Ths is a typical market day - this was the week before Christmas, during Anna & Daniel's visit.
Near the end some children latched on to us, and we soon had a growing crowd around us.
Day - 6
13 years ago
Wednesday, December 16, 2009
Visiting Madam Mary's P1 class
This was just a brief visit to Madam Mary's P1 class with Anna and Daniel during their holiday - the videos may give you an idea of the classroom environment.
We each taught each other a song.
"Old Macdonald" needed explanation.
Then we learned a song from them.....
We each taught each other a song.
"Old Macdonald" needed explanation.
Then we learned a song from them.....
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Updates from Mike about Charlotte in Ghana
Mike will be in Uk early Dec and early Jan, with a range of photos etc and is happy to provide people with updates, slide shows etc if you want.The picture shows Charlotte's Organisational Development (OD) Committee looking at the results of the Organisation Assessment that she has been conducting with the West Mamprusi District Education Office .
Sunday, November 22, 2009
management and motorbiking!
Ramatu and I greet Letty (the new VSO Management Support Officer from the Philippines) on her first day in the office. She will be working with me to get the Organisational Assessment done over the next three weeks.
Mike advises Mark, Mashood and I about what should go into the ICT proposal for the District Commissioner. Unsurprisingly, we are finding the 7 working computers at the Community Information Centre painfully inadequate for the numbers of students and adults wanting to learn and access the Internet.
Here I am working on the master plan for the Organisation Assessment - the start of the Organisational Development (OD) process. Quite a logistical nightmare and then I have to actually make all this happen according to the plan! Planning is not a word much used in Ghanaian contexts.
We shall see what transpires.
Ready for action in the Comme Ci Comme Ca hotel car park. This was before we had actually seen our bikes and the state of the roads!
My TENI bike (TENI = "Tackling Education Needs Inclusively = the Comic Relief funded project = trying to ensure equal access for the disabled and "the girl child" - hence we allocated the 20 places at the ICT club to 10 girls and 10 boys). I can just touch the ground with my feet on either side. I am told it is heavier and therefore more stable than some of the other bikes but this is small comfort when it is lying on your leg and you have fallen into the concrete drain just outside the VSO office in Bolga!
On Day 3 we went to the Tongo Hills to practise steep slopes. The gradient was fine but the ruts and ridges in the road were an added challenge.
We met the Chief who has 17 wives and over 100 children. One of whom showed us around the extraordinary village. There are shrines here where they take animal sacrifices and the shrine will tell the villagers how to vote in the national elections. It only talks to men though! Male children are taken there from 2 weeks old so they can get tuned in.
The chief and the motorbiking gang. One instructor and 10 learners had its moments. Dan was actually a mechanic. He is the one with the dentist mask to keep the dust out of his face.
We found some of his delightful children. You can see some of the animal sacrifices in the background. they were dotted all around the village. the main shrine is up on the hill behind.
The guide demonstrated how to get into one of the houses. it is a bit like a concrete igloo but with a boulder blocking the entrance. Great defensively I am told!
My birthday was spent waiting at the DVLA Office to get the paper work sorted for my driving licence. Now there we saw a whole new level of bureaucracy. Forms in triplicate with carbon paper and 8 receipts for the 20 cedi amount so that each person who signed a form got their appropriate recompense. A certain sequence of form filling that had no apparent logic but required us to return the next day and miss our last day of motorbike practice. Still, I now have a Ghanaian driving licence (for motorbikes and cars!) so I must be a competent road user mustn't I?!
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Whizzy Websites Working Wonders in Walewale
You may remember seeing some pictures of Mike giving website tuition by candle light on the blog last month. Well, if you want to see the results of his guidance and Mashood's labour, then go to www.walewale-cic.blogspot.com/ and read up on the latest excitements at the Walewale Community Information Centre. We are currently planning the certificate presentation ceremony for Dec 15th, where hopefully 40 of our newly trained ICT Instructors from the Local Junior High School will be congratulated on their effort and achievement. The students are preparing a drama on the importance of ICT for the audience of parents, guardians and officers from the District Education Office. We hope that the Chief Executive of the District Assembly will present the certiificates and we are working out fundraising options for buying refreshments. Hopefully Anna and Dan will be able to attend as well since they will have just arrived for their Christmas visit. Then on Thursday we are all off on a jolly to see the crocodiles at Paga. The students have been saving 20 pesewas a week to cover the cost and are also hoping to save up to have some ICT Club t-shirts made. How cool is that?!
