Day 10 (monday)

The little open market that serves as the halfway point where we switch tro tros.

Just a captivating woman working at the market.  It is common to see children carried like this.

Another interesting figurine I came across in the office at the DSW.

I woke up, like most Mondays, around 7 am.  I'm gonna fix a little something to eat and then wait for Kwadwo to pick me up and take me to the department of social welfare to meet again with the director and set a schedule.  The power has gone out again (this is almost a daily occurrence, sometimes more than once in a day).  Ernest will be the one accompanying me on my research journey.  He came this morning between 9 and 10 to get me and a short time later we departed towards the DSW (department of social welfare).  We stopped at a market place to switch tro tro's and then made our way to our destination.  We took a couple of different streets so he could show me around a bit and tell me about the places.  Eventually we met with the director and then were set to meet with various heads of departments within the building. I was informed that there are 3 main programs that the DSW deals with and they include: justice administration, child's rights and promotion/protection, and community care.   I met with the heads of those programs so they could explain to me what it is they deal with.   Kofi, Patricia, and Anthony were the heads of the respective departments.  They were all delighted to tell me what they did and what they dealt with and were happy to have me, very gracious indeed.  I also learned the names and places of the agencies that I would be visiting and the general overall schedule.   Our meetings today weren't too long so Ernest and I walked through another part of the town and he introduced me to a few of the women he knew (and refers to as one of his mommy's) and got me a couple sweat rags which I was desperate to have. Although the weather has cooled a bit with the recent rains, it still remains very very humid.   A lot of people stop to look at me as I pass by and comment on my tattoos and I don't have time to stop at every holler so I generally just keep walking...I'm becoming quite the spectacle!  We finally made it home and stopped to get a box of water and a couple other things and when I arrived at the house, Maureen had warmed up some lunch for me and as many times as I could thank her she just exclaimed that “you need to sustain your energy so you will need proper nourishment.”   I decided to take a nap for a bit as there wasn't much going on because the lights were off AGAIN and it was raining.  I got up and Ernest had left and Maureen was having a classmate over and also made dinner (jellof rice) and it was really quite tasty.  She also found an old phone that she thought she lost and was able to get it working and gave it to me for the remainder of my stay so I could more adequately keep in contact with everyone (what a BRILLIANT idea!).  I really am spoiled here.