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Project Reports
2006
2008
December 2007
October 2007
September 2007
August 2007
July 2007
April 2007
March 2007
February 2007
January 2007
REPORTS FROM THE VILLAGE
PROJECT REPORT: December 2007
The final funeral rites of the late Queen of Humjibre were held on the 20th of October, 2007. It was heavily attended by people from all walks of life, far and near came to offer their last respect and condolences to the family and people of the village. Chiefs, queens and traditional leaders dressed in rich traditional mourning cloths and ornaments thronged the Humjibre football field (adapted as a funeral ground) amid drumming and dancing. Prominent people in the district including politicians were there for the occasion. GHEI was also represented. A donation on behalf of the organization which included GHc 30.00 and two crates of drinks was presented to the royal family. In total the Organization spent GHc 50.00. A delegation of women later visited the office to thank GHEI for the donation.
The current cocoa season unlike last year has brought a lot smiles back to the faces of farmers. Indications are that last year the application of fertilizer not withstanding, harvest was abysmally low plunging many people into debt as they struggled to repay the cocoa input loan contracted from Wienco as the result of GHEI Agriculture Lecture program. But this year the farmers are paying up. The repayment rate is more than 80%. The Chief farmer of Humjibre is attributing the bumper harvest on the rains and fertilizer application. According to him farms that received fertilizer application have recorded 60% to 70% increase in yield. It is hoped that the excess money would be used to educate the community’s youth in Secondary Schools.
GHEI staff recently attended a meeting with GBC regarding their new sustainable development initiative. They are asking for our advice on an education initiative in Awaso township. Douglas, Clement, Leah and Sarah attended the meeting and spoke of issues facing Ghanian youth in the current education system. There were not final plans made, only to schedule another meeting in the future.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: October 2007
December was an exciting month in Humjibre! The month started off with a bang, better known as World AIDS Day. On December 1st, guests from across the BAB district joined us in Humjibre for an all day celebration and advocacy event to inform the community about HIV/AIDS. Augmented greatly by funding from the Ghana AIDS Commission, World AIDS Day consisted both a morning and afternoon session. In the morning, guests were invited to learn about HIV/AIDS through a poster display, condom demonstrations, picture drama, film, and pledge signing. In the afternoon, hundreds turned out to see a PowerPoint presentation from the Ghana Bauxite Company Peer Educators, dramas, songs, and an HIV-positive speaker. Overall, the event was a huge success.
After World AIDS Day, the GHEI staff took a much needed break in order to gear up for a Christmas season full of work! On December 18, our first ever group of Winter Serve and Learn volunteers arrived. This group of seven (all from Cornell) flooded the village for their malaria intervention in which they surveyed a number of houses and held a net retreatment day. We will welcome a second group from Cornell in early January to continue the project.
In other news, the Christmas season has been a wonderful and happy time in Humjibre. We have enjoyed hearing from all of the past coordinators, volunteers, and GHEI friends through all of the wonderful cards and packages! We were also happy to here that the last coordinators, Luke and Ilona, have finished their African travels and returned safely to the UK.
We are all preparing for an exciting January to include more Serve and Learns and a month long visit from our founder and president, Diana Rickard!
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: September 2007
September marked the official opening of the new classroom, library and community center! The 23rd was a monumental celebration for GHEI, complete with hundreds of guests, a DJ, an intense football tournament, YEP and APE performances and most importantly, Luke in traditional robes. The community seemed very excited about the new opportunities to read and learn computer skills. While the children were dancing to the DJ’s music, invited guests were shown a short film featuring the YEPs, YPEs, Youth Leaders, and APEs. They were also served meat pies, minerals and some were given t-shirts. The computer center was also open to viewing.
GHEI also held Parents Night for the parents of the YEPs, YPEs and Youth Leaders. A drama was performed, a film of the students was shown, and lastly two songs were sung by the YPEs. The GHEI staff talked with the audience about the importance of the youth programs and honored some of the especially hard working students. Certificates were given to the Youth Leaders. Ten new scholarship recipients were named, including the 8 YEP students and 2 students from the community (Rosina, our former librarian, and Justice, the condom seller). All of the students and their families were extremely proud of their involvement with GHEI and reminded us of our positive influences on the community!
