(Spencer) Oh the Polylinic

Hello Again!

Remember when I said a post a day? Things never go as planned. That is still the goal but something quite unexpected and certainly valid came between reaching that reality. Everything has been pushed back but is still coming.

I had a little bout of sickness over the past few days; I will spare the details of my suffering but suffice to say I was out of commission.  However I will share my condition, actually I laughed quite hard upon receiving the diagnosis. Plus a little tale of the rest of the day.

Being across the ocean I suppose I had a perception that illness would in turn be from “across the ocean”. As I was trying to sleep Thursday night I had a decent fever and all the tropical ailments were running though my head; do I have malaria? typhoid? or another exotic disease? Thinking to myself how glad that Canada does not experience this.

First thing Friday morning I made my way to the polyclinic of Karaga, met with a Doctor, got tested and was diagnosed. So curious was I to my sickness; he informs me that it is a respiratory infection, strep throat…ah it made so much sense just possibly the last thing I was expecting. Not tropical, not exotic, just plain strep throat. Ask my brother, Fraser, about how common this is (he has had it six times?).

In the end it was a lesson on checking my assumptions. I had jumped to conclusions in my mind based on all the stories I had heard and warnings that were given.  Amoxicillin in one hand; Malarone in the other; on top of the world.

Still things don’t go as planned. Later in the day after dragging myself to the last few hours of work at the District Assembly, I meet Mohammad who works at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. I told him that I just purchased a bike an hour earlier (the absolute lowest costed bike I could find in Karaga, and it was all by chance!), this guy loves his bike like no other loves their bike. It is covered in stickers of the flags of the world, colour strips, a waving Ghanaian flag and all the bells and whistles. He insists we go riding together, go with the flow so they say, and we depart.

We tour Karaga together, with him pointing out his favourite things in the town. Such as; his home, his wife, where he prefers to buy food, a group of friends, and the Ministry of Food and Agriculture office (MoFA) … all the while directing me as though I am ten years old, which is a common theme of people assuming you know nothing about the real world. One particular location I found interesting was the urinal, which was a metal box with a small hole on one side, a large privacy barrier; was contained by a padlock. A huge bonus was seeing Mark (a Ghana JF working at MoFA) and we had a nice little chat together before he left on his hour long bike home.

Here is the location where things diverged; we arrived at our final location, pull our bikes into a compound. He calls for some drinks, which are served to us in the shells of the guad fruit, called calabash; the beverage itself looks to be an apple cider. We start drinking together, the taste is quite nice, and actually hard to describe.

Halfway through the calabash I start realizing that this beverage is alcoholic….he then comments as if reading my mind, “this drink is local drink, not that strong, not 10% or 15% but 5% like beer.” Argh. I just got antibiotics and now alcohol, the two do not mix.  However I remember what my Grandmother told me when I was on antibiotics over Christmas and refused the punch, “when I was your age, I used to go partying while on antibiotics.” Thank you Grandma, all the justification I need we continue drinking happily together. A few calabash later and we head home, after sharing a great goodbye.

Go with the flow and don’t jump to conclusions

Suhuyini

(Kevin) Introducing: Madalitso

 

I spent the weekend in Blantyre, which is the commercial capital of Malawi. It was strange, and made me feel far removed from the Malawi I’ve come to know over the past month. After 2 days in the city, I felt really out of place, and couldn’t wait to go back to the village. After getting off the minibus in Machinga, I felt the familiar feeling that happens when you come home after a trip.

Through my day to day happenings this week, I’ve come to realize that Madaritso is actually Madalitso. I guess I forgot that in Malawi the pronunciations of Ls and Rs is difficult to distinguish. Good to know, lesson learned. Madalitso received word yesterday that his job in Machinga is being terminated from mid-July until September. This is terrible news, and it means that I’m about to lose a co-worker, a friend, and a host. We’ve talked about what I’ll do for living, and it may be the case that I’ll be living in the house alone. This actually means that I’ll be a tenant in Malawi. The thought of this blows my mind..

It seems that things are changing around here, but it’s hard to tell whether or not things are moving forward. I’ve received word from the district and a few of the Water Monitoring Assistants (WMAs) that funding is soon to be released for the WMAs to do their rehabilitation assessment. This is great! I’ve started contacting them, and they seem okay with taking me along for the ride, as try to learn more about what goes into the decision making process from the POV of the WMAs. My planning confusion persists as I learn that some WMAs have tried to complete the survey with their own money for fuel, in hopes that they can get paid for a complete round of assessments. Understandable – I would want to get paid too.

