we have two different school campuses at CBW. one is k-3, the other is 4-9. at feeding time, man power is needed at the 4-9 campus where you're mobbed with teenaged boys shouting more fish and more soup at you. i don't get to the smaller campus as often because of that.
the small campus though, is obviously the cuter one. the first grade teacher was telling me about how it went this morning, and mentioned how much she loved watching the kids eat. one of her boys in first grade was going at his rice and beans pretty aggressively and at one point shouts that the spoon is taking too much time. he goes outside, washes his hands with his drinking water, and comes in to go at his beans and rice properly with his hand/shovel.
at this point i was helping victoria mix some flour for the fish pies she sells after school. what prompted this story was that i asked if i could just mix with my hands. she looked at me and then at my fingers and points to each of them saying s-p-o-o-n. spoon. use your hand.
clever.
she was also shocked to hear, as we were rolling out the fish pie dough, that i also use a beer bottle (well wine.. keeping it classy obviously) to roll out dough.
as we waited for the fish pies fry under her mango tree (she has my favourite house on camp) i heard two less adorable stories. one was passed on from the neighbour. the man who used to live in victoria's house, but who had moved out to the outskirts of camp, beat his wife to death that morning. the other was about a mother who died from AIDS yesterday leaving behind a HIV+ dad and a baby boy. the dad was at a loss for what to do. the boy wouldn't stop crying and refused to eat. victoria, the teacher/mother/counselor/support network/fishpie seller, was going to go out to help after we finished baking.
there are a lot of people on camp that i pass and wonder what they do with their days... i wonder if they're just waiting for someone else (me) to sponsor them. maybe its a bad assumption based on a few bad relationships with people here, or a growing sense of pessimism.
people like victoria remind me about why i work here. and why i work with the people i do. they have a different kind of strength than what i know in canada. theres too much for me to learn in this last week.. of both the good and bad sides of this place.
i think ill just have to come back again.
"had it been another day, i might have looked the other way, and i´d have never been aware..."
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Friday, November 20, 2009
the ashanti kingdom
i left camp yesterday to come and visit kumasi. through a very random series of events, i found out that kumasi has a fair trade cocoa company (kuapa kokoo) that operates over 1000 'societies' (plantations.. sort of) around the country. thought it would be pretty cool if i could see where the cocoa is produced and then use that in cookies back at home.
sadly, you have to be more organized to actually go out and visit the sites... story of my life. but. i got to spend an hour or so with a woman who works at the company she was good enough to walk me through the positives and negatives of fair trade. to condense it all, here are some of the highlights:
- of all the cocoa they made, they expect to sell only 10% to fair trade suppliers this year. this 10% is higher than past years (2-8%) because of cadbury's new fair trade line. the corporation will buy 4500 tons of chocolate at the premium price, doubling what the company would normally sell. (who would have thought id ever
- this 10% can be produced by 2 of kuapa kokoo's 62 cocoa producing districts. currently the entire company is certified as fair trade but if things don't change on the demand side, they'll likely scale down how many districts are actually certified (long, labour intensive and expensive process to be certified)
- profits from the fair trade premium have and will continue to buy: schools, wells, sanitary facilities, training programs and capacity building initiatives
- kuapa kokoo trains their workers how to make the best cocoa possible. it takes way more time and labour than an average ghana cocoa producer, who would likely sell more of his shitty cocoa because of the lower price.. things like the length of time the cocoa ferments and dries alter the amount of sugar and flavouring that need to be added. this cocoa requires very little additives
- organic certification is still in the works. ghana is 'not yet equipped' for the export of organic cocoa.
cocoa is sold to divine chocolate in the UK and US. kuapa kokoo holds 35 and 45% of the two companies. divine chocolate is sold at 10 000 villages in uptown waterloo.
so.. chocolate will now hopefully come from these guys. just have to sort out some technicalities when im back at home. either way. very interesting morning. and you should all probably start buying from divine now... cocoa camino is good too.
cocoa aside, kumasi is a hell of a show. i attempted to take a tro tro from kuapa to the place im staying. a nice ghanaian helped me get on 'the right tro' but then the driver threw me off in the middle of west africa's largest market. which was not near my hostel. and was certianly not a place i could use the bathroom.. which was the main reason for going back to the hostel.
with an empty bladder i made my way back to the market and through the stalls of everything you could ever dream of. it spanned from cloth to knock off purses and underwear to cow feet to beads to vegetables. there was a surprising limit on the marriage proposals.. although maybe thats what people shouted at me in twi. living in my liberian bubble has left me totally illiterate when it comes to twi. it sucks.
so. after some indian food tonight - which has been missing in my diet since east africa - its back to the camp for one final blast. and then. home?