Saturday, November 14, 2009
A further tro-tro guide for sulamingas (white people).
You’ll find a basic introduction to the tro-tro at this web address. www.ghanaweb.com/GhanaHomePage/NewsArchive/photo.day.php?ID=76087
[Tro-tro = Any private shared taxi bigger than a car - e.g. small minibus into which 18 passengers will be fitted - generally on a fixed route like a bus]. It’s all true. The defining moment on my first tro-tro ride, with Charlotte’s bike on the roof, and with us sat in the worst seats, four facing four, was when the final people boarded. Eight knees face eight knees and as the final people squeeze in sixteen knees lock like a rugby scrum, and no-one can move until the next stop.
The medium-distance tro-tro (e.g. Bolga to Walewale) doesn't leave the start-point until all seats are sold. This can be frustrating if you’d like to leave by a certain time – or if you’d just like to leave. But there is a way…. On Tuesday I was at Bolga after dark sat on maybe the last tro-tro of the day, hoping to reach Walewale (30 miles). After a while the tro-tro mate (tout) told me the bus wouldn’t run – there were only five people on it. He needed to fill all 18 seats at 1.40 cedis each to make 25.20 cedis (just over £10). Now a way round this is that you buy all 18 seats. This now makes you the Bus Owner, and you get to travel in the front. The bus sets off, and everyone else pays you. (I didn’t realise this on Tuesday, negotiated the 25 cedis down to 10 and was prepared to pay that - £4 - to get home. But I’d missed a trick here. I should have bought 7 seats. Then the first 11 seats filled would have been fares for the tro-tro mate, but if any of my 7 seats had been taken then those fares would be mine. In fact the bus was packed from people boarding at villages between Bolga and Walewale, so the tro-tro won on the deal. I was still addressed as “Bus Owner”).
Just as another illustration, - heading to Bolga on Thursday morning to run an Organisational Development (OD) workshop.
Clutching the takings the driver takes us to fill up with just enough fuel for the journey (after a push-start that is). After that the journey is uneventful – just one further push-start in Balungu - the driver has to get out to open the tro-tro sliding door, and unfortunately this time the engine dies. A couple of passengers are summoned to push the tro backwards (downhill slightly) for a jump-start – no good. The driver jumps out again and bangs on the front door. (Having bought two seats, I don’t actually have two seats but I am in the front passenger seat). My neighbour and I get out; I could probably claim exemption from pushing as marginal Bus Owner, but I help anyway. Success! We all get back in. But the sliding door won’t shut. The driver grabs his hammer and goes round to the door again. Engine, please don’t die…..I make it to the workshop at 9.58 – ahead of the attendees, so the day works out ok.
[Tro-tro = Any private shared taxi bigger than a car - e.g. small minibus into which 18 passengers will be fitted - generally on a fixed route like a bus]. It’s all true. The defining moment on my first tro-tro ride, with Charlotte’s bike on the roof, and with us sat in the worst seats, four facing four, was when the final people boarded. Eight knees face eight knees and as the final people squeeze in sixteen knees lock like a rugby scrum, and no-one can move until the next stop.
The medium-distance tro-tro (e.g. Bolga to Walewale) doesn't leave the start-point until all seats are sold. This can be frustrating if you’d like to leave by a certain time – or if you’d just like to leave. But there is a way…. On Tuesday I was at Bolga after dark sat on maybe the last tro-tro of the day, hoping to reach Walewale (30 miles). After a while the tro-tro mate (tout) told me the bus wouldn’t run – there were only five people on it. He needed to fill all 18 seats at 1.40 cedis each to make 25.20 cedis (just over £10). Now a way round this is that you buy all 18 seats. This now makes you the Bus Owner, and you get to travel in the front. The bus sets off, and everyone else pays you. (I didn’t realise this on Tuesday, negotiated the 25 cedis down to 10 and was prepared to pay that - £4 - to get home. But I’d missed a trick here. I should have bought 7 seats. Then the first 11 seats filled would have been fares for the tro-tro mate, but if any of my 7 seats had been taken then those fares would be mine. In fact the bus was packed from people boarding at villages between Bolga and Walewale, so the tro-tro won on the deal. I was still addressed as “Bus Owner”).
Just as another illustration, - heading to Bolga on Thursday morning to run an Organisational Development (OD) workshop.