This week, I was able to secure a meeting with the District Water Office for Machinga. He approved of my work plan, and said that I can go forward with the research that I’m proposing to do. In conversation, this sounded great, but based on how slow activities have been moving on this project, I’m a bit nervous about how effectively I will be able to move my plan into action. On a day-to-day basis, there seems to be this looming feeling of nervousness that plans will fall through, or that I won’t get the information I want out of the professional aspect of this placement. That’s where my head’s at right now – hopefully there’s value in the direction that my placement is heading, and I hope that I can identify that value in the next while.

I’ve posted some pictures below. I’m really camera shy when it comes to being the foreigner behind the camera. It always seems awkward to take the camera out for a snapshot. I guess I’ve found it much more valuable to live the moment out of the frame – but don’t worry, I’m getting better at finding a balance between building connections with folks and telling their story in a visual way.

That’s all for now.. oh – and I buzz cut my hair. Freedom!

All the best, and much love.

Kevin

This is me and Genevieve (my coach). She rocks, and is doing fantastic work in the Salima district!

This is my office. Cartoons Corner is something I don’t understand – I think that I need to understand decades of Malawian politics to get the jokes.

One day, a man dropped by Madalistso’s house with a camera (that I presumed to be fake) and snapped a picture of myself and Madalitso. Turns out the camera was real, and we now have this beautiful floral ‘snap’ to prove it.

My bicycle (and lifeline).

A small section of a Gravity Fed Scheme (GFS).

Typical, the end of an Afridev pump handle is installed horizontally. This one is installed vertically, and apparently, the intention is to discourage more than one person from using the pump lever at one time, which can stress the parts and cause them to wear out faster.

A mosquito (udzudzu) fort – as one of the JFs calls it.

Hair = buzzed

(Spencer) 16000 Words of Karaga

I could think of no better way to give a introduction to Karaga than to let pictures speak for themselves (plus a caption)..so I suppose speak for themselves with context!

The surrounding landscape of Karaga, it is all farmland now. I have been told that fifteen years ago when the population was much less, it was a great forest. In the rainy season Ghana becomes very green all over but in the dry season, it is desert like. This photo is two weeks old, even now the landscape has been transformed by the rain into something much more green. 

Karaga from a distance, high in a tree. Expect more tree related shots..they serve a two fold purpose; provides a great viewing angle and I get to climb trees! 

The first heavy rains I have experienced, it is as though buckets are being dumped from the skies. Seriously intense downpours occur every few days. There is much happiness for a good rain, as almost everybody is a farmer. 

Early morning at 7am, I hear a chopping sound and cannot understand where it could be coming from. Soon after a large CRASH! I peer a man cutting off all the limbs of a tree, I am mortified; why ever would he cut off all the limbs of the a tree? An answer soon came, since it is rainy season the tree will quickly re-sprout and more limbs than before will grow back to take place of the old. This is done so the tree will produce a better quality of shade for people to stand under. Though all that stand at the moment is a very tall stump.

Defying gravity? She noticed me taking a photo of the man cutting down the tree, and wanted one of herself. After seeing it she split with smiles, I thought for a moment the barrels would fall but she is a pro. 

Some of the child that live in the compound I am staying at, and the neighboring compound. Maria is holding up the boy Baba. 

It is seriously difficult to get children to stay in one spot even for 5 seconds, the very moment after this was taken they charged the camera to see. 

Baba (a common Dagomba name meaning everyones father) made this face consistantly while I was taking photos, he will be very happy when he learns I shared his talents =) 

Latifa preparing the nightly meal of T-Z, a meal made of maize flour very similar to nsima but more tasty (take that Kevin, Hahahaha)

 One of the old ladies of the compound, right after this photo she took up the camera and took some photos. Oh the joy it brought to her, she laughed as all the children made silly faces and yearned to be the ones in the shot. She is preparing the soup for the T-Z, which is called braa (pronounced like a ladies bra but with a longer ahh sound)

 Yours truly. Suhuyini.

 Obligatory puppy picture. Awe =)

A perfect example of a Ghanaian when having their photo taken. This man, Alex, is very happy and has a super large smile. Prior to this photo we were laughing about work and having a silly time, I asked to take his photo, he stiffened right up, all expression left his face while he waited. Once it was over he starts smiling again and laughs terribly in joy when he sees the photo. There is nothing to be happy about when you are having your picture taken, its serious business to be sure.

 A group of guys sitting at their sitting spot (people will have a particular sitting spot where they always sit). This also happens to be close to where the tro's drop and pick people up.

The path that is beside the compound I am living at. The path is normally very busy but it is 7pm and so it is time to pray for the majority of people living nearby. Baobab trees line the background along with some Nimsa trees (good trees for getting chewing sticks, keeps your teeth clean).

Taken by Ashzara another of the old ladies of the compound, everyone loves to take photos. What you cant see it that there is nearly fifteen children surrounding her trying to get their chance to use the camera. Such excitement from what in Canada is normally a mundane thing to do, taking photos. The happiness that a simple photo brings to people is astounding and humbling.

More to come as always.

