On arriving back in the Upper
East from Accra three weeks ago it was clear the seasons were changing; even as
I rode up from Tamale you could see the land was getting greener. The planting has now started; although there is some rule as to which area plants first (some sacred rule
from way back), so even if some areas are getting rain, if the area that plants
first isn’t, they have to wait. We are
now back to every possible space being farmed, even just outside your compound,
and for some people right up to their gate!
It means that the animals are now starting to be tethered... this makes
for a less hairy moto ride so thumbs up to this and all the barrenness has gone along with the disturbing number of back rubbers (bags) that cover Ghana along with
other litter is hidden once more, until the dry season at least. My garden took approximately two days to
reach knee height (and is somewhere at waist height now) and I am still trying
to find someone to hand cut the lot down, my scything skills are just not up to
par. Everything grows like a triffid here.
Rain doesn’t come for long, but
when it does it’s normally in the afternoon or the evening and the sand storm
that proceeds the torrential rain in a good enough heads up for everyone to
pack up and get inside. The aftermath is pretty horrendous. After one, frankly hideous storm overnight a
few weeks ago (I nearly ran over to Hananas opposite to sleep – read cower- as
I though the roof was going to be ripped off) the destruction that was left
behind was soul destroying. All the
sandy roads had changed beyond recognition, a new path had to be found through
the mini river beds which had been created overnight, the sand slopes at T
junctions which join the roads to enable a smooth ride had been washed away to
leave a step that you have to negotiate
with the moto. The six foot wall at the back of VSO collapsed, It separates the
VSO rented building from a Junior High school… imagine if… no don’t. Some of the breeze blocks had been moved more
than 50 metres by the water. Sadly Navrongo (40 min moto ride north) was hit
the hardest, roofs were literally ripped off, many schools were affected and
semi-built buildings (there are many here) were reduced to no more than rubble.
However, it’s amazing how green and
beautiful Ghana can be and since coming back from Accra I’ve been to Zebilla,
Tongo and Navrongo all in different District of the Upper East. It’s great to travel around and see a bit
more of the country. In Zebilla I saw a
primary Science Box Project which was organised by the National Teacher
Association here. In Tongo I
co-facilitated a 3 day training for trainers workshop on inclusive and child
centred methodologies with a VSO colleague… it went really well and we are
looking forward to following up on that one.
It’s quite a big project in terms of in-service training (INSET) for the
teachers in that district as it will be the basis for the Cluster Based INSET
training for all the teachers in that district for the year. In Navrongo I toured some SEN units/schools
for another project I’m starting. What was most fascinating about that trip was
the last school… a school where the hearing and deaf students are truly
integrated. I have to say that I never
thought I would see it in Ghana and it was great to see... I guess now my job
is to promote it as a model that works and try to get more ‘true integration,‘ happening
in Ghana. An interesting fact that I
came across during the day was that Ghana has an unusually high deafness rate
for a given population. I am told that
the majority of deafness is postnatal and often occurs because of an infection
that hasn’t been treated. Sad but true
and goes to show how truly integrated our development efforts need to be;
health, social welfare and securing livelihoods alongside education all link in
to this very complicated web of development. On a positive note I can now sign my name and
greet in sign... with so many deaf people in Ghana it would seem like it’s just
another language here but I want to be reminded less of the cockroach and
mutton eating experience I had in Navrongo for fear of vomiting!
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