Patel School of Global Sustainability

Maria Booker

This week has been relatively busy in terms of academic advancements. I had been working with Dr. Alsharif in defining and redefining my proposal, so it was finally a relief to begin working on my research results and discussion. I ascertained in an earlier post that the malaria numbers needed better refining, but wasn’t [...]

Maria Booker

Things in Accra are beginning to wrap up, I think. I received the reported cases of malaria that I was hoping for, but I have yet to make sense of it. The information comes with some serious limitations. There is no demographic reporting in the country, each clinic reports its malaria cases regardless of [...]

Maria Booker

I can’t believe that I have been here for over three weeks, and I still really feel unaccomplished. I don’t know if it’s the Ghana reporting structure, the culture shock, or the overwhelming heat that is affecting me, but I know that this is completely out of character for me. Usually when I need something done, it’s done about a month before it’s due. I am actually quite frustrated with myself, because I am supposed to be studying for my LEED exam too while I am here, and that isn’t getting anywhere fast either. I think that laid back Ghanaian culture is in my veins [...]

Maria Booker

My research is finally underway. Yesterday, I met with an entomologist from CSIR water research. I thought that the objective of the day would be to visit one community, and we would visit other communities on different days, but when I got to her she told me that we were going to kill three [...]

Maria Booker

Readers beware; I have a very different attitude today than I did on Monday. The inefficiencies of Accra are beginning to get to me, and I find myself more than frustrated.

Maria Booker

Well, the first week is over. I was able to meet my personal deadline of submitting my revised proposal by Friday. My research objectives in Ghana will be to look at the differences in solid waste and greywater infrastructure between unplanned migrant settlements, indigenous communities, and developed high-income settlements and compare these differences to [...]

Maria Booker

The past few days have been spent acclimatizing and meeting with the key stakeholders in my project. I still feel anxiety when walking around town by myself, but it is lessening, and it lessened significantly after spending the afternoon with my Ghanaian host, Bertha.

The meetings with my stakeholders have led to a definition of [...]

Maria Booker

Today, I arrived at Accra International Airport at 115pm local time. The flight was long and uncomfortable, but I was able to sleep. From the air, Ghana is greener than I expected. Upon arrival, I am concerned that they don’t even ask me for my yellow fever certificate at customs; I wonder how they [...]