Looking back...

Many years ago, the family, being myself, my then husband Victer, my son Chris, my daughter Morgan and my mom in law, Denise, made the decision to move to Ghana for a year in the hope of starting up another successful telecommunications company like the one we had just sold in Johannesburg. We had to make the emotional decision to leave my oldest son Nicholas at home as he had just started his new high school adventure at St Stithians, and wanted to become a full-time border. Victer was extremely excited but I cannot say the same of myself. I feared the huge change, a new country with a vastly different culture and young children with little understanding of leaving home and what that meant. We took the leap. Every Friday I would write home to all my friends and family I had left behind. Looking back now I think I took to writing to keep me sane and before I knew it my weekly diaries home became a huge success, and I would receive frantic messages when my next diary entry was not timeously forthcoming. Many a time my parents advised me to get them published but I guess as we all do in life, I procrastinated and eventually over time left them forgotten in a file on my laptop. When I decided to write again and start my blog, I thought it would be fitting to go back to where my writing all started. I have obviously made some amendments as I like to think I have grown my writing style with maturity over the years. I would love to share them with you. I call them "Stories from Ghana". For fun I will post one a week just like I did back then, hoping you all enjoy them so much that you will be eagerly awaiting the next little episode. Come along with me on my journey into days past....

Hope all is good there. As for here, still ticking on although very slowly I might add. This is the Ghanaian way. You spend your days feeling like you are chasing your own tail round and round in circles. Everything here is still done in a very manual manner, and most of the people are so damn hot that they spend 80% of the day sleeping, which can be very frustrating when you come from a highly competitive country such as our own. Everywhere you look you see bodies lying around sleeping on the ground, pavements and even sitting on chairs in the office, very lazy indeed. If you want anything done, its best to just do it yourself, or you could be waiting years. Today the Muslims spend half the day praying, being a Friday, and on Monday it is Independence Day so no work will be done at all.

The house is still very bare, but I suppose it has all we really need in it. I wish they would stop “taking the lights” though, as we spend a lot of time at night with no electricity which means no air conditioners and that is hell. The temperatures are an average 38 degrees Celsius in the day and 32 at night…that is bad enough on its own but to add to our woes, the humidity is 150%. So, you remain hot, wet, and sticky all day. Morgan and Chris are really battling with that, they walk around with face cloths to wipe the perspiration off their little faces. Their clothes stick to them and when I fetch Morgie from school her hair is soaking and stuck to her head in damp, sticky little curls. She uses the expression “Disgusting!” quite often. Bobbie ( that is Chris by the way, for those of you who do not know, it is his nickname lovingly given to him by his sister who could not say Christopher Robin properly and Bobbin or Bobbie it became) reckons he is melting and never wants to go outside. They are really battling in school, besides no energy levels because of the heat, they cannot read and write, which in South Africa is normal, but here the kids are reading and writing at four years old. You would really laugh because it is also compulsory for them to do French. Bobbie’s expression is priceless when French lessons take place, he stares blankly repeating several times “WHAT!?” Anyway he has found enjoyment in football, one thing he is good at and he enjoys the fact that because he is so big compared to the other kids his age, they are a bit wary of him and they run after him wanting to please him, so they carry his bags! Quite sweet. Morgan remains her bossy self, even with her teacher! But she has successfully crept into their hearts and they think she is spunky and gorgeous and have taken to calling her “Madaam”.

Victer is extremely busy and frustrated at the slow business pace – but he continues to baffle and amaze us with his perseverance and street-smart ways of getting things done – I am so proud of him. Otherwise in a nutshell, life here is humbling. It really is an eye opener to see how they live with so little and yet are so happy. You would not believe under what conditions they get things done, for example they build beds and furniture in the dirt on the side of the road with little more than a sharp knife and a hand held saw that looks a million years old. Oh, and the currency is plain baffling. We talk in millions and billions here…. which I might add is worth nothing. 10 000 Cedis can buy you a bottle of water! So, picture me, adding all those zeros, it is hilarious and sad.

Grocery shopping is another experience on its own. I do not recognize a thing, not one product is familiar, and I walk around with a calculator and a constant look of shock. It’s just so expensive and when I get to the check out and a small basket totals 2 million Cedis, I almost pass out every time. Certainly teaching me a long-awaited lesson. I really do not buy anything but the bare necessities such as food. (Yes, believe it)

As for me …. Well I keep reminding myself that my family is together, and we all love one another, and that just has to keep me going. I must admit I wake up in the morning and curse the fact that the sun is still shining. I walk with the Lord everyday – He gets me through. I love you all so much and miss you more than you could ever imagine. Tears are cried at night for home, you, and my darling Nick.

That’s it for now – will stay in touch. Sweaty kisses from Ghana

Love to you all