Christmas 2009

We hope that all our family, friends and colleagues have had a really good Christmas and are looking forward to the New Year with excitement. May it be a very happy, healthy and successful year for you.

We have no idea how many people are reading the blog. However, from emails received we realise that there are quite a few people following our experiences here in Ghana. We really do appreciate the comments and kind words we have received, so thank you so much for that.

This blog entry may not be up to our normal standard, as our trusted Lumix camera decided to die on us on Christmas Eve. We do have a large Nikon with us, but it is a little difficult to avoid looking like a tourist or journalist with that slung over the shoulder. Ghanaians are justifiably a little suspicious of journalists – especially when they photograph broken down buses and the like!

Our Christmas present to each other was a few days at a lovely hotel in Kumasi. We had hot showers, buffet breakfasts, a swimming pool and even a haircut.

Kumasi is the capital of the Ashanti region. The Ashanti people are probably best known for their victories in battle against the British colonists in the nineteenth century. Kumasi is a very interesting and friendly city. We particularly enjoyed time at the cultural centre talking to, and buying from, a range of artisans. We bought a couple of presents in readiness for the secret Santa event planned for Christmas Day with other VSO volunteers. One was from the wood carver pictured below.

We toured the museum where the traditions surrounding the Ashanti Kings were explained to us. We ate at a restaurant called the Kentish restaurant. The very popular traditional woven cloth from the region is called Kente cloth and we, of course, thought “Kentish” was something to do with that. However, we met the owner and found that she had lived in London in Kentish Town. (She had also lived in Walthamstow, a stone’s throw from our own home!) The pictures below show the hive of activity around the market and tro-tro station in central Kumasi.



After spending a delightful time in Kumasi we set off to join 15 other volunteers in Koforidua, the capital of the Eastern region. This was our first trouble-free bus trip, where we were able to view the ever greener countryside. We have now left the dry, dusty savannah of the north and are in the midst of palms, banana trees, hibiscus, crotons and other tropical flowering plants. Even the football fields are green.

Christmas Eve was spent at a bead market, which is renowned throughout West Africa. In the evening we enjoyed a carnival in town with our VSO friends - lots of very loud music and lively dancing.

Christmas Day started with a swim in the hotel pool. We then headed off to join our friends again for a barbecue. We marvelled at the teamwork and enterprise that enabled 17 of us to sit down together for a veritable feast.


As always, we were joined by several of the local children, who tried to teach a few of us how to speak the local language, Twi.


On Boxing Day, we all piled into one tro-tro and were taken on a trip out into the countryside. It was extremely sobering to have the opportunity to visit a local gold mine, with workers extracting tiny pieces of gold from the mud. The conditions of the workers were awful. Having very recently watched the film, Blood Diamond, it was all so reminiscent of the conditions in the diamond mines in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

We then had a hot, steamy, delightful walk through tropical jungle, in order to reach a waterfall.



It is the dry season, so we eventually arrived at a no-water, waterfall! However, the scenery and plant and animal life were awe-inspiring and we had a great picnic of leftovers from Christmas day.


Today, Sunday, we travelled to Accra and have toured the main sites and museums. We were really interested to learn about Nkrumah’s life and Pan African aims. We saw our first examples of colonial forts and slave dungeons. Our Ghanaian guide had an amazing perspective on slavery i.e. some aspects of slavery are very positive, because the descendents of slaves are now in Europe and America, and therefore they are able to send money and support back to Ghana to aid its development – so that’s alright then!!

One particular display shows a series of pictures of the first presidents of African countries, taken as the country gained independence from colonial powers.



The president’s palace in Accra is currently the centre of a major controversy. The new government has many socialist aims. In line with this, there is a plan to use the palace and its grounds for breeding chickens, “as there are so many hungry people in Ghana”. Meanwhile, it stands uninhabited and unused ....so watch this space.

From Wa to Kumasi

It is now Saturday 19th December and the term has ended. We have had a busy couple of weeks, working with a number of schools and also continuing our evaluation of the Education Service. Linda has managed to convince one the headteachers to ban the use of the cane, so great success there. The Director of Education says that she feels more “in control” since we have been working with her, so we are well pleased.

