2 Shia: Touring the Village Brings Insight

Heavy shoes are required. Justus is leading Anna and Gabi and me on a tour of the village today to view the Madventurer projects. We walk along the red dirt High Street greeted by locals tending their shops, our white faces a source of curiosity but being with the respected village elder, it is clear we are guests and dazzling smiles make us welcome.

First stop is a run-down, closed-up house that Justus explains belonged to his cousin, now deceased, which Madventurer can use to accommodate volunteers while they renovate the old disused post office converting it to a MAD house for future volunteers.

We enter the musty old building full of broken furniture and junk and salvage a grubby old foam mattress and dusty pillows and some useful items, making the most of available resources, rather than just chucking stuff away as we do back home.

When Justus shows us inside the derelict post office, I can’t help thinking it needs a visit from the TV crew of Sixty Minute Make-Over. However an enthusiastic team of hard-working MAD volunteers will clean, repair, paint and perform a miracle in a matter of weeks! 

We wander across the road through the lush fields to the School and meet the teachers and peep into classrooms of children in their neatly pressed terracotta and peach uniforms who laugh and greet us with “Ye-Vo, Ye-Vo”.

Justus points out the impressive toilet block that was built by Madventurer some years ago however the toilets aren’t working because the plumping is broken and I realise the school and the whole village is in desperate need of plumbers. Proper sanitation brings hygiene and transforms the quality of life.

We visit the Madventurer building now being used as a kitchen by ladies to cook the children their mid-day meal of Banku. We watch them roll maize dough into balls and wrap them in leaves to bake in coals.

At the kindergarten, the three-year-olds are sitting with straight backs in little chairs in rows on the verandah. All of the children are curious with wide eyes and toothy smiles and giggles but one little boy starts crying and runs for cover and another little girl sobs inconsolably at the sight of three big white skinned people! I say to Justus “We must look like ghosts!” and he laughs and agrees!

We meet the headmaster and Anna discusses plans for a sports project with a team of Frisbee players from the UK coming out later this summer. The Ghanaian children are legendary football players and athletes but Frisbee will be a new experience!

Justus shows us a sturdy pavilion constructed by Madventurer volunteers to be used by senior students for Technical studies in carpentry, plumbing and electrics however without equipment there are no classes so the building stands empty. I register another desperate need for training in the trades. 

When we visit the neighbouring Evangelical Presbyterian school, an elegant teacher is conducting lessons in a rickety building, clearly in need of repair or replacing altogether.

        

The excited children rapidly cluster together for a photos, jostling for front position and squeal with delight when we show them the pictures!

Visiting the school is a delightful experience and like most Ye-Vo’s, my heart is instantly captured by the beautiful, exuberant children with their irresistible big brown eyes, dazzling smiles, tight curls, enthusiasm for learning and good manners.

Continuing our tour around Shia village of around 3000 residents, we visit the impressive Catholic temple and church, the busy clinic which treats people from the whole region and we meet the charming midwife who delivers babies and runs the other and baby health checks.

We wander along dusty streets past humble houses bustling with everyday life and head back to the main street to shop for fresh, free range eggs, palm nut butter and a face washer to mop up the constant perspiration.

This afternoon Head of Madventurer and Shia Chief of Development John Lawler arrives with four pretty young students from Newcastle University. Laura is President of the Students’ Union and Harriet, Sophie and Rosie have been volunteering at an orphanage.

The girls will sleep on mattresses on the floor in my room so they dump their back packs and we all set off to see Justus’ Cocoa farm. It is well established with six-year-old trees yielding healthy yellow pods and a nursery of seedlings ready for planting.

Justus is the driving force behind forming a cocoa farmers union and he has 35,000 seedlings to distribute. Along with Madventurer’s help, the farmers aim to take the industry to the next level. Instead of selling the raw beans to the National Cocoa Board, they want to manufacture and export cocoa powder, which would bring in more revenue, jobs and prosperity for the region.

It’s an exciting project. As John explains Madventurer’s goals are to assist with the community’s basic needs, then education and finally industry and employment. And cocoa growing is perfect for the Volta region’s climate and conditions.

On the way back we spring an impromptu visit on Justus’ nephew Martin who has ingeniously come up with a sideline in his retirement of distilling a potent spirit from the sap of Palm trees. So we savour the Apotesi, which is surprisingly smooth and I imagine that a chocolate liquor would go down a treat around English fireplaces!

We also pay a formal visit to one of the esteemed chiefs and John brings a customary gift of two bottles of Schnapps. The chief makes us welcome in his community and promises our safety. We assemble in the garden for a group photo for the archives.

Justus is tireless and wants to show John and the girls the proposed MAD House but I am flagging so opt to return to the house to refreshen up with a wash, a cup of tea and lie down and maybe even upload my photos. But I discover the girls have locked the room and taken the key so I languish hot and sweaty on the verandah.

When Clinton appears, I show him how my camera works and he races off to practice his creativity. Later I show him how to upload and crop the images on my laptop. He grasps the skill quickly with a budding talent for photography!

We dine on Doris’ simple dish of rice and spicy vegetables and settle in for some socialising, chatting with the girls about their impressions of life in Ghana and their ambitions after graduation. We retire early to allow John and Justus to catch up on village business over a glass of red wine.