Sending love from Ghana

Spencer

(Spencer) What to Expect!

Hello My Friends!

I have been struggling over something this past week and I was not sure what to do about it. Through I think I may have come to a realization and solution.

What was my conundrum you may ask...

How to share my experiences and get everyone up to speed with what has been going on in Karaga and in my life here. For the past while, actually most of my time in Ghana, I have felt I needed to catch all you fine readers up with the past events. To do so I thought I would need to go back and summarize things. This was a interesting task as things had all happened in the past, and I was sent behind in my posting ever since the first week in Ghana. The whole time I was concerned about the past.

The solution: move forward!

Heres the run down. I have challenged myself to get a post up everyday for a week and here is the plan:

• Tuesday: General life in Karaga
• Wednesday: First time at the farm
• Thursday: Work Placement
• Friday: Explanation of Ghana Government Structure
• Saturday: Family Life
• Sunday: Summaries of the first three weeks of work
• Monday: TBA but something fun

Another note,  no matter the country technology is wrought was trouble. In the past week I have gotten; a computer virus,  random mobile modem errors about non-detection  (though this could be because I dropped the laptop while it was stuck in the side), and the cell phone has stopped working entirely.

Though everything else has been going absolutely swimmingly, a big smile is spread across from cheek to cheek!

Spencer

(Kevin) Grasshoper cuisine

Hello world. 

Life is still happening here in Machinga. The roosters are still call in the early hours of the morning, the Malawian reggae and American hip hop still plays at the house next door, and the sun paints brillant colours across the sky every morning and night. At night time, I hang out on my straw mat under the night sky, while I cook nsima and watch the stars shine brighter than I've ever seen them shine. I asked Madertiso yesterday if he'd ever wanted to go to space. Apparently, it was never something he'd ever wanted to do. He then asked me if I've been. I laughed, and so, so wished I could have said yes. 

This week has presented me with some highlights:

1) Enjoyed a bowl of grass hopers with my 2-year old neighbor Eveh. Very nice! Highly recommended. 
2) Went to a restaurant for lunch, ordered Nsima instead of rice, and refused a fork and knife as I devoured the meal with my hands. People were confused, and I left content.
3) I can finally eat sugar cane (dzimbe) with my teeth. It is a very satisfying feeling.
4) I saw my neighbor Peter carry his daughter Eveh on his back with chitenge cloth. This is the first time I've seen a man carry a child like this, and it warmed my heart immensely.
5) Still relatively healthy - body, mind, and soul. 

Work is going slow, but steady. I'm nearly a quarter finished my placement, and there is still so much to do. I'm awaiting for funds to be released by the Malawian government so that the assessment of boreholes can start to take place by the extension agents. Until this happens, I'm trying to use ArcGIS to investigate how equitable the siting decisions for this project are from a qualitative perspective. I hope I can take it far - there's only one way to find out!

My partner Chris is very busy as of late, especially as he tries to coordinate all of the activities that happen here. As he's described before, you have to take into account that you're functioning in a new country, a new context, and only so much is in your control. The reality is that many times designs are submitted late, meetings are canceled because government officials are out of town or attend other meetings without notice, the power goes out frequently, funding is canceled or tied-up, allowances are demanded and aren't available...

All of these factors add up, and present serious challenges when you are a consultant who is trying to meet timelines to please the donors you're working for. Sometimes this even means making decisions that don't consider certain all factors and voices - all because time restrictions and deadlines won't allow for it.

A man approached me the other day, and asked me for money - "for something, for anything". When this happens, all I can do is say sorry and continue on my way. It's definitely not a good feeling. This doesn't happen very often, but when it does, it puts me in a down and reflective mood. This scenario happens at home in Canada on a daily basis, so why does it feel different here? I guess I think about the lack of resources and safety nets that exists here for people in poverty. But it probably shouldn't feel different. People facing poverty in Canada face barriers when trying to access resources, and are also not protected by the safety nets that should be protecting them.

Poverty sucks, and presents people with significant and often devestating challenges. Moblize yourself to affect change, in solidarity, both at home and in the lives of those you will never meet.

I'm off to the city this weekend to renew my visa. Should be interesting, stay tuned for more updates! 

Be well, and much love.

Kevin

(Spencer) Slow'r down and Intonate

Hello my friends

Life in Karaga is wonderful. The people are kind beyond reason and lots of fun to communicate with. Nothing is more fun than when someone gets you to repeat a sentence you don’t understand to a lady, and you find out that you have just professed your love and wish to be marry her….

Ghanaian Language and Phrases

In Karaga the local spoken language is Dagbani which people of the Dagomba tribe speak, and of course I cannot speak it (I am learning Dagbani small small, future post with a Dagbani primer). Though many can speak and understand some English, it must be spoken at a very slow manner with great intonation. There is difficultly however when using larger words or forming complex sentences, care must be taken to keep things relatively simple and talk to an appropriate education level of the other. The younger generation can speak English while people of an older generation generally cannot, this is a result of English being taught in schools.

