To try to understand Africa

Market
Kumasi
Ashanti Museum- Ashanti King

Kumasi


Last day in Kumasi

Ante Victoria and I
Making Banku






Girls school for Peace where Sister Constance Works


After a few days in Ghana with Lamont and friends , I stayed with Eva. Eva whom I met on Couchsurfing let me stay with her. Eva works for FARA which is the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa. Eva works at administrative level for FARA. She explained that FARA is an umbrella organization bringing different organizations working with a variety of issues on agricultural issues including sustainable development.

Please Check out the website: http://www.fara-africa.org

Staying with Eva, even though it was only for 1 night was very humbling to say the least. Ghana like many developing countries in the world is having a water crisis. About half of the country is without running water. I heard this statistic on the radio in Ghana.
When you are walking around, a very common scene you will see is people transporting water from whatever water pump to various houses, on-top of their heads, usually in plastic oil containers that are probably a few gallons. This water is used for everything, cooking, washing dishes, bathing- everything you need water for. So people just remember, your direct access to water is not the given you think it is. For many people it is a luxary to have hot running water at disposable. I will touch on this latter at some point. There are many reasons that have factored into this lack of water issue. Privitization, drought caused by climate change, lack of developlent infrastructure due to curruption and greedy incentives by corporations. THE WATER CRISIS IS JUST BEGINNING!

Eva happily shared her water with me and for that I am so greatful to you Eva. Thank you so much if you ever read this. Talking to Eva I found out her interests in international relations as well and her desire to travel. I understand that for so many people to move to travel is a luxary and allot harder for those that have to go through leaps and bounds to get documents, funding, accommodations etc. Being in Ghana I realized how difficult it was for people to get sponsored. Us in the West have no idea how hard it is. We want to travel, we get a passport and a visa if need and that’s it. It is not that simple for those in developing countries. They have to prove that they have enough money and wealth to the point that the government where they want to go to does not think they will try to immigrate illegally.

After one night at Eva’s I stayed with a family in Kumasi. I took a 5 hour STA bus for 10$ 5 hours away to Kumasi which is the home of the Ashanti kingdom and tribe. Matt , whom I met on myspace who has done a similar “Round the World Trip” writes on issues of participatory democracy. Please check out his blog at

http://www.democracybythepeople.blogspot.com/

Matt had a friend Odenke who’s family lived in Kumasi. I am so thankful to have met Odenke’s family and Ante Victoria, All of Odenke’s siblings and nephews and nieces really made me feel at home. Kumasi is smaller than Accra. While I was there I saw a handful of tourists all of whom where traveling in groups. I never saw one traveling alone. There was a point I was on the bus looking around on the way to meet this family where I was a bit nervous that it would all work out. I seemed to attract allot of attention. Even more so in Kumasi. It reminds you of who you are and what your purpose is in a place. To most people I am the strange one. I would constantly see little kids pointing at me. At first they seemed curious about my presence and after awhile, they would try to speak to me in English to practice their English skills but shy when I answered them. Odenke’s Mother works at a fabric workshop and makes traditional Ashanti clothing for Ashanti funerals. They took me to their lovely home, gave me my own room, my own key and told me to make myself at home.

Ghanain hospitality reminds me allot of Indian hospitality. There is allot of respect for elders but they love to talk to you as well. There was a moment where I had been in the house for a few hours and it started to rain very heavily. I sat outside on their large porch watching the rain beat down on the dry Ghanian soil. The house was quiet and I could hear the occasional chatter of someone inside. I was releaved to be in a big family setting. They made me feel like I was a part of the family and that I had every right to be there, even though I had never met them and only been in Kumasi for a few hours. I felt an extremely powerful wave of emotion come over me and it felt really right to be there. The next two days Kwame and Joe took me to a number of key places I wanted to visit to learn more about Ashanti culture. I went to the cultural museum, the market, and schools where I got the opportunity to learn allot about Ghanain history and culture. To anyone going to Ghana I would highly recommend a visit to Kumasi. Thank you again to Matt and Odeke for making my stay in Kumasi and Ghana life changing.

