So despite the fact that I've been updating this blog so regularly throughout March (*pats self on back), the fact remains that most of Accra still has little to no internet access--including the entire compound and surrounding areas where I live/work. Instead, I've been demonstrating my utter devotion to blogging by coming downtown to the Vodafone Internet Center, which has a high-speed connection all the time. This is usually a quick taxi ride, less than $1. In traffic, however, it can take up to an HOUR. Ack! The other day I surveyed the bumper-to-bumper traffic and decided that it would be much more fun to just walk home. (This later horrified my roommate, who worries for my safety, but really, Ghana is a wonderfully safe place, and it was still light. Or at least sort of light.)
So off I went down High Street, walking through historic Jamestown past old prison forts and watching pickup football games as I went. I really think any city can be better appreciated from the 'a pied' approach, and this particular walk was awesome.
Obrunis don't usually cruise solo down High Street at dusk, however, and I attracted lots of funny stares and "Hi Obruuuniii!" calls as I went. Soon, I had a literal parade of children following me. All I needed was a flute to complete the Pied Piper look!
One little girl, Princess, took a particular liking and held my hand as we walked.
"Where are you walking?"
"To Korle Bu."
"Ah! All the way?"
"Yes. Look, traffic is so bad that I am passing the cars!"
"Ah yes. But......you will come visit my house on the way?"
And for once, I accepted a friendly street-side invitation and detoured off through a small encampment to Princess' home. Anyone living in Camden or Newark might be horrified by this story, but I've really begun to appreciate the genuine generosity of Ghanaians and didn't feel at all threatened by the situation. I was still quite the scene however, and had to use my best Twi skills to greet everyone we passed.
We reached Princess' home, just 2minutes off of High Street, and she introduced me to her parents. Her house was small shack with a curtained-door, and inside her parents sat watching a football game on TV. There was no light other than the television's blue flicker, and the entire home was about 4x8feet. Hairdressing materials littered the shelves, among random food parcels.
"Nice to meet you! Princess invited me over to say hello. You are a hairdresser?"
*Nods, shakes my hand
"Very nice. Princess, where do you all sleep?"
*Princess points to the floor
"All together here?"
*Nods
"That sounds nice. Well it was nice meeting you! I'm off to walk again!"
The entire interaction lasted only about 5 minutes, but I was overwhelmed by a few things:
1. Princess' parents weren't surprised at all that their daughter had brought an obruni to meet them, and greeted me as if I lived in the village as well.
2. The home was small. And at least 3 or 4 people would share the floor that night. The same floor that serves as a salon during the day.
3. They had no lights, but they did have a working television.
Gave me some perspective on life in Ghana. Made me realize that I should never have complained about the size of my dorm room in college. And that being able to watch football on your own television is a huge status symbol.
It seems that lately I am finally putting aside some of my American tendencies toward suspicion and defensiveness, and embracing a bit more of the Ghanaian friendliness. And it's wonderful! The rest of the walk to Korle-Bu was similarly enjoyable. The children couldn't walk the whole way, but our parade lasted at least a kilometer. Several pedestrians later helped me cross the Korle Lagoon and, upon nightfall, get a taxi the last several kilometers.
I'd just like to suggest that anyone living in a (relatively safe) African city take the time to occasionally walk. Really walk, over a long distance. It's one of the best ways to meet real locals, appreciate the scenery, and slow things down a bit. And it sure beats traffic.
Wednesday, March 31, 2010
Tuesday, March 30, 2010
Bathroom Humor
STORY ONE
At a bar in downtown Accra that I've frequented over the past few months, there's a sign on the bathroom door that confounded me:
Please do not put toilet paper in Toilet. Use waste beans and help keep this place clean.
Me thinking to myself: Waste Beans? What the hell are they? (looks around bathroom) Is this some sort of new technology I'm missing? Wait, I'm in Ghana. Can't be new technology....
Me outloud: Waste beans, hmmm, waste beans....waste beeeeeaaaanssss......oooooh... WASTE BINS!
From now on, I will refer to all garbage cans as Beans. And chuckle. hehehe.
STORY TWO
This past weekend I was joined by a Princeton friend, Ariel, who's living in Liberia for a year. Ariel did the Peace Corps in Mali, so she's pretty excited about West Africa, and it was awesome to have an enthusiastic travel buddy. We headed off to Green Turtle Lodge on the Western Coast for some R&R deserted-beach style.
