Back in Belgium Earlier than Expected

I'm back in Belgium since Saturday 24th November. The flight via London was a bit long but went smoothly. I decided to leave earlier than expected - first I had changed the date from 21st December to the 28th November, after the trip to Benin had revealed a bit more complicated than it was initially planned and it was delayed.

My last days in Ghana were devoted to spend time with friends: Gigi, Fayçal, Peter, Nii, Raja, Antoinette, Titi... I watched the football match Ghana-Benin at the stadium and went to a Thanksgiving dinner on 22 November.

Back in Belgium, I spend time at my parents' home and visit my grandparents. I relax, watch TV and eat the food and beverages that are provided. I feel good. I learn to use a AZERTY keyboard again.

I have a job with the Sustainable Tree Crops Program for next year. In Liberia for a change. The opportunity to create a new blog.

Leave to Benin Postponed & Flight to Belgium Booked

Here I am @ the internet cafe, having to leave my accommodation tomorrow morning and go to Benin since I have a visa and I am bored in Accra.

Yesterday I went to swim @ MPlaza where I met Togolese footballers - a few of them working in Europe. They came to play for a friendly tornament in preparation of the Cup of African Nations (CAN 2008) in Ghana. This afternoon I went to the stadium to watch the finale Benin-Ghana. Ghana won 4-2.

Eventually, I will leave tomorrow to Benin. Initial plans have changed but that's another story. I booked my flight to Belgium on 28 November.

This evening I got a phone call from Nigeria where my potential new boss is. He told me about a future contract I am going to be sent. It concerns a position in Liberia with the Sustainable Tree Crops Program.

The path in West Africa continues...

Last Full Week in Accra

On peut dire que je passe plutôt une agréable semaine de "vacances". J'ai pu garder mon logement une semaine après avoir quitté le Centre. Je répète une chorégraphie tous les jours avec des filles pour préparer la compétition au Festival SICA à Cotonou, Bénin.

Avant-hier, deux gentlemen du Libéria m'ont téléphoné pour une interview professionnelle. Hier, j'ai effectué le test écrit au bureau régional du Programme à Accra pendant plus de deux heures.

Yesterday, I went to see with Gigi the film "Cotton Money and the Global Jeans" at the Goethe Institut. We came out after the projection with questions such as "What happened to these farmers that they ran out of business?".

The answer is liberalisation pushed by the International Financial Institutions (International Monetary Fund) on countries following structural adjustment programs, like Tanzania. The conditions attached to the loans required government to stop protecting their farmers and industries with subsidies. At the same time, these countries' industries were led to compete with the world's biggest companies, which is concretely impossible without State's support, thus collapsed.

Ironically, as far as cotton is concerned, the United States continues subsidising enormously their own producers despite the unconformity to the World Trade Organisation's rules. Europe does the same for milk, sugar, tomatoes and other agricultural products. That is why civil society in African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries opposes to the signature of the Economic Partnership Agreements between ACP and the European countries arguing that their countries are not ready, for their industries cannot compete with the ones of industrialised countries.

In fact, the owners of capital and technologies (corporations) are making huge profits from globalisation (liberalisation on a global scale) to the detriment of poor countries, workers and even consumers when we consider the current situation in France, hit by strikes, and the griefs of citizens asking for more purchase power.

But individuals seem hopeless to change the system. Each of us follows his/her self interests. The room for action remains in the hands of governments and institutions inclined to listen more to commercial entities whose profit, sole concern of shareholders, goes against the welfare of other human beings.

Is capitalism the cruder face of corruption with people exploiting other people?

Intégration réussie : Un Ghanéen en Flandres

Hier, en allant chez mon amie chanteuse Elivava, j'ai rencontré à bord du trotro un Ghanéen qui vit en Belgique depuis quinze ans. Il travaille pour une entreprise de construction automobile en Flandres et habite Anvers (Antwerpen). Il parle néerlandais et prévoit d'obtenir la nationalité.

Il dit que les gens à Anvers ne sont pas chaleureux pour la plupart. Il arrive qu'il se fasse insulter. Il trouve les francophones - il s'en est rendu compte en allant à Liège - plus sympathiques. Selon lui, les Anglais sont davantage accueillants. Il aime conduire pour se rendre à Manchester.

