Mike in Ghana with VSO

Mike's assignment with VSO working in Organisational Development (OD)

Friday, February 12, 2010

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.
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The different paths to our VSO placements

THE PATH TO CHARLOTTES PLACEMENT

Jan 2009 - With 2 younger children still at university, Charlotte & I apply for short-term work with VSO. Both turned down - I think they aren't taking people short-term unless they have development experience.
(For more insights, see MORE INSIGHTS below).

Feb 2009 - Charlotte offers to go long-term and her application is reconsidered. I will be able to be more flexible (e.g. travel back to UK) if I am her Accompanying Partner (i.e. not volunteering).

April 2009 - Assessment Day, and Charlotte is accepted.

May 2009 - I start to wind down client work, because there is much to be done before we can go overseas.

June 2009 - Preparing to Volunteer course, for both of us.

Charlotte accepts placement in Northern Ghana. We have decided that I will go out with Charlotte to begin with before returning to UK after some weeks abroad.

July 2009 - Skills for Working in Development course for Charlotte.

August 2009 - Family holiday for 9 (Mike, Charlotte, Tom, Sarah, Peter, Abi, Anna, Daniel and Kate) in Normandy.

Sept 2009 - Anna's 21st party - we couldn't go abroad until after this.
The most common question in September is "Mike, how long are you going out for?" The answer is "I don't know - will decide that when we're out there". Final preparations and off to Ghana. Very busy getting ready to go, but when I'm out there I expect to have plenty of free time for a few weeks...
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THE PATH TO MY PLACEMENT

Sept 2009 Day 2 of In-Country Training - I volunteer to assist VSO Ghana with Organisation Development. For more details, see blog over Oct-Nov 2009. I can't claim any expenses, but volunteers are very gracious at inviting me to stay overnight.

Dec 2009-Jan 2010 Back home, collect Anna and Daniel from university, back out to Ghana for 2 weeks over Christmas (see Charlotte's blog), take them back to university.

Jan 2010. Skills for Working in Development course for me.
Start official placement as Organisational Development Adviser.

So one irony is that I have ended up with exactly what I applied for - a short-term volunteer placement that doesn't clash with university holidays. (Business and Trustee commitments would also have prevented me coming out for 12 months).

The other irony is that I thought it unlikely that Charlotte & I would find work in the same place - she was likely to be in a remote deprived area like Northern Ghana, and I was likely to have a national role given my skills. But now I have a national role, based in the deprived North where most of the volunteers are, which is much better for supporting them than back in Accra, the capital city down South on the coast.
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MORE INSIGHTS - are available here (from our church website in Jan 2010)

What’s In, What’s Out.

The Shenley Christian Fellowship blog gives the opportunity for people in the fellowship to share what’s on their mind with a wider audience. This blog entry comes from Mike Cashman who is an SCF Trustee as Head of Finance.

I’ve just seen a burnt area of semi-forest in the Mole National Park in Ghana. The park ranger explained that fresh grass grows a few weeks later, strong and nutritious, and attracts the wild animals.

What does this have to do with the New Year, the call of Abraham, and being a husband, father, Christian, church member, and professional roles as well? Well, let’s see….

In September 2008 our Church Leader Chris Doig preached on Genesis 12:1, the call of Abraham which came when Abraham was comfortable and settled in Haran – Abraham heard God’s call and left his comfort zone. Later Abraham made a move to Egypt which appears to have been his own idea, and that didn’t work out too well. So - sometimes God calls us to move, and sometimes he calls us to stay, and it’s good to discern which way he is calling. In September 2009, after reflecting on this message, Charlotte (my wife) and I found ourselves in Ghana with Voluntary Service Overseas. Definitely out of the comfort zone.

We can apply this message about God’s call beyond physical movement. Sometimes we need to keep on doing what we’re doing – using the gifts he gave us in our various roles, e.g. Christian, husband, father, church member, professional roles, and indeed our roles in social, community and leisure activities (e.g. gardener, goal-keeper, unofficial agony aunt, devotee of our favourite TV series or soap opera). It may be a juggling act or a plate-spinning exercise, but we feel we are just about managing to fulfil each role. But sometimes there are things that just need to be removed from our lives – not to say they’re wrong, but they just need to go to make space for new growth. I’m not referring to temporary disciplines like giving up chocolate or TV for a while – I mean cutting something right out of your life. Sometimes a friendship is one that no longer benefits either party. (I hasten to add that I have no-one in mind personally as I write this!) Maybe that solo sporting hobby which dates from your unmarried life needs to make way for hobbies which involve the family more.

Our change was a little radical. We both removed many professional and community roles from our lives, trying to do this in an orderly fashion. For Charlotte this included teacher, parish councillor, magistrate, chair of Loughton Residents’ Association, school governor, school governor trainer. What Charlotte found hardest to give up was home and face-to-face contact with friends and family. What else had to go, at least for a while? TV, sweet things in general, newspapers, car-driving, on-tap hot water, to name a few. (Not as many as we feared – we’re glad that much of the time we have running water, internet, email and phone contact). But in working out how we would follow a call to Ghana, some things were the rocks of certainty – for example I would still be a Christian, still a husband, still a dad, still a Church member, but no longer do I swell the viewing figures for ‘Match of the Day’.

January – the month which for the Romans was the month that looked forwards and backwards – is not the only time we can assess this question, but it’s a good time to do it. What is in your life? What perhaps is worth taking right out, even if that is painful, to make space for fresh growth? What might God be calling you to do which is completely new? What fresh growth could occur when there is space for it? Or – as you look at how you are fulfilling the various roles God called you to, do you feel his pleasure and encouragement to continue on the same path?

Mike Cashman is an independent programme management consultant based in Milton Keynes, currently assisting with organizational development in Ghana on a short-term basis. He is married to Charlotte, who is the VSO (Voluntary Service Overseas) Teacher Support Officer in Walewale, Northern Ghana. Mike and Charlotte have four children and two daughters-in-law, aged between 19-26.