The Secret Garden and Herbal Remedies

Day 3:

Today our group visited the Aburi Botanical Gardens and a Holistic Medicine Research Center located just an hour outside of Accra. The Botanical gardens were like an African version of the Secret Garden. There were plants there that were hundreds of years old and there were several baby animals wondering around. In fact, the oldest tree in the gardens is over 300 years old. In this garden, there are many medicinal plants such as camphor and also spice plants such as cinnamon and bay leaf trees. The highlight of the trip for me was the tree with the hollow trunk; you could actually stand inside of this tree! Once inside, you could look up at the top of the tree and see the hole where the sunlight comes through. In the pictures, it just looks like you are inside of a cave, and does not do justice to the experience. It was absolutely fabulous! I think that for me it was something unique- how many people can say that they stood inside of a tree?

After a traditional lunch in the beautiful gardens, we headed to the Herbal Research Center. On the way we passed some very old buildings and churches, and Awuku informed us that these were original British missionary homes. The presence of Christianity is very strong here, its presence can be felt everywhere. On our tour bus, for example, there are two pictures of Jesus by the driver’s seat. His son, Francis, often hands out literature on Jesus and the Bible, and he loves to engage in conversations with a couple of our students who are religious. These students also engaged our guide, Awuku, in a lengthy conversation later on in the day as we headed home. I do not pretend to know what they were talking about; I was not really interested in the subject and did not feel the need to listen. Cheri and I both agreed that a belief in God is a beautiful thing, but in my own view, organized religion is something to be wary of. This does not mean that it is always a bad thing, nor do I condemn anyone who is very devoted to their church- my brother is a very devout Christian and gives much of his earnings to the church specifically to support mission work. But, it just seems like so much pain has come at the hand of religion, and for this reason, I cannot embrace it fully. Religion just so often seems like a dividing line. But, perhaps I have just been watching too many Bill Maher episodes! Here, there are many signs that read "God Saves" and "God is good". One thing I can say is that there are some very beautiful old churches, with the most exquisite stonework.

The churches may be very old, but the idea of Christianity is very much alive and well in Ghana today. In fact, most of the country identifies as Christian, with only a small proportion identifying as Muslim, and less than 5% identifying with a traditional African religion. Even though traditional religion is not prevalent throughout the country anymore, traditional medicine very much is! I leaned today that more than 70% of Ghanaians use traditional medicine for their primary care, while 90% of Ethiopians still rely on traditional practices over modern medicine. A shocking fact is that even in the US and Canada, 40% of the population uses traditional medicine quite actively, in addition to Western-style medicine. Here at the dispensary, they have a potion for many things: asthma, nervous disorders including stress, sexual "weakness", malaria, sickle-cell disease, and HIV. I bought at the dispensary an herbal remedy for stress, and two small jars of an herbal remedy for "women’s" pains. All of this cost me less than 1 US dollar. I have not tried it out yet, but thought with the low price tag, it was worth picking up a few things to experiment with. These herbal remedies are meant to address symptoms, and do not cure diseases such as HIV and Sickle-Cell disease. It costs a person only $1 for a consultation with an herbalist, and the herbalist will write prescriptions for what the patient needs. According to the researcher who took us around the Center, there is only one doctor for every 10,000 residents in Ghana, but there is one herbalist for every 1,000 residents. The herbal remedies, which will cost an HIV patient less than $4 a month, are supposedly just as effective as the HIV cocktail that we use in the US, which is less widely available here, and prohibitively costly for many patients.

