Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates

Trip to Africa, 2008

2008-08-11T21:06:00.001-07:00

Introduction:
------------------------

This year's trip consisted of two, one-week trips, the first to Ghana, and the second to Cote d'Ivoire. We accomplished the following:

1. We built a solar drier in the village of Ebekawopa.
2. We distributed 200 pairs of boots to 5 villages in Ghana.
3. We distributed 200 pairs of boots to 5 villages in Cote d'Ivoire.
4. We distributed 100 SuperGrain bags
5. We donated two dryness meters
6. We donated 1 scale
7. We discussed a new system for increasing cocoa farmer profitability

This year's trip consisted of the following actors:

Tom, trip leader, and president of Project Hope and Fairness and Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, Inc.

Skyline Lau, student in Accounting and International Finance at California State Polytechnic University.

Peter Joy Sewornoo, Ghana representative of PH&F and master's degree candidate in trade law at a school in Bern, Switzerland.

Padmore, friend of Peter and Tom, who is finishing his training in refrigeration and air conditioning engineering.

Alex, driver in Ghana, who has worked for 12 years, driving and entertaining visiting British dignitaries.

Evariste , Ivory Coast representative of PH&F, responsible for planning details of Ivorian visit.

Maury, Ivorian driver and over-all super-conscious employee who washes the car's motor before he eats his own breakfast.

This year's trip was made possible by the following donations...

$4,000 raised by Amy Cheng of Seattle, Washington, to pay for the 400 boots donated to 10 villages.
$2,500 donated by Joanne Currie to offset general expenses
$1,000 contributed by Don Maruska to offset the cost of the scale donated to Dawayo-Chantier
$1,000 contributed by Skyline Lau to partially pay for a bathroom in Pezoan
$500 by Ernie Roide to help pay for 1 dryness meter
TMTTA (too much to talk about) spent by Tom Neuhaus to pick up the slack

Friday, August 15

In the morning, we left San Luis Obispo on the bus. Our flight to Minneapolis left in the afternoon, and in the evening, we took a KLM flght to Amsterdam and arrived early Saturday morning. We boarded the next flight, to Accra in the late morning, and arrived in Accra at 6:30 PM, a very sane time to arrive in West Africa.

We waited for the luggage for about 45 minutes. Three of four suitcases had arrived, but not the fourth. I ran outside (past all the immigration officials) to let Peter know that we were experiencing problems. The baggage people traced the bag back to Amsterdam. This was an unfortunate setback, as it meant that something our schedule would have to be sacrificed.

We checked into the Mensvic Hotel, located near the airport. Since the car was parked at the hotel, we jumped in and drove to a pharmacy, where I bought enough toiletries to get me by for a day.

Sunday, August 17

The suitcase is to arrive in the evening. We divide the day into two parts: the morning when we visit Nkrumah's mausoleum and the afternoon when we drive up the coast to hopefully visit a homeopathic malaria treatment clinic.

For anyone visiting West Africa, it's important to know some rudimentary history: the Scramble for Africa, the colonial period, independence, and post-independence. The visit to Nkrumah's mausoleum is a chance to learn about Nkrumah's attempts to balance the First and Second worlds against each other in order to obtain development money. The mausoleum and museum are downtown. The museum is especially valuable for its display of Nkrumah's copious writings and the large pictures showing his life and efforts at uniting Africa.

Peter, Skyline, and Padmore joining Kwame Nkrumah in his pursuit of African independence and development.

I had the "address" of a woman who is running a homeopathic malaria treatment clinic, located about 50 Km west of Accra in Senya Beraku. We set out on a day trip to a town on the ocean. After several hours drive up and down roads, attempting to follow emailed directions, we never found the clinic. We did find: 1) a live snake; 2) an enormous compound on the ocean belonging to the president of Burkina Faso; and 3) an attractive oceanfront hotel.

We passed children in one hamlet who were playing with their "pet" snake.

We spent a few hours at this small resort (Till's Hotel) on the ocean, popular with European tourists, one of whom was parasurfing.

Although we were told to just wait until the baggage service called us, I decided to phone at 11:30 PM, as they had not called and the bag should have arrived at 6:30 PM. Good thing. They would have closed at midnight and we would have had to seek out the bag in the morning, cutting further into our schedule. We made the right decision, as the bag was there. Never believe everything people tell you. God helps those who help themselves.

Monday, August 18

We left for Cape Coast at 11 AM, the back of the 4X4 loaded with boots, and the top rack filled with our luggage and still more boxes of boots.

We spent an hour talking to the president of Agrimat, which distributes Grainpro products to farmers, including the SuperGrain bag, which I bought 100 of in order to talk to farmers about the concept of modified atmospheric storage, where by drying the product and storing in an O2-impervious bag, one can cause a CO2 rich atmosphere to form, thereby preventing oxidative rancidity and killing all insects. Then they can sell when they have enough product to demand a good price. These bags only cost $2 each.

We arrived in Cape Coast at about 3 PM, then toured the slave castle, and ate right on the beach in the usual place. I had boiled plantain, vegetables, and chicken. Some of the best roast chicken ever! So flavorful compared to what we get in the U.S., organic or non. The vegetables were cooked in palm oil. Very delicious. And we had a bar of Ghanaian chocolate for dessert.

We headed to Mmaniaye, our first village in the early evening. A village of maybe 100, it has one well, no running water, and no electricity.

The children of Mmaniaye greet us. Skyline is an instant hit, as she is quite exotic to look at, and she has a very pleasant demeanor with the children, despite the onrush of hands poking and prodding her.

