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[Feb. 12th, 2008|01:28 am] |
The Indian Government should be credited with its rapid integration of principles of advancement and democracy post independence. An example of this would be the 1972 adoption of the Panchayati Raj(sort of village chief) into the indian constitution(article 73) as a mode of self governance among villagers, and encouraging villagers to democratically elect their Panchayats (even reserving seats for disadvantaged community members, such as members of lower castes). The government now funds the planning and implementation of the economic and social justice initiatives of panchayat panels, ensuring a democratically elected and local body of governance in even the most far reaching districts. Panchayats operate on a village, block, and district level.
The Indian government can also be lauded for its impact on the dairy industry of india during the so called "White Revolution". The white revolution followed the "Green Revolution" of the 60's and 70's and greatly increased agricultural productivity through new irrigation techniques, crop strains, and agrochemical use. The "White Revolution", introduced by the Indian government, followed and gave a similar thrust to the dairy industry of India. It linked rural dairy producers to urban consumers through producer cooperatives and transportation support to urban demand centers. As a result, milk production has increased from 17 million tonnes in 1950 to 84.6 million tonnes in 2001.
Besides these examples of innovative steps taken towards development and social justice, the Indian Government also periodically releases five year economic plans, developed and conducted by the Planning Commision. These include budget allocations and target goals for indicators of economic progress. The tenth five year plan was completed in March of 2007. Since the green revolution, five year plans have traded focuses and goals, untill the year 1989, at which point the country faced a forex reserves crisis and there was a pause in five year plans. At this point, the twelfth prime minister of India launched free market reforms which salvaged the (at that point) socialist economy and allowed it membership into Bretton Woods Institutions.
As such, the Indian government has today emerged to have established the following initiatives in health, credit, education, and infrastructure:
Health:
The government has developed a three-tiered health system, wherein sub-centres (manned with two health professionals) conduct outreach and provide basic services to on-location rural communities. They are the contact point between the lower tier of the health system and communities.
A Primary Health Center serves as a referall unit to six Sub Centres, and is staffed by more qualified medical officers, as well as paramedics, with about four to six beds. They provide curative, preventative, and promotive health care services as well as family welfare.
Four Primary Health Centers, in turn, can refer patients to one Community Health Center. Community health centers are staffed with an even higher number of medical profesionals and specialists, as well as thirty beds, labs, and other facilities.
Credit:
The government of India has several innovations in this area, and presents a good indicator of progress in this area of initiative. A 1976 Act of Parliament set up Regional Rural banks with a lending power of 5 crore rupees each, backed by the Central Government, State Government, and regional commercial banks. Regional Rural banks have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India Act, and have expanded to number 14,777 (as of march 2003). Roughly half of the commercial banks which have been included in the second schedule of the Reserve Bank of India are, incidentally, in rural areas. There is also a three tiered cooperative credit structure in the field of rural banking. PACS(primary agricultural cooperative societies) operate on a grassroots level in villages, but in cooperation with the district central cooperative bank, which in turn works in cooperation with the state cooperative bank.
Infrastucture
Since the 2001-2002 budget was released, a fund as part of the Prime Minister's Village Development Programm set aside Rupee 5,000 crore for infrastructural developement in villages. Half of this was reserved for road building and half was allocated for rural housing, drinking water, and sanitation. According to Pradeep Kashyap, the central government achived "considerable success" in meeting the drinking water needs of 91% of rural inhabitants under the programme. Also, a government-funded scheme, launched in 2000, aimed to connect 70% of Indian villages by road. One of the methods in which road construction was conducted were two government funded programmes which hire unemployed villagers to assist in manual labour and rural infrastructure creation. The Tenth year plan, completing in 2007, also made a committment towards ending shetlerlessness, and assisted in offering affordable upgrades to non-permanent dwellings, creating 93 lakh new permanent homes.
The Indian Government also sponsors a network of Fair Price Shops, or "ration shops", which distribute wheat, rice, sugar, oil, and kerosene at low prices to 1000 people per shop. 80 of fair price shops are in rural areas. It is estimated that 4 crore out of 11.2 crore rural households utilize the service offered by fair price shops.
Education |
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| (no subject) |
[Feb. 3rd, 2008|04:18 am] |
Julia Smith
a-sweet12@sandsmith.com
current:
Global College/India Center
7/1 Cunningham Road Cross
Bangalore 560052 Karnataka India
permanent(hometown):
87 Grover Avenue
Princeton NJ
08540 USA
P: 609 683 8395
Program written about :Children Better Way, associated with Global Volunteer Network. I volunteered during August, September, and October of 2007.
I am currently a junior in Long Island University's undergraduate Global College program. I study economics, microfinance, and global issues. I am 20 years old. I am a citizen of the UK and the US and grew up in Princeton NJ.
Parables and Poverty
As a sophomore in Global College of Long Island University, I petitioned my school's headquarters in summer of 2007 to complete independent studies in a Liberian refugee camp in central region, Ghana. I had volunteered as a refugee caseworker during high school and wanted to see how I could handle myself in the real world of refugee aid work. During the three month semester with the NGO Children Better Way, and the two month Christmas vacation I spent in Ghana, however, I learned, more than anything, not about engineering or development, but about what circumstances do to a person. The experiences I had in Ghana rocked me to my Jewish-American core, and showed me that no amount of travelling and outside observation can really teach a person the full extent of what subsistence(or under subsistence) living is like for an entire lifetime.
"If you always tell the truth, then you have nothing to worry about" I said at one point during the semester, referring back to a time when my fathers words were still shaping my moral perspective of the world. "Yes, its true", my friend said, staring back at me in total complicity.
But its not. Artists, refugees, and the poor sometimes have more to worry about, such as where their next meal is coming from, than telling the truth. For example, when a 17 year old girl who has no assets other than her body and words hands us handwritten prescriptions for medications for our friend, in the hospital with a "chest cold", she makes a fraction of what she would from prostitution, but more than we would have ever given her willingly. Can one blame her for the choice she made to lie to us?
As does a-BAN KOGO, ZO GEGEH, the coconut shell juju effigy that required a libation of 25 new cedis. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the next shells thrown showed that Christina(my fellow traveler) would not be cursed by Abankogo for not having it in her heart to give, and ignored the irony hours later when I received the African name that meant "white teeth, black heart" (a reference to people lying to you) from the same 'friends'. But in the end, who had more to worry about, the people who told the truth that night (the pampered volunteers), or the ones who had performed the ceremony (unemployed cultural artists)? Who has the right to say our moral high horse absolved us of blame, that we did the right thing, when our decision left the cultural artists hungry? But who can say that we were obligated to feed people who were obviously lying to us?
And how do you know what to believe, after all? "Seeing is believing", my friend George kept on saying, both before and after he bloodied his tongue with a razor-blade and regurgitated a piece of chicken heart, displayed to all watching as the cut-off tip of his own tongue.
"Time will tell", said my other friend, as a month passed by even after the "completion" of the drums he had carved with my loan and sold overseas (to this day the excuses continue).
And even trying to take advice from local friends proves controversial. Either being a black woman in a refugee camp means you will be killed when her white friend leaves because nobody is watching, and being a foreigner from Cameroon means your name shouldn't be mentioned, or sitting down and bringing people face to face is the only way to find out the truth. Either bringing two people who each say the other is lying face to face is the best and the African way to do things, or it is the worst and American way to do things.
"You will never find out, the way you are going about it" was how my rastafarian friend Akwesi simply laid things out for me, all knowingly, after directly changing his original story. "A brother will never tell you"
And after all, who can you believe? Either the police at Nima Station felt no obligation towards a white girl and were lying to my face, or my friend as well as his friends really were dependent on the station as a safe haven from their own victimization. Either brothers tell the truth for the sake of their family's name, or lie for the sake of their brothers chances. Either being in a hospital cot with your leg in a cast means you have nothing to lose by lying, or no reason to lie. And in each of these three instances, I was lied to, by being told I had been told lies.
Everything I ever felt to be true this semester was tested, but especially the importance of telling the truth. Above all, I realized that my own morality was based largely on the economic choices I had been given as a privileged person.
"You are a small girl. Big in the body, but small in the mind", my neighbor Beneta kept on telling me. "You won't see the well, until the water runs dry", she also said, referring to how good of a friend she was, while she 'lost' the item I'd loaned her and lied to multiple other volunteers.
And i learned to forgive. to compromise, again and again, and to accept people back who had technically "wronged me". And in the end, I move on from Ghana to other countries, to continue to be fed, clothed, and protected, while they remain in the same position, scrabbling to make ends meet and choosing between intoxicants or food. So who wins and who loses, the morally righteous or those who have to gain by lying? But perhaps the question should be, more to the point, why are the morally righteous morally right to begin with? And how would the usually morally righteous behave, if they were faced with chronic desperation and limited options for the rest of their lives?
My recommendation for those interested in travelling (and life) is to find a comfortable balance between safety and intensity. One also has to keep in mind their commitment to the original reason for travelling. In my case, I thoroughly learned what being a refugee aid worker would be like, as well as much more. I would never recommend that someone put themselves as much on the line as I did, but then again, after the experiences I had, I am the only person I know who I would trust to know what to do in those same situations. So in a sense, I asked for it, although no amount of the short trips I had taken before Ghana prepared me adequately (or perhaps they did, more than I realize). One also has to be cautious of those who strongly wish to be your friend-and i regret to admit that I burnt bridges with local friends easier than matches, due to both unreasonable and perfectly justifiable suspicions. But if theres one thing I wish I could have changed, it was the firmness of my convictions about what was unreasonable and perfectly justifiable. Because even though, as advised to me by a 12 year old girl "you shouldn't trust anyone", its also true, as a traveler wanting to learn from people, and in the famous words of the Nigerian musician Twoface, that "You have to trust someone". |
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[Nov. 24th, 2007|07:45 am] |
History and Refugees
Fall Semester 2007
Introduction:
As a volunteer with the Lutheran Social Ministries of NJ's immigration and refugee services department for the past few years, I've met a number of refugees and liberians. However, the work that LSM does doesn't neccesarily require an understanding of political situations worldwide, as it is mostly paperwork and logistics oriented. I had a vague idea of the refugee process beforehand, but the following papers will explain more in depth what I have learned about the chronilogical process of becoming a refugee and resettling, as well as provide some background information about the political and historical situation of liberian refugees in ghana.