The Research Center is called formally, The Center for Scientific Research of Plant Medicine, and the name is quite fitting as it is in fact, a research center. Many local universities, including the University of Ghana, Legon (which by way Legon means "hill of knowledge") collaborate with the Center. While visiting there, we met a student from the University of Michigan, who was doing an internship at the Center for this summer. She is interested in using these herbal medicines in the US, especially in low-income minority communities that often do not have access to health care because they are uninsured. There are also foreign researchers there from Denmark, Germany, and the UK that work with the Ghanaian researchers that are on appointments at the Center from every major university in the country. There is a bio-chemistry department where the plants are examined on a molecular and structural basis, and a pharmacology research area, where the findings from the bio-chemistry department are then utilized to make the healing compounds. The compounds are actually tested on mice and rats that are infected with the diseases, and then their symptoms are monitored. We went into this big room with very old English-style bookshelves and cabinets, where files are kept. On the tables surrounding the room, there were many bags of herbs piled on top of one another. I couldn’t help but think that this looks like a drug seizure at the US-Mexico border! And, it made me think, if marijuana can alter your mind (BTW- Anderson Cooper has been doing a special all week about whether not it should be legalized in the US and under what conditions), then surely these herbs can also alter our physical or mental state. It was a very enlightening experience, and I must say that I enjoyed today thoroughly!

After dinner, I was thinking about going to bed, but decided that I would see what was going on outside before I headed upstairs. There is a small bar there and a beautiful patio area where many of the students congregate after hours and socialize. I went to say good night, and they convinced me to stay and chat with them for a bit so I did. I have to say that overall I am impressed with this group; a few of the students seem very mature, but they all seem very eager to learn and no one has had "culture" shock or expressed being homesick at this point. I suppose it would be a self-selecting group that would travel to Ghana, but I still think that it is quite impressive how well they get along with each other (they are all sharing stories about their IBS symptoms, which I find hilarious!), and how much they seem to appreciate being abroad. They seem genuinely interested in my research, and several of them want to accompany me to the refugee camp. As this is not part of their program, it may be difficult to arrange; I am not really part of their group. Also, I really do not want people to feel like they are on display, and I conveyed this to them and said that we will have to see what happens. I have not even been to the Camp myself yet, and do not know how receptive the residents will be to having a large group of students "tour" the Camp. I did, however, manage to recruit Kelsey, a student who just took my politics and film class, to help me with research in the fall. So, it is likely that I will have two students working with me in the fall on this project and they will receive one hour of course credit. We also managed to meet Airlyn, a Ghanaian whose uncle manages the hotel that we are currently staying at, and Chris and Duncan, Ghanaian brothers who have invited us to a reggae party at the beach tomorrow night! Some of the students relayed a story about a woman who had come by earlier in the evening, who was pregnant, smoking, and encouraging the girls to give blow jobs. Supposedly, she also told them that African men are amazing in bed, and they took it from her condition that she might have some experience with this:) Obviously, she is a bit off-balance, but was able to provide them with so funny drinking stories. In fact, Airlyn told me that in Ghana it is taboo to smoke, and particularly for women, smoking in public is associated with prostitution. She says that drinking is not taboo, however. So, we all stayed up a drank for a couple of hours, and then everyone finally headed off to bed. They have classes in the morning, but I am looking forward to sleeping all day!

The "Spaceship" Ride

Day 2:

So, I did not get my wake-up call this morning and awoke to Cheri (a colleague who is also here for research) banging on my door at 9:21 saying that the bus is leaving at 9:30! Well, I threw on my yoga pants (good call Kathleen!), brushed my teeth, and headed downstairs. Today, I felt like a real tourist….we drove around the city in a HUGE air-conditioned coach and visited every museum in Accra! This is not my preferred way to see the city and I felt like I was in this spaceship as I looked down at the locals from a thick piece of glass, some of them staring at me as though I really were an alien! However, JMU has allowed me to attend all of the events with the students so I did not pass up this opportunity, and can say that I managed to make a few observations from the bus. First, when I said yesterday that you could buy anything on the streets of Accra, this is not an exaggeration; among the items for sale were pastel recliners, mops, brooms, water, bananas, pineapple, whole fish, cell phones, tires, toilets, roasted corn, articles of clothing, and probably whatever else you can imagine! There were also many street vendors that wander out into traffic to try to sell their goods to the motorists when stopped at red lights. Personally, I love the idea of paying 50 cents for a cold, fresh pineapple juice without having to even get up. In fact, I am not sure that you have to do anything other than reach into your pocket. It seemed so ironic that of all the conveniences that we have in America that are not easily found in other countries, we do not have vendors bringing goodies to us in our car, distracting us from the fact that we are stuck in traffic. In fact, I think it is probably illegal and maybe would get annoying after a while! But it is new to me, and right now I love the concept! Anyway, there were many, many vendors, of which a sizeable portion devoted their time to selling goodies to the proverbial tourists and they often swarmed the bus, as we stuck out like a sore thumb. At every stop, people crowded the doors where we were supposed to exit holding up an assortment of beads, bracelets, and wood carvings. Some of the students eagerly jumped at the opportunity to buy these trinkets for next to nothing, but I must have learned something in my 12+ years of traveling abroad because I was content to watch the world go by. I didn’t need any trinkets today…this trip is not about fashion or shopping or any of these trifles that concern and amuse me at home; this trip is about research, overcoming heartache, and rediscovering myself. And I can put my finger on what I learned from past travels- whatever I buy now I must carry around for the next six weeks!

