Win some, lose some. And pictures!

This has been a rough week at work. And this post is long.

Before I start complaining too much, I'll share some pictures (I've finally figured out how to compress them).

Right: Home, as seen from top of mud roof where I sometimes read. The tin-roofed room to the left is where I sleep when it rains. Otherwise, I'm just on the other side of the round hut.

Auntie (or Ma?)! I'm still trying to figure which is the grandmother, Ma, and which is Auntie. They're always together, so it's hard to keep track. But they're both awesome, and love to chat with me - or more at me, and if I'm fortunate there will be an English speaker around to help. When I'm putting on my sneakers to go running in the morning, they say, "Fe changa chuima?" and start jogging on the spot.

Other side of reading-spot: the fenced area is a nursery for trees, and the background is a maize field (possible millet though). This picture really doesn't do justice to the vibrant green colors of the trees and fields.

I’ll start with a nice overview of some challenges I’ve faced this week:

1. I couldn’t go to meet two groups on Saturday because Sumaila couldn’t get a moto or a bicycle. That is the third time we’ve said we’d go to that group. We were then supposed to call them for a meeting on Wednesday, but Sumaila had to go back to the field so that couldn’t happen. And Thursday is market day, so they wouldn’t meet. Thankfully we will finally be going today, only because I nagged and nagged – I’m fairly unimpressed that it was me who had to ask them to change the meeting to Friday, not Sumaila, but by going today we can ensure that we have means of transportation.
2. The majority of the staff team went to the rice valleys on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday this week, meaning that the weekly staff meeting was cancelled, thus eliminating any possibility of me making an announcement to the team, which I had planned on doing.
3. The Director, two officers, and two AEAs went for training in Bolga yesterday (Thursday) and today. This means that work on the rice valleys will just be postponed until next week – I had really been banking on them finishing this week, so that I could have a chance to at least meet with the AEAs in those areas.
4. I have spoken to the chairman of a group in Fumbisi, where the rice valleys are, and they are very excited to start AAB. They meet today – their AEA is in Bolga for training (see above).
5. I waited for the guinea fowl group for about 2 hours (they can show up any time between 3 and 5, although their meeting is scheduled for 2). By 5:00 5 people had come, so they decided to “disperse” and meet again next week (Sumaila also arrived at about 5). Here is the situation there: They are all farmers, heavily involved in sowing and weeding at this time of year, and so when they return from their fields it may be around 4:00. They will then think that the meeting is over, since it was scheduled for 2:00. Based on this, I suggested to them that they change the meeting time to 4:30 – we’ll see how that pans out for their meeting on Tuesday.
6. A group that was supposed to meet yesterday postponed their meeting to Saturday due to a funeral, another that was supposed to meet today postponed to Monday because it rained, so they’re all going planting.

The main issues: If things keep being postponed, I won’t be able to make it through the curriculum with the AEAs, and if the Director and Extension officer continue to be this busy, it will be difficult to create a sustainability plan. Talking to them about these issues is difficult, because they're very tired and stressed, and have a lot of other things to deal with.

On Monday, I joined the team for a trip to the rice valleys (which lasted until 8pm...), during which I had some chats with officers and AEAs about MoFA’s work, about farmers, and about the role of the government; I learned a lot about the rice block program, and about the many challenges it faces. That is an essay unto itself, but essentially, the program looks great on paper and would have a significant impact on Ghana’s rice production (which is far below demand) if successful. However, achieving success is difficult because the district is under-resourced and understaffed, and resolution of these issues is hindered by hierarchy.

Livestock as a Business

We did a “livestock as a business” workshop on Friday, for about 50 farmers, which went very well. It was a lot different than AAB, but I still used the same philosophies, and broke it down to three main points: Investing in their livestock (vaccines, housing), record-keeping, and market analysis. Through the translator (my Kandema “father” David), they did seem to get it, and requested another training session on record-keeping – this might happen later in the season, when the district has money.

