In which I reflect...

As we approach the end of our placements we are beginning to prepare our final reports and reflect upon our achievements.  Every volunteer launches into his/her assignment believing that he/she can move mountains and change the world…and then reality sets in and you begin to realize the difference in outlook and the pace of life! 

At this point in time I realize that it has taken until now for us to become part of the furniture here.  We are just about trusted and relied upon.  In fact, at this minute we are the busiest we have ever been; I have finally got out my “phonics” message and have been delivering INSET far and wide.  Paul is propping up various aspects of the data collection that is becoming more crucial for corresponding with the GES in Accra.  Likewise, we have fostered relationships with staff and teachers so that we can greet many by name and have a chat with them and often pick up the odd new chore.

With the benefit of hindsight I believe that longer placements are better.  I think that with a further year to prop up our initiatives using our now stronger foundations, we might move more speedily and more effectively.  However, I would never have come in the first place had the placement been for longer and I am in no way tempted to extend!

I’m not really sure that I’m the best volunteer material.  Whilst being ready, willing, able, I’m at heart pretty introverted and being here requires social skills way out of my comfort zone.  I also like to be well planned which is definitely not a Ghanaian trend.  I have become a good actress!  Having said that, I consider it a real achievement to have stayed the course; after all, 6 weeks away was my initial bargaining point.

Looking at the statistics, I’ve now led Inset/training on phonics and reading for well over 100 teachers.  With the Special Needs Officer I’ve screened 942 pupils and trained 130 teachers to conduct the same screening programme independently in the future (though I think they are going to need further support to do the job well); coverage should now reach all government primary schools and is in a sustainable position.  The numbers look good.  The reality is that I could have achieved the same output in less than half the time left to my own devices.  The frustrating thing is that “doing it yourself” is not really the name of the game; the locals need to develop the skills to “do it themselves” and the work ethic in Ghana is both limited and frustrating.  There is a very relaxed attitude to work, particularly with government staff; and the government has an equally relaxed attitude to paying salaries to its staff.  One of our Head teacher friends has not been paid since October, 2012!

For me, my time would have passed more quickly if I’d been busier and more productive.  Fortunately I have been able to find myself work to do; the phonics, for instance, has never been part of my remit.  I have re-vamped the phonics booklet, re-written the impairment manual, written a manual for identifying and supporting special needs in the classroom, helped Paul with his database, and so on.  I would have loved to develop the role of the District Special Needs Officer with whom I work but unfortunately, he was not/is not sufficiently open to change and spends very little time in the office.

Of course, I have also learnt a great deal; patience being near the top of the list.  I have learnt a huge amount about Ghana, developing countries and the problems they face.  The cultural differences are very real and, from my western point of view, very frustrating.  It seems to me that progress is hindered by such simple things as spending half the morning greeting your colleagues!  But I’ve had to accept that the western way is not necessarily the best and Ghana does not want to be, and should not become, a carbon copy of the west.  You can debate endlessly (and we have) about the pros and cons of imposing/ introducing western ideals here.  However, you can’t have your cake and eat it; in our bleaker moments we conclude that Ghanaians want to keep their laid back way of life but still have western mod cons.  We have tried to demonstrate that a more productive work ethic is possible and could improve the standard of living here but I don’t know if I’m right. 

Over the last few weeks the country has been experiencing very considerable price rises on everything from fuel to tomatoes.  July is supposed to see the beginnings of more prolific rain and although we have had rain, it’s not been nearly enough.   Put these two factors together and the outlook for the poor rural farmers doesn’t look too good; a poor harvest coupled with rising prices.  Add to that a government which is not living up to its commitments and paying its way and you begin to wonder why Ghana is ranked a middle income country and aid is being reduced.

