I’m working for WHO in Ghana?!

If you’ve been keeping up with this blog, you may have noticed that it’s devoid of any work-related content, which is strange considering I’ve come to Ghana because of the work I’m doing here! (And actually, for the last month it’s been devoid of any content whatsoever on account of a silly 10-day bout of illness.) However, now is the time, my faithful readers, to uncover the mystery of the entire reason I’m here in Ghana! Beginning with the mystery posed in the title of this blog post…

The outside of the Pinora office in Abakrampa

My Placement: Working with Pinora to help Pinora… and farmers!

I should start by saying that I’m part of EWB’s Agricultural Value Chains (AVC) team here in Ghana, which is the team that works with private-sector agriculture. The team has placed me with a fruit processing firm named Pinora, which buys mostly organic oranges from many (approximately 2000!) farmers in Ghana, transports the fruit to factories in Ghana for processing into orange juice, and then exports the juice to Belgium.

You may be wondering, “what the heck can my friend Tanya possibly be doing with this huge juice op?” Good question friend! With the ever-increasing demand for juice, Pinora is looking to expand its operations to include more orange farmers and (recently) lime farmers, but there are a few issues that exist with current procedures of purchasing fruits that Pinora wishes to address before they expand. My job is this: examine Pinora’s model for supporting farmers and purchasing fruit from the perspectives of high-level management, small-holder producers, and everyone in-between, and suggest improvements that will ease transactions between farmers and Pinora.

But here’s the kicker: typically EWB works with other NGOs, local governments, or local businesses. Pinora is none of these. Pinora is a German-owned and operated company. Therefore, any work I do to benefit the company will benefit its German owners! Wait, that doesn’t seem right… I came to Ghana to work for wealthy Germans? For the first weeks of receiving my placement information, this kept me up at night. Images of evil-transnational companies haunted my dreams and it made me feel uneasy just thinking about my placement! In my first week of work, however, I threw the question out to my good chapter-mates back in Edmonton, and they sent me a reassuring blend of responses that have helped me come to terms with my placement here.

No, it’s not simple. I’m not simply working to increase profits in a company. But yes, I can help rural Ghanaians. By improving Pinora’s methods of fruit purchasing, I will be making a large and stable market more accessible to more farmers. In order to do this, I may be contributing to the wealth of foreign owners, but hey, these are foreign investors who are investing in Africa, something we advocate for wholeheartedly in EWB! Who knows, maybe by increasing Pinora’s profits, I’ll inspire a few other Germans to invest in Ghana!

So there you have the justification for my work, but I won’t be surprised if you are still wondering “but Tanya, what the heck are you tangibly doing???” Ahh, another good question friend! For the last few weeks I have been interviewing and accompanying office staff, field staff, farmers, and management of Pinora in their daily jobs to understand how Pinora buys fruit and provides services to farmers. For example, this week I have been meeting with farmers and asking them what problems they have had in the past with Pinora and otherwise. Their answers to my questions have triggered a few ideas for me to suggest to Pinora, which I am in the process of writing proposals for and presenting to management.

Inside the Pinora office

The ideas will hopefully help Pinora become a more reliable buyer and easier for farmers to work with. When I make suggestions I have to make them keeping in mind that my end goal is helping farmers, but in order for the company to adopt them they have to be beneficial to the company. I believe that I can make changes for farmers this way, and I’m also willing to bet that these changes from a self-motivated company are a heck of a lot more sustainable than changes coming from a donor-motivated NGO project!

Although it was a rocky road to see where I fit, I now feel confident that what I’m doing can make a difference. I’m excited for the future of Pinora, and the potential further investment it’s making into Ghanaian small-holder farmers. I can’t wait to see where the company is at the end of the summer with my suggestions, and beyond into many seasons and years providing a reliable market for Ghanaian farmers!

 

Meet The Family

Memoadwe friends! I am writing to you from my new home in the AAK district of the Central Region of Ghana, which is house that belongs to the Queen Mother or Nanahima of New Ebu (see: Abakrampa, a short 2-km run from New Ebu with the added benefit of being recognized by google!).

The Queen Mother's house in New Ebu

However, for the last week I have not been in this house, but have rather been doing a village stay in a compound in New Ebu. In this post I will be describing to you the four family members I stayed with for my village stay. They are funny and amazing people, and I hope I can share a part of their shiny personalities with you through this blog post! (I asked their permission to do so before writing about them.)

