A whirlwind of good byes

Friday was my final day in the office, and we had a lot to do.  Regardless of what my mandate was originally expected to be, it changed as I landed on the ground and had a chance to assess reality.  And so, my mandate grew significantly to include the research, set up, modification and installation of a free (open source) financial system.  This also meant that I had to learn the selected system, test it with prior transactions, work out some bugs and train my colleague adequately before my departure so that he could be comfortable with it before I left.  A lot of work in two weeks!  That meant Friday would be full of good byes and the final bits of training.

Fortunately for me, my colleague is a bright young man and he caught on quickly.  I was especially happy with the progress we made on Friday and I left the office with full confidence that he would be fine after I was back in Canada, and we could keep in touch via the internet, so all is good.

Friday was also the wrap up day with the WUSC office and the National Coordinator as we celebrated and discussed the work that we had accomplished.  Since I love to write, and share my ideas, my report was long and I hope it was also useful.  I shared some ideas for future projects that I am hopeful might one day be posted for a new volunteer.

Friday was also the day for goodbyes.  I wore the beautiful traditional dress that Alfred had commissioned Regina (his seamstress sister) to make for me…without any measurements…and it fit perfectly. 

Millicent, Patience, Maureen, Alfred, Janet, Carol

The dress is linen with appliques of real Kente cloth – the cloth of kings and queens.  I love the dress and am thankful for my friends at Pamoja Ghan who made my stay in Ghana so wonderful!  Pamoja told me that they were having another dress made for me as well that was almost complete and my friend Carol would deliver it later.  It is a beautiful dress and I will post a picture of it later.

When I left the office, I took with me some work they need help with that I would finish once I was back in Canada…which reminds me, I have some work to do!  I left behind some souveniers from Canada including some strong and free Canada t-shirts and some NSCC little knap sacks – the cinch bag type.  They loved them! 🙂

I have always loved Fridays and in Ghana they are especially cool as folks wear traditional cloth to the office.  It is a day that you see wonderful clothes with vibrant colors.  Often times, even the little ones will be wearing traditional cloth and it is adorable to see them waddling along in the fine attire.

Back at the hotel, with one volunteer friend ill it was a slow night and a good chance to start to say good bye to some of the friends I had made in the neighborhood.  Saying goodbye is important since relationships matter.  I also had to pick up a dress I had made from the Pamoja cloth that I had bought and it turned out beautifully (check back later for a photo!).  A friend dropped by the shirts I had made for my boys out of Ghanaian cloth.  My friend Carol dropped by with the dress given to me as a thank you by Pamoja and it fit perfectly!  They have been so kind to me that it is hard to express in words how I feel.

Saturday was a bit crazy – final packing, saying good bye to more friends in the neighborhood, especially a couple of children who had become my friends…I hope they understand why I am leaving.  People really wanted to chat with us before we left and so each goodbye took some time and we all agreed to keep in touch, somehow – just not by e-mail since no one has e-mail.  We took lots of pictures!

Saying good bye to Joyce and Mispah, two little ones came by…

“yEfrE wo sEn?”  (What is your name?)

The little girl whispered, “Adwoa” (pronounced A-d&ju-a) (born on Monday)

“Adwoa!  yEfrE me Adwoa!”  (Adwoa!  my name is Adwoa!)

And that’s when I saw her dimples!

Her friend, also shares a name with me; he is Maurice and a bit shy.  How fitting that on my final day I would meet two little ones with the same name as me.  They are siblings, both three years old.

My friend took a group photo for us – Joyce borrowed the sunglasses from the mannequin for a cool picture!

Maureen, Joyce, Mispah, Adwoa, Maurice

Next stop was visiting Mabel and Charity, across the street.  Maurice who had been so shy, watched us from across the street and when I looked over his way, he waved.  We traded waves for some time until he was distracted by something more fun.  Since Joyce’s shop was slow, she popped by to Mabel’s and spent more time with us there.

