A few days before the ship arrived at the port, I told my headmaster to reserve the school bus. The computers would soon be arriving and there could be no delay in getting them. He said that the school bus had broken down (something about the flux capacitor), but it was being fixed and would be ready on time. Right.

My agents at the port told me that it once the ship arrived, it would take a few days for the container to actually be removed and ready to be opened. I waited for their call, and when it never came I followed up. No later than next Tuesday I was told. Tuesday came and went, and I still had not heard anything. I called again. We'll call you when it's ready, I was told.

That Friday my father called me. He had been dealing with the shipping agent in New York since this saga began. He sounded strained (note that the American Heritage Dictionary has four definitions for strained. I am using the word here to mean, "having been passed through a strainer").

He had just talked with the New York shipping agent who told him that the container had indeed arrived at the port in Ghana, but…(pause here for dramatic effect)…US Customs ordered it to be immediately returned to the US without being opened. US Customs had informed the shipping line which had confiscated the container and was storing it at the port. No explanation was given nor was anyone even supposed to inform us.

I've only thought about US Customs as it relates to two issues. The first is port security, which Democrats used to bring up as evidence that Bush was not "protecting America."  Charles Schumer launched an investigation, I'm sure, and probably held a press conference at a port with several large color charts). The second issue is the importation of horses and guns for use at the 2012 Olympic Games.

From these two mental flirtations I have inferred that a) US Customs is tied up with homeland security so their job is somehow serious; b) US Customs follows, or at least is supposed to follow, strict government rules; and c) if you want them to change any of those rules it's best to ask them at least seven years in advance.

I assumed that trying to get US Customs to reverse its decision was a lost cause, but I suppose it's doesn't hurt to try. The New York shipping agent appealed to the local customs office. The agents at the port in Ghana asked the local authorities to intervene. A Ghanaian Minister of Parliament, who has a car in the same container, also asked the local customs authorities for help. Meanwhile, I visited a local fetish priest and asked him to make the director of US Customs turn into a frog (they have powers, I'm told).

Three weeks later, the container is still supposedly sitting at the port in Ghana. Apparently the problem was that the shipping line put the container on the ship before US Customs properly inspected it. From what I'm told, any container with a car inside is supposed to sit in the port for 72 hours before being loaded onto the ship. The shipping company may dispute this explanation and may try and blame the shipping agent. I'm kind of out of the loop.

Addendum #1: School has reopened.  

¶ 10:51 AM 1 comments

Several months ago my father was able to get twenty computers donated to my school. They come from a corporation in New York whose annual revenue exceeds Ghana's gross domestic product, probably by about a factor of two. This company was moving offices, and I suppose when a corporation of that size moves offices they discover that they have a bunch of computers that need a new home.

So, for me, getting the donation was relative easy. (Step 1 – send an email to my father. Step 2 – wait for a reply.) The real challenge was figuring out how to get them from Manhattan to my school.

I searched the internet for shippers to Ghana, but my efforts were futile. Shippers do indeed have websites, but ships going from New York to Ghana are massive and require that you send at least a forty-foot container.

Luckily, there's a man in my town that lived in the US (Teaneck, NJ of all places) for about thirty years and he brought several items to Ghana , such as a car. I figured he must have experience in this sort of thing. Turns out that a Ghanaian he used to live with in the Bronx ships containers from New York to Ghana and divides up the container among several clients. Perfect.

There's a phrase in Twi that literally translates into 'you have done something.' Seems like a trivial observation, but this phrase is used in practice to mean 'nice job' or something to that effect. However, 'you have done something' seems more appropriate here because it can be such a hassle to get anything done.

Some challenges are due to lack of infrastructure or technology. For example, sending an email or making a photocopy, tasks that would be practically instantaneous in an American office, require equipment that simply is not widely available here. You have to go somewhere with an internet connection, for example, and that requires transportation (see lack of infrastructure). And if the electricity isn't working (see lack of infrastructure), well then you'll just have to come back another day.

Other challenges are due to a somewhat different attitude or expectations towards work. I'm sure that economic development is a complicated thing. Some claim that culture matters. Others say it doesn't.

All I know is that Ghana is home to the six-hour meeting, a real productivity killer. Actually, the meeting itself only lasts about four hours, but it always starts two hours late. I ask other teachers at my school why we're always starting two hours late and the standard response is that we're on 'African Time.' I've come to see 'African Time' as an unfortunate remnant from the past when there was no modern infrastructure and before watches and other modern conveniences make it possible for most people to come on time most of the time. It's something that could easily be ended if only people, specifically the leadership (school headmaster in my case), decided to do it.

But they don't and African Time persists. In my experience, I've seen a generally more relaxed view of work. Granted my only comparison is to New York where it's perhaps a bit intense.

We are repeatedly told during training, and I think it's true, that Peace Corps Volunteers can't change a culture. It's not something that possible to do nor is it something that should be done. All you can do is do your job as best as you can and people may or may not pick up on it.

But it's easy for volunteers to look at what's going on around them and not live up to their own expectations. Things can be de-motivating or frustrating, and some volunteers may tend to follow the examples of others. The challenges of living in Ghana can compound the problem either by providing a sense of achievement merely for succeeding at day-to-day activities or by consuming too much time and energy.

Somehow that all relates to my recent adventures in importing. In part 2, I'll go into too much detail about what it's like to work with government ministries in Accra and look forward to the surprise twist at the end/middle (no one knows??) that no one expected!

Addendum #1: More pictures added.

Addendum #2: The electricity situation has suddenly improved. The electricity still goes off but for far fewer hours. The downside is that the schedule is unpredictable. Previously, the 12 hour blackouts were like clockwork (and not a clock on African Time). Lights went off exactly as expected. Now, I'm sitting at my computer in fear that it can go off at any time.

¶ 10:00 AM 3 comments