Author Archives: Jessica

The Gift of an Uneventful Day

Posted on by under Africa, Ghana

The past day or so has been pleasantly, uneventful. After a a hectic weekend, the slow pace has been a welcome change.

Yesterday, the day was spent at the University, mostly in meetings. In the computer lab, Sheban, Jame’s graduate student found me and informed me we had a meeting (of which, I had just learned). He led me to the graduate student’s conference room, and long, narrow dim-lit room with a white-board in front. He handed me a marker and requested I went over Elisas with him. He sat down expectantly. I did my best, I’ve never been a strong teacher, but he seemed to understand, and I was able to field his questions adequately. We spent the next hour talking, I learned where he had gone to University (Cape Coast), and that at 28, he was finishing his master’s program. This is very common, many people work for several years before attending university to save up money. Public education costs about $1,000 USD a year for room and board, average incomes range from $1,000/yr-$3,000/yr. The government officials of course pull in six-figures.

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What the Guide Book Should Have Said

Posted on by under Africa, Ghana

Elmina Fish Market

Sliding on to the cool leather seat, a cool rush of air fills the sticky-hot night and at last, we breathe. We feel an overwhelming calm as we sail through the streets of Accra, observing, through tinted windows the world outside as the BBC catches us up on a world seemingly a million miles away.

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All Dressed Up and Nowhere to Go

Posted on by under Africa, Ghana

Theoretically informed, practically inhibited.

A grad student corners me outside the computer lab to quiz me on Elisas (antigen detection system). He’s read all about them, but has yet to get a chance to try one for himself. He’s eager, and very bright. He exudes excitement for his field (Microbiology), overfilled with all the practical information he can get get his hands on, but no outlet.

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Learning.

Posted on by under Africa, Ghana

Walking to lunch, Joyce tries to teach me phrases from her local language-from the Volta region. I try, she laughs at my inability to properly pronounce anything. I ask her, how many languages she speaks, she says 5. And, once again, I feel like a dumb American. She asked me, how many I speak. I say, English, and some Spanish. She then asks how to say a few key phrases in Spanish, and immediately commits them to memory. I can say hello now, and respond “good” when asked how I am. I also asked Joyce her favorite beach around Accra (she has lived here 17 years, since high school). She hasn’t been to any. Evidently, she has a slight fear of the ocean-apparently, this is typical. But she was enthusiastic about trying to go to one “now that she has a friend to take her.” I promised that of course, I would accompany her. I am beyond grateful to have made a friend so early on, and has been a great companion. Her ease and joy makes her an absolute pleasure to be around. Later, she took me to lunch and had me try another local dish, red-red. It’s just beans with a chili sauce that you eat with fried plantains that have a ginger-cayenne seasoning. The sweet and spicy is excellent, and the flavor combination is familiar. So far, I’m loving local food. I’ve read many blogs stating how much volunteers disliked the food, and perhaps I’ll tire of it too, but so far, it’s fantastic.

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