Happy 4th of July from Ghana!! While we didn’t get to watch fireworks
streaking through the sky, we still got to bask in the Ghanaian
culture---sitting in a stuffy room with the power out, eating rice and
beans. ☺ We have finalized our class schedule for the rest of our time
here; we are teaching phase 3 in Amonom and Abomosu. The class in
Amonom is unique in that the five students we are teaching have
created an almost co-op group of palm oil sellers. They paid off their
first loan within 6 months! We couldn’t be more excited to have a
group of dedicated, hardworking students to work with.
The Abomosu class is much larger, nearly twenty students. We almost
canceled the class because they didn’t appear to be taking it
seriously. We let our students pick the day and time they are taught,
so there is no excuse for lateness. The Abomosu students showed up 90
minutes late!! The class is only 120 total! Douglas came down hard on
them and we’re sure that won’t happen again. The students have
apologized and we’ll be teaching them later this afternoon.
It’s an exciting period of time here in Abomosu. The NGO here, World
Joy, has raised enough money to create a beautiful learning center in
Abomosu, which we hope to be able to leverage in the future. Stephen
Sr. has just secured enough funds to start construction on a large
mill for the community, which he will rent out for a small fee. As
we’ve watched tourists and volunteers come and go, it’s been exciting
to brainstorm ways that SEED will continue to be able to mold and
adapt into what will bring this region the most economic success. More
ideas to follow… ;)
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Friday, July 4, 2014
Greetings!
Greetings! A lot has happened in Ghana this week. Most importantly (at
least what the locals will tell you) is that Ghana’s football team has
been eliminated from the World Cup. Ghana had a pretty good shot at
advancing, which would mean the USA would be eliminated instead, but
they lost their chance during the game with Portugal. We were in Cape
Coast during the game, so we got to watch it with about 100+ locals on
a giant screen on the beach. It will come as no surprise that the week
before and after the game, we told people we were from Canada. ☺
This was the week that we dropped off our dear Andi and picked up the
amazing Alex Daines. Because we already had to go to Accra, we decided
to have this be our week off and do a bit of traveling in the Accra
area. The previous interns have all commented on how great Cape Coast
and Kakum are, so we decided to do both of these. The weather was good
while we were in Kakum and we got to do the canopy walk! Basically,
it’s a labyrinth of rope bridges suspended between trees that you walk
across. The highest point is 120 feet. It wasn’t as scary as we were
expecting, but there was always that moment of fear when you first
step onto it.
After Kakum, we made our way to Cape Coast to watch the Ghana game and
to explore the slave castles. Those were incredible! It’s one thing to
learn about slavery from a textbook; it’s another thing entirely to
walk through the dungeons where the slaves were kept for months while
they awaited the next slave ship that would take them to the Americas.
The male slave holding room was 12 by 30 feet and would hold 200-250
slaves for upwards of 3 months. The only source of air for these rooms
would be a small hole (1 square foot) which was in the upper corner of
the far wall. Talk about a humbling experience.
From Cape Coast, we headed to the airport, picked up Alex ,dropped
Andi off and tried to head back to Abomosu. Unfortunately- Ghana’s
government has defaulted on its payments to the oil companies, so the
oil companies have decided to stop supplying Ghana with oil until the
government pays them. Gas stations have all shut down—the lines to get
gas have started to wrap around for miles and miles just for the hope
that when gas comes, they’ll be able to get some. Diesel is still in
supply, so we were still able to make it back home to Abomosu.
This afternoon, we will fund Sankubenase and later this week we will
start teaching another phase 3 class. We are all happy, healthy, and
excited for the USA v. Belgium game this afternoon. GO USA!!!
least what the locals will tell you) is that Ghana’s football team has
been eliminated from the World Cup. Ghana had a pretty good shot at
advancing, which would mean the USA would be eliminated instead, but
they lost their chance during the game with Portugal. We were in Cape
Coast during the game, so we got to watch it with about 100+ locals on
a giant screen on the beach. It will come as no surprise that the week
before and after the game, we told people we were from Canada. ☺
This was the week that we dropped off our dear Andi and picked up the
amazing Alex Daines. Because we already had to go to Accra, we decided
to have this be our week off and do a bit of traveling in the Accra
area. The previous interns have all commented on how great Cape Coast
and Kakum are, so we decided to do both of these. The weather was good
while we were in Kakum and we got to do the canopy walk! Basically,
it’s a labyrinth of rope bridges suspended between trees that you walk
across. The highest point is 120 feet. It wasn’t as scary as we were
expecting, but there was always that moment of fear when you first
step onto it.