I was so touched by the experience. I felt like even though it was difficult at times, it was definitely the most life changing. It is sooo important for us in the West to understand some of the key issues of sub-saharan African development. I am so sick of people looking at Africa as only needing charity. It comes from a racist sentiment where people doubt the efforts of people of color to transform their own lives. They are quit aware of what their needs are and I am sick of hearing people say they want to work for some charity in Africa and help poor people. The intentions might be good. Africans can help themselves. What we need to do is be in solidarity with what their needs are and not dictate to them what we think they should do like we have it all figured out when most people are lacking the basic knowledge of African history and the post-colonial experience of many countries is very different. Maybe I was attracted to Kwame’s legacy. His idea of Pan-Africanism and creating a unified Africa that could oppose Western Neo-Colonialism. Never-the-less I am sooo happy I went to Ghana. I met so many ignorant tourists that would always ask me why Ghana? WHY NOT????! Most travelers go to South Africa because it is easy, maybe Tanzania for some nice beaches, but how many consider other places that have more cultural heritage?

Before I left Ghana, the boy that works as a driver whos name is not coming back to me kidnapped me for awhile. He wanted me to take pictures of his friends and him. He explained to me how he wanted to marry an American and get of Ghana. At first he was shy to the camera but latter he was walking around showing me and my camera off to all of his friends that worked in this car lot repairing different things. It seemed to be at times it was the first time they where thinking of themselves as someone to be acknowledged in the world. Here I was, with a camera and they wanted me to click away, asked me if I was married a few times and I thought to myself what was my role here. If anything I am the guest, the stranger, have an open mind. You cannot be in a place like Kumasi and judge. It is not your right to impose your own cultural values on someone else in a different country that has a verrrry different life and history than you. At the same time it is essential that we see our similarities as people. We all want the same things for our future. Strong communities, education for our children, governments that are responsive to our needs, running water, sustainable development, clean air, uncontaminated food.

In Ghana I also learned to smile more… that is something anyone can understand in any language. To all those that opened their hearts and homes to me in Ghana. MIDASI!! You are in my heart =)

Ghana - The Challenge of WRiting

The Challenge of Writing

I realize that I have trouble updating my blog for several reasons when I actually write more than I end up posting. I want the project to be academic. I wanted to apply theory to my findings and experiences. I want my blog to be a resource, but the small things that I think are too personal or not so relevant actually become “big” things. Like small conclusions I come to about cultural differences, insights as well as other realizations and conclusions. I spend allot of debating what is “post worthy” or relevant and then I end up omitting the posts. I have come to a decision that is ok for me to talk about these small things, because they are a large part of my growth on this trip. The emotional, psychological outcomes of the experiences I go through are actually quite significant to me becoming a “better me” a more complete, global, aware. I would like to share these experiences with my friends, family, readers and acquaintances I have met on the road. I think that in itself is an asset enough and is a contribution in itself to others that want to follow in similar footsteps or are considering doing similar projects. After all, it’s about relating to others and seeing commonalities in our struggles and experiences. So… I would like to explore a more dynamic approach to this documenting. So it is.

