BECA Travels: June 5, 2012

June 5, 2012

We awoke to pounding rain at about 6:30 AM.  The rainy season usually begins in March, but there hasn’t been much of a rainy season here – not unlike California – so this was a real surprise for the time of year.  It left the air cool and fresh – terrific!

After breakfast, Edem gave us an orientation to HardtHaven and to Ghana.  And then his wife, Jessie, provided us with a background on United, the organization that has sprung from HardtHaven that focuses on health education and other services.  Jessie and Edem are married, and they have a gorgeous baby daughter named Isabella, who enchants us with her smiles and waves.

In the afternoon, we took a walk around the town of Kpando – sizeable considering the “small-town” ambience. The shops – most are like booths in farmers’ markets – are colorful, with delightful, and often funny, names.  We saw several places that sew clothing, and found one or two shops that sell the colorful batik from which the clothes are made. We found a slaughter house and saw a sheep and goat destined to turn into meat tomorrow. We walked through Zango (?), the Muslim section of town. (Roughly two thirds of Ghanaians are Christian; half of the rest are Muslim, and the balance practice the traditional animist faith.) We ended the walk at the shop of a wood carver, who makes lovely masks, canes and statuettes.

We are drinking a LOT of water.  It goes through our systems quickly, given the humidity.  Occasionally, it’s possible to buy water bottles, but mostly, water is sold – and drunk – in plastic “bubbles” of water.  Unfortunately, the bubbles are not recycled properly; you see the plastic scattered about.

The students have been assigned to two production groups.  Originally, our intent had been to make a short and a long video on HardtHaven, the children’s home.  But Edem has asked us to focus some of our efforts on United. So one group is focusing on HardtHaven and the other is addressing United.  The goal for the HardtHaven video is to raise awareness internationally about the existence of the children’s home and the situation of the AIDS orphans it serves, while the intent of the video about United will be to recruit volunteers to work with United.  After dinner, the students had production meetings to develop treatments and plans for their videos. 

This is a great group – enthusiastic, excited about the videos, and interested in everything they are seeing.  It’s a delight to be with them.