Moving from assessment to planning next steps

It's time to plan what will actually be done in West Mamprugu as part of the Organisation Assessment. In the picture are Leticia the VSO Management Support Officer and Seidu who has been appointed as Organisational Development Lead for the local District Education Office (West Mamprugu GES, i..e Ghana Education Service) in Walewale. Firstly I'm running an all-day briefing for Seidu and Leticia

We work out what the main questions are and create an agenda that includes these.

and then we work though this, drawing on existing briefing materials where appropriate.
In December I brought out an HP printer-scanner-copier, and while both configuring it and operating it has been something of a nightmare (it's still only configured as a basic printer), nevertheless it has been great to be able to print things whenever we want (subject to printer behaviour) in Walewale. So we've equipped Seidu and Letty with training materials to refer to, for example.

We don't in fact get as far as 'Next Steps', because the afternoon session is just me and Seidu, but we've made a good start.

Meanwhile this amused me the previous day. Charlotte had asked for a bank statement, and one had been produced from the computer. This is the bank's ledger, in which the issuing of Charlotte's statement has just been entered by hand, for her to sign to acknowledge receipt.

And here is a donkey minding its own business in the middle of the main road North (Ghana's M1, for English readers). Charlotte and Janet are receding into the distance.

That was on the way back from church.

New volunteers in Bolga

Sunday morning, up to Bolga on a very ramshackle tro-tro to meet the new Bolga volunteers at the Comme Ci Comme Ca restaurant. The new volunteers arrived in Bolga around 2.30 am after the 14-hour coach-trip from Accra after their week of In-Country Training, and then experienced full Bolga heat on Sunday morning.

We expanded the tables into a cross-shape as the numbers of new and 'old' volunteers grew.

With around 15 of us eating lunch, there was considerable speculation as to the time at which all the food would have been served, but in fact the restaurant did pretty well at feeding us all in a reasonably timely fashion.

Janet posed for a photo by the fountain.

Considerable analysis of the bill needed as everyone calculated the cost of their food and drinks. I have not seen any volunteers say "well, 150 cedis altogether, 15 of us, so 10 cedis each should do it (£4)", and I think that's a reminder that some people are out here for a couple of years on a very tight budget and can't afford to spend more than they have budgeted, which is fair enough.

Back home to respond to 2 Organisational Development phone messages - I'm interacting with Patricia and Laura in Ghana Education Service Nadowli (Upper West) in response to questions they've raised for their OD Committee meeting on Monday - and to find electricity comes back on before dark, and water is flowing again during the night.

Life at the home office and at home

Many people asked me about coping with the heat. I have responded that, when I'm working at home, in the shade, with iced water in the fridge-freezer, it's really very tolerable.

I take it all back!

It's getting very hot. Temperature statistics for nearby Bolga have indicated (at worst) a high of 46 C and a night-time low of 31 C. We've also had significant periods without electricity (which means no ceiling fans), and several days with no mains water; we still have water in the tank, but as this runs down it means it's better instead of having a shower to wash with a bucket of water and catch the water to use to flush the loo.

We've had virtually no rain since mid-October, though there was a rain-storm on Feb 16th which has taken the dust out of the air to some extent, and some rain in the night a few days earlier.

Here I am working on possible improvements to the Widows and Orphans Movement Governance Manual in support of the Organisational Development process there. Underneath the laptop is a laptop cooler, which is plugged in to the laptop USB port and blows cold air through a perforated metal stand underneath the laptop. I have made the further adaptation of standing the laptop on 2 bits of wood above the laptop cooler, to get a greater air-flow underneath. All in the hope of avoiding the laptop melting in use. If any would-be volunteers are reading this, then low-power machines like Charlotte's netbook have the advantage that they don't get anywhere near as hot.

The 'curtains' in this room are spare sheets fixed to the window with clothes pegs. We paid to have curtains for the main rooms, but this is a low-cost solution for this room. The sheet can be pegged up during the day to encourage some draught through the room.

