On Thursday, we had a very productive day at Multiwall. We started documenting the work we’ve accomplished so far in a 20-page document: current org chart (using Lotus Symphony, which we gave to Multiwall), proposed org chart, SWOT analysis, best practices, etc. It will take us the rest of our time here to finish the work, but we did a lot on Thursday. During that time, Rosa (and her mad Excel skills as a Finance & Planning professional) created a wonderful spreadsheet to automate the fortnightly management meetings we’re recommending they begin. Her spreadsheet gives a comprehensive and logical view of sales, raw materials, production, delivery, costs, profit, loss, etc.
We worked hard and got a lot done, but we also had a lot of laughs throughout the day. Some combination of being tired and just general jovialness had us laughing regularly at things we did and said. It was a very fun day at work, and we all enjoyed ourselves. Also that day, we ate at our favorite restaurant (Lite Bite, which is anything but light) twice. For lunch, I tried lite soup, which was spicier but not any lighter than groundnut soup even though its base was tomato. During the afternoon, we snacked on fried plantain chips and fresh pineapple (as usual, Rosa and I ate a full pineapple in the afternoon). Then, we headed back to Lite Bite for dinner with the rest of the crew to celebrate Rosa’s and the owner’s birthday. At that time, I had the best kelewele I’ve had so far (fried thick ripe plantains with spices, heavy on the ginger). Then the owner treated us to a delicious homemade dessert of cake and ice cream. She had called us earlier in the day to ask which flavor we preferred, and we didn’t pick so she baked a two-layer cake (but the layers were baked together) of chocolate and coconut. All of the food was delicious!
Friday was Ghana’s Independence day (52 years ago they became independent from Britain), and the energy was wonderful. We had a supplier coming in from Europe, so we worked for a few hours even though it was a holiday. We didn’t go watch the parade, but I had watched them practice all week long and I am sure the actual morning parade was really nice. The negotiation with our supplier was, in my view, successful. We got most of what we needed and they got most of what they needed. More interesting than the outcome, however, was the process. Ananda (India), Rosa (Italy), and I (USA) all commented about how different this negotiation was relative to the others in which we have participated. Ananda joked that it took us 3 hours to accomplish what could have been accomplished in 15 minutes. It was a much more personal style and more transparent than others I have seen. I quite enjoyed it, because at the end, preservation of the relationship was paramount. Corporate America would do well to learn something about that!
After our business meeting and lunch, we walked back to our hotel and met the rest of our team to go golfing. Barbara was able to negotiate for us to join the local sports club for GHC5 (5 Ghana cedis) for the month. They have a golf course along the beach, so we headed down there to golf. Ananda negotiated a great rate for us, and 7 of us shared two sets of a clubs and 3 caddies so it was super affordable. If I lived here, I would definitely golf. The course is literally on the beach, and there was a live band on the beach so I was pretty much walking around (in a cargo skirt and flip flops and beach hat) the beach listening to music. And once in a while, I would hit a ball. Shout out to Mario and Cory who ensured that, even though it was the first time in my life I ever played golf, I wasn’t the worst player on the course. We had a great time and played until it was dark, then headed back to our hotel.
The local post-secondary school (Takoradi Polytechnic) had rented our hotel to have a pool party for Independence Day. At 10am, they rolled in huge speakers, tents, and more and they spent the day preparing for a party and fashion show. By the time we got back to our hotel, eager to shower from being sticky and sweaty, the party was in full swing. The gate was closed, but without paying the entrance fee for the party, we entered and looked like VIPs. As we were heading to our rooms to shower, our hotel staff caught us and for most of us, dancing took precedence over showering (wouldn’t have mattered anyway, it was so hot that we would have started sweating again as soon as we started dancing since it was all outdoors with no fans). Volker, Rosa, and I danced downstairs by the pool, upstairs by the hotel, on the balcony by our rooms. We had a fantastic time at the party before finally crashing exhaustedly into our beds when the party was over.
Saturday was the big tour day that Barbara and Isaac coordinated for us. We left early in the morning and returned late at night, making a big circle to see some of the key sights in the Western region. We toured Kwame Nkrumah’s birthplace and memorial, which was especially relevant the day after Ghana’s Independence Day.
My favorite thing there had nothing to do with Kwame Nkrumah, though. At the pool of one of his miracles, these little boys were bathing and they showed off their mad jumping skills for us. Ananda captured this great shot on his camera:
After leaving Nkroful, we drove down a challenging dirt road to Beyin. We literally thought our bus might fall apart, and Carolyn correctly asserted that it sounded like there were tribal drummers on our roof. It was well worth the drive, as Beyin is the most beautiful beach I have ever seen. Looking in either direction, you can’t see any buildings, just palapa huts, sand, sun, and ocean. This would be a great honeymoon destination, even though the drive is difficult. Amazing, and these pics don’t do it justice even though Prasad did an amazing job with this photo:
Beyin is near Nzulezo, a village of ~400 people with all raffia houses built on stilts. To get there, we walked for a while, waded through soft black mud and water, and then hopped in canoes. This guy tells a great story about his experience there: http://www.moxon.net/ghana/nzulezo.html
The village was incredible, and has no electricity aside from generators and batteries.
