A few ways to help....

Hello!
So normally, during this time of the year, I post my annual note telling you about the Relay for Life, and my involvement in the event. However, this year, I'm actually working hard toward two causes, UCSD's annual Relay for Life through the American Cancer Society, and a trip to Honduras during my spring break with the Global Water Brigades. My involvement in each has been a great experience, and since I love them both, I'm hoping you'll love one too! If you can help me out in either way, I would very much appreciate it (and so would some other people....)! A bit more about each.....

1) The annual Relay for Life is an 24-hour event through the American Cancer Society, organized to "celebrate" the lives of those who have had cancer, "remember" those who have lost the fight, and "fight back" through awareness, education, ACS services, and fundraising for research! This will be my 5th relay, my 4th at UCSD, and my 3rd as a part of the planning committee - this year I'm in charge of recruiting and organizing an estimated 120 teams that come from campus clubs, organizations, the greek community, residence halls, and groups of friends who unite around the cause. I LOVE this event, and its given me some of my best memories from UCSD. It will be held this year on April 10-11. You can go to my personal website at http://main.acsevents.org/goto/anitajohnson

2) The Global Brigades is a student-led organization that sends students on week-long trips to Honduras and Panama. UCSD students are dedicated to the cause medicine, public health, dental, water, or the environment (other universities have others too). Why Honduras? It is, the 2nd poorest country in the Western hemisphere, and our aim is to help villages where more than 75% of the inhabitants have parasites and other water-born illnesses. **Why** did I get involved? As I plan to graduate in the spring with my BS degree in Environmental Chemistry, I have been wondering what my best and favorite use of my degree would be, but every chemistry career I have considered has left me with lingering images of my time in Ghana, and a Ghanaian's access to clean water and air. So, I've tentatively decided to pursue a masters degree program in Environmental Health. Other than helping build water structures and promote sanitary living habits, my hope is that this trip will help me learn about the real environmental health problems that developing countries face, and an outsider's efforts to help! To learn more about the Global water Brigades, go to http://www.globalbrigades.org/project/water/what-is-a-brigade/ or, to help the community that I will be helping, you can go to my page at https://fundraising.intelis.com/gbl/AThons/Home.jsp?Person=cc0d0bb8125608211c11021628578425&Event=cc0d0bb8120f9a7f25a10016197f083d

Thank you SO much for your support, it means so much to me, but even better, your donation really will help many more!

Have a GREAT week! Let me know if you have ANY questions, or call me 858-602-8874
-Anita

OBAMA in GHANA!!!! (and clinton in kenya!)

SO ----
He came, he saw, he didnt conquer. I have to admit, i was SUPER stoked about it, until i found out how short (~24hrs) it was, and when i heard his speech and found out he mispronounced "Accra" (ps, its ah-CRA, not AH-cra).....and that his speech was pointed at Africa in general more than i'd have liked, but thats a WHOLE other rant of mine....

BUT -- i wish i were there. i wish i could have seen how excited everyone was, even though i'm sure not more than a handful of non-politicians were able to. i read a few articles about how obama paraphernalia were selling like crazy on the streets etc, and i can totally see it happening. i also have flashbacks to the night obama was elected, staying up so late and how excited everyone was! i wish i had seen it!

some interesting sites/articles:
the obama song i heard a LOT while i was there: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L85YF0pyPH0
what EVERYONE should know about ghana: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/country_profiles/1023444.stm
about why GHANA>NIGERIA --VERY interesting http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8096002.stm
a ghanaian's take on why GHANA was selected over another African country: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8138641.stm
on the street excitement: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/africa/8143018.stm

gosh i had a lot more on this, sorry guys!

AND ON TO CLINTON IN KENYA
so she was there last week, and a couple things to note on that:

I think its funny that people got all excited (above) and were all proud of ghana for that being the first african country that obama went to, to prove that its the shining example of democracy, BUT THEN the secretary of state visits kenya, where democracy has not really been democracy in the past few years, and has even been a shining example of non-democracy and resulting ridicule. I remember we (the americans) almost laughed at all the songs on ghanaian radios etc promoting peaceful elections (songs, speeches, etc) until we remembered why: thousands of kenyans had died in 2007-2008. why? well, lots of reasons, but the political leaders actively promoted violence against opposing parties. ghana, in promoting peace (and ignoring some amount of fraud, im sure!) was actively marking itself as different from kenya (and zimbabwe, but im not going into that here.....they too had crappy elections recently that ended in power sharing)...... so does anyone else find it funny that both countries are proud to host the respective leaders, and the VERY different reasons why each was visited?

