Sunday 15 September 2024 – To Accra
Almost exactly two years to the day, I left the comforts of Smith Terrace and, with certain trepidation, headed off on my nine-month somewhat belated ‘gap-year’. Today Tim and I are heading off with similar anticipation on another adventure. Sadly, for only a week this time, though I feel we may have all nine months experiences in that time. We are heading for Lawra, a remote region in upper west Ghana – not a lot of people do this! We are to visit the most amazing, Ramsbury based, charity, called Action Through Enterprise (ATE) which has totally captivated us both.
Started by a young Ramsbury teacher, called Sarah Annable Gardner, who, twelve years ago, running from a broken heart, found herself in this totally impoverished region of Ghana, two hours from the nearest town of any size. She had been posted there by VSO with the remit to improve teaching practice in the region’s 96 schools. Her story is heartbreaking and inspirational and can be read in her book, ‘To Lawra with Love’ where you will learn how during this time, she transformed a region of over 50,000 disenchanted people into thriving, self-sustainable communities with hope and ambition. (https://ateghana.org/to-lawra-with-love/)
When Sarah arrived, Lawra was a sad scene, children were not in school because they were too hungry to get there, girls dropped out at puberty and were soon pregnant or married off and disabled children were hidden in homes, considered to be children of the devil. It is a very different place now, and as a trustee, and part of their ‘Team WhatsApp’ group, I am seeing every day the positive and fulfilling lives many of the people of Lawra are now leading.
Sarah feels the time is right to replicate her proven and successful model in Lawra into the neighbouring region of Nandom. Here, a similar size community is where Lawra was ten years ago, but having heard whispers of ATE’s work, are hungry for change.
Sarah’s secret has been to listen to the people, to hear what they really want and then to show them how to achieve it. Everything is run by the local Ghanaians who have risen to the challenge and become excellent managers, facilitators and small business owners. She has managed to dispel myths around disability and created centres where disabled children can come and learn together and, where possible, enter main-stream school. With simple, inexpensive equipment she has also enabled farmers to become far more sustainable and productive even in the dry season. And all this, on about £250k per year. Quite a ROI.
The move to Nandom is going to add considerable expense and Tim has agreed to help by making ATE the main beneficiary of his 2025 Charity Clay Pigeon Shoot. Our main aim while we are here, is to make a film showing ATE’s extraordinary work and how it could now transform the lives of the people of Nandom. We have fellow trustee Asif Noorani and camera-man Graham Tilley with us and Tim is looking forward to his Bob Geldof moment!
We flew to Accra, the Ghanaian capital, into a surprisingly huge, sophisticated airport, where we were met by Isaac who whisked us away to the Koko Palm Guesthouse – in what appeared to be quite a residential area. Accra is big and, arriving at night, it looked pretty 21st century, but in the light of day, it was clear this ended at the airport! Our guesthouse however was charming and after a very alcoholic welcome drink and several Club beers (only come in pints) we headed to bed. Comfy and very efficient air-con and smart bathrooms with huge shiny shower-heads – but sadly only for show! Tim’s loo seat came off in his hand and all of a sudden, everything seemed very African.
Monday 16 September – To Lawra
As we had an early start, they kindly offered us a packed breakfast. There were several options of different cooked breakfast all of which quite tricky to have as a picnic. We decided to quickly eat it before we left, with two plastic spoons which was a bit of a challenge, it looked pretty filthy but was in fact rather good!
It was then to Accra’s domestic airport and the perceived sophistication of last night melted away. Endless half-built buildings, covered in dust and masses of chaotic traffic with few traffic lights and no apparent rules on right of way! Lovely ladies walking between the cars with goods piled high on their heads and, as always, immaculate children going to school. The domestic airport was not like the international – a series of huge empty brown spaces with a few officials, quite a lot asleep! We had brought out two large suitcases of clothes and donations from the people of Ramsbury, and were over our allowance, and informed they may not be able to get all the suitcases on board. Tim however did a great job doing his James Bond impersonation, and calling the girl on the desk, Money-Penny, and all bags came with us!