After Kakum, we made our way to Cape Coast to watch the Ghana game and
to explore the slave castles. Those were incredible! It’s one thing to
learn about slavery from a textbook; it’s another thing entirely to
walk through the dungeons where the slaves were kept for months while
they awaited the next slave ship that would take them to the Americas.
The male slave holding room was 12 by 30 feet and would hold 200-250
slaves for upwards of 3 months. The only source of air for these rooms
would be a small hole (1 square foot) which was in the upper corner of
the far wall. Talk about a humbling experience.
From Cape Coast, we headed to the airport, picked up Alex ,dropped
Andi off and tried to head back to Abomosu. Unfortunately- Ghana’s
government has defaulted on its payments to the oil companies, so the
oil companies have decided to stop supplying Ghana with oil until the
government pays them. Gas stations have all shut down—the lines to get
gas have started to wrap around for miles and miles just for the hope
that when gas comes, they’ll be able to get some. Diesel is still in
supply, so we were still able to make it back home to Abomosu.
This afternoon, we will fund Sankubenase and later this week we will
start teaching another phase 3 class. We are all happy, healthy, and
excited for the USA v. Belgium game this afternoon. GO USA!!!
Thursday, June 26, 2014
Football
When you see this word what do you think of? Is it a bunch of padded gargantuan men tossing a lemon shaped brown ball back and forth? The rest of the world thinks of a handful of people kicking a round ball up and down a field attempting to kick it into a goal. This is what everyone is talking and thinking here in Ghana now the world cup has begun. Everything is revolving around when Ghana is playing their next match. It has gotten as serious as the power being out for days in order make sure there is enough energy saved to power the entire country during the matches in which Ghana is playing.
Four years ago the World Cup was hosted in South Africa and Ghana and the United States played each other. In this match the Ghanaians defeated the United States as they had four years in the previous world cup. Ghanaians are very superstitious about the number three and everyone would state the same thing “if the Ghanains won for the third time then they would be able to beat the US forever, but they were more likely to lose.” However, when the match got closer Ghanaian pride took over and everyone was predicting for the US to lose. When asking our class for predictions of the score it was not uncommon to hear “Ghana – 4, US – 0”
As it turns out Ghana is a very fast team but the US had great defense and were able to pull out with a win and a score of 2-1. We were all a bit weary of backlash due to the unfavorable loss, but everyone has been very cordial. A common phrase used is “we are all one” and that can been seen in their sportsman like behavior.
An interesting cultural side note we realized through the World Cup is of continent pride. Nowhere else in this world does this take place. No Europeans ever talk about being Europe but as from their specific country. This can also be seen from Asians and from all the many countries in North and South America. While speaking many languages and having different backgrounds there is a common link of being from Africa. Africans support Africans not based on country or language. We are also commonly asked, “Have you ever been to Africa before?” They view the continent as a whole, and local advertisements flaunt there are five teams from Africa playing in the world cup and everyone should support all of them.
It has been a once in a lifetime experience to be able to see this side of Ghana. It is exciting and we will all be cheering for Ghana as they play their next match against Portugal later this week. It looks like they will need a crazy chain of events to advance on but we are still proud to be here and supporting the Black Stars.
Another week down
Wendy
Another week has flown by in Ghana! We have one week left before our
phase 1 and phase 2 students finish their course and find out if they
are funded. Luckily for us, most of the students in our classes have
great businesses already, so the weeding out has already occurred.
Regardless of if the students are funded, it’s been humbling to see
how grateful they are for the things that we’re teaching them. John, a
cocoa farmer in Akwadum said this week, “When I learned about this
class, I only wanted to do it if I was guaranteed a loan. Once I
started coming to the classes, I realized how much I didn’t know about
business and how much I need to know in order to run good business.