I also find it interesting that the first African woman and first environmentalist to win the Nobel Peace Prize (2004), Wangari Muta Maathai, is Kenyan. Isnt it strange that the country that produces a Nobel Peace Prize winner erupts into election violence in just 3 years? We all have the good, the bad, and the ugly, sorry guys :(

One more comment about the visit - Clinton has been criticized for her response during an interview to a question that asked something about her husband's opinion on an issue (turns out there was a misunderstanding/mistranslation, but she reacted to what she was told). she answered "my husband is not the secretary of state, I am"...... I'm no feminist, but I gotta say I am more than i was a year ago. Especially in such a male-dominated society, I believe that she had every right to be defensive, especially in her position.

sorry that this is a bit late, and if the links dont work anymore :(

PEACE out guys :-D

Gambaga - the witch village!

hey you!

so i posted some pics of ghana on facebook, one of which was from gombaga, a "witch village" up in the northern region. i captioned the picture with the fact that i really couldnt explain the place in the small space provided for the caption, but that i was open to questions about it. well, i got a question! and the answer was too much to not share!

SO: ive heard a few stories (class, bradt guide, what ppl there told me) and have my own opinion on it - here's a mix!

i heard about it first in my "african traditional religions" class. the deal is that although christianity and islam are both infinitely more dominant than "traditional religion" in ghana, there's still a lot of the spirituality intermixed (as im sure you know). SO when someone is accused of being a witch, they are generally sent to this village in the northern region (which is where christianity is much less common, islam and traditional beliefs are more common). here, the village chief performs de-witchifying rituals and they are cured, but because the home village will not accept them back.

so they stay in the witch village. children/family and possessions are rarely brought with them, and they rarely if ever get to return to their home village (transportation difficulties is also a contributing factor here- it could easily take a day or 2 to get to the village from home). this depends on the age of the woman, children, and how upset the home village is -more on that in a sec....

different opinions on the place:
1) it is a safe place for them to go. the witch village is somewhat separate (by the main road) from the rest of the larger village, and the people of the larger village know whats going on. this is as opposed to the physical injury that can result when women are accused of being witches. someone (dont remember where its from) told me that a woman who tried to return after decades in the witch village, to her home village came back without ears. yikes.

2) it is a prison, without a judicial system to govern it, or an end to the prison sentence. apparently, humanitarian organizations have attempted to analyze it further for this reason, but obviously it it still open. its interesting tho- when my friend and i said we wanted to visit, to look at the village (as we were staying in the surrounding village with that in mind), they had no problems with pictures but made VERY sure that we just wanted to look (ie, we just wanted to tour it, we were not investigating it).

3) the living conditions of the place are inhumane. this is a really interesting point. life in the north is MUCH different than in the (more urban) south/coast. (i think i wrote a blog about this before, and much closer to when i was there, but anyway--) MUCH less developed: fewer and worse roads, more agrarian, less running water, buildings were generally rounded huts with hand-thatched roofs.

however, no urban slums. no european cars passing by large sprawls of huts with metal panels for roofs. no men in suits and ties passing cripples who nobody pays attention to. no (ok, far fewer) people yelling at each other. although im sure there is still wealth hierarchy, its much less obvious up in the north. EVERYONE lives in the same huts, gets their water from the same pump etc.

SO, people from the outside (ie our world or the south) might think that the quality of living is poor. it is. but its the same as the surrounding 50 miles.

4) observation: the 2 guys who were leading us around the witch village had a very short, specific answer to all our questions, responded in an "of course" way. this was pretty normal for guys to talk to ME (as a woman) like that, but they did it to Kurtis too. nobody was willing to talk about what happened to bring the women here, how they were "cured", how their life was similar or different, or how long they'd been there. :( no, the women there did not look happy, but i really cant make a judgement about their happiness based on a short visit. also, as i said before, things were very similar to the rest of the normal village, and there were no physical barriers separating the "witch" from the "non-witch" parts.

so, my opinion? hm. i would def have to investigate better, but considering the fact that humanitarian groups have done SOME work and its obviously not a torturous prison, i cant complain too much. obviously, i sympathize with the women, and if i could, i would think of a better way to deal with the women, but i've seen what ghanaian public opinion can do to someone.

