The End

So… Finally back in Boston… completed my round the world trip in just under 1 month.

Let’s see if all my goals were met:

a. Make friends in Ghana – check!
b. Build composting latrine and optimize designs – yup!
c. Conduct sanitation education workshops at Taha Village – had a sanitation Drama Performance at Taha, but didn't get to work on educational outreach materials...
d. Dance to the local music – Went to a club in Tamale
e. Sleep on a Ghanaian beach – fail. Was sick the last week and couldn’t make it to the Green Turtle beach…
f. See an elephant – Fail. Didn’t have a Sunday spare to make it up to Mole National Park. Was told it wasn’t worth it anyway…
g. Conduct baseline sanitation surveys in Northern Ghana – Sam helped me out with this while she went water sampling around the area.
h. Don’t get infectious diseases – epic fail. Knocked out for my last week with a bacterial infection.

So what are the things that I have learnt?
• Development work in Ghana is incredibly difficult. Especially in the field of rural water and sanitation.
• I need Asian food at all times
• Life is beautiful

And now it’s back to regular school, job hunting, and real life.
I have to admit, as much as I love Ghana, it feels great to be back.

Tho, I will forever miss the PHW factory and the workers and riding on that pickup truck to work everyday...

Day 14-25: Delirious

Currently surviving on: Chopin, Friends (the TV show), and Voltic mineral water…

Bhavna’s father (our Indian neighbours) waltzed into my room at 6:30 am this morning, handed me a pot of special, herbal tea and said,

“Go outside, the sky is calling you.”

Today is the first time I’ve gained enough strength to leave the house and it is stunningly beautiful outside. I can hear the children’s voices at the school nearby, the shopkeepers getting set up for the day... I can see the beautiful trees set against the red, dusty, dirt road and feel the cool, morning air blowing across the porch.

It’s really all a miracle.

A bacterial infection…

The past 6 days have been utterly miserable for me and I have been lying in bed, suffering from fever, vomiting, body pains… I don't remember ever being that sick and suffering so much before.

Fortunately my teammates and our housekeeper have been very kind and have been helping me out a lot. And thank god for our Indian neighbors who have prepared congee, special herbal tea, honey and all sorts of other home remedies to enable a speedy recovery.


Kapsad Scientific Hospital

Last Friday, I managed to muster up enough energy to make it to the nearest hospital to be tested for malaria. Results were negative.

I had to wait 3 hours in line to see the doctor… The entire hospital (this was supposed to be one of the best in Tamale) had two doctors on call serving around 20 patients in wards, and a line of 30 sick people waiting to be helped. It sucked. I almost collapsed on the floor while waiting.

On the road to recovery

I feel my strength coming back now and my appetite too. I’ve lost a lot of weight in the past few days… My jeans are barely clinging on. Can’t wait to fly to London on Friday and hang out with my sister and eat some Asian food…

More updates on the project to come later. Stay tuned.

Day 12-13: Hot Drama

Current mood: “Pacific Coast Party” – Smash Mouth

Bridging the gap between the Taha Village leaders and the Pure Home Water staff was the local drama group debuting a performance of their sanitation education play at the local middle school:

The kids loved it and it was great opportunity for Pure Home Water to bond with its neighbors and to improve our relations in the area. I think also that the drama was fairly effective in conveying sanitation messages. Everyone seemed quite knowledge able issues related to sanitation, but putting knowledge into action is an entirely different matter...

Dancing to the stars

“Dance to local music” – check!

The hip-life Ghanaian music was amazingly rhythmic and even for me (I am not much of a dancer/clubber), it was fun to go out with my teammates. The way Ghanaians moved in the club is also very different to people in the USA. Their movements in general are smaller, slower and more confined, but very stylish. (unlike extravagant American college student dancing...)

Other than that, it was a pretty typical club scene.

Dinner Guests

Each night we are having a “spotlight on” with our guests who talk about their life stories and other things. While it would be inappropriate to post their personal details on the blog... I must say: You guys are awesome.

Day 11-14: This is Africa

Current mood: Beethoven Piano Sonata Op. 109 – First Movement

Surreal. Dinner on Wednesday with our Indian neighbors, in suburban Tamale, with an American run Ghanaian NGO team, listening to classical Indian vocal music, talking about the longevity of trees, Eastern philosophy and such…

Then tonight, dinner with the head of the Ghanaian Carter Foundation Guinea Worm Program and the team. Listening to his informal presentation about the success of their program and their elimination of guinea worms in Ghana… I am quite inspired. If anyone can make a difference in Africa, I have no doubts these extraordinary people around me can.

Will it work?
But alas, there are too few success stories like the Carter Foundation…
Just driving down a road in Tamale, I see dozens of signs and posters for various NGOs. So much money has been poured into Ghana, but how much difference have we made as a whole? How can we better organize our efforts? Are we just throwing money into fire, hoping that the fire will one day stop burning?

The Millennium Village and Millennium City ideas by Jeffrey Sachs were laughed at during our dinner conversation. “It won’t work, I can tell you that right now,” said one person.

If all the NGOs here decided to leave, I think half the country would probably be unemployed... Maybe our presence is distorting the natural growth and development of this nation? Maybe we should restrain the amount of foreign aid and our urge to help, and give Ghana the chance to stand up on its own feet and find its own strengths?


Your business is my business
Back to the whole latrine business. Negotiations with the local contractor for provision of sanitation facilities to local schools have somewhat fallen through this week. Primarily because of the high cost and our limited time here. Ideally, we would implement the project using our approach and designs and involving more community outreach… Perhaps next year for the next M.Eng student.

On the brighter side, construction of the composting latrine looks like it will finish before I leave. Still 1.5 weeks off-schedule, but hey, it’s not bad for Ghana… It’s super difficult to convince workers to plan ahead and work more efficiently and to adapt to new designs. Not that they’re being lazy at all… In fact, they’re super hardworking! But it’s just the way people work.

What would Beethoven think?
I was playing Beethoven on my laptop speakers when our housekeeper Daniel walked into our room and asked, “Who is playing the piano?”.

“Maurizio Pollini.”, I replied.

“He plays with here… (pointing to the head) and here… (pointing to the heart) And that is how I want to play,” he exclaimed..

And so we entered into a conversation about music (he is a pianist/organist for his church) and how he aspired to become a better keyboardist but there weren’t enough materials, books or teachers in Tamale.

So I will send him a package with some classical music CDs, videos and books when I get back to the USA.

I wonder if it will be the first time Tamale has ever seen a volume of Bach Prelude and Fugues.

Day 10: The Expats

It’s Sunday… Our only day off!

Watered my concrete foundation in the morning, played Ultimate Frisbee with some Expats, feasted at a local restaurant which had the slowest service I’ve ever seen, but also the best guinea fowl I’ve ever eaten: