From the Ground Up

Sweat Rags, Sweaters, and Simple Things

2010-08-11T15:48:00.002-04:00

From sweat rag to sweater: an alphabet of things I love and miss about Ghana, and things I’m enjoying about being in Canada. There are definitely more, for each side, but I thought this might serve as a good start.

I hope this gives you a window into the simple things in life – sometimes, it’s the simple things that count, and these are my simple things.

	Ghana	Canada
A	Afternoons under the Mango tree on weekends	Apples
B	Biking to work on my one-speed Beans and gari Bolga adventures Bucket showers Bananas (the good ones)	Biking across the bridge to Halifax Baked beans Baked anything, really
C	Cooli Cooli (possibly misspelled) – a groundnut-based crunchy snack “Chop” bars (chop meaning eat) Choco delight (chocolate spread like nutella, but better because it’s Ghana made)	Corn on the cob Canoeing Camping Coffee shops Cheese
D	Dege – the delicious yogurt with couscous in Bolga	Dogs that don’t all look the same Dunes
E	Egg-and-bread stands	EWBBC Matrix episode (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7-L4S2kW6hk)
F	Fanyogo! – frozen yogurt in a bag Fanice bicycles Fufu (plantain-based mush ball)	Fog Fridges and freezers Farmers markets Free samples
G	Groundnut paste (obviously) Guinea fowls (incredibly unintelligent and ugly, but hilarious)	Gardens Globe and Mail Gas stovetops
H	Handshakes with a snap	Hiking Cape Chignecto with my brother Hotdog stands in Toronto
I	Internet cafes with air conditioning	Internet everywhere Ice cream trucks
J	Jogging at 5:30am (very unlikely in Canada) Judgement day billboards	Jelly Bellies
K	KOKO! My morning porridge.	I can’t think of any K’s because I miss Koko so much.
L	“Leafy vegetables” stew – never found out what they actually are	Lawrencetown beach Lupins Lobster rolls at corner store in West Advocate, NS
M	Mud houses Maize fields (or roasted maize) Metro Mass (the bus service) Market day Milo (Nestle hot chocolate)	Massage therapy – thank you health insurance Moss Mustard MEC
N	Nara (early millet) Ninety-nine percent MTN discount	Nine pm sunsets
O	Orange dust on everything I own	Ornamental gnomes – why? (see photo)
P	Peppe sauce Pounding shea nuts/dried peppers/groundnuts Plantains! Pure-water sachets	Picking raspberries Parks Pizza Peaches
Q	Q-tips sellers at bus stations (in case your ear wax really builds up as you’re waiting for the bus…)	Queen Anne’s Lace
R	Rain on a tin roof Red dirt roads Red millet TZ (so crazy!)	Rainy movie day Raclette Rocks at the beach Recycling
S	Sleeping outside Splitting groundnuts Sowing seeds Sweat rags	Scrabble with mom Swimming in the freezing lake with gross weeds Sweaters
T	Tro tros and taxis with names – “No hurry in life”, “Such is life” TZ for dinner	Trash cans Travel mugs
U	Ugly sheep (why are sheep in Canada so much cuter?)	Used bookstores
V	Vodaphone painted buildings	Vintage clothing
W	Watching Nollywood movies (terrible Nigerian movies, most with bad acting and poor sound control, but with a catchy theme song)	Waffles Wine
X	X-tra peppe please.	X-ray machine at the dentist – apparently looking at teeth xrays never gets old
Y	Yams (fried, boiled, stacked precariously on bicycles) Yellow flowers on trees that smell really nice as I’m biking to work	Yardsticks on door frames a la David Lombardi
Z	Zain-painted ice cream place in Tamale, with real scoop ice cream!	Zero bars in solid form that aren’t melted all over my passport and wallet

Photo: garden gnome approximately 10km into Cape Chignecto trail. Simple things, to keep us questioning.

From the Ground Up, From the Sky Down

2010-07-27T18:27:00.003-04:00

When I started this blog last spring, before I knew Ghana, before I knew my EWB family, my host family, my coworkers at MoFA, I thought I should call my experience “From the ground up”, since I’d be working with farmers and would be learning all about how crops grow in Northern Ghana. And it’s true, just like seeds grow into tall stalks of millet, my knowledge and understanding of farming in Ghana grew as well. But the millet has now finished growing (early millet, that is), and is being harvested, the stalks cut down and the cobs removed – and it seems that now is also the time for me to harvest my knowledge and put it to use. So as I do that, as I try to reflect on this experience and somehow make sense of everything I think I’ve learned, I find myself thinking that maybe, in my haste to focus on growing and farming, I didn’t give the sky enough credit. The sky provides the rain for the millet to grow, the sky brought me to Ghana and back to Canada, and now, the only way that I can really see what I’ve learned from the ground up, is from the sky down.

Last Thursday morning, my last morning with my family in Wiaga, my sister Nesti randomly turned to me and asked “Sister Anne, are there roads in the sky?” My reflex reaction was to say no, but I caught myself before I spoke, and instead replied with “sort-of” – because in a way, there are roads in the sky, they’re just not marked. And you can’t buy watermelons through the window when the plane stops. We chatted about air travel for a while, I told her about the toilets on board, the free drinks and bad food. She said, “someday, I will go.”

So then the next day, when I was on the road in the sky, I thought a lot about Nesti, and how right now, this year, next year, or even in five years, it’s so unlikely that she will get on a plane. Air travel is a staple for developed countries, and is one of the many things that provides us so many opportunities that others don’t have. When I think about what I want to see in a developed Ghana, it’s not a vision of crowded airports and highways, not stores and offices. The vision I see is not material at all, it’s not things that can be bought or built; rather, what I want for Ghana, what I want for the world, is opportunity and choice, happiness and appreciation. I want Nesti to be able to save her money if she wants and take a plane somewhere; I want Nesti to be able to find answers to her questions about the world ALL the time, not just when I’m around; I want Nesti to always value the happiness and strength of her family, to be curious about the world but not think the grass is greener; and I want her to love her life in Ghana, to be able to make the choices that will make her happy.

I’m so so happy now, to have gotten a glimpse of life in Ghana, to have met all the wonderful people I met there, to have learned so much about myself, about the world in which I live, and about the world in which I want to live. Ghana has taught me so many things; it has taught me how to be patient, how to fight for some things but accept others, how to let go of the wheel sometimes. It’s taught me that hard work is the only kind of work, that you’re always part of a team, that you should accept help when it’s offered. It’s taught me that happiness is more about the who in life that the what, that everything is better shared, that a simple greeting can spread smiles like wildfire. And it’s taught me so much more, but it’s so hard to put it into words.

My last week in Ghana was full of tears, hugs, love, food, and gifts. I cried in a wide variety of places, including, but not limited to, the office, taxi, bus, on bike, in bath, in guest house, at restaurants, in internet cafe (with large group of school children staring at me), on plane. I got lots of hugs from people I was leaving, and saw my own sadness also reflected in their eyes as they goodbyed me. I enjoyed all of my favourite Ghanaian foods – my Sandema koko seller even gave me an extra big koko the morning I was leaving, as a goodbye gift. I got gifts from my family, my office people, my EWB friends, things that look nice and pretty to others but to me, these simple gifts compile a representation of all that I love about my piece of Ghana.

My return to Canada had many of the same – tears, hugs, love, food, and gifts. I cried when I saw my family at the airport, but cried later that evening because I couldn’t deal with the shock of driving in their nice car, eating a delicious variety of food, having a hot shower. So my tears were bittersweet, like my new morning drink of cocoa powder with small sugar, the drink I enjoyed every morning with my host father, never without loud exclamations from him about my small small sugar.

It’s funny though, how those five things, tears, hugs, love, food, and gifts, were on both sides of the Atlantic, and have been manifested in such different ways that the comparison is almost hidden. But in the end, these five things have shown me that my people in Ghana and my people in Canada want the same thing for me, as I want the same for them: to be happy, to feel loved. And there, I’ve found my balance.

Some of the office crew on my last day at work, me wearing the smock they gave me as a goodbye gift.
My family gave me a painted calabash, it has a picture of the house, and of a black hand holding a white hand, and it says (I quote) :"Welcome to Ghana Ms. Anne (Mr. John Ajabui's House). Have a happy stay and a safe journey home!"

Anne

Where Goodbye is a verb

2010-07-20T07:19:00.003-04:00

In Ghana, you’re not going to say goodbye to someone, you’re going to goodbye them. And it seems that now, in an incredibly painful and unfortunate situation, I am goodbying Ghana.

Not painful in the sense that I am in physical danger, please don’t worry like that. The simple, letterhead-worthy explanation is that EWB has recently made the decision that for my own safety, my time in Ghana needs to end earlier than scheduled. Based on consultations with doctors here and in Canada, and based on input from EWB staff in Ghana and in Canada, Trevor, the JF coordinator, has decided that I do not have the physical ability to deal with potential stresses like Malaria or Typhoid, and that the risk to my health is too great for me to finish the final month of my placement.

I was, and am, incredibly upset. I spent several days flip-flopping between tears, frustration, acceptance, and fighting. I looked for any possible way to convince him that this is too much, the risk is not that bad, I would fight malaria the same as anyone else. But despite all my fighting, the decision remains, and there’s nothing I can do to change it. I think, and I hope, that I’ve finally accepted it and can spend the remainder of my time here (until Friday) enjoying everything I love about Ghana and making sure I properly goodbye all my coworkers, friends, and family.

It’s incredible though, that my love for this place, for this people, is strong enough that it causes this much pain. I know now how much I love Ghana, how happy I am here. I’ve realized that the relationships I’ve made are so special, are something that won’t disappear with an ocean crossing, and I’m so happy to have experienced all that I have. On Saturday, sitting in the middle seat in a taxi destined for Bolga for a night out with EWB friends, I had a pretty intense realization. It took me almost two months to even like Ghana, and now, I’m just starting to love Ghana. It took a lot of self control to prevent an explosion of sobs in said taxi.

But it’s true, the way I see things has changed so much. Everything is beautiful, everyone is beautiful. The strangest things make me so happy – the names on the backs of taxis and tro-tros, “God is love” or “Such is life” or even “The Black Man” (that one is common, I even saw one today while biking to work), the peculiarities of Ghanaian English, “chop” meaning eat and “this thing” being used to refer to absolutely anything, often impossible to figure out what thing they’re referring to. I love greeting people when I see them, I love sleeping outside in the fresh air, I love eating tz with my family (even with nasty okru stew). I love seeing the AEAs confidently cover an AAB card, love meeting with the Director to discuss progress. I love knowing people who work so hard, are so proud of what they do, and are dedicated to helping others. I love the conversations about Ghana’s future, what needs to happen, what people are doing, and I love that I know people who are driving those changes.

I even love Gbedellembilisi, the home of ridiculous rice valleys that have been the bane of my existence for the past two months. I’m sad that I won’t have a chance to go back and see the rice germinating.
Director said it well: “They have unsettled her physically, psychologically, emotionally, all the allies you can think of”. It really means a lot to me to see him so upset by this news, even more so than the rest of the staff, because it shows me that he cares about me, about the work I’ve been doing, and has truly appreciated working with me over the past two months. We had an intense meeting, director, myself, Ben (extension officer), and Trevor, where Director shared his thoughts on the decision and the way it was carried out - in short, he was fairly unimpressed. The meeting was successful in clearing the air though; thankfully, he’s reconsidering his vow to never work with EWB again.

But, moving forward, it looks like I’ll be able to somehow continue working with EWB’s MoFA team while in Canada. Here, Ben is prepared to train AEAs on the rest of AAB, and they’ll continue the program with their groups. I’ll be able to call sometimes to check in on their progress, and there’s a possibility that they can work with nearby districts to get the rest of the required training for sustainability. I’m also going to help Megan, my coach, with a new initiative she’s trying out, an idea around AEA learning partnerships. And I can use everything I’ve learned while working in Sandema to contribute to the future of AAB, giving feedback and input based on my experiences implementing the program.

