Sometimes, bigger IS better!

“Tracy! What is wrong with you? Are you sick?” These are words I have heard a number of times over the last few months, as female friends here in Ghana have noticed I have lost a bit of weight.  Now, I haven’t lost crazy amounts of weight, and I am by no means thin by UK standards (my dress size is still in double figures!), but in Ghana weight loss is approached quite negatively.

You see, having a healthy weight or even being “fat” (let’s approach this with the same attitude as most Ghanaians I have met and not mince our words!) is considered a sign of wealth, a sign that you have plenty to eat. A curvy ‘structure’ is desired by most women I have spoken to, and appreciated by many men.  It is remarkably refreshing to see women embrace a larger body type and not be obsessed with conforming to a Hollywood/celebrity body shape.

Sorry Renee, but being a bag of bones won't cut it in Ghana....I don't think this is such a good look either.  Go and eat a burger!

In the UK, I feel like it is well documented and debated about the ideal body type imposed on girls and women by the media and fashion world, with campaigns such as the Dove Real Beauty campaign trying to change perceptions that thin is beautiful and we must all have a size 6 body to be beautiful and sexy. It is a wonderful lesson in body confidence then, to walk down Sandema high street and see women enjoy their curves, and walk around in well-fitting clothing which display who they are quite naturally.  A few weeks ago, on a visit to the Bolgatanga team, we went to a local night club, Soul Train, where we saw Ghanaian girls showing us how to dance and laughing at us because we didn’t have enough meat on certain parts of our bodies to dance well.  For me, I was overwhelmed with how body confident they were, particularly as I am often quite self-conscious dancing and wearing revealing clothing in nightclubs back home – it was quite the attitude adjustment!

What do you think? Is she trying to hide behind the tree, or is she  enjoying her lunch without a concern for the effect on her hips?

In my opinion, this acceptance of the human form and an appreciation of a “healthy” weight translates to a positive attitude towards other issues, such as breast feeding.  It is not unusual to be on a tro-tro, or even sat in a restaurant or Church and casually glance to the left to see a woman breastfeeding quite openly and with no embarrassment or need to be discrete; it is viewed as a natural and necessary process.  Tolu, one of Team Tamale’s first volunteers, wrote an excellent blog on her reaction to breastfeeding in Ghana, which I urge you to read, and means I won’t dwell on the topic any further, but will use it as an example of how a different approach to the human body has further implications than what clothes look good.  

Aside from the professional work experience I am gaining by being here and working in Ghana, the cultural experience is affecting me in many positive ways too.  Don’t get me wrong, I cannot deny my pleasure at losing a bit of weight (it certainly saves on the Slimming World membership fees!), but I think, more importantly, I will be leaving Ghana not only with a streamlined body, but will have streamlined any negative and anxious thoughts about my appearance and my size.  

Charles Taylor...

On the 5^th of March we visited Charles Taylor in Chuchuliga, a blind guitarist who has taken part in the Feok previously. We have heard a lot about Charles as he is very popular and well known within the Builsa district. He was incredibly welcoming and positive about the project and his involvement. Charles Taylor and his band partner sang us two songs with their homemade guitar and painted calabash, being used as a drum – they sang one song in English which went something along the lines of “it’s a happy day, call my friend, I want to speak to her, it’s a happy day”. He was an inspiring man who didn’t once mention his disability as a hindrance, only saying he would like to make an album to sell! Once we had interviewed him, he very generously gave us a chicken! Absolutely terrified about how to hold it at first, I began holding it like a baby, to our drivers’ amusement. We became quite attached to Charlie the Chicken as he fell asleep on my knee on the drive home. Once we were home, we were at a loss of what to do with Charlie! So naturally we gave him water and cornflakes and stuck him on the veranda (which he escaped from) luckily, Alpha male Festus managed to grab him just as he made a break for freedom over the compound wall. We fashioned a lead and let Charlie chill out for a few hours before the inevitable happened… we had a lovely chicken stew that night (poor Charlie!)

Mole, Mole, Mole, Moleeee ahhh-ahhh-haaa

Last Friday we made the mammoth trip to Tamale in preparation for our visit to Mole! Expecting the worst from public transport we were pleasantly surprised with our metro mass bus, and our private trotro/mini bus seemed like absolute luxury! When we finally made it to Tamale and our group was a total of 15, we headed straight to the swimming pool for a quick dip and sunbathe before making the most of the western food available in Tamale – burger and chips!!

