Evenings in Kuga

One of the true joys that I get on a daily basis is to sit beside Zatu, my host mom, as she cooks the evening meal. When I get home from work around 5:30, I jump off my bike, and great her as I pass. I set my bike in front of my room, and greet the lady who rents the room next to mine as I unlock the door and through my bag inside. I change into some comfortable clothes, put on my challe-wattes (flip flops, otherwise known as “slippers” in Ghana) and walk over to the cooking area.

 I sit on a small bench, and can feel the heat of the fire on my toes and up my leg.  Zatu’s phone is playing some tunes, either some lively Dagbani music or a sermon/speech by a man who always sounds like he is screaming into the mike. When the music is playing, she is singing and humming along. When the sermon is playing, she is nodding from time to time, with the occasional “ennhh”. Rama is on the bench behind me, playing with my hair. She takes it out of the ponytail and makes the ponytail again, over and over. Sulyene is sitting on the floor, usually getting into some kind of trouble, as his mother converses with him and laughs at the things he replies with a decided voice. She will translate what he says from time to time and we will laugh all over again. I ask Zatu questions about her day, we talk about the weather and the fasting, but mostly I ask her about her cooking techniques. Slowly, I am learning how to cook Zatu’s exquisite meals by observation and questions. The usual meal is TZ and ayoyo soup, but from time to time she will make rice and beans, dawadawa jollof rice, or banku.

-Side note: last week, Zatu let me do the banku stirring. I got the motions down! And I am also very excited to have gained some trust in her kitchen!

Every few minutes, a neighbor or two will come into the compound and greet us with an “Aniwula”. We answer “Naaa, Na guaram, Natuma Bewula, Adbehira?”. After those official greetings, the conversation that ensues will be over my head. The ladies will smile at me and we will gesture at each other, attempting to get some message across. Zatu will enjoy the confusion for a bit, then translate a few words for both sides, clarifying the message. Zara and Candy will come by to say hello, and lately Zara has also been helping out with the cooking. I will help her to wash the dishes as the cooking comes to a close.  The cooking will usually be done around 6:45, when Zatu places all the meals into their respective dishes, covers them, and places them near the fire.

At this time, I will usually take a quick walk around the block, and read in my room until 7:30, when the men return from the mosque and the 7:00 prayers are done. Solomon will come knock on my door, with a catchy phrase such as “Let’s fight the hunger!” or “It is time to go to battle with the cassava”, being pretty hilarious every time. I will walk out into a space in the middle of the compound, and help “set the table”, which includes fetching 4 benches, and placing the big bowl of TZ and the smaller bowl or soup and a big mug of water in the middle. Latif, Awal, Solomon and I will sit, and take turns rinsing our right hands as we prepare to eat. We will all dig into the food, usually in a clockwise motion – everyone takes their turn to pick up a piece or TZ, then everyone takes their turn dipping into some soup. We discuss a little, but not much, as they tell me that still half hold onto the belief that talking while eating brings bad luck, but now follow this mostly out of habit. As we finish the bowl, we stay seated, and this is where conversations happen; either a short 5 minute conversation, or a very long one, like that time when I learnt the history of Islam until 10:30.

As we part ways, I look up at the sky. On a cloudless night, the stars are incredible. I may choose to stay up a little later, or go straight to one of the barrels in the compound to collect my water and prepare to go to sleep. I’ll fall asleep to loud sound of crickets and frogs croaking, after setting my alarm for a new day.

Kpabilongni, learning to speak all over again

I just spent the past three and a half days on a very brief village stay in Kpabilongni, living in my friend Thomas’s family home. Thomas’s father had 6 wives, and so he is one of 27 children. Those children have since had children, and there are even some great-grandchildren. Needless to say, the place is huge! The compound has 2 main living areas, with 18 rooms. Around holidays, the number of people in the compound will always exceed 100. The house is the hang out hub in the village; at night, you have many neighbors sitting together within the compound walls as well as a guaranteed Oware tournament outside.

And yes, the language was once again new. Kpabilongni is a Konkomba village, an ethnic group that holds its own unique traditions and language. So “Gi jio poa, alafee be, naaaaa!!!!” was about all I got. Lucky enough that the women I spent time with would probably be sherades experts; communicating through actions became hilarious!!

This short village stay also marked my two months in Ghana, on July 14^th. Here are some firsts that happened to me on that day:

First…

– Day on the farm in Ghana

-Time playing Oware.. and winning Oware!  (though mostly losing by a long shot)

-Time watching an animal get slaughtered (I was supposed to be the one doing it.. wasn’t quite ready for that step yet) and helping to chop it up

– Time eating intestines on a stick, and dog meat (Sorry Mom!!.. it was actually pretty delicious)

My intent on living with Thomas’s family in particular was the fact that his mother is the chairwoman of a women’s shea nut processing committee. I was hoping to spend some more quality time with women, experiencing their activities and some of what they do on a daily basis. My time so far in Ghana has been mostly alongside men. This is due to a few circumstances: the gender bias in the workplace, as well as the fact that more men speak English as men tend to have easier access to education.