Ghana

Ghana was the first country in Africa for me to visit on my trip. It was also the first place I was alone as well as the first place I would attempt to stay with people that I had met online and not in Hostels. I left Buenos Aires on Feb 21. I was anxious, excited and scared out of my mind. Here I was going to a country I didn’t know a soul, a woman alone and I was just crossing my fingers and hoping for the best. I felt like I was starting on a bad note when I left the hostel in Buenos Aires with what I thought was just enough money for a taxi. After having a nice conversation in broken Spanish with the taxi driver, my nerves started to get to me and I felt like I had misplaced something. I couldn’t find my passport. I started franticly looking through my bags in the back seat until 30 minutes latter when I calmed down and realized I had it zipped up in the inner pocket of my travel purse. Then upon arriving at the airport and trying to pay for the cab, I found out the cab were 5 more pesos than the Hostel employee had told me. I had made a mistake and learned a lesson in not taking enough $ to the airport for cushion and miscalculation. The driver let me go with being a few pesos short but seemed annoyed. I felt very guilty. Then after checking in, I realized I hadn’t found out if there was airport tax. I went to the atm to take out $. I was disappointed I wasn’t more organized and prepared. This was just the beginning.
The trip from Buenos Aires was long and drawn out for a number of reasons. I had to transfer in two different airports. I flew to Sao Paolo first where I had a 3 hr delay and then after the 15-hour flight on the pimped out Emirates flight to Dubai. I had a 7 hr and change gap until my connecting flight to Accra which was another 7 hrs. All in all I was traveling for more than 36 hrs. The trip was rough, but luckily I had my books, my journal, and my laptop with me to keep me busy. I carry around my universal adapter set and plugged into the wall in Dubai Int. Airport to charge my laptop and the wireless was free! I was thrilled. I walked around and took pictures of the airport, which seemed to feel more like a mini-mall with funny glass facades for short-stay hotels for business and first class travelers. It was my first experience with seeing the wealth of the gulf countries. I saw allot of immigrants working at the airport as well. I heard just as much Hindi and English as I did Arabic.
Upon my arrival to Accra I got my luggage and started making phone calls to the two contacts I had made on Couchsurfing.com. My first option, Eva who works with FARA did not pick her cell phone up so I called Lamont, A Floridian from the states who has been in Ghana on and off for 7 years trying to hatch out a business deal. I’ll get into that latter. So Lamont who had returned from Sierra Leone that day had agreed to host me and I was thankful that I wouldn’t have to look for a hostel. I got a cab right away. I immediately asked how much? He had a chart in front of him and it had neighborhoods and he quoted 15 cedis which was the equivalent of 15$. I thought it didn’t sound too bad so I agreed. I told him that I would have to make a stop at the bank first to get cash, as I don’t carry around dollars to convert. After realizing that I had miscalculated my funds and ran out of $ when trying to extract money from the atm for the 5th time, I knew I was in deep poop. I didn’t know what to do. I told him I couldn’t get any money out so he told me he was taking me back to the airport. I quickly called my mother and told her I needed her to wire me money. Sounding worried she was quickly on it and wired me 250$ for the week. In the cab on the way back to the airport I got a call from Lamont asking me if I was ok because I was taking a long time to reach the house. I told Lamont I was in trouble and he agreed to attempt to pick me up.
So there I was, back at the airport, with my bags, no money and not knowing anyone in this country. There was a moment where I thought I was going to loose it, break down and start balling in front of all the taxi drivers. My cab driver that was hanging out in the spot where he picked me up walked by me and asked me if I had a ride coming. I assured him I did and he asked me if I wanted to sit down. I told him I was ok. I was too anxious to sit down. I thought for a second about if I had done the right thing, if I had prepared enough. It was the first moment where I questioned if I would make it. That moment was extremely uncomfortable and scary.
I hoped that Lamont would come through and something from the sound of his Florida accented voice sounded sincere, especially when he asked to speak to the driver to tell him that the fare he was going to charge me was way too much. 20-30 minutes I got a tap on my shoulder and heard a familiar accent. Lamont had come to my rescue with a taxi. Relieved but still not sure what I was getting myself into I went to Lamont’s eager to at least get a shower and a nap until I figured out the next move. Burning up in the taxi I started to feel the shock of heat and humidity. It was almost harder to breathe. Lamont started telling me about his AllTerra communications company. I tried to explain what I was doing in Ghana and we talked small talk. When I pulled up to Lamont’s property in it’s gated security protected enclosure I realized that I was in one of the nicer homes in Accra. After taking a shower, meeting Anush, Lamont’s partner, as well as everyone living in the house and settling in I felt a little better. After getting a bit settled and going through my things I realized I was missing a few things. My phone, which I know, I had had at the airport and in the taxi was missing. My point and shoot camera was also missing, but that I know I had packed in my suitcase as well as my medical bag with prescriptions and vitamins, band aids etc… was missing. I didn’t finalize that I had lost or had them stolen until days latter when I had time to go through all my bags and unpack completely and then reorganize my things. (I do this often, as it is quite difficult for me to get used to living out of bags) You constantly feel like you are misplacing things and are keeping track of your belongings hoping you didn’t forget something important somewhere. (Like a phone!)
The next few days were rough as well. Emotionally it was hard for me to adjust and take everything that had happened in. I wanted to allow myself to feel what Ghana was like and not worry about all the logistic stuff and what I had lost, had stolen etc.
My first night in Ghana, I went out to Manson, Tantra and another club. I met Lamont’s friends and got my first taste of what Ghana was like. I was shocked to see so many foreigners at the clubs. There were allot of Indians, allot of Lebanese and frankly allot more white people than I was prepared to see. I found out that there were allot of Indians in Accra that were there for business. The clubs we had gone to were owned my Indians, hence the Indian names.
I ate pretty good sushi and drank entirely too much. I heard some good music though which was nice to hear hip-hop after being in Porto Alegre and Beunos Aires that doesn’t have the hip-hop scene that Rio and Sao Paolo does. I missed it. The next day I woke up hangover and trying to recover from the day before. My third day I was eager to get out of the house. Lamont agreed to accompany me. We walked to a local Ghanaian spot that sold beer and the typical of Ghanaian food – Tilapia a large clump of Booja and some spicy red _____. I was excited to have Ghanaian food. I was eager to eat it with my hands. I ordered my local “Star” beer and was given a large bowl of water and soap. We sat outside and talked about our life and goals. We overheard an argument about Ghanaian politics, corruption and requirements for being a revolutionary by some Ghanaian military men. One wore a Kwame Nkrumah shirt. The argument escalated from a joke to something that looked potentially serious when the biggest of guys at the table picked up the plastic chair and threw it. Lamont assured me they were just playing. We walked back home and Lamont gave ma mini tour of Osu and Ridge. We stopped to get fried banana chips, a fertility necklace for me and say hello to some street kids that Lamont was friendly with. Apparently we had given them food and $ the night of our club hopping. They remembered me and I felt bad for not remembering more about them. He showed me the soccer stadium that the African cup had been at only a few days before with Ghana and Egypt battling out the top spot, among other UN buildings and Embassies that were close to his home in Ridge.
The fourth day with some help arranged for a car to take me around to a few historical spots around Ghana so I could take pictures. I visited Aburi Botanical Gardens, The Kwame Nkrumah Museum Mausoleum, Independence Arc, as well as small crafts market in Aburi.