Even if I don’t get a loan, I know I will be more successful because
of the things you have taught me.” Talk about having great students!
This week we got to give our phase 3 students their loans! Excitement
was definitely in the air as they signed their loan agreements and
were given their money. The pods we have selected are strong and we
have full faith that they will be able to pay back the loan and
receive the rebate at the end. Pictures will be coming shortly! ☺ On a
more casual note, we went up to Mole National Park for the day and saw
elephants!! We were really lucky and got to see a father elephant and
his young son at the watering hole giving themselves a bath.
Apparently there are lions in the park, but our guide said he hasn’t
seen one for 3 years. Our guide said that poaching is a major problem,
which is why the amount of wildlife they see is decreasing. We will be
heading to Accra to drop off Andi and pick up Alex at the end of this
week, which means we’ll be able to send pictures!
Tell next time,
W.W.A.C.
Another week has flown by in Ghana! We have one week left before our
phase 1 and phase 2 students finish their course and find out if they
are funded. Luckily for us, most of the students in our classes have
great businesses already, so the weeding out has already occurred.
Regardless of if the students are funded, it’s been humbling to see
how grateful they are for the things that we’re teaching them. John, a
cocoa farmer in Akwadum said this week, “When I learned about this
class, I only wanted to do it if I was guaranteed a loan. Once I
started coming to the classes, I realized how much I didn’t know about
business and how much I need to know in order to run good business.
Even if I don’t get a loan, I know I will be more successful because
of the things you have taught me.” Talk about having great students!
This week we got to give our phase 3 students their loans! Excitement
was definitely in the air as they signed their loan agreements and
were given their money. The pods we have selected are strong and we
have full faith that they will be able to pay back the loan and
receive the rebate at the end. Pictures will be coming shortly! ☺ On a
more casual note, we went up to Mole National Park for the day and saw
elephants!! We were really lucky and got to see a father elephant and
his young son at the watering hole giving themselves a bath.
Apparently there are lions in the park, but our guide said he hasn’t
seen one for 3 years. Our guide said that poaching is a major problem,
which is why the amount of wildlife they see is decreasing. We will be
heading to Accra to drop off Andi and pick up Alex at the end of this
week, which means we’ll be able to send pictures!
Tell next time,
W.W.A.C.
Thursday, June 12, 2014
Week 5
Things are going well teaching new students and funding new loans as
well as collecting on past ones. Inspired by the movie Blood Diamond,
a common phrase amongst travelers is “This is Africa” and then is
abbreviated to be “TIA.” The phase helps describe all of the beauty
as well as the struggles of the culture. Below are
moments when this phrase is the only way to describe our feelings of
the experience we have been able to partake of while interning with
the SEED program.
• Women carrying babies on their back using a few yards of fabric – TIA
• Power being out for days at a time – TIA
• Unending buckets of rain – TIA
• The beauty of the jungle landscape – TIA
• Almost stepping on a 7 foot black spitting cobra – TIA
• Hitting your head driving from bouncing on the terrible roads – TIA
• The unending call of “obruni” being yelled as we walk down the street – TIA
• Drinking water out of plastic bags – TIA
• Fruit more delicious and fresh then was ever imaginable - TIA
• The children always wanted to wave or hold our hands – TIA
• Incessant roosters crowing at 3 am – TIA
• Drenched in the sweat in the heat of the day – TIA
• Most meetings starting hours after its scheduled time – TIA
• Seeing wild baboons while hiking the mountains running along the
Togo Ghana border – TIA
• Being charged the “obruni” price – TIA
• Paying boys less than $1 to push our taxi through a flooded road – TIA
• The smell of cocoa drying, sometimes smell like chocolate and other
times it smells terrible and rotten – TIA
• No water heater – TIA
Despite all the frustrating moments when our cultures collide, there
are hundreds positive instances to make up for any inconveniences.
