Hello Sunyani! - July 8

When we woke up on Sunday morning, the power was out again.  The early Ghanaian sun, however, made the absence of electricity considerably more bearable!  We took advantage of the morning to become more familiar with our new home.  We gained access to a shared kitchen space (with counter space, several sinks, and even a gas stove!), met a Canadian summer resident of the dormitories, and got a head start on unpacking and tidying up our rooms. 

In the afternoon, the five of us caught a taxi to Sunyani’s market.  We satisfied hunger with a stop to eat the bread and pies to which we had previously been introduced.  Then, armed with a list, we explored downtown Sunyani.  We bought items ranging from onions and avacados, to butter and eggs, and even a couple of bandannas.  The Ghanaians we interacted with (most still dressed in their Sunday best) were very friendly.  Many were happy to have our business and even happier when we were able to slip in a word or two of Twi (i.e. basic greetings, introductions, and thank you’s). 

Four squished into the back of a taxi

Chelsea trying her pie

Though the Sunyani market was considerably less overwhelming than Kumasi’s central market, we were tired after a couple of successful hours and returned back to our dormitories.  Helena, Mike, and Clayton were able to wash some clothes (a far more time-consuming task when done by hand).  An attempt at a run was made, but prematurely concluded on account of pouring rain and approaching darkness. The entire group then enjoyed a headlamp-lit (as the power had yet to return) Minestrone soup dinner, as deliciously prepared by Mollie, Helena, and Clayton.  After 8 PM we again had electricity and Mike was able to tape-out dimensions and complete drawings for the lister engine’s housing structure.  We then discussed plans for the approaching day, and called it a night.

Big Trees and Kente Cloth - July 7

Our night at the Bobiri Butterfly Sanctuary was filled with sounds of the forest; we were lulled to sleep with noises of frogs, birds, and all kinds of insects.  We struggled out of our comfortable beds and into the kitchen around 7 AM.  Thrilled to have a large kitchen (and stove-top) at our disposal, we decided to make French toast.  Without milk or cinnamon or vanilla, and with honey as a substitute for syrup, we all enjoyed a warm and filling breakfast. 

Around 8:30 AM, one of the Bobiri guides arrived and ushered us through a couple of the forest’s trails.  We eagerly followed as our guide, another Emmanuel, cleared our path with a machete.  Emmanuel introduced us to many of the forests most notable trees, trees, mind you, that stretched high (higher than we could see) into the sky.  We climbed around wall-like buttresses of trees more than 300 years old, we played with rubber from a rubber tree, we (well, some of us) tasted the bitter bark of a Mahogany tree, and we dodged (some better than others) stream-like armies of biting ants.  After several hours out on the trails, we returned to our rooms and prepared to once again hit the road.

Huge buttresses on a huge tree!

Our guide demonstrating the use of a vine as a resting spot

After we piled into Govina’s truck, we were escorted to Bonwire, a town noted for producing a traditional Ghanaian fabric, kente cloth.  While there, we were able to watch craft-masters create marvelous designs with complex looms and diligent well-practiced fingers.  The craftsmen were eager to share their knowledge, they even allowed Mollie and Helena to sit down and try it for themselves!  Of course they sold their crafts there as well, so everyone got another chance to improve upon their bargaining skills.

Kente cloth community showroom with looms in use and fabric on display

Later in the day we gathered our line-dried laundry from Emmanuel’s home, grabbed two duffel bags full of useful items (left from previous cohorts), and bought some fresh bread and vegetables from a small market at KNUST.  We then drove (with Govina) back to our KNUST dormitory base in Sunyani.  When we arrived in Sunyani we were able to get good use out of our headlamps and flashlights—our entire dormitory was without power, and being 7 PM, Ghana was already very dark.  Unsure if the power would come back on at all, we delayed further unpacking, snacked on bread and peanut butter, and debated if we should go elsewhere for food and potentially electricity.  We were both surprised and excited when the power came back on around 8:30 PM.  Using hot plates, rice cookers, and cooking ware left from previous groups (thank you!) we prepared and enjoyed a makeshift stir-fry dinner.  We concluded the evening with a group meeting and discussion of plans for Sunday.

Biochar, Laundry, and Butterfly Sanctuary – July 6

Thanks to our many friends and advisors, our days in Ghana so far have been going very well. This morning, we visited the Soil Research Institute (SRI) in Kumasi, where some of the most extensive research on biochar in the world has been done. Biochar is a substance which is produced by charring organic matter in an anaerobic environment. It has many benefits, particularly the fact that it significantly increases crop yields when put into the soil. Therefore, Ghanaian biochar scientists are trying to increase biochar usage in agriculture. Last year’s Pavlis group started helping with the education side of this effort by talking to rural farmers about the benefits of biochar (which are not yet widely known by the general public) and organizing a small garden biochar experiment for school children in the village of Babianeha.

