Both Michael and I spent the first 5 days of April for a VSO meeting in Tamale - northern Ghana. The meeting was "Call-back" and it is for all new volunteers who have been in the country for 6 weeks. The idea is that volunteers will have been at their workplace and will have lots of questions. VSO arrange this meeting so volunteers can share their stories with VSO and other volunteers and work through any problems they have.
We had to start our journey to Tamale by first going to Accra (3 hours away from Ho) and staying a night there as our journey to Tamale was to start at 6:00 a.m. from Accra. The journey to Tamale took us nearly 15 hours due to traffic leaving Accra as well as the state of the roads.
Plus our bus had a puncture and we waited at a market while it was repaired. I had insisted that we carry some food with us because I had an inkling that we may not get anything vegetarian on the way. The journey was tiring but interesting seeing the landscape and different towns. The 
market was especially interesting as Michael started talking to sellers who 
had come from Togo. I am sure he will share the stories with you at some stage in this blog.
We reached Tamale at around 9:30 p.m. very tired and hungry only to find that there was no food for the vegetarians!! But the hotel where we spent the night more than made up for it by proving us with a huge breakfast.
We spent two days at the meeting and then had to repeat the journey back to Ho except had to extend it by one extra day as we had to have precautionary medical tests in Accra.
During the second week in April I was at VOLPHIG working on finishing one bid to the World Bank as well as researching another one. Plus advising on the agenda for a Board meeting on 20th April (a Sunday!!) and format for the minutes etc. and supporting both the General Secretary and the Administrator on other day to day matters.
The third week started for both of us by going to the Regional Hospital where one church was distributing mobility aides and VOLPHIG members had been informed about this through the "tro tro post" a name coined by me and adopted by VOLPHIG. A trotro is a 12-15 seater minibus used as a taxi service between towns and cities. It is a much quicker service compared to the state run transport system which has a bad reputation. (Although our journey back from Accra was on an STC bus and it was very comfortable, we were told we were very lucky!) On a market day (every fifth day) one VOLPHIG staff member goes to the trotro stop with letters to members in different villages. They give the letters to other people travelling to the village that day. The post gets to the village and it is more effective than Ghana post. The VOLPHIG bus that you hve seen in other photos is used as a trotro to generate income for the organisation. However, due to its age most of the income is spent in maintenance!
The rest of that week was spent in studying the criteria for the bid and developing questionnaires for our visits to the village communities. This was to find out what they would like VOLPHIG to bid for. I also attended one network meeting of organisations of people with disabilities. The Board meeting on Sunday meant I had had only one day off in two weeks. Very tiring.
The third week was spent visiting 9 communities within a fifty mile radius and the days were long and tiring. some of the turnout was amazing and people with disabilities were really interested in finding out what VOLPHIG had to say. I had advised Francis to use the "World Cafe" concept to find out from them what they really wanted to be included in this bid. It worked really well. Thank you Nan Carle, David Towell and Steven Rose as well as the experience I had gained with all the Valuing People meetings that I had facilitated in London and the Southwark meetings with Choice Support. I spent the next two days with VOLPHIG analysing the findings. Michael helped as well as he had come to the villages as well.
The fourth week in April was spent working on finalising the bid as well as meeting VOLPHIG members who come from distant villages without making appointments. They just turn up and would sit for hours to see Francis and talk to him about their issues. Its a lesson in how to be patient and spend time doing nothing. Most people sleep have their lunch etc all under the tree outside VOLPHIG. The coolest place to be so not a bad choice.
A really busy month and I had only three days off so was really very tired. I am meant to work from 10:00 to 2:00 but so far have not managed to do that. If I have time during my working week then I am sure I will find other things to do.
We had to start our journey to Tamale by first going to Accra (3 hours away from Ho) and staying a night there as our journey to Tamale was to start at 6:00 a.m. from Accra. The journey to Tamale took us nearly 15 hours due to traffic leaving Accra as well as the state of the roads.
Plus our bus had a puncture and we waited at a market while it was repaired. I had insisted that we carry some food with us because I had an inkling that we may not get anything vegetarian on the way. The journey was tiring but interesting seeing the landscape and different towns. The 
market was especially interesting as Michael started talking to sellers who 
had come from Togo. I am sure he will share the stories with you at some stage in this blog.We reached Tamale at around 9:30 p.m. very tired and hungry only to find that there was no food for the vegetarians!! But the hotel where we spent the night more than made up for it by proving us with a huge breakfast.
We spent two days at the meeting and then had to repeat the journey back to Ho except had to extend it by one extra day as we had to have precautionary medical tests in Accra.
During the second week in April I was at VOLPHIG working on finishing one bid to the World Bank as well as researching another one. Plus advising on the agenda for a Board meeting on 20th April (a Sunday!!) and format for the minutes etc. and supporting both the General Secretary and the Administrator on other day to day matters.
The third week started for both of us by going to the Regional Hospital where one church was distributing mobility aides and VOLPHIG members had been informed about this through the "tro tro post" a name coined by me and adopted by VOLPHIG. A trotro is a 12-15 seater minibus used as a taxi service between towns and cities. It is a much quicker service compared to the state run transport system which has a bad reputation. (Although our journey back from Accra was on an STC bus and it was very comfortable, we were told we were very lucky!) On a market day (every fifth day) one VOLPHIG staff member goes to the trotro stop with letters to members in different villages. They give the letters to other people travelling to the village that day. The post gets to the village and it is more effective than Ghana post. The VOLPHIG bus that you hve seen in other photos is used as a trotro to generate income for the organisation. However, due to its age most of the income is spent in maintenance!
The rest of that week was spent in studying the criteria for the bid and developing questionnaires for our visits to the village communities. This was to find out what they would like VOLPHIG to bid for. I also attended one network meeting of organisations of people with disabilities. The Board meeting on Sunday meant I had had only one day off in two weeks. Very tiring.
The third week was spent visiting 9 communities within a fifty mile radius and the days were long and tiring. some of the turnout was amazing and people with disabilities were really interested in finding out what VOLPHIG had to say. I had advised Francis to use the "World Cafe" concept to find out from them what they really wanted to be included in this bid. It worked really well. Thank you Nan Carle, David Towell and Steven Rose as well as the experience I had gained with all the Valuing People meetings that I had facilitated in London and the Southwark meetings with Choice Support. I spent the next two days with VOLPHIG analysing the findings. Michael helped as well as he had come to the villages as well.The fourth week in April was spent working on finalising the bid as well as meeting VOLPHIG members who come from distant villages without making appointments. They just turn up and would sit for hours to see Francis and talk to him about their issues. Its a lesson in how to be patient and spend time doing nothing. Most people sleep have their lunch etc all under the tree outside VOLPHIG. The coolest place to be so not a bad choice.
A really busy month and I had only three days off so was really very tired. I am meant to work from 10:00 to 2:00 but so far have not managed to do that. If I have time during my working week then I am sure I will find other things to do.
No comments:
Post a Comment