More observations- animals such as peacocks, roosters, and baby goats randomly wander around, it is impolite to shake or gesture with the left hand as it is considered unclean, Ghanaians transport almost everything on their heads including trays filled with bottles of water to sell that look incredibly heavy, license plates that are black indicate a military vehicle, while yellows ones are reserved for commercial vehicles, Hakuna matata is very much a way of life here, all school children, including those that attend public schools are required to wear uniforms, most of the "authentic" treasures in the market are in fact, mass produced, and landfills and toilets seem to be pretty much wherever you fancy them to be. As we drove by the coast line I eagerly looked out to see the beautiful ocean that I could soon swim in, only to find that the beach was littered with trash. We also saw cattle on the beach (an odd site and one I cannot mentally compare to cattle grazing on the green pastures in Virginia without feeling as though I am having an episode of vertigo) though I am pretty sure that they were not grazing on much of anything. The highlight of the tour for me was the traditional Ghanaian lunch where I ate fried red snapper, fried plantains, black-eyed peas, a new version of Jollof rice, and some yummy spinach with sesame seed paste sprinkled over top, called pavlova As I sucked down my orange Fanta, I began to think how Coca-Cola is so universal. It seems as though I have drunk a Coke product in every country that I have visited. Here in Ghana, the three Coke products that are in abundance are traditional cola, sprite, and fanta. But the star in my mind is the traditional Ghanian drink of pineapple juice. So far, I have drank bottled pineapple juice plain, pineapple-lemon juice and pineapple ginger juice. I will have to see if I can get this at home. You don’t understand and cannot until you have experienced this drink- it is goodness in a bottle, so utterly refreshing with just the right amount of sweetness. Impeding satisfaction and fulfillment are the only things that come to mind as I pop off the cap and take the first gulp. It is golden in color, and I imagine that if you could put a taste to something as fine and regal as gold, this would actually be it. For the next few weeks, I intend to subsist off of pineapple juice and jollof.

As we are chatting on the bus, Cheri pulls out a book of symbols and says that she plans on getting a tattoo of one of them when she gets home. She has tatoos on her feet that represent her travels in Australia, China and Peru. In this moment, Andy creeps into my mind as we promised each other that we would get a tattoo together,. I have gone back forth between getting a tatoo for a few years now, and he said that he would do it with me and now my decision was made-I had to go through with it. When we broke up, I decided that the scar on my arm from our four-wheeling adventures was tattoo enough and vowed never to get one. But maybe I will reconsider. I am thinking that if I actually get the good luck symbol sewn into my flesh that good luck will then truly be mine for the rest of my life. Cheri wants to get a tattoo of a symbol of a saying that goes something like this, " A mistake is not a mistake if you admit it and learn from it." I probably messed that up as I do not have the book in front of me at this very moment, but it does make me think…why are symbols so important to us? Why are they so significant that we would actually consider embedding them into our skin? And why would a girl such as me who doesn’t believe in signs even consider this…maybe I just want a tattoo. If nothing else, it is permanent, a change, and I will be a different version of who I was before. After all, isn’t that what I am striving for on this trip? Cheri and I continue our conversation about the poor high school curricula, student evaluations, and the necessity to make students analyze material rather than just comprehend it. We then stop at a local market, and we are told to practice our bargaining "skills". I learned today that this is a key cultural difference between Ghanaian culture and American culture. Here you must bargain for almost everything, although there are a few exceptions like hotel rooms, set prices for meals in restaurants, etc. But, if you want to something on the street, you will need to bargain for sure. Apparently, in Ghana bargaining is seen as a conversation, a chance to engage those around you. In fact, for some it is seen as a theatrical performance, where the two people engaged in the transaction try to read each other. If the seller knows that you will not be willing to pay the price he is asking, he is inclined to lower the price, but if he feels that you will pay more, he will continue to negotiate. Both parties feed off each other’s energy, and read the other’s expressions. So some see it as a drama playing out on the street, while it reminds me of a poker game! In the end, you pay only what the item is worth to you personally, and this can of course vary from person to person. The seller, will part with the item only if the price is high enough in his mind so the two must come to mutual understanding or there is no deal. And, at the end of the day, everyone wants a deal!