There are also unique phrases that Ghanaians use while speaking English, they serve to simply communication for a Ghanaian and make it much more confusing for myself, at least in the beginning. While in Tamale we were given a session on Ghanaisms as the APS (African program staff) call them. To provide an idea of how to speak with a very rough Ghanaian English accent, I have provided a short list of Ghanaisms. Remember to slow down your speech, use simple words and intonate as well.

Small = little

Small small = gradually

Charlie! (pronounced cha-lay!) = informal hello

Ah! Why? = Ah! Way? – but very dramatic, for example when the taxi driver is try to rip you off

In fact = confirmation

I want to free myself = need to pee

I need a dropping = taxi to a particular location

I will alright there = getting out of a vehicle at a spot

Masta, I’m telling you = this is true

Let me land = say when you are getting cut off and you want to finish your point

Not serious = not correct, not doing it right (big insult)

Serious = hard working, reliable, awesome guy, doing it right (big compliment)

Dis ting = anything

Can you pick? = can you pick me up from a location

How? = how are you doing today

Ohh! (high pitch) = surprise

Im coming = im leaving you than I am coming back (think Ghana time so it may take a long time)

It is not going = something isn’t working

Ahh haa (particular pitch, low than high) = confirmation of understanding, often if not said the other

          person will comment, “are you getting me?”

Small Children

Some children can speak some basic English but often they speak next to none at all. There is however every child can say regardless of age. What is the phrase every child will say? In almost any situation the children will yell out:

“Salminga! How are you?”

Salminga is white man in Dagbani, this phrase is yelled to me consistently as I walk anywhere. Children will spot the white skin from far away and run over and chant this. When ten children are yelling this phrase at you it is a very interesting feeling.

If not for my skin, what makes me so special?

Spencer

(Spencer) Karaga - Canada Say it Five Times Fast

Hello again from the Getaway to Africa

(I’ve been bad and haven’t kept up with the posting so recaps a plenty!)

May 24

This was an exciting day that marked a transition in my time spent in Ghana this summer.  Awoke early morning at 5am at the guest house in Tamale and quickly packed my overly large backpack.  Ran out to the road and caught a taxi with 3 others into the heart of Tamale.  We were driving to the metro station so that we may diverge to our individual placements for the summer.

On the way to the station Elmira and Tanya got out to attend a meeting in Tamale before they departed. Kaitlynn and I dropped at the metro, got ripped off by the taxi driver and proceeded to purchase tickets to our respective Districts. Hers was scheduled to leave at 7am and mine 12:30pm, why ever did I get up so early was my thinking…

While waiting together at the metro mass we bought fried egg sandwiches and let me tell you; these are serious sandwiches, just like an egg sandwich with onions and tomato like in Canada but with a huge piece of bread fried down into something very thin, delicious. I crave these everyday here in Ghana but seemly cannot buy them in Karaga, or at least I haven’t yet found them in my wanderings

Its 8am now and I know it is safe to call the District Coordinating Director of Karaga, an abbreviated version of the conversation goes as follows;

Spencer-“hello director, it is Spencer from Engineers without Borders calling”

Director-“ah ha, yes, it is good to hear from you”

Spencer-“I will be arriving to Karaga today around 3:30pm. I will go to the guest house than come to the district assembly”

Director-“ah ha, call me when you arrive in Karaga and I will send someone to pick you to the district assemble so we may meet”

Spencer-“yes Director, I will call you when I arrive, see you soon”

Director-“it is good to hear”

What to do for 5 hours while waiting for the bus? Meet with my very awesome friend, Kofi, at his African crafts shop.  Giant pack on my back and looking like a fool I set foot to his shop at the cultural center.  We play games (the one with the stones and holes, I forget name) for a few hours, and talk about Ghana. He sets me up with a shaker thing, it’s a pair of large nuts with seeds inside that are attached by a rope, it is played by holding one nut and knocking the other about. It has been a huge hit with the children.

12:30 rolls around and the bus has not yet departed, by 1pm I have left Tamale and am on my own. On the bus I meet a man, Abuba, he works in the neighbouring District of Geishegu at the Ghana Health Service Department. He is very passionate about public health and shares many stories of working in the office. He has worked in Geishegu for the past 4 years and his family lives in Tamale. His role within the department is to ride a moto to communities to collect data and information about their sanitation facilities.

Something he is very excited about is the return of Community Led Total Sanitation to the district and Ghana as a whole. He gave me a run down on 3 years ago when the project was in Geishgu, many villages were triggered however without the necessary resources there were no follow-up visits and as a result none of the communities were declared open defecation free. This time around he expects that with the previous experiences that at least 4 communities will be open defecation free.