The goal of our time spent here is to change and improve the living
circumstances of the people, but all in all we can see the changes in
ourselves with every passing day.
well as collecting on past ones. Inspired by the movie Blood Diamond,
a common phrase amongst travelers is “This is Africa” and then is
abbreviated to be “TIA.” The phase helps describe all of the beauty
as well as the struggles of the culture. Below are
moments when this phrase is the only way to describe our feelings of
the experience we have been able to partake of while interning with
the SEED program.
• Women carrying babies on their back using a few yards of fabric – TIA
• Power being out for days at a time – TIA
• Unending buckets of rain – TIA
• The beauty of the jungle landscape – TIA
• Almost stepping on a 7 foot black spitting cobra – TIA
• Hitting your head driving from bouncing on the terrible roads – TIA
• The unending call of “obruni” being yelled as we walk down the street – TIA
• Drinking water out of plastic bags – TIA
• Fruit more delicious and fresh then was ever imaginable - TIA
• The children always wanted to wave or hold our hands – TIA
• Incessant roosters crowing at 3 am – TIA
• Drenched in the sweat in the heat of the day – TIA
• Most meetings starting hours after its scheduled time – TIA
• Seeing wild baboons while hiking the mountains running along the
Togo Ghana border – TIA
• Being charged the “obruni” price – TIA
• Paying boys less than $1 to push our taxi through a flooded road – TIA
• The smell of cocoa drying, sometimes smell like chocolate and other
times it smells terrible and rotten – TIA
• No water heater – TIA
Despite all the frustrating moments when our cultures collide, there
are hundreds positive instances to make up for any inconveniences.
The goal of our time spent here is to change and improve the living
circumstances of the people, but all in all we can see the changes in
ourselves with every passing day.
Week Four
We survived our first month in Ghana! This week has been kind of a
lull week due to the fact that we’re finishing up the last phase 3
class in Senkubenase and we’re still waiting to start teaching phase 1
and phase 2 in the other villages. Because it’s been a bit slow, we’ve
had lots of time to refigure the databases we use and to figure out
more effective ways to work with our loan collectors and pod leaders.
There have been a couple times that there was a discrepancy as to
whether the pod leader was withholding some of the money he collects
or whether it was the loan collector. So, we’ve created a new system
where the pod leader has to give the loan recipient a receipt when
they collect their monthly payment. The pod leader takes the
signatures and the money to the loan collector. The loan collector
counts the money and then signs on the pod leader’s sheet. If there is
any sort of discrepancy between any of the parties, we’ll now be able
to track it to its source. The power has been out for several days,
but we hope to have those printed and out for distribution by Monday
for June collections.
Another momentous feat we’ve been working on is the database. Douglas,
the head collector, is fairly new to Excel and thought he should use
“save as” every time he put new information into the database. As you
can imagine, there would be 5 or 6 documents that all were “the
database” but no one knew which one was the most up-to-date. We taught
him how to “save” his changes in the same document and things have
been working out great. We’re trying to create an Excel program that
would allow us to run statistical analyses to figure out which
villages do the best, if there is an ideal age for students, what
businesses are most likely to be able to pay back on time, etc. Each
of us here has an area of expertise and so it has been fun to see how
individually we can create value for the larger scope.
On a non-SEED related topic, Stephen Sr. bought us puppies!!! We have
two little puppies that we’ve named Old Dan and Little Ann. When we
found out they were brother and sister, we couldn't resist naming them
after the dogs in Where The Red Fern Grows. We’ll upload pictures when
we get to Accra next.
Till next week,
W.W.A.C.
(Wayne, Wendy, Andi, and Carter)
lull week due to the fact that we’re finishing up the last phase 3
class in Senkubenase and we’re still waiting to start teaching phase 1
and phase 2 in the other villages. Because it’s been a bit slow, we’ve
had lots of time to refigure the databases we use and to figure out
more effective ways to work with our loan collectors and pod leaders.
There have been a couple times that there was a discrepancy as to
whether the pod leader was withholding some of the money he collects
or whether it was the loan collector. So, we’ve created a new system
where the pod leader has to give the loan recipient a receipt when
they collect their monthly payment. The pod leader takes the
signatures and the money to the loan collector. The loan collector
counts the money and then signs on the pod leader’s sheet. If there is
any sort of discrepancy between any of the parties, we’ll now be able
to track it to its source. The power has been out for several days,
but we hope to have those printed and out for distribution by Monday
for June collections.