The Curse and Magic Symbols

Today, is my day of travel to Ghana. And, what an interesting day it has been…today I found an old friend, sort of…actually I found a new friend that felt like someone I had known forever! While we did not necessarily talk about anything profound, she told me things that I needed to hear, things about life that I think I knew, but at this low point, needed reminding of. For some reason, it seemed as though we were destined to meet today on that plane. As we wait for take-off, I am talking to my friend Jody about going to Africa. I relay to her all of Jody’s excited screams when she finds out that I am actually on the plane headed to New York. Jody is the friend that I would put at the top of the list to call at a point such as this, because I know how much she appreciates the fact that I am sitting on the plane with my bags under my feet, and we can revel in the experience together as it is happening. We do the same thing with food, and I call Jody every time I am at a fantastic vegan restaurant so that she can "share" my immaculate dining experiences! So, we are discussing this, and in between my giggles of excitement, I am trying to fight back the cracking of my voice as I tell her of some of the recent events. She tells me what she always tells me, that if things are meant to be they will happen, and that you cannot fight things, you have to let them happen the way that they are supposed to, and I will see this in time. She says that she wishes she could show me a glimpse of my future, so that I could rest assured that peace and wisdom were coming from all of this pain. If it is not the right time, then it’s not right, whatever it may be. I tell her that I think that we control our own destiny, and she says that we control our choices, but that we have to take into account the context around us. Although horrifically exhausted from teaching summer session, multiple projects at work, my strained personal life, and preparations for the trip, she somehow renews my excitement as we end our conversation. Tina, the person sitting next to me, turns to me and wants to know why I am going to Africa…and thus begins my finding a new friend today that also happens to be an old friend. We do not talk about anything particularly special or out of the ordinary, but it seemed like what I needed at that moment in time. It is amazing how the most ordinary conversation can also be the most profound. Despite the absolute sadness that permeates every fiber of my being at this time, I was reminded of the joy and the adventures of traveling, and what a gift this trip is. I began to revel in the thoughts of the interesting people that I would meet, and the interesting things that I would do. I mean after all, I am pretty sure that I am going to get to kiss a giraffe…