Abuba however will not be at the department this summer as he will be pursuing additional studies in addition to his degree, and will be specializing in public health in a 3 month course. Subsequent to this initial meeting on the bus, we have become good friends and often talk to each other on the phone. Something I have come to value is people who don’t just want you to bring them back to Canada. As the summer progresses I will give some updates on the course of Abuba’s schooling and hopefully be able to provide some examples of what he is learning.

3:45pm and the bus arrives in Karaga. One step of the bus and a group of children quickly swarm, grab my bag and start asking where I am going. I say the guest house and they frock forward to direct me. A short walk later and we arrive at what I discover to be the missionary’s house. I arrange a room and give the children something small small. Next, call the Director.

Spencer-“Hello Director, this is Spencer from Engineers without Borders, I have arrived in Karaga”

Director-“Hello…what you are in Karaga! I am in Tamale”

Spencer-“What you are in Tamale? You said to come to Karaga”

Director-“You should return to Tamale right away and stay with us until Monday, the DCE, DPO, DDCD, are here as well”

Spencer-“Umm..this is surprising, there is no bus tonight, but I can return on Wednesday”

Director-“That is good, come to Tamale so we may meet”

.

Frustrating to say the least. I learn that in the time between the first conversation when he was in Karaga at 8am he and other district “big men” had all traveled to Tamale to celebrate African Unity Day which was the next day. Confusion all over and a major introduction to “Ghana time” where things do not go as planned and one must roll with the punches.  As I will further learn, people come and go from work with nearly no warning and that it will happen very commonly throughout the summer.

In the end I stay in Karaga and communicate it to the Director. My first day of work will now be Thursday, and I will meet these men the following Monday.

Spencer

(Kevin) The baobabs are beautiful

Maderitso and I are getting along really well. We're just two dudes holding down the fort - cooking, cleaning, chatting, and walking to and from work. I really like his friends, and he is helping to push me to learn Chichewa. I find that when I'm surrounded by so many proficient English speakers, I don't push myself as hard to learn the language. When the incentive to be able to communicate effectively doesn't apply, the motivation to learn doesn't exist as much. I've acknowledged that learning isn't going as quickly as I'd like it to, and I'm ramping up. Maderitso is going to try and hold me accountable to speak more Chichewa around the house.
 
As I've learned over the last few weeks, taking care of a house is a lot of work when you're working full time - especially when you have no electricity or indoor plumbing. Experiencing the effort that's required to do all of theses things is really valuable to get a glimpse of Maderitso's reality. It's hard work man!

My health is good. I've managed to avoid sickness so far (knock on baobab - by the way, the big trees that I was talking about in my last post are actually baobab trees!), and I've been doing my best to take care mentally and physically. Because I'm eating so much refined flour and white sugar, my energy levels crash often. Because I have so much control over what we cook, I'm going to try to cook more energy sustaining foods. Drinking lots of water seems to help too. 

A baobab tree - much like the ones that line the landscape of Machinga.

Yesterday I had a very interesting and heartbreaking discussion with Maderitso and his friends about opportunity in Malawi, the cost of education, and fair trade. It was a conversation that left me with few words to offer, as I spent most of the time listening and processing perspectives. All I can really say is that there are many people here who have the ambition to achieve something higher, but are blocked for a multitude of reasons. Vague, I know - but I think this is a conversation that is best had once I'm back in Canada.

Today I saw a family break apart in the household beside me. At 5:00am this morning, the father of the household packed his things, and left for Lilongwe. He told me this last night, so it wasn't a suprise when I woke up to the crashes and noises of his departure. It's a very sad thing to happen, and a strong reminder that regardless of who you are, where you are, or how you live, life and emotions happen.

All the best, and much love.

Kevin

(Kevin) Still wondering - whose reality counts?

This past weekend came and went, and it was very enjoyable. I took my bike down a few roads for hours of journeying across the countryside of Machinga. One of the most prominant aspects of the landscape is the giant trees with trunks about 6 meters wide. They are quite a sight to be seen! I also picked up a pair of sandals made from recycled rubber along the way. My friends around here tell me that if I keep wearing them, I'll have the nickname "Jesus" - and they were totally right. That's all I hear when I sport them.

After about an hour or so of biking towards a group of irrigated fields, I came across two young women carrying buckets on their way to fetch water. One of them spoke some English, and pointed towards a giant tree in the distance which indicated the location of the borehole they were travelling to. "Do you want to come along?" she asked. Sure, I thought, why not? So I followed.

After about 20 minutes of walking, we reached the borehole. A group of 15 women and children gathered around the Afridev pump, taking turns and sharing the effort. I noticed something that I had seen before - a small concrete block built on top of the platform (or the "apron", as it's called). As women in Malawi are largely responsible for water collection, and they typically carry water buckets on their heads, this block intended to assist them in getting water from the ground to the top of their heads.

