LIVE AFRICA

Working on 2 Continents!!

2010-09-28T14:26:00.003Z

So today is the day I became the largest shareholder in my very first company! It's kind of surreal.. here I am in Saudi consulting and these steps happen since May.

ASA Communications Consultants.. watch this space in the telecom East Africa world, destined for great things...

Open then Closed...100th post and last........

2007-05-16T15:33:00.000Z

It's that time again when work and country change..... in a few weeks time a new transition.... this time it's a middle east country one that has certain limitations and cultural differences.

To remain "Imperceptus" if a blog continues please email me and I'll let you know the link when and if it happens.....

...there are so many memories here in the last 12 months....I'll keep the comments open for a month and then just leave it here for a while...

...onwards to more sunshine.

In Memory of Jean

2007-05-07T13:53:00.000Z

He died this weekend on Flight KQ507 and left a wife and 2 school age children.....
An enormous loss, I worked with him to set up the Cote D'Ivoire office for the company I work for now.....

I've not lost a colleague who I've worked so closely with like this before....

Moments to remember

2007-02-20T08:21:00.000Z

Girls the boys want you to know they miss you.

The sleep over continues....

2007-02-17T07:53:00.000Z

The noise became quieter, the cake was devoured, and then the boys and I fell asleep upstairs - and this morning, news just released is they finally gave up at 3.00am....this is the overflow dorm in the TV lounge

The sleep over begins.....!

2007-02-16T19:25:00.000Z

Yes 9 teenagers have taken over the downstairs and who knows what will happen.....a 13th birthday celebration has started! We have had to retreat to the higher floor...

Watched this on my sister's blog today....

2007-02-12T08:55:00.000Z

Crazy Teenagers...just

2007-02-10T22:52:00.001Z

Check out the flickr link to see the result of a sleep over photo shoot with a MacbookPro ....... ha ha ha ha ha ha

beaconhousetrust

2007-02-08T14:06:00.002Z

Had a great time in the pool last weekend...click the Flickr link to see the photos.

Take care....in England

2007-02-07T16:38:00.000Z

A good traveler has no fixed plans and is not intent on arriving "Lao-tzu" (sixth century BC)

Take care over the next 2 weeks

Love has given me wings so I must fly. -- "A Knight's Tale" the movie

We found him...deep in the culture!!!

2007-02-04T09:32:00.000Z

"Patrick the Explorer"

A spit of sand....!

2007-02-03T10:53:00.000Z

I switched on the news this morning:

1. 1000 poultry dead in East Anglia, UK from Bird Flu
2. Hamas & Fatah fighting on the rooftops of Gaza
3. Taleban take back a southern town in Afghanistan
4. Italian authorities ban football due to a cracker bomb that killed a policeman in his car at the scene
5. A tornado kills 19 in Florida in USA

Then the newsreader went onto the rest of the news!

In contrast, 2 clicks from my sisters blog this morning was this video...some things don't need to make sense in our world to bring humour, I laughed at this below.... a fitting break from peer pressure in the UK and to the rat race in Europe...

slam

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HAPPY 16th CHARIS

2007-01-31T13:23:00.000Z

We're so far away but we are right with you...

YOU'VE left amazing memeories with us here on your visits.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!

Whose house do you live in?

2007-01-24T16:30:00.000Z

I read Ravi Zacharias a lot, I have great respect for his apologetics in our modern world...I read this today and really valued the insight... Jill Carattini a senior associate in his ministry penned it.

*****************************

There is something about an inbox that subtlety (and not so subtlety) conveys the notion that we are important. With three missed calls on the cell phone, 18 unread e-mails, and two messages on the answering machine, we are pelted with the enticing idea: "Someone needs me!" The immediate ring, buzz, or pop-up note proclaiming the arrival of these new messages is somehow complimentary, even as it demands our attention--"Check your mailbox now! Someone is looking for you!"

The language of technology seems to further our sense of importance by bidding us to claim and personalize these worlds. I am only one click away from "my documents," "my calendar," "my favorites," "my music," "my pictures," and "my shopping cart." Thomas de Zengotita calls it "MeWorld." In a book that examines the ways in which the world of media shapes our lives, de Zengotita portrays the technologically advanced, media-saturated West as a place filled with millions of individual "flattered selves," each living in its own insulated, personalized world.(1) He believes the narcissism that comes from living in MeWorld has been fashioned and is constantly being fed by media representations in all areas of our lives, from those private representations that purport us the star (home videos, wedding photos) to the public advertisements, television, and magazines that address us personally.

Subtle as it may be, the most precarious part of flattered living is that we gradually lose sight of both life and self. Despite all of the overt declarations on my computer, this is not, in fact, my world. Though I am flattered by the attention of MeWorld, I am not the center of all existence. French philosopher Rene Descartes outlined one reason why: "Now, if I were independent of all other existence, and were myself the author of my being... I should have given myself all those perfections of which I have some idea, and I should thus be God." In other words, if I were truly independent, if the world truly revolved around me, why should I find in myself any imperfection at all? Is it not then irrational to live as if I am the center of the world?

Christians might take this inquiry one step further. How do I cultivate an awareness that this is God's world in a world that reminds me at every turn that it is mine?

The counter-cultural admission that we are not our own, nor walking alone is certainly a starting point. A poem called "The Avowal" by Denise Levertov speaks to such an awareness:

As swimmers dare
to lie face to the sky
and water bears them,
as hawks rest upon air
and air sustains them,
so would I learn to attain
freefall, and float
into Creator Spirit's deep embrace,
knowing no effort earns
that all-surrounding grace.

Living authentically involves an understanding of what truly undergirds us. Hence the fitting prayer of the hymnist: "This is my father's world. O let me ne'er forget."

When Jesus looked to the disciples on one of his last nights with them on earth, he covered their hearts with a similar notion. "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in me. In my Father's house are many rooms; if it were not so, I would have told you. I am going there to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back and take you to be with me that you also may be where I am. You know the way to the place where I am going... I am the way and the truth and the life" (John 14:1-4).

The earth is surely the Lord's and all that is in it. It is also our starting point, the place where we begin the journey toward home. We are not flattered on our way to this house, but transformed by the very one who prepares the way.

Cards anyone?

2007-01-23T15:56:00.000Z

Sunday night we played cards, it was hard playing with so many of us using one pack and so many of the cards were folded..we lasted about 3 games, before we disrupted the games sufficiently enough that we all gave up....good laugh though, some funny family laughs came out of it

My first MAC

2007-01-18T16:05:00.000Z

It feels a bit like Christmas, this new laptop is not totally new, but new to me, it's about 4 months old and is a MacBookPro with an Intel chip. I have been for the last 15 years a PC user. So it's like learning to walk again. All I have to do is figure out how to import my old .pst files from the Dell to this MacBook

Colleagues thought process...

2007-01-10T12:04:00.000Z

Sitting across from 2 Engineers yesterday afternoon who work on one of the projects for me, this photo captures a brief technical discussion while we waited for the client to arrive.

Thinking Time...

2007-01-09T11:59:00.000Z

I read my sisters blog this morning and found the "You Tube" Madonna video provoked a lot of thought....link here: Naomi

The statistics reveal that 40 children die every hour from HIV/Aids...living in Africa gives rise more often to the question "what can be done?

A global statistic reveals that 6619 people die every hour from all causes. From an eternal point of view another question challenges "what difference am I making in the lives around me?"

For the statistic averse just one more, 2 people die every second and 4 are born every second.

Also found this on www.data.org.

"Europeans spend $11 billion a year on icecream, while that same amount could fully fund the fight against global AIDS"

Kumasi and back in 24hours.....

2007-01-06T09:13:00.000Z

Kotoka Airport - Accra. A Grand airport for a small plane. Probably could have fitted the plan into the check in queue!

Spent 45minute on a very small plane this week, it's the preferred mode to fly when travelling in the Hamatan season. (the Sahara sand which blows south over Ghana to the Altantic in the southerly winds causing dusty, dry agravating air and extremely low visibility) I was advised by the Citylink supervisor that when visibility gets too low, this plane can manouvre quickly if it comes down through the clouds on the wrong heading and if it needs to turn it can easily do so, thus avoiding any obstacles..... mmmm nice to know thanks.

Also made some new friend in Krofrom a suburb of Kumasi when I gave them my chewing gum pack to share, I managed to convince the older boy not to take them all but to share them and I think they realised afterwards that they had all benefited.

New Year in the Sun

2007-01-04T09:41:00.000Z

Water Boys
The South Pole is that way ---

Laughing in the sun

The Christmas Weekend

2006-12-27T08:30:00.000Z

The Christmas weekend produced pleasant surprises when we made a significant amount of new friends. Christmas Eve we met at a Wycliffe Bible Translation Guest House in Accra where party games and a Christmas bring and share tea took place.

