Getting to know GFD

It was surprisingly reassuring to find that a first week volunteering in Ghana feels just like the first week in a job back home. The same “getting to know the place” issues of where is the loo (Ah, there’s a much nicer locked one for our office is there? Very good to know!!), where is the water cooler? (help yourself to plastic pouches of “pure water” from the fridge), learning everyone’s names (Fred, Greg, Sackey, Vida, Harrison, Faustie, Ike, Doris, Peter, Cynde, Dede, all considerably cheerier than their photos might suggest :) http://www.gfdgh.org/staff.html) and making friends with them through the medium of biscuits (yes, baked by the Queen! ).

It wouldn’t be as exciting if some things weren’t different, like the language (missing out on banter as half of the office chat is in Twi, but learning to sign a new phrase from Dede everyday) the lunch places (feeling ever so conspicuous as the only white face, sat on my own, being the only one using cutlery to tackle my bowlful of half a fish in groundnut soup with rice balls), and being very conscious of how I sit (crossing your legs is disrespectful until you get to know people, but no one seems to do it anyway).

I’m working as a Resource Mobilization Advisor for the Ghana Federation of the Disabled (GFD), which is located, along with some of its member organisations (Ghana National Association of the Deaf, Ghana Association of the Blind and Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled) at the Accra Rehabilitation Centre. There are 38 National Vocational (Rehabilitation) Centres across the country providing vocational training for people with disabilities, of which the Accra Rehabilitation Centre is one. Typically the skills that they train are rural crafts and therefore rather outmoded, but there is an effort to update the programme however unsurprisingly resources for this are limited.

Ø254 - Part of the Accra Rehabilitation Centre compound. The entrance to the GFD office is in the back left corner. (Sorry, photo upload not currently working will try adding this photo again another time)

I’ve been arriving at work for 8.30 and leaving between 4 and 5. My days have included a press conference to mark the start of the International Week of the Deaf where the Ghana National Association of the Deaf called for sign language to be recognised as a national language of Ghana. This would mean that a curriculum and teaching resources would be developed and made available through the education system, something which does not currently exist. Without this structure, deaf people are left to teach themselves to sign or learn from a deaf friend. This means that there is no one definitive sign language, as well as no resources from which to learn. It was at the press conference that I was taught, along with the “esteemed ladies and gentlemen of the press” to sign the alphabet in American Sign Language. This has helped me to communicate a little with Dede in advance of learning the more time-efficient signs!

I had an insightful and positive first meeting with my Manager Fred and Programme Officer Greg after the press conference on Monday. It was great to hear more about the organisation’s focus on three key projects:

1) To support the disability movement across Ghana to become better at advocating for the rights of their disabled communities

2) To work towards Ghana’s ratification of Ratification of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disability

3) To research the education and employment opportunities for people with disabilities to inform a new evidence-based advocacy programme in this area.

On my second day I attended a conference organised by Ike about the inclusion of people with disabilities in the Millennium Development Goals (http://www.undp.org/mdg/basics.shtml) Speakers were the Chairman of the National Council on Persons with Disability and the President of Ghana Association of the Blind. Both were very clear that more needs to be done to ensure people with disabilities are included in the achievement the Goals’ targets. For example, Goal 2, universal primary education will not be reached in Ghana unless particular efforts are made to enable more children with disabilities to attend school. It is estimated that currently only 4,100 of the 804,000 school aged children with disabilities are in education (either segregated or integrated).

Ø245 - Ike in full swing hosting the MDG conference (Again, sorry, photo upload not currently working will try adding this photo again another time)

The rest of the week has been given over to reading. I spent a good day pouring over an excellent report done by a previous VSO volunteer on “Attitudes Towards Persons with Disability in Ghana”. I’ve read GFD’s advocacy strategy, the reports done by 2 UK MPs (Keith Hill and Roger Gale) who both spent 2 weeks working on advocacy issues with GFD in 2008 and 2009 respectively, and I’ve done some internet research too. Now I know a little more about the context I’m hoping to spend some time with my colleagues understanding their roles and perspectives on the organisation, and finding out just how my placement can effectively contribute to GFD’s objectives.

