Mike in Ghana with VSO

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

Saturday, May 8, 2010

Visit to the Kukoa at Gambaga

We make a last-minute decision that this weekend we will visit the Kukoa ("witches' camp") at Gambaga. This is mentioned in the Ghana Bradt guide, and you can read more about it by Googling "Kukoa Gambaga". Also Canadian Maggie, who came to see us February 20th, wrote a great article in "The Advocate" in April after a visit to another kukoa out past Bimbilla (website for "The Advocate" - the development newspaper that Mar and Mark work on - is http://rumnet.wordpress.com and Ghana phone 0244-218898).
A quick summary is that women are sent to the kukoa after being used of witchcraft on a very arbitrary basis, e.g. illness or death of a child in the family. They are sent there for life. This 'imprisonment' has been challenged on humanitarian grounds, but when many of the women were 'freed' they refused to leave, as this has become their home.
We often meet new people on tro-tros. This time it's Agnes, from Norway, working in an orphanage in Nalerigu. We head east on a packed tro, but after Langbinsi there is more room. Charlotte was sitting beside what you would call a window if there was any glass in it. It gets dusty and she swaps with Fati. The part of the roof that's dangling is a little obtrusive. The seat in front of me tips forward rather readily, because although the seat is welded to the vehicle floor, that section of floor has broken off. 
The party is (left to right) Charlotte, Jacob, Mandina (who is Mashood's friend), Fati and Mashood. We're given a bench in the shade while waiting to see the chief. The kukoa is not separate from Gambaga as I had thought, but is right next to the rest of the town. Children as usual are delighted to see us.
We meet and pay the chief. Apparently the traditional gift of cola nuts is not really wanted any more, and hard cash is preferred. We compromise with 5 cedis in a handkerchief. This is supposed to benefit the women. However we give some more when we meet the women leaders of the "witches". They are very friendly and apparently happy people. I explain that we respect old people and recognise their wisdom - the women reply that they are happy to be alive. The stripy green shirt (see photo) is "South Africa 2010" so I  mime a little Ghana vs England football which is much appreciated.
Our "tour" seems to end rather rapidly, so I ask about the cultivated front gardens that I have read about. We don't see these, but we do get more of a walk around the kukoa. The place seems very well organised, a working community. The yellow nuts are dawa dawa nuts - spread out on the ground to dry. Firewood is neatly stacked. The whole area is tidy and clean - more so than most communities that we have seen in Ghana.  
As we head back we see a blacksmith making ploughshares and a goat being skinned.
Lunch in Nalerigu is fufu or rice balls, made and eaten under a tree by the side of the road. I opt for 3 rice balls (10 pesewas each) and 2 pieces of meat (20 pesewas each), total 70 pesewas (or about 30 pence in UK currency). The meat is guinea-fowl - there is a cage of more guinea-fowl awaiting their turn.
There is time for a look around the main square in Nalerigu and a drink in a local 'spot' (bar).
Then we find another decrepit tro-tro for the bone-shaking journey back to Walewale. Some local children are fascinated to talk to us "Sulaminga how are you" while we wait for the tro to fill.
Back in Walewale, look at the picture of the school (behind Charlotte in the photo, to the right of Mashood's Community Information Centre). The roof blow off in the storms of 22nd April (see blog entries April 22 and 30). Nothing has been done to fix it yet. The children will come back to school this week. The last time this classroom featured in this blog was December 16th when we taught each other a song in this room. We think that the children will be taught in the classrooms without a roof but be sent home when it rains - however they will have no protection from the sun
The view of the sky as we headed home.
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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.