Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary

The second part of our trip to Mole National park took us to our two ecotourism sites - the Boabeng-Fiema Monkey Sanctuary and Kintempo Falls. Look up this site in google maps you see where were located in Ghana. Starting at the monkey sanctuary you would find Kumasi to the south (Sunyani is located about 1/2 between Kumasi and the sanctuary and a little west of Kumasi). Kintempo is only slightly north of the sanctuary and Mole is located north of Kintempo.

The monkey sanctuary is a eco-villiage location and the monkeys are considered to be sacred to the local community. There are two different types of monkeys and while one turned out to be very habituated (Campbell's Mona Monkey) whereas the other (Geoffroy's Columbus Monkey) was quite camera shy! This was an interesting experience as a member of our group suggested to our guide that it would be good to bring along bananas so that visitors could feed the animals- something that was quite a surprise to me!

While at the site we took a guided walk through the forest. This was great day for me as it was an outdoor adventure; however, it was also an odd experience as I am completely against the habituation of animals. It seems very odd to me to create a "wild" experience where animals are hand-fed. I also wonder if the potential problems of this type of activity were considered...what happens when the monkeys become aggressive and approach small children who happen to be eating something desirable. Trying to avoid placing my own values onto the experience was difficult but it was very evident that Ghanaian students and faculty alike were very excited to be able to hand feed a monkey!

Other cool sights at the sanctuary included trees that were covered by strangler figs...these provided a great climbing gym for the students! The could climb up the middle of the structure...where the original tree used to be! We visited the monkey graveyard and I saw (without screaming) a Green Mamba Snake! It was in a bush along side the trail. I did give my camera to Aaron to take a picture (you all know how I feel about snakes...full body shiver here) but when it was confirmed that this snake is very venomous I quickly pulled him out of the bush!! Gotta love students!

The village located within the sanctuary is somewhat separate from the tourist experience - either by desire/design or by lack of tourist services. There was a small gift shop that was filled with lovely carvings but at that point I would have paid more for a cool drink! The pictures below are of the village and of some sort of insect chrysalis.

Hand in Hand - a place of love and great pictures!

I cannot begin to explain how wonderful this place was to visit - while on the surface it could be viewed as an institution for kids with disabilities but in reality this was place of extreme love and support! I know a little flowery for me but the level of support and care that these kids were receiving made me think about family and not about institutions! The kids (and adults) got a lot of attention and generally had the run of the village (surrounded by a wall) that consisted of housing for the kids, guest houses (great little cabins with outdoor showers/toilets), a wading pool, and a number of outdoor shelters and green space.

Amanda made arrangements for us eat and stay at Hand in Hand but due to a lack of space the students stayed there and the faculty moved on to a local hotel...I wish that I had stayed there!! We did have a great dinner and had enough time to take a quick tour. Maggie, Jenn, and I had a guided tour by the one half of the managing couple - an extremely funny Jewish playwright from the US. Bob was an excellent host and had a truly warped sense of humour - the highlight of the tour was the connection that he made with Maggie. They entertained us with some lovely singing and dancing! We also learned that Bob's wife (Dr. Ineke Bosman) had been recognized by both the President of Ghana and the new Pope - it turns out that she is largely responsible for the development of health insurance in Ghana.

Beyond the joy of visiting such a great site there were also lots of opportunities to take pictures of local wildlife! There was a huge tree in the yard that was filled with hundreds of weaver bird's nests. This lovely yellow and black bird is able to weave blades of grass into an incredibly intricate nests that all looked the same! The nests were shaped like an upside down jar with an opening about 2 -3 inches across. I was able to get some pictures of the birds actually weaving a nest and others of them just hangin' around the nest.

The other natural phenomena? Well the tree that was located above the restaurant (at the main entrance) was filled with fruit bats...hundreds of fruit bats! This was really exciting until you felt the rain...and then realized that it wasn't actually rain!! I think that I was peed upon more than once but as it never actually landed in my food or my drink (a possibility)! Our visit here was quite brief but the impact will last for a long time. Of course we were also given an opportunity to shop in the the Hand in Hand gift shop that was filled with amazing jewelry and textiles made by many of the residence.

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.

More Photos

Well the travel has finally ended - after seven weeks of being mostly gone I'm home for the majority of the next three months! Well at this point I don't have many trips planned! I still haven't gotten around to writing up the rest of the trip but as I've been harassed for pictures I have added more to the slide show (click on it to go to Picasa and bigger images).