A small propeller plane, under the name of Passionair, flew us an hour and a half to Wa. Full to bursting, with local folk, we had a fairly smooth flight over lush green, flat land. It is the rainy season, and apparently cooler than usual. It seemed pretty hot and humid to me, particularly after a two hour journey, squidged between Asif and Graham, in the most hysterical car which looked like it had come straight out of a stock car race. The road in places was quite good, but not many! There were the biggest potholes you have ever seen and quite often, just no road at all and a few hundred yards on mud. The roads are incredibly wide and you drive wherever the potholes are not, regardless of the side of the road. We did not meet too many others but were stopped three times by horribly officious police and customs officers (or so they claimed), taking as long as they could, swaggering very slowly to the car. The first one had a huge gun, demanding passports and a bribe from our driver. Not very welcoming and very much in contrast to everyone else.
We eventually arrived at the Divine Grace Hospitality which is to be our home for the next week. It is not quite five star, but it does have air conditioning which was a very unexpected and hugely welcome surprise. Large, totally solid beds with just the one sheet and a brightly coloured fleece blanket, perfect in 30 degrees! Tara Colsell-Hawes, Sarah’s more than impressive Development Manager and Dee Anderson, a wonderful volunteer who guides the SNAP programme, were there to meet us and explain the lay of the land.
After a short break we walked into town, through the market, which takes place every six days and will be on Friday. We passed endless simple, simple mud-brick houses and a few small weaving and sewing businesses. The poverty is extraordinary and things do not seem to have progressed at all since I was first in Africa forty years ago. Rubbish everywhere, and children running around with no shoes, but all very smiley and happy and thinking we were very funny!
We met some of the ATE team, Kaamil who is the fantastic new Manager and lovely Kanyir and Kakpe, two brothers who Sarah cared for and supported through their education. Kanyir has recently graduated from University with a 1st in Bio Chemistry and Kakpe is half way through his degree in Development and Planning – truly great guys. After visiting a few of the little businesses, watching a very competitive football match between the hospital nurses (male) and the hospital staff we went for a beer in ‘Sparks’ one of the ‘spots’ (bars), sitting on colourful plastic chairs under the most amazing neem trees.
For the first time in my whole life, I was looking forward to a beer and my goodness it was good. On our way to the ‘spot’ we had met Abudu a tall gentleman who Tara knew well, as he makes the finest noodles in town. Tara promptly put in an order for us to collect at 6.30. She, Dee and I went to collect them, and Abudu had not quite got round to starting, but when they came 40 minutes later, they were delicious and worth every minute of the wait.
Back at base by 8.30, which felt like midnight, and Tim presented Kanyir and Kapke with a Hilldrop baseball cap which they were delighted with and looked very handsome. We had to say farewell to Kapke as he returns to university tomorrow, which was sad as he is such a fine example of what ATE can achieve and also such charming company. A very welcome shower (cold) but that was ok and bed on the rock mattress… night night.
Tuesday 17 September – Lawra
7.30 start and straight to the ‘tea place’ where the most delicious eggy-bread, with a difference, is served (no other option). Sitting up on high stools, eggs were whisked and as they started cooking French bread was squidged into the omelette – truly sets you up for the day with a weak Nescafé and condensed milk! Kapke was there, proudly sporting his Hilldrop cap and waiting for the bus to take him to Wa for his next term at Uni.
Asif and Graham, having gone ahead, filmed us arriving at the Lawra Inclusion Centre – the central hub of ATE in Lawra. The place was humming with a group of school children having an IT lesson, a group of small business owners having their monthly training session and a heavenly group of SNAP children (disabled) and their mothers/grandmothers having their monthly session together.
Needless to say, I gravitated towards the SNAP group and it was amazing watching the SNAP team – Ernestina and Esther – working with these five profoundly disabled children who, until ATE intervened, were most likely hidden away in their homes and possibly ill treated.
Kofi, the smallest twelve year old you have ever seen, was unable to speak when he first joined the programme and now knows his alphabet and could count in English.
