Haulin' me in

Time for Another Trip to the Station

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Ok, enough with the Monopoly images. But I've wanted to use the "Go to Jail" card since the last time I got called in for a shakedown, and today I was blessed with another opportunity. This morning, Douglas and I headed off (note the Ford Escape to the left-- my "vehicle to extortion") to the Madina market. Now, Douglas (right, below) is a 45 year old man who is kind of a jack-of-all trades we have hired three days a week. Douglas also cooks Ghanaian food for us those days and gives me tips as I make my way in Accra. The Medina market is one of several very large-- huge-- open markets in and around Accra, and I admit to being completely enamored by them. There was nothing like this in Liberia. Liberia's largest market was a study in mob rule and filth, a living and desperate disaster. The market in Madina is chaotic, but there is order and organization, and for the most part, it is clean. I could spend hours bargaining, teasing and listening to the folks there-- although most people I cannot understand beyond the universal language of price haggling. Markets are more than being about buying and selling. They are the quintessential human creation, and provide the engine for community.

Anyway, when we had done all the damage we could for one morning, Douglas and I headed back toward East Legon where we live, stopping off for a couple of Cornish meat pies from one of the thousands of meat-pie vendors on the road. (Meat pies are very popular here, introduced by the British during their occupation in the nineteenth century.) Our mouths stuffed with flaky goodness, we headed back the way he had come. As I approached a bend, I noticed a "ONE WAY-- DO NOT ENTER" sign. I pointed it out to Douglas, slowing down to prepare to turn around. "No, no," he said, with a tone of calm certainty, "It is ok-- go ahead, go ahead."

That was my second traffic mistake in as many weeks. It turned out to be a new sign-- and a trap. Just around the bend were about six traffic cops gleefully picking off Ghanaian offenders left and right who thought they knew better. And now they had me. They took my license, my insurance, and my registration and told me to return to Madina police station. I was under arrest.

At the station, Douglas and I waited, got shuffled around, waited some more, until finally we were led out of the main building, around back to a little shack. It was filled with young men, non-uniformed, in rather grimy tee shirts, talking loudly, and a few uniformed officers. "Ok," I thought. "It's showtime." I sat down with a chubby police woman who told me I must be "processed," and then would have to come back tomorrow and see a judge who would fine me. I said ok. She emphasized that I could not see the judge today, but stressed I would have to come back for another day of waiting and being put out. I said fine. Finally, one of the non-uniformed young men approached Douglas as if he had something important to say. He whispered something to Douglas, who bent down to me and suggested that I "meet the young man outside." I knew exactly what had just happened. The man had told Douglas that "for something small," I could go home. I wasn't buying, and told the police women at the desk I would be happy to see the judge tomorrow.

Their bluff called, they now needed a way to get me out of there without losing face. After all, it wasn't worth their time to process me with all these other offenders to squeeze, but on what basis could they release me? The smallest pretext would be enough. So I gave them one. I said, "You know, the police told me two weeks ago to have a Ghana man ride with me so I would not make a mistake. Today, I do as police say. I take the Ghana man and look! He makes the mistake and I am here."

The shack erupted with the sound of laughter. Shouting, they cried that I had said a "wonderfully true thing," and because of this, I obviously must be allowed to leave without delay. I, through my marvelous insight and humor, had earned my freedom. I knew it was part of the show, so I demurely accepted their praise. They were slapping me on the back and shaking my hands as they ushered me out and (quickly) to my car.

Thus endeth my second encounter with the Ghana police.

In other news-- if we can change the subject, we went to the symphony the other night. The Ghana National Orchesta was putting on a benefit concert and the four of us attended with the Hannah and Noah's classmates and teachers. We enjoyed it, especially when they played "Guantanamera." I couldn't help but think of the bar scene in the movie, Antz.