A brief aside on “village stays”: Engineers Without Borders encourages Junior Fellows to spend a week or so in a remote village and live life as a farmer would for that week, so as to get a better understanding of what life is like for the people we are trying to help. 

Meet Joshua Amafi

Joshua was the very first person I met from New Ebu. Introduced by my office manager simply as Amafi (without any context, besides the fact he was from New Ebu), I didn’t imagine at the time that I would be spending the majority of the following week with him! Amafi introduced me to a many residents of New Ebu the night I settled into my new house, and I was happy that I would finally be able to stay in one place for a while after almost 3 weeks of transience. This was a short-lived dream though, since after a discussion with my Engineers Without Borders coach, we decided it would be best to start my village stay as soon as possible. In other words, another week of transience! On my second day in New Ebu, I told Amafi that I needed to find a place to stay where I could farm and do as farmers do. He had just a place a mind, and within an hour I was set up for the week with a place to live! Throughout the week Amafi accompanied me when I roamed about New Ebu, greeting community members (including the King of New Ebu!), buying household goods and fun foods (mmm Fanta!), and helping me learn Mfantse.

A brief aside on Amafi’s teaching style: After telling me the translation of a word a few times, Amafi will decide not to help me when someone says it. However, when I am fumbling for the meaning of a word I should know, instead of saying “I will not remind you,” he says “I will not remember you.” Although the two phrases are technically very similar, the latter sounds much more harsh than he intends (he will forget about me if I can’t remember the word!).

Also very helpful in my Mfantse learning in the last week was my host mother at the compound:

Auntie Juliana/Nanama

My host mother, Auntie Juliana

With just a moment’s notice, this woman took me into her house with few questions, and even gave up her bed for me. (She had another bed to sleep in, and I insisted again and again to sleep in the other bed, but she wouldn’t allow it and you just can’t argue with a Ghana mama!)

The compound (the view from outside of my bedroom)

During my week at her house, I incessantly asked to do small jobs to help with the cooking and cleaning, and she was very willing to allow me to embarrass myself by showcasing just how useless I was at these household task. For the first few days I learned a great deal about cooking in southern Ghana, but after that, Auntie Juliana was unable to suppress her good-hostess mannerisms and now insists on doing all of the cooking and cleaning herself. I sneak around to wash a few dishes or grind up veggies when I can! Also impeding my learning is the incredibly industrious 10-year-old grandchild of Auntie Juliana:

Nanama/Banana

Nanama or "Banana"

This chicky is amazing, and is often put to work by Auntie Juliana to do the things I want to learn. She can cook, wash dishes, and wash clothes way more efficiently than I can do any of the above, and can also speak Mfantse fluently, speak English decently, gets good grades and is just a really sweet kid.

You may have noticed her name is the same as her grandmother’s, and this is not because of any lack of originality in the family, but rather because of a cultural norm here in Ghana: people are named after the day of the week they are born on. Auntie Juliana (Juliana being her Christian name) and Nanama were both born on Saturday or Memenda, so they were both given the name for girls that are Saturday born. I can’t say I have the whole scheme figured out, but based on what I know, I think that there are a grand-total of 14 first names among the Mfanste people in southern Ghana.

A brief aside on my name here in Ghana: “Tanya” is unheard of in Ghana, and when I try telling Ghanaians my name they usually assume it is the second half of the name “Nathaniel”. Instead of having to repeat my name several times and having my new friends think my name is “Thaniel”, I have been going by “Abena” and “Alaba”, both of which mean Tuesday born.

You may be wondering why Nanama is sometimes called Banana, and the reason for that stems from this individual:

Esien/Monkey

Monkey!

This guy is a hilarious little rebel who is giving my host mother new gray hairs daily. His attitude earned him the name “Monkey” in my books, and the nick name has caught on with the family, which I’m sure he’ll hate me for if it sticks! When he’s called Monkey, he usually responds by saying Banana, which awarded the similarly-named Nanama a new nick name. This kid is especially cute in his school uniform and especially stubborn when he wants something.

And that’s the family! I hope you have gotten the impression that they are hilarious and intelligent peeps, because I sure have. In the next few weeks I’m sure I will share more stories about these awesome people, but until then, my friends, keep it very real!