With only 4 single beds on offer in the Tamale palace it was always going to be a squeeze and rush for sleeping space, luckily the ‘Bolga Babes’ had bought their trusty foam so there was plenty of room for everyone (or at least there was for me, Jenna and Tracy who all managed to bag a bed – sorry Will). After a hot night we woke to start our trip to Mole, we all piled in to the minibus summer-holiday-style and took off! We arrived at Mole and straight away spotted the pool overlooking two watering holes and booked ourselves on to a jeep safari tour. We were split in to two groups. The jeep tour was incredible, aside from seeing a wide range of animals in their natural habitat we were also able to get very close to the elephant, ‘People’s Friend Number 2’ and see a croc – though this one was not sit able on!! We saw 13 elephants, baboons, antelope, crocodiles and an array of birds. Adam was friendly, funny and incredibly knowledgeable – knowing the scientific name for everything and anything you could point your finger at in the park, another thing you should know about Adam is that he loves his gun, he clicked it into position several times and even offered to let us hear the “noise of his weapon” to which we all squealed excitedly like 12 year old boys (this didn’t happen to our massive disappointment). The jeep safari cost only 10cd and was a fantastic 2 hours well spent, I would recommend to anyone to give it a go! Speak of recommendations…

That night, 11 of us intrepid explorers made our way into the park, in the dark, to what is known as ‘The Treehouse’ (not before filling up on more “burger cheese chip” of course, only just resisting “chicken carbon blue”). The tree house was amazing; it was in the middle of nowhere and had lovely sights and sounds of the local wildlife. We spent the evening playing two truths and a lie, some very exciting stories came to light, although I forget now which was the truth and which was a lie – Tippi’s Uncle IS the President of Korea isn’t he?! The phrase “if you don’t laugh, you cry” springs to mind and boy did we laugh, uncontrollably for some hours, scaring most of the wildlife away probably?

When we finally settled down for a cosy night’s sleep all we found were roll up mats and hard wooden floors/benches. The biggest thing we weren’t expecting however, was the now foreign feeling of cold, I mean freezing! Me and Will valiantly took a roll up mat each and a thin sloping bench and settled in for one of the most ridiculous night’s sleep ever – I say ridiculous because if you don’t laugh about it, you cry, right?! We all could not explain enough how comfy and relaxed we all were (!!!) Having said that, I would 100% visit the treehouse again. If you do go, take a hoody, some socks and a loaf of bread – sharing a granola bar between 11 people was some experience for breakfast. All this said, hearing/seeing baboons and hyenas in the middle of the night is quite spectacular and an experience everyone should try at least once!

- Poppy

Food! Glorious Food!

Throughout induction week we ate rather well…as we were staying in a guest house we ate in restaurants every evening, and breakfast and lunch was delivered to the IS office.  This arrangement meant the food was pretty good in general!

Ghanaian food is quite simple, lots of the same ingredients repeated in various ways, yet with different spices and compiled in various ways, you sometimes forget that you are eating the same foods you ate the day before.  Here is a selection of some of the Team Sandema favourites:

Red Red:

Deep fried plaintains with black-eyed beans cooked in a red palm oil and with crushed tomatoes (and a lot of spice!).  I think it is a little bit like the Ghanaian version of sweet potato wedges!  

Groundnut Soup and Rice balls:

Quite a self-explanatory dish, this is soup made from ground-nut paste, and rice made into balls…simple right?  It is absolutely delicious, and often comes with guinea fowl, goat, or chicken in the soup.  After two weeks of cooking for ourselves, we were lucky enough to be invited to our project co-ordinator’s (Maxwell) house for dinner and his lovely wife made us this dish…suffice to say we all went to bed that night feeling stuffed and with a smile on our faces!

Tilapia:

If you go into a restaurant and the menu says “fish” you are most likely going to receive Tilapia…and you will be very happy about this!  Tilapia is a white, river fish, and is usually (like everything else in Ghana) cooked in spices.  This week we had a drink at the local (only) bar in Sandema with Maxwell and one of his very generous friends, Pascal, who surprised us by bringing out a HUGE Tilapia for us to share.  We were all so engrossed in devouring this delicious dish that we unfortunately forgot to take a picture….but you just need to trust me that it was scrumptious!

Whilst we may have been able to sample some delicious Ghanaian food in restaurants, since arriving in Sandema we have mostly been cooking for ourselves.  Although, cooking probably isn’t the right word!

Our first night's dinner attempt... to be fair we had no kitchen at this point!

In our little kitchen in our compound we have a fridge-freezer (height of luxury) and a 2 ring gas stove.  All of our meals have to be cooked on this, and for a Chef or cooking maestro this might not be an issue, but for us, our meals are somewhat limited.  Poppy mentioned in an earlier blog about the market, and in Sandema we are reliant on the fresh fruit and veg that arrive on market day (every 3 days).  In Sandema, our options are limited and each week our meals are combinations of tomatoes, green peppers, cabbage, onions, garlic, and carrots, with either rice or spaghetti.  This week we actually found plaintains so I tonight I attempted to cook Red Red for dinner, and whilst it didn't quite look (or taste) like the picture above, I think it was a fairly decent attempt (if I do say so myself!)!! 

I am so lucky to have the most prepared team in the world, who all came with a selection of stocks, spices, and sauces to make our meals a little bit more interesting.  Here is a taster from the Team Sandema cookbook:

Tomato-based Rice:

Willy is sort of a genius at creating delicious tomato based sauces, which he concocts using fresh tomatoes, tomato puree, green peppers, onions, garlic, and sometimes a little dash of Levi Roots’ sauce (imported from Harrogate).  Mixed with rice, this has become a staple of Team Sandema’s diet.

