cheeky ones!

Originally uploaded by bindubaba

Easter Monday fun and these children were ready to pose.

Easter Confessiona and celebrations!

Goog Friday and Saturday were days of mourning and most people went to church to pray. We also saw people dancing "confessions" in Amedzofe which was amazing. We climbed up Mount Gemi which is 600 meters high so it was not a difficult climb at all except it was hot!

Easter Monday was a great big picnic day. We joined one big picnic and were immediately invited to join a group. There was lovely gentle drumming and singing by different groups and then different competetions. Eating bread rolls tied to a string was more difficult than we thought. Everybody took it so seriously!

At around 2.00 p.m. everybody opened up their picnic baskets and there was food galore. We were invited to join in but could not do so because nobody had any vegetarian food! So we ate our popcorn and fruit while the rest feasted.

Apologies managed to loose the comment box!!

Hopefully I have rectified the problem so please do make your comments as it would be lovely to hear from you all.

VOLPHIG's solidarity to the disability movement

So - i guess you could say we are now "naturalised" - we have been here nearly three weeks and feel like part of the furniture already. Wherever we go we seem to know people and to all kids we are yuvooo - white people - which is a little odd for Kiran to say the least. The bolder ones run up to us for a high five or a hug - sweet. I am finding it difficult to adapt to not really having a job yet - I feel a bit like the person who has lost their job but not told anyone, leaving the house to go to the "office" everyday. K tells me not to worry and I guess she is right - be patient - "We have time - you have the watch" as they say here. The colleague I share an office with spends her time reading motivational texts such as "Born to Win", sleeping and chatting - all done without any pretence of working - so I am trying to relax about it.

The last few days we have been on the road - last Thursday we visited Hohoe (which strangely sounds a bit like Hawkwind when locals say it) with Francis and some of the Volphig crew. We met with local disability groups in Ivy's hairdressing salon to brief them on the forthcoming visit by an NGO from Finland - an opportunity perhaps to secure funding. Later we had a look at local hotels - access a huge problem here and then visited some friends. Hohoe is a dusty, wild west kind of place - it already makes Ho look rather sophisticated - and I was itching to have a good poke around - next time. As ever the people we met were inspirational - laughing and joking and just generally having a ball - making light of their disabilities. On the way home we visited the monkey sanctuary briefly after first getting lost in the villages. Here the kids run around barefoot and naked and lines of people walk the long red road - loads balanced effortlessly on their heads. We get to see a few of the sacred monkeys - K even feeds one but sadly the place is not really geared up to disabled visitors. We arrive back late laden with avocados, bananas and a giant papaya.

On Saturday the whole Volphig crew was on the road to Jesikan, an even smaller dusty town beyond Hohoe. We were there to join in the 15th anniversary celebrations of the Jesikan Association of Disables. For breakfast we stopped at a small tea shop and K made friends with little Emmanuel who took an immediate shine to her and I am sure would have happily followed her forever more (putting to rest K's awful reputation as the woman who lied to the children of Cambodia - Michael's interpretation entirely). Incredibly the event was held in a hall which could only be reached up a long set of steps but this did not deter people who arrived in large numbers. Things finally got underway an hour late - local dignitaries including Togbes and Queen Mothers assembled on stage - with the opening prayer. It is hard to describe what followed - it began at first like some high energy warm up for a gig -the MC in long flowing white robes urged the crowd to "Lets happy ourselves today" and suddenly we were in some kind of crazy evangelical hysteria. The Assemblies of God took the floor and soon there was dancing, clapping, Hallelujas, Amens ringing out around the room. As the frenzy built up the MC detached his prosthetic leg waving it triumphantly in the air and hopping on one leg - too much! All this went on for hours, interspersed with speeches exhorting the disabled to behave morally and hell fire preaching. We finally staggered out exhausted, in a state of shock and somewhat depressed (I put myself feeling unwell for the next few days down to this).

It lifted our spirits to see how people with disabilities cope with the environment which is not friendly towards them at all. At the end of the day it was amazing to see the numbers of people with disabilities who got onto the trotro (local transport). Michael counted 25 in one! There was Kiran worryiong about 16 people and a 2 month old child travelling in the VOLPHIG trotro.