Charles dit connaître personnellement Filip Dewinter du Vlaams Belang. Le futur Belge d'origine ghanéenne remarquait que le président du parti d'extrême droite a de la parenté turque (?). Selon l'intégré, si le VB arrive au gouvernement, "tous les étrangers sans travail seront mis dehors".

Charles possède une grande maison (cinq chambres) à louer dans les environs d'Accra. Le Ghanéen de passage rentrera dans deux semaines en Belgique où réside nombre des membres de sa famille et où il compte beaucoup d'amis. Si je vais visiter Anvers, il a insisté pour me servir de guide.

Charles Kyereme incarne l'un des champions de l'immigration occupant une place centrale dans leur société d'accueil. Regrettablement, certaines personnes de cette société ne l'entendent pas ainsi : Charles, travaillant à la tête d'un groupe, dit avoir des collègues jaloux rechignant à se laisser diriger par un Africain qui pourtant connaît le travail mieux qu'eux !

"Avec la nationalité belge, je pourrai voyager librement en Europe. J'adore voyager. J'ai des amis à Manchester. Je conduis pour y aller, en passant dans le tunnel." A la question de savoir où il compte s'installer, Charles répond "En Belgique bien sûr. J'aime la Belgique. J'y ai vécu pendant quinze ans. Je connais mieux le pays que le Ghana où tout est nouveau pour moi. A chaque fois que je reviens, les choses ont changé et je dois me réhabituer."

Existential alienation

I quit my job with the West Africa Trade Hub. Friday 9 November was my last day. I haven't booked a return flight yet. I have a one-year ticket with British Airways and changing the date - initially planned on 21 December 2007 - should cost $100.

I took the decision to leave the office and Ghana and move on after I got depressed because what I was doing lately felt meaningless and useless. I was no more fulfilled. It was the same routine every day: getting up, going to office, sitting there almost all day, going for lunch, coming back and sitting more in front of my laptop screen, checking emails, replying, executing some tasks, leaving the office for home, going shopping, having dinner, meeting friends sometimes in the night, having a drink, from time to time going to Macumba, a nightclub... In brief, life was too boring.

Nevertheless, I keep very good memories from my experience with the Trade Hub and in Ghana and West Africa in general. I took part in organising a workshop with civil society organisations about competitive grants. Participants were great! I enjoyed two weekends in Lome, met Elivava, Ghanaian singer at the Centre Culturel Français. Since then, we are friends and she is trying to involve me in her artistic activities, which enables me to get exposure to music. Another artist, Nii Obodai, who is photographer, contributed a lot to my decision to make a step from the status quo.

What is ahead?
I know that I will soon go back to Belgium and see my family and Belgian friends. However it might take two more weeks since I intend to sort out a few things before going. Elivava asked me to accompany her to the SICA Festival from 20 to 25 November 2007. The event will display artists from more than 15 countries to reward the best artist or group and presenter in African culture. Like that, I get to travel and enjoy longer my African experience before I reach Europe.

On the other hand, I would like to find out more about a proposition of job with the Sustainable Tree Crops Program in Liberia. There could be a telephone interview scheduled next week. I might also decide to travel to Kumasi. Open plans...

The Passion of Arts

A arts student, Kelvin Asare-Williams, founded in 2000 the Junior Art Club (JAC) whose goal is to tap the potentials of young slum dwellers. He first distributed sheets of paper and pencils to a number of kids at Nima, a disadvantaged area of Accra. Quickly the youth group, waiting every day that he returns from college, grew bigger. After the landlord of the compound, where Kelvin used to meet the kids, threw him out by fear of disturbance, Kelvin decided to call upon his co-students to start visiting pupils at school after classes and initiate them to arts such as acting, creative writing, drawing, singing, dancing, batik making.

Concerned that not all children were going to school, he wanted to open an office. That was done at Labadi. Currently, nine branches exist in schools and rural communities. The club holds exhibitions of children's works, organises performances such as plays and shows. Partners and volunteers come from different parts of the world. Despite the progress made and the equipment acquired (photo and video cameras, computer), Kelvin is trying to get more support. There is the need to rent a bigger place to welcome a lot more children.

JAC also ambitions to open a multimedia museum that would be the first in Accra. With the income generated by the entrance fees, JAC would be able to stand on its feet and expand its activities for the benefit of an increasing number of young people.