Maureen, Mabel, Stephanie, Charity

With a break in the schedule, and packing under control, I opted to take a taxi to Medina market because I had a few cedis left and space in my suitcase.  My mission was simple, say goodbye to Rose whom I had visited and purchased some cloth from and pick out a bit more cloth since I had room in my suitcase.  The cloth is beautiful!  I sew a lot when I am at home and buy cotton every year and so it made sense to take the time to pick out some more.  The prices are unbelievable for the quality and it is worth spending the money in Ghana and help support another family.  It may be worth making a special trip sometime just to buy more of the beautiful cottons! 🙂

Medina market was crazy full of people, which is apparently common for a Saturday.  The taxi got stuck on the road approaching the market and so I told him to just allow me to alight where I was and I would walk.  I actually got lost looking for Rose…there were so many people that I lost my bearings.  I did manage to find some beads, and the seller was happy to have me take her picture, and she charged me fair prices which was nice treat for my last day in the market,

Bead seller in Medina Market

I tripped upon another cloth shop and bought a nice piece of cotton with a pattern of drums and women balancing stuff on their head.  It is really nice and I wish the woman had had a larger piece.  I decided to ask her for directions to Zongo junction and she was happy to oblige so I made my way back out to the road, and then started over to find Rose.  It was a good idea that worked!

When I arrived at Rose’s shop, the first thing they said as soon as they saw me was that I had forgotten a small parcel there last weekend.  It was a shawl I had bought from them and I had thought for sure it was lost for ever – thinking I had dropped it somewhere on my journey.  They had noticed after I left and kept it for me, expecting my return.  I was shocked that they had kept it for over a week and wondered how many Canadian shops would have done the same.  I was so thankful for them since I had planned for the shawl as a gift for someone.  I celebrated by buying some more Ghanaian fabric! 😉

Maureen & Rose at her shop

It was time to head quickly back to the hotel, and I had just arrived back when Patience from WUSC came by the hotel to have lunch with us and say good bye.  It was nice to see her and she was wearing a beautiful green linen traditional dress with cream embroidery…truly stunning and something that would be hard to find in Canada.

Finally, a good-bye to some special children in the neighborhood who I will tell you about in another blog,

Gifty, Maame Queen Elizabeth, and Maureen

The good byes at the Suma Court Hotel were our final good byes.  They are all so kind and took good care of us,

Maureen and JuliannaMaureen, Eric, Nicholas

 

Leave for Change: Reflections

How to sum up a few of the things I have learned over the past few weeks…

…caring about someone is free – which makes sense, caring is priceless…

…diversity and inclusion are easier in peaceful spaces and peace is built from acceptance…

…no matter the color of our skin, our hearts are all the same color…

…children assume people are good…

…it is easy to make friends…

…smiling helps…

…if you smile at a child, they will smile back…

…you can be half way around this world and still feel like you are at home…

…poverty remains a huge barrier to education.

Pamoja Ghana: A Day at the Office

With this Leave for Change volunteer assignment I am so very fortunate to have the chance to work at Pamoja Ghana, also known as Ghana REFLECT Practitioners Network. 

The Ghana Reflect practitioners’ Network, popularly known as Pamoja Ghana, is a Network of youth and adult education practitioners who use REFLECT and other participatory methods for literacy and development work. REFLECT is an acronym, which stands for Regenerated Freirian Literacy Empowerment and Community Techniques. It is a right-based approach to development and a participatory tool to literacy, poverty alleviation and community development. Pamoja Ghana is affiliated to Pamoja West Africa, Pamoja Africa and the global network of REFLECT practitioners, known as the Circle for International REFLECT Action and Communication (CIRAC). The Ghana Network currently has a membership of thirty-two organizations in all the ten (10) administrative regions of Ghana.

Pamoja Ghana network has as its main aim, promoting empowerment and sustainable development particularly in rural communities with special attention to promoting, protecting and fulfillment of human rights of citizens and achieving the Education for All (EFA) goals by 2015.  Pamoja Ghana works with the poor, the marginalized, and the voiceless; most of whom are non literate and live in hard to reach areas. 

Pamoja is doing very important work. Approximately 40% of the population of Ghana cannot read and write, and the majority of these are women and girls!  The literacy of this segment of the population is critical to sustainable national development in Ghana. 

My assignment is with the Secretariate Office in the Greater Accra Region of Ghana.  Pamoja is located in a quiet neighborhood in Adenta Municipality, across from the MTN office, just turn down the road with the Turquoise building at the end…and yes, that is the ‘official’ address since there are no street names…which is disconcerting at first because we are used to following street names in Canada, however using landmarks for direction has become easier with practice. 

…the view down the lane from the office,

…and looking back towards the Adenta to Accra Road,

Look for the two story green building  with the brick-red-coloured gate, and there is a sign.  The second story is visible from the Adenta to Accra Road.  In this picture, mewo ha.

Millicent Akoto is the National Director and was the first person from Pamoja Ghana whom I met while taking part in the in-country orientation offered by WUSC.  At lunch that day, we both enjoyed Banku; Millicent enjoyed the traditional Ghanaian sauce while I enjoyed the ‘very light spicy version for Canadians.”  It was the first meal I ate with my fingers, and not the last. 