Pricilla, who had down syndrome and never stopped hugging me, has also come on leaps and bounds since she started coming to ATE. The mothers too had a real connection with one another. One with a tiny baby who they all took turns to look after. At first the children were very wary of me, but by the end, with the help of a very light bouncy ball, we were joined at the hip – literally, in Priscilla’s case.
Quite often the ball escaped, chased by Geoffrey aged about five, who then decided to use the legs of the tables the business owners were working at, as his goals.
Totally unfazed, the seven new small business owners (SBOs) and dry season farmers continued with their training session with the three hub managers – Sylvester, Charity and Gafar – taking it in turn to talk them through business plans, marketing, SWOT analysis etc. They have all been trained by Sarah’s Dad, Charles. The seven were part of the BizATE programme and received a grant from ATE to start or expand their business – three seamstresses, one weaver, a hairdresser and two dry season famers.
The seamstresses had all come in an outfit they had made and they were stunning, though nothing compared to the women inside them. I did a bit of a photo-shoot, and they would not have looked out of place in any magazine – they are the most beautiful people, particularly the girls, with utterly flawless, mahogany skin.
The weaver was also wearing the most fabulous outfit she had made of cloth she had woven. I did not speak to the farmers, but Tim had a good chat with them and showed them how to increase their holdings ten-fold!
We spoke with the children having their first IT lesson. They came from a school in Bagri, several miles away and had all arrived, looking immaculate, by 7am in time for our arrival at 9! There is no internet in Lawra so they are just learning basic IT skills, but so hungry for more. In theory Elon Musk is installing one of his Starlink satellites this year – I pray he does, it will be a total game changer for these young people, some of them obviously hugely bright. Getting to the Inclusion Centre for this school, is impossible except on foot – transportation is also a real need here.
After lunch, we went to visit some of the business owners supported by ATE. First Hermas who was a welder and had expanded his business with a 3,000 cedi (£150) grant from ATE. He now employs several apprentices and is making metal doors and gates for the great and good of the region. Unlike any of his competitors, he has his own facebook page and his latest contract of 13 huge doors came through this. Metal doors are used in preference to wood, as the termites eat the latter. He spoke heart-warmingly about ATE and what its support had meant to him. I particularly loved him very earnestly saying his business started on 31 February 2015!
They have a very unusual business model, which on the face of it appears somewhat exploitative, but is in fact, genius. When you set up your business, you take on apprentices, who you teach your trade, but do not pay. This enables you to increase output but at the same time provide the apprentices with free training, which they otherwise could not afford. It is a huge commitment on the part of the apprentices and their families, but, after three years they qualify and can go on to set up their own business – perhaps with a grant from ATE. ATE receives about 200 applications a year which have to fulfil certain criteria. After careful scrutiny, a shortlist is drawn-up and the team visits each applicant and their families, before offering about ten grants.
We saw another example of a grant’s impact, when we visited Agnes who had received a grant from ATE of about £75 to expand her hairdressing business. She now has two apprentices and list of clients as long as your arm.
We met a lovely seamstress, Theresa, who employs about nine apprentices one of whom had come through the VocATE apprenticeship programme. Almost all the girls had a young baby of about eighteen months sitting on their laps or strapped to their backs while they worked. When they got tired, they were all lined up in a row on cloths to go to sleep in the shade. Adorable.
Tim decided he would like one of these girls to make some pyjamas for Eliza so we headed to a shop to choose some material. It didn’t take long as there were only five to choose from. We later discovered our kambu driver had taken us to the wrong place! After a bit of a rest and most welcome shower, we headed out to the Las Palmas ‘Spot’ for a few beers and spicy rice supper!
Wednesday 18 September – to Tanchara
I cannot tell you how hard it rained last night – but amazingly it was clear by this morning and thankfully a little cooler. Breakfast was even more delicious today, with a special order of no French bread squidged into the eggs and a second sachet of Nescafé. It was then on to the back of a motorbike, driven by one of the team, to visit one of the more recent ATE Hubs, Tanchara, about 20 mins away. I was on Charity’s bike and Tanchara is her hub, so she proudly told me all about it all the way there, but sadly not too easy to hear, but lovely to see everyone greeting her like a celebrity.
