Ghana-urbanemergencies

Exhibition and Symposium

2009-06-25T23:03:00.003Z

Solutions? Workshops and Discussions

2009-05-25T17:17:00.009Z

The situation is complicated. There are many stakeholders and many perspectives on the issue of how to deal with Old Fadama.

The government wants to wipe out the settlement, erase it from the map. Human rights watchers, mainly the People’s Dialogue and COHRE have stated that they believe there should be an alternative to putting the people on the streets. A relocation was discussed, but never implemented. Over time, the neighborhood has been stigmatized to the point that nobody wants the relocation near them, making the matter even more difficult to solve.

In the meantime the settlement has continued to grow, and grow.

There are two emergencies occurring at once. One is the massive migration of rural dwellers to the city in search of a better economy due to prolonged droughts in the and unpredictable flooding in the North. The other is the constant presence of unsanitary flooding, pest infestation, and fires.

The settlement is unstable, changing every day. Houses are built; the presence of a micro-economy drives the movement of goods, and construction of structures like a sophisticated group of ants. Inhabitants pay rent, somehow. Water and electricity are purchased and distributed within the community legitimately through Ghana water and electrical companies.

The conditions are not healthy, to be honest, but as always, despite the suffering people continue with their daily lives.

An area of houses burn down and people begin building in blocks. Fear of government whistle blowers versus fear of fire. Built- with- least structures too delicate to withstand fire are replaced with permanent or built-to- last structures.

We had a workshop at the Tenteye office of Old Fadama with the Homeless Association. Just as we were thinking to bring in other stakeholders or professionals into the conversation, a group of students stepped into the meeting, visiting from the University of London. The discussion of empowerment via micro-loans and savings was brought up and details are discussed regarding the implementation and accountability of the system. We listened a lot, and exchanged contact information. Although we were not able to steer the conversation, we plan to follow up with this group in the near future.

The People’s Dialogue seems to suggest that an upgrade would be dependent on land ownership, or at least protecting investments, so as not to scare away international and outside funding. Safi Sana, an organization has already located a site in the settlement and would like to begin construction of toilets, but the company would not like to see their efforts demolished. I hope it works out because the sanitation problem would be greatly improved if people could organize the waste within the settlement, and recycling would be ideal in my opinion.

Father Arcadio, a catholic priest, operating a school in the neighborhood suggests that giving the land to the people directly could be disastrous. It would be an all out war about land rights!

My fear is that if the settlement was cleaned up and upgraded, it would quickly be gentrified. It is strategically located in the center of the city, and the property values would be tremendous, pushing out the inhabitants it was originally meant to protect.

When asking Mohammed from the Kayayei (porters) Youth Association, what he believed the solution to the problem is he gave an interesting answer, and that was honesty. This is true for many sides. The inhabitants of the slum need to ask for help and set up a support network. Governments and NGO’s need to stop taking money for themselves and begin to take actions to make real changes. Time and time again, people walk in, talking to him, interviewing people, filling their questionnaires and surveys, and yet all they do in the end is write reports. It does nothing to help. He has also organized a proposal to help many of the most vulnerable Kayayei by creating jobs in Kumasi via a wholesale warehouse, set up to train and produce products, which can then be distributed throughout the country or even abroad. If China does it, why can’t Ghana? He’s basically suggesting the creation of industry and a stepping up of the value of Ghana’s natural resources, which it tends to sell unprocessed at very low prices.

When asked about what he felt was the source of problems in Old Fadama, he gave another interesting answer, which was conflict. People in the North are fighting over large and small issues, and it kills productivity. Curfews are enacted. When people waste all of their time fighting, their farms suffer, and the youth move south.

We have only begun to brainstorm these ideas… We hope to follow up soon with more details as we begin to explore these in more depth.

Slumdog Architects

2009-05-11T14:49:00.015Z

We have arrived to Accra in search of a better economy, and have moved into the largest slum of the city. Now that our bulk luggages being stored around the city with our friends, we are free to live with the city as our living room, the market our source of daily bread. We only come home to sleep. It rained heavily the day before last, and we began perfecting our skills of gutter-jumping. Pants rolled up and ready to go, we are living in the heart of Accra. The rainy season is intensifying and there are malaria mosquitos everywhere. In the next few days Gabriela will attempt to get a job with the market queens of Agbogbloshi, while the boys focus on the more "manly" activities of bulk-breaking.