A lesson from History: The Liberian Civil Wars
Liberia: its formation
Liberia, or land of the free, was regarded with admiration by some in its neighboring countries until 1957(when Ghana gained its independence) as the most sovereign country in Africa.
Resettled in the nineteenth century by the American colonization society, which sponsored a drive to transplant freed slaves “back to Africa” through funds raised and a somewhat futile propaganda campaign in the united states, around eleven thousand freed slaves arrived in ships from America and created a new society in the land of their ancestry. The ACS was supported by white southerners who feared a rebellion by freed slaves, white northerners who feared a threat to their economic opportunities by freed slaves, and freed slaves that felt that integration with whites was not the solution to their situation. The ACS had wanted to transplant all freed slaves back to africa, and was openly supported by both Thomas Jefferson and James Madison(1).
Integration with those already situated in the area proved less feasible than first thought possible, due to large cultural differences. Those already living in the geographic region consisted of tribes descended from forest dwellers and the medieval kingdom of Mali, as well as some tribes influenced by the spread of Islam. Various embitterments, leading to sporadic armed combat, became apparent between groups as settlers arrived, due to confusion over historical portrayals, disdain for “forest dwellers”, as well as grudges against tribes responsible for slave trading. Natives also felt the settlers imposed on their resources, such as housing, food, and medicine, and brought diseases(2).
In 1847 the settlers declared the land the Republic of Liberia, and then seriously mapped out their geographic boundaries as the century wore on so as to avoid infringement by British and French colonial interests. As the settlers regarded themselves as more capable; politically, technically, and culturally than the natives, they assumed responsibility of governing their newly mapped territory and imposed administrative duties on existing geographical and tribal divisions.Those chosen by settlers to perform governing duties in their provinces were coerced to do so, and imprisoned and even hanged when reluctant. Indirect rule provided a legislative framework as well as a source of income for officials who wielded armed forces, called the Liberian Frontier Force(and later, the armed forces of liberia) at their disposal(3). These "paramount chiefs", elected by clan chiefs (respectively appointed by the president) collected taxes from their respective provinces and were allowed to keep a ten percent commision, once administrative outreaches became more formalized.
An African Nation
Liberians who made a show of being christian or freemason, were literate in english, and had ancestors from america were given access to social advancement channels by their families such as higher education opportunities in the united states. Americo-liberian youths pursued ostentatiously american lifestyles and were disdainful of those who spoke african languages. "inbreeding" provided some liberians with partial native backgrounds a chance to imitate the americo-liberian aristocracy without a full pedigree.
Meanwhile, the americo-liberian government enjoyed a supportive relationship with the United States due to its historical founding, and remained the only west african nation not governed by colonial powers. The True Whig Party became the name of the americo-liberian government's party and the only channel through which to gain political power. Its earliest revenues were hard to come by, and were at first taxes levied on trade with other countries. In 1870 The liberian government began taking loans from Britain and the US at exorbitant rates, and in 1926 they managed to keep their soverignty afloat by leasing a large portion of land to the American owned Firestone Rubber company(4). The company was unable to recruit enough voluntary labor for its plantations, and so paramount chiefs became in charge of a quota system to draft forced laborers. This led the League of Nations to move that Liberia should be claimed as a colony by a european power in order to prevent the massive human rights abuses by its settler government, but this was ineffectual in the sense that european colonies used slavery as well(5).
Taxes levied on populations were far heavier on in tribal and rural areas than in urban (also to encourage voluntary labour for Firestone Rubber), provoking several armed rebellions untill the 1930's. In 1944, William Tubman became president through the True Whig Party, and began welcoming foreign investors on favourable terms in what he called an "Open Door" economic policy, as well as assuming an ideologically paternal role to the nation. More options for foreign employment meant forced labour became less of an issue, and Tubman was given credit for economic development.
The Beginnings of an Uprising
As the rest of West Africa became independent from colonial rule, however, criticism from abroad and neighboring countries grew. President William Tolbert, at the time, became faced with student and revolutionary groups such as the Movement for Justice in Africa (MOJA) and the Progressive Alliance of Liberia (PAL), who were influenced through educational institutions and media to call for radical change to the racist and repressive actions of the True Whig Party in the past and present. Tolbert began making concessions towards such groups, losing the support of conservatives within the True Whig Party and the United States by no longer making pro-american political decisions and attempting to raise the price of rice to encourage domestic production, which incited riots and actually lost him popular support.
On the night of April 12th, 1980 a group of government soldiers with connections to the radical student groups sought out the unpopular president. The group, led by sergeant Thomas Quiwonkpa and including sergeant Samuel Doe, found the president sleeping in the office and executed him, announced the overthrow of the True Whig Party the next morning, and passed members of the old government through a tribunal which executed them. The two sergeants claimed that power was now in the hands of a People's Redemption Council, of which Doe became chairman.
A New Era
Unused to political decision making, the new council quickly deviated from its populist ideology and resumed strategic relations with the United States, while executing members of the council who remained outspokenly anti-american (or anti-Doe). Foreign investors, withdrawing from the country out of fears of instability, caused a shortage of currency, rectified by minting new coins, or the "Doe Dollar", which quickly lost value, allowing officials to pocket profits when accounting in US dollars while paying with Doe dollars (6). Doe favored two out of sixteen of the krahn tribe clans, giving the appearance of racial preference towards krahns while really excluding the majority.
Quiwonkpa was generally recognized as head of the armed forces while Doe took on international and political affairs. As Doe began arranging for a massive democratic election to replace the People's Redemption Council and place himself as president, however, Quiwonkpa feared for his position and his life and fled with several military aquaintances, including his friend Prince Johnson, into exile. Elections were held in 1985 that voted Samuel Doe as president of liberia, blatantly rigged by Doe yet held by the united states as legitimate(7). Jackson F. Doe, a highly educated member of tolbert's government, is by most people's estimate the person who should have won. Supported by popular outrage and some preparation, Quiwonkpa attempted to re-enter the country and assasinate Doe with a group of soldiers. However, the president had been tipped off before-hand of the planned coup and met Quiwonkpa's soldiers with his own reinforcements. Quiwonkpa's mutilated body was paraded triumphantly by Doe and the geographic county that had supported him the most was punished with a military dispatch that killed 600-1500 civillians. Doe evaded any serious interventions from the United States by appearing to always be reforming the country in the direction of democracy, while actually using violence as a means of suppression and embezzling public funds of an estimated $300 million(8).
Discontent with Doe
Meanwhile, Liberian fighters living in exile in neighboring countries were beginning to coordinate themselves into what they called the National Patriotic Front of Liberia(NPFL). They were joined in Burkina Faso by Charles Taylor, just out of jail both in the united states and in Ghana. When a dissident in Burkina Faso, Blaise Compaore, approached the exiles for assistance in a coup of his own against the current Burkinabe president, the exiles joined his forces in a successful overthrow of Thomas Sankara, placing Compaore in power and gaining the newly positioned president’s support and assistance in then creating a favorable impression on Libya’s leader, Colonel Gadaffi(9). Libya provided revolutionary warfare training to the Liberians and Charles Taylor made inroads in establishing business connections with investors who wanted access to Liberia’s natural resources.
On December 24, 1989 NPFL fighters moved from the Ivory Coast into Liberia and began an offensive. Charles Taylor spoke on the radio and promised the removal of Doe “from the backs of the Liberian People”, but the NPFL proved poorly organized as they crossed from the north into the capital city of Monrovia. AFL(Doe’s government’s) soldiers also had a difficult time distinguishing rebels from civilians. Civilians also flocked to the guerillas flanks and took up arms, killing tribal krahn, whom they viewed as partly responsible for Doe’s actions, and often seeking revenge for a parent killed. Often war orphans were recruited as child soldiers, organized into Small Boy Units. The NPFL pushed inland towards Monrovia, committing massacres and casual murders, rapes and lootings.
The economic community of west african states (ECOWAS). alarmed at the violence erupting in their midst, formed a military monitering group, ECOMOG, and sent soldiers comprised of a variety of nationalities who successfully occupied Monrovia, as the NPFL had failed to do so far. Charles Taylor, as head of the NPFL, was then left in military control of greater Liberia, while ECOMOG kept control over the capital.
The Long Process of Power
ECOWAS established a standing mediation committee(SMC) in Gambia to try and establish an interim government of Liberia. the SMC held a meeting of liberian political leaders, which Taylor refused to attend, and elected Dr. Amos Sawyer from the University of Liberia as interim president of Liberia.
Meanwhile, Samuel Doe remained alive in his executive mansion, protected largely from Taylor's NPFL by the heavy presence of ECOMOG forces in Monrovia. The NPFL took a heavy fall, however, as Prince Johnson formed a seperatist group, the Independent National Patriotic front of Liberia (INPFL). It was this group, and Prince Johnson himself, who were eventually succesful in infiltrating and capturing the beleaguered Samuel Doe, whom they beat (and videotaped Prince Johnson eating the severed ear of) before finally executing.
Disorder and more killings followed Doe's death. Taylor, in 1991, constructed a political party to rule the land outside of Monrovia that he had captured, which he called the National Patriotic Reconstruction Assembly(10).
Meanwhile, another rebel faction, the United Liberation Movement of Liberia for Democracy (ULIMO), began fighting Taylor's troops. ULIMO was formed by Krahn refugees and ex fighter from the AFL, and split due to internal divisions into a krahn dominated (ULIMO J) and mandingo dominated (ULIMO K) faction, both of whom committed massive human rights violations and failed to obtain any significant expanses of land.
In october of 1991, political leaders including Amos Sawyer and Charles Taylor were called to a conference in Yamoussoukro, Ivory Coast, and negotiated a peace accords, the Yamoussoukro IV accord, to be monitored by ECOMOG.