[university students forcefully paraded a thief around campus in his underwear, throwing water at him, turning his black skin red, and singing about his theft so that EVERYONE would know what he did, and other students stopped and took note of who he was!..... a crowd of adults at a tro-tro (bus stop) beat up (to bloody) a thief who stole a friend's phone out of her pocket]

i can only imagine the problems they have encountered in their lives, and while their lives definitely took a turn for the worse (esp since they were separated from their families - SO important in society). *i also think its interesting that the people of the surrounding village are convinced that the chief's cleansing does something to "cure" them, but the home village doesnt. hmmmmm*

i cant change an entire culture's mind about witchcraft, then i'll just remember that i am an observer, and if nothing else, those womens' lives made an impact on mine.... and yours?!?!?!?!?

have a great summer - isnt it crazy to think that i started this blog almost exactly a year ago?!?!?!?!? TOTALLY blowing my mind!!!

"How to write about Africa"

Not my own writing, but I wish it were...I just had to post it bc its amazing...

Always use the word 'Africa' or 'Darkness' or 'Safari' in your title. Subtitles may include the words 'Zanzibar', 'Masai', 'Zulu', 'Zambezi', Victroria Falls` 'Congo', 'Nile', 'Big', 'Sky', 'Shadow', 'Drum', 'Sun' or 'Bygone' Zimbabwe. Also useful are words such as 'Guerrillas', 'Timeless', 'Primordial' and 'Tribal'. Note that 'People' means Africans who are not black, while 'The People' means black Africans.

Never have a picture of a well-adjusted African on the cover of your book, or in it, unless that African has won the Nobel Prize. An AK-47, prominent ribs, naked breasts: use these. If you must include an African, make sure you get one in Masai or Zulu or Dogon dress.

In your text, treat Africa as if it were one country. It is hot and dusty with rolling grasslands and huge herds of animals and tall, thin people who are starving. Or it is hot and steamy with very short people who eat primates. Don't get bogged down with precise descriptions. Africa is big: fifty-four countries, 900 million people who are too busy starving and dying and warring and emigrating to read your book. The continent is full of deserts, jungles, highlands, savannahs and many other things, but your reader doesn't care about all that, so keep your descriptions romantic and evocative and unparticular.
Make sure you show how Africans have music and rhythm deep in their souls, and eat things no other humans eat. Do not mention rice and beef and wheat; monkey-brain is an African's cuisine of choice, along with goat, snake, worms and grubs and all manner of game meat. Make sure you show that you are able to eat such food without flinching, and describe how you learn to enjoy it—because you care.
Taboo subjects: ordinary domestic scenes, love between Africans (unless a death is involved), references to African writers or intellectuals, mention of school-going children who are not suffering from yaws or Ebola fever or female genital mutilation.
Throughout the book, adopt a sotto voice, in conspiracy with the reader, and a sad I-expected-so-much tone. Establish early on that your liberalism is impeccable, and mention near the beginning how much you love Africa, how you fell in love with the place and can't live without her. Africa is the only continent you can love—take advantage of this. If you are a man, thrust yourself into her warm virgin forests. If you are a woman, treat Africa as a man who wears a bush jacket and disappears off into the sunset. Africa is to be pitied, worshipped or dominated. Whichever angle you take, be sure to leave the strong impression that without your intervention and your important book, Africa is doomed.
Your African characters may include naked warriors, loyal servants, diviners and seers, ancient wise men living in hermitic splendour. Or corrupt politicians, inept polygamous travel-guides, and prostitutes you have slept with. The Loyal Servant always behaves like a seven-year-old and needs a firm hand; he is scared of snakes, good with children, and always involving you in his complex domestic dramas. The Ancient Wise Man always comes from a noble tribe (not the money-grubbing tribes like the Gikuyu, the Igbo, Zulu, Ndebele or the Shona). He has rheumy eyes and is close to the Earth. The Modern African is a fat man who steals and works in the visa office, refusing to give work permits to qualified Westerners who really care about Africa. He is an enemy of development, always using his government job to make it difficult for pragmatic and good-hearted expats to set up NGOs or Legal Conservation Areas. Or he is an Oxford-educated intellectual turned serial-killing politician in a Savile Row suit. He is a cannibal who likes Cristal champagne, and his mother is a rich witch-doctor who really runs the country.
Among your characters you must always include The Starving African, who wanders the refugee camp nearly naked, and waits for the benevolence of the West. Her children have flies on their eyelids and pot bellies, and her breasts are flat and empty. She must look utterly helpless. She can have no past, no history; such diversions ruin the dramatic moment. Moans are good. She must never say anything about herself in the dialogue except to speak of her (unspeakable) suffering. Also be sure to include a warm and motherly woman who has a rolling laugh and who is concerned for your well-being. Just call her Mama. Her children are all delinquent. These characters should buzz around your main hero, making him look good. Your hero can teach them, bathe them, feed them; he carries lots of babies and has seen Death. Your hero is you (if reportage), or a beautiful, tragic international celebrity/aristocrat who now cares for animals (if fiction).
Bad Western characters may include children of Tory cabinet ministers, Afrikaners, employees of the World Bank, those thugs from USA. When talking about exploitation by foreigners mention the Chinese and Indian traders. Blame the West for Africa's situation. But do not be too specific.