My fifth day I stayed with Eva who works with FARA and the last two days I spent with a family in Kumasi. This leads me to my next blog.

The "Must PacK List"

The Travel Organizer
Vacuum Seal Packs for Clothes
Miny Nalgene bottle set, Multi-purpose environmentally friendly soap, and Universal Adapter set

“Must Pack” List for Reference
–
Now that I know these items have been extremely helpful to have or I have wished I had.

Swiss army knife

Universal adapter set

Vacuum seal packs for clothes-
reduces size of clothing by half (also great for separating laundry)

Serong- used as beach towel, towel, sheet, dress among other uses

Medications- Malaria, Cipro, painkillers, airbourne, vitamins etcc

A small notebook to jot down thoughts and info

Expandable bags incase you pick up things on the way. ( you always accumulate )

Make a small folder- Make a copy of your documents including your passport, itinerary, contacts- INLCUDE YOUR PARENTS and FAMILY!!!. Write down emergency lists- all your emergency contacts , itinerary, places to stay in case plan A and B don’t work.

Mutli-purpose environmentally friendly soap that can be used for you to wash with, clean dishes, clothes, and even brush your teeth with.

Also buy a purse/passport carrier you can wear around you. This makes it really easy to find your ticket and passport and itinerary when your lugging around all your luggage in your hands. It dosen’t have to be a fanny pack.

One of every item of clothing (except for shirts)- No more… You really only need one of every item of clothing. One pair of shorts, one skirt, one jeans, one Capri, a few shirts and tanktops, one dress. One pair of sandals and one pair of sneakers. Ofcourse bring more than one pair of underwear and soaks and undergarments. Get used to washing these items with your hands. Plus you will always accumulate as your are traveling! Less is better. You want a lite load!

Small Nalgene bottles to fill up with left over shampoo, conditioner and other toiletrees that you are almost done with but don’t want to carry around the bottle wasting space in your luggage.

ok Pause on a deeper note...

