Here are some photos I thought I would share since I've had an abundance of text only posts. Most are from a recent festival in town called the Kadeo festival which is celebrated on the 27th day of fasting during Ramadan. Enjoy!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Kadeo!
Here are some photos I thought I would share since I've had an abundance of text only posts. Most are from a recent festival in town called the Kadeo festival which is celebrated on the 27th day of fasting during Ramadan. Enjoy!
My Job in Ghana
Although I’ve tried to fill you in on my living situation and my office atmosphere, I haven’t actually articulated what I’m doing at work.
I think I’ve already mentioned that I feel very lucky to have the job I do here; I’m involved in all sorts of conversations about all the development issues that the Bole District faces, and I get to meet all sorts of amazing people. I really feel like I’m getting an experiential degree in Development Studies and a very large portion of my day every day is spent thinking about how the local District Government can better deliver services to citizens of the District; and how I can help to facilitate that in my short time here.
Engineers working in governance?
I am part of EWB’s Governance & Rural Infrastructure team. Here’s a blurb from our team strategy document:
“Our team is making the district planning systems work. Specifically:
1. District plans utilize accurate data for evidence-based decision-making.
2. District leaders are proactive in assigning roles, motivating staff, and taking responsibility for creating evidence-based plans.
3. District communication systems are transparent and allow communities to hold the district accountable.”
Let me be the first to say that these are big goals. But they’re also really exciting because they address some of the key issues to proper functionality in the local governance structures, and ultimately in service delivery to the citizens of the district – particularly the rural poor.
Fortunately for me, I find big challenges like these to be motivating rather than paralyzing – especially when working with the awesome people that make up our little G&RI team. We’re all working towards the team’s goals with strategically selected projects, but there’s also room for some innovation and testing things out within each of our districts so we can learn and share best practices.
Planning for Service Delivery
At the Bole District, my primary focus is working with the District Planning Officer to facilitate the creation of the District Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) for the term 2010 – 2013. This document is supposed to be the framework that each district uses to plan out their focus and specific development projects over the four year period. Each year, the MTDP is used to guide the creation of an Annual Action Plan which is a more detailed and specific plan for the upcoming year.
The theory of the process is great, but in reality many of the districts fell short on execution. This is likely due to a great number of factors, but some main hypotheses are:
- the document was not easily read or understood and so was not consulted when carrying out specific actions or projects
- there was little stakeholder involvement in the creation of the plan, meaning that departments didn’t have buy in (or even know that it existed for use)
- the plan wasn’t actually finished until over half way through the planning period
- the plan didn’t reflect actual priorities of communities and departments
Project Specifics
I’m trying to facilitate a MTDP creation process that addresses these challenges and hopefully creates a plan which reflects the development priorities of the district, is accessible and user friendly, and engages stakeholders so they can use it to hold their governments and politicians accountable for service delivery. It’s a long process which involves data collection, consulting all stakeholders in the District, prioritizing issues and projects, and setting goals and targets. The process won’t be complete when I leave in December, but I’m working hard to coach the planning officer through initial stages of the process so he can continue down that path when I leave.
Some other things I’m doing at work:
- exploring the role of the public sector in private sector development and trying to determine some best practices that the public sector can follow to create an enabling environment for economic growth
- some computer training to staff at the District Assembly in basic computer use, MS Office programs, electronic data analysis and management, and virus management
- trying to facilitate development of a District capacity building plan based on a government led and donor supported assessment called the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT). Basically FOAT is a way of annually assessing the performance of a District and awarding funds based on good performance. If District capacity is built, there will be potential for higher fund disbursement to Bole in the following years
- working to change small behaviors such as time management, communications, and organization
Not a short list. And also not comprehensive. I don’t expect to achieve a state of satisfaction of each area, but organizational change is difficult and if I can make some small sustainable changes to the way the District operates to better deliver services to its people, I will be happy.
