Life in Buipe
My house in Buipe can be illustrated by the pictures below. I live in a nine room compound, each room with one entrance facing the central courtyard. The courtyard is the epicentre of activity where everyone cooks, cleans, socializes, and relaxes during scorching temperatures. All 15 residents share two bath houses and one toilet. Due to a lack of water in Buipe, I’ve been using a public latrine which rarely gets emptied. I’ve divided my room into two sections separated by a sheet, with my bed and mat on one side, and my desk and chair on the other.
This is my house and living conditions in Buipe
My home in Buipe can only be captured through the stories and pictures of the people who have welcomed me into their homes and the places which now hold many fond memories. I’ll try my best to share those with you.
My 4:00am alarm bell rings in the form of the Iman praying through the loud speaker in rhythmic Arabic tongue. I hit my imaginary snooze button and go back to bed. Being beside the main highway between Kumasi and Tamale, a large truck typically flies by at around 5:00am, and I awake suddenly to the loud roar of the gears shifting. Again, my imaginary snooze button is hit as a slump back down on my pillow. At 6:00am, my final alarm bell rings with the sounds of either goats shrieking or chicken’s crowing. Depending on the sound of the shriek or crow, I can tell if their day is beginning or their life is ending. All I know is that if it’s the latter, I’ll likely be enjoying a nice meal that evening.
Every other day when I wake, I go for a run to the river and back which is around 3km from my compound. Ghana does not have much of a running culture, but I think I’m starting one. Early in my run I pass by a school full of school kids who are waiting for a couple hours until school starts. As I run by, children start to join me one by one. As I continue running, more children start running beside me, some carrying school books, others carrying water on their head, still keeping up with me. The trail turns into a dirt road and continues with thick brush on either side. By this time, there are still 10 or so kids following behind keeping up with my rather large gait. Once we arrive at the river, the road comes to an end. I look at the children, they look back, and one by one start to walk away. I fell like I’m Forest Gump.
The view of the river half way through my run
My neighbour, who is currently building a new house, found a friend sleeping there one morning. The two meter long python was coiled in a small bundle, and was likely more scared of us than we were of it. The Gonja chief in Buipe said the python was not to be killed, even though they have been known to swallow goats hole. The morning after meeting the snake I went for a run by the river, likely the location where the python originated. I must have looked like I was doing a Monty Python funny walk, since I was constantly looking forward, backward, side-to-side, up and down, in and out - you get the picture.
A fun encounter in Buipe
When I arrive back in town, I always take breakfast from three ladies, Sadia, Sala, and Salanu, who make Kushe and Kooko at a local stand. When I arrive, I hand over my 10 peswes (10 cents) to Sadia and she passes me a bowl full of Kooko, and then I walk over to Sala who gives me 20 peswes worth of Kushe. I sit down on the wooden bench behind the ladies and chat with all the kids and adults who have come to share the same morning ritual as I.
Breakfast with Sadia, Sala, and Salanu
This is kushe and kooko. Kooko is a purified maize mixture which is fermented to perfection and saturated with sugar before consuming. Kooko is a bean batter with onion that is deep fried in an open pot of boiling oil. I eat them both together but have been known to take the kushe home to slather ground nut paste (more commonly known and peanut butter) and banana.
Kooko and Kushe
When I arrive home I do my morning push-ups and sit-ups (attempting not to fall below my already skinny state), have a shower, and then head to work. My walk to work is tough exercise, not in terms of cardio but vocal. Not only do I greet every person along the populated two kilometer stretch, but I greet everyone 10 times. Lante de nuso (how is your home), Kuesune de nuso (how is your work), edespe de nuso (how was your sleep), aduta (how are you). When they call out my name to get my attention they yell “Bruni”, meaning white name. I’m slowly starting to change their call to “Daniel”, meaning me.
The district office is a small, cramped, hot, concrete building. Since Central Gonja is a new district, they are in the process of constructing a new district office. Construction was supposed to finish last year but funding problems have delayed the completion date. Thus, we are stuck with 25 people using 9 desks cramped into 6 partitioned areas. Most of my time is spent in the office but about a fifth of my time is attending workshops, field visits, or training sessions which I will go into more detail in a later post.
My office in Buipe
During the evenings, I arrive home around 6:30pm and sometimes help to prepare dinner. Kadijah, the woman of the household, is an amazing cook. I’m starting to really enjoy her fufu and t-zed. My favourite dish, featured in the picture, is light soup with guinea fowl, and eaten with fufu. This dish reminds me of Christmas dinner. The fufu is pounded yam which reminds me of mash potatoes. The guinea fowl reminds of chicken because it essentially is chicken but a little darker meat. And the light soup reminds me of gravy since it contains the fowl drippings, and is thickened with this lovely tasting bean that resembles a sunflower seed. Sometimes we’re lucky enough to get beef. Back in December, a cow was sacrificed during Sala. I went to visit the chief’s palace in the morning and got to experience this joyous occasion. As I was leaving, the butcher said “Bruni, come here”. I thought I was in trouble since I was snapping away with my camera. He ended up giving me a big slab of beef. I didn’t really know what to do with it, so I walked the one kilometer stretch home carrying this exposed slab of beef.
Preparing and eating Guinea Fowl with my host family
Sala Celebration
My workmate, Mansa, who has become my closest friend here in Buipe is the gender desk officer and a district engineer. She is good friends with the pastor of a baptist church just a 5-minute from my house and I have become quite good friends with the pastor as a result. Every Sunday when I’m in Buipe, I attend the church service which is held under a metal roof (no walls) and dirt/stone ground. It’s a really comfortable and welcoming atmosphere. Word got to the pastor (I’m guessing through Mansa) that I sing and play guitar, so I’ve performed the past two Sundays. The only songs I could think to play were Hallelujah (Jeff Buckley) and Till Kingdom Come (Coldplay). Not really religious songs, but ah well.
Sunday Church at the Baptist Church
That’s my typical routine in a nut shell. Over the next couple of months, I’ll share stories that spice up this routine adding flavour to my experiences here in Buipe.