I remember Joanna pulling away in the taxi infront of our hostel in Buenos Aires. Maybe it was because it was that time of month for me and I was allowing myself to feel my emotions a little more. Maybe it was because I wanted to remember. I wanted to remember the first month we had together, the first month of my traveling around the world with my friend. I wanted to remember every incredible moment. Driving around dusty Lima streets in bumpy cabs and buses. Arriving in Cusco and poking her in awe at the way the city nestled itself in the mountains. Sitting across from Macchu Picchu and talking about everything from love, expectations, goals, family and persuits. Dancing in Carnaval Blocos in Rio. Walking around Once in Buenos Aires and seeing a memorial for hundreds of kids who died in a fire during a concert and feeling all their shortened lives come slap me in the face in a wave of sadness. I’m not even half way done. How did I get here. Am I still doubting my right to do this? To let myself enjoy it.
I thought of the amazing people… and shit I was so happy to be alive. To let myself experience them. I wanted to be around someone that reminded me that it was real. That I wasn’t making it up . This it wasn’t just a dream. Someone would believe me when I would say that I had known someone a week and then cried at the thought of not seeing them again. People that had touched my life. Left a permanent imprint on it.
I was bored and I picked up a book on social intelligence. It was the first book that was acknowledging alienation in relation to inability to connect in face-to-face encounters. I knew this, but I seriously have to make more of an effort to cut out internet and increase my face to face encounters with people. You cant give someone a hug or kiss over the internet. So true. Is that what we lack in this hyper techno world of ours. Intimacy. Have we lost some feeling, some ability to relate. Right now even, at this moment, while I sit on this really nice plane with all these computers, I guess Emirates is supposed to be known for high-tek comfort, but how much did I talk to this lady next to me that spoke perfect English. Did I want to . Yes. Do we all lack the ability to implore the need to strike up a random conversation. I have to admit I was feeling a little stupid. I think I still have to work on my self consciousness at times. This is ridiculous. I spend so much time thinking about how I will perceived in the action I waste the energy in allowing myself to do the damn task. Ohh wow there is a lot of turbulance on this flight and my stomach is feeling really queezy.

The Sum Up

I was in Buenos Aires alone for the first few days before I met back up with Joana who had gone down to Mar De Plata to stay with some friends. The 25 hr busride was excrusiating! The first night I spent alone in a single room in a hostel in San Telmo . Nothing wrong with the neighborhood, actually it seemed like alot of fun. There was a huge noisy festival down the street, great street art, a young hip vibe and amaaazing food. However I didn't feel comfortable in the hostel alone and I had a reccomendation for one in Microcenter which was a little pricey at 20$ in a girls shared dorm a night but very comfortable.

I remember being blown away at the scale of Buenos Aires. It seems to stretch across a vaste amount of space and still feel very urban. The infrastructure of Buenos Aires is really quite well built, but it dosent lack the stratification and gentrification that big cities do. THere are plenty of slums that surround the well built neighborhoods for the rich. You can also feel the tension of inequality when you are constantly warned to be careful being alone, being a tourist and being vulnerable. I met some girls at the hostel that had had thier bags stollen on thier way into the hostel. While being distracted by two women , other counterparts to a gang walked away with thier bag that had thier camera and credit cards as well as other valuables. There are a number of issues that the poor and working class struggle with that I would like to shed light on in someway but I was not in Buenos Aires to tap into info. The demographic was much more white than I was used to seeing in Brazil. I couldn't help notice that people were also shaped different. They were lean , long and straight. There are allot of European immigrants that came to Buenos Aires post World War II. I realized after traveling to working class areas that there were alot of new immigrants as well. Asian, West African and central American immigrants give areas like "Once"(sp)? a bit more diversity. Paula said that Asian immigrants get the brunt of alot of racist sentiment amongst Argentinians.

The pictures below kind of sum up my time there. Joana, Paula and I spent 2 days walking around looking at neighborhoods, street art, eating good food, drinking wine from Mendoza , talking about politics and culture . We walked around the colorful streets of Boca which is adorned with houses and businesses painted bright colors. Paula and JOana explained that the immigrants of this area used paint colors that were used for ships because they couldnt afford the pricier mutted house paint. Boca now is one of the cliche attractions but still boasts a very intesting immigrant history that is seen in its architecture and colorful streets.

It is unortunate I wasn't able to hook up with any organizations are people working with any movements and NGO's but I hope to get some guest blogs from Paula who lives in Buenos Aires who has a friend studying Autonomous Movements in Latin AMerica as well as my friend Lauren . Paula said she had also done some research on the recooperating factories movement. Paula shared with me a brief story about the history of the community center in which she organizes out of which was originally an abondoned propertiy that was taken over by people to serve the needs of the community. I would like to get Paula to tell us a little about that story as well.