It was interesting to venture into the countryside, green and flat and soon very different from Lawra Town, which is pretty simple, but this was now on a different level. Some houses are concrete, but most are basic mud-brick buildings, some in small compounds with a little farmland, and others sitting on their own and of course many, many houses only half built and abandoned. The farmland was more organised than I imagined, growing maize, beans, sorghum and a few tomatoes and peppers, but with no machinery, everything is farmed by hand. Many very sweet goats, and a few cows, though Charity explained most cows are locked away at this time of year as they trample the crops – fencing is a luxury few can afford. The road was varied, sometimes there and sometimes not, but not too bad.
We first stopped with Rachid, another ATE small business owner (SBO). Rachid had twenty apprentices all on Chinese versions of a Singer sewing machine, working in a space which could not have been more than five yards square. With a grant from ATE, he had bought an electric sewing machine which also did embroidery, giving him the edge on competitors. He was in a Muslim village and producing a very different style of clothes from Theresa in Lawra. Rachid has been so successful he has sent his daughter to Senior High School. Only a few girls have this privilege as, although the school is free, it is far away so you have to pay for boarding, food, books etc which is unaffordable for most.
We then went to visit Aaron, one of the SNAP children (Special Needs Awareness Programme). He lived in a simple mud-bricked compound with his parents and grandmother. Aaron suffers from Macrocephaly and has a greatly enlarged head, which he cannot hold up. He has never been able to walk and until ATE found him he lay day in and day out on a sheet on a mud-floor. ATE provided him with a wheelchair and a neck brace to help hold his head up and his parents can now take him to the end of the lane to watch the world go by, but still most of the day he is on the floor. He was the happiest little chappie, laughing and chatting away and dressed in his Aston Villa strip ATE had given him.
They have recently built him a simple wooden frame from which hung three toys and covered in a mosquito-net to keep the relentless flies off him. It was a sad, sad sight and unfortunately too late to operate, but as with all SNAP children, ATE pay for his health care insurance giving him basic support and access to hospital if needed and will help cover the cost of any drugs if required. His life expectancy is unknown, but his father could not stop thanking us saying his quality of life is so very much better thanks to ATE’.
We then went to visit the local Junior High School, where we met George, the head teacher and his 110 pupils in three different year groups. ATE started a feeding programme in the school just two years ago and the attendance rate has risen from 60% to 95% in that time. This has been largely an increase in girls who used to drop out at puberty as they had no form of sanitary towels. ATE provide these which has made all the difference to girls completing their education. The school caters for several communities and has a clear mix of Muslim and Christian children all learning happily together. Needless to say, they were all immaculate with short, cropped hair and looked remarkably healthy and well.
Their lessons are all taught in English and they deliver a fairly comprehensive curriculum, but there is a constant lack of Government supplied teachers. Currently they have three to cover all subjects and rely on three local volunteers to fill the gaps.
When it came to lunch time, the students went to the small nearby kitchen built by ATE (funded by the Marlborough Rotary Club) where all the bowls, they had left earlier, had been filled with a nutritious banku and groundnut soup and placed on the floor for them to pick up. Such an efficient system.
It looked pretty disgusting, but they said they loved it. For many it would be their only meal of the day.
A number of younger children, from the nearby primary school appeared, to share their sibling’s lunch, as although the government claims to provides lunch for all primary school children, it often does not make it as far as Lawra.
After lunch, they all lined up in class/height order and did a little song for us, in English I think! Headmaster, George then said a few heart-warming and totally impromptu words about how ATE had transformed their school and the lives of his pupils. Tim then asked the children to sing a line out of Robbie William’s Angels to use for the shoot, they were most obliging but had not a clue what they were doing.
I met these little monkeys at the water pump, which they were having fun using as a seesaw! We did a quick Head-shoulder-knees and toes! Charity told me when she was young, the rule was you could not go to school until you could touch your ear, over your head. Much harder if you are shorter – she did not go to school until she was seven!