After our arrival, we celebrated with a large bonfire, music, and dance.

Tuesday, August 19

The next morning, I took this picture of three men getting ready to spray cocoa trees. The government of Ghana provides assistance to cocoa farmers in order to keep their orchards healthy. Cocoa is especially vulnerable to myrids, an insect, and black pod.

Padmore takes a shower.

Processing palm kernels into oil used for deep-fat frying.

Women preparing the palaver sauce for our lunch. It is made of greens minced by pushing them with one's palm against the cutting edge of a cutlass or machete.

Skyline befriends Soledad, who is 16 years old and whom we met last year.

Young man wears last year's t-shirt.

PH&F donates 40 pairs of boots to Mmaniaye.

The ceremony was over at 2 PM, and we drove to Adiyaw, a neighboring village. The heat was almost unbearable, and I was feeling the one hour of sleep I had had the night before, sleeping on the hard ground. We donated the 40 pairs of boots, t-shirts, and chocolate and quickly moved on, as we were really tired.

We drove to Cape Coast to do Internet, then back to Ebekawopa, our next village. We arrived in the evening, after dark. The road to Ebekawopa was more treacherous than last year. Heavy rains had caused extensive damage, and the last hill before the village was treacherous and slippery. Nevertheless, we arrived, and we immediately sat in the open area in front of the village school to enjoy another bonfire accompanied by dance, songs, and a skit.

Wednesday, August 20

Ebekawopa means "It will affect your waist", meaning that the village is so far away from anything that going there causes you to lose weight.

We slept on the concrete floor of the church. I slept soundly and snored loudly, disturbing the sleep of my companions. In the morning, we started with the usual Ghanaian breakfast--boiled yams (African yams which are 2 feet long, 4 inches in diameter, and quite starchy), boiled plantains, vegetable stew complete with hunks of salt fish swimming under the usual sheen of bright orange palm oil. The flavors are as usual marvelous, although the vitamin A-rich palm oil tests the mettle of your gall bladder.

This was to be the day I was going to build a solar cocoa beans dryer. The Lutheran Pastor, Samson, had arranged a meeting with the carpenter. The carpenter had arrived at 6 AM, but I had to do my bathroom routine. But first, a trip to the toilet. This consisted of walking about 400 feet down a path, past the palm oil "factory", past a cocoa grove, past several houses, to the school, through the classroom with its mud floor, behind the school, through the weedy schoolyard, to a mud and palm structure whose interior consisted of large planks over a 5 foot deep trench. You removed your bottom clothing (in full view of anyone curious enough to look out the back of a classroom), squatted over the trench. No running water to wash your hands. Oh well, that's why you use your left hand and eat with your right.

Following the bathroom routine, I met with the carpenter. I showed him a structure (a pantry) on which to base the design.

While the carpenters labored, we participated in the donations ceremony. I was presented with a chiefly shirt and named "Chief of Development", to be "enstooled" next year. This pictures shows us donating the 400 boots to the village.

All day, the carpenter and his assistant worked. First, they had to get nails. They rode their bikes down the 3 mile long road complete with the muddy "cliff" back to their village and found a bag of formerly used nails and screws, quite rusty. They also brought several rough hewn planks of tropical wood (local product :=)). They spent the day sawing those planks BY HAND and planing them with two hand planers. Just like the old shipbuilders.

.

Two planks brought in by bicycle

The carpenter's sawing technique.

By the end of the ceremony, at about 1 PM, this is how far the carpenters had progressed.

The carpenters made these frames and we covered them with screen so the cocoa beans would dry from both sides.

By the end of the day, we had the structure, which is 32 X 32 inches (they use inches because they have an American tape measure) and about 5 feet high. The top and sides are covered with plastic, there's a door on the front, 5 trays that slide in and out, each made with a frame covered with plastic screen. I inserted the solar powered fan and whoosh off it went.

We anchored the machine next to the "main street", a path and filled it with cocoa beans. Samson will email me periodically to let me know how the machine works. I think it will work well. The sun heats up the plastic covered chamber, causing the air to gain capacity to hold moisture. The fan sucks the warm, moist air out and sucks cool, dry air through the 5 trays. At night, the dryer works more slowly as convection occurs naturally.

Thursday, August 21

The following morning, we set up the machine. Sampson, the Lutheran minister, is loading cocoa beans into the machine.

A close-up of the beans on their trays and the solar-powered fan.

Padmore Cobbina reflects about how one could set up a business distributing the hardware to make these driers possible.

We left about 10:30 AM and drove to Gyaware, which means "Too Far to Come MArry You". We were 2 days late, so only a few farmers were there. I did my usual dog and pony show and Peter translated into Fante, the local language, which is quite beautiful.

Donating the boots.

I also gave my customary talk about the dryness meter and the grain storage bags. With every talk, I give the village 5 SuperGrain bags. We are postulating that if the cocoa farmer knows the dryness of his beans as well as the true weight, he is able to deal from a position of strength and knowledge rather than weakness and ignorance. Here is a summary of what we discuss:

1. The dryness meter, which costs $550 in the U.S. and $1,000 in Ghana, is useful for ensuring that the cocoa beans are truly 7% humidity before they are stored in the bags. This prevents molding.

2. The dryness meter will allow the village to dry commodities to moisture levels just under what the middleman/buyer wants. That way, the farmer/village earns more money, because they are selling more water--clear profit.