Finally, Dusty the Dog continues to survive. She barely eats, but we believe she is sustaining her weight. Hannah discovered that she had been badly bitten by Jack's ultra sharp puppy teeth sometime last week, and it had festered into a nasty infection. The bacteria could be contributing to her illness so Daughter and Father are now twice daily tending to the rapidly healing wound. Dusty ate some fish today, but may not have kept it all down. Stay tuned.

The Ghana National Symphony Orchestra.

We have hundreds of coconuts, so a couple guys from the neighborhood cut 'em down and sell 'em. We get our palm trees trimmed.

Surprise! The Reeds now have three pups-- that's Jack on the left laying down, sick lil' Dusty continuing to look pathetic in back and... Faith! A very chubby happy pooch there on the right.

Blog Readers: Click on small pics to enlarge.

Jugglin' Stuff-- Dogs Too

ReedNews Update, Good-bye August Edition

As September begins, we find ourselves in a new country, in a familiar region, and far away from most of you. So being here is bittersweet, but it feels right. Our weeks are fuller than they have been in ten months, as we juggle everything involved in getting situated with our jobs as parents and employees of the two organizations that sent us in the first place. We’ve also been visiting other organizations and people, looking for ways to build connections and bridges that pay off directly and indirectly. August was a non-stop month, so we are hoping September is nicer to us. Here are some news tidbits:

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The Cost of Living—Well, it depends, but much in Ghana—especially US-style food in the big modern markets-- is crazy expensive. A jar of peanut butter, $10.00. A pound of mozzarella cheese, $10.00. A big bottle of ketchup, $10.00. Hamburger here is the current bargain meat at about 2.50-3.00 a pound. It’s similar to Liberia: We adapt by finding foods the Ghanaians don’t view as valuable and making it work. And we are exploring the huge open markets. Electronic items can be comparable to US prices if you shop around and avoid brands like brands popular in the US. Commodities, like furniture, are low because all you have to do is find the right road-side carpenter and you can get an entire hand-made living room set for $500.00, or a hardwood dining room table and padded chairs that seats eight for about the same. And a gallon of gas is high, too at $4.00. Car repairs? As in Liberia, workmanship costs are low, parts are high, which is a nice flip-flop from the US. We bought a 2003 Ford Escape (I hope we don’t regret going with an American car here—so many Toyotas and Nissans) and had the mechanic take two days to make sure it’s ok with brake work, new bushings, oil change, radiator flush, new plugs, and it will cost us about $200.00-- most of that for parts. So it’s a mixed, but mostly expensive bag with some surprise deals inside.

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Hurry Up and Wait— A big "time-eater" for us is joining or signing up or registering for things. Banks, immigration offices, schools, car insurance and registration, utility companies all require one to “Que up”—get in line while one’s interests are process. It’s the same in North America of course—but not usually all at once while everything else is swirling around, and usually not for hours at a time.

Utilities—It’s a whole lot better than anything we had in Liberia, but now that we’re adjusting to Ghanaian normal, we grumble sometimes. Like the other night, when we realized we had been without running water from the city for three days. We found out when our water tanks went dry and thus finally so did our faucets. Most middle-class type homes are connected to the city system, but also maintain their own reservoir, both for water pressure and for backup. Sometimes the water is off for days. In that case, households need to hire water tanks to fill our reservoir, and we need to be careful with water usage. Electricity is also mostly reliable. We’ve been here two and a half weeks, and the power has been off about five times for a total of 20 hour. Everybody tells us to get a backup generator, and we’re thinking on it. The Internet service is also intermittent and slow—about the speed of a 28Kps- 56Kps modem. But better than an internet café.

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The Dogs—Its important that we have several dogs in our yard. The truth is, razor wire, as sad, ugly and unwelcome a necessity as it is, will not keep determined thieves away. It helps having multiple systems in place to make a home just not worth the effort. Dogs are a crucial part of that effort. However, of the three pooches we picked up, Downer was very sick within hours of arriving and died two days later, and now Dusty is sick, although it looks bacterial and we are treating her aggressively. She’s been sick for four days now, which is good and bad. We just don’t know if she’ll make it. Only Jack appears oblivious to all anguish and discomfort.

