Eggcellent Easter (oh yes! I made that joke!)

This Easter I went to Accra for a holiday. I took a large empty bag with me, an empty belly and plain palate, and came back a full, heavy, stocked up, happy person.

Highlights included;

• The BEACH! Even though I was swimming with plastic bags and rubbish around my legs (I think I approximated maybe 2 bags per cubic meter) it was so nice to be on the sand with some ocean breeze
• Great company
• Delicious Lebanese food (puts the 'Lebanese' restaurant in Tamale to shame)
• Thai food
• Spanish tapas - aahhhhhhh
• Italian pizza
• Good wine
• Cold beer on tap (and in one case, served in a chilled glass while I reclined on a beach chair with my feet in the sand……)
• New scenery
• Grocery shopping in supermarkets (‘super’ may be overkill here, but it was an air conditioned shop that was fully stocked and even had a deli section)
• The pool. Complete with fountains and complimentary towels, I spent some lazy sessions paddling about
• Croissants for breakfast (direct from Paris)
• Breakfast overlooking the beach
• A beer tower

Can you see a theme here….?

Despite mum and Kat sending me an amazing chocolate care package that arrived just before Easter (and saving it from customs at the post office when they politely pointed out “sharing is caring”), I forgot to bring any with me, so it was my very first chocolate-free Easter.

In Ghana Easter is a time to spend with the family. Busy, hectic Accra was turned into a ghost town as people returned to their villages, and I was able to walk down the main tourist street without being hassled, yelled at, asked for money, or just chatted to. It was a strange thing, it did not feel like Accra at all.

And to complete my Ghanaian Easter, I turned up to work 2.5 hours late on Tuesday, no sweat, and enjoyed my short week. So the Easter Bunny did not find me, but the Ghanaian Grasscutter (think Australian Bilby) did, I had a great holiday!

Joking Around

They say you understand the language or culture when you can tell a joke in the language. So far I am simply trying to figure out when to laugh so I look like I understand. Ghanaians have a great sense of humour and love a good laugh. There is plenty of back slapping, high fiving, finger clicking and reminiscing of punch lines going on.

Ironic humour doesn’t work. And for me, telling a funny story can result in the response of “Oh, I’m sorry-yo” when I’m waiting for a laugh. From what I gather there is a lot of tribal humour, one driver loves to tell everyone that isn’t from his clan that they are his slaves. This always brings in the laughs, just when i feel he has really insulted someone by asking them to ‘run away’ (in my mind this means ‘get lost??’) or ‘get rid of your father’s slave name’. I realise I can’t quite pull these jokes off, so I try to focus on other topics.

My new chief met with the Regional Health Director with me recently. She gave him stern words about not having been to his office yet, and how he is more committed to work than receive her in the office. Hilarity ensued with me laughing nervously by her side...how is that funny??

So my main focus now is to just follow the conversation. Winding emotional stories are used to communicate here. My humour comes mostly from watching my colleagues and friends crack themselves up and my total ignorance to the joke.

But I’ll leave you with one that made people laugh for days, I get it, but I laughed for a second or so and left it. But the joke was bought up all week, and I’m sure if I saw someone who was there now, they’d still be laughing;

JOKE:

The difference between directors and leaders; the directors write cheques, and the leaders make decisions….

?

Dee Silting

What a job! Removing the silt from a dam so the dam has better water-holding capacity, by hand!
This community group is participating in a work for food scheme, where the whole community works on this project and gets 'paid' in food rations. It is another group affected by floods and the UN is trying to improve their livelihoods.

There was much talk about the project, how it could be improved etc, it was fascinating to watch. It was a Saturday, and so many of the community were at a funeral, so I can only imagine what it is like when the full community is present.

Tough work in the hot sun, even for me just standing there taking photographs! 

The Case of the Mosque and The Missing People

Not to let work get in the way of a good adventure, the team stopped outside of Wa for a look at one of the ancient mosques of Ghana. It’s made from mud and sticks, and is reminiscent of the Mali ones, yet maybe on a smaller scale (I haven’t seen the ones in Mali). It was great. 

The mosque, looking into the women's entrance

Inside, it was very small, but it would fit many people at prayer time

We got to enter (me through the female access of course) and even go to the roof through a tiny opening. The local kids caught onto the sight of cameras and went nuts. Can’t keep them away from the lense.