Independence Day

Julius, amazingly agile and faster on his two hands than most of us on two legs,blags his way past security, police and militia. There is much astonishment but little resistance - at one point a soldier with a gun asks me if he knows me - I shamelessly reel off that I work for the Municipal Assembly - nice work if you can get it!

Soon we are ensconced in the "Paramount Chiefs" enclosure - thankfully under cover from the merciless sun and just below the main stage where the politicians and top brass hold court. The Togbe are resplendent in their kente and batik robes, flung over bare shoulders, wearing ancient beads and some sporting some serious gold bling. One, in the front row, has a large staff topped with a great big golden glob - impressive.

Proceedings start - the Chief Minister and his wife are escorted to an open 4x4 - a small set of steps is produced - they climb in and are then driven around to inspect the parade - stylish. Next the bad - immaculate in powder blue uniforms strikes up - it is pure bandvaja - big brass! Endless march pasts follow - military units, the police - even the navy in a spectacular that manages to mix a colonial history with a proud new nationalism. Behind us a policewoman whoops it up big time every time her colleagues march past, finding it hard to contain herself.

Then it is the kids' turn - immaculately turned out and drilled. One very small boy, chest puffed out leads his troupe proudly barking out the order "eyes right"as they salute the VIPs. At the very end a dodgy prankster in shades and suit, carrying a briefcase and wooden sword does the march past - he is quickly escorted away to the amusement of all.

Next the Chief Minister addresses the gathering - hard to decipher what he says through the PA. In the ranks they begin to drop like flies - medics rush backwards and forwards carrying the unfortunate victims out of the sun into the shade. Finally it is time to give out the prizes - the kids in the crowd cheer loudly and there is much confusion as nobody seems to be quite clear who has won what. And then it is all over - a cavalcade of shiny 4x4s roars up to the stage and the VIPs are whisked off in their A/C cocoons - for the rest of us it is time to party!

Settling down in Ho

People are amazed that we have already learnt so many words in Ewe (local Volta region language). We are now known by a few stall holders in the market and we know them by their first names as well. Our house is gradually acquiring more things and looks lived in. Both of us have got used to cooking in a small kitchen.

We had one panic when we ran out of water and we were totally unprepared but that has all been rectified. If it happens again we will be ready - now that we have two water containers.

Kiran's work is going really well and she feels she is settling into her role. VOLPHIG's articles states clearly that it will ensure that services to people with learning difficulties are recognised as a need. So there is a role for her after all, so all very exciting.

Michael as yet has not had an office base but is working on it. The Chief Executive and the Director of National Assembly know him now and are willing to find ways in which he can work with them and the Social Welfare Department. In the meantime he is supporting other small NGOs with financial processes and monitoring tools.

People have been so good to us both Ghanaians and ex-Pats. We had an opportunity to go to the the centre of bead making in the Eastern region and realised how beads are made from glass. It is quite a long process and people use local materials and different coloured bottles - what a great use for recycled bottles.

We travel to Hohoe for Kiran's work and then to Accra and Tamale with the VSO. Work with sightseeing sounds wonderful - if we can survive the 12 hour journey in the heat to Tamale.

Road to Ho!

Both of us were ready well ahead of the time for our pick-up by the chair of Volphig Board of Trustees. It was a good start to learning to wait and be patient. We thought we would be in Ho at 4.00 p.m. instead we got there at 8.00!
Our first view of our house was in the dark - we unloaded all the luggage and went over to Devi's - another VSO volunteer from India. She had cooked for us which was great.
We were finally in Ho in our house and there was running water - could not ask for more.
Next morning we went looking for tea/coffee and breakfast as there was nothing in the house and no gas. We found Nancy - has a stall selling plastic items and in the mornings she also caters breakfast.
Staff and Board members from VOLPHIG ( www.civilsocietyghana.org/volphig ) visited us at home which was great. Both of us have been made very welcome by Kiran's employers (VOLPHIG). For Michael it will be a completely fresh start and find his networks and get his employers to work with him.
More shopping in the market and we were ready to cook our first meal. We made friends with a few local shopkeepers and market stall holders.
We were settling in and enjoying it too.