There is no national language in Ghana and different regions have different dialects, with little understanding of one another. Consequently English is used, but few local people in Lawra had a real handle on it. They are attempting to make Twi, which is a local dialect and spoken by the greatest number of Ghanaians, a common language.
I asked about the forthcoming election advertised by posters on almost every lamp-post, but both, highly educated, Kanyir and Charity told me they would not be voting as it is too dangerous. Apparently there is considerable violence surrounding the whole voting practice (many killed last time) and particularly in the queues at the polling stations, and they do not feel it is worth the risk. So much for democracy!
We were running a little short of time, so Tim went off with the camera crew to meet Prosper a farmer who ATE has supported with a simple irrigation system. This has enabled him to farm during the dry season and greatly increase his productivity.
Meanwhile I went to meet Dominic another SNAP boy who Helen discovered about four years ago trapped in his home, having suddenly lost the use of his legs. When she found him, he was shuffling around the house on his knees, and with mud floors, he had bleeding knees and elbows. She first arranged for him to have knee pads and then secured a wheelchair for him. Having built a ramp into his school, he was then able to return to school and with gentle coaching he started walking again. He now walks, quite some way, to the Junior High School we had just visited – where I noticed there was also a ramp.
We then headed back to town, passing many, some very small, primary school children still walking home, almost two hours after the end of their school day. We went to join Dee and Kaamal who had spent the day in Nandom, launching their SNAP programme. They had asked the churches to mention this was happening, but with the stigma surrounding disabled children, they were nervous no one would come. They had people queuing out the door with 48 children and 67 adults all coming to hear more about the programme – amazing eh! They were so chuffed, and exhausted as were the others, having suffered a puncture, so we decided to have noodles on our verandas, in the pouring rain and an early night!
Thursday 19 September – Nandom
Breakfast was, of course, at the ‘tea place’ who now have our order down to a T – even mine which somewhat breaks the mould. Just as we were leaving, Sylvester came around the corner with Prosper carrying a white cockerel and a sack of sweetcorn and vegetables as a gift for Tim. Apparently, the highest honour and recognition of gratitude. After we left, we asked Sylvester to take it back to the centre and we are not sure what happened to it then. Tara was once given a black cockerel which she kept on releasing hoping it would run away but every day she returned to find it re tethered to the office!
We then got into two ‘stock-car’ taxis and headed for Nandom. By the time we got there, it was torrential rain. Nandom is the neighbouring region, though was once part of Lawra (thus speaking the same Dagaare dialect), and where ATE is expanding to. So today we were to see and film what Lawra looked like twelve years ago.
The charity was given a derelict municipal building which they have done up to create their Inclusion Centre, along the lines of Lawra’s, with an area for computers, teaching the Small Business Owners and an area for the SNAP families. They have recruited a Hub Manager, Chris and two SNAP coordinators Rosamond and Mr Sanfo who have spent the last few weeks shadowing and learning from the Lawra team. When we got there, there were several families waiting to register on the SNAP programme, as a result of the launch yesterday. A little chronically epileptic boy, a beautiful blind girl and another very pretty little girl who had never spoken. Exciting to see such faith in the programme, but it is going to be a challenge for the team.
Apart from this, the centre is an empty shell with no computers or tables and chairs to teach the SBOs.
Tim decided he wanted to film some crazy skit with a number of poor unfortunate goats. I fear you will see it at some point. Meanwhile I fell for this puppy who was a little confused as to who was his mummy!
We then drove to Ko, which the team has identified as the first Nandom satellite hub and the first school ATE will be working with. The driver first stopped for petrol, then again raising the bonnet to check something, and then a third time to go any buy his lunch, which had to be cooked! Meanwhile we were getting a little twitchy as we needed to be at Ko by a specific time. We eventually made it and my goodness you could not fail to see the contrast.
A school of about 95, with an attendance rate of only 28% and an obvious lack of girls. The classrooms were a shambles with enough desks for no more than half and a pile of broken ones in the corner. We arrived just before the last period of the day, which they told us they simply don’t bother to teach as the children are too hungry and tired to concentrate.