The EWB vacuum
When the EWB long term volunteers leave Canada for their 12 month placement, many of them seem to be drawn in and extend their placements for two and even three years. When I first arrived in Ghana, I was a little overwhelmed with things and although I knew I would be fine for four months, I wondered how so many volunteers would want to stay longer than a year.
I’m now beginning to understand how easy it is to be completely caught up in your work – the challenges are so numerous but the potential for rewards are so great. You’re learning so much every day about your surroundings, systems that work and don’t work, and your own ability to face challenges and seek for solutions. I’ve never had a job that is constantly pushing my thinking and is filled with so many opportunities for contribution. I know that at the end of my placement I will be going home, but I also can now see how easy and tempting it would be to stay.
I think I’ve already mentioned that I feel very lucky to have the job I do here; I’m involved in all sorts of conversations about all the development issues that the Bole District faces, and I get to meet all sorts of amazing people. I really feel like I’m getting an experiential degree in Development Studies and a very large portion of my day every day is spent thinking about how the local District Government can better deliver services to citizens of the District; and how I can help to facilitate that in my short time here.
Engineers working in governance?
I am part of EWB’s Governance & Rural Infrastructure team. Here’s a blurb from our team strategy document:
“Our team is making the district planning systems work. Specifically:
1. District plans utilize accurate data for evidence-based decision-making.
2. District leaders are proactive in assigning roles, motivating staff, and taking responsibility for creating evidence-based plans.
3. District communication systems are transparent and allow communities to hold the district accountable.”
Let me be the first to say that these are big goals. But they’re also really exciting because they address some of the key issues to proper functionality in the local governance structures, and ultimately in service delivery to the citizens of the district – particularly the rural poor.
Fortunately for me, I find big challenges like these to be motivating rather than paralyzing – especially when working with the awesome people that make up our little G&RI team. We’re all working towards the team’s goals with strategically selected projects, but there’s also room for some innovation and testing things out within each of our districts so we can learn and share best practices.
Planning for Service Delivery
At the Bole District, my primary focus is working with the District Planning Officer to facilitate the creation of the District Medium Term Development Plan (MTDP) for the term 2010 – 2013. This document is supposed to be the framework that each district uses to plan out their focus and specific development projects over the four year period. Each year, the MTDP is used to guide the creation of an Annual Action Plan which is a more detailed and specific plan for the upcoming year.
The theory of the process is great, but in reality many of the districts fell short on execution. This is likely due to a great number of factors, but some main hypotheses are:
- the document was not easily read or understood and so was not consulted when carrying out specific actions or projects
- there was little stakeholder involvement in the creation of the plan, meaning that departments didn’t have buy in (or even know that it existed for use)
- the plan wasn’t actually finished until over half way through the planning period
- the plan didn’t reflect actual priorities of communities and departments
Project Specifics
I’m trying to facilitate a MTDP creation process that addresses these challenges and hopefully creates a plan which reflects the development priorities of the district, is accessible and user friendly, and engages stakeholders so they can use it to hold their governments and politicians accountable for service delivery. It’s a long process which involves data collection, consulting all stakeholders in the District, prioritizing issues and projects, and setting goals and targets. The process won’t be complete when I leave in December, but I’m working hard to coach the planning officer through initial stages of the process so he can continue down that path when I leave.
Some other things I’m doing at work:
- exploring the role of the public sector in private sector development and trying to determine some best practices that the public sector can follow to create an enabling environment for economic growth
- some computer training to staff at the District Assembly in basic computer use, MS Office programs, electronic data analysis and management, and virus management
- trying to facilitate development of a District capacity building plan based on a government led and donor supported assessment called the Functional Organizational Assessment Tool (FOAT). Basically FOAT is a way of annually assessing the performance of a District and awarding funds based on good performance. If District capacity is built, there will be potential for higher fund disbursement to Bole in the following years
- working to change small behaviors such as time management, communications, and organization
Not a short list. And also not comprehensive. I don’t expect to achieve a state of satisfaction of each area, but organizational change is difficult and if I can make some small sustainable changes to the way the District operates to better deliver services to its people, I will be happy.
