Welcome to the North!

I am now writting from Oxfam office in Tamale, Northern Region. Most development organisations are based or have an office here because it is assumed that most people in need of help are in the three northern regions. According to statistics, not less than seven out of ten people are in poverty in these regions. From my experience so far, there are disadvantaged in Accra but nothing like I have seen on the way to Wa (Upper West region) and Tamale. I saw village houses burnt by a fire bush. Women and children fetch water from the river. The climate is different from the South. There is one rainy season instead of two. The air is dry (Harmattan). The temperature is above 35 degrees and I was told that it is higher in March.

I was dropped in Tamale to carry on my induction with the staff based in the North. The five-day Oxfam Operational and Review workshop in Wa allowed me to better understand the work of Oxfam Great Britain (OGB) in Ghana. All the staff is local and works with several partner organisations to implement different programmes - Education, Livelihoods and Market Access - in different community areas. The Advocacy and Campaign programme - in which I am integrated - is transversal. It includes Campaign on Trade issues as well as the Right To Be Heard (RTBH) which intends to give a voice to the poor and marginalised (women, children, people with disabilities, minorities).


I also know a bit more about the tasks I am due to carry out this year. OGB wants to develop a rigorous, documented media strategy as well as improve its newsletter, 'Oxfam Drums'. I have been told that this year will be hectic and that I must be prepared! I strongly hope that I will be able to travel around the country (going on the field) and abroad (Burkina Faso where Oxfam has a partner and Senegal where the Regional Office is).


Hopefully this week, I will be able to visit some partners located in Tamale and celebrate my birthday with some nice people, like the girl I met in Wa who is Gender officer in a partner organisation. I am at the stage of getting used to the weather and the food and drinks. I get to know Ghanaians, many of whom are very friendly. They seem to like foreigners very much. I think that I will learn the culture by being in contact with them most of the time. There are of course other internationals - more volunteers apparently in the North than in the South - but I only spent some time with two American tourists, three Ivorians and one Danish lodging at the hotel in Wa. Ghanaians seem to be very sharp and it is striking to see that the Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) want to make a better future for their country as a whole.

First Day

I have got some time to keep you informed about my arrival and first day. I should be going around with the driver and sort out things for my place. An email told me before my arrival that I would be provided a room in the Country Programme Manager's official residence. I only found out one hour ago that the office rented another accommodation for the year. That is why there is nearly no facility in it, no cooker for example. I need to meet the landlord if I want to use the air-conditioning.

What I'm living is surreal. On the first day, I can only follow people (office staff, driver, cleaner) where I am the only white. It's not so much about colour, but culture. I guess after a while I'll be able to be myself and deal with the way of living.

There are many thoughts coming through my mind at the time. I have a lot to tell but writting does not seem easy to describe the whole experience. Baba, the National Advocacy Officer, is going to tell me about his work now and what I'll be doing here. I'll let you know later of course...

Akwaaba!

'Akwaaba' veut dire bienvenue. Je suis arrivee saine et sauve et je pense pouvoir continuer le sejour de la meme maniere, en tout cas si je suis les conseils avises des Locaux et des Occidentaux a la fois!

Je passe mon premier jour au bureau Oxfam. Cést un environnement de travail rassurant. Je vis dans un appartement de trois pieces plutot propre mais assez rudimentaire. Ma plus grande satisfaction va au lit de deux personnes fourni avec un bon matelas (mais pas de housse et des oreillers trop épais!). La douche ne fonctionne pas pour línstant mais je reussi tout de meme a me laver. Láir-conditionné non plus mais le ventilateur pas trop mal bien quíl emette un bruit qui m'empêcha de dormir.

Une premiere nuit dans un nouveau lieu nést jamais facile et jái léspoir quávec le temps et en sáttaquant aux problemes un a un, je serai bien installee et je me plairai. Jái un peu de temps a consacrer a mon installation puisque quaiment tout le personnel est parti a Tamale (Nord) ou se situe le premier bureau Oxfam. Jái rencontre Baba - National Advocacy Officer - avec qui je vais travailler. Il part au Burkina pour arranger un partenariat avec le pays. Je lui ai dit déntree que je pourrai lássister en particulier pour le francais mais il y a un interprete a qui je ne veux prendre le job.

C'est difficile de tout integrer dún coup. Heureusement que lón peut tous - a priori - communiquer en anglais. Il y a pas mal de nouveautes auxquelles je devais m'attendre mais qui demandent qu'on s'y attarde chacune leur tour. Je pense que j'experimente une nouvelle vie - comme il arrive a chacun - avec une nouvelle maison, un nouveau travail, de nouvelles habitudes à acquerir dans un nouveau pays, qui pour le moment sont au stade de la découverte, donc de l'apprentissage (pourboires, consommation d'eau, alimentation). Je commence même à me débrouiller avec le clavier qwerty (c'est un progrès par rapport à l'Angleterre où je ne l'utilisais plus pour le francais - je n'irai pas jusqu'à chercher les cédilles cependant).

Ma première impression du personnel Oxfam ghanéen est qu'il appartient sans doute à l'élite du pays et que j'ai beaucoup à apprendre d'eux, d'où mon statut d'interne volontaire...

Le grand départ

Je m'envole donc demain vers le Ghana. Je suis presque prête. J'ai encore des effets à placer dans mes bagages. Partir un an en Afrique ne s'improvise vraiment pas et se prépare jusqu'à la dernière minute - pour ce qui me concerne en tout cas!

J'ai encore des aurevoirs à dire mais, pour vous qui consultez le blog, je m'en tiendrais à cet usage virtuel. J'aurais fait ce que j'ai pu et je vous remercie à nouveau de votre présence à la soirée, de vos encouragements et de votre soutien.

Je vous aime!

Ce n'est qu'un aurevoir...

Merci pour votre présence lors de la soirée ce 7 janvier. J'ai été gâtée et j'espère que vous avez apprécié.

Bien sûr, on se tient au courant des nouvelles de nos vies respectives.

Bisous à chacun!