I’ve had my eyes well and truly opened when it comes to corruption.  I was trying to solve a problem at the hospital – some children I’ve referred for medical assessments to get into schools are having difficulty obtaining the doctor’s signature on their form.  The administrator told me something along the lines of…if the patient likes what the doctor has done then “it’s up to them”…meaning, when you cut down to the chase, that the doctor will sign the form for a payment…a bribe.  Although I don’t really have much concrete evidence, I feel fairly confident to say that this kind of thing goes on all the time.  This example is small scale.  It happens big time too.  It’s a major topic of conversation.  I’d so love to find a solution to the problem.  The money would go so much further.  The rural poor in the north would benefit substantially from just getting their fair share.

One question I’m expecting when we return is did I enjoy it and this really is a question I can’t answer.  Coming to a developing country is certainly no holiday but then, you have to expect that.  The nearest I have come to an answer is summed up in the famous words of Mary Poppins: in every job that’s to be done there is an element of fun….a spoonful of sugar helps the medicine go down…And my spoonsful of sugar have been:

Paul, the support of my girls, family and friends, meeting other VSO volunteers, getting the screening project into a sustainable position, singing to lots of teachers (for phonics purposes you understand), getting a wheelchair to my little girl so that she can start school in September...

Would I do it again…er probably not!

See you soon. :)

 

In which I describe the weather...

Weather in Ghana, especially here in the north, is full of extremes – heat, wind, rain – no half measures here!  The climate is harsh, or, as the locals would put it – the weather is a challenge!  We are now quite adjusted to the experience of permanently damp, not to mention sometimes positively wet, skin.  You know when you’ve had a long bath and the skin on your fingers is all wrinkly?  Well, ours is like that all the time…and it’s not because we are so old (I hope!)!

Yesterday, for instance, we were outside, happily teaching our small groups in school when suddenly the storm broke.  Unusually, there was no warning gale so we were treated to instant, vertically falling, pounding rain.  At this point you have already retreated into the classroom where you immediately realize that teaching is now impossible.  Hammering rain on a tin roof is deafening.  Add to that 60 pupils talking all at once…time to leave.  And indeed, all the teachers rapidly arrived in the head teacher’s tiny office, many happily tucking into an early (or late?) breakfast.  No-one stayed in the classrooms to supervise the pupils.  No contingency plan came into operation.  It was yet another wasted teaching opportunity (yes, I did say you can’t teach in these conditions but you can tell the class to work through the exercises in the text book…or whatever…if you have a plan!).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

During the nights we have experienced one or two storms where, as the lightning passes overhead, sparks have shot out of the light sockets – quite a nerve-racking experience!  Fortunately no damage done unless you count frazzled nerves!  Another time we arrived home after a storm with a particularly strong wind only to find half of the house underwater.  Again no damage done (just a waterlogged toilet roll) – it’s a concrete floor – but endless amounts of scooping out water and mopping.

In October/November (nearing the end of the rainy season) we watched the storm clouds gathering force and rolling menacingly down the main street of Zebilla from east to west.  It was quite a spectacular sight.  As you watch the swirling grey mass gathering depth and force, a gale force wind warns you to get home fast.  So, with dust flying, along with many abandoned plastic bags, you forget your shopping and head for cover, knowing that in the next few minutes the deluge will begin.  Imagine the heaviest UK rain; huge droplets, like you are tipping a bucket.  Ghana rain is like that – well, at least initially.  It arrives with a bang but retreats with a whimper, gradually losing force but often taken a couple of hours.

On other occasions we have watched the lightning streaking non-stop across the evening sky for well over an hour.  I would liken it to the Northern Lights for spectacularness (is that a new word?!). There was little accompanying thunder, no rain and fortunately no mosquitos.

Today is extremely hot!  That should mean that the rain will come soon.  After a storm the temperature is cooler (well, if you can call 35/36 ° cooler!) for a while but there is a gradual build up of sun and heat over the next few days until…please rain soon!

So, the rainy season starts around May and ends around November, with the wettest months in July and August.  It doesn’t really mean that life is cooler though there are more peaks and troughs.  However, life is a little more exciting because if you want to stay dry you have to be a weather reader!  When the rain caught us at work on a Friday afternoon we were not impressed!  But when it means you can’t get to work – well, that’s a different story…and rain here is a bit like snow at home – normal service goes on hold!