sadly, you have to be more organized to actually go out and visit the sites... story of my life. but. i got to spend an hour or so with a woman who works at the company she was good enough to walk me through the positives and negatives of fair trade. to condense it all, here are some of the highlights:
- of all the cocoa they made, they expect to sell only 10% to fair trade suppliers this year. this 10% is higher than past years (2-8%) because of cadbury's new fair trade line. the corporation will buy 4500 tons of chocolate at the premium price, doubling what the company would normally sell. (who would have thought id ever
- this 10% can be produced by 2 of kuapa kokoo's 62 cocoa producing districts. currently the entire company is certified as fair trade but if things don't change on the demand side, they'll likely scale down how many districts are actually certified (long, labour intensive and expensive process to be certified)
- profits from the fair trade premium have and will continue to buy: schools, wells, sanitary facilities, training programs and capacity building initiatives
- kuapa kokoo trains their workers how to make the best cocoa possible. it takes way more time and labour than an average ghana cocoa producer, who would likely sell more of his shitty cocoa because of the lower price.. things like the length of time the cocoa ferments and dries alter the amount of sugar and flavouring that need to be added. this cocoa requires very little additives
- organic certification is still in the works. ghana is 'not yet equipped' for the export of organic cocoa.
cocoa is sold to divine chocolate in the UK and US. kuapa kokoo holds 35 and 45% of the two companies. divine chocolate is sold at 10 000 villages in uptown waterloo.
so.. chocolate will now hopefully come from these guys. just have to sort out some technicalities when im back at home. either way. very interesting morning. and you should all probably start buying from divine now... cocoa camino is good too.
cocoa aside, kumasi is a hell of a show. i attempted to take a tro tro from kuapa to the place im staying. a nice ghanaian helped me get on 'the right tro' but then the driver threw me off in the middle of west africa's largest market. which was not near my hostel. and was certianly not a place i could use the bathroom.. which was the main reason for going back to the hostel.
with an empty bladder i made my way back to the market and through the stalls of everything you could ever dream of. it spanned from cloth to knock off purses and underwear to cow feet to beads to vegetables. there was a surprising limit on the marriage proposals.. although maybe thats what people shouted at me in twi. living in my liberian bubble has left me totally illiterate when it comes to twi. it sucks.
so. after some indian food tonight - which has been missing in my diet since east africa - its back to the camp for one final blast. and then. home?
Monday, November 16, 2009
a visa victory
yeah. a victory.
on saturday i went into accra with an especially suicidal tro tro to pick up my passport with my visa extension (when i applied in egypt for a 3 month tourist, they granted me a 2 week business). i got there only to find out that immigration was closed and that the guy gave me the wrong pick up date. figures. it gets better. i sat and talked/begged the guards to see if there was any way of checking to see if it was ready. they got their friend who got my passport. it was on the top of the pile. and there were no bribes at all. flexibility in an immigration office can work either totally for or totally against you. ive witnessed both.
on sunday, i took prosper and her mom, rita, to the beach for rita's birthday. neither can swim. that did not stop prosper from hurling herself into an especially strong atlantic undertow while either yelling 'lindsay leave me' or 'white woman come for me' at any white lady swimming further out than i let her go. the highlight of the trip for prosper was probably more the car rides though. you dont drive on camp so it was a pretty serious outing.
camp updates... still feeding, still sewing and still sponsoring. my time is winding down way too fast so we're still just making sure everything operates smoothly and that i have all the pictures and information i'll need to do things easily back in canada. if there is anything you want to know/see about the camp. tell me. nows the time.
i only have 2.5 more weeks here (i fly out december 3, home the 5th). so, if youre at all thinking of donating and want to have me oversee your donation, get on it! donation ways are still the same (look to the right of the blog). i'll take pictures and what not.
the biggest news i have this week though is that... a website will be up in a matter of days! keep checking here, your inboxes and your facebook accounts (or wherever else i harass you) for the site and a real life newsletter.
on saturday i went into accra with an especially suicidal tro tro to pick up my passport with my visa extension (when i applied in egypt for a 3 month tourist, they granted me a 2 week business). i got there only to find out that immigration was closed and that the guy gave me the wrong pick up date. figures. it gets better. i sat and talked/begged the guards to see if there was any way of checking to see if it was ready. they got their friend who got my passport. it was on the top of the pile. and there were no bribes at all. flexibility in an immigration office can work either totally for or totally against you. ive witnessed both.
on sunday, i took prosper and her mom, rita, to the beach for rita's birthday. neither can swim. that did not stop prosper from hurling herself into an especially strong atlantic undertow while either yelling 'lindsay leave me' or 'white woman come for me' at any white lady swimming further out than i let her go. the highlight of the trip for prosper was probably more the car rides though. you dont drive on camp so it was a pretty serious outing.
camp updates... still feeding, still sewing and still sponsoring. my time is winding down way too fast so we're still just making sure everything operates smoothly and that i have all the pictures and information i'll need to do things easily back in canada. if there is anything you want to know/see about the camp. tell me. nows the time.
i only have 2.5 more weeks here (i fly out december 3, home the 5th). so, if youre at all thinking of donating and want to have me oversee your donation, get on it! donation ways are still the same (look to the right of the blog). i'll take pictures and what not.
the biggest news i have this week though is that... a website will be up in a matter of days! keep checking here, your inboxes and your facebook accounts (or wherever else i harass you) for the site and a real life newsletter.
