Mike in Ghana with VSO

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

Monday, May 24, 2010

To Nadowli and meeting the GES staff

Late change of plan for this week. I was going to be in Upper West and Charlotte's plan was to join a trip to "Overseas" (the remote area of West Mamprugu west of the White Volta river) with WorldVision. At the last minute on Friday Charlotte discovers that the "overseas" trip is being cut short (i.e. is about to finish). So she joins me heading to Upper West.
This is not an easy journey. On Saturday we get a tro-tro to Bolga, ready for the long Sunday bus trip Bolga to Wa . Here is Charlotte at the back of the tro with our neighbour Fulera who has just been shopping - Fulera has to feed the Vodafone cable-layers who live opposite us.
This little boy had a home-made toy lorry - very appropriate for Walewale main street, where the lorries pass heading for Burkina Faso.
We stay Saturday in Bolga with Jason and Jillian, and then it's the 4 a.m. taxi ride to join the queue for the Wa bus. Here's Charlotte at the Bolga bus station enjoying a 5 a.m. breakfast.
And here's our bus. The bus station is a hive of activity before dawn.
At some point we all have to get off the bus while it goes through a police barrier, and the police check the bus for possible illegal arms.
 
After changing buses in Wa, by 3pm or so we are in Nadowli, and are met by Patricia and Laura the VSO volunteers at Nadowli GES (Ghana Education Service), and Greg, a VSO volunteer from Wa in his last week who is staying for the weekend - yesterday was Patricia's birthday. For reasons no-one can now recall, a quiz starts in the evening based on random questions Laura finds in a children's encyclopedia. The head-torch in the picture is for reading  the encyclopedia to avoid putting the main lights on and so avoid attracting insects - obviously you lose the effect a little with the camera flash. 
On Monday we accompany Patricia and Laura to the GES. It's raining and morning devotions are on the office veranda rather than outside under the trees. Patricia and a colleague demonstrate a local dance.

We have a useful discussion with Godfrey and Evarist from the OD committee and with Patricia and Laura. They explain the progress so far. One things that stands out is an exercise early on where the volunteers wrapped up the staff in toilet paper and challenged them to move (they could only move if they moved together).
In the second photo, Evarist has sen the format of workplan that Godfrey uses, and is copying it down for his own use - a testament to the resourcefulness of each of them, but this suggests there is no organisational standard for workplans.
A clue to the customer-focused culture that Madam Director encourages.
Views in and around the GES. Four guinea-fowl cross the path. The goats like to shelter under the metal container that serves under a store-room. In the distance some girls carry water.
 

In the afternoon we review the Organisation Assessment progress and discuss next steps. We're also able to give Patricia and Laura a good idea of the format of their Joint Introduction Meeting (JIM) which will take place tomorrow. Armed with this knowledge Laura prepares some flipcharts for each of their proposed objectives. In the evening Charlotte and I go shopping.  This is Paul who we met earlier at the GES offering Charlotte a bowl of pito (local alcohol).
It's been a very pleasant day, enhanced by the fact that following the rain the temperature was really cool, down to 27 degrees or so - in fact it may even have been cooler here than in the UK today!
Nadowli is probably the friendliest place we've been to in Ghana. and that's saying something - Walewale is undoubtedly the friendliest place I've ever lived. Nadowli also has a very pleasant environment - residential/rural fringe, very green, and lots of soil with things growing in it!
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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.