Old Fadama is strategically located in the city. The settlement lives with the Agbogbloshi market, however, the sellers from this area also operate around the entire city.

Mapping a slum is not easy. The settlement is extremely dense and home to about 100,000 people. We are hoping for a very high quality sattellitte image soon from Quickbird, and in the meantime using google earth, space syntax, and GPS to map the are.

We are also developing our character sketches and scenarios. Soon we will interview Jean-Jaque's mother and wife to Akokora from Wiaga. She is a migrant worker who has been residing in Accra for 3 years in hopes to find ties to our previous study.

Our House, In the Middle of our Compound

2009-05-11T14:14:00.028Z

Life continues in between broken buildings, the newly built, and those under construction, portraying a chain of events: man-made and natural.

We (all of us) built a house for a family, in the middle of a large compound shared by 3 bothers and their family [16 kids in total]. The state of the compound is the direct result of flooding in these areas. Amidst the ruins of the old structures started our house project, which directly inspired the family to complete their whole compound before the coming of the rain. With our project finished, the remaining houses are raising at a constant rate.

Construction, Climate, Culture

2009-05-07T00:28:00.011Z

For the last three weeks our focus has been on construction, or reconstruction. We have fetched sand, water, gravel, wood, and other materials countless times. We've formed piles, and moved these piles one shovel-full at a time. We have made bricks, burned them, and carried them, made mortar and plaster. The carpentry and masonry were outsourced to specialists, but we did our best to participate.

A couple of technological interventions in the way of flood adaptations have been incorporated in the new work. Most noted are the use of a solid foundation, four courses deep of concrete block, and the addition of bitumen to the plaster mix for the protective outer coat of the building's envelope. The zinc sheets were not our decision. However, they were clearly preferred by the owner of the house and the local NGO we have been working with called TIMAACHAAB (this translates to "lets work together" in the local dialect, Buili).

Working together with these people we have gained a tremendous insight into the minds and hearts of the residents, who are regularly plagued by floods, drought, food insecurity, and poverty, yet live with a resilience and strength that is admirable. It has also been a great lesson in teamwork, making the overwhelming challenges of recovery seem both feasible and pleasurable.

Stepping inside the newly roofed space the room seemed cool, and there was a slight breeze moving from the doorway out of the window. We decided to sleep two nights in the compound, in order to test the difference between sleeping on the roof of a traditional structure, to sleeping inside our newly built work. Although the second night we were tempted to sleep on the roof again (nothing compares to sleeping under an open sky), we were driven indoors by the rain. Unfortunately, we noticed a few slight leaks in the roof and window, but overall we staid dry. The noise from the rain was also very loud, but the fatigue and repetitive nature of the sound, made it easy to sleep.

(April 18th) Bricks are Finished!

2009-04-20T15:15:00.002Z

We woke up in the morning to discover that all the bricks had been finished! The landcrate bricks will take 4-5 days to dry, while the cement bricks take between 1-2 days. We sprinkle water on the cement bricks each evening to make them stronger.

(April 17th) Making Bricks

2009-04-20T15:12:00.007Z

Fetching concrete from downtown Wiaga, before taking a tour of other flood adaptation projects aided by the local organization TAMAACHAAB.

Making bricks one by one with a mold.

(April 16th) Demolition Begins...

2009-04-20T15:11:00.004Z

Gabriela demolishing a wall.

Fetching water.

Watering the sand for the bricks.

Flooding and the Local Vernacular

2009-04-15T13:49:00.005Z

After breakfast on our first day in Wiaga we had a walking tour of nearby flood affected houses. Wiaga is a small town near Sandema, where we are staying at a Catholic Mission house with Father Isaac Akapata. During the tour Father Isaac explained to us how people were adapting the local vernacular with new building technologies, so as to survive the rains. He showed us where sand is collected during the dry season to be mixed with cement for water resistant foundation blocks. We also saw an area were people would excavate the surface of the ground to gather a darker earth to make lancrate blocks, for higher layers.