A conversation with Ike on Friday revealed he stayed late on Thursday night working in his other role as secretary for the Ghana Society of the Physically Disabled. They are in need of some new laptops for their training centre and he has been tasked with applying to MTN (one of the mobile phone networks) for support. Ike has never written a proposal before and was really pleased when I said I would be happy to support him with it, and I was really excited too. It’s exactly what I’m experienced in and will be a great first bit of skill sharing!

Before I left work on Friday I emailed Fred and Greg a document reflecting on the objectives in my placement description, giving my first impressions on how they might translate into an activity plan, and raising some questions that I would like to discuss with them and the team to help me to continue to build the picture.

Whilst I am excited about refining this work plan and starting to work through it, it will have to wait until the week after next. On Thursday I received an invitation from VSO, along with one for my colleague Doris, to attend VSO’s Inclusion Workshop in Kumasi next week (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kumasi). I’ll travel the 4 hours north by coach on Monday and will be there for the whole week along with fellow volunteers and representatives from other partner organisations working in the Disability sector. It will be a great opportunity to understand some of the wider context in which VSO is operating, meet other partner organisations and get to see a small slice of Ghana outside Accra.

I couldn’t have hoped for a better week one and week two is looking rather promising too! I’ll keep you posted…

And off we go...

Friday was the last day of our week of induction training before VSO let us loose in Ghana!  We went to the Programme Office in the morning where we were given a tour, our VSO ID card, three month's living allowance upfront, a lovely lunch and a bag of goodies...2 treated mozzie nets, 2 bed sheets and a water filter! 

We left the office and the week well equipped for the months ahead, and with the temptations of Accra's Oxford Street (it is actually called that) just around the corner we can pretty much get anything else too, for a price.  Packet of special price 89p Foxes Creams for the equivalent of £2.70 anyone??

Learning to Twi-tter

My first week in Accra was spent in in-country training with all of the other volunteers and lots of programme office staff.  The timetable was comprehensive and took us through security briefing, programme briefings, health workshop, discussions about the tripartite agreement between VSO, our local partner organisations and ourselves along with lots of other sessions. For me, the most challenging (and most fun) were the 3 introductory sessions on Twi, the most widely spoken language other than English in the Accra area. It's really not necessary for getting by here but knowing a few words is already bringing a smile to local faces, as well as mine :)

I took a short video so you could learn how to count from 2 - 10 in Twi (I didn't quite start the video in time to catch 1 I'm afraid!) courtesy of our tutor Ananay, but I don't think the updload has worked so apologies if it isn't above.

Here is the written version (0.5 to 8 this time!) instead...

Arrived in Accra

I'm here! Along with 24 other VSO volunteers who are about to start their placements in Ghana.  I knew there were a fair number of others on the flight from Heathrow, and as groups of nice looking people gathered for chats by the loos on the plane I began to work out who they were, and (after the trashy romcom I was watching finished) I went to say hello.

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The 15 of us from the UK who flew in yesterday have been joined by 9 others, from Australia, India and the Philippines and together we started our In Country Training (ICT - the first of a million acronyms!) today.  To my delight one of the things on the agenda for this morning was a bus tour around Accra. Fabulous. Was great to see where we are beyond the hotel walls (we arrived in the dark yesterday)! This afternoon it was back to the conference room for more briefings on VSO's work in Ghana and some of the more mundane logistical bits, but I was very happy to receive my pocket money of 15 cedis for the week (about £7.50!).

All in all a great day one :)

From Edgbaston to Accra

Wednesday 8th September
Once my placement was confirmed with VSO I got back in touch with my old school, King Edward VI High School for Girls in Edgbaston http://www.kehs.org.uk/. I remembered someone coming to talk to us about something overseas and exciting when I was there, and I thought it might be nice to pass on the favour.  The Head, Miss Evans, warmly invited me to come back and give an assembly, and I eagerly accepted! The charity worker in me wanted to spread the volunteering word, the fundraiser in me was keen to introduce the girls to Teacher's Got Talent, VSO's fun school fundraising idea http://www.teachers-got-talent.org.uk/, and the public speaker in me fancied the buzz of it, which I certainly got.....!
Sadly the presentation that I prepared couldn't be used on the day as the projector bulb had blown, so it was just me. No powerpoint comfort blanket, and I hadn't thought I would need notes!  Eeeek!  Anyway all went well (I think!) and I'm hopeful that some of the teachers and girls will keep in touch through this blog.  Hello to you if you're from KEHS and reading this!  See if you can spot yourself in the picture....:)