Moving head office

We woke up last Friday with a day of work ahead of us and a vague plan for the weekend to go to Pram-Pram and see our new house with Dave and Renae.

Little did we know that the yearly rental contract on their Accra home, which also serves as the Global Mamas head office was up in seven days, and although they were fully planning to renew, they had been walking around the local neighborhood each morning looking for other properties ‘just in case’.

On their Friday stroll they came across a 7 bedroom former resort complex with a pool, large outdoor area, bar, enormous kitchen, and great office space for Global Mamas. A call went in to the owner when they arrived back home, and by lunch time the rent had been negotiated and the weekend plans had changed. We were moving.

                              The new pool, a little filtering to do to remove that colour

Now moving from a house with 3 bedrooms, a volunteer’s quarters, an NGO head office and a large stock storage area would normally be done professionally, and with more than 24hrs planning. Throw in that a previous contract job that Dave was on was paying them to continue to store 10 filing cabinets and a lot of computer equipment and you’ve got a monstrous job on your hands. We had Dave, Renae, a couple of volunteers, the house guards and a small flatbed truck.

                                                                 packing

                                                               moving out

                                                                moving in

We begun moving on Saturday morning and, aching all over, finished on Tuesday evening! It’s amazing what you can do with a little muscle. Since then Dave’s ‘handyman’ skills have been working overtime, and the place is slowly coming together. The second director from the US is over shortly to visit for a couple of weeks, her first time here in over two years. There’s nothing like a deadline to focus the mind.

However, we couldn’t say goodbye to the old house without one last dip in the ‘pool’…

Lydia's dip

Tim's dip (videos)

Tim and Lyd x

Weekends Away

Here in Ghana, during the week we work hard, but come 5pm on Friday ...

Here are a few of our favourite weekends so far:

Domama rock shrine

A 7km trek, up and down hills on a dirt track, lead us to a spectacular collection of rocks piled on top of each other to form a cave.  Inside was a spider web covered shrine.   Our guide tried to explain the significance of the shrine, but the language barrier proved challenging so we just nodded and smiled.  7km back to the start left us exhausted and sweaty.  The tro-tro (shared minibus) ride home will stay in my mind for ever – it was pitch black and we hurtled along the pot holed road at 60kmph with no headlights.  I believe that this is illegal in the UK, but here, a 20p 'dash' to a policeman at a road check and any vehicle is roadworthy.  Luckily (!)  another tro over took us so we stayed close using the light from its headlights.  The Ghanaians in the tro with us didn't seem fazed. 

Eco Lodge

One weekend, we drove to an eco lodge.  The last road was “unmade” and took us 80mins to travel 10km, dodging pot holes and rocks in the dark.  The lodge was on a beautiful long white sandy beach.  Perfect waves for body boarding, sunbathing, delicious food, gin and tonics.  Bliss!   On a night walk on the beach we saw a green turtle laying its eggs before wondering back in to the sea which was amazing.   Unfortunately the “self composting” toilet was the most disgusting loo known to man (Tim has a photo straight down it).  Even waiting outside the door was unbearable.  Despite this,  it was a fantastic weekend.

Elmina Beach Resort Hotel

We have bought leisure passes to the 5* hotel across the road from our current house, which was mentioned in a previous blog.  Many hours have been spent lying next to the pool reading, swimming, playing basket ball and using the gym. Only a handful of Ghanaians can swim, but they like to learn and will often ask for a lesson when they spot the 'bruni' lady doing lengths.

Elmina Village

Having been told that all the fishing boats return to our local village after a night of fishing at 6am, on Saturday morning at 5.30am we set out to watch the fishermen bring home their catch.  We walked though the village as it came to life; kids were washing in the street, adults we brushing their teeth, stalls were being set up and the floor was being swept.  Unfortunately there were no boats on the sea! It seemed that our information was a little wrong.  Another man said that maybe the boats would come in 8am.  Looking at the harbour, to us it looked like the boats were already in.  Never mind, it was a beautiful seeing the sunrise over the sea.

   This chap wanted to go into business with Tim. $50,000 dollars up front from us and he'd give      us half his catch every day in the new fishing boat he'd buy with the money. We got him down                                                 to $40,000 and went for it; bargain.

Catching fish with a net in the harbour. Not a job for the weak, this guy gets one small fish every                                                                hundred throws

And, in other news, today we bought a car!

2 year old Kia Picanto, 30,000km, AC, but no Power steering or central locking. Change the oil every 3,000km and the timing belt at 40,000km and she'll be sweet for years to come, apparently -Tim-

Elmina vs. London

This study looks into the pros and cons of living in Elmina, Ghana vs. London, England.

