tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-80263043781669775062024-03-19T01:02:52.203-07:00Trevor in GhanaTrevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.comBlogger13125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-37465502712748835992008-04-06T04:35:00.000-07:002008-04-06T04:43:48.866-07:00A FarewellHello,<br /><br />I just wanted to put a short note here to let everyone know that I have finished my work overseas. I was originally suppose to continue my work until August, but for reasons that I don't wish to discuss here, I am ending early.<br /><br />For the next two months I will be travelling around West Africa before heading home to Canada. I plan on visiting Togo, Benin, Burkina Faso and Mali, and I'm really looking forward to seeing how Ghana compares to other countries in West Africa. I won't be blogging while I travel, but I might write some stories and start up a travel blog when I get back home and can upload a whole bunch of pictures to my gallery.<br /><br />Farewell, and thanks for reading my blog. I hope you have enjoyed it and had some insights into development and life in Ghana.<br /><br />-TrevorTrevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-18965419977950793732008-02-26T03:07:00.001-08:002008-02-26T03:16:28.941-08:00Too Much of a Good ThingThere’s nothing like an ice cold slice of watermelon on a hot day. Whenever I eat watermelon it reminds of being a kid again: running around in the backyard in the summer with friends having seed spitting competitions. Those fond memories have been coming back a lot lately as its watermelon season here in Ghana.<br /><br />Farmers plant watermelon seeds at the start of the dry season, around the end of December. They grow it in the low-lying areas on the river banks after the water level recedes. Despite the name, ironically watermelon doesn’t require much water to grow. I still haven’t quite figured that one out seeing the stuff is like 99% water, but apparently so long as there is enough moisture in the soil during germination it will grow just fine.<br /><br />[Watermelon field picture]<br /><br />After the devastating drought and flood that struck the region, resulting in complete crop failure during the rainy season, farmers saw watermelon as an opportunity to make some desperately needed money during the usually unproductive dry season. They hoped that by producing watermelon, which in the past has fetched a good price at the market, they would be able to earn enough money to feed their families when their current food stocks soon run out.<br /><br />The result, literally mountains of watermelon...<br /><br />[Fresh watermelon picture]<br /><br />It’s like some childhood fantasy of being in a fruity version of Candyland, but the fantasy soon fades to tragedy when you start asking what the watermelon is doing sitting out here in the fields rather than being consumed by hot thirsty children in town. With so many more farmers than usual going into watermelon farming the market is flooded. Most of the watermelon has been harvested and sits rotting on the roadside waiting for a buyer. The farmers try and pile it underneath trees so that the shade will keep cooler, but if they don’t sell it soon it will be too late.<br /><br />[Rotting watermelon picture]<br /><br />One of the biggest tragedies is that I know there is a market for the produce. The farther south you go the higher the price. Farmgate: 0.20-0.30 GHc. WaleWale (district capital) 0.50-0.80 GHc. Tamale 1-2 GHc. Accra 5-6 GHc.<br /><br />People have different perceptions of the situation. One farmer I met is upset because his community has been growing watermelon for a few years. This year however a village closer to the main road has also grown, and traders are buying from them to make the long trip about 5 minutes shorter.<br /><br />Another farmer tells me story about how a couple traders came and bought several truck loads. They told the farmers they would pay them after they sell it in Kumasi or Accra. The farmers seeing no alternative agreed. Several days later they received a phone call from the trader telling them that it all spoiled and he can’t pay them.<br /><br />This situation is just one example of the marketing challenges small-scale rural farmers face. They have little power in the markets and are often left to bear all the risk.<br /><br />So what is the problem, or better yet, what is the solution? Do farmers need to plant with a better idea of market demands? Are farmers lacking information about the fair price for their crops? Should farmers form groups to give them more negotiating power with traders and market women? Are outgrowing schemes that link farmers directly to markets the silver bullet?<br /><br />In the remaining months of my placement I hope to further investigate at least a couple of these questions as I work with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture to see how we can help farmers become more integrated into markets and develop their farms into a business.<br /><br />[Internet is hopelessly slow right now. I will add pictures later. Sorry!]Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-11857969325967550732007-12-28T08:16:00.001-08:002007-12-28T08:36:09.217-08:00Christmas on the BeachThis year Christmas was a little different than I am used to. I spent it down on the coast of Ghana at a little resort, appropriately named Hideout Lodge. I went down with some other volunteers from Canada and Europe. It was really nice to have good company and a gorgeous beach to provided some distraction from being a little homesick over the holidays.<br /><br />I would like to wish everyone a belated MERRY CHRISTMAS and an early HAPPY NEW YEAR! I hope you are all enjoying the holidays with you family and friends. I have posted a bunch of pictures on my web album and I will post a few more when I get some from the rest of the group I traveled with.<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fwhitney.trevor%2Falbumid%2F5149058589988805009%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-75579886445834755172007-12-28T08:00:00.000-08:002007-12-28T08:16:34.526-08:00We Went to Burkina<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Foreword</span><br /><br />So I originally planned on writing a rich blog post about the differences between Burkina Faso and Ghana, in particular the differences I observed related to poverty; however, I found the following format rather amusing at 1:00am when I was taking a break from working on an evaluation report!! I still plan on making another trip back to Burkina so maybe I will pleasure you with something more insightful then. For now I hope you enjoy the brief description and some pictures of my trip.