Blogs from Tamale, Northern, Ghana, Africa - page 4

The Way Forward: Young women speak out about the importance of Education By Nichole Huck Over the last five months we have explored a variety of human rights issues on our program Freedom Thursday. Many of the problems seem overwhelming - forced marriage, female head portering, child labour, streetism, unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortions. No matter what the problem, it seems the solution always remains the same. Education is pointed to time and again as the way forward. And while it seems like a simple solution - the reality is there are many barriers preventing young women from accessing education and reaching their full potential. According to recent statistics from UNICEF less than 60 per cent of girls of primary school age in west and central Africa are enrolled in primary school and right now in ... read more

Right now I am in Tamale, in the north of Ghana. I will be leaving for Buduburam refugee camp this Friday. I am helping build a church and getting some things ready for the camp. We want to feed 400 homeless children a day for the two weeks that we are there. We will also be putting together hygienic kits filled with soap, detergent, tooth brushes, feminine supplies, a first aid kit ect. We will also give 5 kilos of rice to each family. I have been talking to the hospital administrator and the camp manager and we have come up with a list of 300 to 800 families that would really benefit from one of the packages. I am sending a news letter home more information about the project. As I said before, I ... read more

Actually my keyboard seems to be working 10 letters behind me... ah, Ghana. There is entirely too much to catch up so I will focus on just one day - yesterday - which was hellish. Most people would recommend avoiding night travel in Ghana and there are various (good) reasons for this; potholes the size of moon craters, the tendency of tro-tro drivers to drive down the middle of the road (even on blind corners) and most of all the quaint and widely held belief that having only your parking lights on 'saves' electricity or globe life, something like that. It may, for all I know, be true. Which is small comfort when you are hurtling down a goat track hitting bumps that threaten to launch you into orbit. Although we allowed ourselves plenty of time ... read more

African Cup of Nations - Ghana Style By Nichole Huck Life is divided between watching football and not watching football. Even as I type this entry at an Internet Cafe I am watching football. The African Cup of Nations has taken Ghana by storm. Four brand new multi-million dollar stadiums were built in the major cities in Ghana - including one in the Northern Capital of Tamale. When the Ghana Black Stars are playing - you know it. Everyone is dressed in Ghana colours, motorcycles and taxis are draped with Black Star flags. And every TV in town is tuned to the game. But on days when the other teams play in Tamale the stadium has thousands of empty seats. Seats range in price from $4 to $15. The four dollar seats are usually fairly full ... read more

A friend of mine had a conversation with coyote in a project that he is working on. I thought that I would give it a try. Coyote is a mythological creature in West Coast Native American stories. If you want more information on him please go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coyote_%28mythology%29 . I thought it would be fun to share some thoughts with him about my African experience. Coyote is known for being somewhat of a trickster. A walk into the Savannah Cold Cold Cold I see Coyote walking through a marsh. I ask: “Shouldn’t you be in Canada” He replies: “Does an animal not roam free like ideas?” “Yes I guess that they do but how can an animal come so far?” With a smile coyote responds: “Shouldn’t you be asking yourself the same question? You are studying ... read more