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N'Tegeme
This is the mother of the lost boy. She has shaved her head in honour of the lost child. This is the first opportunity I have had to update my blog. I have moved to the Northern district of Saboba/Chereponi. The environment is savanah with each rains resulting in a greener environment. I have had the opportunity to see some of the district and have thoroughly explored the town of Saboba which has a population of about 3000. The main language is Likipapong (Which I am slowly learning) and there is a mixture of other languages and also French and English widely being spoken.
I have also moved in with a family. The head of the house hold's father had three wives and as such a large extended family with which I live. The housing is arranged with many small rooms leading to a central court yard. The family are also part of the Royal Family though I am not in the same residence as the chief. I have been enjoying living with such a large family. I especially appreciate the time with the small children and find myself eager to return home after work to be with my brothers and sisters.
On my first day with the new family I was taken to see the elderof the village. After welcoming me in peace, we talked small-small (The Ghanian way of saying a little). I said that I was here to learn about Saboba. He extended great admiration for my coming and also expressed concern about me basing my opinion of Ghana on the north as they have so little. I assured him I was glad to be posted in the North as opposed to the south but I wish I knew how prophetic his words would be.
On the second day with the new family, a two year old boy died suddenly. The rushed him to the hospital but he passed as the doctor was preparing a transfusion. I am discovering that this is commonly experienced by many families. I visited the medical clinic (where they do amazing work!) and saw a recently born premature boy who due to the frequent power outages could not be placed into the incubator. The midwife calmly responded that it was in God's hands. Last I heard he was doing well. These experiences have challenged me in so many ways. The death of a child is not easy no mater where you are and I mourned with my family by sitting with the father and taking some of the traditional sugar cane alcohol. As I have grown and become a part of the family, they have given me a Kakumba name. Njoyaan which meand a good friend.
Poverty has moved from a simple statistic to something raw and visceral. I spent an hour just looking at a shirt of mine that says a child dies every three seconds from extreme poverty. A wise man that I have met here describes poverty as heat. It is unbarable, and makes you do things that you normally wouldn't but despite all this, many survive and suffer through.
The past few paragraphs have been negative and I want to move on to the reason that I am in Saboba, development. I am constantly greeted by an influx of curiosity and smiles. I have been visiting other villages in the districts, schools, government infrastucture, beautiful scenery and so much more. I am working with the district assembly which is something simmiliar to the muncipal government in Canada. It is hard to explain what I do there but basically I am there to learn as much as possible and facilitate some workshops on how we do things in Canada. Basically present a different perspective.
The msot important thing that I have learned is that Ghanians know much more than I do about the development fo their country. Despite extraordinary difficulties, the nation is dedicated to the development of the country and the erradication of poverty. There is drastic need for infrastructure and capital investment. I could probably go into incredible detail but I want to highlight some of the development projects that I am seeing on the ground. There are many different organizations working in the district creating things like schools, borehoals, clinics and food security including the Canadian government. I am particullarily interested in the European Union micro school project. They pay for the funding of the school but require communities and the district assemblies to contribute abot 15% towards the building. The communities do this by supplying labour and perhaps some supplies and there is a real sense of ownership.
Now over to something quirky. I hope to do this at the end of many of the blog entries because above all Ghanians love stories and love to laugh. So today I will go over the bathing routine. We at my compund have a communal place where water can be poured and a drain will carry it out side. It is enclosed by a wall that goes up to about my chest. I then will bathe with a bucket of water and ya you get the picture. The interesting thing to note is that everyone can watch as you do this. Bathing is a very public behaviour and one which you will see a lot of. Especially since you bathe twice a day.
Thank you to everyone for the support and e-mails. I have been reading them with joy and look forward to answering questions in more details.
M Cha Chop Shop La (I am going to the restaurant for food)
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Rob
non-member comment
Yo Man
Hey Dan Thanks for the update. I'm sorry to hear about the child, but happy to see how close you are coming with the family. Looking forward to reading more. A comment on Ghanians knowing more about development. Don't undermine the knowledge that you have, things like general health practice, germ theory, economics etc. You're knowledge of specific challenges in the area I'm sure is limited, but you do have a lot that you can offer. Looking forward to hearing specifics about your project! I'm writing this from your Mom's basement in Dauphin. Yesterday for dessert we had 4 ice creams to choose from... I'm getting to like Dauphin. Cheers Rob