We plan on continuing the school garden experiments at various locations, but we wanted to meet with SRI to find out how else we could support the efforts of the biochar researchers. We met with Dr. Edward Calys, who generously took the time out of his busy schedule to sit with us and explain the current state of biochar usage in Ghana. He was very passionate and proud about the progress that has been made in recent years. So far, Ghana is putting one biochar reactor in each region of the country, which is far ahead of most countries in the world. However, this number of reactors is still not enough to allow farmers in rural areas the opportunity to use biochar.

Dr. Calys told us that what he needs most is more resources and help with improving the technology of their biochar reactors. So, we proposed to him the idea of starting an international senior design project for engineering students at Michigan Tech, whose aim would be to improve the reactor design. We gave him the appropriate paperwork to fill out, and hope to hear back from him soon.

Next, Dr. Calys introduced us to a director at SRI, as well as Dr. Edward Yeboah, the head biochar researcher. Both of them were very kind and welcomed us to the area. We then got to see some biochar for ourselves, since one of our great FORIG drivers, Godwin, was bringing some back for Emmanuel’s research. Dr. Calys also made arrangements for us to visit the nearest biochar reactor when we come back to Kumasi in a few weeks.

Dr. Calys on left showing us biochar

We then drove back to the FORIG campus, where Mollie, Chelsea, and Helena went to eat at the canteen while Mike and Clayton went into town with our other FORIG driver and pal, Govina, to get fitted for some Ghanaian shirts. At the canteen, which is a nice, open air restaurant of sorts for students and staff, the girls had some rice and veggies, along with a new soft drink we have discovered, called Alvaro. After finishing our meal, we met a student from the civil engineering department at KNUST who got very excited when he found out that we were from Michigan (he said he had read travel guides about Michigan) and sat at our table to find out about what we were doing in Ghana. We were very impressed that he finished an entire plate of banku (a dense sour dough made from cassava and maize) and soup during the course of our conversation; most of us usually have some trouble finishing our food here because it is so filling.

After lunch, Mollie, Chelsea, and Helena went to visit Naomi, the woman from the marketing department at FORIG who has been helping us with the advertising for the Duasidan Monkey Sanctuary. We gave her a draft of an info brochure for the sanctuary, and she generously told us she would work on designing a brochure (called flyers here in Ghana), road sign, and info poster over the weekend. We still need some information to complete these documents, but this coming week we hope to visit Duasidan again to get the input of the villagers and wrap up our lingering questions.

The girls then went to Emmanuel’s house to do some laundry- the Ghanaian way. We learned how to wash our clothes by hand using several buckets of water for washing and rinsing. We were accompanied by some of Emmanuel’s children, who actually took some time out from playing in the yard every once in a while to help us with some of the clothes washing.

Laundry with some help from small hands

Meanwhile, Mike and Clayton were shopping for essentials in the Central Kumasi Market, after getting fitted for their shirts. They were able to get a view of the entire market (largest one in West Africa!), which spans a huge area at their tailor. They made it back to Emmanuel’s house just in time to learn how to do some laundry themselves, and then we all squeezed into Govina’s truck to drive a half-hour outside of Kumasi to the guesthouse at the Bobori Butterfly Sanctuary, where we planned to stay the night.

Driving with Govina (who has driven us many places over the past few days) has been a lot of fun, and we have become familiar with quite a few hip new Ghanaian/African songs during the long drives. It was dark when we arrived at Bobori, but we could already see how great this location was. It was about a ten-minute drive through the forest to get there, but the guesthouse was very nice, with beautiful forest-murals painted on the bedroom walls, a well-equipped kitchen, and even a “room for relaxing”, which consisted of an outdoor patio with chairs and a table. Before the electricity was scheduled to be turned off at 9pm, we had time to make ourselves some spaghetti with vegetables (including a tomato-sized type of white eggplant the guys had gotten from the market earlier in the day), and enjoy the “room for relaxing” before turning in for the night. 

School Kids - July 5

On Thursday we visited the CSIR Basic School in Kumasi. We got there as the students were starting school by singing patriotic songs; they ended their assembly with a Happy Birthday song for one of the teachers with the same melody that we are familiar with in the US, but with many verses.  We split up into two groups and went to each grade (K-5) to show science demonstrations to the students.  A lot of our demos involved balloons, some involved water, and we also did a hands-on lesson on circulation and respiration. 

