Site Tour and Context.

Day Two of Orientation focused on creating a context for the ideas of designing a new city. After arranging the tables and computers in our workspace, we began with a site tour after a hearty breakfast of eggs, oatmeal and nutella. (Mmmm...chocolate for breakfast.) We walked the 4km (~2.2 miles) from the north to the south end of the area designated for New City development. The site tour was helpful to develop an understanding of the land, its current uses, and to imagine the potential development of the city. We saw where the future hospital will go among a grove of mango trees; we stopped at the high grasses that are being cleared for the brick factory; we rested on the bamboo stoop of a neighboring family and counted 21 kids for the 4 women that were present. It is hard to explain what we are encountering. I wish I could post photos to highlight the natural beauty that surrounds us and the excitement of the people that we have spoken with. Even with photos, the kinesttic quality of being here is hard to describe. Everyone that I have encountered is fully committed and engaged in making sure that the New City is a success. They are passionate about making this a better place for their families to live and return to for generations and generations. There is palpable meaning in what we are here to contribute.

After concluding the three hour tour to the south end of Ebenebe, we took a boat back to our starting point. It was refreshing to see the land from a different perspective and it helped me understand the magnitude of how people here adapt to a changing landscape. For instance, farmland where yam and cassava are grown is dry right now, but soon will become flooded and the mounds of yam will be underwater. The tall grasses that border the river will be submerged in months time. It became easier to conceptualize that when the road gets flooded, people adapt. There is still access to neighboring communities by river. Essentially, the river becomes the road.

To celebrate the river, a few of us took a sunset swim in the murky waters at sunset. It was quite an adventure through someone's cassava mounds to get to the river, but we made it and had a glorious swim. It is hard to believe that we have only been here for two days as there is so much to see and comprehend. But I am beginning to see how things fit together and the specific possibilites of this collaborative project.