There’s really no way for me to properly describe how I feel, but I can honestly say that this is probably one of the hardest things I’ve ever had to deal with – which also says a lot about how lucky I’ve been, that I haven’t had intense stresses in my life. I’m doing my best to enjoy my last week here, and to try and wrap up my work nicely. I made banana pancakes for my family last night, which were pretty delicious if I say so myself, and we also enjoyed some nara, roasted millet harvested fresh from their field. The crops are growing so well that I could probably reach over and pick some maize from the spot on the steps where I brush my teeth – the chickens will always have minty fresh breath from picking at the toothpaste I spit over the wall. They’re just now planting the sweet potato vines (see picture!), and the fresh okru (not near as nasty as dried) will soon be ready. I will miss that house so so much, it’s an incredibly beautiful place with wonderful people, and leaving them my bicycle will not even come close to thanking them for all they’ve given me.

Picture: Ajabui John (my host father) and his amazing sweet potato vines - vines like that are not common. When I first arrived, they were only covering the top of the structure that is now completely obscured. Now he's started to cut pieces of them and plant them in massive mounds of dirt, which are necessary because the bedrock is too close to the soil surface, and by September they will be delicious sweet potatoes. And no, I don't wear that shirt ALL the time, though it is my favorite.

So that’s where I’m at now. I hope that as I have time to reflect more, I'll be able to share my thoughts on all that Ghana has taught me, lessons on happiness, love, trust, dedication, patience (the bus is "on the way coming" for two hours) and so much more.

I’ve gotten so much support from the EWB family here, it’s been amazing, and I’m so grateful to be part of that family. So thanks, everyone, for helping me, supporting me, telling me I’m strong, appreciating what I’ve done and inspiring me to do more.

So for my friends in Builsa, I'm sorry I can't goodbye you proper, but I hope we can meet again some day, small time.

Anne

Forwards and Backwards, Team and Meat - LATE

2010-07-17T08:41:00.006-04:00

So I wrote this blog last Tuesday, and am just getting the chance to post it now... a lot has changed since that time, but I'd still like to post this. I'll post again soon with some updates on recent changes, now's just not the best time to do that.

Forwards, because I feel confident that I have a plan for moving forward with my district, a plan for what’s possible, and a plan for how to get there.

Backwards, because I’ve spent a lot of time recently thinking about the past, both recent past here in Ghana and my overall past that has shaped who I’ve become.

Team, because I’ve been able to spend the past week with a team of incredible people who I love so much.

Meat, because I’ve eaten more meat in the past week than I have over my entire experience in Ghana. And it has been fabulous. Also meat is team backwards, get it?

Apologies for not posting in quite some time, it’s been a busy time recently, with work at the office and with travel and meetings. We’re just coming out of a JF retreat (mini vacation to Mole National Park for all the short-term volunteers) and Country team meetings, both of which involved all Ghana EWB volunteers coming together to discuss our work and our placements. It was an incredibly productive time, there’s a lot to learn from the experiences other people are having, and getting feedback on my own challenges has really helped me to create a plan for the rest of my placement.

Of the multiple days filled with amazing sessions, the time that stood out most for me was the sector strategy discussion, where all agric. sector volunteers came together to discuss our current programs and what we want to see for the future. Crammed in a small room in a Presbyterian guesthouse, choir practicing loudly in the background, I saw that every one of us has had a unique experience that will somehow help to shape the future of EWB’s work in agriculture in Ghana – I realized then just how awesome our team is, and I felt so proud to be a part of it. I also saw the value in what I have learned so far, value in the long days at the rice valleys and value even in the lonely days at the office. All of it, the discussions, the frustrations, the successes, has given me a better understanding of the realities of Ghanaian agriculture and the ways in which EWB can help develop the agricultural sector.

The sector strategy discussion, and all of the sessions for that matter, where I really listened to the ideas and input from other people, gave me a nice slap in the face – why has it taken me so long to realize the importance of teamwork? I’ve worked with many teams in the past, for school, work, etc, but I’ve never felt their value the way I have this weekend. I’ve been mulling it over, and my hypothesis is this: working alone for so long (well not alone, but working toward a particular goal alone) has made me really crave an outside perspective, that I’ve been craving ideas from others just as much as I’ve been craving rhubarb cheesecake (mom please don’t forget to put rhubarb in the freezer for me...). And now, after this weekend, I feel refreshed, I’ve soaked it all up like a sponge – I’d even go so far as to say that being part of an amazing team is more satisfying than all the rhubarb cheesecake I could eat. Ideally though, I would combine the two.

So what’s next then, you might ask. To keep things short and making some sort of sense, I’ll summarize: Moving forward in the district means creating a sustainability plan for the office, so that AAB will continue after I’m gone. I’ll do this in collaboration with the Director and officers, and everyone will have a particular role to play in making sure AAB is running on the ground; the Director, for example, might be responsible for maintaining AAB as an office priority (on agenda at staff meetings, etc) and providing AEAs with a clear vision of what agribusiness means for Builsa district. The challenge in creating a sustainability plan is finding a balance, where to set the bar for change – because while there are a lot of changes that need to happen for AAB to run smoothly after I leave, there are a lot of factors that will prevent those changes from happening. One such factor, as you might imagine if you’ve been following me through this adventure, is busyness caused by rice block farms. How can AAB be always on the agenda at staff meetings if the meetings keep being cancelled because everyone has to be at Gbedelembillisi (the big rice valley)? However, despite these challenges, I do have confidence that we can work something out – the time I’ve spent with the office staff is really going to help, since I have a good idea of what each staff member is capable of and how they will be most effective.

Last thing: a glimpse into the culinary wonders of Tamale... glorious foods I’ve enjoyed here include fresh muffins (okay, they’re a little dry...), spring rolls, cheese (deep fried), ice cream from a somewhat ice cream parlour, and to top it all off, delicious real meat hamburgers that could compete with any restaurant burger in Canada. Also, we had some amazing cake on Sunday (my birthday), cooked by Luisa (EWB long-term volunteer) from entirely Ghanaian ingredients – decorated with choco delight and chocolate covered groundnuts!

Anne

Farming and Funding

2010-06-25T13:17:00.007-04:00

Photo: celebrating a successful farmer group meeting with a bit of dancing!