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Saturday</span><br /><br />We took a trotro to Bolga<br />We waited for Sarah<br />We took a taxi to the border<br />We got stamped out of Ghana (except Sarah)<br />We waited while the Burkina guy did arts and crafts in our passports<br />We missed the bus to Ouaga<br />We were joined again by Sarah<br />We got our Burkina Visas<br />We took a taxi and caught up to the bus<br />We had some yummy Burkina yogurt<br />We got to Ouaga<br />We had more yummy Burkina yogurt<br />We took a bus to Bobo<br />We got mobbed by girls selling sesame cookies<br />We arrived in Bobo<br />We went to sleep<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Sunday</span><br /><br />We woke up<br />We talked about our work<br />We got to know each other better<br />We tried to fix the development sector<br />We brainstormed<br />We played with post-it notes<br />We got frustrated<br />We ran out of time<br />We reflected on the day<br />We went out for drinks with the guys<br />We waited for the girls to get ready<br />We met up with the girls<br />We drank<br />We danced<br />We drank some more<br />We went to sleep<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Monday</span><br /><br />We woke up too damn early<br />We took a trotro to Banfora<br />We canoed to see hippos (well at least the nose and ears of hippos…)<br />We visited a cashew factory (those nuts are a pain in the ass to get at)<br />We tried to find waterfalls<br />We saw a white person standing at the side of the road who looked a lot like Sarah<br />We realised we left Sarah behind (sorry Sarah we love you!!)<br />We got a dirty look from Sarah<br />We got covered in dust from the road and could hardly breathe<br />We finally found the waterfalls<br />We went swimming at the waterfalls<br />We tried to show how manly we are by climbing the big rocks and jumping off of them<br />We hiked to the top of the waterfall and took some pictures<br />We took the trotro back to Bobo<br />We had an amazing dinner at “les 3 karites” with tasty roasted chicken and delicious salad<br />We passed out after a day full of fun<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Tuesday</span><br /><br />We woke up<br />We exchanged secret Santa gifts<br />We talked<br />We complained<br />We discussed<br />We ranted<br />We learned about the action learning cycle (apparently I’m a theorist as were 4/5 guys at the retreat)<br />We laughed at the planners activists and reflectors<br />We felt sorry for laughing at the others (not really)<br />We realised that if 4 theorists try and work together nothing gets done<br />We shared stories<br />We inspired each other<br />We cried together<br />We hugged<br />We made a fun conference video (I’ll try and post it when I get a copy)<br />We went to sleep<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">Wednesday</span><br /><br />We woke up<br />We didn’t want to leave our friends in Burkina (or the French cuisine)<br />We travelled back to Ghana (ok so there was a day spent in Ouaga for a team MoFA meeting but it wasn’t blog worthy)<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">The End</span><br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="267" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fwhitney.trevor%2Falbumid%2F5146344424060802993%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-20982309680403866162007-12-15T09:54:00.000-08:002007-12-15T10:24:13.251-08:00A Celebration of Farming<span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">The Importance of Farming</span><br /><br />In Canada we have national holidays to celebrate our independence and war veterans, religious events, and the start of a new year. Here is Ghana they recognize the same reasons for celebration, but on the first friday of December they also take time to celebrate farmers.<br /><br />Agriculture makes up the livelihood of most people living in northern Ghana and nearly all of those who live in rural areas. It provides jobs to work, food to eat, and money to send children to school. Ghana could not survive if it wasn’t for the farmers who work hard everyday to try and cope with the unpredictable weather year after year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhq5cR7J0aqYOlYd4ANMwL1hm1Ch5Y8fLouj6kgvJr5LeEOV-IbrHnLSJh_0DIYDYDl3aDtd1qso5MBIh7LqVpRyVjhF0cPRXILsqDpL3SnDYH6XMWW6ZfPkhi0nQQGgebCaHhyphenhyphenHD2Zye/s1600-h/DSC00626-1.JPG"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEghhq5cR7J0aqYOlYd4ANMwL1hm1Ch5Y8fLouj6kgvJr5LeEOV-IbrHnLSJh_0DIYDYDl3aDtd1qso5MBIh7LqVpRyVjhF0cPRXILsqDpL3SnDYH6XMWW6ZfPkhi0nQQGgebCaHhyphenhyphenHD2Zye/s400/DSC00626-1.JPG" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144263108678965106" /></a><br />This year was particularly difficult for farmers in the three Northern Regions. The rains arrived early in May and farmers rushed to prepare their fields and plant their crops. Then in early June just as the seeds were starting to germinate the rains stopped. The drought lasted for over a month with the rains not returning until mid-late July. By then it was too late: all of the crops that had been planted at the start of the growing season had weltered and dried.<br /><br />Farmers who could afford to buy more seed and replant rushed to do so during the last week of July and first week of August knowing full well that if they didn’t get the seeds in the ground soon it would be too late and the plants wouldn’t have enough time to grow. Those that managed to replant were only able to do a portion of what they had originally planted, and the rest of their fields were left with half-grown withered stalks of maize.<br /><br />As if the weather hadn’t been difficult enough this farming season when the rains returned they returned without mercy. Rivers rose and crops were drowned or even completely washed away. (I’m sure many of you have read about the floods in the Northern Ghana this September. For those of you who haven’t I have attached a few links below.) When the Volta Rivers receded they left little behind. In all it seems as if the weather this rainy season couldn’t possibly have been any worse.<br /><br />You may be wondering what is there to celebrate when so many farmers who tried so hard lost everything, but this only amplifies the need to celebrate those farmers who somehow despite all odds managed to have a successful season. There’s a need to recognize model farmers whose motivation and entrepreneurship can provide inspiration and an example to others of what can be achieved in agriculture. <br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;font-size:130%">National Farmers’ Day</span><br /><br />I wake up at the crack of dawn and eagerly put on my new shirt made of fabric with the MoFA logo plastered all over it. Today is National Farmers’ Day and I’m headed off to Saboba to take part in the Regional Farmers’ Day celebration. I head to the office along with Nina, an EWB volunteer from Zambia who happened to be in Ghana for a conference this week and decided to come along and check things out. We get to the office and hop on the bus along with a few MoFA staff and the farmer award winners from all across the Northern Region.