Day 2- There's Rainbow Foods, then there's this:

Tuesday, June 1st, 2010 1:49 AM CST
Accra, Ghana, Telecentre Bed and Breakfast

Someone was snoring a little loud, so instead of just laying in bed helpless. I decided to come here instead. :)

1 USD = 1.4 Ghana Cedis

Yesterday was market day for me and my father. After bargaining for a seven-cedi taxi ride (always ask how much before getting in a cab) to the Makola Market about 30 minutes away, we entered an arena of chaos... similar to a Taiwanese day market... but somewhat more dysfunctional. Garbage was everywhere. Flies were everywhere. But in the end, the main attraction was the sheer flood of people... both young and old, either walking with items on top of their head, or selling various items ranging from raw meat bits to dishwasher soap. The whole scene was quite astonishing... so much that it took us awhile before we actually started to legitimately look for gifts.

It's hard for me to imagine that this multitude of people have the ability to survive in such selling and buying conditions. With so many vendors essentially selling the same items, how does one make itself stand out? Some things that people may do is call out to potential buyers... like us. "Shii fuu! Ni hao!! (MASTER! Hello!)" was probably the most entertaining while others were a little off with "ko ni chi wa", but I suppose it's understandable. Others would "purposely?" place a small group of "young women" in their stall to draw attention of male onlookers. But in the end, it's all just the same old items left and right... all mostly made in China. Chinese-Americans... flying thousands of miles, to go to a market to buy things made in China (even the toilet paper sold has Chinese writing on it!).

But maybe the most interesting part of the whole ordeal was when we saw people with little books in their hand fervently speaking to vendors in a narrow alley in a language we could not understand. With a closer look, we saw that the book in their hand was indeed a Bible, flipped to the chapter of St. Luke. The scene moved me quite a bit... here in the chaos of selling, flies and people bumping into each other while fragile items resting on their heads, and sweat running down everyone's faces, missionaries STILL go out and proclaim the gospel to this unique Ghanaian population subset. When's the last time I saw someone talk about God at Rainbow Foods back in the USA?

Bringing the church to where it's needed, regardless of the conditions. Indeed.

Day 1- Dirt, Bystanders, with a Shot of Rain

Monday, May 31st, 2010 2:57 AM CST
Accra, Ghana, Telecentre Bed and Breakfast Hotel

After a home-like breakfast of eggs, toast, and porridge compliments of the hotel staff, this thus is the beginning of my logs here in Ghana. :)

As a recap, I'm here as a Global Impact Volunteer for Tamale, Ghana to help out an ophthalmologist (eye doctor) with his work in helping to serve the eye needs of over 2 million people in the northern region of Ghana. Most of my work, so I have heard, is centered around outreach events where volunteers and opthalmologic staff go out in the villages and conduct eye acuity checks and distribute glasses as well as prepare patients for surgery in the Tamale Teaching Hospital. I'll be here until June 21st, 2010.. so roughly a three-week stay here. Flying standby compliments of my father, we are able to essentially fly here and back to the U.S. for a minimal charge.

My father and I arrived in Accra yesterday morning. Two Unite for Sight Staff met us in the lobby area of the airport, and helped us carry our five suitcase load to their car. Even so, at least five people approached our "caravan" and attempted to help us push the carts to the car. Pretty sure that four grown men with decent musculature can manage pushing two carts of suitcases, so it might just be them trying to get a dollar or two for their services. We managed to push away all of them except one: The one that ended up helping my dad, who put up the least resistance in stopping him from helping us. In the end though when we reached the car, my dad just gave a dollar, in which the man ecstatically took as well as our now empty carts.

In our about 15 minute car ride, the first thing I noticed was the dirt... and the bystanders (hence the title). Although I had seen this image a couple of times in say the History Channel, getting an actual glimpse of the real thing seems to be so much more striking. At stop signs, teen-age individuals with trays of goodies on their heads would attempt to sell us items to which the driver swiftly declined.

But what was really interesting to me personally was the abundance of signs that advertised... instant noodles. Yes, like... those noodles that you take out of the package and put in boiling water for a couple minutes. HUGE billboards could be seen advertising these tasty and "very" healthy foods. And then... there's the sign I saw in the beginning of this post. very... very interesting.

After eating dinner at the only Chinese restaurant for miles (yes, we had Chinese food at our first day in Ghana), it began to rain. Really hard. So, we tried to wait it out by just sitting the restaurant and chatting a bit, and then began our 30 minute trek back to the hotel. We considered taking a taxi, but being the Chinese part of our blood took over, and we declined that money-requiring option. All the dirt on the ground now had effectively turned into a nice mud, making walking a very interesting experience, good thing I am wearing these five-year old K-Swiss shoes. But while thinking about the status of my clothing, we walked by a woman with a piece of cloth wrapped around her chest. And looking back, there was a baby strewn on her back as she sloshed down the muddy road to wherever her destination was. With a rain drizzle running down my face and watered down dirt kicking up behind me, I started to understand that some of these people here, these "bystanders"... they have to deal with the rain, the dirt, the hardship... every single day of their lives.