Groundnut Soup Extraordinaire

When I was in Ghana in 2010 I co-prepared groundnut soup on multiple occasions but I never prepared it solo so on this trip to Ghana I decided that I would leave knowing how to perfect groundnut soup.

While working in Koforidua in February I had Mama Augusta (who prepares all the meals for YCI Volunteers) show me again how to prepare the soup. It was difficult to write down the recipe as she doesn't measure anything, it's literally just "some" of this, "some" of that and a "little" of this!

I returned to Accra in March and attempted the first solo mission with my colleague, Danika. It was such a success and such a hit with everyone we lived with. Since then I have prepared it on 3 other occasions and I think I am now ready to share my recipe. 

Note: I've always prepared this dish in large quantities to feed upwards of 10 people so I'm not sure how to make this on a small scale! It's good for left overs though, or just invite all your friends who are willing to try something new...and delicious!

Vegetarian Groundnut Soup with Rice Balls

What you will need:

- 1 head of cabbage

- Garlic cloves (to your liking...I like a lot!)

- 1 large onion

- Ginger (also to your liking)

- Spices (Cayenne or similar)

- Onga (a substitute would be boullian cubes or soup flavouring)  

- Groundnut paste (a substitute outside of Ghana would be natural peanut butter)

- Tomato paste

- Rice

Groundnut Soup:

Mixing the groundnut paste and tomato paste

1. Finely chop the garlic, onion and ginger. If you have a blender or puree, that is even better and less time consuming!
2. Chop the cabbage into fair size pieces 
3. Add 1 cup of water to a pot and bring it to a boil
4. In a separate bowl, combine the groundnut paste and tomato paste. Stir until completely mixed
5. Add 1 cup of water to mixture and stir. Repeat with another cup of water.
6. Add this mixture to the pot of boiling water and stir
7. Add more water to the pot until desired consistency (ie: add more water if you want soup or less water if you want stew)
8. Add in spices and onga (or substitutes), stir
9. Add in garlic, onion, ginger puree, stir
10. Let boil for 15-20 minutes, stirring occasionally
11. Add in cabbage 5-10 minutes before you want to serve (to avoid soggy cabbage!)

Rice Balls:

1. When starting the soup, add desired amount of rice to a pot of water and let it boil (cover or uncovered)
2. Note: the trick to making rices balls is to over cook the rice so that it becomes sticky and can be formed into balls
3. When the rice looks almost cooked, add more water and stir vigorously with a wooden spoon
4. Keep adding small amounts of water and stirring until the rice becomes sticky
5. When you have sticky rice, take a fist size amount of rice and place it into a small bowl. Add a small amount of water to the bowl so that the rice doesn't stick to the sides. 
6. Swirl the bowl around until the rice forms into a ball
7. Repeat until all rice is formed into balls
8. Now you have "Omo tuo"

Serve rice balls in bowls and ladle soup into bowls. Or, go traditional Ghanaian style and serve in one gigantic bowl and eat communally...with your right hand, of course!

Enjoy :)

Danika makes her first rice ball!

Wasiu gets some airtime on his rice ball

Balls for all!

Two thumbs up!

African Midas Beach Resort

Easter long weekend in Ghana is especially long as people are also given the Monday off as a holiday. I decided to take full advantage of this extra day and headed to the beach, of course.

Normally I head west but this time I took a different direction and went to Ada which is east of Accra by about 2 hours. The town of Ada is not really the attraction but if you turn right at the Ada junction and head in the direction of "Big Ada" to Ada Foah you will find an incredible beach scene where the the Volta Delta meets the Atlantic Ocean. This is where I set up camp, quite literally, in a beach hut for 3 days.

Beach Hut Accommodations

Initially, I had made a reservation at another beach camp along the same shore called Maranatha Beach Camp. However, despite calling a week in advance and then calling again a day before to confirm the reservation, when I showed up they didn't have a room prepared for me, saying that they were not informed of the reservation. I guess it was fate because this lost reservation, along with bad customer service, forced me to take a walk further down the shore where I found the African Midas Beach Resort.

