Cdefillipo's Weblog

Misconceptions about Africa…

Cassie — Mon, 01 Feb 2010 04:18:57 +0000

The following are five misconceptions about Africa. I am writing this because I have too often heard comments that are ignorant, and this is the best way I know to inform the truths about Ghana as I know them to be and to explain why I think my newfound motherland is such a special place.

1. Africa is actually different countries–47 to be exact. Grouping them all together really doesn’t do them justice most of the time. I will be talking about Ghana as that is the small part of Africa that I know.

2. While people live “poorly” in comparison to people in Western countries, there are a wide variety of housing styles in Ghana. Some people have houses just as nice as houses in the US or nicer, some people live in huts. Every end of the spectrum is covered.

3. The food in Ghana is BETTER than the food here. It takes a while to figure out the system as it is different, but once I figured it out I was eating the best, freshest, tastiest food I ever had. I seriously miss it every day.

4. The people are not individualistic, which means they think in terms of a community. PK will take his last dollar and give it away if someone asks for it. I remember a time when we were buying water and a young man asked us for some. PK gave it to him without thinking because that is what their culture does. They care about the people around them and take care of them.

5. The people in Ghana don’t know what is going on in the rest of the world. From my experience in the capital city, people knew what was going on in America, Europe, the Middle East, etc at least a little bit because they have access to news stations from all those countries. At the very least, ask a Ghanaian man about football on any corner of the globe–and he will be able to tell you about it.

Ghana will always be home for me from now on. Images of its beauty, its majestic grace that for me floods the entire land despite the negative aspects of their culture, and the hope and love of its people bring me joy.

Someday, I will utilize the land given to me and PK as a wedding present and we will build a house there. Then all my friends and family can come visit and see for themselves….

Pyramids and futures in my fingertips

Cassie — Sun, 20 Dec 2009 03:33:36 +0000

Over the past six months, most of my blogs have had to do with poverty—the social injustice of which is something I will continue to explore probably for a long time.

But I have realized as of late that sometimes while struggling to understand the pain in the world, I have forgotten to talk about and appreciate the joys.

My biggest joy as of late, other than the realization that I have been blessed with a wonderful family, the man of my dreams, and a passionate vision for my life, can be summed up in one word: Naima. Naima is one of my students who participates in Sewing Club and Aspirations Club. While I have a number of youth, she is one that excites me to watch grow. Unlike some of the others, she already has dreams and has planned steps to get to them. She came to me one day last week and said she needed to make a pyramid and it had to be more than a foot high. We cut out cardboard, taped it into the shape of an Egyptian pyramid, and then used plaster and newspaper to cover it. A few days later, she painted it yellow and poured gold glitter over it. The next day, she took some extra sand that I had found in my office and created a desert, complete with palm trees. It looked amazing, and she came back the next day and told me—with quite a bit of pride—that the teachers had voted hers the best.

What I did with her is exactly what I hope to do with all the youth. I helped her think through ideas, I helped get her started on setting everything up, and then I encouraged her as she found she could do it herself. It is so fulfilling to be a mentor, someone the youth know they can trust. It is amazing how important it is just to let the youth know that I believe in them and will support them in anything.

Every day after school, I have girls visit me. Just yesterday, the girls came early before a meeting, all for different reasons. Some wanted to sew, some wanted to do homework, all wanted to be in a space that has become safe and comfortable. Although, once 15 girls pile into my office, I am not sure how comfortable it is anymore!

I heard someone say once that there is no better feeling than watching the lightbulb turn on in a child’s brain—that I get it moment. Now I understand that. I love broadening the horizons of such talented youth who don’t realize what they are capable of and empowering them with information that leads to that I get it moment.

I have helped one girl fill out her first job application. I have done all sorts of homework with youth of all ages. I have watched as the boys aspirations group that is just beginning had some aha moments during our field trip to a local college—it was an awesome feeling to watch the boys start mentally planning out their future and considering their options.

Imperfect as I am, I still maintain that I am in the perfect place for me. I am serving to the best of my ability and learning so much along the way. Whatever I may be doing in one year, five years, ten years, I hope to never lose sight of what is right in front of me—the bright, shining, smiling faces of boys and girls like Naima, who have the world at their fingertips.

Redefining Beauty

Cassie — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 16:40:22 +0000

Beauty. No, I don’t mean the inner stuff that people always say is true beauty. I mean looks and fashion. I mean clothes and curves.

If there is one thing that Ghanaian and American women have in common, it is that we all love to look beautiful. Ghanaian women spend a lot of money and time on fashionable clothes similar to those seen in American music videos and television shows and weaves for their hair that come in every length and style.

Although our desire to look and feel pretty is the same and so are many of the clothes and accessories we wear, in many ways that is where the similarities end.

