A description of what we're doing in Ghana

The Peace Corps asked us to write a description of what we do in Karaga. I thought you all might like to know, too, so this is what we've been up to for the last two years....

Description of Service

For the last 20 months, Cameron and I have been living in the Northern Region of Ghana in the District Capital called Karaga. The population is around 17,000 and is continuously growing. We're Health, Water, and Sanitation Volunteers having separate supervisors, counterparts, and primary projects.

Dizem Bella Nutrition Center requested a WATSAN volunteer and this is my primary project. Here at the center we have the Executive Director/PC supervisor, two health extension workers, a cook, and a grounds keeper to help assist the many women and their malnourished children. The typical length of stay is 6 weeks where the women pay three Ghana cedis per week for food that is prepared for them, medicines, Plumpy Nut nutritional packets, sleeping mats and water. Each morning the children's weights are taken to record their growth progress and a health lesson is taught. These lessons include topics such as nutrition, HIV/AIDS, family planning, basic sanitation, exclusive and complementary breastfeeding, and the importance of using iodated salt. These lessons typically last 20-45 minutes and are ideally taught five mornings a week. In conjunction with the nutrition center, we started a primary school for the orphans in our village called Timtooni Community School. We currently have six teachers, all paid for through the Ghana Education Service and 120 students. Our family from home has graciously sent homemade teaching materials and USAID has given us a series of 25 Ghana-specific teaching posters.

Cameron's primary project is working with the Carter Center helping in the eradication of Guinea Worm Disease. He does weekly GW case searches, abatement of any source of water the people fetch from, and village volunteer training sessions. He is currently assisting in the Karaga shift of only Guinea Worm eradication to Trachoma education and prevention. The Austrian Government through the NGO Vamed is currently constructing a polyclinic in Karaga where Cameron has helped the general contractor in site development and construction. Our dam broke in early 2009 causing a major water shortage. Cameron helped reconstruct this dam, by hand, with the people of Karaga. He's also started a small Moringa farm. This is a tree that grows quickly without the need of lots of water, is entirely edible, and is used in animal forage, water purification, medicine, and plant disease prevention. His goal is to grow the seeds in small plastic baggies then have our students at Timtooni transplant them around the school and nutrition center to be added to the meals prepared for the students, mothers and malnourished children.

Together we've sponsored a "Know Your Status" campaign with a village screening of the Kayayo film (of village women and men becoming porters in Kumasi and Accra where HIV is a serious problem) , a question and answer program with the Karaga nursing staff on HIV/AIDS facts and concerns, a town versus secondary school football match, and free HIV testing. We've also just completed a World Map in one of our primary/junior high schools and are hoping to complete another.

Future projects, in conjunction with our continuous projects, are an HIV/AIDS poster contest at the Junior High School and an HIV/AIDS Jeopardy match between the four houses at the Senior Secondary School. The winners of these competitions will receive a new football sent from the States by Pat and Dave Griffith and the South Aiken Soccer Team.

We're also still pursuing the hope of a library in our community. This, of all our projects, has been the most difficult and tedious to carryout. We'll continue to talk with our District Assembly and GES in hopes that our replacement volunteers will have more success!

We're lucky to say overall our projects and experiences have been successful, even considering the frustrations and roadblocks. Our PC supervisors and counterparts are supportive and accommodating and our community members are willing to express their ideas, wants, and needs for change.

When we moved to Karaga we replaced a volunteer. She wrote this quote on our wall and I read it every day. It gives us the courage to continue here in Ghana for a few more months knowing that this Peace Corps experience will forever change our lives.

“Twenty years from now you will be more disappointed by the things that you didn't do than by the ones you did do. So throw off the bowlines. Sail away from the safe harbor. Catch the trade winds in your sails. Explore. Dream. Discover.”
-Mark Twain


Kymberly Tuckfield