You can substitute the rice for spaghetti to create Tomato-based Spaghetti (this is considered an entirely meal!)

Bruschetta:     

                                      

Sandema is getting a little posh with our food selection, and have discovered a way to make our own version of Bruschetta, by frying the bread, and creating a tomato and onion and garlic mix to put on top. DELICIOUS and can rival any fancy restaurant back home!

SAUSAGES!!

Since arriving in Sandema we have struggled to find sausages, and it has been one of the only downsides to living in such a small town.  However, on a little shopping adventure this week Will and Jenna stumbled across Sandema’s very own version of Iceland and lo and behold found sausages hanging out in a freezer!  What a discovery!  Now these are not your average pork sausages you might find in a chiller section of Asda, in fact we still aren’t too sure what animal these sausages come from, but they are delicious and made a huge change to eating rice or spaghetti.  We have been quite lucky this week in our grocery shopping as we also found plantains (quite rare in Sandema, ten a penny everywhere else) and so tonight we had a veritable feast of sausages, eggs, plantain and our favourite tomato-green pepper-ratatouille type creation.  Heaven!

Next time you head to the supermarket for your big shop, think about how much harder life would be if you could only buy fresh produce every 3 days, and if you could never know what food would actually be available in the market.  I’m certainly never going to take for granted all the rows upon rows of fresh foods and storecupboard “essentials” again.

As the weeks progress we will update the Sandema cookbook!

- Tracy

Spare time in Sandema

Although Sandema is not a bustling metropolis,  we've discovered a few things to do to see on a sunny afternoon. The market, which is held every three days in the town centre is a busy little place, filled with all sorts of smells and sounds; mostly of fish and kids shouting “smiley smiley!” meaning ‘white person’.

It’s always an entertaining trip and each visit we've managed to find something new; kola nuts, plantain, flip flops for Poppy, CHOCOLATE! It took some finding but this week (29^th Jan) we discovered chocolate for the first time in Sandema. I say chocolate, the one and only box in the market cost 18 Ghana cedis and the chocolate we bought is like cocoa OXO cubes. It’s not Cadbury’s, that’s for sure.

To get to the market we sometimes take a short cut and walk across a dry riverbed that has a sandy bottom. We call this the beach (as the nearest one to us is miles and miles away). Other things Sandema has to offer is the Resource Centre where you can surf the internet for 1 Ghana cedi an hour.

Once you’re hungry from all that surfing, Conifahs is the place to eat. It serves delicious food at amazing prices. One meal cost only 3 Ghana cedis, which is the equivalent to £1.00. Joyce, the cook, can whip up a mean vegetable sauce to compliment a rice and chicken dish; best served with an ice cold Star (the local beer) or an Alvaro (a soft drink we’re all a little bit obsessed with). Perfect for cooling you down after a long day at work meeting with the many chiefs of the Builsa District!

Jenna, Poppy, Festus, and Tracy having dinner at Conifahs

Back at HQ (Team Sandema’s little bungalow, now called The White House) you can visit the local radio station, Radio Builsa, which is a five-minute walk from our house. Take a personal tour around the studio or go on air to speak to nearly one million listeners of the Builsa District. The manager of the station, Ibrahim is keen for us to go on the radio, so expect to hear DJ Poppy and DJ Willy on the air waves soon!

Everyday we discover something new in Sandema. On Thursday (30^th Jan) Asiemi, our cleaner took us for a tour of the nearby villages and introduced us to some of the locals and showed us where they live. It was a great opportunity to meet new people and to briefly experience a Builsa’s life at home.  

We look forward to discovering more hidden treasures of Sandema. In the meantime we’ll continue to play ‘Skip Bo!’. If it hasn’t been previously mentioned in this blog, it’s a fun card game (the only one that I know the rules to) that goes down well with a glass (or mug, in our case) of Don Simon Sangria.

With two months to go (our time in Ghana has flown so far!), I’m sure that our ‘leisure’ blog posts will become more and more interesting with Team Sandema adventures. Watch this space…

- Jenna

Week One: Poppy's Best Bits

My favourite part of week one (other than being promised a goat by our landlord) was our first visit to the market. We went with Festus to make sure we paid reasonable prices, although it turns out Tracy is a good haggler and was asking everyone for “taymon jarrah” which means a few freebies. We came home with extra tomatoes, onion, oranges and bread, buying all this fruit and veg was an absolute luxury as Ghanaians are big on carbs and meat! Will and Tracy also plucked up the courage to buy a live chicken while Jenna and I hid in a nearby shop. There are animals all over the place at the market; men holding 5 chickens at once, young boys with goats strapped to their bicycles and the odd guinea fowl fluttering around. All in all it was an experience and as Tracy walked away with a live chicken in a plastic bag I think we all knew we’d reached Sandema and real-life starts now. The poor chicken was sweating in the taxi on the way home but can someone please check if this is physically possible as we’re certain it is but Festus thinks not.