This particular shea nut processing committee was set up by a Canadian NGO in 1999 to support girl child education. The idea behind the committee was to have every woman in the community work together in processing shea butter and soap to sell at the two local markets. Proceeds from their products would go directly into school fees for girls who otherwise would not make it to school.

As I sat with the group on Friday and spoke to them through Thomas’s translation, I got a feel for the numerous challenges that have pretty well stunted the entire initiative:

– About 70 women ended up joining the group, and even then many others in the village had chosen not to join.  Over time, most of them stopped participating in the group activity, leaving an increasing burden on the executive committee and a few other core members, amounting to about 20 people. This caused a significant drop in production.

– As women dropped out of the group’s activities, those who remained felt the pressure being too much, as they still had to fulfill their many other responsibilities such as farming, housework, cooking, taking care of children, and so on.

– The group received training from an individual of Dagomba descent, while the community is a Konkomba village. 1999 marked the end of a 7 year war between the Konkombas and the Dagombas; tensions were sure to exist then, as they still do now.  The women claim that they were intentionally trained poorly so that their products would be unable to compete with shea butter and soap produced from Dagomba groups in the market.

– They were not provided with any professional cutting instruments; the soaps would look less appealing as they were shaped by hand; making it once again hard to compete with Dagomba soaps that were well shaped.

– There is no grinding mill in Kpabilongni, which is essential to producing quality shea butter. The nearest grinding mill is 7 miles away, which is a very long walk to be carrying heavy bags of shea nuts. Although the community has applied through local government for a grinding mill, they are yet to have one (A grinding mill is useful for much processing on top of shea nuts, including all the staple flours).

The group even began to spend what funds they were making on other items rather than using the proceeds for girl child education. They were selling their product in the market then using that amount to buy and resell other items, so as to gain capital. After this process, they were using the funds to pay for other items in the community, such as broken windows and doors on the existing school, borehole repairs, and so on.

The particular NGO made its evaluation visit very early after the group’s inauguration, when these challenges had not yet had the time to mature and manifest themselves. Since that time, no one in the community has heard from them. I wonder how many other communities this same initiative was started in, and how many of the groups survived the various challenges?

I also learnt a ton about Konkomba dynamics and traditions during my stay, as well as a history of the 26 year and ongoing fight for education in the community that Thomas has been determinately heading (I will have a post on this one soon!). Feel free to call me about it any time – my phone number is still +233 54 683 8273!

Change Champion

I would like to quickly share the quick profile that I wrote about the Municipal Coordinating Director here at the Yendi Assembly for the G&RI Quarterly Report. Director is getting transferred to Tamale Metropolitan Assembly next week, and he will be sorely missed! He has been a really great mentor to me; he can always lift my motivation sky high, and he’s always laughing and in a good mood. This guy has been in this field for a while now, and still holds a powerful passion for local governance that is really inspiring!

Change Champion: Alhaji Shehu A. Kadiri, Municipal Coordinating Director, Yendi Municipal Assembly

Yendi Municipal Assembly is a growing district of over 180,000 people in the Northern Region of Ghana. The unique challenges that Yendi presents have not stopped M. Kadri from letting his passion and optimism for development shine through. M. Kadri has worked in several Assemblies since 1990, yet still takes a personal approach at each one as his empathy for people leads his work. Recently, the Coordinating Director has completed a Masters in Philosophy in Development Studies, all while holding his leadership position in Yendi. M. Kadri finds his passion born from the challenges that arise in his work. He explains how the local government is involved in every aspect of human life, from birth until old age. The ultimate objective to bettering human life is one with which he highly identifies. M. Kadri will soon be moving once again to work as the Coordinating Director at Tamale Metro; the Assembly will certainly be in good hands!

Mangoes make a good lunch

As more time goes by, the harder it gets to write. 😛 Over the past few weeks, the shape of my placement and the specific areas I am investigating have been rearranged several times, to (hopefully) be more relevant to the Assembly and to the knowledge the G&RI team could use to move towards a consultancy model.

I could take you on a guided journey through this, but that might end up being a little long. So I will present a brief of my placement as it is today! As I mentioned a few posts back, I am working to establish a Client Service Unit (CSU) at the Yendi Municipal Assembly. One of the biggest challenges when the CSU idea started was figuring out how not to be redundant, or even step over responsibilities that already lie in various Assembly areas. Some general intentions of the unit are to:

– Increase importance of regularly sharing information in both the greater Assembly’s eyes and the public eye;
– Make is less intimidating/confusing to deal with the Assembly, and therefore more encouraging
– Create a buffer for difficult situations; much of the animosity that happens is due to some form of misunderstanding, which could be mitigated by offering information and having an open question line much in advance of the event in question.

