Wednesday, August 13, 2014

Ghana Day 4, 8/6/14

We started off the day with a lesson about family planning, which was the focus of the day. William, who is in charge of the microfinance and business brigades in Ghana and a native Ghanaian, came to explain everything to us. Essentially, we were supposed to gather basic information about what Global Brigades has done in individual households so that it can be compiled to show the impact of Global Brigades in the community. It was awesome to hear him speak about his work because his eyes would light up when explaining that the leaders of the community and the banks were very invested in the processes, including decreasing the prevalence of GI diseases from 80% to 15% over the course of 2.5-3 years.

William explained to us that medical brigades come to communities every 6 months, but it depends on the resources of GB. Before they can begin, however, GB staff holds a series of seminars with community leaders and requires a buy-in from the members to increase the community investment in the project(s). Because education is the main method to motivate the community to change, GB depends on workshops, especially within brigades. Foreigners are great because they can demand the attention of a community simply because they are so different from the members. However, in order for the information to really stick, it takes ex-patriots from the community who have left and come back with the knowledge sharing what they know.

Once a microfinance brigade begins to establish a community development fund, they select a committee to lead it by giving requirements to the community leaders. They are then responsible for gathering 15 candidates that meet those before the list is released to the community as a whole for feedback. Anyone who doesn’t think that the candidates have the personality or the qualifications to be on the committee is free to voice their concerns, and at the end of the brigade, there should be a candidate chosen.

William’s “catchphrase” was, “Is that okay?” which I really enjoyed. He told us that after an initial mistake without being able to recollect a loan, he created an environment where the bank loan repayment rate of 99%, which is amazing. Granted, the interest rate is 4% compared to the 15% at most banks (and the ~25% rate for credit cards in the US), but with the limited resources here in rural Ghana, a 99% repayment rate is incredibly impressive.

He also told us that people often have multiple official names, to be used in various contexts. They usually have a Fante name that is based on the day that they are born (Abena for all girls born on a Tuesday, for example) as well as a Christian or Muslim name. Because there are only 7 days of the week and therefore 14 potential Fante names, community members are differentiated only by age and picture if they have the same name.

When we headed out to Ekumfi Ebuakwa, where we were going to be completing the family profiles, we stopped by a market first. We pulled into the gas station located across the street from the main market, but immediately, there were children holding baskets and boxes of various foods on their heads (everyone seems to put a cloth on the top of their hand and balance everything on top of that) that came to surround us. They were extremely eager and tried to sell everything from ice cream in plastic packets to freshly-baked bread to fried plantain chips. All three were delicious, but I felt bad because we could only buy products from one child rather than all of them because many people were selling the same things.

When we started to speak to individual community members, I could see firsthand how difficult it is to work with grassroots movements. We, as foreigners and visitors to the area, essentially barged into the community and started asking questions about the sensitive topics of age, incomes, loans, etc. and then asked to take their picture. I get the impression that they also don’t know much about the world or life outside their local area, so they also didn’t have any questions about the way that we live.

We talked to 8 people total, and one of the ladies that we talked to told us that she didn’t know how old she was, which was surprising to me. Two of the elderly men we saw were 75 and 88 years old, and the 88-year old had come to the 75-year old’s house to just visit with him because he had leg problems and could not walk, and both of them were retired. The older man also had 4 kids who lived in the city and were teachers and nurses. The other wanted a tank so that he could store water for when he needed it and wouldn’t have to continuously rely on people to come visit him to get enough water. Many of the people that we talked to were retired due to age or health problems, which makes sense because during the day, most of the farmers and traders left to work on their land. What I found most interesting was that these people were either funded by their children that had left to the city or their friends in the community.

We also had the privilege of walking through the bakery again, and we saw the bakers kneading dough for the next batch of bread. I was surprised because all the bread from the previous day had been bought or somehow consumed. Another person asked us whether rainwater was safe to drink, and they seemed to know that boiling water, although costly, can be extremely effective at improving the quality of drinking water. Otherwise, many people just take the water and let it settle for a couple of days before drinking the top, although those of us who have been educated about it know that this, along with allowing animals to drink from the same water source, is not sufficient for cleaning the water.

We also met a woman who had set up a little booth with all kinds of fruits and vegetables as well as grilled fish. She was talking to another woman who owned a stall right next to hers and had an infant tied to her back with a simple cloth.

The most difficult challenge I faced was using an interpreter that didn’t seem to be very engaged. She didn’t seem to be too interested in talking to the families, or at least didn’t try to engage us and take an interest in our lives. I had a really hard time knowing how to continue a conversation with someone with which I don’t yet have a connection or who doesn’t do a great job of responding to the discussion.

Other groups were only able to talk to 3-5 people in the same time span we were given, and came back with stories of community members that stood out. One group interviewed members that wanted schools and more employment opportunities for the children in the community so that they wouldn’t have to go to other communities for education or the city for a job. Another met a man that could sell boxes of liquid from the palm trees for 7000 cedis, or about $2000, because it was almost 200 proof alcohol, or pure alcohol. For reference, beer is usually between 6 and 10 and something hard like vodka is about 80. He was able to fund all his children’s college educations with it, which is extremely respectable. Another mentioned a lady who owned a bar. She sold shots in ketchup packet-sized plastic, and would make more in the dry seasons than wet, opposite of most of the community members. She had saved for 6 months to buy a freezer, but she said it was a worthy investment as many of the community members enjoyed a cold drink.

One note: GB has not yet done much water work in the community, so most of the members drink from a small pond that is just a tad cleaner than the clay-infested waters of Ekumfi Ejyankwa, but is still predictably contaminated and unsafe to drink.


What I would like to think more about is the power dynamics between us, as representatives of Global Brigades (an organization that has brought a tremendous amount of service to the community and a promise to continue), and the community members. It makes the accuracy of the information that we were trying to collect worth a second evaluation, especially in a culture that is prone to lying before making you look bad. 

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