How does one prepare to work in Development for a year in Ghana??
With Engineers Without Borders Canada, we have 4 weeks of training/learning before we go, and I am currently in week 3..
In just 2 short weeks (to the day) I will be landing in Ghana. It is both exhilarating and frightening at the same time. Training is excellent: challenging, fun, difficult, practical, participatory.. so far we've touched on everything from rural livelihoods to the root causes of poverty, cross cultural communication to development interventions, gender and stakeholder analyses to safety and security, and lets not downplay the endless case studies and frameworks- all immensely useful.
One of the most exciting pieces of knowledge I've gained thus far- I have to say- has been the details of my placement!
I will be working in the Upper East Region of Ghana (see map to the left), in Bongo. I will be at one of MOFA's District offices, continuing Ryan's work with the Agriculture as a Business Curriculum, monitoring progress, as well as innovating new ways to improve extension services to Farmers... (all fueled by our passionate desire to alleviate poverty by increasing the profits in farmers' pockets.)
I find it so incredibly exciting to actually know where in the country I will be; strange how some small details can suddenly make things so much more real.
It is hard to grasp the reality that soon enough I will be saying goodbye to Canada and all the beauty, love and comfort it holds to begin a new life of ambiguity and uncertainty in Ghana...
Please stay tuned,
Love Robin
Wow Robin I'm so excited for you to be working in Bongo! It is SO beautiful, big baobab trees and hills made of huge rock that seem dropped from the sky in a kind of celestial game of marbles. As you make your way north, the tarmac road turns to dirt, and you keep going and going, then Bongo begins to form around you and bustles importantly and you weave through the rutted roads...
ReplyDeleteThe District Director, Alhaji, is a great charismatic leader, and oh how I could go on about the extension staff and farmers!
Catch you on the flip side ;)