I have never written a review blog but the African Midas Beach Resort was just so amazing and so relaxing that I have to share it with others. After a conversation with the owner of the beach camp and inquiring about how he gets most of his customers, I discovered that lack of advertisement and marketing is hindering what could be a booming business.

So, here is my plug for the African Midas Beach Resort in Ada Foah.

You can reach African Midas Beach resort by car or trotro from Accra. If you take a tro  you will drop at the Ada Foah station and pick a taxi to the river shore where you can arrange for a boat to take you to the Resort for a small fee of 5 Ghana Cedis. If you are not a fan of small, wooden boats, I wouldn't worry too much as the ride is quick and painless on a calm river. Just mind the driver scooping out water from the boat as you go!

The Basics: 

The Beach Resort is by no means a five star Resort As you can see from the picture above, you will be staying in a beach hut with basic amenities, ie: a bed and a bed net. You will share a toilet and shower with the other guests. Price per night is GHC 25, but you are paying for way more than just the basics!

The Bonuses: 

• The floor of the hut is concrete so that when you drag sand into your hut, at least half of it won't end up in bed with you! 
• The toilet is a flush toilet
• The showers have running water, not "bucket showers" 
• There is electricity in the room so you can find your way at night, although there is no electrical outlet. You can leave your tech stuff with staff to charge at the reception/bar where it will be safe.
• It is much quieter at night than Maranatha Beach Camp which plays loud music on the weekends until fairly late at night 
• The staff is wonderful. Friendly and helpful
• The food is amazing and decently priced
• The atmosphere is very relaxing and peaceful with the calm river on one side of you and the harsh, crashing waves of the Ocean on the opposite side
• The water is clean, you are not swimming with plastic bags or garbage

My Recommendations:

• Take a book, or two. There isn't much to do, but isn't that the draw to a relaxing beach weekend?
• Swim in the river side as opposed to the Ocean as the waves and currents in the Ocean are very strong and dangerous
• Order your food an hour or so before you want to eat as it can take a while to prepare
• Bring your own snacks, breakfast food, etc. You are allowed to bring almost everything you need but it's nice to support the community. Plus, food and drinks are reasonably priced. ie: Star for GHC 3 and a meal for GHC 7-10, depending on what you order
• Call Uncle Kofi to make a reservation. He will also arrange for a boat to pick you and bring you to the Resort.

Contact Information:

To make a reservation or to inquire for more information contact the owner, Uncle Kofi at
+233 244 965 078

Photos:

The boat

The boat ride

Along the shore

A relaxing place to do nothing!

Kick up your feet

Sunset

If you find yourself in the Accra area, definitely check this place out as the beach is so much nicer and cleaner than beaches around Accra where you swim with plastic bags.

I rate this resort 2 thumbs up!

For the love of salsa

Shake your skeleton, shake what your mama gave ya. Whatever you want to call it, I love to dance!

Since arriving in Accra, I have been learning and improving upon my Azonto dance moves. The Azonto is the latest dance craze in Ghana and I have been hitting the streets and local bars to learn the hottest moves. I especially love Azonto dancing because the accompanying music is utterly amazing. Where ever you happen to be in Accra, you will hear the same songs on constant replay, yet somehow, they never grow old!

As much as I love improving my Azonto dance moves, I will forever be a sucker to salsa dancing and Latin music and it makes me so happy that I can find a salsa community anywhere I travel to. I'm not sure how or even when my love of salsa dancing started but I appreciate that I can continue learning the moves in Accra. Every Wednesday night I have a free lesson at Coconut Grove Regency Hotel which is followed by 2 hours of dancing where you get whisked around the pool side dance floor by Ghanaian men who know their salsa moves. As long as you remember your basic salsa steps (1-2-3, 5-6-7) and find yourself with a partner who knows what he is doing, two hours can seem like 10 minutes!