We visited a couple of different housing styles, a modern block construction and one in a more traditional style such as that of Mr. Akokorah Angachaab.

The Rains

2009-04-15T13:48:00.007Z

The Rains began today(April 13th). We were lucky to escape them last night as we experienced roof sleeping for the first time, a part of the culture which we will consider in our design/build workshop very soon. We are beginning to think that the traditional mud hut workshop may need a few adjustments. Certainly, it would be sad to see our creation collapse in a few weeks.

Looking back on Old Fadama, Accra

2009-04-15T13:48:00.005Z

This is our Architecture body report based on the observations inside Old Fadama, our primary site of focus in Accra. Its a compilation of the various materials used with basic details of construction techniques.

Easter Elephants

2009-04-15T13:45:00.002Z

In a country where over eighty percent of the population is religious, we realize it does not make sense to schedule meetings or visit universities. So, we have shifted our plans, skipping the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi for now. Instead, we have spent the Easter weekend at Mole national part, since of course we cannot go to Ghana without seeing the elephants.

Information : Power

2009-04-10T17:19:00.012Z

We had the most interesting meeting on Wednesday with Salif from the People's Dialogue in Accra. This is an organization which was set up as a response to the homelessness and forced eviction situation in Accra. He led us to one of the many community meetings set up around Old Fadama, and we had the opportunity to interact with the community directly.

Our dialogue focused on flooding, epidemics, and fires. However, we also asked about the people's culture and ideas about the future. We ended the meeting by Shilesh chanting the words "Information," to which the entire audience responded with "Power." We informed the people that we would be residing in Old Fadama for a week in the beginning of May, and they have welcomed us warmly.

I will share with you the details of this discussions as soon as I finish a formal write up.

After the meeting we took a short walk to another area in the neighborhood, which had experienced a fire that same night. Upon arrival we noted that a couple of houses were already beginning construction. Children were gathering nails and burnt corrogated sheets were sorted and being bagged for scrap metal recycling. There were over 500 rooms burnt. The first woman I meet was an elderly lady. She was one of the eldest, a queen mother, who cooked Kinke for the community. She lost her entire livelihood in 4 hours. Another man sat on what used to be the foundations of his house. He is an herbal medicine dealer for the community. We traced the border of the fire with our GPS unit, noticing that the only kind of buildings left at the edges were of concrete block. They stopped the fire from spreading. There were also a couple of piles of wood planks, houses which had been rapidly dismantled to avoid catching on fire.

We have requested a couple of our friends to document the reconstruction, day by day. We will also develop the personality sketches and explore their connections to disaster recovery.

Old Fadama

2009-04-07T21:38:00.008Z

The more we get to know Accra the more it seems that the problems have further to do with poverty than flooding. The situation would not be so great, except for the lack of access to adequate sanitation. The rivers have become sewers, the lagoon and sea side, a massive dumping ground for trash and open defecation. When the floodwaters come, they are filthy, and the outbreak of disease is tremendous, especially of malaria, typhoid, and cholera.

We have seen and smelled so much that now the notorious slum of Old Fadama, hardly phases us. It seems relatively clean, smells just fine, there is a natural wind due to its proximity to the lagoon, keeping the temperatures cool and pleasant. Standing on the second story of Father Arcadio's school, the view from the window is peaceful. I wouldn't mind living here myself. It kind of feels like being in a tree house, something I miss, since most of the buildings in Accra seem to be one story block houses. We are lucky to be here in the dry season, I have to admit, I have not seen the dumping grounds yet either.

The borders are abrupt. One minute we are walking down narrow alleys along densely built structures, and then, as if someone lifted a curtain, we find ourselves in the middle of one of the largest and busiest markets of Accra, the Agbogbloshi market.

Old Fadama is something else!

Built with least and with a pending eviction notice hanging in the air, it is a dynamic space with many factors at play. Most of the inhabitants are migrant farmers from the north or neighboring countries. However, each one has a story, religion, tribe, language, etc... It is a diverse site, where conflicting tribes live in peace, due to the common fear of being relocated.