Chris, the hub manager, had been to this school and started ‘teaching’ the first year, several of whom were asleep. He asked them why so many of their friends did not come or had dropped out of school. The answer was ….. their parents could not afford the uniform or school books or they were needed at home on the farm.
When asked why so many girls dropped out, one brave girl stood up and said it was because they were too embarrassed to come when they had their periods as they could not afford sanitary pads. This in turn has led to the girls being abused and often getting pregnant at a very young age. Many entering the sex trade to make money or being sold off for marriage. As seen in Lawra, by providing sanitary pads makes a significant difference to the numbers of girls completing their education. Equally a feeding programme will ensure the students come to school and can concentrate until 3pm when they are supposed to leave not 2pm as they do at the moment. Goodness it will be interesting to see what this school looks like in a year’s time.
Dee, Laura and I went back to Nandom to pick up Rosamond so she could take us to visit a SNAP family she had identified. Here we saw poverty on a different level, the children filthy, literally in rags living in the simplest of homes. They had a boy with down syndrome who could not talk and looked about nine, when in fact he was fourteen. He used to go to school, but he was bullied and when he retaliated, he was caned and has refused to go back. It was heartbreaking and going to be a challenge for the team to get him back into the school and speaking.
In the evening, back in Lawra, we went to visit Sylvester’s cousin, Samuel who makes the most phenomenal xylophones. He lived in a small compound with his brother’s family and was surrounded by more children than you could imagine. Tim had a lesson and was in fact rather good and we had a great dancing display from the children when Samuel and his brother took to the keys. Tara had ordered a mini one she is taking home and Samuel is also making one for the Lawra Inclusion Centre.
The evening finished with Abudu and another batch of delicious noodles and Club beers at ‘Sparks’. While we were there, Hermas, the welder, his wife Harriet and adorable two-year-old daughter, Helena came to pay a call and joined us for a drink, which was rather charming and quite an endorsement of ATE’s interaction with them. Back rather late tonight, so I am going to sign off.
Friday 20 September – Domwine
This morning, following, of course, coffee and eggs at the ‘Tea Place’, we took a long dusty motorbike ride to one of the Lawra satellite hubs Domwine where we were to witness their monthly SNAP meeting. Today I travelled on the back of Helen’s motorbike. Poor Helen was recovering from mild trauma, having opened the storeroom to find Tim’s white cockerel! She always likes to be in front, and she has a point as the tarmac ran out pretty quickly and we were on dirt road for about half an hour, and if you are behind anyone the dust is unreal. It is in pretty poor shape, with huge crevices created by the rain and also the most vicious sleeping policemen. I cannot imagine why as we did not see a single car, indeed it would be a challenge to travel this road on four wheels.
When we arrived, there were already about 40 beautifully dressed women smiling from ear to ear with their disabled children waiting for us. Mats were laid out under the trees with toys and in no time all the children were playing happily, never squabbling over the toys and having the best time with the simplest of them. They were divided into two groups one with Ernestina for children who had a little bit of learning ability and the other with Esther for those who had none and just played with the toys.
Helen started the meeting with a prayer and then introduced each of us and asked us to say a few words. I’m afraid this group completely got to me, they are the most extraordinarily brave and resilient women, often been abandoned by their husbands for giving birth to a disabled child, and just determined to do the best for them. Before I knew, I had tears rolling down my cheeks – not very professional!
They proceeded with a song and a lot of dancing, all of us having to join in, and then went on to the business of the meeting, which today, was personal hygiene.
Meanwhile, I played with the children, some of them chronically disabled both mentally and physically. One little baby, or so I thought, he was in fact five, called Noah, couldn’t speak or sit up and they believe is suffering from cerebral palsy. Despite a lovely caring mother, he was hugely under nourished, and she explained he had the most terrible sores on his tongue and so it was difficult to get him to eat anything. Even giving him water made him wince and cry. He had been given some medicine which had helped, but unfortunately the mother could no longer afford this. Thankfully, ATE said they would pay for it, but all the same I fear he will not survive for long. Completely heartbreaking.