A bit of background on this program: This workshop was part of the Livestock Development Program, where farmers are given 10 sheep or goats, and must give back 10 in two years’ time, but get to keep whatever number they’ve produced in two years. It’s a good program because it doesn’t require much ongoing support from MoFA, and aside from the initial animals, doesn’t require much funding. This workshop was set up because farmers here don’t see their livestock as assets, they let them roam free (not like free range, like free to run away or be hit by cars) and don’t give them proper care. They don’t see them as potential for income generation, they see them as a last resort, and sell them only when they need money to buy food when their stocks have run out.

Why pay to vaccinate my goat? If that one dies, it’s okay, there’s plenty more. That seems to be the way of thinking. But, like we discussed at the workshop, look at it this way: “50 peshewas (0.5 cedis) to vaccinate, and you can sell it at the market for 20 cedis. So if you don’t vaccinate, and it dies, you’ve lost 19.5 cedis.” This was met with a lot of nodding, and some note-taking.

The funny thing about this workshop was that it was scheduled before I came here, and the director only told me about it on the Wednesday before, so I was under the impression that the vet staff were running it and was very interested in seeing what they would do. Even after my conversation with the lead vet I still thought he’d be facilitator. This notion carried me right through the Director’s opening address, right until the director finished and the vet motioned to me to begin speaking. Nothing like improvisation – I was very grateful for the translation requirement, so I could at least go over things in my head before I said them.

AAB progress

I’m really excited about the progress that I've made with two non-rice AEAs, especially one named Alexis, because he’s the type of AEA that will be able to lead the district; while Sumaila is very capable, he’s not really in a position to be a leader, because he’s a recent graduate. Alexis, however, is well known to his farmers, experienced, and very respected by the rest of the staff. He’s serious about his work and recognizes the need to support his farmers through capacity-building. Also, fortunate for me, his operational area is on the bus route. Score.

Ajabuiyede

I have another local name, from my family. They’ve called me Ajabuile, or daughter of Ajabui, the father of the house (hence Ajabui-yede). At work they call me Achale (as does the banana-seller who brings her tray by the office), my other local name, because my Kandema father David works at the office. I am Wiagi-po and Kandema-po (po meaning woman).

It’s a wonderful relief to arrive home at the end of the day and hang out with my Wiaga family; there’s always this amazing aura of calm, even when they’re busy, and I love sitting around the house with them even though I can't follow the conversation (unless they are inviting me to share food or asking me if I'd like to bath - "te de", "fe jo so ma?"). Last weekend they showed me some pictures of their family, from various occasions, and I showed them some of mine. They say I should have my hair long again, and have requested that I should grow fat, please.

I did have my hair done yesterday (see photo)! I am now the proud owner of two packs of fake hair, and have a throbbing skull after about 4 hours of women yanking on my hair. I think I look pretty hilarious with my white scalp glowing under these black twists, but everyone here loves it. Even as I walk down the street in town, or as I peddle to and from Sandema, people will say “Sister, your hair, it’s nice” or “sister, your hair, it fits you”. When I got home and my father saw it, he picked up his rifle and joked that he'd go to the bush to get some meat to celebrate.

Picture: me with Yaro, a National Service Volunteer, and Grace, our office Mama (in my opinion).

There’s also plenty of excitement now because of the world cup; on Sunday afternoon about 10 people crammed into the tiny tv room at Clementia’s boyfriend’s house to watch Ghana defeat Serbia on a fuzzy 12inch screen. I’ve discovered that most women here aren’t really interested in football – Clementia was napping for most of the second half. They just seem to like the hype.

I’m going to cook for the family on Sunday; I’ve decided on curried rice salad, a summer staple for my Canadian family. It’s funny that we use two cups of uncooked rice (so 6 cups prepared) to make the salad for about 12 people in Canada – that would feed about 4 Ghanaians.

Thanks for the comments, I miss you all and love to hear that you're reading! And David, I think you've been out-voted on the okra. The other day we had okra again, paired with a nice chunk of what I concluded to be goat meat, a theory based only on the fact that is was incredibly stringy. Hide-free though, sorry Jess.

One more small thing...

Happy Birthday Dad! I love you.