Wednesday was day of contrasts. Spent the morning in our first proper team meeting on the Cadbury project (not its official title but the accepted shorthand). There has been so much to-ing and fro-ing, initial community introductions, data gathering, practical accommodation issues and so on that we have not had time to think about the next steps in the project. So the three long term volunteers – Danielle, Jill and I, plus Shirley, our Tamale evacuee, met Thelma the VSO project officer in the Community Development office with the seriously bright blue walls. We discussed the data gathering, our experiences of the communities we had visited and the teams we had been working with. There are big problems in these communities. Many people in them tell us that they receive visits from other NGOs and charities that come and make them promises and are never seen again. One of Jill’s communities was very pleased when she made her second visit as, for them, this was unprecedented. We are concerned that they do not see this project in the same way and that hope that they will receive help. Their biggest problems stem from receiving too little income which has various causes.
After the meeting I returned to the house, changed clothes, collected my luggage and returned to town to get a tro-tro to the airport. I spent last Christmas in Ghana, but this year I intended to be in the UK. I got my first air conditioned tro-tro, smart smoother ride, slightly faster (even with a short stop for one of the passengers to buy three of the biggest paw paws I have ever seen), but slightly less leg room than the standard ones. They took my luggage free of charge so that was a bonus. I had made sure I was in good time so got out a couple of stops early at had a burger and fries at the Accra Mall. Suddenly you are in a world of fast food, big 4WDs, ex-pats, satellite TV and smart wealthy Ghanaians.
I am wrote this in the departure lounge at the airport in Accra, taking advantage of the free wireless broadband but had to post it in Berkshire as the service dropped at the crucial moment. This will be my last post before Christmas so I would like to wish everybody reading this a very happy Christmas and apologise for not ending any Christmas cards (again!). I would also like to thank everybody who has commented on the blog this year. It is good to hear that somebody is reading it!
Wednesday 17 December 2008
Monday 15 December 2008
Christmas
The Koforidua VSO volunteers generally have different plans for Christmas so we tend to celebrate the festive season early as a group. This year we started on Saturday with a trip to Accra Mall. For those returning home this would help with the adjustment back to Europe, for those staying the opportunity for a few treats. Over the last year there have been a number of additions to the mall. It now boasts an air-conditioned multiplex and after a quick iced coffee, we started our visit with a viewing of Quantum of Solace. We lunched in the food courtyard and then bought barbeque food in Shoprite.
Dan had commissioned the construction of a barbecue from an old oil drum. It arrived on Saturday morning. On Sunday all the volunteers from the region came and we cooked beef kebabs, pork sausages, veggie burgers and beef burgers. The local kids were fascinated by the whole affair and spent the afternoon peering through the railings into the compound, occasionally pointing out when items were burning. It was a sunny dry season day until, just as the final sausages were gently blackening, the rain came.
Dan had commissioned the construction of a barbecue from an old oil drum. It arrived on Saturday morning. On Sunday all the volunteers from the region came and we cooked beef kebabs, pork sausages, veggie burgers and beef burgers. The local kids were fascinated by the whole affair and spent the afternoon peering through the railings into the compound, occasionally pointing out when items were burning. It was a sunny dry season day until, just as the final sausages were gently blackening, the rain came.
The Election
Election Day in Koforidua was eerily quiet. The BBC had a team in Ghana and reported on early morning polling activity. Queues had been building since the small hours and in some cases stations had not opened as materials or staff were not present.
Mid-morning I went to one of the internet cafés in town. On the way I met my friend, Grandson, a school teacher. He was not going to vote. He wanted nothing to do with corrupt politicians, whatever their party. He was particularly affronted by Nana Akufo-Addo. He had received an automated phone call from the NPP flagbearer, but the message did not include any greeting and Nana had not asked how he was. ‘How are you?’ is a standard part of any Ghanaian greeting and Grandson argued that he could have no respect for somebody who wanted something from him, without being remotely interested in his well being. Many churches had cancelled services to allow people plenty of time to vote. I passed the polling station at the Presby School. There was a queue outside but all appeared quiet. On the way back I met three young men who asked if I had voted. They proudly showed the indelible green ink on their right thumbs, indicating they had marked their ballot papers.
Over the rest of the day I occasionally listened to Joy FM, an Accra based new station. There were reports of practical problems at some of the 21,000 plus polling stations and some islands in Lake Volta, north of the Afram Plains were still not in business in the early afternoon. Queuing in some places took many hours and the Electoral Commission stressed that if you were in a queue at the official closing time of 5 pm you would still be allowed to vote.
