Na Ka Kay? (Where Are You? or Holy Molé!)

"Forgive me, it’s been two months +/nine weeks/63 days since my last blog post."

I apologize for my slack attitude towards writing on this blog - there’s no excuse , but I’ll try and come up with a few ;)

Seeing as I never really planned on staying in Ghana past the end of April, I’ve been taking the last couple of months to settle more into day-to-day life. Less of the travelling, mass family functions and drum circles. More like sparingly tending to the huge garden, helping younger cousins with homework and hand washing my laundry (boo!).

I’ve been brushing up on my Hausa skills (not to pay the bills, unfortunately) and can genuinely carry on conversations with people. I can talk about things I like, places I've been, ask questions, give opinions … "Inna da chaw" (It's good!) 
Not too shabby; I deserve a Gold Star).

I’ve been a bit more focused on professional pursuits like locking down a job in Canada (for when this daydream ends), writing content for Youth Alive’s blog and documenting regional projects around the country. We've been busy organizing graduation ceremonies for our apprentices, helping set up their shops and providing financial literacy training. Peace marches and media conferences have also been held across our three operational regions as part of the Youth in Governance project to encourage and support peace during the 2012 election season.

Baboon

I pretty much wrapped up spring by keeping my nose to the grindstone but my fingers have been itching to share some of the super interesting stuff that’s been going on lately. A wise man once said that all work and no play makes Jack a dull boy. That must have been what motivated our little detour on our last work-trip to Molé National Park. Molé is a wildlife reserve in Northern Ghana where the animals are free to roam and live protected, with few restrictions. We woke up at the crack of dawn to get there right after sunrise for a safari. I know that plays into the "My Trip to Africa” cliché, but it was still so amazing to see. 

Well-endowed elephant ;)

We saw families of antelopes, baboons and warthogs acting like they owned the place (technically, they kind of do). The highlight was definitely the elephants. They are massive! Although this was my second trip ever to Molé, it was still breathtaking. They appear to be so large, gentle and docile, but apparently our tour-guide Chris told us that they are the second fastest land mammal (for real) after the cheetah. Another fun-fact:  elephants (in Africa anyways) actually have black skin and only look grey because of the mud/muddy water that they bathe in. Really educational J According to him the last lion was seen in 2008, so we didn't see anything else too crazy. Now I have crocodiles, camels & elephants added to my list of animals I've come face-to-face with since I've been home.

The rainy season is also in full swing now and my ‘rents and bro have all come back to Ghana to join me for the summer! Needless to say I’m super excited and it’s been good catching up and falling into back into our  family dynamic. From watching old movies, to saving our house from flooding during the rains (only in Ghana) and cooking together; we've been doing your run-of-the-mill family stuff. After so much time apart I’m really grateful for the chance to hang out with them again. We've also got a few family weddings on the go in the next couple of months which should be quite the cultural experience – we’ll see how they compare to the funerals (I have a feeling there’ll be more similarities than differences).

'Til the next randomly exciting moment!

Shee-day anzuma (Later!)

Mma (Mother or Part 1 in a Series of Firsts)

How is it mid-April already?

So far this month has been filled with a few interesting firsts.

I spent April Fool’s Day attending an event 33 years in the making …

My grandmother’s funeral!

Yeahhh.

No joke (there’s no punchline)

In Ghana it’s not unheard of for families to put off a funeral and then have a big, en mass one to acknowledge the death of a group of people. My maternal grandmother (mom’s mom) passed away about 33 years ago, and now her side of the family (based in the Upper East Region/Bolga area) was ready to have a ceremony to commemorate her and her only brother (my great grand-uncle?!). Although at the time, a funeral was held in the house where my grandmother was married, her side of the family wouldn’t have had much of an opportunity to be part of the process  given the state of communication and transportation in rural Ghana 30+ years ago.

Unfortunately for the short timing, not all of the children were able to attend. I went, repping my mom, along with six of my aunts and uncles. In true Ghanaian fashion we roadtripped it up North to Bolga in a tro-tro that stalled and started rolling backwards on more than one occasion. Thankfully we made it in one piece. For me it was a chance to see my mom’s oldest brother, my uncle Dan (55) and so now I can say I’ve officially seen all 14 of my aunts and uncles since arriving in January (I should get a prize).