Two of the main investigations I have been looking into is how information is brought to and from the Assembly, and what information is brought to and from the Assembly. As far as how, here is a general diagram:

How:

The main information link for the Assembly is the Assembly Members (AMs). I know, it’s confusing, the word “Assembly” is everywhere. Basically, Assembly Members are classified into two categories: elected and appointed. Most AMs are elected, each by their own electoral areas, where they reside and represent their constituents. Those who are government appointees are part of the Assembly’s executive committee, without a specific electoral area. Yendi has 50 elected Members and 20 appointed Members. AMs are not paid, and go by the surname “Honourable”. Some AMs have a paid job within the Assembly on top of their role, such as the Community Development Officer at the YMA. The whole of AMs is headed by one elected group member, who becomes the Presiding Member (PM). The PM holds certain extra responsibilities, such as chairing the Public Relations and Complaints committee.

All Assemblies in Ghana are mandated to hold a General Assembly Meetings. All AMs from the district gather, and there sits a panel consisting of the Director, Municipal Chief Executive and Presiding Member. In the week or so leading to this meeting, the 7 sub-committees in the Assembly must also meet to bring their issues to the executive committee. All AMs sit on one of the sub-committees, and therefore should also be present at this meeting; granted the invitation makes it to them on time.

At the General Assembly Meeting, AMs get the chance to express their concerns, and submit requests pertaining to their electoral area. AMs can also do this if they wish at their Sub-Committee meeting; however during the meetings I have seen so far, these inquiries were almost made in passing and were left in the hands of the chairman who may or may not end up following through.

What challenge is here? Assembly Meetings, as well as the associated Sub-Committee meetings, only happen 4 time per year. So what happens in between? Some AMs may have a closer relationship with the Municipal Chief Executive (MCE), and feel at ease to go and talk to him when they want to know the status of their request. My guess is that this is more the case with appointed members than it is with elected members, as this group generally has the similar favour with the central government as the MCE.

In Ghana, messages of any importance beyond asking how the day is going and what did you eat for breakfast are done face to face; especially when it comes to meeting the MCE. Luckily enough, Yendi District was able to provide motorbikes to all its AMs; this is not the case in all Districts. However this is still a challenge for many AMs living further out in the District, who may not be able to pay for fuel out of his or her pocket.

The issue is not that the Assembly is not prepared to share its information; as much as possible, the Assembly will be transparent when specifically asked. The issue is that it is unclear as to whom to approach for those who are not familiar with District functions or who do not have a particular relationship with someone who works there. This way, either Assembly Members or other public leaders may not feel comfortable putting fuel in their motorbikes, hitting the road and showing up to a big building with some 30 offices, trying to figure out whom to best approach.

This is one aspect that the CSU may be able to take a stab at. The unit will be a physical space in the Assembly, and will also have a full time reception line. The person working the unit, whose official name has been chosen as the Public Relations Officer, will be equipped to answer certain questions upfront and know how to redirect calls that come in based on their nature. This space is meant to make it easy for people to interact with the Assembly.

What information?

…. Good question. It is especially hard make to predictions on what people would mostly value the in the CSU when you are a 20 year old Canadian who has only been immersed in the District for two months. It is even hard for most people at the Assembly, as they usually can give the most expertise in their given area. Beyond that, how can you predict the reactions of opening a service to over 110,000 people? I think you are getting me.
So far, possible inquiries have been classed into 3 categories; questions, requests and complaints/feedback.

Questions: This one is hard to predict. The current plan is to have the PRO well trained in the functions of each department, and therefore be capable of making a good guess as to where the question should be redirected.

Some general question predictions right now include Internally Generated Funds (IGF) use, project planning, financial reports, information on by-laws, and service provision such as renting the Assembly’s grader, tipper trucks, and other road equipment.

Another possibility for questions is to have a records database. This would keep track of every question that comes into the Assembly, so that the CSU and support staff can look at trends and evaluate whether some sort of action should be taken, such as a mass public outreach or equipping the unit with specific documents.

Requests: Requests are usually made around physical development around the district or funding, in which case some flow is already in place at the Assembly for processing. Some requests however may be around financial statements, requests for documents, etc. Most likely, the CSU will be advertising that people are able to check the status of their requests, explaining the typical flow and relaying phone calls to the Registry.
At the moment, requests follow a certain process when they enter the Assembly- if you are interested in this, I would be glad to explain it over a phone call 🙂

Complaints: The current structure handles complaints based on their nature. Certain complaints are handled by specific people, such as a complaint about construction would go to the Engineer. However, complaints about actions or specific Assembly staff go to the Public Relations and Complaints Committee. The CSU will provide an easy way to submit those complaints, and the staff will have the knowledge on where it should be redirected.

What else? The bigger question right now is what functions can the CSU have purely in information dissemination. There is talk of purchasing a flier printer to produce quarterly compilations of what is happening at various district departments. An AM even suggested to me that the CSU take video records of decision making in executive meetings, and screen them in public using the information van. This exploration area has a ton of potential to support community relations at the Assembly. I would love to hear any of your ideas on what role the CSU could play!!

