Accra, Ghana - Day 7 (5/23/11)

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 the number of cases of malaria in each of the settlements. As you know, waste (both solid waste and greywater) dumped in the street provides an opportunity for water pools and mosquito habitats. My hypothesis is that the migrant settlements will have higher cases of malaria, because the government basically recognizes them as squatters. The indigenous settlements will have the next level highest cases of malaria, because they receive some infrastructure support. The high-income communities will have the lowest cases of malaria because they receive the highest level of infrastructure support. There are some limitations here that go beyond the scope of a blog, but the important thing is that it I prove that the migrant and indigenous settlements need a solid waste and greywater infrastructure in order to reduce mosquito habitats.

Since I was able to complete my proposal by Friday, I spent Saturday and Sunday acting like a

1967 Chorkor Excavation

tourist. I visited the National Museum on Saturday.  The museum is located in West Ridge, Accra and was about a ten-minute drive from my guesthouse. The National Museum is a very small building, so it didn’t take a lot of time to cover the displays. Interestingly, there was an archaeological excavation display from one of the indigenous communities that I will be visiting during my time here, Chorkor. The community is a small coastal community, and it has received much NGO attention. I look forward to visiting. The museum also had a lot of cultural pieces such as fabrics, instruments, carvings etc. It was definitely worth the visit, although it was probably a little pricey.

The Bead Man

On Sunday, I decided to do some shopping. Because I am not sure where the best markets are, I walked down to the local market on Oxford Street. The locals were gloriously happy to see me. I was able to bargain for a few things, but I am sure that a bargain to me is not a bargain to the locals. I picked up some souvenirs for home, and indulged myself in some local clothing. I walk past a man that I call “The Bead Man” every morning, and somehow, he always manages to sell me another bracelet. His bracelets aren’t cheap, but I indulge him because they are authentic and he makes them himself. He teaches a bead making class at Ghana University (one that I may take). Of course, I buy more beads from him on Sunday. I am perplexed that his beads cost as much as a hand carved wooden mask.

A lady that goes by the name of Juliet has a little stall next to my guesthouse, and I see her sewing shirts and other apparel every day. I admired something that she was making last week, so I stopped by a little material store today and picked out some material for her to make me something. Material and her services are very cheap, I may leave all of my clothes here and come home with a suitcase of properly tailored clothes.

After a little bout of homesickness on Sunday night, I feel refreshed today. I love Ghana. I love the people, and I love the lifestyle. I’m not sure if I would move here, but I can feel myself falling deeply in love with the culture and people.

Tomorrow, I will go back to the CSIR Water Research Institute to see if I can get the reported malaria cases for the communities that I am studying. I will report back on Friday as to how that research is coming along.