As the meeting drew to a close, there was a few more songs and the ladies left with several bars of soup and a small bag of food to take home with them. ATE supply shoes for all the SNAP children and also health insurance which gives them access to hospital and basic care.
The meeting took place just outside the Domwine Junior High School, which is one of Sarah’s first schools and seems to be full of very happy, very noisy children. We met the headmaster, who the boys interviewed, and Tim presented them with a football for the school which he was thrilled with. I later learnt that when asked whether hosting the SNAP group next to the school was a problem, as we were aware there is such a stigma around disability – he said ‘stigma, what stigma? ATE’s work has completely dispelled that myth, and they are now totally welcomed by the community. How cool is that?
We then visited Mercy, one of ATE’s first small business owners. She received a grant to buy her first sewing machine in 2017 and set herself up in a tiny 5 m² shed with no electricity. She now has 12 apprentices who are learning from her. She has built on and now has electricity (though has to remove the light bulbs when she leaves or they are stolen). She is the most amazing role-model to her apprentices who appear to be in total awe of her. She has no patterns, and cuts everything by eye, creating the most amazing dresses which look stunning on them. The girls are all working on a particular section of their dresses, no one asking any questions and just get on with a job. Meanwhile, 20 yards away there are a mass of men sitting around doing very little!
We then went to meet Belinda, who was one of the early SNAP children. Now in her late teens, she is one of two SNAP kids who have joined the VocATE apprenticeship programme and become an apprentice seamstress. She is in her third year and should in theory graduate, however her kind ‘master’ has offered her a further year. She modelled a dress she had made, and how fortunate she is to have this opportunity.
Finally, we went to meet Abigail, another VocATE apprentice, who was working for Margaret learning to become a weaver. They were creating some stunning work. Abigail had in fact just become a mother, three weeks ago, so is off work on maternity leave (three months) and only came in to see us. However, there were several other babies sitting on laps.
We returned back to the centre, absolutely filthy. No time to change, but luckily time for a quick visit to the shops with Esther to buy a mattress for little Noah. It was then off to ‘Matrons’ for beers and guinea-fowl. A favourite with the team, and particularly Helen who also decided she was going to marry Tim, which was a bit of a surprise, but we thought Emma would be very understanding. We had a few speeches, in the torrential rain so it was not too easy to hear, except for Sylvester who said the most adorable things about the inspiration and motivation our visit had given him.
We were back at the guest house by about 8.30 pm, though it felt like midnight and had the most welcome shower. I have rarely felt so filthy. Slightly disappointing when, amidst full lather including a shampooed head, the electricity went out again. No light or more than a dribble of water, I felt this could be a long night but luckily it returned about ten minutes later. Totally pooped!
Saturday 21 September – Biro and Lucy
We woke to sunshine this morning, which was a bit of a treat, still steaming hot around 31°, as it has been most days, with intense humidity, but today, a blue sky which will be great for the filming. We had our last breakfast at the ‘Tea Shop’ – I will miss my eggs and the condensed milk and sugar in the coffee! And also, the take-away tea in a polythene bag. Everything is in a polythene bag; water, food and your hot drinks, and if they can possibly use an additional layer of plastic they will, layers and layers of it, even your takeaway is in cling-film inside your noodle box – Squeeze would have a fit!
We met up with Kanyir and Gafar and headed off in a kambu to the most remote ATE hub of Biro & Gombile. Despite having been booked well in advance and been waiting for us for half an hour, our driver still had to stop for petrol and then again for oil before we even left Lawra. It was a very bumpy ride, and several times the Kambu came to a rather alarming halt but somehow managed to splutter back to life. However, this road was smooth in comparison to when we turned off the road down a track towards the village of Biro, through deep ravines and gullies of water, but we somehow made it.
As we were approaching this incredibly remote and rural village, we met Lucy on the road, who, despite her damaged left leg,which gives her constant pain and she cannot bend, had come out to meet us. Lucy is what ATE is all about and has the most extraordinary and inspirational story. She was a bright girl but unable to progress to Junior High School as her family could not afford her uniform and books. Luckily, Sarah got wind of this and ATE sponsored her through junior high school and on to senior high school and is now funding her place at university.