We have gathered numerous spatial analysis of Accra's environmental state, health risk, and land use, among other things. Yet, one phenomenon remains constant. Old Fadama is a white spot of no information, along with the entire bank of the Korle Lagoon. It is the invisible! Coined with the name Sodom and Gomorra, it seems to have become the scapegoat for all of the city's problems, often acknowledged in a derogatory manner. It is true that many illegal activities occur in this no-man's land, but there are a lot of good people here too. They often come to Accra fleeing from poverty, conflict, or forced marriage. In Accra, they are faced with the problems of flooding, poor sanitation, epidemics and fires. We hope to learn from this community to understand how a diverse group, such as they, organizes themselves and cope with the various challenges of natural disasters in urban environments. What are the spatial aspects of religion, tribe, language, gender and family structure in the community? How do the citizens share facilities? How do they distribute resources? What is the relationship of Old Fadama to the Agbogbloshi market? Is the market dependent on the neighborhood, or vice versa?

There are many questions, and each time we visit the site there are new discoveries. What once used to be a thick forest, grew out of a village, to become one of the most densely populated areas in the city. I wonder, if the government wiped them out, would another little village explode? And how would the Agbogbloshi market adapt? How would it morph, especially the yams, which are directly tied to the Kokomba people living in Old Fadama?

Aside from work, all is well. Gabriela is over her bacterial infection and out on the streets. Arie is using his strong Dutch voice to stop the tro-tros and becoming our GPS navigator. Shilesh is getting dark, and taking wonderful photographs as usual. We're making some really good friends in the city and preparing our trip up north.

Exiting times. I wish the internet could keep up with our rate of change. If we seem to disappear into a black hole beginning the 9th of April, it is because we are stomping our feet in mud, and building a house. We will try to make it to
Bolga at least once every two weeks to update the blog and email. For quick correspondence, please call us.

Street Connectivity and Traffic

2009-04-07T21:15:00.010Z

Accra is urbanizing itself very rapidly, rippling upwards from the sea, especially along the major finger and ring roads. The invention of the automobile has led to sprawl. Housing shortages cause slums to fill in along restricted flood planes of rivers, exploding upwards with higher densities.

We just acquired more information and plan to update the space syntax diagram accordingly.

QuickScan and contacts

2009-04-07T21:10:00.002Z

QuickScan

Contacts Diagram

Ministry Marathon

2009-03-24T18:13:00.000Z

With our minds almost set on Alajo as the point of concentration we decided to make a ministry run to find out any relevant information on the same. We started the day with a fixed appointment with Mr. Joseph Ankra of NADMO (National Disaster Management Organization), which governmental organization dealing with disasters all over the nation. He briefed us on the structure and working of NADMO along with some basis ideas of disaster management and preparedness they undertake. He provided us with an emergency preparedness plan and suggested we talk to a colleague of his who is supposed to have further data that might be useful to us. With a meeting tentatively fixed in the coming week, we were advice to go to the Ministry of Transport Roads and Highways to get information on the road network and connectivity maps. From this point it was a day full of ministry meetings, started by all 3 barging into offices and asking for details. Bemused people sent us from floor to floor, building to building, department to department, ministry to ministry, everyone thinking the other will be a better door to knock at. Even though the day ended without much of information, we had a clear idea of the working of all the ministries and their inter-dependencies which we are sure will help us in the coming days to get some hard data.