Another important mission for the CSU is to determine how it can be a self-improving body. There is an understanding pretty well across the board right not that the best functions of the CSU are hard to predict without having tested it. It is hard to guess what the public and targeted leaders will use the unit for; what questions will they ask? Or will they only be concerned with checking the status of their requests? What is really the best form of information dissemination outside of Assembly Members?

Sooo many questions. Well, this is where I am at; the questions just keep rolling in, and at this point, will remain unanswered until the unit actually gets functioning. Just today, the PRO job posting was officially set out, as well as the budgeted items needed for the unit’s space. Heeeeeerrrre we go!

PS: About the title, I didn’t know what to put. But I just had a massive mango for lunch, and it was pretty darn good.

Climbin’

Te dabai. It’s been some time!

I believe there is some truth in saying that all first time volunteers experience a low in the beginning of an experience abroad. I know I have, and I also know that I am climbing back out.

My particular low stemmed from many aspects: Being in such a different culture, leading me to feel extremely strange and downright stupid most times; missing my family and friends at home; feeling at first as though I may not be able to find purpose at work; and feeling sick, and constantly sweaty to name a few. These aspects led to an overwhelming feeling of loneliness, which then led on to an incredible feeling of guilt, for not loving every moment and taking advantage of this incredible experience.

Good news does come though! The past week, I have felt myself coming around the bend. I am surmounting this thing called the culture curve. See exhibit A:

I am enjoying the days, and really starting to acknowledge those moments when I am truly happy. I am feeling more and more purpose at work, and realizing just how much I have learnt in my past month in Ghana. Just yesterday, I wrote out a list of things I really appreciate about my surroundings in my journal. They are simple things that I failed to realize when I was feeling down, but now that I am feeling better, these fantastically simple things really do make a difference. I hope this short list also entices you to see the beauty that I’m experiencing!

The little things that count:

People calling just to see how you are doing, almost on a daily basis

The most genuine smiling that happens when you are greeting someone – especially the elderly women

Eating TZ and Okro soup out of the same bowl as my family, as they laugh and argue in Dagbani for hours

How little girls all have earrings

How people drive their motos extremely slow just to talk to all their friends on the way to their destination

The sound of the 7pm prayers, on a cloudless starry night

Loud exclamations of “Enh!!” in a conversation

Biking downhill on the way home, breathing in the beauty

How greetings to older, powerful men involve a bouncy, extended bow

Smocks

How everyone calls each other sisters and brothers

Washing clothes by hand, barefoot on the hot cement of my compound

The shade of mango trees. Oh, and mangoes, I guess.

Tribal marks on faces

Markets, and how the ground is so chaotic

The love neighbors have for each other, and how it is acceptable to just walk into each other’s homes

Veils

All the plastic chairs with the unity symbol on them

School uniforms

FanIce icecream bicycles

Baby goats

The wide range of tro tro names, like ”Iron Man”, “Look into your soul”, “Meat Van” and “God Bless us
Every One”

Music stores, blaring the latest pop music, or some lively Dagombe music

How beloved malt drinks are

How invested people are in their own families

The sound of rain thundering on the roof, even as it rushes through the window like a jet spray and soaks all my belongings 😛

Not ever worrying about my appearance – going several days without looking in a mirror

How you say “You are invited” – “Tidzima” to neighboring people every time you begin to eat

Dirt roads

The full out, lively 3 hour dance party that makes up Sunday mass

Drumming, with women screaming to the music

Sayings like “Have you seen? (Do you get it)”, “I am going to the White House” (I’m going to take a shit), “Daybreak” (good morning), “I believe it is in order” (basically agreeing with a statement)

How you can get a full out delicious meal for 50 pesewas

The rooster outside my room cock a doodle doo-ing every morning starting at 4:00 AM.. K, not always.

The comfortable silence that can exist between two women of different culture and language

The extra mile of joy that comes from relating with someone, even on the most trivial level

Eating with your hands and no shame

The first shock of dumping water on yourself when taking the twice daily bucket bath

The realization of how truly little material things you need to lead a comfortable life

Colorful clothing

How holding hands with someone is entirely natural

The sound of pounding fufu

The plastic teapots found everywhere used to wash

Shortened figure of speech, like”go-come” for “I will go and come” (I will be back later), “How?” for “How
is it?” (How are you?)

So there you have it – the preliminary list of what Ghana really makes wonderful, and the small things that are helping me to appreciate the bigger ones.

Next time, I promise humour. (Hold me to that one.)

As for me, I am off!! Di tu biela!

Apathy

GaRI is exploring a new model through its theory of change; to act as a district consultant, and work on a demand basis. The 5 GaRI JFs, including myself, are testing out some areas where GaRI could build this consultancy expertise. Ryan and Guillaume are looking at Internally Generated Funds (IGF), which is the district taxation system. Akid is working on Evidence Based Decision Making (EBDM), an approach which uses relevant data to prioritize district plans. Gaelan and I are both working on information flow, accountability and feedback; Gaelan is at the Area Council level, while I am located in a Municipal Assembly.