From November to February Ghana experiences the Harmattan wind blowing in from the Sahara complete with accompanying sand and dust.  Lovely!  Temperatures remain high except that there were a very few nights where we felt that having a sheet on the bed in the early morning might have been helpful.  The air is hot and dry.  The wind is not always present; like the storms it keeps you guessing and will whip itself up into a frenzy within seconds when you are unprepared.  If you are inside you can watch the mini-tornados whirling around and once again bemoan the rubbish taking to the skies.  The best thing about it is that the puddles dry up and the mosquitos are put to rest. J

What’s left of the year is March and April – the hottest months – almost unremitting blue skies and sunshine.  Yuk!  Temperatures around the 40 ° mark with lows of maybe 34/36° at night if you’re lucky.  It’s not so windy or so dry but, oh dear, it is hot!

Ghanaians, like Brits, like to talk about the weather.  They get hot too, which is always re-assuring when you are trying to drink more than you’re sweating!  We have an electric fan  in the office (and ours is working now too J) and many have a fan at home.  Air conditioning is reserved for the computer rooms, the top officials and generally the posh hotels.  You learn to walk slowly; it takes a bit of learning because really you want to go quickly to get out of the heat but if you do go quickly you boil!  Now we understand the need to sit all afternoon under a shady mango tree.  But still, there are jobs to be done and life must go on.

                         The shade of a mango tree is very tempting!

The farming season is upon us.  After some early rain in April some industrious farmers in the outlying communities began to plough and plant only to be threatened by a mini-drought.  I think most seedlings survived but perhaps not all.  Here in the towns, most of the locals are just beginning to plough in the middle of June (why the townsfolk should be so much later is not obvious…maybe it’s smaller scale, less of a business, here).  I guess everyone wants something in place for July when the heaviest of the rain begins.  Crops are mainly varieties of millet, maize and rice.  However, there are large onion growing regions (that is, the regions are large, though perhaps the onions are too), tomatoes, watermelons, peppers (green and red hot), groundnuts, beans etc.  I imagine these need to be sown before the heavy rains too; I need to investigate this.


                                       A seasonal view outside our house

 

 

 

And so the cycle continues…we hope.  Ghanaians rely on the rains.  If the crops fail then many families go desperately hungry.  The millet and maize etc store well and keep families in food during the long dry periods.  The rains are welcome.  The rains are life-sustaining.  There is a lot of talk about climate change here.  So far it remains talk, the fluctuations are attributed to natural phenomena.  Let’s hope it stays that way.

 

In which I travel again...

 It’s taken me a while to get round to this but a couple of weeks ago we took to the road again.  We were a party of VSO volunteers (1 Irish, 3 English, 2 Philippino) staying at The Green Ranch at Lake Bosumtwi.

This time the journey was very smooth by Ghanaian standards; a couple of early starts, long days, stifling heat, uncomfortable seats but no long delays and mostly tarmacked roads both ways. J

Lake Bosumtwi is situated around the middle of Ghana (Paul says a third of the way up)just outside its second biggest city, Kumasi.  It is a hidden gem in an otherwise barren landscape.  The lake has established itself in a crater created by a meteorite which landed 1.3 million years ago.  It’s about 8km across and is the only natural lake in Ghana.  It seems to have its own little micro-climate and is surrounded by rainforest; the temperatures are still hot but more humid than elsewhere and there are no mosquitoes J (however, I was bitten mercilessly by some other nasty (but harmless) little bugs!).

The lake, like most other things in Ghana, is shrouded in tradition.  The Ashanti consider it to be sacred, a place where the souls of the dead can come to meet with the god, Twi.  For some reason this means that you can only fish in the lake using a wooden plank-like boat (a padua).

                  I'm not sure Paul would be able to catch any fish balancing on his padua!

 

Fortunately there are not many villages around the lake.  I say fortunate because the villages we encountered were complete eyesores which, on a larger scale, would be in danger of ruining the beauty of the scenery.  How can a few people make such an ugly mess?