Next door to the mosque

View of the local town from the roof

Exiting the roof through a small hole. and windy mud stairs backwards. quite the skill.

A 16th century mosque, I didn't actually learn all that much about it but just enjoyed being a tourist. I looked it up to maybe shed some light or interesting facts on the mosque, but the best I could find is that it is "a very solemn place". Ghana has to work on it's online tourist presence a little bit... or I should listen more. But at least I didn't go AWOL...

No shoes were harmed during filming

After maybe half an hour investigating the place, we set off in the convoy again. However our car was missing the two journalists that had come along for the day…. So the security vehicle called the convoy to a halt and we searched the town for the journos. I’m talking a tiny village with a handful of houses. I couldn’t get my head around the fact we’d lost two people in this small town. And they weren’t from here too, so I’m sure they’d be noticed. After an hour of waiting, we found that they had caught a bus back into town. Who knows why. There was mention that they probably had a more lucrative story waiting for them in town. That is how the media works here, you pay for the journalists. Crazy. So this was an interesting insight into the media world!

The team was not happy, outraged at having lost an hour of time... even though we'd just spent the morning sightseeing. But we soon set off for more work site inspections, (sans journalists).

Camera spotted! posing starts. The children love tourists.

Children and their toys.... and giant smiles

security escort courtesy of the local kids

Waiting for the journalists to appear... the town locals quite enjoyed the drama

Upper West Family Meeting

Continued…

The convoy arrived in Wechiau, in the Upper West Region, a small community affected by flooding. The project we were inspecting was a livelihood development project, to move the income dependence of the community from farming to other areas. This women’s group was going to be supported in 1) making shea butter, 2) making soap and 3) baking bread. The floods and water shortages were compromising this community, the major flooding occurred in 2007, and I don’t think the community really recovered.

We were welcomed warmly;

There was a strong emphasis on gender, and it was quite ironic that the NGO staff were all men, representing this women’s group. So we asked the ladies to talk to us. They were clearly excited about having hobs and responsibilities, and reported their husbands are supportive. The Upper West is the worst in the country for women’s rights and equality, so this was great to see.

A lady explaining the women's group to us

We inspected the building of their proposed workplace, the building is currently under construction. The women come every day but have nothing to do. The team promised to install toilets (as the town has none, and people must defecate in the open) and basic sanitation, and proposed some literacy classes which caused a stir. This moved many of the women and they were so happy, it was pretty motivating, you know, exciting to see problems being looked at and promises being made. I hope I get to see the project come to fruition, the health sector promised some nutrition education as well which I was so happy to hear, a captive audience like this could really benefit from well-placed interventions.

The new building under way

It’s hard not to be skeptical, I really hope these things are followed through, but I feel maybe some of the promises were a bit empty. Time will tell, and for the moment there’s a group of women who are being promised the world, and I hope they get it because they deserve it.

The NGO representative (male) introducing the women's group

UN country team with the women's group. Girl power!

The UN team and women's groups

Leaving the meeting and the building, back to work in the house...

Nine Car Convoy

In a village where it is rare to see a car a day, and when that car is likely to be a beaten up old taxi held together with duck-tape, it is known that a 9 car convoy of white UN landcruiser vehicles will cause a stir.

Causing a stir in the community. All in a day's work.

The UN Country Team was in the northern region for a visit, and I was able to join on behalf of Health. We were to visit key sites of the different organisations, to observe what each one is doing, and see if everyone can join together and work as ‘one big family’. Many a corny reference to the UN being a family was made... I couldn’t tell you who most of my family members were! But it was a great experience.

Opening the water flow. The lady in orange is in charge of the water flow, and charges each barrel 5 peswars (about 3 cents) to be filled. She only had 1 tap open of the 6. We asked that they are all used. We were prepping the site before the convoy arrived

Preparing the Health Facility before the 'Family' arrived. They were sticking the table together with sticky tape. The volunteers and mothers waited patiently for a few hours.

We visited Tampion in the Northern Region to look at our organisation’s work. We met the chief of the village which is an experience in itself. Talking through interpreters, most of the community came to listen in to what was going on. The media brought some awesome old school cameras and put them right in the chief’s face and other representatives. They were late but made a good deal of noise as they arrived when we were deep in discussions!

The chief and his men

The media getting right among it. Loved their camera!

