I've put this simple website up to try and respond to lots of questions that everyone has been asking me. Consider this a lengthy postcard.
Pictures:
1: Talia (UCLA) and I at Wli Falls
2: Claire (UC Santa Cruz and Pleasant Hill) "mama" and I at Tafi (place w/ monkeys)
3: Some children (those containers on their heads are full of water!)
4: Some street scenes of Kumasi (which is much more attractive than Accra)
Some common questions include:
One of the things that I get a lot is simply:
How is Africa?
Well, everything is bigger in Africa. It's a gigantic continent with innumerable states, very diverse cultures and huge populations. The food plates are also pretty large, some of the birds are really big and the spiders and lizards are tremendous. In fact just last night we had a moth fly into our room that may have had a wing span of about four of five inches (I kid you not). I've seen a spider in the jungle about six inches in diameter (including his legs, not fully extended). It is not uncommon to see a lizard that is about a foot long with orange, green and black blotches on campus. Every day I see a different insect (including praying mantis). There are anthills everywhere that are taller than 20 feet high and the tiny jumping spiders will try and attack you if they think you're trying to smash them (in fact, I like to call them little tanks, because their armor is so strong instead of squishing they crumble, usually after the second or third blow). I've yet to see an elephant, giraffe, lion or zebra, but that is because I just haven't been far enough north yet to hit the savanna (yet). But I have seen some moneys. We are living in a rain forest here near the coast. Other than that, life here in Ghana (for those who have money) is very comfortable and wonderful (and as long as you can cope with it's unpredictability). This is a land of abundance. Those are my most salient observations.
Why the heck are you there?
I'm working on a research project for my B.A. honor's thesis at UCLA. My topic is emigration from Ghana to Europe (London and Verona). I was in London and Verona for two months in the summer (where I was also able to do missionary work with my brother John for a day in Turin (Milan), Italy), and this leg of the project concentrates on the economic and social effects of people leaving the villages in Ghana and sending money back home. I'm concentrating on a village called Amanokrom (Akuapem; the website has some very wrong information, which I can clear up if you are interested. Unfortunately some people have taken this to be officially accurate by virtue of its publisher U of Ohio, a practice which is representative of the unfortunate legacy of US academic ignorance of Africa. The best academic work on West Africa has actually been pursued by Dutch scholars) an hour north of Accra, but I have also done some small work at Abonu (on Lake Bosumtwi), Doryumu (near the Shai Hills), and Konongo. The work is similar to the Transrede project by the University of Sussex, (which I'm also participating in doing some survey research, coding and SPSS data entry) except that my study is concentrating on middle and lower income individuals (real people), and my objections to their theoretical approach to the study (transnational membership) has prompted me to nickname my study Re-rede. I've already discovered some interesting inconsistencies with classic assumptions and generalizations made in the field and I'm wishing that this were my masters thesis so that it would get read.
I'm also taking some courses at the University of Ghana, including some graduate work on economic development at the Institute of Statistical, Social and Economic Research (ISSER) at the University.
Before we left as a University California study-abroad group to Ghana, I organized a group that will work on a book project for the University of Ghana department libraries and will help future students identify contributions that they can make to Ghana during their stay here.
What do you eat?
Fufu, Banku, Red Red, etc. Their dishes consist of rice, cassava, plantain, beans, palm oil and for meat you can usual expect chicken, sometimes beef and often goat. Although it is possible to find western dishes, they are expensive and usually not that great anyways. They have normal drinks (Coca Cola, Fanta Orange and Lemon) but of course no root beer (only the US and Canada does) and great pineapple juice as an extra. I have had a coconut but I couldn't finish it.
How's the weather?
It's usually very comfortable (if you like humidity), though it can get very very hot and very very rainy (you wouldn't believe the amount of rain that can come out of the sky at once here! I couldn't, even after having lived in Seattle) but those extremes are never for more than an hour or so at a time.
What has happened since you have been overseas after September 11th?
We often listen to BBC on the radio, and heard about the incidents as they started. We rushed down to the TV in the dorm lobby just before the second airplane hit and the towers fell. Ghanaians are quite interested, as United States events effect the world, and for the first two weeks they would often discuss their opinions on the matter in class. They really get a kick out of Osama bin-Laden (Åﺳﺎﻣﻪ ﺒﻦ ﻠﺎﺪﻥ ) jokes (I personally don't understand them).