In 1992 Taylor broke the peace agreement by attacking Monrovia in a major siege, known as Operation Octopus. The united nations banned the sale of arms to Liberia minus those to ECOMOG peace-keeping troops in an attempt to destabilize the NPFL.
In 1993, the Contonou accord was signed, which mandated the ceasefire of the major warring factions. However, minor warring factions continued fighting, and after a United Nations Observer mission was sent to Liberia, the Akosombo accords were signed(suppporting the contonou accord), which civilians still felt granted too much power to the major warring factions. In 1994 the "Accra Acceptance and Accession Agreement and Accra Clarification." agreement was signed. It incorporated more rebel groups, but still failed to maintain peace.
In 1995 the interim government established Rapid Response Units, which were meant to act as police in face of the rampant lootings happening throughout Monrovia. However, the RRU's became 'infiltrated' by the NPFL and became ineffective.
in 1995, an all party talk, held in Nigeria, led to the signing of the Abuja accords.
In 1996, however, peace was broken again. Members of the interim government attempted to arrest Roosevelt Johnson, a fired member of the interim government and leader of the ULIMO J forces. Johnson had been forewarned, however, and was prepared to fight back, moving his troops to the center of Monrovia using human shields (11). Fighting erupted between ULIMO J forces and NPFL and ULIMO K for 134 days, wherein even ECOMOG forces were responsible for widespread looting and thousands of Liberians tried to flee(12). On August 7th, 1996, the supplement to the Abuja Peace Accords was signed, and in 1997, the first Liberian War officially ended with the (debatedly) democratic election of Charles Taylor as the new president of Liberia.
A Second Civil War
Taylor had won the elections in part due to his control over so much territory for such a long period of time beforehand, as well as creating "an atmosphere of intimidation" through people fearing the continuation of warfare if he did not become elected(13). However, rebel groups continued to try and overthrow Taylor, mainly the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in the north of the country and Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) in the south. These groups became responsible for the further deterioration of infrastructure and equipment in Liberia, as well as thefts and lootings, while some refugees were struggling to return and rebuild the same infrastructure.
Meanwhile, Charles Taylor allowed former RUF leader Sam Bokarie and cohorts refuge in Liberia and denied assisting RUF to the international community. In an effort to keep control over a deteriorating situation in Sierra Leone, the Security Council of the United Nations enacted a three part sanctions program on Liberia, latter augmented by the UK, who managed to have most international financial aid towards Liberia suspended.
Fighting worsened between LURD rebels and government forces, who were forcibly conscripting underage fighters to combat LURD. In february of 2002, Charles Taylor suspended a series of civil liberties in order to further weaken LURD(14). Civilians fled to Monrovia as well as outside the country, and clashes between LURD, MODEL, and government forces continued, despite the urgings of the international community.
"The U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) reported from mid-year (2002) estimates that there were approximately 107,000 Liberian refugees in Guinea, 71,000 in Cote d'Ivoire, 38,000 in Sierra Leone, 11,000 in Ghana, and 3,000 in other countries. " (15)
In June or 2003, a UN court in Sierra Leone indicted Charles Taylor for war crimes and issued a warrant for his arrest. The president slipped out of Ghana before the news reached authorities and re-entered Liberia, where LURD forces now controlled two thirds of the country. LURD began a major offensive against monrovia, pre-empting another 150,000 liberians to flee(16). Charles Taylor pleaded for the dispatch of peace keeping forces, and ECOWAS duly sent mediators who managed to call a cease fire and peace talks.
The peace talks established a cease-fire between the parties and drew plans for a transitional government that would not include Charles Taylor. Taylor refused to abdicate his position, however, and rebels broke the cease-fire and renewed fighting in Monrovia. Ghana threatened to suspend the peace talks if the cease-fire did not sustain, and LURD recalled their cease-fire. Taylor, after much refusing, finally accepted an offer of safe-haven from the Nigerian government, and left Liberia in August of 2003.
Epilogue
Taylor's vice president, Moses Blah, was sworn in as interim president, while another peacekeeping force from the United States joined the already operating ECOWAS forces. Peace talks were further negotiated and a two year transitional government was loosely constructed, with democratic elections a goal for the end. Gyude Bryant was chosen as chairman, and him and his cabinet started to crackdown on corruption as promised, as well as disarming the 50,000 remaining soldiers scattered throughout Liberia(17).
Elections were set for October 11, 2005, and various figures became distinguished in the presidential race. Among these were Winston Tubman, relative to the long-presiding William Tubman, George Weah, and Ellen Sirleaf Johnson.
Meanwhile, peacekeeping troops remained in the country to safegaurd the election. When the Liberian Supreme Court ruled that three more contestants could enter the race that previously hadn't been allowed to, delays were feared. Voting occured, however, on October 11th as planned, and were conducted peacefully. As results were tallied, Weah showed a slight lead on Sirleaf. However, as neither party had won more than 50% of the vote due to the multiple candidates, a run-off was called to chose betwen Weah and Sirleaf (18). Sirleaf won the run-off, and was offcially elected the first female head of state on the continent.
The following show actual election results of some of the leading candidates. Weah and Sirleaf have two figures, one for the inital election and one for the run-off.
Presidential - Oct. 11 and Nov. 8, 2005
Oct. 11
Nov. 8
Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf -
Unity Party
19.8%
59.6%
George Weah -
Congress for Democratic Change
28.3%
40.4%
Charles Brumskine -
Liberal Party
13.9%
--
Winston Tubman -
National Democratic Party of Liberia
9.2%
--
Varney Sherman - Coalition
for the Transformation of Liberia
7.8%
-- (19)
Works cited:
(1) Wikipedia, American Colonization Society
(2),(3),(4),(5),(6),(7),(8),(9) Ellis, Stephen. The Mask of Anarchy
(10),(11),(12) Tellewoyan, Joseph The Liberian Tragedy
(13),(14),(15),(16) GlobalSecurity.org Liberian Second Civil War 1997-2003
(17),(18),(19)
Bibliography
Ellis, Stephen. The Mask of Anarchy: The destruction of Liberia and the Religious Dimension of an African Civil War New York: NYU Press, 1999
Tellewoyan, Joseph. "The Liberian Tragedy" http://pages.prodigy.net/jkess3/Civilwar.html
Some Human Development Indicators
What the World Bank says about Liberia:
"After 20 years of destruction, the people of Liberia want and need real improvement in their lives. In response the government has acted to rebuild the infrastructure destroyed by war, and economic reforms have increased revenues by nearly 50 percent in the past year, with the economy growing by more than 7 percent.
The government has also taken steps to encourage trade and investment. In 2006, exports from Liberia increased by 25 percent, and the country has been declared eligible for membership under the US Africa Growth and Opportunity Act, facilitating American investment and opening US markets to Liberian exports.
Finally, areas which previously saw corruption are being reformed, with sound financial management procedures for the port and other public enterprises being put into place, and forestry concessions that fuelled corruption being cancelled. "
Official name: Republic of Liberia
Capital: Monrovia
Area (Thousands of km2): 111
Population (millions): 3.4 (2006)
Population density (per km2): 31 (2006)
Urban population (%-2005): 58
Gross national income (GNI) (per capita): US$130 (2005)
Structure of GDP (%-2005):
Agriculture : 64
Industry :15
Services: 21
Ecological footprint (global hectares per person-2003): 0.7 7.6
Life expectancy at birth: 42 (1960), 42 (2005)
Mortality rate under 5 years old
(per 1,000): 288 (1960), 235 (2005)
Adult literacy rate (% 2000-2004):
Total 55.9
Men 72.3
Women 39.3
Population using improved drinking water sources (%-2004):
Total 61
Urban 72
Rural 52
Comparison:
What the World Bank says about Ghana:
"Today, Ghana is one of the best-performing economies in Africa.
Overall poverty has declined from 52 percent in 1992 to 28 percent in 2006, and Ghana is on course to exceed the 2015 MDG of halving her poverty.
Real GDP growth averaged 5 percent from 1983-2006. Since 2005 it has hovered at 6 percent.
Following successful HIPC debt relief in 2004, and further cancellations by donors, Ghana’s external debt, about $6 billion in 2001, is almost entirely written off."
Topic Ghana
Official name: Republic of Ghana
Capital: Accra
Area (Thousands of km2): 239
Population (millions): 22.6 (2006)
Population density (per km2): 95 (2006)
Urban population (%-2005): 48
Gross national income (GNI) (per capita): US$450 (2005)
GNI purchasing power parity (PPP) (per capita): US$2,370 (2005)
Structure of GDP (%-2005):
Agriculture 38
Industry 25
Services 37
Ecological footprint (global hectares per person-2003) : 1.0 7.6
Human development index (HDI) ranking: 136th of 177 countries (2004) 6th (2004)
Gender-related development index (GDI) ranking: 101st of 136 countries (2004) 7th (2004)
Life expectancy at birth: 46 (1960), 57 (2005)
Mortality rate under 5 years old
(per 1,000): 215 (1960), 112 (2005)
Adult literacy rate (% 2000-2004):
Total 57.9
Men 66.4
Women 49.8
Population using improved drinking water sources (%-2004):
Total 75
Urban 88
Rural 64
Refugees
What is a refugee?
As defined by the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is someone who
“owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country.”
As a volunteer with Lutheran Social Ministries over the last few years (since being a junior in highschool), I saw a lot of different resettled refugees file through my mother’s office in Trenton, New Jersey. The heaviest caseload was always the Liberians. Then there were the meshketian turks, sierra leonians, Congolese, Columbian, and most recently, a large number of Burmese. There were probably more ethnic groups that passed in front of me that I am overlooking, but these are the cases I remember. Worldwide, figures show that refugees originate from almost every continent:
Estimated Number of Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Other of Concern to UNHCR, 1st Jan 2007
Asia 14,910,900 Africa 9,752,600 Europe 3,426,700 Latin America & Caribbean 1,143,100 Northern America 3,542,500 Oceania 85,700
TOTAL 32,861,500
In international law, refugees are those defined by the Convention as stated above. The three main documents in refugee law used as legal instruments are
1. The 1951 United Nations Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees; also referred to as the Geneva Convention;
2. The 1967 Protocol relating to the Status of Refugees;
3. The 1969 OAU Convention Governing the Specific Aspects of Refugee Problems in Africa
The Refugee Process
Refugees flee their country of origin, not being able to determine when they will be capable of returning, and bringing little with them. Once they cross an international border, their status changes from IDP(internally displaced person) to refugee. However, this status often has to be legally granted a refugee for them to receive any benefits from their hosting country’s government. The UNHCR usually determines refugee status, and will become involved in a population of refugees once asked by a host country or by the United Nations.
