Cocoa crazy

It has been some time now since i've updated this space, as my last few internet experiences have been comparative to the speed at which glaciers move.. ..ie fricken slow! But anyhow, I have arrived safely to Tamale (a hot, dry motorcycle haven city that is predominantly muslim) last Thursday evening. To my surprise, it actually can get hotter in Ghana, and it is ridiculously dry and windy here. I spent the weekend bed-written with some illness but have since regained strength, and have loved my time at Shekinah free medical clinic so far.
I am going to rewind however, and share about my stay in the cocoa farm a few weeks back. For 2 weeks in January I lived with a family in a town called Akoase. My time there was wonderful! My family made sure for me to learn everything possible about cocoa farming, as well as taste every possible ghanain dish, so good. I helped weeding one day, very hard work, blisters to prove it!
Let me tell you, that the Cocoa plant is the most fascinating plant I have ever known. The beans grow in pods, which grow off the trunk of the tree. The pod, once it's mature is like a small yellow football. You crack it open to find a bunmdle of white sliminess. Each cocoa bean fresh is coated in this sweet white sliminess, which is tasty too. After opening the pod, the beans get placed on the leavefs from a banana tree and are covered to ferment for 6-7 days. After fermenting, they are laid out to dry in the sun. They must be turned frequently, and once they are fully dry they are graded, packaged into big sacks, then sent to the produce buying companies where likely it will be exported to all parts of the world. Fascinating, no?

It was a really great opportunity to learn so much about something that is SO ridiculously overconsumed in Canada, yet before I knew nothing about. I am still hoping to learn more about how free trade affects the cocoa faarmers, but for now I know I will never be able to eat chocolate again without remembering the farmers here, and how much work goes into such a small yield in pay.

I want to challenge not only myself but you too, to spend more time researching where the products you are consuming are coming from. Try to buy things that have honoured the workers who produced it. If a product is super cheap, maybe somebody has been cheated along the line? Are there environmental costs? Research it! For the sake of humanity, the earth, and the majority of the economic poor. Every action can make a difference!

So that is all for now. I am going to start helping at the hot food program which cooks and sends a food truck out to poor areas in the city to serve. I will update in a couple weeks and let you all know how i'm doing. Till next time!