As it grew dark results began to trickle in. Votes are counted at polling stations, so early results are only for stations and not for whole constituencies. Votes are listed by party in the presidential and parliamentary polls.
The Electoral Commission has 72 hours in which to declare the result and took nearly full advantage of this. By Monday morning it was looking pretty certain that neither NDC nor NPP had enough votes to assure a ‘one touch’ victory for their presidential candidate. To avoid a run off and win the race, one candidate must take at least 50 % of the vote plus one additional vote. Only the Electoral Commission can announce the result, so the media had an impossible job in reporting on the results as they came through and only being able to speculate vaguely on the potential outcome. At one point, Joy FM was effectively saying Atta Mills of the NDC could still be president if he received 140 % of the uncounted votes.
The result, when it came was that there was barely a percentage point between the NDC and the NPP and that the NPP was less than a percentage point from a one touch victory. The other six presidential candidates did abysmally. There will be a run off election on 28 December and consequently another three weeks of campaigning.
Mid-morning I went to one of the internet cafés in town. On the way I met my friend, Grandson, a school teacher. He was not going to vote. He wanted nothing to do with corrupt politicians, whatever their party. He was particularly affronted by Nana Akufo-Addo. He had received an automated phone call from the NPP flagbearer, but the message did not include any greeting and Nana had not asked how he was. ‘How are you?’ is a standard part of any Ghanaian greeting and Grandson argued that he could have no respect for somebody who wanted something from him, without being remotely interested in his well being. Many churches had cancelled services to allow people plenty of time to vote. I passed the polling station at the Presby School. There was a queue outside but all appeared quiet. On the way back I met three young men who asked if I had voted. They proudly showed the indelible green ink on their right thumbs, indicating they had marked their ballot papers.
Over the rest of the day I occasionally listened to Joy FM, an Accra based new station. There were reports of practical problems at some of the 21,000 plus polling stations and some islands in Lake Volta, north of the Afram Plains were still not in business in the early afternoon. Queuing in some places took many hours and the Electoral Commission stressed that if you were in a queue at the official closing time of 5 pm you would still be allowed to vote.
As it grew dark results began to trickle in. Votes are counted at polling stations, so early results are only for stations and not for whole constituencies. Votes are listed by party in the presidential and parliamentary polls.
The Electoral Commission has 72 hours in which to declare the result and took nearly full advantage of this. By Monday morning it was looking pretty certain that neither NDC nor NPP had enough votes to assure a ‘one touch’ victory for their presidential candidate. To avoid a run off and win the race, one candidate must take at least 50 % of the vote plus one additional vote. Only the Electoral Commission can announce the result, so the media had an impossible job in reporting on the results as they came through and only being able to speculate vaguely on the potential outcome. At one point, Joy FM was effectively saying Atta Mills of the NDC could still be president if he received 140 % of the uncounted votes.
The result, when it came was that there was barely a percentage point between the NDC and the NPP and that the NPP was less than a percentage point from a one touch victory. The other six presidential candidates did abysmally. There will be a run off election on 28 December and consequently another three weeks of campaigning.
Sunday 7 December 2008
Ghana Decides
Do you Believe in Ghana? Vote for me, Nana Akufo-Addo on 7th Dec for quality education, jobs, healthcare and a brighter future for our children. God Bless Ghana.
Sender: AkufoAddo
Sent: 6-Dec-2008 20:31:35
Sender: AkufoAddo
Sent: 6-Dec-2008 20:31:35
The campaigning is over, the speeches have been made, the text messages have been sent and the anthems have been sung. The commentators have made their concluding remarks and note has been taken of election related violence in Nigeria earlier in the week. The police and other services queued up and voted on Tuesday. The hawkers will be counting their profits from the sale of posters, hats and T shirts. The ballot papers have been airlifted to the remotest parts of the country. The Electoral Commission has confirmed which marks will be accepted as votes and which won’t. The screens have been set up in public places to display the results as they come in. The BBC has predicted a close finish. VSO has evacuated volunteers from Tamale, seen as the area most likely to suffer violence, to other parts of Ghana. The observers have arrived from the European Union, the African Union, the Commonwealth and, no doubt, other agencies. The prayers for peaceful elections continued at special services last night. The polling stations opened at 7 this morning and will close at 5. After four peaceful elections how will Ghana handle the fifth?