Typically, after crossing an international border, refugees can be adopted by their host country’s community members, attempt to assimilate in their host country’s workforce (or, often as becomes the case when a large load of people has to flee a location), they join a refugee camp. Refugee camps are coordinated by the United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR agency, whose role is to
“lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State”.
The UNHCR also assists internally displaced persons, working currently with IDPs in Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Serbia and Montenegro and Côte d'Ivoire.
If a person falls under the definition of a refuge by the UNHCR, then they are protected by the UNHCR mandate (the only controversial exception to this are the palestinian refugees who fled their homes before the creation of Israel, whose descendants are viewed as refugees regardless of their citizenship), and as such, are considered under the responsibility of the UNHCR. The UNHCR works with host governments, countries of origin, and third countries to try and find durable solutions to the plight of refugees. Above all, the UNHCR seeks to avoid refoulement, or placing refugees back into a situation where their life is still in danger.
Ressettlment
Ressettlement to a third country is a popular option for many people who feel limited in a refugee camp and threatened to return home. The UNHCR, however, uses ressettlement as a last option, referring about 1% of refugees to ressettlement in a third country. Currently, Australia, Canada, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United States run ressettlment programs.
Ressettlement in the United States
The UNHCR matches refugees who they deem need ressettlement with a third country based on professional skills, language facilities, cultural ties. If a refugee is referred to the United States, they are assessed by the department of State, and then, if eligible by DOS criteria, presented to the Immigration and Naturalization Service (INS). The INS will travel to a country of asylum and interview applicants, and determine whether they are refugees under US law.
Prior to departure to the US, accepted refugees undergo a medical clearance process, a security clearance, and a cultural orientation. Placement is decided based on the availability of services and employment in an area, but having a relative already in the US will take priority in a placement decision. the International Organization for Migration arranges for air travel (which the refugee agrees to pay back as a loan), and are met upon arrival by their ressettlement agency.
The ressettlement agency takes the refugee to their arranged housing, and begins their work. The refugee must obtain
-Social Security
-Medical Insurance
-School registration for children
and if needed,
-English training
The ressettlement agency also takes responsibility for the refugee's
-employment
and any neccesary paperwork they need, such as work authorization permits or the paperwork to establish permanent residency.
Ressettlement agencies can also assist refugees to file for family members, monitor their children's integration into US culture, arrange for classes in other areas such as skills training or literacy, and organize community building events between refugees of the same nationality.
Buduburam Camp
In 1990 liberian refugees began entering Ghana in droves, upsetting Ghana’s immigration capacity. Previously Ghana had only had to deal with large numbers of South African refugees. The Ghanaian Ministry of Mobilization and Social Welfare,along with several NGO’s, formed a National Reception Committee to confront the influx, but eventually called on the UNHCR for assistance with the task.
35 km west of Accra, the Ghanaian government set aside land at Buduburam, in Gomoa district, where the majority of the liberians were then settled. Others moved to Accra and other towns, and some moved to a smaller area of designated land, Krisan Camp in Senzolli. Buduburam proved the more popular of the two camps, however, as it was close neough to the capital to allow for the migration of labour when possible.
Currently the following NGO's work in partnership with the UNHCR in Ghana: Christian Council of Ghana (CCG), Ghana Red Cross Society (GRCS), National Catholic Secretariat (NCS), Assemblies of God Development and Relief Services (AGDRS), National Mobilization Programme (NMP).
Buduburam now has a reported population of around 35,000 inhabitants. Its governing organization is known as the welfare council. It has one health clinic, and a volunteer police force called the Neighborhood Watch team. It also has a variety of community based initiatives that provide services to residents, from counseling to skills training, to helping unaccompanied children, to organizing ministerial representatives. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2007|12:31 pm] |
Task Sheet Report
FEED INTERNATIONAL
Weeks 1&2
Month 1/1
volunteer: Julia Smith
Background: the community business development committee of Awutu Aberful has expressed interest in the investment of (forthcoming) funds towards the purchasing of a corn-grinding machine. Such a machine will ideally be an income generating community project, as almost all households currently pay to have their corn processed elsewhere.
STUDY GOALS: To conduct field research through informal surveys in
order to determine
(on the part of the consumer)
How many residents of Aberful currently take their cornmeal out of the village to be
processed
How often these trips are made
The location of the nearest corn-grinding machines
The physical distance between Aberful and the nearest corn-grinding machines
The cost of transportation to these machines
The cost of processing the corn
and
(on the part of the provider)
challenges to operating
possible areas of improvement
expenditures and costs of operating
average profit
Purpose: With well-gathered data, the chances of being better listened to by
international donors greatly increases. Also, in the interest of creating an
income-generating project, initial market research is required.
Work conducted:
3 sessions of Interviews with residents of Awutu Aberful, covering a sample size of approximately 50% of the population
2 sessions of interviews with Bontrase corn-grinding operators
1 interview with Bontrase technician
1 session of interviews with residents of Awutu Amadua, covering a sample size of approximately 50% of the population
PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: The task of having corn processed
into cornmeal(in Awutu Aberful) usually falls to women and children who walk a mile to Bontrase(a slightly larger town) and back an average of 4 times a month, spending 2000-20,000 cedis for the service (generally depending on the size of their family). Other villages an equal distance from Aberful have corn-grinding machines as well, but Bontrase has more villages along the roadside leading towards it, making it a safer location to walk to for
children.
Awutu Amadua is another potential market for a corn grinding machine located in Aberful, as it is close in distance. Bantama is slightly closer to Bontrase than it is to Aberful, making it less likely to be a potential market for Aberful.
Research methods: The following questions were put towards households within Aberful, in three sessions of interviews (using
local interpreters), after explaining the purpose of conducting the survey. Collectively, the households surveyed in these 3 sessions encompassed a sample size of 172 individuals.
1. How many people live in this house?
2. Out of this number, how many people will take corn to be processed?
3. How many times a month will they make the trip?
4. Where do they take it? How do they get there?
5. How much does it cost them each time for the service/How much corn do they take each
time?
After conducting the first portion of surveys, a local intepreter and I made 2 trips
to Bontrase to ask about the actual operations of the corn-grinding
machines.
FINDINGS
consumers:
ABERFUL
Most of the people we happened to interview were women. None
spoke fluent english. Everyone said they walked to Bontrase(distance: 1 mile) in order to not pay the fare for a taxi. They generally made the trip 3-5 times a month, or sent one of their children. Smaller households(2-4) took loads that cost them 2,000-8,000 cedis to process, while larger households tended to take larger quantities (8,000-15,000). Kenkey sellers had extremely high averages ranging from (10-40,000). Esther Asamoah sent her daughter on November 4 to walk to Bontrase, who was hit by a motorcyclist on the way and had to go to the hospital.
AMADUA
Amadua's residents had similar responses to the interview questions. Again, we interviewed mainly women, none of whome spoke english. We also visited Mr. Airhan, credited with being the village census collector. Acording to him there are 110 residents in Amadua. According to him about 60% of Amadua's residents walk corn to Bontrase for processing.
Interview results (from 8 households, covering a sample size of 57 individuals, or approx 50%)showed a result of 42%, comparable to the 39% found in Aberful. Calculations from this sample group show that Amadua residents all together spend an projected average of 644,561 cedis a month having corn processed.
accesability: Amadua and Aberful(neighboring villages) are located approximately 1 mile from any village that has a corn grinding machine. Closer to Awutu lies Chochoe and Osimpo, which both have their own corn grinding machine, and closer to Swedru lies Bontrase. Bontrase is the town of choice for Aberful residents, as the walk there is regarded as safer (there is more habitation along the roadside leading to it). Bontrase has about 10 corn grinding machines, the one of choice for Aberful and Amadua residents being the one closest to the edge of town(the second shop interviewed).
providors: Bontrase is a larger town that is a central location for a lot of the market trading in the region. According to one source there are about 10 corn grinding shops within the town, combined with cassava grinders. At the first shop where we entered(near the end of town) we were shown the operation of the machine and told the following:
Operating Costs
Gallon of diesel 60,000 (2 every month)
Engine Oil 11,000
(enough for 3 weeks)
grease 20,000 (enough for 1 month)
Rubber Belt 150,000-200,000 (1 per year)
Profits
Prices: Wet corn: 3,500 cedis/olunka
Dry corn: 8,000 cedis/olunka
Customers per day: 20-25
Quantities Processed: 2,000-18,000 cedis worth
Average Daily Wages: 150,000-200,000
Opening Hours: 6:00 am to 10:00 pm daily
Skills
The shop worker was trained by the machine's owner, and replaced the worker before him who didnt operate the machine properly. The machine can be damaged if the gears are changed while the engine is still running. An engineer that lives in Bontrase is available to fix the machine in case of mechanical troubles.
2nd shop (at the front of town)
Operating Costs
Gallon of diesel: 45,000 (2 per day)
Engine Oil: 120,000
(enough for 3-4 months)
grease: 2-3,000 (enough for 3 months)
Rubber Belt: 60,000 (3-4 months)
Profits
Prices: Wet corn: 2,000 cedis/olunka
Dry corn: 4,000 cedis/olunka
Customers per day: 20
Quantities Processed: 4,000-24,000 cedis worth
Average Daily Wages: 150,000-160,000
Opening Hours: 7:00 am to 8:00 pm daily
Skills
They's had the machine for about 3 years and seven months now, and through proper use have never had any serious problems. They've only had the grinding teeth go dull, in which instance the workers can remove the teeth themselves and have them sharpened in Kasoa or Accra. Emmanuel Yosen, the engineer, said that he has seen this machine twice to change the pistol rings.
