Just another week in Africa...

So this has been an intense and amazing week.

Last weekend, for Kasia's birthday, we travelled west along the coast to a hotel called the Elmina Bay Resort, near the towns of Elmina and Cape Coast.  We decided we wanted a complete break from the hectic hustle and bustle of Accra, and were really looking forward to relaxing by a pool for a couple of days.

The journey from the school to the hotel was pretty epic - a taxi to Kaneshie bus station, then onto a rickety Trotro, 90 minutes trying to get out of Accra amidst the crazy Friday evening traffic, and then a further 2 hours to Elmina, and then an interesting experience finding a bona fide taxi driver (in the end we chose Felix) to take us to the hotel over very rough dirt tracks.
When we finally got there though - wow:

The beach at the hotel at sunset.

The hotel was great, it had clean floors and hot running water and aircon!!  Amazing.  My first hot shower in more than two weeks was just so good I spent ages under the water laughing and laughing.  The pool was beautiful and on Saturday (Kasia's birthday) we had a blissful day walking on the beach, swimming in the pool, relaxing in the sun and eating delicious Ghanaian groundnut soup.

The next day we checked out of the hotel and then walked along the beach, heading east to visit Elmina town.  The walk was full of surreal experiences, such as seeing a team of fishermen pulling on a rope that lead all the way into the sea and seemed to be firmly attached to nothing, a child offering us a snake (not sure if it was alive or dead), iguanas with bright orange tails, another child offering us a bowl full of rotten fish blood and guts, the strongest smelling open sewers yet mixed with an overpowering rotten fish aroma, and everyone shouting 'obruni' ('white person') at us as we walked by.

Fishing boats in Elmina harbour

At Elmina there is a UNESCO world heritage site: Elmina Castle, which was built in 1482 and is one of the oldest European buildings outside of Europe.  It became a centre for the slave trade and was used as a holding station for slaves waiting to be shipped across the Atlantic to the Americas, until the 19th cenury. Our visit was very sobering and sad.  The conditions the slaves were held in were atrocious and the whole place still has a very strong atmosphere.

After seeing the castle we left Elmina and got a shared taxi to nearby Cape Coast, where we were planning to get a minibus back to Accra. It was a super hot day and we had time to kill before the next minibus departed, so we tried to find a place for a cold drink.  We happened upon a place mentioned in the guidebook called 'Peace Ghetto', a 'spot' as bars are called here, which was a tiny room with low wooden tables and chairs with strange cartoonish paintings on the wall and a young woman called Stella who asked our advice about forgetfulness and medicine taking.

Back on the project during the week, this has been a very busy one with all of the filming being done for the the final two films. The children have divided into two groups (the Coconuts and the Mangos) and each group has written a story which they have now filmed.  This week Kasia and I were part of the Mangos group, and were working on production design, costumes and also going on location to help with logistics with all the children.

Kasia and Patrick trying out ghost headdresses

Helping with music for filming of the theme song on location at the beach

Also this week we held a fundraising gig at a local live music venue in Osu, the part of Accra where we are all staying.  A number of the Ghanaian volunteers working on the project are quite well-known musicians, so we put together a show to raise money to help fund the production costs for the film, as well as the final show which is happening on the 30th August where we will have a concert and screening of the finished two films. During the evening Frank and I got the opportunity to get up on stage and have a bit of a sing (and Frank also played the sax!):

 Me, Frank and Kyekyeku on stage

Today Frank, Mr Lartey and I went to the Metro TV station to have a short interview on live TV.  It was another interesting experience and a good opportunity to spread the word about the project.

Another highlight of this week has been visiting markets, and in particular buying beautiful fabric:

 On Friday afternoon we visited Kaneshie market, the second biggest market in Accra.  It was full of everything you can imagine, and the sounds and smells were pretty powerful too.

There's an indoor and an outdoor section, and we added to our burgeoning fabric collection and also bought some lovely traditional beads.

This weekend the editing of the films starts, and we're preparing for the final week of the project building up to the show on Friday.

Week 1 & 2

Ok... We are in the week 3 of the project and I haven't had a chance to blog about it yet (Kate was doing all the hard work:).
All is going well, the kids are awesome and they seem to enjoy the project a lot. Working with them is an exhausting but also extremely satisfying experience. A great thing about a film making project is that it is totally inclusive and everybody can contribute no matter what their skills are. The kids are doing storytelling, acting, storyboarding, costume and set design, directing, camera work, singing, dancing etc. There is something for everyone. Here are some random pictures from week 1 and 2.

The morning games and activities:

 

Storyboarding:

Lauren getting a drumming lesson from Patrick.

 Kids came up with some awesome stories for our movies. Here is Harry explaining the plot to everyone.

