Hello again!!
I wanted to dedicate a separate blog to the traveling that I have been doing recently. Here are all the details! (I am learning this software more now, so I'm able to insert pictures with my posts.)
July 18-19 Koforidua
We had been hearing from many friends about a very large bead market north of Accra in a town called Koforidua. There are many artisans in Cape Coast that sell beautiful jewelry, and we learned that many of them get their beads from this market. Upon some further investigation, I've learned that beads have quite a long history and great significance in Ghanaian culture. Dating back to the 1500s, locals have been making beads that were used for trade, for celebration and funerals, and to signify tribe or family roots. Beads are traded around Ghana, as well as north into Burkina Faso, Mali, and from other coastal West African countries like Cote d'Ivoire. They are made from many different materials including stone, glass, wood, bone, clay, and now plastic. Naturally, I wanted to go and see this market for myself!
There are about 50 shops in the market, each with different beads displayed. Some of them come from other countries around the continent and are sold with many beads from around Ghana. Standing inside one of the kiosks, I didn't even know where to start looking!! So many beautiful colors and types to explore. Some beads are already made into necklaces, earrings, and bracelets, while others are strung for you to purchase and make your own jewelry. Sammy knows how to make jewelry and has promised to teach us, so I purchased mostly beads to make things with. Here are some pics- R- me in front of a rainbow of beads! Below- Friend Sammy, myself, and a really friendly and knowledgeable shop owner with his beads.More Koforidua pics here- http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc477/colleenfulp/Ghana/Koforidua%20Bead%20Market/
July 27- August 1
Accra, Wli Falls, PramPram
Lauren and I decided to take a long trip over the weekend following the service day. We had been hearing a lot about Volta Region, which is in the eastern part of Ghana, bordering Togo. Volta has the largest man made lake in Ghana, created by a dam on the Volta River. It also has the largest waterfall in West Africa, Wli Falls (pronounced V-lee), so we wanted to go check it out!
Global Mamas had applied for a grant from the French Embassy to expand to a new location and was awarded the grant out of hundreds of applicants. We found out that there would be a reception for the French Embassador the Friday that we were heading to Accra, so it worked out very nicely. We were able to attend, and I even got to have a short conversation with him. He is a nice man that has been stationed in Ghana for 7 months, with previous posts around West Africa. I'm not ashamed to say that one of the most exciting parts about this party was the French wine and cheese that GM bought to serve at the reception! (I haven't had great wine or any cheese since arriving in Ghana, so that was quite a treat!)
We stayed overnight in Accra and headed out Saturday morning to Wli. We booked a guesthouse that previous volunteers had recommended by calling in advance. We traveled to Hohoe (pronounced ho-hoy) and took a taxi from there to the guesthouse. The trip took about 4 hours, so we got in in the afternoon. Volta is absolutely beautiful, so I really enjoyed the drive. I think this has been some of my favorite scenery so far! Here is one shot from the road (left). Upon arriving, it was quite rainy, so we decided to have some lunch there and rest for the afternoon. In the evening we walked from the guesthouse (which is between Hohoe and Wli) into Wli, which turned out to been about 3 miles. It was a beautiful walk down a quiet jungle dirt road. We passed people occasionally on the road, coming and going from their farms or collecting firewood. Everyone that we passed greeted us with a smile and a hearty 'Welcome!' I think that may be one of the only English words that some of the locals know, so it made me feel really good that they had made an effort to learn it in order to let visitors like us know that they were happy to see us there. :)
The following morning, Sunday, we slept in and had a nice breakfast at the guesthouse. This is all quite amazing considering that the power had been out through the night with a loud rainstorm thundering over us. The guesthouse is run by a nice Ghanaian lady, and she does have a generator. Unfortunately, the generator was not working that morning, despite several efforts by her groundsman, so she made us breakfast over a coal fire outside. Eggs, beans, and bread with butter. Yum! We hopped in one of the minibusses with some locals and headed into Wli to do the waterfall hike. The rain had let up a bit. We checked in at the visitor station and met this character (photo right), Kwame. We loved his shirt! He set us up with a guide named Wise, and we headed up the mountain trail. We got rained on quite a bit, but it was worth it. Wise pointed out cocoa beans in their pods, coffee beans, and pineapple plants all along the trail. Here are some more views of the hike-
And, of the waterfall!!
The wind was really blowing the water around, so it was quite beautiful but wet! haha
We headed back to Accra Sunday afternoon, stayed overnight in the volunteer house, and shipped out Monday morning for our next site. More photos of Wli here-http://s1213.photobucket.com/albums/cc477/colleenfulp/Ghana/Wli%20Falls/
PramPram
PramPram is another one of Global Mamas' worksites, located on the beach about an hour east of Accra. They use a slightly different business model there, directly employing seamstresses and batikers in their office rather than contracting Mamas to sew and batik from their own shops as in the Cape Coast model. GM has asked me to do an assessment of the two sites, to try to help them determine which one is working better for the women. While in PramPram, I conducted 10 interviews with Quality Control office staff, seamstresses, and batikers both for my research for my program at UW and for GM. I'm asking questions primarily about decision making and financial independence, to try to learn about women's empowerment in Ghana overall, and try to learn if there is a connection to goal setting and financial independence when working with Global Mamas. I will then conduct interviews back in Cape Coast, as well as a control site at a textile factory in Tema or Accra. I will use the information from the three different sites to see what I can learn! Photo R- batiks drying in the sun at the workshop.
PramPram is very lovely, although quite small and lacking running water. For that reason, it is a bit of a challenging place to live! We have full time staff and volunteers at the site, as well as the Ghanaian employees that live there. There has been talk of moving to Tema, a suburb of Accra, where we could build a larger production site with better amenities. Photos- Left- Erika, myself, and Lauren with some of the office staff. Right- me with a Palm :) Below- volunteers with some of the batikers. More PramPram photos here-
That concludes my travel adventures to date! I am now back in Cape Coast/Elmina meeting with Mamas here and working in the office. I am thankful for this great opportunity and for the support of all my loved ones back home!
Take care,
Colleen
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