Amy's adventures in Ghana

Ghana's future President

The leader of the National Democratic Congress (NDC), Professor Atta Mills, was in Tamale the other day.  The general election will be next year and it is very much hoped (at least in Tamale and everyone I know) that the NDC will take over from NPP.  So, hopefully, this time next year Atta Mills will be the Presedent of Ghana.  I got to meet him in a typically random Ghanaian way. He was staying in a hotel near my house. I went along with Sahadatu and Kailan, who are big NDC supporters, to try and catch a glimpse. Turns out one of the security people was somehow related to Sahadatu and all of a sudden we were ushered inside.  I didn't really know what was  happening and thought that maybe we'd just get a ringside view of him, but no, we were directed to his bedroom where we had a nice wee chat and a photo opportunity. Seems like a nice guy.

www.simliaid.org

I realised that most of my posts here are about personal things that I have done whilst in Ghana.  Considering that my purpose of being here is to work I have really written very little about what I do.  I guess this is because work is, in my mind, the least interesting part of my life in Ghana. 

Now that my time is coming to end i feel a bit more reflective about what I've been doing. What have I been doing?  Essentially my job is an office based job much like I had at home.  I am helping the organisation find funds to continue its work and implementing some systems which should help the organisation in the future.  I have had some success in obtaining funding to develop and continue projects.  The difficult part has been in implementing change in an organisation desparately in need of change in order to survive.  I have found the staff very reluctant to change the way the work or even take on suggestions about administrative issues such as monitoring, evaluation and filing. 

I had hoped that I would be working more at the community level especially in project monitoring, identification and evaluation but that hasn't been a major part of my job.  Most days I am in the main office which is much like any other office (but with added mosquitos). 

What have been my successes?  Aside from obtaining funding for work, I think my biggest successes have been in training some staff in fundraising techniques to the point that they are able to make applications themselves which have been successful. I think I was more happy the day that I heard someone else had received funding (for a different organisation) than when Simli got money themselves.  I have also introduced some recording systems which are being used and I think the attitudes of some staff have changed with regards to project sustainablility.  SImli AId have opened an Internet Cafe, for example, the profits of which will go towards the core costs, reducing reliance on foreign funders. 

I am quite proud of the new Simli Aid website which I developed and designed.  Have a look! www.simliaid.org

Cape Coast and Coffins

Cape Coast is one of the most famous colonial slave castles in Ghana.  It is where thousands of captured Ghanians were taken, imprisoned & sold as slaves.  Its definitely worth a visit.  We were taken on a tour following the same route captured people would take on arrival.  First they were separated into male and female and then forced into dungeons which they would only leave through "the door of no return" when a ship came to take them to America, unless they died of course. Many people died in the disgusting conditions they were kept in.  The particularly harrowing thing about the castle is that the colonial "masters" lived in grand conditions above the dungeons and the Church was directly above the men's dungeon. 

The beach at Cape Coast is very beautiful. We thought we'd take a pleasant stroll along the sands only to find it literally covered in shit.  Children shitting left right and centre  - at the same time waving cheerily to me "obruni, hello". The fishing boats were nice and colourful though.

Back in Accra I really wanted to visit a coffin shop which are famous there as the Ga tribe are known for making really elaborate coffins in shapes reflecting the owner's life.  For example a fisherman might have a fish shaped coffin, a taxi driver might have a car shaped coffin.  Some of the  others we saw were Elephant (hunter/wildlife enthusiast?) mobile phone (businessman?) and a beer bottle (alcoholic?) We spent ages talking to the guy who makes them who told us that Americans are his biggest customer, even more than the Ga people who the tradition comes from. Why am I not surprised?  They cost about $800 each.

kids

I love this photo

Lantana's wedding in Daboya

One of my colleagues, Lantana got married at the weekend.   She is from a village called Daboya, about 2 hours west of Tamale in Gonja district. Gonja is a different tribe so it was interesting to attend a wedding with different customs to the Dagbani weddings I have been to. They also have a different language so my basic Dagbani was of no use! 