The water regime involves freezing an 80% full bottle of water that's been through our filtering system. If you top that up with filtered water and take it out with you then you have a source of cold water for an hour or two if you're going out. This is a big bonus - we didn't expect to have a fridge-freezer when we first came out here.

The rented house next door is full of phone engineers laying cable along the main road up to Bolga. We hope that the reels of cable will be gone from next door before the rains start, so that they don't create water-traps that could be mosquito breeding-grounds.

Andrea brought her friend Maggie to see us - Anna Daniel and I met Maggie at Tamale Airport in December, and it turns out that Maggie works with Andrea on RAINS (Regional Advisory Information Network Systems) and also works with VSO volunteers Mar and Mark on the development newspaper "The Advocate".

Fati and Samira came to see us on Saturday.

And Charlotte has now filled a photo album with 300 photos of Ghana September-December 2009.

Phone stolen - and replaced, new number

Grrrr. Phone disappeared. Tro-tro journet Tamale to Walewale, my patent 'make sure I don't lose anything' system failed me because I still had the phone case but not the phone. I suspect I dropped it as I got out out of the tro-tro in the dark and someone picked it up quicker than I did.
The handset itself was an ancient Nokia, but of cousre it had credit and numbers - a few lost, but most were on computer or also on Charlotte's SIM. I had a spare handset brought out from UK, so bought a new SIM, more credit, and sent 68 text messages on valentine's day to notify my new number.
I won't put the new phone number on a publicly viewable website, but email me or put a comment on the blog if you need the new number.

Widows and Orphans' Movement

Into Bolga to meet Madam Betty, who founded the Widows and Orphans Movement (WOM) 16 years ago. Jemimah is the VSO volunteer who has been leading the Organisational Development process here, but WOM is something of a special case for VSO because Jemimah's placement started before the VSO Ghana Organisational Development tools and training were available, so Jemimah has guided WOM having taught herself to a great extent. Under her guidance WOM redesigned its governance from top to bottom and has agreed the replacement of the entire WOM Board. The tro-tro journey is a good opportunity to look at the WOM draft governance manual again.

There are plenty of widows at the Widows and Orphans Movement - this is the day to collect their micro-credit loans. In addition there can be all sorts of issues where WOM is able to represent the widows' case.

The posters on the walls give clear indications of the types of prejudice and traditional practices which WOM and similar organisations are battling against, and these are particularly prevalent here in Ghana's Upper East.

Madam Betty is very welcoming, and keen to talk to me. Our conversation is still punctuated by other business. First a widow coming in to greet Madam Betty.

Then some visitors who have been interviewing some of the widows and also want some copies of photos - including a remarkable story about a widow who was rescued from living in a crack in the rocks. 

But I'm able to get a flavour of what the Organisational Development process has achieved here, and what more it could help with. On the Governance front, I hear about the General Assembly, which represents the thousands of Widows that WOM works for via 94 group leaders. Each year the group leaders meet up for the General Assembly, and it's this Assembly which hears about potential work for the next year and prioritises WOM's objectives. This sounds like a fantastic exercise in participatory planning by those most closely involved.
There is a tremendous readiness to learn - with all her experience, Madam Betty declares that she herself is just a nurse who became a widow and experienced the prejudice and set up WOM, and so she invites both me and Jemimah to say if we think she should do anything differently. I have a couple of suggestions on the governance, which I cover in outline and  offer to send supporting detail in an email.

For the future, I think that there is more value to be had from the comprehensive approach to direction, externals, capacity and performance that the VSO Organisation Assessment tool provides; for example WOM's major concern is the prevailing cultural attitudes, and this may benefit from a review of WOM's dealings with external bodies and trends - my guess is that people at WOM are pretty well-sensitised to and communicating with key influencers, but this could still be a good review topic for the new Board which might cause the Board themselves to come up with new ideas.