Americans tend to look at beauty as being artificial in some ways. It comes from makeup, liposuction, breast implants, and fake tanning. Ghanaians like natural beauty. Hair on the arms or the legs is considered beautiful—even grey hair is revered as a gift from God and not something to dye but something to appreciate. They believe that the natural beings God made us to be are beautiful.

While they appreciate beauty in many forms, the definition of ideal beauty is in some ways polar opposite of what beauty looks like in the United States. In the United States, thinness is desired. In Ghana, the same woman is much more likely to be single for a very long time. I asked a Ghanaian man what the ideal woman looked like, and he said she was “tough (has some fat on her), with breasts. She must have buttocks.” In Ghana, bigger facial features are often considered more beautiful—bigger lips, nose, and eyes. Women who I would consider plain coming from the US standards of beauty are considered very beautiful here.

It is always hard to identify your own beauty. I grew up believing that I was beautiful but feeling like my society said beauty looked like something else. Here, I get a lot of attention not only because I am a white woman, but because I am a white woman who outwardly, in terms of body shape and physical features, fits Ghanaian standards of beauty. I have been complimented on my big nose when I grew up wishing I had one of those tiny noses that all of the Disney princesses have. I have watched as dozens of men passed over the picture-perfect sorority girls to come talk to me, and I have maybe come to terms with my looks in a whole new way knowing that somewhere in the world people appreciate my beauty.

I realize now more than ever that outward beauty is not only fleeting but based on cultural standards and judgments. It is neither fair nor accurate. And it means nothing in the long run and will really add no satisfaction to life. I want to feel beautiful at all times and want to take care of myself, but no matter what I do I will be considered pretty by some and not-so-pretty by others.

That realization is freeing to my soul. Since I can’t please everyone, I am left with true evidence that the only real way to live is to please myself and the Lord with the beauty that comes from both my outward appearance and from the inner depths of my soul. I define myself as beautiful; no one else.