"Do you find this useful?" I asked, pointing to the block. "Of course," the women replied, as they filled their buckets to the brim to prepare for the long journey home. A simple converations that left me with so much thought.

The reason this interaction sticks with me so much is that just a few days earlier, I was having a conversation with a co-worker (a man) about these blocks, and if they were worth investing in. He voiced that they're not very useful, and that the project shouldn't bother installing them with the new boreholes.

Now perhaps he speaks to more people than I do, and has more experience in this district that could lead to a fairly knowledgable perspective, but something about his answer didn't sit right. I guess this just makes me think about the voices that are heard when development decisions are made. What steps can you take to make sure that you're making decisions based on well-rounded evidence and dialogue? And how can you make this a part of such a short project timeline when you're already trying to meet deadlines? What I really want to know is whos reality counts in the decision making process?

Be well, and much love.

Kevin

(Spencer) Everyone Out, Last Stop Accra

(May 18; Written at a time when I was still optimistic I again would have internet, hence verb tenses...)

Finally!

We have arrived in Accra, Ghana!

I am starved for words to adequately describe the initial moments entering the country, such an intense rush of emotions. It is truly incredible to have arrived in Ghana after passing so many obstacles in the journey.

The city of Accra is a massive urban center, population 4 million, densely packed with too few road ways and everybody trying to go somewhere. The colours of the Ghanaian flag are all over, lush tropical greenery growing throughout, and red iron rich soil covers the ground. High rises line the skyline, billboards advertising anything you can imagine (“The price of Guinness has not changed!”, rumour control I suppose) line the road ways, and people seem to burst from the seams. An incredible city to be sure, I wish there was more time to explore.

Our first experience in the country was packing into taxis after Robin, our APS guide, had negotiated prices with the drivers (who is having the money?). Driving is off the hook, such interaction between vehicles; constant honking of horns, stopping and starting, wedging in between each other and dodging pedestrians (more so pedestrians dodging us). Toronto traffic times ten, my first thought was that there must be so many accidents but I have been told that there is actually quite few.

We stayed the night at the New Kokomlemle Guest House, a modest location in the heart of Accra. This house has a special place in EWB history; all JFs, Pro-JFs, and APS, who arrive in Accra stay at this location. “The good energy is stuck in the walls,” says Mark one of the APS who greeted us that night. And right he was, we settled in quickly, excited to begin another day and get a step closer to our placements!

(View of STC station)

In country training is set to begin May 19, tomorrow, in Tamale (800km north of Accra) and to get there the group of us are going to be taking a bus up to the north, that is if it ever arrives. What was originally set to be an 8am departure has been delayed until past 3pm. The bus was undergoing repairs in the shop contained within the Intercity STC bus depot. It is a 12 hour bus ride to Tamale from Accra, I have an endless list of things to do so by no means will it be boring.

After traveling since early Sunday morning this delay has fazed none of us, we expect transport to be late by now. It also serves as an excellent introduction to “Ghana time” where everything runs at its own independent schedule…

(View of STC station)

The bus has just arrived and I took my seat. Sitting directly ahead of me was a small child who was covering his eyes and laughing. So I covered my eyes and laughed back. A hysterical game of peek-a-boo started up with him and I peering over the seat at each other covering and uncovering our eyes. Laughing harder and harder we dodged around looking through the cracks between seats, catching glimpses of each other driving into incredible silliness.

He voiced that we should bonk heads, so we did and he laughed so hard after every impact. Making hand gestures of us colliding and what looked to be explosions occurring in his fingertips. We continued on with this game of laughing and peeking for a few beautiful minutes until his mother called him to switch seats. We shared a final laugh as his father picked him up and they left for the back of the bus. Things are going to great here in Ghana I know it already.

Sending love from a packed STC bus

Spencer

(Spencer) Unexpected Excursion

(May 17 Backpost)

Hey All You Lovely People

(I wrote this with the intent to post in Germany, but my laptop died, hence the verb tenses)

We are in Germany now; our group divided into three parts so that the airline could accommodate all 17 of us. My respective group had a flight out of Washington to Frankfurt in Germany at 9:51pm. We were fortunate to have most of the day open to us in Washington (minus the much needed sleep at the hotel).

So what did we choose to do with our time?

Making the best of a situation is something EWBers excel at. The group who had 9:51pm flights took a shuttle from the airport to the doorsteps of the White House. We were greeted with a menagerie of sights;  protests in action, various political opinions being cried out, old woman entrenched and determined to have their message heard, and of course tourists all over.

A quick tour of the sights ensued including the Washington Monument, White House, War Memorial and Capitol Hill. As a city Washington DC is beautiful, the buildings are of an architectural style that exudes power and the amount of greenery and green space is a very welcome surprise. The highlight was the Washington Monument, any previous pictures or footage of it that I have seen do not do it justice. It is an incredible obelisk that reaches far into the sky, towering over everything in the city.