The delegation - mom's six siblings & their aunt

Main compound

We did the traditional jaunt of meandering between huts and greeting relatives that I can barely trace. The most memorable part of the trip was actually seeing my great-grandfather’s house where my grandmother was raised. Despite all the development in the area the house was still as traditional as ever – thatched roofs, no electricity or running water – old school . We even slept in the main compound that night, underneath the stars (which sounds like the biggest cliché ever).

Shared wall

Retatching the roof

They say the course of true love never did run smooth, it apparently had a lot to do with proximity because we also got the privilege of walking over a mile (fun right?) to the house where my great-grandmother lived in (my great-great grandfather’s house) before she got married and had my g-ma (long family line, I know!).

View of g-ma's ma's house

Sacrificial altar near the exit

Old school kitchen

 

My grandmother’s cousins (58) still lived in the house and were able to tell us stories about her and how clearly they remember the day they heard the news about her passing.

Two generations of uncles (Left, my uncle. Right, his uncle)

Another of grandma's cousins

Funerals in Africa are never a bleak affair and thus we began at the crack of dawn with the 3Ds – drinking, drumming and dancing. Young and old, the entire community came out to pay their respects. The “funeral house” was packed with people as the drumming processions came in waves and the local brew of pito was fresh and flowing a-plenty.

Pito being brewed the good ol' way with millet

Drumming procession 1

Drumming procession 2

Older relatives dancing for offerings

Even though I’ve never met my grandmother I felt extremely honored to be able to participate in and be a witness to the celebration of her life. I feel like we have a special bond because I was the first grandchild to be named after her; Hawa. For this reason my aunts and uncles all call me “Mma” which means “Mother” in Hausa. I'm so proud that I get to rep my grandmother’s memory and the name we share (which is really my middle name, p.s.) forms such a part of my identity; the person I am and who I hope to become.

I write this for my mother, to her mother; where words fail us, rituals & timeless traditions will bring us back together.

Moo Tay Hanya (Let’s go on a Journey or ‘Go Big or Go Home’)

Tamale is only one of the areas in which YA operates. Alex and I got the chance to accompany my aunt up to the Upper East region of Ghana, into Bolga(tanga) and Navrongo to get a better grasp of the organization's reach within more rural areas of the country…

ROADTRIPPP

Our Journey from Tamale to Bolga (heading North)

We left Tamale bright at early around 7AM for Bolga, bumping along to a random Dolly Parton/Tracey Chapman/Elton John mix tape (needless to say, I was NOT the DJ). Against a looping landscape of giant anthills and mud huts we got the shock of our lives when we came across a couple of nomads resting with their two CAMELS, yes CAMELS.

 

Chilling on top of a camel :)


They were accompanied by their handlers, two French-speaking merchants from Burkina Faso (just north of Ghana) who had travelled down South to buy some goods and then return home. They were ridiculously nice and let us take loads of pics! Although I’ve lived in Kuwait for 10 years, this was the closest I’d ever gotten to one, let alone sitting on it J Wicked! Great start to the trip.

 

We spent our time in Bolga with the YA regional representative Conrad. We visited more students who had been through the vocational training program, however this time we visited significantly more young women. Many of them had started apprenticeships as seamstresses or hairdressers and were now self-employed and contributing significantly to their family’s income. There was an interesting mixture of single and married women from different backgrounds, yet all were supporting young children, another common trend in African society. All of them were quite young too (as YA beneficiaries are a max of 25 years old) and stated that their experience with YA had given them financial independence to be functional caregivers for their children in the absence of a male companion or sometimes, in spite of it.

                  

an open traditional iron. heated charcoal is used to keep it hot



      

 

Obiya, a YA apprentice perfecting her skills



Manual sewing machines

 



3 generations of pigs



After spending the night at my aunt Agnes’ relatives' place in Navrongo (that’s 7 more! – 42) we started off the next day (Friday) by visiting members of YA’s second stage of intervention to end the cycle of poverty – parents. This consisted of local community groups of single and widowed mothers who had come together to form a sort of co-operative business/support group. YA supports their endeavours at a business venture so that they can use their generated income to provide for their children's health and educational needs. This group had started a pig farming business where they raised and sold young piglets in the market. The selling of livestock is a profitable market in developing areas such as Ghana, which still has a strong agricultural basis. YA has supported 5 similar groups in the area through the delivery of executive training sessions in group business management, the provision of some building materials and the access to veterinary specialists to ensure the health of the animals. While these groups are still in the process of becoming fully operational, they are poised for massive economic returns that will certainly benefit the community and their families.

