OK, here's to another richly clichéd title for a blog entry... But it really is a case of returning to normality after that frenzied stay across the pond. I think I've gotten over most of the withdrawal symptoms from NY, which had started to feel like home, by this stage - but of course everything's on a much smaller scale when I go out.
One thing I instantly noticed about my local area, as I travelled down the highstreet on the bus to meet a few friends and catch up, was how many shops have changed. I clocked at least ten new arrivals before losing count - in the space of just over a month this is quite incredible. Why there's such a huge turnover of property is a mystery to me. The depressing fact is that nearly every time something closes down, it's a coffeehouse which takes over. Starbucks is everywhere you look; I'm starting to resent the familiar green, white and black of its corporate logo.
In some ways it's good to be back. On Wednesday I had an enjoyable photography assignment in Cambridge, one of Britain's most attractive cities. We had perfect weather for taking pictures and I used the opportunity to visit one of my friends from school who's studying medicine at the prestigious university. It was great fun meeting new people in the bar that evening and made me look forward to when I go to uni even more. That's not for another eleven months, although I'm pretty sure the time will fly along. I was going to visit Oxford this week as well for the same purpose, but unfortunately that was cancelled.
Reach for the dust goggles!
During the time I was away, I forgot about what a terrible state my bedroom had been left in. Clothes and papers were everywhere, it was impossible to see the floor through a sea of wires, garments and random documents and the desk was unusable. So I've spent pretty much the last two days tidying up and banishing much of the accumulated detritis and it's much nicer now. I can't remember last time such a major operation has taken place and I'm going to try and keep things clean from now on.
Working my way through the room, it was really interesting to find lots of items which brought back particular memories. A letter from one of my old music teachers, pieces of work from primary school days and birthday cards from several years ago all turned up as well as pieces of paper with other things I'd drawn or written a while back. It was slightly worrying to see that at an early age I was thinking of ways to slyly plagiarise George Lucas and his multi-million dollar
Star Wars concept!
DIY Disaster!
Another thing left for weeks during my absence was the fitting of a bathroom cupboard. Apart from a few minor mistakes and a hideously innacurate instruction booklet, it was easy enough to assemble. The real problem came when trying to attach it to the wall: we discovered an unexpected layer of solid brick blocking the way. The cupboard is still on the floor and holes all over the wall; I think hired help may have to be called in...
Ghana in need
Recently I've been in touch with young people in Ghana about helping out on a project being run by the Global Youth Action Network and the Student World Assembly. It's called Save the Rural Dweller and is designed to help achieve MDG number eight: a global partnership for development, among other things. I've pledged to try and help recruit volunteers who will go out there and particpate in the project, as well as advise on the creation of a Ghanaian youth parliament - very exciting! People have done lots of hard work to get the ball rolling and they deserve results, so if anyone's interested please drop me a line!
Here are some extracts from the project document:
Every day at the various entry points to Accra, the capital, and some of the other major cities in Ghana there is an influx of youth trooping in from the towns and villages in search of jobs. Some engage in prostitution and have been victims of the HIV/AIDS pandemic and other hazardous diseases. Many others resort to armed robbery and other social malpractices to make ends meet.
Demographic studies show that some of these children, who engage in “kayayo” by carrying heavy loads for a meager charge or selling on the streets and roadsides, are surprisingly as young as 10 years old.
Information on the Upper Denkyira District:
The area falls under a forest – dissected plateau rising to about 250m above sea level. There are pockets of steep-sided hills alternating with flat bottom sided
valleys. The district also falls within the semi-equatorial zone, with a mean temperature of 29 degrees Celsius in the hottest months and 24 degrees in the coolest. The district has 2 rainfall regimes.
According to 2000 population and housing Census, the district has a population of 108444 - now projected to be 122,537 (2004), with a 3.1% annual growth rate. The district is made up of 53749 males and 54695 females (i.e. 98.3 males to 100 females). Of these 82,229 live in the rural area. Dunkwa-On-Offin is the District
capital with a population of 26,215.
Based on the 2000 population and housing census, of 108,444 people in the district, 45,546 (42%) were found to be living below the poverty line. This is higher than the national average of 39.5%. 15.182 (14%) people fall within the 'Hard Core Poverty' category. This situation calls for urgent intervention in the area of poverty reduction, taking cognizance of the fact that the current thrust of the government development policy
is reducing the level of poverty.
So, now you've read about it. Please get in touch if you'd like to help out.
Scandal!
Last week a new book was published, written by the UK's former Ambassador to Washington. Sir Christopher Meyer reportedly reveals a lot in his warts-and-all account, ridiculing government ministers and the way they acted in dealings with the White House - particularly concerning Iraq. Several cabinet members, including the Foreign Secretary, are described as "pygmies" and an amusing episode in the bedroom of former Prime Minister John Major is also narrated. Here are a couple of extracts from a serialisation in The Guardian:
Hindsight usually follows failure. As I write, things looked bad in Iraq. At regular intervals over the last two years I have asked the same question of former colleagues in the British and American governments: in Iraq, is the glass half-empty or is it half-full? With one exception the answer has been "half-full". The exception was a trusted American friend and government official, who, after paying a recent visit to Iraq, returned to tell the White House: "We're f**ked."
Iraq ran like a toxic stream through my time in Washington. When I arrived in 1997, Saddam was already playing cat and mouse with the first generation of UN weapons inspectors. It was hugely embarrassing to President Bush, and more so to Tony Blair, because he had rested his case for war exclusively on the Iraqi leader's failure to disarm.
I had a handful of especially important contacts in the higher echelons of the US administration - people at the heart of planning for the Iraq campaign. I was told things that were highly sensitive. Absolute trust was the indispensable ingredient in our relationship. After each conversation, one of them would always say: "Don't get me burned." Sensitive information was not given to me because my friends liked the colour of my eyes. I had to give something in return.
*Taken from Guardian Unlimited Special Report.
Looks like an interesting read! One of the biggest questions being asked is exactly why the government allowed this book to be published. Relatively recently, the Foreign Office notoriously blocked the memoirs of Sir Jeremy Greenstock, the UK's last ambassador to the UN, because of the sensitive nature of content. Meyer's book, entitled DC Confidential (sounds like one of those crime drama TV programmes) was sent to the FCO and returned with "no comment". So is it really as sensationally controversial as everyone thinks?
Preparations...
Can't wait for my next trip, set to begin at the end of this month. First of all is the youth summit in Lithuania, then a couple of nights in Prague, the youth delegates' evaluation meeting in Geneva, visiting my aunt and uncle in Basel, down to Campobasso in Italy for the OBESSU students' conference and finally up to Trieste via Rome, Florence and Venice to visit a friend there. It's going to be 25 nights away in total - I'll return on December 24 in time for Christmas - and my arrangements are incredibly complicated! Lots of train tickets still need to be booked, but the whole thing is going to be an awesome experience. I'm really lucky to get these opportunities for more travel - I had thought there wouldn't be any more after the stay in New York.