<br /><br />About three hours later we get to the site in Saboba. There are tents all around to provide shade from the sweltering sun, and a sea of bicycles and other prizes in the centre. Along one side of the site are exhibits showcasing some of the best rice, maize, millet and pepper the region has to offer. Behind the crops stand farmers, proud to display what their hard efforts have produced.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJ40AOz3BtztKPM0p5GCzNwF6xpRiJvwb5_v1gU7zbNAjFcFSH3SQ_Gk89kPPhFsnzvcxUDy2y93Nwz_7HEWXeX6kX17RTNJqvP5Pqxu6Lgr_hgyithLrAVk6h8pLjxlwUHteEw8ydQyu/s1600-h/IMG_0570.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCJ40AOz3BtztKPM0p5GCzNwF6xpRiJvwb5_v1gU7zbNAjFcFSH3SQ_Gk89kPPhFsnzvcxUDy2y93Nwz_7HEWXeX6kX17RTNJqvP5Pqxu6Lgr_hgyithLrAVk6h8pLjxlwUHteEw8ydQyu/s400/IMG_0570.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144263971967391618" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9pnJDG9BHiXcz6T7zVpWeKaoGEu9OsWc5zVrp4bBEtR34j1raenz285wM1EXm7XTwD-Ml28NnhBOsw3Vcfq4OR83QGxosZRAfoCujgN8NDZ5-oq8B-wBG9LgzY9riSnT3W9VtWSHzgDK/s1600-h/IMG_0536.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgh9pnJDG9BHiXcz6T7zVpWeKaoGEu9OsWc5zVrp4bBEtR34j1raenz285wM1EXm7XTwD-Ml28NnhBOsw3Vcfq4OR83QGxosZRAfoCujgN8NDZ5-oq8B-wBG9LgzY9riSnT3W9VtWSHzgDK/s400/IMG_0536.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144263976262358930" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUWBOBlW5nIdp9Q0RI0QGMNJAd_a5hckdyGE2iliN-xQdE5Ib1thLMP2KrkXezDBp5oy0GWDvmIAdFs7BK3UvV4TQA6Ynhnnkq2A3rVFQhCYEWtkmeMWMlCBLnjyBI_WvsIR7By2vLqRz/s1600-h/IMG_0543.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjCUWBOBlW5nIdp9Q0RI0QGMNJAd_a5hckdyGE2iliN-xQdE5Ib1thLMP2KrkXezDBp5oy0GWDvmIAdFs7BK3UvV4TQA6Ynhnnkq2A3rVFQhCYEWtkmeMWMlCBLnjyBI_WvsIR7By2vLqRz/s400/IMG_0543.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5144263976262358946" /></a><br />After sometime wandering around the site looking at the exhibits and chatting with farmers it’s time for the ceremonies to begin. The Regional minister along with various other political and state figures arrive to give their speeches. The theme for this year’s national Farmers’ Day was “Ghana @ 50: Progress and Challenges of Sustainable Agricultural Development.” They talk about the aforementioned challenges farmers have faced this year, and encourage farmers and other Ghanaians alike to recognize that farming is not a second rate livelihood. Farming is a respectable and potentially prosperous way to make a living, and people should start thinking about agriculture as a business.<br /><br />When the speeches come to a close the farmers are called forward to receive their awards. There are awards for the best farmer for each of the main crops (maize, rice, sorghum, soya bean, groundnuts, etc.) as well as the best livestock farmer, the most innovative farmer, and of course the all around regional best farmer. The award winners all get a bicycle and a collection of other farming implements such as cutlasses, hoes, sprayers, and boots.<br /><br />Shortly after all of the excitement that has been building up over the past couple months comes to an end. As my co-worker Sarah said, “It’s like MoFA Christmas!!” Everyone waits for it all year long working hard in the months leading up to it, the excitement builds and builds, and then before you know it’s all over.<br /><br /><centre><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="400" height="300" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fwhitney.trevor%2Falbumid%2F5144255983328220689%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed></centre>Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-69820913118885707662007-09-23T09:46:00.000-07:002007-09-23T10:17:52.046-07:00Life in TamaleIt’s been a long time since I’ve posted anything on my blog so I though I’d give you all a quick update about what I’ve been up to for the past month or so.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >HOME</span><br /><br />There are a lot of EWB volunteers in Ghana most of whom either work in Tamale or frequently pass through town. Accordingly EWB rents a house just outside of the city for traveling and newly arrived volunteers. This is where I’ve been staying since I arrived in Tamale, though I hope to soon move in with a family in the area to get a better experience of family life and culture in Ghana.<br /><br />That said I’m not really living all by myself. The household is part of a compound of six: four families, a bachelor teacher/footballer, and then a variety of ever changing volunteers. They’re all very friendly and more than happy to teach me how to do laundry or point me in the direction of the closest store. In return I seem to have become the unofficial French tutor for the children in the compound. I was rather surprised to learn that all of the children start learning French in primary school, but I guess being largely surrounded by French speaking nations it makes sense.<br /><br />I’m sure it must be pretty strange for the other people living in the compound to have wave after wave of volunteers pass through, but truth be told I think they find it rather entertaining. Everyone in the neighborhood knows “the house where the salamingas live!”<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >WORK</span><br /><br />As you probably already know, for the next year I’ll be working with the Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). For the first couple months of my placement I’m focusing on learning as much as I can about MoFA: how the organization operates, what type of projects they do, who they work with, etc. In particular I’m looking how these areas interact with MoFA’s Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) system and where I can work to create positive change over the remainder of my placement.<br /><br /><center><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvloYEjNy9HqV5KU2wBlznUUprXictkXscT9gAYMTv7CAKKWY799AT4zUeLLvu1W9sGWAojoHnZ0gke8kOkDKWmfYL2fsxPHHqXYxggPAMq7CX2HdVJgboSdLGXJzFoeqQzpfa_VhIVDBp/s1600-h/IMG_0408.jpg"><img style="margin: 0pt 0pt 10px 10px; text-align:centre; cursor: pointer;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgvloYEjNy9HqV5KU2wBlznUUprXictkXscT9gAYMTv7CAKKWY799AT4zUeLLvu1W9sGWAojoHnZ0gke8kOkDKWmfYL2fsxPHHqXYxggPAMq7CX2HdVJgboSdLGXJzFoeqQzpfa_VhIVDBp/s320/IMG_0408.