Then on Christmas day we had another invite to a larger gathering for a Christmas Day Party with a "Present Swap" and steal option, hard to explain, but it was fun....here we met another 80+ people, (mainly US and EU citizens working in Ghana, UNHCR, Amnesty Int, NGO's, Schools and others)

And finally yesterday we splashed around until our skins were wrinkled in the private of the company office pool.

On reflection, this Christmas had no peer pressure of what presents the children recieved, no bloated "I ate too much" feelings, in fact we only bought a box of Mars for the sweet part this year and it came with a free mug. It was hard to actually feel it was Christmas, with the temperature at 30+ degs and the humidity still quite high. For many here in Africa Christmas is a big burden since they don't even have the basics and go through the festive season not able to give to their own what they would if they had the means - it's humbling.

Matthew swims his first length......

2006-12-21T18:02:00.000Z

Happy Christmas to all "liveafrica" readers....
................it's our first African Christmas...

Plane lands at 2.00am - house on fire by 7.00am

2006-12-19T18:43:00.000Z

Just as dramatic as it sounds, BA had a plane fault which took 4 hours to rectify and then only by swapping planes, so Sarah and Charis arrived in Accra at 2.00am, 1 hour in Immigration and Baggage reclaim and then we made it to a sleepy house by 3.10am....sat and chatted after waking Karen for a few minutes, and that made about 23 hours for my day!!. Sleep atlast..

So then I thought I'll wake at 7am and get to work ready for the management meeting, well at 7am there was this crazy banging noise on our front gate...really frantic and shouting, loud shouting, so with a start and nothing but underpants and T shirt (too much info I know) I ran out and tried still in the twilight zone to understand what the commotion was about...."You're house is on fire!!" ....very quickly I could smell a pungent plastic burning and ran like lightening to the side of the house to find a fuse smouldering black up the side of the wall..... no flames, and the fuse I am advised must have been arcing for a while...

Shoes anyone?

2006-12-15T16:35:00.000Z

Kumasi in the centre of Ghana has to be the small business centre of the country, everywhere people are trading to make a living and get on....very calm, green and nice change from Accra. The shoes we're over a vast area of the pavement, designed not for pedestrians, but for shoe shoppers....

"Umm, excuse me can I see the TV at the bottom there please, no that one, the one underneath the other 8 TV's, thanks can you get it out for me to look at? ....no it's okay I think I don't like the colour...byeeee...." :)

Meet Mr & Mrs A.....our first Ghana wedding...

2006-12-11T16:34:00.000Z

Rodney and Sofia, wed this last Saturday at KICC

He's my first Project Manager, so really pleased for both of them.....very hot day to get married.

The Biggest African market - about to happen!

2006-12-09T08:27:00.000Z

After recent years of rebellion and war, Kabila is now elected and Bemba has accepted the opposition role, the commercial heavy weights are now moving back in!!!. (MTN, Celtel, Vodacom, etc mobile operators) It's the size of western Europe and has only 300miles of road and no national operators for the mobile phone!!

In order to communicate in what effectively is a brand new country where when we consider infrastructure - the people will need phones... 1 + 1 = 10 here.... I hear I will be required to get a DRC visa early next year.... mmm - processing on this.

Life from the roof......

2006-12-04T12:30:00.000Z

Spent the weekend after travelling to Abidjan last week checking the water tanks on the roof. This is the view of our junction, you can get anything you need at this junction, from car tyres to pineapples.

Water is not getting pumped through the mains to our house, so we have to get it sent in by truck. It could be said of the power aswell, we had another powercut just 48 hours since the last one this morning.

Anyway, life on the domestic front seems to be getting into a kind of routine, order water, turn the generator on, repeat several times a month/week.

The Chinese restaurant opened next door to us last week. "The Palace"...very nice.mmmm. It's the red roof here on the left..

Bomb scares, London at 2am and Lost luggage

2006-11-26T14:33:00.000Z

Life's full of surpirses or at the time one might say frustrating attacks at me personally because every one is at war with me and my family...aaarrrrh!......

Thursday night was ok, made the Stansted to London Express train with 30 seconds to go and arrived nicely in Liverpool street at 12:45am Friday. So ran out the station, from the blur..y picture you can see the speed... to catch a London Taxi to a Comfort Inn not too far away in central London.

I think the cab driver thought I was on a scenic tour because every other taxi sped past as if we were at walking speed. Anyway slept at 2am ready for the next race across town, onto the Heathrow Express, repack in the airport to accomodate the new travel requirements that state you can only have a pencil case size hand luggage with nothing in it due to the risk of terrorism! Ok that was slightly cynical!

I needed to pick up 2 new phones for colleagues and had pre-purchased my tube ticket ready to return to Victoria tube for a quick exit to Paddington, only to arrive and everyone is leaving the tube station with the tanoy in the background ringing "all passengers please leave the station, all passengers please leave the station , this is an emergency". I turned to the taxi rank to view about 80 people in a queue with no taxis!

Found one about 100m from the station flagged him down and now in a sweat was driven to Paddington, great I thought that's my problem for the day, free sailing now :)

Got to Heathrow, repacked, took my laptop only on board and settled down in the BACK seat of the plane....hello BA....I can't recline so far on this seat, isn't there a food drawer in the galley that's more comfortable, I'll have that please.. so much for frequent flyer card!

So we land and I'm out of the back of the plane with my landing card and 5th in the queue for immigration..straight through customs and first at the luggage belt....1 hour later..... last at the luggage belt! One case missing, only the case with the new phones....please no more, I've had enough now....

So another 20 minutes while one man serves a dozen people, one form at a time which he has to fill in and I leave through baggage check and yes you guessed it, I get searched.! Wire's, clothes, 2 laptops, playstation steering wheel for the boys, everything, all undone...

I'm off to the airport now, they say my case has arrived....mmmm....not sure whether to believe them or just turn up and expect to find the zipper and everything else gone....

Life's quite calm today...as if it never happened!

Heading South....

2006-11-23T20:34:00.000Z

Have you ever sat and listened to lots of people speak Norwegian? Try it! It's like listening to a lot of chefs from the "Muppet Show". smile

Now having disparaged a language, listen to this....the Norwegian's are one of the most polite and cultured cultures I have met. They are gentle, polite, kind in conversation and quiet in living, I really am impressed...the world could learn a lot about diplomacy from this nation.

I am sitting here in Torp airport waiting to board a Ryanair flight to Stansted and have FREE wireless access. I land at 11.10pm, then catch the express coach to London Victoria and will slide into the Comfort Hotel in Victoria about 1.00am. Then up to cross London, picking up 3 x Sony Ericsson 810i phones for colleague Ghanaians and then fly out of Heathrow at 2.15pm....phew...

Nice to have been back in Europe again...but so pleased to be heading home to family...home is where heart is.....

Getting to the subzero lakes of Norway

2006-11-22T09:16:00.000Z

Passed through Cheltenham this week and took this snap of my sisters favourite spot...did it while buying 36 pairs of white ankle socks at Primark for £9...

Then I queued with the masses at Stansted to get a bucket seat on Ryanair to Norway..this kind of line brings all people to the same level, everyone kind of moved in a flock like coordination....quite funny really...

What a contrast! Up in Norway for management meetings and the setting is as vivid as Africa is hot. Reduced daylight hours and freezing rain.

Malaria update: All is well and back up generator is nearly ready, just needs wiring and fuel to do a test on hopefully today or tomorrow.

Back in Ghana this Friday....

Malaria visits our house!

2006-11-09T12:23:00.000Z

...it was 3:00am last night, we had been without power for 2 nights straight and nothing during the day yesterday either... it was unbearable heat, no breeze, the back up generator wouldn't work, we lay there drifting in and out of sleep and depair at the wet heat...under a tin roof aswell!

Karen nudged me..."help". She was shivering in this heat, chronic headache, aching fingers and toes and huddled in a ball. "I've been praying for hours" she said, "I'm well and it's over..." it was obvious if things were to get worse we would need to get to hospital quickly.

Right now she's in bed, power is back the house, the fever is over, the aches subsiding slowly and she is recuperating... it also means her resistance is being built up having passed this first great hurdle.

In the back of our minds we know we all confront malaria every time a mosquito flies around us....

....and for this recovery, Lord thank you.

Memory Lane - 2003 & 2004

2006-11-07T09:26:00.000Z

I regularly visit this website: http://wvs.topleftpixel.com/ it's a photo blog, one of the best I know on the web. Daily photos are posted primarily in Canada and from where the photographer lives - TORONTO.

We lived there for 2 years and still have images in our hearts of the life and friends left behind...

When you visit this site, click "day before" at the bottom left of each picture to see previous photos, the picture quality is excellent, some amazing views and others from outside Canada.

5 degrees North of The Equator

2006-10-31T07:44:00.000Z

Warm water, the reggae beat of the beach bars booming out in the distance....a warm breeze, hot sun...you should have stayed longer....so glad you came...see you in 3 weeks.

