Day 3 - Orientation Day

This morning we were picked up around 8:30 AM to  go to the Marjorie hotel which is only a few minutes away from Kaysens hotel where we are
staying.  Today was the initial orientation session were we got to finally meet our Ghana clients in person!

The format of the day today included an initial presentation from Barbara from CDS, then each of the client that are going to be working with the Ghana 6 team presented an overview of their organization as well as a description of the statement of work they had prepared for their IBM team members.

We all wore our business suits and there were lots of opportunities for photos.  Joe Mensah from the newly opened IBM office in Ghana presented as well.  At lunch of traditional Ghananian food was served by the pool and we had the opportunity to talk to our new clients in a less formal setting. 






The Ghana 6 team

After lunch each team had a short workshop with their clients to discuss the business problem in more detail and finalize details for the scopes of work and the schedule for the first week of the assignment.  My ECG team learned we had an executive briefing at 2:00 the following afternoon which meant a working dinner was going to be on the agenda tonight for the 6 of us.

We are finally starting to find our way around the hotel and the Community 10 area in general.  A number of us ventured out on our own for a walk before dinner and made it home without getting lost and without mishap.

We are also getting a better understanding of how things work in the hotel. I showered with cold water for the first 2 days before I figured out that there is a switch on the wall outside the bathroom that turns on the hot water.  It looked to me like a normal light switch.  I also struggled to plug in my cell phone to charge because the two pronged plugs did not seem to fit in the wall socket.  The hotel staff helped me with this one - apparently you have to shove a pen in the third hole to open up the 2 prong outlet.  Who knew?  Coming from North America we
are not generally encouraged to shove pens in outlets 

And so ends another day in Ghana.

Day 2 - Around Tema

On Sunday morning, the 11 members of the Ghana 6 team piled into the hotel bus for a 2 hour trip around Tema.  Over the course of the morning we visited the market in Community 1, drove along the beach road, and we visited the harbour and the fish market.  We also toured other communities in Tema and saw other key sites including churches and schools.

Tema located in Southeast Ghana, approximately 25 KM from Accra. The city was built in 1960 as a manmade harbor. Its port, developed in the 1950s and opened in 1961, is the busiest in Ghana. With the opening of an artificial harbor in 1961, Tema developed from a small fishing village to become Ghanas leading seaport and an industrial center.   The population of Tema is approximately 180, 000.

The sights and sounds assault your senses as we visited the  market.  It was a busy place on the Sunday were were there - but Francis says that on a Saturday it is difficult to even move through the crowds.

The Market at Community 1

Driving along the beach road you see the sights and sound that make Ghana so wonderful and unique

Along the beach road

At the beach



The fish market was my favourite stop of the day.  There was a strong smell of salt air and fish and the sounds of vendors selling their daily catch

The fish market

Vendors at the fish market

For most of the afternoon we had an orientation session.  CDS, our CSC hosts for the month had arranged presentations from a local doctor who warned us of the various threats (malaria, cholera etc) and preventative measures we should all be taking to minimize the risks.  The local Chief of Police also gave us a presentation on security dos and donts.  At the end of his presentation he handed out a number of his business cards which most of us promptly filed with all of the other business cards we had collected to date.

No one thought anything more about security until later that evening when we were riding home from dinner.  The cab we were riding in was pulled over by 3 machine gun wielding burly policement in green fatigues who demanded to see our passports.  Of course, none of us were carrying our passports, mainly because the Chief of Police that had presented to us that same afternoon had made a strong point about leaving them in the hotel safe to prevent their loss and theft. Luckily, our ever efficient team member, June, was still carrying the business card from the chief of police that we had received that same afternoon.  After a stern warning from the burliest of Ghana's finest we were allowed to carry on our way with the promise that we would carry appropriate ID in the future. 

And so ends our second day in Ghana.

Day 1 - The sights, sounds and tastes of Tema

Three of the CSC Ghana 6 team members (Joanne, Kristina and Akiba) arrived in Tema early morning on Saturday Feb 26. We spent the morning unpacking and finding our way around the hotel.  At noon we met Francis for the first time.  Francis is our Liaison officer but we call him our Chief Fun Officer (CFO).  After a quick trip to the money exchange we headed to a local restaurant for lunch.

The roadways that constitute the city streets could be likened to the country roads near our cottage but with the colour of red clay.  Aound the hotel there are no sidewalks, but usually a worn path on the side fo the road.  One of the main roads in Tema is under construction so the cars drive on what would normally be the sidewalk.  Both men and women can both be seen carrying heavy objects carried on their heads.  Kristina and I wondered how fast we can learn to carry our 50 lb sutcases in that manner for the trip home.

Francis, our Chief Fun Officer (CFO) walking on a Tema roadway

Need a plumber?