We also interviewed Emmanuel Yosen, the qualified engineer of the town. His rates are the following
If you want a corn grinding machine fully serviced, he will charge 1 million cedis. He promises it will last for 8 months to a year from whenever he fixes it.
If something within the machine breaks, you can buy the replacement part and have him change the parts for a service fee of 5-10,000 cedis.
With corn grinding machines, he will see properly used ones every 6-8 months or longer (you need to change the pistol rings), and poorly used ones every 2-3 months. Usually, its the casket and bearings or the crownshaft that can break. These, as well as the pistol rings, he will charge 10-20,000 cedis service fee to fix. He is willing to come to Aberful to fix a machine if they have one.
CONCLUSIONS: Aberful will have no competition with Bontrase for the business of Amadua's residents, nor for its own residents. It will probably rarely recieve business from Bantama, however, as this is marginally closer to Bontrase. Profit calculations for the town of Aberful show a high yield (possibly from 2-5 million cedis a month, excluding operating costs, which may be up to half of this), but data extrapolations should be disclosed cautiously. |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 18th, 2007|12:16 pm] |
Phew. glad to hear the credit re-allocations are a go. was scared i wouldnt hear from
you in time. thanks for taking the time to respond today.
here's a revised learning plan
Learning Plan Fall 2007
Julia Smith
Objectives:
Enrolled as a Friends World Student in the Fall semester 2007, I will be receiving
academic credit for work and observations conducted on site in Buduburam Refugee Camp,
Ghana. As opposed to simply lending a helping hand and learning through memorization and
notation, I am hoping that, in documenting my experience through the compilation of an
organized portfolio, I will be able to reach a deeper level of analysis and conclusive
assessments of the camp. I would like to keep my focus in research on issues surrounding
the sustainability of the camp, based on its historic development; its indicators of
human rights standards, within the camp and compared to other African societies; and its
actual infrastructure, by assessing its informal economy and maintenance procedures. I
expect all three of these issues to be highly interconnected as well, and hope that, by
assessing all of them together, I may be able to see possible solutions, both realistic
and unrealistic, to the needs or shortages of Buduburam?s residents.
1. History and Refugees
The issues surrounding the need for a Liberian refugee camp in Ghana are complex and
should be examined from as far back a vantage as possible, owing to history?s ability to
reveal more accurately than anything else the current position of human relations. I hope
to be able to compile a series of essays on issues surrounding Buduburam?s formation and
in any other areas that may be helpful in understanding conflicts in the area, using
mostly internet research. It should also be helpful to my portfolio?s reader and I to
understand the categorizations and procedures involved in refugee status. A short section
detailing this information should prove useful in understanding better issues of self
esteem, resettlement opportunities, and migration factors among Buduburam?s residents.
This will also heavily rely on internet resources.
2. Water, Sanitation, and Engineering
Interested in solutions to problems and standards of living, I am especially interested
in the devices used in a refugee camp to help a concentration of people survive in a
previously deserted area. I will take advantage of my time and support from Children
Better Way in Budburam to learn of methods and devices used, in areas such as housing,
plumbing, electricity, and document these learning experiences through explanations and
diagrams.
3. Microloan Involvement
I will be becoming involved in Children Better Way?s Microloan program, and will be
documenting my progress and input with them for my time in camp. I hope to apply my
previously gained experience with microcredit to the situations encountered in camp, and
see solutions to existing problems, or at least be useful in whatever form needed.
4. Sustainability and Economy of the Camp
One of my most pressing humanitarian concerns is the sustainable alleviation of poverty.
As refugee camps are clearly attempts at mitigating otherwise wide scale, desperate
poverty, I will be interested to evaluate the opinions and attitudes of residents on both
how effectively their poverty has been dealt with and how self-sufficient they feel upon
the withdrawal of international assistance. As Buduburam is a long standing camp, it will
be an opportunity to see the development that can happen within a camp to the point of
sustainability, and I will be able to assess a variety of factors, historical and
cultural, that have accompanied Buduburam residents towards achieving sustainability.
Being particularly interested in economics as a science that examines resources meeting
needs, I would like to document my observations related to Buduburam?s self contained
economy, what factors have created the jobs its residents occupy, and in what other ways
needs are met.
5. Human Rights Assessment and Involvement
As poverty alleviation to me is fundamentally intertwined with human rights, as is
creating a safe haven for refugees, I would like to examine bububuram?s resident?s
standards of living and the problems they face in light of human rights declarations.
Using a few key documents which state inalienable human rights, such as gender equality
or access to vital services, I would like to compare budburam levels to these documents,
as well as buduburam?s position on human rights as compared to other areas of Africa.
6. Conclusions
This section will include my personal opinions on many of the subjects already examined.
It will also express any encounters I have with personal obstacles, culture shock, and
other particularly challenging or rewarding experiences. I hope to include any photos or
multimedia from my time spent in the camp as a visual accompaniment to the rest of my
portfolio.
7. Subsection: Awutu Aberful
As a business development officer in a ghanaian village during the month of November, I
am also requesting credits for the documentation of this work, in a sectionn seperate
from my documentation of my time in camp. My duties will be research surrounding the
viability of business opportunities in a traditionally farming village, and my
documentation will consist mainly of task shet reports prepared for my supervisor.
Credits Requested:
History and Refugees: 1
Water, Sanitation, and Engineering: 3
Microloan Involvement: 3
Sustainability and Economy of the Camp: 4
Human Rights Assessment and Involvement: 2
Conclusions: 1
Subsection: Awutu Aberful: 2
Total: 16 |
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| (no subject) |
[Nov. 12th, 2007|09:23 pm] |
Background: Refugees
As defined by the United Nations Convention relating to the Status of Refugees, a refugee is someone who
“owing to a well-founded fear of being persecuted for reasons of race, religion, nationality, membership of a particular social group, or political opinion, is outside the country of their nationality, and is unable to or, owing to such fear, is unwilling to avail him/herself of the protection of that country.”
As a volunteer with Lutheran Social Ministries over the last few years (since being a junior in highschool), I saw a lot of different resettled refugees file through my mother’s office in Trenton, New Jersey. The heaviest caseload was always the Liberians. Then there were the meshketian turks, sierra leonians, Congolese, Columbian, and most recently, a large number of Burmese. There were probably more ethnic groups that passed in front of me that I am overlooking, but these are the cases I remember. Worldwide, figures show that refugees originate from almost every continent.
Estimated Number of Asylum Seekers, Refugees and Other of Concern to UNHCR,
1st Jan 2007
Asia 14,910,900
Africa 9,752,600
Europe 3,426,700
Latin America & Caribbean 1,143,100
Northern America 3,542,500
Oceania 85,700
TOTAL 32,861,500
Refugees typically flee their country of origin, bringing little with them. Once they cross an international border, their status changes from IDP(internally displaced person) to refugee. However, this status often has to be legally granted a refugee for them to receive any benefits from their hosting country’s government.
Typically, after crossing an international border, they can be adopted by their host country’s community members, attempt to assimilate in their host country’s workforce (or, often as becomes the case when a large load of people has to flee a location), they join a refugee camp. Refugee camps are coordinated by the United Nations High Comissioner for Refugees, or UNHCR agency, whose role is to
“lead and co-ordinate international action to protect refugees and resolve refugee problems worldwide. Its primary purpose is to safeguard the rights and well-being of refugees. It strives to ensure that everyone can exercise the right to seek asylum and find safe refuge in another State”.
The UNHCR also assists internally displaced persons, working currently with IDPs in Colombia, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Serbia and Montenegro and Côte d'Ivoire
Background: Buduburam Camp
In1990 liberian refugees began entering Ghana in droves, upsetting Ghana’s immigration capacity. Previously Ghana had only had to deal with large numbers of South African refugees. The Ghanaian Ministry of Mobilization and Social Welfare,along ith several NGO’s, formed a National Reception Committee to confront the influx, but eventually called on the UNHCR for assistance with the task.
35 km west of Accra, the Ghanaian government set aside land at Buduburam, in Gomoa district, where the majority of the liberians were then settled. Others moved to Accra and other towns, and some moved to a smaller area of designated land, Krisan Camp in Senzolli. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 30th, 2007|01:52 am] |
HIV DEPARTMENT
I became a part of the teenage pregnancy module of the CBW HIV department's workshop. They decided to keep the area foci on teenage pregnancy, HIV transmission, STI's, and condom use. Visits to schools where outreach was not currently being conducted (the AIDS dept had been teaching at some schools that month) were made to see whether teahers would allow their students to attend the workshop. Letters were then drafted to invite teachers to send representatives from each class to the workshop. The workshop became postponed for a point when the church we expected to be able to use requested that the department pay them 35 cedis, unreasonable for CBW's finances and for the department to ask of the international volunteers. However, CBW's pre-primary school became a second option free of charge and preparations went forward.
My involvement remained limited to the teenage pregnancy module, and so Christina and I used the outline I had formed earlier as a basis on which to plan our presentation. Unfortunately, the notes were left behind after the workshop and I failed to collect them, so the following is the outline that we used for the presentation from memory.
1. Causes of Teenage Pregnancy
We wanted to discuss why teenagers get pregnant. We thought this would probably include
-peer pressure
-alcohol and drug use
then we wanted to talk about
2. Effects of a Teenage Pregnancy
And draw a web of people affected by a teenage pregnancy, including parents, friends, teachers, the partner, etc. This was to be interactive.
3. Effects of teenage pregnancy
Christina and I thought about having a guest speaker who had had a child as teenager talk at the workshop about her experience would be an effective presentation tool, and we knew several women who had been teenage mothers. However, when Christina asked Mary, Amelia, and Thata if they would be willing to speak, expressed embarassment and shock accompanied their refusal. Mary said that most Liberians had their private issues and her teenage pregnancy was hers. We decided just to address the fact that pregnancy would effect a person's future in impairing them in achieving any goals they had had previously.