The EWB vacuum
When the EWB long term volunteers leave Canada for their 12 month placement, many of them seem to be drawn in and extend their placements for two and even three years. When I first arrived in Ghana, I was a little overwhelmed with things and although I knew I would be fine for four months, I wondered how so many volunteers would want to stay longer than a year.
I’m now beginning to understand how easy it is to be completely caught up in your work – the challenges are so numerous but the potential for rewards are so great. You’re learning so much every day about your surroundings, systems that work and don’t work, and your own ability to face challenges and seek for solutions. I’ve never had a job that is constantly pushing my thinking and is filled with so many opportunities for contribution. I know that at the end of my placement I will be going home, but I also can now see how easy and tempting it would be to stay.
Great Expectations
My greatest fear in coming to Ghana had little to do with uncomfortable living conditions, unappealing toilet facilities, or unusual insects. My greatest fear was that I would not live up to expectations.
I’m continually impressed by the caliber of people I meet within Engineers Without Borders. Their insights, critical though processes, ideas, and achievements never ceased to amaze me. EWB did express some expectations of their volunteers; although no one was outwardly demanding that I live up to all of the characteristics of every other previous remarkable volunteer. However, these became expectations that I imposed on myself – and more than anything else, I feared failing.
I’ve since arrived in Ghana and overcome my fear. This doesn’t mean I think I’ve surpassed all the expectations, and being a month in then it’s far too early to evaluate whether I’ve failed.
What has changed is my perspective. I’ve come to appreciate tall expectations to be wonderful gifts instead of a cause for concern. Expectations have the power to motivate me and push me to face challenges and achieve things I didn’t realize I could. There’s a great sense of empowerment in knowing that you have the ability to face challenges and work towards overcoming them. Whether you succeed or fail is somewhat irrelevant because either way you will learn valuable lessons about the problems you faced and about yourself.
So the next time someone confronts me with great expectations, instead of feeling fear I will feel excitement. And instead of losing sleep over the possibility of failure, I will simply say ‘thank you’, and get to work.
I’m continually impressed by the caliber of people I meet within Engineers Without Borders. Their insights, critical though processes, ideas, and achievements never ceased to amaze me. EWB did express some expectations of their volunteers; although no one was outwardly demanding that I live up to all of the characteristics of every other previous remarkable volunteer. However, these became expectations that I imposed on myself – and more than anything else, I feared failing.
I’ve since arrived in Ghana and overcome my fear. This doesn’t mean I think I’ve surpassed all the expectations, and being a month in then it’s far too early to evaluate whether I’ve failed.
What has changed is my perspective. I’ve come to appreciate tall expectations to be wonderful gifts instead of a cause for concern. Expectations have the power to motivate me and push me to face challenges and achieve things I didn’t realize I could. There’s a great sense of empowerment in knowing that you have the ability to face challenges and work towards overcoming them. Whether you succeed or fail is somewhat irrelevant because either way you will learn valuable lessons about the problems you faced and about yourself.
So the next time someone confronts me with great expectations, instead of feeling fear I will feel excitement. And instead of losing sleep over the possibility of failure, I will simply say ‘thank you’, and get to work.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Politically Correct?
September 10, 2009
One of the things I love about Canada is the cultural diversity. Bringing people together from many different backgrounds is not without its challenges, but as a whole I strongly feel that we benefit from this cultural wealth as a society. However, I’m sometimes frustrated by the paralysis of being overly politically correct. Of course I don’t want to offend anyone, but it seems that this fear of offending people prevents us from having potentially rich conversations about each others backgrounds, cultures, and religions.
Here is Ghana, it is quite refreshing when people are very up front with their questions. “What is it like in your place?”; “Why don’t you live with your parents?”; “Why don’t you like the skin of the cow, when it is so sweet?”; “What religion are you?”; and “Why does it seem that white people don’t believe in things unless they see them?”.