8 in 600

2006-10-22T15:33:00.000Z

Another day and it gets hotter...phew. We spent 3 excellent hours in KICC this morning. About 600 in church with a choir of at one point 20 voices leading...this certainly gives a new perspective to our Western style Hymm/Prayer sandwiches services. In my view, it's more real, more spontanious and more vulnerable...altogether more authentic.....

A long gap in posting, but a happy man..

2006-10-21T16:28:00.000Z

What a challenge the journey holds, over the last 2 weeks, we've moved house already in Accra, had a stomach bug that was one of those crippling toilet rush bugs! Travelled the roads and seen horrible collisions, and injuries. The children have survived and started to work into the school here, though they miss their friends very much.

And then I travelled back to the UK and picked up our 2 oldest, Sarah and Charis...atlast for 8 days we are 8 again and complete...they return to UK schooling on Saturday next.

...and on the first morning to our extended and most loved new family...our HIV friends, what a privilege, here we lean over the wall where we all met....

Matt swims solo!!

2006-10-08T12:03:00.000Z

I can swim! No fear, just bobbing around in the pool. Matt can do a few strokes on his own now and had 5 hours bliss after a good nights sleep.

He elected to borrow some eye protection, any bigger it would have been completely covered with these borrowed goggles!

Toothpick seasoning.....

2006-10-07T09:22:00.000Z

It's the 6th and a day after Karen's birthday. We said we would have a family dinner so we visited a small restaurant, nothing fancy and sat to eat. The only overiding feeling was how tired we all were, so while joking and running through the first week in Ghana we waited a while for the meals to arrive. This took about 30 minutes, we chatted and laughed at the new smells, sights and sounds. We were tired but hanging on, since the house's electricity was off for the power rationing and the fridge was emplty of perishable foods....then Karen said anyone for salt and without knowing picked up the toothpicks and started to shake them over her meal!!! Immediate histerical laughing from Esther made us all notice the mistake - they were toothpicks and not salt.

Matthew didn't make the end of the meal, his little life had been blasted with too much information and wiped him out, emotionally and physically, he was exhausted... A real star!

The Grand Arrival

2006-10-04T13:21:00.000Z

The Airport: It was 8:00pm and I'm standing right behind the customs desk straining to see them arriving. There they were, and they looked tired, they had been on the road/air for 12.5 hours all the way from the small country Cotswolds and now in West Africa, thousands of miles from their home, their friends, in fact now closer to Brazil than England.....

The House: It's huge, we could fit 3 of "Alice's Cottages" into the house it has 21 steps to get to the 1st floor and has some strange minor points. When a house has no power it could be any house, twice a week or every 3rd day we have power rationing, so since arrival we've had Saturday daytime and this Tuesday night time with no power....hot hot hot in the day and the night is not at all cooler in a big way.

The Car: Wow, talk about "No Fear" she's in the car and solo for school runs in one of the most conjested capital cities in West Africa...incredible. We stop start most days, but her initiative was like a pioneer. So this second hand Toyota Rav wizzes it's way around Accra for school, groceries and to take a dip in the office pool behind my office...look out Accra Mrs Indiana Karen Jones is coming...

The School: Here the contrast is greatest, the school has a very high academic standard, a standard far surpassing the Cotswold Primary school - a British curriculum. The location resembles a series of broken and rough garages strung together in the small grounds of a colonial garden. The journey here for the children will be longest. The rooms are airconditioned and small, maximum is 15, but Esther's class has only 6 students, great teacher child ratio....

Me: I'm here in Abidjan for 48 hours finalising business with indecisive Chinese for work in a socially messed up economy where peace talks have broken down. Strikes blocked the Tretchville bridge into Abidjan this morning causing a hair raising taxi ride through the slums of Abidjan, passed an injured woman flat out on the street floor, over a bridge blocked by customs (who are on strick) down a one way street the wrong way, me in the fornt with my French dictionary trying to tell the driver that our security is in his hands and that he would get a bigger "tip" if we arrived safely. The British High Commission have given me emergency numbers if social unrest rears it's head between now and when I fly out tomorrow night....enough of me.

A weeks delay in writing here because this last weeks journey has been the longest and most difficult as a Father, never have I been so challenged than now as my family commence their Africa journey for the first time.......(my family minus 2, miss you Sarah and Charis)

Nairobi leftovers

2006-09-28T14:09:00.000Z

...photos for me like a panarama view can hold my attention for a long time. As I sifted through the jpeg files from my phone camera I came accross 2 that particularly peak my memory. The first here is the Parmesan cheese at the Brazilian restaurant in the Panari Hotel complex on the way to the airport.
The other is a creation quality landscape that takes my breath away. I was there! pinching myself...a great vantage point and what an amazing view over the vast plateau in central Kenya.

This view is best accompanied by Rebecca St James song "Loved Being Loved by You" turned up loud...really loud

Flight BQ502 from Nairobi - No landing gear!

2006-09-24T08:11:00.000Z

We flew out of Nairobi on Kenya Airways (Boeing 767-700). It seemed a normal flight, we flew for 6 hours to Abidjan (Cote D'Ivoire) and then the flight routes back to Nairobi via Accra (Ghana). Apart from;

Loosing the luggage I had to put in the plane because they didn't like the the toothpaste and mosquito spray, and
the onboard enterntainment tv's were broken so I had to strain your kneck at 90 degrees to see the screen that was working right over my head or train I eyes to the bulkhead way ahead to see the faded big screen in the distance,
oh and the water had run out in the toilets (yuk) and
my seat was changed at the boarding gate in Nairobi when we boarded...

it was a good flight, and after all it is Africa. (Really the contrast is different, Kenya Airways don't have the budget that other larger airlines have so expect a more economy version of flight than with other airlines economy) Some say it's better to fly across Africa back into Europe and then back into the country of choice than to attempt to cross using the African carriers.

So we took off from Abidjan, just an hour to go, weather in Accra we were advised was 28 degrees with a slight 5mph wind and fine. As we approached the airport over Northern Accra (Est Legon where I live) I recognised the location and felt we were a bit high for landing. (Now I'm not the expert but after enough landings in Accra you can make a judgement, and I thought we were high)....well as we flew over the airport perimeter, we were definately high! Then the engines burned hard and we started to climb just 100m in height from the runway! Ok so we missed, big deal! Then the Captain came ever the intercom and said:

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you may have noticed we did not land and have climbed to altitude. The reason for this is we have a disagreement with the landing gear! and need to fly by the control tower again to see if they can see it down!!!"

It would have been ok if the Captain had said we have a dissagrement with the Control Tower, or we are circling to rerun, but he told us the landing gear was not working!

You know the end of the this story because I am writing about it and there are no headlines on CNN about Flight BQ502 from Nairobi. On reflection though the Captain had to tell us the real situation because what if the gear didn't drop down properly, what if there wasn't a manual override for this kind of situation, what if? Everyone went quite, there was no panic in an audible way, I could see many praying...and ten long minutes later (after circling around Accra) all we heard was the Captain say "Cabin crew prepare for landing 2 minutes". There was no "it's ok now", or "don't worry everyone we have rectified the situation". I believe we landed and there was still a great deal of uncertainty that all the landing gear was firmly fixed down..

We landed normally, though throughout the whole approach there was an audible electonic pinging from the plane, betraying the longer we heard it that this was the sound of a malfunction alert

Many of us actually said some fairwells on the last minutes of BQ502, and I'm sure some put their hearts right with God....

Friends I missed...but caught up with

2006-09-23T20:41:00.000Z

Michel and Alice together in the Stanley Hotel Nairobi. Ommani at his desk in BTL. Friends I missed last August because my passport was stolen, but due to the meetings last week I managed to catch up with them and spend a morning with Ommani and an hour at the end of the day with Michel and Alice going over photos.

http://www.btlkenya.com/ are the Kenya representatives of Wycliffe Bible Translators

Over looking Nairobi wildlife park

2006-09-22T15:35:00.000Z

So we arrived at Kenya Airways this morning ready to fly direct to Accra and when we got to "check in" they lady said with a smile, "Sorry Sir we're over booked". So after 4 hours at the airport we walked out with a ticket and bording pass for tomorrow!

Some clouds have a silver lining! This cloud's lining is 5 Star hotel (1 year old) and located 2 miles from Nairobi international airport. It over looks the Wildlife park, might see some animals (Giraffe) from the 1oth floor in the cool morning...so I'm told.

This photo is the 10th floor lobby.

I don't play golf!

2006-09-21T18:29:00.000Z

I'm sitting writing this by the pool at the Windsor Golf Resort, Nairobi. The luxurious complex has been venue to 2 days of meetings. It's high above an amazing vista looking across and dowm the plateaux in a westwards direction.

