The Road to Mole - Korkor's & WASA

The trip to Mole was definitely the major adventure of the trip and on our way to Mole we visit a couple of ecotourism sites and two organizations that are affiliated with the project. The WASA (Women's Action Solidarity Aid) site is home to a corn mill donated by the project and compost test project. While there seemed to be a little bit of confusion regarding the use of the site (land/ownership issues) I was able to see the corn mill in action and was able to see that the compost had some scarps in it (although the use looked very recent). At the WASA site there were a number of families (and a village located next to it) and a lot of little goats - one of my favorite Ghanaian animals!

Corn mills like the one in the picture allow communities to process a lot of maize (corn) in a shorter period of time and without travelling to another community. This is important as maize is an important part of the Ghanaian diet (a main ingredient in Banku). Unfortunately this site suffered from some storm damage this spring so the roof needs to be replaced. Hopefully this and some of the other issues will be solved soon. The best part of this visit was actually watching some of the local women use the machine.

After this very quick stop we loaded back into the bus and headed to Korkor's Charity Medical Centre (aids orphanage). Before we arrived I learned about the "female coconut tree" which really isn't a coconut at all! Ghana does have coconuts (like the ones we would normally associated with Hawaii or Mexico) but they are typically located closer to the coastal region. We were located in more in the west central (northern section) region of the country and these trees (also known as the red coconut) were not usable in the same way. Too bad as a coconut and rum would have been a nice treat in that heat!

We had a full schedule at Korkor's and it was definitely a great stop...the kids had the greatest smiles and energy. Of course we Obrunies were a source of curiosity and they loved the Canada beach balls that we had. Note to anyone travelling to locations with children - dollar store beach balls (particularly ones with the Canada flag) are extremely desirable! The main activities that we did at the site were: a) a condom demonstration, b) an aids stigma game, c) a hand-washing demonstration, d) an evaluation of last year's activities, and e) a garbage pick-up at the site.

The same day that we were there the Nanaimo Rotary crew was also there for the opening of the new pit well and to donate computers and school supplies for the children. This was a really great day - an opportunity to spend some time with kids and to see our students (Ghanaian and Canadian in action). Yuki stole the show with her hand washing demo - I will forever remember her "bubbles, bubbles, bubbles"! The story she shared was one from Japan, translated into English and then translated into Twi! Our evaluation revealed that last year's program on personal hygiene was important and I think that this year's will be long remembered!

The funniest part of the day was watching the students do a condom demonstration with mini-bananas! Watching Yuki's face showed that she wasn't feeling too comfortable with the whole thing but it was Sabrina (above) who had me in stitches! These types of demos are important as Aids is a major killer in all regions of Africa. The unfortunate part is that condoms are relatively expensive for people to purchase and like here there would be a lot of social pressure and possible stigma for a young single woman to purchase them. Another compounding factor in the fight against Aids/HIV is the amount of misinformation that is out there. We heard one story where it was believed that a prostitute was able to prevent herself from getting Aids by taking a bath (in a special solution) after sex! During the session the students were able to discuss how HIV is actually transmitted and the ways that it can be prevented...new information for some of the people in the audience.