There is a constant sound of horns honking around Tema - usually from the cabs that seem to be in endless abundance unless you need one.  According to Francis the honking is usually a courtesy - either to let you know to be cautious because they are coming or to let you know they are empty in case you need a ride.  For us from North America, who are quite unused to being honked at, the noise is constant and a bit intimidating.

The restaraunt we went to for dinner was an outdoor covered patio with white wooden tables with resin plastic chairs.  Kristina and Akiba ordered fufu with fish soup while I ordered chicken with yams and palava sauce.  In Ghana, fufu is mostly made from boiled cassava and unripe plantain beaten together.  Fufu is usually eaten with soup.  Palava sauce is a type of spicy stew.

The first thing to arrive at the table was a basket with liquid soap, toothpicks and drying cloth.  Each of us received a plastic water filled with water and a metal spoon.  Francis showed us how to properly wash our hand in the dish provided for us.  This is an important part of the meal, particularly for those who had ordered fufu which is to be eaten without utensils.  Once the hands are washed, the proper etique is to place the water bowls on the floor by the table leg. 



Basket for washing our hands before eating


To eat fufu, you pinch off a small ball of fufu and make a hole in the dough-like ball with your thumb. This hole is then filled with soup, and the ball is eaten - no utensils required. In Ghana the ball is often not chewed but swallowed whole.   You need to remember to hold the fufu your right hand, as eating with your left hand  is quite a faux pas.  When the fufu and soup is done, you use the water bowl, now placed at your feet, to wash your hands.

Kristina's fish soup served with fufu

It was quite delicious and a whole lot of fun to experience on our first day in Ghana.

Arrival in Ghana!!!

After a very early morning on our Friday departure day, a mix-up with ticketing, a lost credit card (yikes!), a flight delay getting out of Toronto, a lengthy layover at JFK and a long 9.5 hour flight from New York to Accra we arrived in Ghana at 8:00 AM local time.

Kristina and Joanne hanging out at JFK airport

We met up with Akiba, our Ghana 6 teammate who was on the same flight from New York. All luggage made it. We picked picked up our bags, cleared customs and met our driver. for the 30 minute drive to Tema.

Welcome to Ghana

Our home away from home for the next 4 weeks will be the Kaysen's Grande Hotel. It is a 2 star hotel - quite nice actually with a swimming pool, restaurant, exercise room and night club.

Our home for the next 4 weeks



 Akiba, Kristina and I are going to meet for lunch in a few minutes. We are the first group to arrive today - our fellow team mates are all arriving over the course of the day today. We have come to know each other fairly well from the weekly phone calls but I am excited to be finally meeting everyone in person.

We've arrived in Ghana!!

Electric Company of Ghana

I now know the name of the "client" company I will be working with in Ghana. For 4 weeks myself and 2 other team members from Ghana 6 will be working for the Electric Company of Ghana (ECG)

ECG distributes power to over 12,080 towns and villages in the southern part of Ghana (Greater Accra, Eastern, Central, Western, Volta and Ashanti region). ECG has a customer base of over two million. Customers range from individual households, commercial establishments, and industries.

Our assignment is to help ECG improve their IT service management through the adoption of best practices and implementation of the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL).

Can't wait!!! We leave Friday!!!

Less Than 2 Weeks to Ghana

I leave in 13 days!  13 days!

The keyword for the last couple of weeks has been "hectic". 

As I wrote in my last blog, Kristina Bryson, my fellow Canadian Ghana 6 team members and I had elected to tour Egypt after our 4 week assignment in Ghana.  We had bought and paid for airfare the to/from Cairo, booked hotels and put a down-payment on a tour with an Egyption tour company.  However, after the rebellion broke out in Egypt on January 23,2011 it was clear that was not going to work anymore.  As of the time of this blog, the Canadian government has issued an "Avoid All Travel" advisory.  So a quick change of plans was in order - now our final week in Africa will be spent on safari in Kenya!

As you can imagine, this decision created a major scramble.  We had to to cancel our Egypt travel plans and negotiate with the tour companies and airlines to minimize penalties and cancllation fees.  At the same time we had to research and book new air travel to Kenya while researching safari itineraries and options.  A lot of late night research and even an early morning call with a Kenyan tour operator before we could make a decision.  However, the decisions are now made and we are both very excited about the new plans.  An African Safari!!!!

Our Kenyan tourist visa application was sent to the Kenyan High Commission in Ottawa last weekend along with revised flight information, passports, vaccination proof etc.  Hopefully the Visas will arrive back soon  - this is one of the last remaining "hurdles".

This weekend I filled my perscription for malaria pills and picked up some over-the-counter medications that I think would be good to have with me.  Tomorrow I am going to get my suitcase out of the closet and do a packing "dry-run".  We have to limit the amount of luggage weight to what the airlines will allow so packing efficiency is definately the name of the game!