Project Obodan

Mma ajo! We're nearing the end of our third day in Ghana, with a greatly expanded Twi vocabularly, new Azonto dance moves, and an increased resistance to the smell of human excrement! We spent the first day recovering from a very long trans-Atlantic flight, and started early the morning of the 4th with a scenic, hour-long walk from our lodge to Obodan. Along the way, we were given two pineapples by field workers. We ate them like corn on-the-cob, and they were the most delicious fruit an of us had tasted in a while. We spent the day doing soil tests of the contents of our source-separating latrines. Fashioning "shovels" from long sticks and cut bottles, we braved the stench and the flies to take fresh latrine samples. Our tests confirmed that at least one of our latrines is producing usable fertilizer! That night, we met with the Water Committee and got a better understanding of the success of the water system thus far, and how the community was taking responsibility for it and fixing problems that have arisen.
    We rose bright and early this morning for an 8am meeting with the Queen Mother and various village chiefs. More latrine soil tests and water quality tests followed. Throughout the day our moral was boosted by Ghanaian music blaring from an impressive sound system rented for a naming celebration. This evening we held a community meeting that was attended by scores of community members. We were able to gauge their understanding of the process behind source-separating latrines, their plans for the future, and issues they have been having. It was a great dialogue amongst the community members! We hope to have more of these meetings, and another educational workshop in the next week.
    After dinner at McDonalds (which is not the golden double arches McDonalds I know you're thinking of---we got chicken and rice). We're feeling ready for more community surveys and water tests tomorrow.