my blog

Hi from Ghana.  It's been a very busy work week and thus I've not had time to prepare many blogs to post but I did want to reach out and say thank you to everyone who's been tracking me on this adventure.  To date my blog has received over 490 viewings with most being from Canada and the US, a few from Asia Pacific and EU  (likely my team mates) and some friends in Argentina.  I do however have someone from Russia following me but I can't for the life of me figure out who that might be. :-)

Your best wishes, comments and hugs & kisses (from Em & Liv) help me feel connected to home.  If there is anything you'd like to know about this visit, about Ghanaian life (e.g., curious about food, dress, home life, etc) please let me know.  I have all kinds of ideas on things to tell you but I want to make sure I'm chatting about things you're interested in hearing.  I will have some good blogs coming on the weekend after our lunch at Ms. Barbara Abeta's home tomorrow.  Ms. Abeta runs a premiere catering company called Flair and is the Aunt of a colleague of mind back home.  We'll be dressing for the occasion in traditional Ghanian clothes which we have purchased.  I'll be sure to take pictures.

This weekend we also have a trip to Volta region which I understand is quite mountainous.  We'll be drinking some Pom juice (has a natural alcohol content straight from the tree without fermentation) and visiting a monkey sanctuary.  So lots of information coming your way.

I hope you all have a great Thursday...hopefully not too much snow shoveling today for those of you in the far north!

Gratitude

My water bottle at home is labeled "Journey to wellness...body, mind and soul".  PKH commented on it one day saying, "good for you"...I told him I didn't yet know which one needed the most work, the body, the mind or the soul. " :-).  But today, I think I'll work on the "soul" given that it's Sunday.

Gratitude...The more I experience different cultures and see the haves and have nots of our world, I realize I don't spend enough time being grateful.  Perhaps it's also a sign of maturity, or should I say the age that I'm getting to?  There's a phrase I saw today on the back of a van that said "The young shall grow") See right.  In all honesty I think there's room for all of us to grow our souls…it’s an endless journey.  But, it's so easy to take for granted things people do for us each and every day, whether its meals that are prepared, laundry washed, helping with homework or the simple gesture of bringing home a Tim's coffee early on a Saturday morning so it's ready when I get up.  You thank the person the first few times but it all becomes routine rather quickly and turns from gratitude to expectation.

The Ghanaian people are very gracious, very polite and the smallest gesture of appreciation is well received.  For example tipping for meals or service is not expected here and this is something we westerner's have had to get use to.   Our CFO, Francis has been helpful in communicating what is expected and reasonable in various situations and we're lucky (grateful) to have him with us daily. 

Our client prepared wonderful lunches for us last week.  We had quite a range of local dishes and the formal way in which they are presented to us (china dishes and lines) made us feel welcome and demonstrated their appreciation for us being there to help them. Meals are prepared fresh (not prepared in advanced and warmed up) and thus take time to make.  It is expected that the meal is eaten slowly and appreciated.  It's an important part of the day and we're finding that eating at your desk while working is not such a common practice.  Showing gratitude for the food and the hands that have prepared it is important.

Our meetings always start with exchange of pleasantries before we get down to business....to directly talk business without the exchange of pleasantries is considered rude.  In one very formal meeting with the entire Sr. Executive of our client the Managing Director opened the session with a prayer of welcoming and gratitude not only for us being there, but for the well being of everyone in attendance.

On our trip today to the Canopy at Kakum National Park we passed many villages.  Being a Sunday, people are dressed in their best clothes heading off to church although there are pockets of boys playing soccer even on a Sunday morning at 7 am.  Sunday is a formal day of worship and family time and reminds me of when I was young when our family would go to church, followed by a drive in the car to see local sites and a quiet afternoon at home before a family dinner of roast beef, potatoes and some fabulous dessert.  I miss the days of pre-Sunday shopping when Sundays were truly a day of rest.  The Ghanaian people have been fortunate to maintain this important aspect of their culture where family and religion are of fundamental importance.  It's a day where they give thanks.

People headed to church early on Sunday morning.

There are churches everywhere here.  Some are large buildings with steeples while others are open areas under canapes.  We're hoping to visit some of the churches over the coming weeks with some of our clients who are more than happy to share their experiences with us.

We've also come across a number of funerals which seem to be held on weekends only here.  The dress for a funeral is generally white with black or black with red (depending on your religious background).  And most often the funeral is a celebration of life (especially for someone who has lived a good long life) and there are parades, parties, laughing, dancing and singing.  They give thanks for life rather than focusing on the mourning for the loss.

A very difficult part of the day today for me was the trip to Elmina Castle.  Also known as St. Georges of Mina Castle, it was founded in 1482 by the Portuguese.  It was the first European slave trading post in all of Sub Saharan Africa.  During the time of slave trading the slaves were held captive in the castle before exiting through the castle’s infamous “Door of No Return” (see picture to right) to be transported and resold in newly colonies overseas.  That's all I'll say about it for now.  It will take me some time to be able to put into words the horrific conditions these people lived in.  I'm so very, very grateful for the freedom I have.

As I absorb the different ways in which the Ghanaian culture shows gratitude I'm reflective of the things I'm most grateful for in life...my family, my friends, the creature comforts I have around me (Tim's coffee, Mom's home cooking, a comfortable home) and most certainly for this opportunity in Ghana.  I will come away from this experience with a heightened cultural sensitivity and with far more lessons learned than I ever could have imagined or expected.   One of those lessons is "gratitude" which has hit me square in the forehead and knocked me off my feet.