My plans are disrupted by the (reasonably reliable) 7.45 am Metro Mass Transit coach declining to stop for me. I find a tro-tro in Walewale, with many seats taken but as time goes on it’s still not full. One or two passengers seem to be losing interest and looking elsewhere – not good news. Time is slipping by – 8.30 am comes and goes - and I have a meeting to organise starting 10 am more than an hour away. I ask the mate how many seats are unsold – two! I buy two more seats, everyone is suddenly galvanised into action, we can go. I even get my money back for one of the seats because another passenger materialises. I have the privileged view (see picture) that belongs to the front seat passenger as marginal Bus Owner.
Clutching the takings the driver takes us to fill up with just enough fuel for the journey (after a push-start that is). After that the journey is uneventful – just one further push-start in Balungu - the driver has to get out to open the tro-tro sliding door, and unfortunately this time the engine dies. A couple of passengers are summoned to push the tro backwards (downhill slightly) for a jump-start – no good. The driver jumps out again and bangs on the front door. (Having bought two seats, I don’t actually have two seats but I am in the front passenger seat). My neighbour and I get out; I could probably claim exemption from pushing as marginal Bus Owner, but I help anyway. Success! We all get back in. But the sliding door won’t shut. The driver grabs his hammer and goes round to the door again. Engine, please don’t die…..I make it to the workshop at 9.58 – ahead of the attendees, so the day works out ok.Travel detail to get to Walewale - not for the faint-hearted!
OK, here's an updated entry for travel detail - one or two people have thought of coming out to Walewale to visit, but skip this entry if that's unlikely for you! Here’s roughly what’s involved.
HOW TO GET HERE.
1. FLIGHT
You would need to get to Accra (in Ghana) or Ouagadougou (in Burkina Faso). Ouagadougou is actually nearer to here, but see details below re visa. There are direct flights London Heathrow to Accra (BA 078 and BA081 – leaving Heathrow early afternoon and arriving in the evening, leaving Accra late at night and arriving Heathrow early morning). You may get cheaper deals on Internet by changing e.g. Amsterdam, Casablanca, even Dubai! – but these will all take longer. Search online for flights London Accra..
2. VISA
You would need visitor visa for Ghana which you arrange in UK. We considered the Ouagadougou route but were slightly put off by the need to contact someone in Surrey who acts as the Burkina Faso consulate in UK (and was on holiday at the crucial time) but everyone here seems to say that a 24-hour transit visa through Burkina is easy and costs £10 or so on arrival.
3. FROM AIRPORT TO WALEWALE
This would probably be the day after your flight, so you would need a hotel in the city you fly to. We have been recommended Queen Vic Guest house in Accra and can provide contact details.
From Ouagadougou, it’s an approx 6-hour coach trip, including an hour or so at Ghanaian border. The coach will go through Bolgatanga heading south for Walewale (beyond Walewale it goes on to Tamale) and hence will pass within 5 minutes of our front door. Careful co-ordination would be sensible to make sure bus drops you at the right place - “Moonlite Spot” on right (by the LIGHTHOUSE CHAPEL, WALEWALE sign on the left) after SSNIT office on right (Social Security National Insurance Trust) about one mile before Walewale – “spot” means “bar” - & call us - but the worst case is that you go to centre of Walewale, are met, and then get here in a taxi.
But if you fly to Accra, you have two choices.
a. There is an Antrak flight Accra to tamale leaving Accra at 6.00 am and arriving Tamale about 7.15 am. There is a website but you can’t book online - someone (e.g. we could do this given enough notice) has to take cash into the Antrak office in Tamale or Accra. You won’t find flights to Tamale airport (TML) via any travel search site, e.g. expedia, tripadvisor. Delays are frequent apparently. Tamale is about two hours by coach from here (though the airport is in the right direction, i.e. north of Tamale). Confer nearer the time to see if meeting you is possible. Otherwise you would need to find the coach going North which we can investigate. See www.antrakair.com/schedules.html for the air times (and fares on the same website). There are also now some afternoon flights on Fridays and Sundays (leaving Accra 3.45 pm, leaving Tamale 5.30pm).
b. The alternative is an approx 14-15 hour coach trip from Accra. Air-conditioned coach, and the air-con might even be working, probably packed, some pot-holed roads, stops every 2-3 hours but toilet facilities basic or basic minus. Ours left Accra about 2.30 pm and so we arrived not long before dawn. Again coaches to Bolgatanga and points further (Navrongo, Zebilla) pass within 5 minutes of here - you ask to be dropped at “Moonlite Spot” on the left after GES West Mamprusi District Education Office is on right, one mile after Walewale – “spot” means “bar (by the LIGHTHOUSE CHAPEL, WALEWALE sign on the right), & call us. The coaches go through Kumasi and Tamale before heading north for Bolgatanga and passing here.