Both the kids and the headmaster were very excited to have us visit.  The headmaster emphasized the need for real life examples of concepts in classrooms.  The kids were having a blast with the lessons, but had even more fun at break time when Clayton blew up a balloon for them to keep off the ground, but when the inevitable happened and it popped, he was mobbed with requests for another balloon.  Another fun thing we did with them was play music.  Mollie got out her harmonica and tooted a few tunes while they sang, including Old MacDonald, Twinkle Twinkle Little Star, Happy Birthday (again), Jingle Bells and Joy to the World, before they exhausted common repertoire and the children continued to sing many more songs, which sounded like children’s hymns. 

Kids+Balloon

Before we left, we presented the headmaster with a set of donated speakers to use in the future for setting up a video chat between Houghton school children and the Basic School.  He was very pleased, especially because the school should be receiving electricity very soon. 

After our busy time at the school, we went with our friend Cornelia to the market to buy some more fabric for Clayton and Chelsea and then to her favorite seamstress to measure the girls for their dresses. It took much longer than expected to pick designs and get the details smoothed out, but Cornelia was extremely helpful and the boys made friends with the neighborhood kids in the mean time.  We are very excited for our clothes to be ready in a few weeks!

On the way back to our guest house we stopped to buy rice, tomatoes, onions and cracker/cookies (called digestives or digestive biscuits).  Then we made dinner in our room with the rice cooker that was left by last year’s Pavlis group.  Our first home cooked meal!

Tro-Tros and Shopping - July 4

This morning we were charged with our first independent (without direct assistance from our extremely knowledgeable advisors) group task:  to use the city transportation to once again reunite with our advisors by 8 am.  There are several ways to get around in Ghana, most of which do not include having our own personal driver; we had been very much spoiled throughout the first days of our visit.  The streets of Kumasi are bustling with taxis, buses, and tro-tros.  The latter option, tro-tros are re-purposed vans that make frequent stops along the main highways and can transport upwards of 10 passengers short distances around the city for extremely reasonable fare.  Because we were interested in transporting all five of us a short distance to our meeting point, we chose to travel by tro-tro.  When we decided to leave during morning rush hour, however, we quickly realized it would be unlikely for all of us to commute together. 

A tro-tro junction near KNUST

Two of us  (Mollie and Chelsea) hopped in the first available tro-tro and, just as the two began to worry about the others, the remaining three (Clayton, Helena, and Mike)-who had had to wait a while to find a tro-tro with enough room- were dropped off by a second one.  Both groups successfully communicated the stopping destination; therefore we completed our first independent mission--and all for a cost of 30 peswas (in USD, approximately 15 cents) per person!

On our final day with our advisors, we again had a full day mapped out.  First, we travelled by tro-tro to downtown (or, in Twi, “adum”).  There, we had beginning lessons in bargaining.  In Ghanaian markets, there is no such thing as a price tag.  Rather, when you ask “how much?”, sellers are likely to give you (especially if you are an obruni—the Ghanaian term for a white person), a starting figure of as much as 10 times a reasonable price.  Having been first informed of a reasonable price range, the five of us bargained for masks for our advisors. 

Then we met our advisors at the CSIR Basic School to meet the classes that we planned to work with the next day.  Since we planned to teach science lessons to the students, we went into town with Godwin, one of our trusty drivers and Cornelia, a new friend of ours from FORIG.  We tracked down supplies like Vaseline, vinegar, baking soda and kebob sticks from the outskirts of Kumasi’s Central Market, the largest market in West Africa. 

A colorful booth in the market

The streets were overwhelmingly crowded with customers and vendors of all sorts. In order to get the kebob sticks, we asked a vendor selling kebobs where to buy the sticks.  A woman near the stall tried to explain to Cornelia where to get them, but ended up leading us to them herself.  It was quite an adventure trying to keep up with the woman with the six of us trailing at varying distances behind through alleys, through a market on the train tracks and back through twisty-turney alleys again.  The eventful chase was well worth it, though, we were able to get our kebob skewers! 

In the market Helena, Mike, and Mollie bought some fabric to make into custom shirts and dresses too.  And the group bought bread, peanut butter, and bananas, which we later ate for dinner.  After dinner, Mike and Helena bought some snacks at a local gas station, where Mike also had his hair cut for 5 cedi ($2.50)!

A fabric store near the market