Sunday, November 8, 2009
compare and contrast...
i remember hitting this point last summer... when you get immune to the insane stories that show up on your doorstep each day. stories about parents that got visa's to america and left a 5 year old son behind to sell peanuts on the road. stories about people wanting the $40 to complete their highschool education so that a few doors might open their way. stories about being hungry. it all becomes normalized.
it takes moments like one that i had tonight to snap me back to my senses and remember that these kinds of things don't happen every day and arent okay, to put it in simplest terms.
the new puppy at home has caused quite a buzz here. yesterday after talking with my family on the phone, i recapped the conversation to a friend on camp. she asked about updates and i mentioned that our puppy had been given a time out in school for humping the other puppies. her face went blank. "you send your dogs to school?". "well.. yes.." "to learn what exactly?" "oh you know.. how to behave... sit. stay. lie down." she went home that night to tell the story to her family. the howled and she came back for additional details about the life of a dog. dog food, dog birthdays and dog christmas presents are a bit hard to wrap your head around here. somehow, im telling a stream of humans that i cant send them to school and that just asking the resident white lady isnt a solution to their problems. meanwhile. my puppy is in a time out at puppy school. how are we on the same planet?
right after that though, amelia told me a story about her old dog. this dog was one of those ones with really good human instincts. her grandson was sick and while amelia and her daughter slept, the dog would stay awake and keep an eye on the kid. when the kid cried, the dog would wake up the two of them. when they carried him to the hospital, they couldnt get the dog to leave from under the kid's bed. when a friend had a baby, the dog stayed until the baby was born and then went outside and barked until all the neighbours came. the way she talked about her relationship with the dog reminded me a lot about how we felt about our neighbour's old dog. all of a sudden, we were all back on the same planet again.
and then she told me about how the dog died. apparently one day while amelia was at school, her neighbour had a dream about a brown dog. in the morning, this neighbour saw amelia's brown dog passing by the house. at this point, i thought it was going to be a nice story about this woman going and helping the dog die or whatever. not so. the woman fixed a plank of wood with a few nails and beat the dog to death. apparently the dream about the brown dog wasnt a good one. figure that one out.
either way, i've agreed to send a picture of my puppy at graduation to amelia. she will show it to her family when they're feeling sad... remind them of what the crazy white people do with all the extra money they have.
another stat that i came across this week in a pathetic attempt to catch up on world news... "Diarrhea kills 1.5 million young children a year in developing countries — more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined — but only 4 in 10 of those who need the oral rehydration solution that can prevent death for pennies get it.". meanwhile, i hear canada has begun a mad swine flu vaccination campaign. i believe the country has seen... 50 deaths thus far?
if anyone can wrap their heads around this.. let me know. i can't.
it takes moments like one that i had tonight to snap me back to my senses and remember that these kinds of things don't happen every day and arent okay, to put it in simplest terms.
the new puppy at home has caused quite a buzz here. yesterday after talking with my family on the phone, i recapped the conversation to a friend on camp. she asked about updates and i mentioned that our puppy had been given a time out in school for humping the other puppies. her face went blank. "you send your dogs to school?". "well.. yes.." "to learn what exactly?" "oh you know.. how to behave... sit. stay. lie down." she went home that night to tell the story to her family. the howled and she came back for additional details about the life of a dog. dog food, dog birthdays and dog christmas presents are a bit hard to wrap your head around here. somehow, im telling a stream of humans that i cant send them to school and that just asking the resident white lady isnt a solution to their problems. meanwhile. my puppy is in a time out at puppy school. how are we on the same planet?
right after that though, amelia told me a story about her old dog. this dog was one of those ones with really good human instincts. her grandson was sick and while amelia and her daughter slept, the dog would stay awake and keep an eye on the kid. when the kid cried, the dog would wake up the two of them. when they carried him to the hospital, they couldnt get the dog to leave from under the kid's bed. when a friend had a baby, the dog stayed until the baby was born and then went outside and barked until all the neighbours came. the way she talked about her relationship with the dog reminded me a lot about how we felt about our neighbour's old dog. all of a sudden, we were all back on the same planet again.