Getting to Know the Co-Laborers— This has been a fun part. We have had a chance to visit with organizations doing great work throughout Africa. Two of them: The Mobile Member Care Team and Theovision. MMCT has been in operation since 2000, and its focus is to provide training, counseling and consulting for ministry folks from all countries throughout West Africa. Quietly passionate and dedicated, they specialize in working in the midst of post trauma situations. They are also easy to sit with, and beyond that make a mean red-red, although their kelewele could have been spicier. (I think they may have been going easy on us.) Their web site is http://www.mmct.org/. Theovision is a completely different but equally fascinating Ghanaian organization run by Rev Theodore Asare and a dedicated staff. It gets the bible into remote places in the most unique way. Theovision sends a team into a village, and using modern equipment, records the language there and eventually record someone reading the bible in that language. The team comes back later with teachers, and they stay while conducting bible studies using tapes of the bible played in the villagers own tongue. Very powerful. Been around for almost 20 years, and has recorded around 150 languages. Web site: http://www.theovision.org/.

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Below some local pics. City, rural and market pics soon!

This is the way we chat on the phone much of the time. Renita with Liberia and the US at the same time, via Skype.

From right to left, our back yard. We have all of it to the green wall. And dontcha just looove what we did with the razor wire?

Anybody up for the "Tunnel Game?"

Our water tower. First, we rely on city water. When that fails, the tanks sustain us for about four days. Then we start searching for water trucks.

This guy's doin' great! Oblivious to the suffering...

...of this lady. Five days and still sick. But still with us.

It's Monday in West Africa

Kids' First Day of School, Dad Gets Arrested, the Dog Dies

It didn't take long. In fact, I got "arrested" here much quicker than when we were in Liberia. And one of our dogs died sooner too. Plus our lovely children are grousing about their new school. The other sandal has dropped.

Today started off with Hannah and Noah heading for school trying to keep their chins up even while mumbling under their breath. But we knew this day was coming. The kids were starting another school year, and first day jitters are unprdictable. It could have been worse. With the house quiet, it was time for errands, so Yers Trooly thumped his chest and declared to his wife that he would venture deep into Accra to complete the various quests. He would do this with only his trusty map, his twitchy cell phone, and his desire to master the rules and roads of the Ghanaian capital.

He set off, map at shotgun, looking for a certain "Ring Road." When he passed it, he wondered if that might have been his exit, and by the time he got to Castle Road, he knew he needed to venture back. He had been going Southwest, now on a parallel avenue, he traveled Northeast. Wishing to find his previous thoroughfare, he turned right at what appeared to be a perfectly good exit right. This was his mistake.

By the time he had reached the next light, two police rushed to his vehicle and waved him over. He had "driven carelessly," so now he must accept the consequences. To Yers, this sounded all too familiar, and the next steps only required remembering his first few weeks in Liberia. Step one: "You are being arrested." Step Two: "You must carry us to the Police Station where you can apply for bail." Step Three: Upon getting to the station, a deal will be proffered: "Perhaps if we think of something else, you will not need to go in." "Oh yeh?"said Mr. Truly, "Tell me more." The "more" was as expected: if I could "find something" for the arresting officers, I could go. They have that discretion, you see. I told them to continue with the arrest, I wanted to chat with their commander regarding my deed, and of course, their alternative offer.

To make a longer saga shorter, after sitting in a station house providing entertainment for drunk fellows and officers alike, and after listening to my captors debating amongst themselves for an hour, the Station Commander (Agnes) came in from nowhere, called me and the arresting officers into her office, chatted with me a while, warned me to be careful, and let me go. And that was that. I was off to finish my quests, the crime-stoppers off to nab school kids for chewing gum in class.