4. Costs of a baby
Christina had done some calculations about the costs of having a baby when she had been in health class in highschool that had astounded her. We decided to do a cost analysis of our own of having a baby on camp. We went to Evelyn from the CBW library, who was still breast feeding her youngest child. Unfortunately, these notes were lost, however, we made a list of the prices of
soaps, body and laundry
blankets
socks
diapers
trousers
shirts
bottle
bathing tub
water
powders
milk formula
midwife/hospital fee
paracetemol
And calculated these based on a monthly usage. These were to be presented on the chalkboard as an interactive activity.
5. prostitution
I was to just make a quick note about how we knew girls from camp could gain more money- roughly 20 cedis- if they were prostituting and agreed NOT to use a condom, but as the audience could see from the costs of a baby, the 20 cedis was not worth it, as a pregnancy would mean far higher costs.
6. self defense
I was to act as the approacher and Christina was going to demonstrate various ways of throwing me off, being physically assertive. Among these were the
grab and twist
poke in the eyes
knee in the groin
7. Decision making strategies
We planned to close with two decision making strategies we had found on the internet that provided a series of things to consider when making a decision. One of them was SAFER, which meant something like
Stop and listen
Look for Alternatives
Find the best option
Execute your plan
If all else fails, Run away
and another was a six step decision making method that was similar.
RESULTS:
People arrived to the workshop early, cutting down on our preparation time. Abenega introduced the workshop and why we were having it, and Christina and I were the first to present. People listened attentively, raised their hands, and took notes. Generally they seemed to be on the same page as us, although we were a bit shaky on how we were sharing each part and what exactly our final message was about each section. However, at the self defense part, tension broke as everyone erupted in laughter at Christina and I role-playing self defense moves. Other people's presentations went well, especially Danielles at the end, when she had a game where people shook hands and passed along an STD. Condom models were passed out and everyone had to try putting on a condom, something somewhat uncomfortable for some of the younger girls. Sheets were passed around at the conclusion of the three hour workshop asking for an evaluation of the day. They were returned filled out, for the majority, extremely positive about the workshop content. There was a head count of 46. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 25th, 2007|10:36 am] |
was not currently being conducted (the AIDS dept had been teaching at some schools that month) were made to see whether teahers would allow their students to attend the workshop. Letters were then drafted to invite teachers to send representatives from each class to the workshop. The workshop became postponed for a point when the church we expected to be able to use requested that the department pay them 35 cedis, unreasonable for CBW's finances and for the department to ask of the international volunteers. However, CBW's pre-primary school became a second option free of charge and preparations went forward.
My involvement remained limited to the teenage pregnancy module, and so Christina and I used the outline I had formed earlier as a basis on which to plan our presentation. Unfortunately, the notes were left behind after the workshop and I failed to collect them, so the following is the outline that we used for the presentation from memory.
1. Causes of Teenage Pregnancy
We wanted to discuss why teenagers get pregnant. We thought this would probably include
-peer pressure
-alcohol and drug use
then we wanted to talk about
2. Effects of a Teenage Pregnancy
And draw a web of people affected by a teenage pregnancy, including parents, friends, teachers, the partner, etc. This was to be interactive. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 25th, 2007|09:45 am] |
What is market analysis?
In the most basic terms, a market analysis is an assessment of:
- A particular problem or opportunity in a market.
- The needs of the target market relating to the problem or opportunity.
- Ideas for marketing a particular product or service that fills the needs of the target market.
When should you conduct a market analysis?
- When you are starting a business.
- When you are entering a new market.
- When you are considering a new product or service.
Why should you conduct a market analysis?
- To minimize business risks.
- To understand the problems and opportunities.
- To identify sales opportunities.
- To plan your marketing/sales approach.
The process of conducting a market analysis can be divided into three parts:
Part 1 - Understanding Market Conditions
This gives you basic information about your entire market -- the size, the competition, the customers.
Part 2 - Identifying Market Opportunities
This gives you more targeted information about potential problems or opportunities in the potential market, and includes information about growth, current and future trends, outside factors and more information about specific competitors.
Part 3 - Developing Market-Driven Strategies
Here is where we get into what market research does for you. It helps you to pinpoint opportunities to grow your business. By understanding the market and knowing what opportunities are available you can create a marketing strategy that leaves your competitors in the dust!
Here are 10 questions that can help you get started:
1. What is the market I want to reach?
- Who are they? (Basic Demographics)
- What is their biggest problem in relation to this market?
- Are their needs being met by the products or services provided in this market?
2. Who is my competition in this market?
- Are they successful in this market?
- Are they marketing a similar product or service?
- What is the market share of the three biggest competitors in this market?
3. Is there room for growth in this market?
4. What is the size of this market?
- Is there room for growth?
- Is the industry growing? Stable? Saturated? Volatile? Declining?
5. How is my product or service different from the competition?
6. How can I reach this market?
- How is my competition currently reaching this market?
- Is it the most effective way?
- What are the alternative ways of reaching this market?
7. What are the business models of my competition in this market?
- Are they effective?
- Is there a way to do it differently or better?
8. What do customers expect from this type of product or service?
- What are the core competencies of this product or service?
- What would make the product "new" "different" or "better" for the customer?
9. How much are customers willing to pay for this product or service?
10. What is our competitive advantage in this market?
Refugee Resettlement Program
The REFUGEE RESETTLEMENT PROGRAM is a federally-funded program that provides cash assistance, medical assistance, health screening, and social services to refugees. Refugee cash and medical assistance are administered through county DFCS offices. The health screening is provided through county health departments. Social services are provided by a variety of contract agencies.
A refugee, as defined by the Refugee Act of 1980, is a person who is outside of and unable or unwilling to avail himself/herself of the protection of the home country because of persecution or fear of persecution on account of race, religion, nationality, membership in a particular social group, or political opinion.
The refugee often flees or is forced to leave suddenly and therefore leaves with few possessions. In recognition of this common refugee experience, the Refugee Act of 1980 established the Refugee Resettlement Program in all 50 states. Each state has a Refugee State Coordinator, who is responsible for coordinating public and private resources for refugee resettlement. Barbara Burnham, in the DFCS Community Services Section, is our State Refugee Coordinator, and is assisted by LaSonya Boyd, Wilma Gibbons, Bobby Hauck, and Adelia Roseboro.
Voluntary resettlement agencies are national agencies responsible for helping refugees through the first 90 days of their period of resettlement in the United States. The initials of the national agency will be found on the refugee’s I-94 Form (i.e., CWS, EMM, HIAS, IRC, LIRS, USCC, WRRS, ECDC). Christian Council of Metro Atlanta, Jewish Family and Career Services, International Rescue Committee, Lutheran Ministries of Georgia, Catholic Social Services, and World Relief, and the African Community and Refugee Center are the local agencies in Georgia who resettle refugees.
Refugee Cash Assistance (RCA) and Refugee Medical Assistance (RMA) are available to refugees during their first eight months in the U.S. To be eligible for RCA, a refugee must be ineligible for Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). Refugees can apply for RMA only. A refugee who is eligible for RCA and/or RMA and then receives increased earnings from employment will continue to be eligible for RMA until the end of his/her 8 month eligibility period.
The Division of Family and Children Services provides funds to the Division of Public Health through a Memorandum of Agreement to provide health screening and follow-up treatment to refugees. Refugees receive the health screening during their first 90 days in the country. The Division of Public Health has bilingual staff to assist with the health screening and follow-up treatment.
Social services are provided through 27 contracts with public and private agencies. Services include employment services (job development, job orientation, and placement services), vocational training, English language instruction, social adjustment services (emergency services, health-related services, and translation/interpreter services), youth services, and elderly services.
was not currently being conducted (the AIDS dept had been teaching at some schools that month) were made to see whether teahers would allow their students to attend the workshop. Letters were then drafted to invite teachers to send representatives from each class to the workshop. The workshop became postponed for a point when the church we expected to be able to use requested that the department pay them 35 cedis, unreasonable for CBW's finances and for the department to ask of the international volunteers. However, CBW's pre-primary school became a second option free of charge and preparations went forward.
My involvement remained limited to the teenage pregnancy module, and so Christina and I used the outline I had formed earlier as a basis on which to plan our presentation. Unfortunately, the notes were left behind after the workshop and I failed to collect them, so the following is the outline that we used for the presentation from memory.
1. Causes of Teenage Pregnancy
We wanted to discuss why teenagers get pregnant. We thought this would probably include
-peer pressure
-alcohol and drug use
then we wanted to talk about
Language
I also had a lot of problems communicating with people. Liberian english is similar to pidgeon english, and when a persons's accent is thick I have difficulty understanding even the gist of what someone is saying. Some examples of how things are said differently are:
"Leh me carry you o to the house o"- means, I'll take you to your house
or
"Eh, jhu, you can borrow me 6 gee" hey, girlfriend, lend me 6 dollars
"I tryin o! -small... small." I'm struggling.
And of course, these are the phrases I picked up on after a while. A lot remained that I could never understand or pick up on, as well as dialects of the multiple tribal contigencies on camp. Old people especially were unused to american english. One time I tried to do AIDS outreach and all i recieved were blank stares, before the old women asked the man I was with to translate for them. Schoolchildren tended to understand american english a little better.
I was lucky in that a lot of people I worked with had also worked with international volunteers and spoke slowly enough that I could understand them, but it still created a difficulty in willingness to be extroverted, knowing I may or may not be understood by the people I was talking to, or trying to interview. I would say that I became better in understanding people after a while, though, except when I left camp, and disappointed locals for not having learnt any ghanaian dialects.
Lack of instructional Material
And a big detraction from the quality of my portfolio was a lack of educational resources. As a student interested in economics, I should have really had more of an idea on how to conduct market research. I could have also used a class on statistics before coming to help me calculate survey responses or talk about research flaws. As deciding to work in Buduburam for credit was a decision I only made shortly before coming, I was also limited in terms of the amount of materials I could collect before coming (my indepedent study petition was only approved once I was in Utah, where the library of the 300 person town I was working in only had children's books about africa).
