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 f [View Full Entry]

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NOTE FROM EDITOR: I have spent the past four months living in Tamale in Northern Ghana. One of my first observations was that many people here (including many of my co-workers) have scars on their faces. I had never seen anything like it - and I wanted to understand it more so I enlisted the help of one of my co-workers Bawa Ibrahim. He prepared this photo essay and has interviewed traditional elders in his community. NOTE FROM AUTHOR: My name is Bawa Ibrahim and I am from the Dagomba ethnic group in Northern Ghana. I am twenty years old and [View Full Entry]

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Picture this - two groups of 5 kids square off against each other on the football pitch. One team is the white blood cells - the second team is opportunistic infections. It’s an even game and it represents everyday life. Sometimes you are ill - sometimes you are healthy. Then the HIV team is introduced and it plays on the same side as infections. There are now 10 players against 5 - so it becomes obvious that with HIV the infections start to dominate. After a while a fourth team is introduced - the Antiviral Drugs team that plays on the [View Full Entry]

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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 [View Full Entry]

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If you play with fire.... An Introduction to the Fire Festival in North Ghana Jan 18th was a week of firsts. I had never been to a Chief’s Palace - and I had never been to a fire festival. Ghana has a democratically elected system of governance - but every area is also ruled by a Chief who handles all sorts of traditional matters. One of my co-workers and I were walking by the Chief’s Palace in the area where I volunteer when she asked if I would like to go and meet the Chief. Why not? We went into his [View Full Entry]

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Shawn and I spent our Christmas in Burkina Faso - We gave up our hopes of going to Timbuktu because of time constraints and settled on a place with an equally exotic sounding name. Ouagadougou (pronounced Wagga-doogoo) was our new Christmas Destination. We noticed the difference as soon as we crossed the border. The French speaking immigration man joked with us as he chain smoked cigarettes. An empty shot glass sat beside him on his desk - we attributed his friendliness to the beverage. We later found out the glass was for incredibly strong green tea from China made by [View Full Entry]

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A Christmas Poem for Family and Friends By Nichole Huck Twas the night before Christmas And all throughout Ghana… Not a creature was stirring except for the goats, sheep, roosters, donkeys, Iman who announces on the mosque’s loudspeaker outside our bedroom window and the horn blasting taxi drivers. Nichole and Shawn were curled up under their mosquitoe net covered bed. With hopes that malaria would not strike them dead. It has been only three months since they left the city that rhymes with fun. In that time - the Saskies took power and the roughriders won! N [View Full Entry]

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Community Focused Media By Nichole Huck Tamale (Northern Ghana) Radio plays a pivotal role in the day to day life of many people in Northern Ghana. The literacy rate is about 60 per cent - and nearly all of the written media is in English. For people who can neither read or speak English - local language radio programs is the only means of getting news. But radio is more than just news - it’s the glue that holds a community together. It’s a way to educate (on everything from sanitation to sexual health), provoke debate (mostly about politics), and entertain [View Full Entry]

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Paga, Northern Ghana Eco-tourism or community centred tourism projects are popping up all over Ghana. The North of Ghana has a long dry season - which scorches the earth and makes growing almost anything impossible. The Savannah grasses start to dry up in November and they won’t see rain again until April. The harsh growing conditions coupled with difficulties securing land has driven many young people to turn away from farming. Those who don’t go south in search of education have started looking right in their own backyard for opportunities. Many have started community based [View Full Entry]

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Where were you when the riders won the Grey Cup? Shawn Fraser, Shawn Hughes and I were in an Internet Cafe in Tamale (Northern Ghana). The three of us were pumped to find out our beloved Riders made it to the Grey Cup -- and against the bombers none the less. We decided that even though we are on the other side of the world - we needed to be part of the night the Riders won the Grey Cup. Earlier in the day I painted my motorcycle helmet Rider Green (despite weird looks from the guy at the bicycle shop [View Full Entry]

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