 More storyboarding.

 

Taxis and TV

Travelling in taxis is an interesting affair in Accra.  They are, along with TroTros, the main form of transport, and are everywhere.  They beep at you to offer their services, but also for all other sorts of reasons many of which I have yet to fathom.  The way it works is you negotiate with the driver before you get in, and agree on a fee to your chosen destination.  Often there is a dance of negotiation or bartering with several drivers, before they lower their initial ridiculous price to what you know it should cost.  The taxis themselves are in varying degrees of disrepair (it doesn’t seem like MOT or emissions testing are a concept here) and several times our journey has been interspersed with a quick bit of roadside mechanical engineering.  If you’re lucky there’ll be a seatbelt in the front, but almost certainly none in the back, and it’s not uncommon for 4 people to (illegally) squeeze onto the backseat and then try to avoid the glare of the police torches at the patrol stations that are set up on main roads to deter such behaviour.  Mostly there is a soundtrack of extremely loud music-  hiphop, rap, hiplife, dancehall; or evangelical Christian preaching.  Occasionally the taxi driver will try to encourage you to marry him or sponsor his younger brother to play football for Arsenal.

Today after our session at the school was finished, Elliot, Frank (another of the volunteer team), and a pupil Ishmael from the school took a taxi to the studios of TV Africa, one of Ghana’s 4 main TV channels, to do an interview we had found out about the day before, set up by a poet friend of Elliot’s, named Oswald.  We were expecting it to be part of a current affairs piece or arts segment, so when we got there and the producer turned up saying ‘so what we are hoping to focus on in the discussion today is the issue of child actors and child protection’ we were a bit gob-smacked.  Apparently in Ghana, although there is legislation to protect child actors, it is not really enforced, so children are not provided with any tutoring during shoots and are often cast in graphic roles in horror films or as prostitutes or gangsters with no regulation of how the children are treated on set or what they are exposed to.  For the interview I was sat on a sofa opposite the anchorwoman wearing the most fantastic bright blue headscarf, and next to me was an actress who is also a child activist, called Abena-sika (Abena because she was born on a Tuesday).  It was really refreshing to be speaking with two articulate and empowered women, making a change from the entrenched gender roles and pervasive sexism that I have been finding pretty challenging since I arrived here.  It turned out to be an interesting discussion (although I was totally winging it!) and we got to talk a little bit about the Akosia project too, which was great.  Another Ghana first!

A wierd and wonderful weekend

What a weekend!

First thing on Saturday, Kasia and I had the classic Ghanaian 'egg sandwich' for breakfast - basically an omelette with peppers and onions in bread. On our way home we popped into the local nail salon shed, where I had a manicure for 2GHC (66 pence!) from a lovely lady named Maud.

The last few days have been the Ga tribe’s festival of ‘Homowo’ which is their biggest festival and is the Ga New Year.  It’s a festival of thanksgiving and celebrating forefathers, and welcoming in a new year.  The main event, on Saturday, involved all of the local clan chiefs and the overall king of Jamestown (part of Accra where the festival is held) sprinkling food on the ground in memory of previous famines and to give thanks for food.  There was a big procession with the King of Jamestown and his entourage:

The team of project volunteers was taken around the whole town by the Director of the Street Academy (the school where our project is based) who seems to know everyone in town!  I think we got introduced to 3 different chiefs and each time were plied with food and drink.  We also saw a couple of the rituals where the chiefs give thanks by pouring libations on the ground:

 I have to confess for most of the time I had no clue what was going on - shaking hundreds of elders' hands and eating kpokpoi – the traditional festival dish of dried fish with palm oil and pounded maize.

As a group of white people obviously not having a clue what was going on, we were quite an attraction and I don’t remember how many hands I shook and asked ‘Ofane te oyoo teng’ (How are you), and replied ‘miye ojogbang’ (I’m fine).  In true Ghana style there was music, dancing and many exotic smells everywhere.  With us were some of the Ghanaian volunteers who are working on the project with us, who live in Jamestown.  At one point we ended up in a tiny alleyway reverberating with incredibly loud music and an impromptu rave ensued when suddenly a massive group of children appeared, many of whom we’re working with on the project, and proceeded to dance with us with the most amazing energy.  It was dark and intense and sweaty with the children’s smiles and white teeth glowing through the darkness, and over almost as soon as it had begun.  Then suddenly we were back in the dark streets amongst shops and banks, out of Jamestown and flagging down a taxi home.

After that, we visited the Accra Mall – an experience almost diametrically opposed to what we had just experienced in Jamestown.  The Accra Mall is a massive, modern shopping centre with strangely few shops.  By the time we got there most were closed and it felt slightly eerie wandering around amongst clothes and shoes the people we had been partying with earlier would never be able to afford.