One important point that I have not yet mentioned about Yendi: The district is known for its legendary chieftaincy conflict. My knowledge the story is limited, and it is still a pretty touchy subject in the area. It stems from a feud between the Adani and the Abutu families. A few years ago, an Adani chief was murdered, resulting in a conflict situation. The municipality has come a long way since then, with a strong push from exterior sources partnered with the Municipal Assembly. Today, you would not know that the area had this history. The real effects of this conflict are now seen in the form of apathy. For reasons that I will be exploring through my work, residents of Yendi are engaging at a minimal level with the Municipal Assembly.

The Yendi Municipality is currently in an optimal position. It is equipped with high capacity staff, and has achieved excellent scores for the Functional Organisational Assesment Tool (FOAT), resulting in relatively high funding. Yendi actually expects to exceed its revenue target for 2012, leading to a massive infrastructure push throughout the district.

Today, I sat in on a presentation that was being given by the Planning Unit for a M.Sc. class visiting from the University of Science and Technology in Kumasi. Near the end of the slideshow, in the “Lessons Learnt” section, were two points:

“Community participation is key to success and sustainability of development projects” and

“Participation of stakeholders is key in the development planning process”.

Underlying these points is once again one of the big current challenges for the Assembly; apathy. Community engagement is the foundation behind effective government function, and is one of the main factors keeping Yendi from reaching its higher potential.

A great few words that Binnu told me over the phone on Tuesday night keep ringing in my head. She said “You will never end up having enough information to feel comfortable starting something, so you just need to do it” – something along those lines. So here I am, finding myself diving into an idea that was outlined as a possibility in my Terms of Reference, and held in high interest by the Coordinating Director: the creation of a Client Service Unit (CSU) as the Assembly.

This unit can have multiple functions; none of them are officially stated anywhere, so I am exploring what some of these options could be.  Currently, my ideas for the CSU are the following:

– A full time reception service, where constituents can call at any time with questions, concerns or comments about what is happening at the Assembly;

– An official complaint process, so that constituents have the power to place a complaint about anyone working within the Assembly if they feel any disrespect, ignorance, etc. on their part;

– A public relations unit that focuses on assistance in the planning and implementation of public events, as well as producing public outreach items such with pamphlets, poster boards, newsletters, etc.

This coming Tuesday, I will be presenting my ideas to the Assembly, and looking for input and feedback on their part. From there, I will be establishing a work plan with my partner and the Director.

I must admit, there is somewhat some irony with the fact that I am working in community engagement. There are certainly times where I have been very apathetic about what was happening in Canada, particularly within government. So working here, seeing the very reasons why fighting apathy is so important for the advancement of service delivery, accountability and general good governance is coming as a deeper lesson to myself as well. It’s silly that it took me a trip across the world to really let this sink in!

Much love!!

What about Yendi?

I have been in Yendi for almost two weeks now, so I figure it’s time for a location profile. Let’s start with some facts and history. Yendi is a really interesting place – I keep learning new things every day. Here is the some of my learnings on the place!

Yendi is a district, with a population of about 125,000. Because of the size, Yendi is known as a municipality, which is a step above the district. I am living in the capital, which is also called Yendi. The city is part of the eastern corridor, a main yam route for Ghana. So the fufu is fantastic! (side note: despite many North American grocery store beliefs, yams are NOT sweet potatoes.)

The city of Yendi is the traditional capital of the Dagbon Kingdom, which comprises the Dagomba people. It seats the Ya-Na, who is the overlord, or top chief, of the Dagomba. And you guessed it -the Dagomba speak Dagbani, that language that I am learning, biela biela (gradually).The district of Yendi is also home to many other ethnic groups: the Konkombas, Akans, Ewes, Basares, Chokosis, Hausas and Moshies.

There are some interesting attractions in the Yendi area: one of them is the site of the Abido Dale, where the battle of the Germans and the Dagombas took place in 1897 as a resistance to slave raiding. It is said that the great warrior Kambona-Kpema rode his horse up the side of a baobab tree, and you can still see the hoof prints today. The Greenwich Meridian also passes straight through Yendi!

For most of last week, I was living in a guesthouse on the main road. As I walked out, I would suddenly find myself the middle of the action; in front of me, a group of young men with their tros parked in the yard, waiting for them to fill. Just to my right, the lady who makes wicked banku and jolaf rice, under the shade of the building. Further ahead, my friend John, who runs a vodaphone credit stand and is dedicated to teaching me Dagbani as the summer rolls on. The street is always exploding – market ladies with sweet bread and pears (aka avocadoes) in baskets on their heads; children screaming “pure wata, pure wata!”; motos and cars weaving in and out with each other and constant horn honking; gaggles of goats running around, expertly dodging cars (those animals are seriously skilled); the smell of meat over a fire, propane stoves and humid air. The best part is that this commotion starts at the healthy hour of approximately 4:30 to 5:00 AM. Truthfully, I don’t know just how early, because I have yet to actually get up at that hour. Although I have heard from a few people now that they wake up at 3:00 in the morning, latest 4:00. No joke.