Having said that, our accommodation at The Green Ranch was lovely.  The owner, a French lady (married now to a Ghanaian) is passionate about horses and keeps about 10 on the ranch.  She was an excellent riding instructor. She didn’t tempt me (or Paul) onto horseback but we watched her with other members of the group.  You can ride around the lake on horseback in about 10 hours; you can walk it in a long day but you need a guide, apparently.  You can also try out the boats (3 of the group did) and swim in the lake.  We were told not to swim in the lakes because of the bugs you can pick up so I didn’t! 

 

 

 

 

 

                                                   

 

Actually, we did very little apart from admire the view, relax and enjoy the company.  Of course the food was also great with a menu of vegetarian options with lots of fresh fruits and vegetables – you can get quite a variety in Kumasi.  And the fresh lemonade was delicious!

                                                   
                                        

                                                      

                                      

So, all in all, a successful trip; all the more so because we were slightly dubious about travelling given that we had both been suffering from stomach upsets!

In which I grapple with culture and tradition...

The world of Ghanaian culture and tradition is basically unfathomable.  Nobody gives you the same story.  Everybody has a story (many) to tell.  Usually they don’t make any sense to the uninitiated white man.  Here are just a few of the “facts” I can piece together…

Witchcraft

The word witch is synonymous with demon or evil spirit and in a 1999 survey 92% of the population believed in witchcraft.

Witches are in fact fallen angels; the angel spirits took possession of rivers, trees, animals, humans etc and became the gods of Africa.  So, in essence, all Africans live under the curse of these fallen angels and all evil acts originate from the demons.  Any disasters in your life; disease, accident, miscarriage, murder etc are linked to these fallen angels/witches.  You can inherit ancestral curses.

Demons can enter humans through being a witness to a trauma; even watching a disaster movie on TV can leave you vulnerable.

So, I guess it’s important to stay on the right side of the demons by following traditional rules.

Funerals

A safe, smooth passage from this world to the spirit world is vital. This is yet another major part of Ghanaian life and culture which is very complicated and confusing.  There are as many different rituals and traditions as you and I have had hot dinners.  As the ancient traditions mingle with Christianity and Islam; as the tribal traditions become muddied by intermarriage; as the younger generation gains education, new rituals are born.  I find the process quite disturbing, haunting and unfathomable.  Here are some random impressions…

Christians will have a coffin if it can be afforded.  The more money you have, the more ornate the coffin; in Accra you can get aeroplane, train…anything goes…style coffins.  Otherwise it’s a white shroud.

                                         Anything goes coffins!

Whilst Christian and Islam burials all have a traditional element to them, there is also a strictly traditional style funeral.

In general, burials take place within hours of the death.  Funerals can happen up to a year or so later – when the family has enough money to host a big, sometimes week long, party.  However, I’ve just returned from Kumasi where I’ve learnt that the Asante tribes can leave bodies in the mortuary for up to two years so that burial and funeral can take place together (except if you are Muslim when the maximum time that can elapse between death and burial is 40 days).

 

I'm told that in some areas there is a strict dress code for every day of the funeral if you are close family...or even nearly close!

 

Family and friends help to dig the grave.  Most of these are within the family compound or land (some are very inconveniently placed in the middle of the fields that farmers need to plough!).  Traditional graves  are upright and located by an upturned half-pot. 

 

 

Christian graves are large but look like those in a UK churchyard. 

 

I’m not sure about the Muslim equivalent.

A soothsayer stands in the grave to receive the body.  Sometimes he gets buried with the body but appears miraculously elsewhere!  It’s a very important and coveted job (for some reason).  He wards off evil spirits. The belief is that after death a person goes to the land of the dead; in effect another plane or dimension, not the equivalent to heaven or other group definitions.  I think the soothsayer is supposed to facilitate this transition.

In the Upper West Region (we are Upper East) there is at least one tribe which “stages” the body.  The body is placed on a chair, on a raised platform.  The mourners conduct a wake around the body, dancing and ululating.  Close family will remain with the body throughout the night, before burial.