People have genuine curiosity about my culture and religion, and aren’t afraid that they will offend me or be perceived as less intelligent by asking the questions. Likewise, I can ask them many questions about their culture, behaviors, and religious beliefs without them thinking less of me. (“How do you know which chickens are yours when they all run around?”; “How is it that Muslims and Christians live together so peacefully here?”; “Why do you pray during the middle of the night during Ramadan?”; and “How am I supposed to know who your actual sister is, when you call everyone your sister?”).
It leads to some very interesting conversations, and I wonder why we can’t openly have more of these conversations back in Canada where we have such a huge opportunity to learn about cultures from all corners of the globe, without stepping outside of our city or even our social circles. I know that conversations like this happen, but usually not without developing a certain level of trusting relationship first.
So I’m posing a question to those reading this post. Especially those who represent visible ethnic minorities – even if you and possibly generations before you were born in Canada. Would you be offended if someone you didn’t know very well were to ask you about your background, culture, or religion; with the implicit assumption that because you look different than they do, you must have a different cultural background? Or is a fully developed trusting relationship a necessary precursor to opening this dialogue in Canada?
One of the things I love about Canada is the cultural diversity. Bringing people together from many different backgrounds is not without its challenges, but as a whole I strongly feel that we benefit from this cultural wealth as a society. However, I’m sometimes frustrated by the paralysis of being overly politically correct. Of course I don’t want to offend anyone, but it seems that this fear of offending people prevents us from having potentially rich conversations about each others backgrounds, cultures, and religions.
Here is Ghana, it is quite refreshing when people are very up front with their questions. “What is it like in your place?”; “Why don’t you live with your parents?”; “Why don’t you like the skin of the cow, when it is so sweet?”; “What religion are you?”; and “Why does it seem that white people don’t believe in things unless they see them?”.
People have genuine curiosity about my culture and religion, and aren’t afraid that they will offend me or be perceived as less intelligent by asking the questions. Likewise, I can ask them many questions about their culture, behaviors, and religious beliefs without them thinking less of me. (“How do you know which chickens are yours when they all run around?”; “How is it that Muslims and Christians live together so peacefully here?”; “Why do you pray during the middle of the night during Ramadan?”; and “How am I supposed to know who your actual sister is, when you call everyone your sister?”).
It leads to some very interesting conversations, and I wonder why we can’t openly have more of these conversations back in Canada where we have such a huge opportunity to learn about cultures from all corners of the globe, without stepping outside of our city or even our social circles. I know that conversations like this happen, but usually not without developing a certain level of trusting relationship first.
So I’m posing a question to those reading this post. Especially those who represent visible ethnic minorities – even if you and possibly generations before you were born in Canada. Would you be offended if someone you didn’t know very well were to ask you about your background, culture, or religion; with the implicit assumption that because you look different than they do, you must have a different cultural background? Or is a fully developed trusting relationship a necessary precursor to opening this dialogue in Canada?
BUSAC Workshop
1 September 2009
I’ve just returned from a two day workshop in the nearby city of Wa. The purpose of the workshop was to educate public officers on the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund, and generally the role that the public sector can play in the development of Ghana’s private sector.
Meetings like this one are certainly a perk of my job with the District Assembly. I get to attend meetings with many top government officials, Traditional Chiefs, and NGO leaders. I get to meet many interesting people, like one gentleman who spent the last 20 years in the UK and has come back to be the District Chief Executive in his home district in Ghana. This is a district with no electricity or paved roads – how the Assembly even functions is beyond me!