Another momentous feat we’ve been working on is the database. Douglas,
the head collector, is fairly new to Excel and thought he should use
“save as” every time he put new information into the database. As you
can imagine, there would be 5 or 6 documents that all were “the
database” but no one knew which one was the most up-to-date. We taught
him how to “save” his changes in the same document and things have
been working out great. We’re trying to create an Excel program that
would allow us to run statistical analyses to figure out which
villages do the best, if there is an ideal age for students, what
businesses are most likely to be able to pay back on time, etc. Each
of us here has an area of expertise and so it has been fun to see how
individually we can create value for the larger scope.
On a non-SEED related topic, Stephen Sr. bought us puppies!!! We have
two little puppies that we’ve named Old Dan and Little Ann. When we
found out they were brother and sister, we couldn't resist naming them
after the dogs in Where The Red Fern Grows. We’ll upload pictures when
we get to Accra next.
Till next week,
W.W.A.C.
(Wayne, Wendy, Andi, and Carter)
Thursday, May 29, 2014
Andrea Barlow Week 3
Another week gone by here in Ghana. Time is flying. This week things really got moving and we have been busy. In the mornings we have been helping out at one of the local schools. There are many to pick from. I have been assisting with class 5 and 6. They are actually very well educated and have great English. We have been working on decimal fractions as well as English skills. The teacher asked me to cover science that day which was all about food preparation and preservation. He could not understand the fact that we just buy everything at the store ready to go for us. One of their main exports is cocoa and he wanted to know all about what happens when the bags or dried cocoa get to America. I honestly could not even fathom. He has asked me to come back next Tuesday and preserve some kind of food for the class and show them all the steps.
As far as the actual loaning part we have started our second class of second time loans and are finishing up our first class. For the first class we finished all the lessons covering savings, budgeting, and other simple accounting things to find out profitability. After the class finished on Monday we wrote loan proposals for each one. Luckily the “Loan Master” Douglas has been assisting us to help determine the amounts for the second loans. The native knowledge is essential.
As far as Africa itself it is everything anyone could expect. We haven’t had power in days. It’s hot! Nothing starts on time. Everyone is extremely happy and kids are obsessed with us. They also are always asking us for money or candy and yelling “obroni” as we walk down the streets. I am even more adamant now about not giving handouts. A group of BYU nurses gave all the little kids toothbrushes and floss. While this would seem like a good idea they were used as toys and just created terrible behavior in the children. The people are amazingly strong. They carry everything on their heads. It’s common to see people walking around with full trees on their heads balanced and not even using their hands. It really is incredible. They also work insanely hard and work from 3 am until the sun goes down and have multiple jobs. It’s been great getting to know the locals. They are definitely a special people.
Tuesday, May 20, 2014
Week Two
Greetings from Abomosu! This week has been fantastic. The four of us
have split up and are teaching phase 3 classes in Akwadum and Ekorso;
about 15 students total. One of the most rewarding experiences about
teaching these incredible people is when it finally “clicks” for them.
The information we teach is just theory, until it can be taught in
such a way that it becomes applicable to them. By far, the most
challenging aspect we have come across is trying to communicate. As
great as our translators are, we are never quite sure how much of our
teaching is being communicated to the students. We will be finishing
up Akwadum and Ekorso phase 3 classes this week, which is when we will
turn to teaching phase 1 and incorporating Abomosu into our classes.
Paddy, one of the students from Ekorso, seems to really have a grasp
on the importance of figuring out all aspects of a business. Over the
weekend, we saw him in one of the villages we were touring around.
When asked what he was doing, he responded, “I want to make sure I am
paying a good price from my suppliers.” If only all of our students
could be like him!
We have our weekly service lined up! We will be helping out at the
schools and the new community library. They also have a health clinic
that we’d like to volunteer at, but Stephen wants us to help get this
library project off its feet. The library is beautiful! They probably
only have 50ish books so far, but with the help of a generous donation
from World Joy, they expect to have the library filled with books in
the next several months. Stephen and the other community leaders are
making a strong push to help increase adult literacy. Instead of
seeing adults sitting around, Stephen would like to see them reading.
