Backgound: I should have mentioned this earlier - why I'm here. Sister Cities of Louisville, KY received a $115,000 grant from Sister Cities International (SCI) funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to carry out projects in Africa that will alleviate the living conditions of the urban poor. Seven cities in the US have been initially chosen to work on this grant with their respective Sister Cities in Africa. This week we have all gathered in Accra, Ghana to finalize project plans, often times sharing ideas with other African cities and brainstorming together - the atmosphere is one of cooperation with everyone striving for the same goal. Generosity is abound with even technical drawings being shared between groups. More practical and mundane is the training on local laws, procurement and tender processes and most intense of all - monitoring and evaluation reporting. Next week I will travel to Louisville's Sister City, Tamale to visit the sites where our projects will take place; naturally this is the part of the trip I am looking forward to most.
Feb 4th 2010: This morning I woke to no water. Thankfully the hotel was kind enough to bring me a bucket full, I imagine from the large tanker outside that has hauled in water to the hotel each day since i have arrived - I chalk it up to just another first and get on with it. I do wonder though what the local population is doing for water during what turns out to be a citywide shortage.
Things are more serious today in training and tensions run high as things get complicated; semantics are the order of the day and there is much disagreement - time for a coffee break. I should mention the coffee - granulated. I haven't had granulated coffee since i left Great Britain 5 years ago, it's actually surprisingly good. Perhaps it's the nostalgia or just the fact that this is the first coffee i have had in 5 days (surely a record), either way I'm getting a second cup.
At lunch I'm excited to try Banku - a traditional dish. The consistency is somewhat like mash potatoes but more gluey. You pull off a ball and using your hand as a scoop, use it to pick up some of the okra & fish stew. It takes some getting used to but eventually you get the hang of it. It's delicious.
More afternoon training and everyone is ready for the group outing SCI has organized - we gather in reception, huddling around the AC unit before heading into the humidity and blistering heat. Dinner is a short drive away, past the presidential palace, the sports stadium and several other sites. We are treated to a lovely Chinese meal (although I am a little disappointed that it's not more Ghanaian fare) followed by speeches and a few more speeches. We arrive back at the hotel one short - apparently they got into a rock star party in the back of the restaurant ?? Thankfully they made it back with many interesting stories & a pile of CDs!
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