Farming and Funding

These two f-words are proving to be huge barriers. I didn’t think that funds would be an issue for AAB, because the program doesn’t require any additional funding from MoFA and only needs participation from AEAs (basically just AEAs doing their job). However, it keeps coming back, this funds thing, crushing my goals like a sledgehammer. It is because of lack of funds that my main AEA, Sumaila (I’ve mentioned him many times, he’s the AEA for Sandema) has no moto or bicycle and hence cannot travel to meet his groups. We had been meeting a group that comes to the office, but they’ve stopped meeting for the rainy season; it’s much easier for groups to meet in their own communities, because the meeting won’t take as much time out of their busy day.

I wanted to get as many groups as possible, especially in the Sandema area because it’s most feasible for me to meet them, so I asked Sumaila if there are other groups we could meet. He said yes, there are plenty, but because he has no means of transport he cannot meet them. I find this incredibly frustrating – when I first arrived in the district, I asked the director how many groups each AEA should have. He said at least 6. Sumaila has one.

The problem is, he doesn’t actually seem overly concerned about this, I think that since no one has been pushing him to meet groups, he’s slacked off. The Kandema group that we’re supposed to meet ON SUNDAY (if it doesn’t happen this week I’m going to be very upset) is only being taken on because I’m here, I feel. We were actually supposed to meet them Tuesday, had confirmed on Tuesday morning that in fact we would go, but when I asked where Sumaila was at around 1:30 someone informed me that he had gone to the rice valleys. So I went alone, and ended up just meeting the chairwoman to tell her that we’re coming Sunday and will be starting AAB with their group.

The other F-word, farming, is the reason farmers aren’t meeting. One AEA told me that he meets groups quite regularly in the dry season, but the majority of them do not meet for the rainy season, and if we try to call them for a meeting only about half will come – unless of course there is some kind of handout involved, then they’ll come by the masses.
So since the farming thing is keeping everyone so busy, I’ve been thinking more about the livestock side, after the livestock as a business workshop we did a few weeks ago. This was part of the Livestock Development Program, which, it turns out, started in 2004 and this is its final year. Initially, the program gave farmers money to buy animals, and they had to pay it back after two years – I’m sure you can imagine the issues there. So this year, they switched to credit-in-kind, and that will continue after the program officially ends.

All program activities are very clearly defined and have certain funds allocated for them (i.e. funds for a training session would be transport, snacks, water); however, the allocations do not allow most effective use of funds. It would be much better for farmers to have training in their own communities, in smaller groups so they could participate more. And instead of one training session, several sessions over a period of time would be more effective. The training needs to be given by veterinary staff, of which there are only two at the office – fortunately, there are Community Livestock Workers (CLWs), volunteers who help farmers with livestock. I want to organize training for CLWs, so they can meet with the livestock farmers and help them with record-keeping, feeding, housing, vaccinations etc – this could be done by vet staff who attended my AAB training. Again, funds have knocked me down. It would take only a small amount to have these people come to the office, but the district apparently has absolutely NO money right now, not even enough to pay for transport and food for 10 people. It’s also slightly frustrating that as I’m talking to the director about these ideas, he’s only half listening – he started writing a “request for...” letter while we were talking. Wonderful.

Things at Ajabuiyede have remained fabulous, of course. I made my curried rice salad on Sunday, they actually really liked it. See photo of massive vat of rice and Ghanaian-size serving (that is Clementia in the picture - she never cooks, but found the idea of Canadian food exciting, so she decided to help. Also note random chicken hanging around to catch scraps. Very normal). We’ve also lately been enjoying this incredibly heavy bean flour cake item, which they tend to drench with oil and salt (hold the oil for me please) – turns out this food is great for unhappy stomachs. I’d argue that it even tops plain rice or saltines as a clogger.

I’ve also taught my 15 year old sister Laadi how to make those embroidery-cotton bracelets that kids (and me) make in Canada. She loves it. That girl is incredible, she is one of the first to get up in the morning and is busy from the moment she wakes to the time she sleeps; by the time I get up (5:30), she has already been to the borehole, probably twice, and has started a fire in the kitchen to reheat yesterday’s leftovers. She goes to school, comes home to do more chores (washing, cleaning pots, fetching water), makes the stew and tz for her mother and brothers and sisters (that wife has only 3 children), and serves everyone – at many points throughout a typical evening, I’ll hear “LAADI!” belted out from someone looking for her help. After dark, while everyone else is relaxing, she’ll do her homework or reading for school. I think of myself at 15 and the comparison is laughable. I wish for Laadi that she will achieve all that she dreams for, big or small, because she deserves it.

Anne

Win some, lose some. And pictures!

2010-06-18T06:42:00.009-04:00

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:

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.
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.

Finding my Niche in the Upper East

2010-06-10T09:38:00.001-04:00

I really believe that it’s possible for anyone to find their niche anywhere in the world, for open eyes, ears, and hearts are a steadfast guide. I’ve been in Ghana a month, all the while trying new things, being open, trying to find my own niche, and the happiness I’ve felt over the past few days has convinced me that my search is finally ending.

As I said in my last post, I moved in with a family in Wiaga last weekend, and have spent the week settling in with them. The daughters are all so friendly and fun to be around, they love teaching me to speak Buli or stir tz, and we laugh together as I fail miserably. The wives (2) and auntie don’t speak English, but we greet each other and communicate through gestures and smiles. They’re always happy to see me when I get back from work, and chuckle as I trudge back from the borehole with water slopping out of the bucket on my head – it took a couple days, but they’ve now accepted that I want to fetch my own bath water.

After my evening bath, I climb the stairs to the roof of one of the huts, to maybe read my book or just look out across the expanse of farmland and houses - sitting in the cool evening air on a mud roof warmed from the sun is wonderful. At some point, food will appear, and we sit together to eat our tz or rice (they even had gari and beans one night! Delish!). I’m getting better at finishing what they give me; last night they had prepared okru stew, which unfortunately I find very unpleasant and forced myself to finish. I’ve nicknamed okru “Nokru” for my repertoire.