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113442581275699154" border="0" /></a><br />Above: Sign on the main road outside the office<br />Left: Veranda on top (3rd) floor of the building where my office is<br />Right: My office<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4aXENxa3KRAWSBNCAU8erkBS9vjUCL2g8YihbGQlpTqmgSgFALNtX-yZgTP33h1ipZdABHsbZOnOND95TbTdjoAXeuOiMsxKK76Pw8e6qIZecoB_qnV_hcA5G0mNSZYeHptV6Er5macb/s1600-h/IMG_0411.jpg"><img style="margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:centre;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhM4aXENxa3KRAWSBNCAU8erkBS9vjUCL2g8YihbGQlpTqmgSgFALNtX-yZgTP33h1ipZdABHsbZOnOND95TbTdjoAXeuOiMsxKK76Pw8e6qIZecoB_qnV_hcA5G0mNSZYeHptV6Er5macb/s200/IMG_0411.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113444312147519458" /></a><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWoDmMl3oPanixezsdtdUJKSGgW2Dj1H-Ya4kTruFZBXKy6ZqHFuhdLRN1bImyvtWwK77loNOmCjeztY0WK7KyC0G64pxCjL9r8fLNPTHZT31TRANjTNWjmXcodWtJEab8YqAKILoLz4K/s1600-h/IMG_0414.jpg"><img style="margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:centre;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhBWoDmMl3oPanixezsdtdUJKSGgW2Dj1H-Ya4kTruFZBXKy6ZqHFuhdLRN1bImyvtWwK77loNOmCjeztY0WK7KyC0G64pxCjL9r8fLNPTHZT31TRANjTNWjmXcodWtJEab8YqAKILoLz4K/s200/IMG_0414.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5113444604205295602" /></a></center><br />So far I’ve spent the majority of my time at the MoFA’s regional office in Tamale. At the office I’m working closely with Sheref, the regional M&E officer. Sheref has to be one of the most energetic people I’ve ever met. He’s always happy and seems to get excited about everything.<br /><br />I’ve also gone on a couple trips out to some of the districts with Sheref to help him run some training sessions on the new M&E reporting format. MoFA has undergone a lot of changes with their reporting over the last couple years. In particular they are currently hoping on technological tidal wave sweeping through Ghana and changing to an electronic reporting format. Doing reports in excel allows automatic calculations rather than using a calculator and hitting CTRL+C & CTRL+V saves a lot of time compared to re-entering 18 district reports. That said a lot of staff are new to computers and even those who have experience are often troubled by blackouts, occasionally having to result to running a generator to get electricity.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight: bold;font-size:130%;" >GETTING AROUND</span><br /><br />The EWB house and MoFA office are both located about a five minute drive north of the central market or main part of town. So long as your traveling along the main road there’s a constant stream of shared taxis to take you back and forth. It was a bit of an adventure the first few trips, but once you figure out the names of the main parts of town and junctions it’s not bad. It also helps to figure out the appropriate hand signals to give the honking taxi drivers who are always looking for another fare to cram into the car.<br /><br />The shared taxis too and from town are relatively cheap, but it all starts to add up. Seeing I’m going to be in town for a long time I decided to buy a bicycle. Going bike shopping was quite an escapade, mainly because I can’t remember the last time I rode one! The first test ride I took I almost bailed and crashed into a fruit stand, but I managed to keep it together.<br /><br />I eventually found a bicycle I in decent shape that I could ride without my knees hitting the handle bars. It’s not the latest 18 speed mountain bike you’d find in Canada. It’s got one gear, a basket in the front, a light on the front wheel, and mud guards on the tires. (Picture to come soon) The only down side is the front tire is slightly bent which isn’t helping my already sketchy balance.<br /><br />After a kamikaze ride home was starting to get the hang of riding a bike again, though the bumpy dirt roads and bicycle traffic certainly didn’t help my cause. I guess it’s true what they say, “you never forget how to ride a bike,” but you can sure come close!<br /><br />Hopefully that gives you a bit of a better idea of what I’ve been up to. I’ll try to keep the time between posts a little shorter next time!Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-43002590220281133602007-08-22T12:55:00.000-07:002007-08-22T13:10:23.594-07:00Village "Number One"In my first week in Ghana I’ve gone from a city of over 2 million people, to a farming village of a couple hundred… When I arrived in Tamale I spent the first few days with some other EWB volunteers. It was a great chance to bombard them with questions and hear about some of their experiences. I also spent some time wandering around the market, trying Ghanaian food, and attempting to learn some Dagbani (the most common local language in these parts).<br /><br />After a couple days in Tamale it was time to head to Damongo where I would be spending some time in a small farming village. I woke up super early and headed to the trotro station. For those of you who don’t know what a trotro is it’s a small bus but with just as many people and luggage as a full size bus. They also don’t run on much of a schedule, they just leave once there are enough people. I arrived at the station just after 6:00am only to find out the first trotro had already filled up and left. I ended up having to wait around for about four hours until the next one finally t.<br /><br />After a couple of hours on a pothole ridden dirt road I arrived in Damongo. I met up with the lovely Sarah, an EWB volunteer who has been there for a couple months. I stayed with her and her host family for the night. They were really kind and I spent most of the night playing some kind of board game with the children who kept beating me!!<br /><br />The next morning I got up and traveled 15 minutes on the back of a motorcycle to SORI Number One. Despite the boring name, the village is pretty unique. It’s a settlement village where families from different areas have come to live because of the fertile farming lands. As a result there are a number of different tribes all living together in a single community.<br /><br />The thing that struck me most about the village was how spread out it was. I had expected all of the families to live in a particular area with the farming fields a short distance away; however the households were scattered amongst large fields of maize. As with most parts of Africa maize is the favorite crop both to grow and eat. They keep their main fields by their house so that they can easily tend to it and protect it. The farmers in the community also hold other fields about an hour walk up the road where they grow secondary crops such as groundnuts, cassava, and cowpeas.