I didn’t think I would ever say it, but Accra has certainly grown on me, I have enjoyed the last two weeks in the capital and got to see a different side of Ghana.
VSO asked me to do some work with the Ministry of Education (MoE) in Accra, it seems that the MoE has not had a real website for over two years; it has just been saying “Under Urgent Maintenance”. There was a VSO volunteer that started working on a new website, but he went home after a month, so VSO has asked me to see what I can do.
The MoE has hired a company called DreamOval to build the website through funding of USAid. So, I spent two weeks working on an outline for the site, technical specs, policies, content management systems. It was a nice change to the work up in the north and provided a consider how the MoE worked. Lots of meetings with many people in nice air-conditioned rooms a far cry from the hot dusty north.
I stayed with Mike and Jude at their apartment, about a 45-minute commute from work. The commute grew on me; it took two tro-tros to get to work and was relatively painless. The scenery was very colourful, the tro-tros darting down back alleys that you think they have no business being in and past a vast array of daily life playing out as you whisk by. The markets, school children, food vendors and women cleaning and running their houses, all wove a tapestry of movement, colour and excitement as their scenes played out. I really started to enjoy the trip and always had something to look and wonder at.
I would rate the commute in two ways above my commute in London. Firstly, even the busiest tro-tro is better than the tube because you always get a seat, when its moving it is cool (even if it is just as hot as the tube when you are not), they are just as efficient and run everywhere and come as frequently, they are cheap, you can buy anything, from water to a map of the world, out of their windows and lastly you get the scenery to look at. Granted you may need to sit on top of a goat and the road may be very bumpy and the BO smell of some of the occupants a bit strong but still not too bad. I would like to note that is only about tro-tros in Accra as long distance Tro travel is another story all together.
The second thing is the people, they are friendly and if I wanted it I was always guaranteed a good conversation on the way home, from sports to politics. I would not dream of trying to make conversation to one of the starched suits sitting next to me on the tube, even though I’m sure there would be the minimum conversation as dictated by politeness, but it would feel very empty and forced (I know there are exceptions to this, the last train on a Friday or Saturday night will attest to this). The conversations on the tros here were always a good laugh and made me smile and a nice way to peak in on Ghanaians and their lives.
Apart from working and commuting I spent a bit of time enjoying the extras Accra has to offer. Such as on Saturday we went to a pub to watch the rugby (Ireland vs. England). Once you had crossed the entrance of this fine establishment you could not tell you were in Ghana but would think you were tucked away in one of the many little pubs that occupy the streets of any British town. Air conditioning might have given it away as British pubs wouldn’t need it usually, but it did give the place the standard cool British temperature. They even had draft beer, a proper pool table and a population of fat old white men wearing the traditional glum expression of the traditional pub inhabitant.
I spent a night out with Jude, Krista and Mike at Alliance Francaise which puts on music and dance nights. Spent the night watching traditional dancing and drumming under the stars while downing a couple beers, was a great relaxing night out. It was nice to see some good traditional African drumming as I have only seen xylophone playing up in the north, so it was a nice change.
Went to a night club with a few people, there was a band and we spent the night dancing. Hasn’t had a night out like this since New Year’s so it was nice to let loose. The place was full of a lot of prostitutes though and a lot of old white guys who danced with them, some were funny and some you just had to look away. Dancing in Ghana is different then back home, of course everyone has rhythm and you always feel out done but a large part of dancing is the grinding which can be quite intense and make a grown man blush but its all good fun.
Finishing up in Accra today and might spend some time down the coast before I head home, we will see what happens.
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