Then the oddest thing happens to me as I am boarding the plane. It turns out that one of my former students, Holly, who is the kindest, most adorable person ever is sitting next to me during our flight. Neither of us has made seat requests or coordinated with each other when we bought our tickets and we remarked that it was so strange that out of all of the people on this very large flight, how we ended up next to one another. As I open my backpack to take out a snack, Holly pulls my book out to see what it is Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, and excitedly proclaims that she herself has the same book, and has brought it along on the trip. I remark to her that a friend gave it to me as a gift because I was going through a lot, and that I had only just started it. She relays that she had also been given this book as gift from a close friend, and has only recently started. We vow to be finished by the end of the trip, and continue to talk about many other things for the next several hours. And so I got to thinking after our long conversation, as I drifted off to sleep (or the semi-sleep state that is the best you can get while crossing the ocean in a metal cylinder), I began to think about a topic that has been on my mind for some time now, and that has come up earlier in the day during my conversation with Jody. Is there any order or plan to the universe or is life completely random- Is life really like a box of chocolates? Or is this just a cute line in a movie? Are the events in life as random as pulling a truffle out of a box and trying to guess what’s there as you bite into it, or is it more like one of those chocolate boxes that has the map of the flavors right there on the box? Perhaps there is a plan or a map, and everything happens for a reason, but I tend to think that it is random and we convince ourselves otherwise because we are not comfortable accepting that we live in complete chaos. Even if there is some destiny or plan, how much of that could we possibly control anyway. But today I found myself pondering this topic again because I feel lately that the universe has been pushing me in a certain direction and I have been resisting it because I am not sure that I believe in that. But as my personal life becomes less fulilling, and quite frankly, in many ways more of a disaster, I find that more opportunities have opened up at work. I find myself very focused on a number of projects and making future plans even though I am tired of focusing solely on my career. So, was it just random that I sat by two friends on the flight over here and was able to talk about many things and laugh and ponder and share, or did some higher power know that I shouldn’t be alone with my thoughts for 14 hours? Perhaps the universe decided that I finally needed a night to actually rest….whether random or purposeful, I was provided with enough distractions that I did indeed get a break from the incessant questioning and play of events that constantly occupy my mind. I finally did get a little bit of rest.
After a very long flight (two hour delay while on board, and then 10 hours flying time), I arrived in Accra and went through customs. Once I leave, I realize that my passport stamp does not say Ghana anywhere on it! I am likely the only person who would care about such things, I know, but at least I have the large visa stamp. As I walk out of the baggage claim, the hot, sticky air envelops me. It reminds me of being at a Braves game in Atlanta on a very, hot muggy evening, but this is only the beginning of the day in Accra. As I inhale the sticky air with a hint of salt and musk, I realize that this is the beginning of a new day for me as well. A woman walks up to me, shows me a sticker (which I have no clue as to its meaning) and then asks for a "donation". I do not have any money as I have just stepped off the plane. I tell her this and she asks me for gum. I give her a pack of gum that I am carrying in my bag as I have it readily available. And, then the strangest thing happens; she grabs my hand and holds it for a few seconds as if to say thank you. As I begin to walk to the parking lot, she once again grabs my hand as a gesture of gratitude. I am still not sure why…

While walking to the vehicle to transport me to my hotel, several men came up to me wanting to help me with my bags. While I thought that I packed a lot, you should have seen all of the students’ oversized bags with "heavy" and "overload" stickers attached to them. I was just fine, thank you and definitely could handle my own bags! But, as I approached the vehicle, he grabbed my suitcase from my hand, and then put it in the trunk of the van. He then demanded that I give him a tip. Well, I had not exchanged currency and as I told the other lady, I had not change. He persisted, so I told him that I did not seek his help with the luggage, and that I did not have cash. As there were now five men surrounding me demanding tips (even though they didn’t do anything!), I simply turned to a friend and asked if she would give a tip to the man who threw my suitcase in the trunk. She replied that she had just given the men $30 for all of our suitcases, and told them to divide it up amongst themselves. The men shouted at me that I needed to tip, and that $50 was standard, but that they would accept $20. Knowing this was ridiculous, I once again apologized shrugged my shoulders, and headed to my seat. As the van pulled out of a make-shift parking lot, the one who took my suitcase came to the window, which was fully open, and said to me that he was disappointed that I did not tip him after he had helped me out. I once again replied to him that he should get his share from the pile of money that was given to the group of men (which was at least 20 if not more, by this time). He looked at me intently, and as the van pulled out, he said to me softly, "You will not have a long life….you do not tip." So, leave it to me to be in Ghana for five minutes and get a curse put on me. Good thing I am not that superstitious. I was not worried at all. Now mostly this was because I have little belief in his special powers or ability to know the length of my life (think Angelina Jolie in Life or Something Like It!), but I figured that with the way my life has been going, some higher power who did actually have the ability to curse me already had. And, I am traditionally a very good tipper! So, really, I was not worried about this curse. And, even if I was, once I got to the hotel, there was a tile in the lobby with a strange emblem on it. Upon asking its significance, I was told that it was a symbol of good luck, so I stood on this tile just to be sure that the curse of short life could be counterbalanced by good luck. Now, technically I am not sure that this would undo the curse, but hopefully I will have good luck for whatever time is left of my short life, which would be a nice change from the status quo!

