Ghana Update (Finally...)

Alas, I knew this would happen - three drafted posts, yet no updated blog.  As we end the third week of our adventure here in Ghana, we've spent a lot of time reflecting, and I plan on sharing some of those reflections over the next week or so.  But before bussing off to Cape Coast tomorrow, I wanted to share some pictures from our field visit to Brong Ahafo last week and then the team's trip to the Volta region over last weekend.

I’ll start with posting pictures from Brong Ahafo, with some select comments this evening, and try to get the Volta pictures up before we leave for Cape Coast in the morning (6:50 am departure, we shall see how aggressive I can be haha).

Our trip to Brong Ahafo was a field visit, and thus organized by the NGO we are working with - it was just Uwe, Rahul and I, along with the new IT Officer, Isaac, and the HR Manager, Yaw.  We spent time primarily in Sunyani, the capital of the Brong Ahafo region, which is north of the Ashanti region, bordering Ivory Coast.  

Our time in the region was driven by a desire to see how data was collected in the field, and the interaction of field offices in the project process - in addition to speaking with staff based in the region, we were able to join one of the field ambassadors in the field as he educated community members about malaria. 

We were also able to meet a few of HFFG’s external stakeholders, including members of the Sunyani municipal office, the municipal health director, and one of the Queen Mothers for Sunyani.  We also spent some time in one of the field offices in Berekum, where HFFG is running a project on HIV/STIs, targeting female sex workers.

Overall the field visit was incredibly useful for our project, allowing us to understand the data collection process, as well as the connectivity to HQ in Accra.

  

We also had our fair share of memorable moments, like when one of the women HFFG’s ambassador was educating offered me her son to marry (in Ghanaian, so I only got the brief translations - I’m sure there was more to this, since the Ghanaian men we were with were DYING), or when one of the peer educators in Berekum (who are part of the FSW target population) took a particular interest in Rahul. 

We also got to spend eight hours in an SUV driving each way - a thrilling ride, particularly when sitting in the middle seat… fortunately, Rahul and I split time in the middle, but that didn’t prevent my legs from being sore for at least two days after.  The drive did offer an extensive amount of time to learn about the differences between bananas and plantains though!