The Director organised an end-of-year “round the table” discussion on Thursday evening to assess the year’s work, and to eat and drink. It was a very open meeting, with most people taking turns to stand up and say what they had observed about the work of the Service and how it can be improved.



There was then food for everyone, including beef, which is only eaten on very special occasions. The women who work in the office prepared the food for everyone – Gender roles are very deeply ingrained.



The dry season has now really set in. There is a real problem in the area with deforestation. Trees are cut down everywhere for fuel and the amount of savannah grassland is forever increasing. In the dry season, this leads to a number of local fires that are caused accidentally. In addition, food is short in many families and some people deliberately set fire to the grass, so that the bush rats will run out of the bush to escape the fire. The rats can then be speared, cooked and eaten.

All of this means that the surrounding countryside is a mixture of parched brown and burnt black, with the occasional tree adding a bit of green.



We are looking forward to seeing more tropical greenery, as we head South over the holiday period.

Sunday 20th December – Diary of the bus journey to Kumasi.

8.00 a.m. We are at Wa bus station having our tickets checked and our luggage weighed. Tickets cost us approximately £5 each for a 5/6 hour journey. We are travelling by STC, the State Transport Company.

9.30 a.m. The bus was due to leave at 9.00 a.m., but the loading hasn’t yet started. Two men are attacking the engine, one with a spanner and one with buckets of water. We think there might just be a problem! All the passengers are waiting patiently, completely unperturbed. We’ve decided to settle down and read our books.



11.00 a.m. The bus is on its way. Yippee.

11.30 a.m. The passengers are very quiet; many are dropping off to sleep. We are passing through a very parched landscape with huge termite mounds and the occasional mud-built village.

11.40 a.m. The bus has been chugging rather slowly. We have stopped twice in the last 10 minutes to put water into the engine. We are now completely stationary, with a lot of people looking at the engine and scratching their heads. All the passengers are chatting calmly, and the children are enjoying a run outside the bus – back to reading our books.

12.40 p.m. We have chugged along for another stretch, stopping by every available water supply to collect water to cool the engine.

1.30 p.m. The air conditioning has been switched off, because of the overheated engine. This is the hottest part of the day, and the bus is hot, hot, hot ........ We are conserving our personal drinking water supplies.

2.00 p.m. Another water stop. All the women from the local village seem to be out doing their washing by the side of the road. We are trying to practice our Waali with them, but sign language and lots of smiles are proving to be much more effective.




3.45 p.m. Another stop – on the edge of a town this time. The whole bus empties, as we dash to the nearest shop to buy drinks – wonderful. Apparently, a replacement bus is being sent to us. Meanwhile, we are sitting on the road by the edge of a lake, as we begin to appreciate the cool of the late afternoon and watch the local women doing their washing. (No idea where the men are; they must be extremely busy somewhere.) At this point, we are not far from the border of Cote d’Ivoire.


5.00 p.m. Still here. People are sharing food with each other. The children have now plucked up courage to touch our skin and shake our hands. They are now calling us Aunty Nansarla and Uncle Nansarla (white person). There is a really great atmosphere.

6.00 p.m. Still here – and we are getting pretty tired. However, we are making progress with 2 very good books: The Robber Bride by Margaret Atwood and The thing Around Your Neck by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichi (a series of short stories set in West Africa). Key learning point; carry a good book whenever travelling in Ghana!

6.15 p.m. Still here. It’s now getting dark. The bus is being unloaded – and we really don’t know why we are surprised that a live goat is being brought out amongst all the suitcases from the luggage compartment under the bus. The children are singing every English song they know to us. The mosque across the road is calling people to prayer. We are settling down on the ground outside watching the moon and stars.

8.15 p.m. Still here ...........but a replacement bus has just arrived. We are all coming to life again, having lulled ourselves into a half-sleep.

9.00 p.m. We’re off. There’s a general air of hilarity (or maybe it’s hysteria), as the driver has a bit of difficulty starting the bus.

2.30 a.m. Monday We have arrived in Kumasi. Much of the journey through the night was smooth. Some of it was very bumpy, as we negotiated rough, unsealed roads. Now to our taxi and on to the hotel ........phew.