I just moved in with my family Friday night after work. The compound is situated right on the outskirts of Yendi, off the road to Saboba district. In my family is my host brother, who is in senior high, his mother, and two younger siblings, who are still toddlers. My brother’s friend from school is also living in our compound, as his family lives in Tamale but he is attending school in Yendi. The father works for an electrical company in Tamale and comes home when he gets a chance. I have really been enjoying my stay so far! 🙂

 

Ghana, Tamale and an unofficial village stay

Hello friends!

It has only been a week since I last wrote, and so much has happened since then. The past week has been packed with learning, insta-constant sweat and loads of incredibly friendly people. Before I dive into the details of the very brief village stay, here is a quick recap of the week’s events:

Monday: Arrival in Accra, the capital of Ghana, after almost 24 hours of travel. We stayed in a guest house and made our first attempt at setting up bednets – the key is to not let it touch your skin while you sleep, or else you will be itchy the next day from the high concentration of bug-repelling DEET!

Tuedsay: Travel to Tamale, which amounted to a pretty well worry-free 13 hour bus ride. The weird divide between the comfort of the bus and the bustling world outside was definitely unsettling.

Wednesday: First day of in-country training in Tamale, which included a scavenger hunt on the town! This activity was meant to throw us into the Tamale experience head first, all the while checking off important must-buy items like mobile phones and malaria treatment, and performing fun tasks like bargaining for cloth, learning some Dagbani proverbs and eating some Fanyogo (yum.). My favorite part of the experience was walking through the inner market, which was a great maze full of stalls, people and interesting smells.

Thursday: Last day of in-country training.

Friday: Team meeting with the GaRI APS, where we collectively created a system map of the Government of Ghana (GoG) and discussed among others the Theory of Change (see my first post), as well as a meeting with my placement coach, Binnu.

And now, for the village stay! For past two days, the GaRI JFs lived in separate rural villages. The purpose of this very brief village stay was to get a sense of what it means to live in a rural Ghanaian village before we begin our work, mine being at the District Assembly level. The hope was that this may allow us to see the perspective of the people we meet with regards to government, as well as what needs are being truly addressed and which ones are not.

The name of the community in which I stayed is Yulinayuli. This village is about a 20 minute shared taxi ride outside of Tamale, but seems like a world away. The village itself is agglomerated with another 2 villages, and all together make up about 200 residents. I stayed in a compound with a local farmer, his two wives, 5 children and dozen goats. The entire experience resulted in more learning than I think I have ever done in two days. The list below contains a few highlights of my experience of village life, but I would be glad to go into details over a phone call (!!! –I have a phone, see below).

-Learning Dagbani dances, including the very popular Azonto “Wash and Wear”, which children found hilarious when I danced to it

– Taking my first bucket bath, washing my first set of clothes by hand, being proposed to jokingly for the first time (and many times after that!)

– Walking around the village with my new friend Yvane, visiting every singly compound to talk with the residents, seeing and learning about the processing of shea butter, rice, cowpeas, soya, and groundnut paste

-Greeting everyone I meet with a “Desiba”, “Antire” or “Aniwula” (good morning, good afternoon or good evening), followed by many repeated “Naaaa”’s, and a possible “Alafee” (I am fine) when I am not certain what to answer, followed by some hearty laughs at my misunderstanding

– Walking slowly in the late afternoon light, watching smallboys play soccer and just enjoying the total lack of that constant rushed for time feeling

-Learning how to carry a pot of dirt on my head – I was “no hands” for a few seconds! This dirt was collected by the community women to plaster the floor of the compound next to mine. Later I participated in the process of pounding the floor, where all the women were rhythmically pounding the ground and singing to the sound of drums. It was an incredible, muddy experience! (look up “Ghanaian Floor Pounding” on Youtube)

– Walking to the neighboring village through a wide field with Sia and Mariane, talking about dreams, how silly it is that I cannot catch a Guinea Fowl, and how strange it is that my skin burns in the sun

– Meeting the 3 chiefs in their respective huts, speaking through a translator and laughing about all my silly outsider girl mistakes

I had the opportunity to talk to people about the communication mechanisms that exist between their village and their District Assembly. Assembly Members are located around the district in assigned jurisdictions; they are meant to serve as the two-way information link between constituents and their local government. As my placement will be revolving around this information loop, I focused on getting an understanding on how information is currently shared to and from the 3 agglomerated villages.

The current setup in Yulinayuli revolves mostly around the traditional authority. When the Assembly man wants to hold a forum to address the village, he must ask permission of the chief, who then calls on the village to meet up either that night or the next day.  Likewise, the chief holds a meeting every Monday and Friday morning, where community members are welcome to join in on discussions about local concerns. These concerns are then passed to the Assembly man through the chief. Traditional Authorities are regarded with high respect in Yulinayuli, and therefore have a very important role to play in community development. My current assumption is that this is a common pattern in many villages of the Northern Region – it will definitely be a point to explore throughout my work at the DA.