Salsa at Coconut Grove has become very popular and it's now known as a place for the some of the best salsa dancers in Accra to showcase their moves. If you find yourself slightly intimidated by the stellar moves of Ghanaian salsa dancers, you can always pull up a chair next to the pool side and watch as partners twirl each other around, secretly wishing you had the same talent, or even half of it!

Oil in Takoradi

After a long bus ride to the Western Region, I arrived in the capital city of Takoradi later in the evening on Thursday. It was really nice to visit Takoradi again for a few reasons, namely that I have not been back since I spent my first 5 weeks in Ghana in October, 2010 but also, to see the improvements in the city since the oil find.

Since the latter part of 2010, Ghana joined the ranks of one Africa's oil producing countries: Friend or Foe? There is anticipation and expectation that the country will benefit immensely but will tensions rise when competition for oil money raises between foreign oil corporations, local government and the local economy? The government is forecasting economic growth to more than double, from 5% last year to 12% this year. It is hopeful that the oil will benefit without tension as Ghana is one of Africa's best governed states.

By spending only a few days in Takoradi, I was able to see improvements made to buildings, roads and new infrastructure in general. However, since the influx of the oil economy, the cost of living in Takoradi has also increased and residents are seeing an influx of tourism, traffic and an increase on rent and food prices. People are expecting to see benefits to their pocket from the oil but this may not be the case, leaving people to uncertainty as to who will gain and who will loose.

The NGO I am currently working for, YES-Ghana (Youth Empowerment Synergy) just finished a project in the Western Region entitled "Youth for Good Oil Governance" where 60 young leaders (Youth Advocates) were chosen from across the Region to receive capacity building and other assistance in order to lead the implementation of project objectives in their communities. The overall goal of the project was to increase youth led strategies for strengthening Ghana's good governance and sustainable development pursuit, focusing on the oil economy.

Throughout project implementation, the Youth Advocates brought together other youth, local authorities and key stakeholders in the industry to raise awareness on the direct and indirect benefits of the oil, debunk job entitlements in the oil sector and the myth that you can only benefit from the oil money by working on the rigs. The Youth Advocates will continue to play a key role in advocating for good oil governance in their communities by keeping dialogues open and making sure that people know they can have a say in the development of their country's economy.

Me with some of the Youth Advocates during a workshop in Takoradi

Read more from the Youth Advocates themselves on their blog, "Youth for Good Oil Governance" or follow them their page on Facebook - Youth for Good Oil Governance in Ghana

It seemed inevitable

I knew it had to happen sooner or later. After all of my time on this continent and all of my long bus rides, I have been rather fortunate in the fact that a) I have not been in a bus accident and b) the bus has never broken down.

I finally experienced the latter yesterday.

I was travelling from Accra to Takoradi for work and I arrived at Carnation station in Accra to catch a bus in the afternoon. I think the entire day stated off on the wrong foot as it was unbelievably hot, I had to meet up with colleagues among the masses of people not to mention ward off those who were trying to entice me to buy their goods or take their bus to Takoradi.

Finally, we all meet up and it was decided that we would take a nice looking, bigger bus, as that seemed "more safe" as one of my colleagues said. I have learned that better looking things do necessarily mean better quality as I have taken some pretty beat up buses with no issues. I should have fought for my instinct.

About an hour outside of Accra the nice, air conditioned bus that we were on made a weird noise. The driver acknowledged the noise but proceeded driving. About 30 minutes after that we were pulled over on the side of the road. Most of the men got off the bus in attempt to find out and fix whatever the issue was. About 30 minutes after that we were on the road again...driving about 30km/h! As I watched cars and buses whiz past us, my only thought was that at this pace a 4 hour trip will take all night.

Finally the driver pulled over and we all disembarked from the bus. At this point it was about 6pm, the sun was fading and I wasn't sure how long we would all be standing on the side of the road fighting to get a seat in one of the buses passing by. Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long when an empty bus pulled up. As usual, there were some elbows thrown in attempt to get on the bus but I sucked up my Canadian politeness and pushed my way on!