HOWEVER,
I managed to do everything I wanted to. I
-cleaned sewage drains
-saw a well being built from start to finish
-helped redesign a failing microloan scheme
-studied several other microloan schemes
-conducted interviews of various types and interest areas
-conducted a wide scale survey
and managed to document these activities, as well as research and write on relevant background issues. On this basis I would move that I met my original goals as set forth in my learning plan, and that I should be granted the 16 credits requested. |
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| (no subject) |
[Oct. 21st, 2007|12:13 pm] |
Conclusions
My time at camp was stressful and difficult. Ultimately it was rewarding in the javascript:void(0);
Insert Imagesense that I accomplished most of what I had come to do, as well as managed to write a portfolio for Friends World. Time will only tell if my work here left an impact, however, I hope that in the future I will have a chance to return to my involvement here; either in the sense of continued visitations to camp in my remaining time in Ghana, or continuing my work in the states with resettled refugees. Ideally, I would like to apply my learning from this semester to other, more current refugee situations, and can only hope that the knowledge I have acquired in one refugee camp will be applicable to another.
CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF INTERNING NGO
Let The Children Play
Children Better Way, started by the Liberian Semeh Roberts in 1996, was originally founded in the interest of children affected by the Liberian civil war. Originally the organization provided food and clothing donations to children. In 2000 Semeh became a refugee himself and fled Liberia, leaving behind 175 children and the organization's facilitators, and bringing 13 children with him. Once arrived, he saw the possibility to continue the work of children better way in Buduburam refugee settlement, and in April of 2001 began a chapter in camp.
Children Better Way gradually became the largest NGO on camp, and spread its activities to cover many project areas. Currently they operate many departments, all based on a percieved community need.
HIV/AIDS department
The HIV department consists of Victoria, Beatrice, Thata, and Abenego. This team, along with international volunteers (IV's), conduct fieldwork in the following areas:
1.visits to schools, to talk about sexual health issues
2. community outreach, where knowledge of HIV/AIDS is discussed with community residents in different zones
3. Care and support visits, where those suffering from advanced stages of HIV/AIDS can benefit from the company of a few international volunteers, and
4. workshops, conducted (supposedly) three times a year and similar to the outreach programs in subject material.
A lot of frustrations surround the HIV department of CBW. The day that I went into the field with them was supposedly one of the best days the outreach had had, according to the other international volunteers. This was due to the lack of a few local volunteers who apparently tend to spread misinformation about HIV/AIDS. Most notably (and most often quoted) would be the time that the AIDS virus was blamed on german women loving to german shepherds during the war when their men were gone. Other favorites included how a woman should get checked out if she was leaking too much and the man felt like he was floating, meaning she had an infection, and that if two people don't fit right, they should find different partners. Nevertheless, when I went into the field, I was impressed by Thata's frankness and the other volunteer's clarity on the outreach issues. The outreach talk includes a description of the HIV virus(and sometimes a history of it), other sexually transmitted infections, ways to avoid contracting STI's and HIV, and a condom demonstration. Questions are asked, children linger, and strips of condoms are distributed to listeners.
I also tagged along with a UNHCR started HIV outreach program, continued by a liberian group of staff under the organizational name LIBRA. Their talks were similar, with more of an emphasis on the transmission methods of HIV, and more time for informal discussion with the listeners. Their condom demonstration required the listeners to try and put the condom on the wooden phallus first. I saw a general knowledge of HIV among the people in camp we spoke to, with only some minor misconceptions (i noticed the man i accompanied mention how birth control could cause long term complications). There seemed to be more of a confusion over how widespread HIV/AIDS was actually on camp.
I also worked a few days with the
POULTRY department
The poultry department, started by volunteers efforts and funding in 2006, was meant as a profit generating project, specifically for the HIV/AIDS department's Care and Support program. The poultry building is run by Isaiah, Edward, and Nelson, as well as an elder woman(Emma)who washes dishes. Their duties consist of feeding the chickens, changing their water, changing their bedding, seperating the spaces, and vaccinating the chickens. They work from six in the morning untill six in the evening, with lots of time spent in between feedings waiting in silence. Nontheless, there was much rejoicing(with whiskey sachets) when the first eggs were laid.
When i worked with poultry in my first month on camp, i saw a well-functioning pattern of food and water distribution, but lots of downtime. There was also the occasional "there's no more food left, we'll have to wait to buy more food from Kasoa before feeding them", and the ever present suggestion that the international volunteers should be responsible for funding the expansion of the program. I defaulted from poultry, however, before being able to see the actual profits of the project, and am unable to attest to the solid success of the project.
CBW also runs an
Education department
The education department runs a pre-primary, a lower primary, and an upper primary school (in total, from kindergarten untill 8th grade), at some of the lowest school prices on camp. I paid the school fees of a little girl that goes to Faith Foundation Academy and the school fees for an older friend that attends the Buduburam secondary school on camp, and both were 25-35 dollars each. The CBW school, however, charges approximately 7 dollars a term. This is the cheapest school I heard of on camp, besides the two that run on international funding and are free (but only accept orphans or very disadvantaged children). The education department employs (according to the website) 23 teaching staff in total, and functions with or without the help of the international volunteers. International volunteers can and do help with being teachers assistants, tutoring, doing administrative work, and helping structure programs and activities for the children.
I was loath to involve myself in the education department knowing how stressful teaching is, but heard plenty of feedback from other volunteers. The main frustration expressed was the teachers' poor understanding of their own subjects, coupled with accounts of corporal punishment or excessive repetition. However, the stress expressed may have been more due to cultural difference than a fault of CBW.
Generally, the children on camp who can afford to be in school take their studies seriously. Higher prices of school enrollment do indicate a higher level of training among teacher staff(according to an international volunteer). The tragedy remains, however, that education past high school level is not offered on camp (minus a few UNHCR training courses that have been phased out), and university in Ghana is only offered to Liberian Refugees at foreign student rates, which are prohibitively expensive.
CBW Community Library
The community Library organizes story time, craft day, and teaches kids how to use a library. Story time is a period of time in which volunteers read aloud to children too young to read, and craft day involves providing the materials and ideas for a simple craft every Tuesday and Thursday for about 100 children.
The library is very small- think a large room with a low roof, the walls covered with bookshelves. There is an encyclopedia set against one wall, and most of the remaining "literature" is children's books- from Dr Seuss to Disney classics. Craft day is limited by a lack of materials as well, and ideas are stretched thin when there is only construction paper and colors, no staples or tape. However, it is still a popular location for children to flock to, especially during recess, and has most likely provided many with a space to be absorbed into books they would not otherwise have access to.
Microloan Department
The microloan department was another area of CBW i became involved in. The microloan project was started in 2004 (again by volunteers) and sought to provide single mothers with a form of employment. Activities the IV's assist with include visitations, workshops, and suggestions of change to the program. The program was having difficulty upon and during my stay on camp with getting the women to actually pay back their loans, so we hunkered down and decided to try and change things. The program is weak in that its supervisor has no knowledge of microcredit, the volounteers have difficulty maintaining continuity, and the original loan structure had no securities included in it. However, other functioning microloan programs on camp (WISE, SHIFSD) gave us hope that CBW's could be salvaged.
the WATER and SANITATION department
WATSAN CBW became another department I worked in. WAT/SAN is sometimes referred to as the bedrock of CBW, which makes little sense in light of CBW's motto and mission statements ("Let the Children Play"), but definitely carries some weight. WATSAN cleans the sewage drains in camp, as well as conducting outreach that educates residents to not throw their trash in the sewage drains to begin with. They also spray bedrooms and bathrooms of resident's houses with insecticide(for a fee) and dislodge community trash bins distributed along main roads.
Thw WATSAN team became my friends, but they had definite flaws. Meetings were more drawn out than neccesary, people tried to shirk off of work for small reasons, and work for the whole day would be cancelled on the slightest pretext (eg spraying when it started to rain-after twenty minutes of waiting, we walked back to the office to give up for the day). Funding would disappear for things like face masks and latex gloves, as well as water, and worst of all, the workers were paid 50 cents a day to shovel human excrement. But the work they/we did do was definitely useful, appreciated, and needed, as could be distinguished as passerbys would thank us, "for the hard work", whenever they saw us in uniform.
Recreation Department
The recreation department was another department I never became directly involved in, but only heard about through other staff and volunteers. The Rec department organized childrens games and sports, and usually requested volunteers to pitch in physically and financially. Most often volunteers play soccer with the children, as well as buy a sack of water bags for afterwards.
Organizational Structure
Semeh Roberts is the executive director of CBW, directly underneath him being AB as project officer, Anthony as volunteer coordinator, and James as global volunteer network representative. The financial officer is on this same level, as well as the administrative officer. Underneath AB, the project officer, are the department supervisors (of Education, WATSAN, technical, Poultry, HIV/AIDS, and recreation), underneath each of whom are the local volunteers. The international volunteers work on the level of the local volunteers, assisting them where needing and going through the other channels with problems and issues. Microloan is the only department under the financial officer.
Periodic reporting provides CBW with feedback on projects and staff, as supervisors must write summaries and reports on activities. Most departments have regularly scheduled meetings to discuss projects and efficiency. Infoshare meetings, held weekly, give international and local volunteers a space to share updates and grievances with supervisors and senior staff. Senior staff are supposed to meet within themselves weekly as well, although they rarely do. Staff salaries (or the "living stipends") and department funding is derived an approximated 90% from volunteer fees, and the remaining supplied by the occasional grant, usually directed through the Global Volunteer Network.
Strengths
CBW claimes to be the largest NGO on camp. It probably hires the most staff out of any NGO on camp. It works in a variety of needed areas on camp and is flexible to change where needed. Its organizers are competent men with charisma and ability. Its employees are hard workers who appreciate their employment even with its abysmal pay.
BUT
Weaknesses
CBW pays abysmally. It keeps terrible records. Everything takes forever. The male employees hit on the female international volunteers- a lot. The slightest excuse can cancel people's determination to work for a day. There is little accountability if goals are not met. Supervisors have too much free time on their hands. Departments share workloads and so there is a feeling of the ability to not participate and it wouldn't matter. But maybe thats just what i saw.
Realistically
CBW is probably similarly, or better, organized and run than a lot of NGO's in the developing world. Maybe its a western perception that record keeping and punctuality are attributes of western run NGO's more so than developing country run NGO's. But I somehow feel that a lot of developing countries' NGO's do manage to get by on less rigorous standards than they would need to operate in a more developed country. In western run establishments, aren't files back up? Aren't receipts kept of things purchased on budgets? Aren't workers given health insurance?
