Author: Penny

Dave & Kathy visited our dress-making school at Gyetiase earlier this month. Everybody was working hard and there was a happy atmosphere, with the apprentices showing great respect for their teacher and trainer, Kofi. Many of them are single parents, and some left JHS prematurely, which makes it very important for them to gain accreditation.

Kofi takes ten women, aged between 18 and 30 for a three year training. During that time they learn to design and make shirts, trousers and shorts for men, dresses and blouses for women, and school uniforms.

Apprentices routinely arrive at 7.30am for an 8am start. They use electric machines (from John Lewis!) but during power cuts they have recourse to hard-operated sewing machines. They use traditional Ashanti cloth from the local markets to make commissioned garments.

They have an ambitious motto: ‘Clothing for Africa and Beyond,’ and many Ashanti volunteers take the opportunity to have clothes made for them.

The Disabled Association report that the Centre we built for them last year in Nsuta has led to a considerable improvement to their status in society. What’s more, a donor has just offered to fund a computer room for them, so those who are literate will soon be able earn a bit of money writing letters for those who aren’t, or as an internet cafe.

We told the local authority about this, and asked for their cooperation in improving the lives of the disabled in the area. Their headquarters is just a stone’s throw from the Centre. In response, they promised to provide a free computer trainer, and to contract all their printing to the Association, provided we could provide two big printers. They also said that in a year or two they find a job for a Disabled Association member, provided there was one with the appropriate education – which is very likely.

So things are looking up for this particular Disabled Association. We’ll do our best to make sure they go on that way.

Last year, The Ghana Government awarded Mampong District around £2,000 in a competition for the best grant application. 121 Districts entered and Mampong came seventh. Its application was for funding 100 Zongo latrines in Mampong Town, ie enough latrines for 1,000 people. Zongos are immigrants friom northern Ghana or Burkino Faso, who come south because climate change means it is too difficult to sustain life in their homes.
The District’s application described the extreme poverty in which the Zongos live, with 10 or 20 people sharing a single room, and most of them begging for food or living off produce from very small smallholdings.

Nicholas has been carrying out ‘beneficiaries identification’ among the Mampong Zongos, which must be difficult because they will all be desperate to get a latrine. Meanwhile, he’s sent us these photos of the part of Mampong where they live.

We’ve just finished one of our biggest ever projects – the construction of a clinic (our third) on the northern road to Aframso. The Chiefs of Ankamadua and Amoaman villages allocated land at the borders of each one’s territory, so half the building was situated on each side. People from both villages carried out the unskilled work, while the women provided food for the workers.

The clinic is staffed by a midwife, medical assistant/staff nurse, two nurses and two community health nurses.

Where there is no medical care, people can suffer considerably, dying quickly of snake bite, for example. Women experiencing a difficult childbirth are often taken by motor bike to their nearest clinic, sometimes dying on arrival. During the course of the project Nicholas Aboagye, who supervised the work, drove one woman to the clinic, who gave birth in the back of his car.

It’s no wonder, then, that everyone was so happy to have a clinic near to hand. A big opening ceremony was organised, as you can see from the photos.

Some years ago we bought a cornmill for the village of Adutwam on condition they eventually paid us back with interest. The idea was a sort of collective microcredit. The women of Adutwam already had microcredit loans from us so the village was familiar with the concept.

Adutwam have never once defaulted on their payments, and also started saving surplus profits in the bank. Recently they decided to use their savings to buy a second cornmill – and here it is in the photo. This only goes to show what an intelligent and well-managed village Adutwam is.

Nkubeta is the last village in a line of ten, and it’s lucky enough to be sponsored for latrines and hygiene training by Softwire Ltd, London-based producer of bespoke software systems. This is Softwire’s second sponsored village. They are making a real difference.
Nkubeta tell us that they came to the area from Denkira during the Ashanti Wars. They said that the Queen Mother of Petransa agreed to let them settle and told them to go into the forest and chose their own land. They did this, and came upon two coconut trees that were joined at the top. They decided to settle beside the trees and called their village Nkubeta, or ‘twin coconut trees.’