The real value of a dollar in Ghana

Cassie — Thu, 19 Feb 2009 19:22:34 +0000

Poverty is a word I grew up knowing but not understanding. It was something that people in developing countries experienced. It was why Santa didn’t visit two sisters in my kindergarten class. It was lack of food and water or maybe wearing used clothing in poor quality.
It wasn’t until I began spending time in Africa that I realized poverty is much harder to define. The levels of poverty vary, as do the kinds of poverty. While the college student living on Ramen noodles is not an easy existence, it is by no means poverty as most basic needs (food, water, clothing, shelter) are met. While there are people who experience poverty in the United States, one of the main differences between America and Africa is that America lacks extreme poverty—poverty that puts survival on the line.
In Ghana, the average person makes approximately $390 dollars each year. That is a little more than a dollar a day to pay for food, clothing, rent, school fees for children, transportation, and the like. It is also less than I usually made in a two-week check working part-time in the United States at a low-paying job. Some people make more, but lower-income jobs are usually jobs with kiosks or tables selling items or food on the street. Some people even just fill a basket with goods and walk around carrying the basket on their head. These are also the most common jobs, and a large portion of the population makes their living through these street booths. There is so much competition that while these people can usually make some profit quite easily, it is difficult to make a substantial profit in these fields. Imagine walking around with water on your head, sold for about five cents, while someone standing next to you on the street is selling the same water. In a market place (similar to an American swap meet) where clothes or shoes are sold, there may be ten to twenty clothing kiosks all right next to each other. Thus the people selling things in the market, the people with little to no formal education who rely on their business to live and have little opportunity to step up to a better-paying job, can usually make miniscule profit margins and also need to reinvest a portion of their profits on new products to be able to compete against the others in the market.
Not only are Ghanaians making less money than Americans, many Ghanaians are actually paying more money (drastically more in terms of percentage of total income) on basic necessities such as food and water. Street food is relatively inexpensive, with dishes costing between 60 cents and two dollars, but with the low overall income more people cook at home. They try to add vegetables in their diet, but vegetables are expensive and hard to come by here. A small tomato usually costs about twenty cents and a head of cabbage about sixty cents. These are two of the cheaper vegetables and, along with onions and something spicy called pepe, are the main ones used here. The cheapest salad I have purchased here cost four dollars. As a result, no meals involve large amounts of vegetable such as stir fries in the United States. Foods that are common are starchy, oil-based foods. Fruit, however, is cheap and fresh here—Ghana has something going for them. There are a few main foods that are pretty inexpensive, and those are the staples of the Ghanaian diet. Most people eat a few foods over and over again and don’t have the luxury to change the foods they consume.
Lately, I have seen an effort to teach Ghanaians about healthy eating and to encourage Ghanaians to take steps toward being healthy, such as eating brown rice instead of white rice. However, despite the fact that brown rice is grown in Ghana, almost all Ghanaians still eat white rice because the bag of white rice costs six dollars and the brown rice costs ten. Until the people have more money to spend or can make economical and healthy choices, most people in Ghana won’t be able to worry about their health when they are trying to focus on survival.
Clean water sources are hard to come by, and most drinking water is bought in plastic satchels for five cents per satchel—I usually spend at the very least between 20 and 25 cents on water per day. For tasks like bathing and cooking, water has to come from somewhere. Not all Ghanaians have access to water close by and sometimes have to travel quite a ways and transport water from other locations. On top of that, depending on the source, sometimes this costs money. In my room, we have a trash can where water is stored. We pay about 30 to 50 cents to fill it up. Based on our consumption, we will spend that much money weekly or bi-weekly. Add that money up over a year, and one individual would likely spend more than $100 on water—that is more than a fourth of their entire money for the year.
Then there is the issue of clothing. African fabrics are readily available at markets and can be taken to a seamstress to be sewn. All in all, these end up costing about twenty to thirty dollars depending on the fabric and the design. These dresses are worn to church, on every Friday in the workplace, and on many other occasions. People in Ghana also wear western clothes quite often. Much of the western clothes are used clothes and come on ship containers from places like the United States. In Accra, the capital city near the port where the clothes come off the ship, I have a wider variety for cheaper. In other areas of the country, clothes can cost a little more due to the extra middlemen. Often the sellers will travel to Accra to buy the clothes in bulk and will then travel back to their location to sell it. For used clothing, however, these prices can be a bit steep. Imagine used clothing prices about equal to goodwill prices and a new market with some items that are just as expensive as new clothes in the United States. Oftentimes, something that might cost fifty cents in the United States at a secondhand store will cost five dollars here.
Shelter is another big issue here. Most people have a dream of building their own houses (most houses stay in the family for generations and aren’t ever sold to someone else), but very few are able to save enough money to do so. Instead I find those who can build a house may have fifteen members of their family living with them. In the small room I stay in with my boyfriend, two of his cousins stay with us and sleep on the floor each night. Renting a place to stay is not easy here as it has to be rented in increments of at least around two years, and the entire amount of rent has to be paid before moving in. Thus, instead of paying a monthly amount, people who do rent an apartment have to save up hundreds of dollars before they can even rent an apartment. This makes renting expensive and inaccessible to many Ghanaians who can barely pay for themselves now let alone for two years in the future. Those who do rent an apartment do so by getting financial aid from many of their family members.
I consider health care and education two other basic human rights. Ghana has many diseases, such as malaria, that can shut down the workforce and that many people can’t afford to go to the doctor to fix. This is one of the worst parts of poverty—not only does it not allow education or other opportunities that better life, but it also impairs the ability to survive. Diseases that can be treated completely disable a person from living a normal life and can even kill.
I met a young girl about seven years old last year in the northern region, which is the more impoverished section of the country. This young girl lived in a self-sustaining community that made its only income by selling shea butter lotion to the outside world. The young girl had guinea worm on her leg. Guinea worm is a disease developed through exposure to unclean water sources and literally leaves worms in the body after taking an entire year to develop. Guinea worm can be treated, but if untreated it can hinder a person from walking or moving. That young girl will be unable to go to school, to go outside to play, to do anything she normally does. Her mother said they took her to a clinic but they didn’t have enough money to pay for her to be treated. The fact that she has guinea worm also means that many others in the community have been exposed to an unclean water source and probably have guinea worm as well. These people need to gain access to clean water sources and find means of distributing it, but it is going to be hard to do so if many of their people are left crippled by guinea worm. On top of that, if they can’t afford to pay for treatment, this young girl and others’ lives will be paralyzed until they can receive treatment.
Ghana has made some worthy advances in the last ten years, such as creating a health insurance scheme that has allowed millions to access health care (although the facilities, trained professionals, and supplies are still short in many areas of the nation). More schools have been built and a number of these are free except for some fees, although access to materials and trained teachers is still an issue. In the rural areas of the country, many families are making a choice to send one child all the way through school, and the rest of the children are left with a future of making small profits selling items on the street. Because of the fees, these families can only afford to send one. Something needs to change in order to allow all children to access education if this country wants to continue to grow. The one great thing about the development that has already taken place is that men and women who never stepped foot in a school are now sending their children to high school and even university.
A dollar can do so much. It can buy any item off of the dollar menu at any fast-food joint. It can buy cheap clothes at a yard sale or any number of books (Here, books are a valuable commodity and are hard to find and never cost less than a couple dollars no matter what their condition). While a dollar may not seem to go as far in the United States, the truth is we as Americans have so many opportunities to stretch our money and save. Here, it is hard to choose not to get water to save some extra dollars in order to send your child to school. People here just don’t have as much of a choice.
Life here is hard financially. People sometimes have to stretch money just to pay for things that they can’t and shouldn’t live without. I believe that is why people in Africa look after each other in a way that is not done in the United States. They care about each other and are expected to help out their neighbor, even financially, in order to make this world work better. Someone who lives in my community, a respected man everyone calls doctor, gave my boyfriend a room to stay in. It is a self-contained apartment that he gave him free of charge and where PK has now lived for about seven years. Each month, PK just has to pay a light bill that costs between $20 and $30. Actions like this are common here. If someone asks for money, if that person has money to give they will often give it to them. There is a saying that doing for others is the rent we pay for living on this earth, and Ghanaians embody that idea in that no matter what they have they still do for others. Now, there are high levels of corruption here and plenty of people who don’t follow these principles, but what I think is amazing are the high numbers of people who do.
When I leave Ghana, I will take with me an appreciation for all the things I can do with a dollar and all the things that come close to free just for being an American. I take a knowledge of how hard it can be to get by day by day and dollar by dollar, as I am completely embedded in that lifestyle right now, and know that when I move back to America maybe I will be able to continue to live frugally to make my own dollars count. People here fight to save their dollars to send their children to school or to build their own house. If I save my dollars and live frugally, I can have a house and cars, send my children to school, and make my dreams of traveling the world a reality. That is a humbling and in some ways painful thought, but something I must admit I am truly grateful for.
I have a deep respect for Ghanaians for turning a terminal shortage of money into hope for the future and faith in the Lord. I hope, above all else, that I can take this attitude with me in the future and use it to better my life. This attitude of faith and hospitality for our neighbor, no matter what our circumstances or where we live, should be a global ideal.