On the note of being in Germany; Dena and I have a seat in a restaurant that overlooks the airport, we each have a pint of beer in hand, Paulander Welfsbier is the brand (and due to German purity laws we know it is quality), this it is exactly how I imagined we would spend time here.

Our German experience is best summed by an airline attendant, ``So you like German beer?..Me too”

Spencer

(Spencer) Reemergence

Hello after a many blogless night!

Internet at last! I had purchased a Vodafone mobile internet stick days ago but due to Vodafone being quite terrible in many regards only now can I connect. Though now I should have internet access anywhere within the country, at a slow speed mind you. There is a reason no one in Ghana likes to use Vodafone despite the overwhelming marketing campaign going on her (Vodafone signs everywhere, all over , the largest advertising campaign I have ever seen). The largest mobile network in Ghana, Tigo, has the slogan, "The only network that actually works." and after my experience with Vodafone I fully support this slogan!

But enough ranting about mobile networks..

Where am I? What have I been up too? What about the placement? Where will I be living? What is Ghana like? Questions, questions, questions and all will be answered in time.

Currently I am staying in the city of Tamale, the third largest in Ghana population 360000, at the Presbyterian Lay Training Center. Tamale is bustling with people and has many exciting places to explore (future posts to elaborate).  I will be departing for my placement tomorrow morning bright and early at 7am on the tro which is similar to a minibus in Malawi or a 15 person van.

The destination district is Karaga, a newly formed district where I will be working within the government at the District Planning Office (expect some posts in the future explaining the decentralized government structure in Ghana). The work I will be doing is implementing a district wide data system and promoting behaviour change in the staff to see the value of using data to make informed evidence based decisions.

I have a written a few blog posts in  the past week while I was without internet. I will toss them up and  today I will be working to write a few more, catching everyone up to speed with what has been going on.

Remember to ask questions and request content, I will do my very best to make it happen!

Much love

Spencer

(Kevin) Play Pumps in Machinga

If anyone has followed EWB blogs before (especially Owen Scott's blog), you know that Play Pumps are a hot topic in Malawi. Play pumps essentially fuse together the enjoyment of a children's toy with the delivery of water from a borehole. I'm not sure of the specifics behind how it works, but as children spin the toy, water is pumped from the tap. I saw a few of these pumps around Machinga yesterday, and I was able to have a conversation with some of the folks here about them.

At first glance, it's a creative idea, especially when they're placed in schoolyards. But here are a few issues:

1) Very rarely are Play Pump spare parts available. There is a service number on the pump, but it is a South Africa number. As people around here say, it often takes a long time to get a response and any sort of attention to service. Although, I'd be interested if anyone has any recent information on Play Pump spare part availability. 

2) Government officials here have told me that in certain instances, perfectly functioning Afridev pumps were removed and replaced with Play Pumps. Why fix something that isn't even broken? Especially when the Afridev pumps have a relatively good reputation in Malawi.

3) How much are communities consulted before these pumps are installed? How will a community feel ownership and the responsibility to maintain something they never requested or wanted in the first place? I should note that I'm sure that in some cases, community consultation does happen with Play Pumps. 

 

4) They may be suitable for providing schools with water when children are in class, but as Yesin tells me, these pumps often supply water to some members of the surrounding community with water also. 

So what happens when children aren't around, and adults are required to pump this water? Well, check out this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QRiNYmlA1Ic

6) These pumps appear to be a flashy, feel-good piece of infrastructure that makes some donors feel good, but do not provide a holistic approach to water supply.

I'm not an expert by any means, and these are my opinions based on my observations and what has been brought to my attention. I would love to hear other people's thoughts on the play pump, or anything that they've hear about its successful and failures.

Be well, and much love. 


Kevin

(Kevin) No simple solution.

It's a beautiful Saturday here in Machinga. Yesterday I had the interesting experience of buying a bicycle second hand. I strolled to the back of the market where dozens of bike mechanics hang out, and started gesturing and using English and very broken Chichewa. If that wasn't embarrassing (and outsider-ish) enough, I also tested out 3 different bicycles as 50 or so people watched me wobble around up and down the road. I’m getting much better at dealing with these kinds of experiences.

I did find one though after an hour or so, and I couldn't be happier. I'm looking forward to riding around town after I finish giving this update.

A few days ago Chris, Yesin (a Water Monitoring Assitant), and I went to test out the form that will be used by WMAs to survey the conditions of boreholes that may be selected for rehabilitation. What we found is that the boreholes that we saw only had a few broken parts that could easily have bee replaced if the Water Point Committee responsible for the well had taken action. If the rehabilitation project replaced these parts, we would only be contributing to the 'dependency syndrome' (as Chris calls it) that exists in the water sector.