Sleep time comes early here, which is fabulous. Around 8:30 I’ll drag my foam pad out onto the mud floor and hang my net from a pole that stretches across the open space. I absolutely love sleeping outside, in the fresh air, bright stars and cool breeze, and find that when I get up again at 5:30 I feel much more rested than I ever did at the bungalow, despite its ceiling fan and thicker mattress. Last night I was just lying down again after my midnight pee break when I felt a few drops of rain – in unison with the rest of the family, I grabbed my foam pad and net, and ran inside to be serenaded for the next hour by the artillery of rain on a tin roof. I went back to sleep thinking two things: one, I’m very glad I got up to pee before the rain started, and two, I think I made the right call on moving.

AAB is rolling! (finally)

We had phase one training yesterday at the office, which went very well in my opinion. Ben and Sumaila were awesome and really stepped up to help facilitate the workshop. I felt that was really important, because the message is a lot more powerful coming from them, a fellow AEA and supervisor, than it is from me – I need to make sure this isn’t just another “project” forced on MoFA, it needs to be something that they own.

The MoFA staff were all very keen on AAB, and in addition to the 7 active AEAs (5 are sick/injured), some staff from the veterinary and fisheries side also attended. And the only freebies involved were small packs of crackers, so I figure they were legitimately interested.

The problem now is the farmers themselves – they aren’t showing up to their own meetings. Yesterday afternoon there was supposed to be a farmer group meeting at 2 in Sandema, but by 4:30 only 4 members had shown up so they decided to cancel it. Another group has cancelled its meeting for today, but they at least have been proactive and informed me yesterday; the fact that they’re telling me and not their AEA shows a bit of the AEA disconnect with farmer groups that is quite a problem here. There are so many farmer groups, and the district is far understaffed to be able to meet all of them – it seems to be initiative from the farmers that gets the AEA to their meeting. The problem with this is that groups that are weak, and need the most help, are unlikely to get it. I’m trying to enforce upon the AEAs that AAB is for groups both strong and weak, they just need to step up to help these groups – by using AAB and adding some structure to the meetings, AEAs can be more efficient and will therefore be able to reach more groups.

So things really do seem to be moving now, albeit at a slow meander; I’ve got a good number of farmer group meetings lined up this weekend and next week, and all AEAs (and some vets?) are prepared to start. It’s nice to feel like my work is actually going somewhere.

Comments from last post:

Thanks for the comments! I thought I’d just put a bit of a reply here...

David, I totally agree that it seems condescending. That’s why I find it so difficult, and so awkward. And it’s definitely not like everyone has such little opportunity, but reality is that in some of these villages, people have very little knowledge of the world outside their district – fortunately it’s the minority now, mostly elderly people who didn’t go to school. So for a 65 year old woman who has spent her days sowing, harvesting, and collecting firewood, to have a white person greet her in her own language is pretty significant.

Even people with higher education are greatly affected by having visitors from another country; another JF, Bevan, was here in 2008, and he stayed in a compound with my friend Pastor Lincoln, who always talks about Bevan and all the good times they had together. Pastor Lincoln will probably never visit Canada, but through his friendship with Bevan he was able to see a bit of Canada and the world in which we live, in a way he’d never see it on TV or in books.

I find it hard to explain, and I don’t want to seem condescending, I just want to make these four months the best I can for me and for the people I meet.

Jess, I find that I do get questions about Canada, and most seem to be focused on agriculture or food. Most of the questions seem to come from the same people though – in my village stay, for instance, there was this one woman, around 25, who would ask me question after question “at your place, do you have...”. She seemed to be most interested in comparing Canada and Ghana. People are also really interested in seeing pictures, and hearing about the culture behind the pictures; I was going through pictures on my computer with a National Service Volunteer at work (like a recent grad), and there were some of our house renos – he was really interested in the in-floor heating installation.

I hope to be able to post pictures soon!

Anne

It's raining sandwiches!

2010-06-04T06:27:00.002-04:00

... or at least it was the other night, when I was awaken from a wonderful dream about sandwiches by the sound of pounding rain on my metal roof. It rained four times this week, which is pretty significant. It’s wonderful, really, when it rains; not only is it a spectacle unto itself, it also leaves a lovely coolness afterward – one night, I even pulled my over-sheet out of my pillowcase to use as a blanket! When I bike to work in the morning after it rains, the air seems clear and fresh, it smells like spring, and the green is almost fluorescent. I love it.

These blogs are getting longer and longer. My apologies.

Office Life

This has been a fairly eventful work week, although unfortunately it did not involve a lot of formal AAB work. On Wednesday, Sandema hosted the 2^nd Annual Regional Seed Fair, part of the Emergency Rice Initiative Program sponsored by USAID and Catholic Relief Services. In this program, farmers are classified as viable or vulnerable, and depending on this status can receive ½ an acre’s worth of rice seeds at half price (viable) or free (vulnerable). The idea is that they can plant a small plot of rice for household consumption, to decrease hunger problems. Unfortunately, only 76 of the 341 registered farmers showed up on Wednesday to collect their seeds, likely because the rest were busy planting. So all these dignitaries showed up for the fair, to make all kinds of speeches to farmers, who sat there listening for several hours when really all they wanted was to pick up their seeds, get their free drinks, and go back to their farms. The whole event seemed like a waste of time to me, but maybe I don’t know enough about the program to make a judgement. However, Sumaila told me that some people will just boil the rice seeds and eat them that way, not plant them – I’d be interested in knowing how often, percentage-wise, that people don’t plant the seeds they receive.

Aside from the seed fair, there has been a lot of field work which has postponed any sort of farmer group meetings. Next week will be AAB training, and I’ve had several casual conversations with AEAs about their potential farmer groups and they all seem to be excited to get it started; they just keep saying “after planting is done...”. Rough time to be implementing a new program.

Despite the AAB setbacks, I’m definitely settling in well at the office; everyone is very friendly and I’ve had lots of good conversations with people about MoFA’s work or development in general. Talking to Ghanaians about Ghana’s problems is really interesting, and I’m learning a lot about the challenges and opportunities for the country’s development.