30 minutes down the beach from Green Turtle is the tiniest, cutest little village, and we went there on Saturday to buy cheap water. As with any small African village in Ghana, we were greeted by a crowd of children as if we were huge celebrities. Soon, Ariel found herself a cute baby to play with. No one can resist the offer to play with cute village babies. Believe me.
Soon, however, Ariel started laughing and telling me how the baby had made a huge fart. Sure was comfortable in her arms! But the next thing I knew, there was a strange gooey substance running down Ariel's beach wrap......
SHE GOT POOPED ON.
This of course caused a commotion in the village as everyone laughed at the Obruni's misfortune (I was probably laughing the loudest, Ariel second), and the mother whisked the baby off and ushered us into her house to clean Ariel. All in all, a successful visit to the village!
At a bar in downtown Accra that I've frequented over the past few months, there's a sign on the bathroom door that confounded me:
Please do not put toilet paper in Toilet. Use waste beans and help keep this place clean.
Me thinking to myself: Waste Beans? What the hell are they? (looks around bathroom) Is this some sort of new technology I'm missing? Wait, I'm in Ghana. Can't be new technology....
Me outloud: Waste beans, hmmm, waste beans....waste beeeeeaaaanssss......oooooh... WASTE BINS!
From now on, I will refer to all garbage cans as Beans. And chuckle. hehehe.
STORY TWO
This past weekend I was joined by a Princeton friend, Ariel, who's living in Liberia for a year. Ariel did the Peace Corps in Mali, so she's pretty excited about West Africa, and it was awesome to have an enthusiastic travel buddy. We headed off to Green Turtle Lodge on the Western Coast for some R&R deserted-beach style.
30 minutes down the beach from Green Turtle is the tiniest, cutest little village, and we went there on Saturday to buy cheap water. As with any small African village in Ghana, we were greeted by a crowd of children as if we were huge celebrities. Soon, Ariel found herself a cute baby to play with. No one can resist the offer to play with cute village babies. Believe me.
Soon, however, Ariel started laughing and telling me how the baby had made a huge fart. Sure was comfortable in her arms! But the next thing I knew, there was a strange gooey substance running down Ariel's beach wrap......
SHE GOT POOPED ON.
This of course caused a commotion in the village as everyone laughed at the Obruni's misfortune (I was probably laughing the loudest, Ariel second), and the mother whisked the baby off and ushered us into her house to clean Ariel. All in all, a successful visit to the village!
Thursday, March 18, 2010
I want to take you as a friend
(or....Ghana-ism #2)
The title of this post is something any visitor to Ghana will hear on a DAILY basis, from taxi-drivers, waitresses, street vendors, and passing children. Well, passing children will probably just yell "Obruni!!" at you, but still. They'd probably say it if you gave them the chance.
West Africans are known for being especially friendly, and Ghanaians are the prototype. When they say they want to take you as a friend, they mean it! Giving out your phone number will result in them calling you 10,000 times a day to "chat," "see how you're doing," or invite you to their wedding. Seriously.
I like to take my time in getting friends, and usually treat strangers with a healthy dose of skepticism, so this approach has freaked me out several times. I've learned my lesson though. Unless I actually want a new Ghanaian friend, I just tell them that I reserve my number for "work only." And in response to the question, "But when will I see you again?!" I say simply, "You'll just have to pray we meet again." Ah, the power of prayer.
The title of this post is something any visitor to Ghana will hear on a DAILY basis, from taxi-drivers, waitresses, street vendors, and passing children. Well, passing children will probably just yell "Obruni!!" at you, but still. They'd probably say it if you gave them the chance.
West Africans are known for being especially friendly, and Ghanaians are the prototype. When they say they want to take you as a friend, they mean it! Giving out your phone number will result in them calling you 10,000 times a day to "chat," "see how you're doing," or invite you to their wedding. Seriously.
I like to take my time in getting friends, and usually treat strangers with a healthy dose of skepticism, so this approach has freaked me out several times. I've learned my lesson though. Unless I actually want a new Ghanaian friend, I just tell them that I reserve my number for "work only." And in response to the question, "But when will I see you again?!" I say simply, "You'll just have to pray we meet again." Ah, the power of prayer.
