if this is africa light....
there is no way that i can recap my last week, but i will try....on tuesday hayford took me and christina on a tour of accra, my first time there. we are staying about 30 minutes outside of accra in the town of pokuase, and working in the rural villages surrounding it. accra was a bit of a shock. it was much, much poorer and dirtier than i imagined the city would be. the jamestown slums are right on the water, and still bear some of the colonial architecture which is by this point in total disrepair. accra is built up, but not the way i was expecting, and certainly in some parts feels like a large rural town, with chickens, goats and other animals roaming the streets. i do not expect to spend very much time in accra, but did have a very fun night last week going to see a live band play 'high life' music at this amazing outdoor bar. i had been really excited to hear west african music while here, and it did not disappoint!
on wednesday through friday i worked with cynthia, one of the microloan beneficiaries who lives in the tiny rural village of fise. cynthia runs a small shop that sells canned goods, sugar, eggs, oil, candy and various toiletries. the shop is a small cinderblock structure with a large porch where the goods are displayed. cynthia and her family live in a cement house in the back. i will post an article that i have written about cynthia as soon as i can, to really give you a sense of her story and the time we have spent together. this time has been invaluable to me. i basically have had the opportunity to get to know her, her family and her business over the course of three days. she cooked me the most amazing ghanian food for lunch, serving it underneath the trees on a small table in the back yard. fise is made up of three dirt roads, and the address to her shop is 'behind the railroad tracks, fise'. farm animals roam about, and there is little electricity. the power has been going out frequently since i arrived, both in pokuase where i am staying and in the surrounding towns. sometimes it goes out for an hour; on thursday it stayed out through friday and possibly into saturday. this is very common here, and there seems to be either electricity or running water, but typically not both. i have learned so much from cynthia and her family, and will use this information to market how the microloan has helped her. there is the hope that she will be one of the women that vpwa will recommend for a kiva loan once they get to that point.
so, so much more but my internet is running out again.....more later i hope. please keep checking back!
on wednesday through friday i worked with cynthia, one of the microloan beneficiaries who lives in the tiny rural village of fise. cynthia runs a small shop that sells canned goods, sugar, eggs, oil, candy and various toiletries. the shop is a small cinderblock structure with a large porch where the goods are displayed. cynthia and her family live in a cement house in the back. i will post an article that i have written about cynthia as soon as i can, to really give you a sense of her story and the time we have spent together. this time has been invaluable to me. i basically have had the opportunity to get to know her, her family and her business over the course of three days. she cooked me the most amazing ghanian food for lunch, serving it underneath the trees on a small table in the back yard. fise is made up of three dirt roads, and the address to her shop is 'behind the railroad tracks, fise'. farm animals roam about, and there is little electricity. the power has been going out frequently since i arrived, both in pokuase where i am staying and in the surrounding towns. sometimes it goes out for an hour; on thursday it stayed out through friday and possibly into saturday. this is very common here, and there seems to be either electricity or running water, but typically not both. i have learned so much from cynthia and her family, and will use this information to market how the microloan has helped her. there is the hope that she will be one of the women that vpwa will recommend for a kiva loan once they get to that point.
so, so much more but my internet is running out again.....more later i hope. please keep checking back!