The Franco side of life

Cassie — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 18:20:45 +0000

Ghana is a former British colony surrounded by former French colonies, the importance of which is that Ghana is an English-speaking country surrounded by countries where tribal languages and French are the only languages spoken. I have just begun to study French, but I am at the very beginning of my studies and barely know enough to perform basic greetings in French—a little scary since I decided to go through two different border crossing and go on buses, taxis and motorbikes throughout the two countries. My first trip to Togo and Benin, two thin countries between Ghana and Nigeria, was on a mission to reach Benin’s voodoo festival in a beach-side city called Ouidah.

I started my journey by crossing the border into the capital of Togo, a city called Lomé that runs next to a long and luxurious stretch of beach and is absolutely gorgeous. Many beaches in Ghana are quite dirty, but these beaches were clean, had trash cans, and were filled with benches where many Togolese sat watching the waves or taking midday naps. Much of the culture was quite similar to Ghana, and even some of the tribal languages were the same, but there are some big differences. One of the best differences is the food. French colonization didn’t just leave their language behind; it also left its cuisine. The food in Lomé was absolutely amazing—spaghetti, steak, coffee and many other foods that can’t readily be found in Ghana. And baguettes. I love baguettes. The mix of great food and an amazing view of the ocean has led to a large expatriate population, mostly of French-speaking individuals. It was interesting to be able to speak more to the Togolese people than the various white people around since most of whom I met didn’t speak any English.

One of the other realities of life in Togo and Benin is the moto. Motorbikes are the most common form of transportation, including motortaxis. This involves one, two, or even three people jumping on one of these bikes and riding around town. The bikes go on the cemented main roads and the more commonly found sand-filled streets throughout the city. In the past, I had rode a motorcycle twice for about two minutes each time and was still quite afraid to ride one. But our Togolese friend picked PK and me up with a motorbike, so I quickly had to get used to the idea. By the end of the ride, my entire body felt stiff from holding on so tight, but I couldn’t help enjoying my late-night ride through the city. I rode dozens by the end of my trip and now enjoy motortaxis.

We spent most of our time walking around the city, along with visiting an amazing museum about West African artifacts. I learned about a lot of the sculptures and wooden carvings that are still commonly seen and sold in Ghana and learned quite a bit about culture in various West African countries along the way. We went to a market and did some shopping and spent a little time on the beach.

Our next stop was a city called Cotonou in Benin. After successfully going through another border crossing, we drove through what seemed to be a sparsely populated countryside until we reached the capital city of Benin. We found a cheap hotel and quickly headed into the city. The only real thing to see—possibly because it takes up most of the city—is the grand market. Rows and rows of shirts, shoes, fabrics, purses, vegetables, and pretty much everything else can be found there. PK and I walked around, doing a little bartering along the way as we found people in the Benin market somehow all speak English.

We next walked over to the Zongo area—the Muslim area. This section had a couple of beautiful mosques and some great people-watching. As we were walking, we found a place to eat called Ghana bar. Owned by Ghanaians, it had popular Ghanaian food called fufu and banku. Of course, we had to enjoy some and found it just as good as in Ghana. We then stopped at a cultural center full of different artisans crafts that are popular in the country, especially wooden figurines and African fabrics and clothing, enjoyed the well-paved and finely lit streets (something not often found in Ghana), and slowly headed our way back to the hotel. It was a beautiful city and some of the most fun I had on my trip just wandering around and enjoying the people.

