August 1?

Unbelievable how my time is going by so quickly here in Ghana...
I heard today it was August 1 and was floored! Where have these past 2 weeks gone?!

Since I last wrote, I journeyed to a (polluted) beach called La beach where the smog blurred my sunglasses I can't recall how many times and the waves continuously churned rubbish, plastic bags and even sewage. I just sat on a lounge chair, taking in the beauty (yes, there is plenty here!) of this country I am now living in, and trying to process some of the things I have been a witness to.

I have to say, it is such a refreshing change to be in the company of these wonderful Ghanaian people. I am finding it difficult to stop comparing here to my past experience in South Africa & Zambia. The people here in fact remind me of the kindness and friendly nature of Zambians.
And Ghanaian people make up for what Ghana lacks development-wise.

Everyday, I walk along open gutters, diesel being blown in every direction, heaps of garbage and just dirt on top of more dirt. I am somewhat getting used to my frequent life in the 'dark' (from power outages), my homocidal tendencies when cockroaches the size of a mouse take up residence in my bathroom and drinking from a bag (treated water)-- but at times, I find myself missing the luxuries of home. But I am fortunate to be in good company with my roomates (2 girls from the Ottawa area). We make time go by discussing anything and everything.

Many of you have been writing wanting to know more about my job, but as we have to appreciate here in Africa, I am still patiently waiting to find out myself! In South Africa, it took me a good 1.5 months until I found a niche I could then begin to spread my wings in.

I met with my boss today and he gave me the task of writing a policy to be discussed in the Ghanaian Parliamentary legislative debates on the topic of getting Ghana's elderly involved in a pension plan.
The way the elderly live here is deplorable.

So many of the Ghanaian elderly who fought so hard for this country to gain their own Independence (and this year- 2007 is the anniversary of their 50th year of Independence) from British rule, and the way by which they are being mistreated and forced to live in such poverty makes my heart ache. It is something we as Canadians, will never know the plight of unless you journey to a country such as this.

We learned today of one of the stories that comes from the day Ghana declared themselves an 'Independent' nation....
a young, educated, beautiful young girl was selected to deliver a bouquet of fresh flowers to the President of Ghana some 50 years ago as part of his election campaign.
What no one knew was that a bomb had been planted in the bouquet. An insider from the gov't got word of this and ran up before it detonated and smacked the bouquet away from the President and the young, beautiful, educated girl ended up losing her leg from the blast.

In commemoration of this, Ghana's 50th birthday, a local media outlet went to see this now elderly woman to find out how she is living nowadays after being deemed a hero by saving their then President.

Imagine...
they found her living on the dirt floor of a shack since she never had any children or anyone to look after her. She doesn't have money to cook and she uses a pot in the shack as her toilet. It was atrocious the way this woman-- who literally lost a limb in order to save the President, has to live b/c she is one of the millions of 'forgotten elderly' of Ghana.

Though I have still not yet managed to figure out why/how exactly I ended up here in Ghana on this particular internship (having nothing to do with my interest in HIV/AIDS work), my greatest hope is that I can in some way bring back even a glimmer of light to our elders here, who have been overshadowed by the darkness of age, disrespect and carelessness.

At night, I can't even begin to imagine what I have already been a witness to....

Think about it... if we continue to neglect to care for the elderly-- all their worldly experience, insightful wisdom and unconditional love will cease to exist. What does that say for future generations?