Here in the Upper East, gunpowder is used by traditionalists to explode across the land (sometimes causing death in itself because they use very makeshift equipment).  The wealthier the family, the more explosive the burial. 

After the burial the wife/widow is supposed to stay at home for 40 days (numbers vary).  She is visited by the whole community and any other hangers on (like us).  She has to sit in her room, on her mat, looking suitably forlorn, doing nothing, for 40 days!  Tradition has it that this is to make sure that if she happens to be pregnant it must be from her husband since she hasn’t been allowed anywhere else…no point in the family looking after a baby someone else has fathered!  I’ve just read a story whereby 3 old ladies were rescued from being shut in a room for 9 years after the death of their husband, the king.  This has nothing to do with pregnancy and a lot to do with Human Rights!  For the rest of the family, when you visit, the men seem to gather in a big circle outside the compound whilst the women congregate inside.  There is a great deal of ritual handshaking, beginning with the men.

Widows also have to undergo some sort of purification/cleansing ritual to get rid of the evil spirit of their late husbands.  Customs are many and varied but examples might be, drinking the water that the late husband’s body is washed in or having your head shaved!

Family, friends and colleagues are expected to visit the family to sympathise and offer support (monetary).  After a suitable period a member of the family then visits all the sympathisers to say thank-you.  The process is a community affair. 

Office staff arriving to sympathise with the family of a work colleague.

The funeral is a big party where animals are butchered and roasted, drumming, singing and dancing happen, family and friends gather from far and wide (at your expense if possible).  It can last a week or more.  Again, the more wealth you have, the bigger the party.

At the funeral the soothsayer may accuse one of the attendees of killing the deceased eg by a curse or evil thoughts (very embarrassing!).  The soothsayer is in communication with the “dwarf” world – spiritual beings which float around and whisper to them.

 

Courtship

A traditional courtship has many aspects.  Once the relationship is established, when the male visits the female’s house he is expected to take gifts for each member of the family.  This happens for about three visits before he can state his intentions!  If the family is not impressed with your gifts then you’re in trouble!  Both families conduct thorough investigations into the “stock” of the betrothed before approval is given.  There is also the question of how many cows your future wife is worth.  The female has to spend several weeks with her future mother- in- law to learn about the family/tribal traditions and to keep house appropriately.  I’m not quite sure what her dowry is.

I’m told that modern couples get round these traditions by getting pregnant.  Then nobody cares and I’m not quite sure what happens.

A final gem (Thank-you Adam)

There are only a small number of cats in the area.  When I commented on this I was told that cats are killed and eaten before they reach 5 years old.  At that age the cat becomes too “human”, they understand what is being said and become a bit of a threat to the family.  My question is, since families don’t know the ages of their children, how do they remember the age of the cat?!

 

In which I become a Ghanaian gourmet...

With thanks to Judith for helping me get the illustrations sorted. :)

Were I to ask you about your last evening meal I’m pretty sure you would begin by naming the meat/fish/protein content.  In Ghana the list would begin with the carbohydrate: rice balls, TZ, banku, fufu and so on.  The reasons for this I hope will unfold…

In the main, a Ghanaian evening meal consists of a stew or thick soup served with “stodge” – a large portion of starchy carbohydrate - which is much cheaper and more filling than the meaty protein content.  Here in the north, the favourites of these staple carbs are the locally grown millet, maize, rice, closely followed by beans (black-eye and barambarra) and yam.  The stew/soup could be made with groundnuts (peanuts), chicken, goat, guinea fowl, dried fish or, more occasionally, dog or donkey.  You must be able to get pig as well, given the number of them that roam the land, but it's not mentioned much; perhaps because many of the locals can't eat it for religious reasons.  Okra is also a favourite; it cooks into a very slimy, green stew.  The stews are heavily spiced and, since ALL the meat is used one way or another, you are never quite sure what you might be eating. 