The photos of this place I will post over the weekend.

http://www.windsorgolfresort.com

5 Stars in Nairobi

2006-09-19T10:55:00.000Z

After a sleepless night in a 737-700 Boeing in a seat that didn't recline (because I was by the window escape hatch) I have made it to the centre of downtown Nairobi in the Sarova Stanley Hotel. It's a palace, and I'm enjoying it, a swimming pool on the 5th floor terrace. Wifi to use the laptop at the pool side table. I'll Skype you Nae from the pool, better than Vancouver Starbucks anyday :) Check this place out!!!! click below

Stanley Hotel, Nairobi

All I need to do now is go to sleep, since with Kenya 3 hours ahead of Ghana, I landed at 2:15am Ghana time and haven't slept since Thursday night.

This makes 5 African countries in 7 calender days! Phew time to relax here and slow down.

Travel Advisory - to Ivory Coast

2006-09-17T14:35:00.001Z

Click below
Foreign & Commonwealth Office Travel Advisory for Cote D'Ivoire

Fragile Future of Ivory Coast

2006-09-17T13:31:00.000Z

After spending 2 days in Abidjan, it was obvious immediately there is a new tension here not present or even felt as much in places like Togo or Benin. As I slowly started to realise the nature of the tensions it became increasingly obvious there are "No Go" areas in the capital and times not to travel.

I thought back to my arrival at the airport, when my Ivorian contact commented about my Hotel "La Licorne" that is was a French run establishment and had many French visitors, so if there was any trouble the French Army would be there immediately to ensure evacuation. I didn't think about it at first, thinking this was just a little OTT. (Over the top). Then I turned the news on the same evening and watched news shots of the Transport Ministers burnt down house and heard the account of the rioting mobs who had attacked him and his gaurds...the news went onto interview a very angry citizenship at the governement. A toxic waste issue has been a catalyst for raised tensions see link ...Chronicle News

Just 20 months ago, French citizens were fleeing the country due to indiscriminate attacks on whites...see link BBC News

In the hotel I met a humanitarian worker (the rest is best left anonymous), she confirmed my Ivorian friends concerns and enlarged on attrocities (present day not readily publicised) at the hand of the forces of the present incumbent president, and that he had boycotted the planned peace process meeting update on some weak grounds ...see link Voice of America

In the airport I met a Liberian refugee trying to make money by marketing a new travel agency, I was at the airport early so we sat and talked about life and God and about Abidjan and life in Liberia. (He'd been a refugee for 15 years, watched his father murdered in the rebel attrocities back then and still a refugee under UN protection here in Cote D'Ivoire) He was a broken man in his late 30's or early 40's. My heart went out to him, he had dignity. And then he said something..."I saw the bodies of 2 babies floating in the Koumasi (A suburb of Abidjan) canal this week!"

I hope Mr Gbagbo is convicted that a peaceful and open route is the only way to help the people of Cote D'Ivoire reach democracy..

Breezy Abidjan for 2 days....

2006-09-15T18:44:00.000Z

Made it to Abidjan in Ivory Coast last night after waiting for 2 hours in Cotonou airport that was running on battery back up because of a power cut. Really was hot, sweaty and something out of one of these rebel movies! We filed accross the tarmac to the plane, through the security check in between the departure room and the plane which was completed by torch light......

....and then this morning I had a French breakfast here at the Licorne Hotel (Mid price range) in the Deux Plateaux area of the city. Bacon omelet, with fresh orange juice a croisant that tasted french and black coffee and the birds were singing outside the window.

A day in Cotonou

2006-09-14T12:29:00.000Z

A view of downtown Cotonou from the offices of Telecel the mobile phone operator here in Benin. A warm day in a city full of moped taxi's that zoom around shuttling a population quickly around town.

Benin's last elections had 26 presidential candidates of which an independent won, who came from a banking/finance background. It's similar to Accra in it's hussle and bussle but a little less congested due to the moped and motorbikes everywhere.

Looks like a trip to Abidjan will happen in the morning...still negotiating final terms with the Chinese before confirming the flights. Good I packed for extra days!

Visiting Benin again....

2006-09-13T16:14:00.000Z

Yesterday after a 7 hour drive I made it again to Benin, my passport this time is firmly with me 24 hours a day.

Spent some time with new clients and the team here working. The appartment has just received window screens, so the mosquitos are firmly on the outside.

We're right next to the local Mosque, so I don't need an alarm clock at the crack of dawn. Reminds me of Saudi with the 5 times a day.

On stand by to fly to Abidjan to sign with the Chinese, rather than drive back to Accra. Will know tonight or in the morning. Life on the road - Africa style, it's a little different from commuting Europe style.

Death of an orphan!

2006-09-11T19:27:00.000Z

It happened on Friday 18th of August 2006. One of the orphans I had met just the weekend before who was so engrossed in a camera phone that we had a great time pushing faces into the screen.

I mentioned here a few posts ago that this news was such a shock, well Thursday 17th he was playing but came home complaining of a bad stomach and then he had Diarrhea quite badly. His gaurdians gave some herbal remedy and it seemed to calm his stomoach. The problem was that the gaurdians didn't have enough money to take him to the clinic, which with HIV is so important to do. So the next morning (Friday) the man went out to see if he could get a loan from some of his contacts and when he returned the same day found his young orphan dead at home.

How sad that this young life already struggling with the Aids virus, then can't get the desperate help he needed because the money was not there.....look at the faces at the top of this blog, he was a child like these, in fact these boys were his freinds....

If you want to help inject support into this kind of thing, let me encourage you to give towards the work of Lihop, the agency working with these amazing children... thank you Julie for your gift it will reach them this week and go towards the premises that forms the 1st chapter in Lihop having a complete centre to love and support these children and their adult HIV gaurdians...

If anyone would like to give then email me at the liveafrica email.....

Thought for the day....

2006-09-10T11:43:00.000Z

During the American Civil War a little slip of paper found in the pocket of a confederate soldier, who had been shot read like this:

“I asked God for strength that I might achieve,
I was made weak that I might learn humbly to obey.
I asked for health that I might do greater things,
I was given infirmity that I might do better things.
I asked God for riches that I might be happy,
I was given poverty that I might be wise.
I asked for power that I might have the praise of man,
I was given weakness that I might feel the need of God.
I asked for all things that I might enjoy life,
I was given life that I might enjoy all things.
I got nothing I asked for..
but everything I hoped for and I am among all men most richly blessed.”

Abidjan - another friendly West African welcome...

2006-09-06T18:58:00.000Z

Abidjan, a sunny couple of days, meetings, negotiations and a very plush Novotel in the financial district "Le Plateaux" of downtown Abidjan. A view from my hotel was the central mosque. It's eclipsed a bit by the high rise buildings around it.

The view from the the Lagoon side of the hotel was just as impressive. Abidjan has the same kind of industrial spirit as so many of it's neighbours. There is a lot of anticipation now that the rebels have dissarmed, but also a "fragileness" about things. (No such word I know)

Meeting friends again (minus) ONE

2006-09-03T17:22:00.000Z

I had the chance to meet again the children and adults in the north of Accra (Madina). Attended a meeting where the adults with the HIV/Aids virus were given information on how to recognize and prevent Malaria in their lives. It was helpful for them.

I also met afterwards the children, their beaming faces and smiles and instant communication. Then I was told that one of them had died in the last 3 weeks (One of the faces in the top of this blog I think). Alex and Vivian said they were going to visit the family and find out what happened. Really shocked about it!

Lihop have taken a great step and committed to rent a small room where they can continue their work, it will involve space for the book making enterpirse which the women do to raise an income and to host their desk top computor they have sourced. There is a real need to meet the funding for the premises. It's going to cost the equivalent of US$770 or £420 for the 2 years rent which is needed in advance.

If you want to give towards this need, then let me know and I can pass on a contribution towards the amazing work being done here. Contact me at the live africa email.

This little one sat through the meeting, I think wanting to get Mum out of it. These are the children benefiting from the work of Lihop

The Program Managers desk - "mine"

2006-09-02T19:10:00.000Z

Here are my top 7 Project Management sayings that are worth a read:

If you don’t know where you’re going, any road will take you there.
If you fail to plan you are planning to fail.
If you don't attack the risks, the risks will attack you.
If you can keep your head while all about you are losing theirs, you haven't understood the plan.
If at first you don't succeed, remove all evidence you ever tried.
If everything is going exactly to plan, something somewhere is going massively wrong.
Good project managers admit mistakes: that's why you so rarely meet a good project manager.

Bonus: If it wasn't for the 'last minute', nothing would get done.

August in Africa

2006-09-01T18:36:00.000Z

(Photos - Lamu, Kenya - Bole, Ghana - Hindi, Kenya)

Over the last few weeks the images of Africa have been stunning, the scenery, the wildlife and the people, what a rich continent.

<--- Flickr has a few more selected photos. Possible schedule for the next few weeks:

Fly: 5th-6th Tues/Wednesday - Abidjan - Ivory Coast
Road Tour: 11th-16th Mon-Fri - Northern Ghana - across Togo to Northern Benin - South to Coutonou - back West to Ghana. (Passport firmly in pocket!)
Fly: 22nd-24th Nairobi - Kenya.