Several hours later after everyone has checked into their rooms and I have a much needed nap, I head to the dining room for dinner. I was a little nervous as I have to be very diligent about avoiding dairy unless I want to suffer relentlessly for the rest of the trip. But, I am quickly relieved when I am brought a traditional Ghanaian dish called Chicken Jollof. Now, everyone knows that I would typically prefer to eat vegetables or seafood, but in this situation beggars can’t be choosers. But the rice was fanatastic, so spicy, so fragrant, leaving just a hint of heat behind and giving your mouth almost the same sensation as a long, passionate kiss. I decide that I could live off of this rice for a month for sure. And, then my colleague, Cheri decides that she loves it so much that she asks for the recipe so that we can prepare it back home. Our host says that he would be delighted to arrange an appointment with the chef for us so that he can personally show us how to make this delightful dish. We take him up on his offer very thankfully, and marvel at the hospitality and generosity that has just been shown to us. So for everyone local in Virginia, Jollof at my house when I return!

I am finally ready to retire to my room for the night, which by the way has lots of air-conditioning and hot water (if I can get the Jollof delivered to my room I may never have to leave it…)! Before I do I stop to say good night to the man behind the desk and remind him to leave my pass to the fitness center out for me in the morning (I am determined to look halfway decent by the time I get to Zanzibar), and he has of course already taken care of it. Jolki, one of the trip leaders for the students, joins me in a conversation with our new friend, Osei. He tells me that that he will leave my pass for me but that he will not be there in the morning as he has to go to school. It turns out that he works all night in the hotel, and then attends school during the day. He only sleeps for a few hours before returning to his job. When I remarked how difficult this must be, he says that he is simply lucky to be have a job and be able to go to school. In Ghana, as in South Africa, I notice many people, particularly young men, just lounging around at the side of the road. They are there because of the high unemployment rate; some choose to hang out or sleep, and others join the women in selling almost any piece of merchandise imaginable to passerbyers. Osei tells me the story of how he is named after an Asante King, and then bids me a good night. I walk up the stairs thinking about how incredibly lucky we are in America, even if we do not always recognize this fact. And, then I think, how generic- who doesn’t visit another country and at some point have this thought? But it is so true so I allow myself to think about it wholeheartedly and embrace the gifts that I have been given, which has received considerably less attention than the list of things that I do not have over the past few months.

As I snuggle into bed, I am still not particularly tired because of my earlier nap and my misguided decision to drink some tea after a late dinner, so I decide to pick up my book. As I flip through the next several stories, I begin to think about how this book has mirrored my life at the times that I am reading it. When I started the book a couple of months ago, the author was recounting the ending of two very significant, yet different relationships. She continues on to describe her need to fulfill herself spiritually, her battle with depression and loneliness, and her decision to rediscover herself abroad. I have had two relationships end in the past couple of years, one in many ways similar to her marriage, and the other, similar to her all-consuming affair with David after her separation. I have fought my own battles with the "universe" and been told that I need to find some sort of spirituality, in any form. Recently, I have been so numb that I didn’t believe in much of anything or in anyone, nor did these sentiments particularly trouble me. But as she described, sometimes it takes a while to admit that you are actually lost in the woods. I have come to realize that and can now begin the healing process. I have traveled almost 10,000 miles away from home, and while I realize that everyone says that it is impossible to run from your problems, I feel genuinely good for the first time in months. I feel a new sense of clarity, and take this as a sign of the inevitable healing that is coming….

The Beginning of a New Journey

Today I embark on a new journey, and hence the title of this blog, "mwanzopya". It means new beginning in Swahili, and it seems to be very fitting for my life right now. As most of you know, I have recently been through a lot, and am hoping to be on the final leg of this particular journey. I will be spending one month in Ghana doing research, and then traveling throughout the country during the last week of my stay. Afterwards, I will be heading to Kenya for two days, and then to Zanzibar for a week for some much-needed R&R at the beach! I will be posting all information about my trip here, including a journal that I am keeping and any additional thoughts- plus lots of photos! So, check back regulary as I this it the most convenient way to keep in touch with all of my friends while I am away!