Over the next week I'll had more entries about our trip to Mole National Park...elephants, wart hogs, crocs, and Cobb (deer)...or yeah and lots of baboons! This was an amazing experience that I'll never forget and was grateful that I was within the Safari group that I was...more on that later!

I'll also post an entry about our trip to Cape Coast and the visit to the Cape Coast Castle which was a central location in the trans-Atlantic slave trade. Needless to say this was a powerful and emotional experience that I'm sure I'll be processing for years to come. This part of the trip was also where I experienced the most extreme examples of the environmental damage caused by the improper disposal of plastics waste...again more to come about that!

For those of you who have been patiently waiting for further details and pics...thanks for waiting! I'll add more pics as I go along.

Home - Yeah Internet Access

Well the month passed so fast that I barely kept up! I now have reliable internet access so will get everyone caught up on what was done on this trip. I've added some pictures but once I get over the jet-lag (slept most of yesterday) I'll post some of the better ones.

Ag

Life in Sunyani, Ghana

Our life in Sunyani is one that is occupied by three main factors – going to the market and preparing food, working on the project, and swimming at the Eusbett Hotel! The Eusbett is also home to one of the better internet cafes and perhaps the best “western” restaurant around.

Work on the project happens in three teams – Environmental team (mine), Eco-Tourism team, and the Health team. Our students are divided between each of the groups and Trevor Campbell (first year forestry) is the VIU student working with me. I’m also working with Aaron (doing his national service), Vincent (forestry student who will be visiting VIU in Sept), Aminu (S-Poly Agricultural student), Vivian (S-Poly student), and five faculty and staff (Afrifa and Emmanuel from FFRT and George/Lord, Michael, and Angie at S-Poly).

Our team is working on plastic waste management and bushfire management; however, our activities this trip will be more focused on raising awareness about the project, evaluating what has been done in the past, doing a feasibility study of for the development of a “green belt” to help protect a community from bushfire, and the development of a curriculum for transferring knowledge about environmental sanitation with a focus on plastic waste and communicable disease.

Our living arrangements are quite plush – particularly in relation to previous years. The faculty are currently sharing a guest house with 5 rooms. We had it to ourselves for the first two week but are now sharing it with a doctoral student from Sussex. Early on we had a battle over the kitchen as the guest house is typically run as a business similar to a B&B but that seems to have settled down and life is moving forward with a certain amount of consistency.

The meals that we make tend to be Ghanaian versions of Canadian food! There are huge avocados in season and mangos to spare. The pineapple is the sweetest that I’ve ever tasted and I’ve had more than one meal that consisted of only pineapple!! There are two breads readily available here – butter bread and sugar bread. Both are made from white flour and the sugar bread is incredibly sweet…it makes great French toast though. J The other veggies that we regularly eat are onions (red), green peppers, cucumber, potatoes, and cabbage. There are also carrots, egg plant, and green beans available. We can have also get apples and pears but they cost about $0.80 each so we aren’t doing that.

The students are living in the FFRT (Forestry University) student residence. They are sharing a kitchen that Amanda has set up for her purposes here and have two units of rooms with each set of units including two rooms and a shared bathroom. The set up is good as it allows for quite a bit of security as any visitors need to go through two locks to get into either of the bedrooms. This year they have enjoyed having running water for the majority of the trip…something that we are currently do not have! The only real issue over at the hostel (about two blocks away) is the unpredictable noise – well not completely unpredictable! They know that if there is a football (soccer) game (particularly if Chelsea, who has a Ghanaian on the team, is playing), a religious event (which seem to occur often and not just on Sundays), or the end of exams (just occurred) that life is going to get loud! At other times there will simply be random screaming and yelling! There are also the random games that are playing in the basketball/football court that fills the middle of the square shaped block of rooms.

Transportation is quite simple as there are “line taxis” that run constantly along the same path. The cost of a trip to the Eusbett which is about one kilometer away is $0.25 per person. It generally costs about $0.50 to get from our place to downtown. The downtown core of Sunyani can only be called Chaos! It looks like a permanent sidewalk sale that is backed by businesses that are completely separate from the kiosks on the sidewalk! Every second step there is someone who is willing and able to sell you minutes for your cell phone and if you don’t have one every third stall has someone selling phones too! Many of the other stalls are filled with people who are selling food – cooked and uncooked. I haven’t had the courage to try any of the roadside vendors yet but I did try some food that one of the students bought. It was kind of like a donut without all the added sugar…pretty good overall.