The plan is for us to do story time with the children, in addition to
tutoring the adults in the evening.
We’ll be making our first trek to Accra this weekend! Wish us luck ;)
Sincerely,
W.W.A.C.
(Wayne, Wendy, Andi, Carter)
have split up and are teaching phase 3 classes in Akwadum and Ekorso;
about 15 students total. One of the most rewarding experiences about
teaching these incredible people is when it finally “clicks” for them.
The information we teach is just theory, until it can be taught in
such a way that it becomes applicable to them. By far, the most
challenging aspect we have come across is trying to communicate. As
great as our translators are, we are never quite sure how much of our
teaching is being communicated to the students. We will be finishing
up Akwadum and Ekorso phase 3 classes this week, which is when we will
turn to teaching phase 1 and incorporating Abomosu into our classes.
Paddy, one of the students from Ekorso, seems to really have a grasp
on the importance of figuring out all aspects of a business. Over the
weekend, we saw him in one of the villages we were touring around.
When asked what he was doing, he responded, “I want to make sure I am
paying a good price from my suppliers.” If only all of our students
could be like him!
We have our weekly service lined up! We will be helping out at the
schools and the new community library. They also have a health clinic
that we’d like to volunteer at, but Stephen wants us to help get this
library project off its feet. The library is beautiful! They probably
only have 50ish books so far, but with the help of a generous donation
from World Joy, they expect to have the library filled with books in
the next several months. Stephen and the other community leaders are
making a strong push to help increase adult literacy. Instead of
seeing adults sitting around, Stephen would like to see them reading.
The plan is for us to do story time with the children, in addition to
tutoring the adults in the evening.
We’ll be making our first trek to Accra this weekend! Wish us luck ;)
Sincerely,
W.W.A.C.
(Wayne, Wendy, Andi, Carter)
Friday, May 16, 2014
Week 1
We are grateful for the support people we have had in our lives that
have helped us get from point A to point B. There was a group of
school kids that were on our plane from JFK to Ghana who didn’t have
their visas, so they had to de-plane, which delayed our plane. People
like Liz Allred, who was in charge of making sure we had all the forms
we needed, have a very thankless role, but are imperative to have. A
team is only as good as their coach; we so grateful for all the many
coaches we have had and continue to have on our team that helps us be
successful.
Our first night we spent in Accra and the next morning we drove up to
the small village we will be living at in the hills called Abomosu.
As we were driving up to Abomosu we had a few “interesting”
experiences. We first were stopped by a cop who asked to see our
license and insurance. Then he wanted proof we had caution triangles
which are required incase a car breaks down or there is an accident.
They were under all the baggage so we had to unpack the whole car. He
still wasn’t satisfied and said the tires needed more air. Douglas,
the head loan collector who was with us slipped him 5 cedis (about
$1.50) and the cop said we could go. Only a few minutes later we were
stopped by another cop holding an automatic rifle and dressed in army
gear and a helmet ordering for us to get out of the car. Yelling
“show me your guns!” He asked us a series of questions and was
satisfied and we were allowed to progress. It was a interesting car
ride.
Our week has been full of going out with Douglas and meeting with
people who are behind on their loans. We have done very well. We have
also put a lot of time and effort into trying to locating and
accounting for all of the cash which has been sitting around while the
interns were away. Our days have also been filled with trying to
update the accounting ledger and records so we can have accurate
records of who is behind and who is not. We are getting the layout of
the land as well as understanding how businesses are run here.