Alajo at a stretch

2009-03-24T18:04:00.001Z

On a bid to select an appropriate site between the Lafa basin - Santa Maria and the Korle Basin –Alajo, we did a site visit to Alajo. We started with a quick walk on a bridge over the Korle Lagoon downstream the Odaw River passing through Alajo. The Entire city congested along the banks of the Odaw River dumps its waste into the same, which in turn empties its contents into the Korle lagoon passing it on to the sea. The Lagoon is filled with waste and black contaminated water, spreading an Omni-present stench. The banks of the lagoon are filled with solid waste and litter, marking an edge as waste fields. From here we made our way up north parallel the river passing through its banks on the western side. This part is now under serious activity for an ecological restoration project by the government to make the lagoon a green zone is the heart of the city. This restoration project seems to be a tall call owing the reason that the lagoon has been announced as an ecologically dead zone, and the whole river-lagoon system being the only main source of waste drainage for most of the city. Nevertheless the people in the government are quite sure of its possibilities. Then we reached Alajo, which is a low raise, lateral spreading old settlement which is mostly populated with temporary structures like Kiosks around solid buildings, sitting right on the banks of the Odow river. During rainy season swelling of the river caused huge flooding in the past as high as 1 to 1.5m as per local inhabitants, but as of now this problem seems to be solved by the dredging of the river and construction of a huge drain with concrete banks to retain the soil and to make huge spill ways for the flood water. We walked along the banks of the drain which is now the collection pit of all waste from the community making it a sewage drain. We went across the area cutting through small allies and sign boards put up by AMA marking in-appropriate built up structures. As it is in all places we went, we meet a lot of curious and friendly people who were ready to talk to us, answer our queries and greet us with great joy. Talking to them we found out that the flooding problem has been solved by the drain as of now. With certitude of clarity we start our analysis, with primary focus on past flood plains that have been rectified recently by the provision of huge open drains, which is leading to even more densification of the urban fabric, which may in future lead to the past problems.

Weekend at Fadome

2009-03-24T17:45:00.000Z

Amidst the hectic search for site and constant brain storming we were invited by Mr. Wise for a weekend at his home town, Fadome in the Volta region, east of Ghana; which we accepted with at most delight. Then started a memorable day in Ghana, with a wake up at 3, to get ready by 4 in the morning, leading to a 5 hour tiring journey through exiting landscapes; then having a great homemade lunch at Wise’s place, before starting to a 600m high exhilarating waterfalls, which lead to a exhaustive mountain climb, extending forever, finally getting us to an enchanting bath. Last by not the least a tiring journey back home for a great dinner and a quite place to sleep. The next morning we got up at 6 and took a stroll through the village, seeing exited people and merry kids shouting obruni where ever we went. It was an important day for Fadome, when 8 of their chiefs and the paramount chief were going to meet in order to resolve their difference with the presence of UNDP and a lot of distinguished delegates. With another exhaustive mountain climb, this time the highest in West Africa we made it back to the ceremonial meeting almost at its final stages. With a lot of happy people dancing around we did our best to merge with the crowd, dancing around a group playing drums. Then fixing an appointment with Mr.Clever from UNDP we made our way back home having talks about the village and its various architectural aspects. The next day we had another early rise, this time at 4 to start back to Accra.

Quick Scan on Santa Maria

2009-03-24T17:31:00.005Z

Based on the suggestions for an urban flood zone by Mr. Wise Valence, flood expert from the Hydrological Department, we visited the locality of Santa Maria on the western outskirts of Accra Metropolitan Authority (AMA). We landed up there like a bunch of travelers roaming around to find the lowest point of the mildly undulated landscape that seems to be completely covered with buildings. This is the new developing area of Accra which is spreading laterally on every piece of land available. It’s mostly residential settlements with a lot of small scale and cottage industries mainly focusing on building related activities like steel kiosk production, cell-Crete and paving tiles manufacture combined with a lot of service activities. We went along the main roads then branching onto side alleys following the water flow in the open drains. On the way we meet a couple of families who gave their perspective on flooding and the tentative water levels. It started with 60cm and went to the highest of 1.5m near a hospital. On quick enquiry this problem seems to be sorted out due to the construction of a drain right next to the hospital. Again the drain trail started following the main drain channel which finally lead us to a bigger stream of sludge that was a natural drain pattern of the area. With this identified as the lowest part we wonder if we found the site that suits our bill!!

Our site, our neighborhood

2009-03-12T10:52:00.006Z

We began the day with meetings, first with the director of the Geological Department and then with Wise Valence, flood expert from the Hydrological Department.

We inquired about their contacts, and its interesting to note that there does not seem to be a lot of connectivity between European/American NGOs and the local governmental organizations. I guess it is logical that these NGOs are not tied to the local government, but it seems like a missed opportunity, as the Hydrological Department, Disaster Expert Wise Valence, Town and Country Planning, and the National Survey Department have been key to our understanding of the flooding situation in Ghana.

