5 December 2010

The Ghana Tomato Project is done.  Here is the final report:  Justice died early, Mercy produced a lot of blossoms but very few tomatoes, Charity (never faileth) produced tomatoes but they were tasteless, and Hope fizzled.  We’ve decided to grow a flower garden instead.  Here are pictures of what is growing to date. 

The shrub is an orange blossom bush.  It is from the orange blossom bush alongside our stairwell that blossoms every 3 – 4 weeks and gives us two days of olfactory bliss.  I doubt this one planted in the pot will mature enough to blossom during the remaining time we have here in Accra. 

I was driving down Independence yesterday morning and was slowed by this group of people marching down the avenue.

They carried picket signs and were chanting/singing.  I fully expected to discover that they were upset about some perceived social injustice and wanted to demonstrate their support for a solution.  I was delighted to see, once close enough to read their signs, that they were demonstrating their support for an organization that was advocating prevention of violence to women.  I wish I would have had the convenience to take more photos.  And I wish I could have audiotaped their chanting/singing. 

Here is a photograph (compliments of Google, I’ve not been able to get a personal picture) of our current Most Favorite Bird in Africa.  

This is the gray headed kingfisher.  We have seen this bird three times, now, each time near the swimming pool.  It is as beautiful as the Google picture shows.  The bird’s wings are various shades of turquoise and his/her beak is red/orange.  Twice, the bird has flown from a tree branch on one side of the pool to the surface of the water, touching the surface briefly, I’m assuming to catch a bug, and then up into the branch of a tree on the opposite side.  I have tried to get a photograph but the bird has flown away too quickly to get a camera, get it turned on, and get the picture taken. 

Here is a picture of another bird.  

I was able to take this photo while this bird was having a meal of palm berries.  The bird was very content to sit and eat while I took photographs.  The bird looks like a hawk with its curved beak.  I have not been able to determine its species.

On the first Monday of each month the medical service at the US Embassy hosts a CME program for local physicians.  I have attended most of the presentations this past year.  Fifteen to twenty Ghanaian physicians usually attend along with three to five non Ghanaian physicians. The Embassy physician in charge plays a CME presentation that has been prerecorded, usually a month or two earlier, from somewhere in the US.  After the presentation he or she leads a discussion on the topic presented.  Some times the topics are relevant and there is an informative discussion.  Other times there is a significant disconnect between the topic and its relevance to medical practice in Africa, such as the presentation last summer on the workup and treatment of pediatric meningitis in the USA but no mention of malaria, which is the number one pediatric CNS infectious disease in Africa.  The topic in November was treatment of evenomations (dangerous snake/spider/insect etc. bites) presented by an ER physician from Chicago.   Think about this topic for a minute.  You can immediately imagine the disconnect.  The Ghanaian physicians did not seem too interested in learning about dangerous North American spiders/snakes/insects and were obviously disappointed that the lecturer, in describing dangerous snakes, did not mention the African black mamba, a snake that can grow to 14 feet in length, can raise it’s head three to four feet off the ground, can strike from 10 feet away, can travel at speeds up to 12 mph, and has venom so potent it has been known to kill giraffes.  It makes the diamondback rattler look harmless.  (We don’t have black mambas here in Ghana; we have a cousin, however, the green mamba, a smaller snake which is not as dangerous as the black mamba and is usually not as feared, except by Marsha who is fearful of anything snakelike.)   The Ghanaian physicians also unanimously disagreed with the Chicago ER doctor’s description of the “deadly” black African scorpion, which, in reality is the Emperor Scorpion a rather ferocious looking critter but actually quite harmless, so harmless that there is a growing market here in Ghana dealing with the illegal exportation of these scorpions to pet stores around the world.   So much for November's CME.  

We had a wonderful Thanksgiving week.  Dan and Joyce Jones came to Ghana to visit us.

Can you believe that?  It is indeed true friendship when someone will skip a traditional American Thanksgiving celebration and travel a great distance (approximately 7,500 air miles) to spend a week in an impoverished, uncomfortably hot country.   But they did it.  It was a tremendous boost to us.  We cherished each day with them.  We tried to show them the best of Ghana (hard to do) and minimized the worst (harder to do.)  We spent four days in and around Accra, including a visit one day to a village school near Dodowa

and then two days in Cape Coast.  I’ve mentioned Cape Coast before.  When you are in Cape Coast you can almost imagine you are in Hawaii as you look through the palm trees at the sandy beaches and the rolling surf.  You just have to ignore what is behind you (poverty) and disregard the garbage and the goats in front of you.  It takes a little imagination but it usually works.

We walked the beach the second morning,

enjoying it for about fifteen minutes until we each were so soaked with sweat that we might as well have gone swimming in the ocean.

A second shower was needed to face the remainder of the day.   

