Dear All,
December has been a month full of activities and incidents. Because plans are a bit hazy here and government money is not released from Accra, many activities are put off until the end of the year, so December is busy with meetings and Durbars.
GEP has been involved nearly every day with Wildlife training. This was planned in advance, but schools had not planned their programmes fully so we were having to dodge round examination dates. I go with wildlife officers to schools to talk about the National Park. This time we were informing children about wildlife laws and the benefits of a National park to them and to Ghana. They became very animated when we told them that hunting with traps was illegal and lighting fires to chase animals out of the bush was not allowed. They have all done these things and do not really understand cruelty when it is applied to animals. They find the concept of tourism very hard as they may never have travelled out of their village. We give them a quiz at the end. One question asked was which animal a tourist might like to see in the Park... ans. Madam Gill.
The civic education programme has also been hectic. Here children visit local organisations like police, fire, forestry and the courts to learn about them. Again the programme was set some time ago with agreement by schools and heads of Departments, but yet again, schools had not planned and I had to go and beg for time during exams. I never learn!! I always think that this time plans will go well. The schools had forgotten every date, luckily the organisations were better prepared. It was a good programme and has lead on to other things.
Those who participated enjoyed being part of a co-ordinated programme and have brought up the problems in the district about planning and co-operation between departments. They are hoping that I can spearhead some interaction and development plans along the lines of shared knowledge and support between departments. This is exciting for me but also hedged with problems as politics are very rigid and partisan here. To arrange this type of activity without stepping on political toes will be hard and need tact, not my forte!!
Many visitors in December. Ivy came over to review our year with SNV and to make more plans. We will have English, maths and Science courses in progress before the end of the year. We are planning to put lesson plans in place for English and science to help untrained teachers and schools in general. We are hoping to set up some schools which have good resources and supported teachers to see if we can raise standards. In order to do this we will have to have agreements with communities to also support the school and send their children regularly. It is a huge dream.
We had a route march to celebrate the Rights of the child 20th anniversary and another march to bring attention to domestic violence against women. These were not organised by us, but GEP is present at all these local events now. The Professional Womens' Group will also be having a march in January. More next time.
Officials from Barclays Bank also visited and seemed impressed. They did not stay long, those from Accra who are not used to the rigours of Nkwanta often run away quickly. They say that the money has been transferred, but I will need to check in the new year. There is a massive 14 page document agreement to sign. On the money front, Jeff Fenton (daughter used to be at TWGGS) is now here and is offering to do a fund raiser for us in the new year. His company, like others, only support in their area of operation, if they do otherwise, the chiefs in the area can be difficult. Tribal differences and political divides do hinder the total development of Ghana. I am only just understanding the problems that are here. With a massive illiterate population, it is easy to maintain this division as integration and change are seen as threats rather than development. (bit simplistic but I can get carried away if going into detail.)
Part of our District assembly building burned down due to faulty wiring, naturally rumours abounded about political sabotage and witch craft being responsible. It was more neglect as the people had known that there were faults for some time.
I am not sure what is happening about another shipment, but it would be good to include some smoke alarms. The fire department has asked for this as they are very expensive here. We would have to buy new, but could sell as well as use ourselves. Perhaps a good company would give us an excellent deal if we bought a lot and they knew why. We would also need the batteries as the Chinese ones here are very poor. We also need some more luxurious items: schools do not do much sport, I would like GEP to include athletics in the programme, we need some throwing implements, javelin, discus and shot. Again a company might make a donation, we cannot buy as they are very expensive. Finally, it would be good to have some brass band instruments, bands play here and are important at nearly every event but few know how to play, I have had an offer for teaching the instruments. I wondered if we could pick up some battered trumpets etc at boot fairs?
All for now, bit long, . Lots more to tell but must sign off
2010 promises to be exciting......
love Gill
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