As our fun weekend activity on Saturday we took a $1 and one-hour taxi
ride to “Tini Waterfall” and hiked for a half hour to get up to a
remote waterfall that fell from a beautiful cliff. It was really
amazing! We couldn’t help ourselves and climbed over a bunch of rocks
and jumped on in. It was a tad cold but not too bad. It really was
beautiful! We then walked down to the village and bought some yummy
fried banana chips and FanIce which is like ice cream! Sooo yummy! We
later drove home dodging pot holes and driving more on the side of the
road than the pavement because it is more smooth. It is green and
beautiful here. We look forward to beginning teach our phase 3
classes to people who have already paid of their original loan on
Monday.
have helped us get from point A to point B. There was a group of
school kids that were on our plane from JFK to Ghana who didn’t have
their visas, so they had to de-plane, which delayed our plane. People
like Liz Allred, who was in charge of making sure we had all the forms
we needed, have a very thankless role, but are imperative to have. A
team is only as good as their coach; we so grateful for all the many
coaches we have had and continue to have on our team that helps us be
successful.
Our first night we spent in Accra and the next morning we drove up to
the small village we will be living at in the hills called Abomosu.
As we were driving up to Abomosu we had a few “interesting”
experiences. We first were stopped by a cop who asked to see our
license and insurance. Then he wanted proof we had caution triangles
which are required incase a car breaks down or there is an accident.
They were under all the baggage so we had to unpack the whole car. He
still wasn’t satisfied and said the tires needed more air. Douglas,
the head loan collector who was with us slipped him 5 cedis (about
$1.50) and the cop said we could go. Only a few minutes later we were
stopped by another cop holding an automatic rifle and dressed in army
gear and a helmet ordering for us to get out of the car. Yelling
“show me your guns!” He asked us a series of questions and was
satisfied and we were allowed to progress. It was a interesting car
ride.
Our week has been full of going out with Douglas and meeting with
people who are behind on their loans. We have done very well. We have
also put a lot of time and effort into trying to locating and
accounting for all of the cash which has been sitting around while the
interns were away. Our days have also been filled with trying to
update the accounting ledger and records so we can have accurate
records of who is behind and who is not. We are getting the layout of
the land as well as understanding how businesses are run here.
As our fun weekend activity on Saturday we took a $1 and one-hour taxi
ride to “Tini Waterfall” and hiked for a half hour to get up to a
remote waterfall that fell from a beautiful cliff. It was really
amazing! We couldn’t help ourselves and climbed over a bunch of rocks
and jumped on in. It was a tad cold but not too bad. It really was
beautiful! We then walked down to the village and bought some yummy
fried banana chips and FanIce which is like ice cream! Sooo yummy! We
later drove home dodging pot holes and driving more on the side of the
road than the pavement because it is more smooth. It is green and
beautiful here. We look forward to beginning teach our phase 3
classes to people who have already paid of their original loan on
Monday.
Thursday, April 3, 2014
Week 12: Saying Goodbye
We had a busy last week in the bush. Margaret came back from Accra to give us a send off party. We finalized funding in Asamama, worked on collections, enjoyed a last dinner with the Abu's, gave our farewells to Douglas, and headed to Accra. Somewhere in there, we managed to volunteer at the Abomosu Health Clinic twice for a couple of hours, as well as take the hike to Teeny Falls (which is a beautiful hike, even if there is no waterfall during the Dry Season). Since we are in Accra now, we decided that we would let the pictures speak, since we've been limited in posting pictures while we haven't had the best internet. Enjoy!
We are going to miss the people we've gotten to know so well over the past few months, particularly the Abu's and Douglas. We are so grateful for the opportunities that we've had to learn and grow in Ghana this semester.
We are going to miss the people we've gotten to know so well over the past few months, particularly the Abu's and Douglas. We are so grateful for the opportunities that we've had to learn and grow in Ghana this semester.
 |
| At the Health Clinic, David was given the task of tearing paper in half...a lot of it. |
 |
| Teeny Falls |
 |
| Douglas and his daughter, Annette. Douglas' family made us some AMAZING fufu and palm nut soup. |
Week 11: Funding
 |
| The Asamama Farmers |
This week, we’ve finally gotten everything in order to fund
our Asamama class. We’ve had some challenges due to our inability to connect to
the internet. We’ve had to be patient until the internet was working well
enough to access the database, but once all of the accounting was verified for
Ghana WSV cash flows, we were given the go ahead to fund our 27 students. Up
until the point in the semester, we had only funded second-time loans. There’s
a different sense of accomplishment with the first time loan recipients. The
process of teaching the classes were longer in duration. Also, the amount of
time invested in due diligence, interviewing, grading homework, selecting the
best students, and writing business plans was quite extensive. We couldn’t have
asked for a better last Friday in Abomosu than we got with funding the 27 top
students from our class of 60 finishers.