All in all a completely surreal, mad and wonderful day.

Week 1!

Wow.  Week 1 completed!

What a week.  After 5 days in a row, all of us volunteers are exhausted but loving it.  The children have been amazing - we're getting to know them all a little better and their different personalities. I've been trying to learn a bit of Ga, their main language, and they are all really great teachers and so excited and happy when I try to learn any Ga words, no matter how bad my pronunciation! 'Te oyo teng' and 'mi ye ojo bang' ('How are you' and 'I'm well') go a long way.

Isaac, on the right, always has the best photo poses!

This week amongst many other things, I've done things like meet with the Editor of the Ghanaian Times newspaper, written about a million lists, learned how to use a makey makey (amazing!), started to learn the 'Azonto' dance move and lots of Ghanaian childrens' games. My favourite is a clapping and jumping game called 'ampe' which is rather abstract so I was pretty pleased when I finally worked out the rules! (with the help of my new friends Olivia and Elizabeth).

Music and rhythm really is everywhere, particularly now we have been having music workshops with the children.

Solomon drumming

In other news, I have discovered the best drink ever.  This is a fizzy drink which tastes like liquid pear drops. So refreshing!

Here's the view from the roof of one of the buildings in our hostel complex:

I've had a couple of good sun-bathing sessions up there at the end of the day, surrounded by lots of cats and massive butterflies.

Project day one

Today was the first day of our project, based in the Street Academy school in Jamestown, an area in west Accra. It was an early start and into the TroTro (along with the taxi, Ghana's main form of transportation - basically an old minibus with no seatbelts driven in a style both daring and hair-raising) at 8am.

We drove via Elliot's Mum's place to pick up supplies, as she is doing all of the cooking for the breakfasts and lunches that the children will get every day as part of the project.  

When we arrived at the Street Academy, all of the children were there waiting for us, and doling out of breakfast started straight away: tea and an 'egg sandwich' (really yummy - a sort of omelette with onions and tomatoes in really soft white bread).  The children were all really excited and so were we - so much noise and energy!

After breakfast we did some activities outside, lots of jumping around and pretending to be elephants and motorbikes and skittles and dancing.  The children in the project range from 10 to 17 years old, with the majority being between 10 and 12.

After the outdoor activities we moved into the classroom to write up a list of shared rules for the project that everyone (volunteers and children) have to abide by.  The rules were made up by the children and included 'speak English' and 'no fooling'.

The children and volunteers also made their own name badges and got a special Akosia 2013 t-shirt (designed by Elliot) to wear during the project.  Part of my duties during this involved head back to the market area to pick up string and scissors to make the badges, and being given the 'water key' to unlock the water tap for precious water to do the washing at up after breakfast.

The rest of the morning was spent dividing the children into 4 groups and each of them setting up their own production company, complete with name, logo and in some cases theme song!  Any excuse for playing drums which miraculously appeared from nowhere, singing and dancing.  Some of the children are amazing drummers and a little girl called Elizabeth and I had a great time sharing some dance moves :D.

Then lunch arrived - amazing rice and chicken - spicy and delicious like all Ghanaian food I've tried so far. Yum.  After lunch time for a couple more games before the children left, and then a quick meeting with all the volunteers to plan ahead for tomorrow.  We were all totally exhausted but really happy - a totally amazing morning.

Once we got back to the hostel Kayla (Field co-ordinator and my right-hand woman) went for a 'meeting' to a local smoothie cafe.  So good - ice cold and fruity and just about the thing I had been dreaming of most (apart from a hot shower!).

Looking forward to tomorrow!

We made it!

I'm sitting typing this in the communal room of the hostel we'll be staying in during our time in Ghana.  We arrived late last night after an amazing flight from Istanbul.  We flew over the Sahara desert for hours - a breathtaking expanse of sand, bigger than I can comprehend.  To start with there was a little vegetation, the odd track, but soon and for hundreds of miles nothing but dunes and dunes and dunes.

The desert was like an optical illusion, at times looking like a mirage as if I was looking down over a huge lake or ocean, and then at other times becoming hazy with heat turning the air to gold.


We were woken up earlier (after our first ever night under mosquito nets!) by the roosters crowing at each other, and have met several of the local goats and chickens roaming around the streets going about their business in the heat of the day.  Today has been a settling-in day, getting the Internet connection hooked up and unpacking mostly.  Akosia's Ghanaian contact and general wizard here in Accra, Elliot, has been helping us out with local orientation and giving helpful and much-needed advice about things like crossing the road (perilous!), getting money changed and local shopping tips. Now after scouting out the local area, I'm preparing for a day of training tomorrow for all the volunteers in advance of the project starting on Monday.