Being here has let me analyze what is happening, I believe, in a more objective way. I feel much more safe here in Ghana than any of you in the United States or Europe, and if anything more happens will be moving here in a flash.
The embassy here had a very poor, impotent and inappropriate response (as usual) (ask me if you want more comments and observations of the US Foreign Service in West Africa).
How are the Ghanaians?
They really get a kick out of us Oburoni (foreigners). We can be picked out in a crowd instantly because of our white skin. Because of the poor economic conditions here (you can buy a meal here for about $1 and a nice hotel room for about $5), our white skin can sometimes be seen as a symbol of money and prestige. You definitely feel like a minority here (but, key, not in the oppressed way that 'minorities' feel in the US or Europe). Nonetheless, Ghanaians have a reputation for being the most peaceful, loving people in West Africa (and they live up to that).
Isn't there war in that region?
YES! And people in the United States are generally very ignorant of the tremendous atrocities in Sierra Leone and Liberia. BUT those are far away from Ghana. There have not been any wars here since the British marched against the Asante Kingdom at the turn of the century.
Additional pictures
Some of my friends from Berkeley have already done a pretty good job at summarizing some things about our Ghana trip on another website with weekly pictures and stuff. It's actually a really great site!! This may be nice because I don't update this site. There are also a few other sites with some pictures that you can see. And here.
So many people don't even know where Ghana is! Here's some basic information:
It was known previous to independence as the Gold Coast (guess why). It was the first colony in Sub-Saharan Africa to gain it's freedom (some countries such as Ethiopia were never colonized) in 1960 under the leadership Kwame Nkrumah (who then proceeded to attempt to create a United States of Africa, giving temporary life to the Garvey Pan-Africanist ideal). The capital (Accra) was a major fort (slave prison) for the British and was a convenient location for them administratively. If Ghana had been allowed to develop without colonization, the capital would have been Kumasi, a considerable distance from the coast, but also the seat of a wonderful empire known as the Asante Kingdom. The British Crown subjected the Kingdom to its rule after a major battle in 1901 in which it defeated the Asante Kingdom in battle (surprise surprise). Colin Powell was one of the leaders of that massacre, and soon after this campaign returned to England to found the Boy Scouts (using the gold he sacked of the King and Queen's treasury).
Ghana is one of the more accessible African countries for westerners (up there with Kenya and South Africa) because of the relative level of development and friendliness of the people. In fact, the first Peace Corp group to Africa was in Ghana.
There are also some other general websites that talk about Ghana. Here are a few.
Map: very general, but has some key cities on it. Note that Upper Volta is now known as Burkina Faso. For detailed information see the World Bank website.
Lots of other general information, history, etc a great website if you really want to learn about Ghana
The United States Embassy in Ghana just in case you are curious
The Mormon church in Ghana : the church has also made many humanitarian efforts here. Also see these other sites: location of buildings and members
this page has a number of other interesting links
Just in case
you don't have my contact information: spetrini@ucla.edu
I will be here until the 23rd of December.
Important PS!!!!!
If you want to give any money or materials (?) as a donation to a needy orphanage, support a really needy village with a supply of iodized salt (there are health problems because of its lack), or to support our book project (or whatever else you can think of), please contact me ASAP. I won't be able to do much if you contact me by the time I am home. Please keep in mind that $1 here can buy a hearty eater 2-3 meals, so EVERYTHING helps. (They do NOT need food nor clothing!!! But they do need books, opportunities for an education, computers...) I will send you pictures to show you how your donation was used (there is no 'overhead;' I will spend my own money and time to get the 'stuff' to the people; except the shipping from the US, if any).
Thanks Mom and (especially) Dad for all of your support!
Special, sacred thanks to LeAnn
I miss you snuggleuphugus! I can wait to see you again! Thank you so much for your picture, it really inspires me. I think of you everyday. You have added so much richness and beauty to my life. I can't think of my life without thinking of you as being an essential, equal part in it. My life is rich, full and wonderful knowing that you are in it. I will never leave you again. I love you eternally.
19 December 2001 14:21