Meanwhile, Human Resource policies and process have been next on the WOM OD agenda. Madam Betty is very positive about the impact here - "after OD I am able to delegate much more'  (see the photo) - ' with good processes the work becomes easy'.
WOM certainly counts as another "OD success story".

There is clearly great work going on here, and I am likely to return shortly because Madam Betty asks if I will help induct the new Board with the new governance arrangements.

Bolga meeting - an uninvited guest - and a dinner party

Off to Bolga on Tuesday on the Metro Mass Transit coach for a meeting about TENI (Tackling Education Needs Inclusively)

On the way, it seems like all the Zoom-Lion men (waste disposal) are busy burning some of the big piles of rubbish which litter the middle of Walewale.

The meeting is useful but long - lunch afterwards is a welcome break.

On the left in blue is Letty, then Polly behind Letty, Christina at the table, Michelle hidden behind her, Janet, Charlotte hidden, Jude visiting from Accra, and Rachel.

Look who was on the wall when we arrived home. Charlotte saves its life (i.e. gets to it before I do) and sends it outside. A quick Google search indicates that actually a scorpion sting may be no worse than a bee sting. Or it may cause severe internal organ damage and death. Hm, better shake our shoes out before putting them on.

The day after this we find that we've invited a number of people for dinner. First of all we are visited by several children wanting water and fascinated by Janet.

Then the dinner party.
Back row: me, Maggi, Andrea who is staying next door and working for RAINS which stands for something like Regional Advisory Information Network Systems, so now you know what she does.
Front row: Charlotte, neighbour Elizabeth with her niece Juliet, Milou who works at a nearby school and Janet.
Juliet and I went round the party.

Meanwhile we discover  that these youngsters regularly hang out at the Moonlite Spot (= bar), so we join them there the following evening.

Shopping in Tamale - and Janet meets the chief

Staying overnight with Mark & Mar gives me the chance to get some shopping done in Tamale.

I don't know whether Barclays Bank should be worried, but the display on the ATM suggests someone has just had a go at connecting some new and perhaps unauthorised hardware device to the ATM....

I bite the bullet and pay out for Zain mobile Internet modem, and eventually this is made to work on my laptop in the Tamale Zain shop. I  also pick up various groceries, stationery and even a pair of shoes since mine are thoroughly worn through.  Mind you, you can also wait until you are on the tro-tro to do your shopping...

I'd like the third packet from the bottom on the left-hand-side please.
And a pair of brown sandals while you're passing.

The tro-tro ride features a search for fuel. But none of the filling stations in Tamale can help us. We are several miles towards Walewale when the driver stops suddenly, and then reverses for a long way down the main road. Sure enough, a lorry is by the fuel pumps. It's "lights-out" (not literally, this is early afternoon, but "lights-out" is Ghanaian for power-cut), but two men are hand-cranking the fuel pumps. Fuel shortages are common. On this occasion the tro driver doesn't just fill up with what he needs for the journey (which is what usually happens)  but fills his tank 3/4 full.
This has all taken some time, and I am in danger of missing our 4pm meeting with the chief of Walewale. But we arrive just in time......
Our friend Mashood is once again our guide and interpreter - and he's not here yet but we enjoy the courtyard scene.

But then Mashood turns up - and introduces us to his sister, Lala, who is the chief's newest wife

We are taken into see the chief, who honours us on this visit by shaking hands. We explain Janet's role here. ("Charlotte is here to help the teachers. Janet is here to help the head-teachers"). Via our interpreter, Mashood, the chief is very appreciative, and quotes proverbs about what happens when the white man helps the black man.

Janet gives the chief a white towel, the symbol of peace.

... whereas we just give him some photos from our earlier visits, which he seems to enjoy.

Then it's time to cycle home, and the girls take most of the shopping in their bike baskets. (Video of this is on my Facebook page).