Gabriela received a couple of wedding proposals and Arie became the center of attention a few times as we visited our new site, the Lafa Basin. It is beautiful and really low lying! Another bit of news... we happen to have moved inside the Lafa Basin, in the neighborhood of Dansoman. It only takes us about 20 minutes to walk to the salt pond, which means we are living in one of the most flood prone areas of Accra! We will show you the map of the basins in a few days. We asked about evacuation plans as well, which we will soon get from NADMO. The protocol is rather simple though: if you see hard rain coming then run to Odoko. Its really far for us though, so the we may just invest in a boat and some life jackets, especially since Shilesh does not know how to swim. He said he had problems at Tropicana. Ha! We will take care of him though, do not worry.

This weekend Wise has invited us to stay with him at his house in the Volta region. He offered to show us the tallest water fall in Africa and Afadjato mountain. It is going to be a real treat. We are also planning to meet with Simon, Environmental science PhD student from Univ. of Ghana, currently working for the EPA. Good excuse to go shopping for hiking boots and light-weight cotton clothes of local prints.

Animals for Disaster Waste Recovery ?!

Lafa Basin

Flood Affected House.

Lafa Basin

initial observations

2009-03-10T17:28:00.003Z

Videos of a funeral and other experiences

2009-03-10T17:17:00.002Z

Funeral in Ghana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LnKm4Mci8pU

Funeral in Ghana 2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qTlzgdrFAc0

Driving through Ghana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KIJr6Bur_64

Rain in Ghana
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBQrUrJy_Nw

9 March: our own house!!

2009-03-10T14:40:00.001Z

We begin the morning by preparing email and organizing photos. At 10 am, once the traffic become less busy, it is time for us to move to our house! We drive from the East side of Accra to the West, passing the Korley Lagoon. This is where the Odawna stream drains into the sea. The Odawna is responsible for flooding in Alajo, and is currently undergoing major rehabilitation. The smell is overwhelming and Frederick explains that unfortunately the river is used to drain much of the domestic wastes from the inhabitants that live along it. Lavander hills lies just on the other side of the lagoon, and is a major dumping site for sewage trucks in the sea. Frederick explains that there used to be a system in place that would treat waste before dumping it into the ocean, but that somewhere in the past the system broke down. We arrive to the house. It has 4 bedrooms, a living room, a dining room, a kitchen, and a terrace in the back. There are a few things missing, such as beds, fans and a working fridge, but the house is beautiful and spacious.

A 4th team member has joined the group. His name is Paapa. He is a student at the Methodist University in Accra and is doing his bachelor in Business Administration. These coming weeks he will help us with practical things to make our stay more pleasurable. Like becoming mad at the people who have to deliver the fans, which still have not arrived.

After a few minutes we convert the table and dining area to an office and begin making phone calls. Our first visit has been scheduled the same day with Regina Brown from the Geological Survey Department in ITC. By coincidence, her parents live right beside our new house. The meeting is short, but we take advantage to ask her some GIS questions, since we had experienced some problems opening files we had acquired from Richard (ITC). She is much better with GIS than we are. We explain to her the project, the back-story, and she seems very interested. We will meet with her again on Wednesday and she has offered to pick us up from the house in her car and take us to the office so we can meet with her colleagues and acquire a 2006 flood map. She is even kind enough to drop us off at the Internet cafe, where we wait again for 45 minutes this time for the power to come on.

Coast of Accra.

Coast of Accra

Korley Lagoon.

Working in our house.

Paapa and a man who is making our bed.

8 March: Funeral & Akosombo Dam

2009-03-10T14:39:00.001Z

For our 3rd day in Ghana we are invited by Fred to experience a Ghanaian funeral in the village where his father used to live, Krobo Odumasi. After a ride of 60 km over smooth asphalt roads and humpy sand roads we arrive to the funeral, which had already started. First thing that appears is that there are much more people than on most Dutch funerals. During the funeral people are doing all kinds of things besides paying attention to the ceremony. There are people walking around, talking to each other, taking phone calls. At the end of the ceremony the coffin is carried away to the car, under the guidance of the youth band from the church.