To get to Daboya we drove about 2 hours until we reached the White Volta River which we had to cross by canoe, since there is  no brige. It wasn't very far but my colleagues I travelled with were terrified as they cant swim.

Daboya is just a few minutes walk from the river.  Obviously having no bridge is a huge hinderance to development. All the food and imported goods have to be transp orted in these small canoes!

The wedding preparations started on Saturday night.  All the women gathered at the brides house to cook.  The bride's hands and feet are painted with henna designs to make her look particularly beautiful. They also painted my hand which turned bright orange cos of my skin colour, but looks nice.  Everyone was asking if I was getting married too as it's usually only done to the bride.

The next morning we got up early to greet the bride who looked lovely.  She then was taken to her father's house to be washed before going to meet her husband.  This was great as all the women gathered outside the house and were singi ng and dancing traditional Gonja songs.

After washing, she was taken to her husbands house. 

Daboya is well known for smock making which is similar to Kente.  All over the village I saw men, women and children weaving, spinning wool and dying wool. The smock is very beautiful and used for the tradional dress in Northern Region. 

Easter in Bimbilla

I took advantage of the Easter holidays to get out of Tamale for a few days and go to Bimbilla, about 3 hours South East of Tamale.  I travelled alone and met Abdul there, who travelled from Accra. It was so nice to get away for a bit and visit Abdul's family who are all in Bimbilla.  We basically spent the time greeting family and eating with them. I was the only white person in Bimbilla which is a small town but very rural.  I was surprised on the first day I arrived to have 2 people know my name - since they had heard from Sahadatu that her "siliminga" daughter was coming so they knew it must be me! 

This is Abdul's father's father and 2 of his 4 wives (i'm not one of them)

This is me, Abdul and Sahadatu in Tamale.

This is the queue for water in Bimbilla, it comes on infrequently..

6th March 2007 - Ghana's 50th Anniversary of Independence

On 6th March 1957, Ghana was the first country in Africa to become independent from colonial rule.  So the 50th Anniversary is a huge milestone in Ghanaian as well as African history. 

It was a shame that the celebrations were all centered around Accra - leading some people to rename it Accra at 50, rather than Ghana at 50.  Being in Tamale I really noticed this.  There wasn't much happening and none of the cabinet members or dignitaries came up north.  Apparently the budget for celebrations was 20million dollars which I think was probably all spent in the south. It's a sad reflection on Ghana really especially on such an important day.

Anyway, we managed to enjoy ourselves in Tamale but it didn't really feel all  that special. It was pretty much a normal day with all the shops and market stalls open.  There was a military and school parade in the central police park. It was so busy we couldn't see anything!  In the evening there was a street jam in town consisting of local musicians miming to music played too quietly!  Sorry, I sound so negative!  It was a fun day but just not nearly as exciting as I had expected. 

The highlight was probably painting the faces of kids with the Ghana flag.  They were all so excited that made me happy! 

On the 5th March there was a gathering of all the Chiefs in the area .  I liked this really fat Cheif from the Ashanti region. He had a huge entourage of about 40 people.

Chief's funeral

The Chairman of Simli Aid, Mr Issah Adam, father died a couple of weeks ago. He was a fairly big Chief in Tamale.  After the burial it is the custom that the eldest son takes over the title of Chieftency.  I went along with some other Simli Aid staff.  It was one of the craziest afternoons I've had in Tamale! 

Firstly, we had to greet Issah. Being white, Pam and I were ushered into a room with all the important Chiefs and Mr Issah, which was a bit embarrassing as women aren't usually allowed. I actually hate that kind of thing happening - being treated differently cos I'm white - so we just greeted him then managed to leave and sit outside with the rest of the women!  There was a huge gathering of people and it was very exciting, but we weren't sure what was going to happen.

After a bit of a wait, suddenly everyone started shouting and moving and drums started and then Issah came out of his house dressed in a special smock, goatskin and hat, accompanied by lots of elders (all the folk we had orginally been sitting with!)