Speaking of which: tomorrow, I will be heading out to Yendi, where my placement journey really takes off! I will be arriving on time for a public forum concerning the relocation of residents for a lorry park. It will be a first dive into the dynamic of public forums, which is one of the aspects I wish to explore over the next few weeks. I am excited to jump into the functions of the District Assembly and learn how I can align my placement alongside my partners, who specifically are the Planning Officer and the Community Development Officer.

I look forward to sharing what I learn about the dynamics at the Yendi DA – I will be using the next two weeks or so to get a better understanding of how to best pursue my placement. It is now pretty late here in Tamale, and I still have some packing, research and showering (again) to do before I go to bed. Tomorrow is a big day! On a final note, here are my two phone numbers:

233 57 320 0544

233 54 683 8273

If the first one doesn’t work, just try the second one. An easy and cheap way to call international is through Skype, and calling cards work as well too. Send me a message if you want more details!!

Good night 🙂

 

T-minus 44 hours

Just a week ago, I was writing my first blog post from Fredericton, anticipating my departure on Sunday morning for a week of training in Toronto. Well, it’s the end of day 5, and I am sitting in the front room of the EWB house beside several other JFs, getting some last minute work done at the end of the day.

(-Disclaimer: I am writing this in a very exhausted state, so words will be limited for this particular post. Hence the photos for visual aid.)

Here was the day’s schedule:

We worked this morning on the Sorghum Case Study, revolving around the placement of Mike Quinn in Zambia in 2006. The project was a partnership of EWB with CARE Zambia to promote Sorghum as a viable farming alternative, as maize is quite susceptible to droughts. We brainstormed some areas of risk and some possible ways in which EWB could add value.

We then headed out for lunch – today myself and a few other JFs got to eat in the Kensington market at this incredible little bakery. So satisfying.

After lunch we started out with a session on messaging and communication, which entailed methods to keep in contact with our EWB chapter, friends and family back home (like this blog!). Part of the activity was figuring out how to write the main gist of our placements embedded within a vision of our sector teams.

The final session revolved around cultural integration, which is a point that EWB puts much emphasis on in overseas placements. Several volunteers in past years, whether it was for short or long term placements, expressed the importance of creating a sense of mutual respect and genuine relationships through getting really involved in local culture. This is definitely something I am very excited for – it will be a experience different than any one I have ever had before, yet a truly amazing one!

We had some sector specific time, for which the GaRI team met up for supper with some past African Programs Staff (APS) including Dan Olsen, who was recently a team lead, and Dhaval, who was a JF on the team in 2010. We had the opportunity to ask questions about the sector, gain some insights on what we may see in our placements, and hear some hilarious stories! The whole meeting got me in a really good space, and I am still riding the happy high of our conversations. 🙂

Tomorrow is the last official day of pre-departure training, in which we will be hearing from Alanna for an agriculture session, and a full afternoon of “practical exercise”; the aspects of this session are kept secret until tomorrow! We are then finishing the day with a “Ghana and Uganda JFs” goodbye fiesta at the National Office!

Goodnight peeps!

This slideshow requires JavaScript.

Welcome!

Fun fact: Blogging a first post is much more difficult than I thought it would be. Not because I have nothing to say, but because there is already too much I would like to write down. It took me way too long to finally put somewhat of a focus to this upcoming post. So, bear with my jumpy change-in-subjecting!

What is the purpose of this blog?

“So, do you have any plans for the summer?”

“Yes, I do! I am actually going to be working in Ghana through Engineers Without Borders Canada.”

“Wow, that’s exciting! So, what will you be doing?”

Good question. It sometimes hurts to give such a short answer, but it’s hard to explain this to the dental assistant while she is flossing your teeth. I’ve learnt a lot about the team I will be working with this summer, Governance and Rural Infrastructure (GaRI), in fragments here and there; Monday night Skype calls, conversations with past JF’s and loads of documents. It leads to a pretty unsatisfactory feeling when all I can get out it “I will be working with the Ghanaian government, focusing on service delivery”. I hope to be able to really build the idea of what I will be doing in Ghana through this blog, as the summer rolls on. As my understanding grows, I will be sure to directly share it with you, to the best of my written articulation. It is important to note that this blog will be written through my point of view; it may not always be a direct reflection of EWB’s beliefs. That being said, take what I say with a grain of salt!

This blog is also a means to generally share my thoughts. Honestly, I am so excited to share the first hilarious circumstance I find myself in here, as it is sure to happen. I am also looking forward to sharing my experience with just about everything: my host family, my new friends, the culture, the atmosphere, the weather.. What’s important is hearing back from you. If you really want to hear about my favorite food and I have not shared it, please ask! 🙂

What am I doing in Ghana?