Week #10
We are starting to wrap things up here in Ghana. We were
very excited to end the week by funding our Akwadum/Akwaduso combined
second-loan classes. We were able to give out 17 loans to four different pods.
All of these 17 people paid back their first loans in full and on time.
Additionally, they attended all of our intermediate classes and did well on
their homework. They were all so excited to finally be receiving their funding
that they were willing to meet us early on a Saturday morning to fill out the
paperwork and get the cash.
This week, we also attended a school fundraiser for Akwadum
and Ekorso. Douglas was the chair of the event, so we went to support him. It
was fun to see him fulfilling one of his other roles, and it was a testament to
what an amazing man he is. Douglas is very impressive with all that he manages
to get done from day to day. We enjoyed spending time with his two youngest
children, Slyvester and Annette.
 |
| The interns with Douglas' son, Slyvester |
 |
| After funding our Akwadum/Akwaduso class |
Thursday, March 20, 2014
Week 9 in Ghana
This week, we were able to be very productive and efficient.
After returning from our weekend vacation to Cape Coast, where the Douglas Paddy received swimming lessons
from Spencer and David in the ocean, we got to work. Of the 60 students who
completed our Asamama class, we narrowed our selection of loan recipients to 28
students. We visited with these 28 individuals this week to get further
information regarding their business financials, and then we wrote the business
plans for them.
Things are beginning to wrap up for us here in Ghana as far
as new loan recipients go. We are just waiting on approval to fund our
Akwadum/Akwaduso and Asamama, groups, and then our work will be strictly
visiting past loan recipients who are behind on payments in an attempt to
collect from them.
Life is good here in Ghana.
Sunday, March 16, 2014
Week 8: Visiting the Farms
This week has been dedicated to visiting the cocoa farms of
all of the eligible students in our Asamama class. Douglas has taught us that
if there is mistletoe hanging in the farms, that is a bad sign, because it
negatively affects the growth of the cocoa trees. He was entertained when we
told him that, in America, if you walk under mistletoe, then you must kiss him.
Judging from the look on his face, this fun fact only confirmed to him how
crazy Americans can be. After visiting eight farms this week, we are heading
out for a long weekend to Cape Coast in celebration of Ghana’s Independence Day
on March 6th. Douglas is joining us for part of the trip, which we
are very excited about!
We’d like to give a shout out to Spencer for his great
effort in collecting from a past recipient who hasn’t made any payments in over
a year. Spencer has been very dedicated to helping this recipient finish off
his payments so that he can be out of debt! Spencer is planning to follow up
with him next week in order to hopefully collect the rest of the money that he
owes.
Once we return, we are looking forward to getting down to
business with writing up business plans and then finally funding some of the
great students we’ve discovered in Asamama!
Week 7: Interviews in Asamama
We were privileged to have Stephen Abu join us this week in
Asamama to interview potential loan recipients. With so many qualifying
students, we spent six straight hours in interviews. The process was very
helpful for us in narrowing down the group to those who are best suited to
receive micro loans. We were able to determine the loan amounts that we would
want to potentially issue to each recipient.
We have also been making appointment with past loan
recipients who are behind on their payments. The boys have been making a big
push with one particular debtor who has a large and very old payment. We have
visited him three times so far, and Spencer has made a deal with him. We are
really hoping that we will be able to collect from him this coming Monday,
relieving WSV of the burden and helping him to be debt free!
While visiting past loan recipients in Ekorso, Rachel
stopped by one of the students that she funded last month. Regina runs a
provision store from a great location, but she didn’t have the money to buy
inventory, as she was using all of her profits to pay her children’s school
fees. After receiving the loan, her store is looking great and fully stocked!
Business has been good for her. It is always very rewarding to see the
difference that a small loan can make in the life of a single person.
 |
| Regina in Ekorso |
 |
| Asamama Interviews |
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)