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Published: August 14th 2005
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Carrying Water
I think I got more water on me then what eventually arrived back at their house... after a couple of attempts they swtiched me from a bucket to a closed container that couldn't spill! 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 just group everyone together. I guess that’s what makes development, or good development at least, a challenge. Maamie is not your typical farmer around these parts, and not your typical women either. First of all she’s the head of her household, which isn’t common for a women in the Northern Region. She lives in Tali with her sister Grace, two of her sister’s children
Weeding
Grace, Titi and I are pulling weeds in the Maize field (Elijah and Gifty) and two of her nieces (Titi and Naboo). On top of this she also supports her three children attending school in Tamale (One of which, Zinah, happened to be home for a visit for part of my stay). Secondly she raises pigs, which also isn’t common for the predominately Muslim area. And finally she brews and sells Pito, which is the local/traditional form of alcohol made from sorghum or guinea corn along with other beverages, so her house is a favourite hang out spot for many of the neighbours.
Maamie grows maize to feed her family and guinea corn (sorghum) to make Pito. She really is a MoFA success story, last year with the help of her agricultural extension agent she was able to grow enough maize to feed her family for the whole year (her family includes the people she lives with, her 3 children at school in Tamale and 4 bags that she gave to her extended family in Paga which is the village she is originally from). This is something she wasn’t able to do before she learned about improved fertilizer and planting techniques. She is very proud of the fact that she
Family Portrait
Maamie (3rd from left), Me and my new sisters and brother. hasn’t had to buy a bag of maize from the market yet this year – in fact she just sold one bag to pay for help with the second weeding of this year’s maize.
My stay with Maamie and family was incredibly hands on – which was terrific. They let me try to do anything I wanted to and were very encouraging when I messed up (which was most of the time : ) From cooking (kosei, palm nut soup, bean leaf and okru soup) to brewing (her famous pito), from carrying water to weeding it was a really great experience. It was only three days but I left with a second Ghanaian mother, a bunch of new Ghanaian sisters : ) and one more little brother.
After staying with Maamie I had about a day and a half in Tamale to regroup (ie wash clothes, check email etc.) before heading off to Walewale, the capital of West Mamprussi district about an hr and 30 min north of Tamale. West Mamprussi is the district that my Ghanaian family is from, so it was interesting to spend some time in their hometown. The language spoken in West Mamprussi is
Happy Birthday Navid
Its a tradition in Ghana to pour a bucket of water on the birthday person. Poor Navid didn't know abt that until after Jane got him soaking wet. Mamprouli, which is similar to dagbani, but there are definitely some differences. It was the first district that I had visited where dagbani wasn’t the most popular language so it took a bit of adjustment. My work in Walewale was focused in the district office, rather than in the field, as I knew this would be the last one that I would have a chance to visit. Perhaps this was slightly less exciting for me, but just as valuable for understanding the inner workings of MoFA. I got along incredibly well with the office staff, which was especially good for me being alone in a different city. They took me to visit their homes and families in the evening, showed me around town, I even got the chance to dance in front of about 200 people at a child’s naming ceremony! (I’ll have to admit I was a little reluctant about that one for a variety of reasons, but it was definitely an experience I won’t forget).
The past week in Tamale, Navid and I have been taking all of the information we have gathered during our time here and forming it into a report and presentation for MoFA. Believe me, this is not easy. Our report has to express our points in a manner that is both culturally appropriate and well supported. It has involved long hours in front of the computer and a lot of intense discussion. Outside of work we’ve been trying to experience as much Ghanaian culture as possible, shopping for things we want to bring back with us and spending time with our families before we take off (now only 9 days left in Tamale 😞 I’ve already had to start saying goodbye to people and its not that much fun.
I think I’ll leave it there for now, so I can have some time to post some pictures. Thanks for reading!
Alyssa
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susan~
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lyss, you have more siblings than me now!! :D haha. can't wait to see you when you get back!