She is the first person from her community to go to university where she is studying fashion design. Her ultimate aim is to become a midwife, but the training is expensive, so she has decided to study fashion, set up a business and earn enough money so she can pay for her midwifery training. Her university is almost two days journey away, and she came back especially to meet us and to tell us her story. When Tim asked why she wished to be a midwife, she told him it had always been her dream to help women in her community give birth more safely. There is a disproportionately high mortality rate of mothers and about 20% of the babies are born with disabilities. She is the most beautiful girl and a true example of what ATE do.
About twenty of her family came out to join us, though to be honest, I think we may have been in their sitting room, a log under the tree. There must have been fifteen children, most under the age of six/seven who sat happily together playing with nothing but having a very content time. I gave them all some Haribos – which they had no idea what to do with, but loved them when they discovered.
The little compound, divided in two and shared with an uncle (I think), was full of goats, chickens, a couple of skinny pigs and little else. Lucy showed us into their house – they had nothing, a couple of pots in the kitchen, an open fire and no furniture whatsoever. But they all seemed extraordinarily content and the children happy and healthy.
We then went to have a quick look at Biro Junior High School, which ATE are supporting. Being a Saturday no one was there, but the desks were all in one piece and laid out in neat rows. Their lessons were still up on the board and just like all education, they were being taught totally irrelevant things about the first generation of computers! This, Gofar told us would have been their IT lesson … with no computers, all IT lessons are theoretical until Mr Musk installs his satellite.
We went to collect Eliza’s pyjamas which were ironed and packed up for us with great excitement at the thought of their handiwork going to England. Anyway they looked great with a sweet collar, buttons down the front and even buttoned cuffs. Do hope they fit her.
In the early evening, Dee took me to visit Sylvester’s Baptist, children’s group. There must have been 150/200 primary school children all having a lovely time divided into different groups according to their age – Discoverers, Developers, Detectives and Defenders. They were summoned to the ‘hall’ where they sat quietly in their groups until invited to sing. Led by a young guy, you have never heard a sound like it, every single one of them singing at the top of their voices and having the best time.
One of the many things which has amazed me in Ghana is how extraordinarily polite and disciplined the children are. Calm, quiet and getting on with one another so well and yet have nothing to play with, just making it up as they go along. Both in school and again here in this church group, if they answered a question, they leap to their feet to answer it and as soon as we arrive anywhere somebody comes along with chairs for us.
We then went to join the others at ‘Sparks’ and had a few more Club beers and of course delicious noodles. Our friend Abadu has had a bumper week! As the evening went on, so many people dropped by – Kanyir, Gofar, Sylvester, Hermas and even Habib, Sarah’s former husband and very involved with the set-up of ATE, plus another guy who worked for ATE in the early days. It was very sweet and very, very sad to say goodbye to them.
Sunday 22 September – back to London
Kaamil kindly came to see us off and we took the bumpy road back to Wa in another wonderful ‘stock car’ – how they survive on these roads, I cannot imagine, and what the dust must be like in the dry season, it was bad enough in the wet. We obviously had to stop for petrol before we left Lawra and then we were on our way, gradually heading back to a slightly more affluent world – but it is all relative!
Just as we were coming into Wa we passed a young guy on his motorbike with a cow in front of him! Delivermoo perhaps?!
Wa airport is not large, and not too many retail opportunities, but today it did have air con which was very welcome. When we got to Accra, we said goodbye to Tara and Dee who are staying one more night and heading to the beach. Asif is also staying a further night and had a room booked with our friends in the Koko Palm Guest House, so we headed back there and then on to the Sky Bar, which he had told us several days ago, had great burgers – T and I have thought of little else since! Indeed they were delicious, though I think almost anything would be after a week of noodles. Overnight flight home and back to reality.
But WOW! What a trip and a privilege. If I was impressed by what Sarah was doing in Ghana before, I am now in total awe. She really is changing lives, lots of them and deserves all our support. https://ateghana.org
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