The water supply had been improved in the area, and Guinea Worm eradicated because the drinking water was now safe, it was previously a large problem here. The initial intervention was supplying the school with clean water, however the community were now crowding the water tanks, as the water supply is not adequate enough for the whole community.

Collecting water for home use. Complete with child on your back. Done with such skill and ease it looks easy. I couldn't pick up that bucket I don't think, let alone lift it to my head.

The handwashing facilities that we donated to the school. The water gets pretty hot out in the sun all day, but it has improved hygiene significantly.

Clean drinking water for the kids now in place at the school. Cross contamination isn't heard of here, but it was great to watch so many kids come out and enjoy a drink.

Previously to our interventions, no houses in the community had latrines, open defecation was practiced, however now all houses had a toilet, and some communities in the district are declared ODF “open defecation free”. Inspecting the facilities at the schools brought this into perspective; urinals for both boys and girls, and a hole in the ground for other business. However it’s a vast improvement on nothing.

The Tuck Shop at school

There is a small health facility in Tampion, with two nurses and bad road access. The small building was inspected, while meeting the community volunteers that the health service relies upon to treat all children under 5 for malaria, diarrhoea and pneumonia. There is also a malnutrition clinic here, with three new cases as we arrived. I spoke with one woman who asked what we are going to do about ensuring families have enough food. Simply treating malnutrition with food at the clinic is not going to stop the problem of inadequate supplies. Fortunately I have heard of some interesting schemes and programs aimed at addressing this. I hope it reaches this community.

Inside the health clinic

The mothers of the malnourished (current and cured) children, and the community volunteers on the right with their donated boxes of medication/treatment.

A quick in and out visit, but we were sure to leave our mark behind as we kicked up the dust all the way back to Tamale. The team visited the Upper East Region, complete with police escorts in the high (well, it’s all relative) risk areas, and I met up again with them in the Upper West. 

To be continued….

Neighbourhood Watch

Defining a Household:

“People who slept here last night and ate from the same cooking pot”

Does this mean that the Jenkins’ who often have three cooking pots (1 “normal”, 1 vegetarian, and 1 gluten free) is not one household? Three households under the same roof?

Defining a household is important in the nutrition surveillance system I am helping implement in the three Northern Regions of Ghana. It always brings such controversy because the living situations are so diverse here. It is not uncommon for many households to be living under the same roof (house). Hence the addition of the statement ‘eating from the same pot’. This will generally distinguish the different households, as commonly, food for only the immediate ‘family’ can only be afforded.

The average household size in the Northern Region is 6, yet the number of people living in a house can vary greatly. In one community I went to, the chief’s house contained hundreds of people, however many “households”. So it is an interesting question, and reflection of the living situation in Northern Ghana. I have been fortunate enough to go to the communities and help train the health staff on how to take height, weight, MUAC (mid upper arm circumference) measurements for malnutrition screening, as well as mortality and household data. It gives you an insight into the living conditions and cultural traditions as well.

The Dagomba tribe (Tamale area) generally give away their first girl child to a sister or brother, to help in the house. Once they are in their 20’s or so, they can go back to their family, but it seems there is always a disconnect between them.

The Upper West has the greatest gender inequality. Women may have some of their own land, however must farm the man’s land first, therefore never quite meeting the needs of their own land. I don’t think they ever can receive land through the death of their husband either, they must go to be a second (or third) wife in the husband’s brother’s household, or must marry again (which is hard when you are older).

Also the ‘community entry’ routine is interesting. You must greet the chief which means entering his home without your shoes, making sure you are lower than them, say hello (in the local language to really ‘integrate’) and clap your hands slowly. Then you ask permission, discuss, thank, and ‘dash’ or ‘give kola’ which used to mean a present or offering of kola nuts, but now it means give some cedi (money). Exiting the community is equally important and a visit to the chief must be made.

So back to the definition. According to Ghana’s standards, the Jenkins family home (when Kat and I still lived there) had three separate households living under the same roof. It's all relative, and a great lesson to learn living abroad. Never generalise but learn from your situation.... enjoy.

MUAC measurements being taken

Weighing child - with mother 'tared'

Taking household data. Under the tree in the village.

Height measurements mostly make the children cry... This one was lucky!

Community exit. Thanking the chief. and photo op!

All crammed into a 'tro tro' - a local minibus. was the way to travel!