It was a good start to see on the Internet that Obama had been re-elected. Some of the people we had talked to were clearly keen that that should happen, but it does seem that the world is better with him in the Whitehouse.
Our plan for today was to visit the Minister for Employability Skills and Welfare. We also had an appointment with a specialist in agriculture to talk through planting possibilities for Mankoadze. It took us a good hour to travel 8 kms to the ministry this morning. The traffic is like that most days, and must take a lot of energy to drive through. It feels more anarchic than driving in Cambridge traffic jams, and there's some honking of horns to encourage those closer to the traffic lights to move faster. There are certainly more people trying to sell things to stationary motorists on the main roads than there ever would be in Cambridge.
Unfortunately, the minister had had to go to his constituency, and was not able to see us. His No.2 was also out. Fair enough really, but actually amazing, that the possibility of turning up on spec might sometimes work. I now have a phone number to call on Friday, so I will try that, and find out what the minister thinks about our letter concerning the attitudes and plans of ICCES. We then travelled to a shopping area but not the one that had fallen down in the morning I am glad to say. We had a fantastic cup of real coffee - a real treat when you haven't had one for over 10 days - and visited a bookshop who's owner had heard of TEABAG which was gratifying.
In the afternoon we visited an organisation called FARA which is concerned with research into plants and their agricultural contribution. It's interesting to observe that there seems to be a real connectivity between research and action here. It doesn't usuallyfeel like that in the UK.
We are travelling back to the village tomorrow, so need to pack so that we can come back and go to the airport promptly on Friday. As I write, there is electricity here which means the air conditioning can be on - at 31 degrees C that is really helpful. However, the area of Accra opposite our flat is in darkness. Some areas experience 8 hours per day of blackout which makes running many things, very difficult.
Our plan for today was to visit the Minister for Employability Skills and Welfare. We also had an appointment with a specialist in agriculture to talk through planting possibilities for Mankoadze. It took us a good hour to travel 8 kms to the ministry this morning. The traffic is like that most days, and must take a lot of energy to drive through. It feels more anarchic than driving in Cambridge traffic jams, and there's some honking of horns to encourage those closer to the traffic lights to move faster. There are certainly more people trying to sell things to stationary motorists on the main roads than there ever would be in Cambridge.
Unfortunately, the minister had had to go to his constituency, and was not able to see us. His No.2 was also out. Fair enough really, but actually amazing, that the possibility of turning up on spec might sometimes work. I now have a phone number to call on Friday, so I will try that, and find out what the minister thinks about our letter concerning the attitudes and plans of ICCES. We then travelled to a shopping area but not the one that had fallen down in the morning I am glad to say. We had a fantastic cup of real coffee - a real treat when you haven't had one for over 10 days - and visited a bookshop who's owner had heard of TEABAG which was gratifying.
In the afternoon we visited an organisation called FARA which is concerned with research into plants and their agricultural contribution. It's interesting to observe that there seems to be a real connectivity between research and action here. It doesn't usuallyfeel like that in the UK.
We are travelling back to the village tomorrow, so need to pack so that we can come back and go to the airport promptly on Friday. As I write, there is electricity here which means the air conditioning can be on - at 31 degrees C that is really helpful. However, the area of Accra opposite our flat is in darkness. Some areas experience 8 hours per day of blackout which makes running many things, very difficult.
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