Next we headed to the festival. Early in the morning we left Cotonou and headed to Ouidah. We arrived a couple of hours later in the city center and quickly headed to the site of the festival. Ouidah is a port city that prospered as the only port in Benin from 1800 to 1900—when slaves often left its shore to head to the Americas. To get to the site of the festival, which took place at the beach where slave ships once lined the shores, we took a motortaxi down the 2.5 mile Route des Esclaves. This sandy road to the beach from the city center is the route slaves once took and is now lined with monuments. At the end of this road is the beautiful and peaceful beach and some of the nicest monuments I have even seen in Africa, but on this particular day all that was a bit hidden by all the people and artisans who had already set up shop for the festival. The festival included all sorts of dancers and cultural performers in varying costumes. The first of the day were a dance troupe doing traditional African dances. Everyone, including the women, wore a grass skirt traditionally used in voodoo ceremonies and nothing on top. The chiefs of the community came—treated like royalty, with a large entourage, and with strict security to protect them—and various dancers from throughout the country performed throughout the day. At the entrance, people could go through the market looking at jewelry and wooden carvings. A man decided to create a sand sculpture for tips, which somehow turned out to be one of my favorite parts of the day. The sculpture was of a woman and an alligator, and throughout the day I returned to see his progress. It was just incredible to see such art be made out of sand. It was hard to understand some of the festivities since I don’t speak French, but I think I began to understand how voodoo is still quite important to many of the people. It has been part of their culture for hundreds of years, and many people still rely on these gods. We had checked into a hotel right next to the festivities—the cheapest room costing $20 and being just a few minutes away from the swimming pool and the beach. It was a very nice hotel called Le Jardin Brasilien Auburge de la Diaspora, one of the nicest I have stayed at for the price in all my travels. As the festival ended, we walked with the masses the few miles back into town and spent a little time exploring the city, seeing the old fort turned museum and witnessing many of the families having their own post-voodoo celebrations. We headed back right before dark and spent a little time by the beach before heading to bed.

The next morning, we packed up and left Benin. My visa was only good for 48 hours, so I had no choice but to hit the road. Petrol can be found on the streets being sold at kiosks just like crackers and sodas are sold in Ghana. The car we were in needed to fill up, so the driver sent for a woman from one of these kiosks who quickly came running with gas in a container that I think probably held orange juice originally. She poured the petrol into the vehicle—no self service of course; This isn’t California—and we were ready to hit the road. I am still relatively certain that having gas around in these containers is not safe, but when in Rome…

We crossed the border with only a few hassles along the way and then found a motortaxi to take us from Aného, the border city in Togo, to Togoville. On the northern shores of Lake Togo, Togoville is the historical center of voodoo in Togo. In the midst of the city is a gorgeous German-built cathedral. Off these shores, it is said that Mary mother of Jesus was seen over the lake. Pope John Paul II even came to look into the incident, and a shrine of the virgin still commemorates it all. After trying to be hassled by a “tourist organization” that was trying to get thirty dollars or so to show us around town, we found a couple of boys who showed us around instead and who told us that the organization is just a few guys who tell tourists that some of the money goes to school fees for the community’s children but keeps the money for themselves and spend it on drinking. The organization seemed really sketchy in that it had no prices listed and kept changing the prices they would charge for different things. All the tourist organizations have to have certain things, and this one had none of them. What is sad is that many people spend their money here and think it is going to something good. Travelers, be weary of such people on your adventures.

We walked around the community and got to see some of the traces of voodoo. Every Friday, people go to various trees to perform ceremonies to their gods and to give them offerings. There are statues of specific gods throughout the city, each one for a different thing. There is a god of farming where all the farmers offer sacrifices and ask the god for a good crop. There is a god for children, where people will sacrifice if their child is sick or needs help and ask the god to intervene. Once the child has gotten better, the person must return to the statue of the god and give thanks—usually this is a bottle of schnapps that costs about $2.

Having seen all this and learned just a little more about how voodoo works traditionally, it was time to cross the lake and begin our journey home. We climbed in the boat and headed across the lake, passing another boat that had loaded not just people but the ever-popular motorbikes as well. On the other side, we were able to get right into a car going back to Lomé. Pretty soon we had arrived at the border and gone through with only some harassment and bribery on the part of the Togolese.

We picked a car back to Accra, a longer journey than I thought as it actually takes a few hours. We had come from the north to visit a waterfall, so I had never gone that route before. The road was quite beautiful and was near the beach and full of gorgeous lagoons. As we arrived home early that evening, I was still so excited about experiencing Togo and Benin and all that I had seen and done, but of course it was so nice to be back in Ghana because something about this place makes it home.

Togo and Benin have its similarities and its differences from Ghana, but the best part about going is that I feel I understand a little more about the nuances of life in Africa. It makes me eager to continue traveling around the continent to keep learning more. It was beyond interesting to see that some of the things that Ghana struggles with aren’t a problem for people in Benin and vice versa, and I can better understand the role and the long-term effects of colonialism and government not only on Togo and Benin but on Ghana as well.