<br /><br />For the two nights I was in the village I stayed with Matthew and his family. Matthew, 21, lives with his mother, two younger sisters, and two younger brothers. They are originally from East Mamprusi (another district to the east), but when the man of the household passed away they moved to more fertile farming lands.<br /><br />Matthew had just finished Secondary School and had rushed back home to plant the fields before it was too late. From what I could gather this was the norm for him and most other boys in the village: no time for “summer vacation.” Go to school October to June, and spend the break working in the fields to feed your family and hopefully make enough money to pay school fees for the following year.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTIi_2dBEdspAlhFC-1d0lCQ1E9L_6CcLHwPJEl4ra8HMGZPNfcAQRu_JbW1pKgR8lfE9aWBRBslxy379rD8RVYjtY0tKkzrOXqq8W748frwu_OhIpIzyG0rEoTCuUyRcHfbN75iwI2h2/s1600-h/IMG_0357.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyTIi_2dBEdspAlhFC-1d0lCQ1E9L_6CcLHwPJEl4ra8HMGZPNfcAQRu_JbW1pKgR8lfE9aWBRBslxy379rD8RVYjtY0tKkzrOXqq8W748frwu_OhIpIzyG0rEoTCuUyRcHfbN75iwI2h2/s320/IMG_0357.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101617256500035282" /></a><span style="font-style:italic; text-align:center;">Left – Matthew, Right – Tarica</span><br /><br />I spent a lot of my time talking with Matthew and his two close friends, “Papaya” and “Super.” Papaya’s real name is Tarica, but he got the nickname because in his homeland they call papaya Carica-Papaya. They couldn’t really provide me with an explanation for Super’s nickname, but you have to admit it’s pretty sweet. I told them my nickname amongst my close friends is Fletcher. From then on whenever I saw Tarica he’d yell “Fletchah, wuzzup!!” which always made me laugh.<br /><br />I also got my first taste of real farm work while I was there. You know that feeling when you go to the gym, and everyone is super buff and in-shape, and you feel like a pathetic lazy bastard. Well the same thing applies to farming. Despite my overwhelming feeling of inadequacy everyone seemed to be incredibly excited that I wanted to do some work on their farm. After about an hour of weeding I was exhausted, my hands were starting to get blisters, and my lower back was starting to throb.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTp-kfr6h2KFrTUYpvFuQX4fkO8GMGZY2Jlg02DMoDoW9C7bxdV9abROTHWd8XnT1AyxFtiprO9-k-7Qyl0ht-yqBknGVbfp1WeZApXCc8fs6L9NWI_6lnxMjQ_OyNgOTjuOAQ7PScOJgK/s1600-h/IMG_0369-1.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiTp-kfr6h2KFrTUYpvFuQX4fkO8GMGZY2Jlg02DMoDoW9C7bxdV9abROTHWd8XnT1AyxFtiprO9-k-7Qyl0ht-yqBknGVbfp1WeZApXCc8fs6L9NWI_6lnxMjQ_OyNgOTjuOAQ7PScOJgK/s400/IMG_0369-1.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5101617625867222754" /></a><br />The following day it was time for some real farming work. No more or this casual weeding business, it was time to till a field and get it ready to plant cowpea. The community had hired a tractor to plow the maize fields, but the rest of the fields were left to be done by hand. To get the work done efficiently every other day all the farmers come together to work on one farmer’s field. Without this farmers would never be able to prepare their fields in time for the planting of specific crops. Today the village was working on Matthews’s cowpea field. It was a brand new field that had just been cleared. I have to say it was a pretty impressive sight watching all the farmers working side by side in unison. I tried to help them a couple times but it more for entertainment value. I was way to slow to keep up and wasn’t doing a good enough job.<br /><br />At the end of the two days it was time to head back to Tamale to start my work at MoFA. I enjoyed my time in “Number One” and learned a lot from the people and experience. There’s also a lot I didn’t get a chance to discover during my short stay. It can be difficult and frustrating to try to overcome the barriers that exist: language, gender roles, culture, age. That said I’m still determined to learn more. I know an important part of being an effective development worker is understanding the lives of those you are trying to help. I still have a long ways to go, but at least I’ve started down the path.Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-45532111510997301932007-08-12T11:17:00.000-07:002007-08-12T11:43:29.886-07:00Travelling Ghanaian Style** I added two posts today so don't forget to read the one below first **<br /><br />Written: August 5, 2007<br /><br />It is early in the morning and the hot African sun is still in hiding. In the background I hear the morning prayers being played over loudspeakers at the nearby mosque. As I wake up in my small room at the House of Lords Hotel in Accra, I can’t help but think that if I were at home in Canada I would certainly still be sleeping at this hour on a Saturday. I however am not at home, and I have a bus to catch. Today I am traveling from the capital city of Accra in the south, to the city of Tamale in the Northern region of Ghana.<br /><br />The bus does not leave until 8:00, but I have no clue what to expect so I arrive at the STC bus station at 6:45 to be safe. There are only a handful of people there this early. I speak with one of them who explains that I need to place my luggage in line to be weighed so I do so and then go to one of the food stands to get some breakfast and snacks for the trip.<br /><br />It does not take long before the bus station is full of people. A while later the luggage weigher comes out and everything turns to chaos. There was really no point in me putting my bag in line as everyone picks up there belongings and rushes towards the scale. I eventually work my way towards the scale, and being an Obruni (white person), they quickly grab my bag and weigh it.<br /><br />After paying and loading my luggage I board the bus and find my seat. As I sit down my knees bang the seat in front of me. Awesome!! The seats are so close together that I have to spread my legs and my knees are still wedged up against the seat in front of me. I eventually find a comfortable position just as the bus is pulling out of the station around 9:00am, only an hour late.<br /><br />Living in Vancouver I thought that commuting over the Port Mann Bridge during rush hour was bad traffic, but I was wrong. Driving in Accra brings a whole new meaning to the word. We were crawling along single lane for almost two hours to get out of Accra. You know the traffic is bad when there are people walking alongside you with baskets of bread, oranges, and water for sale.