Thankfully, we made it to Takoradi. I will be co-facilitating a 2 day workshop here Friday and Saturday then heading to a near by beach for some relaxation.

Take the good with the bad!

Wedding Crashers, Ghanaian Style

This weekend I traveled to Winneba, about an hour west of Accra, to crash my second Ghanaian Wedding. I use the word "crash" as I obviously wasn't on the invitee list. Mind you, the guest lists at weddings here are much more flexible than ours in North America. Basically, if you attend the church of the bride or groom or know them in some way or through a friend, you will be welcomed to help them celebrate their marriage.

In Ghana, the church service is similar to ours in the sense that the couple takes their vows in front of friends and family and then proceed to the reception where the bride and groom take photos with guests, cut the cake, pop champagne and of course, dance! The difference in the church ceremony is that, at this time the couple is already legally married which happens during the engagement ceremony a day or two before. The church service is to simply have the blessing of a Priest in front of God.

Fred's car decorated for the Bride and Groom

Taking vows

Dancing in church

Two obruni's and the Bride and Groom

Cutting of the cake

Entertaining the children with our dance moves!

Bride and Groom share a dance with friends

Sachets of Things!

One of many things that I love about Ghana is the ability to purchase certain items from any given location.

Picture this: you are in car or tro tro and stop at a traffic light, more probable in a traffic jam, and find yourself dying of thrust from the hot Ghanaian sun. An easy fix is to simply get the attention of one of the sellers by hissing and they will come to your window and sell you a sachets of ice cold pure water from a container on top of their head. Price: 10 pesewas (about 5 cents), Experience: Priceless!

Water Sachets:
If you can't find a water sachet from the top of someone's head, another key indicator is to look for a blue or brown cooler on the side of the street as they are sold on almost every block. I find this very convenient because I don't like carrying around a water bottle plus, by the time I am ready to drink the water from the bottle it is too warm. Sachets waters are conveniently sold in 500mL bags and all you do rip into one of the corners with your teeth and down it back.

Ice Cream Sachets:
The FanMilk company sells delicious vanilla (FanIce) and chocolate (FanChoco) ice cream from sachets along with strawberry yogurt (Fanyogo) and citrus juice (FanDango). These FanMilk products can also be purchased at random during your daily routine. There are a few options for purchase, the best I like to call the FanIce dic-a-dee, which are guys that ride around on FanMilk bicycles and honk their horns to notify you that you can buy a refreshing treat. The other option, like the water sachets, is to purchase your treat from a tall box balanced on the top of someone's head.

Liquor Sachets:
Another favourite sachet option is your choice of liquor in a sachet. I like to opt for sachets of gin which can be purchased for 50 pesewas each (about 40 cents) and mixed with a cold coke or sprite from a bottle. This is my favourite option aside from Ghana's popular beer, Star.

Coffee, Tea and Milo:
Something I've just recently discovered is coffee to go which means it is poured into a plastic bag for your "convenience". You can also purchase tea and Milo (hot chocolate) in to go bags on your morning commute if you find yourself with a lack of time for coffee preparation. When drinking coffee from a plastic bag there are two main things that you should take into consideration before ripping into one of the corners like a water sachet: 1. the bag and its contents are HOT and 2. the bag is very flimsy allowing for ample room to spill all over yourself; proceed with caution.

East vs. West

My first journey across the Atlantic Ocean brought me to East Africa in 2007 when I studied at Kenyatta University in Nairobi, went on a 2 week safari in Tanzania and Kenya and climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. This alone seemed like an experience of lifetime but since 2007, I have been crossing the Atlantic Ocean to gain more amazing life experiences in various parts of the African continent. In 2010, I travel to West Africa for the first time to work with YCI in Ghana. Last year, I was fortunate enough to be chosen by YCI to work for 7 months in Zanzibar, Tanzania. Having spent time on both sides of the continent, and vacationing in South Africa and Namibia, I feel as though it is now time for a new comparison list; East vs. West.