Realistically, CBW tries. It just lacks funding. But it must be given credit for the work it does for its community, the work it gives its employees, and the effort it makes to survive in a challenging work environment. And as its work is important, so too is its image on camp as an ambassador of liberian development. And perhaps that's why CBW staff like to toast with a
"Next Year in Liberia"
because it is looking towards the future, even as it propels itself (somewhat inefficiently) through the present.
CONCLUDING OBSERVATIONS
October 9
Sphintex, Greater Accra
Wesley and I were sitting in a bar in greater accra that looked like the bars on camp-wooden slats nailed together, a tin roof, a small space inside to sit and a bead curtain. I made a comment that I thought it felt like we were back on camp. Wesley caught my attention and pointed out that the beer was colder than beers are on camp. Then he pointed out that the music being played was from a radio instead of a DJ. Then I looked around and noticed that the paint job on the wood slats was perfect, as were the cut out square shapes that formed some of the siding on the walls. I changed my mind.
Its not that people on camp are lazy. Its that they can't afford to be perfect. And they aren't perfectly integrated either, because Ghana can't afford to.
October 9
Sphintex, Greater Accra
Wesley and I were walking back to the compound in Greater Accra when a kid in his 20's sped past one of Wesley's friends in the dark. Shouting ensued. The kid said something to the effect of, "talk to my father". The men we were with said something to the effect of, "Oh no you didn't"
Wesley's friends surrounded the kid, shouting too fast for me to understand, and one man grabbed the handlebars of he bike and wheeled it away. They continued yelling, telling the kid to go on, call his father. Wesley saw my distress and tried to ask his friend to give the bike back.
We returned to the compound and found the bike in the garage. The kid entered shortly and continued yelling, at one point pointing to me "Madame! is this right?" Before he was shooed out. "The kid has no respect. 'Talk to my father' he says!", his friend said to me. "He's learnt his lesson, he should get his bike back" i said. "I am the police" His friend said. "And that kid is lucky! he shouldnt be speeding like that. and without a light. or a serial number" "But you didn't know that when you took the bike from him" I tried to argue.
The kid came the next morning. He washed their car. they gave him the bike back.
I guess the point of the story is how people in ghana both get away with things, but also have a loosely defined sense of fairness and justice that is enforced through informal channels.
SELF EVALUATION
Difficulties this semester
The most diffcicult obstacle to completing my portfolio this semester was how friendly everyone is. This, combined with poor technological infrastructure in both Ghana and especially a refugee camp, made portfolio writing a rather labourious and unconvenient task.
Internet
Walking to the interet cafes, in my neighborhood it became hard to avoid the many people who knew me by name and would want me to stop and talk to them. Once broken through onto the main road, i would have difficulties reaching the cafe without being stopped a few more times, by cellphone credit transfer men waiting underneath their neon umbrellas, foreign money exchangers, and the odd person who would grab me by the wrist. If i wanted a slightly faster intenet connection, there were two cafes halfway on the road and near the top of camp. If I wanted a cafe that could read PDF files, There was one further out from the top of camp. If I wanted something photocopied and there was no electricity on camp that day, I had to walk across the road. Time had to be budgeted for, as lunch was provided free at the house at midday, work was usually in the mornings, meetings were in the afternoons, a person had to stay hydrated, but there were no public toilets, etc...And any walk to and from a cafe meant at least a half an hour budgeted just for the walking. These impediments, combined with mind-numbingly slow server connections at times (a recorded 28 minutes were spent unsuccessfully trying to access one page of my journal before i switched cafes), as well as frequent generator cuts and memory shortages on computers meaning that work was lost from time to time, made the actual tack of writing a portfolio something of a ridiculous obstacle at times.
Language
I also had a lot of problems communicating with people. Liberian english is similar to pidgeon english, and when a persons's accent is thick I have difficulty understanding even the gist of what someone is saying. Some examples of how things are said differently are:
"Leh me carry you o to the house o"- means, I'll take you to your house
or
"Eh, jhu, you can borrow me 6 gee" hey, girlfriend, lend me 6 dollars
"I tryin o! -small... small." I'm struggling.
And of course, these are the phrases I picked up on after a while. A lot remained that I could never understand or pick up on, as well as dialects of the multiple tribal contigencies on camp. Old people especially were unused to american english. One time I tried to do AIDS outreach and all i recieved were blank stares, before the old women asked the man I was with to translate for them. Schoolchildren tended to understand american english a little better.
I was lucky in that a lot of people I worked with had also worked with international volunteers and spoke slowly enough that I could understand them, but it still created a difficulty in willingness to be extroverted, knowing I may or may not be understood by the people I was talking to, or trying to interview. I would say that I became better in understanding people after a while, though, except when I left camp, and disappointed locals for not having learnt any ghanaian dialects.
Lack of instructional Material
Another big detraction from the quality of my portfolio was a lack of educational resources. As a student interested in economics, I should have really had more of an idea on how to conduct market research. I could have also used a class on statistics before coming to help me calculate survey responses or talk about research flaws. As deciding to work in Buduburam for credit was a decision I only made shortly before coming, I was also limited in terms of the amount of materials I could collect before coming (my indepedent study petition was only approved once I was in Utah, where the library of the 300 person town I was working in only had children's books about africa).
HOWEVER,
I managed to do everything I wanted to. I
-cleaned sewage drains
-saw a well being built from start to finish
-helped redesign a failing microloan scheme
-studied several other microloan schemes
-conducted interviews of various types and interest areas
-conducted a wide scale survey
and managed to document these activities, as well as research and write on relevant background issues. At the same time, i formed enough social connections to be actually given a sense of the day-to-day aspect of how people live on camp, an invaluable lesson. And the conversations which i could understand gave me invaluable perspectives on the difficulties faced by Liberians out of work in Ghana who felt that returning to Liberia would be useless. My friends(usually related somehow to CBW) included my neighbors, my cook, a couple of ghanaians who worked at a bar on camp, a group of cultural artists, Anthony, his wife Marilyn, the WATSAN team, and an assortment of other aquaintances, of whom I felt comfortable asking questions to about camp issues and receiving fairly honest (albeit highly biased) responses. The biggest obstacle in maintaining information sources was not becoming seen as a resource, as oftentimes friends took the chance as being a a white person's friend to ask for money. Due to this I was roped into paying several peoples school fees, funeral dues, and medical bills. However, while i lacked proper instructional materials for in depth economic analysis of camp, I think I managed to give a fair portrayal of the livelihoods and resources avaialable individuals, evident in all of my portfolio sections.
On this basis, I would move that I met my original goals as set forth in my learning plan, and that I should be granted the 16 credits requested.
INTEGRATIVE PAPER
Parables and Poverty
"If you always tell the truth, then you have nothing to worry about" I said, referring back to a time when my fathers words were still shaping my moral perspective of the world. "Yes, its true", he said, staring back at me in total complicity.
But its not. Artists, refugees, and the poor sometimes have more to worry about, such as where their next meal is coming from, than telling the truth. When a 17 year old girl who has no assets other than her body and words hands us handwritten prescriptions for medications for our friend, in the hospital with a "chest cold", she makes a fraction of what she would from prostitution, but more than we would have ever given her willingly. Can one blame her for the choice she made to lie to us?
As does a-BAN KOGO, ZO GEGEH, the coconut shell juju effigy that required a libation of 25 new cedis. We all breathed a sigh of relief when the next shells thrown showed that Christina would not be cursed by Abankogo for not having it in her heart to give, and ignored the irony hours later when I recieved the african name that meant "white teeth, black heart" (a reference to people lying to you) from the same friends. But in the end, who had more to worry about, the people who told the truth that night (the volunteers), or the ones who had performed the ceremony (unemployed cultural artists)? Who has the right to say our moral highhorse absolved us of blame, that we did the right thing, when our decision left the cultural artists hungry? But who can say that we were obligated to feed people who were obviously lying to us?
And how do you know what to believe? "Seeing is believing", said George, both before and after he bloodied his tongue with a razor-blade and regurgitated a piece of chicken heart, displayed to all watching as the cut-off tip of his own tongue.
"Time will tell", said my other friend, as a month passed by even after the "completion" of the drums he had carved with my loan and sold overseas.
And even taking advice from local friends proves controversial. Either being a black woman in a refugee camp means you will be killed when her white friend leaves because nobody is watching, and being a foreigner from Cameroon means your name shouldn't be mentioned, or sitting down and bringing people face to face is the only way to find out the truth. Either bringing two people who each say the other is lying face to face is the best and the African way to do things, or it is the worst and American way to do things.
"You will never find out, the way you are going about it" Akwesi told me, all knowingly, after directly changing his original story.
And after all, who can you believe? Either the police at Nima Station felt no obligation towards a white girl and were lying to my face, or my friend as well as his friends were dependent on the station as a safehaven from their own victimization. Either brothers tell the truth for the sake of their family's name, or lie for the sake of their brothers chances. Either being in a hospital cot with your leg in a cast means you have nothing to lose by lying, or no reason to lie.
Everything I ever felt to be true this semester was tested, especially the importance of telling the truth. Above all, I realized that my own morality was based largely on the economic choices I had been given as a priviledged person.
"You are a small girl. Big in the body, but small in the mind", Beneta kept on telling me. "You won't see the well, untill the water runs dry", she also said, referring to how good of a friend she was, while she 'lost' the item i'd loaned her and lied to multiple other volunteers.
And i learned to forgive. to compromise, again and again, and to accept people back who had technically "wronged me". Because even though, as advised to me by a 12 year old girl "you shouldn't trust anyone", its also true that "You have to trust someone". And in the end, I move on from Ghana to other countries, to continue to be fed, clothed, and protected, while they remain, in the same position, scrabbling to make ends meet and choosing between intoxicants or food. So who wins and who loses, the morally righteous or those who have to gain by lying? But perhaps the question should be, more to the point, why are the morally righteous morally right to begin with? |
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