The Director wants to give me 10 acres of rice valley to farm, and take the harvest back with me... I think it’s a joke, can never really be too sure. Yesterday he made me try Pito, the locally brewed alcohol, at 8:30 in the morning, and yet would not allow me to buy Nescafe, claiming it to be unhealthy. He’s teaching me a lot about fitting in with local culture, especially as a professional when visiting the field – he recognizes the importance of establishing a good relationship with the community, so that they will respect MoFA and work hard to make the programs successful. Yesterday, for example, we went to a rice valley to supervise broadcasting (which is just throwing rice seeds over the land). Things started off very slowly, people were not organized, but after spending some time with the MoFA team, sharing some jokes and leftover Pito that the Director brought with us, the people were motivated and ready to go. The rest of the day went very smoothly, and they finished about half of their 150 acre valley.

Picture - broadcasting seeds. I'm the white person. That is NOT my bucket hat, it belongs to the Director (thought I should clear that up).

Yede Life

So on the non work side of things, some other news: first, I’m moving out of the bungalow, to live with a family. It’s just across the street, with my friend Clementia’s family – they live in a traditional compound house composed of connected mud buildings, and grow maize around the house. I’m not sure how many people live there, but I’ve met at least 4 daughters and seen many more children hanging around – Clementia is the oldest at 21, and the youngest is probably around 6. Most of the family works on the farm, the children go to school, and Clementia works at the local clinic as an assistant. She says she’s saving her wages for her schooling.

I decided I wanted to move because I wasn’t getting enough of the local lifestyle; at the bungalow, I can sit and watch movies on my laptop and cook myself Canadian (ish) food, which is comfortable, but that’s not the point. I want to be part of a family, be immersed in Ghanaian culture, make connections.

My second piece of news is that I’m going to have my own plot of groundnuts! There is a small piece of land in front of the bungalow that’s not being used, so my neighbour Daniel is going to help me plough it and Clementia is going to help me sow the groundnut seeds. Some will be ready for harvest before I return to Canada, which is really exciting.

Slap-in-the-face moment

Yesterday I was having a conversation with Sumaila and Thomas about vacations. Sumaila told me that Canada is the hardest place to get a visa for, and that even the US is difficult; he’s been rejected by both. He wants to go to Mexico in December for a holiday, but because there is no Mexican Assembly in Ghana he will go to South Africa, visit some friends there, and get his Visa. And he’s one of the most fortunate, a part of the small minority that can afford the luxury of travel.

It made me realize how fortunate we are as Canadians – we can go anywhere in the world, no problem. I have so much opportunity, I’ve already experienced so much, and yet there are so many people here in Builsa for whom just going to Bolga is like a dream. I now feel even more that it is my duty, my responsibility, to ensure that I can impart some piece of the world on every person I meet here, because even the smallest interaction with me might be the closest thing they ever get to a glimpse of the world outside Builsa district. It’s awkward, but it’s true.

Wish me luck with the training!

Anne

Yede Sweet Yede

2010-05-28T06:16:00.002-04:00

In this post: My new home, and my first week at MoFA.

Yede is house, or home. Apologies in advance for the incredibly long post, feel free to skim...

My local name!

Is Achalli (pronounced a-cha-le), meaning daughter of Acha, who is the God of the area I was staying in on my village stay. I was just informed today – apparently it needed to be approved by the head of the household before it was official.

About my New Home

My new home, in Wiaga, has been a bit of an adventure so far. I moved in on Friday evening to a large, vacant room in a mostly vacant bungalow. The other official occupant is a young man, Jacob, who also works at MoFA, and my “landlord” (he won’t let me pay rent, so I pay in random gifts of food) is Ben Leo, the officer at MoFA who has been helping me get settled and will be helping me implement AAB. My work day routine now includes a 10km bike ride to and from the office, on a one speed city bike. It sounds bad to our Western ears (I cringed a little at the thought of a single speed), but the bikes here are very comfortable, and since no one is ever in a hurry, I bike quite slowly so I’m not sweating profusely when I arrive at work.

My bungalow experience has been full of surprises. First, there were no cooking facilities, so I bought my own charcoal stove which I use to cook dinner (not always – sometimes I bail and have a groundnut paste and banana sandwich, groundnut paste is my lifesaver, never did I think I'd have peanut butter in Ghana...). I do like being able to cook my own meals, so that I can get a better vegetable intake than I might otherwise be getting. Other surprises include: toilet in bungalow does not work, and there is no latrine... free range!; the connected hall serves as a church on Sunday mornings, for the “Assemblies of God” church (very intense bible study group); herds of donkeys and goats will randomly appear outside, no idea who owns them; and finally, bats live in the roof and tend to make a lot of noise at night (or fly through a hole in the ceiling and come into my room, as was the case on Sunday night. Luckily some men were around so I got them to catch it. The hole is now covered.)

Aside from some initial challenges (free range is not that great for bathroom-related emergencies in the middle of the night...), I think this will be a good place for me. Jacob is very nice and very helpful, and I’ve made friends with some of the neighbours. My neighbour Clementia comes to greet me every morning on her way to work, which is quite nice, and my other neighbour, a school teacher, has invited me to come visit him and his family whenever I like.

First Days at MoFA

I gave my introductory presentation on Wednesday at the staff meeting, and it was fairly successful, with the majority of the staff participating and paying attention – we even had a good discussion going on the many different strategies a farmer can use to improve their income. The Director (man in charge) is particular is very on-board with AAB, and the extension agents (AEAs) seem ready to get going. Sumaila actually started the program with one farmer group on Saturday, a Guinea Fowl group, and I was able to attend. It was quite successful, the group is very motivated and is actively seeking ways to improve their production and income, and were quite keen on the program upon understanding what it would offer them.

I’m learning more about what MoFA does, and getting to know people at the office; yesterday we went to the field to check the rice valleys for ploughing and meet the village chiefs in communities that applied for the rice block farm program. In this program, communities apply to MoFA for inputs and help in land preparation, using land that is owned by the community. The land, usually around 200 acres, is divided amongst farmer groups in the community, and each group pays MoFA with 3 bags of rice seeds at harvest time to cover costs of labour and inputs provided by MoFA.

It was very interesting to observe the interactions between MoFA staff and the chiefs – it seems like an unnecessary waste of time, with about 12 people going to meet the chief and tell them that they are ready to begin ploughing, since this could easily be accomplished by one person, but it seems that this is a cultural formality that must be performed.