With a network of over 30 NGOs across Ghana, Millicent and her team are very busy doing great work.  Here is a picture of Millicent and I in her office,

At Pamoja, I share an office with the financial officer for Pamoja, Alfred Hammond.  He is a very nice man and has made me feel very welcome.  He has helped me learn some Twi! 🙂

Here is a picture of Alfred and I,

Janet Amewu is the Deputy and Program Coordinator, and she kindly accompanied me on my first Tro Tro ride home from the office to ensure I found my way,

Carol Greene is the Administration Officer and the friendly face that will greet you as you arrive.  She is my newest facebook friend,

Robert Gbley works part time at the office as the Monitoring and Evaluation Officer.  He also works on IT and related matters. He picked me up at the hotel on my second day at work and travelled with me to the office so that I could learn the transportation system.  Ghanaians treat their guests and friends, and everyone, with much kindness.

There is a school near by and so often times you can hear the children playing.  One of my most memorable moments occurred last Friday as I sat working beside the open window. Friday is physical education day at the school and so all of the children went to the field to play in the morning.  As they returned to the school at about 10:30 or 11:00, the children all joined together, singing, and the joy of their music filled the office.  It was truly beautiful.

Haatso to Adenta: the drive to work

Some random pictures from the drive to work,  Haatso to Adenta in Greater Accra, Ghana.

This first picture says a lot about Accra.  The name of the shop on the right is “thy will be done”.  Many of the shops have names with religious meaning.  Ghanaians are very strong in their faith and they live their faith every day.  In the upper right in the distance, is a poly tank – used to hold water.  On the left, is a typical store you will find along the road, some specialize (Shoes, bags, clothes, furniture, etc.) while others appear more like the typical corner store we would be familiar with, albeit smaller.

Here is a furniture store….all beds appear to be king sized!

 

The University of Ghana is a substantial property and includes a botanical garden which I have yet to visit but pass each day as I travel to and from Adenta for work.  I think it is so cool the way this building is built…the design makes it appear as if it is collapsing.  My plan is to visit the gardens before I leave.

The hardest thing about the trip to work is the traffic.  Here is the traffic one morning at Riss Junction (which is on the Accra – Adenta Road…and if you read my blog regularly you know that is not the real name of the road. LOL!).  All of the pictures are from the same junction, different directions.

Yes, the road is under construction, and to keep traffic off the new road they lay down nail strips.  In sections where there are no nail strips, the traffic will travel.  One morning we drove on this new road, following a grader as it dodged oncoming traffic. Not sure I would want to hold the flags.

The vans you see in the pictures are the Tro Tros.  More about Tro Tros will come in a later post.  There are also sellers at every Junction and whereever there is traffic congestion.  You can buy anything from the comfort of your car.  The most interesting thing we have seen so far is the Ab Exerciser!

Lanes?  Yah, no…well sort of.  Potholes, plenty.  My friends at Landmard Geographic Solutions would be kept extremely busy plotting all the potholes in Accra…another reason traffic flows so slowly.

For those who have left me comments about my blog, I thank you.  I am truly pleased that you are enjoying it. 

Some of you have asked about providing financial support.  I thank you!  There will more to come on that at a later time. Stay tuned!

 

 

When in Ghana….

I totally slept threw my first alarm and was thankful I set a second since we, the volunteers, were meeting for breakfast in the common area before we started our training, met our partners and visited the WUSC offices.  

Today, we had the pleasure of meeting the people we will be working with on our mandate and talk about what we might like to accomplish during our time here.  Millicent from Pamoja Ghana is a very nice woman whom I expect I will learn a lot from.  She shared information about Pamoja Ghana and their work in the non-formal education sector, specifically related to literacy and the work they do in the various regions through their projects.  Like all non profit organizations, they are continually seeking funding, for core costs and for projects on the ground. 

While Pamoja Ghana is at work in the non-formal education sector, what I discovered during our brief conversation is that we face many of the same challenges when it comes to meeting the basic education needs of adult learners and others.  Similarly, I shared with her my desire to learn more about the REFLECT approach that they use since it sounds conceptually similar to appreciative inquiry.  I will start with them on Thursday and can hardly wait to learn more.