 A large portion of "stodge"

Instead of cutlery the stew is eaten with a carbohydrate spoon.  You tear off a piece of your rice ball, banku, fufu etc and use it to scoop up the stew.  However, in order to change your rice into a stodgy spoon-ball or your yam into a thick ball of fufu there is a huge amount of preparation:

 Banku with Okra soup.  You eat the soup by tearing off pieces of banku to use as a spoon.

      To make Fufu:

·        Peel and boil the yam

·        Mash

·        Pound and stir, pound and stir, pound and stir, for many hours (!) until you have a starchy, congealed mass.

·        Form into large balls

Pounding fufu - watch your fingers!

 

Similar processes are involved in forming rice balls and TZ.  A further process is required for banku in that you must allow the maize to ferment first.  I’m told that a previous volunteer got drunk through eating too much banku.  I don’t think we will fall into that trap!

 Cooking can be a labour intensive, communal affair.

 

Ghanaian food preparation is therefore extremely labour intensive!  Women work together on the streets, pounding enormous pots of fufu etc.  There is a system: three or four hands stir while one pounds…lose the rhythm and you could end up with some very sore fingers! My personal thoughts are: one-the introduction of a spoon might revolutionise this style of cooking and, two-what a huge amount of effort for a very bland, tasteless ball of stodge.

Tuo Zaafi (TZ) is a favourite accompaniment to stews here in Zebilla, made with the local maize flour and jute (?) leaves.  Millet porridges are also popular.  These are the sorts of porridges that are eaten throughout the day and can be purchased and sucked out of a plastic bag.  In fact, all meals are interchangeable.  Rice balls for breakfast is very common although this might be taken in the office at 9 or 10 o’clock (or at play time in school (for both teachers and pupils)).

In our office there is a surfeit of overweight men.  I think that their fathers were farmers who worked hard on the land and needed lots of carbohydrate to sustain them.  Their diet reflects this.  However, when you are sitting around in the office you are not burning off all those carbs.  Possibly a re-think of dietary requirements is in order here!

Street food, Ghanaian style, is readily available if you shop at the right times.  Market days happens every third day and many women will be up at three in the morning to prepare foods for sale.  As well as the labour intensive dishes there are stalls selling fried yam (big chips), plantain, roasted guinea fowl, barbecued maize and meats.  Paul’s favourite street food is the donut which comes in huge varieties both savoury and sweet!  You can watch the ladies frying up the donuts in enormous aluminium bowls on the streets (very safe!).  Oils are readily available in the forms of groundnut oil and palm oil, both locally produced.

 Cooking and selling donuts.                         

 

                                                                              

On the whole, we have managed a healthy diet though we have had to be creative!  Catching your meat before you buy hasn’t really been an option (!) and although there are a few butchers, the flies surrounding the stalls are not encouraging.  So, our protein comes out of a tin: corned beef, tuna, mackerel, along with eggs and beans.  Basic fruit and vegetables are seasonably available but there isn’t huge variety.  Right now I am pining for a nice cauliflower!  We don’t have to agonise about the choice of apple we fancy this week; it’s the boring green one or nothing…and only if you get to the market before they’ve all been sold!  At the moment it is difficult to find oranges and bananas so we are limited to mangoes and apples although avocados seem to be in season as a kind of substitute.

 

 

 Palm nut soup with fufu.

 

You buy your veg etc by the bowlful – no need for scales!  And how much a bowlful costs depends on the seasonal glut and/or whether the delivery lorry has passed through town.  Goods don’t come from very far afield; none of your fancy southern goods here (pineapples, papaya, green beans…), possibly because of preservation problems but, more likely, because of their expense.

 Buying tomatoes by the bowlful.

We cook on an oversized camping gas stove.  There is a kind of oven but we have never used it because we were told that the gas leaks and it is extremely old and dirty! Within their compounds, women seem to use a little aluminium stand filled with charcoal but on the streets they use logs; a neat system of large logs fed under the pot as they burn through…saves an awful lot of chopping (oh and Ghanaians use the word chop as meaning “eat”).