MoFA is in a bit of a crunch for time right now, because the rains have started and they cannot plough fields that are too wet. This means that almost every day, the staff (including AEAs) are going to the field to check the rice valleys, and as such it’s quite difficult to get AAB going. But I have faith that with enough hassling on my part, things will get moving – because they need to, if groups are to make it through the AAB curriculum (10 meetings) before I leave in August.

Random Side Note

New culinary discovery! Gari-and-beans, cousin of Rice-and-beans, is quite tasty (gari is a flour made from Casava). Dinner-size serving for 30p (about 20 cents) at a stall down the street from the office.

Thanks for all the wonderful comments, I love to hear what you're all thinking so comment away!

Anne

Junai from Sandema!

2010-05-22T13:40:00.002-04:00

Junai (good evening)!

In this post: Village stay!

I'm currently in the internet cafe in Sandema, which is very fortunate because if this lovely air-conditioned wonder didn't exist I would be going to Bolga (2 hour bus ride) for internet.

My village stay, from Monday to Friday, was an amazing experience. The people were wonderful, such amazing hosts, and it was really interesting to get to know a bit about rural lifestyle. I saw some big differences in gender roles, and also differences in activities depending on the weather. A consistent theme, which I believe is true for most of the country, is the greeting time - everyone greets their compound (probably about 5 separate areas in a compound) in the morning. The greeting for morning is Salue, and the reply is Salue Nalon.

A typical day for a woman might look like: Get up at 5:30, sweep the floor of the cooking area, put on a fire for cooking, spend about 2 hours or so making the first meal (tzed or rice), go work for some time (could be getting firewood, sowing seeds, picking shea nuts, plastering walls on the mud houses for the rainy season, etc), cook again, work some more, take a nap, start cooking again.

Men appear to spend most of the day working, and leave early in the morning; I didn't see the men very much because I spent my time with the women. Men take care of livestock and weeding.

As for my role in the family during the week, it was pretty slim. They didn't want me to work at all, because I'm a guest, but I eventually convinced them to let me help pick shea nuts and fetch water. There was also a lot of groundnut splitting (for groundnut soup). One of the girls in particular, Renaita, was adamant that I should just sit around and be waited on, and was continuously bringing me copious amounts of food; in the first day, she brought me a total of 6 eggs, in addition to the three meals of a personal casserole dish full of rice or tzed.

The community was all very welcoming, and on the second night they performed some local drum chants and taught me the local dance. They were very amused by my attempts, which were fairly hopeless. Finding rhythm in rapid stomping and arm waving is more difficult than one might think.

The community has invited me to return whenever I like, and I hope to visit on weekends since it's not far outside Sandema. One woman told me that if I came back, she'd give me a hen - nice to feel accepted, but I don't know how to politely refuse gifts of livestock... I already came back with a dozen guinea fowl eggs from my host family. Luckily I can at least cook those.

Again, so much more I could talk about, but I have to cut it off here. I need to get back to Wiaga, where I'm living, before it gets dark; also, it's going to take me about 2 hours to prepare dinner on my brand new charcoal stove, seeing as it took about half an hour for me to boil water this morning. I'm not living with a family, I'm in an apartment, but more details on that next time. I also hope to post some pictures from the village, so look out for that too!

Anne

How is the Coolness?

2010-05-15T12:59:00.002-04:00

“How is the coolness” is the typical morning greeting in Ghana (morning being pre-8am, when it’s marginally cooler than the rest of the day).

It’s coming up on one week since our arrival in Ghana, and adjustment is proving to be a lengthy process, aided greatly by pepto chewables. Adjustment to the heat hasn’t been so bad (unfortunately it’s going to be hotter in the Upper East), and I’m finding that I’m actually quite impressed with the quality and cleanliness of the latrines. The major problem, which I did not expect, has been the food. In Canada, there are almost no foods that I will not eat, so I assumed I would easily acquire a taste for Ghanaian food. So far, that has not been the case, but I have at least found a few items that will sustain me until I work up an appetite for balls of fermented corn mush (and various other mush-ball foods) – packs of frozen chocolate milk (AKA fanchoco), fanta, rice and beans, mangoes, and bananas. I do have faith though, that I will come to like the food, it’s all just part of the adjustment.

We’ve spent the week in Tamale, doing training workshops on implementing the Agriculture as a Business (AAB) program. It’s been incredibly useful, I now know much more about the program and the specifics of the district that I’ll be working in. I met two of the Agric. Extension Agents (AEAs) from the district, Benleo and Sumaila (I’ve probably mutilated the spelling); Benleo has a bachelor’s in Agriculture from Cape Coast university, and Sumaila has a degree in Agricultural Engineering from the Polytechnic College in Tamale, so they definitely have the knowledge base to be effective extension agents. They had an intro to AAB from EWB long-term volunteers today, so they’ll be able to help me train the rest of the AEAs when I arrive in the district.

Just a bit of background on what an AEA does: AEAs work for the Ministry of Food and Agriculture in every district in Ghana, and their job is to provide support to farmers; currently, this is done on a more technical and yield-focused basis. AAB is a tool that AEAs can use to improve the support they are giving and ensure that their services actually lead to increased income for the farmer groups. My role in this is to teach the AEAs the facilitation skills required with the AAB curriculum, and attend their meetings with the farmer groups to provide feedback on their delivery of the curriculum.

Sunday I’ll travel to Builsa, and Monday to Saturday I’ll be doing my village stay somewhere outside Sandema, the capital of Builsa. During the village stay I’ll be living with a family and learning about farming (possibly helping with planting?), so that I can get a bit of a perspective into the life of a farmer and their family; even a short exposure to the lifestyle of rural Ghanaians will be so useful in understanding the challenges faced by the farmer groups I’ll be working with this summer.

This post is already longer than I’d prefer it to be, so I’ll cut it off here with some general comments: I absolutely love how friendly and helpful people are, I’m really excited to start work, and I’m excited but also a little bit scared (from a getting sick perspective) about the village stay. I have so much more that I’d like to say, so if you’re interested, email me or post a question and I’d love to share more!

