“Tamale after 4 days….”

Dasiba,

I have been in Tamale for four days so far and overall it had been great. I have a few up and down moments but trying to take it all in stride.

The first two nights I stayed in the “Al Hassan” hotel. It was an interesting place right in the centre of town. I immediately igured out why there are not any taller buildings. It’s because it is just too HOT. I am on the second floor and it is crazy hot inside the room. During the day the sun beats down on the flat roof eating up the concrete and driving up the temperature inside. During the evening when it is reasonable outside the hot walls radiate all the heat back into the room making it even more uncomfortable. The weak fan on blows the hot air around and makes a lot of noise. I guess the heat is something to get used to. The shared washroom facilities were on the other side of the floor and the doors of the toilet and two showers barely closed and wouldn’t stay shut. This made it interesting when one had to do ones business. Also only the toilet had a working light so showers at night were done in the dark. Although it was unbaribly hot and at a price I could not afford in the long term the Al Hassan did have some excellent features. It was located in the centre of town which allowed for easy exploration of the market and downtown facilities. It also had a flat roof with a ladder leading up to it. Not too sure if I was allowed to go up there but I did anyways. It was a good view of the city and provided an excellent view of the sky at night. The sky here seems so big. You can see from horizon to horizon with nothing impeding your view. The stars also really jump out at you and seem like they are closer.

On Tuesday I was searching about the market when all of a sudden a huge wind storm came out of the north. It was nice at first because it was a very cooling wind but it soon intensified and picked up sand and dust and made it difficult to see. All the locals and vendors were either quickly moving along their way or packing up their stands. I took this as a que that a storm was coming and made it back the hotel. I thought that the cool breeze was very welcoming so I made it back up onto the roof to see around. It was about 6pm so it was rapidly getting darker. On the horizon I could see the storm traveling across the savannah. It was a breath taking site to watch it move along the plains with bolts of lightning illuminating the clouds above and a small section below. It was really quite a big storm. Unfortunately the wind died down and the storm passed the city to the North and immediately the heat came back. That same night we had dinner with the Canadian High Commisioner to Ghana. There were around 16 Canadians from the Tamale area with 6 of them from EWB.

So what am I doing here anyways? I am working with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) on the Northern Region Water and Sanitation Project (NORWASP) which is funded by CIDA. The project has been running since 1999 and its goal is to improve the health of those living in the Eastern corridor of the northern region. It hopes to accomplish this by facilitating the provision of potable water, sanitation facilities and hygiene education. I have spent the past four days reviewing the project progression over the years and meeting some key players in the CWSA team. The NORWASP project is headed by a Canadian, Nancy Cosway, also known as my boss. She has been very helpful thus far. Next week I will be going out to the field to meet the field staff in the West Mamprusi district. It should be a great chance to try and see the actual outcomes of the project on the ground. All the communities that NORWASP approaches are less than 2000 people and some have fewer than 70. It will really be an eye opener to see life in these villages. Hopefullly I can retain as much as possible and figure out where I can fit into this project to make an actual contribution. One great thing about Nancy is she is eager to get me out to the field and meet everyone and really get oriented so I can figure out where I think I can contribute. Of course in the mean time I am gathering information for her and the project but it is great that she really is pushing the “you have to see what is happening on the ground before you can understand and move forward” idea.

More about Tamale: Nearly every car in the town is a taxi. I bet that 80-90% of the cars are taxis. Every other vehicle is an NGO vehicle or owned by a worker of an NGO. However the huge thing that hits me is the number of bikes and motorcycles. They say that Holland has a lot of biclycles but I think that here people are born on them. They are everywhere. You really have to be aware of your surroundings to not get run over as most bikes do not have breaks or bells. Also there are nearly as many motorcycles as taxis. They drive on the road the side walk and anywhere else they think they can get by. It is really something.

I have been struck by the over all level of honesty and good will exhibited by Ghanaians. I feel very safe all the time even at night and really do think that most really are just interested and have only good intentions. For example when night I took a taxi back the place that I was staying at and I forgot a loaf of bread on the dash, twenty minutes later the driver was back with the loaf of bread. He must have driven nearly right into town by the time he noticed it and turned to bring it back. He could have easily kept it as I was the one that forgot it and odds are would see him again as there are a ton of taxis in town.

As I will be out in the field next week I probably wont update the blog until next weekend of early next week. Let me know if how you are doing or if you want to know anything in particular.

Take Care and God Bless,
Jason