1.     YCI East vs. West:

In Ghana YCI works with the YMCA in Takoradi and Koforidua where YCI Volunteers facilitate capacity building workshops to the students of the YMCA Vocational school in Takoradi and YCI/YMCA Mentors in Koforidua. YCI programming looks different in Tanzania as we work with different partners in all three cities (Zanzibar, Morogoro and Arusha). While the partners are different, the main goal of YCI programming remains the same; to improve youth livelihoods.

2.     Food East vs. West:

Food in Ghana is very different than in Kenya and Tanzania; East Africans tend to not like spicy food whereas in Ghana shito (hot sauce) is everywhere, in everything and is very delicious! I also found food in East Africa to be very dull, for instance, rice and beans in Tanzania is simply plane rice with a small side of beans whereas in Ghana rice and beans is called “waakye” and is a deliciously spicy mix of rice, beans, sauce and hot sauce.

3.     Migration East vs. West:

I’ve found that in West Africa people tend to move around a lot from country to country. I think this is due to the fact that the countries are smaller and closer together and due to ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) which allows West Africans to work in a surrounding country for up to 3 months at a time. Also, I feel Kenyan’s and Tanzanian’s have a very rich sense of pride for their counties because even the wealthy East African’s I have met do not enjoy traveling.

4.     Swahili vs. Twi:

In Ghana, Kenya and Tanzania the official government language is English. However, in East Africa, especially in Tanzania, most people speak Swahili over English. I found that in Tanzania, children are schooled in Swahili until they reach secondary school and taught English as a second language, comparable to how Canadian are taught French as a second language. Whereas in Ghana and Kenya, all levels of schooling are taught in English. I did learn a fair amount of Swahili while in Tanzania and now I am relearning Twi, one of the local dialects in Ghana.

5.     Muzungu vs. Obruni:

Everywhere you go on the African continent there is a local word for the term “foreigner” or quite literally, “white person.” In Tanzania this word was “Muzungu” and in Ghana this word is “Obruni.” I think I heard muzugnu more frequently in Zanzibar due to the fact that it was a very touristy place and there was a constant stream of foreigners coming and going. In Zanzibar people would call out “Muzungu” in order to get your attention to buy something from their shop, in Ghana people will yell out “Obruni” simply because they want to say hi or the children want to wave at you and say “good morning.”

6.     Handshakes vs. Greetings:

In both West and East African culture, greetings are a huge part of cultural norms; you would never walk into your office in Africa without personally greeting everyone who is there, while this process can sometimes take a long time, it is always worth it! With Swahili greetings in Tanzania, there are so many different phrases you can say to greet someone and in Ghana you never greet someone without an accompanying handshake with a snap at the end!

7.     Public Transportation East vs. West:

My last comparison is an easy one; in East and Southern Africa, people drive on the left side of the road (like the UK) and in Ghana people drive on the right side of the road (like North America). Everywhere I have been in Africa mini buses are used as public transportation and in every country there is a different word to describe these buses. In Kenya they are called “matatu’s” in Tanzania they are called “daladala’s” and in Ghana they are called “trotro’s”

I hope to continue expanding my comparison lists, maybe on a continental basis, but for now I enjoy expanding my African experiences!

New Year, New Adventures

It's crazy to think that this time last year I was on a bus somewhere in Ghana heading back to Accra from the Northern Region and just yesterday I booked my flight ticket back to Accra; talk about going full circle!

As amazing as last year was, I think that 2012 will top it. I am heading back to Ghana for two short term jobs with YCI which are ideal for my personal career development. The first one, I will be taking the lead on a program development team and through the YMCA, we are to scale up the existing mentorship program in Koforidua. The mentorship program exists to increase youth livelihoods in Ghana and my team will be responsible for scaling up this program so that it becomes sustainable and replicable. Ideally, in 3 years time the YMCA and YCI would like to have the mentorship program operational in 3 other cities in Ghana.