He walked to his father's house and then mounted a horse to circle the house 3 times.  This was not easy considering 1. The houses are very close together, with only narrow alleys between them. 2. There were hundreds of people crowded round the house to watch.  3.  About 30 warriors (!) also surrounded the  house and fired a home made gun as the Chief on horse passed!

I felt so sorry for the horse, I don't know how it coped.  Everyone was laughing at us being terrified of the guns. I think the thing is, the "warriors" look so dodgy, dressed in rags and the guns they use look like a highschool art project. 

After the guns and horse excitement there was lots of dancing.  It was definitely the best dancing I have seen in Ghana.  Usually what happens is there are about 4 drummers.  They start the beat then approach someone and force that person to dance.  If the crowd enjoys it they go into the circle and stick small money (500 or 1000 cedis) on the dancer or drummer. 

There was one male dancer who was great and everyone loved (wearing the stipy hat).  He was very funny and expressive and energetic!  I learnt later that he is a "magicman" and was performing magic whilst dancing, although I didn't notice/realise.  Every time he tried to sit down, the crowd would go mad and the drummers would approach him again and he'd dance some more.  After a while, he came and grabbed me to join him, which caused major hilarity!  A siliminga and a magic man dancing  together!  It was very funny. I felt a bit nervous as there were so many people, but once I started I enjoyed it, and everyone was laughing and giving me money!! 

everybody needs good neighbours

Without doubt, the best thing about being in Ghana is the people I've met.  Somehow I feel that I have been really lucky in working with and living near fantastic people, but part of me thinks that I probably would have thought this wherever I ended up as (nearly) everyone in Ghana is great!

Anyway, I'm very thankful for the fantastic people I have been put in contact with.  Here are some photos of my neighbours:

Haruna's 2 wives Burkisu and Fatamata with Burkisu's daughter Radia.  They are in the compound of their house. You can see the fire they use for cooking every day behind them, and 2 pots for storing water - traditional and modern.

Faati with her youngest son Saleem. Faati is wearing the table cloth my mum sent!

Me with Mumin Wumpini, Alhassan's son. 

Ramatu, Zaharau and Kailan eating Japanese snacks sent from my brother

bogum (fire) festival

Monday was the Dagomba fire festival.  I'd been looking forward to it for ages as I haven't really seen many cultural events here in Ghana.  All Dagomba events have been banned by the government since the Yaa Naa in Yendi was murdered 4 years ago. But the funeral took place last year so cultural events are allowed again.  Apparently it was during  the Bogum festival that the chief was killed so it is especially feared by authorities.  Anyway, we were all planned to go when it was announced on Sunday that the local authority had decided to ban any celebrations taking place in Tamale.  How annoying. So we were frantically asking everyone where we could go to celebrate Bogum. Eventually we found out that it would be taking place in nearby Nanton, so Pam and I travelled there on Monday evening for the celebrations.

It started about 9.30pm. The Chief starts the first fire and everyone picks up torches made of dried grasses and lights them from the Chief's fire. We then marched in a big line singing and dancing to a tree which is symbolic for that community.

The story is that the Chief lost his young son. In the night he gathered together the whole community to look for him with torches.  He was found sleeping under a tree. The Chief said the tree was hiding him so the people should punish the tree by throwing their torches at it.

After throwing the fire at the tree we all marched back to the village holding branches with green leaves to show the fire had been overcome.

It was great, I'm so glad we got to experience it!  It ended around midnight. 

We stayed in the village of Kpanu which is a Simil Aid community. The next day we met with the village women and elders about Simli activities. They have loads of Shea nut trees in the area, so we are looking at finding a market for Shea butter so they can produce that to sell.  They know how to make it but they cant sell it. I know that The Body Shop uses Shea butter in lots of cosmetics, so am going to try and get in touch with them. It is such a nice community and always so welcoming.  Last time I was there a baby was born and I met it again and it's massive!  Really goes to show how fast time is passing. Quite scary really!