Lauren and I met durring a study abroad program organized by City College in jan 2007 to Morocco. Lauren who is taking a course in Buenos Aires said she would help contribute her findings as well.

So for now.. I leave this blog to be updated with more guest blogs in the near future.. stay tuned!

Buenos Aires, Argentina

Participatory Democracy - The World Conference on Developing Cities-Autonomous Movements in Solidarity

DRAFT
While I was in Porto Alegre I was lucky to find out that there was a conference. The "World Conference on Developing Cities was and I decided to extend my time there as it was of utmost relevance to my research . The Conference covered 4 different themes that were addressed 4 days of the conference. There were large panels as well as small workshops and panels. The conference was hosted at PUCCI the large private state University of Porto Alegre. The themes

• The Right to the City-Local Policies and the Right and Responsibilities of Citizens
• Governance and Democracy in Cities-Experiences of Democratic Participation
• Local Development in Cities – Processes of Investment in Social Capital to Develop Economic, Environmental, Human, Social and Political Assets
• Sustainability and the Network-City – The Emergence of Social Networks and the Sustainable City of the Future

I was only able to attend 3 of these days. The conference itself had allot of investors- people representing banks and other organizations that were eager to network and talk about their new strategies and approaches to "development".Municipal employees from the City of Porto Alegre as well as people of academia. It is sad to admit that I saw allot of people who should have been at this conference not there. There were very little youth, students, there was very little participation at the level of workers. There were allot of people in suits and ties and quite frankly to me it felt a bit elitist and not so accessible of an event. How could it be when you have to pay $75 to attend. That is the student discount. Maybe the event was not supposed to attract the average citizens of Porto Alegre, but I was definitely aware of the lack of their presence. The major panels talked about the experience of Participatory Democracy and what kinds of changes it brought at various levels. Within the smaller workshops I attended I heard a number of discrepencies about the experience with Participatory Budgeting.

A few of the things I learned is that there is still a need to get people involved in the process. I would hear allot of adults complaining that the younger generations seem to express little interest with engaging in the process or councils.
I also learned that many people felt that there was a big gap between practice and theory of Participatory Democracy. It was felt by many that the city was also welcoming large scale corporations and companies to do business here without addressing accessibility and development of the poorer areas.

I remember one comment made by a gentlemen presenting in a panel when answering a question about lack of budgeting for programs that he was sick of hearing this question. His answer was that "we have to stop thinking like Americans." We must not always ask ourselves where the money will come from. We have to organize our communities on our own. There is so much we are able to do at the grassroots level without always getting aid. The important thing for us to do is think and be creative. We can come up with solutions to problems without having allot of money. We can use resources that are already there.

After thinking about this for awhile it occurred to me how much I saw this true of my experience with IPDAE. The organizations was able to be extremely resourceful and able to do allot with very little.

THe process of Participatory Democracy however has inspired many to take on tasks on thei own. There is a culture of civic engagement here. Though it is far from ideal. It has been able to overcome some pretty large battles and open an atmosphere of discourse and debate.

The last day of the conference I witnessed and documented a protest by a contingent of various organizations that were protesting the conference as a event which represented the lack of accessibility by the poor. The protesters asked to be let into the conference and campus. There was street theater and a number of Autonomous organizations expressing their anger at the fact that reps from the World Bank were inside talking about "development" and not addressing huge concerns by Indigenous communities and people that have felt that upheaval and pains of structural adjustment and unfair competition which has private investors yet makes it harder for the poor to survive with the increased competition.

I was happy to see the youth in the street with the people. They weren't in the conference because they were in touch with the people's concerns. I got the same vibe at the conference. Even though the conference had a number of amazing speakers and ideas were generated , debated and shared which is crucial, I still kept in mind how much of a fragment of actual change was being represented. In the next few days I hope to update this particular blog about some of the lessons learned from communities around the world applying new solutions to civic engagement and development at the local level. It was exhilarating to see that there are alternatives being explored around the world. Little miracles every day by the people proving the alternative is a reality , it is crucial and it is where we are going... collectively!

World Conference on Developing Cities Link