Monday, March 8, 2010
Sad News
Jos, Nigeria
(taken from msnbc.com)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35759877/ns/world_news-africa/
"At least 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday, according to residents, aid groups and journalists. The local government gave a figure more than twice that amount, but offered no casualty list or other information to substantiate it.The violence in three mostly Christian villages on Sunday appeared to be reprisal attacks following the January unrest in Jos — when some 300 people, most of them Muslims, were killed, Red Cross spokesman Robin Waubo said. State officials did not comment on the cause of the latest attacks.
(taken from msnbc.com)
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35759877/ns/world_news-africa/
"At least 200 people, most of them Christians, were slaughtered on Sunday, according to residents, aid groups and journalists. The local government gave a figure more than twice that amount, but offered no casualty list or other information to substantiate it.The violence in three mostly Christian villages on Sunday appeared to be reprisal attacks following the January unrest in Jos — when some 300 people, most of them Muslims, were killed, Red Cross spokesman Robin Waubo said. State officials did not comment on the cause of the latest attacks.
Plateau State spokesman Gregory Yenlong said Sunday's toll could be much higher. "Soldiers are patrolling and everywhere remains calm ... We are estimating 500 people killed but I think it should be a little bit above that," he said.
Death tolls have been highly politicized in previous outbreaks of unrest in central Nigeria, with various factions accused of either exaggerating the figures for political ends or downplaying them to try to douse the risk of reprisals.
On Sunday, the bodies of children tangled with each other in a local morgue, including a diaper-clad toddler. Another young victim appeared to have been scalped, while others had severed hands and feet. One woman victim in the morgue appeared to have been stripped below the waist, but later covered by a strip of black cloth.
Jos has been under a dusk-til-dawn curfew enforced by the military since January's religious-based violence. It was not clear how the attackers managed to elude the military curfew early Sunday.Acting President Goodluck Jonathan said security agencies would be stationed along Plateau state's borders to keep outsiders from coming in with more weapons and fighters.
"(We will) undertake strategic initiatives to confront and defeat these roving bands of killers," he said in a statement.
Ghana-isms
Two days ago, March 6th, Ghana celebrated its independence! This is a pretty big deal, as Ghana was only born 53 years ago. It was the first African country to achieve independence from Europe, under the leadership of “The Big 6”:
1. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
2. William Atta
3. Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey
4. Dr. Joseph Danquah
5. Edward Akufo-Addo
6. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei
It’s hard not to learn about these guys when you visit Ghana, because
- they’re on all the money, and
-the major roads/roundabouts in Accra are named after them.
So if you don’t know where Nkrumah circle or Danquah circle is, you’ll be lost as well as poorly-informed.
Nkrumah is the man you’ll hear the most about, because he served as the first president of Ghana. Like Ghana’s George Washington. Not only is he memorialized in the major circle of Accra, but there was also a museum and monument park built in his honor.
So, in honor of Ghana’s independence, the next few posts will be about unique “Ghana-isms” that I’ve learned while I’ve been here. Anyone spending more than a week in Ghana will probably hear at least some of them…...
Are you sure?
This may seem innocuous, but it isn’t used in the expected context. For instance, no one will ask you if you’re sure you want chocolate versus vanilla ice cream. Rather, they’ll catch you off guard like this:
Taxi driver: “So, are you German?”
Meghan: “No, I’m American.”
Taxi driver: “Are you sure?”
As if I don’t know where I’m from? Let’s try another example:
Medical student: “So why are you here in Ghana?
Meghan: “I’m doing research on HIV in the Children’s Block.”
Medical student: “For how long?”
Meghan: “8 months”
Medical student: “Are you sure?”
Hm. I hope I have my departure date correct. Since I’m the one who booked it!
I don’t exactly know what Ghanaians are going for when they ask this question. But they do it frequently. Maybe it’s just an icebreaker? Or maybe they have better ideas for me. I’m secretly a German girl who’s here in Ghana for 3 months. I’m slowly learning to face facts: Ghanaians are always right. Once you accept that, the rest of the Ghana-isms become amusing rather than frustrating. Woohoo!
1. Dr. Kwame Nkrumah
2. William Atta
3. Emmanuel Obetsebi-Lamptey
4. Dr. Joseph Danquah
5. Edward Akufo-Addo
6. Ebenezer Ako-Adjei
It’s hard not to learn about these guys when you visit Ghana, because
- they’re on all the money, and
-the major roads/roundabouts in Accra are named after them.
So if you don’t know where Nkrumah circle or Danquah circle is, you’ll be lost as well as poorly-informed.