This was not my first workshop in Ghana, but it was my first workshop that was out of town. The workshop was at the Upland Hotel – a very nice hotel by standards that I’ve witnessed in Northern Ghana. The room I stayed in was charged out at GHc45 per night, which is 5 times the price of the place I stayed in Wa the weekend before when I was footing the bill. Although these workshops serve as important training (which we would pay for in Canada), participants are generally funded to come – travel costs, all food, accommodation, and even sitting allowances (a personal stipend). This workshop did not provide sitting allowances, but everything else was fully covered. At the close of the workshop, participants were told to go and claim their travel costs. I tried to deny any compensation since it cost me GHc2.50 to get to Wa, and I was catching a ride back with some other participants. However my attempts to turn it down caused quite a stir with my coworkers, so instead I claimed it and gave the envelope containing GHc40 to them to share.
The topic of the workshop was very interesting. Since I have arrived, I have begun to take the stance that private sector development is really going to be the key to Ghana’s development. The two main reasons I currently identify are:
1. the private sector will employ the large segment of the population that is currently unemployed (providing reliable income for employees and even wealth creation for many entrepreneurs), and
2. This will also increase the taxable base so that the government agencies have a source of internally generated revenue to use to deliver services and infrastructure to their citizens.
About the BUSAC fund: a grant which is awarded on a competitive basis to for-profit business associations who have identified constraints or challenges pertaining to their business environment, and would like to advocate with an institution to implement proposed solutions to their challenges. An example would be a farmer’s association lobbying their government for improved roads to their markets, or a women’s artisan association lobbying a bank for different credit terms for their members.
Challenges facing implementation: These are especially relevant in the North of Ghana, where I am living and working. Some of the northern associations simply do not have the skills and capacity to access the fund. These are usually the poorest and those that could benefit the most from access to the fund. For example, the BUSAC fund has been advertising the fund in the South of Ghana by printing ads in newspapers. I live in a District capital, and as far as I know there is no where I can buy a newspaper in town. At about GHc1 per paper, few can afford to purchase it regularly. Many others are illiterate and couldn’t read it even if they could afford it. Another challenge that I’m worried about, is the fund providing money to associations who use it to lobby their local governments. This alone is a great thing because it opens dialogue between the government body and the association, but the resources of the District governments are very tight and the government may not be able to respond to the requests of the association. If not handled properly, this could lead to further distrust and poor relationships between businesses and the government bodies.
However, a positive outcome of the workshop was that the members of the District Governments were open with their criticisms and suggestions for the fund implementation. And that the facilitators seemed to take their suggestions seriously, hopefully with the intent of improving fund requirements for implementation during the second round of funding in 2010. It’s great to see governments having open dialogue with development partners (donors), to ensure that funds actually go to help those who need it!
I’ve just returned from a two day workshop in the nearby city of Wa. The purpose of the workshop was to educate public officers on the Business Sector Advocacy Challenge (BUSAC) Fund, and generally the role that the public sector can play in the development of Ghana’s private sector.
Meetings like this one are certainly a perk of my job with the District Assembly. I get to attend meetings with many top government officials, Traditional Chiefs, and NGO leaders. I get to meet many interesting people, like one gentleman who spent the last 20 years in the UK and has come back to be the District Chief Executive in his home district in Ghana. This is a district with no electricity or paved roads – how the Assembly even functions is beyond me!
This was not my first workshop in Ghana, but it was my first workshop that was out of town. The workshop was at the Upland Hotel – a very nice hotel by standards that I’ve witnessed in Northern Ghana. The room I stayed in was charged out at GHc45 per night, which is 5 times the price of the place I stayed in Wa the weekend before when I was footing the bill. Although these workshops serve as important training (which we would pay for in Canada), participants are generally funded to come – travel costs, all food, accommodation, and even sitting allowances (a personal stipend). This workshop did not provide sitting allowances, but everything else was fully covered. At the close of the workshop, participants were told to go and claim their travel costs. I tried to deny any compensation since it cost me GHc2.50 to get to Wa, and I was catching a ride back with some other participants. However my attempts to turn it down caused quite a stir with my coworkers, so instead I claimed it and gave the envelope containing GHc40 to them to share.