Now onto the weird and wonderful of Ghana!! My first real trip into the market to get food was with Sabrina and I felt like I was on an episode of the amazing race. We had a short list of items to buy but ended up going to a different stall for each, which was good in the end as it allowed us to see all of the things that were offered for sale. The stalls that I didn’t particularly like were those that sold dried fish…think dock perch (only fresh water) that are dried with head and skin on. Some of them appear to have their tails tucked through their gills before they were dried. Worse than the look on their dried up faces though is the general smell and the fly population that accompanies them!

Other than the fish it is a typical farmers market with tomatoes, potatoes, cabbage, hot peppers, and wheelbarrows filled with sheep (6 or so) that while covered with tarps did have their heads (and slit throats) hanging over the edge. I now know why my father hunted…it was to prepare me for the site of dead animals!! Seriously though, the markets are chaotic and amazing. I’m hoping to get back there with just my camera and no intention/need to buy anything.

Another aspect of Ghana that is fantastic is the clothing and how cheap it is to get outfits made. I paid $18 GHC (1 CDN = 1.35 GHC) for six yards of locally made batik fabric and it cost $6 GHC to have a dress, skirt, and bag made out of that fabric! What was more amazing is that the patterns that I choose from were all pictures of women who were my size!!! In Ghana it is a sign of wealth to be “big”!!! I’m hoping to get more clothing made but in all likelihood I won’t have time – I will buy some more fabric though and may force my mother to pick up sewing again when I return! The outfit I picked was fairly western in design as the Ghanaian outfits are skin tight (regardless of size) and are designed to accentuate you but rather than allowing you to move with ease!

Life in Ghana seems to revolve around the mobile phone. I’ve mentioned in other posts that everyone seems to have one but I cannot believe how integrated and habitual their use is in all aspects of daily life. In fact this seems to be the primary means of communication – think email in Canada as it equals texting here! The use of phones had also been the one major source of cultural conflict (although not a major conflict) on this trip as us nature lovin’ Canadians were a little be shocked (and/or dismayed) that some of our Ghanaian counterparts felt that it was necessary to not only bring their cell phones to Mole National park but to also speak on them and/or listen to music with them while on the wildlife safari! It became a bigger issue when it became clear that those who had “quiet” groups (thankfully mine was great for that) saw a lot of wildlife and those who were in the louder groups saw much fewer animals.

The people of Ghana are extremely friendly and cheerful. They seem to appreciate our attempts at speaking the local dialect and always seem to take the opportunity to correct us and teach us new phrases. The two times that I’ve asked for directions while in town I’ve had people stop what they were doing and lead me to where I needed to go! Shop keepers are always willing to hail you a cab if you are carrying a large load and for the most part people help with only the expectation of a smile and thanks in return.

I think that is a pretty good up-date on our day to day life. The actual activities of any given day seem to immerge as we move forward but things are really starting to heat up as this is the primary activity week. More details about our work and the great folks I’m working with will surely follow.

An anniversary, wedding, & baby naming ceremony...all before heading to Sunyani

Our day in Kumasi was a busy one as we ended up celebrating multiple events! The first thing we did was go to the centre of town where the King’s celebration was taking place. This involved all the Chief and Sub-Chiefs from the Ashanti region walking into the main soccer stadium. Each of them was accompanied by umbrella holders, drummers, stool carriers, and various others.

The atmosphere was something like a Stanley Cup Parade. People were lined up a couple deep, the cell phone companies were all busy selling phones and giving things away, hawkers were selling everything from commemorative books and ribbons, to plantain chips and water. There was lots of cheering and police and military were everywhere. It was a bit nerve wracking as it was hard to keep track of all the students – fortunately we all really stood out with our Canadian Winter White skin!


The scene at the celebration is a little hard to describe as much of it was seen through a wall of people. There were hundreds of people dressed in very traditional clothing, singing, dancing, drumming, and basically celebrating. This was like the Queen’s jubilee…just more colourful! The main entrance into the stadium was a bit of a surprise as there was a huge inflated Guinness arch! Yup the drink of the Irish is a live and well here - including a non-alcoholic version called Malta. Anyway - at the stadium there were entrances on either side of the arch (located in a centre concourse of sorts) that would be used alternately. What this meant was that a tidal wave of people would move from side to side as something exciting happened or someone exciting arrived.