Back in Accra

2006-08-31T11:20:00.000Z

Well I made it back, a warm 9.30pm, 25 degrees evening greeted me in Accra. Met the MD at Heathrow Terminal 4 yesterday and was given an instant upgrade to business class. Wow, haven't flown business in over 8 years now. The seat is a bed, and over 100 movies to choose from! BA treat you with a lot more respect in this class, I didn't get the food tray thrown at me and there were choices of menu.

Well can tell I'm back in Accra, woke up this morning and put my foot out of bed to hear the aircon unit turn off, checked the lights - no power, checked the water - no water, so got to the office early in order to clean up. Haven't been out of the office yet, I'm sure it will be just as eventful.

My amazing Sister

2006-08-28T07:55:00.000Z

Nae travels and flies today to Vancouver for a new life and a new adventure. So as a family we're on 3 continents America - Africa - Europe.

As she travels she's going to blog her way through, so follow her travels and the link to follow is click here.

Have a great time Sis...X

Blustery English Weather!

2006-08-20T17:11:00.000Z

Blustery weather at the English Channel. Just to the left beyond the jetty are the Seven Sister cliffs and to the right in the distance is Newhaven. A needed blast of strong channel winds to invigorate and exercise the body.

What a contrast to the weeks before!

A 2 week break!

2006-08-14T13:24:00.000Z

Well the passport came, the flight was confirmed and Immigration stamped what needed stamping. For 2 weeks I'm taking a much needed UK break. When I'm back in Accra I'll pick up things again.

New friends - dieing HIV/Aids Orphans

2006-08-12T12:00:00.000Z

The pictures don't reveal what hides behind the smiles and fun on these orphans faces. HIV/Aids. I started at 7:00am by meeting Vivian and Alex the Directors of LIHOP Organisation a very small work started 2 years ago working to relieve the pain of living with HIV/Aids with Orphans in Accra.

For the children there is no medication I am told, it is too strong for their small lives. So I asked what can be done? The answer "Nothing" they will eventually die. The little girl here, her father died of Aids and she has it now...she looked thin and not as strong as the others, but she had the same inner child like inquisition of my phone camera. 90% of the children in these photos have the HIV/Aids virus and all are orphans.

Within minutes of us enjoying a photo shoot, they were sitting with me and we were best of friends. The stark reality was they have a high chance of dieing before adulthood, the selflessness of Alex and Vivian was so evident when they explained there was not hope for these children.

LIHOP are working with some NGO's who fund the food supply. The children live with gaurdians or Aunt's and Uncle. Once a month they come to the LIHOP distribution hut (see the flickr photos - left) which is near their homes, they are weighed to see how they growth is doing and theu collect a months supply of grain and Soy Wheat Blend and go home again. On Sundays there's a special clinic and counselling meeting for the adults living with HIV/Aids.
Alex and Vivian (Co-founders) are not paid for their dedication - it's all voluntary. Alex works in medical research in the mornings and works in the local school in Madina, where we were in the afternoons. (North Accra) Alex is also the local Baptist Pastor. Vivian is a part time social worker and works more closely with the community children and the Accra social authorities.

They have no premises just a simple lock up hut for their food support. What they need is a premises and they are looking. I want to be involved in helping them get a premises of their own, if you are interested in being aware of their needs so you can give then let me know with your details and I can connect you directly with them.

I was challenged recently to write more of the progress Ghana is making on this blog and I will. They are an amazing people, resilient, warm and welcoming. But here today I met a need that reaches the very core of my heart - suffering children! Those of us who "have" need to share with those who "have not" and if there is a need that has no agenda, it is this kind of need....

Vivian Gasu and Alex Danso-Coffie

Passport not ready!!!

2006-08-11T17:51:00.000Z

Passport failed! So now I wait till Monday to see if the Embassy process will churn it out for me. Ghana immigration are waiting to stamp it for exit purposes and have been very helpful.

We have this bio check quality thing in the passport process which wasn't explained very well to me. It has to scan and authorise the quality via London for issue of the passport, well this process took too long and the Embassy closes at 1:00pm on a Friday - I dashed accross town to be at the Embassy in the last ditched hope that in the last opening minutes this approval would be issued.

I am very dissappointed about it. But it's just a day at present. Flight is changed. The photo here is the TULIP Hotel in Accra, where I sat for a while one evening this week with the MD and his family who are over for a visit.

Ghana does have it's own contrasts and is not all on the poverty or broken scale. Over the peaceful years, more so in this millenium the Ghanaians have built up their own middle class from hard word and good industry. And though a white face is common in these paradise style hotels they are not alone.

This photo though a bit blurred portrays a very relaxing and luxurious spot..think I'll take a break again here between now and Monday night...

Tomorrow: I've been invited to help do a food visit at 7:00am at an orphage for HIV children in Madina a suburb north of Accra. Can't wait, I need a hug as much as they do I think.....

Update - Slow boat to Heathrow! (Delayed)

2006-08-10T12:08:00.000Z

I was wondering why getting back to England is such a difficult journey these days.

Benin Police Report: Check
New Passport Applied for: Check
Ghana Police Report: Check(This morning)

Outstanding Things to do

New Passport Collection: Due in 60 mins to get it CHANGED TILL TOMORROW!

Very fast outstanding things to do!!! - in order to fly Sunday

Immigration Endorsement on New Passport: Due to submit today - receive it Today/Tomorrow
Ticket Confirmed Flight booking: To be confirmed - flight reserved - Sunday overnight arrive Monday.
Airport to land in: NO IDEA.

-------------------------------------------------------------

Read this on the Heathrow Airport Website this morning:

Important Message
10th August 2006 11:15

Due to the heightened security at UK airports, the Heathrow Airport website is currently experiencing a high level of people visiting the site.

The airport is experiencing severe disruption to its operation. All short-hall inbound flights have been cancelled. In-bound long-haul flights continue to operate but with severe delays. Check-in and hand search processes across all four terminals is severely affected, and this will continue throughout the day. We would ask passengers not to come to the airport today unless absolutely necessary. We would also advise those passengers who must travel today to consider using public transport and be prepared for long delays as a result of these measures.

In brief: Hand baggage restrictions are in place; Passengers will be handsearched; Footwear and all items (including pushchairs and walking aids) must be x-ray screened; Liquids will be removed from the passenger.

We apologise for any inconvenience and hope to resume access to the website as soon as possible

Machinery that never dies!

2006-08-07T16:15:00.000Z

What I like about the buses in this country is the will to go on. Despite the van falling apart at the seems and sills and no lights and a back door that is probably hung with cord, the driver still runs the roads seeking business.

But: the risk is enormous, this local Takoradi van still runs in the town of one of our engineers!

Keep the good - leave the bad...

2006-08-06T17:31:00.000Z

In all my travels I think one overriding trend is that the lasting memories are the good ones.

Here's two of them from my last week.

Fresh pineapple juice in a pineapple - It happened when I walked into the Marina Beach Hotel in Cotonou after 7 hours driving into Benin. At check in, I forgot that I was in the best hotel in the capital, still familiar with bumpy pot holes roads and bottles water for refreshments...as I paid the cash room deposit a porter brought to the check in desk this, freshly squezzed pineapple juice with ice in a half pineapple, I nearly jumped at the surprise, I was still a bit tense, since I had driven the lead 4WD through Togo and Benin for the second half of our jouney.

A Gold Coast Panorama 800m above sea level - About 45 minutes north of Accra is a town called "Aburi" pronounced "ebree" (- e for egg and bree like the french cheese) It sits as a barrier to northern Ghana and as the entrance to a lush green terrain resembling jungle. This afternoon I went was exploring and I pulled over and bought some boiled corn to eat, then tried something called "sweet apple" in the left of the picture. I sat with the stall owner and chatted for an hour, they introduced me to the sweet apple, and the view was spectacular...

Kenya - Ghana - England

2006-08-05T09:56:00.000Z

At this present moment Karen and Sarah are 50,000ft cruising over 500mph to Nairobi. I should have been with them but for the stolen passport. I spoke with them though, first thing this morning as they passed through to duty free and prepared to board...bon voyage my special and dear family
Charis, Esther, Alexander, Jacob and Matthew firmly on Cotswold soil in England.
Me, waiting for a passport replacement here in Accra , Ghana.

A family spread accross such a wide expanse and soon Naomi (sister - see link right side of blog) will be jetting to Vancouver to live.

Reflections on the robbery:
It took me the whole of Tuesday this week to get over the emotional experience Monday had been. When I spoke about it, I found myself reliving the emotional highs and lows and scary parts. I must confess, until I get my new passport and exit papers for a 2 week break and until I get on the plane I'm living in a small amount of uncertainty still. Overall though whatever happens, every moment is an experience, an opportunity to live and what a privilege to travel. Despite set backs and the increased levels of effort, travelling opens our minds and challenges our status quo, it introduces the variety of other cultures and remoulds our value system - for the better if we can.