3. The grain storage bags are useful for cocoa, rice, corn, cowpeas, soybeans, dried coconut, and any other dried commodity. They set up a high CO2 atmosphere which kills all animal life, meaning that the commodity can be stored indefinitely or until the farmer or village decides to sell.

We finished the morning visiting Jukwa, donating boots and discussing our new system. Picture is of donating 5 SuperGrain bags.

Afterwards, we headed north to Kakum National Park. This is a 300 square kilometer preserve of virgin forest. Its most famous feature is the canopy walk, which we did. This was my first time, and less courage is required to complete the trek 110 feet above the forest floor.

We spent the rest of the day driving north to Kumasi, where we stayed in the Treasure Island hotel. The rates are very inexpensive, the plumbing works, and there are two internet-connected computers in the lobby. Handy.

Friday, August 22

We started Friday by driving to Lake Bosumtwi, a 10-mile-wide meteor impact crater. BTW, a meteor is the rock while it is still in space. A meteorite is the mineral that results after the meteor has contacted terra. So, it is not correct to say "meteorite impact crater."

Lake Bosumtwi is a tourist favorite. It is quite beautiful, and there's a splendid mythological tale connected with it. Do not believe the tale that people at the edge of the lake tell you about why it's shrinking. They want your money. They claim it's to plant trees to minimize evaporation. It's all a scam.

There is a lovely hotel that costs only $45 per night right on the lake. The grounds are very nice. You can rent a log to float out on the lake. Kids fish for tilapia and move their logs through the water by using their flipflops as oars.

We arrived in Accra around 8 PM and had dinner with a friend at the American Embassy. He is connecting me with potential donors and perhaps next summer he will invite me to present my work at the embassy.

Saturday, August 23

Today, Skyline and I flew to Abidjan. We arrived at 3:30 PM. Evariste and driver, Maury, met us at the airport. We immediately set out for Gagnoa, as the drive would take about 5 hours. We arrived at 11 PM, only 1 hour from our destination of Galebre.

Sunday, August 24

We set out early and arrived in Galebre at 9 AM. Dr. Brou and Toty were waiting for us, and after a half hour getting acquainted, we set out for our destination that day, Dawayo-Chantier, a village where we had put a new roof on the schoolhouse and which was one of our target villages. Dr. Brou is an evangelical preacher whose church is based in Abidjan. His natal village is Dawayo, and Dawayo-Chantier is about 6 miles in from the main Gagnoa-Galebre road.

We had a bit of a problem finding the road because once the sun sets, it's hard to find people to ask: Every time roads split or cross, there is no sign to tell you the way: Also; the police and military are out in force bleeding the poor people dry while letting the wealthy zoom past in their fancy 4X4s, smug in the plush comfort of their vehicles, their heavy gold jewelry and airs of superiority: Every time we got stopped, we had to pay. Driver's license no good and will have to forfeit. $20 gets it back. Last night was the culmination. on the way back into Abidjan, they were playing their usual nasty tricks. Open the trunk. Want to search your luggage. "T-shirts? Oh, I want one. Why are you so selfish and horde them only for the farmers?"

I give out one. Suddenly; the car is surrounded with thieving military. So I stood up and yelled, "I didn't come thousands of miles to help cocoa farmers only to have the military pilfer my suitcases!" They stopped theiving and we drove away. I felt good; like drinking Turkish coffee: What a buzz.

The schoolhouse with its new roof.

The elders from Dawayo-Chantier and from 3 other villages were waiting for us. We quickly assembled in one of the classrooms of the new school. Dr. Brou gave a talk about the importance of making this experiment work. He introduced me and Toty. I (through PH&F) donated the tools and thought up the system, and Toty will implement it by visiting the village every month and by recording all financial transactions so that we can gather data documenting how knowing the weight and the dryness of cocoa beans empowers villages to earn more money and ultimately to lift the cocoa farmer out of poverty.

Dr. Brou and I discussing the plastic bags that will allow farmers to store their beans as long as they wish.

Evariste Plegnon and Skyline. Evariste has been working with me since we met in 2004.

Cocoa beans drying the natural way--under the sun.

Children of Dawayo-Chantier.

The new weighing scale, donated by Don Maruska.

We had a delicious lunch back at Dr. Brou's house of Chicken Kedjenou and local rice. By 2 PM, we were back on the road, heading toward Abidjan. Another 5 hour drive. We spent the night at the Golden Hotel in Abidjan.

Monday, August 25

Monday morning, we went to the American embassy to apply for Evariste's visa. We spent 2 1/2 hours there and then drove to the Lebanese quarter, where we ate fabulous Lebanese food, stuff I've never had. For example yogurt mixed with toasted bread (yes i know), olive oil, fava beans, and tongue. Lovely olives and pickled vegetabls. Finished with Turkish coffee.

Skyline and I went to do the Internet Cafe thing. Skyline and I then sat in the cafe waiting for Evariste and Maury, our driver. They were supposed to drive to Port Bouet and load up the boots. So we did 90 minutes of internet and then another 90 minutes of sipping Oranginas.

Finally, they arrived, and Evariste informs me that only 12 of the 20 bags of boots fit in the car and on top. I looked at the car and exploded. "I didn't fly 6000 miles to only deliver 2/3's of the boots!, I yelled." So we drove back to Port Bouet and loaded ALL the rest of the boots. We stacked 5 packs on the back seat between us. Later, I found out that Evariste had "forgotten" the 20th pack in his bedroom, along with the LOVELY Lebanese pastries we had purchased for the road. Slippery fingers (and sticky).

Skyline with Evariste's daughter. Whenever we encountered children, Skyline was there cutting little squares of paper and showing them how to make origami birds and flowers.

The car properly stuffed, we started out toward Yamoussoukro: First, we're stopped by the police just at the border betzeen Port Bouet and Abidjan: 5 dollar bribe. Then, we're stopped again in Abidjan: 10 dollar bribe. Stop at the bank to get more (sic) moula. Drive 10 minutes north. Stopped. 15 dollar bribe. Always the reason is we're too overloaded but of course the real reason is we're fat flies in the path of the lizard's tongue.

It was by now dark: We stopped for dinner after one of the checkpoints; Skyline and I enjoyed some spicy grilled mutton. The head honcho of the checkpoint was quite nice and told us to find a hotel rather than continue: We continued. Around 11 PM, we reached a town just south of Yamoussoukro. We check into a filthiest hotel I'd ever seen. And worst construction. Evariste was eaten by bedbugs all night. But the electricity and the plumbing worked.

Tuesday, August 26

Skyline and I enjoyed a little breakfast while wating for Evariste and Maury to wake up. We sat at a local maquis and enjoyed the usual omelet and bread, sipping condensed milk cafe au lait (I love the stuff). Across the street, a wooden building started to smoke and there were loud popping sounds followed by bangs. An electrical fire accompanied by involvement of the surrounding wood structure. After 5 minutes, the "fire department" arrived, which consisted of a pickup. They took one look and sped away. Moments later, the electricity was off in the entire quarter. I guess fuses and circuit breakers are not used.

The building's occupants quickly put out the fire by slinging bowls of water onto the roof of the building. Necessity is the mother of invention.

We drove to Yamoussoukro, the capital. Fun things to do? Visit the crocs! We drtove to the presidential palace, which is on a manmade lake full of crocodiles. We were allowed to film them as long as we don't take a picture of the palace (hasn't been used in 15 yeqrs--cost billions). I took video of a live chicken tossed to the crocs. A young yellow one caught it: The 12 footers were too lazy: One feather remained on the croc's lower lip, a reminder of the chicken that was. We paid the old man/keeper to jump in and teaze a croc by pulling its tail.

Predator and prey.

After the excitement, we continued on to the basilica, the largest church in the world. Constructed by President Houphouet Boigny in the 80s using World Bank money, it is a replica of St. Peter's in Rome. The pope at the time called Houphouet Boigny and asked him to make it smaller than the original. Houphoet Boigny obliged by making it 1 meter shorter, then erected a cupola on top to make it taller. A 100-foot-high statue of the president is on the inside. I have never had time to visit.

We continued to Daloa, arriving at 4 PM. We checked into our hotel and then drove out to Batteguedea and Broguhe; where we delivered 80 pairs of boots and I talked about next year's project, which is to deliver a dryness meter and plastic bags so they can store products and get higher prices for larger amounts sold. We enjoyed Bangi (palm wine) which proved to be a powerful laxative. Went native.

Meeting with members of the village of Broguhe.

Donating boots to Batteguedea.

Wednesday, August 27

This morning, we set out for Issia and the villages in its vicinity. The drive takes about 2 hours. On the way, we met someone who had just hunted this large rodent, called a Grasscutter in Ghana and agouti in Ivory Coast. We ate it the next day, Kedjenou style.

As you enter Issia, you see a large granitic hill on the east side of the road, reminiscent of Ayers Rock in Australia and Enchanted Rock in Texas. It's essentially a large inclusion of magma exposed as 500 feet of surrounding sedimentary rock wore away and flushed out into the Gulf of Guinea.

The story about the rock is as follows. A man visits a village located where Issia now stands. He asks for shelter but is refused. In retaliation, he turns the village into a rock.

Apparently, Mary, mother of Jesus, appeared at the foot of the rock, so there is a large retreat center now located there. We spent an hour there, feeling the peace and silence.

We strolled on the paths among the trees, listening to the service taking place al fresco in the small structure at the top of hundreds of stairs. Faithful sat on benches here and there, praying or singing. Thousands come here every year.

When we came out of the retreat center grounds, I took this picture of a lad herding cows through town.

We continued to Pezoan, the village where Skyline and I had paid for the bathroom. We spent a lttle time, did our usual presentation, unloaded our luggage, and then headed down the road to Zereguhe. There, we conducted the usual ceremony--donation followed by discussion of new system for ensuring dryness of beans. After 2 hours; we drove to Depa, where we began our meeting on lawnchairs in front of the chief's house. It began to sprinkle. I suggested we ignore the sprinkles, but the elders thought that to be a bad idea, pointing to the horizon. Within a minute, we had a deluge of diluvian proportions. Noah would have been impressed. Fortunately; the chief's meeting structure held us all.

The new WC in Pezoan. It is a solid, concrete block structure with a concrete pad on the inside. There is lots of space to take a bucket shower, and the "pit" is deep enough to last a hundred years, according to the builders.

Donating boots, SuperGrain bags, and t-shirts in the Pezoan's chief's outdoors living room. He built it himself. Although the picture does not do it justice, the craftsmanship is quite impressive: every connection tight, every cross piece neatly in place. The ceremonial aspects were kept short, as we needed to head down the road to Zereguhe and Depa while it was still light.

We joined the people of Zereguhe and sat on plastic lawnchairs in one of the communal areas.

Afterwards, we drove to Depa. We started our meeting "outside" but it began to rain, so we collected under the chief's outdoor living room. It poured, and rivers of water rushed down the hill. There is no drainage system in the village, so water follows routes it has carved in the soil. This picture, a little fuzzy because of the low light, shows me donating the second dryness meter. I donated it to Depa, as I feel a special bond with the chief there and so I made Depa the last village we would visit.

Depa gave us this rooster in exchange for the boots, t-shirts, and dryness meter.

We celebrated our friendship with Ivorian whiskey: Yum.
By the end of our meeting , it was dark and still raining. We got into the now empty car (rooster excepted) and slid/drove back to the highway, then back to Pezoan. Here; we had dinner of a second grasscutter, the one we'd bought and plunked in the trunk. I showered in the new Turkish toilet (hole in one corner with lots of room to take a nice African shower; which means pouring the contents on your head.) We retired to the chief's sleeping quarters. I slept in the chief's bedroom.

Thursday, August 28

This morning; we started with coffee and bread for breakfast; Arsene, who is from Depa, asked for money to help pay for his child's medicine. I gave him 20,000 CFA, which amounts to $50. This equals about 3 months of earnings for the average farmer.

The chief arrived and performed a bobo ritual on Skyline. This consists of passing a fowl around your guest, then serving the fowl to the guest for breakfast, lunch or dinner.

We went into the ceremony structure and listened to music performed by the youth. I learned one of the songs and amused people with my lame rendition of it. We then ate breakfast, which consisted of the bobo hen. This was followed by still another music and rhythm period. It was noon before we left Pezoan. We drove back to Depa; because they had a "surprise" for us. It consisted of my being named "village chief", which means I now have a vote on their council, and I also have chiefly dress and a scepter, which consists of a goat hair brush. Skyline also has chiefly garb: I guess such a thing should go on one's resume! I will post the picture as soon as I get it from Skyline's camera.

Depa gave us two goats after the ceremony. Maury is tying them (live) to the roofrack. Later, we moved them to a more comfortable berth inside the car.

We left Depa for San Pedro and drove south for most of the afternoon. Only stop was a rubber plantation to show Skyline how latex is collected. At 5 PM we arrived in San Pedro and immediately stopped by Saf Cacao; which is owned by Ali Lakiss. It's the 4th largest cocoa buyer in Ivory Coast. The plan is for Ali to accept beans from the 5 villages and grind them into cocoa liquor, which we will turn into chocolate. This is a longterm plan for a separate line of Fair Trade only chocolate, made from the beans of Project Hope and Fairness villages. We will pay for quality, and thereby pass more money onto the farmer.
We're stayed in a Vietnamese hotel tonight and ate Vietnamese food, which Evariste proclaimed to be "expensive and lacking substance."

Ali Lakiss's new grinding plant at Saf Cacao. We were shown around by his new supervisor of production in the new grinding plant.

Friday, August 29

Yesterday, Friday, we set out from San Pedro at 8 AM for the 7 hour drive over rutted roads. Maury put my two black suitcases on the roof and made a little padlock complete with African grass in the back for the two goats. During the trip, whenever we finished a banana, we tossed the goats the peels. Ever see a smiling goat?
At 9 AM, Maury slowed down, as the road was lined on both sides by people standing around. They were standing in mute respect for a 30 year old woman whose body lay on the side of the road, under a blanket. We stopped to inquire and show respect by not just driving through. The woman had been hit by a car at 5 AM. Her mother walked up and down the road flailing her hands and crying out.
We gave one of the people a ride to the next village and we continued on our way.
The trip was otherwise fairly eventless and we entered Abidjan at 4PM. Our hope was to visit Bart Willem at SACO in order to talk about the upcoming bean certification system that has been proposed and that may be implemented to combat child slavery and abuses of child labor. Unfortunately, he was too busy.
We drove to Dr. Brou's house. Dr. Brou started Kedesch; the school for children of cocoa farmers in Galebre. We are working wirh his assistant to set up a system of ensuring that farmers know tyhe weight and dryness of their beans before they enter negotiations with middlemen.
Dr. Brou's house is a large concrete villa populated with close to 20 people. 4 of them are his family. The rest are church members and their families.
We drove 1 hour over kidney-crunching dirt roads to visit Dr. BRou's church. He has 27 pastors, dozens of deacons, and a congregation approaching 2000. Tuesdays through Fridays, hundreds sleep in the sanctuary and pray. The sanctuary; surrounded by the usual rutted dirt, is an enormous roof on poles. It and the surrounding buildings are under construction. When we arrived, the entire site was pitch black because the city had just cut the power.
We returned to Dr. Brou's, ate a dinner of beef and rabbit stew (last year he fed us monkey stew).
The next morning; Saturday, we ate breakfast with Dr. Brou and listened to his grandiose plans for building an enormous church complete with church businesses, hospital, school, etc. He left us at 10 AM to lecture to 60 pastors at his church.
Although I have no interest in promoting Dr. Brou's evangelistic ambitions, I have found someone who cares about the cocoa farmer and who can work with me aqs I plan to work with him.
"This trip is effectively over. I don't expect to report any more adventures, as the plane leaves in 4 hours. What could possibly happen in that time? Maybe it's bad luck to even ask such a question. ", I said in an email. Nothing untoward happened, and the trip back was eventless. An auspicious end to a successful trip. I hope you, dear reader, consider coming with us in the future. Tom Neuhaus

Africa Trip, 2007: Introduction and First Day

2007-09-11T21:55:00.000-07:00

This blog is about a trip taken by four individuals: Tom Neuhaus (the 57-year-old narrator of this blog), Stan Thompson (a 70-year-old photographer and writer), Mark Phillips (a 50-year-old engineer), and his wife, Kate Montgomery (a 4th/5th grade school teacher).

The trip began with the above four individuals meeting in Casablanca, Morocco. We spent two weeks, from August 9 through 25, touring the cocoa-growing regions of Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

This is my fifth time in West Africa, my second trip with others paying to come along. In the past, I have described the trip as motivated by a need to know just how difficult the life of a cocoa farmer is. This time, I came to the realization that even though cocoa farmers have short lives and their children have minimal opportunities at an education and a life away from the village, they have some things we do not have: a true sense of community, a non-linear sense of time, and a peaceful way of life.

Whether you are of the mind that tropical farmers deserve to be treated fairly or whether you see more the innate nobility of their way of life, if you have an open mind and a relatively sound body, you will love coming with us. There is no better experience than waking up in a village, walking from home to home, watching women cook, children play, and men build this or that. And because you are bringing valuable tools in the form of boots, machetes, t-shirts, or bathrooms, the transaction comes out even. They share their way of life with you and you provide them articles that make their lives a little easier and a little more pleasurable.

During the trip, we also interview Fair Trade cooperative officials at Kuapa Kokoo in Kumasi, Ghana and at Kavokiva in Gonate, Côte d'Ivoire and buyers such as Saf-Cacao in San Pedro. At the Saf-Cacao plant's Quality Control Laboratory, we learn how to grade cocoa beans. In Ghana, we visit the port, Takoradi, from which most of Ghana's cocoa is exported and we watch the stevedores run with 141-lb bags of cocoa from the warehouse into the container. The one thing we do not do is find slaves on the cocoa-growing farms. While there have been reliable reports of slavery on some cocoa farms, I personally have never seen them.

This trip is sponsored by Project Hope and Fairness, a 501(c)3 non-profit corporation and Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates, Inc. I am trying to stimulate interest among Americans, Canadians, and Europeans in the life of cocoa farmers. The purpose of this non-profit is not to do charity, which sometimes implies the superiority of the giver. Instead, it is an exploration of ways to to build social, spiritual, and commercial links between consumers and producers. Our long-term goal is to move the cocoa business from its current post-colonial exploitative relationships to the new business model called "social entrepreneurship."

THIS YEAR'S CAST
---------
Tom Neuhaus, president of Project Hope and Fairness and of Sweet Earth Organic Chocolates and tour operator. Uncanny ability to find available WCs.

Stan Thompson, photographer and columnist for the Morro Bay Sun Bulletin. Excellent traveler and superb wit.

Mark Phillips, Engineer Extraordinaire, Dancer Extraordinaire, and SLO peace activist.

Kate, elementary school teacher and a valuable link to children and to women of the villages, who swarmed her every time Kate emerged from the car.

Peter Joy Sewornoo, our Ghanaian guide who found the villages, talked to the chiefs, and made all the transportation of sleeping arrangements. Peter has been accepted at a Swiss institute to earn his Master's Degree in economics.

Padmore Cobbina, the youngest member, who provided rap and levity at judicious moments. Padmore will be studying air conditioning and refrigeration this fall. We all agree that this is particularly congruent with his cool personality.

Evariste Plegnon, Tom's "Frere Ivoirien" since August, 2004. Miracle worker: deliverer of scales, builder of WCs, and shrewd "politicien."
Favorite phrase, "Je ne suis pas un politicien!"

Ray, Le Croc.

To commemorate fast food, we quote...

"How Doth the Little Crocodile" by Lewis Carroll

How doth the little crocodile
Improve his shining tail
And pour the waters of the Nile
On ev'ry golden scale
How cheerfully he seems to grin
How neatly spreads his claws...
And welcomes little fishes in
With gently smiling jaws.

Cheers. And enjoy reading the blog of the Second Annual Project Hope and Fairness Trip to Ghana and Côte d'Ivoire.

The success of this trip made possible by:

Joanne Currie--monetary donation to Kedesch to build classrooms
Members of the following churches, who bought t-shirts and chocolates, raising $2300 for machettes and boots
Mount Carmel Lutheran Church, San Luis Obispo, CA
Mission Catholic Church, San Luis Obispo, CA
Trinity Lutheran Curch, Vermillion, South Dakota
Farmer's Market, San Luis Obispo
Stan, Mark, and Kate, who each contributed $1,000, making possible the beautiful WCs of Zereguhe and Depa

Friday, August 10

2007-09-11T20:07:00.001-07:00

We arrived in Accra around 4:00 AM. It took a while to get through customs. Peter and the hotel chauffeur were waiting for us outside. I paid $40 to the porters and $10 to the driver from Mensvic. I also paid $10 to the woman at the front desk. We arrived at 5:30 AM. Peter met the man with the rental car and I went to meet them at 7 AM.

I slept until 9 AM and met the others at breakfast, which I was in no shape to eat. We decided that we would all go downtown to purchase the boots and cutlasses (machetes).

We drove to Tudu area close to the MTTU (Motor Traffic Unit) and to Novotel and purchased 180 cutlasses and 82 boots (Wellington boots.) We paid $600 for the cutlasses and $600 for the boots, approximately. It took hours to get this done--perhaps until 1 PM. Owners of stores were both Lebanese and were very nice and efficient.

Tom purchasing rubber boots (called Wellingtons because Ghana was a British colony.)

