Nearly two months, four weeks at work, several bowelailments, countless marriage proposals and innumerable tro tro ridesin… I am having a great time! I have really adjusted to life hereand feel like I can start to call Accra home. I have a lovely roomthat I am renting in a shared compound in a bustling neighborhood in acentral suburb. In reality, when I say suburb, I mean slum and when Idescribe it as bustling, it's bustling in all regards, but I amenjoying it and feel like I am getting to know and live the life ofthe locals. As far as I know, I am the only westerner (trying to bepc, but I mean white person) living in my neighborhood – in fact Ionly see other westerners when I go to the isolated richer areas,tourist attractions or night clubs, which isn't too often. Being theonly westerner in my neighborhood took a little getting used to,particularly because no one (especially the children) will ever missout on the opportunity to remind me – "White lady! White lady! Whatare you doing!? Where are you going?!" – but it's all in good spirit.Though I can't deny that coming from a place where you can be anonymous in your own community I needed some time to adjust.

Accra is an enormous metropolis of more than 4 million reaching farbeyond its initial boundaries, bloated with all the neighboringcommunities that it has consumed. The population is dense and thepollution is thick, but it is alive! The air is filled with music andthe scenery with so much color. The streets are an impressive sightof cars and motorbikes driving chaotically everywhere, dodgingcareless sheep and goats (who seem to be the owners of the road) and aflood of people balancing things on their heads while swaying theirhips to the hiplife beats. This balancing act really impresses me,they can carry absolutely anything on their head (no hands of course),no matter how big, however awkward, or whatever shape - boxes,buckets, furniture, massive trays piled with at least 50 kilograms ofpineapple, bananas, cassava, shoes or books – and everything looksfully off balance, but somehow remains glued to their head. And they can do anything while carrying their load; bend to take something fromthe ground, dance, or dodge traffic! I have tried on severaloccasions to try carrying things like this as well, but all my dancetraining has failed me, I swear it is impossible! At most I was ableto take one step with a big jerry can of water, draw a huge crowd andsend everyone into fits of laughter, before the can came toppling frommy head.

It is the local joke that obrunis (Twi word for white people) arehopeless at doing anything, from carrying things, to cleaning, washingclothes, eating local food properly and most of all dancing! How theylaugh when they talk about white people dancing! I made it my missionto prove them wrong…successfully, the first night I went out with someof my friends they all shouted "Eh! Where did you lean to dance like aGhanaian!"

With regards to everything else, I have also been trying very hard toprove them wrong. I have been trying to live with the locals and likethe locals. But, somehow, this is very concerning to many Ghanaians(especially my landlady). The residuals of colonialism, the influx ofwestern media and the impacts of westerners who come to Accra only toindulge in a western lifestyle (which most of them do) has contributedto a lingering sentiment of whites are better than blacks. So oftenmy neighbours ask me how I can manage living with them, having norunning water, washing with a bucket, or helping with the cleaning ofthe compound. I always laugh when they ask this, never quite sure howto answer (other than saying that of course I can manage), but alwayssure that I try my hardest to break down this sense of whiteprivilege.

I have to say, Ghanaians are the warmest, liveliest and mostexpressive people I have met. In every word that leaves their lipsthere is so much emotion and passion, and every story is alwaysfurther emphasized with hyperbole. How they love hyperbole! Thismakes for any conversation to be very entertaining. They are also sohelpful - you get can never be lost as someone near by will alwayssomehow sense that you need directions - before you even decide thatyou need directions - and come to the rescue. Soon after they willimmediately decide that you will be best friends and will invite youover for lunch or something of that sort. Funny enough, this hasprobably been the number one way that I have made friends here, but ithas resulted in me meeting some unbelievable people.

When thinking about my friends, it breaks my heart to know that all wehear about Africa in the west is the wars, the famines, the corruptionand the violence. Or so often media will portray Africa as a charitycase, filled with pictures of the small child with the swollen bellyand the fly in the eye. But in reality if you were to pan out fromthose pictures you will see communities of people working hard,thinking hard and trying to come up with creative ways to improve thesituation in their countries. And if they are not trying to createchange on a large scale, then they are certainly trying on a small bybeing positive and supporting their friends and families.

For example, my friend Larry, he is a computer technician by day and amusician on the side and is incredibly passionate about helping thekids that live in his neighborhood called Nima, which happens to bethe thickest slum in Accra. Larry has started his own organizationcalled Uncover Ghana where he tries to support kids (particularlythose in the Nima area) who have a passion for music. He organizesfree music concerts featuring local groups from the slums, in aneffort to try and inspire them, show them that someone cares abouttheir music, and keep them off the streets and away from drugs andviolence.

Then there is Mary that I met during Ghana's Independence DayCelebrations. She is an elementary school teacher and lives in theoutskirts of Accra with her husband and son. She has the biggestheart and the lightest spirit I have ever met, no matter whatsituation she is in. She is extremely poor and both she and herhusband have fallen victim to the massive unemployment problem here,but regardless she always has a smile ear to ear and is always up fordoing anything to inspire the children in her family - no matter howsilly! For example, on independence day (when I met her), we ended upspending the whole day together with her son and nephew and ran aroundAccra by tro tro going on all sorts of adventures. We wenteverywhere, starting at the independence day march where we tried sohard to get close to the president as her nephew wanted to see him (ofcourse we were turned away by the guards) then to the presidents'castle as she decided that that was the best place to takeindependence day pictures (although we quickly found out that it wasillegal!) and finally to the airport because her son wanted to seeairplanes!

I also have to describe Dauda, and everyone else that lives inChangnayili. Changnayili is a tiny farming village in the NorthernRegion where my NGO (KITE) has a program. The first week I was inGhana, before starting work, I went to the north and by myself visitedChangnayili for two days. I was blown away by the community members;they had so much energy and joy for life. This may have been becauseI was there visiting them and the whole community was excited to haveme stay, but even so their happiness is worth noting.Dauda is a young farmer and is the only person in Changnayili whospeaks English (other than the local school teacher) and the only onewho had completed senior high school. But despite his education, hedecided to stay in his village and become a farmer. He is sopassionate about farming and works so hard to use and promote the mostprogressive and sustainable farming techniques. As he took me throughhis farms he would condemn pesticides, herbicides and fertilizers asthings you need only when foolishly planting mono-culture crops and hewould humbly praise his intercropping and crop rotation techniques.Furthermore, he is active in promoting Ghanaian grains and produce inan effort to counter the crippling grain dumping programs practiced bydeveloped countries (one of the major culprits being Canada). Hispassion for farming had awarded him the Ministry of Food andAgriculture best farmer in his district prize.

All I am really trying to say is that Ghana is a unique country withwonderful people who are making efforts to make a difference in theircommunities rather than another far away place that is oftenhomogenized into Africa. Ghana certainly isn't without problems and Ialways wonder if some of these problems could be solved if moreresources were channeled towards harnessing the individual grassrootsinitiatives like those of Larry or Dauda. I guess that is what the program I am working on is trying to do. But I will save a program description for the next entry, as this one is getting long enough!