Coach travel is very inexpensive. However it's advisable to book in person in advance . I think this can be done at either end - e.g. we could book tickets in Bolga and they should then be reserved for you to collect.
More info:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Africa/Ghana/Greater_Accra_Region/Accra-2039506/Transportation-Accra-BR-1.html
WHILE HERE
Tourist attractions – that’s another whole story, depends on how long anyone was coming for and how ambitious. Mole National park, Paga crocodiles & slave camp, Sirigu pottery and basket-weaving, Wechiau hippo sanctuary, Tongo Hills. And of course Walewale market day every 3 days.
There are plenty of spare rooms in the house – empty rooms with concrete floors!, and sofas with sofa cushions – the living room has a ceiling fan. Alternatively an air-conditioned double room at Masagri guest house (the top place to stay in Walewale according to the Ghana Bradt Guide) is less than 5 minutes walk away & was about £8 per night when we were first here in October.
HOW TO GO HOME
Same thing in reverse. You might do it quicker if you got the 7.45 am from Tamale to Accra and then a day-time overseas flight – but the Heathrow flight leaves late at night so that’s not ideal in terms of keeping total journey time down though it could give you a day in Accra! Or you could get the afternoon flights on Fridays and Sundays (leaving Tamale 5.30pm) and by this means travel Walewale-home inside 24 hours.
If this has all put you off the whole idea, fair enough! If you’re still interested, we can discuss. It’s not expensive to phone UK from Ghana mobiles (but more costly to phone from UK. However I’d strongly recommend bringing a Uk mobile phone that can make calls in Ghana (you can bring an unlocked phone and then buy and insert a local SIM card, which would be cheaper calling in Ghana if you have or can get an unlocked phone).
HOW TO GET HERE.
1. FLIGHT
You would need to get to Accra (in Ghana) or Ouagadougou (in Burkina Faso). Ouagadougou is actually nearer to here, but see details below re visa. There are direct flights London Heathrow to Accra (BA 078 and BA081 – leaving Heathrow early afternoon and arriving in the evening, leaving Accra late at night and arriving Heathrow early morning). You may get cheaper deals on Internet by changing e.g. Amsterdam, Casablanca, even Dubai! – but these will all take longer. Search online for flights London Accra..
2. VISA
You would need visitor visa for Ghana which you arrange in UK. We considered the Ouagadougou route but were slightly put off by the need to contact someone in Surrey who acts as the Burkina Faso consulate in UK (and was on holiday at the crucial time) but everyone here seems to say that a 24-hour transit visa through Burkina is easy and costs £10 or so on arrival.
3. FROM AIRPORT TO WALEWALE
This would probably be the day after your flight, so you would need a hotel in the city you fly to. We have been recommended Queen Vic Guest house in Accra and can provide contact details.
From Ouagadougou, it’s an approx 6-hour coach trip, including an hour or so at Ghanaian border. The coach will go through Bolgatanga heading south for Walewale (beyond Walewale it goes on to Tamale) and hence will pass within 5 minutes of our front door. Careful co-ordination would be sensible to make sure bus drops you at the right place - “Moonlite Spot” on right (by the LIGHTHOUSE CHAPEL, WALEWALE sign on the left) after SSNIT office on right (Social Security National Insurance Trust) about one mile before Walewale – “spot” means “bar” - & call us - but the worst case is that you go to centre of Walewale, are met, and then get here in a taxi.
But if you fly to Accra, you have two choices.
a. There is an Antrak flight Accra to tamale leaving Accra at 6.00 am and arriving Tamale about 7.15 am. There is a website but you can’t book online - someone (e.g. we could do this given enough notice) has to take cash into the Antrak office in Tamale or Accra. You won’t find flights to Tamale airport (TML) via any travel search site, e.g. expedia, tripadvisor. Delays are frequent apparently. Tamale is about two hours by coach from here (though the airport is in the right direction, i.e. north of Tamale). Confer nearer the time to see if meeting you is possible. Otherwise you would need to find the coach going North which we can investigate. See www.antrakair.com/schedules.html for the air times (and fares on the same website). There are also now some afternoon flights on Fridays and Sundays (leaving Accra 3.45 pm, leaving Tamale 5.30pm).
b. The alternative is an approx 14-15 hour coach trip from Accra. Air-conditioned coach, and the air-con might even be working, probably packed, some pot-holed roads, stops every 2-3 hours but toilet facilities basic or basic minus. Ours left Accra about 2.30 pm and so we arrived not long before dawn. Again coaches to Bolgatanga and points further (Navrongo, Zebilla) pass within 5 minutes of here - you ask to be dropped at “Moonlite Spot” on the left after GES West Mamprusi District Education Office is on right, one mile after Walewale – “spot” means “bar (by the LIGHTHOUSE CHAPEL, WALEWALE sign on the right), & call us. The coaches go through Kumasi and Tamale before heading north for Bolgatanga and passing here.