 A typical charcoal burner

 

 

 or using logs.

 

Enjoying a restaurant meal in Zebilla is quite difficult to imagine.  We have eaten out; there is a “chop bar” near the office, a place romantically called “The Container” (because that’s what it is), “Friend’s Gardens” (which may/may not have food…they sometimes don’t even have drinks!) and a nameless one further afield.  Two of these four serve your food in a polystyrene container: a huge dollop of luke warm rice with a spiced up fish or meatless leg of guinea fowl plonked on top.  Fruit juice comes in the form of the large cartons you buy in the supermarket and a glass if you insist.  In the other two the experience is slightly better in that you have a real plate. 

 Banku with tilapia fish...on a real plate!

Eating out is a better experience in Bolgatanga and improves considerably as you travel further south.  Of course, we don’t do this very often...remember the tro-tro journey?!

 

 

 

 

In which I welcome you to the office...

 

For the literary geeks amongst you, imagine the play “Waiting for Godot”, a play where nothing happens in two acts!  Today the Ghana Education Office bears remarkable similarities to this.  As I type there are 4 other people in my office room.  Paul, on my left, is busy with some task of his own invention which would be very useful if he could get the regulars to be involved and actually use his work.  Two members of staff are staring at the rain; well, three if you include me. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Now, I admit that rain in April, the hot hot month, is quite unusual but the torrential downpour and floods are over and the temperature is returning to its normal unbearable pitch.  So, why not do a spot of work?  Oh, no, nearly time for break!  The last person in the office is actually working and does, by and large, spend a large part of his time working.  He is the statistics officer who, from time to time has to deal with the demands of that great statistics office in Accra where they demand unreasonable information in a ridiculous time frame.

 Many a time and oft the GES sit around with nothing to do; and I really do mean that!  But it’s not necessarily their fault.  There is a definite problem with uneven distribution of work!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

GES staff operate on a policy of only doing their own  job and helping others with their job is unheard of, even if you are bored to tears sitting at your desk and your colleague is rushed off his/her feet. If it’s not in your job description then you don’t do it because you run the risk of being held accountable for any mistakes.  Having said this, some members of staff are sitting around because they have not been given sufficient fuel allowance to enable them to fulfill their job description.  Many are district co-ordinators whose tasks involve visiting and monitoring schools.  Even by motorbike the fuel bills mount up, especially when scheduled to visit some of the remote areas in the district.  And the fuel fund is quite definitely in the red.  It has been empty since we arrived but somehow the Director keeps managing to squeeze the budget for essential journeys; later on I’ll explain where I think this is coming from.  I think that some officers fund their own fuel to some extent.  The government is supposed to pay some kind of allowance for maintaining a motorbike and recently the officers received their 2012 allowance!

The Director of Education would like to have all her staff in the office when they are not out in the field, visiting schools.  Of course, this is difficult to manage because there is no way of clocking in/out.  As a concession she has allowed that some staff (Circuit Supervisors, a group of 11 school monitoring officers) can start work from home, rather than coming to the office first, because this is nearer to their circuit.  Ideally she would like them to come to the office after their field work but, using the same logic of preserving fuel (or because they have other things to do!), they don’t.  So, other officers follow this lead and also don’t come to the office, especially when there is nothing there for them to do.  And then again, the office is not exactly the most inspiring environment.  I don’t think the building is all that old but the climate here is very harsh and the rooms are exposed to the elements most of the time; there is no glass in the windows and the doors are always open to catch the breeze so mainly, the weather comes in with you.  There is a rumour that it is due for re-furbishment at any minute but it will be too late for Paul and myself.  I doubt they would take on board our need for a fridge and a coffee machine anyway.  A decent, flushing toilet would be nice.  Still, I have managed to secure a working fan for our room:  a luxury?  No, a necessity in this heat!

 

My fan!