By the time I got home, our water was not running, the Internet was out, and I was feeling grumpy. But at least our dogs were welcoming me. Or two of them were, Jack and Dusty. The third, Downer, was missing. We all knew she was very sick. When I found her, she was already gone.

The kids got home around three, happy to be home, but still forcing chins up against their natural urges. We all told our stories of the day's events and grieved Downer's passing over a bowl of cookie dough, and by now, as I finish at 4:27pm (GMT), Hannah is singing, Downer is in dog heaven, mom is multitasking, Noah's waiting for me to get off the computer, and I'm heading off for a nap.

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After all, tomorrow is another day.

The day began with groggy, unhappy young ones at breakfast. Mom pitches positivism. Dad provides balance, by irritating with camera.

Leaving the gate for the twelve minute walk to school.

There they go! Sniff!

Meanwhile, Accra's finest waits for Yers Trooly to turn right.

But I already told that story. After a long day, home looks swell.

...and soon the kids join us for a well deserved hunk of a sugar, shortening, flour, egg, and chocolate chip concoction. The day comes full circle, at the dinner table.


Bonus Featurette: Our Dogs, Dusty, Jack, and the Late Downer

Daughter delights in gray Jack and African dust-colored Dusty.

Again, Jack hides.

Here they are!

Downer, the one that didn't make it.

Akwaaba!

Weather: Mild and muggy in the mornings under cloudy skies, with temps in the upper 60sF to lower 70s. As the day warms, the sun shows up, the relative humidity drops a bit, and the winds pick up to around 20mph. Daytime temps in the 80s, but nighttime is cool and breezy. Even though this is the rainy "season," we know that this close to the equator we will see a dry period in August between the two short seasons of rain. So we have seen very little rain in our first week in the Accra suburb of East Legon.

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Non-Stop Settling-In

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Is it too soon to say I love it here in the red hills of suburban Accra, Ghana? True, the water sometimes comes in spurts, and it has to be filtered-- but it spurts right out of our taps. No pumping or hauling! And yes, sometimes the city shuts off electricity for a few hours to save energy, but mostly it works. And while the Internet is not really able to stream YouTube or the PGA championship, it comes into our home. No driving miles to a dingy, unreliable cafe. And it is indeed a fact that Accra, like Monrovia, is an equatorial city on the ocean with high humidity. But-- dare I say it? Will saying it jinx it? But, dear readers, unlike the still, stifling air around Monrovia, Accra comes with a breeze! Nobody told me this! Oh, nobody told me! It feels good here almost all the time! Who cares about humidity when you got a 20mph breeze blowing all day? Oh happy, oh, joy!

So, can I say I love it here yet? Naw, I'll wait until the other sandal drops. But I like it a lot so far. I feel the Akwaaba-- the welcome-- of Ghana.

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We've spent a full week here in an almost non-stop selecting, purchasing, signing in, registering, liaising, testing, and adjusting mode. Our nice Ghanaian home (see video below) has nothing in it so we need to buy it all-- bedrooms,

living rooms, office, kitchen, bathroom, electrical adapters, step-downs, regulators, surge protectors, lamps, plates, rugs, pillows, towels, refrigerator, ... but I'm not complaining. Give me cash and a

breeze, my people, and there is nothing I can't buy. The photos to the left and right document our daily taxi rides from our neighborhood, above left, through the city. Click on 'em to see a larger version.

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The kids, Hannah and Noah by name, are now enrolled in the American International School, a new enterprise started just a few years ago with an excellent, professional, dedicated and enthusiastic staff. Tis very small-- only about 6 students in Hannah's 11th grade, and another 5 in Noah's 10th. But that's good; it means individual attention, and there are a lot of kids in the local church-- Ghanaian, German, New Zeelanders, British, and North American-- for them to get to know.