and then she told me about how the dog died. apparently one day while amelia was at school, her neighbour had a dream about a brown dog. in the morning, this neighbour saw amelia's brown dog passing by the house. at this point, i thought it was going to be a nice story about this woman going and helping the dog die or whatever. not so. the woman fixed a plank of wood with a few nails and beat the dog to death. apparently the dream about the brown dog wasnt a good one. figure that one out.
either way, i've agreed to send a picture of my puppy at graduation to amelia. she will show it to her family when they're feeling sad... remind them of what the crazy white people do with all the extra money they have.
another stat that i came across this week in a pathetic attempt to catch up on world news... "Diarrhea kills 1.5 million young children a year in developing countries — more than AIDS, malaria and measles combined — but only 4 in 10 of those who need the oral rehydration solution that can prevent death for pennies get it.". meanwhile, i hear canada has begun a mad swine flu vaccination campaign. i believe the country has seen... 50 deaths thus far?
if anyone can wrap their heads around this.. let me know. i can't.
Thursday, November 5, 2009
colonial legacies...
last night a friend asked when thanksgiving was. liberians apparently celebrate thanksgiving... a nod to their colonial masters i suppose.
i think i've mentioned this before but liberia was an unofficial american colony (the country was basically a dumping spot for black americans). as such, america holds a special spot in liberian hearts.
compared to ghanaians, they speak with an american accent. i didn't actually notice this until the other day when i was at a bank with a ghanaian and i wondered if she was purposely putting on a british accent. i'd heard that at call centers in india they train employees to do that.. maybe ecobank does the same. turns out though, its just leftover from british rule. ecobank is a pan african bank so it would be weird for them to train their employees with western accents. maybe barclays does that.
the liberian flag is i suppose another blatant sign of who used to rule the place. if you dont know it.. its an american flag but with only one star. way simpler to draw. the capital, monrovia, is also named after US president james monroe. apparently the guy was pretty into the colonization of liberia. JFK hospital is a prominent hospital in monrovia as well..
anyway.
this past week on camp has gone quickly. im just rounding the halfway point which is insane.
we've been spending a lot of time working out kinks in the beans/fish/rice system and coming up with a really solid set of checks and balances for when i leave. for people that know me personally... i like to work in shades of grey. a lot. i dont plan, and im not huge into structure. we're doing all of that this week, and then some. its good though. regimented, but i always underestimate how important structure is here.
for the bags.. we've just sent off another shipment to canada. i hear there is a wait list for the sacs which is incredible. i'll carry home as many as possible when i come back at the beginning of december. email eat.to.feed.liberians@gmail.com if you want on that wait list. ill put up a picture of the bags on the blog but if youre in kitchener, you should see them kicking around. my sister nora is manning the operation while im away. along with the sacs there are also loads of organizer bags ($3 each now) and yoga mat bags/sports bags. all the profits go towards supporting an organization here on camp that sponsors underprivileged kids to go to school.
thats about it for now..
i think i've mentioned this before but liberia was an unofficial american colony (the country was basically a dumping spot for black americans). as such, america holds a special spot in liberian hearts.
compared to ghanaians, they speak with an american accent. i didn't actually notice this until the other day when i was at a bank with a ghanaian and i wondered if she was purposely putting on a british accent. i'd heard that at call centers in india they train employees to do that.. maybe ecobank does the same. turns out though, its just leftover from british rule. ecobank is a pan african bank so it would be weird for them to train their employees with western accents. maybe barclays does that.
the liberian flag is i suppose another blatant sign of who used to rule the place. if you dont know it.. its an american flag but with only one star. way simpler to draw. the capital, monrovia, is also named after US president james monroe. apparently the guy was pretty into the colonization of liberia. JFK hospital is a prominent hospital in monrovia as well..
anyway.
this past week on camp has gone quickly. im just rounding the halfway point which is insane.
we've been spending a lot of time working out kinks in the beans/fish/rice system and coming up with a really solid set of checks and balances for when i leave. for people that know me personally... i like to work in shades of grey. a lot. i dont plan, and im not huge into structure. we're doing all of that this week, and then some. its good though. regimented, but i always underestimate how important structure is here.
for the bags.. we've just sent off another shipment to canada. i hear there is a wait list for the sacs which is incredible. i'll carry home as many as possible when i come back at the beginning of december. email eat.to.feed.liberians@gmail.com if you want on that wait list. ill put up a picture of the bags on the blog but if youre in kitchener, you should see them kicking around. my sister nora is manning the operation while im away. along with the sacs there are also loads of organizer bags ($3 each now) and yoga mat bags/sports bags. all the profits go towards supporting an organization here on camp that sponsors underprivileged kids to go to school.
thats about it for now..
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