<br /><br />Once out of Accra the road to Tamale takes you through Kumasi, Tachiman and Kintampo. On the way to Kumasi the bus was having a tough time going up hills and started beeping. When we reached the bus stop in Kumasi the bus disappeared into the mechanic’s shed for about half an hour. By the time we got back on the bus and on the road again it was 6:00, already about 3 hours behind schedule.<br /><br />About 45 minutes after leaving the bus station in Kumasi I am woken up out of my sleep by passengers hustling and bustling about. I realize the bus has pulled over to the side of the road and everyone is starting to get off the bus. Unsure what exactly is going on I follow them off the bus and crouch down alongside the rest of the passengers. I look under the bus to see some part of the front suspension hanging down to the ground.<br /><br />Canadians are usually very timid in these types of situations. Ghanaians on the other hand have no problem voicing their opinion. I walk over towards the crowd of people that is forming and everyone is surrounding the bus driver. They are all yelling at him about how the bus is no good and that they should have given us a new “fresh” bus is Kumasi. The driver however insists that mechanics are on there way and they will have no problem fixing it quickly. This only further frustrates the passengers as they continue to argue in a variety on languages.<br /><br />I look across to a girl I met on the bus from the Netherlands and we both break out laughing at them as they argue back and forth. Others soon join us in laughter and we break off to find a comfortable place to sit down and relax. Eventually things calm down and the driver walks across the street and into a small field to get away from the commotion.<br /><br />As I wait on the side of the road I take the opportunity to seek out the few passengers who speak English. I chat with a couple teachers, one of whom has just gotten a job at the University of Ghana as a professor of business. He is traveling to Tamale to move his family down to the big city. I also make friends with three sisters who are traveling with their parents. They are very excited to be talking with an Obruni. I ask them about life in Ghana and they try to teach me some of the local greetings. The time passes relatively quickly, but as dusk slowly turns to night we are still left stranded on the side of the road.<br /><br />Finally a new-looking bus pulls up and everyone is excited to get back on the road. The excitement is unfortunately cut short when the bus doors open and two mechanics get off the bus and grab their tools from the luggage compartment. The annoyed passengers start hounding the driver again refusing to take the old bus.<br /><br />Eventually some people decide to commandeer the new bus, taking their belongings and loading the new bus. Soon more people start to follow and I too grab my carry-on and claim a new seat. The driver eventually gets the ok from his supervisor for us to take the new bus and we pull away a mere 3 hours later at around 9:30.<br /><br />The rest of the voyage is relatively smooth, aside from the actual road itself. The new bus even has TVs so we can watch Nigerian movies. Ohhhh the Nigerian movies. I will have to save this for another post. As for the journey we end up making good time on the final leg of the trip and arrive in Tamale at 3:00am, 6 hours behind schedule.<br /><br />As I gather my things and wait to get of the bus I am rather concerned. You see Robin (the Director of West Africa Program) was suppose to be there to pick me up; however, when our bus broke down I tried calling her several times but her phone was not in service range…<br /><br />Luckily as I step down off the bus I am quickly greeted by Laura, a short term overseas volunteer with EWB. We have never met before but apparently she had no problem picking out the tall white man from the crowd. I ask her how long she has been waiting and she says she has been at the bus station since 8:00pm, 7 hours!! I apologize for making her wait but she understands as her bus to Tamale also broke down and did not arrive until the following morning.<br /><br />I follow Laura through the crowd and out to the parking lot where we get a taxi and head back to the EWB house in Tamale. Gillian, another short term volunteer, is also staying at the house and is awake wondering where we have been. We stay up for an hour or so chatting about my trip and then try to get a bit of sleep before it gets light out. As I crawl into bed my day ends much as it started: with the sun waiting to creep up from the horizon and the sound of Muslims at the nearby mosque taking their morning prayers.Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-55900388202827781662007-08-12T11:13:00.000-07:002007-08-12T11:21:10.533-07:00Arriving in GhanaWritten: Aug 3, 2007<br /><br />As I stepped off the last step of the staircase onto the airport tarmac it was hard to believe this day had finally come. I tried to take it all in: the warm breeze blowing across my face; the excitement of those around me happy to be home again; and the butterflies in my stomach as I stepped into something completely unknown.<br /><br />On the bus ride from the apron to the terminal I ran in to Katie, a former EWB volunteer. What are the odds of that? She had picked me out of the crowed by my iron ring and white wrist band. She had been in Ghana 2 years ago and was now returning for a conference on education being held in the capital city of Accra. Once inside the terminal I quickly made my way through customs and grabbed my luggage.<br /><br />After some initial confusion I finally met up with Charlie. Charlie works for KITE, an NGO in Ghana that EWB has done a lot of work with. He was so kind to have come pick me up at the airport, show me where the bus station was, and then drop me off at the hotel where I spent the night.<br /><br />On the drive to the hotel, which we couldn’t find, I got my first in person look at what it’s like to live in poverty in a developing country. It left me with two feelings. First, the desire to understand what their life is like day in and day out. Second, completely overwhelmed. How can I help these people overcome the challenges they face everyday?<br /><br />It is getting late, and I need to get some sleep as I only slept in bits and pieces during my flights to Ghana. Tomorrow morning I will wake up early to catch the bus to Tamale where I will be living. I’m sure the 12-14 hour bus ride will be an experience in itself.Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-18219664563440499052007-08-05T05:46:00.000-07:002007-08-05T05:55:42.849-07:00A Pre-Departure Wrap-upSo my month of training has finally come to an end. It’s been an intense month crammed full of frameworks, case studies and diagnostic tools; however, don’t let the intensity and picture below fool you into thinking we’ve been sitting in a classroom learning a la university lecturing style. Over the past month Levi has had us doing all kinds of interactive learning, even sending us all over Toronto to interview people on the street.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1D2btBl7pEs9fPTVDlDcecWUFwA2eplZIXBGix35C_WfIrCNhi1cayBJAmyAG5DFg3eFi0UZxGUTt1HpRmtkffQYIstFKaCNbbuCAt1dEhAamIP_rCQyE1FKuvNNNMW9zQq_XYCV7ycr/s1600-h/Pictures+043+(Large).jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEij1D2btBl7pEs9fPTVDlDcecWUFwA2eplZIXBGix35C_WfIrCNhi1cayBJAmyAG5DFg3eFi0UZxGUTt1HpRmtkffQYIstFKaCNbbuCAt1dEhAamIP_rCQyE1FKuvNNNMW9zQq_XYCV7ycr/s320/Pictures+043+(Large).jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095199053674299954" /></a><br /><br />Most days start off at 9am EWB time at the U of T, by which I mean we show up around 9:10 and start around 9:20. Then we dive into sessions about rural livelihoods, technology diffusion, power and privilege, or one of many other topics. Most of the time we’ll start off with some open discussion and then break into smaller group for some sort of activity and then bring it back together to present or just share some key thoughts. We’ve also had some guests such as past overseas volunteers and some of the national office staff come in and run sessions.<br /><br />A couple weeks ago were sent out on to the streets of downtown Toronto with the mission of figuring out whether short term money lending services such as Money Mart payday loans and pawn shops were a step into poverty, or a step out of poverty. The main objective was to practice information gathering skills by conducting semi-structured interviews with people on the street. We were all definitely “out of our comfort zone and into our learning zone.” You start off with this idea about how you’re going to go through a logical series of non-leading questions to figure it all out. Then halfway through saying, “Hi there do you have a moment to answer a few questions?” your brain gets the equivalent of “the blue screen of death” and when all is said and done you have no clue how these services are related to poverty.<br /><br />We also got some more interviewing practice while wandering around a Zambian village (St. George street) and talking to local farmers (national office staff who sometime had difficulty recalling the persona they were suppose to be taking on). This time the activity was based around the sorghum project being undertaken by CARE Zambia. The infamous sorghum is a cereal crop that is much more drought resistant than maize, which is almost exclusively grown in Zambia. All the characters were based off of actual farmers who were interviewed by a past overseas volunteer.<br /><br />Last but certainly not least, there are Parker’s sessions… Direct quote from Parker when asked to describe his pre-dep sessions: “I spew a bunch of information at them, ask them really hard questions, and then give them a tough assignment that they don’t have enough time to do.” I can’t really argue, but they always acted as a good reminder about how much there is for me to still learn, and pushed me to take it upon myself to learn as much as I could.<br /><br />It’s been a really great learning environment. With such a wide variety of backgrounds everyone brings something new to the table. Boris just finished his PhD on something related to fuel cells; Alanna is an elementary school teacher with a degree in fine arts; Nina has been working in Fort MacMurray for the past four years; Heather has spent a few months in Uganda and has been working for Stantec in Ottawa for several years; Thulasy was co-president of the EWB Calgary Professional chapter this past year; Sarah is a past overseas volunteer with EWB who has been working in Hamilton for a bit; and Kim and Simon, like me, have just graduated from University.<br /><br />As good as it’s been over the last month, it’s time to move on. I know there’s still a lot more I could learn about agricultural practices and farmer decision making, but I also feel like there’s only so much you can learn about Ghanaian farmers in a UofT classroom. I can’t wait to hit the ground, do some hands on learning, and see how my current thoughts on development and agriculture in Ghana play out in the real world.Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-69547028376349296002007-08-05T05:28:00.000-07:002007-08-05T06:17:28.459-07:00Life in Toronto<span style="font-weight:bold;">The EWB House</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5aZ5MmE0Qb_DqSOjjqMnXcHB_m_Ppg_d61lQiGiNDoPGUzri7oonWtgHCJVuuQ9xdEoYaoswHWaKj3jXY_biRh3v0neng0_ntnus6d7dosXaDs_k1ArWoEh1ZygWxjwQ7OryJBF6Ivfy/s1600-h/Pre-dep+Training+030.jpg"><img style="float:right; margin:0 0 10px 10px;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhV5aZ5MmE0Qb_DqSOjjqMnXcHB_m_Ppg_d61lQiGiNDoPGUzri7oonWtgHCJVuuQ9xdEoYaoswHWaKj3jXY_biRh3v0neng0_ntnus6d7dosXaDs_k1ArWoEh1ZygWxjwQ7OryJBF6Ivfy/s200/Pre-dep+Training+030.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095201398726443586" /></a><br />I’ve had a lot of people ask me about what my living situation etc has been like over the past month in Toronto, so I figured I’d share it on here.<br /><br />Throughout pre-departure I’ve been living with the rest of the volunteers at the EWB house (the grey one on the left). The house is quite the place! First off, there are 14 of us living there: 9 overseas volunteers, 4 summer interns, and one intern’s fiancé. Needless to say, it’s a full house. It’s located between Little Italy and the Portuguese Village, and a 10 minute walk from Chinatown. It’s also reasonably close to the downtown area. So long as you have good shoes or sandals you can walk just about anywhere.<br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplalzh8O7nh1P-6PQtGYJKYa5H9dxk9pnCijZQd6By4ULpZfOx_N2Tcwmp6AfMHhExmNwC5mAYZ1rXJUidJ48Hy_de1xteCGUdrSnipBj3buoIt63sH-wdQM5UDgLngtfWZrAauydaptW/s1600-h/Pre-dep+Training+024.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjplalzh8O7nh1P-6PQtGYJKYa5H9dxk9pnCijZQd6By4ULpZfOx_N2Tcwmp6AfMHhExmNwC5mAYZ1rXJUidJ48Hy_de1xteCGUdrSnipBj3buoIt63sH-wdQM5UDgLngtfWZrAauydaptW/s320/Pre-dep+Training+024.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095202356504150610" /></a><br />There’s 3 bedroom upstairs, all of which are packed full of bunk beds. The room I stayed in had 4, with 6 of us sleeping in there. The beds are definitely not designed for people who are 6’4”. The fact that they were bunk beds was ok, but they were pretty short and there was a bar at the head and foot of the bed. Not only was I too tall, but I couldn’t even hand my feet off the end of the bed. I know it sounds silly, but it really started to bug me after a while.