The point of these rehabilitations is to deal with serious structural issues (e.g. concrete is broken, sediment has built up in the well, etc.) that require a contractor, as well as the establishment and training of a WPC to take ownership of the borehole). IGIP’s goal is not here to undermine community ownership and responsibility by replacing spare parts.

An added challenge is that these parts have not been replaced by the WPC in most cases because the WPC isn’t functional. So, essentially these communities are stuck. They have no functional water point committee, a non-functioning well, and a project that can't help them because it would undermine their ownership and responsibility.

One of the biggest themes I've observed on this project is the challenge that exists when trying to strike a balance between capacity building, community ownership, and technical work. You certainly can't have one without the other, which makes what IGIP is trying to do very difficult with the time and resources that they have to use. 

Be well, and much love. 

Kevin

(Kevin) Maderitso comes home!

I have been at my new home for 5 days now, and I guess that I’m starting to fall into a routine. I wake up at 5:30am, sweep the house, boil water for tea, bathe, and of course – greet all of my neighbors in the morning (“Mwadzuka bwanji?” = How did you wake?). At night, I stop by the market to buy goods at the market (eggs, bread, cabbage, avocado, etc.), cook with my friend, chat and sit with the neighbors, and then go to bed at 7:30pm.

As for photos, they’re coming – I promise. I’m still a bit awkward when it comes to pulling out the camera, but I’m getting better. As I’m sure you can agree, it’s a real drag to ruin a perfect moment of learning by taking out your camera for a snap-shot. However, photos are great for accenting my stories, and I shall deliver!

 The person who owns the house I’m staying in – Maderitso – has come home after spending a while in the hospital for an injured foot. I guess this means that Blessings and I can take a break from speaking broken English and Chichewa, and it’s probably good timing. I don’t think either of us could be more lost with our understanding of the situation.

Maderitso is an amazing dude. He is one of the drivers for the ADB project crew, and he has a lot of energy. And get this – he’s 22! Same as me. I know that we’re going to get along well, I can feel it. Another cool thing is that in the past week, I’ve had three Canadian moments:

1)    I met Nancy, who is from Winnipeg, Manitoba and works with the ADB.
2)    I was visiting the hospital with a few of my co-workers, and someone had a Celien Dion ringtone on their phone.
3)    One of Maderitso’s friends had an Algonquin Park sweatshirt with a moose, and canoe, and a maple leaf. Oh Canada!

One the things that I found most interesting about the proposal for this project is the assumption that there will be a 75% success rate when it comes to drilling boreholes. This project is responsible for implementing 193 borehole (yes – 193.. I’m not sure why such a peculiar number) by the end of two years. To account for the success rate, they will drill at between 250-260 locations, anticipating that only 193 locations will be successful. This means that proper geological analysis is needed before to ensure that a success rate of 75% or better is achieved.

As Chris tells me, boreholes are often drilled dry when their location is swayed by community and governmental politics, as opposed to proper geological evidence. The location of the borehole won’t always be ideal for a community, but in my opinion it is worth it if it increases the likelihood of getting a functional borehole.

At this point, after collaboration between IGIP and the district government, the locations for the new boreholes have been decided. It is very unlikely that these locations will change, which is okay from my end, because what I am trying to find out is what factors came into play when these decisions were made.
What I’m trying to say is that my placement is not trying to influence the locations of the new boreholes, but is trying to learn from the decision making process that lead up to this point. During my time here, I won’t be participating in any borehole drilling.

I like to think about myself as a detective: mapping out the chain of events, interviewing folks, and scoping out biases. Neat-o..

I’m planning to visit the communities who are receiving the water points with the government extension workers. These extension workers will be conducting water point committee (WPC) training. A WPC is a group of individuals (a mix of community members and government officials) who are responsible for the maintenance and well-being of their new borehole. Considering that the training will be in Chichewa, I’m not sure how much I’ll be able to get out of it, but I’m excited to observe anyways. I’ll also be using these visits to find out more about why these communities were chosen for a new borehole. What factors come into play? However, none of this can happen until the ADB funding comes in for extension workers’ allowances, so until then I’ll get caught up to speed with literature, and chat with my co-workers.

Aside from work, life is good. My biggest challenges so far have been a few bugs (as in insects, not sickness), not enough daylight with too much to do, and biting my tongue in tough conversations. I’ve also had my first night of home sickness, but it passed when I reminded myself to stay in the moment. Home is good, but challenge is good too. For now, I’ll keep rolling on.

One more thing – at the bottom of this message is the organizational structure of the project I’m working on. The people I am working with most are the IGIP Team Leader (Chris), the District Water Officer (Steve), and the extension agents (CDAs, HSAs, and WMAs).


Be well, and much love from Machinga
Kevin