Water Rapt . Accra Ghana

In two days, I am traveling 11817.41 kilometers...
To throw myself into learning
About the state of water access and community governance
In urban informal settlements in the Accra region of Ghana
For two months.

May 26th will be the day, bright-eyed and bushy-tailed.  Landing in Accra on a Sunday afternoon.
But before then, sorting out what's left of my semi-nomadic life in Vancouver.  Finding special secret places to store the things I have managed to accumulate; my few prized possessions.  A bit like a squirrel.  Instead of acorns, evidence of my hunting and gathering boasts plastic lunch containers, David's tea, uncooked rice, and oh, oh! My shiny black rubber boots.  Reluctant to say goodbye to Bronko the bicycle - will be the last to pack up.  The fridge is once again almost barren, but for the cherries I splurged on with the excuse that they would bring me utmost joy and would make great picnic snacking.  I will leave my friends loft apartment on West 10th practically as thought never here...with the exception of orange gerberas planted in the blue plot I found, a couple of books from her impressive library likely in the wrong spot (a little disheartened that I didn't finish Eating Dirt or Nudge), maple syrup, tonic water, and probably the faint lingering scent of something I'd like to imagine as a cross between simmering ginger, vanilla body-wash and cinnamon apple spice muffins.  Ah, what a wonderful 3 weeks in the sweet exile of a spacious apartment! Let's hope that I have conjured up strength and endurance as one does in 007 wandering the halls collecting strange green boxes.

Back to Ghana.
What I can say for now - which is of course not exhaustive as I am no expert - is that Ghana is a coastal country in West Africa nestled between Ivory Coast and Togo.  Accra is the capital city and I will be conducting my fieldwork in the surrounding metropolitan region.  I am not focusing on water issues because it is scarce.  For example, Ghana is home to the largest reservoir in the world - the Volta River.  Yet, for several social and political reasons (rather than biophysical) - household potable water is not a given in many parts of the country.  More specifically, I am working in what you might call urban or peri-urban neighbourhoods that are also informal settlements, or 'slums' and known to face challenges of little or poor infrastructure and access to resources.  Many creative ways of distributing and retrieving water have emerged, one being in the form of small plastic bags called sachets sold privately by mobile vendors.

My curiosities have me talking with residents to find out how they describe their experiences of water access - and if I can - the politics of claiming access to water.  Then I'm hoping to formulate some smidgen of understanding of the impact of these experiences on sense of security, empowerment, opportunity, citizenship, and the like. 

....I have a lot of learning to do!
That said, it's certainly a privilege to be able to set down the research papers (if only temporarily...sigh) to get up close and personal with a topic that I truly believe needs some de-cluttering.  And well maybe I'm nuts but I'm going to try my hand.  I'm sure it won't be easy, but so many of the most lively and prosperous experiences are hard.  Destabilizing to the core, even.  Shaking it up so that we can see things that were clouded over before by comfort.  Feel things that were shadowed by numbness.  There is doubt and discomfort but I'm ignoring and suppressing it, it's such a downer.  Diving in to waters, depth unknown.  Woooooooo pun intended!

I am also very, very excited to say I have managed to plan a visit with Madamoiselle Carolyne Huber in her new quarters (Tours, France) on my way back to Ottawa.  I'll be in back in Canada early August and expecting summer to be in full swing in my hometown.  Til then - I'm off to Africa.