For lunch, we ate together and I tried my first Ghanaian dish – Banku.  Banku is made of Maize and Cassava.  It looks a dough ball and is tastey but heavy.  I ate a small portion and felt full and was told that it expands in your stomach once you eat it! The bankyu was served with tilapia and sauces.  They made a special not-so-hot sauce for the Canadians (midase!) since Ghanaian food is very spicy.  The Ghanaians wash their hands and then eat with their fingers (of the right hand).  So, when in Ghana, do as the Ghanaians!  …pick some banku, dip in sauce, and pick up the fish…or something like that!  The banku was very tasty and enjoyable so I expect to eat it again, although I will have to ask for a small portion since portion sizes here are very, very large.  And, of course, the not-so-hot sauce made especially for Canadians!

The Pamoja Ghana office will be a TroTro ride away from where I am staying.  The Suma Court Hotel on Atomic Road in Haatso is perfect.  Family owned and operated with friendly staff who cater to your needs, with self contained rooms (i.e. private bath) and air conditioning in the rooms (not the common areas).  Now, don’t go to Google maps and enter Suma Court on Atomic Road in Haatso and expect to find it, although doing so will lead you in the right direction (as Google maps links addresses in their system to those words).  On a map Atomic Road is not called Atomic Road, it is called Westland Boulevard, which may seem confusing until you realize it is OK since…as we learned in our training today…the roads may have names but no one knows what they are anyway. HaHa!  People use landmarks for direction and so, this is Atomic Road because it is the road that leads to the Atomic Energy plant….seems easier to remember than “Westland Boulevard” anyway.

The First Day in Accra: Smiling is the universal language

Akwaaba!  Welcome!

I must confess that my first day in Accra is a bit of a blur.  Our flight from Halifax to JFK left a half hour late and arrived a half hour early (which caused me to wonder if there are times we just stay in the air longer than necessary for no reason?).  If you have never been to JFK, I must say that it is a nice airport, well marked, and lots of healthy, albeit expensive, food choices.  They even have the new small single serving Hagaan-Dazs which I must tell you is an absolute favorite at the perfect serving size, however, I passed and had the three color salad with balsamic dressing instead – mostly because folks told us to avoid the water based food like lettuce and if I was going for three weeks without salad, then I should fill up! 

As folks piled into the gate area with their luggage it piled up and it was clear that we were going to have a huge luggage challenge as it became apparent that few returning Ghanaians had checked their luggage.  It seems everyone had at least two carryons.  So we were a bit late leaving JFK because of the luggage stopped at the sky-check and further luggage removed from the passenger cabin when it did not fit..anywhere!  The flight was full of children as families returned to Ghana to visit family, and all the little ones did really well on the flight with little fuss or crying.  We met a mother who was taking her child home to see his grandparents for the first time and she was very excited, as you can imagine.  She pointed to her first child, sound asleep, who had been a miracle baby born at less then 2 pounds!  My seat-mate was going home to the small village of Senchi to visit his mother and do further work on improving the school in his village.  Once the school is improved he will be looking for volunteers to teach there.  Apparently, it is as difficult to attract teachers to the rural schools in Ghana as it is in areas of Canada.  I have checked the map and Senchi is such as small village that it does not appear, however if you are interested, if you ask around Ghana and venture to Senchi you can probably find your way to teaching there!

After the all-nighter from JFK, we landed in Accra in the morning, except that it was already noon hour here and 2:30 by the time we reached the hotel.    The Accra airport is easy to navigate although the luggage area was challenging with all the luggage, however everyone is so polite that even this is easy.  People help each other and everyone is friendly.  Ghana has been described by many as the friendliest country and after only three days here, it is easy to see why.  Relationships matter. Family matters.  Community matters.  People are expected to be polite and respectful. 

My new friend Stephanie saw a sign as we waited in the customs line….all visitors are welcome except pedophiles and other such criminals who are instead invited to turn around and go back from whence they came.  Now there’s a clear value statement.  Yay for Ghana!

We were greeted at the airport by Thomas and Fred from WUSC who were very nice and showed us some points of interest as we drove to the hotel.  I took video to post for you to see but it is blurry, either from the bumpy roads or perhaps my blurry eyes, not sure which and so I will try again another day.  We travelled through the University of Ghana campus which is beyond huge.  My map friends can check this out but I am quite sure the campus is larger than the whole town of Middleton.  Oh, and the termite hills are many and I dare say some are over 6 feet high.

Upon arrival at the hotel, we were welcomed by Patience from WUSC and the other volunteers who were already in training since they will be here for 8 months to 1 year.  They had just finished lunch and invited us to go rest; however Stephanie and I were too excited so ventured out for a walk.  Travelling down the road aimlessly, we were in a residential area and turned around to walk back to explore another road.  Almost to the corner, a group of school children started down the road towards us on their way home.  As we got closer, a littly boy got very excited….’Oburoni!’…which is of course twi for ‘white person’ …a greeting we can expect to here many times during our visit…no need to take offence, he is smiling and so we smile in return knowing we are welcome in Ghana.