"14 hours" - Monday 31st July 2006

2006-08-02T17:35:00.000Z

It was Monday morning about 10.00am; we had finished signing a contract for a new project building tower sites in the north of Benin. We had arrived in our Ghana Toyota Hilux and Ford Ranger cabsters. Things had gone well, all we had left to do was negotiate the lease on the office/apartment and then I would set off with my driver back to Ghana…

We parked at a roundabout near the landlords offices and left the drivers with the vehicles. For 10 minutes the vehicles were unattended and in that time the front drivers door lock was forced on the Hilux and the small bags taken. For the first time in 2 months I had left my passport in a bag that I didn’t have with me. Now it was gone!

When I returned to the vehicles and was told what had just happened I went cold, here I was in Cotonou, Benin, 7 hours away from Accra, with no passport, or visas to get through 3 countries…..aaaarh! I can relive the feeling just by thinking back! The feeling of despair and utter loss for what to do is vivid. What compounded the situation was that in 36 hours I had plans to leave for the UK and be back with my family and then onward to Kenya in a few days time.

In my passport were multiple entry visas for Benin, Togo, Ghana and Ivory Coast. There is also no embassy in Benin or Togo. They are managed from the embassy in Nigeria! Could I get through to the number? Not a chance.

So as the sinking feelings continue to get stronger we weave our way through the bustling motor bike taxis and busy Cotonou to the police to get a police report, which would theoretically get me through the borders back to Ghana. The central police station was mayhem since the whole country would close down tomorrow for Independence Day (26 years of independence from France), so we diverted to the Commissariat de Police Cadjehoun a district, and went through the report process. (A 2 hours event which is another story for another post!)

With the letter stamped, typed and signed, the advice from my Accra office was to move away. The British Embassy in Nigeria’s number was continually engaged! Great thanks for the help. So on we went. It was already 2:00pm so we had to negotiate the border crossings to get to Ghana before dark. Once in Ghana we could relax and slow down.

Benin/Togo Border.
The Police report was in French and gave the details, as a document it explained really well the theft and the things stolen and had a lot of weight. The Benin immigration were a bit embarrassed that it had happened and after a little encouragement to help me (in my not so fluent French) the one guard persuaded the interviewing guard to let me out….Next Togo entry! So I walk into the garden shed to the border police, and hand my police report over and he looks at me and says you have no visa, explanations later he passes it to another guard…10 minutes later and 10 people pushing in front, this guard says follow me…so then we meet the top border guard in traditional outfit and he looks at me and then at the paper and then at me and with a slight head nod, I’m through….man was I relieved. On the way over to the vehicle one of the border guards needed a ride to Lome the capital which was on our route, and in return we had free passage through the vehicle checks which saved us about 20 mins…..(at this point I’m thinking that things are going well)

Togo/Ghana Border
The Togo guards seeing the stamps I already had on the police report let me out and wished me well, so after all this French I breathed a sigh of relief, it was 5:00pm and I walked in to the Ghana Immigration office.

Ghana Shock!
What a surprise was waiting for me. When I entered, I was quickly passed to the top immigration officer who was standing 6ft and more in his green uniform with hands behind his back, ridged in his pose. Before I could get through half of my explanation he interrupted and refused to listen, ordered me out of his office back into Togo saying apologies were not enough, that I didn’t have the correct papers and should return to Cotonou, Benin, sort it out and then return with the right paperwork! I was dumbstruck, yet immediately I knew he wasn’t going to move, so rather than antagonize him, I passed the car stopped told my driver and walked by foot, with a pocket full of papers in my pocket across the border back into the “in-between” zone where the trucks are parked to await customs inspection. I just stood there, what ran through my mind as I visualized how I could get that all done and be back in time for a UK flight the next night was a total feeling of loss. I had come so far and now this huge BLOCK, like a stronghold blocking the way.

My driver arrived and expressed how he was embarrassed that one of his countrymen could be this inflexible….well over the next hour, several phone conversations happened in Accra Immigration and with the border officials. The outcome was that the immigration authorities instructed the immigration border to let me in, but the border officer refused and eventually the message came “you cannot enter!” At the same time my driver a local started to work on a plan. There was a border crossing a little north of us which would let us in…….

……..3 hours later I made it to Ghana. What I can’t write here is how.

Border crossings in Africa are unique, each one is different and my passage to Ghana resembled in my mind something from a Bruce Willis movie, without the guns and cameras. It was like a Brother Andrew border crossing. In person I can explain it all….14 hours of total uncertainty which turned into a series of very certain steps.

Sometimes we get blocked but it doesn’t mean the road has ended, sometimes we get delayed but it doesn’t mean we are not moving…the lows and very lows of the Monday 31 July 2006 will be eternally imprinted on my mind….and I’ve only been here 7 weeks..

Here’s to more African adventure but a little more toned down please….

Robbed in Benin - Stranded in Togo - Blocked from Ghana!

2006-08-02T08:03:00.000Z

The 14 hour miracle journey that opened my eyes to how difficult life can be in Africa when things go wrong. I'm back in Accra writing it up, waiting for a new passport - will post it all I hope later today.....

Tamale to Benin and back to Accra

2006-07-30T07:09:00.000Z

The rain when it rains hits hard...on the road to Tamale airport the heavens opened delaying the flight to Accra by 2 hours..

What a change to the the clouds just the day before. We had a minister on the plane and several Unicef officials. The region has "food security" problems during the dry season around Dec/Jan. I met the country representative for OIC International and spoke at length of the education and support an organisation can do for this region.

Anyway, down here for 2 nights and this morning (Sun) it's 7:00am and a team of us are preparing to drive in convoy to Benin to set up the Cotonou office. Yes and back tomorrow for me - driving is the only way, about 7 hours with border crossings....it's raining too! so a slower drive....

Obroni! Obrini! - (White Man)

2006-07-28T10:14:00.000Z

The lasting impression is the children. Wherever I went, they would walk towards me a little inquisitive then interested, and when I responded, we were instant friends.

Northern Ghana has proved the most friendly so far, not that central and south has not, on the contrary everyone breaks into the amazing bright Ghana smile at the first chance.

The roads have been unique compacted fine sandy fill material that leaves a trail high in the air. When we followed our guides vehicle, he drove on the oncoming side of the road and we on the correct side, so the dust clouds didn't blind us.

A beautful country...

Northern Region...48 hours and 35 Deg C ...at Internet Cafe tonight

2006-07-26T21:41:00.000Z

Spent 4 hours in the car this evening, driving...it felt like I was in a Dukes of Hazard movie...sorry no photos I'm 250km north of Accra in Kumasi in the Ashanti region..will add them to Flickr when I get back. Tomorrow at 6.30am another 350km north to Tamale for site surveys with the engineers.

Driving in the dark here is incredible, the cars are wrecks by day, by night they are ships of death, we were passed by a VW Jetta with it's whole front end smashed (NO Lights) about a foot into the front...what was scary was that when darkness fell we caught back up with the car in the dark! No headlights! No white lines in the road, no street lighting (the country is near jungle left and right of the road) No cats eyes! and histeriacally the car is still hard to catch in the black of night....so we flashed him, he moved over and we led him to Kumasi...I'm still laughing at the "No fear" factor of the driver and passengers. Who gave him the temporary registration plates from Ghana DVLA that's what I want to know.... anyway...made it safe and ready to sleep after bouncing all the way here!

Residence Process.....

2006-07-22T09:01:00.000Z

As part of the process to become a person with "resident" status I need to have a "criminal record check" and a Medical. So off I went to the central police station, a bit on edge since this is where the "Police" are, they tend to be very sensitive and intolerant - just my personal experience when I have met some of them. The only way I have compensated is to be really really polite....

...well the process goes like this, through the barred doors, down the narrow corridor with bars on the windows which line the route, then left at the end into a room laid out so randomly I had no clue what to do...so over to the table, no not here, pay your money, so I go to the cashier a man sitting high up through the railings and I explain I'm here for a residency criminal record check.

He asks "passport!" "ok, so you're British. Oh so your family really" he grins with a great big smile and puts out his hand, so I put mine through the grill and stretch to shake on it...
I replied, "So does that mean my check is passed!" cheeky I know, but I find the humour works a lot....

He grins and from there the whole process goes really well, I even got pushed through the queue (I felt a bit guilty..but hey! they told me..) a lot of thank you's from me, some photos (wow I looked old in them) and lots finger prints...by Detective Inspector of the Ghana CID (never had that done before). Anyway in about 2 weeks and for an $80 fee I should have a criminal record check complete. It's a bit different from the Canadian and British ones I've done before....

And to prove it I took a secret photo of the finger prints...(photos in the police station I don't think would have been flavour of the month!

...anyone want a ride???

2006-07-19T19:58:00.000Z

"I can't believe the stuff they carry on the trucks"...this was a light one, we saw one with double the height that this one had and it was gingerly passing along the highway with a trail of following vehicles looking on in unbelief....the other one here on the left, had these 2 men holding the charcoal bags on, since it was listing around the corners..... Never will I complain of traffic in the UK....