 

Members of the single mothers/widows YA supported co-operative



 

Textbook Ceremony

Our last amazing stop was to drop off textbooks at a JSS (Jr. High School) in the rural community. In Ghana students write exams before progressing from primary to JSS and from JSS to SSS (High School). The students we visited were preparing for exams in April and still had not received science textbooks for the 2011/12 academic year! Absolutely unreal compared to what my educational experience was like at their age! We were able to come together with the Regional Assistant Director in charge of Supervision from the Ghana Education Service (Ministry of Education), the Headmaster and the village Chief, to present the YA funded textbooks to the students. (pics, vid of chief). In the local dialect, the Chief said that YA had essentially given students the educational equivalent of a fishing pole and line, so that they would have the ability to learn and go further than they had previously been able to.
 

JSS 3 student handed textbook





The fear in my eyes is real :)

Tired, exhausted, ready to fall asleep standing up, but not until we made one last touristy jaunt at Paga, Ghana’s local crocodile farm J. It’s basically a small body of water that harbours a (growing) family of tame crocodiles that people can come see, feed and pet, all for a nominal fee of course ;) I’d been before with my family but it was so much fun to watch Alex, the newbie take a go at it. It was like standing on the glass floor at the CN Tower, you weren’t in any REAL danger but there was always the excitement of the threat of it! The crocs were mostly so tame because they were fed so regularly by their trainers, take a look.



In a few short days (and that entire week) we had touched on all three areas of YA involvement; the youth themselves, their parents and providers and the community at large. Now the real fun begins as we’ll get to learn more about facilitating the obstacles and celebrating the triumphs each level faces in working to create a better tomorrow for the youth!

Zeeya, Yo, Go-bay (Yesterday, Today, Tomorrow)

In mid-November I graduated from with a degree in PR and given some time to reflect I had reached two conclusions; I had no idea what I wanted to do next, but I definitely wanted a chance to spend time with my family –  not just my brother or parents, but family in the broadest sense possible.

It’s been almost eight years since I was last in Ghana … over 1/3 of my life (scary). Things have obviously  changed since then and I was starting to feel disconnected from my national identity in terms of culture, language and lifestyle. Travelling and living across North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia had given me an understanding and appreciation of people and places beyond my background. I was able to read Arabic and speak French but couldn’t understand a word of my parents’ secret dialect – that didn’t seem right. Also, the recent passing of my grandmother (Old Lady, as she was lovingly referred to), makes now an important time for me to feel a physical presence with family and not one that depends on the connection of faulty phone lines.

After grad, my dad started planting the notion of attempting a Master’s degree and I slowly started leaning towards an interest in International Affairs/Global Development. Ghana is a developing country with a lot of opportunity for growth and positive change. I wanted to take the time to understand the complex cycle of social (and political) issues that affect people on a daily basis; people that I even know personally. Volunteerism with a  local NGO was something that I definitely wanted to pursue and knew would be beneficial on a personal and professional level.

So it was decided - take some time off for R&R in Ghana with family whilst giving back to the community.

Being a Comms major, I couldn’t just leave my goals for the trip so open-ended. That’s right,  I’m busting out some objectives:

1. See/visit/greet as many relatives as possible. Unfortunately I can’t give a number because it constantly fluctuates in Ghana with the sheer size of families plus births and deaths. Family is also a loose concept as there tend to be very strong ties even between extend family members -  I’ll try and keep a count going.

2.   Learn conversational Hausa (pronounced House-ah). Hausa is a common West African language so my mom suggested that I try and learn it first instead of a local dialect. I’ve already started with the title of this blog so you can learn along with me!

3.   Volunteer with an effective (and efficient!) local organization. I want to get my feet wet by learning about local development initiatives. I’ll be working with Youth Alive Ghana, an Action Aid initiative that aims to help street youth end the cycle of poverty within the community.

This is more of an intro on the basis of my stay in Ghana and of this blog. I start writing my thoughts and experiences here as a way to document whatever valuable time is left before life becomes full of other obligations and time is no longer mine. Hopefully, these words will become the bridge between the romanticized idea of Africa and the unknown truth of its society.