After this ceremony we drive further for another 2 hours to the Adomi bridge. This is the biggest bridge over the Volta River. The Volta River connects the Volta lake and the ocean. After stretching our legs and walking over the bridge we drive some more and accidentally take a wrong turn towards the east. We drive for what seems to be a long time, until Fred stops to ask a man walking beside the road with a big dead rat in his hand how to get to the Akosombo dam. Here we find out that we have to go back to the bridge. By then we have passed by the villages of Juapong, Frakadua, and almost reached the capital of the Volta region, Ho. After a 15 minutes drive from the bridge we finally arrive to the Akosombo Dam. This dam was inaugurated by Nkrumah in 1966 and is Ghana’s largest dam. The Akosombo Dam created the most expansive artificial lake in the world with a surface area of 850.000ha. It is one of the main causes of flooding in the north of Ghana, but also responsible for supplying water and electricity to the country.

On our way back we experience our first tropical rain. It starts with a gray sky. Then the sky becomes darker and the wind heavier until big drops start falling out of the sky. People who were selling stuff on the side of the road quickly gather there things under a roof. Between the houses the water started to collect and search for the lowest areas creating little flows. The rain becomes heavier and the roads started to flood. It even starts to get cold. We stop for dinner at a restaurant that Frederick recommends, and Gabriela tries fufu for the first time. It tastes really good, but the gooey texture of the yams is a bit unexpected. We watch the game in the meantime. The rain has almost stopped by then and we head back to Accra. Now the rain stopped, people are setting up there business and the streets become crowded again.

In the evening we come home to a dark house, because the electricity has gone out.

We end the day talking with Nana Kwame. He is the nephew of Leticia and staying over for the weekend with his aunt. Nana is a student at the Cape Coast University and studies Mathematics and Economics. He helps us to gain some insight into the economical situation in Ghana.

Funeral

Volta bridge.

Community aside the Volta river.

Akosombo Dam

Our first Rain in Ghana.

Evening without electricity.

7 March

2009-03-10T14:38:00.002Z

The second day we spend organizing the photos and discussing the project. After having a typical Ghanaian lunch made by Leticia we go to an internet café. A sign on the wall reads that it is not allowed to use the internet for porn and 419. After asking Fred we found out that 419 is used as a code for criminality. We loose power a couple of times, but it turns back on after a few minutes. This was for Shilesh directly a hard lesson, because he had not save the email he was writing. After the generator is turned on we continue and this time saving every minute.

When walking back from the internet café we decide to walk over a market which we were passing.

After we come back, a vistor stops by to visty Frederick, but because Fred is not home we take advantage to ask him some questions. Harry works for the Port Authority, but also has some insight into the flooding problems of Accra. He tells us that the flooding in Accra is a combined problem. For one, the drainage system gets clogged easily, then the open drains swell up and flood during heavy rainfall.

6 March: independence day.

2009-03-10T14:37:00.004Z

In the morning we experience typical unreliability with the water system. Frederick tells us that, often times the water will cut off, so we have to shower using a small bucket or a cup. This reminds Gabriela of her time in Venezuela. For Manuela it is a nice experience to have ‘obruni’ people in the house. She gets her friends next door to come by and show off her guests. Arie is especially exotic for them. All in all, we are greeted with curiosity and great hospitality.

It is interesting because we happened to arrive to Accra on Independence Day, and were able to celebrate the prime minister, Nkrumah's, declaration of the former Gold Coast colony as an independent nation on the 6 March 1957. We watch the independence parade that morning on television.

In the afternoon Fred gives us a driving tour of the different parts of Accra, first hitting the rough spots and then the not so rough places. We see the neighborhood of Teshie, an informal community, which sprang up without planning. Frederick works for the Town and Country Planning Department in Accra, so it is interesting to see the city through his perspective. He explains the challenges of providing adequate plumbing, sanitation, and electricity infrastructure in these types of settlements. The lack of infrastructure also has an effect on the city's density, which does not support high rises. He says that the tallest building in Accra is about 15 stories. Most of the unplanned settlements are single or two story houses. After Teshie we drive through a military zone and then pass the independence square where the ceremony has already ended. We stop at the Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park. In the middle of the park stands a tomb where Nkrumah has been buried. In front of the tomb is the podium where Nkrumah officially declared the independence of Ghana. This podium is still accessible and many people stand on the podium themselves to take a picture. We are invited to join the picture of another group. It is not difficult to make friends in Ghana! We also visit the museum. After this we continue our trip to Alajo, one of our sites of focus. From Alajo we drive to Dzorwulu which is the richer and more expensive part of Accra.

