I’ve had the busiest 11 days of
my life so far in Ghana and am feeling very lucky because of it. My Programme Manager asked me if I was
available to support a project ‘next week’.
This was at 2.30pm on Thursday.
‘Only a couple of things planed’ I said ‘I am sure they can be
rearranged’… It transpired that I was needed the next day. Hardly next week! A
consultancy company, working for the Ministry of Education, needed some support
on a project. The consultancy company
had taken over from another firm part way through the project - hence the tight
deadlines as they were way behind schedule.
The project was to do with ‘Improving quality Kindergarten Education
across Ghana’.
On a normal day it takes 2 days,
an overnight stop and a couple of buses to reach Accra from the heady heights
of Bolga in Northern Ghana. I was in
Accra by 9.30am the following day having been driven in a 4 x 4 (no Tro!) to
Tamale, then flown to Accra. By the
afternoon I was in a meeting with my temporary boss, having been given 2
substantial documents to abridge over the weekend for those at the ministry who
were far too busy to read the entirety of the reports. On Monday, having completed the abridged
reports, I was tasked with drafting an Operational Plan devised from the
information gathered from 7 reports. Four eye opening meetings at UNICEF and
the Ministry, five days and nineteen pages later, it was ready for the boss’s
opinion. I even worked through Ghana
Independence day (pausing for an amazing Indian curry!).
Luckily I’m from the north of
Ghana, the main area of inequality for education and many other aspects of life
for Ghanaian people. In terms of stakeholders, ‘the north’ had been
underrepresented in this project, rewind….
Not represented in the
stakeholders; I had to speak up.
Such a shame that it hadn’t been recognised when there is so much good
stuff (albeit small scale) going on here in the north. Hopefully this will now change. So many things got me excited. It was clear that the reports flagged up many
areas where the government support services/policies could be improved. It was obvious that these changes could
improve not only KG but all sectors of education... a push for an holistic
phased approach to improving all sectors of education (including 0-3 years) not
just KG was the theme of the OP, but who knows how much can/will be taken on by
the Ghanaian government... It’s a huge ask needing lots of funding and nonpartisan
support from all political parties; in election year, in Ghana… a difficult task. Even begging the question ‘Why this OP, at
this time?’ But that’s very cynical of
me.
On Sunday the minor amendments
were made so the Draft OP was ready to be viewed by the initial stakeholder
group on Monday. This was the day I
returned back to Bolga at the crack arse of dawn managing to reach Bolga by
11am, dump my bags, grab my bike and support the moto training which continued
for the rest of the week during daylight hours - knackering. Meanwhile amendments/additions to the OP were
made by the initial stakeholders, which I turned around Tuesday night, ready
for the meeting on Wednesday in Accra.
The lovely Samina put me up at
her Roma Ridge residence in Accra which was so comfortable and welcoming, and,
given Accra traffic, enabled a relatively stress free 30-40 min tro-tro journey
into central Accra in the mornings. I
enjoyed butter, toast and real coffee for breakfast, salads, pizza, amazing sushi,
zumba sessions, swimming pools and fun times… more than I expected given I wasn’t
keen on Accra the last few times I visited… that’s Samina for you!
Never have I worked with a Ghanaian
so focused, western his approach and adept at using e mail. The joy is too much to express… suffice to
say I’ve loved working my butt off for this man and super pleased my PM felt I
was able to complete the task. It wasn’t
just him though; the guy at UNICEF and the NGO worker supporting the Ministry
were also fabulous to work with…. Like I said.
Too much when you’ve been used to... well, you know – you’ve read the
blog. They’ve asked me back next week to support the two day stakeholder
meeting somewhere close to Accra in a hotel… delighted; Possibility of wifi and hot showers galore…
if only who is funding my trip can be agreed that is…
No photos. I was too busy!