The topic of the workshop was very interesting. Since I have arrived, I have begun to take the stance that private sector development is really going to be the key to Ghana’s development. The two main reasons I currently identify are:
1. the private sector will employ the large segment of the population that is currently unemployed (providing reliable income for employees and even wealth creation for many entrepreneurs), and
2. This will also increase the taxable base so that the government agencies have a source of internally generated revenue to use to deliver services and infrastructure to their citizens.
About the BUSAC fund: a grant which is awarded on a competitive basis to for-profit business associations who have identified constraints or challenges pertaining to their business environment, and would like to advocate with an institution to implement proposed solutions to their challenges. An example would be a farmer’s association lobbying their government for improved roads to their markets, or a women’s artisan association lobbying a bank for different credit terms for their members.
Challenges facing implementation: These are especially relevant in the North of Ghana, where I am living and working. Some of the northern associations simply do not have the skills and capacity to access the fund. These are usually the poorest and those that could benefit the most from access to the fund. For example, the BUSAC fund has been advertising the fund in the South of Ghana by printing ads in newspapers. I live in a District capital, and as far as I know there is no where I can buy a newspaper in town. At about GHc1 per paper, few can afford to purchase it regularly. Many others are illiterate and couldn’t read it even if they could afford it. Another challenge that I’m worried about, is the fund providing money to associations who use it to lobby their local governments. This alone is a great thing because it opens dialogue between the government body and the association, but the resources of the District governments are very tight and the government may not be able to respond to the requests of the association. If not handled properly, this could lead to further distrust and poor relationships between businesses and the government bodies.
However, a positive outcome of the workshop was that the members of the District Governments were open with their criticisms and suggestions for the fund implementation. And that the facilitators seemed to take their suggestions seriously, hopefully with the intent of improving fund requirements for implementation during the second round of funding in 2010. It’s great to see governments having open dialogue with development partners (donors), to ensure that funds actually go to help those who need it!
Saturday, September 5, 2009
Honeymooning
I'm embarking on my honeymoon. This doesn't mean that I've accepted one of my many many marriage proposals (typical answer is "I would make a terrible wife; I won't prepare TZ and I don't clean). What I'm referring to is my honeymood with Ghana.
A month in to my visit is a bit delayed, but in reflection on the last month I think I was going through a little more culture shock than I admitted to myself. But now that I'm feeling much more comfortable with my town and my settings, I'm seeing things through rose colored glasses. There are definitely days where I get frustrated or feel overwhelmed with complex situations that I know I'll never even be able to understand - let alone change, but by and large things are looking pretty good.
This Friday, I was invited to a meeting in Tamale - the city which is the capital of the Northern Region (here, a region is similar to a province). We originally came into Tamale when we first arrived in Ghana and I didn't exactly love it - it seemed busy and dirty and had very basic ammenities for a bigger city. But now that I've spent time other places, Tamale seems absolutely luxurious and I can't get over the amount of things that are available to buy. Today I spent more money in one day than I have since I left Canada (about $75). It was some great retail therapy and I'm feeling awesome!
Bring on the honeymoon - I know it won't last forever so I'm going to embrace it!
A month in to my visit is a bit delayed, but in reflection on the last month I think I was going through a little more culture shock than I admitted to myself. But now that I'm feeling much more comfortable with my town and my settings, I'm seeing things through rose colored glasses. There are definitely days where I get frustrated or feel overwhelmed with complex situations that I know I'll never even be able to understand - let alone change, but by and large things are looking pretty good.
This Friday, I was invited to a meeting in Tamale - the city which is the capital of the Northern Region (here, a region is similar to a province). We originally came into Tamale when we first arrived in Ghana and I didn't exactly love it - it seemed busy and dirty and had very basic ammenities for a bigger city. But now that I've spent time other places, Tamale seems absolutely luxurious and I can't get over the amount of things that are available to buy. Today I spent more money in one day than I have since I left Canada (about $75). It was some great retail therapy and I'm feeling awesome!
Bring on the honeymoon - I know it won't last forever so I'm going to embrace it!
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