Akwaaba

Akwaaba means welcome in Twi. Although the official language in Ghana is English, there are many tribal languages, especially in the northern region which is where I will be living for the next three and a half months. Although my co-workers should all speak some English, I will meet many people who only speak their tribal language. Gushei (or Gushie) is about an hour north of Tamale which is the capital of the northern region - population of about 200,000.

Background on Engineers Without Borders (EWB)

EWB is a non-profit organization that promotes human development through access to technology by:

• Partnering with developing communities to help build the capacity of their technical sector
• Raising awareness among Canadians about how they can make decisions that positively impact communities overseas
• Encouraging the Canadian government to become a model global citizen by taking on a leadership role in poverty alleviation

This was taken from www.ewb.ca and might seem confusing with all the terminology, so check out the website if you would like more info or feel free to ask me anything about the organization.

There are 36 EWB student chapters across Canada and there are 40 students participation in the “Junior Fellowship” program this summer, which is a short term volunteer placement. Each student chapter must raise enough money throughout the year to send a volunteer(s) – the McGill chapter worked so hard this year to raise enough money for two placements! There are also long term placements for graduates that are a minimum of 1 year; some are 3 years, and I believe they can be longer. Out of the 40 volunteers this summer, 14 of us will be working in Ghana.

My Placement

I will tell you what I know so far about my work, but keep in mind that things may change once I arrive and learn more about the company I am working with.

I will be working with the Integrated Tamale Fruit Company (ITFC http://www.itfcorganic.com/htm/getpage.asp). They grow and export organic mangoes. My task for the summer is to be able to ensure that the mango out growers (communities that grow mangoes with the help of ITFC) have a better understanding of the irrigation facilities and can report and repair any problems that occur. So some things that I might be working on: preparing a curriculum to train 5 surrounding communities, and exploring the idea of a user manual. I am not doing this project on my own by any means. I am sort of an “extra” in the company. I will have the time and flexibility to research and apply alternative approaches and can offer a different perspective. In reality, I will probably learn a lot more from the people I am working with than they will learn from me.

EWB has never worked with this company before so I will be learning as much as I can so that I can transfer this information back to our national office and the future long term volunteer (who will be working on implementing a mango drying facility). ITFC has been very successful and I hope to bring their best practices and lessons learned to our work with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (a government organization that we have partnered for many years). Oh… and they will be harvesting mangoes when I am there so I will definitely be eating plenty of fruit!

Feel free to ask me questions on any of this.

So I am off to Toronto tomorrow morning for a week of pre-departure training with the other volunteers going to Ghana and Malawi. I’m hoping to update this blog frequently and post pictures so stay tuned.