We anticipated that in Ghana we would need to quickly adapt to life without some of the resources that we take for granted at home. We expected that we might not enjoy convenient access to running water or consistent electricity.
We have adapted quickly to bucket showers, although spending our first night without running water was particularly difficult after over 20 hours travelling.
Rolling blackouts are a reality of life in Ghana. Many Ghanaians blame the current government for mismanaging the hydro supply. Ghana sells power to neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso but does not produce enough electricity to power the needs of it's increasing population and rapidly growing economy. Although new power plants are under construction, many Ghanaians are not optimistic that they will produce enough new electricity to meet demand.
...and those we did not
We have also encountered unexpected shortages in fuel and access to the internet!
Our new friends at IT4Teens invited us on a day trip to Nzulezu (oo-zoo-lay-zoo) in their Program Van, after we had been in Takoradi for a few days. We headed on our way with the Van full of employees and a few children. We needed fuel for the trip and tried stopping at a few stations as we drove west out of Takoradi, but were turned away at each one. We finally arrived at a station with a long line (which was promising) about an hour outside of Takoradi. Unfortunately, we had not arrived in time and were forced to turn back.
The shortage was "fuelled", in part, by the fact that fuel prices are set by the government. The public had been notified that prices would increase from 9 Ghana cedis per litre (~$3 CDN) to 13 Ghana cedis per litre (~$4+ CDN) on the following Tuesday. Naturally, gas stations waited to sell their fuel supply once the prices had increased.
Our challenge gaining access to the internet was also a result of government action. When we went to Vodafone, the largest local wireless provider, to purchase a SIM card we were told that the Company was subject to a government imposed SIM card ban, because it had more customer than its network capacity could servIce. Fred told us that the Vodafone network had been down for more than 24 hours the week before. The government hopes that by reducing the number of SIMs in the market over the next month they will stop this from happening again. Fortunately, the largest wireless internet provider in Ghana has many competitors (unlike in Canada), so we have access to the internet!
Both the fuel shortage and SIM card ban were unusual events, according to Ghanaians. We are feeling like we may have brought along some bad luck!
No shortage of food
Something that we have not experienced a shortage of is food.
There are fruit stands at every corner. Our homestay mother, Mama Vicky, has fed us well. We have also been able to find a good beer or two.
Despite the shortages we have had a great time enjoying the people, culture, and way of life in our short time in Ghana. Everyone is nice to us and goes out of their way to make sure we feel welcome.
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