2.35 a.m. Whoops. We have left some of our things on the bus, and the bus has set off again, heading for Accra. Our taxi driver is great and does a mad chase to catch up with the bus .......Success. We have managed to get our things back. The people on the bus seemed pleased to see us again! Those who were still awake anyway.

3.00 a.m. In our hotel. Lots of shiny marble everywhere – unreal. Warm shower – bliss.

3.30 a.m. Good night. Zzzz.........

A day in the life of Wa Model Primary School

We are working with a wide range of schools, but we are doing more intensive work with 8 schools. One of these is Wa Model Primary School, which is the most "privileged" school that we have visited. You will see in the pictures that there are solid school buildings, an electricity supply and a water supply on site, and the pupils are wearing shoes. In addition, most classes have 50/60 pupils, which is a comparatively small class size for this region.

Many primary school children in Ghana wear a brown and yellow uniform, and you will see that many of them are wearing coats and jackets over their uniform, as it is now the dry (cold!) season. This school is called Wa “model” school, because it was the first school ever to be built in Wa. This was in the early 70s, and it was seen as a model for other school buildings.

There are over 800 pupils in the school and they arrive at school at approximately 6.30 a.m. They all have cleaning duties that are carried out amazingly enthusiastically before the school day begins. Brushes made of sticks are used to sweep up leaves and rubbish.

Classrooms are also swept out.





All leaves and rubbish are collected in a bin and then taken to the rubbish dump on the perimeter of the school.




Water collection is an important job for pupils. The water is stored in 3 barrels in the central part of the school. A few plastic cups are kept with the barrels and all pupils use these cups when they are thirsty.






Five women from the local community come onto the school site from 6.30 a.m. onwards to sell food to the pupils. This food is very reasonably priced and quite a number of the pupils buy it. They can buy pieces of fruit, some nuts or a bowl of rice with some stew. The women who sell the food have all been medically checked to ensure that they don’t have any long-term illnesses.




The pupils are very well behaved and there are excellent relationships among them. The older pupils act as prefects to ensure that everyone behaves during the consumption of the food.




At 7.15 a.m., one pupil has responsibility for ringing the bell




At this point all pupils line up in their classes around the flag of Ghana. This is all very precise and they have to organise themselves, so that they are standing up straight at arm’s length from the pupil in front.




The assembly starts with a prayer, followed by all pupils and staff with arm across the chest, reciting the Ghana pledge and then singing the national anthem. This is taken very seriously indeed. At this point, information is given to the pupils or sometimes the pupils themselves talk to their peers. Pupils leave the assembly, class by class, marching and singing the school song: “...we are all involved in making our country strong........” They all engage in this very enthusiastically and sing their hearts out.




All the marching takes places to the beat of drums that are played by pupils – always boys. (We haven’t tackled that one yet!)




Marching is a very popular activity in all the schools and there are annual marching competitions. Wa Model Primary has won a prize every year in recent times.

Lessons begin at 7.45 a.m. and there are 8 lessons each day. Each class teacher takes all the subjects. The centrally-prescribed curriculum is made up of English, maths, Ghanaian language (Dagaare), citizenship education, integrated science, creative arts, religious and moral education, and ICT. The picture below shows a year 5 class.




The year of the class bears no relationship to the age of the students. It represents the number of years they have been in school. Therefore, there are pupils up to the age of 18 in the primary school. All text books are provided by the school, but even this school is very short of books. All exercise books, pens, pencils etc. have to be provided by the pupils.


There is a 20 minute break at 10.30 a.m., when pupils can still buy food from the food sellers. School ends at 1.30 p.m. There is no food provided free for pupils, and this is a major issue for the poorer pupils who have to go for the whole day without anything to eat.

We haven’t been anywhere that is goat-free. The goats even attend the schools:





Having a picture taken is a real novelty – even for the teachers, who insisted on having their picture taken as well.

• 

Village Life

Last week I (Haydn), found myself in Naku. We have travelled in Africa, India and the Caribbean and we have encountered poverty in all such places, but last week I was taken to the poorest community that I have ever seen. People were thin and weak and many were dressed in rags. It was the village of Naku, just 15 minutes south of Wa on the main road, and 10 minutes West on a dirt road that ends at the community. There is no electricity in the village. There were no motorised vehicles. The only motorbike seen belonged to the District Assembly representative, (local councillor), who had been invited to the meeting that took place.

