Harmatten Winds of Change

I came back to Accra to be met by the Harmatten, I wasn’t quite sure what this was before I came to Ghana so see definition below courtesy of Wikipedia!

‘The Harmattan is a dry and dusty West African trade wind. It blows south from Sahara into the Gulf of Guinea between the end of November and the middle of March (winter)’.

Although I was in Ghana for the Harmattan last year, I don’t remember it being anywhere like what we experienced this year. These winds from the Sahara make the air seem somewhat cooler and more bearable than the sticky sweaty heat which soon becomes our daily reality, but my word how these soft gentle winds deceive you into thinking that they are a blessing! The harmattan brings minute pieces of sand and dust and they get everywhere, it is impossible to keep things clean (including yourself!). Rooms become covered in thick dust in a matter of hours, your hair is always dry and dusty, white clothes are a no no and when you take a shower at the end of the day the water runs off brown. Despite all these things I do really quite like the harmatten seaon, the sun is this beautiful golden, orange ball which is covered in mist and I begin to think of all things mystical...where did this sand come from? What things has it seen and places it has been on its way from the Sahara to meet the beaches of Ghana? What stories does it have to tell? But I also like the harmatten as I like to think of it as a ‘wind of change’ ushering the New Year with all the changes it may bring.

2011 brings many new things for me, most notably a new job which I think I alluded to in a previous blog post. I am now sat in my new office and really getting to grips with my new role as Communications Specialist at PDA Associates. I am sure many of you are left thinking, but what does that actually mean? What do you do? Well the answer is quite diverse but I undertake a lot of research, write reports, proposals, undertake research interviews, develop and deliver training on various things to do with communications and some project management on a whole range of International Development projects ranging from Child Labour, Climate change and Education.

As my first 3 weeks come to a close I can already see how I am going to benefit from working here and also what I am able to give to the organization, how I meet a need they have which is really encouraging. I believe there have been some achievements already in 3 weeks and I feel satisfied. The team of people I am working with is great and it is so encouraging to be around such dynamic and committed people. I have also been taken on to help with the use of the English language as all of our consultancy contracts are from international donors….it is amazing how many times you can correct the use of ‘will and would’ and keep thinking of creative ways to explain the difference to your colleagues!

Some of you may know that I was also due to move house in January; well I was a little unsure as to how this would all work out as arranging housing in Ghana is not always easy. I can tell you that I am moving to a great area of Accra very soon, but as I imagined, despite making arrangements since October, I will move God willing on 14th of February, as they say here ‘wait small’!

In the theme of ‘winds of change’ I thought I would leave you with a little information from one of my first projects in my new role which has been an assessment of the geographical split of poverty in Ghana and the knock on effects. Needless to say it is an enormous study which I have joined at the later stages and been tasked with writing policy briefs for the government of Ghana on the basis of this information, perhaps a little daunting! The four areas I am responsible for are Education, Health, Social Protection and Agriculture, here is some alarming info from the field which I hope gets you thinking about the need for a ‘wind of change’ in Ghana’s education system;

• The average ratio of teachers to pupils in primary school in the northern 3 regions is 1:95!

• Children describe their educational experience as follows:

‘We have attended school for years and yet cannot read or speak English, unlike those in Accra who can read after a short time (In school)’.

“Sometimes, we do not feel like going to school because we know our teachers will be late or not come at all”

“[In this community] there is no difference between school completers and illiterates”

• Despite the problems in the education system, parents still understand the importance of education:

“Even those children who currently have enough to eat will find themselves in poverty in years to come [if they remain out of school].”

“When your child goes to school, the parent has gone to school as well because you get a literate person in the house and when s/he is gainfully employed the benefits spread to the parents who have invested in him/her”