Humjibre said a tearful good-bye to its longest reigning Education and Health Coordinators. Their hard work and diligence to GHEI’s mission was much appreciated. It seems as though their legacy will live on with the words of the football mad Luke's team anthem inscribed on GHEI’s newest sitting area outside the completed library, proclaiming proudly, “you'll never walk alone.” His students also performed the Liverpool FC anthem at the Library Ceremony.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: August 2007
August was a month of farewells and hellos. Firstly, we said a sad goodbye to Ishmael Abeyie, a National Service Volunteer and outstanding member of GHEI. Ishmael’s mother and sister came to pick him up and they were a big hit with everyone at the village. For one weekend it felt like GHEI had a universal mother as she set the world to rights and cooked local delights such as tuo-zaafi and fufu. This month also saw the end of Jasmine Kwon’s term at GHEI as Serve and Learn Coordinator. Happily enough, Jasmine will be returning to study at the University of Ghana so she says she will ‘be popping back for kenkey’. Both of them were extremely popular in the village and we thank them both for their excellent work and dedication to the cause. In addition, ex-Health Programme Coordinator, Katie Thayer came back for a quick visit at the end of the month.
Serve and Learn Session Three concentrated on deworming and hygiene for children at Kindergarten and Primary Schools in the village. 570 children turned up for the sessions in the four local schools and all were given education and sandals. 509 students were eligible (i.e. not sick or recently dewormed) and were given deworming tablets. In addition their parents were given education on how to prevent reinfection. The sandals were especially popular and we hope that the sessions will act as an incentive for students to attend school more regularly. The Serve and Learn Volunteers were taken by the smiles of the benefiting children and thoroughly enjoyed their service to the village.
This month saw the final completion of work on the new library block. After months of contributions from the community, including artisans such as carpenters, painters, electricians, and masons, the finishing touches have now been put in place. The exciting new library space could fit up to sixty readers and the GHEI Youth Education Programme benefits from a brand new classroom. A local friend of GHEI has been voluntarily helping us with beautifying the surroundings, planting exotic flora and demarcating pathways etc. We look forward to the grand opening, scheduled for 23rd September.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: July 2007
The malaria project carried out this month was very successful. The Serve and Learn volunteers worked extremely hard, and completed very professional and thorough data collection. All of the GHEI staff helped at the malaria day net retreatment celebration, and it went very smoothly. We treated 100 nets on the day and demand outstripped supply and we had to turn people away with the promise that 50 nets will be re-treated next month. We also distributed 51 bed nets according to needs assessment carried out during the malaria survey.
During the latter part of July the permanent members of GHEI staff, that is Clement and Douglas, underwent some intensive training in evaluation. Two graduates with a Master’s in Public Health (MPH) had tailored a Community Evaluation Tool for GHEI to assess the success of its programmes. Danielle and Bhavna did a magnificent job of synthesizing two years of study into a user-friendly tool. Following a two week course, Clement and Douglas are now conversant with many of the important methodologies and desired outcomes of evaluation. GHEI wishes to thank Danielle and Bhavna for the impact they made during their short time at the village as well as their kind donations to the library and primary schools. We all look forward to working closely with them when analyzing the results.
GHEI’s first annual general meeting was held on the 4th July 2007. It was well attended by the opinion leaders in the community. The Humjibre team explained what work they had been doing up to the present and looked for support and ideas for future plans. Our finances were laid bare to the public in order to dispel illusions that GHEI is a rich organisation. Support for GHEI was forthcoming during the meeting, and the community members appreciated that we had arranged it.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: April 2007
The market women in Africa have a long history of political engagement, even to the extent of encouraging the overthrow of governments! Humjibre is no exception, the women have been agitating for a new market space for some time now and this month it appears that they have finally been granted their wish. The District Assembly has bowed to the pressure exerted by the elected Assembly Woman and has agreed to finance the project. The current market area is not only insufficient in space but is also situated next to the paved road where load bearing trucks and speeding tro-tro (minibuses) mean that it can be quite unsafe. The new area is adjacent to the football field and communal weeding has already begun. New facilities include a store and nearby latrine and the women are enjoying their new role in cajoling the men to work for them under the communal labour system! Ghana is still undergoing a major power shortage that has led to frequent interruptions in the supply, both scheduled and unscheduled. The level of Lake Volta is still very low and this has resulted in the Akosombo Dam (the main source of energy for the country) running at just one third capacity. As well as this, we have had some heavy storms that have resulted in trees falling on the line. Some of the consequences of the lack of power supply include cancelled outreach and unit committee meetings, closure of the library and computer centre, higher prices for materials such as cement and reduced ability to complete tasks in the office. The visit to Humjibre of Luke’s parents, Joan and Dave Caley brought the usual interest and excitement. They were very interested in the work that has been done at the village and were impressed by the friendly Humjibre welcome extended to them. GHEI staff were treated to a night out at Sister Comfort’s drink spot and the local kids had a couple of new (if a bit old in years) playmates for the duration of their short visit.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: MARCH 2007
