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Me, Tea and a Goat
Tea is one of the AEA's I got to follow around this week. Here we're checking up on some goats, notice the improved livestock shelter in the background. This is one of the technologies MoFA is promoting, its much safer and healthier for goats then letting them roam free. So its been awhile since I last wrote – I continue to be a very busy girl! Last weekend was a long weekend here in Ghana as well, so I got to do a little bit of traveling. Had a really good experience (don’t worry you get to hear all about it) but it left little time for updating the travelblog.
My role at the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) is now really starting to shape up. It was interesting for a while because Navid (my Engineers Without Borders Partner) and I didn’t have a specific project we were expected to work on. We’ve really had to define our own roles and develop a program where we are able to contribute to the organization here, learn a lot, and experience as much as we can to bring back to Canada with us. Basically we are moving through different areas of MoFA at the regional and district levels trying to identify areas where they can increase their capacity or use their resources more efficiently and effectively to better serve the farmers they are trying to support. I am fortunate that this work lets me work closely with the communities themselves
Weaving Kente Cloth
Here's one of the weavers making a piece of cloth. Its formed in long strips and then the strips are sewn together to form the material. as well as at all levels of the organization. I also will be traveling to different areas throughout the region to understand how programs are being implemented in different areas. I have just finished up two weeks in the Tolon/Kumbungu district and next will be going to Yendi, which is about 2hrs from Tamale. This work is also going to come in especially handy for a long term EWB volunteer who will be arriving in August to spend a year working with MoFA on some of the activities that we identify this summer.
Highlights from work in the last two weeks include; Veterinary rounds with an AEA (where we actually saw a cow fit into the back of an extremely small car to be taken home from market), and spraying and planting multiple zero tillage maize demonstration sites (my arms are only slightly aching : ). Zero tillage is a newer technology being introduced by MoFA that addresses a number of concerns faced by farmers. Basically, the land is sprayed with a pesticide a week before planting to kill all grasses and weeds. The seed is then planted directly in the land without ploughing. The benefits of this method are that the land retains much of its fertility because the dead grasses form a layer of mulch on top of the land. It also significantly reduces the cost for the farmer because ploughing a field by tractor or bullock is quite expensive. The AEAs introduce the methods using demonstration sites, where one half is ploughed traditionally and the other is planted using zero tillage. At the end of the season, the doubting farmers will be able to see the difference in both quantity and quality of the maize.
Outside of work the biggest news I guess is our trip to Kumasi for the long weekend. Kumasi is a 6 hour drive south of Tamale in the Ashanti region of Ghana, it is not the capital but somewhat considered the cultural and economic capital of the country. Wow! It’s like a totally different country. There were places in Kumasi where I could swear I was in Europe, others where I thought I was in the southern US. There were street signs and many multi story buildings and grocery stores that had conveyor belts (rumor has it, there’s even a Canadian Tire store in Kumasi, but we didn’t see that). Its funny, but I never even really realized Tamale didn’t have these things until I saw them there. I had considered Tamale a fairly big city – but compared to Kumasi it’s a tiny town. I had been warned that Kumasi was a busy city, but I don’t think any of us were quite prepared for the walk through that market. My mom had sent us some Canada flag removeable tattoos for July 1, I think 5 obruni’s (term for westerners) walking through the market at the best of times would have caused a commotion but 5 obruni’s with maple leafs on their cheeks was a bit crazy! There were people calling us from every direction, people singing, people dancing, people everywhere! On Saturday we went to Bonwire that is a nearby village and the home of Ghana’s famous Kente cloth. It was a little touristy but really interesting as well, the cloth is beautiful, but pretty expensive because its all had woven. I have bought a couple pieces as a souvenir; I think enough to make a scarf, so it will keep me warm this winter!
Here’s a quick little interesting note (well I think so at least). Ever wonder what happens to most of the clothes you donate to charity? Its true some of them end up in goodwill or salvation army or a women’s shelter, but most of them end up in Africa! They come in on freighter and then get distributed to sell. Here they’re called “dead whiteman’s clothes” because most people don’t understand why someone would give away perfectly good clothing unless they died. I’m keeping track of all the interesting clothing articles I’ve seen so far I have: A Brampton jersey from the 2004 Golden Horseshoe Hockey tournament, a Meijer’s (sp?) jacket for all you Michigan people, several royal Canadian legion shirts, a 2002 Old Navy Canada day shirt (on june 30 none the less!), a Sharot Lake Ontario baseball cap, an original LiveAid concert “I was there t-shirt” – how ironic is that one just to name a few. I’m just waiting to see one of my old shirts walking down the street in front of me - Just another interesting way to show how connected the world is!
Speaking of which, a final note before I go, most of you have probably received an email from me (or are just about to - i'm sending it on sunday) about how much Africa has been in the news lately with the G8 summit and Live8 concerts. Please, please please take a few minutes, show your support! You can’t imagine how important this stuff is to so many people here. For those of you in Canada its www.makepovertyhistory.ca, sign the pledge, wear a white bracelet, write your local MP or Paul Martin!!
Thanks guys, your help with this makes my work worthwhile : )
Bye for now!
Alyssa
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Christopher
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Make Poverty History!
Hey Alyssa, I received your email and will definitely forward it to as many people as possible and encourage them to sign the pledge and participate in letter writing campaigns. I've enjoyed reading about your overseas experiences, and will regularly check for updates :) I hope you learn a lot and have lots of fun!! Later Gator, Christopher