5 Star Treatment in Ho

Tuesday June 11^th

            I’ve only spent 24 hours here, but I feel confident saying that Ho is a great city!  Last night, I discovered the bathroom light didn’t work, so I had to shower and do laundry by the light of my dinky flashlight.  For this reason, I tidied up the place knowing someone might come to replace the bulb. Breakfast was great, and of course, typical: Eggs, bead, and Lipton yellow label tea.  From there, I was determined to set out into town and not return until I’d collected nearly all the data I'd need from Ho.  It’s 3 pm, and mission totally accomplished!

            My first stop was the fruit stand where I had bought a pineapple the previous evening.  The owner was named “Savior,” and she remembered me from the previous evening.  “Come, you are invited!” she smiled, meaning I was to take a seat and join her in her meal.  We ate very large ground nuts, and I explained to her what I was up to in Ho.  Her friend, Natalie, overheard my conversation, and decided she’d show me where she purchases water – the sachet company “Big Jay” down a dirt road in the back of town.  The production manager was out, so I decided I’d return later. 

All shops in town have some reference to Christianity

I was running low on the Cidis that I transferred on day one, so I decided I’d hit a bank.  It turns out that in the Voltic region, banks don’t exchange currency without someone opening an account – So I went on a wild goose chase from bank to bank, each teller pointing me in the direction of another bank that would surely help me.  After about two hours hiking all over town (Ho is in the mountains, and it’s like trying to walk up and down San Francisco here), I made it to Fidelity bank.  The manager listened to my case, explained me the law, and tried to get me to do a back deal transaction at a reduced exchange rate from 1.9 à 1.4 (meaning he’d make a few hundred Cidis off me).  No thanks.  I ended up haggling with him and speaking some Twi (I noticed his accent and he’s from the South) at which point he said “OK, lets go!” and we hopped in his car, to where I wasn't certain.  He ended up taking me to his personal bank, went to the teller, and took out a few hundred Cidis from his personal account and took my $100 bills, all at the rate of 1.96!  Better than a 4X!  Turns out he’s headed to the states to visit a brother in Maryland and needs USD!  We joked around, and I told him about my sachet water research, and he graciously drove me to Zoomlion (waste management) regional headquarters, telling me he knew the manager. 

At Zoomlion, unlike in Sogakope, I received superb treatment, met with the financial manager as well as the operations manager, and had an incredibly in depth interview.  Score.

By now, it was past lunch, and I needed fuel.  I stopped at a warm smelling, charcoal fire where a woman was grilling corn.  A cooked ear costs 50 Pesewas, about a Quarter in USD.  I also ate some oranges that I had in my backpack.  Here in Ghana, the tradition is to shave off the peel and cut off the top.  You squeeze the sides of this now flexible fruit, and have yourself a portable juice box!  Ingenious!

I took a cab to the Ghana Water Company regional headquarters, and ended up meeting the head chemist and operations manager for an interview!  This is the headquarters for the Volta region, so this was a huge deal for me.  I walked back all the way to the outskirts of town, stopping at shops to grab some reasonably priced fruit juice, fresh mango and pineapple, and “VitaMilk,” which is a popular soy-based drink here.  I could use the vitamins, I suppose, and it’s a nice break from water. 

 I also grabbed some biscuits to repay my friend Savior for the meal this morning.  From there, I stopped at the Big Jay water plant and had another successful interview.

Now, a long afternoon and night of transcription…