It is hard to do it but we are trying to get into the Christmas spirit.  Most of the merchants have had decorations up for two weeks.  The mall has some outside decorations, including this set of reindeer anchored to the edge of the building. 

The cinder blocks add such a lovely touch to the display.  Christmas carols are played on the overhead.  I wonder what pops into a Ghanaian’s imagination when he/she hears Bing Crosby singing “I’m Dreaming of a White Christmas?” 

The bats are back.  And the mangos are back.  I think we are as excited about the mangos as we are about the bats.  We’ve been watching the bats in the overhead sky each evening this week and have thought that the numbers of bats are diminished compared to last January when we first noticed them and saw the sky darkened by their presence.  On Friday night we drove down Kanda High Road at 6:00 p.m. and discovered that the majority of bats were flying west from their trees and not north over our flat.  That is why we have been seeing such fewer numbers.  The sky over Kanda High Road was filled with bats.  I wonder if they will change their flight patterns as the season progresses and return to a northward direction in January.    

I have heard it said, and it is probably an exaggeration, that when a tornado strikes Texas there is always a trailer court destroyed.  Some will say that this Ghana truism is an exaggeration, as well:  when there is a traffic accident in Accra there is always a light post destroyed.  It is uncanny, however, as evidenced by these photos, the number of light posts that get taken out by single car accidents.  It is as if the drivers, when they know they are about to crash, focus on hitting the closest light post.

Note the damaged light post

Ditto.

This is a photograph of a new apartment complex that is being finished. 

It is about 500 meters from our flat.  Marsha and I look at this complex on our morning walks.  And we drive by it on our way home.  We think it is probably the only construction project in Accra that has actually moved along quickly from start to finish.  When we arrived last January the four buildings were two stories in height.  The additional floors have been added during our time, the exterior has been finished, as well as the interior, and the landscaping has been put in.  People are moving in.  It is a very nice looking apartment complex. 

If you look carefully at the picture of the complex you will notice that the penthouse suite has a hot tub on the deck.  I have pondered this luxury for the weeks since observing its careful hoisting by crane to the penthouse and its placement on the patio.  (All four of the penthouse suites have hot tubs.)   As I stood and took this picture this week I had to wipe sweat off of the back of my neck and my hands were wet from sweat.  My clothes were sticking to me.  At the time of taking the picture the thought of running out from the bedroom and jumping into a hot tub did not seem very appealing.  In fact, I cannot remember a day since we’ve arrived that I’ve wanted to take a hot shower, let alone jump into a hot tub. I’m usually looking for the air conditioner or fan.  I have decided that there are certain businesses that probably do not do well in Accra.  I am sure that hot tub dealers do not do very well here.  And I suspect tanning booth dealers struggle as well.  I just cannot see a big demand for either product.      

I will end with What’s in the News?  The topic for this week’s blog entry is “wandering goats” taken from a news article brought to me by Kevin Page.

This piece of astute reporting describes a certain woman, Florence Wireponwa, being fined for the killing of a goat that belonged to her neighbor, a certain Shaiba Musah.  According to the article the goat “found its way into the house of Florence who claims it had poured out the soup she was preparing.”  What, poured out the soup?  Such an amazing goat!  You would think that if this goat came into your kitchen and did such a thing you would probably take the goat on the road demonstrating the goat’s impressive dexterity.  But no, what did Florence do instead?  She “killed the animal, cut it into pieces, and smoked it for consumption.”   Such action seems to me very logical treatment for an intruding goat.  I probably would have done the same thing.  (On second thought, I doubt I would have killed this goat for consumption.  Goat is the number two meat consumed here in Ghana, second to chicken.  I’ve eaten goat.  You only have to take one bite and you say “yup, that’s goat alright.”  I didn’t want a second bite.)  She obviously did not get the job done quickly enough because the neighbor then “entered her house and recognized the goat was his.”   A disagreement ensued.  So this little case of a wandering goat went to court for a judgement.  I am sure that there are laws on the Ghana books delineating the protection afforded wandering goats.  Probably something described in Latin terms like ipso facto goato.   Florence was fined Ghc 120 and ordered to pay the neighbor Ghc 80 in compensation.  Poor Florence.  She lost her soup and a potential meal of goat, and then had to pay money to a neighbor who couldn’t keep his goat in check.  Doesn’t sound right, does it? 

This is our twelfth month in Ghana.  We are enjoying ourselves.  We awaken each morning with the birds singing and the sun shining.  Not a bad way to wake up in December.  

We have not determined a way to get Christmas cards out this year.  We will send our holiday greetings via the blog and pledge a card to all next season when we are home. 

Merry Christmas.  We wish you the best during this special time of the year when we remember the birth of our Savior Jesus Christ.

Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabelle