Building a Community Center in Ghana

After our extend wait yesterday at the worksite, we couldn’t wait to hear what had taken J so long in Cape Coast.

Apparently he hadn’t had any problems find the supplies, but finding the columns was a different story. As he explained it he had spent the afternoon wandering around what could only be described as a post apocalyptic looking yard filled with different kinds of cars in various states of disassembly and scrap metal. After finding the particular long pieces of U shaped metal he soon got lost in translating how he wanted the pieces assembled.

It must have been hilarious to see J try to explain his design to one of our Ghanaian workers as he described it to the metal shop owner.

As a non-designer myself J tried showing me his designs to see if I understood what he was talking about. It didn’t seem that complex, but then again he was describing it in English…first hand.

Ah, the joy of being abroad.

When you go abroad to a not-necessarily all English speaking country, while you might get annoyed not being understood, remember it is probably ten times worse for the person you are talking to. Imagining doing your job and having someone come up to you and start speaking a language you don’t understand.

As frustrating and problematic as it might be to not understand everything all the time, that is half the fun of traveling and you never know how good you are at charades/pictionary until they become your only method of communication.