The boxes of boots were quite voluminous; fortunately we had a roof-rack. Peter and I walked through an outdoor market, looking for the appropriate material. We found a large net designed to hold vegetables and made out of nylon. We also purchased some nylon twine. We paid someone $10 to help us find these items, which cost only about $5. We jammed the boots and machetes into the interior and drove back to the hotel.

We arrived back at the hotel at around 2 PM and the hotel doorman worked with Mark to attach the boxes of boots to the top of the car.

We left Accra and drove slowly through heavy traffic toward Cape Coast. We arrived at around 6 PM, ordered dinner in the restaurant next to the castle, then took a half hour to walk on the beach. We then ate dinner, my meal arriving a full 30 minutes after everyone else had gotten theirs. We had dinner with Abdullah.

We then set out for Jukwa, arriving around 9:30 PM. People were still waiting for us, amazingly enough. We had a short ceremony, agreeing to come back the next morning to disperse boots and cutlasses.

We drove further north and turned off the blacktop onto a rutted dirt road. This was fine until we came to a large lumber truck blocking our way. We drove with the left wheels in the forest, then turned back onto the road and negotiated somewhat challenging dips until we came to the village--a total of perhaps 2 km. It was 10:30 PM and the village was completely black. However, Peter was able to find a few persons who were awake and, within 10 minutes, we were surrounded by people. We hung around the porch of a small house that we were supposed to sleep in. Our hosts lined the floor with plastic sheets covered with cotton sheets.

Meanwhile, quite a lot of hullaballoo was happening on the porch. Some people brought this kerosene lamp for light. Lots of people came and sat on the porch with us.

Kate had already gathered children about her and was enjoying their company. Here are some children who were very excited to meet a white woman!

After about a half hour--near 11 PM--a bonfire was started with ends of bamboo, and the village crier went around with the "Gong-Gong", waking people up with a brass gong and a stick.

The bonfire was very bright, and dozens of people began a singing and dancing and drumming session that lasted until 2 AM.

Around 1 AM, being extremely tired, Peter and I took a shower at the well (borehole) in the dark and I went to bed. Kate and Mark continued dancing but were quite tired the next day. We all slept in the same room on a "concrete" floor with thin sheets covering it. I slept badly from about 1 AM until 5 AM when the roosters began to crow and the women were out sweeping the dirt.

Saturday, August 11

2007-09-09T14:47:00.000-07:00

We spent the morning hanging around MManiaye. Peter went in the chapel and sorted t-shirts. I walked around and took a few pictures.

I went to the village Mens Room. This consisted of a 20 foot long pit with a roof over it. Along one side were corn cobs and shreds of paper. Use your imagination for what they're for, but suffice it to say, spent corn cobs were used in 19th century America for the same purpose. It's hard for a soft 57 year old to squat. It's also challenging to miss the chickens poking around underneath. What is the appropriate greeting when others join you? I just said "hello!"

This girl is selling smoked, dried fish. It is used to flavor sauces based on palm oil, onion, chilies, tomatoes, or any combination thereof. A nutritionist would also appreciate that smoked, dried fish represents a valuable source of essential amino acids and a food scientist would appreciate how this method of preservation allows one to enrich the diet without resorting to refrigeration.

Oil palm fruits are removed from oil palm trees in these clumps.

They are then teased out of the clumps. Note the palm kernels lying around on the ground behind her. They will eventually be gathered up and taken to the processor, perhaps a grinding machine in a nearby village. A couple guinea fowl are eating scraps by her feet, and a broom lies at the ready behind her.

Oil palm fruits are processed by boiling the fruit, rubbing of the fibrous exterior, and cooking this in water to extract flavors, carbohydrates, and palm oil. A picture of women in the process of extracting the oil can be seen later in this blog (Wednesday, August 22--scroll down 2/3 of the way).

A basket of oil palm fruit. Sometimes, you'll see dump-trucks piled high. In western Côte d'Ivoire, oil palms extend for dozens of miles in every direction--the foundation of the European margarine, chocolate, and soap industries

When you walk through a village, assuming there hasn't been an assembly called, you will find people doing a wide variety of things. This young man is sewing shingles. They are dried and then stacked and stored until a house is being built or repaired.

Gari is an important staple. Made from shredded cassava or manioc roots that have been fermented until sour, it is packed into jute bags and then pressed to extract moisture. Bags of fermented shredded cassava are pressed between logs that are fastened together at one end, and then tied together at the other--like a nutcracker. Juices flow out onto the ground and the little streams of sour-smelling gari juice are green from the growth of blue-green algae.

Off to another side is a long trail a fierce, biting ants. The rooster doesn't seem to be interested.

Afterwards, it is shredded. This is a gari shredder in the neighboring village, Adiyaw. The man is clipping the heads off of large brads, then pounding them into a cylindrical block of wood.

The machine is actually a gasoline-powered lawnmower engine, attached via rubber belt to a whirring cylinder set at the bottom of a wooden box. Fermented cassava is introduced at the top and a powder falls out at the bottom.

The powdered pressed gari is then dried in large, flat pans over wood fires. The large pot in this picture holds something else. But this is a gari-drying shed. They set the flat pan over the fire and seal it to the stove with wet mud, thereby increasing the heating efficiency.

This woman is transplanting plantain cuttings which she will transplant. Plantain is made into fufu, roasted whole, or fried in bright orange palm oil.

We walked to a small cocoa grove and were given a lesson in proper pruning techniques and how to cut pods off the trees.