Obama fever

Cassie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:25:16 +0000

Buy an Obama shirt for just $20 USD!

Time for a Change

Cassie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 16:08:36 +0000

In the United States, my home country, our motto as of late has been change. I have been working at the Christian Rural Aid Network (CRAN) in Ghana for almost two months now, and I am just in time to witness some monumental policy changes of its own that will redefine the way CRAN does business and may even give President-elect Obama a run for his money.

Currently, CRAN has seven different branches in three regions of Ghana. Four of its branches are located near the main office around Cape Coast and Elmina, Ghana, two fishing towns that aren’t rural but aren’t urban either. On top of loaning to people in town, CRAN also lends to many rural communities around Cape Coast. About an hour away, CRAN has two more units running in rural fishing communities. Until June of last year, one of these units didn’t have electricity or computers. The other one still doesn’t. CRAN’s last unit can be found about a six-hour drive away in the Volta Region. Due to this branch’s distance from the head unit where a Kiva Coordinator uploads all the Kiva borrower profiles, none of the clients from that unit can be found on Kiva. This is something that CRAN would like to change sometime in the near future.

At each of the units, there is a manager along with loan officers, each of which has a portfolio of clients that he or she is in charge of. The loan officer is in charge of overseeing the loan and filling out all the paperwork. Since CRAN works only with groups, the loan officer talks everything over with the group’s president, secretary, and treasurer to make sure they know what is going on. The loan officer also visits all of the people at their workplaces to take photos in order to put the borrowers on Kiva. Other employees include the cashier and field officers in charge of collecting both loans and susu savings (a small daily savings).

As CRAN moves forward and attempts to make itself a sustainable financial institution, the employees are changing the way things are currently done to a new and exciting framework. Current groups have ten members or more, but from this month forward CRAN groups will consist of five members. This change is being made because right now many groups are scattered, hard to reach for loan collection, and hard to gather together. The loan officers often only know the president, secretary, and treasurer in a group and must rely on them to find the other members. Some of these groups have multiple family members or an employer and his or her employees comprising the group as well, so from now on group members must have their businesses located in the same area, and must not have any other family members in their group. Sometimes this is the case just because people find it hard to develop a group with at least ten people in order to receive a loan. A group loan is designed so that each of the members guarantees the other members—it is a lot more to take on with ten people.

The other caveat of any group’s membership is that every member must have health insurance. A National Health Insurance Bill that was designed by the governing New Patriotic Party and passed into law in 2003 by the parliament is an insurance plan designed to ensure that Ghanaian residents would have access to basic health care services without paying money at the point of delivery of the service. It has had some criticism, mainly by the opposing party that had implemented a cash-and-carry system. This cash-and-carry system, which was used since 1985 in Ghana, was replaced for various reasons, including a fall in clinic attendance. It required every Ghanaian to pay before receiving clinical care. Since implementing the new scheme in 2004, health care is free for children, pregnant women, and Ghanaians over the age of 70. There are also various plans for everyone else, costing as little as a few dollars and lasting for one-year increments. Because health care makes such a big difference in people’s ability to work, CRAN has decided that insurance is a must. Many Ghanaians get sick with illnesses such as malaria—a disease that can keep them from the workplace for a few days if treated but can even be deadly if untreated. This is, to make it economical, bad for business. A Ghanaian who can’t work can’t make money and needs to rely on help from others to sustain a business and a family. Health insurance will ensure that all Ghanaians who work with CRAN have access to the health care they need to be healthy.

Now, taking out a loan from CRAN is more than just taking out a loan. It is a commitment on the part of the borrowers that they will attend a pre-loan training that involves an introduction to CRAN and the loan disbursement. After receiving the loan, the borrowers attend a monthly training. It is not just one group of borrowers that meet, but many—totaling around 75 people, making it less of a time burden on loan officers to meet with their groups. During these trainings, they will make their monthly loan payments and also receive various lectures on topics such as health, fire safety, and money management. Near the end of the loan period, one of the trainings is dedicated to Kiva journals—ensuring that almost all of CRAN’s Kiva participants from this point on will have a journal. This will not only be a wonderful thing for Kiva lenders, it will also be great in terms of social performance. CRAN will have an opportunity to keep track of the people it loans to and the social progress that the loans make in their lives, which may also help CRAN to modify loans to make them better for the borrowers.

One of the biggest problems currently facing CRAN is high loan deferment rates—incidences where borrowers don’t pay back on time or at all. This new format will attempt to address this problem and will hopefully ensure that field officers aren’t constantly chasing down the people who need to pay—a waste of time, energy, fuel, and money for the organization. This new format—where attendance is close to mandatory in order to get a second loan later on—gathers the group on a monthly basis and gives the loan officer a perfect opportunity to collect the loan repayment.

