Post 3: Welcome to Tamale!

The day was November 21st, 2015... Well... At least we thought it was.

                 

The time had come for me to move up north to my new home in Tamale. I had realized, after looking at the boarding gate screen, it had been a month since I left Canada and it was officially the longest I had ever been out of the country. It was a small moment of victory; after all, while the timeframe is considerably small, many expats say the first month is always the longest. It's the time where a person's body experiences the most shocks, the most"mini heart attacks" occur, and the largest adjustments begin to occur so one can get used to the new place he/she calls home. 

After an hour wait on the runway, the pilot came on apologizing and canceled the flight due to visibility issues in Tamale. What caused the flight to be canceled? Harmattan. Due to being in a close proximity to the Sahara desert, Tamale experiences extremely hot and dry weather from November to March which includes dust storms coming from the Sahara. This makes it difficult to nearly impossible sometimes for flights to come in and out of Tamale, since the runways don't have lights. Luckily, it was only a one night delay and I arrived in Tamale the next day. 

My first thought about Tamale:

"Wow.... thing are about to be a lot different"

Shout out to Catherine for taking these awesome shots!

As we were landing into Tamale, the window visual of the grounds below me made me instantly believe that not much in Accra prepares one for Tamale.



For many in Ghana, to live in Accra stands as a sign of status of the Ghanaian lifestyle and many people work to someday leave their hometown and work in the capital city. In Tamale, gone are the houses upon houses that littered the grounds of the Ghana I once knew. Greenery no longer filled in all the gaps of the ground absent of buildings and roads. Replacing this was miles of dried-out lands, with small circles of mud huts and trees dabbed into the remaining bare areas on the ground. Farms were scattered across different plots of land and roads were few and far between, mainly made of red dirt. Not once could I spot the city which is projected to have 300,000 to 500,000 inhabitants living within it. I could not figure out why and I began to wonder what I was about to land into.

By the time we began making our way into town,  it was during the cycle of the day. As the sun disappeared into the world below, the moon began to be the Diamond in the sky with the multitude of gems surrounding it. Due to the Harmattan, a veil of dust was making a smoke-like haze which covered the night's sky. The style of life we were witnessing as well changed. Motorbikes ruled the roads in place of cats and tro-tros and electricity was seen scarce and far between. As we drove into town, there was one main thought on my mind and it wasn't disappearing...

"This is the Africa I have always dreamed of seeing"

It's true! A dream of mine came true that night and it has been a tiring yet positive week and a half since arriving. My first task: finding a host family. While I'll likely be speaking a lot about them going forward, I'd like to give you a quick glimpse of the family I am staying with. The family comprises of a mother and four kids. Two of them are her own (a 21-year old boy named Arafat and a 12-year-old girl named Iba) and the other two are volunteers from Belgium, Merel and Michiel. While there are a few amenities I am lucky to have in my house (running water and electricity) our living style is quite simple and has made me start to question the things I need in life versus the things I want in life. More about this another time... let's keep talking about Tamale!

The courtyard of my new home in Tamale (with an awesome mango tree in the middle)

For a city of 300,000 it seems quite small

There are a few things I love about here. The first is the uniqueness of the city. For such a large and highly-regarded city (3rd largest in Ghana), I was immediately surprised by how small town it seemed! Being from Sarnia and going to school in Ottawa, I learned to love places that are big cities with a small city feel. Whether it's the hustle and bustle throughout all the alleyways of the local market or the livestock infused communities inside and outside of the downtown area, I can honestly say I have never seen a place like Tamale in my entire life.

How religion is practiced here is another thing I have immense respect for. While a majority of Ghanaians are Christian, this is the one area of the country where the majority are Muslim. What I love about here is that there is a unique cosmopolitan community of Christians and Muslims that allows for mutual respect between people of both faiths. There are citizens here who, either based on marriage or personal choice, convert or interchange between both religions. It is not uncommon to see a Christian and Muslim marry. It is the belief in a higher power that both sides realize matters the most and while some call a higher being Allah or God, the respect towards people of both faiths is the same. It is incredible seeing this, especially in the world we live in at present.

Tamale is considered to be the non-profit organization capital of Ghana. The city is evidentially poorer than Accra; however, I like it more for that reason. Everything in Accra seemed unequal. There was the very rich and the very poor and little in between. In Tamale, while it appears to be the same across the board in most areas, the city is not in stalemate but is growing, as some people argue, at one of the fastest paces in Western Africa. The potential for this city is visibly evident. We can talk about untouched economic potential being the main selling point for businesses but I instead look at the major selling point being more because of the people and their untapped potential. The international community of non-profits would likely agree with me on that. In fact, the airport is currently under renovations (sponsored by the Brazilian government)  to make Tamale the second international airport in the country so it can be easier for more people to come to Tamale and help its citizens develop this beautiful city.

Looking back on the previous week, I think the way I would sum it up is the "week of firsts".  I was realizing for first time that is the longest I had stayed or lived in another country, experienced my first cancelled flight,  lived in or even traveled to a Muslim city, tried rice balls and groundnut soup (my new favourite Ghanaian dish), saw something that really hit close to home, finished my first book of the trip (The Book Thief),  had a bat poop on my shoulder, and heck, it was the first time I ever had a cat jump into my food! Through all of this, I can finally say I feel at home and situated. I feel that while there are some cultural barriers still to adjust to, I am well on my way!

Final Note:

Some of you may be wondering "Aren't you supposed to be working on this trip?". While I've been working since week one, I have not been discussing the EQWIP HUBs project not because of there being no updates but due to the fact we are at such a primary stage of the project and so much has happened outside of work that has overshadowed work related news. Don't worry though, to make up for it, I am writing a bonus blog post next week! This will explain a bit more about EQWIP HUBs, the goal in mind for the initiative and where we are at in the project. Till then cheers to the week ahead!