Then came the Togo border...absolute chaos, but....it worked, no scans, no screens, no searches, not even a computor. I walked straight upto the customs police table, put my passport down, he filled out his sheet, then asked a few questions, stamped it and moved me on....(remember I'm probably the only white man passing this border for the last few hours!)

Then we pass through the high security rope which is raised about 30cm from the ground to stop cars passing without authority! (I don't think so somehow)

And then we entered Togo...the country of motorbike taxis! If the Togolese all had cars and not bikes the country would grind to a halt.... no helmets, but then there were no lanes either, just a free for all! yeehaaa lets go.... So my colleague (Ghanaian Chief Business Officer) proceeded to see if we really could knock someone over, I mean these bikes must have some kind of force field which protects them...

..as we drove out of the border town, we picked up speed and then more speed...(single lane stuff) just a little more speed...about 90mph down the centre of the road and 50 minutes later we reached the Benin border...can you see my grey hair, or is it just falling out right now...cant tell the difference!!! Another border crossing, the only difference is it takes about 30 minutes longer here.... and then darkness. African roads in the dark....ouch. Some cars with no lights, (no street lamps by the way!) some cars with lights that they feel need to point towards the stars, like a batman beam...then the bikes! .. it looked at times like we were heading headlong into an oncoming vehicle with 10 lights in a row on the front, then they part around us as we pass through.....

...and on the return journey we look at the carnage of crashed vehicles we actually missed!!!

Glad to be back in safe and secure Ghana....

East through Togo and Benin ....24 hr trip..

2006-07-17T12:43:00.000Z

....through the customs, roadblocks, extortion road blocks and yes you guessed all in French....by car aswell, so should fun.....

How do you see the beach.....

2006-07-17T12:36:00.000Z

I spent a couple of hours this Saturday sitting on a the beach on an overcast day.....just watching beach life go by.....

The beach from this vantage point can seem quite daunting. This little one had a few problems passing over the sand with all its ups and downs....like life really, we have ups and downs....but this guy had his Dad's strong hand through the whole process.....that's what Dad's of all kinds are for ...... to be there when their children need them...

Time to stop and recharge for 10 minutes.....

2006-07-14T15:45:00.000Z

We signed a framed contract this morning with the leading Ghana network operator...it took 6 consecutive meetings, but we got there...and this afternoon I just needed a 10 minute "all stop" recharge....the view from the 1st floor of the office balcony is one that in this afternoons cool breeze allowed me for a moment to unwind and think of how fast life has past me by this week..

Monday was this agreement work and negotiations we have just signed
Tuesday - up at dawn to fly. Then raced around Abidjan in the Ivory Coast
Wednesday - Back into negotiations on prices again...with todays client
Thursday - We were short listed on another Operator bid we are working on and had the first round of questions and answers session.
Friday - atlast! Signed the contract with handshakes all around.... time to take stock & review things. Opened my email... another bid request just landed in the "inbox" needs to be ready in 2 weeks.......

....the breeze today that blew across the balcony made the 10 minutes refreshing, as the bussle of traffic in the distance hummed and the KLM flight landed through the pillar and between the trees at Ghana's capital Kotoka Airport...it struck me how far from home I am, I'm in Africa... after all this time, another project, another project office, another set of outcomes to chase..... the secret is not to let the chase take over and keep control....just breath out!

450 Deg Celcius at the Equator...

2006-07-12T14:46:00.000Z

...so there I was dressed in my sports jacket in smart casual to meet clients...the temperature today was a hot breeze (felt like 40 deg C) .....I am racing back and for across Abidjan (Ivory Cost) between client locations in Nissan and Toyota taxies that are 10 times worse off than Trottors Trading 3 wheeler...even Del Boy would refuse to drive them....we get to a break in the day and make the decision to see a galvanising plant (the process to treat black steel so it does not rust. A process which involves acid baths and zinc baths, the later at 450 deg Celcius)

We drive to the port area of Abidjan, passing all the police road checks which extort cash from the general population, we made it through them all for free!....must have been the jacket!!! no one else would wear one in the heat and in the industrial area...except maybe an Englishman in the midday sun! ...maybe they felt I had paid my price being on a slow boil like I was in the jacket heat!

We pass through the smelliest land fill dump I can remember smelling recently (just after lunch...yuk), on through shanty and smelly fish factory area and round the back to a warehouse...now inside the warehouse, I was confronted with an increase in heat about double that I was already experiencing..... you know hot climate....etc.

The tour included the hydrochloric baths and then the zinc bath....95tonnes of zinc in the bath....I think I lost a few lbs from persperation just walking the 10 minutes tour..... and the end product looked like silver.......very shiny and very hot!

La Côte D'Ivoire demain....

2006-07-10T14:43:00.000Z

Je vais demain à Abidjan pour voir que les nouveaux clients possibles et voit si nous pouvons établir un bureau régional dans la Côte d'ivoire. Le seul problème est que je dois vendre en français......aaarh

(I am going to Abidjan tomorrow to see possible new clients and to see if we can establish a regional office in the Ivory Coast. The only problem is I have to seel in French.....)

Making an ORPHAN difference in life.....

2006-07-09T13:43:00.000Z

OICI - Opportunities Industrialization Centers International

Click this link:
http://www.oicinternational.org/index.php?page=60

I heard of this great work this morning in KICC. The organisation knows all the orhanage needs in the regions. They are well placed and train those without the love of a Mum and Dad through an education process and life skills. Especially HIV/Aids children...imagine the heart ache of little ones without a mother's love!! BUT, they only can do it when children are sponsored to have schooling...

....a newspaper article this week here in Ghana celebrated an orphan who had been given enough to make the next step and now as an adult had achieved Chartered Accountant....

UPDATE: The orphanage beds I wrote about last month were purchased and someone even donated brand new sheets and covers for them - photos to follow.

5 hours drive West......

2006-07-08T17:19:00.000Z

Towns: Cape Coast - Sekondi - Takoradi

...I drove to visit an acquisition subcontractor and view some of the sites we're working on on Thursday and Friday..What a journey the road East - West trans Ghana is in parts like a "c" class UK road with giant pot holes that right off any unsuspecting suspension.

Along the route I experienced the usual Mini bus (called tro tro's) that pick up as many passengers they can complete with luggage and then drive like Alonso (Formula One) along the very same roads, while everyone else takes the challenge and decides to race..

...the countryside along the route is spectacularly green. Green with "Puff adders" "Cobra's" and "Pythons". The air through the villages wafts out a sweet smoke smell; this I am advised is the local dry gin being fermented - made from the sap of coconut trees is brewed to near 100% proof and then watered down...maybe that's what the mini bus drivers drink to give them nerves of steel to drive the way they do...

...near the Atlantic, the way is lined with tall palms which stand like gaurdians of the country...the towns are shanty, nothing else describes the western coast better than tin huts and old colonial buildings....

In all of the contrasts I saw and continue to see, one overiding impression strikes me - how much Ghanaians seem to have a disposition that is so resiliant they live today to eat tomorrow, even young children walking along the roadside (the same East-West road I'm driving on) with water buckets on their head for the home, bare footed, stripped to the waste......and washing their clothes in the roadside deep ponds.

...how much do we have? Really these impressions can't be easily conveyed on a blog...and then, through their black, black face comes a white smile and a shout from the children as the white man passes in his 4WD pickup (me) "Hey Bruni" translated "Hey Whiteman" - as I wave and smile back slowing enough for them to see, they jump and wave even more furiously back at me. ........thank you Ghana.

I'm racing to an important client meeting and this happens.........

2006-07-06T10:49:00.000Z

.....aarh, eveyone just goes where they want to go, no priorities, no give way, no lanes, no pavements, no drainage, just cars, trucks and bikes and traders. It didn'really resemble a junction, we could have just lifted up our boots and had a car sale! Great Idea....BUT I have a meeting to get to.....!!!! move everyone.

Learning the "way things are done" is an ongoing process, so 30 minutes late to a meeting doesn't stop you having the meeting, just makes it later. So it goes on, and as I live at a quick internal business pace, all around me is going one speed, that is the speed which is allowed, no quicker no slower, if traffic goes slow and if traffic goes fast, its the same......

And then I stopped on the way back to grab a snack and I saw this company which specialised in a certain kind of serious communication service.....

School in Ghana

2006-07-03T17:31:00.000Z

Their uniforms are really great, they all rise, get to school for 8:00am and leave early afternoon. I pass loads of them near where I'm living in East Legon at the moment, all walking along the road. Here big sister is carrying her little bro's bag on her head.
Heads again, everyone in business, street trading has this gift or skill of carrying whatever they need on their heads...looks like the little guy here has a good deal, he's certainly looked after.

10 men in an Astra!! Taxi.