In the second job, I will be working as a M&E Advisor with YCI's other local partner, Youth Empowerment Synergy (YES). The vision of YES is: a world where every young person has a real chance to benefit from and participate in the development process at local, national and international levels. For the month of November, I was studying M&E at the AMREF International Training Centre in Nairobi and I am very excited about putting these skills to practical work experience with YES. As an Advisor, I won't be evaluating  the programs of YES but rather, taking a critical look at how the organization currently monitors projects and then setting up an M&E system that can be carried through to multiple projects. Based on the information I was provided with by YCI, this is what I envision myself doing but of course, I am going in with an open mind.

I have just over 3 weeks left in Canada before I depart again for the long journey across the Atlantic. This time I am taking a different route. Normally, I fly with KLM through Amsterdam and have a ridiculously long lay over in Schiphol Airport. This time I am flying with Delta via JFK and Atlanta straight across the Atlantic Ocean to Accra. This means I have 2 stop overs but each are just over an hour, although I might have a frantic jog through JFK to reach my connecting flight; I still see this being better than waiting around for 8 straight hours. Time will tell!

Week 4 - Graduation

The final week at the AMFRE M&E training course was bitter sweet. We spent the week having some final wrap up lectures followed by only 2 days of compiling an evaluation report for our field work the previous week. By Thursday afternoon we were all unattentive and very tired. Nonetheless, the final report was submitted by me to AMREF on Thursday around 4:00pm; enough said!

On Friday morning we all gathered at AMREF for the graduation ceremony where we were presented with our certificates in M&E joined by the students of the Masters of Public Health and the Nursing students. This ceremony was special as it marked the 25th AMREF graduation. Between the 3 classes there were close to 200 graduates from across Africa, Europe (x3 people) and North America (just me!) with family members in the audience.

Me and my Tanzania flatmates; yes it was a coincidence!

Harriet (Uganda), Tayo (Nigeria), Jill (UK working in Liberia)

Jeff (Kenya), John (Tanzania)

Valerie (Switzerland), Jane (Kenya), Michael (Nigeria), Ruth (Kenya)

On Saturday after graduation I said a last farewell to all the wonderful people that I met, hoping that we will cross paths again in the future, and went back to pack my things. I fell asleep early on Friday as my journey home was to being with an 8am flight back to Zanzibar which meant that I had to wake up at 4:30am and be in a taxi to the airport by 5:30am. After 3 days of traveling, I have arrived safely in Toronto

• Saturday morning: Nairobi - Zanzibar
• Saturday afternoon: Zanzibar - Dar es Salaam
• Sunday evening: Dar es Salaam - Amsterdam
• Monday afternoon: Amsterdam - Toronto

The worst part of the journey was crossing the Atlantic Ocean for more than a few reasons:

1. The plane is always jam packed; thus, not conducive to sleeping
2. After 9 hours on a previous flight the movies are no longer new and interesting
3. Crossing multiple time zones is not fun ie: leaving Amsterdam at 2pm and arrive in Toronto at 4pm and it was definitely longer than a 2 hour flight!
4. Jet lag. Enough said.

So, now what? I am back in Toronto and already looking for my next flight back to Ghana in February, which I cannot wait for! I will be back working with YCI on a short term contract doing two different jobs. The first one will be for Program Development of the YMCA mentorship program that started in Koforidua. The YMCA wants to scale up this successful program to be initiated into YMCA's across the country. The second contract will be for M&E with YCI's other partner YES Ghana (Youth Empowerment Synergy). Throughout this contract, I will be working with YES in order to set up an M&E system to monitor and evaluate program implementation.

As for now, I plan to do a lot of visiting with family and friends before setting off again. I wish I could said I also plan to enjoy the weather but, lets be serious! What I really need to do is start planning my return to Canada for the summer time and not the winter.