 On the plus side…

Ellen and Apeah

Ellen is our housekeeper, a wonderfully helpful Ghanaian lady who keeps the place clean, does all the washing up, all the clothes washing, bottles clean water and puts it in the fridge, changes and washes the bed sheets and tends to the house’s vegetable patch. Apeah is our night guard and general maintenance man. Here’s a video of him mowing the lawn…

The Lawnmower

Chores in Elima do not exist (+10 points)

Food

Within a 5 minute walk of the house is a chap who sells sausages (normal, pure beef, and gizzard, mmm…), a lady who makes rice and chicken dishes, Eli, who cooks us a huge meal 3 or 4 nights a week and Joe, who knows exactly what he’s doing with these slippery fellas. His marinades and salsas are to die for. Lobster is £0.80 for a decent portion.

Joe's son, Ismael, cooking on the BBQ

No need to cook, ever (+12 points)

The daily commute

For 12 minutes each morning we’re subjected to the monotony of an endless, beautiful sandy beach with crashing Atlantic waves and views for miles out to sea. To avoid getting bored in the mornings we watch the drag net fishermen haul in their catch, stop randomly to say hello to the taxi driver’s families and pickup 8 year old kids on their way into school.

 Commuting is fun (+6 points)

The weekend

This hotel pool is a 3 minute walk from our front door. From 8am to 1pm Saturday and Sunday it’s ours, no one else is ever here. Membership is £4 per month, and that includes use of the gym, tennis court and basket ball court.

Private infinity pool and gym (+7 points)

On the minus side…

The heat

It’s hot and getting hotter. If you’re outside during the day you need to be in shade, or have a full-on breeze in your face. ‘Sitting in the garden relaxing’ is not even remotely on the agenda; you’d last 30 minutes and would have first degree burns. Oh, and this is the cold season.

The need to be in front of a fan all day, and the rate at which you sweat through clothes (-6 points)

The sea breeze

Saltwater ruins metal, a less well known fact in the centre of London. In Elmina we’re 50m from the sea and the crashing waves put a constant light saltwater mist into the air, which eats through anything it touches. Aside from the horrible aesthetic look of flaking brown metal, reducing the lifespan of all metal equipment to 2 years incredibly expensive. Laptops, sadly, are included.

Everything metal dies fast (-5 points)

Flooding

When it rains it properly rains!

The garden goes underwater from time to time (-4 points)

    

  

Water shortfalls

The Ghanaians haven’t quite got fresh water sorted yet and the supply turns off from time to time. Everyone has ‘Polytanks’ on their roofs which hold some reserve but they do run out so people conserve water. That means turning the shower off while you lather; flushing the loo only if it smells, and being prepared to have nothing come out of the tap right when you need it. I’ve taken to showing from a bucket now, it’s easier than dealing with the low water pressure.

 Running out of water mid shower (-7 points)

Creatures

There are a number of friendly creatures in Ghana that are always pleased to make your acquaintance. Some, like the ant and the cockroach just want your food. Others, like the mosquito and sand-fly want your body. And Betty here just wants a quiet corner to sleep in…

Betty (video)

Being eaten alive in bed and ‘landed on’ on in the shower (-12 points)

In conclusion:

Positives                       + 35

Negatives                      - 34

Net                              + 1

This report has conclusively shown that it is preferable to live in Elmina, Ghana when compared with London, England.

Lots of Love,

Tim & Lyd x

Work, really?

Okay, you’ve asked (and asked) what it is exactly that we do out here in Ghana, and with your sponsorship the sole thing between us and a diet of rice and fufu, it’s time to let you in on the details.

Many of you will know that our main project out here is to build a 200 person ‘Fair Trade Textile Workshop’ for Global Mamas near the town of Pram Pram. The workshop will house batikers, seamstresses, weavers and quality control staff, as well as the usual support functions required for a large production site.

The team in Accra is currently in the process of raising the cash for this project and signing the lease on our house in the area, so in the meantime we’re based out in Cape Coast where the vast majority of production currently takes place. There are 13 permanent (Ghanaian) staff in the office here, 70 batikers and seamstresses working for us in the local area, and normally 2-10 volunteers onsite. 

                                                           the main office

                                                    the Quality Control room

  

  

Our work here includes:

Setting up tracking of orders and production …

 Writing reports (for example on reject rates) to influence next seasons catalogue…

Setting up a pay-per-click marketing campaign…

Converting the order management process from giant excel file to a user friendly database…

As well as other tasks such as coaching the management team here in writing emails and reports or assisting with the project briefs for new volunteers.

But most importantly while we’re here we’re trying to learn everything that the batikers, seamstresses, weavers, QC staff and management do, because in a few months time we have to setup an operation three times this size by ourselves.

Which should be fun.

Tim and Lyd