One of the greatest strengths to this new system is budgetary. CRAN believes it will help the organization cut costs, which is imperative in CRAN’s long-term plan because it is a non-profit organization that runs off of loans. Any money loaned out to borrowers that isn’t from Kiva comes from loans from larger banks. Thus CRAN has interest of its own to pay, and when the borrowers don’t pay back, it negatively affects CRAN and how many other borrowers it can help.

My one big question as I have been introduced to this new system, which has been implemented at one of the units this month, is what will it do for the borrowers? I agree that it is best for the organization as it will hopefully lead to financial stability. However, in terms of borrowers, the recipients will be poor but probably not the poorest businesses in the area. The poorest people won’t be able to pay for health insurance and a susu savings (a small daily savings that is another new requirement of CRAN’s borrowers—so if borrowers don’t pay back CRAN will already have some money to take the repayment from).Thus, poor people will be helped, but some of the poorest won’t have the opportunity to develop their businesses through CRAN.

I do believe that this new system, especially the training, gives CRAN the opportunity to make an expanded social impact in the lives of its borrowers. And then once it is financially secure, it will be able to offer services designed for even poorer borrowers to help them develop their businesses.

This new system will involve a lot of change—from the organizational structure to what is expected of the borrowers, change in policy is revolutionizing almost every aspect of CRAN. These changes are being made in order to address and combat all of CRAN’s weaknesses as an organization and to put CRAN in a position to meet all of its future goals. While I am sure new challenges will arise with the new system, CRAN is working hard and intelligently to become a stronger organization.

ELECTION UPDATE: Ghana just had its presidential elections, which were very peaceful and well-run. Every other commercial on television the day of the elections (December 7) was about peace in Ghana. The country was praised by its African neighbors for doing so well. However, there will be a run-off taking place between the top two candidates on December 28. I will post an update following that in regards to the elections and whether Ghana is able to maintain peace.

Photos of recent adventures

Cassie — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 12:34:18 +0000

If all else fails, I am going to climb trees and collect coconuts to sell

I was scared when we saw this while going to the mall right next to it. The week before an oil spill had led to many Ghanaians trying to collect and take the oil, and 25+ people died when there was an explosion

Some unexpected performers stopped by the funeral

The burial site at PK's uncle's funeral

Traditional drummers perform at the funeral

A snowman in Ghana! They are not common, but you see decorations every once in a while...

A change in perspective

Cassie — Wed, 10 Dec 2008 11:54:28 +0000

It is amazing how what seems like a completely average day can quickly turn into a day one can never forget. One day after work last week, I headed from where I work in Cape Coast, Ghana, to where PK(my boyfriend) lives in Accra. It takes 3-4 hours of travel time to get there, and I was just hoping for a quick and easy with no real delays on top of the extreme traffic, etc, that I am used to.

About 20 minutes into the journey, however, I saw a group of people gathering on the side of the road and everyone in the car looked over. The man next to me asked me if I’d seen it, but I knew whatever it was I hadn’t been privy to. The tro-tro I was riding in—a small minivan of sorts packed full of people—pulled over and the men next to me rushed past me to grab their equipment and run over to a telephone pole.

And that is when I saw him. He was a man, tall and thin, and he was hanging from the top of the telephone pole. His legs were strapped in, but his arms and the rest of his body was just hanging down loosely. And the crowd gathering below stared up at him. As soon as I saw him, I knew what had happened. I knew he had been electrocuted and must be dead, but I didn’t really want to accept it. I was about 30 feet off and ended up walking closer as many of the people in our tro-tro had run over to help. The crowd was rapidly getting bigger as more and more people gathered around. I still didn’t want to believe that the man was dead, a man who looked so young and I am guessing was in his thirties. As people gathered around, many of the women started crying. I too began to cry.

The man was just hanging there in a way that felt so wrong. I wanted someone to get him down right then and there. He was a spectacle that everyone was watching, and he was dead. It just felt utterly wrong. It seems that many were afraid to climb up and get him down because they didn’t want to get electrocuted. They didn’t know what had gone wrong that he had gotten electrocuted, and they didn’t want to follow in his footsteps. A man finally climbed up and inspected the body and the pole but didn’t try to touch him.

By that point, the tro-tro driver started honking that it was time for us to go. It was a good decision as our staying helped no one and just added to the spectacle. We all got in, me still upset and holding back tears, and took off—once again headed toward our destination.I still was holding back tears and praying for the man’s family and community and thanking the Lord just to be alive.

I arrived safely in Accra and to my boyfriend’s arms a few hours later and still find myself praying for that man and his family about a week later. Life is so precious in a way that is easy to forget. It is frightening to think that our bodies, our work, the things that we care about can end in moments, unexpectedly and tragically. I think that everything we see in this world needs to be a lesson for us on how to be the best person we can be and how to live. That man, whose name I don’t know, made me thank God a little longer, hug my boyfriend a little tighter, and look at people a little kinder—because we never know when tragedy can hit our lives.