Water
For one of the rainiest parts of Ghana, there is amazing little water in the taps of Koforidua. All the time I have been here there has only been one day, or slightly more, of water each week. It comes on Wednesday evening or Thursday morning and vanishes again sometime on Friday. This is usually the time when I do my washing and enjoy the convenience of water straight from the tap. I also fill every bucket and basin in the house. The landlord’s brother fills my outdoor tank with a hose and this easily keeps me going until the next week. Volunteers in other parts of Ghana, even the drier northern regions, tend to get a better supply of water than me, with the possible exception of those in Tamale, (Hi, Tim).
The simple fact is that Koforidua is a rapidly growing town. It is a regional capital and new developments are constantly springing up. The existing local reservoirs are woefully incapable of meeting the increasing demand. This has been recognised by the authorities and by the spring (fingers tightly crossed) a dramatic improvement should be place. A pipeline is currently being laid, which will drain water directly from Lake Volta and bring it to Koforidua. On a recent trip to Boti Falls, there were large pieces of plastic pipe lying along the roadside waiting to be laid.
However, in the meantime, after the arrival of two short- term volunteers the existing tank is no longer enough to see us through the week. VSO has purchased a tank more than two and a half times the original in capacity and my landlord agreed to plumb it into the mains and the house. As a result I now have a theoretically constant water supply. The pressure is not great, so the flow is modest and showers will continued to elude me, but this will make a huge difference.
The simple fact is that Koforidua is a rapidly growing town. It is a regional capital and new developments are constantly springing up. The existing local reservoirs are woefully incapable of meeting the increasing demand. This has been recognised by the authorities and by the spring (fingers tightly crossed) a dramatic improvement should be place. A pipeline is currently being laid, which will drain water directly from Lake Volta and bring it to Koforidua. On a recent trip to Boti Falls, there were large pieces of plastic pipe lying along the roadside waiting to be laid.
However, in the meantime, after the arrival of two short- term volunteers the existing tank is no longer enough to see us through the week. VSO has purchased a tank more than two and a half times the original in capacity and my landlord agreed to plumb it into the mains and the house. As a result I now have a theoretically constant water supply. The pressure is not great, so the flow is modest and showers will continued to elude me, but this will make a huge difference.
The Way to Worapong
I finally made it to Worapong. This was the cocoa farming community which we did not visit when we undertook our original contact meetings, because it was regarded as too inaccessible. It was regarded as more appropriate for a delegation from the village to come to Asikasu at the point vehicular access ends and meet us there. To interview community members and to get an impression of the environment we had to visit the village itself.
I left the house at 7:15. The Harmattan is in full effect now and the mountain only slowly emerged from the haze as I approached the meeting point. Although a couple of the interview team had decided that the climb would be too onerous, there were still enough of us to fill two pick ups. I travelled with Adukpo, the Agric. Director and representatives of the Departments of Co-operatives and Community Development. We waved at people from Kofikrom, the previous day’s community as we passed through. We disembarked at Asikasu and met the local Assemblyman who then accompanied us. The narrow path immediately left the village and became submerged in lush, green vegetation. After crossing a couple of streams it began to climb slowly up the escarpment. The path needed care to negotiate, although it was never necessary to resort to taking hand holds. For the people of Worapong this is their main access route. The children descend everyday to school and the women of the village must regularly use it, carrying their smaller children or quantities of farm produce bound for the markets on the valley floor. There were cocoa trees at regular intervals, many stripped of pods, so late in the harvest. Occasional bird song and crickets were the only sounds in the otherwise peaceful forest. After half an hour the path levelled and we entered a clearing. Dotted around it was a handful of fenced off homes and on one edge a covered meeting space. Chairs had been set out in preparation for the meeting. There was the usual selection of chickens, ducks, sheep, goats and pigs. There were few people waiting, but sounding the narrow village hand bell soon produced a bigger turnout.
A prayer was said; the assemblyman and agricultural officers explained the purpose of the morning. Focus groups of men, women and youth were assembled and sent to different parts of the village, while another team interviewed the chiefs, elders and opinion leaders. At the end of the morning we gathered together again. We were presented with coconuts, bananas and citrus fruit. There was a formal ending to the meeting, questions were asked and answered and we made our move towards the Asikasu path. Just as we approached the chief’s house we noticed that the front members of the group were going inside. While the team had worked, a meal of boiled yam plantain, and cocoyam with sauces had been prepared for us. As we ate we prepared ourselves mentally for the descent to our vehicles.