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Last Saturday, Renita and I took an hour out of our tasks and visited an "inventors fair" in downtown Accra, a place where Africans and expatriates ("expats") have worked together to come up with some easy ways to make things work out of odds and ends one might find in a small rural village anywhere in Africa. The inventors had come up with ingenious ways to chlorinate water, create power, process food, and recycle waste. Renita and I found the show fascinating, and may be able to use some of these ideas with others in our work worlds. Pictures of a few of the inventions are below.

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Both Partners Worldwide (PW), Renita's agency, and Christian Reformed World Relief Committee (CRWRC), my employer, remind us that for the next few weeks and more, our main job is to simply get set up and get settled here as much as we can. But we know we came here for work beyond our home, and beyond Accra. Our work will take us both throughout West Africa, and both Renita and I are essentially servants, helpers, even water-bearers to the men and women in cities and villages spending themselves on enhancing the lives of their neighbors and communities. We are patient but eager when we look to our "non-domestic" work tasks. We want to get out there!

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Since it looks like we have safely planted ourselves in Ghana, we want to say thank you to so many of you who extended yourselves, provided housing or transportation while we were there, stored our stuff after we left, paid bills and advocated for us all the time we are away, and continue to uplift us in many essential ways every day now that we are here. We are merely the front-line hands and feet to this work, while many of you act quietly but doggedly, behind the scenes as heads and hearts, path-clearers and bridgebuilders, encouragers and challengers. You pray for us daily, call us on Skype, send us emails, donate real hard-earned cash, occasionally visit us, and always welcome us when we return. I'd love to mention you by name, but there are dozens and I'd forget somebody. I hope you know who you are.

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Here are a few more images.

Renita hunting for housewares at one of Accra's several large, modern stores. Most items are comparably priced to what we saw in the US, except for food. Food is at least 1.5 times more expensive, and some items, like spaghetti sauce, salad dressing, cheese or most meat, are completely out of our range. Hamburger works at about $5.50 a kilo (2.2 pounds per kilo), and I get get a whole chicken for about $6.00.

Now on to the Inventor's fair. These are batteries made from salt water and old soda cans...

...a cassava grinder for making fu-fu...

...a 'cycle operated millet shucker...

...and our favorite, a bamboo-frame bike.

A final shot o' the fair-- finally, something to do with old plastic water bottles, which are otherwise a blight on the world. As Hannah says, "Don't buy water in plastic bottles!" (Unless yer makin' furniture.)

A 5 second home movie. Literally. These our our new digs. Just click on the arrow.

From ORD to FRA to ACC

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

We made it to Ghana, and because we are all together, it is home. Actually, it feels like it, after nine months in Limbo in Grand Rapids. Tis Thursday night as I write, I'm still a bit sleepy, but we started Day 1 of our time in Ghana on the run from sunup to sundown getting some of the things we'll need to get up to speed. But more on this settling time later. Here are a few images of the trip. I did not take as many as I needed for some good ones, but it will still paint a picture.

Chicago again. Wasn't I just here three weeks ago? Our friends Tom and Mary Steenwyk carried our eight large suitcases and three bodies to ORD, and it was their anniversery no less. We made it with lots of time to spare.

Our first plane, the one that took us to Franfurt, was an old 747. It was cramped and the packed flight was overnight...

... so the three of us got just an hour or so of sleep each.

At the Frankfurt (FRA) airport, Noah took his traditional sleeping position on the floor. He started really sleeping when we were called to board the flight to Accra. That flight was much nicer, in a new, roomy plane with our own individual movie screen. We landed at 3:15 pm local time, and by four we were united and on our way to our new digs.

Two boring and typical shots of Accra, but I thought you might value further evidence that we are here.

Street bid'ness.

A roomy home-- right now with too much room. The house has a large and open living room/dining room combo, a good sized kitchen three bedrooms, an office room, and a guest room. But oh so empty.

Hannah is still living out of her suitcase and Facebooking like a fiend. By the way, she's already had one marriage proposal from a very earnest looking young fellow as we were out shopping for furniture.

Noah, on the other hand, is a bit of a minimalist.



Together again, two migratory luv burds.