Broad brushstrokes throughout are good. Avoid having the African characters laugh, or struggle to educate their kids, or just make do in mundane circumstances. Have them illuminate something about Europe or America in Africa. African characters should be colourful, exotic, larger than life—but empty inside, with no dialogue, no conflicts or resolutions in their stories, no depth or quirks to confuse the cause.
Describe, in detail, naked breasts (young, old, conservative, recently raped, big, small) or mutilated genitals, or enhanced genitals. Or any kind of genitals. And dead bodies. Or, better, naked dead bodies. And especially rotting naked dead bodies. Remember, any work you submit in which people look filthy and miserable will be referred to as the 'real Africa', and you want that on your dust jacket. Do not feel queasy about this: you are trying to help them to get aid from the West.

The biggest taboo in writing about Africa is to describe or show dead or suffering white people.

Animals, on the other hand, must be treated as well rounded, complex characters. They speak (or grunt while tossing their manes proudly) and have names, ambitions and desires. They also have family values: see how lions teach their children? Elephants are caring, and are good feminists or dignified patriarchs. So are gorillas. Never, ever say anything negative about an elephant or a gorilla. Elephants may attack people's property, destroy their crops, and even kill them. Always take the side of the elephant. Big cats have public-school accents. Hyenas are fair game and have vaguely Middle Eastern accents. Any short Africans who live in the jungle or desert may be portrayed with good humour (unless they are in conflict with an elephant or chimpanzee or gorilla, in which case they are pure evil).

After celebrity activists and aid workers, conservationists are Africa's most important people. Do not offend them. You need them to invite you to their 30,000-acre game ranch or 'conservation area', and this is the only way you will get to interview the celebrity activist. Often a book cover with a heroic-looking conservationist on it works magic for sales. Anybody white, tanned and wearing khaki who once had a pet antelope or a farm is a conservationist, one who is preserving Africa's rich heritage. When interviewing him or her, do not ask how much funding they have; do not ask how much money they make off their game. Never ask how much they pay their employees.

Readers will be put off if you don't mention the light in Africa. And sunsets, the African sunset is a must. It is always big and red. There is always a big sky. Wide empty spaces and game are critical—Africa is the Land of Wide Empty Spaces. When writing about the plight of flora and fauna, make sure you mention that Africa is overpopulated. When your main character is in a desert or jungle living with indigenous peoples (anybody short) it is okay to mention that Africa has been severely depopulated by Aids and War (use caps).
You'll also need a nightclub called Tropicana, where mercenaries, evil nouveau riche Africans and prostitutes and guerrillas and expats hang out.
Always end your book with Nelson Mandela saying something about rainbows or renaissances. Because you care. Dont forget Mugabe.

FOOOOOD (w/ lots of pics!)

this is based on a paper that i had to write for my orientation class!! enjoy!!


I had never eaten Ghanaian food before I got there!
Turned out that food was an AMAZING part of my experience ~ i learned SO much, from how to order it, how to eat it, how to prepare it, and most of all, how to share it!!!!



Jollof rice - this yummy rice that has been cooked in tomato/spicy stew, so it has both of these qualities and sometimes extracts still in it - DEF a favorite staple in my diet. The first time I ate it, I was on the bus outside of ISH, and as I opened my Styrofoam container, I realized that I had no idea what I was about to eat.



Fufu is of a dough- consistency and you eat it with your hands, dip it in the stew, and swallow without chewing. (perfect for me, right? not exactly, while its good, i preferred other things while I was there, BUT now I REALLY want some!)


this has NOTHING to do with this post but yes, this is a <$0.20 SHOT of gin. heh.... several brands too!

When I ordered banku for the first time. I put on my best adventurous mindset, but was almost rejected! The man first asked “But what if you don’t like it?” I was REALLY frustrated by this response and wanted to scream at him. or cry. but i did get it eventually ;) banku is similar to fufu but made with different crushed grains


FUFUUUUUUUUUUUU!!!!!!!!

It ALWAYS felt AMAZING to be invited to food. Everyone did it, but it always made me feel so welcome. The only way that I have found to make eating food an even more enjoyable experience has been to share it with someone. Ghanaians seemed to be professionals at this.

