Cedi Millionaire
This morning I woke up around 8, in time for meeting Emmanuel before he went back to university at Cape Coast. Another friend, Kwame, and one of his cousins, also came to the hotel and we all went out in a taxi to a foreign currency exchange at one of Accra's major hotels. It was very busy there - the hotel was hosting a large delegation of Chinese officials, who were on diplomatic business for meetings with the Ghanaian government.
When we'd finished swapping money, I was very surprised to learn I had become an instant millionaire. That's nothing much to celebrate though, since I only changed about 100 UK pounds. Ghana's currency, the Cedi, exchanges from Sterling at around 17,000 to one - we were handed a fat wad of cash over the counter with an envelope to keep it in, since a wallet would have been too small. I'll need to get used to the numbers.
Seeing Accra by day was always going to be interesting. The city has a very intense atmosphere. Whenever our taxi stopped at traffic lights, any number of people selling things would surround us, offering all kinds of products from soap to snails! I'm completely amazed at the way people carry things on their heads, whether it's something small like a kitchen pot, or larger items like a suitcase or bowl of exotic fruit. They walk along perfectly balanced, speaking to others and shouting advertisment of their wares to passers-by. I think children are taught this skill from an early age and it's a very useful one, but I'm not sure if I'll be trying to copy them...
We left Emmanuel back near his place and headed for Kwame's home in the outskirts of Accra, where he kindly said I could stay. That's going to be a good budget-saver. I think it will also be nice to live with people, rather than alone and isolated in a hotel; I'll be able to get a much better feel of the country and its ways of life. As for the place, it has four rooms - a bathroom, storeroom, bedroom and one large living room with comfy chairs and couches and a big TV. I predict it is going to be very well-used over the next few weeks with the World Cup going on - we watched matches for most of the day, since it was too hot to do anything outside.
Another reason for staying indoors was the need to rest. Kwame showed me his itinerary for the documentary filming and it was packed. He's been contacting youth projects for some weeks now, informing them about the concept and selecting which would be the best to visit. We're going to spend more time on the road than in Accra and that will be very exciting. Then in my last few days we will hopefully meet a few key stakeholders, like the British Council and High Commission, and conduct interviews to find out what they think about youth-led development.
In the evening we went to an internet cafe and then took a walk around the surrounding neighborhood near Kwame's place. It was a great evening - the temperature had cooled down from earlier. People sat in small groups outside their houses, chatting contendedly. All the shops and street sellers were still open for business. The skies were beautifully illuminated with stars: more that I've ever seen in London. Back there you can hardly make out anything because of light pollution in all shades of purple and pink.
Today I also learnt about the Ghanaian culture of extended family. All through the day, Kwame's relatives dropped by randomly to see how things were going and they were all very friendly to me. I think they're used to finding strangers here - he has hosted lots of other international volunteers in the past. Communities are very closely knit here; everyone looks out for each other and they like to make unplanned visits to friends or family. Not what I am used to at home, since my extended family are spread out around the country and other parts of the world! Mine may be an unusual case, but even generally in the UK I don't think this kind of closeness is particularly common - we would do well to learn from our brothers and sisters here in Ghana.
When we'd finished swapping money, I was very surprised to learn I had become an instant millionaire. That's nothing much to celebrate though, since I only changed about 100 UK pounds. Ghana's currency, the Cedi, exchanges from Sterling at around 17,000 to one - we were handed a fat wad of cash over the counter with an envelope to keep it in, since a wallet would have been too small. I'll need to get used to the numbers.
Seeing Accra by day was always going to be interesting. The city has a very intense atmosphere. Whenever our taxi stopped at traffic lights, any number of people selling things would surround us, offering all kinds of products from soap to snails! I'm completely amazed at the way people carry things on their heads, whether it's something small like a kitchen pot, or larger items like a suitcase or bowl of exotic fruit. They walk along perfectly balanced, speaking to others and shouting advertisment of their wares to passers-by. I think children are taught this skill from an early age and it's a very useful one, but I'm not sure if I'll be trying to copy them...
We left Emmanuel back near his place and headed for Kwame's home in the outskirts of Accra, where he kindly said I could stay. That's going to be a good budget-saver. I think it will also be nice to live with people, rather than alone and isolated in a hotel; I'll be able to get a much better feel of the country and its ways of life. As for the place, it has four rooms - a bathroom, storeroom, bedroom and one large living room with comfy chairs and couches and a big TV. I predict it is going to be very well-used over the next few weeks with the World Cup going on - we watched matches for most of the day, since it was too hot to do anything outside.
Another reason for staying indoors was the need to rest. Kwame showed me his itinerary for the documentary filming and it was packed. He's been contacting youth projects for some weeks now, informing them about the concept and selecting which would be the best to visit. We're going to spend more time on the road than in Accra and that will be very exciting. Then in my last few days we will hopefully meet a few key stakeholders, like the British Council and High Commission, and conduct interviews to find out what they think about youth-led development.
In the evening we went to an internet cafe and then took a walk around the surrounding neighborhood near Kwame's place. It was a great evening - the temperature had cooled down from earlier. People sat in small groups outside their houses, chatting contendedly. All the shops and street sellers were still open for business. The skies were beautifully illuminated with stars: more that I've ever seen in London. Back there you can hardly make out anything because of light pollution in all shades of purple and pink.
Today I also learnt about the Ghanaian culture of extended family. All through the day, Kwame's relatives dropped by randomly to see how things were going and they were all very friendly to me. I think they're used to finding strangers here - he has hosted lots of other international volunteers in the past. Communities are very closely knit here; everyone looks out for each other and they like to make unplanned visits to friends or family. Not what I am used to at home, since my extended family are spread out around the country and other parts of the world! Mine may be an unusual case, but even generally in the UK I don't think this kind of closeness is particularly common - we would do well to learn from our brothers and sisters here in Ghana.
posted by Frederick at 02:00
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