The art and science of communication

Cassie — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 12:11:13 +0000

Language is said to be the thing that separates man from animal. Oliver Wendell Holmes said it is the blood of the soul into which thoughts run and out of which they grow. It is also the way in which we can most easily communicate our deepest thoughts and desires with another. It is a tool that we use to bridge us together.

Yet since I have arrived in Ghana, I have begun to define language in an entirely new way. It is a constant ebb and flow of words and understanding. It is a roller-coaster ride of gerunds and participial phrases that mean all the world to some people and don’t make any sense to others.

Ghana is a tribal-based country with about 80 languages. In any given region of the country, a different language is spoken based on the tribe or tribes that reside there. In addition, Ghana is a former British colony so English is the official language—which means that people who receive an education study the language of their region and English during their schooling, and the language is used in government and business practices. This leads to an interesting work environment in that none of my co-workers other than myself speak English as their first language. On top of that, while much of the work does involve speaking native languages, not all of the employees speak the same native languages. At least three different languages from three different regions are spoken in the office on any given day, and not everyone understands each others’ tribal languages, so the use of English becomes a middle ground where employees can meet to talk to each other.

Even the English that is used here in Ghana is different from the English that I am used to. People in Ghana learn British English, which is not all that different from American English, but they have taken it and changed it in their culture to make it their own—in part, I believe, due to a lack of exposure to the way the English language is used in the Western world.

Take the word fuel, for example. I kept hearing the CRAN drivers saying they needed foo-elle. Foo-elle, I thought. What in the heck is foo-elle? Oh, fuel, of course. Then there was the time I walked around the entire University of Ghana-Legon looking for the math department and asking everyone I met for directions while being pointed in every direction. Apparently they didn’t know what math was. I found out later that the word math is pronounced mass here. If only I had asked for the mass department, they would have known exactly what I was talking about. There are many words that are now pronounced differently, for lack of knowing how to pronounce it perhaps. Either way, it is culturally right to pronounce such words that way; otherwise, no one will understand what you are saying.

At first I thought that the people in Ghana have a whole different and less-than-American grasp of the English language. As a vivid reader and copy editor, my understanding of the science and art that is the English language is strong, and I saw a lot of rules that weren’t known and that were broken. I realized that the people I work with and interview only use it as a second language and don’t have the poetic vibe that being fluent in a language brings—that ability to truly and clearly articulate the specific words desired. Granted, there are varying levels of English and some are quite high, but each is different than that of a native English speaker and each is developed in accumulation with the culture.

Interestingly enough, despite the fact that many of the people I interview for Kiva profiles didn’t have much schooling and don’t speak English much or at all, they all know and use some English words on a daily basis. English has somehow fused with the native languages to become, in a sense, their own native words. Rather than saying Good Morning or Good Afternoon to someone in a tribal language, you actually speak these words in a sentence. For example, “Paucho, Good Morning. Ete Sen?” Translation: Please, good morning. How are you? In response, you might say, “Boco,” with a long o at the end. This means “I am cool.” What is funny is that even when speaking in English and I ask them how they are doing, people still respond by saying, “I am cool.” In that same way, the word please (paucho), a commonly used term of respect, is often used in the English language. Thus a waiter at a Chinese restaurant I went to once—that’s right, Chinese in Ghana—responded to our orders by saying, “Please, one order of rice.” And “Please, here is your coke.” The fun of this is that I can and do say “please, thank you” on a daily basis.

Many of my interviewees don’t speak the English language, yet they use a few English words—words that have become a part of their daily speech. So someone who lives in a rural area and who never went to school—someone who claims to speak no English—still says sorry when he or she bumps into someone.

Ghanaians have taken the English they learn and created an entire new way of speaking with it. I have been told a few times not to speak in slang—something that can actually unnerve me considering I am speaking proper American English and not slang at all. Until I learn Ghanaian English and start using words like foo-elle and mass in the proper settings, I will always be speaking slang to some Ghanaians.

I still love the English language with all its rules and regulations, and I love my understanding of it. But living in Ghana has taught me that the true role of language is to communicate, and sometimes that means throwing all of the rules out the window and telling people that mass was my least favorite subject in school and asking how much foo-elle prices are right now. The true purpose of language is to bridge a gap between the ideas and thoughts of two different individuals, and while I still love the rules, sometimes they don’t help me do that here. I will adjust over time, just as Ghanaians have included the English language into their own speech. And despite all the rules, isn’t it true that language is a melting pot of culture and a constantly changing means of expression anyway?

My university grammar teacher would be horrified.

*Note to reader: The language examples are Fanti, a language spoken in the Central Region where Christian Rural Aid Network is located.