Coach travel is very inexpensive. However it's advisable to book in person in advance . I think this can be done at either end - e.g. we could book tickets in Bolga and they should then be reserved for you to collect.
More info:
http://www.virtualtourist.com/travel/Africa/Ghana/Greater_Accra_Region/Accra-2039506/Transportation-Accra-BR-1.html
WHILE HERE
Tourist attractions – that’s another whole story, depends on how long anyone was coming for and how ambitious. Mole National park, Paga crocodiles & slave camp, Sirigu pottery and basket-weaving, Wechiau hippo sanctuary, Tongo Hills. And of course Walewale market day every 3 days.
There are plenty of spare rooms in the house – empty rooms with concrete floors!, and sofas with sofa cushions – the living room has a ceiling fan. Alternatively an air-conditioned double room at Masagri guest house (the top place to stay in Walewale according to the Ghana Bradt Guide) is less than 5 minutes walk away & was about £8 per night when we were first here in October.
HOW TO GO HOME
Same thing in reverse. You might do it quicker if you got the 7.45 am from Tamale to Accra and then a day-time overseas flight – but the Heathrow flight leaves late at night so that’s not ideal in terms of keeping total journey time down though it could give you a day in Accra! Or you could get the afternoon flights on Fridays and Sundays (leaving Tamale 5.30pm) and by this means travel Walewale-home inside 24 hours.
If this has all put you off the whole idea, fair enough! If you’re still interested, we can discuss. It’s not expensive to phone UK from Ghana mobiles (but more costly to phone from UK. However I’d strongly recommend bringing a Uk mobile phone that can make calls in Ghana (you can bring an unlocked phone and then buy and insert a local SIM card, which would be cheaper calling in Ghana if you have or can get an unlocked phone).
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
A working week-and-a-bit - from 23rd Oct to 3rd Nov
Most definitely not a typical working week, but I thought it’s time to put in some words myself, not just the pictures/captions. (Entries headed "23rd Oct" to "4th Nov" are by Mike and are more about my working week on OD work - see the "posted by" footer). Here’s the last week or so. It’s a little long so I’m going to split it into daily entries. Start reading from entry headed “Friday 23rd October” if you’re feeling ready for this......... (this has already been pushed back into "Older Posts" - you should be able to see all the recent posts in the "Blog Archive" panel on the left, and you can go from post to post by clicking "Newer post" at the bottom of each post)
.................
.................
Well done if you read it all.. I didn't plan to write all that, but there’s some material for those who've said “I keep looking for new entries on the blog”. You can also blame the fact that I’m trying a radical productivity innovation – I’m using the laptop, but as far as possible inside the mosquito net in the spare room. Makes a big difference to have fewer insects attacking the screen.
.................
.................
Well done if you read it all.. I didn't plan to write all that, but there’s some material for those who've said “I keep looking for new entries on the blog”. You can also blame the fact that I’m trying a radical productivity innovation – I’m using the laptop, but as far as possible inside the mosquito net in the spare room. Makes a big difference to have fewer insects attacking the screen.
Tuesday 3rd Nov - back to Walewale
Tuesday 3rd Nov
Back to Walewale on the tro-tro – but not before Anthony & Laura's chicken is dipped and introduced to his grandiose chicken-house.
He will have company soon.
Back in Walewale, we still have no water, so it's another trip to the well.
Laptop going ridiculously slowly - getting nothing done at all. I decide that the computer is horrendously hot. Reboot anyway once I can persuade it to close down, but also judicious application of frozen water sachets in a tupperware box to try to bring the temperature down. (This isn't even the hot season yet...)
Back to Walewale on the tro-tro – but not before Anthony & Laura's chicken is dipped and introduced to his grandiose chicken-house.
He will have company soon.Back in Walewale, we still have no water, so it's another trip to the well.Laptop going ridiculously slowly - getting nothing done at all. I decide that the computer is horrendously hot. Reboot anyway once I can persuade it to close down, but also judicious application of frozen water sachets in a tupperware box to try to bring the temperature down. (This isn't even the hot season yet...)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