We learned that these people migrated from Mali ~600 years ago and settled here after trying unsuccessfully to settle in the Ivory Coast. They have a primary school and no hospital, but they have a guest house in case you want to stay there. After visiting the village and rowing back (it’s been a looong time since I’ve done any kayaking), I was hungry for lunch and had some delicious kontomire stew (spinach) with ampesi and fresh pepper sauce. Then, we got back in the bus and drove out of the Amansuri wetlands over to Ankasa Forest Reserve, another long drive on a bumpy road, this time with a cockroach running around our bus somewhere. It might have been a warning of a fun bug event that we’d experience in Ankasa!
Ankasa Reserve (http://tourism.thinkghana.com/nature-wildlife/ankasa-conservation) is the largest rainforest in Ghana and it was beautiful. We all wish we had more time to explore, it, but we did see the Bamboo Cathedral and do a nature walk. The Bamboo Cathedral rivals any gothic cathedral I saw in Madrid. The bamboo falls at perfect arches in the shape of a cathedral, and there is a pool of clean water in the middle. I actually used my bottled water to wash my hands so I could dip in and drink the water in the cathedral. The cathedral is too big to be captured by a camera:
Standing in the cathedral, all I could think was that creation really DOES testify to the glory, the power, the creativity, the perfection, the awesome majesty of God.
“For ever since the world was created, people have seen the earth and sky. Through everything God made, they can clearly see his invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature. So they have no excuse for not knowing God.” Romans 1:20
Ankasa was beautiful, we saw some amazing trees (like above-ground roots, roots bigger than me, etc.). This is a picture Prasad took at my request because standing on a big root I thought I was finally taller than Volker, but in this picture evidently I am not!
The funniest experience in Ghana so far happened at Ankasa. Our guide had a rounded machete that he used for pointing and cutting. At one point, I was walking behind Ananda on a clear trail when I felt thorns (lots of them) pricking through my hiking pants and poking my legs. I was confused about how that was happening, and I heard Ananda asking “What the heck?” at the same time so I surmised he must have also stepped into the same thorns. We quickly realized it wasn’t a bush, but that we must have disturbed a nest of safari ants because they were attacking us. They moved so quickly, that within seconds they were up my pants and crawling to my knees, biting all the way up. We ran away from wherever we were, hollering and smacking our legs (trying to kill the ants before they climbed any higher) as we went. It must have been hysterical to everyone else! When we reached a clearing, we were able to stop but at this point the ants were on my arms, in my shoes, you name it, and biting me something fierce. I had to get them out of my pants, so I ducked behind a tractor in the clearing and pulled my pants down, killing ants as I went. They were black ants, some small and some much larger, all biting me. As I killed them, I saw blood but I wasn’t sure if it was mine or theirs. Once I felt like I had killed the ants in my pants, I pulled my pants up and took my shoes off. There were dozens of ants crawling in my shoes, but they hadn’t yet been able to bite through my socks so I killed them and headed back towards our bus. As I walked, I felt more bites so I pulled my pants entirely off, killed the remaining ants, and called it a day. As we were killing the ants, Carolyn joked “Kind of gives new meaning to the phrase ‘ants in your pants’” and we all laughed. Back in the bus, I was laughing so hard at what we must have looked like running through the rainforest, slapping our legs, and then pulling down our pants.
Proof that it didn’t ruin our day, here I am still laughing back on the bus as we headed back to Taadi for the night:
It was a great day, many thanks to Isaac for being with us. Here’s a pic of our local rockstar/angel:
Today, I spent the morning at church with Kojo and the afternoon at the salon with Helena. The rest of the country was watching the Ghana/Congo soccer game (sadly, Ghana lost in this finals game) while we sat in a salon (no power for half the time) that had chickens pecking around the area outside. After 7 hours and 3 women working on my head, I have a great set of braids. Helena rocks for sticking it out with me while everyone gawked at the Obruni in the salon. She is a dear, and I am so grateful that I met her. I pray in agreement with her for her future, bright and prosperous. After the salon, we had grilled tilapia (head, tail, and all) with some delicious banku from a "restaurant" behind the gas station. Loved it, and at almost 1am I am still full!
Now, I am off to bed for some great sleep before heading back to AGI in the morning feeling refreshed and ready to tackle the tasks in front of us.
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment