alyssal

So its been a little while since I’ve been able to write – time is nearing the end here and there’s still so much to fit in! Since I last wrote, I’ve been able to stay with another farmer (in Tolon district, where I was working earlier in July) and visit another new district (West Mamprussi) and the last week has been spent trying to analyse just about everything I’ve learned since I’ve arrived and form some conclusions – definitely not an easy task! For my stay in the village this time, I lived with Maamie and her family in Tali. The experience was just as good but incredibly different. It goes to show that although a lot of the villages, houses, etc. around here may look the same, each is pretty unique. You definitely can’t ... read more

Hello hello! Another updates, this time about my week in Yendi, a town/city about 100km from Tamale. During my tour on the first day by one of my co-workers, I was told that Yendi is “a big small town in West Africa” I laughed at the time, but looking back it’s a pretty accurate description. I really enjoyed my time there actually, and I’m looking forward to going back next week for another 5 days. Yendi is the Dagomba capital (Dagomba is the most prevalent tribe in this area), even though Tamale is the political capital of the Northern Region. It hasn’t been influenced as much by western culture as Tamale - there are no multi storey buildings, the food is pretty traditional but things are definitely changing - they have just opened their first internet ... read more

To debuy! Time fort another update, I’ve had a really good week so there’s lots to say! I have been working in Savelugu/Nanton district, out of their office in Pong-Tamale. Pong-Tamale is a small community about 30km north of Tamale. They have been very good about trying to get me to experience as much as possible. This week I was working directly with agricultural extension agents (AEAs) on some projects as well as with other members of the district development office staff. AEA’s are the front line workers who actually implement all the programs run by the Ministry of Food and Agriculture. They work directly with communities and farmers to help them increase their agricultural productivity. One of these activities was setting up and distributing resources for demonstrations to be carried out by each of the ... read more

Nau Guorum Reporting in once again from good ol’ Tamale. Another update, before things are abt to change drastically. For the past 4 weeks I’ve been working here at the regional office. I’ve been through 4 different departments (last week I wrote abt 2, this week I’ll write abt the other 2 - post harvest and animal traction). But next week I’m heading out to the districts! Yay! First I will spend two weeks in Savelugu, which is just north of Tamale (maybe 15 min drive – I’ll be able to still live at home) and then after that we’ll play it by ear. Maybe I’ll rotate through some other districts, maybe if things are going well I’ll focus my work there and just do some visits to the other districts. My weeks at the regional ... read more