Research Project

Hello all,
so i realized that i never posted my independent research project. yes, it is 30+pages. - i very seriously doubt any but maybe 1-2 of you are interested in reading it, but even if you just want to read a word or two to see what i spent so much time on..... and if you DO want to read SOME, i would suggest reading the table of contents first ;)
http://anitajohnson08irp.blogspot.com/

much <3 as always,

-anita

UCSD!!!!!! :-D

helllloooooo from sunny SD!!! (well, it JUST went behind a cloud but thats ok...)
so i know i was really bad at posting that i got back, but this thing called fast internet in my room really does wonders!
its actually been quite a journey down here.... as i might have mentioned, i didnt have a place to live down here until a few days before christmas, and i never received confirmation of this however.....
i drove down with my parents, arriving at UCSD just after dark on saturday, called the # to meet the RA, who first told me they couldnt find my folder. yikes, but ok... when i was able to meet her, i got a set of keys, but she told me not to unpack bc there wasnt ANYBODY's name on the room so i might have to move. blah. fine. after hanging with some cool peeps all night, but NOT meeting my roommates, i got to reunite with my newman center peeps at mass! By sunday night, i had met all 3 roommates, kim, sunny, and kelly, but my room was rapidly decomposing because i was still not unpacking, but had 4 classes on monday, 2 of which actually required work in advance! lame! ( aka, point #1 that i'm not in kansas anymore, toto....)
point #2: i dont know all the white people here. granted, i am sill most definitely a minority to all the asians, but it was definitely strange to drive around campus and stare at all the oburunis (white ppl/foreigners, who are no longer foreigners, i realize.... well, maybe they are, but ya....)...
point #3: campus is DANGEROUS!!! people walk so fast! and there are ppl on BIKES and SKATEBOARDS (ok, myself included for the first time this morning, but its been a few days) - totally almost got run over by a biker and jumped in fright at another one on monday!
point #4: 1st lecture, bio was a bit of a trip - the prof had a microphone, my seat was comfy, and he used a powerpoint. woa.
point #5: i had to do pre-lab work BEFORE lectures started.....whaaaaaaat? add that to the stress of not being able to move in and being asked a ton of questions on what activities i'm gonna get involved in this quarter....blaaaaaaaah!
point #6: i made a conscious decision to go print some papers for my lab at the library BEFORE i went to check about my room because i was SURE i was going to have to sit and wait for someone for way too long! nope! i just talked to one person, she said everything was fine with my room, and apologized a million times that i had to wait for less than 5 minutes. woooot!
but the whole unpacking thing took a while- i still ahve a box of kitchen stuff that hasnt made it downstairs yet, but i rearranged everything to my liking, and FINALLY today felt at home when i finally set up my speakers! woot! soooo excited
anyway, ive had a really really good week. i've been very social, catching up with people before the quarter eats up all of our time, and its been absolutely amazing. i'm so happy!!!! i'm actually still enjoying my classes, (ochem lab, analytical chem lab, intro to policy analysis (polisci), and 2 frosh courses, bio and physics) especially since the labs look to be much less hassle than the one i took last quarter, and we're finally able to use what we've learned in class, not just spew numbers! or maybe they're just so refreshingly interesting after all this history last quarter hehehehe....
i also really like my apt- its pretty much smack in the middle of campus, i can almost see 2 of my lectures from my room, and its only a 5-10 min walk from i-house! the kitchen and living rooms are less than half the size of last year, but not really tripping about that bc my cooking buddies are still in the beautiful i-house/erc apts...woot! everything's working out with the roommates, we dont really hang out, but that works too!
anyway, its been a really good week for transitions too - a lot of decisions, comparing my life in ghana to here, and what parts (incl personality traits) i want to keep or will be able to keep. i def have a different view on a lot of things, which i know, is like the reason for studying abroad, right? but i really wasnt expecting it, bc its not about my worldview, like i called european colonialists bad names before, was into the social justice and a more balanced learning of the world BEFORE i left. that hasnt changed much, but other than laughing more at people who whine, emo people, racial remarks, and people who watch youtube vidoes all day, (all of which might go away eventually), i think i have changed. i didnt have internet in my room til tuesday afternoon, and i didnt have my printer set up til yesterday, and i didnt freak out. i think i managed to become more patient and calm for the time being, but we'll see if those things continue throughout the quarter....and beyond!! heh. some of that i really hope so! but i could really use a less expensive meal around here, or a bit more downtime before classes go crazy on me heh, but its all good, right?
thanks for listening again! much <3, and since i'm not sure if i'll be posting more, please do email me at ajatucsd@gmail.com or my aim and skype names are both ajatucsd so please do let me know how things are going with you!

peace,
anita