Nkrumah is the man you’ll hear the most about, because he served as the first president of Ghana. Like Ghana’s George Washington. Not only is he memorialized in the major circle of Accra, but there was also a museum and monument park built in his honor.
So, in honor of Ghana’s independence, the next few posts will be about unique “Ghana-isms” that I’ve learned while I’ve been here. Anyone spending more than a week in Ghana will probably hear at least some of them…...
Are you sure?
This may seem innocuous, but it isn’t used in the expected context. For instance, no one will ask you if you’re sure you want chocolate versus vanilla ice cream. Rather, they’ll catch you off guard like this:
Taxi driver: “So, are you German?”
Meghan: “No, I’m American.”
Taxi driver: “Are you sure?”
As if I don’t know where I’m from? Let’s try another example:
Medical student: “So why are you here in Ghana?
Meghan: “I’m doing research on HIV in the Children’s Block.”
Medical student: “For how long?”
Meghan: “8 months”
Medical student: “Are you sure?”
Hm. I hope I have my departure date correct. Since I’m the one who booked it!
I don’t exactly know what Ghanaians are going for when they ask this question. But they do it frequently. Maybe it’s just an icebreaker? Or maybe they have better ideas for me. I’m secretly a German girl who’s here in Ghana for 3 months. I’m slowly learning to face facts: Ghanaians are always right. Once you accept that, the rest of the Ghana-isms become amusing rather than frustrating. Woohoo!
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
Ask the Ethicist
So I haven't posted for a month. A MONTH. I hereby apologize to all of you out there depending on blog updates to procrastinate from your usual life, but in all honesty, internet access here in Ghana has been total craperoni for the past few weeks. The only way I'm on right now is because my advisor lent me her mobile modem for a few minutes, so this has to be quick. Stay posted for more updates (hopefully) soon!
So as some of you know, I'm conducting a chart review of all the pediatric patients that Korle-Bu Retro Clinic has started on Antiretrovirals since they became available in Ghana. This means that I spend long loving hours in the medical records room sweating, getting dusty, wading through occasionally flooded corridors, and loving my job. ;) But seriously it has really helped me learn more about the clinical management of pediatric HIV. Repetition! Repetition! Woo!
So yesterday I came across a patient's chart with a sealed envelope inside. It contained the VCT (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) results of the patient's father. Now, I am collecting parental data, and want to know if the patient's parents are HIV+ or not. My ethical question for today, dear readers, is:
Would it be ethical to open that sealed envelope in order to get my data?
On one hand, the data is in the patient's chart, which is all confidential. I have been granted access to this confidential data, and am protecting it appropriately, so I am entitled to view everything in the folder.
On the other hand, if the patient's father himself has not yet opened this envelope, then perhaps this is his passive way of saying he does not want to know his status. In a way, the patient is voiding the fact that the test was ever done, and I'm not entitled to expose him (myself, or anyone else) to his data.
In the end, I couldn't take the risk of violating the father's privacy. I left the envelope sealed, left my data entry point blank, and decided that only a patient can be the one to unseal their own medical records. The envelope's presence in the chart was not reason enough for me to view its contents. Weigh in! Let me know what you think!
So as some of you know, I'm conducting a chart review of all the pediatric patients that Korle-Bu Retro Clinic has started on Antiretrovirals since they became available in Ghana. This means that I spend long loving hours in the medical records room sweating, getting dusty, wading through occasionally flooded corridors, and loving my job. ;) But seriously it has really helped me learn more about the clinical management of pediatric HIV. Repetition! Repetition! Woo!
So yesterday I came across a patient's chart with a sealed envelope inside. It contained the VCT (Voluntary Counselling and Testing) results of the patient's father. Now, I am collecting parental data, and want to know if the patient's parents are HIV+ or not. My ethical question for today, dear readers, is:
Would it be ethical to open that sealed envelope in order to get my data?
On one hand, the data is in the patient's chart, which is all confidential. I have been granted access to this confidential data, and am protecting it appropriately, so I am entitled to view everything in the folder.
On the other hand, if the patient's father himself has not yet opened this envelope, then perhaps this is his passive way of saying he does not want to know his status. In a way, the patient is voiding the fact that the test was ever done, and I'm not entitled to expose him (myself, or anyone else) to his data.
In the end, I couldn't take the risk of violating the father's privacy. I left the envelope sealed, left my data entry point blank, and decided that only a patient can be the one to unseal their own medical records. The envelope's presence in the chart was not reason enough for me to view its contents. Weigh in! Let me know what you think!
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