Q: What am I doing?
I will be based out of Damongo, in the West Ganja District of Northern Ghana. Projects I will be involved with include a cassava processing system, or gari processing, as well as a beehive implementation system, for honey processing in the Northern Region. All programs will focus on the empowerment of women in the projects, and bring about new income-generating techniques for thousands of people who earn less than $1 a day.
My specific project, Micro-Enterprise, focuses on building economies which are not only sustainable, but welcome, because they are fostered and supported by local people who are investing in their own achievements and lifting themselves out of poverty in a true entrepreneurial spirit. To do this, we examine local communities and determine if a specific technology is appropriate for their use, and together with the community develop a plan to implement the technology.
I will travel to different regions throughout Ghana on a daily basis to work with women's groups and communities on their plans for processing equipment. Most of the travelling will take place on a motorbike, with some Ghanaian travel books and my laptop thrown over my shoulder. I will be on the road quite a bit, and will report as much as often.
After this first week in Ghana, I will be posting rather infrequently, but be assured that you will be taken along for all of these amazing journeys.
My specific project, Micro-Enterprise, focuses on building economies which are not only sustainable, but welcome, because they are fostered and supported by local people who are investing in their own achievements and lifting themselves out of poverty in a true entrepreneurial spirit. To do this, we examine local communities and determine if a specific technology is appropriate for their use, and together with the community develop a plan to implement the technology.
I will travel to different regions throughout Ghana on a daily basis to work with women's groups and communities on their plans for processing equipment. Most of the travelling will take place on a motorbike, with some Ghanaian travel books and my laptop thrown over my shoulder. I will be on the road quite a bit, and will report as much as often.
After this first week in Ghana, I will be posting rather infrequently, but be assured that you will be taken along for all of these amazing journeys.
posted by Kyle at 10:24
8 Comments:
Kyle, this is the most spectacular blog.... I'm loving the detail, pictures, everything... bravo, and thankyou. Glad to hear things are going well, take care of yourself on that motorbike. Can't wait to hear more
Hey Kyle, I am so excited for you. It sounds like you are having the time of your life. Also, I think you should know that your Sens are out... Sorry to be the bearer of bad news. Enjoy yourself and be careful. Everyone here in Windsor misses you and our meetings are not the same since you left.
Who would've thought your knowledge of cassava would come in handy? Well, obviously you did, keep it up sport. While you're out there making the world a better place, I'm applying for a job at the Husky Injections Moulding Corporation. And no i'm not kidding. Good luck with your endeavours.
Quite the adventure you got yourself into there Mr. Baptista. Well written blog with a nice sprinkling of pix. I cant believe you are booting round Ghana on a motorbike with your laptop over your shoulders, seems humourous. The apartment had some initial problems, but all seems to be well now, except the internet.... Heh, anyways, have fun and keep us informed.
kyle...glad to here all is well...keep up the hard work, and keep us informed. I hope your motorbike skills are more refined than your post-O nightclub bike riding skills.
By the way, when you get back I hear a local music outfit is looking for a leadman...and if I remember from some old filmage footage..you can play a mean guitar.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Brigade
Later pal.
Your voice is so strong in your writing, when I read it, I can almost hear your voice in the back of my head. It makes you seem less far away.
I'm really really excited for you, it's true, but let me be the drama-student I am and be sad that you're having to share the stories on a blog rather than in person. Stories are always better with a LIVE audience.
Miss you SO much.
I don't know much about where you are, but I guess I assumed there'd be a language barrier...You said you will be communicating and working with women's groups all around where you are going--how do you do this?
The language barrier can be quite severe. In the two weeks I have been in Ghana, I have been in areas with five different languages, almost completely unique to each other. This has made it very difficult for me to learn anything more than basic greetings (the most important part).
During our meetings with the cooperatives, there is the field officer, and sometimes the regional manager. They speak in english and it is translated, or they speak the local language directly, and know the local dialect. Everything I understand is solely from body language, for which there is no shortage of from Ghanaians. Sometimes the field officer will break out into english every 20 minutes or so to fill me in on what has been happening in the discussions, but for the most part I have already understood most of the conversation from the body language. Pretty awesome.
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