The block spots on the pods which aren't quite ripe (they turn yellow when ripe) are caused by myrids, a small fly that lives on the undersides of leaves. The common way to control myrids is by using a chemical spray. Every 1 of the 10 villages we visited asked for gasoline-powered sprayers. The organic control takes more time: trim overhanging branches and destroy myrid nests.

This pod is ripe. Note that it tapers and has a pointy end--meaning that it has a little more Criollo blood than pods that are more round.

On the way back, Stan took a picture of this bird cage on someone's porch. It's made from the pithy center of a plant they call "bamboo", although it's plain to see that it is not at all a bamboo, which has a hollow center and a segmentation.

And he also took this picture of a young man stucco'ing the outside of someone's house. You can tell that ciment powder is expensive--looks like he's using very little, if any.

Sweeping the dirt. Every morning, women take these brooms made of the central spine of a palm frond dried and bound and sweep up the detritus of the previous day.

This man decided to get us some coconuts. I was out of water, actually, so fresh green coconut juice really hit the spot! Here he is, climbing the tree...

Here he is getting ready to cut some coconuts to bring down.

Mark and I enjoy fresh coconut juice. There's about 12 oz of very healthy juice on the inside and about a quarter inch of gelatinous coconut meat that you scrape off with a spoon fashioned from a piece of coconut shell. Fabulous!

These are other pictures that Stan took of Mmaniaye villagers...

Mother and her two children...

Beautiful woman.

New father.

After a few hours of hanging around and taking photos, we finally had the gift-giving ceremony. Members of the village sat or stood under the canopy or ramada. Someone brought the chief's stool, and he is about to sit down on it. Every chief has a different stool.

The rhythm section, composed of young men playing old plastic jugs, supplied a beat to which people sang and danced. It was terrific to listen to.

The chief and I cross machetes.

After the exchange of gifts, Peter and I Peter started by talking about our mission and invited cocoa farmers to discuss what their problems were and how we might help in the future. As with all subsequent villages, they were open to future visits, and welcoming any stranger who would like to learn more about their ways of life.

We finished with the scarf dance. This includes more rhythm and music, and women dance in with the cloths they wrap on their heads and deposit these cloths in a tower. They then dance in, in reverse order, and pick their respective scarves up with their teeth and dance back out. This is all greeted with much hilarity.

We left Mmaniaye to a rousing send-off and drove back down the road toward Cape Coast until we reached the substantial and prosperous village, Jukwah. Many people had been waiting there for us, and of course we felt very apologetic. We had a nice ceremony, exchanging comments about how difficult the cocoa business is, etc. The two men in the picture are the first two people Peter and I contacted last year when we planned the 5-village tour. Ironically, Jukwah is the most prosperous of the 5 villages; the houses are made of concrete block.

We also visited the old chief of Jukwa.

We drove back toward the turn-off to Mmaniaye in order to meet the welcoming committee at Adiyaw, our third village to visit in one day! On seeing our car arrive, the rhythm section rapidly assembled. Here they are, hitting various lengths of bamboo on stones. The sound was quite nice.

These young men had fun making eyeglasses--one from bamboo and the other from a cut up can.

Men and women joined in dancing.

Much hilarity ensued.

Following the music, we had our donations celebrations. Here I am donating several dozen Project Hope and Fairness t-shirts to the village chief.

Stan plays with the camera and makes faces while the children watch.

Adiyaw has a large gari-drying shed. In Mmanaiaye, they used circular drying pans. Note that this one has three circular and one large rectangular pan.

We left Adiyaw and drove to Elmina to meet Padmore, an old friend. He was originally planning to join us on the first day of the trip, but he came down with malaria--thanks to the festering lagoon right next to where he lives. So, it took a couple days of medication before the fever subsided and he was strong enough. We met him by the side of the road and I gave him a digital camera and some money to take the bus to Takoradi the next day so he could join the rest of our trip.

We drove back to Cape Coast, unloaded a lot of vegetables that we had been given by the villages, then did errands--bank, Internet. We spent some time shopping in the castle gift shop and walking around the grounds.

Stan is standing on the ramparts, from which slaves were tossed when they got sick and obviously couldn't make the voyage to the new world.

This is the dungeon in which over a thousand men were kept. Directly over this room was the Anglican church. White men could speak personally to their God sitting smugly 20 feet over the heads of poor pagans who had not yet been saved. The "staff" of the slave castles often had African wives; the town around the castle has many European homes built to house these wives and their children. When their tour of duty was over, they returned to England, leaving behind a town of children named Smith, Jones, etc.

We drove north from Cape Coast about 10 Km and ate at the Crocodile restaurant, a popular tourist spot run by a family that had lived in Germany at one time. The restaurant was really an inn, and included small buildings that projected over a pond filled with crocodiles.

After dinner, we drove north and turned off the road within 2 Km of the Kakum Reserve. After several Km of very challenging and rutted dirt road, we arrived in Ebekawopa--after all the lights had been turned off--about 10:30 PM. Peter knocked on a few doors, and gradually more and more people started to show up. Before long, people had put down mats and sheets in the church. We each set up camp there. Stan slept next to the altar; perhaps he was feeling insecure. I took an African shower (bucket of cold water poure over head) on the lawn; it was dark, so no one could see my nakedness.

I slept especially well this night because instead of concrete floor with a 1/16 inch thick mat plus sheet, I had an inch thick piece of foam under me.

Stan slept next to the altar--for good luck? Or to stay far away from someone who was snoring?