Like all good work places, on the whole, the office is run by what I would call the office clerk.  Joe has his finger on the pulse…and on most pieces of equipment.  He works hard from very early morning to close of play and keeps everybody in check.  If you want the stapler, hole punch, file, photocopier, lists of schools/teachers, Joe is your man.  So much so that one of the toddlers who comes to work each day with mum (and who is terrified of the white lady!) runs around the office shouting, “Joe, Joe,” in imitation of the rest of the staff!

The storekeeper keeps his stores well and truly padlocked because nobody can be trusted.  When you want anything you must have your requests in writing and signed by the correct authority, usually the Director.  At the moment one of his rooms is under armed guard – quite literally!  This is because one of the storerooms is being used to house the Senior High School exams, both question papers and completed answer sheets.  I’m not sure when these will be removed from the premises but I am slightly disconcerted when I catch sight of the armed policeman outside.

 

There are 4 typists and generally 3 computers.  Work for them is spasmodic.  One day you will find all computers occupied with typing urgent (because everything is last minute) reports and letters.  The next day they will all be playing computer games because the rush has subsided.  At the moment all printers (there are 2) are broken so that should throw something of a spanner in the works!  The typists work hard when the work is available.  There are certain members of staff who don’t quite manage to negotiate well with the typists and get them to fever pitch in less than 5 seconds…but it all blows over in another 5 seconds in true Ghanaian fashion!

Stella is one of the typists.

 

The logistics officer is a very good attender at the office.  He is mostly in around 7am every day.  His desk is one of a very few piled with books, mostly science based.  I think he is in charge of ordering and arranging delivery of stock; textbooks, chalk, exercise books etc.  He has also recently been doing some teaching of science to student teachers and has spent several days pouring over his books and writing copious notes.  However, his work seems to be very seasonal and currently, on a typical day you can find him at his desk watching a DVD.  Mostly these are animal documentaries on the lines of David Attenborough but we have had some WW2 and Titanic thrown in.  I suspect that come the school summer holidays he will be the busy one trying to order enough registers, furniture, exercise books etc ready for the next academic year.

A similar picture emerges in the other rooms; work interspersed with periods of inactivity.  On a quiet work day morning greetings can take you up to, oh, a good 9am!  Fancy handshake, ask about your evening, exchange comments about the weather, talk about local activity or national politics; corruption is always a good one to get a long and heated debate!

The Director herself is quite a fearsome lady.  She doesn’t mince her words and everybody shows complete deference to her.  She works hard and tries to keep on top of her team.  In theory she has 4 deputy directors working beneath her but delegating tasks and responsibilities is not established (there is that trust problem again), so the deputies are in the ranks of the seasonal work load group while the Director keeps her finger on every pulse.

 

Despite the inclement elements and the lack of funds, progress is being made at the GES.  The exams officer has recently organized for the Junior High Schools to sit the same end of term test at the same time thus allowing results to be analysed and acted upon.  School based assessment has been introduced, again to produce comparable data (an area which Paul is working on and trying to pass on the skills for this to continue when we leave).  Teachers are being trained to deliver better lessons about AIDs and Malaria.  Head teachers are being trained to organise better school based Inset and to lead more effectively on lesson planning in their schools.  And so on!

Lunch time at the office

 

Earlier on I said I would explain where I thought some of the money for fuel is squeezed from.  Well, when you run a workshop (which I’ve just done) the budget is set for you (a ridiculous state of affairs which caused me to argue with my Special Needs Officer and the Director who both wanted me to agree to say that we were paying for a venue (because it was in the budget) when in fact we were getting it free.  I won in the end and we set an amended budget but they were not happy).  In that budget is a very large amount for fuel.  The cheque for the fuel is written to the petrol station (I didn’t win on this one).  You don’t actually use much of the fuel…so the remainder ends up in a general pot for use as allocated by the Director.  Or something like that! And if I just throw in that much of the funding for workshops comes from NGOs and charities then you start to wonder if the GES is getting money from these charities under somewhat false pretences.  However, if the government in Ghana actually paid their quotas on time it might make a difference because you might be able to plan your budgets adequately… 

And then you start to get embroiled in one of those heated arguments that take you round in circles…

Another day at the office…