Anne

Pre-Dep/DEP! (-parture)

2010-05-06T20:48:00.002-04:00

Having just finished my pre-dep "check-in", I find I am in a sharing mindset. The past 5 days at pre-departure training have been an incredible learning experience, which I have been lucky to share with an amazing group of people. I've gone through a fairly strange cycle (or cyclone, maybe..) since arriving in Toronto on Saturday afternoon - when I left London, I felt like I was so ready to get on a plane and go to Ghana. Really, I was just ready to leave London.

This was completely changed when the workshops started; I felt lost, couldn't articulate my thoughts, and felt as if the topics and questions were completely above my head. It was a good reality check, and since those first Sunday morning workshops I feel like I've learned so much and am much better prepared for these next four months. I feel driven and inspired, and like I'm really ready to go - because getting on that plane just means I get to learn even more, and finally get to live the reality of EWB's overseas work.

Some of things that really stuck out for me were: incredible discussions that made me open my mind and consider things that I never would have considered on my own; using the dusty part of my brain that sometimes comes up with something creative; and learning the history and complexity of everything that is EWB (including actually being inside the infamous office, set of EWBBC - check out EWBBC 2010 on youtube).

So without wanting to make this into an essay of predep learning, I'll sign off with: Feeling better than I've felt in about a year, despite immense lack of sleep (24 people 3 bedrooms...) and intense mental fatigue. I'm just so happy to be a part of this and am so excited to enter the reality of Ghana.

But one more logistical thing - location! I'll be in the Upper East region, in Sandema in the district of Builsa. Check out my district website - http://builsa.ghanadistricts.gov.gh/. I'll be living either right in the town or just outside, and biking or walking to the office.

Next post will more than likely be from Ghana!

Anne

T minus 2 weeks

2010-04-16T21:10:00.002-04:00

A bit of an overdue update for those of you who have not heard - last week, I was given more details on my work in Ghana! I am now officially going to be working on the Agriculture as a Business program, which is essentially (not to get into too much detail) a program that helps farmers in Northern Ghana learn business skills to increase their yields and earn an income from agriculture. For a nice synopsis, check out the info on ewb's website: http://www.ewb.ca/en/whatwedo/overseas/projects/agricultureghana.html

I'll be working at a District Agriculture Development Unit, but I just don't know which district.

Along with this news, I also received a large quantity of information that I'm quite excited to read. It's going to be difficult to fit it in with the studying/packing/emptying apartment, but I'm really looking forward to becoming more familiar with this approach. I'm going to learn so much even before I actually get there, given that at this point I know very little about agriculture or business management. As I read and understand more, I hope to share as much of it as I can on this wonderful bulletin of my JF life. That way, we can compare together how the on-paper descriptions match up with the work in the field.

While learning about what my life will look like over the next four months, I'm also learning a lot about what my life has looked like for the past, oh, 20 years. I've been doing a bit of scrapbooking, and a lot of life-contemplating. I look at my life, my family, and my friends, and think of how lucky we are to have all that we have. It makes me see all the differences between my life and the lives of the people I am trying to help. However, I also see similarities, because I know that like me, rural Ghanians also have an awesome network of friends and family who make their lives amazing. I'm excited to become part of that network, become friends with the people in my community, to see their goals and enjoy their successes as if they were my own.

All for now, wastewater notes are calling!

Countdown: One Month

2010-04-07T22:57:00.000-04:00

Yes, as far as I know, I will be leaving Canada in a month from today, on May 7th. This is still slightly approximate, since I haven't yet received a confirmed departure date (or arrival location, for that matter). That's okay, I'm ready (as I can be) for whatever or wherever. I've been in the packing mindset lately, because I'm paranoid that there will be one crucial, life-saving item that I will not bring and wish that I did. This paranoia is very illogical, but I will crazyily make lists and drag my friends on various excursions across the urban sprawl that is London shopping nonetheless.

I do find it somewhat discouraging that the only certain thing that I know about the place I will be spending 4 months is that it will be hot and raining. Not that I particularly need, or want, to know more; the problem is more the connotation of this fact, which is severe discomfort. I don't know for sure how I will feel in terms of excitement, focus, happiness, or anything else, but I do know that at least for the first little while, I will be very physically uncomfortable. However, knowing this will allow me to prepare for it, to expect it, and as such I will have a better ability to deal with it.

I know what I feel now though, and that is primarily excitement, and the uncertainty of it makes it all the more exciting. The fact that there are so many people behind me and planning for me, to ensure that these four months are productive for me and for EWB, is an awesome support and comfort. I'm so excited to meet the people in the village where I will be staying and working, to learn about their lives, and to work with them on whatever project EWB assigns me to.

With all of these thoughts, the excitement, and the packing, focusing on studying is going to be a challenge. But because it's a challenge, even more so than usual, I plan to meet this challenge and champion the battle. Exams are just another barrier that must be overcome, and must be met with the force they deserve; the barriers will only become greater, and so must the strength to overcome them.

Step One: Make a blog...

2010-03-27T17:27:00.000-04:00

For the past month, my To Do list has consistently included the following task: Set up blog. Every week, I leave it unchecked. Until this week. I can finally draw a nice clean line through those words.

My To Do list, however, did not mention anything about what exactly I should DO with the blog after I set it up. That is left for me to figure out now - what might my friends and family want to hear? Why am I all of a sudden a "blogger", perhaps? Or how this could possibly have anything to do with my work in Ghana... well, to start off, it has EVERYTHING to do with my work in Ghana.

My hope, in creating a blog, is that the people I care about will be able to share this experience with me, even when we are so geographically separated. It is a way for me to feel like you're with me, even when you're not. I hope it will help you understand what I'm doing, why I'm doing it, and why it's important. I hope you will enjoy reading my stories, because I know I will enjoy sharing them. And finally, I hope that through this new-age (for me, at least), faceless communication method, I can rely on you for help and support, because if there is one thing I do know about this upcoming adventure, it is that I will need help - help to stay focused, happy, and productive, to ensure that I get as much out of this opportunity as I can. It's an amazing, exciting, and intimidating challenge, and I promise to share it as best I can.