Friday, March 9, 2012

Football fever, mothers' clubs and Ghanaian food

I was privileged to spend my first weekend in Ghana at a Vodafone Corporate Challenge where many Ghanaian companies played against each other while the Red Cross provided the first aid. It was amazing to see their passion for football and their skill even if they were just doing it for for fun. It was a hot as well as dusty two days but it was filled with music and football and a great way to spend the weekend.
      

The Band



One of the highlights ways finally trying local food. While it wasn't visually very pleasing, it soon became apparent that looks can be deceiving - this carb filled dish with rice, bananas, beans and pepper was amazing and kept me going all day. 

I look forward to trying more of the local food over the next few weeks. 


  

On Monday I got to attend Mothers’ Club meeting which was a great opportunity to see the grassroots work of the Red Cross in local communities. These Mothers’ Club  empower women to provide First Aid to the communities in which they live. They also play a vital role in Disaster Preparedness as they educate local people on how to prepare for disasters including pandemics. Mothers’ Clubs also provide assistance during times of emergency in that they are the “eyes and ears” on the ground and can provide valuable information on the number of individuals effected by the disaster as well as what assistance is required. While  the meeting was conducted in the local language, it was an experience that I really enjoyed. 


Tuesday was Ghana's Independence day and it was a great opportunity to spend it at the day at the beach. After a bit of drama getting there and having to paying 5 cedes (yes, here you have to pay  - a bit of a shock for an aussie) for access to the beach, I settle down with a local beer and enjoyed some reggae, plus some of the local personalities.   



Wednesday was spent at the office waiting.....


Today, I got to go on an errand with a co-worker which was a good way of seeing more of the Accra. We had to hand deliver a letter which is the way of delivering important documents and it when we got there we realized that it needed some editing and so we had to go back to the office. Later I got to see the central markets in Accra which was intense because of the number of people and new sights and smells.





They really wanted me to take a photo of the head of this beast


Tomorrow, they have told me to "rest" even though I soooo wanted to do some work (I can rest when I am dead, seriously) but what can you do? I'll probably go to National Museum and try and see more of Accra. The Red Cross National Youth Day is on Saturday and I'm off to Cape Coast on Sunday. Awesome!!!






















  

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