This month has been an interesting one. It started with a visit to the UNDP-funded Millennium Villages Project (MVP), based in Manso-Nkwanta, in the neighbouring Ashanti Region. They are doing similar projects to us in a cluster of villages with a total population of 20,000, only with a considerably larger budget! Luke, Clement and Ishmael visited the MVP offices and met with some of the project coordinators and the site manager, with whom we forged a particularly good relationship. He was keen to help GHEI in any way he could and, as well as planning a visit to Humjibre with members of his team, he has pledged assistance in organizing a series of agricultural training sessions for the farmers of the village. We are very hopeful that this will only be the first of the benefits of this mutually advantageous relationship. The month ended with a visit to Humjibre of 37 students and staff from the Institute of Development Policy and Management (IPDM), from the University of Manchester, UK. Luke and Ilona studied their Master’s degrees there and have been involved with helping to organize the field trip to Ghana of students following various postgraduate pathways in International Development. The students who came to Humjibre are studying Development Management and Social Policy and Social Development, and were interested in visiting and learning from the experiences of a grassroots organization. They had a tour of the village, and in particular the Habitat for Humanity housing area, spoke to Clement and other GHEI stakeholders, including the peer educators, teachers and Marcelline from clinic. The feedback we received from the students was universally positive regarding GHEI’s work in the village and they even made a collection that amounted to over one million cedis in support of our work. For lunch, Sister Comfort cooked a fantastic lunch of varied traditional Ghanaian fare, which many of the students said was the highlight of their whole trip! On a more prosaic note, in the latter part of the month, the rains finally reappeared in this part of Ghana. This has meant that the last of the cocoa harvest can be gathered but due to the delay in their arrival, this harvest will sadly not meet expectations. Although it is by no means certain that a return of the rains here in the south west means the same will happen in the rest of the country, we are also hoping that the return of wet weather will herald a return to normality regarding the power shortage crisis in Ghana. The Volta Reservoir, which by means of the Akosombo Hydro-Electric power plant, provides the majority of power to the country. The water depth has been below the minimum recommended level for some months but should steadily climb back up with the return of the rains. As we have suffered repeated and prolonged bouts of ‘lights off’, we can only pray that this will be the case.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: February 2007
The library is finally starting to take shape, with the bricks being laid. It is becoming easier to imagine how it will look once completed. After a bit of a lapse in work, the workers have been doing really well recently and the library is progressing rapidly. A grand opening in May has been tentatively penciled in… Usage of the Community Centre has been steadily increasing and it is pleasing for GHEI staff to see the community taking ‘ownership’ of this facility. We have recorded at least ten separate meetings held there. These include many by the current unit committee, who are holding all their meetings there for the first time. In addition, the cocoa cooperative have been frequently using the hall as they assess the success of the Wienco-supported agricultural inputs upgrade. The health programme continues to evolve with the establishment of regular teaching at the JSS. This will allow more young people to learn about important health topics such as teenage pregnancy, drugs, STIs etc. Ilona is developing a curriculum for each Form, verified with the Headmaster, to allow the youth to get a consistent education on health topics, regardless of changes in coordinator personnel. We have also developed a survey that will be done at the beginning and at the end of the curriculum of teaching, to evaluate the teaching programme and the knowledge students have gained. Each term a different Form will be taught a ‘programme’ of 10 teaching sessions.
(BACK TO TOP)PROJECT REPORT: January 2007
Everyone returned to work in January having enjoyed the break over Christmas. We have started building the new library. The foundations are all down now, and it is becoming easier to see how it is going to look which is very exciting. Luke and Clement have been encouraging the work gangs by joining them in carrying cement blocks and pushing wheelbarrows. So far, the work gangs have been doing well, although it seems impossible for anything to be done without at least half an hour of vigorous discussion beforehand! The JSS Form 3 students are getting ready for the most important examinations of their lives in April/May. If students don’t do well in the core four subjects at the BECEs, they will not be able to go to their Secondary School of choice or, in some cases, even at all. We are looking to help them as much as possible by providing nightly classes in the Community Centre in a new scheme. Each of the GHEI teachers (including Douglas) have been teaching groups of up to 65 students on important topics identified in discussions with the Anglican JSS. We hope this will make a big impact on their BECE scores and help them achieve their goals. Previously the Tutoring Centre was a passive affair, basically we encouraged students to ask us questions by being visible and open in the library each evening. We still hope to keep up this good practice and even be a bit more pro-active in providing help, but we feel the new scheme will be of much greater impact. GHEI JSS students are now required to work every Sunday under a new Community Service scheme. The classes will provide the service on a rotational basis. We hope that the students, as well as doing good work such as mending fences, trimming overgrown bushes and trees and sweeping around the Community Centre, will be seen as good ambassadors for GHEI and the wider community. We also hope to develop the students’ vocational and leadership skills and ensure that they realize their privileged place as GHEI students doesn’t come for free!
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