For the next four months, I will be working in the Northern region of Ghana with the Governance and Rural Infrastructure team (GaRI for short). To put it simply, GaRI strives to unlock efficiency and effectiveness within government functions. This is approached through many angles such as staff and project management, training, monitoring and evaluation tools, feedback mechanisms, and more.

For you math-savvy/visual people out there, think of this as a function who’s determining parameters are efficiency and effectiveness:

Of course, the real picture is a bit more complicated than this. It involves good communication, attitudes, trust, commitment, politics… Many soft, highly influential aspects. I will probably be able to get more into this once I am in Ghana. Bringing it back to the basics: the most general vision is that the output will result in quality services that are equally accessible to all Ghanaian citizens.

The GaRI team is currently working on its new strategy, called the Theory of Change. This strategy is based off of the team’s vision of the ideal District Assembly (DA). It is re-evaluating what specific change the team would like to see, as well as the key actors, and the team’s assets and capabilities. These thoughts are being organized by determining the current reality at the district level, then figuring out what role EWB can play in helping the district move towards the desired reality.

Now, where does my placement tie into all of this? Exciting news, I have a partial answer to this! Ideally, the JF placements for the team would support the Theory of Change. Since this strategy is still being laid out, the JF placements are not 100% determined. Here is what I know, however do bear in mind that it is likely to change up a bit! I will definitely keep the updates rolling on that one.

The current placement layout: I will be working at a DA (TBA for which one), helping out with transparency and accountability to constituents, as well as ways to collect and process feedback. A portion of this will be through the improved sharing of information from the DA to its Assembly Members. Some questions that my placement will address:

– What is the information that should be shared with Assembly Members?

– How can this information be made easily accessible and consistent?

– What issues require feedback from constituents and Assembly Members, and how can it be collected and processed?

I will be sure to write about upcoming changes to my placement! Since the placement is still volatile, it shouldn’t be a surprise if there is a drastic change to what is above. Just the same, it may not change at all. Personally, I like the suspense – it’s keeping me on my toes! It is a first taste of what it means to work in the development sector. My impression is that with every new understanding of the system, an adjustment is made, as is required for working in such a complex environment.

How have I been preparing for my placement?

Over the past 5 months I have:

– Learnt a bunch through the Foundation Learning program: This is a program rolled out by EWB. It comprises of numerous assignments such as articles, case studies, and books. (that last one specifically: Things Fall Apart, by Chinua Achebe. Awesome read!)

– Attended the Engineers Without Borders National Conference, where I got to spend the entire first day with the 2012 Junior Fellows – I’m quite excited to see the JF’s that I have met again, and wish all the best to the Southern Africa group that is leaving on Saturday!

– Spoke with a ton of inspiring people! Between conference, Skype calls, and meetings, I have had the opportunity to speak with many African Programs Staff (APS) and return JF’s (Junior Fellows that have been overseas with EWB in the past years)

– Got poked by a large number of needles, and spent enough hours in Carleton Health Services for the nurses to know me by name

– Been mentored by three of the greatest people, Robyn, Larissa and Chris!

– Ridden an exhilarating emotional rollercoaster, which brought me from excited out of my mind to asking myself “what I am getting myself into?” in seconds (really.)

– Got some great advice from my friend Lettie, who is originally from Accra, the capital of Ghana

– Had several Monday night group Skype calls with the GaRI team

– Worked on 3 assignments that were given out by the GaRI team – I was assigned to investigate the delivery of a service in a Canadian city (I was given the subject of roads), read up on a case study of the relationship between Assembly Members and their DA, and to attempt to grasp the ongoing process of government decentralization in Ghana (I hope to get a better understanding of this once I’m in the action!)

What is going to happen in the next two weeks?

The next two weeks are packed with action:

Now-Sunday at 5:40 AM:  Currently, I am at home in Fredericton, doing some last minute packing and preparation. I have been trying to spend as much quality time as I can with family and friends – I still hope to see my little cousins, hang out with my brother, have a family barbeque and celebrate one of my best friend’s birthday’s before I leave bright and early at 5:40 AM on Sunday morning for Toronto.

May 6-13:  I will be landing in Toronto around 7:00AM on Sunday, where I begin a learning-packed week of pre-departure training at the EWB house with all of the Ghana and Uganda JF’s. Guaranteed that an emotional post will come out of that week!

May 13-14, Flight to Ghana, which will be about a full day’s travel. I’ve never been this far away from home, so I’m actually quite excited for the travel aspect. (I say this now..)

May 15-16: I will be spending my first few days in Tamale, the capital of the Northern Region, for some sector-specific training with the GaRI team.

I will be sure to add to this timeline as I go. For now, I think I will be wrapping up the post. (small satisfaction for first blog post written, ever). Expect to hear from me soon!

PS: I would like to recognize my brother Ben, who came up with the name to this blog over breakfast just a moment ago. He is into song lyrics and knows how to come up with these things. So thank you Ben! 😛