Travel time

My flight leaves in about an hour, and so I am anxiously awaiting as the air conditioning cuts in and out in the airport lounge…I might as well get used to that I suppose.  I will travel through NYC, meeting up with my new friend and travel buddy from the U of T who is also volunteering in Accra over the same three weeks.  A few other Canadian volunteers were on their way the other day, so it looks like we may have a few Canadians staying together which will be nice and might help us all with the culture shock we will no doubt encounter. 

A trip highlight so far, a young man in the customs line called me ‘sweetie’…so nice…I thanked him…it’s better than ma’am…not sure when people started calling me ma’am, it started a while ago and I definitely like ‘sweetie’ better…makes me feel younger!

The last week has been crazy with our international student leaving…her stay complete…her parents arriving and touring NS, wrapping up a few things at work, and for the Chamber, and re-considering all that I was packing.  I made some quick conclusions – stop working on work stuff, stop working on Chamber stuff, and if I had the room in my weight limit, take it!  Bruce (God love him) found some blogs of past volunteers to Ghana that were quite informative and so today I even threw a vegetable peeler into my suitcase….as they say…peel it, boil it or throw it away.

This adventure is a mere three weeks which means time will fly and before I know it I will be home while at the same time some days may snake along, and for those days my sister bought me some curly wurly bars. Yay! 🙂    Medaase! 🙂

Maureen’s Leave For Change 2011 Blog

I decided to rename my blog for this adventure and this is the new spot!  The reason I chose to do this is because I feel it is important going forward to have the blog contain the Leave for Change program in the title.  This may encourage others to participate and learn more about the program and so please, take a moment to share this spot with anyone you think may be interested in following my Leave for Change adventure in Accra Ghana.

For those of you just joining us, I have copied all of my earlier posts into the new blog address in case you are interested in following from the beginning.  Unfortunately, to transfer comments, etc, costs money 😦  …perhaps I will add the former comments as post scripts…and so I opted not transfer them officially and will make a donation to Her Challenge, Your Challenge instead.  Why not join me…

Here is my new blog address.  Enjoy!

https://maureenleave4change2011.wordpress.com/

Thanks friends,

Maureen

 

Orientation Training

Sitting in Starbucks on Dundas for the free WiFi so that I can let you all know this weekend I am in TO for orientation training for the Leave for Change.  I am most looking forward to meeting ther volunteers, especially those who may be travelling to Ghana at the same time.  A little disappointed that I have not met anyone yet but it was a nice sunny day so folks are probably out and about, perhaps when I get back to the room I will meet some new friends! 🙂

A big Congrats to the NSCC grads who convocated at Annapolis Valley Campus tonight!  Sorry I could not be there!  Best of luck to all of you, whereever your learning journey leads!

Until tomorrow,

Maureen

About Leave for Change

Leave for Change promotes employee volunteerism in the developing world.  In collaboration with Uniterra, employers give their employees the opportunity to volunteer in a developing country, working on a short term assignment that utilizes their skills while helping an organization in the developing country advance their goals.  The opportunity for capacity building is immense for all involved: the organization abroad, the employer and the volunteer.  This requires a partnership between Uniterra and the employer organization as well as employees will to take the learning journey.

For me, the choice to participate in leave for change is really about my desire to learn more about other parts of our world.  The world continues to get smaller.  As people, there is great value in our perspective becoming broader.  Afterall, we all call the same place home.

To see if your employer is a partner, check out this link and scroll down the page:

http://www.uniterra.ca/uniterra/en/leave_for_change/how_to_get_involved.html

If your employer is not on the list…and really, why wouldn’t they be?…perhaps share the program information with them and encouorage them to consider this learning opportunity for their employees.   If you are a person of influence in your company – perhaps an owner or partner, talk to your co-owners/partners.  Consider giving an employee the chance to participate….or pursue the opportunity for yourself.  Partners are listed on the Uniterra site with a link to their website – you will see Nova Scotia Community College there – YAY!   Of course another advantage of being a partner organization is the warm and fuzzies…and really…wouldn’t that alone make it worth it?

A win-win-win-win opportunity…pretty cool.  Why not give it a try?

Volunteering internationally is something I have always wanted to do and I am so looking forward to this opportunity and cannot believe it is a mere 7 weeks away!

Leave for Change, something to consider.

Your friend in volunteerism,

Maureen