During this trip Fred gives us some insight into the city's problems and how they occur. The problem of flooding in Accra has different actors and agents. The rivers through Accra are losing space to people who are building along them, in the flood prone riverbanks. It is a complex situation that we are just beginning to grasp.

Teshie.

Independence square.

Kwame Nkrumah Memorial Park

Podium in front of the tomb.

Alajo

Arrival in Accra

2009-03-10T14:10:00.006Z

After a 14 hour trip, with a 6 hour stopover in Casablanca, we arrive at 4 am at the Kotoka international airport in Accra. At the customs counter we receive a visa stamp for 60 days, instead of the 3 months we had originally been granted from the embassy in the NL. The customs official offers to let us buy the additional month for 100 euro, which we of course do not accept. Fortunately, Frederick is waiting for us outside the airport. He finds us before we even have a chance to call him. We are such an eclectic group; it must not have been difficult for him to guess. There are many young Ghanains waiting outside to help us with our luggage, we notice this cool snapping thing they did with their fingers at the end of a hand shake. I remember thinking they are friends of Frederick, but later discover that Frederick does not know them at all. We ride in the car piled high with luggage on our laps, but once we are 'safe' we stop and put the luggage in the back of the truck. Fred explains to us that sometimes bags go missing when you do not pay attention. Frederick is one of the contacts we met through a pastor named Samson, who knows Armstrong, who works with Trude at Enviu. He lives just outside Accra with his wife Leticia and daughter Manuela.

Mohammed V airport, Casablanca.

The house of Fred.

Nana Kwame, Leticia, Fredrick.

Manuela

Presentation 27-02-2009

2009-03-02T13:31:00.002Z

Presentation 27-02-09

View more presentations from GhanaUrbanEmergencies. (tags: presentation workplan)

2009-02-24T14:43:00.000Z

Presentation 20-02-09

View more presentations from GhanaUrbanEmergencies. (tags: presentation workplan)

Accra: Land Use Plan

2009-02-24T13:17:00.005Z

2009-02-19T00:40:00.019Z

over exposed_eXpressions

UE_GPS Tracking

2009-02-17T08:35:00.008Z

Initial GPS tracking done on 16 February around the Delft central square...

UE_Ghana Preparatory Research

2009-02-16T23:46:00.002Z

On Friday the 13 Februari we presented the progress of our preparatory research on Ghana.

UE_Priliminary Study

2009-02-16T00:21:00.015Z

As a preliminary research to aid site selection process, we did an analysis on the flood affected regions in Africa. Flood disasters being the most wide spread and the most devastating of all, we decided to take this as, our central theme of attention around which our entire analysis is structured.

.pdf report...

When Deserts Flood.pdf

eXpressions from Presentation...

2009-02-15T21:42:00.007Z

UE_Research area.

2009-02-15T18:03:00.006Z

The focus of the research by UE Ghana group will be on the flooding areas in Ghana. The flooding results in destroyed human life and property and exposes residents to health and environmental hazards.
The first area which will be researched is Accra. Accra is the capital city of Ghana and experience seasonal floods almost every year. The major causes of the flooding in this area are widespread rains of the May-July wet season, Accra's low elevation, the clay soil, inadequate and undersized drains, the dumping of refuse into drains and water bodies, and the development of environmentally sensitive areas.
The other area which will be researched is the north part of Ghana which also suffer from seasonal floods. The flooding of the White Volta river and the Black Volta river flood are caused from two sides. On the one hand comes there during the raining season a big amount of water from the Volta lake, which is created by the Akosombo dam. On the other hand is there water coming from spilling of the Bagre and Kompienga dams in Burkina Faso, during excessive rainfall.

Ghana map

2009-02-15T14:51:00.000Z

Grotere kaart weergeven