The invitation to me came from a student at the University for Development Studies, who visited the education offices and asked for support in a project he wanted to undertake to help poor people. Tustus Atayaba is the leader of a group of students who are members of the International Movement of Catholic Students (IMCS). This is a worldwide organisation founded long before 1949, when a branch was set up in Ghana. The organisation encourages young people to identify the most disadvantaged and to help them to help themselves improve their lives.

When we arrived at the village, there was no-one in sight. A local representative of the Anglican Church, who had founded the local school, was the first to spot our arrival and welcome us. A local house found a cooking pot and spoon and, through the clanging of the pot, the message went out to the village to attend the meeting. People began to appear from all directions. I was shown around the school building that is in need of complete demolition and re-building.

Some 40 to 50 people of all ages gathered under the tree to greet their visitors.

As is traditional in Ghana, the meeting opened with a prayer. All the people in the village are Muslims. So I had by now worked out that we have an Anglican school for the children of Muslim parents, being supported by a Catholic organisation. The religious tolerance and co-operation in this area of Ghana really is unique.

In securing a replacement school for this village the university students tried to find out what contribution the community can make. In most places the community can grow produce, sell it at market and make a contribution to a school fund. As subsistence farmers there is no surplus produce to sell in thsi village. Indeed as the dry season gets a hold, food supplies are very short. The maize had failed through lack of water.

The next avenue of exploration was to find out if the village had any craftspeople, masons, carpenters and the like. Again, there was a resounding no. Not one person from the village has any formal skills or paid employment. It transpires that the whole community survives, just, through subsistence farming alone.

Further discussion in Waali, translated for the sake of the visitors, showed a total commitment to wanting a school for their children, where they do not have to run home when it rains. They conveyed strongly their willingness to provide all manual labour required. They will dig trenches for foundations, fetch and carry bricks, sand, cement, water, as required, but they need support for everything else.

The Catholic student group is also interested in helping the village access water and learn about dry farming methods. They will seek funding for a fence, so that they can fence off a piece of land on which to grow vegetables, fruit and other staples. The fence is required to keep out the goats, chickens, and other scavenging animals that roam the area.

A committee including a woman and young person was elected to champion the project from here onwards. They are pictured below.

As the meeting wound up, I was presented with a thank-you gift of a pile of yams and a live chicken!! They are shown in the foreground of this picture.

In Ghanaian culture, one must accept the gifts that are offered for fear of causing offence. Away from the village, I shared the yams with the Catholic students. Back at the education offices, I was able to present the live chicken to the students. What a huge relief!

We will continue to support this group as they formulate a plan, proposal and seek funding from a variety of quarters.

Last weekend, we travelled North to Nandom, near the Burkina Faso border. The village is described in the Bradt Guide as being a bit lively on the last weekend of November, when the Kokube festival is held. This festival is a celebration of local culture. It seems the whole of Wa knows about the festival! We did manage to get on a bus for the 3-hour journey north. Ghana Mass Transit buses are amazing. They are the size of 53 seaters in the UK. They have 75 seats, and the bus on which we travelled carried 115 people plus baggage. We secured a position at the very front, squatting on the engine. At each stop the driver filled the radiator. The picture shows Haydn helping him use his improvised funnel to get water to the almost inaccessible radiator.

In Nandom, we stayed in a delightful guest house for the princely sum of 20GHc - £8. We visited VSO volunteers who have a house at the local secondary school. They prepared and presented a fabulous Ghanaian meal of chicken and groundnut stew over Fufu. Fufu pounding is pictured, and those who know Ghana will understand where my Yams from Naku village went.

The pounding of yams and mixing in of water makes a doughy, textured staple which tastes a little like potato and is used to soak up the soup flavours. It was actually delightful.

The walk to the festival, with VSO volunteers in Ghanaian dress was memorable.


Nandon is well known for the brewing of pito, which is a local beer made from millet. Throughout the day and night, there are large cauldrons everywhere brewing the beer.

People seemed genuinely pleased to see white people at their festival and they all greeted us very warmly. At the festival, the drums and xylophones were in full swing as dancers circled the musicians to the African rhythms. The amount of dust made picture taking difficult. This is our best effort.