<br /><br />Speaking of bugs, there was also a bit of a bed bug outbreak. The house was fumigated right before we got there, but apparently they didn’t get them all because poor Alanna woke up with a bunch of bites one night. Lucky for me they didn’t spread to my side of the room. They also came back and sprayed again, and they seem to be gone. So if you’re heading to the house in the near future don’t worry, you should be safe!<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />The Office</span><br /><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LF-z7Bgm-_zqwWURaJW5aju0SYhqm1fXFY1eDMNZeaaFdiRGCeYcwuSYWnTCuuwD13BObLPPWuO7qxcVmHZRyVO1F9ddwJiklvj0zIYDeSIrdSUL4ZjtB4ArdTRczKkjua0P0Ic_avx7/s1600-h/Pre-dep+Training+011.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh0LF-z7Bgm-_zqwWURaJW5aju0SYhqm1fXFY1eDMNZeaaFdiRGCeYcwuSYWnTCuuwD13BObLPPWuO7qxcVmHZRyVO1F9ddwJiklvj0zIYDeSIrdSUL4ZjtB4ArdTRczKkjua0P0Ic_avx7/s200/Pre-dep+Training+011.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095203563389960802" /></a><br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMBjSY8WywR41Rieb0P1KYEEn-GD3u_xa1rIIhRM3oaKVhUwTstq0nj2LB_4NKbIsExY9hdFZVBXHOCyVN0Q0CZ4m0H__F8Z9lwHAt4-N9fglQIcE3YvvTJXKyfz1FjcVj4IoSWmx6Lif/s1600-h/Pre-dep+Training+010.jpg"><img style="display:block; margin:0px auto 10px; text-align:center;cursor:pointer; cursor:hand;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAMBjSY8WywR41Rieb0P1KYEEn-GD3u_xa1rIIhRM3oaKVhUwTstq0nj2LB_4NKbIsExY9hdFZVBXHOCyVN0Q0CZ4m0H__F8Z9lwHAt4-N9fglQIcE3YvvTJXKyfz1FjcVj4IoSWmx6Lif/s200/Pre-dep+Training+010.jpg" border="0" alt=""id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5095204714441196146" /></a><br /><br />Although most of our sessions were at the U of T sometimes we’d meet at the office, mainly when we had guest facilitators and such. Not too much else to say about the office… The other day is was packed full of 30’000 individual sachets of hot chocolate that were being given out as part of a massive outreach event targeted at promoting fair trade products.<br /><br /><span style="font-weight:bold;"><br />Yonge Street</span><br /><br />Last weekend we had a day off and I needed a break from studying monitoring and evaluation systems so I decided to wander over to Yonge Street. Yonge Street is kind of like Toronto’s version of Robson Street. It’s also home to the landmark Sam the Record Man store with the huge fluorescent spinning record sign. Unfortunately I’m sad to say that the iPod has killed the record man. Even the icon couldn’t weather the storm of online mp3s.<br /><br />On the upside I came across “The Chalkmaster.” He was artist doing some amazing art on the sidewalk with chalk. By the messages he had written alongside the artwork I gathered that he has a daughter in Halifax that we wanted to go visit and he had just gotten enough money from passerbys to buy a bus ticket and go visit her. I will leave you on that uplifting note and hope to post again soon.Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-57542054377601333422007-07-18T17:11:00.000-07:002007-07-18T18:05:09.207-07:00Camping TripAfter being in Toronto for a week we got invaded and booted out of the EWB house. A bunch of EWB professional chapter members were in town to get together and brew up some EWB awesomeness!!<br /><br />We went camping at Emily Lake, about an hour drive north east of Toronto. We lucked out and had good weather and an overall good time. It was nice to get to know all of the other volunteers a bit better. The only misfortune was not having near enough foamies to sleeping, and let me tell you, the ground was damn hard.<br /><br />I've also started up a picasa album. Be sure to check it out!<br /><br /><embed type="application/x-shockwave-flash" src="http://picasaweb.google.com/s/c/bin/slideshow.swf" width="288" height="192" flashvars="host=picasaweb.google.com&RGB=0x000000&feed=http%3A%2F%2Fpicasaweb.google.com%2Fdata%2Ffeed%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fwhitney.trevor%2Falbumid%2F5088702847159269985%3Fkind%3Dphoto%26alt%3Drss" pluginspage="http://www.macromedia.com/go/getflashplayer"></embed>Trevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8026304378166977506.post-86538617587725892692007-06-02T10:55:00.000-07:002007-06-02T11:25:33.332-07:00Heading to GhanaHello everyone,<br /><br />Let me start with a brief introduction. I've just recently graduated from UBC with a degree in Civil Engineering. While at UBC I became very actively involved with the UBC Chapter of Engineers Without Borders (EWB). The more involved I got, the more passionate I became about development, and the more I wanted to make a difference for those living in extreme poverty. Soon I will be leaving for Ghana where I will be working with EWB for about a year.<br /><br />The country of Ghana is located in West Africa. Once known as the Gold Coast for its large gold exports, it has since experienced 25 years of economic decline brought on by food shortages and political strife. Today, 40% of its citizens now find themselves below the poverty line living off less than a dollar a day. Since 1993, political reform has brought stability to the region making the country an ideal place for long-term development projects.<br /><br />The majority of the poor in Ghana are small-scale subsistence farmers. As such, I will be working with the Ghanaian Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA). Their mandate is to help the 750,000 farmers in the Northern Region of Ghana become more sustainable; ultimately strengthening the regional food security and livelihoods. MoFA has a large staff of Extension Agents who work directly with farmers to help develop new skills, diversify their production activities, access markets for their produce, and learn about new techniques and technologies. Although my exact role within MoFA has not yet been determined, past volunteers have worked to increase inter-communication by developing a new monitoring and evaluation framework, and strengthen the skills of Extension Agents by conducting training sessions and coaching.<br /><br />I look forward to the challenges and rewards that lie ahead, and I hope to share as much as I can with you along the journey. The greatest support you can give is your best wishes and hello every now and then. You may be surprised to know that there are a number of internet cafes in most major cities, and I will try my best to stay in touch with all of you via e-mail (whitney.trevor@gmail.com).<br /><br />Cheers,<br /><br />-TrevorTrevor Whitneyhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/16459648893884012303noreply@blogger.com0