I left the house at 7:15. The Harmattan is in full effect now and the mountain only slowly emerged from the haze as I approached the meeting point. Although a couple of the interview team had decided that the climb would be too onerous, there were still enough of us to fill two pick ups. I travelled with Adukpo, the Agric. Director and representatives of the Departments of Co-operatives and Community Development. We waved at people from Kofikrom, the previous day’s community as we passed through. We disembarked at Asikasu and met the local Assemblyman who then accompanied us. The narrow path immediately left the village and became submerged in lush, green vegetation. After crossing a couple of streams it began to climb slowly up the escarpment. The path needed care to negotiate, although it was never necessary to resort to taking hand holds. For the people of Worapong this is their main access route. The children descend everyday to school and the women of the village must regularly use it, carrying their smaller children or quantities of farm produce bound for the markets on the valley floor. There were cocoa trees at regular intervals, many stripped of pods, so late in the harvest. Occasional bird song and crickets were the only sounds in the otherwise peaceful forest. After half an hour the path levelled and we entered a clearing. Dotted around it was a handful of fenced off homes and on one edge a covered meeting space. Chairs had been set out in preparation for the meeting. There was the usual selection of chickens, ducks, sheep, goats and pigs. There were few people waiting, but sounding the narrow village hand bell soon produced a bigger turnout.
A prayer was said; the assemblyman and agricultural officers explained the purpose of the morning. Focus groups of men, women and youth were assembled and sent to different parts of the village, while another team interviewed the chiefs, elders and opinion leaders. At the end of the morning we gathered together again. We were presented with coconuts, bananas and citrus fruit. There was a formal ending to the meeting, questions were asked and answered and we made our move towards the Asikasu path. Just as we approached the chief’s house we noticed that the front members of the group were going inside. While the team had worked, a meal of boiled yam plantain, and cocoyam with sauces had been prepared for us. As we ate we prepared ourselves mentally for the descent to our vehicles.
Friday 5 December 2008
Mobile Phones
Ghanaians love their mobile ‘phones. The speed at which they have been adopted across Africa has been phenomenal. Land lines have been almost entirely bypassed in the process. To give some idea of how insignificant land lines are: Koforidua has the same three digit STD code as Asamankese, forty miles away and the individual subscriber numbers have only five digits. Mobile numbers all have ten digits. You can easily believe the often quoted statement that on average, Africans have easier access to a mobile ‘phone than water, whether it is true or not.The technology has spawned an industry in the selling and transfer of ‘units’. Along most roads you will see rows of sometimes adjacent booths selling ‘phone credit. Often they are decorated with strings of used cards waving in the breeze created by passing traffic. The money made from the sale of units must be tiny, but it doesn’t seem to deter people from taking it up. Some businesses combine it with other trades. On my route to work, I see a shoe and credit selling shop. On the ring road in Accra, you can purchase a kit of all the items you need to start you own booth – signs, umbrellas and the stands themselves.The overwhelming popularity of mobile phones has produced problems though. Just as the streets of Accra snarl up with ever increasing traffic, the Ghanaian airwaves are now filled to capacity with calls and SMSs. It is getting harder and more frustrating to successfully connect to other users. There are currently four networks operating in Ghana and a fifth license has been awarded. At one point last year, MTN, the largest operator, was prevented from issuing new SIM cards until it had sorted out some technical problems. It is now issuing cards again but the service still seems to be deteriorating.It hardly seems necessary, but the networks must be amongst the biggest advertisers in Ghana. Their hoardings are vast and their sponsorship is prominent. MTN was the main sponsor of the Africa Cup at the beginning of the year and seemed as if every billboard in Accra was MTN yellow. There is still a twenty foot high Michael Essien on the approach to Koforidua from Accra. I was watching some children looking at an MTN sign the other day. They must have been at the learning to spell stage. They carefully read aloud the letters M,T and N, before chorusing, ‘Everywhere you go’, the company slogan, even though it didn’t appear on the sign.I started by saying that Ghanaians love their ‘phones and like everywhere else they are interested in the latest models and latest new features. I could be uncharitable and say that some Ghanaians love my mobile ‘phone in particular. I have now had one stolen and left another one in a taxi which I didn’t get back. This is my own fault for not being more careful, but as a result, for the last four months I have been using my spare ‘phone. It is a little larger than current models, but it works fine. It calls and texts (not predicatively) and even worked in Timbuktu! The reaction to it from friends and colleagues has been general amusement. My national service friends at the Assembly have suggested that if I left this one in a taxi, the driver would call me and ask me to come and remove it. They say it would also be useful for weight training and Joe has asked to borrow it for a week, for its novelty value. I think the final straw came during a visit to one of the cocoa communities last week. The place had no electricity, no piped water or proper toilets, no school, clinic or any other facilities. As we were preparing to leave the chief looked at me and said, ‘I like your ‘phone’, and somehow I know he was being a little sarcastic.
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