2006-06-27T23:12:00.000Z

I couldn't believe it, I nearly crashed I laughed so much, this is one for Keiron!! 10 men - the driver, the front passenger, 4 in the middle 4 in the back of the car..and a step ladder or some metal contraption stickin gout further....car travelled at about top speed of 40mph

I approached them at the lights and started to smile, the precariously perched passengers smiled back then I lifted my camera and gestured if it was ok to take a photo and they nodded back affirming it was ok. Then click!...and look at the caption on the back of the Car...

Today's lunch.....Yam and Kontomire Stew.

2006-06-26T14:41:00.000Z

Lunch, today! It was free. The Kontomire stew is made from Cocoyam leaves and has added a hot pepper sauce...I mean HOT! Nearly blew my head off. All while I sat at my office desk.

So hot food to go with hot weather.

Update tomorrow re the Orphanage Beds...watch this space

Ghana crazy over World Cup USA win....

2006-06-23T13:59:00.000Z

The office yesterday afternoon erupted in loud shouts and dancing, it even spilled into the street outside the offices. Here some of the staff were watching the match under the shade of the side porch on a portable TV. Then when the final whistle blew, the whole neighbourhood sounded to a high crescendo of horns, cheers and just general shouting...bright white teeth smiling and laughing for hours afterwards......it's national.

The BBC even report today on their international pages: follow this link; http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/5108170.stm

Orphans without beds - 8 Beds NEEDED!.

2006-06-22T08:20:00.000Z

Being here makes it so much easier to see and hear the needs. One such event is sad - on Sunday morning from the front of KICC the Pastor mentioned a need. He had last week visited an orphanage downtown Accra. The children who as babies had been orphaned had grown out of their cots but have not been able to move to a bed!! and now they have to sleep still in the cots bent up because they are too long for the cot.

The orhanage needs about 8 beds for the children still in cots. Are we comfy in our beds at night, comfy enough to be able to stretch I am sure.?

By Monday I will know how to give for this need and what kind of beds they are looking to purchase. I know that a bunk bed costs ($164 or £89) and a single bed ($87 of £47). These are made locally so it will help the local trade as well. Material in Africa is often no cheaper than the West, sometimes even more expensive.

What a great chance to GIVE, if you sleep well at night and want to help, then contact me and leave a comment here or email me at liveafrica at hotmail.com

Some stark facts to help you grasp the need just in Ghana - "A study sponsored by the United Nations Development Programme and the Ghana AIDS Commission reveals that the HIV/AIDS has rendered 170,000 children orphans and 173,098 have been identified to be vulnerable to the risk of being infected with the disease."

Beach home - 100 metres from the sea...

2006-06-20T19:14:00.000Z

It's home for many, complete with tin roof, bare concrete block walls and floors with slatted windows. Neighbours include cockroaches, the odd dog and your top of the range hole in the floor for the toilet. Oh and there's no running water in the toilet, so a courtesy bucket is provided for flushing.

The bedroom, had a matress directly on to the concrete and a small clothes rack to leave your clothes off the floor! There is power though and if budget allows some rooms have a fan.

Alternatively you could just check in over the road, directly on the beach to La Palm Beach Hotel.

Cultural Differences

2006-06-19T15:04:00.000Z

The free market economy consists of street stalls, small cabin style shops and street traders. Lapaz is located on the North of Accra & sits on the East West highway across the south of Ghana. What you can see here is the equivalent of Accra's M25!! A single lane road with a market at most junctions. Currency here is different, it cost's me about 8900 a litre of petrol. About $1 US. The largest cash note if 20,000 cedi, about a $2.5 note. So if I put 300,000 cedi in the Car, the amount of money that needs counting is incredible

$30 (approx 300,000) looks like this below and cash is the exchange, not credit cards. So to carry more around, I need my trouser back pockets enlarged!!!

God welcomes me to Ghana

2006-06-18T13:09:00.000Z

I could not have imagined what was ahead of me this morning. I had rung to check what time the service started, but in my search yesterday afternoon, I couldn't find the Dominion Centre where KICC meet, so at 8:20am I called again and was given enough info to get there for the 8:30am start.

Inside a warehouse, was what looked like 800 plastic chairs and a stage. Then it all happened. If you think we'll only sing hymns in heaven - you had better change your mind really quickly. The whole service was full of a sound I've only ever imagined. The harmonies and power in the music was indescribable. The smiles on peoples faces, they just love Jesus, there's now coersion, no whipped up emotion....contagious. Dancing, clapping, swaying...

The warehouse was hot, fans whirled from the ceilings and from the walls, I had my water to keep hydrated and I'm exhausted now, but what a morning, 3.5 hour service that felt like 30 minutes. Way to go God!

For me the privilege was that I was the only white face in the middle of over 500 people.

We don't know how well we (UK) have it!...

2006-06-16T13:16:00.000Z

Over lunch time I visited one of the Cell sites which Ghana Telecom own. Ashaiman Police Station. It's about 20 min East of Accra by car. When I arrived the site is located in teh midst of an amazing hustle and bustle crossroads, I thought nothing much of it until I was up on the roof of the building and looked back down onto the economy around me. This picture is of the homes in and around this area, a shanty town of amazing resilience.

I thought how does this all work, chaos, squalid conditions, children wanting to sell me chewing gum, every comodity I could think of was available in the stalls and from street traders, but how does it function? How does it all work, then I realised they are living in the "now" for food for tomorrow. They needed to sell in order to eat, today was here and tomorrow was not. Don't we get it all out of perspective when we plan for next year, "Oh dear we have not a budget for this" and "what will happen when our thousands run out", yet here I saw a people who whilst living in the moment could give me a smile.

More photos of Ashaiman on Flickr

Every night a Power cut....

2006-06-16T08:40:00.000Z

...and get to work this morning, we have power, but no water! Yet yesterday morning the heavens opened. It's nearly a week now and I actually drove around the whole of Accra ring road and through the centre of the City, and back to the house without getting lost. Amazing feat of direction, reminds me of Saudi, except the roads are in worse condition, the cars are nearly wrecks and everyone here can smile instantly.

Street Traders

2006-06-14T18:30:00.000Z

Wow, such courage, they walk up to the car and pass by, often smiling. I cant imagine why he thinks I need all this toilet roll! I know I had a spicy lunch, (chicken on the run) but even I dont need this much toilet roll. Maybe he thinks all foreigners cant cope with the spicy sauces. Ha! well I have Imodium, the travellors companion of choice, well of necessity.

More street traders on flickr.

The contrasts

2006-06-13T10:24:00.000Z

The day of the power cuts. Sunday I was driven 1.5 hours East towards the Togo border to a village called Ada. There a hotel on the lagoon estuary which carried the River Volta to the Atlantic was home for few hours. The scenery was as so different from the suburbs of Accra. (Photos on Flickr).

When I wake up in the morning the view first thing is a contrast. In fact the suburb is full of unfinished houses. The office kitchen window is different, (Photo here) looking out onto the site vehicles used by the engineers and the greenness of the plant and tree life is rich is colour.

Had another power cut last night (Tuesday) Seems to be a regular occurence. I am putting down under cultural, not phased about it! Sorry couldnt resist that.

Arrived-Survived and it is only Day 3!

2006-06-12T12:50:00.000Z

The flight was uneventful up to the end. When we approached Accra the pilot came on the intercom to adise we couldnt land because of a severe storm and that we were to circle north for about half an hour. Half an Hour! hello, what about the fuel. About half an hour later when I was reliving "Die Hard 2" thinking we are flying on fumes, the pilot advises it is ok since he fueled for a double trip so as not to fuel for the return flight in Accra (He could have told us earlier) and that we would be circling with other landing flights for some more time. We landed 80 minutes late, but we did land. When I landed the rain gear of the landing crew looked heavy duty! A plastic bag!

The house is fine, reminds me of Taipei living from 98. The power gets a bit temporamental, shuts down when it wants, had a blackout Sunday night for the night, so sleeping in 30 Deg was a new experience (70% humidity).

One thing never changes in this world, Traffic. I could have been on the North Circular in London. Log jam going downtown into Accra. Only complication was the street traders who with an amazing smile navigate the cars almost with a dance trying to sell their products.

The Visa

2006-06-06T04:49:00.000Z

Went the High Commission last week. Stop, Go all the way around the North Circular to Highgate. Log jammed from inside the M25! Parking was impossible in Highgate. Then the queue, the great British institution to get to the Visa desk, that took 90 minutes, just to hand my forms and passport over. After this the warmest welcome of the day in London was the piece of paper stuck on the windscreen from the Traffic Warden. Thanking him profusely and asking was his charity in need of any special needs that we could further help with did occur to me but thought better of it and just drove away.

The outcome: I have a visa, multiple entry, a flight e ticket and ride to the airport.

Preparation

2006-05-18T11:43:00.000Z

What does it mean to travel to Africa? Right now I only know it means a lot of holes in my arms and some imminent Malaria tablets. Until I arrive I know no more.