After about an hour in the heat is was decided that we should head back to the relative comfort of the air conditioned bus. Poor Jen S was just starting to recover from her intestinal bug (3 days in bed) so the heat was slowly killing her. Of course when you are trying to herd 20+ people back to a bus and it isn’t always a direct and orderly thing. However, it was during this trip back that we learned just how cheap cell phones are here! The students managed to get phones for $25-35 and a sim-card only cost $2! All students and staff except Jen B now have cell phones…more on how well they work later!
After this celebration we were off to the wedding and baby naming ceremony. Amanda was instructed to tell us that these two events do not normally happen together. Interestingly, when a couple finds that they are expecting and are not married they do not quickly go out and marry, rather they wait until after the baby is born and then do so. The wedding we were attending was of an FFRT faculty member and as Obrunies from Canada we were considered to be honour guests who brought extra prestige to the wedding.

As a cultural experience the wedding was quite interesting. There are numerous sections of the wedding that are for family only (although we were invited to witness some of these parts) and then a more standard part where vows are exchanged. Ghana is a deeply faithful country so much of the private ceremony was members of the family praying for a successful marriage. When we arrived we were invited to greet the entire family - this was quite interesting as they were all crowded into a tiny room and the wedding videographer was attempting to get it all on tape! There was a great deal of laughing when I introduced myself as Effia (Friday born) which is my Ghanaian name. It turned out that there were a lot of other Effia’s. Due to Michael’s (our bus driver) excellent tutelage most of us had the basics down in the local language. After this we sat outside the room (were invited to take pics occasionally) but as there was shade a light breeze it wasn’t too bad.

Once the private family blessing was completed we were asked to move downstairs to our seats for the public portion of the wedding and naming ceremony. We were right (3 feet away?) next to the head table and felt very much like we were on display. The ceremony itself was similar to what we would see in Canada but when the minister started talking about a women who had approached him about domestic abuse and wanting to forgive her husband I wasn’t really sure where he was going…I never really saw it coming!!!

The basic purpose behind the story was to inform the groom (or more likely us) that it is not alright to beat your wife as you do not own her. In fact you merely “lease” her from her family. So, if you miss treat your wife the family has the right to take her back! Needless to say that that this particular topic was a big surprising and lead to many jokes on the bus once we left! While you may think that this was the most unusual aspect of the wedding (aside from having 20+ strangers there) you would be wrong. It turns out that the Groom was part of a group called a “Bangers Club” and that in his past he had participated in its traditions with great enthusiasm; thus, it was felt that his wedding would be a good time to reciprocate. The primary activity you ask…throwing water at people who are involved in formal ceremonies or event. As you can see in the pictures the Groom is soaked mostly with water but there was also some Coke, blue sparkling juice (sick looking stuff), and of course the water wasn’t always the cleanest. What you cannot see is that the Bride was also doused with water and in fact was chased out of the main area for a while. You are probably thinking that this happened at the end of the wedding and that it was nice as everyone was so hot…you are wrong! This happened during the first dance!!!!!! Other guests stated that they knew that it would happen but I was still looking for a Bridezilla to emerge!

Fortunately this all happened after the baby naming ceremony. This part of the day was quite sweet as their young son was brought forth and his name was released to the public. It is my understanding that they wait until at least 6 months to do this due to a relatively high infant mortality rate but I have not confirm that information. All in all the event was a couple of hot hours long, made a little easier when someone when and bought us some lovely plastic fans (from China) and offered us minerals (pop - drinking a lot of orange Fanta here!). After it was over we posed for numerous pictures and then headed back to the lovely air conditioned bus!
The ride from Kumasi to Sunyani was an exciting one as each kilometre brought us closer to our final destination and the site of our work. It was quite different from the Accra drive as we were quickly out of the city and then passed through smaller towns and villages rather than endless urban sprawl. We drove through neighbourhoods that were all painted Vota Phone red and others that were MTN yellow - apparently people get free paint and possible some free cell minutes to paint their houses with the company colours and logos!

As we drove we started to see what the rural life was like - with people living in houses of dried mud bricks with palm frond roofs. The yards are all hard packed red soil that is generally kept meticulously clean. In all the villages we’ve visited we have seen people sweeping their yards and houses with short brooms that consist of reed like bristles that are loosely tied together where you would hold them.

It was mostly dark when we arrived at Sunyani but it was okay as we were only dropping off our gear before heading the Eusbett (local resort hotel) for dinner and a swim...the swim didn't pan out as there was a large party going on. In retrospect I should have just braved the throung of young ones but I got to enjoy AC and a cold drink so overall not a bad night.